“We’re busy.”
“Let’s talk later.”
When I suggested that we finally gather in two days to have breakfast and tea together, Brother Kwon Ryong and Brother Geom Ryong abruptly stood up and said they were busy.
Then came the clearly forced coughs.
“Ahem!”
“Ah-hemm!”
They were clearly still sulking.
Wait, were they seriously upset? I thought they were just joking.
To be honest, most people on our ship are in couples.
I’m with Hwa-eun. Brother Gyu-seong is with his wife. Ji-ryong is with Eunbong. Chang-ryong is with Geombong.
We’re all at that age where we naturally take interest in romance. The only ones left single were Sister Seol and Gungbong among the women, and Brothers Geom Ryong and Kwon Ryong among the men.
One might wonder—why not just pair the remaining singles?
But Gungbong is always excluded from such considerations.
As for Sister Seol, maybe it’s because she’s a few years older, or because she’s the daughter of the Beast Palace Lord, but neither of the brothers ever showed any interest in her.
And in that situation, I end up marrying one of the Three Blossoms of the Martial World... and now I’m traveling with a blonde woman from the Western Regions?
Did they just... lose all hope?
As those two briskly left, Ji-ryong, sitting across from me, tilted his head and asked:
“So, young warrior, what’s going on with those two? Did you argue with them? They kept glancing at you like there’s some issue.”
“No, not at all. There’s no way I’d ever fight with my brothers.”
“Then what is it?”
“Well, uh...”
Unable to answer right away, I hesitated—and then Brother Gyu-seong chimed in.
“Tell us what happened, So-ryong. Why are they acting like that? Not that I think you did anything wrong—must be something on their side.”
Since Gun Hye-rin was present too, I couldn’t answer lightly, and I looked over at Sister Seol with a look that clearly said: You started this—now you take responsibility.
Sister Seol, putting on a casual expression, said,
“Oh, those two said they liked Miss Gun and asked So-ryong to help them get closer to her.”
“...Huh?”
At those words, Miss Gun—who had been raising her teacup—paused and turned to Sister Seol with a look of utter disbelief.
Those fools... dared to like me?
That was the expression on her face.
From what I’d heard from Grandpa before, and from talking to Miss Gun myself, the Heavenly Demon Cult is a place ruled by strength.
If you’re not strong, you’re not even considered a man.
So the fact that two martial artists far weaker than her showed interest... must have seemed laughable.
In my previous life, when a guy they didn’t like walked by, girls used to joke, “There goes your future husband.”
That’s probably how she felt just now.
But then Sister Seol continued—and Miss Gun’s stunned expression quickly turned to horror.
“So I told them about the relationship between So-ryong and Miss Gun. That’s why they acted like that.”
“The relationship between So-ryong and Miss Gun?”
“Why do you think Hwa-eun gave up her own room and let her use the East Room at the Tang residence?”
“...?”
Brother Gyu-seong blinked, not understanding, and his wife leaned over and whispered something in his ear.
A moment later, he made a sound of realization, just as Ji-ryong smiled and added:
“Aha...”
“Heh. This Ji-ryong already knew about the relationship between Miss Gun and young warrior So-ryong.”
『Wait—wasn’t that whole thing just a misunderstanding!? Why are you telling others about it—!?』
“Well, unless Miss Gun were the leader of a demonic cult or something, there’d be no reason to keep her so close, would there? Hahaha.”
“!”
Miss Gun tried to object through the group mental link, but Ji-ryong’s words left her speechless.
And understandably so—he said it as a joke, but to us, it sounded like a death sentence.
Did he really figure it out!?
All of us—me, Hwa-eun, Sister Seol, and Miss Gun—froze with pale expressions, then quickly corrected our faces.
Then it hit us: Ji-ryong is said to be the smartest man in the Central Plains.
If we slipped even a little, he’d catch on immediately.
“R-right, that’s Ji-ryong for you...”
“You’re really something, young warrior. Hahaha.”
“Ahaha. I guess I am pretty clever. Clever old So-ryong, hahahaha.”
Neither Miss Gun nor I could say a word against it.
Honestly, there was no other excuse convincing enough to fool Ji-ryong.
And seeing how even with this one-time alibi, he had already suspected the truth, it became clear we couldn’t deceive him with any clumsy excuse.
