Chapter 30. Do Heo-ok
Tang Wu was walking past Do Heo-ok toward the exit of the tent, so under normal circumstances, the distance indicated by the piercing vision should have increased and then cut off.
Yet even so, the distance warned by the piercing vision was instead shrinking.
That meant the new high-level enemy was ...
'So it's him.'
The meaning of Do Heo-ok.
Then, among the three choices, what kind of enemy was Do Heo-ok supposed to be?
Should he be eliminated, avoided, or deceived?
The answer had already been decided.
With a level gap of over ten, the first option had already disappeared. The moment they entered the Namgung Family, the second option was gone as well.
Only one option remained.
He had to deceive him.
It was the most common choice, and also the hardest to carry out. Especially if the enemy was a human of a similar type to oneself, it was dangerous to loosen one's guard even for a moment.
And.
By his judgment, Do Heo-ok was ......
The moment Dong Bong-su saw Do Heo-ok, he felt an inexplicable sense of discomfort. At first, he couldn't tell what it was. But as the distance between him and Do Heo-ok narrowed to within a few meters, he understood the source of that discomfort.
It was a subtle characteristic that an ordinary person could never notice, and even if one did find it, it would be hard to feel that it was strange.
'Perfect. Too perfect.'
The true nature of the discomfort Dong Bong-su found was.
Perfect symmetry.
Every human has some degree of left-right asymmetry in appearance. The only difference is the extent of it. Not only the face, but the length of the limbs, the height of the shoulders, the arrangement of the teeth, the sag of the chest or hips, and even the shape of the genitals all possess left-right asymmetry.
But.
Do Heo-ok was perfect.
Not only were his looks and physique perfect, but his left-right symmetry was flawless. Even with the plastic surgery of modern Earth where Dong Bong-su had lived, it was nearly impossible to make a human face into a perfect decalcomania.
And yet in a world like this, where surgical techniques were practically nonexistent, such flawless symmetry occurred naturally?
Impossible.
It was so perfect that it was unnatural. It had been made.
That was what his instincts were telling him.
And his judgment quickly reached a conclusion.
[He's a predator. Different from me, but another form of predator.]
That was the conclusion he reached.
Dong Bong-su realized that he had encountered a proper predator for the first time in a very long while.
He began to observe Do Heo-ok more closely.
However, Do Heo-ok was only looking at Tang Wu. He was paying attention solely to the greatest side character of the performance he was about to stage, completely unaware that a monster like Dong Bong-su was watching him.
"What are you all doing? Why aren't you following quickly?"
Tang Wu, who had been walking as if he were about to leave alone, stopped at the entrance of the temporary guest hall. He turned his head and shouted loudly at the group.
Dong Bong-su and Tang Hua immediately followed after him.
However, Gi Dae-hyo and the members of the Danri Family hesitated. They were confused as to whether they were included among those Tang Wu referred to as 'not following quickly.' In the first place, what Tang Wu had promised was to move together until Yeoro was handed over to the Namgung Family, and to have Danri Ganghae accepted as an outer disciple of Namgung Byeok.
Yeoro and the congratulatory gifts had already been handed over to the Horse Stable Hireling and servants outside the Namgung Family. Now, the only thing Tang Wu still needed to keep was recommending Danri Ganghae to Namgung Byeok, and that did not require Danri Ganghae to accompany them.
Moreover, those who entered the guest hall were supposed to write their names in the guest registry and undergo identity verification before being allowed to enter the Namgung Family grounds.
That made them hesitate even more. If they were included in Tang Wu's words, it meant Tang Wu had vouched for their identities, and there would be no need to go through the verification process. If not, they would have to undergo various procedures for identity confirmation in order to enter the Namgung Family.
While the members of the Danri Family were wavering like that, Tang Wu shouted again in irritation.
"Hey, what are you doing? Didn't you hear what this old man said? You all hurry up and follow too. That way I can grant what I mentioned last time."
The faces of Gi Dae-hyo and Danri Ganghae immediately lit up. Those words implied not just that Tang Wu would keep his promise, but that he would let them meet Namgung Byeok in person. Becoming an outer disciple through a mere recommendation and personally stamping one's face before Namgung Byeok were completely different matters.
"Just leave one of you behind to write in the guest registry. Write our names, and that fellow's name too."
Tang Wu directly pointed at Dong Bong-su and referred to him as 'that fellow.' It was a clear declaration that Dong Bong-su was now a member of the Tang Family.
Having finished saying everything he needed to, Tang Wu lowered his hand and immediately turned his body, leaving the temporary guest hall. Following behind him, Dong Bong-su, Tang Hua, and the members of the Danri Family streamed out one after another.
Do Heo-ok hurriedly followed after Tang Wu. In truth, from the moment Tang Wu arrived, there was no longer any need for him to remain in the temporary guest hall.
"Hero Tang, I will escort you to the Imperial King Hall."
The Imperial King Hall was located at the center of the Namgung Family grounds, where the Namgung Family head and his direct family members resided.
"Do as you like."
Even though Tang Wu was far ahead, he replied coldly, as if he had heard Do Heo-ok's words.
Do Heo-ok's eyes flashed coldly once before he disappeared from the temporary guest hall.
Now, only a single member of the Black Five Group remained inside the temporary guest hall.
As Tang Wu had instructed, he began writing the group's names one by one. Then he got stuck at the last name. It was time to write Sosam's name. But he still couldn't be sure whether it was truly Sosam.
"... Ah, whatever."
