Chapter 1-12

It had already been three days since they entered the mountain. During those three days, Cao Zhenshi had become drastically less talkative. He had never been a man of many words to begin with, but now he spoke only when absolutely necessary. During that time, Cao Zhenshi focused on treating his wounds, while Bai Shixuan spent his days watching the temper of the ill-humored Cao Zhenshi and was unable even to carry out his personal training.

‘When will we be able to go down?’

How long did they have to remain holed up in this mountain? Since nothing had happened for three days, it seemed Jiang Zhilong had no intention of searching for Cao Zhenshi after all. Contrary to Bai Shixuan’s thoughts, however, Cao Zhenshi apparently intended to remain there a while longer, as he said nothing about descending the mountain.

“Do you want to go down?”

“No.”

“Keep this with you for now.”

Cao Zhenshi tossed something toward Bai Shixuan. Looking down at what had fallen by his feet, Bai Shixuan saw that it was a dagger. When he looked at Cao Zhenshi in confusion, Cao Zhenshi stared into the burning campfire and spoke.

“Keep it just in case. He probably won’t bother with you, but you never know, so if something happens, resist as much as you can with that. It’ll be useless resistance anyway.”

Was he worried about him? Until recently, Cao Zhenshi had seemingly been trying to get him killed, yet now he was telling him to do whatever he could to survive? Bai Shixuan truly could not understand what the man was thinking. He carefully picked up the dagger Cao Zhenshi had thrown and tucked it inside his clothes.

‘Is he doing this for my sake? Or…….’

Or was he giving Bai Shixuan the tiniest shred of hope so that he too could experience profound despair? An opponent he could never defeat no matter how hard he tried. The despair Cao Zhenshi himself felt. Was he giving Bai Shixuan this tiny hope so that he would experience the same thing? Bai Shixuan was only eight years old, and he did not know a single martial art. Even if he had a dagger, there was no possibility that he could defeat Jiang Zhilong.

‘Still, it might be useful somehow.’

As he lightly touched the dagger tucked inside his clothes, Cao Zhenshi, who had been sitting silently against a tree, stood up.

“We’re going down.”

“Yes.”

Were they finally leaving this miserable mountain? Bai Shixuan’s mood lifted slightly at Cao Zhenshi’s words. He had indeed found the mountain unbearably stifling. Cao Zhenshi extinguished the burning campfire and soon began moving, with Bai Shixuan following behind him. This time, Cao Zhenshi himself carried his sword instead of having Bai Shixuan hold it. Since they did not know when they might encounter Jiang Zhilong, he kept the sword with him so that he could react quickly.

‘We must have come pretty deep into the mountain.’

They had not remained in one place the entire time. Though it was the same mountain, they had continually changed locations. Of course, it was neither a large nor particularly rugged mountain, so if Jiang Zhilong had truly set his mind to finding them, he probably could have done so quickly. Even so, they had kept moving from place to place just in case.

‘Has his body still not fully recovered?’

Cao Zhenshi’s movements looked uncomfortable. As Bai Shixuan watched his back, he could clearly see how different the man looked compared to before. Previously, Cao Zhenshi had seemed cold and, in another sense, strong and imposing. But now he looked endlessly small and weak. It felt almost as though he were descending the mountain not to survive, but to die.

“Grrrrrr.”

At the sudden sound of animals growling, Bai Shixuan, who had been following Cao Zhenshi down the mountain, flinched and turned his head. Wolves. Not two or three of them, but a pack of roughly fifty or more wolves had gathered there. Wolves ordinarily formed packs of around ten, yet this group was nearly five times that size. If they attacked now, not only Bai Shixuan but even Cao Zhenshi might become food for the wolves. Bai Shixuan kept glancing anxiously toward them, but the wolves did not attack. They merely growled low in their throats and remained wary.

‘Is that fortunate?’

It was fortunate that, strangely enough, the wolves did not charge at them. Bai Shixuan vaguely remembered hearing that wolves would not attack first if they were not hungry, provided no one provoked them. Was that really true? He had only heard it in passing and had assumed wolves would attack humans no matter what, but perhaps what he had once overheard had been correct after all.

“Don’t pay attention to them. If you keep watching them nervously, they might attack.”

When Cao Zhenshi spoke quietly, Bai Shixuan hurriedly turned his head away and swallowed dryly. Then he continued walking while staring only at Cao Zhenshi’s back. After descending the mountain like that for quite some time, the wolves’ growls that had been ringing in his ears gradually faded away. Just as Bai Shixuan was sighing in relief, thinking they had somehow survived—

“Hehehehe. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

At the sudden sound of laughter, Bai Shixuan’s body froze. Looking ahead, he could not see the owner of the voice because Cao Zhenshi’s back blocked his view, but he knew that voice without a doubt.

‘How?’

How had Jiang Zhilong known where to wait for them? The thought made fear slowly creep into him.

“We were all waiting along the paths down from the mountain. My men are waiting on the other routes. Still, you somehow managed to come down the path where I was.”

At Jiang Zhilong’s words, Bai Shixuan let out an inward sigh. Jiang Zhilong had no intention of letting Cao Zhenshi live. He would definitely kill him today. Jiang Zhilong was strangely obsessed with Cao Zhenshi. That was probably why he had ordered his men to guard every entrance to this small mountain.

‘What terrible luck.’

Would Bai Shixuan be able to survive if he was lucky? Thinking that, he began watching the two men carefully. Cao Zhenshi and Jiang Zhilong had already drawn their swords and were facing each other. Bai Shixuan could not see it, but Cao Zhenshi was actually looking at Jiang Zhilong with an unusually calm expression, and because of that, Jiang Zhilong’s face was badly twisted. Cao Zhenshi had already given up on everything. Seeing that calm face, however, inexplicable anger surged within Jiang Zhilong. This was not the expression he had wanted to see. He had expected a face filled with despair and resentment.

“Have you already given up on everything?”

“I can’t beat you anyway.”

“Kukuku. Have you lost the will to live? Then I suppose you’re not even worth cutting down.”

Saying that Cao Zhenshi was not worth cutting down, Jiang Zhilong turned his body away. At those words, Bai Shixuan began to feel relieved inwardly. He slowly edged backward, then stopped and stared at Cao Zhenshi’s back.

“But if you’ve lost the will to live, then there’s no need for you to stay alive either.”

-Clang!

Jiang Zhilong, who had turned his back, suddenly shouted as he spun around again and swung his sword. Cao Zhenshi hurriedly raised his sword to block, but he gradually began to be pushed back by Jiang Zhilong’s attacks. As Jiang Zhilong’s sword once again grazed the areas that had already been wounded, blood began seeping anew from beneath the cloth wrapped around them.

‘I’m running.’

In the end, Bai Shixuan slowly began backing away again. He desperately hoped Cao Zhenshi would hold out just a little longer. Bai Shixuan had no reason to involve himself in their fight. So he had to escape as quickly as possible. Fortunately, Jiang Zhilong looked down on Cao Zhenshi so much that he had not called his subordinates over. If his men had been there, Bai Shixuan probably would not even have been able to run. Hoping desperately that Cao Zhenshi would endure against Jiang Zhilong for as long as possible, Bai Shixuan began climbing back up the mountain.