There is a saying that a word without feet travels a thousand miles.
By the time our party arrived in Hebei Province, rumors that the children of prestigious families had run away in a group had already spread all the way to Hebei Province.
We had moved at the pace of Seol Ri-hyang's Lightness Skill, the slowest among us, but even taking that into account, the rumors had spread too quickly.
They're probably deliberately spreading the rumors through the Beggars' Sect and searching for us. This is exactly the situation I expected.
However, to offer one excuse, Tang Jincheon might clutch the back of his neck, but he won't be too worried.
It's not just my martial level—he knows that Seomun Hwa-rin, a Harmony Realm martial artist, is also traveling with us.
Well. This only applies to Tang Jincheon, who knows that Seomun Hwa-rin, despite her infamy, has an upright character, and that most opponents would be dealt with by me or Tang So-wol before things ever escalated that far.
The clan heads of the Paeng and Eon Clans must be in an uproar by now.
The successors of two families that regard each other as bitter rivals have vanished at the same time.
And the two of them had played their parts so well that even Namgung Jong, who considered himself their friend, believed that Peng Woo-jin and Eon Ga-hye truly hated each other.
They're probably snarling at each other, trading all sorts of grim speculation.
"For that reason, we're fine for now, but time isn't exactly plentiful. Have you thought about where to go?"
"Of course. There's a house the two of us use whenever we meet in secret."
"A house? Hoh. I didn't think you'd gone so far as to set up a household."
"A household… it's not quite to that extent."
Eon Ga-hye denied it with a bashful look at my reaction. Even so, she kept stealing glances at Peng Woo-jin, and it didn't seem like she disliked it at all.
Surprisingly, the two of them kept up that kind of atmosphere every time their eyes met, all the way until we arrived in Hebei Province.
It might be that the gravity of the current situation hadn't fully sunk in, but since this was the first time they could be together without worrying about anyone's judgment, they seemed quite excited.
Just as I was about to nod inwardly in admiration, Tang So-wol started poking me in the back.
"Young hero Cheon. Young hero Cheon. Aren't you curious about what's happened to the supplies we set up in that cave? We left everything behind except the important things, but…"
"Hard to say. They're practically ownerless goods, so I'd think the villagers might have taken them. Then again, it's not a proper house but a cave on a mountainside, so they might still be there."
"Ah! That could be true. Still, I doubt they'd be in perfect condition. Even if people didn't touch them, wild animals might have wandered in."
"If you're worried, shall we stop by on the way back to Sichuan Province once this is all over?"
"Hmm… No, let's forget it. It's bound to be in ruins by now, so let's just leave the memories as memories. Besides, what matters most isn't the place, but the people by your side, right?"
Tang So-wol smiled warmly at me. Seeing her like that, Seol Ri-hyang and Seomun Hwa-rin began whispering behind her.
"Those two are quite evenly matched. From what I can see, Hwi doesn't seem to have a clue, but So-wol seems to be burning with a bit of competitive spirit."
"Exactly. I know I shouldn't say this, but I hope something happens soon. Watching them go back and forth like this for days… ugh."
Wait, that was the reason?
I had truly not been thinking anything of the sort, so I looked at Tang So-wol with a newfound sense of surprise, but she just blinked as if she knew nothing.
It was true that my senses had grown sharper since I regained the Sword-Mind Unity realm, but she hadn't been speaking through Voice Transmission, so Tang So-wol should have heard that much too.
I was letting out a hollow laugh for a moment when Eon Ga-hye, sensing something odd, asked in a cautious tone.
"…Wait, did you just say a cave? You said the Blood Flower Sword Demon was originally a wanderer, so he might not have much saved up, but the young lady of Flying Butterfly Poison Peak is a bit different, isn't she?"
"Ah! That's certainly true. I couldn't manage a large sum for secret use, but I could somehow scrape together enough to buy a small house in a small village. However, well… I didn't have a choice. I was kidnapped by young hero Cheon."
"…!"
"Ah."
As if everything finally made sense, Eon Ga-hye's eyes went wide, and Peng Woo-jin nodded with a dazed sound.
