Chapter 853
I pass through the bushes.
The forest is dark at night, but as always, visibility is clear to the eye.
Because of the swollen blood vessels, my body still aches. Perhaps it was a problem of overexerting my energy, and the pain was worse than before.
Tsk.
I clicked my tongue once and kept walking. Pain is just something you endure as always.
What mattered now wasn’t my suffering.
[I sense a presence nearby. The number is four.]
I nodded at the Dark King’s words. I was aware too.
‘It’s far away, but they surround this area like a circle.’
When I focused my energy, I could tell. This energy is the point of reference.
It was a strange feeling. The field looked empty. It wasn’t even that wide.
There were trees spread around, and only rocks and weeds could be seen. Yet, I felt something here.
“Do you feel something?”
With the question, something dropped. It was a person’s head.
Four in total. The Dark King had killed them all as he spoke the number earlier.
Did he manage to traverse that distance in such a short time? That was some incredible speed.
“I don’t feel anything.”
“Hmm….”
The Dark King didn’t know. His words felt subtly off. How could the Dark King not feel this?
Should I consider it unrelated to sensing? Or not.
‘It could be my imagination.’
I may have misinterpreted it as feeling something, but deep down, I was certain.
There is definitely something here. That is my conviction.
‘Where could it be?’
It had to be around here, but where could it possibly be? I turned my gaze, scanning the area here and there.
Something had to be here, yet I still felt nothing.
‘Where the hell are you?’
I needed to concentrate, but my nerves kept getting in the way.
I don’t know if it was impatience or just annoyance. Or maybe I just didn’t like being here at all? That could be it.
‘All I see are weeds and rocks on the ground. At best, a few flowers. What on earth did I feel….’
I frowned, cutting myself off mid-sentence.
The two in front were fine, but the flower in the back was bothering me.
‘Flower?’
I turned my gaze down to the flowers on the ground. Come to think of it, it was strange.
‘Why are there flowers here?’
This was the first time I’d seen this flower. It doesn’t mean it was the first flower I’d ever seen but that it was the first one I saw in this area.
Four in total. They looked like the common flowers found on mountains, and there didn’t seem to be any particular connection to where they grew.
The important point here is.
‘Four flowers. Four people.’
The number of individuals the Dark King had killed. And there are flowers here that weren’t on the mountain.
At first glance, it just seems like a coincidence.
I immediately lowered my head and examined the flowers.
I reached out and gently touched a flower bud. Then—
Woom!
“…”
A very subtle vibration was felt at my fingertips.
This is it.
‘Whether it’s a formula or something, the flower has something.’
At the moment the vibration was felt, my lips twitched slightly.
“I will bring more people.”
The Dark King spoke like a ghost.
No explanation was necessary. He seemed to have figured out the answer from my reaction and the number of flowers.
Bringing more people. This meant nothing less.
As I mentioned earlier, it must have something to do with the number of flowers, so it’s expected that there should be a total of four people to do something.
Thus, the Dark King stated he would bring more people.
“No, we don’t have time for that.”
I had no time to wait and figure out the method.
“Since we’ve already killed those guys, other guys will come soon. It’ll be hard to do anything while dealing with all of that.”
It was probably possible. If the Dark King wanted, he could turn the Sacheon Branch into a wasteland all by himself. But.
“Then what method?”
“If we can’t solve it, there’s only one way…”
There was one method I could attempt.
I grabbed onto the flower stem.
I didn’t pull it; I just held it and concentrated.
Woom!
The vibrations grew stronger.
The sensation that had traveled into my hand moved through my body. From my body, it flowed deeper into my heart.
An alien feeling filled me. I slowly opened my eyes.
I observed the flowers with my inner eye wide open.
‘Wow.’
I marveled the moment I saw it.
‘This is seriously messed up.’
The intertwined stems were anything but simple. It was the first time I had ever seen anything this complex.
The sorcery used to entangle the swordsmanship by Pilduma was child’s play compared to this.
How should I resolve this? That thought flickered, yet I was already moving.
No need to call for anyone.
I’ll untie this. I just needed to unbind all this stuff surrounding it.
Wouldn’t that take longer than bringing someone in to find a solution?
That could be true. Still, I believe.
I can untangle this. I believed it.
There was something a deity once said to me.
It was during a late night when I was learning sorcery from the deity.
—You’re going too far.
—Huh? What do you mean?
I was trying things one at a time as instructed. The deity watching said to me.
—Where did this damn guy even come from…?
—… All of a sudden? Did I do something wrong?
—No, actually, you did well. That’s why it’s ridiculous, you little rascal.
—Then you should praise me instead of criticizing me…
—If you were going to stand out, you should’ve done it about fifty years ago. Why were you born in this age?
It was absurd.
‘What kind of hurtful remark is that? Fifty years ago, I wouldn’t even have been born.’
—Ugh. That’s why it’s so regretful.
—So what’s so regretful?
I wondered what could possibly be so regretful that this old man acted like that.
But.
—If the Zhuge family hadn’t lost its honor and existed in this era… No, it might have been fine as it is now. If only your surname had been Zhuge.
The deity spoke as if genuinely feeling regret.
—I wonder if it wouldn’t have been challenging for the Zhuge family to show up in the world again. That feels so unfortunate.
If it was a compliment, then it was definitely excessive praise.
I had never heard anyone claim I was amazing. It always seemed to be that way when it came to sorcery.
At this point, it was hard not to realize.
‘At least I have this.’
I thought there would be nothing, yet here I am, with something significant.
The problem lies in that I’m dealing with sorcery.
Furthermore, the few who understand sorcery are so few that the extent of their mastery is unknown.
At least I knew that it would shock anyone who gazed upon it.
