More Than I Expected.

The nuns of the Emei Sect were once again inspecting the room that day.

It was effectively their last chance, because Tang Hyeok’s funeral would begin the next day.

Gyeong Yu, first-generation disciple of Emei, let out a faint sound of displeasure as she looked at the Shakyamuni statue in the center of the room.

It wore the same benevolent smile as always, yet today it only felt suffocating.

“Your heart is full of anger.”

“Master.”

When she turned her head, Abbess Hyeong-un was looking at her.

“I have told you time and again. ‘Demon’ does not come from anywhere else. It is born from a heart like that.”

“Yes.”

“More than anything, you must be vigilant against yourself.”

Gyeong Yu lowered her head. She had been given the character ‘Yu’, meaning ‘soft,’ in hopes of tempering her fiery temper, but it was still difficult.

It was also why she carried a heavy spear instead of a sword.

Even so, Abbess Hyeong-un could understand how Gyeong Yu felt.

There were far too many strange points in this death.

It was like walking through a hazy fog.

‘Even so, we cannot hold on to it forever.’

The deceased would not be able to rest in peace.

Sometimes, it was necessary to let things go.

“It is about time we prepared to leave.”

“Yes.”

Gyeong Yu bowed her head. Beside her, So Yeong only watched quietly.

Watching the two of them, Abbess Hyeong-un turned her head.

“We have a guest.”

Puzzled, the two soon sensed someone’s presence.

In the doorway stood a young man with a huge frame.

When she saw his face, So Yeong’s delicate brows knit together.

Gyeong Yu looked at the young man and spoke.

“You were Young Master Gyo of Kunlun, were you not?”

She had been introduced to him when they first arrived at the Tang Clan. His build was so large that he had left an impression.

At her question, the young man gave a simple, guileless smile that did not match his size.

“Yes. I am sorry to disturb you. There is something that is bothering me.”

“We have just about finished our work as well. Please examine things at your leisure.”

Gyeong Yu said this and stepped to the side so Gyo-ha could pass.

“Ah, no. It is you all I am here about.”

With that, he sniffed.

At the bizarre action, bewilderment came over Gyeong Yu’s face as well.

Gyo-ha tilted his head.

“It is not this side.”

Then he took a step closer to So Yeong and sniffed again.

Naturally, displeasure flashed across So Yeong’s face.

And sparks lit in Gyeong Yu’s eyes as well.

“Young Master, what in the world are you…”

Just as Gyeong Yu was about to shout, there was a sudden “Udangtang!” from behind.

“This is a misunderstanding!”

“Wait a moment…!”

It was Tang Ho and the Mount Hua disciples rushing over.

“As I thought, the smell is coming from this side.”

Gyo-ha muttered as he sniffed.

So Yeong’s face twisted, and Tang Ho unconsciously covered his own face with both hands.

“How rude!”

With So Yeong’s cry, the look in Gyeong Yu’s eyes also turned fierce.

At that moment, Abbess Hyeong-un stepped forward.

“Enough.”

“Master?”

“Ancestor?”

Despite the questions from Gyeong Yu and So Yeong, Abbess Hyeong-un only gave them a calm look.

After calming the two of them, Abbess Hyeong-un turned to Gyo-ha.

“Junior brother. What kind of smell are you talking about?”

“Yo…”

But Gyo-ha could not finish the word, because Jeon Pyeong and Tang Ho, who had run over at some point, clapped their hands over his mouth.

“Abbess Hyeong-un. I will explain!”

At Jeon Pyeong’s forcefulness, Abbess Hyeong-un nodded before she realized it.

Then Jeon Pyeong began to speak.

He explained the situation as concisely as he could.

Yet the expressions of those listening only grew stranger and stranger.

‘…I did my best.’

Beyond this, there was nothing more Jeon Pyeong could do.

“Do you really expect us to take that as an explanation?”

Naturally, a sharp retort was bound to come out.

“But young lady, it is the truth. I saw it with my own eyes. I can stake my name on it.”

The name of the Plum Blossom Swordsman was no small thing.

When they looked to the others, they all gave small nods. Tang Ho had not seen it himself, but since it was hard to explain that here, he nodded along as well.

“Then are you saying I am some kind of yokai?”

So Yeong spoke in disbelief.

“You are not a yokai.”

