The Wrong Prey
A crisp rustle broke the quiet.
Caught in the snare was a single black rabbit.
Seeing that his trap had succeeded, Gwan Hyeok's scowl melted into a bright grin.
Coming up here was definitely the right choice!
Grinning with boyish excitement, he carefully freed the prize. The rabbit was still kicking, very much alive.
I'll ask the kitchen master to prepare this for Father and Mother's table tomorrow.
Fresh rabbit was a rare delicacy. Given the disgraceful scene he had made earlier today, perhaps they would accept it as an unspoken apology.
Cradling the rabbit under his arm, Gwan Hyeok peered up at the sky. Dusk had stolen over the mountains, and within half an hour, the sun would dip entirely below the horizon.
"I'd better hurry."
If he lingered too long, as his attendant Seok-i had warned, he would only earn another blistering scolding.
He hurried down the slope, his boots crunching against the forest floor. Pushing through thickets without pause toward their rendezvous point, his eyes caught sight of a dark figure in the distance.
Slumped with drooping shoulders, it was the boy he was supposed to meet—his personal page, Seok-i.
"Seok—!"
Eager to boast about his catch, Gwan Hyeok raised a hand to wave and call out, but froze mid-breath. Instinctively, he clamped a hand over his mouth and ducked behind a nearby trunk.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
His heart hammered against his ribs like a panicked drum.
What… was that?
Had his eyes played a cruel trick on him? Surely not.
Holding his breath, Gwan Hyeok leaned out just an inch from behind the tree.
Shock drained the color from his face.
The boy he thought had been standing was not standing at all. Seok-i was dangling limply by the scruff of his collar, hoisted in the air like a slaughtered animal. Beside him stood two figures cloaked in pitch-black martial robes, their faces concealed behind dark cloth.
Who… who are they?
Just what were those masked men doing here…!
A short while earlier, before Gwan Hyeok's arrival.
Lying in ambush to capture Yeon-woo, the masked assassins had spotted a small figure jogging down the mountain path, panting under their breath.
"There's the brat."
The creeping dusk made it impossible to see the face clearly, but the diminutive stature made it unmistakable: a child.
"Move in."
"Wait!" The second assassin caught his partner's sleeve. "Where is the Guan Clan's escort? Weren't they supposed to stick together?"
Indeed, the child was entirely alone.
They hesitated briefly, but the other sneered under his mask. "What does it matter? It just makes our job easier. They said this is the only path that brat uses anyway."
"I suppose, but..."
While they whispered, the child approached swiftly, on the verge of slipping right past them. Hidden in the high branches, the assassins still could not make out the runner's facial features.
"He's gonna slip past!"
One of the assassins lunged from the canopy.
What followed was ruthlessly simple.
Thud!
A single chop to the back of the neck felled the child before he could utter a gasp.
As the assassin hoisted the limp body, his companion dropped down beside him.
"Wait—what the hell? This one's a boy!"
"A boy?"
Grabbing the boy's collar, the assassin jerked his head back to inspect the face.
"Damn it all, it's the wrong kid! I thought something felt off! What do we do with him now?!"
"How should I know—"
Snap.
The assassin holding the boy snapped his head to the side.
"What is it?"
"Didn't you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
Both men stared intently into the underbrush.
A soft rustle whispered through the leaves. The foliage parted ever so slightly.
With a curt nod from the man holding Seok-i, the other slipped soundlessly forward.
Ghostly, soundless footfalls.
It was the lethal approach of a trained killer closing in on unsuspecting prey. And that murderous presence was creeping directly toward the tree where Gwan Hyeok was holding his breath in the shadows.
"I am told they have targeted the child twice already."
Guan Yun looked across the low table with a grim expression. Facing him was a rugged warrior with a savage scar slashing across his visage—Baek Gang, chief guard and master of arms for the Guan Clan.
Baek Gang spoke in a low rumble. "Is their intention to kill the surrogate so the young master is forced to enter the Demon Dragon Hall?"
"Undoubtedly. It only confirms the truth: Dan and Wi were murdered."
Guan Dan and Guan Wi. Those were the names of Gwan Hyeok's two older brothers who had perished within the Demon Dragon Hall.
"And now, they are reaching for my last remaining son."
Baek Gang's brow furrowed heavily.
The Demon Dragon Hall, and the untimely deaths of the two young masters.
The Guan Clan possessed a long and proud lineage. There was a time when their power and renown commanded respect even in the heart of the Central Divine Palace, but decades of relentless pressure and ostracization from rival demonic clans had ground them down into steady decline. Their clan culture prized upright virtue and righteousness—ideals starkly alien to the Demonic Cult. Clinging tenaciously to that archaic spirit had ultimately driven them all the way out to these borderlands.
