Thank You.

“…Why?”

“When did you realize there was another husband?”

At Gyo-ha’s question, the group’s gaze also turned to Seo Jong-dae.

They were curious as well.

As their gazes gathered, Seo Jong-dae frowned.

“It suddenly came to me when I heard what you said. Is that really important right now?”

“You did not notice beforehand and hid it because dealing with it would be a hassle, right?”

“Hey now, what kind of person do you take me for!”

At Seo Jong-dae’s indignant reaction, the group nodded.

They thought it an excessive suspicion. Yet Gyo-ha’s eyes narrowed.

Just as Seo Jong-dae was growing used to Gyo-ha, Gyo-ha was also coming to understand Seo Jong-dae.

There was one more.

Jeon Pyeong’s expression was also subtle.

It was because he had seen Seo Jong-dae wipe the hilt of his sword with his sleeve and sheath it as soon as the fight ended.

It had been so natural and swift.

And now he was acting as if nothing had happened.

Only Jeon Gwang had wondered at the chipped blade when he checked it.

‘…Did I really fight that hard?’

Jeon Pyeong heard Jeon Gwang’s mutter, but could not say anything.

It was because Seo Jong-dae had saved his life.

On top of that, he had even guided qi for Jeon Hong. He could not bring himself to question him.

“By the way, those children… no, those fruits. Why did they try to live together with people?”

“They likely wanted to live with them to absorb their vital energy.”

Seo Jong-dae spoke as if it were nothing special.

The children who had lived with the couple had been fairly grown. There was no way they had normal meals.

They could not stay by the parent tree either.

Yet the couple had looked far too healthy for that.

“There were trees, remember.”

“Ah.”

Even a professional hunter could not succeed in every hunt.

And once prey died, they could no longer draw out its vitality.

They absorbed qi from the trees, then cut down the dead ones.

That way, no traces remained.

‘Is that really the only reason.’

Jeon Pyeong’s expression hardened.

A creature’s instinct lay in survival.

But that was not all. Preservation of the species was just as important.

If so, how did trees reproduce?

They used animals or the wind.

They rode the wind, or animals ate their fruit, moved on, and new shoots sprouted where the seeds were excreted.

Perhaps the demon tree had chosen humans for that role.

Thinking that far, Jeon Pyeong met Seo Jong-dae’s eyes.

Seo Jong-dae quietly shook his head, as if he had reached the same thought.

Unconfirmed speculation would only bring confusion.

Jeon Pyeong stopped his train of thought.

The rattling carriage came to a halt.

The middle-aged couple sitting on the driver’s seat turned around in a hurry. It was because they had heard coughing from the cargo bed.

“Hey, Mok-ryeong!”

They rushed to the back and saw a girl in pain.

“What is wrong?”

The couple approached with worried faces.

“It is nothing. I just feel a bit dizzy.”

The girl shook her head, forcing a smile.

“There is something I need.”

“What is it? Just say it.”

“Shall we go back to the village?”

“No. What I want is with you two.”

The girl took both their hands. Their eyes instantly turned hazy.

“I need quite a lot. Is that all right?”

“Yes, of course.”

“As much as you want.”

“Thank you.”

With that, the couple’s skin shriveled.

In an instant, they became elderly.

In contrast, the girl’s face bloomed radiantly, like a bud bursting into a flower.

She was changing from a girl into someone who bore the traces of a grown woman.

A peerless beauty.

When the girl released their hands, the couple’s eyes returned to normal.

“Huh? Where are we…?”

“Honestly, dear, we are on the way to visit your elder brother.”

“Ah, that is right. We were going to introduce our Mok-ryeong, were we not?”

When the old man looked at her, the girl called Mok-ryeong smiled shyly.

Soon, the elderly couple climbed back onto the driver’s seat.

The carriage began to move. Yet unlike before, it looked drained of strength.

