The Palace Lord Binggung stood by the window.

Her gaze was fixed far away, in the direction of Geom Mugeuk and Chimma’s dwelling.

They had received the report that the fight had started there quite some time ago, but no report had yet come that it had ended.

Though she wanted to rush there immediately, Binggung forced herself to remain calm.

Below the Palace Lord’s Residence outside the window, the Northern Wind Squad—her personally loyal elite unit—was on standby. Not only them, but various other organizations and masters of Binggung were waiting in their designated positions.

Normally, all of them would have been the ones to go fight.

―“Let the demons handle the monster.”

Is it being handled well? Hopefully, it’s not being devoured by the monster.

If that happened—

The Blood King who lost his child would come here for revenge. At that time, no one would be able to stop him.

Hanseol silently watched Binggung like that. Though her figure still faced the window, her mother was different from usual.

First, her attire was different. She wore comfortable martial clothes suited for action, and on her arm was a piece of equipment she normally didn’t wear. Under her sleeve appeared the Great Ice Ring (Daebinghwan), a bracelet that maximizes the power of Binggong.

She was truly prepared to rush into battle at any moment.

Hanseol’s gaze shifted from Binggung to Ian. Unlike her mother, who radiated urgency, Ian seemed completely at peace.

Ian was reading a book—the kind that had been placed on the Palace Lord’s bookshelf. She had asked permission before sitting down to read it. It was the first time anyone had seen someone reading here. They had thought the bookshelf’s books were mere decoration.

“What kind of book are you reading?”

Hanseol walked over and sat in front of Ian.

Ian looked up from the book and met Hanseol’s eyes.

“There is a Master of Martial Arts who loves books. She reads countless books and knows everything. She always says that to excel at martial arts, one must read a lot.”

“Is it a martial arts manual?”

“No, she says to read whatever you want without discrimination.”

She showed Hanseol the book’s cover. Strangely enough, it was a book about house-building techniques in northern regions.

“That helps with martial arts?”

“Who knows? Maybe if you’re running away, you might find a hiding place in one of those houses built that way.”

Hanseol’s face showed she didn’t understand.

“Do I look too carefree? The Little Pill Master is fighting now.”

Once again, Hanseol honestly nodded. If it were her, she probably wouldn’t even notice a book.

“If the Little Pill Master dies, I’d just die following him.”

When Hanseol opened her eyes wide and stared, Ian laughed.

“I’m joking, joking. You have to avenge and then die with him.”

Still silent, Hanseol drew a smile from Ian.

“That was a joke too.”

“Not funny.”

Though it wasn’t a time for jokes, Ian tried to ease her mind.

Outwardly peaceful and carefree, her heart was actually a raging storm.

If she didn’t read, she couldn’t bear it. Her heart pounded so hard that she kept imagining Geom Mugeuk dying at the hands of the enemy.

Repeatedly, she saw scenarios where if she only threw her body just one move earlier, he could have survived.

‘Yeah, this is a side effect of being a long-time bodyguard.’

When Geom Mugeuk had left the sect alone before, she thought vaguely that he would come back safely. But now, standing so close, her worries multiplied a hundredfold.

‘Brother-in-law has been fighting battles like this all along.’

Then Hanseol asked,

“Want some tea?”

“Yes. I’ll prepare it.”

“No, keep reading.”

Hanseol went off to brew tea.

Ian felt uncomfortable just sitting still, so she walked over to Hanseol. As she looked for something to help with, her eyes caught the teaware.

The white teacup had two birds flying depicted on it, but the design was unusual.

“Why are you looking at it like that?”

“I feel like I’ve seen the birds engraved on this cup somewhere before.”

Hanseol glanced at Binggung standing by the window, then back at Ian.

“That can’t be.”

She meant the pattern was original, but Ian still tilted her head.

“I’m sure I saw it.”

Binggung turned her head toward Ian. Her gaze carried a strange light.

Right then—

A subordinate hurriedly came up and reported,

“The fight is over.”

When the three women who had rushed here reached the site of the fight, they were left speechless.

It was a sea of blood. Dozens of corpses lay scattered everywhere, the acrid smell of blood making them want to cover their noses.

At the center of this sea of blood were two people.

