Chapter 16 Spider Demon (Jugu)-1

Chapter 16: Spider Demon (Jugu)-1

Deputy Leader Yeo Seo-yu addressed Leader Seolpung.

“Now, look me straight in the eye.”

But even at those words, the squad leader couldn’t bring himself to look at Young Master Na, only shifting his gaze restlessly from side to side.

The male members of our squad watched this scene with amused laughter.

I said with a smile.

“Seeing how he can’t meet my gaze, it seems certain the squad leader hasn’t been bewitched, right?”

Biseoyoung chimed in.

“Exactly. He’s acting just like his usual self. Team Leader, shouldn’t you be a little smitten? You need to get married, don’t you?”

Bae Jong-gwan laughed and chimed in.

“Sa-yeong, you can’t speak well in front of women either. So does that mean you have to be bewitched to get married too?”

Bisae-yeong bristled at that.

“What, what, what are you talking about?! It’s not that I can’t speak, it’s that I didn’t feel the need to! There was no need!”

Hearing that, I chuckled and retorted.

“Oh, really?”

“Of course!”

At that moment, Lady Na Se-yu addressed Bise-yeong.

“Good. Then the next person will be Young Master Bi. Come here and look me in the eyes.”

“Hmph! You think I can’t do it?!”

We were currently investigating whether the male members at the lodge had been possessed.

An official notice had come down from the Bi Long Division, reporting a victim of soul-stealing and ordering us to check all former Bi Long members.

On the front lines, it was not uncommon for people to be possessed by the Blood Cult.

And that was far more horrific than the appearance of demons or demon lords.

Because it meant losing a trusted comrade and then having to kill that comrade with their own hands.

The method to break the Blood Cult’s soul-stealing was still completely unknown.

“Now, look me straight in the eyes.”

“Look, I’m looking.”

“Oh, what’s that supposed to mean? Don’t just glance like that—you have to keep looking.”

“Right, Sayoung. Keep looking. Where’d all that confidence from earlier go?”

“Exactly. You were teasing me like that earlier, but now you look just like me?”

“Ah, no! Honestly, doesn’t this prove he hasn’t been possessed?! Right, Deputy Chief?”

“Well, seeing how he can’t meet my gaze, it’s clear Prince Bi is perfectly fine too.”

“What?! I did make eye contact!”

“Well, you did. For just a very brief moment.”

Whether someone had been possessed was usually determined by their gaze.

Because the eyes of those possessed lost their spark.

Moreover, the task of making that judgment usually fell to the women rather than the men. Women were far more sensitive to subtle changes in their comrades’ demeanor, which was precisely why every squad on the front lines was organized as a mixed unit.

“Now, it’s Young Master Seonwoo’s turn.”

At Lady Na’s words, I swallowed hard and stepped forward.

Hmm, so I have to maintain eye contact with Lady Na?

My heart was pounding relentlessly.

If I had my way, I could have kept it up for a moment, or even an hour.

Beside me, Biseyang and Bae Jong-gwan spoke to me.

“Hmph! Jin, let’s see just how confident you really are!”

“Hang in there, Jin!”

Hearing my friends’ words, I suddenly smiled.

Why would I need to cheer myself up?

This was my chance to meet Lady Na’s gaze.

I should take this chance to gaze at Lady Na’s face to my heart’s content.

But that thought vanished the moment Lady Na smiled softly and looked at me with gentle eyes.

Her smile pierced straight through my eyes and deep into my heart.

Her gentle eyes, like a puppy’s with the corners turned down, and her soft smile that seemed to understand and accept everything in the world.

Though she might not be a peerless beauty like Lady Dangyeo, her kind and lovely face made one feel infinitely good.

Boom!

Something inside me seemed to explode in that instant.

Then, my colleagues, who had been watching me with fascinated expressions, immediately burst into laughter.

“Hahahahaha! What was that?! How can a person’s face get that red?!”

“Hahaha! Jin, even if you’re nervous, how can you turn that red before you even see her face?!”

“Sorry, Jin. I should’ve just told you to try a little harder.”

Only then did I realize what had happened and touched my face.

Then I felt my body temperature burning hot like the sun.

Na Sojeo said to me, holding back laughter.

“Guess I don’t even need to look at your eyes. I never imagined there could be a man hotter than the team leader?”

