A bit of a commotion broke out.
It was a confrontation between Baek Woo Jin, who demanded that Jang Sam leave all his fortune-telling tools behind, and Jang Sam who refused to part with them.
The victor was Jang Sam. He boasted that he could carry both his camping gear and the fortune-telling items, so Baek Woo Jin had no choice but to concede.
“Hey, but let me ask you one thing.”
“What is it?”
“When you set off earlier with all your stuff, how were you planning to camp?”
“Ahem, well, as long as you light a fire in the forest, camping preparations are pretty much done, aren’t they?”
“What about meals?”
“Well, I usually eat very little, so if I could just get a little bit from what everyone has to share….”
“………”
He was even more shameless than Baek Woo Jin had imagined.
As the commotion settled, Tang Seon Yeong also finished her preparations and joined the Divine Dragon team.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning to you too, Miss Tang.”
Tang Seon Yeong brought her nose close to Baek Woo Jin and started sniffing the air.
“Have you been drinking since morning?”
He smiled faintly, grabbed the gourd at his waist, and shook it as he answered.
“I have a hangover cure.”
“Truly impressive…”
Seeing him perpetually drunk day and night, one couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of admiration.
As the distance between the two rapidly closed, Jegal Yeon Ji extended her arm and slipped between them.
“Let’s hurry and get going.”
“Yes.”
She shot a sharp glare at Tang Seon Yeong, not forgetting to make her displeasure clear.
Baek Woo Jin glanced at those gathered around him and spoke.
“We’re moving out.”
***
The task of subduing the demon had begun.
From Hanzhong which was closest to the academy, to the Hundred Li Mountain near Qinghai Province, it was a long distance. At least fifteen days on foot at an ordinary pace.
To save time, the Divine Dragon team pushed their movement techniques to the limit. They ran quickly until their internal energy ran dry, then stopped to take turns meditating and restoring their energy before resuming their sprint.
“Huff, huff…!”.
“I feel like I’m going to die!”
It was an incredibly grueling task. Forget about replenishing internal energy; everyone’s stamina was also greatly exhausted.
The level of exertion was beyond what could be managed by simply meditating and recovering one’s strength.
After running endlessly until sunset, they reached the foot of Dama Mountain just in time for the first night, and the team members collapsed one by one.
“Ju… just kill me…”
“I don’t even have the strength to kill you…”
The most out-of-shape members Gu Wang-su and Jang Sam were half-unconscious. Their eyes were rolling back.
“Haa…”
The women were no exception to the exhaustion. Jegal Yeon Ji was on the verge of collapse, and while Shin Ye Hwa was barely holding on, her legs were trembling like aspen leaves.
The only ones standing properly were Tang Seon Yeong and Baek Woo Jin.
“Isn’t this too much, even from the first day?”
At Tang Seon Yeong’s comment, Baek Woo Jin shrugged and replied.
“We’re pushing hard because it’s the first day.”
It was a brutish strategy that could only be attempted on the first day. By pushing themselves to the limit when their energy was at its peak, they had managed to close the distance significantly, allowing them to take longer breaks and better pace their movement techniques in the days to come.
When Baek Woo Jin sat on a rock and started wiping away his sweat, Tang Seon Yeong’s eyes glinted and she stared at him intently.
“You…?”
She moved closer and reached out to grab his wrist. Instead of the soft flesh she expected to feel through his sleeve, her fingers met something heavy and solid.
“You’ve been running with this on the whole time?”
“It’s not that heavy.”
“Liar!”
The Tang clan which was known for directly producing hidden weapons had a deeper connection with iron than any other martial sect or clan. They operated dozens of blacksmiths across the Central Plains alone.
She too had been familiar with metal since childhood. Just by touching it, she could roughly gauge its weight.
“This is at least 30 geun.”
Baek Woo Jin’s eyes widened slightly. He looked surprised.
“How did you know… Oh, right, you’re from the Tang clan.”
She was someone who crafted and threw daggers. Such a skill was well within her abilities.
Tang Seon Yeong’s gaze swept up and down his figure and then she noticed his ankle which was nearly as thick as his calves.
“Don’t tell me you’ve got weights on your legs too?”
“It’s the only way to keep the balance.”
“You’re insane, seriously.”
Altogether, the weights on his arms and legs added up to 120 geun.
“That’s like carrying another person on your back.”
It was no different from hauling around a burly man.
The core of the Movement Technique was ultimately about using internal energy to make one’s body lighter than usual which would increase movement.
The lighter the body, the less internal energy was consumed, while those with heavier bodies had to expend more.
Among those who had run this far, the first to be exhausted should have been none other than Baek Woo Jin.
