Chapter 631
There are times when you get that feeling.
That sense that the other person dislikes you even when you’ve only made eye contact. That it’s impossible to get along no matter how hard you try. That’s how it was during my second meeting with the Great Chief of the White Tribe, Baek Sang.
“You…”
Even though my face was hidden behind a mask, Baek Sang recognized me instantly. Considering his martial prowess, it wasn’t exactly shocking.
‘At least the early stage of Transcendence.’
That was my estimation of Baek Sang’s level.
A Transcendent expert is nearly impossible to find even in the Central Plains. It would’ve been more surprising if someone of that level couldn’t see through a crude tiger mask.
Warriors who’ve reached a certain realm can identify others by their aura.
But the important part wasn’t that Baek Sang recognized me at a glance—it was that he wasn’t even remotely pleased to see me.
“An uninvited guest, I see.”
Not even a ‘visitor’—an ‘uninvited guest’. If he’d said that on our first meeting, my fragile heart might’ve been scratched, but having already heard quite a bit about him, I was relatively calm.
Scratching the back of my head, I replied.
“Even if your mouth is crooked, they say you should still speak straight. To state the facts as they are, I’m not an uninvited guest. I was ‘invited’.”
“Invited?”
His gaze naturally shifted. Yohee, who met Baek Sang’s eyes, smiled faintly and spoke.
“It’s true. I invited him.”
A beautiful woman’s smile is effective in most cases, but Baek Sang was clearly not one of those people.
“You plan to collude with the Han?”
At his increasingly cold tone, Yohee shrugged in an exaggerated manner.
“Collude? I just got curious. It’s not like we met alone in the first place.”
“But after sending Heukung away, only you and the heavens know what you two talked about.”
“Don’t worry unnecessarily. I haven’t forgotten the promise we made that day.”
I didn’t know what that promise was, but it reeked of suspicion. Baek Sang’s gaze sank even deeper.
“Stop saying foolish things in front of a Han, Yohee.”
“Ah!”
A formless wave of energy burst from Baek Sang, filling the tent.
In an instant, the atmosphere grew heavy. The overwhelming presence of a Transcendent master pressed from all sides, and for the first time, the smile on Yohee’s lips began to fade. That was when I casually spoke up.
“Hey, since the Han guy is right here listening, can we stop with the whole ‘Han bastard’ thing?”
Swoooosh—
The thickening air suddenly lost its weight. The pressure dispersed with my words, and Baek Sang’s brow twitched.
“You…”
“Jin Sohyeop. Jin Pavilion Lord. Blazing Fire Dragon. Just pick whichever title you like. At this point, I don’t even know if I’m from the Taewon Jin Clan or the Taewon Bastard Clan. I’ve got a sharp tongue, huh? I know. But I trust you understand I didn’t become a Murim Alliance Pavilion Lord with just my mouth. If that were the case, my nickname wouldn’t be Blazing Fire Dragon—it’d be something like Windbag Dragon.”
Baek Sang must have realized two things from my words and actions. First, that my martial prowess was not below his.
Second, that I wasn’t just some young Han brat, but someone who held a high-ranking title in the Murim Alliance—a Pavilion Lord formed from the strongest of the Central Plains.
Either of those facts alone would make me difficult to dismiss.
Baek Sang, who had been staring at me in silence, finally opened his mouth.
“Now that I take a closer look, you really are the successor of the Blazing Fire Sect. That unfiltered mouth and reckless behavior suit the Fire King’s disciple perfectly.”
“Sir, wait. You’ve met my master before?”
“I was always with the Palace Lord. Even the day I first met the Fire King, whom I’d only heard of in stories.”
I asked cautiously, thinking ‘no way…’
“And then?”
“The Palace Lord collapsed before she could react. I followed right after. That’s why I called him a crazy old man.”
He lifted the hem of his white robe slightly, revealing a burn scar on his side.
What the hell? It looked like a beef grade stamp.
‘That’s practically a certification mark.’
Baek Sang, showing me a decades-old burn from the Fire King’s palm strike, continued coldly.
“It was a long time ago. But I remember it whenever I see this scar.”
Jeok Cheon-Gang once told me to be cautious about debts and grudges in the Murim. Now, the grudge he left behind has come back to haunt me.
‘Is this what they mean by a Murim-style payback?’
Speechless, I met Baek Sang’s cold gaze.
“You? I don’t care if you’re the Fire King’s disciple or a Pavilion Lord of the Murim Alliance. The Southern Barbarian Region has already spilled enough blood for the Central Plains. The Palace Lord’s judgment was wrong.”
“That’s all I have to say to you. So disappear from my sight. Before I deal with you myself.”
His tone was as murderous as it could get, and instead of arguing back, I stood up.
Not because I was afraid—but because there was more to lose than gain. This was a moment for cool heads.
‘Step.’
As I was about to leave the tent, I suddenly stopped. There was something I wanted to say to Baek Sang—just in case we never met again.
“That blood wasn’t spilled for the Central Plains.”
“What?”
“The blood you spilled was for the world, not just the Central Plains.”
I added calmly.