Once the old couple had gone off, all expression vanished from Mok-ryeong’s face.

She watched them with indifferent eyes.

Originally, she had planned to be protected by her parents until she grew up.

But she had been forced to absorb their vitality.

Otherwise, Mok-ryeong would have vanished.

The life force of a tree or a horse had not been enough for her to endure.

She could guess the reason.

Mother Tree had died. Yet she was not greatly concerned.

There were no natural enemies of theirs in this place.

Even if enemies appeared, it would be fine.

‘…The humans here are strong.’

That was why they had been born in human form.

Mok-ryeong had seen it by chance as well.

Not all of them, but some humans were strong.

It was likely that such humans had killed the Mother Tree.

So even if enemies appeared, they would be more than capable of dealing with them.

‘First, I should find new parents.’

Her current parents had grown too weak to be of use.

She was still young.

She needed to grow further and put down roots in a land rich with prey.

That was her mission.

Unlike the old man, his elder brother lived in a city crowded with people.

In such a place, she would be able to find better parents.

As she thought that, the carriage entered the land of Sichuan.

Sensing presences beyond the brush, tension rose on the group’s faces.

It was not just one or two.

Soon, men wearing weapons at their sides emerged from between the bushes.

“…What, they’re only bandits.”

One beggar muttered in a hollow voice.

At that, those who had been tense let out a sigh.

“Well, there is no way that kind of thing would happen often.”

“You juniors were too on edge.”

They were none other than Gyo-ha’s party, who had entered Sichuan.

Jeon Pyeong chided his juniors, yet the signs that he had been tense were clear on him as well.

Only then did the bandits sense that something was off.

“Boss.”

One bandit carefully called to the man who seemed to be their leader.

Their clothes were a mess, so they had not noticed at first, but a few of them were Taoists in training robes.

If they had just been Taoists, it would have been one thing, but they even had swords at their waists.

Martial artists.

Concern spread over the leader’s face.

In truth, if he had seen the embroidery on the hem of the robes, he would not have hesitated at all.

Unfortunately, the robes were far too filthy.

Moreover, before the leader could reach a decision, one man moved first.

“I was already annoyed, so you came at the right time!”

Rolling up his sleeves, Bong Seok stepped forward. Only then did the leader notice the knot tied at Bong Seok’s waist.

‘The Beggars’ Union?!’

And not even a common single-knot.

If he moved around with two-knot disciples, the rest of the group would be no small matter either.

“Run awa…”

Pung!

The body of the bandit beside him vanished.

In the next moment, the man was embedded in a tree. His legs shook, so he was not dead, but he was far from unhurt.

“Sorry, I am still not used to this.”

A cheerful voice rang in his ear.

When he turned his head, a man was giving an awkward smile.

In contrast to his simple expression, his arms were burdened with terrifying iron shackles.

What was more, they were cracked and uneven, which made them look even more vicious.

The man, Gyo-ha, turned to look at the leader.

Blood dripped from the shackles.

The moment their eyes met, the leader fainted.

“Huh?”

Gyo-ha blinked at the fallen leader.

He had not done anything yet.

“…Has he only recently become a bandit? His mental fortitude is weak.”

He pouted. In truth, the man was the leader of this bandit stronghold, but there was no way he would know that.

Turning his head, he saw Bong Seok charging around after the fleeing bandits.

The Mount Hua disciples, who had been wondering whether to join in, sheathed their swords.

They were not hard-hearted enough to chase down and punish those who were already running away.

As for Seo Jong-dae, he had never intended to step in from the start.

Gyo-ha trudged back to the group.

With not even any poison, there was no way it could be called a proper fight against bandits.

Jeon Pyeong gave a wry smile at the disappointed Gyo-ha.

“Do not worry. I have an acquaintance in the Tang Clan. I will ask him and see if I can get you some good poison.”

He did not know what the standard for good poison was supposed to be, but at Jeon Pyeong’s words, Gyo-ha’s face brightened.

