Hearing the words from outside, the expressions of the three hostages hardened in unison.
The correct answer?
If they had any ability to think, a rescue team coming to save them would not have knocked so politely, would they? They would have broken down the door and made a surprise entrance.
Crucially, the woman's face was filled with joy.
‘Damn it! It's one of them!’
Yang Jung let out a deep sigh.
‘But who could it be, for her to be so happy?’
Creeak.
As the door opened, Lee Ahn threw herself at the person standing there.
“Young Master!”
Without a second thought, she threw her arms around Geom Mugeuk.
“I missed you!”
She had hugged Geom Mugeuk many times before, but never had it felt so welcoming and good as it did today.
Yes, the correct answer had arrived!
No, what did it matter if he was the wrong answer? It was Geom Mugeuk.
Geom Mugeuk had appeared right in the middle of this difficult situation.
Watching this, the three hostages felt fear at the arrival of new people, but at the same time, they were envious of the man.
‘Who in the world is he for this beautiful woman to be so happy?’
Looking at his face, he was a young, handsome man.
Lee Ahn belatedly noticed the Drunken Demon standing behind Geom Mugeuk, looking at her.
“Ah! Drunken Demon Sovereign!”
Startled, Lee Ahn pulled away from Geom Mugeuk, her face turning red.
To think that the woman who was just debating whether to cut off an arm or a neck could show such a shy side!
But that wasn't the problem for the three men right now.
‘Drunken Demon?’
The three captives looked at each other with bewildered expressions.
They exchanged glances that seemed to say, ‘I must have misheard, right?’ After all, they knew of only one Drunken Demon.
Hoping they had misheard, their gazes turned back to the Drunken Demon.
The handsome middle-aged man had a presence that drew one’s eyes, even though he didn't reveal any particular aura.
As their eyes, which had been observing his somewhat decadent feel and nihilistic gaze, moved to the wine gourd at his waist.
They might not know anything else, but they knew this for sure.
The Drunken Demon's signature weapon was a wine gourd.
‘We didn’t mishear!’
A chill ran down their spines.
‘A Demon Sovereign is here? Why?’
In the Martial World, the fear inspired by a Demon Sovereign was truly immense.
When the Drunken Demon glanced at them, the three men all bowed their heads, avoiding his gaze.
The Drunken Demon looked at Geom Mugeuk.
His eyes seemed to say.
I may get nagged by you, but when I'm out in the world, this is who I am.
Geom Mugeuk smiled at him.
He knew that even though the Drunken Demon acted nonchalant, he wasn't feeling good, so he tried to smile at him a lot.
Geom Mugeuk asked Lee Ahn.
“Who exactly were you trying to save?”
“As expected! You know even without me telling you.”
Lee Ahn explained why she had come here.
It all started when she happened to meet a woman on her way to find Seo Jin, the Ghost Spirit Master's younger brother.
“... I ended up here after listening to her story over a glass of water. It was a really expensive glass of water.”
Geom Mugeuk knew.
This incident succinctly explained the kind of person Lee Ahn was.
She didn't throw her body to save him simply because she was his bodyguard.
It was because she was this kind of person that she would willingly throw herself into harm's way.
“Was handling this kind of thing always this difficult? I always saw you handle things so smoothly, Young Master, so I thought it was easy.”
Lee Ahn sighed as she looked at the three people she had kidnapped.
It was fine until she brought them here.
She thought she could just have a cool hostage exchange, and leave with the people she rescued.
“How was I supposed to know? That he would even abandon his own child. That's why I was contemplating whether to just kill these guys and leave.”
Those words, not meant from the heart, were for the three captives to hear.
No matter how she dealt with them, an atmosphere of fear had to be created.
Now, Geom Mugeuk took over the situation.
“May I handle things from here?”
“Please, take over!”
It was Geom Mugeuk, what was there to worry about? It was unlikely, but even if he messed everything up, what did it matter? To her, Geom Mugeuk was that kind of person.
Geom Mugeuk approached the three and whispered quietly.
“You guys were really in big trouble if I hadn’t come. You have no idea how scary that pretty woman is, snip snip.”
From behind, Lee Ahn said.
“I can hear everything.”
At that moment, the three men were having similar thoughts.
‘Who is this young man? A subordinate of the Drunken Demon?’
Somehow, it didn't seem like it.
Judging by how the woman called him Young Master, he seemed to be of high status...
But no matter how they looked, he didn't feel like he had learned any martial arts at all.
His appearance and the feeling he gave off were exactly like a scion of a prestigious family.
A scion of a prestigious family consorting with a Demon Sovereign and doing such things?
In any case, the task at hand was set.
Yang Jung resolved to somehow use this new variable to survive.
‘I will use this guy to survive.’
Yang Jung asked politely.
“Who might you be, young hero?”
He desperately suppressed the urge to snap, "Who are you?" and acted as courteously as possible.
“I am your savior who will rescue you.”
They were incomprehensible words, but since he said he would save them, he thought this was his chance.