Huh?! Wait, hold on! You don’t need to look at my eyes?!

No, Miss!

I hurriedly tried to stop her.

“Ah, no, I…”

But she smiled gently and said to me.

“Don’t push yourself too hard, Young Master Seonwoo. I’m sorry for teasing you when you must have been exhausted.”

“No, I mean, that’s…”

And just like that, the chance to look Miss Na in the face properly flew away into the sky.

It felt like the world had collapsed.

What kind of ridiculous situation is this…

As I stood there frustrated, Biseaeng suddenly asked.

“By the way, Deputy Chief, did you check Young Lady Cheongyeon’s eyes too?”

That question made me, still frustrated, suddenly lift my head and look at Lady Na. I was also extremely curious.

Even though Young Lady Cheongyeon had become quite close with the female team members now, I could still say I was the one closest to her. She always followed me wherever I went.

But even I had never seen the area above her nose. When I asked why she always kept her bangs down, she only said she couldn’t show it because there was a scar.

A scar…

If that were true, well, it couldn’t be helped.

Somehow, I didn’t think it was true.

‘My name is Cheongyeon. My surname is Cheong, and my given name is Yeon.’

That was how she introduced herself to the team members.

Despite clearly having a separate surname, she introduced herself this way. And considering she was a friend of Lady Jegal Seoyul, daughter of Jegal Jigang, the Supreme Commander of the Martial Alliance, it was obvious she was the daughter of a prominent family. Yet she hid her origins from . Seeing this, I couldn’t help but wonder if she was intentionally hiding her face too.

Therefore, whether Miss Cheongyeon had shown her eyes to me was something I couldn’t help but be extremely curious about.

When asked if she had seen Miss Qingyan’s eyes, Miss Na suddenly seemed to recall something.

Then, she nodded blankly and murmured.

“Yes, I did. That was truly…”

“Really?”

As we focused our curious gazes on her, Miss Na snapped back to her senses, hastily shaking her head with a smile.

“Ah, no. I saw it with Jueun, but Yeon had to cover her face.”

“Huh? Why’d you say that?”

“Well… if she didn’t cover it, it would cause a huge commotion, right?”

“…Huh?”

Her incomprehensible explanation made us frown, but Na Sojeo seemed unwilling to elaborate further.

“Well, that’s how it is. Anyway, everyone worked hard. Ah, Captain, are you heading out right away?”

At her question, Team Leader Seolpung smiled faintly and nodded.

“I intend to.”

Na Sojeo then spoke with a worried expression.

“Please be careful. I heard the spirit that appeared this time might not be just one.”

“Thank you for your concern, Miss. I’ll be careful not to let my guard down.”

Captain Seolpung and the thirteen supreme masters were scheduled to depart immediately.

Their mission was to search the jungle for the most dangerous demon currently lurking there: the Zhu Gui.

The demonic beasts, known as Jugeui, grew stronger by absorbing human vital essence. While they originally possessed abilities on par with top-tier first-class masters, it was known that they could grow to peak master level once they absorbed the vital essence of three or more people.

‘Of course, they don’t use qi, but their physical abilities actually surpass those of peak-level masters just beginning their journey.’

As they grew, their intelligence even increased, making them incredibly difficult to detect. They were truly the worst kind of demonic beasts.

But now, intelligence had come in: that demon had absorbed the essence of at least five people in the Fourteenth Division, located east of the Thirteenth Division, and was moving towards us.

We couldn’t help but declare an emergency.

“Are all the peak masters going out?”

“Ah, yes. A blood demon that has absorbed the essence of at least five people can only be dealt with by the peak masters.”

“Please be careful, Captain.”

“Yes, thank you.”

We watched Team Leader Seolpung’s retreating figure leave the room with heavy hearts.

Just as in past lives, the frequency and danger of demonic beings had increased significantly after the demonic hordes’ attack.

Where once a demon might appear once every few months, now one or two showed up every month.

The emergence of liver ghosts and filial ghosts was, of course, even more frequent.

Suddenly, I asked Young Lady Na.

“Young Lady Cheon Ju-eun… No, what are you young ladies planning to do?”

“Us? Given the current atmosphere, we’re hesitant to enter the forest, so we plan to train near our lodgings.”

“I see.”

Hearing her words, I breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

Recalling memories from my past life, it seemed that Lady Cheon Ju-eun, who wasn’t part of our group back then, had died around this very time.

