Chapter 352
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 352
Chapter Title: Defense
The next morning, the group's atmosphere was no different from usual. At least on the surface.
However, the information Namgung Myeong had confirmed the night before had already been shared among Dang Mujin's group.
After finishing their meal and preparing to move out, the Small Ocean Pavilion Master pulled the small flute from his sleeve and blew into it.
Once again, no sound could be heard, but sure enough, the White-Furred Weasel soon appeared, circling around the group.
Yet today, the White-Furred Weasel's behavior was slightly different from usual. It puffed up the fur on its tail and glared toward the southwest.
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master shouted.
"Puffing up its tail like that only happens when it spots its target! Does that mean the White Fragrance Beast is to the southwest?"
But the White-Furred Weasel's actions didn't end there.
This time, it turned its head toward the southeast, lowering its stance like a cat stalking prey and hiding itself among the bushes.
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master feigned surprise once more.
"Lowering its stance and hiding is also a behavior shown only upon spotting a target! Hmm. The situation feels a bit off. Still, it's definitely in one of those two directions—southwest or southeast."
That couldn't be right. Hadn't Namgung Myeong confirmed the White Fragrance Beast's location the night before and returned?
The White Fragrance Beast wasn't to the southwest or southeast—it was due south. The Small Ocean Pavilion Master had clearly done something to the White-Furred Weasel.
Unaware that the group had already pinpointed the White Fragrance Beast's position, the Small Ocean Pavilion Master subtly revealed his intentions.
"We'll need to check both southwest and southeast, so the young lady and you all head south..."
Dang Mujin's judgment was quicker than Namgung Myeong's or Hong Geolgae's.
Thus, he saw through the Small Ocean Pavilion Master's scheme before the man could even finish speaking.
'He plans to head southwest and southeast to avoid the White Fragrance Beast himself, while sending us south to crash right into it.'
Though Dang Mujin didn't know it, Hyeon-gong had reached the same conclusion.
However, Hyeon-gong's judgment was a touch faster.
The moment Dang Mujin fully grasped the situation, Hyeon-gong had already interrupted the Small Ocean Pavilion Master.
"Then the two of you can head south."
"...Huh?"
"Our group has more people and is quicker on our feet. We'll scout southwest and southeast, and if we spot the White Fragrance Beast, we'll return to inform you, sir."
"No, we should..."
"There's no need for you to push yourselves. Didn't you say yesterday that you weren't feeling well? Even after a night's rest, illnesses have a way of seeming improved only to flare up again. It's best to avoid risky situations in advance."
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master stared at Hyeon-gong with a flustered expression, thinking to himself.
'...What is this guy?'
Hyeon-gong's response was perfectly reasonable and courteous—the sort of consideration a righteous sect warrior might show others.
Yet what aroused suspicion was how precisely Hyeon-gong had hit the mark.
Pushing back and changing directions now would only invite more doubt, however.
Reluctantly, the Small Ocean Pavilion Master nodded.
"...That sounds good. If anything happens, don't hesitate to contact us."
"Understood. See you later."
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master and Great Wall Pavilion Master slowly began heading south.
Dang Mujin's group appeared to split up toward the southwest and southeast before regrouping a short distance away.
Even up to the moment they regrouped, Hong Geolgae still didn't fully grasp the situation.
"I get that the Small Ocean Pavilion Master has some scheme in mind. But why go to such lengths?"
Hyeon-gong answered Hong Geolgae's question.
"We need to confirm what connection the Small Ocean Pavilion Master and Great Wall Pavilion Master have with the White Fragrance Beast first. If they truly have a hostile relationship, no problem. But if by some chance they're in league, they might plot something against us while we're clashing with the White Fragrance Beast."
The best way to avoid a knife in the back is to maneuver so your opponent can't strike one.
For now, Dang Mujin's group had slipped out of the two pavilion masters' reach.
Dang Mujin's group stayed well away from the Small Ocean Pavilion Master and Great Wall Pavilion Master, quietly observing their actions.
*
A short while later.
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master and Great Wall Pavilion Master moved a bit before plopping down in a suitable spot. Having claimed their health wasn't great, they wouldn't arouse much suspicion by moving slowly.
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master asked the Great Wall Pavilion Master.
"Hey. Do you think those youngsters have caught on to our plan?"
"I wouldn't know. But it is suspicious."
Tsk. The Small Ocean Pavilion Master clicked his tongue. He didn't like how things weren't going his way.
"Right. It's not certain yet. But if they suggest splitting roles the same way tomorrow, it's nine out of ten they've figured it out—so we'd best pull back depending on the situation. We can always return in a few days and grab the White Fragrance Beast's corpse."
"True... But there's one thing that bothers me."
"What?"
"If we just back off, won't those guys do the same? It'd be trouble if they pass by without clashing with the White Fragrance Beast. Who knows when an opportunity like this will come again."
