Chapter 125
Suddenly, I had a bad feeling.
In a mountain like this, there was only one reason there could be a smell of something burning.
When a fire had broken out.
‘Where?’
I suddenly turned my head.
As the smell of burning grew stronger, the others noticed something was wrong as well, their expressions stiffening. I exchanged glances with them. Then, without anyone needing to say who would go first, we all began running toward where the smell was coming from.
Crackle, crackle!
The direction we were heading in was roughly the same as the direction Igwi had shown us.
Along the way, we found a tree with a red string tied around it and headed northeast from there. There were several more markers like it along the way. The closer we got, the stronger the smell of burning became, until at some point, thick smoke surrounded us.
We arrived at an entrance where smoke was billowing out from behind vines that looked like a wall. I abruptly pushed the vines aside. And I let out a groan at the sight before me.
“My goodness…!”
It was a fire.
The entire village was being devoured by raging flames. A pungent smell rushed into my nose.
Suddenly, a strange scene flickered before my eyes. The sight of the Xiao family estate burning that day. Countless buildings were engulfed in flames, with fire shooting high into the sky. The ground was littered with the rubble of collapsed buildings, and desperate screams rang out from all directions.
Thud.
Something caught against the tip of my foot.
A corpse. A blood-covered corpse was staring at me, unable to close its eyes.
Before I knew it, countless corpses had piled up throughout the Xiao family estate. Just as the blood flowing from those corpses formed a huge pool and threatened to swallow me…
“Your nose!”
I suddenly came to my senses.
“Cover your noses! This isn’t ordinary smoke!”
It was Tang Hi’s voice. Only then did I snap out of it and cover my nose.
I hurriedly circulated my internal energy and drove the medicinal energy inside my body outward. Only then did my mind clear and the surrounding scenery come properly into focus.
This wasn’t the Xiao family estate.
“Damn it! Is it poison? What a pointless thing to do…!”
“I don’t think it’s poison… If anyone still hasn’t come to their senses, say so. I’ll stick a large acupuncture needle into your head and wake you up!”
“I-I’m fine!”
Fortunately, it seemed the members of the Inspection Team had also quickly escaped the illusion. There were still some who were wandering around in a daze, and Tang Hi even slapped them awake.
We covered our noses and ran into the village.
The condition of the village was terrible. Who knew how long it had been burning? Most of the village buildings had already burned down and collapsed. Every corner of the village was covered only in scorching flames and smoke, and there was no sign of any people.
There were no cries for help, no shouts telling others to hurry and put out the fire. There wasn’t a single sign of human presence. The village had been completely deserted.
Only then did I realize.
‘They cut off the tail and fled.’
Damn it. Where had the information leaked from?
Before we left, we had sealed the acupoints of Yeongpa Samgwi and the other members of the Evil Pleasure Pavilion and locked them inside the warehouse.
Acupoint sealing would only be released after roughly twelve double-hours, so they should still have been in the warehouse.
‘Was there another spy? Or did some insignificant underling secretly escape while we were fighting Yeongpa Samgwi?’
Just as I ground my teeth in frustration…
“There are people here!”
Suddenly, Daoist Woonhak’s voice rang out.
We ran toward where Daoist Woonhak was. Then we drew a small breath when we saw it.
There was a wooden cage. It was a large cage that looked as though it had been made to imprison animals, but several people, not animals, were inside it.
The problem was the condition of those people.
Normally, if a fire broke out in a situation like this, people should be screaming for someone to save them, or desperately begging to be let out. But these people weren’t making a single sound.
They simply sat there. And they weren’t merely sitting quietly. They were sprawled on the floor, staring blankly into empty space as though they had completely lost their minds.
Zhuge Ye muttered at the bizarre sight.
“What happened to these people…? Their eyes are strange…”
“Let’s save the people first!”
At Daoist Woonhak’s words, the members of the Inspection Team cut apart the wooden cage with their swords. But even after an opening had been made for them to escape, they didn’t move an inch.
In the end, we had no choice but to go inside ourselves and carry the people out.
We moved them toward the entrance of the village. As expected, they remained completely dazed regardless of whether we moved them or not, while the flames engulfing the village grew increasingly fierce.
