The Spy Within
“I see.”
“What will you do?”
“About what?”
“What do you mean, what? Are you telling me you don’t know what that fox Jegal Mun-ho just pulled?”
“……”
“What we wanted was an overwhelming victory. Even if we bleed to win, we won’t be able to rule this vast continent in full.”
“……”
“To do that, we have to split the Central Plains forces completely. It has to be divide and conquer, plain and simple. Haven’t we been working toward that all this time?”
“And?”
“Are you pretending not to know? He moved first! Thanks to him, it’s going to be much easier for him to control public opinion!”
“Public opinion and the people’s hearts are like fire. If you light a bigger fire, it will naturally merge with the first.”
“You’re not actually thinking of lighting a counter-fire, are you?”
“Only if we must.”
“That’s absurd! If we light a counter-fire now, it’ll only prove there are spies inside the Martial Alliance!”
“That’s not your concern, is it?”
“……!”
“Don’t worry. We value you. Planting a spy inside the Martial Alliance is no easy task.”
“Damn it! If you’re going to call me valuable, at least tell me what’s going on!”
“What good would it do you to know? If you slip up and show it, some sharp strategist might realize you’re a spy.”
“You made me a spy without even that much trust?”
“We made you a spy because we do trust you. The reason we don’t give you much information is to prepare for the unexpected.”
“……”
“Don’t be impatient. You’re one of the chosen. That look on your face right now doesn’t suit you.”
“Damn it, I never thought he’d declare war so suddenly.”
“Jegal Mun-ho has no limits. No one knows what he’ll do next.”
“That’s exactly why……!”
“That’s exactly why your role is important. No matter what happens, don’t be surprised and don’t show it.”
“……”
“Stop passing information for the time being.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“If I suddenly stop doing something I’ve been doing out of habit, they’ll notice something’s wrong when they investigate me. I’ll keep doing it the same as before.”
“Hmm.”
“It would be better to warn the contact, not me.”
“You really are reliable.”
“Forget it. That kind of talk doesn’t comfort me at all.”
“Don’t worry too much. You’re one of the vanguards who will decide when our main force marches. And we don’t give that role to just anyone.”
“You’re unusually talkative today.”
“Because you’re not acting like yourself. Managing you is part of my job.”
“Enough. You can leave now. I’ve calmed down.”
“I’ll come back when things quiet down.”
The man vanished as silently as he had appeared.
It was an astonishing art no matter how many times he saw it. He wasn’t even sure if it was martial arts or sorcery, but it was something he dearly wanted to learn.
“……I want to expel this disgusting energy as soon as possible.”
Countless martial artists yearn to learn the ultimate techniques of the Nine Great Sects. Even if only a single form were properly taught, tens of thousands would flock to them.
The man was a supreme master who had mastered those ultimate techniques of the orthodox sects as well as anyone. Yet he loathed the energy he had cultivated and wished to vomit it out.
He looked down at the mask in his hand.
The mask shimmered with a bright aura.
He put the mask back on.
* * *
“He did look a little different.”
At Dang Gwan’s words, Yeon Wi tilted his head.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m talking about the Jegal patriarch.”
“Ah.”
The decisiveness and dignity Jegal Mun-ho had shown during the meeting had been considerable.
Honestly, Dang Gwan had been inwardly impressed.
The Jegal Mun-ho he had known until now was cautious rather than timid, and firm rather than cold—a textbook military strategist.
But today’s Jegal Mun-ho had been different.
Behind the cold languor in his eyes burned a terrifying rage. He hadn’t said it aloud, but the fact that enemy spies existed within the sacred Martial Alliance had driven his anger to its peak.
“That kind of temperament is necessary. Maybe that fellow has grown a little after all.”
Yeon Wi gave a small chuckle.
“If the military counselor heard that, he’d be offended.”
“Offended? It was a compliment.”
“The military counselor has always been that kind of person. He’s simply been suppressing himself all this time.”
“You think so?”
“I didn’t know either. I only realized it after seeing him in the meeting. There’s a passion in the military counselor’s heart that’s no less fierce than anyone else’s.”
“Whatever the case, that temperament isn’t bad.”
“I agree.”
After taking a sip of tea, Dang Gwan asked with a slightly mischievous expression.
“By the way, you must have had a hard time.”
“Hm?”
“Playing the spy.”
Yeon Wi burst into laughter without meaning to.
“There’s no fool who would use someone like me as a spy.”
That was an undeniable fact. Yeon Wi was far too honest to be used as a spy.
It was a great flaw in the rough world of the jianghu. Yet Yeon Wi had turned that very honesty and conviction into a weapon and built a reputation second to none.
Dang Gwan clicked his tongue.
“Still, I’m curious. It must have taken no small effort to hide that pitch-black heart behind a smiling face.”
“Whoever it is, it’s a terrifying thing.”
Yeon Wi fiddled with his cup.
“They’ll do anything to win…… There are more than a few organizations like that in this world, but I never imagined they would plant a spy inside the Martial Alliance’s inner circle.”
“They say crisis is opportunity, don’t they? There’s no need to act relaxed, but no need to walk around with your shoulders all tensed up either.”
Yeon Wi smiled.
“You seem quite experienced with this sort of thing.”
He hadn’t actually thought that would be the case, but to his surprise, Dang Gwan nodded.
