A rock shaped like a horse’s head.

As we tried to approach it, mist that hadn’t been visible from afar suddenly engulfed the surroundings.

A thick fog so dense, we couldn’t even tell which direction we had come from.

Now that a task had finally come up that was more than just a minor errand, Sama Yuryeon stepped forward ahead of me and Tang Sowol and spoke.

“They’ve forcibly merged a modified Confusion Mist Formation with the Concealed Cloud Mist Formation into one space. As expected, the Ghost Shadow Thief wasn’t really trying to hide the vault with sincerity.”

“You understand something?”

“Yes. While it thoroughly disrupts the five senses, it was crudely slapped together. Even if one gets lost, wandering for a few hours will naturally lead them out.”

So it was a formation that increased the difficulty of finding the path, but allowed for repeated attempts.

I could understand the Ghost Shadow Thief’s intentions.

He probably wanted to watch countless martial artists panic helplessly before the entrance.

It was truly distasteful… and yet, the fact that he didn’t cross the line made it undeniably like him.

“Can you find the path?”

“As I said, it’ll take a little time since it’s a complicated mess of two formations forcefully combined… but…”

“But even if we get lost, we can return, so we can afford to be a bit bold inside?”

Tang Sowol supplemented the thought, and Sama Yuryeon nodded in response.

“Just once. I think it’ll only take one trial run.”

“That’s no problem at all.”

Though she was the oldest among us now, Sama Yuryeon was still at an age referred to as a late-stage youth.

I knew she couldn’t show the level of ability she had before my regression. Even so, she was still more useful than having no one at all—that’s why I brought her.

If she could break through an unfamiliar formation after getting lost just once, that was more than enough.

Nodding, I spoke.

“It’s time to work.”

“I’ve never once slacked off, though…”

Sama Yuryeon muttered under her breath and glanced back at me and Tang Sowol.

“Just follow the exact steps I take.”

“Didn’t you just say we’re bound to get lost anyway?”

“I’d rather not waste several hours. I plan to identify the Life Gate and exit from there… but if I’m unlucky, I might end up separated.”

“That would be a problem.”

I held onto Tang Sowol’s hand tightly and followed behind Sama Yuryeon, who shook her head with a slightly dismayed expression.

Then, she stepped into the mist.

Following her lead, Tang Sowol and I also entered the fog.

***

Finding a path within the dense mist was more exhausting than expected.

Not physically—but mentally.

The helplessness of not being able to grasp anything brought more pressure than anticipated.

Of course, once it became overwhelming, we followed Sama Yuryeon out once and escaped the formation.

On our second entry, we took the correct path and successfully broke through the formation.

The sky above had cleared as if there had never been any mist.

Even looking back, all we could see was the horse-head rock. Not a trace of mist remained.

“I’ve experienced formations before, but it never ceases to amaze me.”

“Oh? It was my first time, but not for you, was it, Brother Cheon?”

“That sounds a little weird when you say it like that.”

“Weird? I’m not sure what you mean.”

Tang Sowol feigned innocence with a sly smile in front of my firmly closed mouth.

She gently pressed my nose and spoke in a teasing tone.

“Would you care to explain?”

“No matter what I say, you’re going to tease me about it, aren’t you?”

“Hehe, was it that obvious? I didn’t think I’d be found out so easily.”

Still pressing my nose, she giggled. Only after laughing for a while did she withdraw her hand and continue.

“Well, to be precise, I’ve seen formations many times too. After all, even formations created by martial artists follow the same principles, don’t they?”

“Formations are, in the end, about distorting the flow of qi to produce desired results. Whether by using tools and natural energy, or by coordinating martial artists and their internal energy.”

When well-trained martial artists move in specific patterns, exchanging qi to unleash greater power—that’s also a type of formation.

In fact, that probably accounts for the majority of formations.

Manipulating the natural flow of qi, like the one we just passed through, is something only possible in limited environments by those with exceptional skill.

Of course, the potential applications are so different that it’s hard to say which is better.

What’s always important is using the right thing in the right place. Even if they’re both formations, their purposes differ—so it’s fair to treat them as distinct.

“By the way, I’m curious—when you say you’ve experienced formations before, are you referring to ones created with these kinds of devices?”

“Yes. It was an extremely low-level formation, so I just smashed my way through it.”

“Excuse me…??”

The Demonic Cult favors evil techniques but rarely uses formations.

They’re not especially helpful in direct combat, and even trying to use them requires innate talent and years of study.

But the Unorthodox Factions are a bit different.

While true masters of formations are rare, it’s not unusual to find someone who picked it up half-heartedly and uses it clumsily.

The Orthodox Factions, knowing that half-baked formations are meaningless, rarely use them—except for the Zhuge Clan.

But in the Unorthodox world, they’ll try anything that might give them even a slight advantage.

“That was quite a while ago. It was when I destroyed the Red Demonic Sect, the enemies of my parents, and roamed around dismantling similar dark sects.”

