The moment I saw the man’s broken arm—
Gun Hye-rin landed lightly between me and the children.
Even though she had been sleeping elsewhere, she must’ve sensed my movement when I rushed out and followed right behind me.
“What’s going on?! Master.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I sensed you rushing out and followed right away. What is this? Giving him a lesson before the life-and-death duel?”
She seemed to think I had given the man some kind of private tutoring session ahead of the duel, but I looked at the guy clutching his arm and groaning in pain and explained:
It wasn’t a lesson. It was an accident.
“He must’ve collided with the hidden children while using light movement.”
“Hmm. His arm’s broken. Should we treat it?”
“You know how to do that?”
“Of course. Setting a simple bone is no trouble at all.”
I could manage a splint, but I didn’t know how to treat a clean break like that, so I’d been wondering what to do. Lucky me.
“I’ll go find some bamboo nearby and cut it. We need to immobilize his arm. Yohwa, could you make a cloth of about this width? We need to treat this man.”
—Kishit. 『Got it, big brother.』
Thanks to Gun Hye-rin being able to perform first aid, we managed to set the broken bone.
We splinted the arm with some bamboo I brought, and used bandages spun by Yohwa’s thread to finish treatment roughly.
Then we supported the man and brought him back to the village.
“Ughhh...”
Because Gun Hye-rin and I had run out in the middle of the night, the whole household at the village chief’s home was awake, and when we arrived at the gate with the injured man, the chief ran out in alarm.
“Kang! What happened to you? W-what is this?!”
“I-I’m sorry, village chief.”
Apologizing next to the man, I explained the situation with a regretful expression.
Since he’d gotten hurt because of the children, it was ultimately my fault.
If I hadn’t hidden them there, he wouldn’t have gotten injured.
“He got hurt because of me.”
“Because of you, young master?! Did you... teach him something?”
“No, nothing like that. You know how people from the Beast Palace take the beasts they raise along with them?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I have similar children. I brought them here too, but they look kind of... cute, I guess? No, I thought normal people might be scared, so I hid them near the village. But this man happened to fly through with light movement and must not have seen the kids, crashing right into them and getting hurt badly.”
“I see... But that arm... this is serious...”
The chief nodded in understanding at first, but his face fell into dismay when he saw the man’s broken arm.
Seeing the dark expressions of the chief’s family, I tilted my head and asked,
“Is something wrong?”
The chief answered with a troubled expression.
“If Kang is injured, then... there’s no one left to fight the life-and-death duel...”
“Isn’t there anyone else of similar level?”
I figured, whatever, there should be plenty of first-class martial artists even in the Tang family, so we could just put up a substitute.
Gun Hye-rin also nodded as if agreeing with me.
But the chief shook his head and answered.
“Among our late-stage disciples, Kang is the only one of that level.”
“What, there’s only one first-class martial artist?!”
“Just one?!”
“Yes, young master...”
At the elder’s words, Gun Hye-rin and I looked at each other, dumbfounded.
I mean, we weren’t even talking peak level or transcendents here—just first-class martial artist.
Even smaller sects usually had at least a dozen first-class martial artists among their advanced disciples.
They called themselves a minority tribe, sure, but even if scattered, the White-Trousered Yao must’ve numbered in the tens of thousands. And only one first-class fighter among them?
『“Wait, what do you mean there’s only one first-class martial artist among the late-stage disciples? Even the ruined Heavenly Demon Cult still has over a dozen.”』
“That’s what I’m saying!”
“Unbelievable.”
“Seriously.”
For once, I was in full agreement with Gun Hye-rin.
We were ranting in the group chat about how ridiculous this was—
Then I heard Hwa-eun’s voice.
『“Hmm... What are you talking about?”』
“Oh, right—it’s the middle of the night. Sorry, Hwa-eun.”
Hwa-eun’s voice sounded groggy—like we’d woken her with all the chatter in the group chat.
『“Sorry, Hwa-eun. We just heard something absurd.”』
“Something absurd?”
“Well, I hid the kids near the White-Trousered Yao’s village, and a few days later, the martial artist who’s supposed to fight in the life-and-death duel came flying through in the night while training, slammed into them, and broke his arm.
So I figured we’d just send someone else in his place, but the chief said... there isn’t even another first-class martial artist among their advanced disciples.”
“What the hell kind of martial training does the White-Trousered Yao do? That’s pathetic. Not even one common first-class fighter?”
“......”
Gun Hye-rin sighed in agreement. I felt the same way.
