***
The youth’s story, which they roughly understood, was as follows.
When many Miao people were being captured by the Blood Cult, they were able to be safe thanks to the help of an old man called the Poison Elder, and they had lived safely in the jungle until now; however, that Poison Elder was now coughing up blood due to a critical illness.
Inferring from the rough explanation, it seemed that the old man called the Poison Elder was a martial artist and was likely showing symptoms of Qi Deviation.
Therefore, the Miao youth had intentionally sought out the front to ask for help from people who had mastered martial arts.
“Please help us. The Poison Elder is our benefactor. Also, if the Poison Elder is gone, all my brothers will end up dying.”
Seol Poong was hesitating on what to do in this unprecedented situation.
Then, Ju Tae-gyeong, who had joined those who had stopped while following from behind, spoke while snorting.
“What are you agonizing over? It is obviously a lie. In the first place, does it make any sense that Miao people who haven't even mastered martial arts could live in that forest full of demons?”
Aside from the fact that the squad members did not like him, his words were sufficiently logical.
However, the Miao youth immediately shouted as if it were unfair.
“It is not a lie! The scent the Poison Elder gave us chases the monsters away! Thanks to the Poison Elder, we were safe!”
At those words, Sunwoo Jin, who was thinking deeply about something, showed a reaction.
“A scent? What kind of scent are you talking about?”
Then the youth held out a crudely made incense sachet.
“The monsters hate this scent! If we have the scent the Poison Elder gave us, the monsters do not come!”
A unique scent was indeed present, but whether those words were true could not be confirmed with this alone.
At that moment, Sunwoo Jin spoke to Seol Poong with his eyes shining.
“Let’s go, Squad Leader.”
“Huh?”
“Isn't this incense sachet alone enough to make it worth going? And….”
Then Ju Tae-gyeong cut in with a fierce expression.
“What kind of nonsense is that?! You’re going to go inside there because of this sachet, which we don't even know is real or fake? And even if this were real, what value would it have for us?! We, who must find and kill demons, are going to use an incense that the demons avoid?!”
However, Sunwoo Jin, who snorted, ignored him and continued to speak to Seol Poong.
“Squad Leader, they said they have lived inside the forest. That means they know the geography of the interior. Unless we are going to just stay here and defend forever, don't we also need to know the geography of that interior?”
The moment everyone understood the meaning of Sunwoo Jin’s words, they were all lost for words.
He was currently talking about offense, not defense. That to strike the Blood Cult someday, information on the interior was necessary.
It was a radical idea that no one in the 13th Unit had ever considered.
Everyone just swallowed hard at Sunwoo Jin’s remark, which broke the existing stereotypes.
Even Ju Tae-gyeong, who had tried to vent his rage when ignored, stammered his words.
“T-that…. What kind of crazy talk are you making?! Did the Blood Cult and the Murim Alliance not sign a mutual non-aggression pact?! For you to do as you please with that…!”
Then Sunwoo Jin replied to Ju Tae-gyeong with a thin smile.
“Ah, so because we signed a mutual non-aggression pact, we were being attacked by demons every day. And Ju Tae-gyeong, were you not a disciple of the Jeomchang Sect? I didn't know a disciple of the Jeomchang Sect would be capable of saying such things.”
When the name of the Jeomchang Sect was mentioned, Ju Tae-gyeong gripped his sword hilt, thinking his sect had been insulted.
“You dare!”
However, Ju Tae-gyeong could not draw his sword at Sunwoo Jin’s next words.
Sunwoo Jin spoke with a pathetic expression like this:
“Was it not your long-cherished desire to strike the Blood Cult and reclaim the Jeomchang Sect’s home? Were you satisfied with just guarding this place for a thousand or ten thousand years? That is a surprising thing.”
Ju Tae-gyeong could not say a single word.
Sunwoo Jin, who silenced Ju Tae-gyeong with a few words, looked at Seol Poong again and asked.
“What do you think, Squad Leader?”
His gaze suggested that if told no, he would go alone.
Seol Poong thought for a moment and asked the Miao youth again.
“How long does it take to get there?”
Then the youth, who had been watching the back-and-forth conversation with a tense face, answered immediately.
“Half a day! If we run fast, it takes half a day!”
Seol Poong frowned at his answer.
“Half a day, meaning a day for a round trip; it’s a bit ambiguous. We should return at least before the day after tomorrow's afternoon patrol, but if we say we'll attempt treatment after arriving there, time might be insufficient. Also, there is no guarantee that treatment is possible.”
Ju Tae-gyeong, who had been silent for a moment, also cut in again.
“And it is also desertion from one’s post. Unauthorized desertion is a matter for heavy disciplinary action. You haven't forgotten that, have you?”