“W-wait a moment. About four years ago… Was that perhaps you, Blood Flame Sword Demon?”

Sama Yuryeon, who had been catching her breath in the back, widened her eyes in shock.

“Hmm? You’ve heard of it?”

“Yes. It was fairly well-known. If you had continued hunting the dark factions for another half-year, you probably would’ve had a bounty on your head and a fancy nickname too.”

“That’s why I quit while I was ahead. I’d already extorted enough money anyway.”

Thanks to that, I got the Poison-Flame Wine and used it well to kidnap Tang Sowol. A net gain, clearly.

“Anyway, four years ago… And the Blood Flame Sword Demon is eighteen now… That means you were fourteen or fifteen… huh?”

Sama Yuryeon mumbled to herself, tilting her head with a stiff expression.

Smirking at her, I continued.

“Anyway, some of the dark sects I crushed back then used crude formations. One was called the Ghost Bone Gate or something.”

If I count up to my regression, there were a few more unorthodox groups using formations.

Regardless of size, the quality of their formations was mostly the same.

“They’d distort your senses, make eerie cries ring in your ears. But that was all. I just smashed the surroundings until it canceled itself.”

“Ah. That would be the Ghost Spirit Soul Formation. If set up improperly, it often fails to activate, but… one of its characteristics is that it will activate, even if weakly. That’s why it’s so popular with con artists.”

Perhaps because it was something she knew, Sama Yuryeon spoke up with a twitch.

“Con artists, huh. Well, to someone properly trained, I suppose it would look that way. Speaking of which—how does the Sama Clan teach formations?”

“Teach, you say… I’m not sure it counts as teaching, but there is a method. After memorizing the basics, you’re thrown right into the middle of a formation.”

“What??”

“It’s usually harmless, just causes a few hallucinations and auditory delusions… But for children, that alone can cause seizures.”

They repeat the process over and over.

Eventually, the child, forced into an extreme situation, figures out how to escape the formation.

It’s a basic enough formation that even a child can find the Life Gate if they know how.

“How quickly they escape determines whether they’re considered talented in formations. Sometimes, kids don’t get out for over a year—then we switch them to something else.”

“That’s harsh.”

Tang Sowol frowned slightly.

In response, Sama Yuryeon just shrugged with her usual inscrutable smile.

“Well, it’s what it takes to keep a clan going in the Unorthodox world. Anyway! Since we made it through the formation, let’s look for the vault entrance. We’ve walked quite a bit—something should show up… oh? Doesn’t that cave look suspicious?”

An obvious change of subject.

But the cave really did exist, not far away—and it looked suspicious enough that all our gazes turned toward it.

At first glance, it looked like a regular cave, but its location was strange.

There was no way a natural cave would form there.

As we got closer, it became clear how artificial it was.

Cleared ground to create a path.

Uprooted trees that seemed placed to avoid blocking the entrance.

Rocks chiseled not by wind and rain, but by tools.

And despite all that, the giant letters engraved above the entrance were the most blatant of all.

“‘Ghost Shadow Vault.’ He wasn’t even trying to hide it.”

“Well, we did make it all the way out to some remote mountain in Gansu Province and pass through a formation to get here. He probably figured there was no need to hide it further.”

As Tang Sowol said, this was probably Ghost Shadow Thief’s idea of showing off.

He’d exercised enough restraint—now it was time to boast.

I peered into the entrance, but it was too deep—only darkness awaited beyond a certain point.

“Nothing strange about it at first glance. Shall we go in? Do you need to rest?”

I asked Sama Yuryeon, who had to be tired after dealing with the formation. She slowly shook her head.

“No. I rested enough along the way. I’ll go in first and check for mechanical traps or formation devices, but…”

“If anything unexpected happens, we’ll step in too. I can at least block arrows and poison.”

“Thank you. Then, please follow me.”

Sama Yuryeon passed me and Tang Sowol, walking toward the cave—not to enter it, but to stand near the wall beside it.

“The entrance is here.”

“That’s fake. This is the real entrance.”

She examined the wall and began fiddling with something. Then—

Kugugung—

With the grinding of stone, the wall slid open, revealing a passage leading inward.

So much for saying he wasn’t trying to hide it, when we saw the giant engraved sign—Tang Sowol and I both fell silent.

Had it been just the two of us, we’d have spent a lot more time flailing here.

As expected, having a professional is best.

Whether she noticed our embarrassment or deliberately ignored it—most likely the latter—Sama Yuryeon stood before the passage, lit by embedded luminous pearls, and urged us onward.

“I can’t go in alone. It’s scary.”

“We’re coming.”

“Wait, why… why is there a spring painting Grandpa drew in here…?”

“Isn’t that better than having our clan’s secret techniques stolen?”

I shrugged toward Sama Yuryeon, whose expression had gone strangely blank.

Didn’t seem to comfort her much, though.

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