Chapter 85 [They say this is Jiokhyeol.]
The one who said it had eyes devoid of sensation.
Among the children who had become evil spirits in order to survive, only the boy maintained a face utterly calm—without a trace of ominous light or restless presence.
[You don't know Jiokhyeol? It's the cave where jars used to raise Golden Silkworm Gu are gathered.]
The boy's name was Gi-eul.
Yes. She remembered that the other children here had called him Gi-eul. He had been the only one already thrown into the cave before she was cast in.
Perhaps because of that, even amid the chaos of children tearing at one another, Gi-eul would occasionally speak to her as though nothing were amiss.
[You gather a hundred kinds of venomous insects and throw them into one jar. After a hundred days, when you open the jar… they devour each other, and devour, and devour, until the last one left alive becomes the Golden Silkworm Gu. Do you know what Gu is?]
[I don't.]
[I don't really know either, but they say it's a filthy, horrifying worm that parasitizes the human body.]
Gi-eul's black eyes turned toward her.
[Taesan. In this Jiokhyeol, who do you think will become the Golden Silkworm Gu?]
At the time, Yeo Il had been unable to answer.
If she could return to the past, would she be able to look into those hollow eyes and reply?
That in this Jiokhyeol, the ones who became the Golden Silkworm Gu were none other than you and me.
And you and I…
"So you were alive."
"You were alive."
The man's eyes twisted unpleasantly.
Perched upon the rooftop, the youth in a black bamboo hat—no, Gi-eul… no, now a fully grown martial artist—seemed to declare that the past, when he had been gaunt as a withered old tree, was but an illusion. His body was large and solid.
On her way back alone to the west reception hall after seeing off Go Sangbaek—
After realizing the identity of the one who had been approaching her, Yeo Il had expected they would meet again soon. Yet she had not imagined that moment would be now.
"What happened to you?"
"What have you been running about doing?"
At the overlapping questions, the man's brow furrowed again.
Still tall and lean.
Though the upper half of his face was shadowed beneath the brim of his hat, she could easily imagine his expression.
But unlike the past, when he had been bound with her as one of the Three Calamities and had ruled over the cold nights of the Jianghu, his limbs were no longer whole.
The blade that had always hung at his left waist now rested on the right. Beneath his right shoulder, the sleeve hung empty.
He could only wield a blade with his left hand now.
"You speak first."
"I will speak first, so close your mouth."
At least in that, they were in accord.
When he obediently fell silent, Yeo Il asked with narrowed eyes,
"Red Dragon Black Blade. How are you alive?"
Red Dragon Black Blade.
She could not grasp it. Since when had he known that Namgung Soyo was Yeo Il?
From the Murim Alliance?
Or from the moment he arrived at Cheonju Mountain? Or… from the moment she descended from Xinjiang?
"I do not know who should be asking that question. How are you alive?"
Yet the way Red Dragon Black Blade stared at her was that of someone who had just stumbled upon a ghost. It did not seem he had been observing her for long.
"I asked first."
"I am alive because of you."
"Because of me?"
"There is no other explanation. Since Cheon Muryeong chased you like a madman, it was easy for me to escape. Of course, I had to give up an arm."
He had fled from Cheon Muryeong after surrendering only one arm. For the price of his life, it was cheap.
As she silently acknowledged that, he asked gravely,
"My turn. What is with that appearance?"
Yeo Il's mouth closed naturally. There was no simple way to explain what he meant by "appearance."
If even he, accustomed to infiltration missions, found it strange, then it was not the finery of a noble clan's daughter…
"You look entirely different from my memory. It took me no small amount of time to be certain you were Ilsal. Surely… yes, did you undergo Rebirth through Bone and Flesh?"
As expected.
She nodded quietly in affirmation, and Red Dragon Black Blade's brow creased again.
"Ilsal? You?"
"Yes."
"I cannot believe it. You achieved such a…"
Such?
"Such an awakening within the bounds of normal humanity… no, perhaps Rebirth through Bone and Flesh cannot be considered within the bounds of the ordinary to begin with. The evidence is undeniable, so I cannot refute it."
While he sank into his own questions, Yeo Il scrutinized him as well.
How did this bastard know I am myself?
Jin Myo and Bang Woo had also known the bare face of Wolgeom Ilsal, yet they had never equated Yeo Il with Wolgeom Ilsal. They had not even harbored the faintest suspicion.
Of course, there had been one terrifying madman who had discerned her at once—but that was his nature.
On reflection, perhaps this was not so surprising.
Her connection with Red Dragon Black Blade dated back to hell itself.
"Black Blade. Why are you tailing Go Sangbaek? Love at first sight?"
"The story is complicated. …It would not be different for you, Ilsal."
His gaze examined her up and down again. She spread her arms as if to say look as much as you like, and his fierce eyes narrowed further.
"It is obvious. Your goal is the Killing Register. Let me warn you—it will not be easy. Namgung Pae searched for years and did not find it. It seems Namgung Je and Namgung Jeok-myeong have hidden it deeply."
"You know quite a bit."
She had not expected him to mention Namgung Pae.
He replied without concern.
"I began searching for the Killing Register before you."
Yeo Il asked in surprise,
"The Namgung Clan's Killing Register?"
"No. The other one."
The other one…
The Killing Register of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
She could not help asking again.
"Was that not in Cheon Muryeong's possession?"
Red Dragon Black Blade, who had been about to answer casually, suddenly hesitated and stepped back.
"We will speak of details another time."
"What? When is another time?"
He turned without answering.
She wondered what could make him vanish so urgently that he used full Lightness Skill—
"Namgung Soyo."
At that moment, Go Sangbaek stepped into the west reception hall again, clearing his throat awkwardly.
"I remembered something I had forgotten to give you and returned. No, not forgotten exactly… ha ha, perhaps I merely hesitated."
Red Dragon Black Blade had hidden to avoid Go Sangbaek.
Judging by his manner, he had truly been following Go Sangbaek and had only coincidentally discovered her. Or perhaps there was some reason he could not be seen by Go Sangbaek.
"It is nothing grand, and surely of little worth to you…."
That detail was of no importance to Yeo Il.
"Are you acquainted with Red Dragon Black Blade?"
"...Pardon?"
At his bewildered response, she asked again,
"He seemed to know you. What is your relationship?"
Go Sangbaek's breathing faltered, his surprise too obvious to conceal. Questions and astonishment blossomed upon his pale scholar's face.
"He seemed to know me…? Surely not! Did you meet him directly? That difficult man revealed himself before you? Namgung Soyo, just what are you…?"
Suddenly, realization dawned upon him and he clapped his hands.
"Ah! Then the leaves bearing those strange characters were all from Red Dragon Black Blade… Hah."
"Do not answer your own questions. Answer mine, Young Master Go."
"Ah."
Blinking blankly, Go Sangbaek spoke in a bitter voice.
"...That man is the one who killed my mother. And at the same time… he is the benefactor who saved my sister's life."
An enemy.
Red Dragon Black Blade had been called one of the Three Calamities of Salmak alongside Yeo Il. The thread connecting the two men was obvious.
So Madam Go's name had been written in the Killing Register, and Red Dragon Black Blade had been assigned to it.
Recalling the cold-blooded man's reaction, and the origin of her and Red Dragon Black Blade's rebellion against Cheon Muryeong and Salmak, Madam Go had likely not been a mere target to him.
There was a high probability that the relationship between Red Dragon Black Blade and the Go Family…
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