Sima Chal said they needed to hide for now, and apologized, asking if the Flying Dragon group could come with them. Mirang replied that they would return to the Murim Alliance right away. Pang asked if she was even listening to what she was saying, but she asked if he had not understood the situation, that they needed to report the attack as quickly as possible. The other warrior agreed. Pang said the assassins would start chasing them at any moment, and that they could not leave Sima Chal alone with the young masters.
Sima Chal thought that in fact, if they could not get help, the only thing he could think of was that porter who had wiped out the forest bandits. He said they would look for other means, and prayed for their safety.
When the Flying Dragon group left, Sima Chal told Jo Seolyeon that they also needed to move, and that they could head toward the escort mission group that had gone to Sichuan. Seolyeon thought that was true, that if they went straight to Dan, they could fight the enemies, and she thought her father had to stay safe until then.
After a long time fighting the assassins, the clan leader was still standing, but extremely wounded. He asked who they were, and why they were attacking the Jo clan estate. Then the leader of the assassins appeared in the distance, asking if he wanted to know the reason before dying. At the last moment before his death, Jo Ilhan asked how he was still alive. Then his head was blown apart by the Blood Demon, who said he had discarded that name he was about to say.
When dawn came, the Blood Demon looked at the pile of ashes that had been the Jo clan estate, saying the assassins had handled the job very well. One of them replied that the others were chasing the last members of the Jo clan bloodline, but asked why annihilate them.
The Blood Demon said that to restore his power, he needed to trample that estate. He asked if the assassin knew his relationship with Gija. The assassin replied that he understood they were rivals who had risked their lives against each other. The Blood Demon confirmed it, saying that Gija and he shared a bond that could not be separated, and that he was the only one left. But there in the Jo clan estate was one of the hundred masters that Gija had planned to create to stop him. It was his first step to destroy all of Gija's plans. That was why he could not let that last root, that last seed planted in this world, survive.
Sima Chal noticed that the assassins were already closing in on them. They needed to run just a little more, because then they would reach the escort mission group. But the young master was already falling behind, and soon Jo Inhyeon was pierced in the chest by a hook and pulled away by the assassins. One of them rushed towards Jo Seolyeon.
The horses collapsed over each other, and Sima Chal wanted to at least protect that girl. Seolyeon wondered if her father had already fallen. They had come this far.
At the moment one of the assassins tried to cut her neck, a lightning strike intervened, destroying the sword and the assassin. It was Dan, who had heard the young lady's call and appeared to resolve the situation.
Earlier, while returning with the porters and Hyeong Pio alongside the escort mission, Dan had heard something and told Hyeong Pio he would be right back. Then he simply disappeared. Without a doubt, Dan had clearly heard her voice and her call. That was why he destroyed that sword and killed the assassin.
Sima Chal asked him to take care of Jo Seolyeon for him, because that was all he needed. The Blood Demon assassins did not care about that boy, and would kill him as well, just because he stood in their way.
But Dan touched Seolyeon's forehead, and suddenly she felt all the fear and exhaustion that had built up in her body disappear. He told her to hold back her tears, saying it would all be over soon. Then he turned with an aerial strike, and multiple lightning bolts struck the assassins. They were all electrocuted to death.
Seolyeon wondered if nearly twenty assassins had turned to ashes in the blink of an eye, and if she had even a fraction of his strength, maybe she would not need anyone else to protect her.
Later she buried her loved ones, saying she would return soon, and that they should rest in a better place. Then she asked Dan what she should do now, how she could live alone without her father or her brother.
Dan had also been left alone. He had survived that hell by himself and made it out into this world. The first person who had reached out a hand to him was that girl, so he would stay there for her as well. He told her to live with gratitude for those who had gone before, to live doing what was right and what she wanted.
She replied that she also wanted to join him on the escort mission, that she wanted to stay by his side. Dan took her arm, said that then they would go together, and told her not to let go. Then he leaped over the trees carrying her, in a movement that for Seolyeon was not simply martial arts. It felt like flying through the clouds.
As they moved swiftly through the trees, Dan's actions brought her more comfort than any words could express. She thought he was incredible. Her uncle was also considered a great martial artist. Yet even so, the assassins had taken him down. She asked how he was so strong, since their ages were not that different. He replied that spending a long time fighting for survival made a person like that.
She asked who he had fought against, and he said he had fought monsters. Demons. She asked him to tell her more about it. But just thinking about that hell, Dan did not want to tell anyone anything. If he were to speak about it, he would have to tell how he had climbed back up, stepping over the corpses of the ninety-nine companions who had died, to reach Gija — only for that bastard to already be dead, leaving him without the chance to take revenge. So he said he would tell that story, but not now.
Dan brought Jo Seolyeon back to Hyeong Pio, and she came face to face with the last remaining warrior of the escort agency. And the place where Dan Hyunwoo and Jo Seolyeon ran to without stopping was precisely back to the Renan escort agency group.
When they arrived, Hyeong Pio was completely confused, and asked how the agency and the entire property could have simply vanished. The porters also started to worry, wondering what they were supposed to do from now on. Many began asking themselves if they would now have to search for another place to live and work.
Jo Seolyeon apologized for bringing such terrible news right in the middle of the mission. But Hyeong Pio replied that it was fine, because she was probably the one suffering the most from all of this. Even so, he noticed that the group's morale, which had already dropped after the previous attack, had now practically disappeared completely after hearing that news. In the situation they were in, they might not even be able to complete the escort mission.
But then he tried to encourage everyone, reminding them that there was still the huge commission promised for the mission. With that money, all of them could start their lives over again, even if only in a simple way. Maybe they could even rebuild the Renan escort agency itself.
Hearing that, Seolyeon realized what he was trying to do. She understood that this was not the time to remain trapped in grief. There were still members of the Jo clan alive there, people she was responsible for. So she decided that she would become strong like Dan Hyunwoo, and avenge her father's death.