Chapter 686
Jin Taekyung fell into a deep sleep as if fainting, and Muyaho’s footsteps—racing like the wind—halted almost at the same moment.
Thud.
Its head dropped limply, leaning against a shattered rock.
Yohee gasped at the sight. Heukung quickly leapt from Muyaho’s back, checked Jin Taekyung’s pulse, and let out a breath.
“Hoo. Fortunately, he’s still alive.”
It was good news, but Yohee’s expression did not ease.
“Still alive, you say?”
Realizing his slip, Heukung corrected himself.
“I misspoke in my haste. He is not in a life-or-death situation. There is no need for excessive worry.”
“Not in a life-or-death situation? Looking like that?”
Her question was entirely reasonable.
Jin Taekyung was drenched in blood from head to toe. His clothes were torn and shredded in countless places, and the strange armor on his upper body had been pierced through the chest as if something had stabbed clean through it.
It was stranger to think he was alive.
But just as Yohee’s doubt was natural, Heukung’s words were also true.
“From what I can tell, the injuries aren’t as severe as they look. But these traces… even seeing them with my own eyes is difficult to believe.”
Even with their internal energy sealed, both Yohee and Heukung were martial artists who had reached the peak.
They questioned the contradiction between the wounds on Jin Taekyung’s body and his actual condition, but ultimately exhaled in relief. He was not dying.
Their relief lasted only a moment.
Behind Jin Taekyung—impaled against the massive rock—was a man.
“Gasp.”
Yohee swallowed a scream. The old man, eyes open and frozen stiff, was already dead.
Blood dripped from his neck, which had been pierced by a pure white blade.
A bloodied man, just like Jin Taekyung.
Yohee stared at the corpse and murmured,
“That man…”
“Who do you mean?” Heukung asked.
“Black Hand Demon Fist—the one who treated that old man like a subordinate.”
“Ah…”
“And if my guess is correct…”
Yohee’s gaze swept the area and stopped on the corpse of Black Hand Demon Fist.
The very man who had slaughtered the warriors of the Western Yao Tribe like an Evil Spirit now lay dead, a massive hole in his chest.
This is absurd.
Yohee’s eyebrows twitched.
She had already suspected something was off when she found the unidentified old man’s body earlier. But this exceeded all expectations.
And she was not the only one thinking so.
“How on earth…”
Heukung trailed off, unable to continue.
The scene before them was undeniable reality.
The surroundings were devastated by an unprecedented power. Two old men lay dead. A young man slept deeply.
The conclusion was simple.
Jin Taekyung fought—and won. Against two supreme masters who had lived multiple times longer than he had.
“…Blazing Fire Dragon.”
The epithet slipped from Yohee’s lips like a groan. Awe filled her eyes as she watched Jin Taekyung.
Whether it made sense no longer mattered.
He made the impossible possible, risking his life to save them—mere Southern barbarians.
Now, they had to move for him.
It may already be too late, but even now…
In the Poison-Blooded Land, some creatures shed their skin.
Moulting.
If successful, they gained a stronger, more beautiful body. If they failed, their old shell became their coffin.
Yohee had chosen the former.
If we delay any longer, it’s over. We must let the world know.
Even now, she needed to reveal Baek Sang’s conspiracy and stop Dark Heaven.
Her mistakes would also be exposed, but she had already accepted that burden.
I shouldn’t have done it.
Regret filled her.
Baek Sang had paved a wide, beautiful silk road for her. She had followed it, ignoring the blood she stepped on.
But now, that blood soaked her feet—not her own, but that of her people.
She wanted to wipe it away. And if she couldn’t… she would cut her feet off herself.
And it was one man who pushed her toward this resolve.
Jin Taekyung.
A stranger from a foreign land.
Yet he fought harder for the Southern barbarians than anyone else. Just like the old Palace Lord of the Blazing Flame Sect, now a legend from centuries past.
I’m a tribal chief. I can’t be worse than a Han.
Swallowing her self-deprecation, Yohee acted.
Rip.
Her pure white hands tore off her splendid palace dress without hesitation.
As she stripped away the gold and silver ornaments, revealing her bare arms and legs, Heukung’s eyes widened.
“Yohee.”
“There’s no time to talk. We must move.”
Heukung stared at her, then nodded.
“You’re right. More enemies could come.”
“Judging by how quiet it’s been, there likely aren’t any. Since they had two supreme masters, Dark Heaven must have assumed no further support was needed.”