“If you save me, I will grant you anything you desire.”
“Anything?”
“Yes. If you want money, I will give you money. If you want martial arts, I will pass down my sect's martial arts. If you want fame, I will help you gain fame.”
For now, he recklessly made promises he didn't know if he could keep.
With his life on the line, what couldn't he say?
Behind them, Lee Ahn smiled faintly.
To whom would he give money, and to whom would he teach martial arts? Besides, his fame, even if you combined everyone in his sect, wouldn't come close.
“Can’t I have all three?”
“I will give you all three!”
But soon, Geom Mugeuk's eyes became suspicious.
“But didn't your father refuse the hostage exchange? Would such a person give you money and pass down martial arts?”
“That is...!”
Truly, this point was the most shameful and infuriating part of Yang Jung's life.
Just then, Geom Mugeuk casually suggested.
“How about this instead? Tell us where the people we need to rescue are being held. Then we’ll rescue them. We can let you go after that. Our goal is to save those people anyway.”
The moment she heard those words, Lee Ahn knew.
‘Ah! That was the right answer.’
To persuade him, find out where they were being held, and rescue them directly.
‘Why didn't I think of this simple idea?’
It was a plan she naturally should have thought of first.
But surprisingly, she hadn't.
Exchanging this side for that side.
Once her thoughts were fixed on that, she couldn't think of anything else.
The opponent was a heartless person who would even give up his own child, yet she was engrossed in the thought of a fair exchange.
No wonder the situation didn't go as she intended.
If Geom Mugeuk hadn't come, in the distant future, she would have been kicking her blankets, thinking, ‘Ah, why didn't I think of that?’
‘As expected, I feel at ease when I’m with the Young Cult Master.’
At that moment, Lee Ahn’s eyes met the Drunken Demon’s.
The Drunken Demon seemed to give her a look that said, ‘I know that feeling too.’
Right now, they were just watching comfortably, but what if he were an immature Young Cult Master? What if they had to follow him around, cleaning up the messes he made? It was something she didn't even want to imagine.
“You have to live first, right?”
Geom Mugeuk's persuasion was also for Lee Ahn's sake.
She would surely want to save the captive woman's husband and the other people.
The problem was that even if they released Yang Jung, the Northern Blood Sect would never release them.
If they were going to release them, they would have agreed to the hostage exchange in the first place.
According to Lee Ahn, they had gathered people with unusual constitutions, so it seemed like they were conducting some sort of experiment.
They were surely plotting something that shouldn't be revealed to the outside world.
After some thought, Yang Jung spoke cautiously.
“They’ve probably already moved those people.”
He was already halfway convinced.
“You know where they might have been moved, don't you?”
Of course, Yang Jung had a rough idea of the possible locations.
“Even if I tell you, security will be so tight you won’t be able to rescue them.”
Geom Mugeuk turned to the Drunken Demon and said.
“Didn't you hear who he was earlier?”
Yang Jung's heart began to pound.
The Drunken Demon was terrifying, and he was afraid that he would eventually confess.
“Besides, if we go and get caught, it’s a better outcome for you, isn’t it? What? Are you afraid of being treated as a traitor? You can just say it later. That you told us the location to trap us.”
Geom Mugeuk even provided him with a way out.
“If I really tell you, will you let us go?”
“I will let you go.”
“How can I believe that?”
“Because I am promising that I will let you go.”
Looking at those clear eyes and that kind, handsome face, it seemed like he would surely keep his promise.
But how could one trust another based on impression alone? Come to think of it, he still didn't even know who this person was.
As his hesitation grew, Geom Mugeuk turned away coldly.
“Then just die. What are you waiting for? Kill all three of them!”
At Geom Mugeuk's command, Lee Ahn drew her sword and approached the three men.
As an unhesitating, thick killing intent surged forward, Yang Jung urgently shouted.
“I’ll talk!”
Yang Jung finally confessed the location.
He mentioned not just one place, but several possible locations.
“If the location you mentioned is correct, when you open your eyes again, you will wake up in your room in the Northern Blood Sect.”
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Three streams of finger techniques flew out simultaneously, striking their vital points.
They fell asleep just like that.
Of course, he had no intention of just letting them go even if the location was correct.
He had to deal with the Ice Palace and get what he needed from them first.
And that wasn't the end of it.
Retribution for what the Northern Blood Sect had plotted also remained.
Lee Ahn sighed and said.
“Why couldn’t I think of this from the beginning?”
“Even if you had thought of it then, it wouldn't have worked.”
“Pardon? What do you mean by that?”
“He would never have confessed. He would have denied it to the end. And it's not in your nature to torture people.”
“Ah! He confessed after realizing his father had abandoned him!”
“That’s right.”
“I didn’t even think of this part! Why does the answer always avoid me!”
Lee Ahn looked at Geom Mugeuk with renewed admiration.
Geom Mugeuk didn't forget to show off.
“Your gaze full of respect always feels good to see.”
After his jest, the three of them went outside.
Outside, the snow that had briefly stopped was now falling heavily.
