The expressions of the three hostages stiffened all at once at the words heard from outside.

“The correct answer?”

If they had any sense, the rescue team coming to save them wouldn’t have knocked politely on the door like that. They would have broken it down and stormed in.

Most importantly, the woman’s face was full of joy.

‘Damn it! That’s someone from our side!’

Yangjung let out a deep sigh.

“But who on earth could make her that happy?”

Creak—

The door opened, and Ian lunged at the person standing there.

“Master!”

Without hesitation, she threw herself into Geom Mugeuk’s arms.

“I’ve missed you!”

Though she had hugged Geom Mugeuk several times before, never had she been as happy or relieved as today.

Yes, the right person had arrived!

No, even if it was the wrong person, what did it matter? It was Geom Mugeuk. In this difficult situation, Geom Mugeuk had appeared just in time.

Watching this, the three hostages felt fear at the arrival of these new people, but at the same time, they envied the man.

‘Who on earth is he that this beautiful woman is so happy?’

Looking at his face, he was a young and handsome man.

Ian noticed too late Chwima standing behind Geom Mugeuk, watching her.

“Ah! Lord Chwima!”

Startled, Ian’s face turned red as she pulled away from Geom Mugeuk.

The woman who had just moments ago threatened to cut off arms or throats now showed such a shy side!

But that was not the problem for the three people now.

“Chwima?”

The three captives exchanged puzzled glances. Their expressions asked, ‘Did I hear wrong?’ because there was only one Chwima they knew.

Their eyes returned to Chwima, silently hoping they had misunderstood.

The handsome middle-aged man didn’t display any special aura but somehow drew their gaze irresistibly. Their eyes, which looked into his vaguely decadent and hollow stare, drifted down to the sake bottle at his waist.

One thing they knew for certain: Chwima’s infamous weapon was that sake bottle.

‘We didn’t hear wrong!’

A chill ran down their spines.

‘The Demon is here? Here? Why?’

The terror the Demon instilled in the martial world was tremendous. When Chwima glanced at them, the three all bowed their heads simultaneously, avoiding his gaze.

Chwima looked at Geom Mugeuk with eyes that said,

“If it’s me, I’ll take your scolding, but once I’m out, this is what you get.”

Geom Mugeuk smiled at him. Though he acted calm outwardly, knowing Chwima’s mood wasn’t good, he tried to smile at him often.

Geom Mugeuk asked Ian,

“Who exactly were you trying to save?”

“As expected! You knew without me telling.”

Ian explained why she had come all this way. On her way to where Seo-jin, the younger sibling of the spirit wielder, was held, she had coincidentally met a woman, and things began from there.

“…I ended up coming here after hearing her story over a glass of water. I guess I paid a high price for that water.”

Geom Mugeuk understood. This clearly explained the kind of person Ian was.

She hadn’t risked herself just as a guard or to save him alone. Because she was this kind of person, she willingly risked her life.

“Has it always been this difficult to handle such matters? I always thought it was easy because the Master solved things so quickly.”

Ian sighed as she looked at the three people she had kidnapped. Until she brought them in, everything seemed fine. She thought it would be simple: exchange the hostages and leave with the rescued.

“How could I have known? That he would abandon even his own child. I was even considering just killing the interest collectors and leaving.”

Those harsh words, spoken without feeling, were meant to be heard by the three captured men. No matter how they were treated, a fearful atmosphere had to be created.

Geom Mugeuk took over the situation.

“Will you leave the rest to me?”

“Please do!”

If it was Geom Mugeuk, what was there to worry about? Even if things went wrong, what did it matter? To her, Geom Mugeuk was that kind of person.

Geom Mugeuk approached the three and whispered quietly,

“If I hadn’t come, you’d have been in big trouble. That pretty woman—she’s terrifying when she gets going.”

From behind, Ian said,

“I can hear everything.”

At that moment, all three thought similarly.

‘Who is this young man? One of Chwima’s subordinates?’

It didn’t feel like it. Judging from the woman calling him “Master,” he seemed to be of high status…

But no matter how you looked, he didn’t seem to have mastered martial arts. His appearance and demeanor were exactly those of a noble’s son. Would a noble’s son consort with a Demon and do such things?

In any case, the task was clear. Yangjung resolved that he must survive by using this unexpected factor.

‘I’m going to use this guy to survive.’

Yangjung politely asked,

“Who might you be, sir?”

Suppressing the urge to curse “Who the hell are you?” he behaved as politely as possible.

“I am the life-saving benefactor who will rescue you.”

