RM-Bab 401

Chapter 401: I’m Sorry, But It’s Just Beginning

The expressions of the three hostages outside stiffened in unison at the words they heard.

Is that the answer? If they could think, surely the rescue team that came to save them wouldn’t knock on the door so kindly, right? They would have broken the door down and stormed in.

At that moment, the woman’s face filled with joy.

“Damn! It’s them!” Yang Zhong let out a deep sigh.

“But who could it be that makes her so happy?”

Creeeak.

As the door opened, Ian leaped towards the person standing in front of him.

“Young Master!” Without hesitation, he threw himself into the arms of the sword master, Jian Wuge.

“I missed you!”

Although he had hugged Jian Wuge many times before, he had never felt as delighted as he did today.

Yes, the answer had come! No, what if it was the wrong answer? It was Jian Wuge, after all.

He had appeared just when they needed him most.

The three hostages, watching this scene, felt a mix of fear at the arrival of new people and envy towards the man.

“Who is this young man that such a beautiful woman is so fond of?”

Looking at his face, he was a young and handsome man.

Ian, belatedly noticing Chima standing behind Jian Wuge, exclaimed, “Ah! Chima!” Startled, he fell away from Jian Wuge, his face turning red.

Just moments ago, the woman who had been contemplating whether to cut off her arm or her neck was now showing such a shy demeanor!

However, that was not the problem for the three captives.

“Chima?” The three hostages exchanged puzzled glances.

They looked at each other with expressions that seemed to say, “Did I hear that wrong?” There was only one Chima they knew.

They hoped desperately that they had misheard, and their gazes turned back to Chima.

The handsome middle-aged man, despite not revealing any special aura, had a presence that somehow drew their eyes.

Their gaze, which had been filled with a sense of decadence and emptiness, shifted to the wine bottle at his waist.

They knew one thing for sure: Chima’s poison bottle was indeed a wine bottle.

“I didn’t hear wrong!” Their hearts sank.

“The Demon Lord is here? Why?” The fear of the Demon Lord in the martial world was truly immense.

When Chima glanced at them, the three immediately lowered their heads and avoided his gaze.

Chima looked at Jian Wuge.

His eyes seemed to say, “I get bullied by you, but when I come out, I’m like this.”

Jian Wuge smiled at him.

Although he pretended to be calm on the outside, Jian Wuge knew that Chima was not feeling good, so he tried to smile at him more.

Jian Wuge asked Ian, “Who were you trying to save?”

“Of course! You know without me telling you.”

Ian explained why he had come this far.

It all started when he accidentally met a woman while heading to where the younger sister of the ghostly spirit, Seo Jin, was.

“…I ended up here after getting a drink of water and listening to her story. I really paid a high price for that drink.”

Jian Wuge understood.

This incident was a clear reflection of who Ian was.

It wasn’t just that he was a guard; he had thrown himself into danger to save someone.

It was because he was this kind of person that he willingly threw himself into danger.

“Was it always this difficult to handle such matters? I always thought it was easy since you handle everything so smoothly.”

Ian sighed as he looked at the three people he had kidnapped.

It had seemed fine when he had captured them.

He thought he could easily exchange hostages and leave with the rescued people.

“How could I have known? That they would abandon their own child. I was even considering just killing them all and leaving.”

Those words, which he didn’t truly mean, were said for the sake of the three captives.

The atmosphere of fear needed to be established, no matter how they were handled.

Now, Jian Wuge took over the situation.

“Can I leave the rest to me?”

“Please do!” What was there to worry about with Jian Wuge? Even if everything went wrong, what would it matter? To her, Jian Wuge was that kind of existence.

Jian Wuge approached the three and whispered quietly, “You really would have been in big trouble if I hadn’t come. That pretty woman, you have no idea how terrifying she is.”

From behind, Ian said, “I can hear you.”

At that moment, the three were thinking similar thoughts.

“Who is this young man? Is he Chima’s subordinate?” Somehow, it didn’t seem that way.

Considering that the woman called him Young Master, he seemed to have a high status… However, no matter how they looked at him, he didn’t seem to have any martial skills.

His appearance and the aura he exuded were that of a noble’s child.

Would a noble’s child associate with the Demon Lord and do such things?

In any case, they had to decide what to do.

Yang Zhong resolved to use this variable to survive.

“I will use this guy to survive.”

Yang Zhong politely asked, “Who are you, sir?”

Suppressing the desire to lash out, he tried to be as polite as possible.

“I am your life-saving benefactor.”

It was an incomprehensible statement, but since he said he would save them, it felt like a chance.

“If you save me, I will grant you anything you desire.”

