"Ah..."
"..."
After the Gale Division was completely annihilated and the mysterious man passed out.
Neung So-hwa and Jin Choyoung stared at each other in a daze.
"What should we do now, miss?"
"...We need to get out of here first. But before that, we should search their pockets."
"Their pockets?"
"Yes. There might be orders written down, or we could scrounge some traveling money or useful items for later."
"Ah! You're right."
Jin Choyoung and Neung So-hwa searched the Gale Division corpses.
None of them had died pretty, so Jin Choyoung offered to do it alone, but Neung So-hwa shook her head.
"It'll be more efficient if we do it together."
"But miss..."
"I've seen enough corpses already. Seeing a few more won't change anything."
For all her bold words, she couldn't help turning pale as she actually rummaged through the bodies.
'Miss...'
Jin Choyoung's eyes grew misty watching the young girl struggle.
A moment later.
They found no orders or even a scrap of jerky—just some pocket change and minor supplies.
"What a shame. We might have figured out the other pursuers' routes."
"Tell me about it, miss."
They decided to take only the Lightning Flying Daggers as weapons.
The rest were too heavy and would hinder their movement.
"Shall we go now?"
"Wait a moment."
Neung So-hwa's gaze fixed on one spot.
The disheveled man still lying there like he was dead.
It was Jeok Muryong.
"Wouldn't it be better to just... leave him?"
"He's our savior. We can't abandon him like this."
"But..."
Jin Choyoung looked reluctant.
The scene was still burned into her retinas.
'That man definitely ate the Wall Grain Pill the miss dropped...'
He'd devoured it like it was the most delicious thing in the world.
An unsettling sight, to say the least.
His appearance and demeanor weren't exactly trustworthy either.
'He looks like some dangerous prisoner who was locked up somewhere...'
But it was also true that he'd saved them.
Her mind grew more tangled.
"Ah, right."
Neung So-hwa clapped as if struck by a sudden thought.
"The horse carcass we rode in on isn't far. Go fetch some meat from it, Choyoung."
If Jeok Muryong knew, he'd have beaten the ground in lament.
There was a horse carcass not far from them at all—they could have taken meat or blood from it.
Of course, they'd still have clashed with the Gale Division either way.
Jin Choyoung returned with a hunk of meat from the horse carcass.
She wrapped it in a relatively intact piece of cloth.
"I'll carry this."
"No, miss. I can carry it."
"Choyoung, can you carry a person on your back and this too?"
"Carry a person?"
Neung So-hwa glanced at the disheveled man.
"I'd carry him if I could, but that's impossible for me."
"Ah."
So we're taking him after all.
Jin Choyoung, who had been about to persuade her further, changed her mind.
'The pursuers will keep coming. If we can somehow use the power that man showed...'
At this point, nothing to lose.
Jin Choyoung walked over, lifted the man, and hoisted him onto her back.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Sizzle...
The savory aroma of roasting meat teased Jeok Muryong's nose.
He snapped his eyes open from his death-like sleep and bolted upright.
His head whipped around.
Right in front of him, over the campfire, chunks of meat skewered on wooden sticks were browning nicely.
"Meat!"
"Eek!"
Neung So-hwa let out a startled yelp.
Jin Choyoung, fetching firewood, hurriedly reached for the sword at her waist.
Jeok Muryong paid them no mind.
He grabbed the red-hot skewer barehanded and bit into the meat.
It was hot.
His tongue and the roof of his mouth felt like they were cooking.
But it was fine.
Even that searing pain was proof he was alive.
Crunch crunch...
Jeok Muryong tore into the cooked meat with ferocious gusto.
Jin Choyoung, who'd been tense, released her grip on the sword hilt and gathered the fallen firewood.
"Are you alright, hero?"
Neung So-hwa's question.
Jeok Muryong heard but didn't answer.
His mouth, meant for speaking, was fully occupied with eating, so Neung So-hwa waited patiently until he finished.
It didn't take long for the fist-sized hunk to vanish.
Only after licking the grease from his fingers did Jeok Muryong finally look at the two women.
"Any more?"
"Pardon?"
"I asked if there's more."
"Ah..."
Jin Choyoung's expression twisted slightly.
Neung So-hwa spoke to her.
"Roast some more for him, Choyoung."
"...Yes, miss."
Jin Choyoung took out another chunk from the cloth bundle and skewered it on a stick.
Jeok Muryong's eyes never left it.
He wanted to tear into it raw, without waiting.
If not for the previous meal filling his belly, he would have.
'But...'
A belated thought crossed his mind.
Jeok Muryong spoke reluctantly.
"That meat... uh..."
"It's horse meat."
"Ah."
Jeok Muryong nodded.
A bit embarrassed, he added unnecessarily.
"Horse meat, got it."
"It was the horse we rode here. I felt a little bad since it gave out on the way, but people have to survive."
"I see."
"How's your body feeling, hero?"
How could it be fine?
Not only had he woken in a corpse-like state, but he'd even used an advanced technique like pulling from the air.
