“This foolish bloodline has committed a grievous discourtesy! Please, in mercy as vast as the sea, grant forgiveness—”

“Ah, it’s fine, quite fine. I take no offense at seeing a face that isn’t mine. If anything, I find it far more unpleasant when you act as if you’re about to be slaughtered at any moment. Let us end this charade of a loyal subject. Raise your head, Elder. I prefer to converse with eyes, not the crown of a head.”

“….”

Namgung Yeong slowly straightened his back, though he remained kneeling on the floor. Ok-ri glanced sideways at his brother, Ho-gwan, who was prostrate on their father’s other side. Ho-gwan, his face crumpled in utter confusion, shot a look screaming of suspicion the moment their eyes met, but Ok-ri was just as clueless.

Above their heads, the conversation between his father and this person called ‘Exalted Emperor’ continued.

“I have only two curiosities. First, those two.”

The white-haired boy pointed a slender index finger alternately at Ok-ri and Ho-gwan.

“In all my life, I have never heard of a poison that acts with such temper. It should have long since ravaged their organs or corroded their bodies. Yet, after tormenting them for twenty long years—keeping them neither dead nor truly alive—they heal with their innards perfectly intact? Frankly, I only raised them using unorthodox methods; I still haven’t the faintest idea how such a poison was crafted. A poison unknown even to me… isn’t it fascinating?”

“….”

“What do you know of this?”

When Ok-ri first opened his eyes, he had been horrified by a body so rusted it hardly felt like his own. He could barely process the reality that twenty years had vanished from his memory, let alone the situation at hand. Before he could even hear a proper explanation from his father, he had been dragged here by a rough hand. The most confused people in the room were undoubtedly the Namgung brothers; they knew nothing.

And yet, looking at those skeins of white hair, a memory flickered on the edge of his mind. He had definitely seen something right at the end… surely something…

While Ok-ri struggled to retrace his clouded thoughts, Namgung Yeong answered Exalted Emperor’s question dutifully.

“Twenty years ago, this subordinate dispatched blood kin across the Central Plains to gather vessels for the Exalted Emperor’s use. These two received orders to head to Guangdong, but they were ambushed by an unidentified assailant at an inn. All the accompanying warriors were slaughtered, though my talented kin managed to survive. Since then, thanks to the grace of the Illuminated Radiance Cult, we have sustained their lives with all manner of medicinal herbs.”

“Mm… that is rather lacking.”

Deep in thought, Exalted Emperor stepped fully out from behind the beaded curtain. Bare feet, clad only in a single layer of white silk undergarments, entered the lower edge of their vision. The question fell abruptly upon Namgung Ok-ri, who had been straining his eyes and brain to grasp the situation.

“You there, the son. The one on the left. Yes, the one thinking so hard right now. You may raise your head and answer. Do you remember nothing?”

“Pardon? Ah… th-that is.”

Ok-ri, who had straightened up in a daze, looked back at his father. Namgung Yeong met his gaze briefly and nodded with a stiff face. Ok-ri rubbed his rough face with one hand and answered haltingly.

“We had secured an inn and were resting when… some brat—no, a shabby child—sneaked into the room to steal. I taught him a proper lesson and went outside, only to find a girl, presumably his older sister, speaking with Brother Ho-gwan. It was obvious they were mocking the authority of the Namgung… of our elders, and intending to toy with us, so I tried to discipline them. But suddenly, my nose felt stuffed, my throat burned, and my breath cut off. I remember a severe hemorrhage pouring from my nose before I lost consciousness.”

Of course, Namgung Ok-ri felt not a shred of shame regarding his actions. However, mentioning violence before gauging Exalted Emperor’s values would be foolish, so he embellished the story slightly. Yet, the explanation only deepened the mystery.

Who on earth had attacked him and his brother? To instantly neutralize his body and his guards with a cowardly ambush, and then evade the Namgung Clan’s pursuit for twenty years—had the Hidden Shadow Dark Emperor returned from the legends?

Exalted Emperor’s serious expression did not soften. Namgung Yeong added an explanation after Ok-ri’s account.

“This subordinate also searched everywhere in secret, but I could not find a single trace of the culprit. I endured twenty years of days seeing my two healthy sons on the brink of screaming death, so I am truly overwhelmed with gratitude that the Exalted Emperor has personally saved them. Furthermore…”

“Guangdong… Guangdong, you say. What was there again?”

