Deu-deu-deu-deu.

The wooden bench trembled slightly.

The middle-aged man with a bushy beard, who had been sleeping sprawled out on the bench, wakes up, twitching his eyes as if he had felt the vibration.

"...Ugh."

Having slept until the sun was at its zenith due to the alcohol he had drunk the day before, there was no way he would be fine.

"Ouch, my head."

The man, who had half-raised his body, clutches his head at the pain that felt as if his skull were splitting.

But.

Deu-deu-deu-deu.

"...?"

It was strange.

What is it?

The man fumbles with the bench.

But he soon realizes that the beginning of the tremor was not from the bench but from the ground.

The ground... is shaking?

The man, whose eyes had sharpened after a moment of puzzlement, gets off the bench and puts his ear to the ground.

Deu-deu-deu-deu-deu.

The tremor is getting stronger. As if something is getting closer.

Kung! Wajijik!

That wasn't all. From the moment he recognized the tremor, a noise as if something were breaking began to reach his ears.

What on earth is going on?

What on earth had happened in the deserted and quiet Jeolgol?

It was a place where no one could enter without his permission.

Kwa-a-ang! Kwa-kwang!

"...!"

Not only the tremor, but wasn't the sound getting closer and closer?

"D-don't tell me? Someone is breaking the snake formation?"

The man's eyes shot open.

It was a guess, but it was certain.

If not, how could there be such a commotion in Jeolgol?

But who on earth?

Although he couldn't know his identity, his skill was predictable enough.

The snake formation that the man had spread around his residence, the abandoned temple, the Secret Gloom Net.

It was by no means an easy formation.

It, which had been spread by gathering the dense forest of Yunnan, which was like a natural fortress, and the poison-filled snakes, was a formation of formations.

It had taken nearly ten years just to install it.

Although it had no effect of deceiving people's eyes, its killing power could be said to be the best.

A person without knowledge of poison would feel dizzy just by stepping inside from the enormous poison that the snakes emit, and with that dizziness, he would not be able to use even half of his strength.

That's not all.

The snakes gathered in the Secret Gloom Net were a flying snake species famous for their enormous toxicity and aggression even in Yunnan.

Who would dare to break through the enormous number of snakes that fly through the air and attack?

If he was breaking through the snake formation, he was a person with extensive knowledge of poison and who knew the habits of snakes, or a person who knew the Secret Gloom Net very well.

If not.

"A master... of the Ganggi level."

The middle-aged man's face contorts.

The latter, he would surely not be able to handle.

Since most of those who use Ganggi have long since transcended the human category, how could he endure such a person?

But it was not good even if it was the former.

Although his skill would not reach the absolute level, it was because his identity might be those who had been chasing him.

"Dammit..."

It was clear that he would be in a difficult situation no matter which side the visitor was.

But he doesn't run away.

In fact, he was very tired now.

Of living in hiding...

Of enduring, relying on alcohol while regretting his past mistakes.

It wouldn't be bad to die like this.

"Yes, what's the point of someone like me living any longer? I've lived long enough."

He would no longer be shabby.

If he died, as a warrior...

"Hoo."

The man, whose mind had become strangely calm, lets out a light breath and turns his head towards the approaching sound and waits.

Sitting comfortably on the bench.

Kwa-deuk! Kwang!

The large tree that was blocking the front of the abandoned temple explodes and falls to the ground. With the sound that shook the mountain, dust rises and obscures the view.

Which side would the assailant be?

Well, what does it matter which side?

Anyway, whether it was the former or the latter, they would all have anger towards him.

The man looks into the dust with a calm eye.

Hwii-i-i.

The wind flows through the wide-open path and blows away the dust.

The figure of the visitor is faintly revealed through it.

One person...

"Cough, cough."

"...?"

But he did nothing.

He just coughed and waved his hand as if to blow away the dust.

It's strange.

A strong question arises in the mind of the man who was waiting, tense, with the determination to die.

If he had come with such a commotion, he should have been one of the former or the latter, but why did he not feel any anger or killing intent from him?

The man examines the visitor more closely, enhancing his vision.

What was revealed after the dust had completely cleared was none other than.

"Huh?"

A young man.

A young man with a neat appearance and a bright smile, who seemed to have just reached the age of twenty.

This punk broke through the Secret Gloom Net?

The man looks at the wide-open path that the young man had made with wide-open eyes.

He couldn't believe it. How could such a thing be possible?

He would not be a person from the place he had thought of, nor an absolute master who had surpassed Ganggi.

The man's pupils, looking at the young guest who had come to him, Cheonyeong, tremble minutely.

And then.

"Danya?"

Cheonyeong asks, looking at the man.

At that moment, the man's trembling pupils find their place.

Danya? Why that name?

It was his alias that he had made while running away and hiding.

"Dammit, how densely did you set up the snake formation. I almost died a few times."

That's right.

Because it was a formation that had been prepared for a full ten years.

But it was not a complaint that a punk who had blown away those ten years in a flash should make.

"You... who are you?"

"Me? Tang Cheonyeong."

"Tang Cheonyeong?"

It was a name he had never heard before.

Although he searched his memory, there was no one who came to mind.

And he was young, but he was speaking informally.

It was so natural. He almost suspected that he might be an old monster who had returned to his youth.

"...How do you know me?"

"Farm tools."

"Farm tools?"

"Yes. A merchant was selling them."

"Farm tools, if it's a merchant... Gwak Taeyeong?"

A merchant to whom he had entrusted the sale of farm tools after going to Yeoktaek a while ago.

"I don't know the merchant's name. Anyway, those farm tools were quite amazing. They bewitched me and made me come all the way here."

The man, Danya, sighs at Cheonyeong's words.