Then Sunwoo Jin smirked and said to him.
“Do not worry, for I am not suggesting that you come along.”
“What?!”
“Squad Leader, there is no need for everyone to go, is there? Let’s pick only the fastest people and run as quickly as possible. Just about three people: Squad Leader, me, and Sa-yeong. Squad Leader and I can take turns carrying that youth on our backs.”
Recently, Sunwoo Jin’s footwork was at a level that even Bi Sa-yeong, who taught him the Bi-jong footwork, acknowledged.
He was even better than Bi Sa-yeong at maintaining speed while wearing a heavy vest.
When Seol Poong nodded, saying it was a good idea, Sunwoo Jin continued speaking.
“And if it’s about desertion from the post.”
Having said that, Sunwoo Jin asked the Miao youth again.
“There must be many demons, that is, monsters, there, right?”
“Yes! Yes! There are many! But if we have this scent!”
“No, what I want to ask is the types of those monsters. Among them, is there perhaps a monster that grows stronger by sucking human essence? A monster that moves silently like a spider and attacks people to suck their essence.”
“Yes! There is! Those guys are extremely dangerous!”
A demon that attacks people silently to suck essence and gradually grows; the front-line workers called it a Spider Ghost.
Having heard that far, Sunwoo Jin gave a smirk and said to Seol Poong.
“He says there is a Spider Ghost. Since we have caught its trail, shouldn't we chase and deal with it?”
Then Seol Poong also gave a smirk and replied.
“You’re a genius. This was indeed a task that had to be undertaken.”
It was a principle to deal with the gradually growing Spider Ghost immediately upon discovery.
It was a principle that was prioritized even over any other duty.
Ultimately, it was decided that Seol Poong, Sunwoo Jin, Bi Sa-yeong, and Cheong-yeon would go there.
Cheong-yeon had volunteered to go together, saying she herself was no less fast than Bi Sa-yeong or Sunwoo Jin.
Furthermore, everyone had no choice but to accept because she was the strongest after Seol Poong in the 7th Squad in terms of skill.
Before departing, Seol Poong spoke to Na Seo-yu with an awkward smile.
“I leave the rear to you, Deputy Leader. I am sorry for repeatedly making you manage the squad in my stead.”
Na Seo-yu replied with a warm smile.
“Please be careful on your way. I will be waiting.”
Seol Poong could not face her due to awkwardness and immediately turned his head away.
Beside them, Ju Tae-gyeong was speaking while glaring at Sunwoo Jin.
“You rascal, even if you are exhausted from going there, I will not postpone the duel. Surely you are not running away to avoid that duel, are you?”
Then Sunwoo Jin, who smirked, answered him.
“Your delusions are grand. Compared to this task, the duel with you does not hold such great meaning for me. Do not be mistaken.”
“What?!”
Mocking Ju Tae-gyeong, who gnashed his teeth, Sunwoo Jin vaulted his body. He had the Miao youth on his back.
“Whoa! Extremely fast!”
The Miao youth on my back was shouting.
Squad Leader Seol Poong, Bi Sa-yeong, Young Lady Cheong-yeon, and I were running across the trees as if flying, just like during the dawn training.
It was in the middle of a dense jungle that was growing increasingly thick in the darkening evening, but our speed did not decrease at all.
“Amazing! It feels like I have become a leopard!”
The Miao youth, who introduced himself as Dakam, seemed to have a basically very bright and cheerful personality.
Although he had asked for understanding, being carried like a piece of luggage while unable to move his entire body due to having his blood points struck would not be a very pleasant thing, yet he was continuously excited like a child.
Watching him like that, I recalled my past life.
I had met him in my past life as well.
He had asked us for help back then with a desperate expression just like today.
‘And we refused his request.’
As a result, nothing particularly bad had happened. It was just one of those things that passed by.
However, a long time after that, the Poison Sand Ghosts appeared.
A demon that was like a crystal of poison, poisoning people just by approaching them.
Our unit members, who knew nothing about them, ended up being poisoned by a single Poison Sand Ghost—as many as twenty people.
And she was among them.
‘Young Lady Na.’
It was the deputy leader of our squad and my first love, Young Lady Na Seo-yu….
It was something that happened while Squad Leader Seol Poong was away from us, having gone to rescue Ju Tae-gyeong and his lackeys who were in a crisis.
Neither the physician stationed at the 13th Unit nor Young Lady Dang Yeo-eun, the daughter of the Tang family, could possibly detoxify that poison.
So, when we were just watching the comrades die, Squad Leader Seol Poong entered the jungle alone without a plan.
