Chapter 610
Chapter 611: Biwaegun
Right after I thought of a way to find Nangong Bi-ah.
I wanted nothing more than to throw everything away and dash out, but the information available was far too scant, so I had to hold back—for now at least.
Not that I could hold out for long.
I was already at my breaking point.
Leaving the place where the Gungju was and stepping outside, Baek Cheon-gyeom was waiting for me.
“You’ve come?”
My gaze at Baek Cheon-gyeom wasn’t exactly kind.
How could it be?
I had been told to go see the Gungju right after waking up, only to have a countless number of distressing events hurled at me.
Seeing my expression, Baek Cheon-gyeom gave an awkward laugh.
“Looks like you’ve had a rough time.”
“Yeah, it was pretty damned awful.”
Not only was I questioned in a manner that was not quite an interrogation, but I had also endured a series of unfortunate events.
If I had only been in decent shape, I would have stormed into the Gungju’s presence without a second thought.
Regrettably, that wasn’t the case.
So I couldn’t say I felt kindly towards Baek Cheon-gyeom, who guided me through all this.
Despite being a reunion after a long time.
I immediately questioned Baek Cheon-gyeom.
“Did you know?”
It was a loaded question.
Did he know that my meeting with the Gungju was part of an interrogation scheme?
And also,
“Did you know that guy is from the North Sea?”
Did he know that Woo Hyeok hailed from that family, the so-called Blue Wolf or whatever?
Baek Cheon-gyeom might have known.
With that weight of significance in my question, Baek Cheon-gyeom bitterly smiled and replied.
“I wasn’t aware of why the Gungju called you.”
“Are you aware now?”
“If you explain, I’ll listen….”
Noticing that something was off, Baek Cheon-gyeom also had a grim expression.
Seeing that, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
“Forget it….”
I couldn’t pry more from someone who didn’t know.
I could argue, sure, but it would only lead to taking my frustration out on Baek Cheon-gyeom.
“Please answer the next question.”
“…”
As I asked about Woo Hyeok, Baek Cheon-gyeom’s lips twitched.
“…I’ve only known about that child for a short while.”
“Does that mean you admit it’s true?”
“…”
Woo Hyeok is indeed from the North Sea.
Moreover.
“Does this mean he really did start a rebellion?”
“…Yeah.”
I clenched my teeth at Baek Cheon-gyeom’s words.
‘What the hell is that guy doing?’
When Nangong Bi-ah said she was going to the North Sea, I didn’t want her to go.
But with Gwaeseon, Baek Cheon-gyeom, and Woo Hyeok headed there, I had at least felt a bit assured.
Woo Hyeok was a strange guy, but he wasn’t someone who would go causing trouble.
I thought if anything happened, he would surely handle it.
‘But this brat’s the one causing the biggest mess.’
My head ached.
‘What kind of rebellion is this?’
It was absurd to talk about rebellion in a country where everything was just fine!
The guy who seemed to have no greed was out there starting a rebellion?
I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
‘Why on earth?’
What could have possibly possessed him to cause such a ruckus?
If it truly turned out that Woo Hyeok not only joined a rebellion but actually instigated it, then…
‘What could the reason be?’
What reason could there have been for him to do such a thing?
That thought came first.
If he went so far as to start an incident like this…
There must have been a strong motive behind it.
He was that kind of person.
Strangely enough, I held onto this faith.
[Go ahead first.]
[Thanks for being a friend till now.]
“…”
I recalled those words and the face he made just before his death.
Damn it.
May I never forget. Even if he smiled while dying.
Shaking off the annoying thoughts, I asked Baek Cheon-gyeom another question.
“Then, that girl…. No.”
I paused for a moment, then grimaced as I spat it out.
“What happened to Nangong Bi-ah?”
It felt a bit hesitant to name her outright.
But this was no time to be indecisive.
“…That child is.”
Baek Cheon-gyeom hesitated for a moment as well.
But she must know.
If she couldn’t give me a proper answer here, I would not stay silent any longer.
As I stared at Baek Cheon-gyeom, filled with that determination, she finally responded.
“…Bi-ah was guarding the Gungju.”
“Guarding?”
I was taken aback upon hearing that.
Guarding?
“…You mean she was acting as the Gungju’s guard?”
“She initially was assigned to protect the princess or the bloodline…”
“Wait a sec.”
I cut off Baek Cheon-gyeom, who was about to continue her explanation.
I needed to ask something first.
“…Why was she acting as a guard?”
Why in the world was Nangong Bi-ah suddenly taking on this role?
She had left for training, so what was the deal with the guarding?
I had heard it before, but it all felt so out of the blue.
To that, Baek Cheon-gyeom replied.
“From what I heard, your brother made an agreement with the Gungju.”