I don’t remember it clearly because I was too preoccupied with other things back then, but I distinctly recall the fear I felt when her body, torn apart by a pack of wild beasts in the forest, was discovered around the same time I arrived.

But this time, since she was in our group and always stuck with me and Miss Cheongyeon, it seemed unlikely such a thing would happen.

Still, just in case, I cautioned her.

“You mustn’t go into the forest or venture into dangerous places on your own. If something happened to you ladies when the team leader isn’t around, how could we ever face him?”

Na Sojeo smiled brightly and replied.

“Don’t worry. We wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing. And thank you for your concern, Young Master Seonwoo.”

Up until then, I had thought this would be enough.

But it wasn’t until much later that I recalled that the person who died then wasn’t just Lady Cheon Ju-eun, and that there must have been another reason why she, still a novice at the time, had entered the forest during that dangerous period.

It was during the afternoon session, while I was practicing external cultivation with Biseaeng and Bae Jong-gwan.

Suddenly, Miss Mae Ye-gyeong, the deputy leader of the fourth sect, hurried past, looking around as if searching for something.

I spotted her and couldn’t tear my eyes away.

She was one of the people I, along with Tang Ye-eun and Ma Yu-gyeom, were keeping a close watch on.

She was the very person who, in the not-too-distant future, would be murdered by Zhu Gui, becoming the cause that would turn the Fourth Sect’s leader, Ma Yugyeom, into a broken man.

Of course, that wouldn’t happen until after the Blood Pledge Summit, but I couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

I threw on a robe and approached her, asking,

“Miss Mai, who are you looking for so intently?”

Her face, beautiful yet bearing a somewhat gloomy expression, flinched in surprise before she answered with a slightly guarded tone.

“Ah, I’m looking for a member of our team. Her name is Son Harang. She’s been under a lot of stress lately, so I’ve been keeping an eye on her, but I haven’t seen her since earlier.”

“I see. Miss Son Harang, you say? If I see her, I’ll tell her Miss Mae was looking for her.”

“Yes, thank you.”

After she passed, Bae Jong-gwan suddenly spoke up.

“Miss Son Harang… isn’t she the beloved of Master Jeong, the one killed by the Twin Swords and Seven Fiends last time?”

At those words, Bi Sa-yeong answered with a bitter expression.

“That’s right. I hear he’s been suffering terribly ever since, unable to forget his beloved.”

It was news to me, a name I’d never heard before.

I urgently asked them.

“What do you mean? Someone who lost his beloved?”

“Ah, Jin, you wouldn’t know. It happened just before you arrived. Jeong-in, the beloved of Son Sojeo, was murdered by the Madu demons known as Ssangsakchilheong. They were famous for cherishing each other deeply. Since then, Son Sojeo seems to be suffering terribly.”

It was a heartbreaking story.

But it wasn’t an uncommon story on the front lines.

Those serving on the front lines lost countless lovers, moved on to new relationships, and lived their lives that way.

How else could it be that one of the ironclad rules for romance on the front lines was to never, ever concern yourself with past lovers?

Whether that past connection was dead or alive.

“I see. That’s a sad story.”

Nodding, I turned to leave, but suddenly stopped dead in my tracks at a thought that flashed through my mind.

‘Wait a minute. How many trillion was Lady Cheon worth in my past life?’

I couldn’t quite recall.

But in the haze of my memory, I was certain I had heard such a story.

That she had gone into the forest with a troubled colleague to comfort them and met her end there.

Then… could this be…?

As I stood rooted to the spot, deep in thought with a serious expression, Biseyoung asked.

“What is it, Jin? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Making me uneasy?”

“Exactly. Could it be… the Sage is telling me something again, even though I haven’t had a dream?”

Ever since I told them the Sage appeared in my dream and warned me about the demon attack last time, they’ve believed my words without question.

So convincing them wasn’t too hard.

“I have a bad feeling. I think we should try to find that person, Son Sojeo.”

At that, Bi Sa-yeong and Bae Jong-gwan exchanged glances before asking me.

“Jin, we trust your instincts, but… where exactly are we supposed to find this Son Sojeo?”

Pointing toward the western forest, I replied.

“Let’s head over to that forest.”

It was the opposite direction from where the squad leaders had gone to search for Jugeui.