It Bothers Me.

As soon as they stepped out of the Clan Head’s quarters, a Diancang Taoist stopped Seo Jong-dae.

“You have joined Kunlun?”

“Yes.”

Seo Jong-dae answered calmly.

The Diancang Taoist looked as if he wanted to say more, then closed his mouth and left.

“Sahyung!”

The Taoist beside him gave Seo Jong-dae a single glance, then followed after.

At the sight, the group could not easily speak.

They could only assume there were complicated circumstances they knew nothing about.

“You are not going to go after them?”

Gyo-ha asked Seo Jong-dae.

But Seo Jong-dae shook his head.

“It is already over.”

“It does not feel like something that is over.”

Bong Seok muttered beside them, but as expected, no one paid it any mind.

Like that, the group followed Tang Ho toward the reception room.

“Mm, you said you were heading for Qinghai Province, was it? I will make preparations.”

Tang Ho spoke weakly.

Seeing him, Jeon Pyeong spoke carefully.

“Were you close?”

“Ah, with my uncle?”

When Jeon Pyeong nodded, Tang Ho furrowed his brow.

“Well… When I was young, he played with me a lot. After that he was busy, so I did not see him much. When I met him again after a long time, he had changed into someone else.”

“If he was busy, was he away somewhere?”

At Jeon Gwang’s question, Tang Ho nodded.

“He was the Head of the Gathering Hall. He was in charge of gathering rare medicinal herbs and poisonous plants.”

“He roamed not only Sichuan but the entire Central Plains, tasked with acquiring herbs and poisons that ordinary merchants or herb gatherers could not obtain.”

Having spoken that far, something came to Tang Ho’s mind.

“Come to think of it, he began to grow strange after returning from Lake Qinghai.”

“Lake Qinghai?”

“I mean in Qinghai Province.”

At his words, the group looked at one another.

Qinghai Province, where Kunlun is. It was also the place they were about to head for.

In the past, they might have dismissed it as coincidence, but now it was different.

“Your uncle’s room. Can we see it now?”

Gyo-ha looked at Tang Ho and asked.

At Gyo-ha’s question, Tang Ho nodded, looking somewhat dazed.

He had brought them here in the first place to show them.

Tang Ho led the group to the room of his late uncle.

His uncle’s name was Tang Hyeok.

His room was located at the very end of the wing.

A spot that did not easily catch the eye.

Even if his specialty was gathering, he had still been the head of an entire unit.

Catching the group’s looks, Tang Ho spoke.

“He originally lived outside. But from last year, he moved his room here.”

The Tang Clan was a household that placed great importance on the clan.

There was no clan that did not value blood ties, but the Tang Clan took it even further.

For direct blood relatives, even women took in sons-in-law to join the clan.

Collateral branches were no exception.

There were cases of people leaving the Tang Clan, but they were very rare.

Not all of them stayed inside the main compound.

The houses clustered in groups outside the main compound all belonged to collateral branches or people connected to the Tang Clan.

The entire village surrounding the Tang Clan was all but part of the Tang Clan itself.

It was called Tang Family Village.

Tang Hyeok had lived there.

And the moment the group stepped into Tang Hyeok’s room, they felt a chill rising up at once.

Ash remained on the window frames.

Every window was covered with paper and cloth.

The bedding too had been placed in a corner far from the doors and windows.

There were more than just talismans in the room.

There was a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha and a painting of Taishang Laojun.

Candles and incense sticks were scattered messily across the floor.

The scent of incense still rose in the room.

“…Has nothing here been moved?”

“That is right.”

Tang Ho gave a heavy nod.

“Did your uncle… the head of the unit… usually find it hard to talk to people?”

There were occasionally such people.

People who feared speaking with others.

Bong Seok almost called him “uncle,” then corrected the title.

At his question, Tang Ho shook his head.

“No. So long as he was inside his room, he could talk with others.”

If that were not the case, he would never have risen to become head of a unit.

“…So he could talk to that extent?”

Did that mean even that was difficult for him when he was outside?

As the group suspected, Tang Ho went on evenly.

“He was anxious. Even while talking or going to the outhouse, he would constantly scan his surroundings. Sometimes he would startle just from seeing someone walk past.”