Gyo-ha stated that out of the blue. Naturally, So Yeong’s expression did not improve.

“First he says I’m a yokai, now he says I’m not one. Ancestor, how long are you going to listen to this nonsense?”

“I never said you were a yokai. I said you smelled like one.”

But Gyo-ha answered without a trace of shame.

He sniffed again, then nodded.

By now, even his companions could not stop him.

It was not only Gyeong Yu’s piercing gaze. The situation had simply grown too big.

“Mm. A yokai’s body part or an item. You must be carrying something like that.”

Gyo-ha did not stop there and even went up to Abbess Hyeong-un to sniff her.

Unable to watch such audacity any longer, Gyeong Yu was about to swing her spear, but Abbess Hyeong-un raised her hand to stop her.

“This granny nun and that auntie nun over there smell of it too, but faintly. They have touched it as well.”

“Young Master.”

At being called ‘granny nun,’ Abbess Hyeong-un let out a soft chuckle, but Gyeong Yu rebuked him coldly.

Soon Abbess Hyeong-un turned her head to look at So Yeong.

“So Yeong. Is there anything you brought down from the mountain?”

“Ancestor?”

Shock spread across So Yeong’s face. She had not imagined that the ancestor would believe that story and suspect her.

But as if something had occurred to her, Gyeong Yu turned to So Yeong.

“Is it something to do with Hye-ah?”

So Yeong’s eyes trembled. Something had come to mind.

At her reaction, Abbess Hyeong-un nodded.

“Take it out.”

After hesitating for a moment, So Yeong took something out from her robe.

It was a large fang.

Gyeong Yu’s eyes hardened at the sight.

“Why would you…”

“I wanted to make it into a necklace and give it to Hye-ah.”

Abbess Hyeong-un turned her head and looked at Gyo-ha.

“Is that what you were talking about, junior brother?”

“Yes.”

Gyo-ha nodded. There was no need to sniff it again.

The moment it came out, the smell had surged.

That was an object from an otherworldly being. So Yeong moved her lips as if to say something, but lowered her head when she saw the look in Gyeong Yu’s eyes.

“Some time ago we found a young beast in the mountains. It was injured, yet it was guarding its dead mother.”

“A beast?”

“It looked somewhat like a fox, somewhat like a wolf. The mother’s corpse was a wreck, as if some other animal had eaten part of it and left it. The young one was so small that it was hard to tell exactly what it was.”

“Even so, it was clever enough to understand human speech. We are sheltering it at our main temple until its wounds heal.”

“Then that is…”

“Most likely the mother’s tooth.”

When Abbess Hyeong-un looked to her, So Yeong gave a small nod.

Gyo-ha looked at Abbess Hyeong-un rather than So Yeong, as if he found her more fascinating.

“Granny nun, do you believe what I am saying?”

It was a question that could sound rude, but Gyeong Yu and So Yeong also turned their eyes to Abbess Hyeong-un.

They too were curious.

Under their gazes, Abbess Hyeong-un smiled gently.

“When this old woman was young, I once met your master. He was a truly mysterious man. It was as if he alone lived in a world other than this Murim.”

At the mention of his master Yun Heo, Gyo-ha nodded.

Considering Kunlun’s burden, it was not wrong. In the past and even now, they lived in such a way.

And it was also the world that Gyo-ha would have to live in from now on.

“Hye-ah is not a yokai. She is a spirit beast.”

“So Yeong.”

At So Yeong’s words, Gyeong Yu fixed her with a stern stare.

So Yeong flinched and lowered her head.

Gyo-ha almost said yokai, then closed his mouth.

He had never seen a spirit beast himself.

More than anything.

‘…Are spirit beasts and yokai different?’

He could not tell the difference. When he looked to the side, he saw So Yeong glaring at him fiercely.

She seemed to think he was planning to do something to the beast called Hye-ah.

Yet the fact that they did not deny the term ‘spirit beast’ meant they too knew that creature was different from an ordinary animal.

‘If it were Master, he would do something about it.’

Gyo-ha scratched his cheek. It was still a young beast and even injured.

It did not stir any great interest in him.

Even so, he could not ignore it.

“Master said that otherworldly beings attract other beings of the same kind.”

Even if that beast was good-natured, there was no guarantee that the other otherworldly beings it drew in would be the same.

