Chapter 408

Pyo Wol and the Ghost King left White Pagoda Village and began to move.

As the Ghost King had said, his memories were not intact.

He moved only by relying on the fragments of memory that occasionally surfaced and his intuition. Still, Pyo Wol did not intervene and simply watched.

It was to gauge whether there was any pattern or consistency in the Ghost King’s actions.

One of the things Pyo Wol did best was observation.

To watch persistently, to dig into the source.

Pyo Wol’s way was to approach the truth by doing so.

Pyo Wol moved as the Ghost King led.

The Ghost King was truly inconsistent.

Sometimes he went north, and at other times, he headed south.

He had crossed mountains several times, and the number of times he had crossed lakes or rivers was countless.

There was so little consistency that Pyo Wol even wondered if the Ghost King was doing it on purpose.

However, the Ghost King was clearly doing his best.

Sometimes he would stand blankly, desperately trying to retrace his memories, and at other times he would rely on instinct to find his way. But he could never find the path to the place he wanted to go.

Pyo Wol could now understand why the Ghost King had come all the way to Poyang Lake, and why he ultimately couldn’t shake Gyeong Musaeng’s pursuit.

The Ghost King’s movements were too inefficient.

Because he made many decisions on the spur of the moment, it was impossible to find any clues.

Finding clues stems from prudence, a quality the Ghost King lacked.

Because of that, he had to wander about haphazardly without gaining any clues.

All this time, Pyo Wol had only watched the Ghost King. Then, finally, on the fifteenth day, Pyo Wol discovered something strange.

‘He never crosses a certain line to the west.’

It was a fact Pyo Wol would not have known if he hadn’t been observing constantly for the past fortnight.

Just when it seemed he was going well, upon reaching a certain line, the Ghost King would change direction without even realizing it himself.

At first, it was hard to notice this fact. But as the situation repeated itself periodically, Pyo Wol realized that an awareness of not crossing a certain line to the west was ingrained in the Ghost King’s subconscious.

His subconscious was refusing to cross to the west.

Pyo Wol wanted to know that line. So, even after that, he deliberately made the Ghost King go west.

When they passed Hunan Province and arrived in Guangxi Province, the Ghost King’s rejection became severe.

It was so obvious that even a stranger could tell he was unwilling to cross Guangxi Province into another region.

While he had no resistance to going east to Hunan Province, he instinctively refused to cross west of Guangxi Province.

‘Is it Yunnan Province?’

Beyond Guangxi Province to the west was Yunnan Province.

The hottest and most humid place in Jianghu.

A place where massive, ancient trees grew densely and poisonous insects and snakes swarmed, a place ordinary people dared not approach.

The Ghost King had said that the first sight he saw upon opening his eyes was a massive, ancient tree and a sky full of stars that seemed about to pour down.

It matched the scenery of Yunnan Province.

Of course, one could see similar scenery in other famous mountains of Jianghu, but it was worth checking out.

Pyo Wol asked the Ghost King.

“You said you have no memories from before you opened your eyes, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Any memory of going to Yunnan Province?”

“None.”

“Have you ever entered Yunnan Province since coming out into Jianghu?”

“I don’t know.”

“We are going to Yunnan Province.”

“Yunnan Province? Why?”

“Because you are instinctively refusing to go there.”

“I’m refusing?”

“Yes. Whenever you get near Yunnan Province, you turn in a different direction.”

“I’ve never done that.”

“I’m sure. It’s not an action you’re aware of. You’re moving that way subconsciously.”

“Subconsciously?”

The Ghost King blinked his eyes.

It was an expression of incomprehension.

Pyo Wol explained calmly.

“Either someone placed such a Restriction on your subconscious, or you yourself have an aversion and are reluctant to approach it. It must be one of the two.”

“Is that really true?”

“I’m only guessing. We’ll have to enter Yunnan Province to know for sure.”

“Yunnan Province… I see. I will follow you.”