To exaggerate, maybe it’d be akin to me watching over kids?
‘Then.’
If that is truly the case.
‘I can do this.’
There is nothing I cannot do.
I focused my eyes and slowly applied my strength as I looked at the lines laid out.
To untie this wretched thing.
*
The gigantic iron door that had been closed swung open.
It was just the perfect size for a person to slip through.
Wi Seol-ah and Namgung Bia took a cautious step forward. They entered the door carefully.
As soon as she stepped into the room, Namgung Bia frowned.
“…Big.”
She remarked while glancing around.
The room was quite spacious and tall.
The scale of the passage was overwhelmingly enormous. How could something this large exist underground?
No, did we really descend this much from the start?
All I felt was an unsettling feeling.
“….”
Unlike Namgung Bia, who was surveying the surroundings, Wi Seol-ah was staring intently at one spot.
In front of her. Something stood out in this wide room, feeling completely out of place.
It was what Wi Seol-ah had been gazing at since she entered the room.
“…That is….”
Wi Seol-ah spoke with a voice that trembled somewhat. Hearing that, Namgung Bia also turned to look in the same direction as Wi Seol-ah.
Only then did she see it.
A single mismatched tree standing alone in the room.
A floor made of stone, not soil. A small tree inexplicably growing there.
It was only slightly larger than Namgung Bia, more accurately described as a sapling.
How on earth did such a sapling exist in such a spacious room? Even more so.
“White….”
Remarkably, the leaves of the tree were a peculiar white. They resembled white jade and even emitted a faint glow.
The reason this room appeared relatively bright without a single lamp was likely due to that tree.
Namgung Bia gazed at the tree in fascination, yet Wi Seol-ah’s reaction was unusual.
She looked astonished, almost as if she were in shock.
“Seol-ah…?”
Namgung Bia called out, but Wi Seol-ah did not respond and advanced forward.
Her slow steps led her to the tree. Standing before it, Wi Seol-ah cautiously stroked the leaves.
As soon as her hand made contact, the leaves crumbled to pieces.
The fragments of leaves appeared as though light itself had fractured.
“….”
“Seol-ah….”
The moment Namgung Bia began to question Wi Seol-ah’s actions.
“…!”
Namgung Bia whipped around in alarm. Her white hair danced wildly as a flash erupted from her waist.
Clang!!
Swiftly swinging her sword, she deflected something. A brief spark flew out alongside the friction.
It was a sword.
Namgung Bia scowled, staring in the direction from which the sword had originated.
“What is this?”
An old man was standing there, hands clasped behind his back as he watched the two.
“I was going to cut off his neck right away… He’s sharper than I thought.”
“….”
Hearing the old man’s voice, Namgung Bia raised her sword.
“Hoo.”
The old man let out a sound of admiration as he observed Namgung Bia.
“That girl is truly beautiful. Yes, I can tell who she is by her hair and appearance. You are the flower of Anhui.”
Fwoosh.
As the old man spoke, swords floated around him.
“What a strange occurrence… Your Majesty. Did he order you to do this? I don’t think so….”
“Who…?”
The old man murmured to himself. Namgung Bia questioned him.
“Ah… Right, my apologies. I should’ve introduced myself first.”
Only then did the old man show a smile and introduce himself.
“I am Dae-Hwan, the head of the Gyecheonmun sect.”
After hearing the introduction about Gyecheonmunju, Namgung Bia swallowed hard.
“….”
The tips of the swords floating in the air were now aimed at Namgung Bia and Wi Seol-ah.
“It seems uninvited guests have arrived to take a look at your faces…”
Hiss…
My body automatically tensed.
Namgung Bia darted a glance back. In this situation, Wi Seol-ah was still fixated on the tree.
It looked like she was under a spell.
Hisss-!!
Bang!
“Ugh!”
Namgung Bia moved her sword again, deflecting another assault. This time she succeeded, but her hands tingled from the impact, feeling much stronger than before.
“If you’re going to speak while looking elsewhere, it’s pointless.”
“…Phew.”
“Child, I hope you’ll focus. This is an important question.”
Swish!
The swords began to orbit around Dae-hwan. An additional sword had been added while Namgung Bia was distracted.
“How did you open this door?”
“….”
Namgung Bia’s brows twitched at the question.
“Six years. This door has never been opened during that time. No matter what I did, I couldn’t open it… How did you manage to open it?”
The locked door. Those words rendered meaningless as Namgung Bia recalled the preceding events. The method to open the door was simple; it just opened when Wi Seol-ah’s fingers brushed against it.
With that in mind, she assessed the current situation.
Wi Seol-ah, possessed, was staring at the tree. The door she opened but could not unlock. Dae-hwan appeared astonished by this.
“…Okay.”
Namgung Bia nodded as realizations hit her.
Had she discerned something?
‘This is difficult….’
No, she simply decided to give up. She’s never been good with complex puzzles in her life.
There was something. That alone was enough to recognize.
Thus, the task for her became quite straightforward.
Gathering her thoughts, Namgung Bia turned to Gyecheonmunju.
“…Curious…?”
“Oh, are you intending to inform me?”
Chirp.
“Huh?”
Gyecheonmunju reacted to Namgung Bia’s actions.
She silently pointed her sword at the old man.
“…If you’re curious….”
The old man narrowed his eyes at the tip of the sword.
“…Try to find out.”
“Haha….”
As always, if the answer eludes you, you fight.
There was no easier option for Namgung Bia than this.
“…Tsk, tsk.”
Dae-hwan shook his head as though feeling genuinely pitiful for Namgung Bia.
Swish-.
The hovering swords halted and aimed their points at Namgung Bia.
“You’ve made a poor choice.”
With those words, four blades rained down upon Namgung Bia.
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