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First of all, it was suspicious that No Jin-ha had visited not just once, but several times, and secondly, because he said he had searched Mukrim noisily all night.
‘If I had seen the scene of the Sun Empress escaping, I would have focused my search on that spot.’ ‘Is that at least a relief?’ I had cursed Mao Gong inwardly for a long time because my internal energy wasn’t increasing due to the Sun Empress’s inner core, but this ultimately led to a positive result.
Even if you were to check your internal energy, you wouldn’t find any sign that the amount has increased.
Besides, there aren’t any parts that are noticeably changed externally…
“But seriously, didn’t you eat the Divine Core? Your skin looks incredibly clear…”
“Hey, didn’t I always have good skin?”
“Another dog-like sound… Ah, no! How should I put it… It feels like I’m sparkling right now. My hair seems to be glowing strangely, too…”
마오공 개새끼.
“…………
How can I alone catch a guy that even hundreds of instructors and cadets couldn’t catch?
“I suppose… what makes you think Senior Brother could capture the spirit of Mukrim all by himself?”
“…….”
What is this? Is he being sarcastic?
I left my uneasy feelings behind and moved on with Saryeon.
When I arrived at the place where I had slept, everyone was awake.
Anyway, why does everyone look so stiff?
Noh Jin-ha had come.
“okay?”
“and…….”
As Eunho paused while speaking and glanced at Yang Ja-pyeong, Yang Ja-pyeong let out a small sigh.
It seems Instructor Noh was convinced that Representative Jin went to catch the spirit.
How did the conversation go that way?
“Actually, I…….”
I will tell you.
Eunho interrupted Yang Ja-pyeong and stepped forward again.
“They nitpicked, asking how I managed the academy students without the Senior Brother, so I finally told them. That I can read spirit veins.”
Instructor Noh tried to pressure Namgwonmun over his failure to properly manage the academy students, and Eunho, unable to stand it any longer, stepped forward to protect him and ended up revealing the truth.
Upon hearing that, Nojin must have become convinced that I had gone to deliver the final blow to the spirit using my ability to read the spirit veins.
“Really? I get it.”
“……
Is that the end?
Both Eunho and Yang Ja-pyeong tilted their heads in puzzlement.
I wondered why you were dragging your feet like that, thinking it wasn’t that important.
Just because I can read ley lines doesn’t mean I can hunt spirits. Even if I could, how would I prove it?
You might feel a bit of pressure from the instructors, including Noh Jin-ha, but so what?
As the saying goes, if you kill a chicken and then feign ignorance, even the king can’t do anything about it unless there is evidence.
What can they do?
Is dinner ready? I’m hungry.
I was extremely hungry because I had been fighting with Maogong all night. #Even after morning came, our group continued exploring the Demon Realm without any trouble.
If we go to them first, it will only raise suspicions.
However, even though the sun had risen high in the sky and eventually set, No Jin-ha did not return. ‘What’s wrong? I thought he would chase after me with his eyes bloodshot.’ Meanwhile, the Mukrim forest began to shake once again.
From when the sun begins to rise high in the sky until it sets.
Even after the sun had set, loud noises and explosions continued to erupt.
“Are they still hunting spirits?”
“I see. Senior Brother made such a fuss saying he had already hunted the spirit, but it looks like he found it again in the end.”
Geumpyo and Eunho talked while looking in the direction where the explosion had just occurred, and I couldn’t help but tilt my head. ‘Surely, Maogong was being chased by the academy students.’ Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been caught so easily by me.
If not that, have you discovered another spirit?
I looked at Yang Ja-pyeong, who was silently making porridge on one side.
“I mean the spirits. Are they beings that have been in Mukrim from the beginning?”
“What do you mean by that? Of course, it is an existence that has existed from the beginning.”
Yang Ja-pyeong said that Mukrim and Sinryeong are inseparable.
“Hmm… then, what happens if a spirit is hunted?”
Mukrim is a place cut off from the world, governed by its own independent laws, and operates on its own. Therefore, I have heard that if a spirit is absent, another spirit fills its place.
I have doubts.
Then, does Mukrim mean that one recognizes one’s own shortcomings and fills them? Like a person?
Yang Ja-pyeong continued his explanation, perhaps realizing that my silence was an expression of bewilderment.
Even if you scoop out a bucket of water from a small puddle, that part doesn’t just disappear and leave a gaping hole, does it?
Eventually, he pointed to the forest.
When trees in a forest are cut down, new trees grow in their place, basking in sunlight and nutrients. This is the law of nature. You can view an old forest as a place where this obvious truth manifests even more clearly. Therefore, it is a sacred place
It is also considered to be.