After a pause, Hwa-eun let out a long, tired breath in the group chat.
『“Haa... Sending just you two was a mistake. Listening to this, Lady Gun also seems to know very little about the martial world. Should I have sent Sotorah along? No, with three of you, maybe that’d have been even worse...”』
She was lumping Gungbong, me, and Gun Hye-rin all into the same tier.
Gun Hye-rin snapped.
『“W-what do you mean, Hwa-eun?! Saying I don’t know the martial world! Even if we’ve declined, there was a time when we knew everything—even the number of chopsticks in the Nine Great Sects and Noble Houses!”』
Fair enough.
Even I was kind of offended at being grouped with Gungbong, so I could only imagine how Gun Hye-rin felt.
That was practically saying her brain was... spotless.
『“But that was before your decline, wasn’t it?”』
“Y-yes, but...”
She had no comeback.
Back then, maybe. But these days, yeah, she didn’t know much about the martial world.
Every time we talked about it, I remembered how little she knew compared to me.
They didn’t have the resources to run any kind of intelligence network in their fallen state.
Hwa-eun explained in a calm voice like she really wanted us to understand.
『“You can’t use our family or the Nine Great Sects as your standard. Sure, the major clans and places like Lady Gun’s Heavenly Demon Cult are full of first-class martial artists. But small to mid-level sects? Sometimes they have only one or two at most.
Even if these minority tribes study martial arts, the quality is usually poor, so it’s very likely they really only have one person that good.”』
“Ah... then we’re in trouble.”
Hearing Hwa-eun’s explanation, I realized just how big of a problem this really was.
The martial artist broke his arm, so I thought we’d just replace him.
But now there’s literally no one left to fight.
If they didn’t have any first-class martial artists left, that meant everyone else was second-class at best.
And if the opponent had even one first-class fighter, it was guaranteed loss.
I looked over at the village chief tending to the groaning martial artist.
“Does the other side have a first-class among their late-stage disciples?”
The chief hesitated, then replied.
“...Yes, young master.”
I couldn’t help but scratch my head.
It felt like I had just personally ensured the defeat of my spider-loving friends.
‘Gyaaahhhh!’
***
By morning, the village had become a house of mourning.
The rumor that the only first-class martial artist of the entire White-Trousered Yao tribe had broken his arm had spread like wildfire—of course the village was in mourning.
It was essentially a confirmed loss.
The shaman girl was staying at the chief’s house like us, and as soon as she heard the news during breakfast, she burst into tears.
“What? Kang’s arm is broken? Then the life-and-death duel... Huuuh, huuaaah...!”
A twenty-year-old maiden, now doomed to bare her bottom and take lashes—of course she cried.
So after breakfast, the mood turned even heavier.
And that’s when a messenger arrived from the Red Yao tribe.
They demanded the accused be brought to Dae-Yosan in three days to settle things in a single match.
To the death, of course.
Even while eating, I could feel the atmosphere turning, and when I returned from checking on the kids, I felt the village’s gazes shift.
Just yesterday, I had been treated like an honored guest. But now, after breaking the arm of their one and only first-class martial artist, people were whispering and glaring at me and Gun Hye-rin like we were unwanted stray dogs.
“They’re really not taking this well.”
“Shall I go fight in his place?”
Gun Hye-rin offered to step in.
If she entered, she’d smash the opponent into paste, no question. But I shook my head.
“Come on, you heard it. Only late-stage disciples are allowed.”
“Then what if I wear a Red Yao woman’s outfit and pretend to be one of them?”
“I mean, yes, I want the White-Trousered Yao to win... but both tribes are tied to the Beast Palace. If we’re too obvious about taking sides, we’ll just get caught. And besides, our next destination is north—Red Yao territory.”
“A complete disaster, then.”
Our route led us through the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, then Dae-Yosan, and eventually to Wolsung Ridge.
The Ten Thousand Mountains belonged to the White-Trousered Yao—but the problem was Wolsung Ridge.
That was Red Yao land. We couldn’t afford to make enemies.
Back in our room, I was frowning, thinking over our limited options.
And just then, Hwa-eun’s voice came through in the group chat.
She had said she’d consult with her foster father in the morning. It sounded like the discussion was over.
『“So-ryong, I’ve spoken with Father. He says there’s only one way.”』
Only one option—but at least there was an option.
Better than having none at all.
『“So there’s a way, huh? What is it?”』
『“Rather than telling you to solve it with force—which would risk offending one side—he said the best thing is to find the true culprit. That way, neither side loses face.”』
“Ah...”
