Had I ever been this excited recently?

My heart pounded wildly.

Hwa Mugi.

At last, the moment to see your fragment has come.

Where are you now, and what are you doing? How strong are you at this moment?

Thinking of him, rage boiled inside me like molten lava. Had he sensed that fierce emotion?

Sssssssst.

Branches stretched out from all sides, pressing toward Geom Mugeuk. Hundreds, thousands of branches—an attack impossible to dodge or cut through completely.

At that very moment!

Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!

Something appeared in four directions—front, back, left, and right—around Geom Mugeuk. To his astonishment, they were the four evil spirits of the Flame Demon Martial Art’s First Technique, Annihilation Form.

The evil spirits formed a shield like a barrier, blocking the branches which dared not approach and retreated. They were intimidated by the fierce aura radiating from the spirits.

Geom Mugeuk had never expected these four evil spirits to emerge from the Wood King’s qi and protect him. Fierce, handsome, mysterious, and clever beings. If they are like this, then what might the Cheonma Soul be?

At the same time, Baek Cheon-gyeong was sinking deeper into the abyss.

‘Such qi at such a young age?’

No matter how deep he went, there was no end. Just as Geom Mugeuk walked endlessly into the forest, Baek Cheon-gyeong swam down into the endless abyss.

He wondered what might lie at the end of that darkness.

His instincts warned him: going further is dangerous.

But Baek Cheon-gyeong couldn’t suppress his curiosity. He felt a strong premonition that something tremendous was buried deep in that darkness.

Breathless, under mounting pressure that threatened to burst his body, Baek Cheon-gyeong kept descending.

Just as he thought he could no longer endure and was about to give up—

Snap—the world seemed to turn off and on again.

Baek Cheon-gyeong found himself standing in the middle of a battlefield. Blood flowed like a river and corpses lay scattered everywhere—human, evil spirit, demon. No one alive. Or rather, one person remained.

A man stood with his back turned, looking up at the sky.

Was it Geom Mugeuk?

But the man’s back was that of someone who had overcome all the hardships of the world. No matter how young the Demon Sect’s Little Pill Master was, he could not possibly have such a back worn by time.

Then who was it?

Just as he tilted his head in confusion,

The space vanished, and Baek Cheon-gyeong was back in the deep abyss.

Swoooosh.

And suddenly he was pulled upward toward the surface at terrifying speed. The abyss spat him out in an instant, and Geom Mugeuk’s qi disappeared.

At the same moment, Baek Cheon-gyeong’s qi vanished as well.

Both Geom Mugeuk in the forest and Baek Cheon-gyeong in the water returned to reality.

They silently stared at each other.

Geom Mugeuk’s chest still throbbed wildly.

Follower of Flame Demon.

What are you doing here now?

There were so many things he wanted to ask him. But none must be asked.

Whether to kill or spare him, to probe his background or not, one must be cautious when it concerns Flame Demon.

Changing his boiling anger into a composed smile, Geom Mugeuk greeted first.

“I am Geom Mugeuk from the Demon Sect.”

“Baek Cheon-gyeong.”

He said no more than the name.

“I heard from your disciple on the way.”

Baek Cheon-gyeong’s gaze turned toward Jin Ha-gun. At that moment, Jin Ha-gun felt tense inside, worried about what Geom Mugeuk might say.

“What did he say?”

“That he is the one he trusts most.”

Baek Cheon-gyeong shifted his gaze from Jin Ha-gun back to Geom Mugeuk.

“You came to see Ha-ryeong?”

“I came a long way to see the one I love.”

To Baek Cheon-gyeong, that sounded like a joke. He stared into Geom Mugeuk’s eyes with his narrow, long eyes. Looking into those deep eyes, the man’s back he had seen in the qi earlier overlapped with Geom Mugeuk’s.

This young, bright figure and the man in the qi looked so different.

‘Who is that man?’

Baek Cheon-gyeong walked to the table prepared for guests.

“Sit down. Since you’ve come, I’ll serve some tea.”

“I will serve, master.”

“I will. Sit still.”

“Yes, master.”

Jin Ha-gun sat with Geom Mugeuk but avoided eye contact entirely. He focused intently on the atmosphere flowing between Geom Mugeuk and the master.

Baek Cheon-gyeong brought tea.

“Thank you.”

Geom Mugeuk tasted the tea. Baek Cheon-gyeong asked after noticing he drank without checking for poison.