“That goes for someone’s son, too.”
FWOOSH—!
A violent surge of qi roared like a storm.
Yohee, who had been silently watching us, turned pale, and the massive tent swayed like a leaf in a typhoon.
At the center of it all, trembling with fury, was one man.
“You…!”
His eyes burned with flames, his voice bubbling with rage. But I didn’t avert my gaze.
Faced with that overwhelming emotion pouring toward me, a figure buried deep in my memories surfaced.
‘This is…’
I wasn’t sure. Whether this hunch was true, or just a fleeting thought.
But if I was going to stir up someone’s reverse scale, I had to show some courtesy first.
I gave Baek Sang a slight bow and exited the tent. All the way back to my quarters, I couldn’t stop thinking about someone who reminded me so much of him.
‘…Great Elder.’
Jin Baekyang, wielder of the Fire Support Sword.
A hero of the Great War between Justice and Evil, born in Shanxi Province. A man who, despite being the second son, almost became the head of the Taewon Jin Clan.
And a traitor who spent decades under the shadow of Dark Heaven.
Why now? Why at this moment was he coming to mind?
But… but maybe…
‘Dammit. I don’t know.’
Just as I let out a deep sigh, I arrived at the temporary quarters and saw Hyuk Mujin roasting a wild boar he’d gotten from who-knows-where.
‘What a good kid.’
I tease him often, but we’ve been through thick and thin together since our days at the Taewon Jin Clan.
Most importantly, as a former guardian warrior of the clan, he knew more about the Great Elder than anyone else among the Hwayong Pavilion members.
‘Maybe he can offer some good advice.’
Just as I raised a hand to greet him, Hyuk Mujin spotted me and raised his hand in return—while holding a glowing hot iron skewer.
“Who goes there?”
To hell with advice.
Taking off my tiger mask, I answered.
“Bow your damn head.”
“Ah. Haha. Just a joke.”
“Yeah. Well, I’m not joking. Bow.”
‘Clang.’
The iron skewer slipped from Hyuk Mujin’s hand and hit the ground.
* * *
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
Despite saying he’d call us soon, the Beast Miao King hadn’t contacted us at all. Surprisingly, Yal Mok had started visiting more frequently.
‘Thud.’
The white tiger dropped the boar it had in its mouth and puffed out its chest proudly. I looked at Yal Mok, who was petting the tiger, and asked,
“Where’d it catch this one?”
“The western thicket.”
Yal Mok responded absentmindedly, then quickly tried to cover it up.
“…I mean, I found it on the way here.”
“Why bring it here if you just found it?”
“Well… felt bad throwing it away?”
“But that bite mark on the neck is clearly from a tiger.”
“My pet is well-trained. Doesn’t bite just anything—human or beast.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
No such thing as a bad tiger? Is that the message?
As I inspected the blood- and flesh-covered teeth of the white tiger, I muttered,
“Looks like it could chomp down anything—man or beast. Guess it doesn’t have picky taste.”
“In any case, it wasn’t mine. Probably some other tiger.”
“Funny how there’s only one bite mark.”
“Well, I don’t know. It was just dead by the road, so I picked it up.”
“Right. A healthy boar just up and died on the roadside? And your tiger just happened to go, ‘chomp’ and bring it here?”
“Exactly.”
There comes a point where shamelessness leaves you speechless.
Staring blankly at Yal Mok, I sighed as I looked at the massive boar.
“Another boar, huh?”
“It’s a boar. Problem?”
“Boar again?”
“Do Han people have no shame? At least shut up and eat it, considering I went through the trouble of catching it.”
“You said you ‘found’ it.”
“Oh. Right. My mistake. I found it.”
This bastard…
I later learned that the meat Hyuk Mujin was roasting two days ago came from Yal Mok.
Of course, no one saw it happen, and Yal Mok kept insisting it wasn’t him.
“Boar’s getting old. I’m sick of it.”
“Then give it back.”
“Mujin. Pack up the meat.”
“Yes, sir.”
Yal Mok and the white tiger gave me cold glares, but I’d long since armored myself in shamelessness. That level of stink-eye didn’t even tickle.
As Hyuk Mujin busied himself with cooking, Yal Mok clicked his tongue and turned to me.
“Is your investigation going well?”
I shook my head.
“So no results yet.”
“At least not so far.”
We hadn’t been wasting time over the past two days. My team and I had been investigating the inner and outer areas of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.
Ju Hwaran and Hyuk Mujin were checking on happenings inside the inner palace, while I led the others in scouting nearby areas.
‘We might find signs of Dark Heaven.’
But just like I said—despite our efforts, we hadn’t found anything.
The absence of signs near the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace was a good thing.
But if the signs ‘were there’ and we just couldn’t ‘find’ them, that was a different story entirely.
“I plan to keep at it. At least until the Tribal Assembly.”
The Tribal Assembly—where all tribes of the Southern Barbarian Region gather—was tomorrow.
Yal Mok nodded at my words, then spoke in a lowered voice.
“Best to delay it for today.”
“Delay? Why?”
“The inner palace summoned you.”