Chapter 398: Hidden in the Shadows (7)
It was a deep forest.
Withered ancient trees stretched out their bony forms, while patches of foliage, still clinging to their green leaves, rustled eerily in the wind.
High above, long trails of smoke rose into the distant sky. Whether they came from kitchen hearths cooking meals or were the final exhalations of a village looted in times of famine was impossible to tell.
Either way, the circumstances were grim. It was likely a segment of Heavenly Net, personally overseen by the master of Yeoryeong.
Villages built deep in the remote mountain wilderness, far from the main roads, were not homes for ordinary folk but served as foundations for some vast, intricate formation—populated not by civilians but by swordsmen.
At its center lay a small, hidden clearing.
The eyes of Singeom Squad Leader Yong Hui-myeong slowly opened.
Ssshhk.
As he rose from the smoothly cleaved rock he had been using as a bed, the violet silk robe draped over him like a blanket naturally slid up to wrap around his shoulders.
The early morning sunlight, clear and crisp, spilled gently over the fabric.
Though he had not bathed properly in days, he remained dignified.
The duty of the Singeom Squad Leader of Ipwang Fortress—one must be supreme in both refinement and martial prowess, throughout the boundless expanse of the martial world. At all times.