“Anything?”

“Yes. If you want money, I will give you money. If you want martial skills, I will teach you the martial skills of my sect. If you want fame, I will help you gain fame.”

He made promises that might or might not be fulfilled.

After all, his life was at stake, so what words could he not say? Ian, who was behind him, smiled faintly.

Who was he going to give money to, and who was he going to teach martial skills? Moreover, the fame he spoke of would not even compare to all the people in their sect combined.

“Can’t you give me all three?”

“I will give you all three!”

But soon, Jian Wuge’s expression turned suspicious.

“But your father refused the hostage exchange, right? Would someone like that give money and teach martial skills?”

“That is…!” This was indeed the most shameful and anger-inducing part of Yang Zhong’s life.

At that moment, Jian Wuge suggested, “How about this instead? Just tell us where the people we need to save are trapped. Then we will rescue them. After that, you can let us go. Our goal is to save those people anyway.”

The moment he heard those words, Ian realized.

“Ah! That was the answer.”

Persuading the captor to find out where they were trapped and rescuing them directly.

“Why didn’t I think of such a simple idea?” It was a plan that should have been thought of first.

Yet surprisingly, he hadn’t.

Swapping this side with that side, once he got stuck on that thought, he couldn’t think of anything else.

The opponent was a ruthless person who would abandon even their own child, yet he was only focused on the idea of a fair exchange.

No wonder the situation wasn’t going as he wished.

If Jian Wuge hadn’t come, he would have been kicking himself in the future, thinking, “Ah, why didn’t I think of that?”

“Indeed, being with the young master brings peace of mind.”

At that moment, Ian’s gaze met Chima’s.

It was as if Chima was saying, “I understand that feeling too.”

Now, while he was comfortably watching, what if he were a foolish young master? If he had to deal with the accidents caused by that foolishness? It was truly something he didn’t want to think about.

“First, we need to survive, right?” Jian Wuge’s persuasion was also for Ian’s sake.

She would want to rescue the husband of the woman who had been captured, as well as the others.

The problem was that even if they released Yang Zhong, they would never let them go from the North Blood Sect.

If they were going to let them go, they would have agreed to the hostage exchange in the first place.

Ian said they had gathered people with unique constitutions, so it seemed like they were conducting some kind of test.

Surely, they were plotting something that should not be revealed to the outside world.

Yang Zhong, deep in thought, cautiously spoke.

“They must have already moved those people.”

He had already half given in.

“You know where they might have moved them, right?” Of course, Yang Zhong had some rough guesses about the locations.

“Even if I tell you, the defenses will be too tight to rescue them.”

Jian Wuge turned to Chima and asked, “Did you not hear who it was earlier?”

Yang Zhong’s heart began to race.

He was afraid of Chima, and he was also afraid that he would ultimately have to confess.

“Besides, if we get caught while we go, it would be better for you, right? Why? Are you afraid of being treated as a traitor? You can just say later that you told us the location to catch us.”

Jian Wuge even provided an escape route.

“If you really tell us, will you let us go?”

“I will let you go.”

“How can I trust that?”

“Because I promised to let you go.”

Looking into those clear eyes and that kind, handsome face, it seemed he would keep his promise.

But how could one trust someone based solely on their appearance? Moreover, he realized he still didn’t know who this person was.

As the contemplation dragged on, Jian Wuge turned coldly.

“Then just die. What are you waiting for? Kill them all!”

At Jian Wuge’s command, Ian drew his sword and approached the three.

As a chilling killing intent surged forth without hesitation, Yang Zhong shouted urgently, “I will tell you!”

In the end, Yang Zhong revealed the locations.

Not just one, but several plausible places.

“If the place I mentioned is correct, when you open your eyes again, you will wake up in the four chambers of the North Blood Sect.”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Three gusts of wind flew simultaneously, suppressing their blood flow.

They fell asleep just like that.

Of course, even if the location was correct, they had no intention of letting them go just like that.

They had to obtain what they needed from the Ice Palace first.

That wasn’t the end of it.

There was still the matter of punishing the North Blood Sect for whatever they had plotted.

Ian sighed and said, “Why didn’t I think of this from the beginning?”

“You would have been ignored even if you had thought of it.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“They would never have disclosed anything. They would have kept denying it until the end. And you wouldn’t have the personality to torture people.”

“Ah! So my father realized he had abandoned himself and confessed!”

“That’s right.”

“I didn’t even think of that part! Why does the answer keep avoiding me?” Ian looked at Jian Wuge with newfound admiration.

Jian Wuge never missed a chance to show off.

“Your gaze filled with respect always makes me feel good.”

