The Scent of Blood
I ran, pushing through the rough forest path. The trees were dense, and the overcast sky made it hard to see even an inch ahead, but I ran without stopping.
I didn't even blink. It had been a while since I last sprinted at full speed, and it was draining a significant amount of my energy.
My thighs burned.
Running on such rugged terrain after so long was putting a strain on my ankles as well.
Ah, I should have focused a bit more on my training.
The regret flashed through my mind, but...
Where is it?
Even as the thought crossed my mind, my legs had to keep moving.
My eyes had to scan the ground, not the path ahead.
Where are you?
It wasn't the path I was looking for.
It was a phenomenon etched into the ground.
A spirit trace.
I was tracking the traces left behind by a spirit.
It was a cloudy day, thick with yin energy. While it was true the traces were much clearer than usual because of it...
This is strange.
Even considering the weather, they were abnormally vivid.
And there are too many of them.
The number of spirit traces was excessively high.
Furthermore, it wasn't just traces; there were numerous wandering spirits as well.
Far too many, even for a day like today.
Damn it.
I grit my teeth.
This wasn't good. No, it went beyond not good—it was bad. Extremely bad.
Following this would undoubtedly lead to trouble.
I was certain. It wasn't a mere guess or paranoia; it was a conviction.
Even though I knew this full well...
Do I still have to go?
I asked myself.
Did I really have to go, knowing what lay ahead?
I told myself to think rationally.
If I did, wouldn't the answer be obvious?
Never get involved in the affairs of spirits, no matter what.
That was the very first resolve I had made upon retaining the memories of my past life.
It was a promise I made to myself to live a different life this time.
You lunatic.
Yet, knowing all this, I was still running.
I had resolved to live a life where I didn't care whether others lived or died.
I had dreamed of a life furthest removed from death, yet here I was, moving my body like an idiot.
There was no greater fool than me.
Yoo Chun-gil's voice drifted over. He was floating leisurely in the air, keeping pace with me.
I didn't answer his question.
If I opened my mouth to speak, it would mess up my breathing.
His tone was filled with curiosity.
I agreed with him. Even to myself, I was acting incredibly strange right now.
I knew that better than anyone.
Crack! I stepped on a branch and skidded to a halt.
The spirit traces ended here.
At the same time...
...A fishy stench.
A strange, metallic smell brushed past the tip of my nose.
It was a repulsive scent, yet somehow familiar.
Where had I smelled this before?
Where on earth had I encountered this awful stench?
"Ah..."
After a moment of thought, it came to me.
That cave.
The cave where I had encountered that creature called the Mountain Ghost.
The exact same smell had filled the cave back then.
That smell is definitely...
The stench of blood.
The smell of pooling blood spilled from dying humans.
And for it to be coming from here...
I slowly raised my head and looked straight ahead.
"..."
There was a village.
Geographically, it was the small village we were supposed to pass by in our carriage.
Since stopping to rest would have been inappropriate for our mission, we had bypassed it.
In that tiny, insignificant village...
A disaster had unfolded.
"Young Master Bang...!"
Cheon Ui-jin and Do-hyeong caught up a moment later. Cheon Ui-jin was visibly startled by Bang Seong-yeon's sudden sprint.
To suddenly halt the carriage and run off like that.
Do-hyeong and Cheon Ui-jin frowned at the unexpected turn of events.
This was especially true for Do-hyeong. Not only had Seong-yeon stopped the carriage without the permission of Do-hyeong, who was in charge of the mission...
But he had also acted independently without explaining the situation.
No matter the circumstances, this was crossing the line.
Just as Do-hyeong was about to reprimand Bang Seong-yeon.
"Bang Seong..."
Do-hyeong cut himself off.
Cheon Ui-jin did the same.
Both of their expressions froze as they looked ahead.
"This is..."
"What in the world..."
Cheon Ui-jin and Do-hyeong reacted simultaneously.
The village had been completely devastated.
Though small, the village, which must have once been quaint and beautiful, was now stained with the pungent stench of blood and the scars of a brutal raid.
Mutilated corpses littered the area.
Judging by their condition, none of them had died a peaceful death.
"How did this happen..."
As Cheon Ui-jin muttered in shock at the sight.
"Oh? What's this?"
Someone spoke as they walked out of a house.
"Well, well. Look at this."
It was a rather large man. He looked at the three of them with a troubled expression.
"Strange. I made sure there wouldn't be any witnesses left..."
The man muttered to himself.
Cheon Ui-jin's brow furrowed as he looked at him.
There was something horrific in the man's hand.
It was someone's severed head.
The expression of sheer despair frozen on the face made it easy to guess what had transpired.
"Who are you people?"
Ignoring Do-hyeong's question, the man simply continued talking to himself.
"Hmm... You don't look like much anyway. I suppose I should clean you up first before reporting... Huh?"
Just as the man was about to move with an annoyed sigh, his eyes locked onto the clothes the three were wearing.
"Wait... Is that...?"
Though the attire itself looked plain, the specific embroidery and the emblem on the chest were highly famous throughout the Central Plains.
It couldn't be helped. There was only one place in the vast Central Plains that used a crescent moon as its symbol.
"Cheongwol Gate...?"