"Dammit, I made them to earn some drinking money, but I almost lost my life."

"What, your life... don't worry. At least I'm not the reason you're living in hiding. Shall we talk for a bit?"

Danya stealthily steps back as Cheonyeong approaches with a smile.

"Why are you so cautious?"

"...Because I still don't know your identity."

"My identity?"

"Yes."

"Hmm, it seems you were really living in hiding. But won't you put down the flying needle in your hand? It's rude to a person who has even prepared a few bottles of wine."

Cheonyeong, who had smirked and shown the wine bottle he had brought, stops walking for now.

It was first to relieve the other person's caution.

"Ganyang, Sicheon, the Tang Family's estate."

"Sicheon?"

"Yes. Since you're suspicious of me, I thought it would be good to introduce myself first."

Cheonyeong unfastens the identification tag from his waist and throws it.

Danya, who had read the identification tag that had arrived exactly in front of his feet and was showing its front, looks at Cheonyeong and asks.

"The family head of the Tang Family's estate?"

"That's right. Well, I'm used to that expression. You must think I'm too young to be a family head. How about it? Is it worth talking now?"

"No, not yet..."

"My, you're a suspicious person."

"If I weren't, there would be no reason to live in hiding. It's not a difficult thing for those who are after my life to forge an identity."

"What on earth is the reason? Did you commit a great sin?"

"A great sin... keuk keuk, yes. I committed a great sin."

"Can I ask what kind of sin?"

"...?"

"Actually, I came here to make you a proposal."

"A proposal?"

"Yes. Because I fell in love with your blacksmithing skills at first sight when I saw the farm tools."

It was absurd.

When he saw the momentum coming from him, he knew that Cheonyeong was not a master of the Ganggi level.

But he had broken through the Secret Gloom Net just because he had fallen for his blacksmithing skills? He must have risked his life...

"You're a crazy person. A really crazy person."

"Well, I do hear that sometimes."

Cheonyeong wears a hollow smile.

"Why do you need my blacksmithing skills? There must be plenty of blacksmiths like me in the world."

"There are plenty. But it's hard to find someone who makes things thinking about their use."

"Their use?"

"Yeah. At first glance, they look like defective products, but it was amazing how they were slightly twisted to fit their use."

"You noticed that?"

"I have a good eye."

Danya, at Cheonyeong's bright expression, bursts out laughing without realizing it.

"Hoo, that's a relief."

"What is?"

"You wouldn't know even if I told you."

"...?"

"But, now I know. You don't feel any anger towards me."

"I told you I fell for the farm tools. Wouldn't it be closer to admiration than anger?"

"It seems so. Alright. Although the reason for your visit and your action of breaking through the Secret Gloom Net at the risk of your life are sudden, wine is always welcome."

The cautious look on Danya's face disappears.

"Come this way. Let's have a drink. At least you don't seem to be an assassin from the Jinkagu."

Cheonyeong's face hardens at the words muttered as if to himself.

Wait, what did he just say?

The Jinkagu?

How do you know that name?

The standing Cheonyeong looks at Danya with a face that has turned cold.

"What did you just say?"

"What?"

The atmosphere became strange.

A murderous killing intent began to appear in Cheonyeong's eyes, which had been bright and calm.

Why on earth?

The moment he tilted his head, internal energy began to boil up from Cheonyeong's body.

And then.

"How do you know that name?"

"What?"

"You, you definitely... said the Jinkagu."

"Huh?"

"I heard it clearly."

"..."

"Tell me, how do you know the Jinkagu?"

"Th-that's..."

Danya's face hardened at Cheonyeong's threatening expression.

He was just as surprised.

The Jinkagu.

How did the family head who leads the Tang Family's estate in Sicheon know that name? Could it be that he had some grudge with the Jinkagu?

"Yes, something was strange."

"..."

"The snake formation, the Secret Gloom Net."

"...?!"

"I see. No wonder the axis that formed the snake formation was so similar to what I know."

The energy that bloomed from Cheonyeong's body turned into a cold killing intent and spread out.

"You punk... you had a connection with the Jinkagu."

"..."

Danya couldn't answer.

The reason he had to live in hiding.

How could the connection be so complicated?

"It seems you had a grudge with the Jinkagu."

"I do, a very special grudge. A grudge that won't be satisfied even if I tear them to pieces and kill them."

"I see."

Danya said with a dejected expression.

"Then in the end, it seems we won't be able to drink."

"That means... you're an assassin from the Jinkagu, right?"

Danya nodded his head, and Cheonyeong, who had turned into a ferocious beast, threw his body.

The reason for living in hiding?

That's not necessary.

If you're an assassin from the Jinkagu...

Pa-ang!

Samyang True Qi is fully contained in the sword that was drawn in an instant.

Since he had received a frontal attack, there was only one action Danya could take.

The Subtle Flowing Sutra, the Three Palaces Step.

Since he knew it so well, Cheonyeong, who had predicted the direction he would move, twists his body at the same time as he approaches and digs into Danya's left side.

Swi-a-a-ak!

The sword that was drawn diagonally.

But.

Ji-i-ing!

The sword stopped. In front of Danya's neck.

Ju-reuk.

But since it was full of true qi, a scratch was made and blood trickled down.

Cheonyeong, who had put his sword to Danya's neck, asked with a cold expression.

"Why... didn't you move?"

Danya did nothing.

He didn't use the Three Palaces Step to retreat, nor did he counterattack.

As if he were calmly accepting death.

There was a reason.

The reason he had prepared for death.

Cheonyeong, who had been glaring at Danya for a long time, slowly withdraws his sword.

Cheonyeong said to him, who was wearing a puzzled expression.

"For a moment... I'll hear it. Your reason."

The Tang Family's Departure from the World