Shadows Ran Deep (2)
Kang Liang scratched the back of his head as he stepped through the door.
“Brother… huh?”
Yeon Hojeong sat cross-legged on the floor. A faint haze rose from the crown of his head, the clear sign of someone immersed in energy circulation.
“Tsk. You could’ve at least given me a heads-up,” Kang Liang muttered, turning to leave.
At that moment, Yeon Hojeong spoke.
“Wait a little longer.”
“Ah, sure. No problem.”
Kang Liang closed the door, folded his arms, and leaned against the wall, watching his sworn brother in silence.
His gaze deepened. Did he notice? Only a short while ago, Yeon Hojeong had mentioned that his senses had changed from before. He could no longer read every movement in all directions the way he once had.
At first it sounded like something was wrong with his body. But Yeon Hojeong had said it wasn’t that.
A shift in his martial arts.
Whether it was a step backward or forward, it meant Yeon Hojeong’s martial path was undergoing another transformation. What a guy. A complex smile formed on Kang Liang’s face as he watched him—bittersweet, envious, competitive, and proud all at once.
He really is a vicious bastard.
Kang Liang himself struggled every single day, every single moment, to never stray from the path of martial arts. It wasn’t simply a matter of training. It was a matter of mindset, of one’s entire attitude toward life.
Even so, he sometimes caught himself drifting away from that path in his words or actions. Whenever that happened, he consciously dragged himself back into the martial way.
Whether eating, drinking, or resting, he trained his body to naturally melt into the flow of the Dao. Once that state became unconscious and effortless, every day would be different. Kang Liang was certain of it.
The reason for his certainty stood right in front of him.
The man before him had maintained exactly the state Kang Liang longed for. It can’t be just the unity of life and martial arts. That alone can’t explain Brother’s changes.
Kang Liang’s eyes grew even deeper. What kind of world does Brother see? With what heart does he live in it? What kind of effort does he pour into constant growth?
He didn’t know. There was no way to know.
Yeon Hojeong trained like anyone else and lived like anyone else. Sometimes he even seemed more relaxed than most.
Yet his progress was clearer than anyone’s. He advanced every moment, and even when he hit a wall of regression, he used it as a stepping stone to leap even higher.
Perhaps… Kang Liang swallowed unconsciously. He’s already reached a realm where physical training no longer holds meaning.
People said that the higher one climbed, the more important sudden enlightenment became compared to steady physical conditioning.
They were wrong.
Enlightenment itself was important, but to obtain even a single fragment of it required relentless training. The body was the vessel; enlightenment was the content. No matter how heaven-sent the insight, if the body wasn’t properly tempered to contain it, the whole thing was meaningless.
That was why harmony between mind and body mattered so much. Without effort, enlightenment would never arrive.
In other words, Kang Liang believed Yeon Hojeong’s body had reached a state capable of accepting any realization. The change in his senses might be because of that. While he used to read every surrounding flow even when focused on one thing, the disharmony between mind and body blurred those senses. That interpretation fits.
If that was true, then the Yeon Hojeong of now—who was slowly regaining his former sensitivity…
Kang Liang’s folded arms tightened. It means he’s unconsciously gathering fragments of enlightenment bit by bit.
At that moment, Yeon Hojeong’s eyes snapped open.
“Huu…”
Kang Liang unfolded his arms.
“How’s your body?”
“Almost back to normal.”
The efficacy of the White Transformation Pill Dang Gwan had given him was truly remarkable.
It promised faster and more stable recovery than any internal injury medicine he had ever taken. Just as Dang Gwan had said, the deeper the injury the weaker the effect, but once the worst had been managed, taking the White Transformation Pill produced frighteningly rapid healing.
“Incredible.”
Yeon Hojeong stood up from his cross-legged position and shook his head in amazement.
“I’ve never seen an internal injury medicine this effective. The Sichuan Tang Family really lives up to its name.”
Kang Liang gave a small snort of laughter.
