Chapter 60
“Sam-ah!”
Je Galhaesu’s desperate cry toward the poor bellflower seemed to echo faintly in the distance.
Soso called out to them brightly.
“Heroes!”
At that call, the two men turned around at the same time, as if they had arranged it beforehand.
“L-Lady Baek?”
“…Is it truly you, Sam?”
Even with her face covered by a bridal veil, the two men recognized Soso at once.
As Soso ran toward them, Sau—who was holding her arm—ran along as well.
Standing before the two men, Soso exclaimed joyfully,
“It’s me! We’ve finally met again!”
“Sam-ah! You have no idea how worried I was. I feared something terrible had happened to you…”
“Lady Baek, are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, I’m fine. Not a single scratch.”
The two men’s eyes swept over her as if to confirm her words. She really did seem unharmed, and that was a relief.
“But this man…”
Namgung Jin’s eyes turned toward Sau, who stood quietly beside Soso, and his hand instinctively moved to his sword hilt.
He couldn’t sense any particular internal energy from the man, yet Namgung Jin could tell instantly.
‘He’s strong. But how strong? Above me? Below?’
It seemed the man had perfectly concealed his own internal energy—so much that Namgung Jin couldn’t feel it at all.
That calm, restrained aura spoke louder than anything about how deep his strength ran.
“Is this the man who kidnapped you?”
“This person is—”
Before Soso could explain, Namgung Jin drew his sword in one smooth motion, energy surging through his body.
The cold, blue blade stopped right at Sau’s neck.
“State your identity. Make a suspicious move, and I’ll cut you down.”
Without the slightest sign of alarm, Sau simply raised his index finger and lightly pushed the sword aside.
Astonishingly, the blade moved.
“…!”
Namgung Jin was the one startled.
‘H-how did he push my sword away with just one finger? And it was infused with my energy!’
Even as Namgung Jin faltered, Sau spoke in a calm, level tone.
“When you demand another’s identity, it’s polite to reveal your own first.”
“I… am the Three-Eyed Dragon, Namgung Jin.”
At that introduction, Sau’s expression flickered—only slightly.
A faint smile ghosted over his lips for an instant before vanishing.
“I’m Sau. A wanderer.”
“A… wanderer?”
“Yes. I have no title or alias.”
“But…”
But isn’t he too powerful for that?
Someone that strong couldn’t possibly be unknown. That made him all the more suspicious.
Namgung Jin wanted to ask more, but his lips wouldn’t move. To do so would be to admit that he was weaker.
At that moment, Soso stepped between them.
“Please stop! I’ll explain everything.”
“…”
Namgung Jin reluctantly lowered his sword.
“My apologies, lady, for startling you.”
“It’s fine. But let’s go to the inn first. People are staring at us.”
The brief scuffle had drawn unwanted attention.
“You said your name was Sau? My younger brother here tends to be a bit aggressive. Allow me to apologize on his behalf. I’m Je Galhaesu.”
Sau merely nodded.
“By the way, we’ve introduced ourselves and shown our faces. When will you remove your black hat?”
As if it were nothing, Sau slowly removed his dark bamboo hat.
The same moderately pleasant face Soso had seen the night before appeared.
Je Galhaesu studied his features closely.
‘I truly have never seen this face before.’
Unlike Namgung Jin, Je Galhaesu smiled easily, pretending to trust Sau and not doubt him at all—but in truth, he found Sau very suspicious.
Especially the fact that he was strong enough to unnerve Namgung Jin—that stuck in his mind.
‘To have reached such mastery and yet be completely unknown… Has he been living in the mountains all this time?’
To hide his suspicions, Je Galhaesu smiled brightly, his eyes curving pleasantly.
“Haha! Thank you for showing your face.”
Sau simply nodded again.
“Even to my untrained eyes, you seem formidable. Is this your first time revealing yourself in the martial world?”
Sau shook his head.
“I simply chose not to show myself.”
“Ah, so you’re from the mountains, then?”
“Something like that.”
If he’s been hiding away in the mountains, then what reason does he have to appear now?
Je Galhaesu’s eyes gleamed sharply for just a moment.
“Haha! Well, thanks for telling me. Come, let’s walk to the inn and talk more on the way.”
“Sure.”
Sau pulled his black hat back on.
And so, the four of them began walking back to the inn where the “dumpling incident” had taken place.
As soon as they returned, Sau ordered dinner.
Everyone was hungry, so they decided to eat first and explain what had happened later.
Sau, meanwhile, couldn’t take his eyes off the girl eating dumplings for dinner again.
The way she opened her mouth wide and bit into them reminded him of her—
—the maid he had lost long ago.
That maid had also loved food, especially candied treats, eating them so happily that everyone in the sect used to sneak her some whenever they could.
‘Candied fruit…’
Sau rummaged through his black robes and pulled out a small cloth bundle.
“Here. Eat this too.”
“Wha ish dish?” she asked, her mouth full of dumplings.
“Candied fruit.”
Ever since last night, Baek Sam kept reminding him of that maid—so much so that he’d bought some in town without thinking, while she chatted with her reunited companions.
“Wow! When did you buy this? And how did you know I like it?”
“You look like someone who would.”
“Huh? What does that even mean?”
“You look… tasty?”
“…Excuse me?”
“Don’t ask. Just eat.”
Sau chuckled softly and placed one candied fruit in her hand.
“Eat a lot of it.”
“Thank you.”
Baek Sam glanced at him, then popped it into her mouth right away.
Almost instantly, her face lit up with joy—a look that so perfectly matched that of his long-dead maid that anyone else might have mistaken her for the girl reborn.
But of course, that was impossible.
That maid was long dead. And Baek Sam looked nothing like her.
There were no signs of a disguise or face-altering martial art—he sensed no internal energy from her at all.
Only a faint, strange spiritual aura.
In truth, the one using a face-altering art was Sau himself.
Few in his sect had ever seen his real face—perhaps Soma-gi and Baek Garim were among the rare few.
Anyone who saw his true face without permission, he killed without hesitation.
Or, if he intended to kill them soon anyway, he showed them his real face—as he had when he killed Paeng Jirang.
Whenever he went out for something other than assassination, he always used his bone-shifting technique to wear an ordinary face—
just in case anyone recognized him from his past.
‘Still… to think this woman is the Golden Priestess.’
