Yu Gang scratched the back of his head with an awkward grin.

“O-oh, you are here, Senior Brother?”

“Did you just call me... Senior Brother?”

Thud. Thud. At the menacing pressure of Yu Pyo’s approaching steps, Yu Gang instinctively stumbled back.

“Ahaha, well, you see, Senior Brother...”

“What could you possibly have done to end up captured by Suro Stronghold?”

“Ah...”

Right, I had been held in Suro Stronghold, then rescued—how could I forget?

“And furthermore!”

“!”

“How dare you leave Mount Hua without permission! Do you have any idea how worried the elders and your seniors were?”

Though he had left under the Sect Leader’s orders, Yu Gang could not say that outright. All he could do was laugh awkwardly.

“Is everyone well...?”

“You vanish without a word, and that is what you dare to ask?”

“Ahaha... I apologize. I only meant to get a bit of fresh air, but then I lost my way... Fortunately, the Namgoong Clan recognized me and saved me, and that is how I am here, alive, and able to see you again, Senior Brother.”

“...Ha.”

“Senior Broooother...”

Yu Gang playfully tapped Yu Pyo’s arm as he grinned.

Yu Pyo pressed a hand to his aching temple and sighed once again.

“You are not injured?”

“Ah, I was hurt a little, but I have mostly recovered.”

“Injured, you say?”

“They treated me at Namgoong. I am completely fine now.”

Yu Gang spread his arms wide and swung them about as if to prove his vitality.

“...Very well. Then prepare yourself quickly. The elders are waiting, and it is time for us to return to Mount Hua.”

“Ah, that is...”

It was good news for Yu Gang, who had been tasked by the Sect Leader to bring the Namgoong young lady back to Mount Hua—but from Mount Hua’s standpoint, the situation was not so simple.

Even if they had the justification of having rescued Yu Gang, the sudden visit from Namgoong—a noble house Mount Hua had long had no interaction with—was a burdensome matter.

“What is it?”

He hesitated, unsure ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) how to broach the subject, when a welcome voice answered for him.

“On his way back, Master So shall be accompanied by our clan.”

Yu Gang’s expression brightened.

“Miss Namgoong!”

He had not seen her since they shared dinner at Hwarin’s residence.

Seolhwa had left at the break of dawn and only returned late at night.

Meeting her again after such a long gap, Yu Gang was visibly delighted.

“What do you mean by that? Accompanied, you say?”

Yu Pyo, who had exchanged only a brief greeting, immediately pressed her for an answer.

He seemed to have anticipated this to some extent, but the displeasure on his face was unmistakable.

Seolhwa smiled as she replied.

“Have you not yet met with my grandfather?”

“...I had hoped to pay my respects, but I was told he was occupied with urgent matters.”

Was that to say that even if Namgoong’s clan head wished to meet, it was not something one could expect?

He had surely been reported as having arrived at Namgoong, but he had not dared hope to meet the clan head in person.

“I believe you will meet him soon.”

“Is there a particular reason?”

“Our main household has decided to escort the two Daoist masters of Mount Hua back to the sect.”

“...Escort?”

Yu Pyo’s expression hardened.

“I am sorry, Miss Namgoong. But we have no need for an escort.”

“I am well aware of the capabilities of the two disciples. However, this was my grandfather’s decision.”

“The Sword Emperor himself...!”

If this had been decided by the Sword Emperor, head of the Namgoong Clan, then Yu Pyo had no room to refuse.

Even Elder Nomon, who led the Plum Blossom Sword Sect, could not treat him lightly—how could someone like himself, who had only just been named among the hundred top masters, dare to go against his will?

“He said that meeting an old friend of Mount Hua once again was a welcome thing.”

“...I see.”

In the end, Yu Pyo took a step back.

They had received Namgoong’s aid—if Namgoong chose to visit Mount Hua, there was no grounds to reject it.

It was irritating that they had not been informed of such a significant matter in advance, but what was done was done.

“Then when do you plan to depart?”

“Likely tomorrow. My grandfather will send someone separately. You may remain where Master So has been staying.”

“I shall stay with my junior.”

“All right, then.”

With a brief nod, Seolhwa turned and walked away. The serene smile she had worn throughout the exchange vanished the moment she turned her head.

As they watched her retreating figure, Yu Gang and Yu Pyo spoke at the same time.

“Senior Brother.”

“Yu Gang.”

“Yes? Ah, you first, Senior Brother.”

“...Is something going on in Namgoong?”

“...Sorry?”

Yu Gang turned to glance back at Seolhwa, who had already walked quite far.

Come to think of it, two nights ago, he had sensed a strange flow of energy from deep within the estate.

