“… what is your age?”

Sometimes the human brain would become overloaded regardless of one’s will. It could be said that Dan Baek-yeon’s current state was like that.

Her mind was exploding like fireworks.

‘What did I just say?’

She definitely thought of saying thank you, but something else came out when she looked at Mumu.

It can be said that Dan Baek-yeon had cracked apart the cold image she had built up over several years with just one question.

She bowed her head and covered her face with her hands.

‘…ahhh.’

She knew she had done something crazy here. This child was a disciple, a student, and she was a teacher in this academy. However, she couldn’t control her mouth due to the emotions inside her.

‘I haven’t trained enough.’

She didn’t know what to do now. 90% of her wanted to get out of the situation, but 10% wanted to stay.

The words she uttered with her mouth were her true thoughts, and she wondered how Mumu would respond.

“Age?”

Mumu asked.

Pound~

Her heart began to beat quicker. Although she felt that the situation was strange, she still was hoping for something.

“Age? What do you mean?”

Mumu tilted his head which made her raise her own head. Mumu had an innocent face, and she was stunned. Mumu didn’t seem to know what she was aiming at.

‘… right. This was strange.’

It was natural that the child didn’t understand it, as this was something she just blurted out. But she hated that she had done it.

“Phew. Nothing…”

“Was Master asking how I think about those older than me?”

“…”

What?

Did he understand what she meant after all? Then why did he act like he didn’t just a second ago?

‘Wait.’

Was Mumu doing this with hopes that she would ask him again? If that was the case, this wasn’t a normal situation.

But unlike her complicated thoughts, Mumu had just taken the question literally.

‘Did she mean to ask what I think about those older than me?’

Except for his friends, everyone was older than Mumu. The deputy, his stepfather, and even his brother, whom he met today.

All good people.

Mumu smiled brightly and said.

“I like it.”

‘!!!!’

As soon as he said that, her face turned beet red as if it would explode. Mumu became slightly surprised as her expression resembled one whose soul had left her body.

‘I think she has a fever.’

“Uh? Master, are you alright?”

He reached out to her forehead, but then she stepped back in panic.

‘… scary. Is this the initiative of youth?’

After hearing that he liked it, she had misunderstood his every action.

What did this kid mean?

She stroked her red cheeks. It was cute to see her being shy, but students would feel shocked at this sight.

‘It is so hot.’

As she was turning hot due to embarrassment, she used ice energy. Mumu, who watched the ice form on her hand, remembered something.

‘Ah!’

And then he grabbed her hand.

“Master!”

She was shocked when he unintentionally grabbed her wrist. Mumu then said.

“There is something I want to ask.”

‘W-what?’

He said he liked older ones, so was he trying to assert dominance? Contrary to his innocent face, he looked like the forceful type now.

Bewildered, she waved her other hand.

“T-this is too fast. We are…”

“I found a trace of something that looks like ice. Can you confirm it?”

“…. Uh?”

Did she get too excited by herself?

Once again, her face turned red, but for a different reason.

Hae-ryang was following someone with the stealth technique of the Lower District sect.

The one he was following was Ha-ryun.

He caught up with the guy as he headed towards his dorm and kept a safe distance. Other than that, he wanted to know who else was involved.

‘Nice. This is close to advanced information when I get full knowledge of it.’

Advanced information was nothing short of a treasure in the Lower District sect. This was because such information could change the results.

‘A pity, but this is an investment.’

Mo Il-hwa, the daughter of an official, Mumu, who possessed extraordinary strength, and his brother Jin-hyuk, who was exactly like his older brother. These three would become famous in the murim.

‘Can I be at their side?’

He hoped so. And this road….

‘The North Heavenly Dorm.’

This was unexpected.

This was the dorm they stayed in. They said it was darkest under the lamp, and that saying turned out to be true. Once the dorm is entered, the hallways would become narrow, which would make following the target complex.

‘Uh?’

However, Ha-ryun, who was about to enter the dorm, saw someone and raised his hand.

And that person was…

‘Is he the one?’

Hae-ryang was surprised to see this person. He wondered if this person was in the same line of work as Ha-ryun.

A forested hill to the north of their dorm.

Someone in the shadows of the bushes was moving around the area. He then turned to Ha-ryun, who was following, and asked,

“What did you want to ask?”