Though incomprehensible, at least he said he would save them. This was the moment to grasp.

“If you save me, I’ll grant you whatever you wish.”

“Anything?”

“Yes. If you want money, I’ll give you money. If you want martial arts, I’ll teach you the techniques of our sect. If you want fame, I’ll even give you that.”

He made many promises that might or might not come true. When your life is at stake, what can’t you say?

Ian smiled faintly behind him. Who would give money to whom, or teach martial arts to whom? And as for fame, none of their sect combined would reach his level.

“Can I have all three?”

“I will give you all three!”

But soon, Geom Mugeuk grew suspicious.

“But didn’t your father refuse the hostage exchange? Would such a person give money or teach martial arts?”

“That is...!”

This was truly the most humiliating and infuriating part of Yangjung’s life.

At that moment, Geom Mugeuk made a subtle proposal.

“How about this? Tell us where those we need to save are imprisoned. We’ll rescue them. Then you let us go. After all, our goal is to save those people.”

Hearing that, Ian realized.

‘Ah! That was the right answer.’

Coax the author to reveal where they are held and rescue them personally.

‘Why didn’t I think of this simple idea before?’

It was obvious they should have thought of this plan first. Yet surprisingly, they hadn’t.

They had been fixated only on exchanging hostages. The other party was a ruthless person who abandoned even their own child, while they themselves were stuck on a fair swap. No wonder things didn’t go well.

If Geom Mugeuk hadn’t come, one day in the distant future, Ian would have been tossing off the covers, thinking, “Why didn’t I think of this?”

‘Indeed, being with the Little Pill Master brings peace of mind.’

At that moment, Ian met Chwima’s gaze. It was as if Chwima silently said, ‘I feel the same way.’

Right now, she could watch comfortably, but if the reckless Little Pill Master caused trouble, and they had to clean up after him? That was a thought she didn’t want to entertain.

“We just have to survive for now, right?”

Geom Mugeuk’s coaxing was also for Ian’s sake. She must want to rescue the captured woman’s husband and the others.

The problem was, even if Yangjung were released, the North Blood Sect would never let them go. If they intended to release them, they would have agreed to the hostage exchange in the first place.

According to Ian, they had gathered people with unusual constitutions, as if testing something.

They must be scheming something that cannot be revealed outside.

Yangjung, still troubled, spoke cautiously.

“They have probably moved those people already.”

He was halfway through speaking.

“You know where they might have been moved to, right?”

Of course, Yangjung had rough guesses.

“Even if you tell me, the tight security will prevent any rescue.”

Geom Mugeuk looked back at Chwima and said,

“Didn’t you hear who I was earlier?”

Yangjung’s heart began pounding. Chwima was frightening, and he feared he would end up confessing everything.

“Besides, if we go and get caught, that would be better for you, right? Afraid of being treated like a traitor? You can say later that you gave away the location to trap us.”

Geom Mugeuk even prepared an escape route.

“If you really tell me, will you let us go?”

“We’ll let you go.”

“How can I believe that?”

“I’m promising you that I will.”

Looking into those clear eyes and that kind, handsome face, it seemed he would keep his promise. But how can you trust someone just by their looks? After all, they didn’t even know who this person was yet.

As the hesitation dragged on, Geom Mugeuk coldly turned away.

“Then just die. What are you waiting for? Kill them all!”

At Geom Mugeuk’s order, Ian drew her sword and approached the three. A resolute killing intent radiated from her without hesitation, causing Yangjung to shout urgently.

“I’ll talk!”

Yangjung finally confessed the location. Not just one place, but several likely locations.

“If the places I said are right, you’ll wake up in one of the four rooms of the North Blood Sect.”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three simultaneous gusts of wind flew out, suppressing their vital points. They immediately fell asleep.

Of course, just because the location was right didn’t mean they intended to release them. They still had to deal with Binggung and extract what they could from there.

That wasn’t all. Punishment for whatever the North Blood Sect had planned still remained.

Ian sighed and said,

“Why couldn’t I think of this from the start?”

“You might have, but it wouldn’t have worked.”

“Excuse me? What do you mean?”

“They would never have confessed. They would have denied everything to the end. And you’re not the type to torture people.”

“Ah! So they confessed because they knew their father had abandoned them!”

“That’s right.”

“I didn’t think of that either! Why does the answer always avoid me!”

Ian looked at Geom Mugeuk with newfound admiration.

Geom Mugeuk didn’t forget to brag.

“I always enjoy seeing the look of respect in your eyes.”

