Chapter 30 At this point, there was nothing more to see.
Yeo Il admitted it plainly.
"Yes, it seems so."
Perhaps he expected a few more rounds of pointless probing. Namgung Jeok-myeong remained silent for a moment, faintly taken aback, before saying lightly,
"From now on, call me Elder Brother."
"Very well, Elder Brother Jeok-myeong."
"I sensed it from the beginning—you are rather difficult to handle."
"Is that so? Then what is the real reason you summoned me, Elder Brother?"
If persuasion through a few words was his goal, there was no need to climb a mountain in such weather.
In the pitch-black darkness, as the rain fell heavier, Namgung Jeok-myeong moved from the pine tree he leaned against, pulled Yeo Il by the hand, and knelt.
Amid the soaked earth, leaves, and broken branches lay something that should not have been there.
It was the corpse of a stranger.
"…Before you lies a man who spent many years at my side, no different from a close friend. He is also the source of the wound on my arm."
If he was no different from a close friend, he must have been a retainer or a bodyguard.
"Did you kill him?"
"Yes. Just yesterday. He suddenly bore the eyes of a stranger and threatened me with the sole intent of harming me. He even took up a sword he never wielded in his life."
A bitter sigh threaded through each of his words.
"Chu-myeong changed just like this."
Namgung Chu-myeong.
The moment that name was spoken, Yeo Il seized the opportunity while Namgung Jeok-myeong was lost in grief and examined the corpse's neck with her eyes and hands.
"As though he became another person… Yes, no longer the younger brother I knew, but someone entirely different. The gap only widened uncontrollably as time passed."
Though blood and mud made it somewhat difficult, even a cold corpse could not escape Yeo Il's practiced inspection.
"I wondered whether some plague that rotted the mind existed, or whether a sorcery that toyed with people was real. I searched everywhere but found no answer."
"..."
"If even the aides Hui-myeong cherishes were to change like this… the aftermath would be difficult to bear."
Namgung Jeok-myeong muttered endlessly in the rain, looking utterly exhausted.
Even without words, the atmosphere made it clear.
He hoped Yeo Il would discern the truth he himself failed to uncover. He even took her hand and guided it to the corpse's face.
The activeness was unfamiliar, yet sufficient to reveal his desperation.
Did he change his attitude toward Jin Cheong-ak earlier because of his third brother?
As one counted among the foremost rising talents of the martial world, he could not have failed to recognize the composure and aura of a true master emanating from Jin Cheong-ak.
With Namgung Je gravely ill, Namgung Hui-myeong was the only true family Namgung Jeok-myeong had left.
To protect that precious existence, he must have chosen to clasp hands with a potential enemy to drive away a greater one.
Reaching that thought, Yeo Il found herself smiling.
"Why do you laugh?"
"Ah. It's just…"
Was Namgung Jeok-myeong not a remarkably fortunate man?
"Having examined him, I believe I understand why you failed to notice."
Out of countless threads of fate, he coincidentally crossed paths with her and uncovered the parasite hidden within his clan.
"…What do you mean?"
He was granted the chance to protect what was precious to him.
Yeo Il lifted her head and smiled with closed eyes.
"It's a human mask."
"…What?"
"More intricate than Namgung Chu-myeong's. It seems it was donned not long ago."
Yeo Il took Namgung Jeok-myeong's unresponsive—rather, stunned—hand and guided it to the crucial area.
"You likely cannot feel it, but there are traces of a human mask layered over the skin. Unless one knows well what to look for, it would never be discovered."
With her fingernail, she gently scraped at the edge. A thin membrane lifted like the shed skin of a snake.
"Shall we peel it off entirely to confirm?"
"…This mask."
His voice sounded as though sand clogged his throat.
"Then this mask… is it made of real human skin?"
That depended on the craftsman.
Those with minimal scruples would never touch a corpse. Those who pursued perfection without regard for morality would flay a living face and use it.
In the case of Namgung Chu-myeong and this man—
It is undoubtedly the latter.
But there was no need to voice it. Truly, no need.
"I cannot distinguish that much."
"Then the man I knew… and my brother Chu-myeong…"
"..."
"…I nearly asked a foolish question. It is obvious they are already dead."
She felt Namgung Jeok-myeong's hand clench into a fist.
As if restraining the surge of wordless emotion, his fist trembled faintly.
It took him some time to steady his breathing. He did not tear off the mask. He merely spoke in a hollow, bitter voice.
"Damn it! Knowing full well what kind of temperament Chu-myeong had, yet I stood by like a fool… Had I realized sooner, at least this man might have been saved…"
He swallowed curses and muttered under his breath before finally rising, unable to endure further.
He lifted his chin as if to unleash a lion's roar, but stopped there.
Rain poured beneath the brim of his hat. At length, he spoke quietly.
"Thank you. Truly."
Yeo Il responded only by rising to her feet.
"…Ha. In another sense, it is absurd. You cannot see, yet how did you discern that Chu-myeong—no, that damn impostor—wore my brother's human mask?"
He asked such a question. He truly believed she was blind.
Yeo Il extended her blood-stained hand beyond the umbrella and let the rain wash it clean. Then she reached toward his neck.
Her fingertips touched the pronounced Adam's apple.
"Like this."
She tapped it gently to show it posed no threat. His body remained rigid.
"If you touch carefully, you can tell. It's simple."
Momentarily speechless, Namgung Jeok-myeong turned back toward the corpse.
"Wait a moment. I must finish here before we descend."
After roughly burying the body in the earth,
the two clasped hands once more and descended the mountain. Near the inn, Yeo Il asked,
"Elder Brother, if the present Namgung Chu-myeong is an impostor, from where did he come?"
The answer came more readily than expected.
"I cannot be certain, but I have a suspicion. At first, I believed he merely formed an alliance… but it seems they dealt with Chu-myeong directly."
"Is it related to mistaking me for someone from Salmak?"
"Yes. It may even… be connected to the Eight Demons."
If Namgung Jeok-myeong spoke the truth, then the force behind it was formidable.
"I will tell you the details once we return to the clan."
The next day.
As soon as dawn broke, they departed for Anhui Province.
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