Seolhwa turned—and there stood an old man with age spots and a face lined by deep wrinkles.

The old man hunched awkwardly, wearing a look that was somehow aggrieved.

At the sight, Seolhwa, before she knew it, turned her head the other way and let out a laugh.

Yu Gang’s brows knit, faintly.

Seolhwa’s Human-Skin Mask was that of an ordinary woman—so why was his face that of an old man?

Couldn’t they have just given him the face of an ordinary man as well?

But seeing Seolhwa laugh, he realized none of that mattered.

The frown on Yu Gang’s face relaxed into a smile to match hers.

“So that’s why you asked for one old-man face.”

Watching the two of them, the Hao Sect Lord chuckled softly and leaned in to murmur to Seolhwa.

Seolhwa, who had just turned her head away and was struggling to tuck her laughter back in, jolted and looked at her.

“Huh? That’s... not it?”

“Is it not?”

She wasn’t quite sure what, exactly, wasn’t it.

“It would be best if you avoid tying up your hair.”

“?”

Before she realized it, Seolhwa’s earlobes had flushed red. The Hao Sect Lord let down her hair to cover them and laughed again, low.

After asking the Hao Sect Lord to relay Blood Cult news to the Martial Alliance, Seolhwa and Yu Gang boarded a boat.

It was a small ferry landing, but quite a few people had gathered to embark.

It seemed an escort bureau was shipping freight; a group clustered around a cargo wagon stood out.

They tethered their horses below and each stowed their gear in their assigned cabins.

Shaaah— shaaah—

The boat cut smoothly across the river, cleaving the current.

Yu Gang stepped out of his cabin and headed for the stern.

He spotted Seolhwa on one side of the deck.

Without hesitation, he went to her.

The Human-Skin Mask made her face different, but the way she stood, the air about her—that was exactly the Seolhwa he knew.

“Being like this... it takes me back.”

Seolhwa slid him a sidelong glance as he came to stand at her side, then turned back in silence to the scenery flowing past.

“When we went to Surochae with Hwarin—do you remember?”

Seolhwa nodded.

“Mm.”

“How’s Hwarin doing?”

“Fine.”

Yu Gang kept a wry smile on his lips at Seolhwa’s response, which still didn’t spare him a single full look.

But he, too, let out a relieved breath as he watched the moving view, then spoke.

“To be honest, I was a little hurt earlier.”

Seolhwa’s hand, gripping the rail, gave a small start.

She should have spoken of the sigil before they left the Alliance.

“Barely half a shichen gone, and I’m being treated like somebody clutching at your ankles.”

“?”

Seolhwa’s brows dipped low.

The point of his words was sliding a different way than she’d thought.

“When I thought you needed me and that’s why we were going together, nothing anyone said mattered. But once I thought we were going because of me... I really did look like I was dragging at your ankles.”

Seolhwa turned to him and cut it off.

“That’s not it.”

That they were going to the Demonic Sect because of Yu Gang?

In part, yes—but not only for that.

She had to go to the Demonic Sect as well, to find the Long-Scarred Bamboo-Hatted Man.

“Yeah. I know.”

Yu Gang looked back at her.

Through the wrinkled old man’s face, Yu Gang’s characteristically clear eyes shone.

“It was just me being petty.”

“...”

“I’m sorry.”

The old man’s mouth curved into a gentle arc.

Seolhwa swallowed, without meaning to.

It was clearly the face of an old man, and yet, absurdly, she could see the Yu Gang hidden beneath.

His bright, open smile was vivid before her eyes, and Seolhwa turned her gaze away.

“The eyes...”

“Hm?”

“I should have asked for the eyes to be covered.”

She’d thought an old man’s face would make it easier.

But because it was so unlike Yu Gang’s usual face, his face rose in her mind all the more, and it left her oddly parched.

If she’d known, she would have had the Human-Skin Mask made to cover the eyes.

With a touch of regret, Seolhwa turned her eyes to the slipping current.

“Anyway, I’m glad such a big boat runs here. With a landing this small, I thought only small craft would come.”

“I arranged it on purpose.”

“Oh, really?”

Seolhwa flicked a glance to one side of the deck.

They were the escort bureau men she’d seen when boarding.

—I put in a commission with {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} an escort bureau. Had them prepare a big boat.

“So that’s how...”

Escort bureaus didn’t hand over a client’s information easily.

Even if it seemed odd for a large boat to depart from a small landing, they wouldn’t quickly ferret out who had commissioned it.

All the more so since the commission had gone through a route other than the Hao Sect’s name.

The Blood Cult wouldn’t suspect the Hao Sect’s hand in it.

“Smart.”

“It was the Sect Lord’s idea.”

“Having good subordinates is a skill too.”

“?”

“That’s what your master says.”

Which is to say, he himself was that capable.

Seop Mugwang was Seolhwa’s master and Yu Gang’s superior; Yu Gang had spent a lot of time with him.

“He’s a fun one.”

Thinking of Seop Mugwang, Yu Gang chuckled.

“He’s an oddball.”