“My brother…?”
She must be talking about Master of Wudang.
That old man set Nangong Bi-ah on guard duty after making a deal with the Gungju?
‘Is that old man insane?’
He barely allowed her to go, and now he’s got her working instead of letting her train.
I could feel the heat rising within me.
But holding back my emotions, I continued to ask.
“So. You’re saying she was also briefly acting as the Young Princess’s guard?”
I had heard about her working continuously with that White Fox or whatever.
“Right. That did happen too.”
“So what led to everything being this way?”
So what the hell was the reason behind the fact that Nangong Bi-ah was now missing?
If she was guarding, she should have stayed close, yet how did she vanish?
“…That is….”
Baek Cheon-gyeom’s face grew a bit complicated.
That expression only made me more anxious.
“That’s because….”
As the explanation continued, I couldn’t help but frown.
To ensure the Gungju could move safely, they had to leave the palace.
Yet even in that situation, enemy forces were continuously pressing in.
It was a dangerous scenario where the Gungju could be at risk if this continued.
“So she took it upon herself to become bait. Is that what you’re saying?”
“…”
To allow the Gungju to move securely, Nangong Bi-ah threw herself into the fray to divert the enemy’s attention.
And in that process, she ended up missing.
Is that what this meant?
Moreover.
“And no other traces were found where the combat took place….”
The words escaped me as I muttered to myself.
It angered me.
That child threw herself into danger for those useless people who couldn’t help at all here.
It sounded as if she did it willingly, making my teeth grind.
But contrary to that, my mind felt unnervingly cold.
It troubled me.
Something felt off.
‘Why did she do that?’
Why did Nangong Bi-ah insist on being bait?
Did she really do it for the peace of the Gungju and the Ice Palace?
I doubted it.
I concluded there had to be another reason for Nangong Bi-ah’s actions.
While my mind raced in a chill, trying to piece the mystery together.
“I’m sorry….”
I heard Baek Cheon-gyeom’s apology slip through the cracks of my thoughts.
“If I had been there, it should have been me, not that child….”
The voice reeked of guilt.
She truly lamented not being able to take Nangong Bi-ah’s place.
Seeing her like that, I retorted.
“Where were you at that time?”
Why didn’t you go instead?
It wasn’t a question steeped in blame.
I wasn’t suspecting her either.
Though I didn’t know Baek Cheon-gyeom well, I believed she wouldn’t resort to ugly means to save her own skin.
“…At that time, I was carrying another person and moving to the hideout.”
She had been carrying someone else and already left with them.
So she hadn’t been part of the group at that time.
In that case.
“Then what about Gwaeseon? What was he doing?”
“…”
What about the whereabouts of the Master of Wudang, currently Woo Hyeok’s teacher?
If Woo Hyeok was starting a rebellion, where was Gwaeseon?
I couldn’t imagine it was a good situation for his master.
Hearing my question, Baek Cheon-gyeom simply said.
“Can you follow me?”
Instead of an answer, she guided me somewhere.
We didn’t go far.
To put it simply, we reached the upper level of a cave. The area was eerily quiet, without any sentinels in sight.
As we arrived, I spotted a bed and someone lying on it.
To my surprise, it was none other than Master of Wudang.
The problem was.
‘What the hell?’
Master of Wudang’s condition was far from normal.
His left arm was completely missing, and the rest of his appearance wasn’t any better.
He was barely clinging to life.
“What is this….”
What happened to that old man?
He was a Transformation Realm Martial Artist and a master fit for the top-tier.
What could have led him to this state?
Just as those questions flitted through my mind.
“On the day the rebellion occurred,”
Baek Cheon-gyeom added her explanation.
“Woo Hyeok showed up covered in blood, bringing Gwaeseon.”
“That guy?”
“Yeah.”
My eyes widened at her words.
Woo Hyeok brought Gwaeseon with him?
“He appeared out of nowhere, handed him over, and just said he was sorry before disappearing. That was the last we saw of him.”
To drop off his dying master and then vanish into thin air on the day of a rebellion?
‘Wasn’t it said that he caused the rebellion?’
Leaving his master with us and running at that moment didn’t add up.
What kind of situation was this?
As I stood there in a daze, my thoughts started to churn.
I remembered something and immediately asked Baek Cheon-gyeom.
“You said you were carrying someone away. Was that by any chance Gwaeseon?”
“…”
Baek Cheon-gyeom was silent at my question.
That felt like an affirmation.
With that unspoken confirmation, my mind raced faster than ever.
Baek Cheon-gyeom was heading to the hideout carrying Gwaeseon.
Nangong Bi-ah was supposed to be moving with the Gungju while evading enemy forces, volunteering to act as bait and then going missing.
