Episode 20

Here’s roughly what the young Miao tribesman had said.

When many of the Miao people were being captured by the Blood Sect, they had been saved thanks to an old man named Dokno. Even now, they were able to live safely deep in the jungle because of him. But now, Dokno was gravely ill—coughing up blood and in critical condition.

From what I gathered, Dokno was likely a martial artist, and it seemed he was showing symptoms of “possession by demonic influence” (Juhwaipma).

That was why the young Miao man had come all the way to the front lines, seeking help from those skilled in martial arts.

“Please, give us the Chebal Towa. Dokno is our benefactor. Without him, all my brothers would surely perish.”

Seolpung hesitated, unsure how to respond to this unprecedented situation.

Then, Ju Taekyung, who had been trailing behind, scoffed and said, “What are you hesitating for? Of course it’s a lie. How could untrained Miao tribesmen survive in that forest full of demons?”

Despite the fact that the squad didn’t like him, his words made sense.

But the young Miao man shouted back indignantly, “It’s not a lie! The scent Dokno gave us keeps the demons away! Thanks to Dokno, we survived!”

Sun Woojin, who had been deep in thought, suddenly perked up. “A scent? What kind of scent?”

The young man pulled out a roughly made sachet. “This scent repels the demons! If we have this, the demons won’t come near!”

The smell was unusual, but that alone wasn’t enough to confirm the truth.

Sun Woojin’s eyes gleamed as he turned to Seolpung. “Let’s go, squad leader.”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t this sachet reason enough to investigate? And…”

Ju Taekyung cut in with a fierce expression. “What nonsense is that? You want to go inside based on a sachet that might be fake? Even if it’s real, what use is it to us? We’re supposed to hunt down demons, not use a scent that scares them away!”

Sun Woojin ignored him with a smirk and continued, “Squad leader, they say they’ve lived inside the forest. That means they know the terrain. If we don’t want to just guard this place forever, we need to learn the inside of that forest too, don’t we?”

The moment everyone understood what he meant, they were speechless.

He was talking about offense, not defense. Gathering intel from inside the forest to one day strike the Blood Sect.

It was a radical idea no one in the Thirteenth Squad had ever considered.

Sun Woojin’s words shattered their fixed mindset, leaving them swallowing hard.

Even Ju Taekyung, who had been ready to explode in anger when ignored, stammered, “W-what…? Didn’t the Blood Sect and the Martial Alliance have a non-aggression pact? You can’t just…”

Sun Woojin smiled coldly and replied, “Ah, so we’ve been getting attacked by demons every day despite the pact. And Ju Taekyung, aren’t you a disciple of the Jeomchang Sect? I didn’t expect a Jeomchang disciple to say something like that.”

At the mention of Jeomchang Sect, Ju Taekyung’s pride was wounded, and he gripped his sword. “How dare you!”

But he couldn’t draw his blade after Sun Woojin’s next words, spoken with disdain.

“Wasn’t your goal to strike the Blood Sect and reclaim the Jeomchang Sect’s homeland? Were you content to guard this place for a thousand years? That’s surprising.”

Ju Taekyung was left speechless.

Sun Woojin, having silenced him with a few words, turned back to Seolpung. “What do you say, squad leader?”

His eyes said that if the answer was no, he’d go alone.

Seolpung thought for a moment, then asked the young Miao man, “How long would it take to get there?”

The young man, who had been watching the tense conversation, answered immediately. “Half a day! If we move fast, half a day is enough!”

Seolpung frowned. “Half a day… So a round trip would be a full day. That’s tight. We’d have to be back before the afternoon patrol the day after tomorrow. And if we’re going to try treatment once we arrive, time might not be enough. Plus, there’s no guarantee the treatment will work.”

Ju Taekyung, who had been silent, spoke up again. “And it’s unauthorized absence from duty. That’s a serious offense. Don’t forget.”

Sun Woojin chuckled and said, “Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to come along.”

“What?!”

“Squad leader, not everyone needs to go. Just the fastest runners, to get there as quickly as possible. Maybe just you, me, and Bisa-Young. We’ll take turns carrying this young man.”

Recently, Sun Woojin’s new technique had impressed even Bisa-Young, who had taught it to him. He could maintain speed even while wearing a heavy vest—sometimes faster than Bisa-Young herself.

Seolpung nodded, thinking it was a good plan.

Sun Woojin continued, “And about the unauthorized absence…”

He turned back to the young Miao man. “There are many demons inside the forest, right?”

“Yes! Yes! Many! But with this scent—”

“No, I mean what kinds of demons? Are there any that feed on human energy to grow stronger? Like spiders that move silently and attack people to drain their life force?”

“Yes! There are! Those ones are very dangerous!”

The demons that silently ambushed people and fed on their energy, growing stronger, were called “Jugi” or spider ghosts by the front-line troops.

Sun Woojin grinned and said to Seolpung, “So there are Jugi. Since we’ve found their trail, shouldn’t we go after them and deal with it?”

Seolpung smiled back. “Good thinking. This is definitely something we have to do.”

It was standard procedure to eliminate growing Jugi immediately—this took priority over any other duty.

In the end, Seolpung, Sun Woojin, Bisa-Young, and Cheongyeon decided to go.

Cheongyeon volunteered, saying she was just as fast as Bisa-Young and Sun Woojin. She was also the second strongest in the Seventh Squad after Seolpung, so everyone agreed.

Before leaving, Seolpung awkwardly smiled and said to Nasaeyu, “Please take care of things here, vice squad leader. Sorry for always making you manage the squad in my place.”

Nasaeyu smiled warmly. “Be careful. We’ll be waiting.”

Seolpung couldn’t meet her eyes and quickly looked away.