“I’m really getting my fill of snow gazing.”
Lee Ahn looked up at the sky with a bright face.
Geom Mugeuk felt anew that Lee Ahn suited winter well.
Lee Ahn ran out into the snowy yard.
Watching Lee Ahn run around like an excited puppy, Geom Mugeuk said to the Drunken Demon.
“You take care of rescuing those people, hyung. I’ll go meet the Young Palace Master.”
The Drunken Demon silently nodded and walked off into the snow without a word.
Lee Ahn, who had been running around, stopped for a moment and watched the Drunken Demon.
Was it because she had never properly seen his back before? Or was it because of the heavily falling snow? Lee Ahn thought that the Drunken Demon's back, walking alone into the snow, looked somehow lonely.
“Is this a problem that can be solved with just a single phrase, ‘take care of it’?”
“Why do you think a Demon Sovereign is a Demon Sovereign?”
“Thanks to you, I’m free now!”
Lee Ahn plopped down onto the snow-covered ground.
Geom Mugeuk looked up at the snowing sky and said.
“I'm sorry, but this is just the beginning.”
*
At Geom Mugeuk’s summons, Han Seol arrived at the meeting place with Chan.
Two people were waiting there.
The moment she saw the woman standing with Geom Mugeuk, Han Seol could guess.
This woman, wearing a bamboo hat and a veil, was the subordinate who had kidnapped the Northern Blood Sect Master’s son.
‘So the subordinate was a woman.’
The two were talking comfortably.
Even from a distance, it was clear their relationship was a relaxed one.
They seemed like friends, or perhaps a brother and sister.
‘As expected, he has no authority.’
It was the same in front of the Drunken Demon, and the situation now was no different.
Naturally, the thought occurred to her that the rumors and achievements about the Young Cult Master might be exaggerated.
The Demon Sect could certainly manipulate such things.
As Han Seol approached them, Lee Ahn politely clasped her hands and bowed.
“I greet the Young Palace Master.”
Han Seol only slightly moved her head to acknowledge the greeting.
Her expression clearly said that a subordinate was just a subordinate.
From her attitude, Geom Mugeuk didn't feel any bluntness or sense of authority.
What he felt now was emptiness.
“Why did you ask to meet?”
At Han Seol’s question, Geom Mugeuk immediately got to the point.
“I will return the Northern Blood Sect Master's son.”
Harboring a hope that things might work out unexpectedly well, Han Seol asked calmly.
“Of course, there are conditions, I presume?”
“Naturally.”
“State them.”
“First, you must not hold my subordinate who kidnapped them responsible.”
Han Seol's gaze flickered towards Lee Ahn before returning to Geom Mugeuk.
“I wonder if the Northern Blood Sect will accept that.”
Though she said that, the Northern Blood Sect had no choice but to accept.
One could blame and curse a typhoon that had blown in, but one couldn't charge headfirst into it out of anger.
“Fine. We accept. Where is Young Master Yang?”
“There is one more condition.”
“What is it?”
“Let us stay at the Ice Palace. I wish to stay for a while and investigate the death of the master of the Hundred Wines Snow Courtyard.”
Han Seol refused firmly.
“The Palace does not allow outsiders to stay.”
“My conditions are only those two.”
“That is not for me to decide. I will discuss it with the Palace Master and let you know.”
Just as Han Seol was about to turn away, Geom Mugeuk spoke.
“I think you can decide on a matter like this yourself. How about you make the decision and persuade the Palace Master? As the Young Palace Master, you should have this much authority, no?”
It was a provocation if there ever was one, but Han Seol didn't let her pride get the better of her.
“I do not have such authority.”
“Take this opportunity to gain it.”
Han Seol's eyes grew cold.
“Isn’t your intention a little too obvious?”
“I believe it is an opportunity for the Young Palace Master.”
“What kind of opportunity?”
“An opportunity to formally negotiate with the Young Cult Master of the Demon Sect. The Palace Master will also be paying attention to the process and the result. In fact, she might even be looking forward to it. Seeing you handle this matter proactively.”
Suddenly, Han Seol pictured herself giving that report.
I made this decision on my own.
Please trust and support me, Palace Master.
If she said this, how would her mother react?
This was the problem.
She couldn't predict it at all.
She still didn't know what kind of person her mother was.
“I will contact you again.”
Just as she was about to turn away.
“May I say a word?”
Lee Ahn, who had been silent until now, stepped forward.
She slowly removed her bamboo hat and veil.
For a moment, Han Seol couldn't take her eyes off Lee Ahn’s face.
It wasn't admiration for her beauty.
Han Seol was having a thought.
She is a different kind of person from me.
When had she ever thought this? Was it a long time ago, about her mother?
At the same time, a doubt arose.
Why am I thinking this while looking at a mere subordinate of the Young Cult Master of the Demon Sect? Why am I feeling such a deep resonance? She couldn't understand it herself.
“What do you want to say?”
It was the moment when the gazes of the two women, one cold and one warm, met for the first time.