Chapter 222 46. The Awl Cannot Be Hidden

Cane led me to a deserted stretch of forest on the outskirts of Chengdu.

Judging by the way it picked routes where we were unlikely to run into anyone, it seemed Cane had wandered outside Chengdu plenty of times before.

It stopped where a faint trace of demonic energy seeped through the air and cried into the darkness.

“Ki!”

A boy cautiously poked his head out from between the bushes.

The face was familiar, and I slowly relaxed my grip on the throwing knife in my hand.

It was Baekya.

His eyes darted between Cane and me. Then, in a fluster, he pulled Yeon Ryang’s hair ribbon from inside his clothes and waved it at me.

“......!”

As he showed me something that belonged to Yeon Ryang, Baekya watched my reaction with a thoroughly cowed expression.

Now that I looked at him properly, his face seemed even younger than I remembered. He might even have been younger than Songmyeong.

Was he afraid I would get angry?

Feeling a little guilty about how I had cursed at him without warning last time, I softened my voice.

“Did Yeon Ryang send you?”

“.......”

“No? Then... is Yeon Ryang all right?”

Baekya hesitated, then nodded.

Some of the tension left me.

A boy who had this much trouble dealing with people did not seem like the type who could lie convincingly.

When I let out a relieved breath, Baekya blinked his red eyes, tucked the ribbon back into his clothes, and mumbled,

“Be careful.”

“Be careful of what?”

“Be careful.”

He repeated the same words and stretched out a hand toward the inside of Chengdu.

I followed the direction of his finger and saw the Tang Clan’s towering walls in the distance.

Be careful of the Tang Clan?

Or was there something inside Chengdu?

I tried to puzzle it out, but I could not guess what he meant.

If he had taken the risk of coming all the way near Chengdu just to warn me, then it almost certainly had something to do with the Demonic Sect....

“Can you tell me more?”

When I frowned and asked again, Baekya rubbed at his forehead with a pained groan.

He clearly wanted to tell me something, but forming an entire sentence seemed difficult for him.

I slowly counted words off on my fingers.

“If it’s hard to talk, pick from these. Bishop. Moon Fragrance Pavilion. Spy. Poison parasite....”

“Spy.”

Baekya chose immediately.

Then he pointed straight at me.

“Spy. Wants.”

“The spy wants me? ...Is there a Demonic Sect spy inside the Tang Clan?”

Baekya nodded furiously.

“You know who it is too?”

His nodding became even more vigorous.

He opened his mouth wide, then clutched his head and staggered.

Seeing the pain on his face, I waved my hands.

“It’s because of the restriction, right? Don’t say it. You don’t have to force yourself.”

“Be careful.”

“Okay. I’ll be careful.”

“Careful.”

Still muttering anxiously, Baekya began inching backward.

When I realized he was about to leave, I hurriedly stopped him.

“Wait, Baekya. Wait!”

Baekya blinked his large eyes at me as if asking what I wanted.

I unfastened the sword, set it on the ground, then stepped back.

“Give this sword to Yeon Ryang.”

“.......”

“Please. Make sure he gets it. This sword belongs to Yeon Ryang.”

Baekya hesitated for a moment and glanced around.

Then he swiftly snatched up the sword and vanished into the darkness.

I stared at the empty space at my waist and clenched my fist.

Hwahong said he was all right. Baekya said he was all right too.

So he should be fine for a while.

“Kyuu.”

As I stood there chewing on my lip, Cane climbed onto my shoulder as though telling me it was time to go back.

I lightly slapped my cheeks and turned around.

Quite a bit of time had passed. I needed to hurry.

I hid in the shadows, scaled the wall, and slipped in through the Tang Clan’s rear gate.

The instant I landed inside, every hair on my body stood on end.

I quickly scanned my surroundings, but I sensed no one nearby.

Still, something was wrong.

It was not demonic energy.

It was not killing intent either.

It was something more primal than either of those.

Something deeply unpleasant....

What was that just now?

I was still looking around, thinking, when a low voice made me bite my tongue in surprise.

“I’m quite certain your grandfather told you not to go poking around outside. Must I put you in shackles before you learn to listen?”

Grandfather had approached without making a sound and was now glaring at me.

“Ahaha... sorry—ow! Ow! Grandfather!”

“You little colt! Why must you torment your grandfather so? Why did you go out this time?”

His face was dark with anger as he roughly tugged on my earlobe.

One clumsy excuse and I would be in even deeper trouble, so I pressed my lips together.

Grandfather’s brows shot up.

“Words clearly aren’t enough. Sohae, until the tournament, you are not taking so much as one step outside.”

Before I had a chance to protest, he struck my immobilizing vital point and slung me over his shoulder.

While I was still reeling, he crossed the distance to the Thousand-Poison Forest in a single rush and stuffed me into an empty cave.