After that lighthearted banter, the three stepped outside.

Outside, the snow that had briefly stopped was now falling heavily.

“Looks like I can enjoy the snow to my heart’s content.”

Ian looked up at the sky with a bright face.

Jian Wuge felt once again that Ian suited winter well.

Ian dashed out into the snow-covered yard.

Watching Ian bounce around like an excited puppy, Jian Wuge said to Chima, “You take care of rescuing those people. I will meet with the young master.”

Chima silently nodded and walked into the snow without a word.

Ian, who had been running around, paused for a moment to watch Chima.

Was it because he had never seen his back properly? Or was it because of the heavy snowfall? Ian felt that Chima’s solitary figure walking through the snow looked somehow lonely.

“Is this something that can be resolved with just that one phrase, ‘take care of it’?”

“Why is the Demon Lord the Demon Lord?”

“Thanks to you, I am now free!” Ian flopped down in the snow.

Jian Wuge looked up at the snow-filled sky and said, “I’m sorry, but it’s just beginning.”

+++

Upon receiving the message to meet, Han Seol arrived at the promised location with Chan.

There, two people were waiting.

The moment Han Seol saw the woman standing with Jian Wuge, she had a premonition.

The woman wearing the death robe and veil was one of the subordinates who had kidnapped the North Blood Sect’s lord’s child.

“So it was a woman.”

The two were comfortably chatting.

Even from a distance, one could feel the ease in their relationship.

They seemed like friends or perhaps siblings.

“Indeed, there is no authority.”

Whether in front of Chima or in this situation, it was the same.

This led her to naturally wonder if the rumors and achievements about the young master were exaggerated.

If it were the Demon Sect, they could manipulate it however they wanted.

As Han Seol approached them, Ian politely bowed and greeted, “I meet the young master.”

Han Seol merely nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

Her expression conveyed that she was just a subordinate.

From her demeanor, Jian Wuge felt no sense of aloofness or authority.

What she felt now was emptiness.

“Why did you want to meet?”

In response to Han Seol’s question, Jian Wuge got straight to the point.

“I will return the North Blood Sect’s child.”

With the unexpected possibility of things going well, Han Seol calmly asked, “Of course, there must be conditions?”

“Naturally.”

“Please, go ahead.”

“First, you must not hold my subordinate responsible for the kidnapping.”

Han Seol’s gaze briefly flicked towards Ian before returning to Jian Wuge.

“I wonder if the North Blood Sect will accept that.”

Though she said that, the North Blood Sect had no choice but to accept.

They could blame and curse the storm that had blown in, but they couldn’t just charge headlong into it out of anger.

“Alright. We accept. Where is Young Master Yang?”

“There’s one more condition.”

“What is it?”

“Allow us to stay at the Ice Palace. I want to investigate the death of the Lord of the White Snow Plains.”

Han Seol firmly rejected, “The main palace does not allow outsiders to stay.”

“My conditions are only those two.”

“It is not something I can decide. I will discuss it with the young master and let you know.”

Just as Han Seol was about to turn away, Jian Wuge said, “I think you can decide this much yourself. How about you make the decision and persuade the young master? As the young master, you should have this much authority, right?”

It was a provocation, but Han Seol did not assert her pride.

“I do not have such authority.”

“Take this opportunity to gain some.”

Han Seol’s eyes turned cold.

“Isn’t that a bit too transparent?”

“I think it’s an opportunity for the young master.”

“What kind of opportunity?”

“It’s an opportunity to negotiate formally with the young master of the Demon Sect. The young master will surely pay attention to the process and outcome. She might even be looking forward to seeing you handle this matter proactively.”

Suddenly, Han Seol envisioned herself reporting back.

“I made this decision unilaterally. Please trust and support me, young master.”

How would her mother respond when she said this?

That was the problem.

The unpredictability of it all.

She still didn’t know what kind of person her mother was.

“I will contact you again.”

Just as she was about to turn away, Ian spoke up.

“Can I say something?”

Having remained silent until now, Ian stepped forward.

She slowly removed her death robe and veil.

Han Seol couldn’t take her eyes off Ian’s face for a moment.

It wasn’t admiration for her beauty.

Han Seol was thinking one thing: “She is a person of a different caliber than me.”

When had she ever thought like this? Had she done so long ago with her mother?

At the same time, a sense of doubt arose.

Why was she having such thoughts while looking at a mere subordinate of the young master of the Demon Sect? Why was she feeling such a deep resonance? She couldn’t understand it herself.

“What do you want to say?”

The moment when the cold and warm, opposing gazes of the two women met for the first time.