Why had she been allowed to sleep in the East Room—a place reserved for newlyweds and direct family?
Why had Hwa-eun given up the cabin next to mine for her?
Ji-ryong must’ve had two possibilities in mind and settled on Sister Seol’s explanation because the other one was just too absurd.
“Miss Gun, I’m practically So-ryong’s older brother, so feel free to call me Elder Brother Peng. Haha. They say a true hero has three wives and four concubines—looks like our So-ryong is finally on the hero’s path.”
“...V-very well. I mean, alright.”
Miss Gun answered through clenched teeth, her hands trembling.
At that moment, Hwa-eun, Sister Seol, and I all shouted in unison within:
『We need to be careful from now on!
“He’s Ji-ryong, the eldest son of the Zhuge family and one of the Three Peaks of the Five Dragons. His reputation is well-earned! We must be cautious!”
“Y-yeah, careful!”
“Looks like the three of us will need to act more affectionate in front of others.”
“Understood.”
“That’s definitely for the best.”』
It seemed like we’d need to get into character for a while.
***
The brothers’ sulking ended exactly three days later.
Other brothers had scolded them for being childish, and once they found out I had saved Miss Gun from being attacked by demonic cultivators, their jealousy turned into a sort of acceptance.
As long as it wasn’t about looks or anything superficial—but rather a life-saving favor—they found it understandable.
According to a strange old Murim logic, a man repays such a favor with his life, while a woman devotes herself to serving the one who saved her.
“So righteousness and chivalry still live in Murim.”
“Righteousness and chivalry?”
“You saving Miss Gun—that’s chivalry. Miss Gun staying by your side to repay the favor—that’s righteousness.”
“I-I see.”
“Sigh, we should go rescue a beautiful maiden too...”
Just as we were joking around about whether they’d rescue someone even if she wasn’t pretty, Do Sagong came rushing in with a concerned look.
“...At times like that, you offer chivalry, but only accept righteousness in your heart.”
“Exactly.”
“Are you two seriously going to keep saying such nonsense in front of So-ryong?”
“...Excuse me, So-ryong?”
“Oh, Do Sagong. What’s the matter?”
“Could I speak with you privately for a moment?”
“Of course.”
Since Geumdo was sailing smoothly, there was no need to worry about the ship. Curious what this was about, I followed him into the cabin.
Do Sagong pointed to a map of the Yangtze River’s course and began to speak.
“There’s something we completely overlooked.”
“So-ryong, there’s something we didn’t think through.”
“What is it?”
“The ship can’t go all the way to the front of the Beast Palace, can it?”
“That’s right.”
Of course.
The river we were sailing on was a tributary of the Yangtze.
Although the Yangtze itself originates all the way from Qinghai Province, it only brushes the northeastern edge of Yunnan. We had planned to disembark there and walk to the southwestern tip where the Beast Palace was located.
That’s how we usually traveled.
This time, though, we also had to stop by Dali—the largest city in Yunnan—to take care of the counterfeit medicine operations, but the disembarkation point remained the same.
I nodded, and Do Sagong began explaining.
“Normally, you’d disembark and head on foot while we stayed behind to guard the ship. But this time, we have a lot of cargo, don’t we?”
“Cargo? Ah!”
Right—just like he said, we had a lot of baggage this time.
Now that I thought about it, we hadn’t really considered how to move it all.
Both the Tang Clan and I had just assumed we’d load everything onto Geumdo’s back.
“This is a problem, isn’t it? We can’t even use wagons in this area, can we?”
“No, we can’t.”
Usually, we’d rent or buy wagons to carry everything.
But unlike Sichuan, Guizhou, or Guangxi, where the official roads are well-maintained, this was Yunnan.
The roads here weren’t good at all.
According to what we’d heard, the subtropical climate causes vines to grow over roads in no time, so if it’s not a route frequently traveled, the path just vanishes quickly.
So in Yunnan, you usually couldn’t use wagons—you had to load everything onto people or animals and carry it directly.
“If the Beast Palace were closer, we could bring an elephant. But it’s way too far for that.”
If it were near, elephants could help—but that wasn’t an option now.
We’d either need to hire dozens of porters or purchase/buy buffalo, which were commonly used for hauling goods in this region.
It was clear that we’d have to spend a significant amount just on delivering our gifts.