Daoist Woonhak lamented as he looked at the scene.
“It seems we’ve arrived one step too late. Who would have thought they’d set fire to their own base and flee…”
Tang Hi replied,
“Who could’ve known? They must’ve had something pretty serious to hide. Look at these people. They’re completely out of their minds. What on earth did they do to them?”
“Exactly. And they even locked people inside animal cages. How could they do such a thing…”
At that moment, Monk Xu Jae stepped forward.
“But could these people be all of them?”
“What?”
“I don’t know… Somehow, I don’t think there’s only one cage like this. You said the people the Evil Pleasure Pavilion lured in numbered more than just one or two. Compared to that, there seem to be too few people here…”
“…….”
It certainly sounded plausible. But going back into the village now was dangerous. The fire wasn’t something that could easily be brought under control.
However, Yeon quickly made a decision.
“We’ll split into two groups. One will search the village for any remaining evidence, while the other will secure any survivors who might still be inside.”
“Wait.”
I objected to his words.
“The flames are getting stronger. Going inside now is just asking for trouble. If we inhale too much smoke, we could end up putting ourselves in danger instead…”
Daoist Woonhak immediately answered,
“That’s all right.”
“Master.”
“Even if we put ourselves in danger, it doesn’t matter if we can save one more person. We came here to protect the weak, and this is precisely when we must step forward.”
“…….”
“Isn’t that what everyone thinks?”
At Daoist Woonhak’s words, the others wore various expressions, but they all nodded.
There was no hesitation.
I was about to say something, but eventually sighed and was about to nod when…
“……!”
Whoosh.
I hurriedly turned around. I could sense the presence of several people from beyond the entrance we had come through.
‘People are coming here in this situation? Who are they?’
‘Could it be the Evil Pleasure Pavilion returning?’
The others seemed to sense them as well, tension appearing on their faces.
Each of them stared intently toward the entrance and slowly placed their hands on their weapons.
Just as those presences reached the entrance…
I drew a breath when I saw the people pushing through the vines and entering.
Familiar people came into view. More precisely, their clothing was familiar.
Their appearances were all different, but every one of them was dressed in pure white.
More than anything, the embroidered flames on their sleeves…
‘The Sacred Flame Sect?’
Members of the Sacred Flame Sect had arrived.
***
‘Why is the Sacred Flame Sect here?’
But there was no time to calmly ask.
At first, the members of the Sacred Flame Sect also stopped when they saw us. But perhaps they determined that the people we’d rescued weren’t members of the Evil Pleasure Pavilion, because they quickly spoke.
“We must save the people immediately. Brothers and sisters, lend us your strength!”
Then they poured water from the water buckets they had brought over their heads and rushed into the village.
The Inspection Team, who had been caught off guard, exchanged glances among themselves before entering the village again. I couldn’t just stand around either, so I followed behind them.
With more people helping, the rescue operation proceeded much more smoothly. Everyone searched for the people trapped in the cages and brought them out to the entrance one after another. Some also drew water from the well to try to put out the fire, but the flames had spread too widely for it to be easy.
But that problem was soon resolved as well. Half a shichen later, the sky suddenly darkened, and one drop of rain, then another, fell. Soon, a downpour came with a whoooosh.
Everyone cheered. They had been worried that the fire might spread all the way into the mountains.
“There is a cave over there. Let’s go there and take shelter from the rain.”
At the Sacred Flame Sect’s suggestion, the Inspection Team seemed hesitant, but they soon nodded. After all, there was no other way if we wanted to move the rescued people somewhere safe.
Each of us carried one or two survivors on our backs and headed toward the cave. Only after arriving at the cave and setting the people down were we finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
The Sacred Flame Sect’s white clothes, and even those of the Inspection Team, were filthy from being covered in ash and rain. Once the situation finally settled down, an awkward silence descended inside the cave.
As everyone merely looked around, wondering who should speak first…
“Brother.”
Someone stepped forward.
Confused, I turned my head toward them.
Then I saw a familiar face, and my mouth fell open.
“You’re…!”
It was the woman who had shared her food with me.
The woman who had explained the Sacred Flame Sect’s initiation process to me in great detail back in Jinhae.
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