Jeon Pyeong looked at him and smiled bitterly again.

Now even if his juniors joined in, they could not stand against Gyo-ha.

The reason was simple.

‘If they do not use internal energy, it is hard even to wound him.’

Like the bark of the demon tree, Gyo-ha’s skin had become tough and hard.

Only with focused effort could they barely inflict a wound.

There was no way it could be a proper fight.

These days, they sparred using internal energy, but he could no longer be as bold as before.

Aside from Jeon Pyeong, it was hard for anyone to be a match for Gyo-ha.

That did not mean Jeon Gwang and Jeon Hong were idle.

Even if they could not wound him, training with Gyo-ha helped them as well.

They also had to settle the internal energy they had gained from this incident.

Outside of traveling, the mood had shifted toward training.

Watching them grow bit by bit, Bong Seok’s feelings grew complicated.

He already had a bottleneck these days and needed a clue.

But now his pride would not let him ask them to spar with him again.

The only small comfort was Seo Jong-dae, yet he often disappeared alone.

No one failed to realize that it was for his own training.

It made him feel isolated.

It felt all the more so because the rest of the group had grown noticeably closer after the last battle.

Jeon Gwang and Jeon Hong now called Gyo-ha and Seo Jong-dae their elder brothers.

Gyo-ha was much younger in age, but considering his status and skill, the form of address was not strange.

That only made the sense of alienation stronger.

Bong Seok glared at Gyo-ha.

‘…You bastard. When I did not want to do it, you forced me into it.’

It was a thought others would have easily misunderstood if they heard it.

Besides, it had not been forced but a fair trade. Now he was even providing meals with no payment.

Forcing a calm expression, Bong Seok walked on.

As they continued to train, they eventually entered Shifang.

Once they passed Shifang, there was Mount Qingcheng, home of the Qingcheng Sect.

Beyond that lay the provincial capital.

As they neared the capital, the number of villages increased.

The number of times the group slept outdoors steadily decreased.

Around the time Mount Qingcheng slowly came into view, Seo Jong-dae walked over to Gyo-ha.

“Hey, have a spar with me.”

It went without saying that all eyes turned to him at the sudden words.

Gyo-ha stared at him in surprise, then grinned.

“All right.”

The two of them walked beyond the brush.

They had seen Gyo-ha’s skill during this time, but had never seen Seo Jong-dae fight properly.

The group was inwardly curious, yet could not bring themselves to follow.

They could only guess the outcome from Seo Jong-dae’s expression when he returned a little later.

“…So even at this level, it is still not enough.”

Clicking his tongue, Seo Jong-dae slumped down.

Around the time the group left Shifang, a beggar approached.

He was a single-knot beggar.

Seeing him, Bong Seok’s face twisted with displeasure.

“Here it is.”

The Beggars’ Union disciple poured out a heap of wooden plaques.

There was quite a number. At the sight of them, his displeased face turned almost tearful.

The beggar, puzzled, handed over the plaques and left.

“This is…”

“So that is what it is.”

The group already had an idea what the plaques were. One by one, they picked them up and checked.

There was no time for him to get angry and ask why they were checking them on their own.

Thanks to the contents written on the scattered plaques, they could see who they were meant for.

‘Damn it, if you are going to deliver them, at least give them to me in secret.’

Bong Seok cursed inwardly. If that had happened, he would have burned them in secret.

But he knew very well that it would be impossible to burn them without the group seeing.

Besides, if it contained truly important information, it would have been written in code that only Beggars’ Union disciples could read.

The plaques were the support Red-Eyed Beggar had promised.

They were not curious how he had found the group.

He was from the Beggars’ Union, after all.

They had seen Bong Seok leave traces several times already.

They were marks that Beggars’ Union disciples could recognize among themselves.

When they went out on missions, Beggars’ Union disciples each left their own signs. It was in case something went wrong.