Chapter 351
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 351
Chapter Title: The White Woman
Dangmunjeon Chapter 351
Suddenly, the Frost Pavilion Master and Great Thunder Pavilion Master had joined the group.
A subtle silence flowed between the two pavilion masters and the rest of the party.
And as always, relations between people begin with introductions.
"I am Dang..."
"Hold on."
Just as Dang Mujin was about to step forward out of habit, Hyun-gong brushed him aside and took the lead.
Hyun-gong glanced back at Seolhwa, then straightened his shoulders and flashed a confident smile.
He addressed the Frost Pavilion Master and Great Thunder Pavilion Master.
"My name is Hyun-gong. And the three behind me are my friends: Namgung Myeong, Hong Jusam, and Dang Mujin. As you might have guessed, we're moving to help Seolhwa capture Baek Hyang-ah and recover the manual and elixir."
It was a straightforward account, containing not a shred of falsehood.
But not every scheme required lies in the words themselves.
Hyun-gong's first scheme lay not in the content of his story, but in his manner of speech and body language.
By stepping forward ahead of Dang Mujin to introduce the group—and glancing at Seolhwa in the process—he aimed to show the pavilion masters a false impression of his character.
Watching this, the Frost Pavilion Master and Great Thunder Pavilion Master would assume Hyun-gong was the group's leader, and furthermore, a rash young man seeking to attract the woman's attention.
Introducing the group while openly revealing their goal was meant to leave the impression that he was unskilled in schemes and short-sighted.
People's thoughts are revealed in the paths of their eyes. As soon as he finished speaking, Hyun-gong watched the pavilion masters' gazes.
The Frost Pavilion Master's eyes moved up and down, scanning Hyun-gong in an instant, before settling on his nose bridge.
'A gaze that seems to meet the eyes without pressuring the other party. So the Frost Pavilion Master thinks along those lines.'
In contrast, the Great Thunder Pavilion Master stared blankly at Hyun-gong before subtly shifting his eyes to check the Frost Pavilion Master's reaction.
'Is the Great Thunder Pavilion Master clumsy with people? Or is he pretending to be? No room for carelessness.'
The Frost Pavilion Master smiled affably and greeted Hyun-gong.
"If I told you my name in Central Plains tongue, it would sound unfamiliar, so no need for that. Just call me Frost Pavilion Master, as the young lady said. This fellow is Great Thunder Pavilion Master."
"Understood. What brings the two of you wandering so far from home?"
"It was to clear our false charges and return to the North Sea Ice Palace. We've been framed here because of Baek Hyang-ah's sudden actions, haven't we? If we recover the manual and elixir she stole and fled with, and bring her back, the Palace Lord will recognize our innocence. Of course, the young lady as well."
The story itself was plausible, but Dang Mujin's group—except for Hong Geolgae—did not believe the Frost Pavilion Master.
They had already judged the backstory of Baek Hyang-ah stealing the manual and elixir on her own as a lie, so this was only natural.
Hyun-gong feigned ignorance as he asked,
"It seems Baek Hyang-ah hasn't taken the elixir yet?"
"Not as far as I know."
The Frost Pavilion Master's voice sounded somehow unnatural as he said this.
'A lie. The tone is faint, and there's excessive force at the end of the sentence. That means Baek Hyang-ah has already taken the Millennium Ice Crystal. Now, the question is whether she's still alive... Judging from the state of the body struck by the ice technique, I'm leaning toward her being alive.'
At that moment, Hong Geolgae interjected and asked the Frost Pavilion Master,
"I heard before that Baek Hyang-ah went to the Demonic Cult. Did the two of you follow her there as well?"
The Great Thunder Pavilion Master flinched. He clearly hadn't expected Hong Geolgae to know that much.
The Frost Pavilion Master covered smoothly enough.
"Heh, how do you know even that? Half right. Baek Hyang-ah entered the Demonic Cult alone."
"Then what about you two?"
"We stayed near the Demonic Cult. Baek Hyang-ah took refuge there after committing her crime, but we were innocent, so no reason to enter. Fortunately, she was soon expelled from the Demonic Cult. That allowed us to keep tracking her movements."
Hong Geolgae asked again.
"How exactly have the two of you been pursuing Baek Hyang-ah?"
"She often kills people and leaves bodies behind, so we follow the discovered corpses to gauge her direction, even if belatedly. The white-haired marten's help was crucial too."
"White-haired marten?"
"I'll show you."
The Frost Pavilion Master drew a tiny flute, no longer than a finger joint, from his sleeve, placed it between his lips, and blew.
Yet no sound came from the flute.
"What is that?"
"Wait a moment. It's a flute that produces sounds inaudible to human ears."
Whether sounds inaudible to humans even existed, let alone deserved to be called sounds, was questionable.
But the Frost Pavilion Master's words were no lie. In the distance, a small animal came running.
It was a marten. With sparkling black eyes and fur white as snow.
The marten circled warily around the group instead of approaching directly.