The longer time she spent with him, the more the weight of Baek Woo Jin as a person seemed to change.
He started off impossibly light, but gradually, bit by bit, he began to increase that weight.
As she kept her gaze fixed on him, things she hadn’t noticed before began to come into view.
For example, if one looked closely at his seemingly nonchalant demeanor, his arms and legs were constantly twitching with slight spasms.
“Why do you push yourself so hard?”
A genuine curiosity followed her words.
He was the one who reached the peak master level as a first-year student and claimed the title of Divine Dragon in the unprecedented Dragon and Phoenix Martial Arts Tournament between peak masters.
In the orthodox martial world, his status was already rising by the day.
What kind of goal did he have that drove him to never rest and continue on such a relentless path?
“I don’t really have any set goals.”
Baek Woo Jin, who had risen from the rock, dusted off his pants as he answered.
He had a goal set for him by the damned heavens, but whether through a rebellious streak or simply because his longing for his original world had diminished, he felt no need to fight for it.
“Ah, I do have one.”
“What is it?”
“Protecting what’s inside my fence.”
The weight of his words, spoken so casually as if they were nothing, grew like a snowball as they flew toward her and landed heavily.
Fence.
How reassuring that word sounded.
I wonder…
She suddenly wanted to ask if, by any chance, she was inside that fence.
No, never mind.
But she gave up. If he said she wasn’t inside, she would be disappointed without reason, and if he said she was, she knew she wouldn’t be able to feel pure joy.
“Let’s get ready to camp.”
“…Yeah.”
Tang Seon Yeong followed Baek Woo Jin weakly.
Except for the added time for energy circulation and brief rest breaks, the Divine Dragon Team focused solely on running with their movement techniques. This allowed them to reach the last village before entering Hundred Li Mountain in just four days.
As they entered the village, the residents’ eyes turned to them.
“What’s this? A bunch of beggars?”
“They look like travelers… Did they roll down a mountain or something?”
“Aren’t they just from the Beggars’ Sect?”
Their appearance was so ragged that they looked even worse than beggars.
Their hair, which had not been washed for several days, was soaked in sweat and dried repeatedly, and their clothes, which had been soaked in sweat several times, gave off a foul smell.
They immediately rushed to the inn, washed their filthy bodies, devoured the lavishly prepared food to their heart’s content, and spent the happiest night in a shabby room where they would have normally tossed and turned all night.
The next morning, at dawn.
The Divine Dragon Team gathered at the village exit leading toward Hundred Li Mountain.
Baek Woo Jin was wearing an exceptionally serious expression and gave them a firm reminder.
“From now on, stay on high alert.”
Not far ahead lay Hundred Li Mountain, where mysterious disappearances were occurring.
Whether it was a demon lurking there, or a murderer who killed or disposed of people, something was certainly present.
“Our ultimate goal is to solve the mysterious disappearance cases happening in Hundred Li Mountain. To do that, we must thoroughly investigate what’s hiding in the mountain.”
Jang Sam raised his hand high.
“Do you think it’s some kind of demon, team leader?”
“I’m not certain. However, the possibility is high.”
The chance that the perpetrator behind these incidents was human couldn’t be ruled out either. Sometimes, humans who have developed a taste for killing can be even more cruel than demons.
If that were the case, it would simply be a matter of dealing with it. While missing out on a demonic stone would be unfortunate for him, it wasn’t something urgent enough to be worth hanging on for.
“Stay vigilant. Don’t overlook even the smallest sound or trace.”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s move out.”
After a brief meeting, the Divine Dragon Team walked across the flat terrain and arrived at the base of Hundred Li Mountain.
The unexpectedly large scale of the mountain left Baek Woo Jin and the team members visibly surprised.
Although the mountain’s height was relatively low compared to others, its breadth was considerable.
What was even more astonishing was the terrain.
“I heard the terrain was rough, but… this is worse than I expected.”
Tang Seon Yeong furrowed her brows.
“The field of vision is extremely narrow….”
Jegal Yeon Ji added.
Just like they said, the mountain was densely packed with lush overgrown trees and thick branches.
Because of the branches stretching in all directions, walking in a straight line was impossible unless each one was cut down, and the branches cluttered the view. This made the field of vision feel incredibly narrow.
Everyone’s tension rose accordingly.
This won’t be easy.
The number of missing people was already in the double digits. While they had expected it wouldn’t be easy, they hadn’t thought the terrain would be this troublesome.
But staying outside and just watching wasn’t an option either.
“We’re going in.”
Led by Baek Woo Jin, the entire Divine Dragon team stepped into Hundred Li Mountain.
A chilling atmosphere began to envelop them.
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