The Scent of Treason (2)
“It feels like just yesterday when I first met you, yet so much time has already passed.”
“……”
“Back then, you looked truly dangerous. People called you a lion or a tiger, but to me you were closer to a demon than any beast. I never said it to your face, of course.”
“……”
“Now, though, that fearsome demonic nature seems to have vanished. You carry yourself like a great king of the mountains. Even your eyes have changed. The pressure they exert has grown stronger, yet they are clear and deep, filled with chivalry and righteousness. The title Wall Mountain’s Tiger truly suits you now.”
Hwa Jin-cheon smiled.
“It is a fine thing. Whether you cultivated yourself so diligently or your father guided you well, I feel I can finally trust you from the bottom of my heart.”
It was a peculiar remark.
The Beggar Sect Leader was the very symbol of chivalry. To uphold that chivalry, he sifted through countless pieces of information, discarding the false and keeping the true. He valued logic over intuition and reason over emotion. Only after thoroughly examining every angle would he act, and only when he was certain the matter did not stray from the path of righteousness.
That was why he drew so much criticism, and why the position demanded such iron resolve.
Because of men like him, the title of Beggar Sect Leader had remained an unshakable emblem of chivalry across generations.
Yet this same man now spoke of a person’s eyes and trusted his intuition. If Yeon Hojeong was no longer the Yeon Hojeong of the past, then Hwa Jin-cheon was no longer the Hwa Jin-cheon of the past either.
Yeon Hojeong gazed steadily at Hwa Jin-cheon and spoke in a calm voice.
“You have grown much thinner.”
“Hm?”
“I know you have passed a considerable amount of your inner energy to Hugae. Still, I did not expect you to become this gaunt.”
Hwa Jin-cheon burst into hearty laughter.
“Come now, how old do you think I am? Aging has nothing to do with inner energy. I have roamed the Central Plains all my life and seen every corner of it. A beggar’s life, once it enters its twilight, can only drift farther from this world, little by little.”
It was strange.
Yeon Hojeong sensed an unusual profundity in Hwa Jin-cheon’s appearance and voice.
The vigorous vitality of old was gone. His back was stooped, his body wasted and lean. The tattered robes and the wild, grizzled hair remained the same, yet overall he seemed smaller.
Yet Yeon Hojeong saw beyond the outward form.
Though his frame had shrunk, the presence he radiated was far greater than before.
It was not a matter of martial prowess or inner energy. The very atmosphere surrounding the man called Hwa Jin-cheon had changed. That changed atmosphere made the frail old beggar seem like a giant.
He resembled someone who had attained the Dao. Over the image of the small, shabby beggar, Yeon Hojeong could almost see the figure of Seunghyeon Jinin, the Wudang Sect Leader.
“I invited you, but we are both busy men, so let us save the tea for later.”
“As you wish.”
“Sit, then.”
Yeon Hojeong took the seat across the table.
Once Hwa Jin-cheon had settled opposite him, he asked,
“Are those the famous Black and White Twin Dragon Axes?”
“You know my weapon?”
“Who do you think I am? The Beggar Sect Leader who claims to know everything under heaven. How could I not recognize the personal weapon of the greatest prodigy stirring the world today?”
It was an extravagant description.
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes deepened.
“If you truly know everything, then you must have been unaware of the chaos unfolding in Sichuan.”
“Haha, you have me there.”
The smile that had seemed so pleasant to behold had turned bitter.
“I remained ignorant of the things I truly needed to know while chasing after matters that merely piqued others’ curiosity. I suppose I have grown old after all.”
“……”
“It was clearly my mistake. I handed most of the Sect Leader’s duties over to my disciple. Entrusting the work to a reliable successor made me feel so light that I let my guard down.”
“……”
“It is lamentable. Even so, as long as I hold the title of Beggar Sect Leader, I should never have allowed it. I should have watched the world more carefully and immersed myself more deeply.”
Hwa Jin-cheon sighed.
“I was too busy arguing with that damned Daoist about the principles of the world and the future, and I neglected what I was supposed to do. I have no excuse for that part.”
He admitted it plainly and honestly.
Even the Beggar Sect Leader could reproach himself for failing to foresee such events, yet acknowledging one’s fault to another was never easy.
In that regard, Hwa Jin-cheon was truly a man of substance. It meant he understood the duty that came with holding power, just as Yeon Hojeong had once said.
“When one grows old, one should die. But before I die, I must correct the mistakes I have made. My errors can be dealt with after this matter is settled.”
“I agree. And……”
A bitter expression crossed Yeon Hojeong’s face.
“I am hardly in a position to criticize you, Sect Leader.”
Hwa Jin-cheon smiled.
“You really have changed a great deal.”
“……”
Well, had he changed that much?
Yeon Hojeong did not dwell on the question. If he had changed, then he had changed. What mattered now was something else.
After gazing at Yeon Hojeong for a moment, Hwa Jin-cheon clapped his hands.
“Let us not sit here looking so miserable, the two of us. What matters now is discussing the future, is it not?”
Yeon Hojeong glanced around.
“You seem to be poor at counting. It is not two, but forty-two.”
He was referring to the hidden experts throughout the entire tavern.
Surprisingly, their martial arts were so profound that even Yeon Hojeong could barely sense their presence. To deceive his perception to this degree with specialized stealth techniques was no ordinary feat.
Hwa Jin-cheon chuckled.
“You still have not cultivated the magnanimity to pretend ignorance even when you know the truth.”
“Neither you nor I have built a relationship based on trust yet, have we?”