After listening to his explanation, I felt like I understood it a little better.
“I am talking about the Four Great Spirits. Since when have they been in Mukrim?”
“As I just said, the Four Great Spirits are always in the Mukrim…….”
“No. I mean the Sun Empress, the Azure Snow Ice White Snake, the Eternal Earth Bear, and the Golden Armored Phoenix. Have they been here continuously for hundreds of years?”
Yang Ja-pyeong hesitated for the first time.
Mannyeontoung and Cheongseolbingbaeksa have already existed for sixty years.
“Hmm, so you’re saying it’s not the Empress Dowager or the Golden Armored Phoenix.”
Why are you doing this?
“What became of the former spirits of the Sun Empress and the Golden Armor Phoenix?”
“That cannot be known. The spirit maintains the balance of the Mukrim, and when its strength runs out, it meets its end of its own accord.”
Isn’t it too artificial to say that?
“In that case… do you know when the spirit was first discovered?”
It was two hundred years ago. One of our ancestors first discovered Bulyangmanjo.
So this is when Mukrim was designated as forbidden.
The dangers of Mukrim have been repeatedly raised even before that. So why are you acting this way? Is there something wrong?
I looked at Yang Ja-pyeong, shook my head lightly, and smiled.
“No, it’s not. It’s just that the place called Mukrim is so fascinating.”
“Isn’t that right?”
“yes.”
The spirits of Mukrim differ from the spirits of the Central Plains.
Now I can somewhat understand that the Empress Dowager’s inner core was the size of a millet grain.
It means that it hasn’t even been sixty years since I lived as the spirit of Mukrim.
Since spirits have never been hunted, they would never have consumed the Inner Elixir, and therefore, few people are aware of the fact that it has special effects.
I raised one more question.
“By any chance, have you ever discovered the corpse of a spirit who met their end by their own will?”
Yang Ja-pyeong shook his head as if he were fed up.
“You’re truly incorrigible. You want to find out if there was a spiritual decree, don’t you?”
Well, it’s not exactly the information I wanted, but it’s good to know.
He sighed, but explained it in detail.
“No. It is said that when a spirit faces its end, it hides in a tomb concealed in the Mukrim. It is an unknown place that neither the Namgwonmun nor anyone else has ever been to.”
I chimed in as if I found it fascinating.
That is a truly wondrous story.
Because Mukrim is that kind of place.
Yang Ja-pyeong shrugged his thick shoulders.
However, on the contrary, one hypothesis wouldn’t leave my mind the entire time I was listening to the story. ‘It fits too well,’ regarding the fact that Mukrim was banned as well.
The spirit appearing and then disappearing just as quickly.
Even the fact that the spirit’s body hasn’t been found—’It fits together so perfectly that it’s strange.’ You could dismiss it as a coincidence, but at least I can’t.
The monkey even said ‘Heavenly Horse,’ and you’re saying this is a coincidence?
Well, is it some kind of revelation from a demon?
There was absolutely no information regarding Mukrim, not only in the Mantongbu but even in Simhyeongak.
So, the story is that the Murim Alliance designated Mukrim as a forbidden area long ago and lost interest.
It seems I will have to look into this through Haomun.
Because in most cases like this, the truth is hidden among the fragments of rumors.
Around the time I was having those thoughts.
Ta-da-da-da-da-da.
The sound of someone rushing over was heard.
A group of people rushing roughly through the bushes. ‘What is it?’ Soon after, their voices were heard.
“Th-over there…! It’s right there! Smoke is coming from over there!”
“let’s go!”
The people crossing the forest ran quite a distance in the opposite direction and then shouted angrily again.
“Damn it…! This isn’t it! It’s right over there, right there!”
“Get out of the way! I’ll find the way!”
“This damn forest!! This cursed forest!”
The voices spewing such curses began to draw closer again, then suddenly swung to the right and disappeared into the distance.
“Damn it! It’s not here either!”
“Damn it, someone do something!”… …
What on earth are you guys doing?
In the end, I had no choice but to walk toward them.
After passing a couple of natural ravines, the guys soon came into view.
The dormitory students were drenched in sweat from head to toe, wondering just how much they had run.
“Who, who? Representative Jin!”
“Jin So-un! Why are you here?”
“Surely not… did you get lost too?”
What are you talking about?
I asked without making any effort to hide my bewildered expression.
“Weren’t you chasing the smoke? What nerve do you guys have wandering around by yourselves without a guide?”
“No way… did you set off that smoke? Th-then this place?”
“Yes, it is a demonic realm.”
I didn’t intend to come all the way here.
The six academy students were none other than the guys who were moving with the instructor.