Ha-ryun immediately asked.

“Who was the one who dealt with disciple Young Chun?”

He was here to find out about that.

At Ha-ryun’s question, the person leaned against a tree and spoke in a dry voice.

“That is information you don’t need to know.”

An obvious rejection.

At those words, Ha-ryun became angry. Even though they were all of the same ranks in the Eight Evil families, members of the Heavenly Killing Valley and the Demon Blood clan tried to act as if they were higher.

No, they used that to their advantage too.

“Did you call me to ask that? You are wasting my time.”

The person shook his head as he tried to leave, but then Ha-ryun asked.

“His name.”

“His?”

The person stopped, turned and walked.

“You wouldn’t call master Heo as his or him, so are you asking about the lord?”

To that, Ha-ryun said.

“Under these circumstances, it has to be the latter one.”

‘Did you think that only you and him would have contact? Well, not anymore.’

Even if he belonged to the Demon Blood clan, he couldn’t walk away.

“You… you know who will be the lord?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I have already contacted him several times, and I wasn’t sure till now…”

Shh.

Before he could finish speaking, someone appeared behind Ha-ryun and grabbed his neck.

A little more strength and it would break.

“W-what are you doing?”

Ha-ryun was shocked as someone said.

“Who are you trying to deceive now?”

“What do you mean deceive?”

“Is he the one who asked you to find out who took care of the student? Even if you used your head, you used it wrong.”

Clench!

The back of his neck felt like it would break at any moment.

In the end, Ha-ryun could not withstand it and his body twisted under the force. He decided to retaliate, but…

Kwang!

To his surprise, Ha-ryun had fallen to the floor. It felt like his body was split at the legs; thanks to that, it felt like his crotch was hurting.

“Ughhh.”

“You should recognize the difference between them.”

Ha-ryun couldn’t hold back his anger at the one who was laughing.

“Damn it! The one who will become the lord gave the order, but now I wonder…”

Pak!

And the person stepped on him.

“The thinking behind your question is wrong. The person who murdered the student was the lord candidate himself.”

‘!?’

Ha-ryun was shocked. What was this?

The one who killed the student was the Lord? This made no sense.

‘What is this?’

He couldn’t understand it. Once again, he felt confused.

Last time, he thought it was strange that the Mumu he thought of as his lord was someone he had to be careful about, and this time too.

‘He asked me to find out who killed the student, but the lord himself killed him?’

Didn’t he tell him to find out?

Ha-ryun was confused. He was sure that Mumu was the one who would become the lord.

“It cannot be. He has the jade plaque…”

As soon as he said that, the other person grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up as he asked.

“Did you meet the… another lord of the jade plaque?”

“UH?”

Another jade plaque? This was something even more confusing.

“Before that, I need to deal with the rat.”

“Rat?”

“Why do you think I brought you here instead of the dorm?”

Shh.

The person who had been holding his neck vanished.

The man who moved 10 meters away in an instant swung a sword at the person hiding behind the tree.

Slash!

The sword cut through the person’s chest, and blood spilt out. Hae-ryang then came out from behind his hiding spot.

In an instant, he had been unable to escape from the swift opponent and ended up with a large wound on his chest.

“Hae-ryang… kid of the Lower District sect.”

“Ah, as expected.”

The person laughed at Hae-ryang, who was bleeding.

“You should have run away.”

“Cough.”

“All the people of the Lower District sect are the same.”

Stupid people who risked lives for the sake of information. Killing the Lower District’s child would disrupt their lineage.

The person then raised his sword.

“The rat’s life ends here. Die…”

“Ah, young master MUMU!”

At that time, Hae-ryang looked at someone and shouted.

-flinch.

The person hurriedly turned his sword to his back, but.

‘!?’

There was no one there. Not a sign of anyone.

‘This bastard!’

Realizing that he was deceived, he was about to kill Hae-ryang in anger.

Clash!

“Take this!”

Hae-ryang, who barely moved, avoided the sword and threw something at his face.

‘Huh!’

The man, with incredible reflexes, tilted his head to avoid it.

Papapapang!

“Kuak!”

The thing Hae-ryang threw exploded in front of him one after another, and Hae-ryang stepped back to save himself.

‘Why would I die? I have a long life to live.’