He was the one who had asked for help in finding the way.

For the past month, Pyo Wol had followed and observed him, and now he had presented his findings.

Now it was his turn to follow him.

Pyo Wol headed for Yunnan Province with the Ghost King.

The problem occurred in Tianyang, a region bordering Yunnan Province.

The moment they entered Tianyang, the Ghost King’s steps began to head in the wrong direction.

His head understood, but his body was refusing the command.

‘A Restriction has definitely been planted in his subconscious.’

Pyo Wol was certain his guess was correct.

The problem was the Ghost King’s resistance.

To control him, he would have to be subdued, which was by no means an easy task.

Even Gyeong Musaeng, who could be called his natural enemy, had to sacrifice two Mystic treasures to put the Ghost King to sleep. If Pyo Wol tried to subdue the Ghost King by force, both of them would inevitably suffer great harm.

After pondering for a while, Pyo Wol soon came up with a method.

“If a Restriction is planted in your subconscious, then we’ll make it so you can’t feel your senses at all.”

“How so?”

“Cover your eyes, block your ears. Block out external senses so you can’t even perceive where you are.”

“You mean to deceive my senses.”

“Exactly!”

“I understand.”

The Ghost King immediately tore his sleeve to cover his eyes and ears. Then he blocked out external sensations with his Internal Energy.

In this way, the Ghost King confined himself to a world of darkness.

His only connection to the world was Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol took out the Silver Thread from his Dark Dragon Robe and connected his and the Ghost King’s wrists. He intended to convey his will to the Ghost King through the Silver Thread.

For an ordinary person, it would be impossible to move with all senses blocked like this. They might be able to walk for a short while at first, but walking like this all day would cause their mind to break down, or they would inevitably collapse from exhaustion.

But the Ghost King was an Expert with supreme Internal Energy.

His mental strength was also formidable.

Though his memory was not intact, he overcame the darkness and solitude surrounding him with his firm mental fortitude.

Fortunately, once all his senses were blocked, the resistance disappeared.

He obediently followed as Pyo Wol led.

Their appearance was very strange.

The sight of a young man with a pale face and beautiful features leading a young boy with his eyes closed drew everyone’s attention.

An ordinary person would have been burdened by people’s stares, but neither Pyo Wol nor the Ghost King were people who cared about such things.

Regardless of others’ gazes, they walked on in silence.

As a result, they were able to enter Yunnan Province in just a few days.

The moment they entered Yunnan Province, the air changed completely.

It was humid and hot, already making it hard to breathe.

The change in the air alone made it feel real that they had entered Yunnan Province.

Pyo Wol asked the Ghost King.

“Do you feel anything?”

“Not yet.”

“Tell me if there’s even the slightest change.”

“I will.”

The Ghost King nodded.

Even after entering Yunnan Province, he did not unblock his senses.

He had grown quite used to it by now, and with Pyo Wol’s help, he had no problem walking.

The two of them wandered aimlessly through Yunnan Province.

They would walk all day, rest for a night if they came across an Inn, and then set off again the next day. It was a repetition of that life.

They lived like that not for a day or two, but for almost a month.

An ordinary person would have already collapsed from exhaustion, but neither of them showed any sign of being tired.

During that time, they had roamed every corner of Yunnan Province.

There was hardly a place in the eastern part of Yunnan Province they hadn’t visited.

Even then, there were no results.

A change occurred the next day.

Suddenly, the Ghost King’s nose twitched.

“This smell, it’s familiar.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m certain. I’ve smelled it somewhere before.”

The Ghost King answered in a voice full of conviction.

He didn’t know at first. But the more he focused on the smell, the more certain he became.

The fact that he had smelled something like this before.

It was a smell that was humid yet had a sharp tang.

He had never once smelled anything like it outside of Yunnan Province.

“I have definitely been here before.”

“Anything else?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Pyo Wol was not disappointed by the Ghost King’s answer.