It was a remarkably sharp thought for the Great Wall Pavilion Master.
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master waved it off lightly, however.
"No need to worry about that much. Neither the young lady nor Hyeon-gong's bunch will ignore the White Fragrance Beast and leave. They'll clash for the Millennium Ice Crystal and the manual at least. Of course, the beast has already swallowed the crystal."
"What if the youngsters confirm the White Fragrance Beast's prowess and flee in fear?"
"No chance. They're young and got numbers—they'll want to give it a fight first. Besides, that Hyeon-gong guy seemed totally smitten with the young lady. I've never seen a young man tuck tail in front of the woman he's got eyes for."
The Great Wall Pavilion Master nodded. The Small Ocean Pavilion Master's predictions like this never missed the mark.
The conversation paused.
The Great Wall Pavilion Master sharpened his senses, probing for any signs of presence nearby. Aside from the faint breeze, he sensed nothing.
"What are you doing?" the Small Ocean Pavilion Master asked.
"Just checking if there might be any eavesdroppers."
"No need to worry. I've had my senses on high alert since earlier. No one's around."
That Hyeon-gong or whatever and his crew were righteous sect warriors, they'd said.
If they were unorthodox or demonic cult types, maybe—but there was no way the fools of the righteous martial world had mastered stealth arts capable of fooling two seasoned pavilion masters.
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master and Great Wall Pavilion Master lingered a bit longer before rising.
"If we don't move at all, it'll look suspicious. Time to get going."
*
Another day passed without incident.
Neither the Small Ocean Pavilion Master and Great Wall Pavilion Master nor Dang Mujin's group encountered the White Fragrance Beast.
Another night passed, and a new day dawned.
After a simple meal, the Small Ocean Pavilion Master watched Dang Mujin's group busily cleaning up.
Traveling with young folks meant he didn't have to handle the tedious chores himself—nice.
'Time to get started.'
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master reached into his sleeve. He planned to summon the White-Furred Weasel with the flute to check the White Fragrance Beast's position and gauge Seolhwa and Dang Mujin's reactions.
But his hand grasped nothing.
'Huh?'
The flute for summoning the White-Furred Weasel was gone.
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master stood and shook out his sleeves this way and that, then thoroughly searched the surroundings. The flute was nowhere.
He could lose anything else, but not the flute.
Missing the White Fragrance Beast's movements even once would render all their efforts up to now wasted.
As the Small Ocean Pavilion Master panicked, the Great Wall Pavilion Master approached.
"Something wrong?"
"The flute's gone!"
"The one for the White-Furred Weasel?"
"Yeah!"
"Didn't you already use it?"
"What nonsense..."
"Look, the White-Furred Weasel's here, isn't it?"
Where the Great Wall Pavilion Master pointed stood the white-furred weasel, the White-Furred Weasel.
It stared at the Great Wall Pavilion Master and Small Ocean Pavilion Master with its tail puffed up and body lowered in a crouch.
Why was it acting like that—just as the Small Ocean Pavilion Master wondered, a familiar figure emerged from behind the White-Furred Weasel.
A familiar person, but not one he wanted to run into here.
It was the White Fragrance Beast.
The White Fragrance Beast glared at the Great Wall Pavilion Master and Small Ocean Pavilion Master with eyes blazing fiercely. To top it off, a small flute was clutched in its left hand.
'Why is that in its hand...?'
His heart plummeted.
But at the same time, a fortunate thought flashed through the Small Ocean Pavilion Master's mind. Weren't there people nearby who could help them right now?
"Hey...!"
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master shouted that as he looked around.
But Dang Mujin's group, who had been cleaning up after breakfast, had already vanished somewhere.
The only ones in his sight were the Great Wall Pavilion Master and the White Fragrance Beast.
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master felt as if he'd been bludgeoned in the back of the head with an iron club.
'What the hell is going on...?'
It felt unreal. Too many questions swirled.
Why was the flute that should have been in his sleeve now in the White Fragrance Beast's hand?
Why was the White-Furred Weasel staring at them as if it had detected someone doused in tracking scent?
He couldn't make sense of any of it.
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master's deliberations didn't last.
"I'll kill you!"
Because the White Fragrance Beast charged at him and the Great Wall Pavilion Master.
'No chance of winning.'
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master's judgment came faster than the Great Wall Pavilion Master's.
He unleashed his finest movement technique, Extreme Night Step, slipping behind the Great Wall Pavilion Master before shoving the man toward the White Fragrance Beast with all his might. Shock filled the stumbling Great Wall Pavilion Master's eyes.
"You bastard—!"
The Great Wall Pavilion Master tried to shout something at the Small Ocean Pavilion Master, but he had no time to spare.
Without looking back, the Small Ocean Pavilion Master fled at full speed with his lightness skill.
It didn't matter how the Great Wall Pavilion Master glared at him. The man was top-tier among peak experts, but he wouldn't hold out long against the White Fragrance Beast.
