Chapter 191: Old Dog
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 191: Old Dog
Rustle.
Black ashes scattered into the wind, swept away by the flames I’d deliberately let run wild.
“K…Kill… Me…”
After hearing the bastard’s desperate plea, I obliged.
Crack.
A twist of his neck, and it was over.
Even if I’d left him, death was inevitable. His fate was sealed the moment he crossed me.
Controlling my power is harder than it used to be.
In the past, I would have drawn out the suffering, applying just enough force to torment without killing. But that kind of finesse was beyond me now.
[…You’ve turned this place into a small battlefield.]
Elder Shin’s voice echoed in my mind as he surveyed the aftermath.
A battlefield? I supposed it did look the part.
Patches of flame, tinged with a sickly green, still flickered, casting long, dancing shadows. The air was thick with the stench of charred flesh and something more unnatural—the scent of the unknown, emanating from the corpses claimed by my fire.
One had disintegrated completely when I drained him dry. The other five were reduced to ash. Combined with the one I’d turned to dust earlier, that made seven.
…Just how many of these rats are there?
I’d known there was more than one, but to think there were multiple bastards capable of perfectly mimicking anyone’s appearance… This was a detail I hadn’t known in my past life.
Did I at least get all of them for now?
The death I’d given them was anything but peaceful. Yet, my brow remained furrowed with dissatisfaction.
It wasn’t guilt. Too much time had passed for me to feel anything from mere killing.
I didn’t get much out of this.
That was the source of my irritation.
There were five mouths I could have forced to talk, but the information I’d wrung from them was pitiful. It wasn’t that they refused to speak; they simply couldn’t provide the specifics I needed.
More likely, they were incapable of speaking at all.
That damned Shackle.
Those entrusted with vital secrets were always fitted with one. Its complexities made extracting information a fool’s errand.
The only solid fact I got is that they’re from the Gu Clan.
I hadn’t recognized their faces, but that was meaningless. I didn’t know every martial artist in my clan by sight.
However, the unique energy clinging to them was unmistakably Gu Sunmoon’s.
It was the same peculiar Qi that Gu Jeolyub and the First Elder possessed—different from the Destructive Flame Qi inherent to the Gu Clan’s direct bloodline. I’d learned this from the third man, just after I’d finished burning the second.
It was an expected confirmation, and therefore, not particularly helpful.
But why were they working with other strange bastards?
I couldn’t get an answer because they themselves didn’t know. They were mere pawns, following orders from above, believing their masks were for concealment.
Of course, that could also be a lie.
The possibility existed, but it held little weight. My focus wasn’t on why I, a direct descendant, was being targeted. In a world where you couldn’t even trust your own blood, placing faith in that man was unthinkable.
The bottom line is that I got no real intelligence.
I’d gathered some useful scraps, but the crucial pieces were missing. I couldn’t definitively confirm the First Elder was behind it all.
It would be so much easier if I could break their Shackles.
To shatter a Shackle placed on another, one needed a higher martial realm than the caster and an extremely precise control over Qi. At my current level, attempting such a thing was laughable. My style, honed over a past life, favored overwhelming force over delicate manipulation. Precision was never my forte.
That bastard is better at this stuff than me.
The mad dog from the Wudang Clan, the one who’d shown such interest in the Shackle—the Sleeping Dragon of Wudang would be far more suited to the task than I.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue and stood up. As I did, I recalled all the Qi I had dispersed into the surroundings.
Whoosh!
A light breeze accompanied the energy returning to my body, and the lingering flames snuffed out instantly.
I hadn’t found a convenient excuse to use from this incident, but it hardly mattered.
“I could just make one up if I have to.”
The important thing was that he had finally started to bare his fangs at me.
“Even after I gave him a perfectly clear warning.”
I’d explicitly told the old fox what happens to a pet that threatens its owner. It seemed the message hadn’t sunk in.
[Are you thinking of getting rid of him? That old man?]
Elder Shin’s question gave me pause.
“I wanted to leave him alive until next year… but what choice does he leave me if he comes at me like this?”
My initial plan was to let his minor schemes slide. But this crossed a line.
He went after people close to me. I can’t let that pass.
[…So, you’re saying you were okay letting him go until he went after your bride?]
I said ‘people close to me.’ Must you twist my words?
[You’re not even commenting on the fact that I called her your bride, you rotting piece of shit.]
Arguing would only lead to more curses. I decided to ignore him.
I brushed the dust from my clothes and scanned the area.
Not even demons would try to eat this.
The corpses were burnt black, rendered into a state so foul that no creature, demonic or otherwise, would find them palatable.
I dialed back my heightened senses and was about to head back to camp when I felt a presence behind me.
“Ah.”
I turned. It was Namgung Bi-ah, who had gone ahead to the camp. She’d said she would return, and she’d kept her word.
I stared at her. “Why did you come? I was just about to leave.”
Namgung Bi-ah offered no reply, only quiet, ragged panting. She must have run here in a extreme hurry; her hair, which had been neatly styled by a servant, was now a disheveled mess. Leaves were tangled in it, reminding me of when we first met.
She really rushed back.
As that thought crossed my mind, she spoke, her voice breathy. “…Are you… okay?”
I nodded. I wasn’t injured. Didn’t I look fine?
“I’m a bit past the age of getting beaten up.”
I said it jokingly, but Namgung Bi-ah stepped forward, unconvinced, and began poking me various places.
“Hey, what’s with you?”
“…You might be… hurt.”
“I’m fine. And I told you to protect Wi Seol-Ah back there.” Why was she poking me to check for injuries? I took a slight step back. “And why poke me? If you’re worried, just say so.”
Namgung Bi-ah averted her eyes slightly. “Nothing… happened.”