“A relationship not built on trust…… Yes, that is true.”
“I did not expect the guards protecting the master of the Hundred Thousand Beggars to be this formidable. Even experts from the Heavenly Demon Cult would not dare approach.”
“That cannot be. If the Heavenly Demon Cult’s experts were truly determined, no group of masters could stop them. Well, they might buy some time.”
“Being able to buy time at all is already extraordinary.”
“I will not deny it.”
Yeon Hojeong stared at Hwa Jin-cheon in silence, then tilted his head.
“I truly cannot tell.”
“Hm?”
“Usually, after a conversation like this, I can glimpse at least part of a person’s true intentions. But with you, Sect Leader, I cannot read anything at all.”
In reality it was unlikely, but if Hwa Jin-cheon had joined hands with the leaders of Nakwonso, it would be an enormous problem.
Yeon Hojeong did not dismiss even that near-zero possibility. The man before him was simply too significant, and above all, he was the supreme head of the Central Plains’ foremost intelligence organization.
If a figure of this caliber had been working with Nakwonso, it would be entirely plausible that the organization had grown to such size over more than a decade while evading the world’s eyes.
More precisely, assuming the Beggar Sect Leader’s involvement made the situation easiest to explain.
And if the Beggar Sect Leader truly had allied with them, then the matter would become both extremely complicated and extremely simple at the same time. He could simply kill him here and now.
That was why he had prolonged the conversation, why he had tried to observe Hwa Jin-cheon more closely. He had carefully watched every detail—the pitch of his voice, his eyes, his expressions, his gestures.
Yet he could detect nothing. Though the voice and eyes conveyed sincerity in the words spoken, even that offered no certainty.
“Are you suspicious of me?”
Hwa Jin-cheon’s insight was, as expected, formidable.
Yeon Hojeong did not deny it.
“I am.”
“I understand. If one were to seek the simplest explanation for how those people managed to expand their organization in Sichuan for so long, nothing would be easier than to say the Beggar Sect Leader was backing them.”
“You understand well.”
“Then why did you come alone? If I truly had joined hands with Nakwonso’s scum, I could kill you right here.”
“You may not know this, but my skills are quite respectable.”
“A man on the verge of the Heavenly Demon realm has every right to such confidence. Still, as you yourself said, I have guards to protect me. Your strength alone would not suffice.”
Yeon Hojeong tapped his robe with his hand.
“Have you forgotten that I was with the head of the Tang Clan?”
“……”
“The moment a fight breaks out, most of the experts here will lose consciousness. Just in case, I have already taken the antidote.”
Hwa Jin-cheon smiled.
“You did not come without preparation?”
“I have often been called decisive, but never foolish.”
“Hahaha!”
Hwa Jin-cheon laughed despite himself.
“You truly are a vicious young man. I thought you had grown into a majestic mountain king, yet you have coated your fangs and claws with deadly poison.”
“To keep the throne of a king, one must win even if it means fighting ugly.”
Smiling at Yeon Hojeong, Hwa Jin-cheon shook his head.
“Do not worry. Even if I have made mistakes that weigh heavily on my heart, I have not gone mad enough to join hands with such scum.”
“Understood.”
“You believe me?”
“Of course not. But do not be too disappointed. I consider the possibility infinitely close to zero.”
“That stings. Well, it cannot be helped. It is my own fault for being negligent.”
Hwa Jin-cheon took several documents from his robe.
Yeon Hojeong tilted his head.
“What is this?”
“A list.”
“A list of……?”
“The names of high-ranking elders of our sect who have ties to senior officials in the Provincial Military Command, the Judicial Commission, and the Seungseon-pojeongsasa of Sichuan Province.”
“……?!”
Hwa Jin-cheon folded his hands together.
“I only realized something was amiss with the atmosphere in Sichuan three months ago. The Beggar Sect Leader meets with the regional elders once a year. Three months ago was the meeting with the Sichuan elders.”
The Beggar Sect had more members than any other sect in the Central Plains.
Even the number of elders alone reached several dozen. Though they did not appear on the front lines of the martial world, the Beggar Sect was not called the greatest sect under heaven for nothing.
If all its forces were concentrated in one place, even the combined might of the Nine Great Sects could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
That was the Beggar Sect.
“At that time, I saw something in the eyes of the elders who manage Sichuan’s information that should never have been there.”
“Something that should never have been there?”
“Worldly desire.”
Hwa Jin-cheon’s eyes grew deep.
“Beggars are free. A single set of rags is enough to wear, and if one is hungry, one simply begs. Depending on the time, our disciples could observe the hearts of the people within that freedom. Even while being cursed and despised, they checked every day whether the common folk’s lives were free of trouble.”
“……”
“Do you understand? To become a Beggar Sect disciple, one must have no worldly desires. Rather than mountains of gold and silver, a few coins to survive the day are enough. That is what it means to be a Beggar Sect disciple.”
“……”
“Yet in the eyes of the elders who should have been models of that ideal, every kind of greed swarmed. Intense material desire, vicious covetousness, and even lust were visible.”
“……”
“I do not know whether they thought they would not be discovered or whether they had simply given up. After all, they too have spent many years in the martial world.”
“Are you saying……?”
“Yes.”
Hwa Jin-cheon closed his eyes.
“The reason Nakwonso could grow so large was not merely a problem at the level of our Sichuan branch. The elders who oversee the Sichuan region have been connected with high-ranking government officials for more than a decade.”
“……!”
“And under the permission of those high officials, the foundation of Nakwonso was laid.”