Chapter 638: Do You Know Where That Is?
Chapter 638: Do You Know Where That Is?
Geom Mu-geuk and Jin Ha-gun stepped out of the Murim Alliance headquarters.
Geom Mu-geuk still wore his bamboo hat to avoid drawing unwanted attention, though he knew the gesture was likely futile.
“The other side probably already knows I met with the Alliance Leader.”
Geom Mu-geuk did not underestimate the enemy's intelligence network. Wuhan was the stage they had built, and they were the protagonists of this play.
A look of gravity crossed Jin Ha-gun’s eyes. If Geom Mu-geuk was right, it meant the enemy was watching them from a very close distance.
“Are you saying they have eyes inside the Alliance as well?”
“Think about it. They’ve been preparing for decades,” Geom Mu-geuk said, tapping the brim of his bamboo hat. “A mere hat can’t block out years of planning like that.”
Hearing those words, Jin Ha-gun felt a weight similar to what Jin Pae-cheon must have felt. This fight would be more grueling than any he had ever faced.
“Is it them?”
By "them," Jin Ha-gun meant the masterminds behind the Three-Party Summit between the Orthodox, Unorthodox, and Demonic factions.
Geom Mu-geuk understood immediately and nodded.
“Yes, I believe so.”
Only they would be capable of weaving such a conspiracy against both the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and the Murim Alliance.
Jin Ha-gun asked cautiously, “Do you still think it’s the Heaven’s End Recluse?”
Jin Ha-gun wanted one final confirmation. He trusted Geom Mu-geuk’s insight and situational awareness more than his own.
Geom Mu-geuk explained his conviction by considering the alternative.
“Of course, I could be wrong. However, there’s no need to worry about the possibility that I am.”
“Why not?”
“If he’s innocent, I can just apologize for the misunderstanding and be done with it.”
Jin Ha-gun stared at him, his expression asking if it could really be that simple. To Geom Mu-geuk, it truly was.
“That’s when decades of friendship should shine. You shouldn't let something that precious make you hesitate.”
“...!”
Jin Ha-gun felt that those words captured the very essence of how they should approach this situation.
“Compared to the consequences of failing to see the Heaven’s End Recluse’s dark intentions, a temporary misunderstanding between friends is nothing.”
He was right. His grandfather wouldn't kill the Heaven’s End Recluse based on a mere feeling without solid evidence anyway. Therefore, it was perfectly fine for him to harbor as much suspicion as he wanted.
Geom Mu-geuk’s straightforward conclusion cleared the fog in Jin Ha-gun’s mind.
“Thank you for coming.”
Jin Ha-gun expressed his gratitude sincerely. Geom Mu-geuk probably didn't realize just how much his presence meant.
“Of course I had to come.”
That one sentence was enough. Of course I had to come. It would have been the same if the roles were reversed. Of course I had to go.
“By the way, where are we going?”
At Geom Mu-geuk’s question, Jin Ha-gun smiled.
“A friend has come from afar; the least I can do is provide a place to sleep.”
*
The manor Jin Ha-gun provided was a base used by the Demon Extermination Squad.
It was located at the foot of a mountain on the outskirts of the city, far from the bustling marketplace. Since everyone knew the property belonged to the Murim Alliance, they didn't have to worry about being searched by the martial artists of Wuhan for the time being.
“See? The treatment changes the moment I arrive. That’s the kind of man I am.”
Geom Mu-geuk bragged loudly from the entrance, but naturally, no one entertained his vanity.
Geom Mu-yang scanned the interior of the manor for anything suspicious, while the Demon Buddha went outside to scout the perimeter. The Poison King quietly followed behind the Demon Buddha.
Seeing this, Geom Mu-geuk shouted, “Don’t fall for it even if the Poison King tries to lure you into picking poisonous herbs! He thinks of you as his personal herb gatherer, Demon Buddha!”
The Poison King’s back flinched visibly.
Once the two had stepped outside, Geom Mu-yang scolded his younger brother.
“Do not be disrespectful to the Demon Buddha.”
Geom Mu-geuk gave a meaningful smile.
“You should only scold me when he’s around, Brother. That way, he’ll know how you feel.”
“I don’t say these things so he’ll notice.”
“I know, I know. But wouldn't it be better if he did?”
After all, he was his brother’s favorite Demon Lord. The only one he truly liked.
Geom Mu-geuk sincerely hoped this relationship would remain unchanged until the end of their lives.
After checking the courtyard, Geom Mu-yang entered the building. Even as he walked down the hallway, he carefully inspected the area for any hidden mechanisms.
“Are you worried Captain Jin pulled some kind of stunt in this manor? You don’t need to worry.”
Geom Mu-yang replied without looking back.
“Why should I trust him?”
Geom Mu-yang harbored the same concerns Jin Pae-cheon had for his grandson: Don't trust people blindly.
