Chapter 297

Chapter 297

What occupation has learned tracking arts most excellently in the world?

First, needless to say, those who specialized in learning only tracking arts. In this vast Murim, there’s plenty of demand for finding people, and among such work, there’s also tracking masters skilled enough to leave no trace of themselves.

Second are information agents. People’s movements fundamentally dictate the flow of information, and anything that dictates the flow of information is ultimately the domain of information agents.

Most occupations excluding these two have no reason to learn tracking arts. Secretly following not beasts but human traces to grasp the opponent’s location isn’t easy work, and its utility isn’t that high.

However.

Despite that difficult level, there’s one more occupation in the world that must learn tracking arts. That is assassins.

This is why most assassins are masters of tracking arts.

“He’s left.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean he’s already left.”

Near the border village. Under a lightning-struck tree.

Following Baekri Un’s words, after circling the area and decoding the signs before finally finding the location, Jeokyeol clicked his tongue while looking at the traces left on the ground. No presence could be felt no matter if he looked here or there.

“There are traces of packing dried rations. He must have prepared for quite a long journey.”

“But…… this much dried rations remain?”

“It’s a young child.”

“A young…… child?”

“Yes.”

Looking at the traces left behind, the footprints are small and the stride is narrow. A typical young child’s gait.

“Even among adults, there are plenty who could have small feet. Not everyone, but there are a few villages in the Central Plains that have foot-binding customs.”

“Foot-binding?”

“A custom of deliberately making women’s feet small by continuously making them wear small shoes from childhood. It’s a terrible custom.”

“Ah…….”

“If such foot-binding customs exist here too, we actually can’t definitively say these footprints aren’t an adult’s. But the stride is different.”

“The stride?”

“Yes.”

Young children have a relatively larger upper body ratio compared to their total body compared to adults. What does that mean?

It means a young child’s center of gravity is higher up compared to adults. The reason young children fall more easily even running the same way, while adults don’t fall easily, is for that reason. Because adults have their center of gravity lower than young children.

“Young children whose center of gravity is higher up instinctively take relatively shorter strides than adults to avoid falling. That’s why even if an adult and a young child have the same height, their strides are different.”

“Then these traces must be a young child because the stride is short.”

“Yes. Looking at other things makes it clear too. It looks like they packed roughly this much dried rations… but if it were an adult, they would have somehow packed more. Because there seems to have been room in the bag’s space.”

“Ah.”

“The important thing is why he left a note saying this young child must be saved by all means.”

“Hmm…….”

“I don’t know.”

Scratching his head, Jeokyeol looked around and stroked his chin. This hiding place and everything was full of strange things.

‘No matter how I look at it, this isn’t a hiding place made overnight.’

No matter how much a martial artist can exert superhuman strength using internal energy, making a proper hiding place underground isn’t something that happens overnight.

Considering compacting the ground, drying wood to use as framework, and driving it underground—it would need at least a month. And going back a month from now would be a time when the Great Seal hadn’t even been broken yet.

There would have been no need for Sugak to need a hiding place at that point. It’s not close to the Sado Alliance or Demonic Cult, and Changcheon Corps members here would rarely be attacked.

That should definitely be the case.

‘Then why was this hiding place made?’

Coming because he left a note saying they must be saved, all that remains is traces of one young child.

Then the target Sugak wanted to save by all means must be this disappeared young child. In a situation where I thought maybe he hid a master suffering internal injuries who would be of great help, the target suddenly changed to a young child.

‘In a normal situation, it would be right to think he tried to save even a young child swept up in personal feelings, but……’

Looking at the hiding place’s size and the amount of dried rations remaining, that probability is low. There couldn’t have been only that one young child in the border village, and looking at the amount of dried rations, it seems enough to accommodate several more people.

Then what is it? What’s the reason Changcheon 3rd Squad Leader Sugak wanted to save this young child by all means?

“I won’t get an answer without tracking first.”

“Can you track them?”

“Probably.”

Looking at the degree of traces remaining, they left about a day ago at most.

It’s a young child’s stride who didn’t separately learn martial arts. No matter how generously I estimate, they couldn’t have gone far.

“At best, did they go thirty li?”

If it’s that much, it should be enough to catch up.

“I’ll track, so you all follow behind me…… mm?”

Swaeaek! Peok!

Speaking before suddenly feeling killing intent, Jeokyeol reflexively threw a throwing knife to hit the opponent and fixed his gaze. Beyond the rock, a white puppet collapsed in a posture watching them.

“This is…….”

“Tsk. Already discovered.”

That Baekri Un is a ghost was discovered.

Having grasped the situation, Jeokyeol scratched his head and stood up.

“We’ll start pursuit immediately.”

That the child hasn’t gone far ultimately means there’s a possibility they’ll also be caught in Muhyeong’s search net.

“We must hurry.”

There wasn’t much time.

***

It’s hard.

“Huk. Huk…….”

Gakpyeong, who barely climbed over a large rock practically crawling with his small body, looked around and moistened his throat with water from his canteen. His pounding heart and his legs hot enough to burst.