After a brief moment of hesitation, he scribbled two characters in messy handwriting and followed the lower-rank martial artist in charge of reception toward the Imperial King Hall.
The two characters he wrote were.
Still 'Sosam.'
***
The Namgung Family grounds were vast.
As if teaching through the estate itself why it was not called one of the Central Plains' Five Great Families for nothing, its scale was not even comparable to that of the Danri Family.
Each individual pavilion was larger than any building in the Danri Family estate, and their number was so great that one could not easily grasp it without touring the entire grounds.
In addition, as a unique symbol of the Namgung Family, each pavilion roof had a sword embedded into it, each reaching a length of one jang, with the words 'House of the Imperial King' carefully engraved on every blade.
The sight made it feel as though they were looking down upon the world with swords, proving that the Namgung Family was not called Anhui's First Family for no reason.
Danri Ganghae, Gi Dae-hyo, and the other members of the Danri Family—who were considered formidable even back in Bongyang—were overwhelmed by the might of the Namgung Family and followed Do Heo-ok in silence, their bodies stiff with tension.
In contrast, Tang Hua walked leisurely as if it were her own home. From her demeanor alone, it was easy to feel that her background as a descendant of the Tang Sect was not inferior to the Namgung Family's.
Dong Bong-su walked slightly behind Tang Hua. It was as though he, too, had become a member of the Tang Family. Though not intentional, he ended up walking at the very rear of the group.
Even as he committed the layout of the Namgung Family grounds to memory, he never stopped observing Do Heo-ok. Even without the piercing vision constantly sending warnings, his instincts continued to signal that Do Heo-ok was dangerous.
'Who are you?'
Was there originally a real person named Do Heo-ok whom he killed and impersonated? Or was Do Heo-ok a fictional 'character' that had been created and 'raised' into what he was now?
It was still impossible to tell which. What was certain was that it was one of the two.
From behind, Do Heo-ok's gait showed subtle asymmetry like that of ordinary people. That was proof that his original body should have been asymmetrical like any normal human's. Such a gait inevitably creates a dominant leg. In truth, everyone has one—it's just a matter of how slight or severe the difference is.
And yet, Do Heo-ok's leg lengths matched perfectly, without the slightest discrepancy. Without a doubt, he was a man with something rotten hidden within.
Dong Bong-su's eyes flashed sharply without anyone noticing, as he began accelerating his analysis of Do Heo-ok.
'Who are you? And why are you hiding here?'
Just as his brain was about to begin operating at full speed.
"We've arrived."
"We've arrived. This is the Imperial King Hall."
Tang Wu and Do Heo-ok, who were walking at the very front, announced simultaneously that they had arrived at the Imperial King Hall.
The group halted all at once.
The Imperial King Hall.
A building of insane grandeur worthy of its name stood blocking their path. In truth, they had already seen it from afar before arriving, so everyone knew that building was the Imperial King Hall. But seeing it from a distance and seeing it up close were entirely different matters.
Unlike the other pavilions, which each had only one sword embedded in their roofs, the roof of the Imperial King Hall had thirty-three swords embedded into it. All were old and heavily rusted, yet they were swords whose value still shone.
They were the family head's swords once used by the previous heads of the Namgung Family. When a Namgung Family head neared death, he would embed his sword into the roof of the Imperial King Hall like that. It was a tradition upon traditions, commemorating the completion of the Imperial King's Path before leaving the world.
That tradition itself was proof that the Namgung Family had survived for over a thousand years on the battlefield called the martial world.
The members of the Danri Family looked up at it, overwhelmed as if their hearts were shrinking, but Dong Bong-su naturally glanced at it once without any particular emotion.
To him, death meant the end of everything. From his perspective, all of that held no meaning whatsoever.
Tang Wu, however, seemed irritated by the sight.
"Tsk. I feel bad every time I come here. Who do they think they are, throwing around words like 'imperial king' and looking down on others like that? They should just sleep quietly in their graves. Tsk."
Even as he spoke, his eyes were fixed on the sword embedded at the very end.
Do Heo-ok glanced at him once and said,
"Then please wait here for a moment. I will go inside and ... "
"That's enough. Didn't I say they've been waiting anyway?"
Tang Wu brushed past Do Heo-ok and walked straight into the Imperial King Hall.
Stop.
The martial artists guarding the entrance of the Imperial King Hall failed to recognize Tang Wu and drew their swords to block his path. Even though he had appeared alongside Do Heo-ok, their duty was to prevent anyone from entering without Namgung Byeok's permission.
"Do I need to take action myself?"
Tang Wu smiled coldly. It wasn't a hostile tone. If anything, it almost sounded like he was in a good mood.
"He is the Hero of the Tang Family, the Soul-Chasing Poisoned Hand. Open the way for him."
"...!"
At Do Heo-ok's words, the guards' faces turned pale as they finally realized whom they had stopped. They hurriedly lowered their swords.
"Heh heh. Don't worry too much, lads. My Soul-Chasing Flying Butterfly doesn't chase just any soul."
Tang Wu lightly patted the guards on their shoulders and entered the Imperial King Hall. Needless to say, their bodies flinched at the touch.
Perhaps because they had experienced Tang Wu's methods not long ago, the members of the Danri Family also shuddered once before stepping into the Imperial King Hall.
Do Heo-ok and Tang Hua followed right behind them.
Lastly,
Dong Bong-su entered the Imperial King Hall.
His eyes were still fixed on Do Heo-ok's back.
They were the eyes of a predator measuring the timing and method of the hunt.