Chapter 30: Little Ice Witch
The passage was packed with traps. Arrows rained down, floors suddenly dropped away, and obstacles popped out unexpectedly at every turn.
Neither I, who knew jack shit about martial arts, nor Sa Wol, who couldn't use any without blowing our Heavenly Demon Divine Cult cover, could step up.
Fortunately, Paeng So So took the lead in disarming them. She felt bad for getting us isolated because of her mess, or so she said.
She's definitely different.
The Paeng family had a reputation for causing trouble. Out of the Five Great Families, nine times out of ten, if someone screwed up, it was a Paeng. You'd think they'd apologize a lot, but nope—they caused so much chaos that they stopped bothering. That's why they got called spoiled brats all the time.
...Come to think of it, all these martial artists seem like sociopaths.
Spoiled Paeng family, vicious Tang Clan of Sichuan, hypocritical Nangong family, shady Je Gal family, and the Mo Yong family full of inferiority complexes. And the unorthodox sects? They're just straight-up thugs. The Divine Cult? Fights break out if you so much as breathe. No need to elaborate.
Maybe the entire martial world was a den of psychopaths.
Anyway, among the macho, straightforward Paeng folk, Paeng So So was surprisingly open-minded. At least she owned up to her screw-ups and apologized.
"Phew. Looks like we're good to go now."
Paeng So So wiped the sweat from her brow after slicing a massive falling boulder clean in two with a gale-force swing.
"Thanks."
"Thanks, my ass. I'm just cleaning up my own shit. Besides, you took out those guardian statues, so I gotta earn my keep."
...Her speech was still tough to get used to for someone from a prestigious family.
"Let's take a quick break. Guard me while I circulate my energy. Cheonhwasamnakdo is great and all, but it guzzles true qi."
"You sure that's okay?"
Standing guard meant letting her meditate in a trance. One wrong touch during circulation could send her into deviation into devil. You only entrusted that to someone you absolutely trusted.
"Worst case, I die. You don't strike me as the type to poke me."
She glanced at Sa Wol. There was a hint of wariness in her eyes.
And for good reason.
Sa Wol's emotionless poker face made her look like a cold puppet shadowing me silently, devoid of feelings.
Paeng So So claimed to be sensitive to auras, so she might've picked up on Sa Wol's killer vibe.
"Not sure about your guard there... but she's your bodyguard, so she won't touch me, right? Whatever. I'm meditating. Should take about fifteen minutes."
With that, Paeng So So plopped down right there. Fair enough—it was necessary if she wanted to keep dismantling traps.
I sighed and sat on a nearby rock ledge right next to her. Sa Wol quietly took position beside me, her face as icy as ever.
Sa Wol's thinking about killing me again.
Despite all my kindness so far, something had shifted in her heart. Her cold expression actually signaled intense emotions—and in this situation, that could only mean murderous intent toward me.
She was holding back hard right now. But no matter how I racked my brain, I didn't have the confidence to subdue her. I'd been playing the strong guy too well. Otherwise, I'd have been dead in a second and turned to dust ages ago.
Anyway, it was still a sigh-worthy mess.
Trapped in this ruin with one girl who falls in love at the drop of a hat and another who dives straight into murder mode. If only I could average them out somehow. That'd be perfectly balanced.
In the end, just being nice isn't enough.
I'd treated Sa Wol pretty damn well, if I do say so myself. Pa Cheon had ignored and mistreated her like she was nothing, but I'd shown her basic human respect. Didn't work.
Of course not. A little kindness wouldn't dull hatred for an enemy—not for a Divine Cult member.
I had to fix the root cause. The real reason Sa Wol wanted me dead.
I'll figure it out once I get back to the Divine Cult.
As I sorted through these thoughts, Paeng So So finished her meditation and stood up.
"Ah, feels refreshing."
She stretched with a big yawn.
"Don't you need to circulate too? You said you took internal injuries."
"I rested plenty while you were at it."
"Must be some impressive cultivation art."
The front half of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art was impressive, incomplete or not.
"Mind if I ask what it is?"
"Nope."
"Tch."
No need to stir up trouble.
"Still, wouldn't it be better to meditate properly? If you don't trust your guard, I could stand watch."
"I'm good."
"You two just seem awkwardly tense. Holler if you need me."
Paeng So So had a weirdly sharp intuition.
"Forget my guard—tell me more about that Jo Yang guy."
Her smirking face stiffened at my words. She let out a sigh.
"Jo Yang? Why?"
"To be direct like you: he rubs me the wrong way."
"Direct, huh. Nice phrase. Sabers are the best weapons, y'know. Try one instead of that sword—totally different feel."
"Cut the crap."
"Tch. No dice."
She puffed her cheeks in mock protest. As if that'd work on me. I shook my head firmly, and she sighed again.
"Truth is, I don't know much. Picked him up at a ronin market."
"Ronin market?"
"Yeah. The one in Guangdong."
Guangdong was down south by the coast—a massive hub teeming with people, famous for its ronin market. Basically, pay money, hire a warrior.
"Ruins like this aren't just traps. Formations everywhere, like earlier. Those are the real deal—way trickier. So I hired a formation master."
"You don't know his personal skills, then."
"He's not in it for the cash like the others, that's for sure. Whoa, wait—you think he's after me?"
"After you?"