"That's the white-haired marten. It can detect special scents—even from thousands of li away. Right now, it carries the tracking scent from Baek Hyang-ah, so we use it to find her."
Dang Mujin and Hyun-gong glanced at Seolhwa. She showed no familiarity with white-haired martens or tracking scents. It wasn't a common method in the North Sea Ice Palace, apparently.
"If you can find Baek Hyang-ah with the white-haired marten, why haven't you captured her and returned to the North Sea Ice Palace instead of wandering abroad?"
At Hong Geolgae's question, the Frost Pavilion Master looked troubled.
"The problem is its sense of smell is too keen. It can pick up faint scents from afar and track the target flawlessly, but that very keenness means it can't pinpoint the direction once near the target. We can only tell she's somewhere within dozens of li."
"Ah, I see..."
Hong Geolgae seemed somewhat convinced, but Hyun-gong thought differently.
'No way. I heard Baek Hyang-ah fled the North Sea Ice Palace nearly two years ago. With two years to spare, they should've found her dozens of times even stumbling around blindly.'
'There must be a reason they don't approach her.'
'Two possibilities come to mind. Either they're in league with her and moving separately for some reason, or they've fallen out. Which is it?'
'No need to judge hastily. Plenty of chances to observe.'
Of course, Hyun-gong didn't reveal his inner thoughts.
Instead, he put on a somewhat dim expression and said,
"We're fortunate to meet fellow travelers with the same goal. Let's cooperate to capture Baek Hyang-ah."
"Naturally."
The Frost Pavilion Master and Hyun-gong exchanged pleased smiles.
*
"It's not certain, but the white-haired marten seems interested in this direction. Hopefully this time it's the real thing..."
"Understood."
The Frost Pavilion Master and Great Thunder Pavilion Master took the lead in guiding the way, and Dang Mujin's group followed as directed.
Since Dang Mujin's group was highly cooperative and showed no hostility, the pavilion masters seemed to have largely set aside their suspicions.
However, Dang Mujin was mapping their path in his mind.
'There is direction after all.'
At a glance, it looked like aimless wandering, but their movements had direction.
The claim that the white-haired marten couldn't find the path near the target was surely a lie.
And on the sixth day, the Frost Pavilion Master began delaying the journey with excuses.
"Oof, this ankle I twisted earlier... Could we rest a bit early today?"
"Please do. You should've said something sooner if it hurt."
"Heh heh, thank you for your concern. But we can't delay the journey too much."
Thanks to that feigned ailment, though, Dang Mujin gained certainty.
A change in behavior meant a change in situation.
'Is it about time to encounter Baek Hyang-ah?'
The group finished a simple dinner and retired early.
For the first four days, the pavilion masters had stayed vigilant without sleeping deeply, watching Dang Mujin's group. But from the fifth day, they fell into deep slumber.
Their wariness had dulled, and exhaustion had won out. No human can defy sleep forever.
Once confirming the pavilion masters were deeply asleep, Dang Mujin sent a transmission to Namgung Myeong.
- Go.
Namgung Myeong didn't reply. Instead, he rose silently without a sound and vanished into the darkness.
*
Namgung Myeong moved, gauging Baek Hyang-ah's position.
When more than half the night had passed, he spotted a woman walking alone on the night road.
Her clothes had wide sleeves and a loose fit, flowing loosely. She wore an expensive black hat with a gauze veil around it, completely hiding her face.
She resembled a high-class courtesan from a pleasure house. That might suit strolling village streets at night, but not this deserted road between villages.
'Baek Hyang-ah?'
Yet Namgung Myeong couldn't gauge her skill. The flashy, flowing clothes hid subtle body movements, and the veil prevented eye contact.
Maintaining distance from the woman, how far had he followed when two men appeared from the opposite direction.
One in white robes, one in gray. Both made of fine fabric, with swords at their waists. They appeared to be martial artists.
Namgung Myeong drew a bit closer to the woman and the men.
The two men noticed the woman belatedly, approached, and spoke politely enough.
"Miss. Where are you headed alone so late at night?"
From their manner, it seemed they were strangers to her.
The woman didn't reply, merely lowering her head slightly. Anyone could see she was wary.
The white-robed man spoke again.
"Don't be scared. We're not here to toy with you. We're just worried someone might harm you under cover of night."
It wasn't particularly trustworthy. Good people might say as much, but villains approached with similar lines all the same.
Yet the woman replied innocently.
"Really?"
Namgung Myeong was still far from the three. Their voices were muffled slightly.
But the woman's voice was strangely clear. Not an ordinary voice.
Unlike Namgung Myeong, who sensed something off, the two men beside her noticed nothing. They simply thought her voice exceptionally beautiful.
"Of course. Do we look like liars?"
"Miss, will you travel with us?"
As the two men vied to speak, the woman nodded.
"That would be fine with me."
At that instant, the gray-robed man grinned and grabbed her shoulder.
"Haha, just as I thought—a slutty bitch!"
"Why are you doing this all of a sudden?"
"You said to go together, right? Shall we take you to Luoyang? Or show you around Chang'an?"