“Not everyone is like you.”
Geom Mu-geuk followed closely behind him.
“That’s a compliment, right?”
Geom Mu-yang didn't answer but opened the doors to check the rooms.
“You take this small room. Give that room to the Demon Buddha.”
Geom Mu-yang assigned the largest and best room to the Demon Buddha. Naturally, he gave the smallest one to Geom Mu-geuk.
“The Demon Buddha would be fine even in the smallest room...”
When Geom Mu-yang turned around with a scowl, Geom Mu-geuk scurried into the small room as if fleeing.
“Try saying that when he’s actually here.”
Geom Mu-geuk flopped onto the bed.
“Ah, this is nice and comfortable!”
Lying down, he stared out the window. After watching the drifting clouds for a moment, he asked loudly, “I heard you were the one who called Captain Jin first?”
After a brief pause, Geom Mu-yang’s voice drifted from his room.
“There is someone who needs to be rescued.”
Geom Mu-geuk was aware that the sister of the blacksmith Gwak Yeong was being held hostage.
“It feels so awkward hearing that a man who only ever thought about killing people is trying to save someone.”
Even when labeled a murderer, Geom Mu-yang didn't react.
Of course, Geom Mu-geuk wasn't about to miss this chance to tease his brother.
“Is she pretty?”
One might have expected an outburst, but no answer came.
Geom Mu-geuk appeared relaxed and full of jokes, but internally, he was more tense than anyone.
Hwa Yul-cheong.
This was the first member of the Hwa family he was facing since his regression. How could he afford to be careless?
Just then, a reprimand came from the doorway.
“You shouldn't have come. You should have stayed to protect the Main Cult.”
Geom Mu-geuk turned his head to see his brother standing at the door.
Geom Mu-yang knew all too well that having both of the Heavenly Demon’s blood relatives in one dangerous location was a grave risk.
“The Main Cult is probably safer without me there.”
After all, the Heavenly Demon Library was being ransacked by the Acting Cult Leader.
“Stop joking!”
“What are you worried about? You’ll protect me, won't you?”
“Me? Why?”
“I heard you came all the way here because of me.”
Startled by the unexpected remark, Geom Mu-yang looked flustered.
“Who told you that?”
“Who else? Someone with a loose tongue.”
Only three people had heard him say that to Jin Pae-cheon. Jin Ha-gun had been below the pavilion, and the Demon Buddha had been in the mist.
“Was it Captain Jin?”
Geom Mu-geuk had assumed his friend Jin Ha-gun told him, but the culprit was unexpected.
“The Demon Buddha told me.”
On the way here, the Demon Buddha had quietly informed him via Voice Transmission. He had said it in hopes that the brothers' relationship would improve.
“He didn't tell me for my sake, but for yours. So that I’d treat you better.”
In moments like these, Geom Mu-geuk could feel a surge of emotion crossing his stoic brother’s face.
“So, Brother, try expressing yourself a bit more. Think of how many years the Demon Buddha has spent looking only at you. You can afford to show some emotion now.”
Then, Geom Mu-yang spoke abruptly.
“Thank you.”
“Not to me. I told you to say it directly to the Demon Buddha.”
But Geom Mu-yang wasn't speaking to the Demon Buddha.
“I’m thanking you.”
“Suddenly?”
Since it was such an out-of-the-blue thanks, Geom Mu-geuk sat up on the bed.
“I’ve done so many things for you to be thankful for that I’m not sure which one you’re talking about, but whatever. It’s fine. That’s what brothers are for.”
Geom Mu-yang slightly opened his collar. He was wearing the Supreme Heavenly Silkworm Thread underneath.
Geom Mu-geuk had asked the Demon Buddha to wrap it around his brother’s heart, and it seemed he had succeeded. As expected, the Demon Buddha was the best at handling his brother.
“Ah, that’s not just a 'whatever' thing. I gave you a piece of my life.”
If it had been the old Geom Mu-yang, he would have demanded to know who he thought he was looking down on and unwound it immediately. No, he wouldn't have let it be wrapped around his heart in the first place. Even if it had been forced on him, he wouldn't have shown it like this.
While he had changed in some ways, there were parts of him that remained exactly the same.
“I will return this once we go back.”
Saying he would return it once they went back meant he intended to fight at the very front.
He was already furious that they had nearly killed his brother; now that his brother had been drawn to this dangerous place, his rage toward the enemy was absolute.
“My brother is pissed. I don't know who you guys are, but you’re in big trouble now.”
*
Geom Mu-geuk and Geom Mu-yang began their investigation in earnest.
Through the Tongcheon Pavilion, they obtained records of all the sects that had been established in Wuhan within a few years of the time the Heaven’s End Recluse settled there.
There were eight sects in total.