My impression was crumbling nicely. Though since it was all true, I had nothing to refute.
For that reason, I gave a shrug and changed the subject.
"I understand you have a secret house for the two of you, but is there a particular reason to head there?"
"Of course there is. It sits between the territory of the Paeng Clan and the Eon Clan, a place that cleverly avoids the gaze of both. More than enough to serve as a base."
"We've stored most of our findings there. Everything I could remember and explain with words, I've already told you… but since we all see things from different perspectives and hold different knowledge, you might notice something else when you read through them."
That was true.
Especially in my case—since a seal had been placed over everything related to the regression—being able to examine the information the two of them had gathered was a huge help.
I still didn't understand the principle behind it, or whether I'd ever be able to unravel it… but as long as I phrased things like a reasonable deduction in the right situation, the seal wouldn't trigger.
If I could catch the trail of the Demonic Cult this time, if I could spread word of their plans and the Heavenly Demon's strength far and wide, I wouldn't be picked off one by one so pathetically like in my previous life.
***
We arrived at the small village Peng Woo-jin and Eon Ga-hye had mentioned. But it was no longer a place that could be called a village.
The ground was blackened with ash and soot. Only traces remained of the houses that had once stood there.
"What in the world…!"
Peng Woo-jin was taken aback by the unexpected sight. Whether the residents had already fled the village long ago, no sign of human presence could be felt.
Usually, even after a fire of this scale dies down, survivors would sift through the wreckage to salvage whatever remained.
The fact that even those people were absent meant one of two things.
"Either quite some time has passed since the fire, or the villagers were all killed."
"Who would commit such a cruel act… Surely not?"
Eon Ga-hye, who had been surveying the surroundings with an expression similar to Peng Woo-jin's, twisted her face in horror.
"We'll have to check that from here on out. How about we inspect a few of the surrounding house sites first, then head straight to your residence?"
Peng Woo-jin and Eon Ga-hye nodded silently. Splitting off from the two of them, we each began investigating different ruins on our own.
I lifted a pile of charcoal that barely held its shape. After clearing away what had been a collapsed roof and pushing aside a broken pillar, the interior was finally revealed.
There, embracing each other, lay two charred corpses—one large and one small.
It looked as though the parents had died protecting their child. At first glance, the scene seemed to hint at the tragic circumstances of that time, but something was off.
Yet I couldn't easily put my finger on what it was, so I simply stared at it for a moment.
Then I realized the source of the unease—on the back of the blackened, burnt corpse.
"A sword mark."
"A sword mark."
Seomun Hwa-rin opened her mouth at the same time, having reached the same conclusion as I did. At that, Seol Ri-hyang furrowed her brow.
"A sword mark? I can barely see it… If what you say is true, Cheon Hwi, then someone massacred an entire village and set it on fire to make it look like an accident?"
"That's the most likely possibility."
There's a set reason for burning a corpse that's already dead. To hide the identity of the deceased. Or to hide how they were killed from an autopsy.
Even I, who have considerable confidence in swords, could only tell that the heart had been pierced in a single stroke, but I couldn't guess at all what sword method had been used. That was clearly the intent.
"I share the same thoughts as Cheon Hwi. However, I believe it would be wise to inspect the other houses as well. There is too little to judge from at this moment."
"Yes. Hwa-rin unni is right. Everyone has their own circumstances, so perhaps this house is just a peculiar case."
So this time, with a slightly more hardened expression, I cleared away the rubble of the nearby house sites.
And this time, though there were no sword marks, I discovered a corpse that seemed to have died writhing in agony.
Perhaps unlike the previous one, which had been in a static pose, this one's will to survive at all costs remained fully intact.
Seol Ri-hyang, who was still not used to such situations, had her expression darken rapidly.
I gently stroked her back to calm her down and continued speaking.
"Usually, when a fire breaks out, most people die from suffocation. Surprisingly, dying from being burned to death isn't that common."
I knew this well, having seen it to the point of nausea when the Iron Blood Faction collapsed in my previous life.