“You were gone for approximately four hours, so you will reflect on your actions for four days. Your grandfather will be standing guard, so don’t even think about escaping. If you go out again, I really will tie you up in cold iron!”

Then, before I could answer, he sealed off the cave entrance.

Boom!

Trapped in the pitch-dark cave, I let out an awkward laugh.

...He’s really angry.

I’d better apologize properly when he comes back.

Chapter 46. The Awl Cannot Be Hidden

Grandfather kept his word that I would not be allowed to take so much as one step outside until the tournament.

Forget leaving the Tang Clan—I was not even permitted to leave the Thousand-Poison Forest.

And no matter the season, the only food I saw was fasting pills.

The sole exception was my twentieth birthday, when Grandfather personally cooked me thin noodles topped with an egg.

The area around the cultivation cave was the only place I could move around freely, but since I had brought this upon myself, it was almost a relief.

I was used to sleeping outdoors, so that did not bother me either. And there was something nice about having nothing to think about except eating, sleeping, and training.

Only one thing continued to trouble me.

The Demonic Sect spy Baekya had warned me about.

I went through every familiar face I could think of, one by one, but no one stood out.

A direct descendant?

A branch-family member?

Why did they want me?

To take revenge on Grandfather?

Or had they discovered my connection to Yeon Ryang?

I could not tell Grandfather that I suspected there was a spy because I had no way to explain where the information came from.

Maybe being confined to the cultivation cave was actually fortunate.

No one could enter the Thousand-Poison Forest without the Clan Head’s permission, so the spy would not be able to scheme against me here.

Who in the world is it?

I was absently turning a concealed weapon between my fingers as I brooded over the question when Cane came trotting up and spat something onto my lap.

It was a bamboo tube containing a letter.

“For me? Thanks, Cane.”

Wondering who had sent it, I unfolded the letter.

The moment I read the first line, I burst out laughing.

To Miss Tang, personally.

The letter was written in strong, sharp-tipped strokes and filled with language so stiff it belonged in a formal ceremonial text.

Only one person would write me a letter like this.

Jinseong.

We weren’t strangers. Who asked after someone’s health this formally?

His stubborn predictability was so familiar that I could not stop smiling.

The letter began with a painstakingly polite inquiry after my well-being, then explained that he had recently ended his closed-door seclusion, would soon descend Mount Wudang, and was going to participate in the martial tournament together with his grand-disciples of the Song generation.

The fact that he ended it by saying he would see me in Wuhan soon suggested Jinseong was completely certain I would be entering as well.

The thought of seeing a familiar face after so long made me a little happy.

And it stirred up the desire to finally beat Jinseong this time.

I folded the letter and tucked it inside my clothes.

Grandfather had approached at some point without my noticing. Looking mildly surprised, he asked,

“Who sent you a letter that has put you in such a fine mood?”

“You’re here? It’s nothing much. Daoist Jinseong says he’s entering the martial tournament too.”

“That Daoist brat? I’ll have to take a proper look and see whether he’s actually worth anything.”

Grandfather muttered to himself, crossed his arms, then jerked his chin toward the foot of the mountain.

“Hwayeop left ten days ago, as it happens. We should start making our way there soon as well if we want to reach Wuhan on time.”

I nodded.

Just as expected, the clan seemed to have sent Tang Hwayeop as its representative.

“Is anyone besides Brother Hwayeop entering?”

“I hear the rest had no enthusiasm for it, so the remaining formal invitations went to the branch-family children. Every last one of them was raised in a martial clan, yet they’re all so spineless.... Tch.”

Grandfather clicked his tongue, then spent quite some time insulting the Clan Head, saying that when the father was useless, naturally all his children turned out useless too.

Having suddenly become one of those useless children myself, I scratched the back of my neck.

To be fair, other than Tang Hwayeop, there really was no one else likely to enter the martial tournament.

Tang Yeongho simply had no talent.

Tang Un’s poor health had kept him far removed from martial arts.

Tang Juhee and Tang Chohee had no intention of leaving the Tang Clan at all.

Tang Juyeop cared about nothing but poison arts, so there was no chance he would enter a tournament where poison could not be used.

As for Tang Seho....

No. Let’s not even start with him.

I smacked my lips and changed the subject.

“Should I start getting ready too?”

“Yes. Go down today, wash, and sleep in a proper bed. We leave at dawn tomorrow.”

“All right. Oh, then do you have my formal invitation?”

Grandfather stared at me as though I had said something absurd.

“You don’t have one.”

“What?”

“You agreed to prove yourself, didn’t you? It only counts as proof if you reach the main tournament without a formal invitation. Your grandfather has no intention of helping you, so once we reach Wuhan, go register on your own.”

“...What?”

My mouth fell open at the bolt from the blue.

If I have to register from scratch, we’d already be late even if we left right now!