Chimma lay on the blood-soaked ground, and Geom Mugeuk leaned against a broken stone lantern, gazing at the sky.

Seeing this, Ian’s heart sank.

She thought Chimma lying on the blood was dead.

But then she heard the sound of snoring. The loud sound said, “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

When Geom Mugeuk saw the three women, he made a shushing gesture. It meant he didn’t want to wake the sleeping Chimma.

Geom Mugeuk had been through this many times too—after fighting with all one’s strength, sleep would come. At that time, one must sleep. Following what the body desperately wants is the best cure. Trust the body of a master.

Seeing the scene in person, Binggung truly realized how serious the fight had been.

If a Master of Martial Arts had been reduced to that state, it showed how strong the enemy must have been.

She checked the nearby corpses.

They were the Blood King’s subordinates who had died at Geom Mugeuk’s hands.

From their well-trained bodies, their martial arts level could be estimated—they were masters. If they had mastered the Self-Destruction Technique, countless Binggung martial artists would have perished.

All their vital points had been sliced clean by the sword.

‘He severed all their blood veins before they could use Self-Destruction Technique.’

Even by the cause of ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) death alone, one could see how great Geom Mugeuk’s martial skill was.

Binggung checked Chimma once more.

Because he lay in blood?

Her feelings of guilt grew stronger. If not for him, many of Binggung’s warriors would have drowned in this blood.

“Let’s return.”

Ian and Hanseol turned around following Binggung.

Before Ian turned, Geom Mugeuk waved his hand with a bright expression, signaling, “I’m okay.”

That gesture and smile calmed the storm raging in Ian’s heart.

She smiled brightly back and then turned away.

Loving someone is not difficult. The truly hard thing is to try and struggle to not lose that person or that feeling.

Because the anxiety of happiness breaking at any moment haunts you every time. The storm in your heart does not cease even the next morning.

Chimma woke to the cold sensation on his cheek.

What fell on his cheek was snow.

Snow was falling from the darkening sky.

Turning his head to the side, he saw Geom Mugeuk looking up at the snow-filled sky.

“You woke up?”

“How long did I sleep?”

“About three hours.”

“Did my mouth turn inside out? In this cold place….”

Chimma stopped speaking. He wasn’t cold. The blood-soaked ground and surroundings were warm.

He understood that Geom Mugeuk had used heat yang energy to warm the area.

As Chimma tried to get up, he screamed.

“Ouch! It hurts. It hurts so much.”

“Want some alcohol?”

“No, I think my head’s going to explode.”

He’d drunk so much during the fight that his hangover was terrible.

“If I drink again…”

“You’re my brother!”

“Yeah, if I drink again, I’m your brother. Ah, my head hurts so much I feel like it’s going to burst.”

Chimma clutched his head and absentmindedly looked down at the ground.

“Ah! What’s this blood? Is that his blood? Did he lay me down here?”

“Don’t you remember anything?”

“Ugh, the smell of blood is awful.”

“You were even smiling while lying there earlier.”

“Are you drunk too?”

Then he looked at his foot and was surprised.

“My foot! Why is it like this?”

A broken bottle was stuck in his sole. He had been fighting drunk and hadn’t noticed his foot being cut.

Chimma pulled the broken glass from his sole.

“Ouch, it hurts. You should have taken this out when I was drunk.”

“If I did that, I would have taken out the shard stuck in your shoulder first.”

Surprised, Chimma looked at his shoulder.

“Ah! What’s this now?”

Only then did he notice a sharp sword fragment embedded in his shoulder.

“When did this get stuck?”

“On the other arm too.”

“Call the doctor! Hurry, call the doctor! Master is hurt!”

Chimma complained loudly.

Geom Mugeuk wouldn’t have just left him lying for several hours. He had checked that none of the wounds damaged bone and secretly put healing energy inside. Fortunately, no internal injuries were found, so he let him sleep.

“A warrior’s wounds are his pride.”

“These wounds are nothing to be proud of.”

Chimma still stared at the blood pooling on the floor.

“He looked handsome and cool on the outside, but he was a pathetic guy inside. He hadn’t even mastered the Self-Destruction Technique.”