『“So first, tell them the truth and suspend the life-and-death duel in the name of the Beast Palace. They won’t be able to refuse, out of respect.
Then send Yeon-du. Have her bring Lady Cheong-yu to interrogate both shamans. That’ll settle it fast.”』
Right, of course. I hadn’t even considered it, but this wasn’t a situation where fists solved anything—catching the real culprit was the {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} natural solution.
And as Hwa-eun said, if we brought Lady Cheong-yu, it would be over in no time.
But that was the last resort.
First, I was going to send in the ace: Spicy Fabre the Great Insect Detective.
After all, you don’t just use your cheat key the moment things get tricky.
I spoke to Hwa-eun in my mind:
『“Let’s keep Lady Cheong-yu in reserve for now. I’ll give it a go first.”』
***
Step one: interrogate the witness-slash-suspect.
“Excuse me?”
“Uuuh... Who... Huaaah...!”
I went to the shaman’s room, and she burst into tears the moment she saw me.
Her eyes were already swollen and red, like our little Hwayang’s, but now she sobbed even harder—probably because I was the face of her impending punishment.
“Okay, calm down. I’ll make sure you don’t get flogged. Just listen to what I have to say.”
“R-Really?”
“You dare question the master’s word!? Stop your crying at once!”
“Huaaah...!”
Gun Hye-rin glared at her with arms crossed—completely unhelpful.
“Lady Gun... please!”
“I mean, to doubt the master’s word—how dare...”
“Ugh, how do I calm her down? Ah! That’s it!”
Sighing as the shaman wailed, I glanced down and noticed the pattern on the hem of her skirt.
Spiderwebs.
That gave me an idea.
『“Yohwa! I’m sending Lady Gun to get you. Come to the village quickly!”』
—Kishit. (Got it, big brother.)
Soon after, Yohwa arrived with Gun Hye-rin. I knelt down and coaxed the shaman gently.
“Here, take a look. What do you see?”
“Sniffle... Huh? A... a ji-ju?”
“Yes, this is an Inmyeon-jiju. A spiritual beast.
Even more sacred than the jiju that protected your ancestor from evil. With a jiju here, you won’t get flogged. Jiju are symbols of salvation, aren’t they?”
“P-Please help me, Jiju!”
The White-Trousered Yao shaman dropped to her knees and begged Yohwa.
Seriously—she was that desperate.
Yohwa looked at her blankly and asked:
—Kishit. 『Big brother, who is this?』
‘Just pat her head. She’s a poor soul.’
—Kishishi. 『Um... okay.』
As soon as Yohwa patted her head, the shaman calmed right down.
Once she was calm, I asked:
“Tell me exactly what happened that day.”
“Hong-hongi died.”
“Hong-hongi?”
“My dog. He lived at the Red Yao shrine. He was red, so I named him Hong-hongi.”
“Right, I knew that part. But give me details—when, where, how. We need that to catch the culprit.”
“O-okay. So... it was dawn. I’m an early riser, so I woke up and went to the spring for water. Morning spring water is cool and refreshing. But when I got there... Hong-hongi was lying there, dead.”
“Did anything seem strange?”
“At first, I thought he was just sleeping. He sometimes napped on the stones by the water. But when I got closer, flies flew off him. I picked him up in shock... but he was already gone.
And then the Red Yao shaman appeared and screamed, ‘Why did you kill him?!’ She said she saw me do it. A few days ago, our dogs had fought—my dog lost—and she said I held a grudge.
We used to be close, like sisters...
She called the Red Yao people, and I called mine in fear, and... things escalated from there.”
“Do you know what happened to the dog afterward?”
“In our tribe, when a dog dies, we seal it in a jar and bury it. We’re descendants of dogs, so we treat them with reverence.
I tried to tell her I didn’t do it, but she took Hong-hongi and walked back to the shrine, crying. I followed her and saw her place him in the jar. They probably buried it somewhere.”
“I see...”
As I nodded, Gun Hye-rin chimed in.
『“Master, wouldn’t it be faster if I just brought both shamans and performed a bone-splitting interrogation? That would solve it, no?”』
She must’ve thought this was a waste of time.
Basically: “Just torture them, get it over with.”
I sighed and answered.
『“I already know who the culprit is. Or well, I will know very soon.”』
“You know? Or you will know? How?”
Gun Hye-rin looked at me like I was insane.
I smiled slyly.
“The passing flies told me.”
