That was definitely Cha Yul-ryeong.
Of course, there might be another person in this world who looked similar, but that unique atmosphere felt from a distance was sothing only Cha Yul-ryeong possessed.
'That guy... why is he here?'
In the past, the teachers had patrolled around the Flying Dragon Academy to prepare for a surprise attack by a mysterious person.
But he had heard that they weren't patrolling that much anymore.
Even if that were the case, it was a bit strange to be patrolling at this ti.
'Then did he co here for another purpose?'
Surely he hadn't co here to dig up so dicinal herbs.
Namgung Il had that thought for a mont, but since there were no dicinal herbs in either of Cha Yul-ryeong's hands, he imdiately knew that wasn't the case.
"..."
In any case, it wasn't good to run into Cha Yul-ryeong here.
As if waiting for Cha Yul-ryeong to move away, Namgung Il continued to hide and carefully watched Cha Yul-ryeong.
'Just go away like this.'
The situation was very different from when he had been caught by Gok I-hyeon before.
Given Cha Yul-ryeong's personality, if he found out that he had entered a forbidden area, he would surely not let it go.
He was a guy who was already eager to get him, so he would surely punish him like a fish in water.
Thud— Thud—
Cha Yul-ryeong walked naturally, as if he hadn't noticed Namgung Il's presence.
The sound of footsteps gradually faded as he passed the spot where Namgung Il was hiding.
Seeing that, Namgung Il let out a sigh of relief.
Thud—
It was then.
The sound of Cha Yul-ryeong's footsteps, which had been getting farther away, suddenly stopped as if cut off.
"...!"
Cha Yul-ryeong had stopped walking and was looking this way.
Namgung Il was barely able to pull his head back before his eyes t Cha Yul-ryeong's, and he held his breath and completely concealed his presence.
'D-did he see ?'
It was his own carelessness.
He should have remained tense until Cha Yul-ryeong's figure had completely disappeared.
Since he hadn't thought he would react to that faint breath, Namgung Il had unknowingly relaxed his tension.
"..."
Cha Yul-ryeong continued to look this way without a word.
Since Namgung Il had completely turned his back, he couldn't see Cha Yul-ryeong's figure, but he could sufficiently feel the gaze directed this way.
Thud— Thud
Just then, the sound of Cha Yul-ryeong's footsteps approaching this way was heard.
'D-damn it!'
He had thought he might get away with it if he was lucky, but given Cha Yul-ryeong's personality, it seed he was going to check this place.
If this continued, it was only a matter of ti before his identity was revealed.
As the sound of footsteps got closer, Namgung Il's heart seed to beat louder.
'What do I do? Just close my eyes and run?'
That might be better than being caught like this.
Of course, he wasn't confident that he could completely shake off Cha Yul-ryeong with his current skills, but wouldn't it be much better than being caught quietly?
Namgung Il made that decision and was about to slowly draw up his internal energy.
'Wait... if I use my internal energy, Cha Yul-ryeong will know it's right away.'
His Thunder Emperor Divine Art was already flashy enough.
Even an ordinary person who didn't know martial arts would notice it very easily, so wouldn't a master of Cha Yul-ryeong's level notice it right away?
Of course, escaping from Cha Yul-ryeong without using internal energy was a problem that didn't even need to be considered.
'...I don't know!'
Anyway, if he didn't use his internal energy, there was no possibility of escaping from Cha Yul-ryeong.
Even if he was found out because of that, it would be fine as long as he wasn't caught.
It was more comfortable to think about later things later.
Swoosh—
Namgung Il looked around and thought of a path for his escape.
Since there wasn't much ti to think, he roughly decided on a path and counted to three in his head.
'Three... two...'
At the sa ti, the energy in his dantian began to stir.
Simultaneously, Namgung Il got into a posture to shoot forward.
Around the ti the number he was counting in his head ended, Namgung Il was about to fully draw up his internal energy.
It was then.
The grass near Namgung Il rustled, and sothing popped out from there.
"..."
What ca out of the grass was a small squirrel.
At that mont, Cha Yul-ryeong, who was approaching this way, stopped walking.
Almost at the sa ti, Namgung Il also stopped the flow of his internal energy.
"...It was a rat."
"..."
Cha Yul-ryeong muttered, then turned back and walked away.
The sound of footsteps gradually faded beyond the tree his back was touching.
A mont later, as the sound of footsteps completely disappeared, Namgung Il slid down to the floor, leaning against the tree.
"...I-I almost died."
He could count on one hand the number of tis his heart had been so tense in his life.
A level almost similar to when he had secretly stolen and eaten the alcohol his master had cherished in the past.
As if to show the level of that tension, a lot of sweat was flowing from Namgung Il's face.
'Anyway, it seems I got away with it without being caught.'
It was really close.
If he had been just a little later, his energy would have completely leaked out, and even if he hadn't shown himself, Cha Yul-ryeong would have imdiately known that he was here.
Of course, because he had forcibly cut off the flow of his energy, his lower abdon hurt a little as if he had an upset stomach, but it was to the extent that it would be fine if he rested a little.
Just then, the squirrel that had co out of the grass earlier ca close to Namgung Il.
"Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to get through it safely."
Namgung Il expressed his gratitude to the squirrel.
Anyway, if it weren't for this guy, he would have been in a fierce chase with Cha Yul-ryeong by now.
To think the day would co when he would be helped by a squirrel. Thinking so, Namgung Il found this situation a little funny.
"Squeak—!"
As if in answer to Namgung Il's thanks, the squirrel cried so.
And the squirrel quickly climbed up the tree.
Namgung Il watched it for a mont, then got up from his seat.