Geom Mugeuk was surprised by that fact.

He didn’t know much about the Blood King before the regression, only the cruel acts his subordinates had committed.

“If he weren’t pathetic, he wouldn’t have implanted the Self-Destruction Technique into his subordinates in the first place.”

Chimma nodded in agreement.

Snow began to fall harder. The two looked up at the snow coming from the darkening sky.

“Now, the Original Lord can rest in peace.”

The trouble had started because the Original Lord hadn’t sent wine. It started with Chimma and ended with Chimma.

And at the center of that incident was the most important matter Geom Mugeuk had to solve.

Fate intertwined with the people around him and flowed together.

“Before we go back, let’s have a drink at the snowy mountain peak.”

At Chimma’s words, Geom Mugeuk smiled.

“Alright, brother.”

Chimma washed, ate, and fell asleep again.

The most skilled healer of the Northern Ice Palace came to check on him and prescribed medicine to help his body recover quickly.

While Chimma rested, Geom Mugeuk met with Binggung.

“You worked hard.”

“Not at all. We are truly grateful you allowed us to handle it.”

Binggung had a rough idea, but the question she wanted to ask was:

“Did you learn what his purpose was?”

“The fight was urgent, so I couldn’t hear directly, but I suspect he tried to nullify the Palace Lord’s martial arts using Extreme Cold Body.”

Geom Mugeuk added one guess.

“He searched for the Extreme Cold Body for a long time. If his sole purpose was to harm the Palace Lord, he would have used the Self-Destruction Technique more aggressively. I suspect there was another reason for needing the Extreme Cold Body. Do you have any guesses?”

Hearing this, Binggung thought of one reason. Still, she did not answer immediately because it was information not to be revealed lightly.

She would never tell anyone else, but perhaps Geom Mugeuk was an exception.

“I think he targeted Binggung Vault.”

The Binggung Vault was a place only accessible to those who had mastered the secret martial arts or attained the Extreme Cold Body under the Northern Ice Palace’s Palace Lord.

“Ordinary people can never withstand the cold there.”

“Then it certainly seems he aimed for the Binggung Vault.”

With his specific purpose revealed, Binggung’s heart grew cold.

She regretted not killing the man herself.

At the same time, she thought:

If Geom Mugeuk and Chimma hadn’t come to the North Sea? If they hadn’t killed Elder Seo and stolen the Extreme Cold Body? If they hadn’t uncovered the alliance between the Northern Blood Gate and those men?

Could they have withstood their conspiracy?

She could not answer with confidence.

If they couldn’t stop it, she and Hanseol would have died, and the Northern Ice Palace would have been lost to them.

That was why she had no regrets toward Geom Mugeuk.

“Is there anything you want? If so, I’ll grant it.”

After a moment’s thought, Geom Mugeuk said,

“There is one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Please allow me to choose one treasure from the Binggung Vault.”

It was an unexpected request.

“What do you want? If you say it, I’ll give it to you. Elixirs, swords—anything.”

“No. I want to enter and see it myself.”

Because of the secret burial box. The Black Regime had acquired the Black Spirit, and the Satan Alliance had obtained the Blue Spirit. He hoped maybe he could get something related here too. This was a rare chance.

“Didn’t I say? If you’re not the Extreme Cold Body, you can’t enter.”

Geom Mugeuk smiled mysteriously.

“I’m resistant to cold.”

Binggung, thinking he wouldn’t joke about such things, asked carefully,

“Are you the Extreme Cold Body too?”

“No.”

“Then you can’t enter. Absolutely not.”

Though she said “absolutely,” Geom Mugeuk said confidently,

“Trust me once.”

Could there be a martial art that blocks cold? Even so, it would be impossible to completely withstand the cold there.

“I endured my father’s cold and harsh disapproval.”

“This is no time for jokes. You could die if you go.”

Binggung was sure Geom Mugeuk absolutely could not enter. Still, since he saved Binggung, and because she was curious why he wanted to go, she wanted to firmly break this reckless stubbornness.

“Go. I’ll hear your regrets and reflections when you return alive.”

Geom Mugeuk stepped forward and said,

“When people come to the North Sea, everyone has at least one experience of their heart freezing and stopping, right?”