Was this all just a coincidence?
I had thought it was a planned rebellion, but now it felt more like an opportunity created in the moment.
My head was spinning.
If only Moyong Hi-ah or Jiegal Hyeok had been here, resolving all this would have been much easier.
With my limited brainpower, piecing together all these events felt overwhelmingly complicated.
While I couldn’t say Woo Hyeok was the direct cause of it all,
‘He’s certainly involved.’
It was clear he was tangled up in this mess.
Moreover.
‘The ending feels off.’
With Baek Cheon-gyeom and Gwaeseon gone, something felt amiss regarding Nangong Bi-ah’s choice to volunteer as bait.
Thud-thud!
With no desk to tap my fingers against, I had to rap my waist with my knuckles.
What’s going on?
Why can’t I seem to reach a conclusion?
What am I overlooking?
Just as I pondered this for a while,
Suddenly, my fingers stopped moving.
“First…. The scouting is ongoing, so you….”
“I’ll step out for a moment.”
“Hold on—!”
Without waiting for Baek Cheon-gyeom to finish her sentence, I stepped outside.
In all honesty, I had intended to check on the others first.
But that had to be put on hold for now.
I wandered through the unfamiliar area.
‘Nothing’s coming to mind.’
Try as I might, it felt overwhelming to reach a conclusion.
There was simply too little information, and the situation was far too sudden.
But one thing was clear.
‘Woo Hyeok’s involvement is behind Nangong Bi-ah’s disappearance.’
Was this clarity based on logically tracing the paths?
Not at all.
One by one, untangling the threads led me to that conclusion, but fundamentally, this was intuition speaking.
It always was.
I’d think it over thoroughly and yet my instincts would lead me down a certain path.
It was the same way now.
So purely on instinct, I felt convinced.
My thoughts were right.
If that’s the case, what should I do?
‘What to do? I told the Gungju about it, too.’
I’d confront him directly.
That was the conclusion I had initially reached.
I would find Woo Hyeok and ask him.
Why did he do it?
Once I pose my question, he should be able to provide an answer.
If he doesn’t answer, I’ll have to beat it out of him.
‘But to do that, I need to find out where he is.’
If my guesses are right, and there is a connection between Woo Hyeok and Nangong Bi-ah’s disappearance.
Then there was a method to uncover that.
Whoosh-!
I felt a strong presence from afar.
It felt as if it was desperately searching for me, sending sensations straight to my heart.
That’s the direction.
I can’t be certain of the location, but the presence is unmistakable.
I can’t confirm if Nangong Bi-ah or Woo Hyeok is there, but at least.
‘The Thunder Fang is there.’
The Thunder Fang that she might be holding must be there.
Not to mention, besides a few exceptions, the Thunder Fang was an item that couldn’t be touched without proper authorization, so there had to be traces of Nangong Bi-ah there.
I will head there first.
Right now, that’s all that mattered.
Moving forward with that thought in mind,
[…Please—! Please open up—!]
I heard someone yelling.
It was a familiar voice.
Not far—was it just above?
I stepped forward without hesitation.
As I walked, I suppressed my presence.
Fortunately, the path wasn’t too difficult.
After walking a bit toward where the sound came from, I arrived at what looked like an entrance with several figures on guard, holding weapons.
Thank goodness.
I was at the brink of smashing through, not having the slightest idea of where to go, and it turned out the entrance was right there.
Glad I found it.
From that entrance, I heard someone exclaiming.
“Princess… you shouldn’t do this—!”
“That’s ridiculous…. There’s no way he would… I must confirm it myself.”
A white-haired woman with pale skin was desperately speaking to the warriors.
It was Yuri.
“…Biwaegun couldn’t have done this…! There must have been some circumstances!”
“Princess! He is a criminal who has committed treason! How can you say that?!”
“He couldn’t have possibly started a rebellion…! He promised me…!”
Hearing Yuri’s tearful exclamation, one of the guards responded.
“It seems you’re not grasping the situation. Bring her to her room.”
They seemed to be judging Yuri to be out of her mind.
“Yes, sir.”
One of them reached their hand toward Yuri.
They probably intended to grab her and calm her down.
However,
That hand did not reach Yuri and merely brushed by her.
The soldier’s body crumpled to the ground.
Thud-!
Another soldier fell to the floor.
“What’s going on…?”
The one next to him observed the spectacle with confusion.
Thud-!
“Ugh-!?”
In that moment, another man was hit and instantly fainted.
“…Huh?”
Yuri looked startled by the sudden turn of events.
She seemed lost for a moment, not comprehending the situation.
I decided to address Yuri.
“What you were just saying.”
“…!”
Yuri jumped at the voice from behind her and turned to look.
There I stood.
“Say it again.”