Geom Mu-geuk and Geom Mu-yang split the list and investigated them personally.
Since they couldn't grasp the true nature of these sects from documents alone, they went to see for themselves. These were men who could sense something suspicious just by looking at a gatekeeper’s face or feeling the air in a courtyard.
After completing their investigation, the two reconvened.
“The Yeongcheon Sect is excluded because it has too many branches across the Central Plains. The Tyrant Sword Sect is excluded because the leader died in an accident recently and his kin took over. The Sage Sword Sect is excluded because they follow the Heaven’s End Recluse too fervently. And the Life Path Guild has too many members.”
They shared their findings, and Geom Mu-yang’s results were similar to Geom Mu-geuk’s. They couldn't find a single 'guardian sect' that was secretly protecting the Heaven’s End Recluse.
“It seems our prediction was wrong.”
The two Demon Lords nodded at Geom Mu-yang’s conclusion. Since the two brothers had investigated personally based on Tongcheon Pavilion’s data, the result was likely accurate.
That meant there was no sect protecting him here in Wuhan. Had he really managed everything on his own all this time?
Geom Mu-geuk shook his head firmly.
“That’s impossible.”
He was certain they had missed something.
“This isn't something that could be finished in a year or two. This has been ongoing for decades. Would they really leave everything to one man’s effort and luck? Not a chance.”
What if he had done well for twenty years but died in an accident the following year? Twenty years of work would have vanished into thin air.
Someone must have been by his side, supporting and helping him. They must have overcome numerous unknown crises together. There had to be an entity that weathered the storms of time alongside him.
“Could he have recruited an existing sect after gaining fame, rather than founding one at the time?”
Geom Mu-geuk nodded at the Demon Buddha’s suggestion.
“That’s possible, but I don’t think that’s the case here. I feel like he would have kept his most trusted people by his side from the very beginning.”
This time, Geom Mu-yang offered an opinion.
“Then could it be an individual helping him, rather than a sect?”
“He lived as a friend to the Alliance Leader. Naturally, the Murim Alliance would have monitored and investigated him according to their regulations. They would have been thorough. Think about it—if our father had a best friend, imagine how strictly we would investigate that person.”
Furthermore, according to the Tongcheon Pavilion’s investigation, the Heaven’s End Recluse had no friends other than the Alliance Leader. He was, for all intents and purposes, completely alone.
“Didn't you say they deal with poisons?”
It was Geom Mu-yang who answered the Demon Buddha’s question, as he was the one who had experienced it firsthand while chasing the forged hidden weapons.
“That’s correct. The forged hidden weapons were coated in a powerful poison.”
That wasn't all.
“Furthermore, they manipulated people’s minds, whether through drugs or some Great Regression Art.”
They had forced people to commit suicide at critical moments or make specific confessions. That alone proved they were no ordinary experts.
The four people in the room knew better than anyone how sensitive the Murim Alliance was regarding poison, and how much they loathed soul-seizing techniques. Martial artists feared the Poison King and the Soul-Seizing Demon Lord above all else.
And yet, the Murim Alliance missed the fact that the Alliance Leader’s only friend was associating with someone who used poison or soul-seizing arts?
Geom Mu-geuk believed that was impossible. They were the ones who had missed something.
Geom Mu-geuk reviewed the records again, reading them with a different mindset. There was definitely something missing. The answer was here.
As he scanned the documents with that conviction, Geom Mu-geuk’s gaze stopped at one particular spot. A slow smile spread across his lips.
“Do you know what kind of place is neither an individual nor a sect, yet can legally use poison and stick needles into people’s heads?”
*
The four of them, including Geom Mu-geuk, sat in a teahouse, looking at the building across the street. It was a large building occupying expensive land in the middle of a bustling marketplace.
Myeong-sim Clinic.
“It’s the place the Heaven’s End Recluse visited most frequently while performing his acts of chivalry. He would bring poor people there for treatment every time. It’s a place no one would ever suspect.”
It was a place even Geom Mu-yang and the two Demon Lords had never considered.
A clinic? The organization backing this conspiracy was a clinic? Who could have imagined such a thing?
There was another reason to suspect this place was the base of operations.
“The physician here, So Jeong-rak, is highly skilled and has an excellent reputation. In Wuhan, he’s almost as popular as the Murim Alliance’s Divine Doctor.”
Even the Poison King and the Demon Buddha had heard his name before.
“In particular, So Jeong-rak is famous for his ability to neutralize poisons. Some even say he’s better at detoxification than the Alliance’s Divine Doctor. That’s why martial artists from across the Central Plains seek him out first when they’ve been poisoned. He has saved countless lives.”
Then, the Poison King, who hadn't said a word until now, spoke with a calm gaze, cutting to the heart of the matter.
“The pinnacle of the poison arts is not the administration of toxins, but the creation of the antidote.”