“They spend every waking hour fiddling with medicinal and poisonous herbs. They might not lead in spiritual medicines, but when it comes to recovery pills, no sect can touch them.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
Yeon Hojeong rolled his shoulders in circles. The claim that he had nearly recovered wasn’t empty. The simple motion alone showed he had returned to his usual state.
“What about Songha Sinni and Deunghwa?”
“They’re in a room on the third floor.”
“How is Songha Sinni’s condition?”
Kang Liang clicked his tongue.
“Not good.”
He had told her they had captured Myeong-jin Satae of the Emei Sect. The news had nearly shattered Songha Sinni. The shock must have been overwhelming.
Yeon Hojeong nodded.
“Today’s the last day, right? The day the Tang Family Head rented this inn?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell everyone to gather on the second floor.”
Two hours later, the entire group sat around the large table in the center of the second floor.
The atmosphere was quite heavy. Yeon Hojeong’s expression alone made it clear the discussion would be serious.
“It’s time we talked about the real work,” he said.
Dang Gwan, Pae Yul, Hwang Seok-tae, and Kang Liang’s eyes sharpened at once. Songha Sinni, seated to one side, straightened her back as if trying to summon every ounce of strength she had left. The past few days of mental anguish had clearly taken their toll—her face looked haggard.
Yeon Hojeong continued.
“There is a place in Sichuan called Nakwonso. And the people who created that Nakwonso belong to the Three Strong Powers of Sichuan.”
Dang Gwan’s eyes deepened. Songha Sinni’s complexion turned noticeably pale.
Yeon Hojeong let out a small sigh.
“Honestly, I’m not sure where to begin. From what I’ve gathered, it’s spread across the entire province. Even if we uproot the main organization, I don’t know how long it will take to hunt down every last remnant.”
“Wait a moment,” Kang Liang raised his hand. “I’ve heard the name Nakwonso and I’ve fought those bastards until we were both covered in blood, but…”
“Mm.”
“I still don’t really understand what Nakwonso actually is. Shouldn’t we start there?”
Kang Liang glanced at Dang Gwan.
“It seems the Tang Family Head doesn’t know either.”
Dang Gwan said nothing and simply looked at Yeon Hojeong.
Yeon Hojeong nodded.
“Songha Sinni.”
“Y-yes?”
“Please explain it to them. Leave nothing out. Be completely honest.”
Songha Sinni swallowed hard.
“I… I understand.”
She had devoted her life to ascetic practice in the mountains. Even now, the memories of what happened inside Nakwonso made her skin crawl.
And she was furious. As a practitioner she should have controlled her emotions, yet it was proving nearly impossible.
“Nakwonso is…”
Her explanation began.
She was different from Yeon Hojeong. She lacked the ability to stick to the main points, included unnecessary details, and her account was heavily colored by emotion.
Even so, everyone who heard her turned pale with shock.
“That…”
Disbelief washed over Kang Liang’s face.
“Is that really true?”
“…It is.”
“But no matter what, they’re supposed to be practitioners! Aren’t Qingcheng and Emei sacred grounds that Daoist and Buddhist cultivators look up to? How could people from such places create something so utterly without morals?!”
Yeon Hojeong spoke.
“A person becoming a demon has nothing to do with age, gender, or social status.”
“But still!”
“On the contrary, such people are even more likely to emerge from groups that cling to clean, sometimes repressed, sometimes stifling ascetic lives.”
Kang Liang was stunned. He wasn’t the only one. Killing intent flickered in Pae Yul’s eyes as well.
Yet his voice remained calm and plain, far less agitated than Kang Liang’s.
“It’s been at least ten years.”
“Yes.”
“Raising experts of that caliber takes a long time. You said at least ten years, but it’s probably been even longer.”
“I think so too.”
“The real problem,” Pae Yul frowned, “is how in the hell they built such an organization in the first place.”
