SYM 27
by Emerlyn“Explain.”
At Cheong-un’s command, a masked person in black clothes suddenly appeared from thin air. It was as if they had torn through empty space itself.
“Revered one, may a thousand demons bow to you! An intruder has infiltrated and kidnapped Namgung’s eldest son.”
“…What?”
“They appeared to be a first-class warrior.”
“And you just watched?”
When Cheong-un frowned, the masked figure, Amhon, flinched slightly.
“I… the Lord commanded us to observe without interfering. But I marked him with a Thousand-Li fragrance, so he can be tracked.”
Amhon hastily added, nervous about the Lord’s displeased expression.
It was fortunate they had planted the Thousand-Li Fragrance, which could track targets no matter how far he went.
But until now, the Heavenly Demon had never shown interest in people except those marked for revenge. Why, then, this particular attention toward the eldest son of Namgung? Was he intending to kill him personally, only to have someone else interfere?
If so, Amhon knew he had committed an unforgivable offense.
“I should have been clearer in my instructions.”
“My apologies!”
Amhon cried out urgently. He couldn’t stay silent knowing his actions had upset the Lord.
“Move in pairs and contact me as soon as you find him.”
“Yes, Lord!”
As soon as Heavenly Demon Cheong-un finished speaking, two masked figures vanished into the shadows.
The remaining Amhon were anxiously watching the Heavenly Demon, who appeared disturbed.
Not all leaders of the Demonic Cult were called Heavenly Demon. Only those who had mastered the sect’s martial arts to the extreme earned the title Heavenly Demon and embodied the sect’s faith itself. In the sect’s history, only four leaders had been called Heavenly Demon, and Cheong-un was one of them.
The Heavenly Demon was both the faith sustaining the Demonic Cult and its absolute authority.
Though they couldn’t understand why the Heavenly Demon was angry, the Heavenly Demon wasn’t someone to be understood but to be obeyed, so they all simply bowed their heads.
“Lord, I will take responsibility for my subordinates’ mistake. I apologize…”
“Your worthless lives are unnecessary. The only atonement you can make is to correct this situation.”
Cheong-un gestured to the bowing Amhon.
Cheong-un knew it was unreasonable to be angry at the Amhon now.
He had ordered the Amhon to observe Eun-hyeon secretly, not to protect him. The Amhon had simply carried out their Lord’s orders faithfully as always.
Yet why did it twist his insides like this?
Such emotions were truly rare for him.
Cheong-un looked at the still messily spread table and slumped into a chair.
“Withdraw until there’s news of the young master.”
As soon as Cheong-un finished speaking, the Amhon vanished.
Cheong-un stared at the empty space where the Amhon had been and bit his lip hard. He knew he wasn’t acting like himself. But he couldn’t control his emotions.
After becoming the Heavenly Demon, all his emotions, including joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, had faded. It was like living in a colorless world.
Yet he felt intense emotions regarding Namgung Eun-hyeon. His insides churned with these long-forgotten feelings.
Cheong-un stared at his own hand.
He saw his fist, unconsciously clenched tight upon learning of Namgung Eun-hyeon’s absence. He had gripped so hard that even his fingertips had turned white.
He felt like he would tear apart anyone who had kidnapped Namgung Eun-hyeon if they appeared before him now.
“Namgung Eun-hyeon… Just what are you?”
Cheong-un let out a sigh.
* * *
“…What did you say?”
“For-forgive me, Lord. Please kill me.”
Qi flickered at his fingertips unconsciously as he looked at the Amhon bowing before him.
Suppressing the instinct to flee from the sharp killing intent that threatened immediate beheading, Amhon remained deeply bowed. After all, if Amhon even thought of running, their master would mercilessly take their head.
“Amhon lost them? Mere first-class masters?”
“No matter how much we checked, we couldn’t detect the Thousand-Li Fragrance. The last confirmed location was a warehouse outside the city gates.”
Cheong-un clenched his fists.
He wanted to separate these stupid, incompetent Amhon’s heads from their bodies right now. His anger rose so intensely that his vision distorted.
“Ho-however, we discovered the kidnapper’s identity.”
“Identity?”
“We caught someone near Hangzhou who had traces of the Thousand-Li Fragrance. A man called Jang, who dealt in human trafficking with someone known as Cross-eye.”
“Interesting.”
Amhon spoke while sweating profusely about what they had found.
When they first planted the Thousand-Li Fragrance on the young master, Amhon hadn’t thought finding him would be difficult. Their fragrance was different from what righteous sects used – it was specially developed by the Demonic Cult. Only those trained in tracking arts could detect it, and it lasted about a week once applied. It couldn’t be removed by ordinary means.
But somehow, the fragrance had suddenly vanished.
It was completely unimaginable.
The thought of the Heavenly Demon’s fury at their incompetence made them dizzy.
After running themselves ragged like dogs, they finally found Jang. They caught and tortured him, discovering who masterminded the young master’s kidnapping. Since there was no honor among such criminals, it didn’t take long to get the information.
The problem was they couldn’t find where Cross-eye had gone.
“According to Jang, this Cross-eye has a specially crafted coffin. It’s used for kidnapping high-status individuals, and apparently it’s specially treated to block the Thousand-Li Fragrance. That’s probably why the scent disappeared.”
Yoon Ju-myeong, the Amhon leader, was drenched in cold sweat as he reported.
The Heavenly Demon remained silent after the report.
Ju-myeong’s mouth went dry.
Since following their lord into the martial world, this was their first such display of incompetence. They would have no defense if they lost their head over this.
If word spread in the Demonic Cult that they had been so thoroughly outplayed by a mere human trafficker, anyone, not just the Heavenly Demon, would try to kill them.
“Lord, what should we do? We brought Jang, but he seems not to know who Cross-eye deals with.”
Seeing that Jang maintained ignorance even under Ju-myeong’s personal torture, he must truly not know.
But still, Heavenly Demon Cheong-un remained silent.
“I smell the Thousand-Li Fragrance.”
“…What?”
Cheong-un’s eyes flashed with an eerie light.
Ju-myeong unconsciously opened his qi sense and tracked the fragrance.
“Oh! The Thousand-Li Fragrance…!”
When he opened his eyes after concentrating on the scent, Cheong-un had already vanished.
“The fragrance has reappeared. The Lord must have gone there!”
Ju-myeong launched himself forward. The remaining Amhon followed behind.
Though they had been running like dogs without sleep for two days, no one complained of fatigue. They simply hurried after their Heavenly Demon who had shot off like a beam of light.
Cheong-un frowned at himself in disbelief as he flew through the air, following the Thousand-Li Fragrance.
The moment he caught the scent of the Thousand-Li Fragrance that was said to have been sprayed on Eun-hyeon, his feet moved instinctively.
That wasn’t all. He was now using all of his internal energy on lightness skill – energy he had been restraining while acting as the White Dragon.
Had he ever used his lightness skill so extremely like this before?
What was it about Namgung Eun-hyeon that made him act this way?
Even as he questioned himself, his legs continued to move rapidly without rest.
The scent of the Thousand-Li Fragrance was getting closer and closer.
When he finally spotted Namgung Eun-hyeon in the distance, appearing as tiny as a dot, an indescribable emotion welled up from deep within.
“Namgung Eun-hyeon!”
He couldn’t hear what the grotesque pig was saying, but he neither cared nor wanted to know.
Before the pig’s hand could reach Eun-hyeon, Cheong-un found himself instinctively drawing and throwing his short dagger.