Nearby, Ju Taekyung glared at Sun Woojin. “Even if you’re exhausted when you get back, I won’t postpone our duel. You’re not running away from it, are you?”

Sun Woojin chuckled. “You’re delusional. Compared to this mission, our duel means nothing to me. Don’t get the wrong idea.”

“What did you say?!”

Sun Woojin laughed at the grinding teeth of Ju Taekyung and took off, carrying the young Miao man on his back.

---

“Wow! So fast!”

The young Miao man on my back shouted excitedly.

Seolpung, me, Bisa-Young, and Cheongyeon were running through the trees as if flying, just like during our dawn training.

The evening was darkening, and the dense jungle was growing thicker, but our speed didn’t slow at all.

“My name’s Dakam! I’m really grateful!”

Dakam, the young Miao man, seemed bright and cheerful by nature.

Even though he had been acupuncture-point sealed and couldn’t move his body, being carried like luggage, he was still excited like a child.

Seeing him like that, I thought back to my past life.

I had met him before.

Back then, too, he had come to us with a desperate look, asking for help.

“And we refused him.”

Nothing particularly bad happened as a result. It was just a passing event.

But long after that, the Doksa-gwi appeared.

A demon whose poison was so potent that just being near it could poison a person.

We had no knowledge of it, and when we first encountered a Doksa-gwi, over twenty of our comrades were poisoned.

Among them was her.

“Nasaeyu.”

Our vice squad leader and my first love.

This happened while Seolpung was away, rescuing Ju Taekyung and his gang from danger.

Neither the resident doctor of the Thirteenth Squad nor Dang Yeoeun, the daughter of the Dang family, could find an antidote.

We could only watch as our comrades died.

Then Seolpung had gone alone into the jungle.

After hearing Dang Yeoeun’s theory that if the poison came from jungle toxins, the antidote was likely nearby.

Two days later, he returned with some plants he had gathered with advice from the Miao.

Dang Yeoeun immediately made an antidote from them and tested it.

They managed to save a few of the poisoned comrades who were still alive.

But I wasn’t among them.

It was already too late.

Her death had a profound impact on us.

“That’s when Seolpung changed, and when I changed.”

Seolpung abandoned his kind and gentle nature, becoming cold and ruthless.

I threw myself into training as if burning my body to ashes.

And so, in the end, Jo-jang became the Stormwind Flying Dragon, and I was able to reach the pinnacle of first-class mastery.

Of course, at the time, I had no idea that the Miao tribesman from whom Jo-jang Seolpung had sought advice was this very young man.

But I believed that if there was even the slightest chance, we had to try everything.

After running for about an hour, the sun set and the jungle grew pitch black, forcing us to slow down.

Seolpung Jo-jang could discern objects in the dark as clearly as in broad daylight, but for me, Bisa-yeong, and Cheong-yeon Sojeo, it was still impossible.

“At least the stars are bright—thank goodness for that.”

We landed and let the Miao tribesman, Dakam, down. He had to take the lead now, especially to guide us through the path ahead.

Suddenly, I turned to Bisa-yeong.

“Say, Yeong.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“We should train ourselves to sense things with our eyes closed, like Jo-jang does.”

“Ugh, do you really think that’s possible? I’m already struggling just to keep up with the training we have.”

She grumbled, but didn’t refuse outright. That meant she understood the necessity.

Cheong-yeon Sojeo said nothing, but I had long sensed that she was already practicing that kind of training. I had tried it in my past life, after all.

Though I hadn’t achieved much then, I had made significant progress since the recent Zhu Gui incident.

Just then, Dakam warned us.

“Come closer to the clearing. This place is full of Toksa and Perle snakes, so be careful…!”

Before he could finish, something shot out from the forest like an arrow.

Ssssh!

In the pitch-black darkness, the projectile was truly threatening.

Neither I nor Bisa-yeong could react in time.

“Ugh!”

“What was that?!”

But Seolpung Jo-jang was unfazed.

With a swift motion, he caught the thing mid-air. It was a thin snake, hissing quietly in his hand.

“This is… a Samchae Sisa?”

Cheong-yeon Sojeo was the first to show interest.

“Excuse me? A Samchae Sisa?”

“Isn’t that supposed to be an extremely rare venomous snake?”

Seolpung Jo-jang caught another one that flew toward us and replied lightly.

“Seems like they’re common here.”

Those of us on the front lines had been educated with a booklet distributed by the Dangga, giving us basic knowledge about poisons.

The Samchae Sisa, described as a venomous snake with three colors that flies like an arrow and bites its target, was known as a rare species whose venom was even memorized by martial artists.

Dakam approached us with an admiring expression.

“As expected of Taetan. No one but Tokno could do that.”

Seolpung Jo-jang asked him, “Are these common around here?”

“That area? Yes, it’s called Chongjongpo. Not yet, but if you go further, there’s Tokrim, and many Taren cuts as well.”

Cheong-yeon Sojeo nodded repeatedly at Dakam’s words, examining the snakes handed to her by Jo-jang.

If she had eyes, I imagined they would be shining with fascination.

Anyway, according to Dakam, if we went about another hour from here, we’d reach a vast swamp called Dokrim, which was strictly forbidden territory for the Miao.

But Dakam’s home was beyond that.

When the blood cultists began hunting their own kind, they had no choice but to live nearby.

I asked him suddenly.

“Is the reason the Miao avoid that place because of the abundance of venomous creatures?”

“Yes. Tokno said so. The creatures there naturally hate the Tok scent. But he also warned that later, some would even emit Tok themselves, so we should be cautious.”

Hearing that, Jo-jang and I exchanged a glance.

That old man, Dokno, seemed to know a great deal about the Ma-in.

No, if the “Ma-in” he mentioned as coming later referred to the venomous snake demons, then he knew far too much.

My curiosity about his true identity deepened.

Could it be…?