Episode 30: The Witch of the Mist
The corridor was filled with traps. Arrows rained down, floors collapsed, and sudden obstacles sprang out from nowhere.
I couldn’t step forward, being someone who knew no martial arts. Saweol couldn’t either, since using her skills would instantly expose her as a member of the Demonic Cult.
Thankfully, Paeng Soso took the lead in disarming all the traps, mumbling that she felt bad for getting us isolated in the first place.
She’s definitely different.
The Paeng Clan is notorious for causing trouble. If something happened in one of the Five Great Clans, nine times out of ten, it was because of a Paeng. You’d think they’d apologize often—but no, they caused trouble so frequently they didn’t even bother saying sorry anymore. That’s why they’re often called degenerates.
Looking at it this way, the entire martial world is full of sociopaths, isn’t it?
The reckless Paeng Clan, the cruel Tang Clan of Sichuan, the hypocritical Namgung Clan, the shady Zhuge Clan, and the self-pitying Muryong Clan. Not that the unorthodox sects are any better—they’re just plain thugs. And don’t even get me started on the Demonic Cult, where a single breath could start a fight.
Maybe this whole martial world is just a pit full of psychopaths.
Anyway, among the brutish Paeng Clan, Paeng Soso was actually fairly open-minded. At least she knew how to say sorry after messing up.
“Whew. I think we can move on now.”
Having split a falling boulder in two with a blade wind, Paeng Soso wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“Thanks.”
“No need to thank me. I’m cleaning up my own mess. And you did take care of the guardian statues earlier—this is the least I can do to pull my weight.”
Hard to believe she came from a noble clan, what with that blunt speech.
“Let’s rest a bit. Keep watch for me, will you? The Heaven’s Three Joy Saber is great and all, but it burns through energy way too fast.”
“You sure it’s okay?”
Offering to keep watch meant she was going to sit and cultivate. During this process, even a light disturbance could lead to qi deviation, so only someone you fully trusted was allowed to stand guard.
“Well, worst case scenario—I die. But I doubt you’d try anything.”
She glanced at Saweol. There was a slight wariness in her eyes.
Understandable.
Saweol, with her blank expression and silent demeanor, followed me like a puppet with no soul. Her aura was cold and unreadable. And Paeng Soso, who claimed to be sensitive to energy, had likely picked up on that deadly chill.
“I don’t know what’s up with that guard of yours… but since she’s yours, she probably won’t try anything. Whatever. I’m meditating. Should take about a quarter of an hour.”
With that, Paeng Soso sat down where she stood and began cultivating. It was a necessary break if she was going to keep disarming traps ahead.
I sighed and sat down on a nearby rock. Saweol came to stand silently beside me, her face still cold.
She’s decided to kill me again.
Even though I’d treated her decently so far, something had made her revert. Saweol’s cold face, I recalled from Return of the Murim, usually meant she was trying to suppress intense emotions.
And in this situation, that emotion could only be bloodlust.
She was probably holding herself back. But no matter how much she thought about it, she likely knew she couldn't take me down easily anymore. I’d done a good job of pretending to be strong. Without that, I’d have been a goner long ago.
Still, it was a grim realization.
Stuck in a ruin, accompanied by one person who falls in love at the drop of a hat, and another who decides to kill at the drop of a pin.
Can’t I just average these two out and make one sane person?
Clearly, just being kind wasn’t enough.
I’d treated Saweol with respect. While the Skybreaker had treated her like trash despite being powerless, I at least acknowledged her as a person. Still, it hadn’t worked.
But then again, if a bit of kindness was enough to dull the edge of vengeance, she wouldn’t be from the Demonic Cult.
The core issue had to be addressed.
The root of her hatred lies in the Demonic Cult.
If I was going to change things, I’d have to go back there eventually.
As I sorted through my thoughts, Paeng Soso finished her meditation and got up.
“Ah, that felt good.”
She stretched and looked over at me.
“Aren’t you going to meditate? You said you were injured.”
“I got enough rest while you were recovering.”
“You must have learned some amazing inner art.”
The first half of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art was amazing. It just happened to be incomplete.
“Can I ask what it is?”
“Of course not.”
“Tch.”
No need to risk blowing my cover.
“Still, wouldn’t it help to cultivate a little? If you don’t trust your guard, I could keep watch instead.”
“No need.”
“You two look oddly uncomfortable. Just say the word.”
Paeng Soso had an annoying intuition in the weirdest places.
“More than my guard, I’m more curious about that Jo-yang fellow.”
Her smiling face hardened slightly.
“Jo-yang? Why?”
“To be direct, something about him feels off.”
“Direct, huh. I like that. Swords are all about being direct. You should try one instead of a sword sometime.”
“Stay on topic.”
“Tch. You don’t play along at all.”
She puffed her cheeks in mock protest. I just shook my head, and she sighed.
“Honestly, I don’t know much. I picked him up at the Wandering Warrior Market.”
“The Wandering Warrior Market?”
“Yeah. In Guangdong.”
Guangdong was a southern region by the coast, famous for being a gathering place of countless people—including the Wandering Warrior Market, where you could literally buy martial artists for money.
“I mean, ruins aren’t just traps. You saw earlier—many have formation arrays. In fact, they are formations. It’s complicated. I hired him because he was a formation specialist.”
“So you don’t know anything about his background.”
“But I do know one thing: he’s not here for the money, like the others. …Wait, you don’t think he’s after me, do you?”
“After you?”