Or rather, they had fled into this remote corner of the mountains simply to safeguard a moral code that the Cult deemed utterly useless.
The weak are weeded out.
That was the unyielding bedrock upon which the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult stood. Those who thrived in this merciless realm of predation knew full well: any bud showing promise must be nipped before it can blossom. Thus, from the moment the Guan Clan chose retreat, they should have braced themselves to be thoroughly trampled underfoot.
Yet I am the guardian of this house.
Baek Gang resolved silently that he would see his duty through to the bitter end. As long as a single sprout endured, the clan's destiny remained unwritten.
"Should we bring the child to the main estate?"
"There is no need."
"However, if the assassins return—"
"She will be fine. He is beside her."
"By 'he'..." Baek Gang paused. Did the Patriarch mean that old man living with the child?
Indeed... he was no ordinary elder.
Any discerning eye could tell that the old man was a master who had tempered his martial arts over decades. He had even volunteered to personally instruct the girl.
"In that case, I will redouble our patrols. It is imperative that we maintain constant watch for suspicious infiltrators."
"I would appreciate that. There is no telling when those vipers might turn their fangs toward Hyeok instead of Yeon-woo—"
BAM!
The hall doors burst open with a startling rattle, cutting Guan Yun off mid-sentence. Both men froze, listening to frantic footsteps hurrying toward the inner chamber.
A servant girl banged frantically on the door. "Patriarch...! Patriarch, are you within?!"
"What is the meaning of this commotion?"
"I-is the young master with you?! He said he was going to the mountain this afternoon, and he has yet to return...!"
Clatter!
Guan Yun and Baek Gang rose as one, chairs scraping harshly against the floorboards. Their eyes locked in a split second of terrible comprehension.
Baek Gang moved first.
He tore the door open and surged through so fast that the trembling maid let out a shriek, tumbling backward onto the wooden floor. Before she could recover her senses, a pair of hands gripped her shoulders with frantic force.
Guan Yun loomed over her, his face pale as chalk. "Where did he go?! Speak!"
The sheer terror in the Patriarch's roar sent shivers down her spine, her lips trembling uncontrollably. "T-to the mountain... to see Lady Yeon-woo! He said... he was going to apologize...!"
The tension snapped right out of Guan Yun's face, replaced in an instant by an abyss of hollow, suffocating despair.
Meanwhile, shadows draped over the humble courtyard.
Woon-hyeon busied himself tending the fire pit out back, while Yeon-woo and the Dark Shadow Demon Lord sat side by side on the wooden veranda, waiting for dinner.
The Demon Lord leaned in and nudged her shoulder playfully with his elbow. "Pretty slick, aren't we? Hm?"
"Pretty slick? Is that something you eat?"
"Aw, come on. Playing dumb, are we?"
Yeon-woo knitted her brow, genuinely baffled. "Am-yeong talks in riddles too much."
The Dark Shadow Demon Lord chuckled under his breath. Originally, the girl had taken to calling him "old man," so he had personally insisted she call him "Am-yeong" instead.
"No, no, little one. If you did that without realizing it, you're a natural prodigy. If you did it on purpose, you're wickedly slick. So? What's on the agenda next time you meet? With the young master, I mean."
"The son? Hmm..." Yeon-woo tilted her head in deep thought. "I don't know. It'd be fun to go pick wild herbs together!"
"What? That's it? After a hug like that, all you've got planned is foraging greens?"
"If you have time to fill a child's head with nonsense, come lend a hand with the fire!" Woon-hyeon snapped, his patience finally giving out.
The Demon Lord snickered, gesturing toward the fresh provisions stacked by the fire. "Hey, I provided tonight's dinner, didn't I? The least you can do is kindle the flame~."
"Then mind your tongue in front of the child!"
Spouting whatever crude thoughts pop into his head right before a young girl!
"My, my, your mouth has gotten quite foul lately, hasn't it?"
"And whose fault do you think that is?!"
The Dark Shadow Demon Lord simply shrugged innocently.
Then, his shoulders froze mid-shrug.
A sly grin curled the edges of his lips beneath the white half-mask. "My, my. It seems that hug left quite the impression after all."
"What?"
Just as Woon-hyeon opened his mouth to scold him again—
Woon-hyeon's gaze snapped toward the distant darkness beyond the front gate.
"Huh? Grandpa! Am-yeong vanished again!"
Woon-hyeon's brow creased as he stared into the lengthening shadows.
"Where did Am-yeong go? Huh? Where is he?"
Yeon-woo hopped off the veranda and began scampering around the yard looking for him, but beneath the patter of her footsteps, it was unmistakable.
Far down the dark mountain trail, a child was sprinting toward them in utter terror.