In that case, the reason he had blocked off the windows was not because of people’s eyes.

It was because he feared something.

That was likely also why he had moved his room into the main compound.

If what he feared was not someone from the Tang Clan, there was no safer place than the Tang Clan itself.

Anyone would see it as a bizarre state of affairs.

The group’s gazes all turned to one person.

To Gyo-ha.

Gyo-ha bent down and sniffed.

At the sight, Tang Ho’s eyes went wide, but Jeon Pyeong patted his shoulder to calm him.

Tang Ho’s dazed eyes followed Gyo-ha’s backside.

After quite some time like that, Gyo-ha sprang to his feet.

“How is it?”

At Jeon Pyeong’s question, Gyo-ha scratched his cheek.

Was it because the incense smell was interfering?

Under the group’s gaze, Gyo-ha spoke slowly.

“There is a smell, but…”

“Then is it the work of a yokai?”

“I don’t know.”

Gyo-ha shook his head, his expression bewildered.

“It’s similar, but a little different.”

“So is it yes or no?”

At Seo Jong-dae’s question, Gyo-ha answered firmly.

“I think I need to see the body.”

As the group spoke gravely, the dazed Tang Ho stepped forward.

“H-hold on. What in the world are you talking about? What is this about yokai?”

To the bewildered Tang Ho, Jeon Pyeong explained what they had experienced.

As the story went on, Tang Ho’s expression grew rigid.

“You have taken this joke too far.”

Tang Ho rebuked him coldly.

“Are you trying to make a fool of me? Why is no one saying anything…”

Gyo-ha and Seo Jong-dae remained silent, but when Tang Ho’s eyes met those of Jeon Gwang and Jeon Hong, they nodded.

In the end, Tang Ho’s gaze turned to the last person.

“I wish it were a joke for me as well.”

Bong Seok replied with a grimace. Tang Ho could only be taken aback.

“So where is the body?”

At Gyo-ha’s question, Tang Ho hesitated, then spoke in resignation.

“Come with me for now.”

Be it a curse or a yokai, neither made any sense.

And it had been Tang Ho himself who had called the group here.

On the surface, the corpse looked normal.

On the surface, that is.

Because Gyo-ha’s expression grew even more confused when he saw the body.

“What is it?”

“It is different.”

“So it is not the work of a yokai?”

“I do not know.”

Gyo-ha scratched his head.

In truth, Gyo-ha himself had only personally encountered such yokai twice.

But there was something that had become clear.

“The smell in the room came from here. And…”

“And?”

“There is a fishy smell of water too.”

At his words, everyone in the group tried sniffing without exception.

But they could not detect the fishy smell he spoke of.

“So it really is connected to Lake Qinghai.”

Needless to say, Tang Ho’s expression, watching from behind, grew all the more strange.

The Tang Clan had dealt with poisons and medicine for generations.

Naturally, their sense of smell was keener than that of other sects, as they trained their noses from childhood.

Yet none of the Tang Clan had detected any fishy smell.

Could he really trust these people?

At this point, even the fact that the two of them were Kunlun disciples felt doubtful.

But he did not voice it.

If they were impostors, there was no way the Mount Hua disciples or the Beggars’ Union would not know.

Moreover, they seemed to have ties to Diancang as well.

Even if those ties were not good ones.

“So in the end, we have no clues for now. I am sorry.”

“…No need.”

Seeing how sincerely apologetic Jeon Pyeong looked, Tang Ho shook his head.

And he reproached himself for doubting them.

The expressions of the group were serious. He could feel that they truly meant to help.

‘Right. Who they are does not matter.’

With that thought, Tang Ho nodded.

He only had to treat them without prejudice. Especially since they would soon be traveling to Qinghai together.

And that resolve of his did not last long.

The next day, the Emei Sect arrived.

The group had no choice but to join the Tang Clan in welcoming them.

It did not particularly matter for Gyo-ha and Seo Jong-dae, but Jeon Pyeong of Mount Hua and Bong Seok of the Beggars’ Union could not disregard Emei, a fellow member of the Nine Sects, One Union.

All the more so because Abbess Hyeong-un herself had come from the Emei Sect.