His qi drain had wrung him dry like a withered tree, pushing his already wrecked body to the brink of the underworld.
Of course, he couldn't whine about it.
He was the Heavenly Demon.
"I'm fine."
"That's a relief. We were so worried."
Worried?
Jeok Muryong furrowed his brow.
He'd never gotten that reaction from anyone.
"Did I... do something wrong?"
"No, nothing."
Jeok Muryong changed the subject.
"Where are we?"
"Still on Heavenly Center Mountain. It was already dark when we escaped Death Valley."
Death Valley?
Was there such a place on Heavenly Center Mountain? Jeok Muryong let it slide for now.
He had mountains of more important questions.
But before that...
Whoosh!
Jeok Muryong lunged at Jin Choyoung and snatched the skewered meat.
"W-Wait! It's not done yet..."
Crunch!
Jeok Muryong bit in regardless.
Jin Choyoung glanced at Neung So-hwa.
"Roast more."
"Ah, yes."
A moment later.
Jeok Muryong devoured every last bit of the horse meat.
Jin Choyoung couldn't hide her dismay anymore.
"Even the share for you, miss..."
"We can always cook more. And I wasn't hungry anyway."
"It's been days since you had a proper meal, miss. That Wall Grain Pill was our last emergency ration, saved till the end..."
"I'm fine. He looks like he hasn't eaten in far longer than days."
Jin Choyoung couldn't argue with that.
He really did.
Meanwhile, Jeok Muryong was panting.
"Huff... huff...!"
His body still gaunt as a skeleton, but his belly bulging out.
Not a sight to show others.
"Oh, right."
Neung So-hwa pulled something out and offered it.
"Clothes, hero. I picked the best ones that might fit your height and build."
Taken from one of the dead escorts.
There was a large bloodstain on the abdomen, but otherwise fine.
Jeok Muryong changed into them.
His old rags disintegrated into dust the moment he took them off.
"Can we talk now?"
Neung So-hwa's question.
Jeok Muryong nodded.
"This Seat has questions first."
This Seat?
Jin Choyoung narrowed her eyes, but Neung So-hwa remained calm.
"Go ahead, hero."
"...First off. Does the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult still stand?"
"Pardon? The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?"
"Yes."
Neung So-hwa and Jin Choyoung exchanged looks.
Visibly confused.
Wondering why, Jeok Muryong waited.
"The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult... disappeared decades ago."
"Decades?"
Jeok Muryong flinched.
Only that much time had passed?
"What of the Heavenly Demon?"
"If you mean Heavenly Demon Yu Geuk-cheon, he died in the bloody battle at Qingcheng Mountain in Sichuan."
"Who?"
"Pardon? Weren't you asking about Heavenly Demon Yu Geuk-cheon?"
"Yu Geuk-cheon?"
A name he'd never heard.
"Wasn't there only one Heavenly Demon?"
"Ah, well..."
"Over a thousand years of murim history, dozens have claimed the title Heavenly Demon."
Jin Choyoung cut in, unable to hold back.
"Before Yu Geuk-cheon, there were Mad Killing Dragon, Golden Demon Shark, Great Moon Immortal, and others who called themselves Heavenly Demon. But truly worthy of the name? One or two at most."
"...Jeok Muryong?"
"Pardon? Who's that?"
"Never mind."
Jeok Muryong shut his mouth.
Clearly, a long time had passed.
He'd steeled himself for it while trapped in the Bottomless Abyss, but feeling it sink in was strange.
'All those orthodox scum and traitors from back then are gone too.'
A touch of emptiness.
Not from failing revenge, but realizing no one even remembered him.
Neung So-hwa waited patiently for him to think, then spoke softly.
"Anything else you're curious about?"
"No."
He had questions, but exhaustion weighed heavy now.
"This Seat will sleep again."
Jeok Muryong continued.
"Prepare proper food by then."
"W-Wait a minute."
Jin Choyoung spoke up.
"The miss and I are being pursued right now. We don't have the luxury to wait idly for you to wake."
"Then carry me."
"Pardon?"
"You carried This Seat here, right? Keep doing that."
"..."
"Don't jostle too much. I need proper rest."
"W-What...?"
What kind of person is this?
Jin Choyoung shot Neung So-hwa a look asking if this was okay. Neung So-hwa smiled wryly.
"Do it, Choyoung."
"Pardon?"
"Rest well, hero. We'll find as much food as we can."
"Good."
Jeok Muryong lay down in a suitable spot and fell into a death-like sleep.
Neung So-hwa gazed down at him.
Jin Choyoung urged her.
"We should move on our own at least, miss."
"No, I think differently."
"Miss...?"
"Tell me, Choyoung. If it was just us, could we have survived today?"
"W-Well..."
"It would have been tough."
Neung So-hwa's eyes deepened.
"And beyond the Gale Division, countless warriors are still chasing us."
"..."
"Breaking through that net with just our strength is nearly impossible. Perhaps..."
Neung So-hwa said.
"Heaven has granted us an opportunity like no other."
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