“What if it was poisoned?”

“Did you put poison in it?”

He sipped again.

Jin Ha-gun sensed a subtle nerve battle unfolding in this seemingly trivial conversation.

While drinking, Geom Mugeuk glanced around the workshop.

“You like woodcraft, don’t you?”

The workshop was decorated with Baek Cheon-gyeong’s carvings. Without mastery of Flame Demon Martial Art, one could never sense the aura exuding from the works.

Only after fighting would one know how those carved wooden tigers might transform and charge.

At that moment, Geom Mugeuk’s gaze shifted to a display covered in black cloth.

“What’s under there? May I open it?”

Baek Cheon-gyeong said nothing. Geom Mugeuk rose and walked over. Since he didn’t stop him, Geom Mugeuk took it as permission.

He pulled off the cloth covering the display.

The dolls were still fighting, but Jin Ha-gun noticed a change.

‘The dolls’ positions have changed!’

The hero doll Baek Cheon-gyeong had called Geom Mugeuk was now on the opposite side, right beside the fallen Jin Ha-gun doll.

In the spot where the hero doll originally stood, a new doll stood. From its appearance and features, it was undoubtedly Baek Cheon-gyeong himself.

In the end, Baek Cheon-gyeong was speaking through the dolls. He believed Geom Mugeuk and Jin Ha-gun were on the same side.

When the cloth was lifted, Baek Cheon-gyeong revealed his true thoughts.

“Little Pill Master, have you come to kill me?”

Baek Cheon-gyeong did not believe that Geom Mugeuk had come because of Jin Ha-ryeong. This question could only be asked if he thought Geom Mugeuk was targeting him.

Even at the sudden question, Geom Mugeuk did not falter.

“If you thought that, why did you allow this meeting?”

“If the Demon /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ Sect tried to kill me, where in this martial world would I hide?”

When Baek Cheon-gyeong looked at him, Jin Ha-gun showed his grievance.

“You don’t trust me to the end.”

While examining the dolls on the display, Geom Mugeuk said,

“Your master probably never truly liked a woman. Don’t worry. I came to see Jin Sojeo in the Martial Alliance. If I had come to kill you, would I have gone through such an unnecessary and complicated process? Don’t forget who I am, the Little Pill Master.”

That was why this meeting was arranged. To know exactly what Geom Mugeuk’s intentions were.

“By the way, your doll-making skills are impressive.”

Geom Mugeuk bent down to look closely at the dolls.

“They look as if they could come alive and jump out any moment.”

Geom Mugeuk knew these small wooden dolls were the most fearsome beings here, more than any other craftwork. He wasn’t making dolls; he was carving subordinates. Surely, these were not the only ones he had carved in his lifetime.

Then Geom Mugeuk pointed at one doll and asked.

“Who is this doll?”

The doll Geom Mugeuk pointed to was not the hero doll, nor the Jin Ha-gun doll, nor the Baek Cheon-gyeong doll facing off against them. It was one among the many others.

“This doll alone has no carved face.”

It was the faceless doll he had seen in Baek Cheon-gyeong’s qi. It must have some meaning.

“Who did you make it for? Yourself?”

Surprise flickered across Baek Cheon-gyeong’s face. He seemed amazed that Geom Mugeuk had focused on exactly that doll among so many.

“Anyone it could be.”

Baek Cheon-gyeong answered, and Geom Mugeuk leaned in to look closer.

“Only this one seems untouched by the battle.”

Even without expression, the doll exuded composure.

From behind, Baek Cheon-gyeong asked,

“If there are fighters, there must be watchers too. Are you a fighter or a watcher?”

Geom Mugeuk watched the dolls for a moment then picked up one—the Jin Ha-gun doll lying beside the hero doll.

He looked back and forth between the doll and Jin Ha-gun. Anyone could tell it was made for Jin Ha-gun.

Geom Mugeuk stood the Jin Ha-gun doll next to the hero doll.

He showed that Jin Ha-gun was neither a fighter nor a watcher, but someone who stood others up.

Jin Ha-gun looked at his doll standing upright. Though it was nothing, his heart tightened for some reason.

No, it was not nothing at all. It was the master who had taught him for ten years carving the doll, only to have it fallen over.

“Well seen.”

Geom Mugeuk covered the display case again with the cloth and turned toward Baek Cheon-gyeong.

“The reason I came today is because the Demon Sect Grandmaster insisted I must meet you to see Jin Sojeo. Now, say what you need to say. I must go meet Jin Sojeo.”