Confusion appeared on Songha Sinni’s face.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Sinni. An organization or group isn’t something you can make just by gathering people.”
“Pardon?”
“It takes money.”
“…!”
“They have enough wealth to build Nakwonso branches all over Sichuan. If the horrific things you described are really happening there, just securing the necessary manpower would require an unimaginable amount of operating expenses.”
“Ah!”
Having spent her life focused solely on cultivation in the mountain temple, she was particularly weak when it came to such practical matters.
The Emei Sect followed Buddhism, but of course they earned money too. Without it, properly running a sect was impossible.
“Moreover, those bastards have been teaching the martial arts of various sects to outsiders for over ten years. Unless every single one of their students was a genius, they would have needed vast quantities of spiritual medicines and training grounds to raise that many troops.”
“I… I see.”
“On top of that, they even trained assassins. You said they weren’t specialized in assassination, but that only makes it more impressive. Intelligence gathering and information control are impossible without specialized knowledge, and training people in that field is far harder than raising ordinary experts.”
Yeon Hojeong nodded.
“Correct.”
“So where did they get all that money? Even if they siphoned public funds from their sects, the scale makes it impossible. There’s no way the sects wouldn’t have noticed such enormous sums disappearing.”
“That is also correct. However, there is one thing I must correct.”
Everyone turned to Yeon Hojeong.
He placed his axe on the table with a heavy thud.
“I am a rather famous person.”
Kang Liang clicked his tongue.
“That’s not exactly something to brag about, is it?”
“Shut up, kid.”
Yeon Hojeong scratched his head.
“Of course, the rumors about me have been somewhat exaggerated. Still, the most distinctive part of my reputation is that I use a weapon called the Mad Dragon Axe. That axe is taller and heavier than a grown man. Anyone who saw it would immediately know it was me.”
“True.”
“Yet those bastards didn’t recognize me.”
“…Huh?”
“They showed no sign of knowing who I was. Was it because I wasn’t carrying the Mad Dragon Axe? Even without it, there aren’t many experts of my age who go around wielding an axe.”
“There aren’t many—there’s only you, Brother. Especially if we consider your martial realm.”
“Exactly. And yet they showed no recognition at all.”
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes gleamed.
“The core members might be excused. They’re drowning in lust and martial training—some of them probably don’t even know what’s happening in the outside world. Not all of them, but most likely do.”
When a person becomes deeply absorbed in one field, they stop seeing what’s around them. Even if they hear something, they forget. Even if they see it, they don’t remember. This applies to both experts and ordinary people.
“But the ones trained specifically for intelligence and information control not knowing me… isn’t that strange?”
“…Now that you mention it.”
“It is strange. At first I thought they might be pretending, but that wasn’t the case. They genuinely had no idea who I was.”
“Then…”
“That’s why I consider it fortunate.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s fortunate. It means their intelligence network is limited to Sichuan.”
“…!!”
Eyes across the room sharpened.
Yeon Hojeong continued.
“If they knew every detail about our situation, that would be even more impossible to explain. If that were truly the case…”
Dang Gwan frowned.
“The Beggars’ Union.”
“Exactly. We would have to assume the Beggars’ Union has joined hands with them.”
“…”
“That’s why I say it’s fortunate. We can assume the Beggars’ Union is not working with them. At least not the main body—some of the lesser branches might be.”
Hwang Seok-tae spoke bluntly.
“The board is getting incredibly large.”
“It hasn’t. The Beggars’ Union is out of the picture for now. That’s what makes everything fit. It explains why they didn’t recognize me.”
“Mm.”
“They’re afraid of the Beggars’ Union. That’s why they’ve only maintained strict control over information inside Sichuan. They don’t have the power, the leisure, or the time to build anything beyond that.”
“Then…?”
“Their world is confined to Sichuan. Anything outside it isn’t even part of their reality. To them, Sichuan is the entire world. And because of that…”
Yeon Hojeong stroked his chin.
“The strategy for dealing with them becomes much simpler.”