Landing Is Hard.

By the time Gyo-ha arrived, the bird had already reached Seol Mae.

Seol Mae was running to escape as well, but it was nowhere near enough to shake off the bird.

It was a hair-trigger situation.

The moment the bird’s sharp claws were about to snatch Seol Mae.

Gyo-ha hurled his body forward.

The moment Gyo-ha’s foot struck the ground, it exploded.

Flying Dragon Chasing Lightning.

His body shot out like a flash of lightning and collided with the bird.

“Kkieeeek!”

The bird flapped its wings frantically in pain.

Its chest was caved in.

If it were an ordinary creature, it wouldn’t have been strange for it to be dead already. Yet the bird instead sought out the culprit who had done this to its body and glared, eyes blazing.

Feeling that gaze from above, Gyo-ha, who had been tumbling across the ground, quickly sprang to his feet.

His whole body throbbed, but he couldn’t afford to delay.

Still, perhaps because he had gone through it a few times now, it felt almost familiar.

As he retreated back like that, sharp talons raked through the spot where he had just been.

Dirt scattered in all directions.

As ground and air were torn apart, a dreadful sound rang in Gyo-ha’s ears.

It was unlike any weapon wielded by a human.

Even a graze would be a mortal wound.

Putting some distance between himself and the bird, Gyo-ha turned his head toward Seol Mae behind him.

She was trembling in fear.

Calming her came first.

“You are Sister Ah-ryeong, right?”

At Gyo-ha’s question, she reacted to the sound of her name.

“Your Beggar Big Sister called me here.”

“Yeom Hong did?”

Her eyes went round.

She realized at once who he meant by Beggar Big Sister. If Yeom Hong had seen this, she would no doubt have complained about why the other woman was ‘big sister’ while she was just ‘beggar big sister,’ but fortunately she was not here.

“Yes. Could you step back a little?”

Hearing Yeom Hong’s name, she came to her senses and nodded.

Staying here would only get in the way. She understood what Gyo-ha intended.

Seol Mae hurriedly backed away.

Gyo-ha glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, but didn’t take his gaze off the bird.

He was worried the bird might go after Seol Mae instead.

Because it could fly, its mobility was on a different level.

If it ignored Gyo-ha and targeted Seol Mae, things would be troublesome.

But fortunately, that didn’t happen.

The bird’s eyes were fixed solely on Gyo-ha.

His skin tingled. It was not from the impact from before.

The bird’s rage was being conveyed to him as it was.

At the chilling sensation, he unconsciously licked his lips.

For some reason, he found himself smiling.

In that moment, a gust of wind blew.

The bird had pushed itself up and was beating its wings. The wind made Gyo-ha’s body sway.

Not missing that timing, the bird swooped in.

Its movements were nothing like those of an ordinary bird. Its motions defied physical law.

Seeing the talons playing with his body’s position, Gyo-ha twisted himself.

Chwaak!

Blood splashed.

But the amount was not large.

‘This time it is my turn.’

Gyo-ha’s eyes flashed as he swung his fist.

Puk!

With a heavy thud, the bird was driven back.

It felt like striking tough leather.

The damage was minimal.

Sure enough, the bird quickly regained its posture, ready to charge again.

A straightforward attack.

‘…So that is how it is.’

Gyo-ha had no intention of dodging either.

He settled into stance.

He glared at the diving bird and drew back his fist.

Then he stepped forward.

His foot rotated.

Next his knee, waist, and shoulders all turned in succession.

The bird also saw Gyo-ha’s movement, but didn’t retreat.

It was placing its faith in its claws.

And the bird’s talons and Gyo-ha’s fist collided.

Kwagagagang!

Radiant Burst Strike.

With an explosion, Gyo-ha’s and the bird’s bodies were flung in opposite directions.

And the result was Gyo-ha’s victory.

While Gyo-ha staggered to his feet, the bird, with more than half its body blown away, could only cough up blood.

Gyo-ha clenched and unclenched his fist.

‘The power has gone up since before.’