Jin Ha-gun sent a telepathic message to Baek Cheon-gyeong.

―Master, please speak clearly so he gets scared.

Baek Cheon-gyeong said nothing in response, instead turning his gaze to look outside the window.

“If you have nothing to say, then I will leave.”

Without hesitation, Geom Mugeuk walked out.

Jin Ha-gun wanted to stay and ask why Baek Cheon-gyeong said nothing, but Baek Cheon-gyeong still stared out the window. The spirit guarding the place told Jin Ha-gun to stop bothering him, so he quietly left as well.

Outside, Jin Ha-gun walked alongside Geom Mugeuk. Once away from the workshop, Jin Ha-gun finally asked.

“Should he be killed, or spared?”

Jin Ha-gun was curious about Geom Mugeuk’s opinion of the master.

“You said you don’t trust my words?”

“I’ll just take them as reference.”

Of course, he was someone who should be killed.

But instead of answering, Geom Mugeuk showed Jin Ha-gun what he held in his hand.

“When did you take this out?”

Jin Ha-gun was startled because what Geom Mugeuk held was the doll from the display case—the faceless doll.

“Why did you bring it out?”

Geom Mugeuk stared at the doll carefully.

“Aren’t you curious? For whom was this doll made?”

“If I were curious, I should have left it there.”

“I might carve the face myself.”

“What?”

Jin Ha-gun never understood Geom Mugeuk—truly an enigma.

“One thing’s for sure: your master isn’t ordinary. At least, it’s clear he should never become the master of the Martial Alliance Leader’s grandson.”

“Did you exchange telepathic messages with the master?”

Geom Mugeuk shook his head.

“Then what made you think that about him?”

“Honestly, after just one meeting, I don’t know if he’s a villain who should be killed.”

Of course, he would die by Geom Mugeuk’s hand. It was only a matter of when and how.

“But his attitude toward you was a problem.”

Geom Mugeuk pointed out what Jin Ha-gun could easily understand.

“The way he looked at you and treated you was not that of master and disciple. Cold and distant. Even if you made a grave mistake, he should have covered for you in front of others. But your master focused only on me. No, he focused on himself. That man does not regard you as a disciple.”

Jin Ha-gun thought he would feel relief once he heard the conclusion. But his heart remained the same.

This time, Geom Mugeuk asked.

“How did you see your master? You must have had many thoughts.”

Jin Ha-gun answered honestly.

“I don’t know. I still doubt my master, and I doubt you too.”

The feeling of being lost came from this very point. He sensed his master had changed and his survival instincts kicked in, but without proof that the master was evil, he called Geom Mugeuk. He wondered if he was being used or misjudging. Those thoughts trapped him in a fog.

Geom Mugeuk calmly said as if understanding him.

“That’s why it’s better to have a definite enemy than a vague friend.”

Jin Ha-gun realized he was struggling because he didn’t know who was friend or foe. Why must the one to awaken him be the Demon Sect’s Little Pill Master?

Geom Mugeuk stopped at a fork in the road.

“Go ahead first. I have somewhere to visit for a moment.”

“Where are you going?”

Instead of answering, Geom Mugeuk said unexpectedly,

“My claim that I have a good sense of direction and don’t get lost is a lie.”

This was what he wanted to say to Jin Ha-gun.

“I fumble and wander, and there are many times I lose my way. That’s why I dislike those who loudly claim this path is the only right one.”

“Why say that all of a sudden?”

“It just suddenly came to mind.”

After saying this, Geom Mugeuk flew away with lightness.

Watching him vanish like a dot, Jin Ha-gun looked up at the sky. He recalled Geom Mugeuk’s words about asking people for directions, looking at the sky, and if all else failed…

This was madness, he thought, as he took off his shoe.

Then he threw it upward. The shoe landed pointing toward the direction Geom Mugeuk had disappeared.

‘Of all things.’

Did even coincidence follow Geom Mugeuk? No way. The first round is just practice.

Jin Ha-gun threw his shoe again, higher this time. Yet coincidence repeated. He threw and threw.

Finally, when the direction he wanted appeared, he put the shoe back on.

“You really fumbled and wandered well. Don’t comfort me. I’ll find the way with my own strength.”

Jin Ha-gun stepped out strongly toward his dwelling.

Though he tried not to think about it, his mind kept returning to his fallen doll.