"Uwaaagh, aaaah!"
The Great Wall Pavilion Master's furious roar turned to a scream. Soon even that faded.
A faint sound of flesh tearing echoed. The White Fragrance Beast's grudge against the Great Wall Pavilion Master ran that deep. No doubt its grudge against the Small Ocean Pavilion Master was just as profound.
A chill ran down his spine. There was no reason blood's stench should reach this far, yet it felt like it did.
'Please don't follow me!'
Dodging minor obstacles, the Small Ocean Pavilion Master sprinted at full tilt.
He ignored inner energy and stamina management entirely, running for his life—so his breath burned in his throat. It was the first time since birth he'd run like this.
His legs ached, barely able to move.
Staggering a few more steps, the Small Ocean Pavilion Master slumped against a thick tree trunk, gasping for air.
Hoo, haa.
But before he could catch his breath, a strong arm shot out from somewhere, yanking him by the scruff.
"!"
Thud.
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master, perched on the tree roots, tumbled ignobly to the ground.
A thought flashed simultaneously.
'Could the White Fragrance Beast have followed me here? I sensed no presence!'
Lying on the ground, the Small Ocean Pavilion Master flung his arms over his head protectively. He knew it was pointless—just instinctual fear.
Peering up through his arms, the Small Ocean Pavilion Master saw not the White Fragrance Beast's face. Dang Mujin and his four companions, plus Seolhwa, looked down at him.
In a fluster, the Small Ocean Pavilion Master cried out.
"What... What are you doing here?"
Hyeon-gong smirked.
"What do you mean? We knew you'd come this way, so we waited."
"...You knew I'd come here? How?"
"We coated the back of the Great Wall Pavilion Master's head with the remaining tracking scent and left the flute on the White Fragrance Beast's path. Knowing your personality, you wouldn't die alongside him—you'd definitely run. And if you fled opposite the beast, you'd end up right here."
"That's ridiculous!"
The remaining tracking scent and flute had been in the Small Ocean Pavilion Master's sleeve until yesterday morning.
Even if these guys luckily found them, how could they have applied the scent to the Great Wall Pavilion Master?
Since yesterday morning, the two pavilion masters had suspected Dang Mujin's group the whole time. They hadn't even slept, staying vigilant through the night.
Contrary to the Small Ocean Pavilion Master's belief, however, their all-nighter had been utterly futile.
Namgung Myeong had stolen the tracking scent and flute from the Small Ocean Pavilion Master before sunset and applied the scent to the Great Wall Pavilion Master's head before evening.
The two pavilion masters' senses couldn't detect Namgung Myeong's presence.
Dang Mujin sat on the tree roots where the Small Ocean Pavilion Master had been, crossing his legs. With an impassive expression, he looked down and spoke.
"Whether you believe it or not doesn't matter. You told the Great Wall Pavilion Master yesterday that you needed the White Fragrance Beast's corpse."
Dang Mujin's words were ironclad proof.
Someone from Dang Mujin's group had been close enough to overhear, yet the two pavilion masters noticed nothing.
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master gaped soundlessly, unable to respond. Dang Mujin didn't demand an immediate answer.
He continued.
"Seolhwa didn't know why you needed the White Fragrance Beast's corpse either. But something vaguely came to mind for me."
Dang Mujin thought of Mok Wan-ah.
More precisely, the night he'd spent with her before leaving the Dang family estate.
Nature wasn't made for humans.
Powerful spirit medicines and potent herbs didn't exist to be used by people.
Thus, to apply herbs to the human body, they underwent processing.
Boiling, steaming, frying, drying—to make them assimilable.
Rare spirit medicines, however, had processing methods that weren't well-known. Ruining one by overcooking would be a disaster.
So martial artists often consumed spirit medicines raw.
The human body is wondrously profound and precise.
When a skilled warrior overcomes a spirit medicine, nature's gift transforms into a form suitable for human use.
That was why Mok Wan-ah had endured the Human-Faced Spider's poison first before passing it to Dang Mujin.
Dang Mujin couldn't withstand the raw poison extracted from the Human-Faced Spider's venom sac. But poison once refined for human use? He could handle that.
Thus, Dang Mujin surmised.
Perhaps the White Fragrance Beast had unwillingly played Mok Wan-ah's role.
Maybe the Small Ocean Pavilion Master and Great Wall Pavilion Master sought to absorb the Millennium Ice Crystal's power through the beast's corpse.
Dang Mujin said to the Small Ocean Pavilion Master.
"I'll give you one last chance to defend yourself."
"Be honest, and you'll spare me?"
Dang Mujin shook his head.
"No."
"Then what's the point of a defense?"
The Small Ocean Pavilion Master asked.
Staring straight into the man's eyes, Dang Mujin replied.
"Obviously, to defend yourself to death. You have to convince me before you die."