Chapter 327: Treasure Hunt (6)

Baek Mu-Kang approached with a bright, innocent smile. “What’s up? Why are you all the way out here?”

The rusty iron sword in his hand swayed gently like a tail.

Kwon Oh-Jin kept his composure and replied calmly, “I came to find you, elder.”

“

Hmm?

Me?” Baek Mu-Kang blinked with wide eyes and cocked his head. “How did you manage to find me?”

“I used the compass you gave me last time.”

As if he had completely forgotten, Baek Mu-Kang clapped. “Compass...?

Ah!

Right, I did give you that!” Still giggling, he extended his hand to Kwon Oh-Jin. “Nice to see you again!

Uh

, wait... What was your name again, nice person?”

He forgot my name too?

“It’s Oh-Jin.”

“

Ah

, that’s right! Oh-Jin!

Hehe,

I remember!” His eyes sparkled as if asking to be praised.

For a moment, Kwon Oh-Jin questioned whether it would really be a good idea to involve him after helping him find his treasure.

Jakal, who had been kneeling and watching them cautiously, groaned as he stood up with his broken spear as a crutch.

“

Kugh...

” He turned and began fleeing without looking back.

Kwon Oh-Jin narrowed his eyes and prepared to chase after him.

Baek Mu-Kang stepped forward. “Hold on a second.”

Shhhh!

A sheet of ice instantly spread out from the tip of his foot. He slid smoothly across the ice as if skating.

“You can’t run away.” In the blink of an eye, he caught up to Jakal and slashed his shin.

Jakal fell and tumbled across the ground.

Baek Mu-Kang approached the demonkin and pointed the rusty sword at his neck. “Where did you hide my treasure?”

“W-What even is that treasure you’re going on about?!”

“A treasure is a treasure.”

“Y-You crazy bastard!” Jakal stared up at Baek Mu-Kang in horror.

“A bad person stole my treasure. The treasure is precious to me.”

The veins in Baek Mu-Kang’s hand bulged out as he tightly gripped his sword. His gaze burned hot with intensity as he stared at Jakal.

“Where is the bad person now?” he asked.

“Are you talking about Lord Deimos?”

Jakal didn’t know exactly what Baek Mu-Kang’s treasure was, but he could guess from the description that the bad person was Deimos. After all, Deimos was infamous for his greed for rare treasures.

“I don’t know his name, but he stole my treasure. I need to get it back.”

“

Ha

. Are you seriously asking me where Lord Deimos is right now?” Jakal scoffed and gripped his broken spear.

A knight of Deimos would never reveal their master’s location.

“Glory to the golden.” With that, Jakal drove the broken spear into his own throat.

He coughed up blood and went limp.

“

Ah!

” Baek Mu-Kang rushed to him, but Jakal had already died. “Again! I didn’t get an answer!”

Baek Mu-Kang stomped in frustration.

A demonkin chose to take his own life.

Kwon Oh-Jin felt just as shocked. He didn’t expect that demonkin could have that level of loyalty and die for the master they served.

So, not all demonkin are the same.

Staring down at Jakal’s corpse with a complex expression, Kwon Oh-Jin turned back to Baek Mu-Kang. “Have you been hunting down the demonkin here and searching for your treasure?”

“Yup. The bad person is here, but no one will tell me where he is.”

Had he been attacking the demonkin indiscriminately to find Deimos? Now it made sense why Deimos’s knights looked so terrified at the sight of a human.

“Would it be alright if I helped you look for your treasure?” Kwon Oh-Jin had hesitated earlier about cooperating, but now he leaned toward joining forces after seeing how effortlessly Baek Mu-Kang took down Jakal.

“Y-You’ll help me find my treasure?”

“Yes, but once you find it, I’d like you to come with me—”

“

Wow!

I knew you were a nice person! Oh-Jin, you’re the best!”

Before Kwon Oh-Jin could even finish, Baek Mu-Kang clapped like a child and jumped up and down.

Kwon Oh-Jin faintly sighed and turned around. “Let’s head back for now and come up with a plan.”

Baek Mu-Kang nodded with a wide, innocent grin. “Okay!”

“

Oh

, could you wait here just for a moment?”

“

Hm?

Why?”

“I’ve got something to take care of. I’ll only take about ten minutes.”

Song Ha-Eun and Isabella were still only wrapped in towels. Bringing Baek Mu-Kang over without warning would definitely create an awkward situation.

“

Hmm...

Alright! I’ll wait here!” With a plop, Baek Mu-Kang sat down on the ground.

Kwon Oh-Jin nodded and returned to where Song Ha-Eun and Isabella were waiting.

“Did you catch the guy who ran off?” Song Ha-Eun asked.

“Everything’s taken care of here,” Isabella said.

The two women approached Kwon Oh-Jin as soon as he came back.

“Where’s Riarc and Vega?”

“Mr. Riarc went back to the Sanctum to recover from his injuries, and Lady Vega went to look after him.”

“I see.”

Well, that made sense. Even if Riarc had the upper hand in the fight, the burn on his face wasn’t a minor injury.

“More importantly, I need to talk to you both for a moment,” Kwon Oh-Jin said.

“

Hmm?

About what?” Song Ha-Eun asked.

He told the two women about his encounter with Baek Mu-Kang.

“You met that weird old gramps again?”

“Yeah, so I was thinking we could bring him over and talk about our next steps together...” He trailed off as he glanced at their bare shoulders and legs. “Let’s get dressed first.”

