Through the forestry, Lee Sungmin and the group came to a city named Devon. Throughout Eria’s large land, it was evenly distributed with towers, clans, and guilds. Devon is the city managed by The Zhuge Clan, one of the four great families within the Orthodox Factions. However, it wasn’t a huge city.
As small as it was, Devon was under the firm influence of Zhuge Taeryong. His influence was prominent throughout the citizens and management of Devon. Lee Sungmin frowned after confirming the information he had purchased through Neville.
The farther south one went, the appearance of cities and establishments became sparse. The forest clearing was wide and the sunlight grew intense. Devon was the most stable and wealthy city before the great forests in the south began in earnest.
“Zhuge Taeryong.”
Lee Sungmin had run into him once in Shaolin. They didn’t talk with each other. When Lee Sungmin first went to Shaolin, he formed a relationship with Namgung Heewon of the Namgung clan. Heewon got along with Lee Sungmin and helped him to meet the ambassador, Sorim’s Chief of Defense.
Zhuge Taeryong’s son, a small Duke within the Zhuge Clan, married a few years ago to Murong Seojin, a member of the Ming Clan. Since then, Murong Seojin had been living in the Zhuge Clan, and a few days from now would be the first birthday of Zhuge Xie, a child born between the two.
The Segawa Household within the Namgung Clan, who had originally been close friends with the couple, sent envoys to celebrate Zhuge Xie’s birthday. The envoys included Namgung Heewon, a member of the same age as Zhuge Liang, and Dang Ah-hee, who were a part of the royal lineage of the Segawa Household.
Others did not care about Lee Sungmin, but he was a little concerned that Namgung Heewon was in Devon. Heewon told Lee Sungmin to visit the Segawa household one day back when they were in Shaolin, but Lee Sungmin never came to visit.
There was the possibility that nothing would happen, but it was slim. Lee Sungmin, who killed Ironclad, had become a rogue and was being pursued by the Orthodox Factions. Even if the chase was nothing but an observation from afar, the fact that Lee Sungmin was branded as a rogue, would embarrass the Namgung clan if he imposed on them.
‘It’s the Black Dog, Chuck of the Orthodox that’s enroute.’
Lee Sungmin also had information about them. Black Dog Chuck was a master who was said to barely reached the Peak Realm, and the nine black dogs in his unit who were with him were hovering right in between 1st rate and the Peak Realm.
In fact, Lee Sungmin’s current combat prowess could slaughter the black dogs without much difficulty. However, doing so would make things troublesome for him. Exterminating the Black Dogs, a direct force of the Forest Alliance, would put him on the radar of the entire Forest Alliance within the South.
“You’d better not enter the city.”,The Crazy Heavenly Demon advised Lee Sungmin.
After confirming the information Lee Sungmin had heard, the Crazy Heavenly Demon gave his best advice to avoid any trouble.
“Even though it’s just some brat’s birthday party, it’s a gathering of all the Four Families within the Orthodox Faction. I don’t think the upper echelons came, but their children came. You don’t have to stop by the city and provoke trouble.”
“Devon is a small city. The southern jungle is where monsters roam like wild animals. Devon wouldn’t have developed this much without the Zhuge Family’s influence. That’s why the security in Devon has so much control.”, said Rubia, twisting her sides.
He shouldn’t enter. Without a reason, there would be no need to enter the city. But there was a reason.
[Devon has a sorcerer named Aladdur. He’s a sorcerer who’s not connected to us particularly, but there’s a rumor in Devon that he’s outstanding.]
Lee Sungmin pressed down on his temples.
The reason for heading South wasn’t just to learn the art in handling the forces of Heoju. It was also to explore the location of Qian Zun, who had cursed Wijihoyeon. Lee Sungmin tried to locate Qian Zun’s position by asking a small number of sorcerers and wizards who were connected to Erebisa with the hair he received from Wijihoyeon, but Wijihoyeon’s hair alone could not confirm the location of Qian Zun.
‘There is no guarantee that Aladdur will be able to find out where he is.’
But he couldn’t just ignore the possibility. Even so, Lee Sungmin couldn’t just walk straight up to Devon and walk through the gates. He had to sneak in. Thus, he got wigs and disguises from Erebrisa through Neville.
“Face masks…”
[It doesn’t mean it’s made of human skin.]
Neville smiled and handed the mask over to Lee Sungmin.
[The name is just something the producer came up with. Originally, skin masks are made by applying elaborate work to magical corpses. It’s then modified to suit the wearer. It’s not permanent.]
Lee Sungmin tried on a mask. The inside of the mask was a touch of sticky mucus on the face. Lee Sungmin checked the mirror. The face was inconspicuous and didn’t resemble the original Lee Sungmin in the slightest.