“We apologize for our late arrival. On behalf of the Emei Sect, we offer our condolences. The Sect Leader also asked me to convey his apologies for not being able to come in person.”

“Not at all. It is more than we deserve that you yourself have come, Abbess.”

Tang Mu-gi accepted the greeting respectfully.

He too had not expected Abbess Hyeong-un to come in person. It showed how seriously Emei was taking this matter.

“May we see the departed first?”

“I will guide you.”

Tang Mu-gi took the lead himself. He could not leave someone of her rank to a subordinate.

Behind Abbess Hyeong-un followed a first-generation disciple and a second-generation disciple.

It was an unusual lineup.

The first-generation disciple of Emei held a long spear that looked heavy for a woman to carry.

The second-generation disciple looked even younger than Jeon Hong and Jeon Gwang. Even with her head shaved, her delicate beauty was apparent.

As Seo Jong-dae observed them, his eyes met those of the younger disciple.

The young disciple frowned.

‘How rude, when we have only just met.’

Thinking that, Seo Jong-dae soon realized her gaze was not directed at him.

When he looked to the side, he saw Gyo-ha staring at them openly.

Bong Seok was also sneaking glances, but Gyo-ha’s gaze was far more blatant.

Had he been bewitched by her looks?

But Seo Jong-dae knew Gyo-ha would not be like that.

When Seo Jong-dae gave him a light tap, Gyo-ha finally looked away.

“It’s strange.”

“The strange one here is you.”

At Seo Jong-dae’s words, Gyo-ha stuck his lower lip out.

But he did not deny it. Only then did the young disciple also avert her eyes.

Like that, the nuns of Emei headed for the room where Tang Hyeok’s body lay.

“Amitabha, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva.”

When Abbess Hyeong-un placed her palms together, the nuns behind her did the same.

They examined the corpse with solemn eyes, yet found nothing.

And when they went to Tang Hyeok’s room, they likewise could not hide their shock.

“Amitabha!”

“Namo Amitabha.”

Their chants carried a different weight than when they had seen the body.

They stayed in the room for quite some time.

The group, watching from a distance, returned to their guest quarters first.

In the end, the Emei nuns did not discover anything.

But they did not give up easily.

Two days passed after that, and they were still searching for clues.

Naturally, the group could not leave either.

“Still, it is impressive. Qingcheng, then Diancang, and now Emei. With Mount Hua and the Beggars’ Union here too, we have seen five of the Nine Sects, One Union in one place, have we not?”

Bong Seok spoke as he tore at a chicken leg.

Of them all, he was the most satisfied with life in the guest quarters.

In just three days, he had put on a fair bit of weight.

“On top of that, there is Kunlun, formerly one of the Nine Sects, and the Tang Clan, one of the Five Great Clans. It is incredible.”

At the word “formerly,” Jeon Gwang rolled his eyes.

‘How can he sound that annoying even when stating facts.’

Surely it was not only Jeon Gwang who thought so.

As Bong Seok said, these were people one did not easily meet.

“By the way, where did Brother Seo go since morning?”

“A Diancang Taoist came to find him and they left together.”

“Oh.”

Bong Seok’s eyes sparkled.

There were others, like their group, who had been unable to leave.

“There really must be something going on.”

Bong Seok’s heavy backside lifted from his seat. He looked ready to go eavesdrop at once.

Naturally, the looks directed at him were cold.

Just then, the quietly sitting Gyo-ha suddenly sprang to his feet.

Was he about to hit someone?

Bong Seok flinched, and the other members of the group leaned their bodies slightly forward to stop whatever might happen.

At the same time, they exchanged glances.

If Gyo-ha hit Bong Seok, they were thinking of moving in a little late.

However, Gyo-ha was not looking at Bong Seok.

“It bothers me.”

Muttering that, Gyo-ha flung open the door to the guest room.

Then he left before anyone could stop him.

Staring blankly at the spot where Gyo-ha had been, the group snapped back to their senses belatedly.

“Brother Gyo?”

“Wait, where are you going!”

They hurried after him.

They had forgotten. If Bong Seok was merely an annoying presence, then Gyo-ha was no different from a powder keg that could go off in any direction.

And at the moment, the only one who could rein Gyo-ha in, Seo Jong-dae, was not there.

Their expressions grew urgent.