“That’s true. They already knew you had the Tracking Incense and planned to use us as bait to draw Palace Lord Yal Mok. He’s their greatest obstacle.”
But instead of Beast Miao King, Jin Taekyung had taken the bait.
The hunters had become the hunted—by him.
Even Dark Heaven could never have predicted this.
Yet Yohee’s heart only grew heavier as the discussion continued.
“But what if… Jin Taekyung didn’t come in place of the Palace Lord? What if the Palace Lord is in a situation where he cannot come?”
“That’s…”
“My people—the Western Yao Tribe—were massacred. With this unprecedented power, the Inner Palace must be in chaos.”
“So shouldn’t we go there immediately?”
Yohee shook her head.
Ambition had blinded her, but she was not a fool.
Dark Heaven had waited decades, winning over Baek Sang—Beast Miao King’s sworn brother.
She recalled the dying words of the old man who had been crushed beneath a rock.
If you act rashly with the grand plan ahead, I will not forgive you.
Grand plan.
Yohee felt an indescribable danger from those two words.
The massacred Western Yao Tribe. The chaos in the Inner Palace. Baek Sang’s influence, equal to or greater than the Palace Lord’s.
And Dark Heaven, orchestrating everything.
The answer was clear.
“Yohee?”
Heukung’s call pulled her from her thoughts. She bit her lip.
If her suspicion was correct, the current Inner Palace was a Demon’s Den—filled with Evil Spirits and conspiracies.
“We must go west, not to the Inner Palace.”
“West? You mean…”
“Yes. Mt. Aino.”
Each tribe had its own base, and Mt. Aino was home to thousands of Yao Tribe people.
“By now, Baek Sang—working with Dark Heaven—has seized the Inner Palace. Even the Palace Lord cannot act against a decision backed by the tribal chiefs and Grand Council.”
“Then…”
“Trust me. If we go to the Inner Palace now, we’ll be killed before we even reach the gate.”
Heukung stared at her deeply.
“If we go to Mt. Aino?”
“I’m the tribal chief of all the Yao Tribe. Isn’t that enough?”
“How many warriors?”
“At most, a thousand. Not enough to face Baek Sang backed by Dark Heaven. But once people know the truth, I doubt they’ll follow him.”
“Public sentiment will shift. Warriors will desert.”
“I’ll send Messenger Birds and runners to every tribe. In seven days and nights, Baek Sang’s atrocities will be known across the entire Southern Barbarian region.”
Heukung let out a low whistle.
“You’re sharper than the woman I knew.”
Yohee laughed despite herself.
“Strange to hear that from you. As if you’ve become a different person.”
“I had no choice. To avoid Baek Sang’s notice, I had to disappear first.”
He reached into his robe and handed her something wrapped in yellow cotton.
“Eat it.”
“This is…”
“The Antidote Black Hand Demon Fist carried. I found it while searching his body. With your internal energy sealed, Baek Sang’s warriors will kill you before you reach Mt. Aino.”
He was right. Without internal energy, no skill could shake off pursuers. And Yohee’s martial prowess wasn’t high.
Swish.
She swallowed the Pill.
The bitterness made her brow twitch, but it was far better than dying without resistance.
“How long to Mt. Aino?”
“We’re on its outskirts now. Three or four days. But escaping this Poison-Blooded Land takes priority.”
They had seen swamps made of unknown poisons on the way in. They knew exactly where they were.
“He should wake around then.”
“Yes. And once he wakes… he’s worth a thousand troops.”
As Heukung lifted Jin Taekyung onto his back, Muyaho—fresh from urinating on Black Hand Demon Fist’s corpse—trotted over and lowered itself.
Krrng.
Heukung silently met the creature’s blue-white eyes.
“Isn’t it strange?”
“What is?”
“This beast—Young Palace Lord controlled him. In the Inner Palace, he always bared his fangs at me. But now, with Jin Taekyung beside him, he’s gentle as a lamb.”
“He must have opened his heart to him. Spiritual beings are said to recognize people.”
Heukung chuckled. Yohee, answering without much thought, suddenly felt something was off.
“Yes… that must be it.”
Thud! Sniff.
Blood splattered. A large silver body toppled.
Heukung’s voice reached Yohee’s ears as she stared blankly at the scene.
“Didn’t I say? I had to hide myself first.”