The two men began harassing the woman in a crudely outdated manner.
Namgung Myeong still didn't approach, merely observing from afar.
"Let go!"
Finally, the woman twisted to shake off their hands. The motion shook the gauze veil hanging from her black hat, revealing her lower face. Her skin was remarkably pale.
Among those Namgung Myeong had seen, Mok Wan-ah had the whitest skin.
But this woman's was even whiter.
No, it wasn't just about how white it seemed.
Mok Wan-ah's skin was pale yet tinged with a healthy reddish hue. Natural for living flesh with blood flowing. But this woman's skin showed almost no such color.
It was a pallid white closer to jade or porcelain than human flesh.
"Heh!"
"Lucky us!"
Yet the two men still seemed oblivious to anything strange.
Perhaps because it was dark night, or they were simply awed by skin far whiter than expected. Maybe they'd never seen such pallor before.
The two men tried to knock the woman down or make her kneel.
Their intent was obvious without dwelling on it. The only variable was whether robbery or murder was included. To Namgung Myeong, it hardly mattered.
The woman teetered without falling, then finally swayed and swung her arm.
From her wide sleeve emerged a hand unseen until now, grabbing the gray-robed man's wrist. Namgung Myeong's brow twitched at the sight.
It was no normal person's hand. Pale to the point of seeming bluish.
It gleamed with an eerie luster, almost translucent.
Transparent enough that the bones beneath should have been visible.
Even the harassing men sensed something now.
The hand's color was secondary; they couldn't move the arm gripped by her hand.
As the gray-robed man froze stiffly, the white-robed man shouted.
"What the hell? Don't mess around!"
"It won't move! This bitch isn't normal—"
The gray-robed man didn't finish. The woman's left hand—equally blue—shot out and seized his face.
Her hand wasn't particularly large.
To grip something, a hand must first cover it, so a small woman's hand couldn't possibly grip a man's face.
Yet she did.
More precisely, she gripped half his face.
As a result, half the man's face tore away limply.
The woman dragged her left arm downward. The man's body split vertically along her hand, spraying blood.
Instant death, no questions asked. Her body was drenched in his red blood.
What followed was even stranger.
She tightly embraced the corpse to keep it from falling. Without the gore, it might have looked like lovers' hug, sharing warmth.
Then her two hands plunged into the body through his back.
Her hands slowly rummaged through the still-warm corpse. She stood motionless for a moment, as if savoring the sensation.
"Ah, uwaa!"
The white-robed man, seeing his friend die gruesomely, panicked and tried to flee. But shock rooted his legs.
He settled for the next best: drawing his sword with trembling hands and swinging at her. With her focused elsewhere, he thought he had a chance.
To Namgung Myeong, the man's skill wasn't exceptional. First-rate at best.
But people unleash superhuman strength facing death.
The desperation imbued his strike with power beyond his level.
He chose the simplest, most powerful downward chop: Mount Tai Crush. An excellent pick in every way.
Yet the strike achieved nothing.
The woman withdrew her left arm from the embraced corpse and blocked the sword.
Not deflecting at an angle like a typical parry.
Like sword blocking sword, she halted it with her palm.
Her hand should have been slashed deeply, blood spraying. But no blood flew. The blade stopped without even a scratch, gripped tight.
The woman removed her black hat with its gauze veil and looked at the man.
Indeed, a stunning beauty. Setting aside being covered in blood.
Namgung Myeong thought,
'...It's Baek Hyang-ah.'
Baek Hyang-ah lightly shoved the gray-robed corpse she'd held. It toppled stiffly like stone, smashing against the ground.
The corpse shattered. As if never human, but ice shaped like one. Even the gray robes crumbled with the flesh.
"Ah, uwaa..."
The white-robed man, unsure if dreaming or awake, muttered incoherently at Baek Hyang-ah. He frantically tried to drop his sword and run, but couldn't.
Frost had whitened the hilt, gluing his hand fast.
"Huh, huuuh."
Unable to speak, tears streaming, he stared at Baek Hyang-ah. He'd violated women many times, but never imagined this end.
Baek Hyang-ah approached his back slowly, faint smile on her lips. Not an angry expression.
She embraced him from behind. Her face blissful, as if relishing another's warmth.
Her hand pierced the center of his chest. It fondled the powerfully beating heart beneath the ribs. The beating slowed to a stop.
Finally, Baek Hyang-ah gripped the heart. Blood not yet fully frozen oozed from it, covering her hand.
She shook her hand.
Strangely, no blood clung. Still pale, bluish, gleaming eerily.
As if nothing had happened.
Baek Hyang-ah shoved the white-robed man away lightly. Like the gray-robed one, he toppled stiffly.
His corpse shattered into pieces.
Baek Hyang-ah shed her bloodied clothes.
She donned fresh ones from her bundle, then replaced her black hat on the ground.
Baek Hyang-ah vanished into the darkness once more.
Only then could Namgung Myeong breathe freely.
'...This is serious.'
Namgung Myeong quietly returned to his friends.
Thinking her gait somehow forlorn.