He couldn’t use Radiant Burst Strike often, but he had attempted it countless times to master the simplified form.

In the process, his handling of Qi had inevitably become more natural.

It was an effect even Gyo-ha had not anticipated.

Gyo-ha trudged over to the bird.

Even with more than half its body gone, it was still alive.

It was not merely twitching; it was trying to push itself upright with its one remaining leg.

“Kkieek! Kkieeek!”

The bird still spewed hostility.

The beak on its human-like face was still aiming at Gyo-ha.

It truly had a tenacious vitality. Gyo-ha raised his foot and crushed the bird’s head.

Its face might be human-shaped, but he felt no guilt.

If he had that kind of softness, he would not have been able to kill bandits either.

The moment he killed the bird, Gyo-ha felt something strange.

A ticklish sensation.

Something was filling his body.

It was a sensation he had never felt before.

Yet it was something that had belonged to Gyo-ha.

‘…And something the mist had taken from me.’

They say you only realize what is precious after you lose it.

Because it had once vanished and was now rising again, he could feel it.

Something different from internal energy.

Gyo-ha could tell this power was the same as what he had seen in the cave.

However, the amount he had gained was far too small to imitate the movements from the cave.

‘My internal energy was like that, and this is too.’

But Gyo-ha didn’t mind.

It was a power he had not known of anyway. From now on, he only had to learn it bit by bit.

Gyo-ha shook the blood off his fists and foot, then turned his body.

Only then did he see Seol Mae, her eyes wide like a startled rabbit’s.

When their eyes met, Seol Mae flinched and lowered her head.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“It’s nothing.”

Gyo-ha scratched his head.

In truth, the thought of saving her had been weaker than the desire to fight.

After they exchanged greetings like that, Seol Mae carefully opened her mouth.

“How did Yeom Hong know to send you?”

What did she mean, how?

“She belongs to the Beggars’ Union.”

It was only natural she would know. At that, Seol Mae tilted her head.

“Even if it is the Beggars’ Union, they are in Zhejiang, aren’t they. Ah, did you perhaps come to Anhui on business?”

Only then did Gyo-ha realize something was off. He suddenly recalled the scene he had seen outside.

The bird descending far too slowly.

“…About how long have you been here?”

“Hmm, I am not sure since night never comes, but it feels like about two days.”

He could now tell why she was fine despite neither eating nor drinking.

It was because time here flowed differently from outside.

---

Gyo-ha and Seol Mae briefly exchanged their situations.

“It has really been over two weeks?”

“Yes. More importantly, was there anything special when you came in here? Words or thoughts are fine too.”

“Hmm.”

Flustered, she nonetheless thought hard, then spoke.

“…I thought it would be nice if I could go into this place. It looked so very peaceful.”

Found it.

Gyo-ha, too, had thought he wanted to go in so he could deal with the bird.

It seemed it drew you into the painting on thought alone.

“But when I thought I wanted to leave, nothing changed.”

Gyo-ha nodded as well.

He had already tried it himself. But that did not mean there had been no gains.

“That bird was not here before you came in, was it, Sister?”

“No, it wasn’t.”

Seol Mae nodded.

Heo Won-chang had said the same.

Did it come in after Seol Mae entered the painting?

That couldn’t have been it.

Heo Won-chang had kept the painting rolled up.

Even aside from that, if such a creature had appeared in the city, rumors would have spread.

But there had been no such rumors.

Above all.

‘…There was only one stench.’

Dream Paradise Painting.

Smells couldn’t be hidden.

‘That means there is another way to come in here.’

Gyo-ha looked up at the towering cliff.

The answer would be beyond it.

At Gyo-ha’s words, Seol Mae nodded, still a little dazed.

Right now, she had no choice but to rely on Gyo-ha.

And so the two of them prepared to climb the mountain.

---

Yeom Hong had said Seol Mae had no talent for martial arts, but that was only by the Beggars’ Union’s standards.

Thanks to training steadily after entering the Hao Gate, her stamina had improved quite a bit.