“I’ve had my share.”
Honest surprise appeared on Yeon Wi’s face.
“There were spies active inside the Tang family?”
“There were.”
“Good heavens.”
The Sichuan Tang family’s notoriety was known throughout the world. Who would dare send spies into such a place? What kind of reckless organization would attempt that?
Dang Gwan shook his head.
“Because we built our walls with fear, there were even more spy incidents. Plenty of idiots wondered what might be hidden inside an impregnable fortress no one had ever breached.”
“They sent spies even at the risk of danger……”
“Curiosity drives people mad.”
“I would think worry would come before curiosity.”
“It always starts like that. They send spies with confidence, but once they’ve sent them, they worry whether the spies will actually succeed. Still, they watch with hope, and if it fails, they raise another spy with a ‘just in case’ mindset.”
The corner of Dang Gwan’s mouth lifted.
“From their perspective, the spies they send are nothing more than tails. Even if one gets cut off, they never think it puts them in danger.”
“……”
“I burned down more than twenty such organizations, just during my time.”
Surprise once again crossed Yeon Wi’s face.
“That… that many?”
“Here’s something even more surprising: fewer than half of them were martial sects.”
“……?!”
Dang Gwan crossed his legs and looked toward the window.
His face was that of a veteran who had seen so many incidents that he felt nothing but fatigue.
“Sending spies to martial sects? Most people think they send those skilled in stealth and decent at martial arts, but they’re wrong. The truly dangerous spies are those with exceptional mental strength, not physical ability.”
“Mental strength……”
“Someone who can shake human relationships with just a few words. Someone who hasn’t learned martial arts but has sharp instincts and can read an organization’s atmosphere more sensitively than anyone. Someone who can smile without breaking a sweat even under crushing pressure.”
“……!”
“Those are the truly terrifying spies. In the same vein, if there’s a spy among the inner circle, that person must be truly exceptional.”
“Even if they’ve learned martial arts?”
“The question is what kind of martial arts they’ve learned.”
Dang Gwan’s eyes deepened as he gazed out the window.
Outside, in the training ground, Dang Sang-ah was practicing the Four Flying Twin Blades.
Dang Gwan’s eyes softened, just a little.
“If such a spy exists among the heads of the Six Great Families, then that person possesses a purpose so ruthless they could sever even blood ties in an instant.”
“How could that be? It’s possible the entire family has joined hands with the Three Sects……”
“That’s impossible. A spy at the level of a family head would never touch their own faction. The fewer people who know the secret, the better. At least, that’s true for a real spy.”
It was a chilling statement.
It meant that if the spy’s plan succeeded, they would be cold-blooded enough to slaughter their own blood relatives who refused to follow them.
“For similar reasons, if there’s a spy among the Nine Great Sects, that would also be extraordinary. The martial arts of the Nine Great Sects are rooted in Buddhist and Daoist studies. While there are plenty who have gone mad, if someone has cultivated the martial arts of a sect leader, they would either feel revulsion at deceiving others due to their lofty enlightenment, or it would be difficult for them to reach that level of inner energy in the first place.”
“Then……?!”
“If it’s one of the sect leaders, then that person possesses a dual personality with a venomous mind that cannot be broken even by Buddhist or Daoist mental cultivation, along with the genius talent to reach the supreme realm while hiding that venom in their heart.”
Dang Gwan, who had been watching Dang Sang-ah’s training, turned his gaze back to his teacup.
“Either way, their mental strength alone must be harder than steel.”
Yeon Wi’s face grew stiff.
He too had once caught a spy. That spy had been the chief steward, Tae-gyeong. Without Yeon Hojeong’s wit, catching him would have been difficult.
But after hearing Dang Gwan’s words, Tae-gyeong seemed almost tame by comparison.
Dang Gwan gave a small laugh.
“That’s why I don’t think Moyong Gun is a spy.”
“Why not?”
“Because his desires are too excessive to be a spy, and he doesn’t have that level of mental strength. You saw it yourself, didn’t you, family head? How many times he was shocked by that brat’s surprise attacks.”
“That brat” referred to Yeon Hojeong.
“The surprise he showed every time was real. That kind of thing can’t be an act.”
“What if even that was an act?”
“Then we’ll just have to take the hit with our eyes open.”
Yeon Wi nodded.
‘It won’t be Moyong Gun.’
He knew from what his son had told him. Moyong Gun had been one of the greatest masters of the orthodox martial world who had allied with his son, the Black Dark Emperor, to fight the Sah-Eum Cult in the past.
Someone like that couldn’t possibly be their spy now. Besides, his pride was far too strong for that.
‘But…… something’s strange.’
Yeon Wi’s eyes gleamed.
‘Hojeong said that at the very last moment, Moyong Gun used the Tang family head’s hand to kill him.’
It had only been the Sah-Eum Cult, one of the Three Sects.
In other words, the Central Plains was still in crisis. In such a situation, they had killed one of the few absolute masters?
No matter how greedy and jealous Moyong Gun was, he was someone who knew how to protect his own people. There was no reason for him to kill the King of the Black Path.
‘Why? Why did Moyong Gun kill Hojeong back then?’
Amidst the unresolved questions,
Yeon Wi’s eyes sank deeper than ever before.
‘There’s something there.’