"Those who suffocate from the smoke lose consciousness quietly, so while there might be a little bit of writhing, it's never this violent. Usually, something like this is…"
"When those whose bodies are directly set ablaze die, they leave behind corpses like this. …When the Seomun Clan was exterminated, several died that way, so I remember it clearly."
Perhaps recalling the events of that time, Seomun Hwa-rin's Aura turned slightly fierce as well.
With her remaining hand, she patted Seomun Hwa-rin's back this time, and asked Tang So-wol, who was searching through a different house.
"How is it over there?"
"It's the same here. This one's head is completely crushed."
A cold tone she never showed me. Unlike me, who had lived as a member of the Unorthodox Sects and seen all sorts of horrors, Tang So-wol, who had lived her entire life as a member of the Orthodox Sects, seemed unable to bear the fact that someone had massacred an entire village and burned it down.
Afterwards, we reunited with Peng Woo-jin and Eon Ga-hye, but their situation seemed more or less similar.
Even if not from sword marks, there were bodies buried that had clearly died from causes other than fire, and even if one assumed the fire had broken out suddenly, there were simply too many dead.
Probably not a single person escaped alive, or at most one if they were lucky.
Peng Woo-jin, who had been on friendly terms with the villagers even if he couldn't visit often, gritted his teeth.
"Is all of this the work of the Demonic Cult too?"
"We can't be certain yet. It's a village in a remote location, so it could be bandits, or some wandering Unorthodox Sects master could have done it for some reason."
"This is Hebei Province. What guts would anyone have to do something like this?"
"Didn't you say it yourself earlier? It's wedged between the territories of the Paeng Clan and the Eon Clan, a place where neither family's gaze reaches."
"…"
The land of the Central Plains is too vast, and there are too many Martial Artists with power beyond the ordinary, but the spears and blades of the government army don't reach every corner.
That is precisely why the Five Great Families and the Nine Great Sects and One Gang came to be.
Even though this was clearly the territory of the Orthodox Sects, it seemed to have been left unprotected because of the dispute between the Paeng Clan and the Eon Clan.
Realizing this, Peng Woo-jin and Eon Ga-hye both slumped their shoulders with gloomy expressions.
"It's too old a matter to blame the two of you, and it's a matter of a scale that requires both families to step forward. There's no need to blame yourselves like that."
"…Thank you."
"Rather than that, it would be better to head toward your original goal, your homes. We've more or less learned everything there is to learn here."
"What meaning would there be in going? It's a bit further away, but it's still part of the village. It would have naturally been reduced to ashes along with the results of the investigation inside."
Eon Ga-hye's voice was resigned. But that was precisely why it mattered.
"You're right. We can't expect it to be intact. But even if we can't know anything else, we should be able to tell whether the one who committed such an atrocity was the Demonic Cult or someone else."
"Pardon?"
"Surely they wouldn't have left important information lying around anywhere. They would have either buried it in the ground or hidden it somewhere hard to find. Am I wrong?"
"Y-yes, that's right. It wasn't enough to escape the fire, but we did hide it in the deepest place."
"If I were a Demonic Cultist, there would be only one reason to come to a rural village like this. To kill the two of you who wouldn't stop even under threat… or at the very least, to destroy all the materials and evidence gathered so far."
Naturally, they would have searched the most thoroughly, and burned the most thoroughly.
They would have smashed and dug through everything in their path to find what they wanted, and in the end, they would have carefully and meticulously burned it all.
After all, a deliberate destruction leaves its own traces.
For that reason, guided by Peng Woo-jin and Eon Ga-hye, we arrived at a small house a short distance away.
Sure enough. Even after digging through all the rubble, all that was visible were black lumps of charcoal and broken debris.
Not a single thing had retained even a hint of its original form.
And above all, as Eon Ga-hye had said, there was a hidden secret vault buried half-beneath the floor. There, I was able to find one trace.
A stone floor that had melted and caved in. The winding, serpentine curves were something I remembered well.
Blood Flame Death Cultivation. A demonic art that moved as cunningly as a living snake, its flames surging higher at the sight of blood.
I had clashed with it once before my regression, but in the end, I had been unable to bring him down and had no choice but to rely on Tang So-wol's help. It was the martial art of the Blood Flame Fist Demon.