Thinking of him as well, Seolhwa smiled back.

The slight awkwardness between the two eased naturally as they spoke of Seop Mugwang.

And then—

“I’m telling you, they even brought the dead back to life! I saw it with my own two eyes!”

“How do you bring back the dead? Don’t talk nonsense!”

“Oh, you’re hopeless! That’s why people follow him! Illnesses—gone in a sweep, the dying brought back! That man is a god, a god!”

At the passing conversation, Seolhwa and Yu Gang’s smiles vanished at once.

Within the Martial Alliance, they had only heard such things as reports; this was their first time facing the Blood Cult’s influence directly.

“Don’t listen. It’s all drivel.”

Seolhwa hesitated a beat, then deliberately ignored the talk and turned her gaze away.

“Yeah. I know.”

Concern shadowed Yu Gang’s eyes.

After a moment’s thought, he asked, lightly:

“I’m hungry. Want to eat? I packed rice balls.”

The edge that had risen in Seolhwa at the mention of the Blood Cult slowly receded.

Seolhwa nodded.

“Mm.”

****

“The Blood Cult has begun to move.”

Namgoong Mucheon’s face darkened as he read the letter sent from the Hao Sect.

Barely half a day after Seolhwa left the Alliance, the news was that the Blood Cult’s leaders would strike the Martial Alliance.

By Seolhwa’s account, this move was the Blood Cult’s counter to the Alliance taking Sado’s hand.

“The timing is not good.”

Of all times, when Seolhwa—who knew them well—was away.

No. That’s not it.

Because she knew the Blood Cult so well, they would target her first.

Not knowing her whereabouts now might be better for protecting that child.

Whether Seolhwa was here or not, the war with the Blood Cult had already begun.

After a long, deep consideration, Namgoong Mucheon called for Jegal Myeong.

“Strategist.”

“Your orders.”

“We must send men to Mount Kunlun.”

****

Following the waterway to Chongqing, Seolhwa and Yu Gang turned along the border of Shaanxi and Sichuan toward Qinghai.

Qinghai was where the Kunlun Sect—one of the Nine Sects—was based.

They would not pass over Mount Kunlun, but intended to follow the official road connecting to the range and cross into Xinjiang.

Thus they arrived at Xining, the prefectural capital of Qinghai.

At high elevation and ringed by mountains, Xining made them tug their bamboo hats down as they went looking for an inn to spend the night.

“Blood-Heaven arrives! Ten thousand demons prostrate!”

“Blood-Heaven arrives! Ten thousand demons prostrate!”

“Blood-Heaven arrives! Ten thousand demons prostrate!”

A group marched past, bearing a red banner that read [Great Asura Blood Sect].

The farther west they went in Central Plains, the more people they saw following the Blood Cult—likely an effect of its upsurge from Yunnan, where Hwaoru had been.

Facing the line chanting Blood Cult slogans, Yu Gang shifted his body to shield Seolhwa so she wouldn’t brush against them and muttered:

“It’s really bad here...”

Seolhwa started to tilt up her bamboo hat to see ahead.

But all that filled her view was Yu Gang’s broad chest, and she quickly lowered her head.

Seolhwa hastened her steps.

Thinking she wanted to clear the area quickly, Yu Gang hurried to match her pace.

At the inn, they unpacked, then came down to the first floor to eat.

It must have been the dinner hour; the common room was crowded with diners.

Snatches of “Blood Cult,” “the Cult Lord,” came from all around, but Seolhwa and Yu Gang deliberately ignored it and took a table.

“Shall we order noodles and dumplings?” 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

At Yu Gang’s question, Seolhwa nodded.

He flagged down a passing server, placed their order, and poured water, setting the cup before Seolhwa.

“At least we can rest comfortably for once. The past few days sleeping rough must’ve been hard, right?”

It had been harder on Yu Gang than on her.

He had roused himself several times through the night to feed the fire so it wouldn’t die, and he had seen to her bedding.

Seolhwa couldn’t even cook; Yu Gang had handled all their meals.

Seolhwa realized anew that if she hadn’t come with Yu Gang, she could hardly imagine how difficult the journey would have been.

“Thanks to you...”

“?”

Thanks to you, it was easy. Thank you. The words stuck, as if caught in her throat, and wouldn’t come out.

Had saying thank you always been this hard?

With a stifled feeling, Seolhwa rubbed the back of her neck.

“What did you say, Seolhwa?”

Over the common-room clamor, Yu Gang hadn’t heard her. He leaned forward over the table and asked again.

Within the wrinkled face, his round, clear eyes sparkled bright.

“Mm?”

“...Nothing.”

Seolhwa scrunched her brow and turned her head away.

Yu Gang, a little crestfallen, settled back in his seat.

This wasn’t how she’d meant it to go.

I was trying...

...to say thank you.

As Seolhwa kept her brows drawn, scolding herself—

“!”

“...”

Yu Gang, pitcher tilted over his own cup—

And Seolhwa, head turned just slightly—

Both of their gazes lowered.

A master.

Their nerves fixed on the one who had just stepped into the inn.