When Exalted Emperor muttered to himself, Namgung Yeong shut his mouth immediately. He had already been blatantly ignored several times, yet not a speck of anger showed on his face. The only one choking back rage was Ho-gwan, who had not yet been granted permission to raise his head.

Exalted Emperor, who seemed to be deep in thought for a while, soon let out a sigh and shook his head as if to shake off the distraction. Then, the face that had worn only a polite smile until now lit up with a bright gleam of anticipation.

Exalted Emperor’s voice brightened, filled with excitement and desire.

“Then I shall ask just one more thing. Do you know where my younger brother is buried?”

“…I dare to ask in return. This is the first I have heard that the Exalted Emperor had a younger brother. If you could tell us his name, we will find him somehow…”

“…There is no way a man of the Illuminated Radiance Cult would not know my brother. I speak of my junior brother, Ah-yoon. I gave him my surname, so he likely went by Cho. Scour the records of the last hundred and fifty years; something will turn up.”

Exalted Emperor crouched down in front of Namgung Yeong.

Detecting the deathly aura crawling up from those petite feet, Namgung Yeong clenched the hands resting on his thighs into tight fists. This sensation, unpleasant as if corpse oil squeezed from a dead body were being rubbed all over him, and this smell that seemed to stick to the mucous membranes of his nasal cavity—was this truly reality? Or was it a hallucination created by a brain facing an ancient death?

Whether Namgung Yeong was tense or not, Exalted Emperor stared straight into the eyes of the large-framed old man and smiled a limitlessly clear and innocent smile. It was a face that held none of the previous boredom, as if he had finally found a reason to live again.

“That child dared to betray and kill me. So, since things have turned out this way, I am thinking of making a bolster filled with my foolish brother’s crushed bones. Don’t you think I would sleep soundly if I slept clutching that?”

***

Asserting the impossible, Cho Yoon had never imagined, let alone predicted, such a sudden encounter.

How could he?

It was over three thousand li from Shaanxi to Zhejiang, and with so many mountains and rivers in between, who could assume that a known shut-in would be here?

“B-Benefactor? Is that truly you? I never dreamed I would meet you in a place like this. May I ask your destination? If you are in haste, I shall offer my carriage. Please, ride, Benefactor. And the young hero behind you, please do not hesitate.”

Don’t look at me like that, Cheon-oh. I cannot give you a proper explanation either. Your teacher has no idea how this happened.

Zhuge Seol-rin, who had stopped passing by, jumped out of her carriage, and rushed over to chatter in the middle of the main road, suddenly gasped as if realizing something.

“P-Perhaps… do you not remember this girl? I was so happy to see you again that I ran over without thinking. I apologize deeply if I have inconvenienced you during a busy journey, Benefactor…”

You can speak happily to someone who hasn’t given a reply or reaction because of a face veil, but you get depressed thinking you might be a bother? Just how helplessly kind is this kid?

He couldn’t be cold to the child hesitating before his eyes. Cho Yoon glanced at the quiet Cheon-oh, then answered calmly.

“You’ve grown much since I last saw you. What brings a child who would be breathless just staying indoors all the way out here?”

“Benefactor!”

Seol-rin’s face brightened instantly, delighted that Cho Yoon remembered her. She had clearly matured in appearance compared to four years ago, but her transparent nature, where her emotions and thoughts were clearly visible, seemed exactly the same.

“I heard there was medicine for the Severed Meridians at the market in Bozhou, Anhui, so I came looking. In the end, I couldn’t find it… but since I was out, I insisted on seeing the ocean in Zhejiang, which is said to be a magnificent view. Clearly, once I return, it will be difficult to come out again.”

Ah, is that so.

Indeed, Zhuge Seol-rin’s Severed Meridians had visibly worsened compared to four years ago. Though her complexion was flushed with joy now, her revealed hand was pale beyond measure, and at a glance, the vitality filling her body was faint. It seemed that as the blocked meridians went unused and atrophied, even the flow of prenatal energy sustaining her life was weakening.

In the original novel, the protagonist had definitely cured this somehow… but when and how was it done?

Cho Yoon’s brow furrowed slightly behind his face veil.