Thanks to that, she was able to move at a good pace.

“It’s strange. It has been two days, yet I’m not hungry.”

It was not just her appetite. She didn’t feel sleepy either.

Gyo-ha also found it odd. He rubbed his stomach.

Right up until he came in here, he had been hungry.

It was because he had not had a proper meal since arriving in Hefei.

But from the moment he arrived in this place, he had not felt hunger.

“Even so, I’m still sweating.”

Seol Mae’s breathing grew a little rough.

Gyo-ha briefly looked around. He saw not so much as a beast, let alone a yokai.

There were no fruits on the trees, and not even insects in the undergrowth.

After checking their surroundings like that, Gyo-ha gave a small nod.

“Then please rest here.”

“What about you, Sir Gyo-ha?”

“I am just going to climb up there for a bit and come back.”

To the top of the cliff.

Seol Mae looked up for a moment, then nodded.

In her heart she wanted to say they should go together, but it was not a height Seol Mae could climb.

If she tried to follow, she would only get in the way.

With Seol Mae sitting down, Gyo-ha sprang toward the cliff.

He grabbed onto the cliff and began to climb.

When there was nowhere suitable to hold, he raised his fingers.

Ink Blood Claw.

Gyo-ha’s hand drove into the rock.

By now he had gotten the knack of climbing cliffs.

He crawled up the cliff like a lizard.

Climbing like that, he soon reached the top.

When he climbed up and looked down, the view could only be called magnificent.

A sight that drew out a sigh of admiration.

Then Gyo-ha turned around.

According to the painting, the mountainside should have been blocked off.

But what filled his eyes was a mountain range stretching endlessly on.

It twisted and coiled like a snake.

Perhaps it only looked that way?

As Gyo-ha was about to go over and check, his gaze dropped below.

To Seol Mae resting down below.

Hesitating for a moment, he picked up a stone rolling at his feet.

Then he threw it with all his strength.

Pung!

The stone tore through the air. Only after flying for a long while did it vanish from sight.

Then, far off, he saw the brush shake.

‘So at least there’s no wall.’

Having confirmed that much, Gyo-ha casually leaped off the cliff.

The ground rushed up at him in an instant.

He could see Seol Mae’s face frozen in shock.

Then, just before he hit the ground, Gyo-ha’s foot kicked off the cliff wall.

He bounced out and hit the ground.

A thick cloud of dust billowed up.

“Sir Gyo-ha!”

Just as the startled Seol Mae was about to run over, Gyo-ha rose up through the dust.

“Landing really is hard.”

Could that even be called a landing? All he had done was slow down a little and change direction. He still crashed down all the same.

But Gyo-ha just shook his head as if nothing were wrong.

Dduduk, Ddududuk.

His bones cracked audibly. Seol Mae could only stare at him in shock.

---

After landing safely on the ground like that, Gyo-ha relayed to Seol Mae what he had seen from above.

“A world beyond the painting… In that case, that bird too?”

“It most likely came over from that side.”

At his words, Seol Mae bit her lip.

“I intend to go there.”

Staying still here did not suit his temperament.

But he couldn’t force Seol Mae.

“…You mean there might be more beings like that beyond?”

Gyo-ha nodded.

It was not a guess. When he had climbed the cliff, smells had ridden the wind to him.

There were more yokai.

Perhaps not just one.

After pondering for a moment, Seol Mae nodded.

“All right. Let’s go together.”

“As I said, though…”

“I know. I’ll take care of my own body.”

If something happened, he might not be able to protect Seol Mae.

With a firm expression, Seol Mae spoke.

“I cannot fight, but I can run.”

The first things Hao Gate disciples learned were not fist arts or inner cultivation methods.

They were movement arts and stealth arts.

Those two.

Before, by the riverside, there had been nowhere to hide her body, but the mountains were different.

Using the trees, she could at least evade.

“Besides, I am tired of just waiting around.”

At Seol Mae’s words, Gyo-ha nodded.

And so, in that unfamiliar world, the two of them set out together.