After the banter, the three were brought outside.

Outside, the snow, which had briefly stopped, was falling heavily again.

“We sure get to see a lot of snow.”

Ian looked up at the sky with a bright face. Geom Mugeuk noticed anew how well Ian suited winter.

Ian ran out into the snow-covered yard.

Watching Ian bounding around like an excited puppy, Geom Mugeuk said to Chwima,

“Handle rescuing those people. I’ll go see the Little Palace Master.”

Chwima silently nodded and walked off into the snow without a word.

Ian stopped for a moment to watch Chwima. Maybe because she had never properly seen his back before, or because of the heavy snowfall, Ian thought the lone figure walking into the snow looked somehow lonely.

“Is it really a problem that can be solved with just ‘handle it yourself’?”

“Why else would the Demon be the Demon?”

“Thanks to that, I’m free now!”

Ian flopped down onto the snowfield.

Geom Mugeuk looked up at the snow-filled sky and said,

“Sorry, but this is just the beginning.”

Geom Mugeuk’s summons brought Hanseol and Chan to the meeting place.

Two people were waiting there.

The moment Hanseol saw the woman standing with Geom Mugeuk, she sensed something. The woman, wearing a death mask and a face veil, was the subordinate who had kidnapped the North Blood Sect leader’s child.

‘The subordinate is a woman.’

They were talking comfortably. Even from a distance, their relaxed relationship was obvious. They looked like friends or siblings.

‘Still no authority.’

Whether in front of Chwima or in this situation.

Naturally, doubts arose whether the rumors and achievements about the Little Pill Master were exaggerated. The Demon Sect could easily fabricate such stories.

When Hanseol approached them, Ian respectfully bowed with folded hands.

“It is an honor to meet the Little Palace Master.”

Hanseol nodded slightly in acknowledgment. The subordinate’s expression showed that she was just a subordinate.

Geom Mugeuk did not feel any coldness or arrogance from her attitude. What he sensed instead was emptiness.

“Why did you want to meet?”

In response to Hanseol’s question, Geom Mugeuk immediately got to the point.

“We will return the North Blood Sect leader’s child.”

With a hopeful expectation that things might go well, Hanseol calmly asked,

“Of course, there will be conditions?”

“Of course.”

“Please say them.”

“First, you must not hold my subordinate responsible for the kidnapping.”

Hanseol glanced briefly at Ian, then back to Geom Mugeuk.

“I wonder if the North Blood Sect will accept that.”

Though she said this, the North Blood Sect had no choice but to accept. They could blame the storm but could not confront it head-on in anger.

“Fine. We accept. Where is Young Master Yang?”

“There’s one more condition.”

“What is it?”

“Allow us to stay at Binggung. We want to investigate the death of the Baekju Snow Plain’s master.”

Hanseol firmly refused.

“Our palace does not allow outsiders to stay.”

“Those are my only two conditions.”

“That’s not for me to decide. I’ll discuss with the Palace Master and inform you.”

Just as Hanseol was about to turn away, Geom Mugeuk said,

“You can decide this yourself. How about you make the decision and persuade the Palace Master? As the Little Palace Master, you have at least this much authority, don’t you?”

It was a provocation, but Hanseol did not defend her pride.

“I don’t have that authority.”

“Take this chance to get it.”

Hanseol’s eyes grew cold.

“Isn’t that a transparent scheme?”

“I see it as an opportunity for the Little Palace Master.”

“What opportunity?”

“To formally negotiate with the Demon Sect’s Little Pill Master. The Palace Master will watch the process and outcome. She might even be looking forward to it. To see you take the lead on this matter.”

Suddenly Hanseol imagined reporting this.

“This matter was decided independently by me. Please trust and support me, Palace Master.”

What would her mother say when she heard this?

That was the problem. She had no idea. She still didn’t know what kind of person her mother was.

“I will contact you again.”

As she turned to leave, Geom Mugeuk said,

“May I say something?”

Ian, who had been silent until now, stepped forward. She slowly removed her death mask and veil.

Hanseol could not take her eyes off Ian’s face for a moment. It wasn’t admiration for beauty.

Hanseol had one thought.

She is someone of a different kind.

When had she ever thought that? Maybe long ago to her mother?

At the same time, a question rose in her mind: Why did she feel such a deep resonance looking at a mere subordinate of the Demon Sect’s Little Pill Master? She couldn’t understand it herself.

“What is it that you want to say?”

It was the moment the cold and warm, contrasting gazes of the ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) two women met for the first time.