But the real issue wasn’t money.
We had money—so spending it «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» wasn’t the problem. The actual issue was that if we brought in a bunch of animals or people to carry the cargo, it might frighten the children, and we’d have to split our group again.
One group to handle the cargo, and another to escort the children.
There were a lot of logistical things to consider.
“I’ll go fetch Ji-ryong and my sister first. Let’s see if they have any better ideas.”
“Understood.”
I went to get Ji-ryong and my sister, the locals most familiar with the area, and of course, once they arrived, they came up with a good idea.
“Let’s disembark here and hire people or animals to get us to the Lancang River. From there, we rent a boat and continue by water.”
“Yes, that works. If we follow the Lancang, it leads right in front of the Beast Palace.”
Alongside the Jinsha River, a tributary of the Yangtze, flowed the Lancang River—better known in the Central Plains as the Mekong. At some points, the distance between them was as little as 25 li.
So the plan was to get as close to the junction as possible with Geumdo, then hire help to move the cargo to the Lancang, where we’d rent another boat and head to the Beast Palace.
It was a good plan. But it felt like we’d have to leave Cheongwol, Geumdo, and Heukjeom behind again.
“Are we going to leave Cheongwol, Heukjeom, and Geumdo behind again?”
I felt guilty.
It always seemed like Cheongwol, Geumdo, and Heukjeom got left behind.
The children would probably say it was fine, but I couldn’t help feeling bad. When we finally reached the shore, I barely managed to bring it up.
“Cheongwol, I’m sorry. We have to travel to the other river, but I don’t think Geumdo can go any further. So... it looks like you and Heukjeom will have to stay here with him again.”
We’d reached the riverbank.
The sun had already set and the moon was rising.
Cheongwol stared out at the endless jungle and replied with a hint of regret.
—Grrr. 『Is that so? Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing new.』
Cheongwol answered regretfully, and Heukjeom’s face on the side of his belly looked a little downcast too.
—Bubrrr.
Then Geumdo made a noise.
Surprised by the sound, Cheongwol asked in a startled voice,
—Grr!? 『What!? You can go!?』
“You’re going?”
Go? What did he mean, go?
I definitely heard Cheongwol’s question, but I didn’t understand it. I blinked in confusion—
—Bubrrr.
—Chii!?
Geumdo said something—then swallowed Heukjeom whole.
“Geumdo!”
I shouted, eyes wide, shocked by the sudden move.
The ship creaked and groaned—and suddenly, it began to rise.
Then it surged forward with a heavy lurch.
—Thump. Thump. Thump-thump.
That thudding sound—it had to be Geumdo. He’d crawled out of the water and was now walking forward.
“What the hell!?”
“W-what’s going on!? So-ryong!?”
I quickly summoned Cho and soared into the sky.
And there he was.
Geumdo, carrying the entire ship on his back, heading toward the direction I had pointed to earlier. The people on the ship were panicking.
“W-what the hell is this!?”
“H-he can move on land too!?”
“W-what should we do, Do Sagong!?”
“Hold on!”
“Hold on?”
“Hold on tight!”
Geumdo was a turtle.
And even aquatic turtles come out for sunbathing. If he was a giant softshell turtle, he could probably manage on land for a while.
Apparently, Geumdo had some of that in him—he could move around on land just fine.
This little rascal...! What a stunt! Gyaaah!
I barely had time to admire his clever trick.
Since it was nighttime and deep in the jungle, I wasn’t too worried about anyone seeing us. But I still flew over to Geumdo’s head to warn him.
“Geumdo. We need to move as quietly as possible, okay?”
—Bubrrr.
He let out a loud reply.
And then—mist began to spray around Geumdo.
But this was far thicker and more widespread than before.
Maybe it was because his injuries were healed and he was in better shape, but the range and density of the sleep-inducing mist felt much greater now.
From the sky, looking down, it felt like we were sailing through a sea of clouds under a full moon.
A dreamlike scene, like something out of myth.
And yet, staring at that beautiful view, one thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Geumdo... When I said “move quietly,” you decided to just knock everyone unconscious? If no one hears us, that’s quiet enough, right?
Turns out this guy—who I thought was the obedient type—might actually be one of those top-tier troublemaking spirit beasts.
His way of thinking was anything but normal.