Paeng So So gasped dramatically.
"Duh! With this beauty, these skills, and my Paeng family prestige from Hebei? Prime bride material. Jo Yang was totally trying to woo me. That sleazy look makes sense now."
"......"
Correction: Paeng So So wasn't just simple—she was a total airhead.
"Hmm... but no dice anyway. For one, Jo Yang's way too into women."
"Into women?"
"Every town we hit, he's sniffing around for 'beauties.' All that flashy jewelry? Just bait."
Pa Cheon muttered in my head.
[I figured he had ulterior motives. Turns out he's just a sleazy womanizer.]
Something tells me that's not the whole story...
[Doesn't matter. Once we're out, no more dealing with him.]
Paeng So So continued.
"Anyway, guy's got skills. Impressive ones. Haven't seen anyone handle formations like him since those twiggy Je Gal nerds. Not just breaking them—he rebuilds them on the fly. You'd think he'd spent a century studying nothing else."
"That's impressive, alright."
Breaking a formation was easy if you knew the principle—mess with the core node. Rebuilding one? Like turning fresh rice back into uncooked grains and water.
Suspicious as hell. Pa Cheon.
[What?]
Spread your senses wide. React the second anything happens.
[Overreacting much? Even without a body, this tires me out mentally.]
I'm using your body right now, not mine.
[Sensing everything within ten zhang.]
Pa Cheon was simple-minded, alright.
"Alright, break's over. Let's move."
We pressed on. No more traps, but the path twisted like crazy, going up and down. Felt like at least a kilometer. How the hell was there a cave this long? If this were my original body instead of Sado Hwan's, I'd have tapped out midway—it was that brutal.
"Light ahead. End of the line."
Paeng So So pointed. Sure enough, faint light shimmered far off—not blinding like sunlight, but different from the passage torches.
"First path was right after all!"
She bolted ahead in a flash, using lightness skill.
I couldn't match that. Stuck walking steadily with Sa Wol in awkward silence.
This is bad.
Unlike the others I'd conned from the start, Sa Wol knew the real Sado Hwan. She'd find it weird I wasn't flying along with lightness skill.
Plus, she wouldn't buy that I'd soloed those statues. The Sado way was making people believe the unseen—but to someone conditioned by the Sado family, that meant "if you didn't see it, don't buy it." And since I was Sado too, she'd suspect me.
Still, we reached the end quick enough.
Unlike Paeng So So said, two more passages branched off right there. Not a dead end—all three led somewhere.
"What the...?"
Her confused voice drew my gaze.
As expected for a ruin, an altar. But not the small jade-holding one from before—this was massive.
Big enough for three or four people, covered in intricate red patterns that screamed sinister at first glance.
And collapsed beside it was a woman, out cold.
"...Baek So Hyang?"
"You know her?"
"Kinda. Long story."
Baek So Hyang.
The Taeryeong Baek daughter I'd clashed with briefly. Later, I'd put on a show repelling the Black Shadow Corps, so she couldn't even look me in the eye.
But here she was.
"Why's a girl from Taeryeong County doing here...?"
A thought flashed by.
When I'd first met her group, I'd recalled 'another Baek So Hyang.'
The name shows up in the book, but... probably a coincidence. She's nothing like the one I know.
Just brushed it off as a namesake. Why was it nagging me now?
[Something's up.]
I turned toward where Pa Cheon sensed presence. Pillars ringed the altar. Leaning against one, arms crossed, was a man. He blended so well, you'd miss him unless you focused. Probably a perception-lowering formation.
"Sharp senses, as expected."
Jo Yang stepped out.
"...Too obvious."
Jo Yang. Cliche or not, it was way too obvious.
But that's the problem. The hardships in Murim Returner wouldn't end this simply. There had to be more.
Paeng So So yelled in disbelief.
"Jo Yang! What the hell?!"
"I've planned this for twenty years."
"...Twenty? Wait, you're older than me?"
"You have no idea the hell I endured for this grand scheme."
He held out his palm. A white jade glowed unpleasantly atop it. He approached Baek So Hyang. Paeng So So tried to block, but—
Snap!
Jo Yang flicked his fingers. The floor dropped under Paeng So So. She kicked off the wall with lightness skill, but he was already at Baek So Hyang.
He gently pressed the jade to her lips like a lover. It melted like water, seeping in.
Suddenly, my breath fogged. Temperature plummeted like midwinter. Obvious cause: frost formed around Baek So Hyang's body. The jade's effect?
Paeng So So flailed in panic from the chill.
Meanwhile, Baek So Hyang changed visibly. Her jet-black hair turned silver-white from the roots. Nails lengthened like a cat's.
"I'm here, So Hyang. Open your eyes."
She did.
Her pupils were vacant voids.
"Yes, you still need to eat, right?"
Jo Yang looked at us, madness gleaming in his eyes.
"Plenty over there."
Baek So Hyang's empty gaze fixed on us. Goosebumps.
In that instant, I got it. Why the 'namesake' memory resurfaced.
The real twist wasn't Jo Yang.
It was Baek So Hyang.
Hey, Pa Cheon.
[Yeah?]
Know anything about the Little Ice Witch?
[Not much. Ice arts master from decades ago, butchered in the end. That's it.]
Then you'll learn plenty now.
Baek So Hyang.
She was the Little Ice Witch.