"..."
After resting for a while, his lower abdon felt better.
Namgung Il looked around once more, and his gaze stopped at one place.
'That place... it's a bit suspicious.'
The place Namgung Il was looking at was a cave.
The cave Cha Yul-ryeong had just co out of.
Namgung Il instinctively felt that there was sothing inside.
"..."
There had been many suspicious things about Cha Yul-ryeong's actions for a while.
When he had cut down the remnant of the Blood Dragon Cult, and also when he was researching the Blood Spot Grass.
Because of that, Namgung Il had suspected that Cha Yul-ryeong was from the Blood Dragon Cult, but contrary to his expectations, the real Blood Dragon Cult mber was Gok I-hyeon.
"..."
Now, his suspicion of Cha Yul-ryeong had sowhat subsided.
Even then, Seo Shin-won had said that Cha Yul-ryeong was a trustworthy person.
Still... for so reason, Namgung Il couldn't take his eyes off the person nad Cha Yul-ryeong.
Thud— Thud—
Just then, Namgung Il quietly approached the cave.
'What on earth was Cha Yul-ryeong doing in here?'
He might be able to find out if he went inside.
Since he had originally planned to check if he could use this place as a brewery, Namgung Il imdiately walked into the cave.
Thud— Thud—
Perhaps because it was inside a cave, the sound of his footsteps sounded unusually loud.
Realizing that, his steps beca more cautious.
Since he had no idea what might be inside, Namgung Il entered with his guard raised high.
"...?"
Just then, a faint light was seen from inside.
Not a natural light, but an artificially made light.
Just from that, Namgung Il could tell that there was indeed sothing inside.
'It doesn't seem like anyone is inside.'
Even so, he couldn't let his guard down.
Maintaining a cautious attitude to the end, Namgung Il approached the place where the light was.
"...!"
As expected, there was no one inside.
However,
Namgung Il's eyes widened as he confird the appearance of the cave's interior.
'This is...'
This structure, he had seen sowhere before.
Yes, the secret space hidden in Cha Yul-ryeong's office.
Namgung Il felt that the appearance of that place and this cave were very similar.
"..."
Here too, there were a lot of tools that seed to be used for making dicine.
At the sa ti, a bitter aftertaste lingered in the air.
From that sll, Namgung Il could tell that Cha Yul-ryeong had been handling dicinal herbs here just now.
'Is this also Cha Yul-ryeong's research lab?'
The secret space he had seen then, Cha Yul-ryeong had called it his research lab.
So this place with a similar structure would probably be used for that purpose as well... but why was there a research lab here besides there?
The fact that a research lab had been made in a cave like this was a little incomprehensible to Namgung Il.
"...?"
Just then, Namgung Il discovered sothing.
'That's...'
What Namgung Il had discovered was a wooden coffin.
The coffin he had seen in the research lab inside the office before.
As the sa thing was placed before his eyes, Namgung Il's gaze naturally went there.
"..."
Before, when he had opened it, there was nothing inside.
So there was a high possibility that it was empty now as well, but Namgung Il's hand was already heading towards the coffin without him realizing it.
Gulp—
Holding the lid, Namgung Il swallowed dryly.
A mont later, Namgung Il carefully opened the lid.
As the lid opened, the interior gradually began to be seen.
At that mont, a strong stench hit Namgung Il's nose.
Namgung Il covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve.
"...!"
Since the lid was sowhat open, Namgung Il could confirm the interior.
And as soon as he confird the inside, his two eyes were filled with astonishnt.
The cause of the stench that was stimulating his nose was right before his eyes.
'Why is sothing like this here?'
A man lying in the coffin with a peaceful face and closed eyes.
No, what was in there was clearly a corpse.
"..."
Looking closely, the stench was not coming from the corpse.
The corpse was now half-subrged in an unknown liquid, and the stench was coming from there.
'This... is to prevent the corpse from decaying.'
He had heard that the demonic faction used this thod when making zombies using corpses.
If asures were taken in this way, the corpse would not rot even after several years, and it was possible to preserve the body to a level almost similar to when it was alive.
"..."
Discovering the corpse in the coffin, Namgung Il's mind beca confused.
Why was there a corpse in Cha Yul-ryeong's research lab, and why was Cha Yul-ryeong preserving the corpse using a thod used by the demonic faction?
No, to be honest, the answer was simple.
'Cha Yul-ryeong... are you also a remnant of the Blood Dragon Cult, just like Gok I-hyeon?'
With Gok I-hyeon's existence, the possibility that a teacher of the Flying Dragon Academy could be a remnant of the Blood Dragon Cult could not be denied.
On top of that, this corpse preservation thod...
Although his suspicion of Cha Yul-ryeong had sowhat subsided, Namgung Il couldn't help but suspect Cha Yul-ryeong again at this mont.
"..."
Even if Cha Yul-ryeong was not a remnant of the Blood Dragon Cult, this was a problem that could not be simply overlooked.
The orthodox faction strictly denied the existence of zombies, and just researching them was subject to criticism and punishnt.
So the corpse in this research lab would also be an act that could not be tolerated by the orthodox faction.
If this were to be discovered by the world, Cha Yul-ryeong would not be able to avoid punishnt.
'...Suddenly, I have a lot to think about.'
He had unintentionally discovered Cha Yul-ryeong's secret.
A secret too big to just overlook.
Namgung Il was now in a state of pondering what to do with this.
Thud— Thud—
Just then, the sound of footsteps was heard from the cave entrance.
Namgung Il looked towards where the sound was coming from with his eyes wide open.
(End of Chapter)
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