What the hell is this guy doing?
That was what Xiao Yun was thinking as he stared at Taesan.
“You may not remember, Clan Leader, but you once saved my life in the past.”
“Your life?”
It had been so long ago that, naturally, he couldn’t recall. Taesan then recounted the details of what had happened to him.
The story went like this:
One day, Taesan had suddenly found himself in the martial world without knowing why. To survive, he did all sorts of odd jobs while secretly learning martial arts.
Then, one day, he encountered a group of bandits. They beat him to the brink of death, and just when he thought he was done for, a young Tang Unryong appeared.
Even back then, Tang Unryong was already one of the top martial artists. He annihilated the bandits in an instant and, as a bonus, saved the dying Taesan.
— You have an unusual tenacity. If you had been born into the Tang Clan, I might have personally nurtured you with great care… Do you wish to live?
Nod.
— Alright. Today is my younger sister’s birthday, so I shall extend a special act of kindness. This grace is not given by Tang Unryong, the Clan Leader of the Tang Clan, but by Tang Sohye. Never forget this for the rest of your life. Understood?
Nod.
Thanks to that, Taesan survived. He never forgot that debt, and when the Tang Clan was on the verge of destruction due to internal power struggles, he appeared alone and turned the battlefield into a sea of blood.
Ever since then, whenever the opportunity arose, he searched for the benefactor who had saved his life, but for some reason, he was nowhere to be found. He had thought they would never meet again—
Yet here they were, reunited in such an unexpected way.
“Thanks to you, I was able to survive that hellish place. Benefactor, please accept my bow!”
Overwhelmed with emotion, Taesan was shedding tears as he kowtowed. Xiao Yun, watching him with a bewildered expression, felt a strange emotion stir within him.
‘How can fate be so intertwined like this?’
And so, after a round of bowing—
“This is a strange occurrence indeed. You and I are not martial artists of the same era, yet our fates have intertwined like this…”
Xiao Yun had once seen Taesan from afar when he was still known as the Blood Sea Fist Demon.
“Even as time passed, the name of Sichuan’s greatest warrior, the Venomous Demon God Healer, never faded, Benefactor.”
“Thank you. And thank you for not forgetting the kindness I showed and for helping the Tang Clan—no, Sohye.”
“‘Repay kindness twofold, and vengeance tenfold.’ That is the way of the Tang Clan, is it not? I may not be a member of the Tang Clan, but since I received the Clan Leader’s grace, repaying it was only natural.”
At the time Taesan first encountered Tang Unryong, the latter had already entered middle age, his hair streaked with gray. Not long after Taesan made a name for himself, Xiao Yun had undergone dimensional travel. The gap between them was considerable.
They had only crossed paths twice—The first was when Tang Unryong saved Taesan’s life. The second was when Xiao Yun, attending a Martial Alliance meeting, happened to see Taesan.
However, because they had returned at different times, this kind of reunion had become possible.
“That child… Sohye, is she doing well?”
It was the most important question to Xiao Yun.
“The current Clan Leader is well. At least until I returned here, she was in good health.”
Hearing that, Xiao Yun smiled brightly—a genuine, heartfelt smile.
“That’s a relief… Truly a relief.”
He had always worried about whether the little girl who used to follow him everywhere would be able to support the clan on her own.
But it seemed she had endured well.
“Haha! Of course. She’s even married. She has three children!”
“…Married? Children?”
Xiao Yun’s face instantly twisted into that of a fiend.
Who the hell dared to take my Sohye…?
No, no. Hadn’t he, more than anyone, wished for her happiness? If she had found a good match, married, and built a family, it should be a joyous thing.
And yet…
“Who the hell is he?”
“…Excuse me?”
“I’m asking, who did she marry?”
Taesan recalled the name and answered,
“If I remember correctly, she married Cheon Unhwi, the Sword of Heavenly Might, the sect leader of the Azure Heaven Sect.”
“Azure Heaven Sect? She married the master of some unheard-of sect?”
Though he looked no different from a young man on the outside, he was, at heart, an old-fashioned martial artist.
“Benefactor! You need not worry. The Azure Heaven Sect is the leading sect of its time.”
“The leading sect? So you’re saying my little Sohye married the strongest martial artist of this era?”
“Yes. The sect leader of the Azure Heaven Sect, the Sword of Heavenly Might, reached such heights that even the Demon Cult’s leader, who had reached the pinnacle of demonic martial arts, couldn’t stand against him. The number of demons he cut down was enough to form a river of blood, and even the elderly masters of the righteous sects couldn’t last ten exchanges against him. Some even say he was the primary reason the demonic cult failed to conquer the Central Plains.”
The strongest under heaven… A realm even he had not attained in his time.
He had no idea where such a monstrous individual had come from, but as a former clan leader and Sohye’s older brother, he should have been overjoyed.
“To think she married such an exceptional man…”
Then why the hell did he feel so terrible?
“That son of a bitch! How dare he lay a hand on my Sohye! My little sister, who had never even held a man’s hand before! That damned thief!”
“…”
Watching Xiao Yun curse into the air, Taesan thought to himself,
‘They seemed like an extremely affectionate couple, though.’
The two were known as one of the most loving couples in the Central Plains. But having developed a sense of consideration, Taesan wisely chose to keep his mouth shut.
Perhaps looking after his benefactor’s mental state was another way to repay his debt.