Well, that was good. I’d been fairly certain their target wasn’t the camp to begin with.
It seems it wasn’t an assassination attempt after all.
Too many things didn’t add up. First, the people they sent were far too weak for such a mission. If they’d been tailing me since Hanam, they would have known about my performance in the tournament. Sending a team of mere First-Rate martial artists was suicidal.
They were skilled in shadowing, yes, but assassination was a different art entirely. To kill me, they would have needed far greater preparation.
Though I doubt they expected Namgung Bi-ah and I to catch them.
I was an exception, but I’d been genuinely shocked that Namgung Bi-ah had seen through their disguise.
I’d used a treasure to sense them, but how had she managed it on her own?
“How did you know it wasn’t Muyeon?”
“Hmm…?”
“I was shocked you were so certain.” The imposter had worn the same uniform, and his appearance and aura were perfect copies. The energy within would have been different, but sensing that required physical contact or a Transcendent Realm cultivation.
Namgung Bi-ah rolled her pearl-like eyes, thinking. “He smelled different,” she finally answered.
Smell…?
I looked at her, surprised by the unexpected answer. She wasn’t looking at me, but was instead gazing around at the blackened earth and the corpses I’d left behind. Finally, her eyes met mine. Her face was mostly expressionless, but there was a faint, unreadable emotion in her gaze.
“I’m cold,” she said suddenly.
“Hmm?”
“Let’s go back now.” She stepped forward, grabbed my hand, and started pulling me along.
I was taken aback by the sudden contact, but I didn’t shake her off. “Where are we going?”
She stopped. “…Where people are…?” she answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
I sighed. “…Then we have to go the other way, dummy.”
“…Oh!”
She immediately changed direction. Unfortunately, she still got it wrong, so in the end, I was the one who had to lead her back to the camp.
* * *
“Young Master!”
The moment we returned, Wi Seol-Ah rushed toward me and threw her arms around me. I caught her carefully, softening her impact so she wouldn’t get hurt.
“Are you okay…?” she asked, her voice muffled against my chest.
“You can see that I am.”
Holding Wi Seol-Ah, I scanned our surroundings. Thankfully, as I’d expected, nothing seemed to have happened here. However, the atmosphere was noticeably more tense. The escorts from my clan, and even those from the Tang Clan, were on high alert.
Namgung Bi-ah must have informed them.
Tang Soyeol noticed me from a distance and approached. “Young Master Gu. I heard you were ambushed… You are unharmed, I hope?”
“It wasn’t truly dangerous. Nothing happened here, right?”
“Yes, we only received the news. There were no issues here. And… the ones who ambushed you…?”
“I killed them all. I tried to make them talk, but it was impossible. They had Shackles on them.”
I stated it plainly. The people nearby flinched, visibly shocked that someone my age could speak so casually of taking lives.
“…Damn it.” Tang Soyeol frowned, a look of genuine concern on her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“It would’ve been easier if I was there… so I’m a bit sad about it. If you have the chance to capture any next time, please bring them to me.”
“…What would you do if I brought them to you?”
“Pardon?” I asked, finding her request strange.
She simply responded with a shy smile. “Jeez… How could you ask such a thing! It’s a secret… secret.”
That smile, combined with her words, made her seem oddly frightening. I didn’t press further since she insisted it was a secret.
…Had I been around her too long? I’d completely forgotten what clan Tang Soyeol was from.
The Tang Clan of Sichuan, one of the Four Noble Clans, was an Orthodox Faction renowned for its expertise in poison, hidden weapons, assassination arts, and… interrogation. While it was said such practices had faded in this era of peace, any seasoned martial artist knew better. After all, even Tang Soyeol’s older brother, the Young Lord of the clan, was known to engage in unsavory methods for the sake of ‘peace’.
…Is Tang Soyeol also like that?
I didn’t know much about her from my past life, but now, I couldn’t dismiss the possibility that she shared her clan’s darker traits.
I put aside thoughts of Tang Soyeol, who was genuinely disappointed she couldn’t have… assisted with the interrogation.
Just as I was considering how to proceed with the journey, a voice called out.
“Young Master…!”
“Hmm?”
It was Muyeon, running toward me in a hurry. The real Muyeon, this time.
His sudden appearance caused the guards to tense up, their hands flying to their swords. Namgung Bi-ah had clearly briefed them.
Muyeon looked shocked by the hostile reception.
I walked toward him without hesitation.
“Young Master, wait…!” an escort called out, trying to stop me, but I was already past him.
Thankfully, Muyeon didn’t seem to have been ambushed like Namgung Bi-ah.
“Where were you?” I asked him.
“Huh?” Muyeon looked utterly confused.
Why that reaction? I stared at him, waiting for an answer.
Under my gaze, he began speaking in a bewildered tone. “Young Master, you said you had something to discuss with me, so we went up the mountain together.”
“I did?”
I frowned. I had done no such thing.
“Yes… But then you told me to wait for a moment, disappeared, and never returned… I’ve been wandering around, looking for you.”
“Ha.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Now I thought I understood a little why the First Elder had orchestrated such a seemingly pointless scheme.
“Wow, this crazy old man.”
“Young Master?”
So, someone with my appearance had lured Muyeon away. They had tried to attack me while disguised as him. They had attempted an ambush on Namgung Bi-ah that was almost guaranteed to fail.
The more I pieced it together, the more annoyed I became. His goal wasn’t just to harm me. He was trying to plant seeds of mistrust among my companions.
If my hunch was correct, the First Elder was far more cunning and devious than I had given him credit for.
But that realization also brought a sense of relief. The last vestiges of my hesitation vanished.
“I’m going to kill him.”
Since the old dog dared to bare his fangs at his master without understanding his place, I would have to put him down myself.