He then followed by changing into a new set of clothes. Rubia did not disguise her cat ears, but changed her body to a sphere of light as usual and hid in Lee Sungmin’s clothing.
The Crazy Heavenly Demon also disguised himself. He took off his uniform and took the look of a seasoned hunter. Hunters were common in the South due to the skillsets they had that were suited towards the vast forestry. The Crazy Heavenly Demon, sported a loose uniform with animal pelts wrapped around it, looking more like a bandit than a hunter, but when he hid his face with the face mask, his appeal turned into a veteran hunter.
Lee Sungmin took the look of an ordinary scholar. He took off his armor and put it in his spacial pocket. Although Heoju grumbled, there was no big problem. Thanks to Heoju’s strength lying dormant in his dantian, he was always connected to the yokai even without a medium like the orchicalcum armor.
Although there was surveillance of the Black Dogs, they weren’t too difficult to shake off.
As the night came, Lee Sungmin and Byuk Won-Pae escaped from their sleeping area. They unfolded their footwork techniques and quickly escaped the watch of the Black Dogs, and headed over the walls of Devon and avoided the attention of the patrol guards.
“We lost sight of them.”, a member of the Black Dog unit reported to Chuck.
“Well shit, this is what we get for getting loose.”
Listening to the unit’s report, Chuck chewed on the jerky he was eating.
“Lee Sungmin… You’ve been leading us gently all this time, and suddenly you’ve made things difficult. What a prick.”, Chuck cursed under his breath.
“Did he go to Devon?” he asked the unit member.
“Their actions are weird. Though they’ve been homeless, they seemed to have no problem hunting animals and supplying their food. Sometimes, they ate from the food stored in their storage pocket. So it’s unlikely they went for supplies; if they did go to Devon that is.”
“I guess there’s something there.”, Chuck grumbled.
Naturally someone like The Black Dog leader, himself, wouldn’t even know of Erebrisa. So, he was feeling like a chicken running around with it’s head cut off.
“Fine. We’re going to Devon, too.”
“Ek… do we have to go too?” the unit member shrunk back.
“Of course, you should go, you incompetent motherfucker.”, Chuck cursed at the unwillingness of the unit member.
—-
Lee Sungmin and the Crazy Heavenly Demon, who jumped over the wall, permeated into the darkness of the city. He wanted to find Aladdur right away, but Devon was still a city and it was relatively wide. Moreover, Aladdur was not the type to stay put in one place, but he was a man who wandered through Devon’s streets, doing his sorcery business like a street vendor.
Aladdur was not the most powerful sorcerer, but he did have a specialty to be known for.
“He’s good at finding people?”
“To be exact, he’s good at finding bodies.”, The Crazy Heavenly Demon answered back.
They soon stopped running through the darkness and entered a shabby inn. Sitting in one seat at the noisy bar on the first floor, the two ordered drinks and simple food to ease themselves a bit.
“There are many people who die in the forest, but not many people are found. There are a lot of beings in the Southern Forests that eat dead bodies. Aladdur says he finds them like ghosts.”, said the Crazy Heavenly Demon.
“Is that really sorcery?”
“It’s a spell. I don’t know what it is. Maybe this hair will help us trace the whereabouts of Qian Zun, who cast the curse on Wijihoyeon.”
“But you don’t know where Aladdur is.”, Lee Sungmin said in a dejected voice.
“We’ll find him soon enough.”, The Crazy Heavenly Demon replied.
Aladdur was a man with some reputation. Though Erebrisa couldn’t locate his exact location, Neville told him he would certainly be in Devon. And once he appeared there would certainly be rumors of him following.
“It’s dangerous to walk around the streets of Devon, even though we’ve disguised ourselves it would be better to stay on guard. So don’t go outside, just find the right hotel and stay there and wait.”, Lee Sungmin said to Byuk Won-Pae.
“I hope it goes well.”
The Crazy Heavenly Demon murmured as he lifted the glass.
The room they rented out was shabby, but Lee Sungmin, who became accustomed to long-term homelessness periods, didn’t have any complaints. He sat on the bed, fiddling with the mask covering his face. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but acting with a completely different face continued to convey an unpleasant sense of incongruency with himself.
He continued to fiddle with the mask and then took out his spacial pocket. He reached in and took out the hair from Wijihoyeon covered and wrapped with a white ribbon. It was practically untouched since he first got it from her.
This was due to the time and anti-rotting function of the pocket.
‘Where are you now?’ , Lee Sungmin thought about Wijihoyeon.
It had been more than a month since they separated and he left for the South. He felt a bit of longing thinking about it, and fiddled with the hair.