Just grasping this much of a clue was a great achievement.

“If we stay around here a little longer, something will surely come to you. Let’s look for a house.”

Pyo Wol looked around.

He had wandered through Yunnan Province for over a fortnight, but he didn’t know the exact name of this place.

Yunnan Province was different from the other provinces of Jianghu.

Unlike other provinces where one would find a house after a short walk, here there were many places where one could walk all day and not see a single private home.

The place they were in now was one such place.

Looking around, there was not a single private home in sight, let alone a city.

They could sleep outdoors, but it was better for conserving stamina to sleep in a house if possible.

Pyo Wol left the Ghost King and climbed up a high tree branch to look around.

In the distance, a village was visible.

It was a small village with barely a dozen households.

From the looks of it, it seemed to be a village established by slash-and-burn farmers.

Pyo Wol headed towards the village with the Ghost King.

As he had guessed, the village was clearly cultivated by slash-and-burn farmers.

Around the recently made fields, there were traces of burning. They had set fire to a part of the forest to cultivate the fields.

In the newly cultivated fields, a middle-aged couple was diligently picking out stones.

When Pyo Wol and the Ghost King approached, the couple was startled.

“Oh my goodness!”

“Hiek!”

They screamed as if they had committed a crime and ran away.

At the unexpectedly intense reaction, Pyo Wol frowned slightly.

No matter how wary slash-and-burn farmers were, this reaction was too excessive.

Perhaps alerted by the couple, people poured out of the village.

In their hands were things like pitchforks and axes.

An old man who appeared to be the village chief came forward.

His sun-darkened skin and sagging wrinkles told of the arduous life the old man had lived.

The old man, like the others, held a pitchfork in his hand.

He pointed the pitchfork at Pyo Wol and said.

“I don’t know where you’re from, but our village does not accept outsiders, so please turn back.”

“Is it not possible to stay for just one night?”

“As you can see, there is no Inn here. Everyone lives day by day by working the fields, so we cannot spare any food. So please give up on staying here and go somewhere else.”

The other people agreed with the village chief’s words.

“We don’t accept outsiders.”

“Go somewhere else.”

At the more stubborn reaction than expected, Pyo Wol frowned slightly. But he had no intention of trying to persuade those who showed such clear rejection.

Pyo Wol said to the Ghost King.

“Let’s go.”

“Wait!”

However, it seemed the Ghost King had no intention of leaving so obediently.

Although he had kept his eyes and ears covered on the way here, he had briefly opened his ears to listen to the conversation with the villagers. Thanks to that, he heard everything they said.

The Ghost King emitted a powerful aura from his entire body.

“I will absolutely sleep here tonight.”

He was throwing a tantrum.

Hostility had arisen towards the slash-and-burn farmers who were rejecting them for no reason.

The Ghost King had an unpredictable temperament.

It had softened a little while traveling with Pyo Wol, but his true nature had not completely disappeared.

“Hiek!”

“Huk!”

When the Ghost King released his aura, the faces of the slash-and-burn farmers turned deathly white.

The village chief, who was closest, collapsed to the ground and wet himself.

The Ghost King’s aura was too powerful for an old man like him to handle.

The village chief felt like an ant facing a tidal wave.

His mind went blank, and his head became so empty that no thoughts could form.

Only then did he realize that the men before him were more terrifying than he had expected, but there was nothing he could do.

It wasn’t just the village chief.

All the villagers were prostrated on the ground, trembling.

Some people might enjoy such a scene, but it was not to Pyo Wol’s taste.

Pyo Wol was about to tell the Ghost King to stop. But someone else spoke before he could.

“That’s enough. They don’t mean any harm.”

It was a tone of voice that calmed the listener’s heart.

The owner of the voice walked out from inside the village.

With steps as calm as the voice itself.

The moment Pyo Wol confirmed the person’s appearance, his expression changed slightly.

“Yong… Seollan?”