“Huu… Huu… I nearly fell into qi deviation.”
“I’m relieved, Benefactor.”
“Still, meeting someone from my homeland and chatting like this after so long is wonderful. Thanks to you, I’ve been able to release much of my pent-up frustration. Thank you.”
“It is I who is honoured to reunite with such a precious connection!”
As they returned to the temporary base, the two talked ceaselessly about the martial world.
For one, it was ‘home.’ For the other, it was a ‘battlefield.’ But the fact that they could share the same subject brought immense joy to both of them.
They continued their conversation—until suddenly, Xiao Yun stopped in his tracks. Startled, Taesan turned to him. His expression had gone stiff.
Worried he might have said something wrong, Taesan asked cautiously,
“…What’s wrong?”
“…”
No answer came.
Soon, Taesan realized why Xiao Yun had reacted that way.
Gulping, Taesan gathered all the energy in his body.
His heart rang with alarm.
Thump. Thump.
As a martial artist who had survived countless life-or-death encounters, his instincts sensed danger.
It was only now that he detected the presence—after it had come this close.
‘This one’s on a whole different level from what we’ve faced so far.’
Which also meant…
This creature was capable of suppressing its presence until it reached such a distance.
And there were only a few types of entities that could pull off such a feat.
Estimated rank—Beta.
“…”
Above Xiao Yun’s head, daggers were already flying toward him.
With his eyes closed, he expanded his senses and muttered in a low voice.
Flashes of light flickered against the darkness covering his vision.
“One… two…”
Two entities, presumed to be Beta-class.
Hearing that, Taesan prepared for death. It was a hopeless situation, but if he burned even his innate energy and fought to the death, at the very least, he wouldn’t be a burden.
He knew better than anyone that this was a delusional hope, but at this moment, he resolved to believe in that delusion as truth.
‘Even if my limbs are torn off, I’ll take at least one of them down with me.’
If he could drag one of them down with him in a mutual kill, Xiao Yun could handle the remaining one. If that happened, even if he died, the survival odds of those left behind would increase.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t afraid to die, but given the situation, Taesan was simply doing his best.
“Three.”
“…?”
…Why?
Xiao Yun should have stopped counting, yet the numbers kept increasing. His face, which had never before shown fear, was gradually turning into one of shock.
“…Four.”
The darkness shrouding his vision flickered all at once, like a city skyline lighting up after a blackout.
Four Beta-class presumed entities.
Thousands of Gamma-class presumed entities.
And countless others.
“Shit.”
Riding on Wairang’s back, Taeseong felt a chill.
At first, he thought it was just an illusion due to the overwhelming yin energy in the area, but as time passed, the chill deepened.
“……”
It wasn’t an illusion.
As they approached the source of the powerful energy, the surrounding scenery changed moment by moment.
Crunch. Crunch.
“Winter?”
The season had changed.
The withered, corpse-like trees were coated in frost. The frozen ground, covered in snow, was an anomaly in this place.
…A landscape that seemed as if winter had arrived.
Unless Earth itself had gone mad, the season wouldn’t change overnight.
[Grroooowl.]
Taeseong wasn’t the only one sensing the anomaly. Even before they reached the source, Wairang was exuding killing intent.
Its keen sense of smell had picked up the scent of death.
Taeseong hated the cold.
Why?
He didn’t know.
He had simply hated the cold since he was a child.
That was why he hated winter, too.
While others would rush outside to build snowmen when it snowed, young Taeseong would stay inside reading books or training.
Only after Sooah was born did he start going outside—because she loved the snow.
‘Is that why I hate that crazy woman?’
No, that wasn’t it.
His dislike for her wasn’t something instinctive—it was because everything about the way that crazy woman spoke was fundamentally wrong.
And by “crazy woman,” he meant Yukina, Sooah’s teacher and the head of the Tree’s Japan branch.
Yes.
The white-haired woman standing far off, staring at him with icy eyes.
In a forest entirely covered in ice, she gazed at Taeseong.
“So, this is where you disappeared to.”
“……”
Dismounting from Wairang, Taeseong walked toward her.
Step. Step.
As he looked around, he spotted a familiar face.
“L-Lee Taeseong… Administrator…”
It was Yato, the leader of Team 3 of the Japan branch management.
Was she also weak against the cold? Half of her body was frozen solid.
“Ito… Ito…”
She murmured, her empty eyes fixed on something. Following her gaze, he saw dozens of administrators frozen stiff, unable to withstand the bitter cold.
They looked as pristine as ice sculptures.
Among them was Ito.
It seemed as if he might suddenly call out, “Captain! You’re here!”—but the only sound that came was Yato’s sobbing.
The absence of that voice, which had always noisily shouted “Captain, Captain,” left an eerie silence.
Like him or not, Ito was his subordinate.
And he was Ito’s captain.
A captain does not abandon his subordinates.
“Well, this is perfect. I’ve been wanting to rip you apart for a long time.”
Taeseong pulled Hoirang from his subspace, and in the next instant, his body vanished.
Lee Taeseong was far more petty than people imagined.
—A mere Delta-class administrator dares to speak so casually? You should be grateful you’re even able to have this conversation.
—Shut up and finish what you started.
—There will be no next time. You will never leave this place.
“You acted all high and mighty, saying I’d never leave, but thanks to your death, I’m out.”