“There is no need to worry. We cannot keep a beast at our main temple in any case. We are only sheltering it because it is wounded. Once its injuries heal, we intend to release it back into the mountains.”

Gyeong Yu looked on calmly, but the same could not be said for So Yeong’s expression.

It seemed she did not want to part with it.

Gyo-ha scratched his cheek again.

‘So they are not going to kill it.’

That was what he thought, but he did not bother saying it aloud.

Instead, he stared at Abbess Hyeong-un.

She had a gentle air.

Yet she was strong. Perhaps not to the level of the old Taoist of Qingcheng, but at least stronger than Tae-jeong Jinin.

Without realizing it, he clenched and unclenched his fist.

With a martial artist of that level, nothing too serious should happen.

And they were not some ordinary sect either.

They were the Emei Sect, one of the Nine Sects, One Union.

“I understand.”

Gyo-ha ruffled his hair and stepped back. Abbess Hyeong-un and Gyeong Yu walked past him one after another, and So Yeong, after glaring at him, gave a little snort and left.

“You have earned her hatred.”

Jeon Pyeong said from beside him, but Gyo-ha only shrugged as if it did not concern him.

When the group returned to the guest room, Seo Jong-dae tilted his head.

“Where in the world did you go?”

At Seo Jong-dae’s question, the group let out a sigh.

The next day, Tang Hyeok’s funeral was held.

The nuns of Emei offered their farewells and left. They could not remain at a funeral that was meant to be conducted quietly within the clan.

The martial artists of Diancang departed afterward, and the group prepared to leave as well, but they could not depart immediately.

It was because of a request from Jeon Pyeong.

“You are asking me to give you poison?”

Tang Ho looked at Jeon Pyeong with a suspicious gaze.

The Tang Clan might deal with poisons, but poisons had to be handled with extreme care.

If anything, precisely because they dealt with poisons, they understood the danger better than anyone.

“What in the world are you planning to do with poison?”

Seeing Tang Ho’s expression, Jeon Pyeong realized his slip of the tongue.

“Ah, it is not for me to drink. Brother Gyo here will be the one drinking it.”

Beside him, Gyo-ha nodded.

Tang Ho looked at him, then let out a sigh.

For some reason, he looked more exhausted than when the group had first arrived.

“Nothing goes smoothly once Young Master Gyo is involved. Why on earth would you… no, for what exactly do you plan to use it. If you mean to drink poison to build resistance, I would not recommend it. It is far too inefficient.”

“It is for training. He wants to spar under extreme conditions.”

“Mm?”

Tang Ho’s expression changed.

He might handle medicine and poison, but Tang Ho was a martial artist as well.

Hearing that it was for cultivation piqued his interest.

“I would like to hear the details.”

At his words, Jeon Pyeong explained the sparring match Gyo-ha had had with Bong Seok.

Of course, Gyo-ha had drunk poison not only when fighting Bong Seok, but also when fighting bandits and hooligans, yet Jeon Pyeong did not go that far.

“Oh. Do you still have any of that poison left?”

“We used it all, but…”

Gyo-ha took a small flask out from his robe.

They had already drained every last drop of poison inside, but Tang Ho took a long wooden stick from his breast and stirred the inside of the flask.

Then he smelled the stick he pulled out and put it in his mouth.

Chewing it in his mouth, Tang Ho spat with a “Tweh.”

“Is this a mixture of scorpion venom and green snake-head herb? No, there is rock lily in it as well. Because rock lily is expensive, he used scorpion venom and snake-head herb to boost its lethality. It is a crude poison. And you sparred after drinking this?”

When Gyo-ha nodded, Tang Ho stroked his chin.

“For something of this level, the poisons I have will suffice. How much did you drink for a single match? Two drops? No, judging by your build, perhaps three.”

“…Four gulps.”

“…Four drops, you mean. That is more than I expected.”

“No. Four gulps.”

Gyo-ha mimed tipping the flask back and gulping it down.

Who in their right mind would drink poison like that. As Tang Ho stared at Gyo-ha as if looking at a madman, his gaze naturally shifted to the back.

The others were giving small nods.

Tang Ho’s face stiffened.

“Ah, at first two gulps were enough.”

He said it with a bright smile, but it did nothing to help.