Cheongwol Gate of Henan.
It was their exclusive uniform. Furthermore, the unique embroidery on two of the three was...
"Sowol Squadron...?"
The very uniform worn only by the elite experts of Cheongwol Gate.
"Son of a bitch."
The man's face contorted the moment he realized.
"Why the hell is the Sowol Squadron here?!"
The panicked man tried to shout, but Do-hyeong had already drawn his sword and lunged forward.
Clang!
The man hastily blocked Do-hyeong's strike with his own weapon.
He barely managed to parry the first blow, but...
Slash!
"Huh...?"
Suddenly, his vision blurred.
By the time he registered the strange sensation, his head was already falling to the ground.
Thud!
The massive body collapsed onto the dirt. Do-hyeong glanced back and spoke.
"There are more."
"..."
Hearing this, Cheon Ui-jin focused and spread his senses.
Just as Do-hyeong had said, strange presences were lurking throughout the village.
...An ambush?
They didn't seem like mere bandits. Judging by the brief clash with Do-hyeong just now, they were definitely martial artists.
But why?
Why on earth would martial artists raid a tiny village like this?
While those questions filled Cheon Ui-jin's mind...
More than that...
How did Young Master Bang know?
How had Bang Seong-yeon sensed this situation and run ahead?
And from such a great distance, no less.
I didn't sense a thing.
Was it even possible to detect something so far away from a moving carriage and sprint toward it?
...
Unless one was an extraordinary master, it should have been impossible.
Yet Bang Seong-yeon had done it.
"Junior Brother."
"Ah, yes...!"
Startled out of his thoughts by Do-hyeong's call, Cheon Ui-jin quickly drew his sword.
First, they had to deal with this bizarre situation.
As Cheon Ui-jin focused his mind...
Wait...
His eyes widened as he realized something.
Where is Young Master Bang...?
Bang Seong-yeon, who had been right in front of them just moments ago, was gone.
He had completely vanished.
Crash!
I ripped away the wooden wall in front of me. It was already cracked, so tearing it down wasn't difficult.
"Phew."
Wiping away a bead of sweat, I tossed the broken door aside.
Only then did the interior come into view.
"..."
There were two corpses.
One was the mutilated body of a woman.
The other was a man whose upper and lower body had been severed.
They appeared to be a married couple.
I frowned as I looked at them.
It wasn't because the scene was too gruesome.
—Over there... It's over there... Please, please listen to me...
The woman's desperate, pleading voice grated on my ears.
—Please... Please let them hear me... Oh God, please...
Praying to God when she was already dead.
It was rather ironic, but I couldn't bring myself to laugh.
Where was it? I walked carefully, already knowing my destination.
Was it that closet?
The woman's spirit was frantically gesturing toward the closet.
—Please... If there is a God...
"..."
I turned my steps toward the closet.
—Ah...!
The woman let out a weeping sigh of relief.
I approached the closet and ripped the door open.
Inside, a young child was curled up.
"..."
Was the child sleeping? Not a chance.
I placed my hand on the child's neck. There was no pulse.
They were dead. Having passed away just moments before I arrived.
I lowered my gaze.
A wound.
The child had died clutching their stomach.
Looking at the hands, I could see blood pooling around them.
I gently lifted the child.
There was still a lingering warmth, but it would soon grow cold.
I stood there silently, holding the child in my arms.
Then.
Yoo Chun-gil spoke.
Without a moment's hesitation, I ducked.
Crash!
A tremendous roar erupted right above my head.
I looked back.
Standing there was a bald man clutching a massive saber.
He stared at me with a slightly bewildered expression.
"How did you know?"
He seemed genuinely shocked that I had dodged his attack.
"I completely hid my presence... How strange."
Regardless of what he said, I gently laid the child down.
Finding a patch of straw that wasn't stained with blood, I placed the child there and slowly stood up.
"Fuuu..."
I regulated my breathing.
I needed to calm myself as much as possible.
Then, I looked at the man and spoke.
"Let me ask you one thing."
"Huh?"
The man bared his fangs in disbelief.
"Ask me something? Are you insane? Or can you not read the room?"
"Why didn't you kill the child?"
"What?"
"You already knew the kid was in here. Why did you leave them alive and wait?"
He had known the child was hiding in the closet.
He had deliberately left the child alive despite knowing.
And the child had drawn their last breath just as I arrived.
Why?
When I asked, the man smirked.
As if it was a stupid question.
"Because it's fun."
"Fun?"
"Yeah. Watching a brat shiver in terror after seeing their parents slaughtered right in front of them... it's highly entertaining."
"..."
"So I stabbed the kid in the stomach—just enough so they couldn't run, but wouldn't die immediately. I wanted to let them squirm before delivering the final blow. But who the hell are you? Why are you getting in my way?"
Anger began to seep into the man's face.
"Why ruin a perfectly prepared dish..."
The man narrowed his eyes as he examined my clothes.
"...Wait, those clothes... Sowol...?"
"I'll promise you just one thing."
I drew my sword before he could even finish his sentence.
Then, looking him dead in the eye, I spoke.
"Even in death, you will find no peace."
Energy gathered in my blade as the power of the Moon Eye surged.