She looked scandalized.
“Well, look at me. Beautiful, skilled, and from the noble Paeng Clan. Who wouldn’t want to marry me? That sneaky smile of his was all a setup, I bet!”
Correction: she’s not simple. She’s a total ditz.
“Still, no way. Can’t let that slide. And besides, Jo-yang’s too into women.”
“Into women?”
“Everywhere we go, he’s sniffing around for pretty girls. All that flashy jewelry? Probably just to pick up chicks.”
Skybreaker muttered.
[I thought he had some hidden agenda. Turns out he’s just a lecherous sleazebag.]
I don’t think that’s the end of it…
[Doesn’t matter. Once we leave here, we’ll be done with him.]
Paeng Soso continued.
“Still, he’s good. Really good. Honestly, aside from those freakish Zhuge guys, I’ve never seen anyone so skilled with formations. Not only can he dismantle them—he can reconstruct them. You’d think he’d been studying formations for a hundred years.”
“That’s… impressive.”
Breaking a formation was simple if you understood the core mechanism. But rebuilding one? That was like turning cooked rice back into grains.
Something’s fishy, Skybreaker.
[What do you mean?]
Widen your senses. Just in case something happens, I want to be ready.
[Isn’t that a bit much? I may not be human, but this is tiring.]
It’s your body I’m borrowing, remember?
[…Fine. I’ll monitor everything within a ten-jang radius.]
He’s simple too, in his own way.
“All right, let’s go.”
We resumed walking. The traps had disappeared, but the path now twisted and climbed in irregular patterns. It felt like we walked over a kilometer.
And then—
“I see light. Must be the end.”
Paeng Soso pointed ahead. Sure enough, a faint light was shining—not bright like the sun, but definitely different from torchlight.
“This proves we chose the right path!”
With that, she dashed ahead using a movement technique.
I couldn’t follow—no movement arts here. All I could do was walk, awkwardly, beside Saweol in silence.
“This could be a problem.”
Unlike the others, Saweol knew about the real state of Sa Dohwan’s body. She would find it strange that I was only walking. And she probably didn’t believe I was the one who defeated the guardian statues, either.
She knew the Sado Clan’s tricks—of creating illusions and manipulating belief. To someone trained like her, not seeing meant not believing.
Still, I managed to reach the end soon enough.
And to our surprise, the end of the path branched into two other tunnels.
“…What the?”
Paeng Soso’s voice rang out in confusion.
Another altar stood before us. But unlike the small pedestal earlier, this one was massive—large enough to fit several people.
The entire surface was covered in complex red patterns, looking undeniably sinister.
And lying in front of it—was a girl, unconscious.
Baek Sohyang??
“You know her?”
“…Kind of.”
Baek Sohyang.
The daughter of the Baek Family Lord I’d tangled with briefly back in Taeryeong County. She’d been so flustered after I showed off against the Black Shadow Unit that she couldn’t even look me in the eye.
But why is she here? She should still be in Taeryeong…
And then a thought struck me.
The first time I saw her, I’d remembered another Baek Sohyang.
“Same name, different person,” I had thought. “Too different to be the one I know.”
But why was that memory resurfacing now?
[Something’s there.]
Skybreaker indicated a direction with his sensing. I turned my head.
There, standing with arms crossed behind one of the altar’s stone pillars, was someone.
I wouldn’t have noticed him at all unless I was looking for him—like he was hidden by some kind of cognitive suppression array.
“…Nice instincts, I see.”
Jo-yang stepped out from behind the pillar.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Of all the clichés…
But that was the problem—too cliché. Return of the Murim never resolved twists this easily. Something more had to be coming.
“What the hell are you doing, Jo-yang?!” Paeng Soso shouted.
“I’ve been planning this for twenty years.”
Twenty years? Wait, you’re older than me?!
“You couldn’t possibly understand the hell I went through for the sake of the grand plan.”
He opened his palm.
On it was a jade orb, emitting a disgusting pale white light. He walked toward Baek Sohyang.
Paeng Soso tried to intercept.
Snap!
With a flick of Jo-yang’s fingers, the ground beneath her collapsed. She used a movement technique to launch herself off the wall, but it was too late.
Jo-yang was already beside Baek Sohyang.
He gently brought the orb to her lips—like a lover’s touch.
The jade melted into a liquid and flowed into her mouth.
Then—my breath turned white. Like winter had come in an instant.
The temperature had plummeted.
It wasn’t hard to see why—frost had begun forming around Baek Sohyang’s body.
A result of the jade?
Paeng Soso was flustered and didn’t know what to do.
Meanwhile, Baek Sohyang’s appearance began to change.
Her black hair slowly turned white from the roots.
Her neatly trimmed nails grew long, like a wildcat’s claws.
“I’m here, Sohyang. Open your eyes.”
And then—
Baek Sohyang opened her eyes. Her pupils were void of any life.
“You still need to eat, right?”
Jo-yang turned his head toward us.
His eyes gleamed with madness.
“There’s plenty right there…”
Baek Sohyang turned her empty eyes toward us. A chill ran down my spine.
That’s when I realized why I’d remembered the other Baek Sohyang.
The real twist wasn’t Jo-yang.
It was Baek Sohyang.
Hey, Skybreaker.
[What is it?]
“You know anything about the Witch of the Mist?”
[Not much. She used ice arts. An expert from decades ago—eventually killed, I believe.]
“Then you’re about to learn more.”
Because Baek Sohyang… is the Witch of the Mist.