Still, since no disturbance followed, he had assumed the Namgoong warriors were simply cultivating.

‘If something serious had happened, would the place not have been in an uproar?’

“I am not sure.”

“I see.”

Yu Pyo looked around the Namgoong estate with a peculiar expression.

Something about the atmosphere felt subtly precarious, as if teetering on the edge.

“Well then, what was it you were about to say?”

“Miss Namgoong...”

Yu Gang rubbed his chin with a serious look.

“Does she not seem a little drained today?”

Yu Pyo’s brow furrowed low.

At last, he understood why Elder Nomon always looked at Yu Gang with that expression.

“Stop meddling needlessly and go inside.”

With that, Yu Pyo walked past Yu Gang and into the residence. Yu Gang remained where he stood, still rubbing his chin as he stared after Seolhwa.

“There is no strength in her steps. Definitely...”

Hmmm...

****

Namgoong Mucheon quietly observed the granddaughter who had come to see him.

For a moment, he recalled the child’s bold demeanor when she had stood before the clan elders at Tenhojeon.

As that audacious image surfaced in his mind, so too did the memory of the day she had returned to Namgoong.

Unlike the other children, who would burst into tears just by standing before him, she had looked him straight in the eye and asked why she had to prove herself.

He had been so taken aback by it.

“Has she grown a little since then...?”

It had only been a couple of months, yet the child already seemed taller than before.

Her cheeks looked a bit slimmer as well.

...

“Come here.”

Namgoong Mucheon called Seolhwa over.

“...?”

She had only asked if they could depart for Mount Hua tomorrow—so for him to tell her to come closer was somewhat unexpected. Still, Seolhwa took a step toward him.

“Closer.”

“....”

“Up you go.”

Namgoong Mucheon lifted Seolhwa into the air and placed her on his knee.

“?!”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

She turned to look up at him, and Namgoong Mucheon let out a warm laugh.

“I thought to myself—if not today, when else will I have the chance to place my granddaughter on my knee? That is why I called you over. Did you not like it?”

“...No, I did not dislike it.”

“Good. Then let us speak like this.”

Seolhwa nodded softly.

She could not remember ever sitting on someone’s lap. It may well have been the first time in her life—but it did not feel bad.

There was a ticklish feeling in her chest, one she now vaguely understood.

This was... a good feeling.

“Well then. What was it you wished to say?”

“Will we be able to depart tomorrow? To Mount Hua.”

“Come to think of it, I heard that a disciple from Mount Hua had arrived. Yes. As you requested, I already ordered the preparations. We can depart tomorrow.”

She had already explained that traveling quickly to Mount Hua would be the best way to assist Seop Mugwang.

Upon hearing that, Namgoong Mucheon had immediately ordered the household to ready themselves for departure.

“Grandfather.”

“Yes.”

“Two days ago, he came to see me.”

“He?”

“The Blood Demon.”

“!”

“He said... he would kill the Division Leader.”

The warmth in Namgoong Mucheon’s face vanished in an instant, replaced by a grim severity.

“And why are you only telling me this now?”

“If I had told you earlier... would the Division Leader still have gone?”

“....”

Namgoong Mucheon could not answer.

Even if he had known, Seop Mugwang would have gone—and he would have let him.

“I wanted to tell you. I tried to. But...”

Seolhwa looked up at Namgoong Mucheon.

“I could not. I feared... if I said the Blood Demon had come to me, you would try to confront him.”

That day, Namgoong Mucheon had taken the lives of five Bipung Division members with his own hands.

They were not merely subordinates of Seop Mugwang. They were his own people.

To have had to kill them himself—what must that have felt like? The guilt of failing to protect them as clan head... how heavy must it be?

If he had learned then that the Blood Demon was near, Namgoong Mucheon would certainly have dispatched a search party to find him, to confront him directly.

And just as she had failed to stop Seop Mugwang, Seolhwa would not have been able to stop him either.

She had been afraid.

“I still cannot accept it. That the Division Leader chose to go to Yunnan. And that you... that you decided to send him to such a dangerous place.”

The principles of the orthodox sects—just when she thought she was beginning to understand, they would feel distant again.

“But you must have done so because it was right.”

Even counting her previous life, Seolhwa had lived far fewer years than Namgoong Mucheon.

He had lived longer, seen more, attained higher cultivation—he must have considered things she had not.

“That is why I want to see it for myself. That even with an unfavorable decision... it is still possible to win.”

“....”

“So please...”

Seolhwa clasped the hand that supported her.

That large, thick hand—still too big for her to fully grasp.

“Please live.”

She squeezed it tightly with all her strength.

“Please, live—no matter what, Grandfather.”