‘How much farther do I have to go……?’

Gakpyeong, who lived in the border village, had never been to another village.

In a way, that might be natural. From the beginning, Yunnan isn’t a place lenient enough for a young child to roam about at will.

The mountain terrain is rough, there are many swamps, and poisonous insects and snakes constantly roam about—that’s Yunnan’s environment. Moreover, the distance from the border village to Dali, the nearest city, is a great journey of over three hundred li at minimum.

For an ordinary young child, it would be normal to sit down without even going half, no, even a tenth. They would get lost and end up stranded somewhere.

In reality, that wasn’t much different for Gakpyeong. The fortunate thing for Gakpyeong was that Gakpyeong himself wasn’t an ordinary young child.

‘Uncle taught me.’

How to find direction. How to distinguish safe drinking water.

Fruits and mushrooms that are safe to eat and those that aren’t. How to avoid wild beasts. He learned all of that from Sugak. Saying there would be a time to use it someday.

Being in a position of being ostracized in the village anyway, Gakpyeong absorbed all of Sugak’s teachings. Since he wasn’t bad at comprehension originally, he learned quickly. And.

This is the result.

Despite a young child’s poor stamina and body, he traversed a road reaching forty li in one day.

‘How much farther do I need to go……?’

To Dali is roughly three hundred li in a straight line.

However, considering the terrain, three hundred li wouldn’t even come close. It might be different for Murim people, but considering that a commoner who hasn’t learned martial arts, moreover a young child like Gakpyeong, would have to detour around, it wouldn’t be wrong to say he needs to travel close to five hundred li.

‘Uncle said I don’t need to go all the way to Dali.’

Fortunately, there are roads in Yunnan too. If he can just reach somewhere near Dali and get on the main road, perhaps he can join up with people through human presence for the rest.

‘Roughly…… if I go just three hundred li more somehow.’

He just needs to somehow convey the news. Then the Murim Alliance uncles Sugak mentioned will somehow help.

Baseurak!

“……!.”

Something’s there.

Taking a breath before stopping it involuntarily at the sound of fallen leaves rustling, Gakpyeong turned his gaze before stopping his breathing at a familiar face. A person expressionlessly wandering around looking for something.

‘Uncle Jang……!’

Mister Jang living in the same village.

Not a close person. From the beginning, most villagers instinctively avoid Gakpyeong who sees through essence. Wasn’t it the same with Mister Jang?

But what’s important now isn’t that. What’s important is only one thing.

‘Faceless……’

That his essence changed.

‘He was devoured.’

If discovered, I’ll die. If discovered, definitely.

‘Hup.’

Having quickly grasped the situation, Gakpyeong covered his mouth with both hands and minimized his breathing. A voice heard from afar.

“Where…… are you…….”

Won’t my heartbeat be heard?

At the worry that suddenly surged without realizing it, Gakpyeong also curled up his body to minimize sound. Like a pill bug.

A moment of time flows like an eternity.

Each time footsteps were heard, his pounding heart gradually began to regain its stability as the footsteps grew distant. And.

‘Did he leave……?’

Around when the footsteps grew distant and even the sound of rustling leaves couldn’t be heard.

Confirming the surroundings had become quiet, Gakpyeong let out his held breath in a long exhale and raised his head.

“Oh my?”

Their eyes met.

‘Faceless……!’

With someone different from Mister Jang, a villager.

“A young child. Your name is…….”

‘Ho-how……’

What should I do?

While trembling yet forcibly stopping his fleeing steps, Gakpyeong clenched his fists. The essence of the villager visible before his eyes was also faceless. The faceless one.

I mustn’t run away.

‘I’ll be caught right away……’

Adults are fast. Twice as fast as himself, a young child. If he runs away, being caught right away is as obvious as daylight.

Fortunately, the opponent didn’t recognize him at a glance. Then if he pretends to be a lost person.

“……Gakpyeong?”

Crookedly.

The villager who tilted his head smiled bizarrely and asked Gakpyeong.

“Your name is Gakpyeong, right? The creepy Gakpyeong who sees through people’s insides.”

“…….”

“That’s right. Hmhm. You look exactly like the memory. Even the part where you don’t speak. It’s strange. It must be something important, so why have I been forgetting until now?”

The villager, who wore a bizarre smile as if realizing it himself, grabbed Gakpyeong’s shoulder. The villager squeezing Gakpyeong’s shoulder painfully.

“Now, Gakpyeong. Then I have one thing to ask.”

“Wh-what is it……?”

“It’s a very simple question.”

“…….”

“How do I look to your eyes?”

Perhaps.

“Don’t I look like a person without a face……?”

Teolsseok.

The villager smiling broadly. Simultaneously at the sight of Mister Jang approaching from behind, Gakpyeong, stricken with fear, sat down on the ground. And.

“I almost left a problem seed.”

The next moment.

The moment the hammer the villager raised was about to strike down Gakpyeong.

“My instincts felt oddly bad, so I headed this way, but…….”

A flash of light.

“I’d better let that problem seed remain a bit longer.”

Split the air.