It was after hearing Young Lady Dang Yeo-eun’s theoretical talk that if the poison of the Poison Sand Ghost came from poisonous creatures in the jungle, the antidote was also likely to be in the vicinity.
And two days later, he had brought back several plants, saying they were detoxification herbs collected with advice from the Miao people, and Young Lady Dang Yeo-eun immediately made an antidote with them and tested it.
As a result, we were barely able to save the few comrades who were still alive.
However, Young Lady Na was not included among those few.
It was already too late.
Her death had a major impact on us.
‘It was after that incident that Squad Leader Seol Poong changed, and I changed.’
Squad Leader Seol Poong completely abandoned his previous kind and gentle appearance and became a cold and heartless person, and I immersed myself in training as if I were grinding my own body.
Thus, the squad leader eventually became the Mad Wind Flying Dragon, and I was able to reach the highest level of the first-class realm.
Of course, I did not know if the Miao person from whom Squad Leader Seol Poong obtained advice back then was this youth.
But I was thinking that if there was even the slightest possibility, I had to try anything.
After running for about an hour, the sun set and the jungle became completely dark, so we had no choice but to slow down.
While Squad Leader Seol Poong could distinguish objects in the darkness as if it were broad daylight, it was still impossible for me, Bi Sa-yeong, or Young Lady Cheong-yeon.
‘At least it is a relief that the stars are bright.’
We stepped down to the ground and let the Miao youth Dakam down. Even for the sake of guiding the way, he now had to lead.
I suddenly spoke to Bi Sa-yeong.
“Sa-yeong.”
“Huh? Why?”
“We also need to do training to perceive objects with our eyes closed like the squad leader.”
“Tsk, do you think that’s possible? I’m already dying from the hardship, yet the things to train just keep increasing.”
Although he grumbled, he did not say he wouldn't do it. It meant he also felt the necessity.
Young Lady Cheong-yeon did not say anything, but I had been feeling from before that she was already doing such training. Because I had also tried such training in my past life.
Furthermore, although I did not achieve great results back then, I was in a state where I had obtained much progress since the last Spider Ghost incident.
At that moment, Dakam gave us a warning.
“Come closer to me. This is a place with many poisonous snakes and bugs, so be care...!”
It was then. Before his words could even finish, something was shot from the forest like an arrow.
Shwi-ik!
That thing, which flew in like an arrow in the pitch-black darkness, was truly threatening.
Neither I nor Bi Sa-yeong could even react properly.
“Ugh!”
“What?!”
But Squad Leader Seol Poong was different.
Teop!
Squad Leader Seol Poong, who lightly snatched it as if he had been waiting, muttered upon seeing the thin snake hissing in his hand.
“This is…. the Three-Colored Arrow Snake?”
Then Young Lady Cheong-yeon was the first to show interest and asked.
“Pardon? You said the Three-Colored Arrow Snake?”
“Huh? Was that not said to be an incredibly rare poisonous creature?”
Then Squad Leader Seol Poong answered while lightly snatching another one that flew in.
Teok!
“It seems that is not the case here.”
People serving at the front were in a state of having been educated on basic knowledge of poisonous creatures through a booklet distributed by the Tang family.
In that book, it was written that the Three-Colored Arrow Snake, which bears three colors and flies like an arrow to bite its target, was a precious poisonous snake that martial artists using poison arts also used as hidden weapons.
Dakam approached with an impressed expression and spoke.
“As expected, you are amazing. No one except the Poison Elder could do that.”
Squad Leader Seol Poong asked him.
“Are these things common here?”
“That snake? Yes, I see them often. Not yet, but if we go a bit further, there is a Poison Forest, so there are many other things as well.”
Young Lady Cheong-yeon was continuously nodding at Dakam’s words and was examining the snake from all sides after receiving it from the squad leader.
It was an atmosphere where, if her eyes were visible, brilliance would likely be radiating from them.
Anyway, according to Dakam, if we went for about another hour from here, a massive swamp called the Poison Forest would appear, and that place was originally a forbidden area where the Miao people never went.
However, Dakam’s residence was beyond that.
It seemed they had no choice but to live near there once their kin began to be hunted by the Blood Cultists.
I suddenly asked him.
“Is the reason the demons do not go there also because there are many poisonous creatures?”
“Yes, the Poison Elder said so. That the monsters were originally made to dislike the smell of poison. But he also said to be careful because fellows who spit poison will also come out later.”
Having heard those words, the squad leader and I exchanged looks.
That old man called the Poison Elder seemed to know about the demons in great detail.
No, if the demon he said would come out later referred to the Poison Sand Ghost, he knew not just in detail, but excessively in detail.
I became even more curious about his identity.