Those guys who used to move around with the outside guides are now moving only among themselves, leaving the instructors and guides behind.
That lost its way.
“How did that happen?”
While chasing a spirit…….
“fizzle!”
A student covered the mouth of the guy who was answering straightforwardly.
“Hmm…….”
I asked, recalling that Noh Jin-ha had visited three times last night.
Didn’t you say the spirit had already missed it?
They hesitated, exchanging glances among themselves as if it were some kind of secret.
Seriously, what’s the point of hiding it now that you’ve hit rock bottom?
It looks like you don’t really need my help. Then, let’s meet after the long journey is over.
As I waved my hand and turned around without hesitation, the guys were terrified.
“W-wait! W-take us to where the guide is… then I’ll tell you!”
“Hey! If I say that, the instructors will…!”
Tsk, you still haven’t come to your senses.
“Yeah, I’m not really curious. Oh, and there are a lot of monsters in the Demon Realm, so be careful.”
As I quickly hid myself in the natural ground, a desperate voice came from behind me.
“I, I’ll tell you! I’m telling you!!!”
I peeked my head out from the natural ground.
“Eek!”
The guys recoiled, shedding tears and snot as if they had seen a ghost.
“Ji, Jinso…….”
“CEO!”
Hey, no matter how urgent the situation is, shouldn’t you at least use the proper titles?
As I shrug my shoulders, the students frown intensely.
“Y-yes, CEO! My truly great CEO…! We’ll tell you everything, so please take us with you.”
I intended to take all of them with me from the very beginning.
The instructors are partly responsible, but we can’t just let them die here.
It’s not that I was moved by the word “great.”
Of course.
“Okay, tell me. What is it?”
However, what they said was beyond expectations.
“A different spirit has appeared.”
Another spirit?
“Right…! The guide said it’s like a thousand-year earthen worm.”
Oh, really?
It seems the saying that those who do good deeds are blessed is true after all.
Hey, I’m telling you, I really intended to take you with me from the very beginning.
Is it really necessary to go out of our way to look for them? We could just all gather at the base.
Yang Ja-pyeong expressed a negative opinion with a look full of worry, but.
“These are the people who abandoned even the students under their own command to rush off. Do you really think the other students wouldn’t have fallen behind? What if those who were left behind were to get into an accident while wandering through this hellish realm?”
Is that really the goal?
Ahem…
There is no sign that Yang Ja-pyeong’s suspicious gaze will be lifted.
Good grief, why are you so distrustful of people?
I spoke passionately, caring for the students more than anyone else.
“We don’t have time for this…! At this rate, we might not be able to save Toung!”
Didn’t you just say Toung?
“Ahem……! There is a student in the dormitory nicknamed Toung. We have a very special relationship.”
Is it Jeong Do-hoe?
Yang Ja-pyeong, who had been sighing, finally nodded.
“Understood. In any case, wandering around Mukrim without a guide is extremely dangerous.”
We turned around like that and headed towards where the instructors were.
As I moved toward the source of the loud explosions that had been echoing all day yesterday, I met the stranded individuals, just as I had expected.
“P-save me!”
I survived!
“W-Do you have any water?!”
However, the condition of the dormitory students was somewhat worse than that of those rescued just moments ago.
There were quite a few wounds, and above all, the signs of exhaustion were clearly visible.
The student, having gulped down water, answered while gasping for breath.
“S-The spirit attacked on the way.”
“What do you mean by attacking?”
“It’s definitely different from when we caught Taeyanghoo…! It definitely felt like he was skilled at killing. We barely managed to escape on the way.”
We gathered the stragglers and started moving again.
When they arrived at the place where they had fought the night before, the situation was a little more dire.
The first time a dead person appeared.
I turned around and asked for the whole story.
“What happened?”
“The, the spirit, the spirit is angry…….”
A student muttering strange things as if he has lost his mind.
Next to the corpse.
“Ugh, ugh……!”
The man dressed as a hunter who had set out as a guide was tearing at his hair and hanging his head.
“It’s a curse from a spirit! It’s definitely a curse from a spirit!”
A hunter who seems even more insane than the student.
As I turned my head to look at Yang Ju-pyeong, he let out a small sigh.
It is a rumor passed down from Mukrim. If the divine spirit becomes enraged… … .”
Then, after taking a brief breath, he continued speaking with gleaming eyes.
“That every living thing in Mukrim meets death…….”
For now, I had them take care of the injured. After all, we couldn’t move with them right away.
Then, he approached the corpse.
Just as I reached out to examine the scar.
“……!”
Ddddddd.
The red phoenix ring on my left hand began to sway slightly.