“

Ah

, right.”

“Y-Yes, of course.”

The two women nodded and quickly hurried back to their tent.

After they changed, they went with Kwon Oh-Jin to meet Baek Mu-Kang.

Still sitting neatly in the same spot, Baek Mu-Kang jumped to his feet. “You’re back! I kept my promise!”

“Long time no see, Gramps.”

“Are you unscathed?”

“Unscathed? What’s unscathed?” Baek Mu-Kang cocked his head and sucked on his fingers like a child.

Isabella awkwardly smiled.

“She’s asking if you’re safe and well,” Kwon Oh-Jin explained.

Baek Mu-Kang nodded brightly. “Yup! I’ve been great!”

“I’m glad.”

“

Hehe

.”

His hunched back and face covered in age spots made him look ugly, but the innocent smile on his wrinkled face somehow looked beautiful.

“Let’s head over to our tent over there,” Kwon Oh-Jin suggested.

“Okay!”

He led Baek Mu-Kang back to their campsite.

When the elder saw their tents, his eyes sparkled. “A house! It’s a house! Do you live here, Oh-Jin?”

“No, it’s not a house. It’s a tent.”

“A tent?”

“...”

Kwon Oh-Jin continued, slightly exhausted, “It’s like a portable house.”

“

Wow

, I didn’t know such a thing existed.”

“How do you usually sleep?”

“Me? I just lie down. Like this.” Baek Mu-Kang flopped straight onto the ground.

As expected, he had been wandering the Demonic District without any proper gear.

Is that treasure really worth going to such extremes for?

At the end of the day, even high-ranking Awakeners were still human despite being transcendent beings. Sleeping on the bare ground under the stars sounded romantic for a night or two, but it would be mentally exhausting after a few days.

For any civilized person, the body instinctively resisted sleeping outdoors with no protection. Even if he had dementia, Baek Mu-Kang was still human. He had been wandering this harsh Demonic District for years just to find his lost treasure.

“Elder, what exactly is the treasure you’re looking for?”

“

Hm?

A treasure is a treasure.”

It was the same answer again.

“Could you at least describe what it looks—?”

“A treasure is something precious.” Baek Mu-Kang cut him off with a soft smile. “I have to find it.”

“...”

It didn’t seem like they would figure out what his treasure was anytime soon.

Just as Kwon Oh-Jin wondered what to do with this completely unpredictable old man, a thunderous growl echoed from Baek Mu-Kang’s stomach.

Gurgle.

“Are you hungry?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.

“Yup. I’m hungry. There’s no food here.”

“When was the last time you ate?”

“Let’s see... Ten nights! It’s been ten nights since I ate!”

“Alright... Let’s get you something to eat first.”

Even for high-ranking Awakeners, going ten days without food couldn’t be endured easily.

“Mr. Oh-Jin,

um...

since we rushed off to the hot spring earlier, I didn’t get a chance to prepare anything...” Isabella trailed off with an awkward expression.

“Then, let’s just have instant food.”

“Would that be okay?”

“He hasn’t eaten in ten days.”

At this point, he would probably eat steel beams if they handed that to him.

“Let’s see then...

Ah

, there are some frozen dumplings. Should we eat these?” Rummaging through her backpack, Song Ha-Eun pulled out a large pack of frozen dumplings.

The bag that Kim Si-Hoo had given them featured thermal insulation, so the dumplings were still rock solid, just like when they were first packed.

“Sounds good.”

“Okay, I’ll boil some water right away.” Song Ha-Eun tore open the dumpling pack and dropped them into the bubbling hot water.

After about five minutes, steam began rising from the plump, delicious-looking dumplings.

“Dumplings? These are dumplings?”

Isabella placed some dumplings onto a plate and held it out to Baek Mu-Kang.

“Yes. There’s plenty, so please let us know if you’d like more. Here are the chopst—”

“Wow! Dumplings! I love dumplings!” Before even receiving the chopsticks, Baek Mu-Kang grabbed a steaming dumpling with his bare hands and stuffed it into his mouth. “

Hehe

.”

A smile full of joy spread across his wrinkled face.

Isabella took out another pack of frozen dumplings and added them to the pot. “Did you always like dumplings?”

“Yup! My wife used to make them for me all the time!” Baek Mu-Kang nodded enthusiastically with puffed cheeks filled with dumplings.

“It sounds like your wife took good care of you.”

“Yeah. She was a good woman.”

“Where is your wife—?”

“She died.”

Isabella flinched slightly.

“A bad person killed her.”

“

Ah...

I’m sorry.” Isabella sighed and averted her gaze.

“

Huh?

For what?” Baek Mu-Kang cocked his head as if he didn’t understand why she was apologizing.

Song Ha-Eun, who had been silently listening, cautiously asked, “If you say it was a bad person... Was it Deimos who killed her?”

So, Deimos hadn’t just stolen Baek Mu-Kang’s treasure, but also killed his wife?

“My wife?”

“Yes...”

Baek Mu-Kang shook his head firmly with a faint smile. “No. I killed her.”

“What...?”

“My wife.” His smile looked different from the ones from before.

It carried a quiet sorrow like a cloud dimming a clear blue sky.

“I’m the one who killed her.”

As if searching the night sky for a star hidden behind the clouds, the old man’s eyes wandered in silence, lost in the lonely night.