Chapter 64: The Masked Men
For a moment, one thought immediately flashed through my mind.
Don't tell me Tang Sogyeom used the Trance Powder?
Was this bastard connected to the Shadow Corps too?
My grip tightened around my sword.
I spoke in a low voice.
“Why... are you here?”
The tip of my sword pressed closer beneath Tang Sogyeom's throat.
If necessary, I was prepared to cut his head off immediately.
But Tang Sogyeom didn't look flustered at all.
“...Probably for the same reason you are.”
“What?”
“Didn't you also notice this strange scent, Young Master Mujin?”
That was when I realized it.
There was no trace of Trance Powder coming from Tang Sogyeom himself.
Whenever someone handled Trance Powder, its distinctive residue remained on them for some time.
But there wasn't even the faintest trace on Tang Sogyeom.
The scent was coming from the hallway ahead of us.
The same direction I had originally been following.
So Tang Sogyeom noticed the residue too.
I slowly lowered my sword.
“...Yes.”
“The smell seems similar to what I encountered at Black Spirit Valley.”
“Black Spirit Valley....”
Tang Sogyeom's eyes trembled ever so slightly.
I didn't explain further.
There was no reason to waste time here.
“Looks like we're after the same thing.”
I glanced down the hallway.
“Let's check it out.”
Tang Sogyeom nodded.
We carefully followed the lingering scent.
It led us toward a room at the end of the hallway.
Tang Sogyeom spoke quietly.
“Hm... this is Young Master Jang Ho's room.”
It belonged to Jang Ho of the Iron Mountain Sect, whom we'd met earlier.
I quietly placed my fingertips against the door.
Then pushed.
It opened far too easily.
And...
...No one's here.
The room was empty.
There wasn't even a single piece of luggage left behind.
It was almost as though no one had ever stayed here in the first place.
Only the faint residue of Trance Powder lingered in the silent room.
What happened?
I quickly swept my gaze across the room.
A window on the outer wall was slightly open.
When I approached...
I noticed a faint smear of dirt beneath the window frame.
Someone had likely entered through there.
Then...
a strong gust of wind blew in from outside.
At the same time, the faintest trace of scent brushed past my nose.
Trance Powder.
I knew instinctively.
Whoever had broken into this room...
hadn't left very long ago.
We need to move before the scent disappears.
Tang Sogyeom seemed to reach the same conclusion.
“We should hurry.”
I nodded.
“Let's go.”
The next moment, I stepped onto the window frame and leapt outside.
Tang Sogyeom followed immediately.
The darkness of dawn lay thick around us.
I kept moving while focusing entirely on my sense of smell, determined not to lose the trace of Trance Powder.
The lingering scent led us away from the populated area...
and farther into the outskirts.
Before long...
we had reached deep into the mountains.
As we continued following the trail, Tang Sogyeom suddenly spoke from beside me.
“It really is remarkable.”
He looked at me with obvious curiosity.
“That you can track such a faint residue so precisely.”
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Even within the Tang Clan, following traces this subtle through moving air isn't easy.”
I continued forward with an indifferent expression.
“I'm just sensitive to smells.”
“Sensitivity....”
Tang Sogyeom's voice sounded casual, but his words were anything but.
“It doesn't seem like this scent is so unusual that mere sensitivity would explain it.”
He glanced at me.
“You look like someone who's been exposed to this smell for a very long time, Young Master Mujin.”
I stopped walking.
Then I turned and looked directly into his face.
“Then you're impressive too, Young Master Tang.”
Tang Sogyeom blinked.
“Me?”
“You say all this...”
I continued deliberately.
“yet you're following the same faint residue without much trouble yourself.”
I paused.
“Even for someone from the Sichuan Tang Clan, that doesn't seem like ordinary sensitivity.”
Tang Sogyeom remained silent for a moment.
Then answered quietly,
“Perhaps...”
“I'm sensitive too.”
Silence settled between us again.
We continued walking deeper into the darkness.
But after a while...
the residue of Trance Powder began fading rapidly.
Eventually...
even the faintest trace disappeared completely.
Tang Sogyeom stopped.
“Damn.”
He looked around.
“The scent ends here.”
Then he frowned.
“What should we—”
“I think I know which way they went.”
Tang Sogyeom's eyes widened slightly.
“Even though the scent is gone?”
I didn't answer.
I immediately used my movement technique.
Tang Sogyeom hurried after me.
“Young Master Mujin.”
“If the scent is gone, then how exactly—”
His words stopped.
Because something had appeared in front of us.
A shrine.
An old, abandoned shrine that looked as though it might collapse at any moment.
Tang Sogyeom drew in a breath.
“This place....”
I stared at the shrine and kept running toward it.
In truth...
I had known where the scent was leading for some time now.
That place.
The place where my life before regression had first begun falling into the abyss.
I can't believe it was here....
This was where the Shadow Corps had kidnapped me.
I stood in front of the shrine and quietly looked up at its rotting eaves.
I never thought I'd come back here.
Before my regression...
after being expelled from Kunlun, I had wandered from place to place for some time.
Eventually...
even the money in my possession ran out.
I couldn't even afford somewhere to sleep.
The last place where I had slept like a proper human being...
was the inn we were staying at now.
Then, the following night...
with not a single coin left...
I wandered around looking for somewhere to escape the rain.
By chance...
I entered this abandoned shrine.
The greatest mistake of my life.
That night...
the Shadow Corps kidnapped me here.
The beginning of my descent into hell.
A place I could never forget.
They'll probably be in that place.
I immediately entered the shrine.
The moment I stepped inside...
the stench of mold and rotten wood hit my nose.
Across from us stood an old altar covered in cobwebs.
A rusted Buddhist statue sat on top, making the entire place feel eerie.
No one else was visible.
Tang Sogyeom looked around and spoke quietly.
“Young Master Mujin.”
“Are you certain this is the place?”
He frowned.
“There are no signs that anyone has been coming and going.”
Instead of answering...
I grabbed Tang Sogyeom by the wrist.
Then pulled him toward a pillar along the inner side of the shrine.
Broken tables and overturned cabinets had been piled haphazardly around the area.
It was a perfect place to hide.
Tang Sogyeom looked startled.
“W-Wait, why are you suddenly—”
“Shh.”
I raised a finger to my lips.
Tang Sogyeom's eyes widened...
but he immediately fell silent.
The silence inside the shrine grew even heavier.
Then...
Grrrk.
A faint scraping sound came from the altar.
We remained hidden behind the cabinet and watched.
Grrrrrrk.
The altar suddenly began splitting apart.
Then...
beneath where it had stood...
a passage leading underground appeared.
A moment later...
black clothing emerged from below.
One figure.
Then another.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Seven in total.
They all wore masks.
The masked men gathered in front of the altar and began speaking.
“What happened at the inn?”
