Chapter 68: Crimson Divine Sword
Chapter 68: Crimson Divine Sword
At that, Jeong Yeon Sojeo's eyes widened in surprise as she asked back.
"What? To Hwa Sahyeong?"
"Yes, if it's Hwa Sahyeong, he would never ignore our words. And if he moves Mount Qingcheng for us, the elders of our sect wouldn't be able to ignore him either."
Hwa Sahyeong?
We exchanged puzzled glances with one another.
Could a sect of women like the Ami Sect even have a sahyeong?
And to move Mount Qingcheng on top of that?
Bi Sa-yeong, who could never hold back his frustration, asked first.
"Who exactly is this Hwa Sahyeong?"
Then Jeong-an Sojeo's face lit up like a girl recalling her first love as she answered.
"He's such a wonderful person! He's admired by all the female disciples of Ami!"
Hmm, this lady was flustered too.
That wasn't what he'd asked....
At least it was clear he was a man.
Huh? But Bi Sa-yeong, that bastard, his expression looked a bit strange.
He looked slightly flustered, didn't he?
The bastard wore a subtly uncomfortable expression as he looked at Jeong-an Sojeo, who had her hands clasped together as if reminiscing about a first love.
Others might not have noticed, but I could clearly catch that shift in his expression.
This bastard, no way...?
Just then, Jeong Yeon Sojeo let out a sigh at her same's explanation and clarified.
"He is a disciple of the Mount Qingcheng Sect. And what's more, he's a disciple of Cheong-gwang Jinin of the Mount Qingcheng Sect."
Cheong-gwang Jinin? I'd heard that name somewhere....
Huh?! Cheong-gwang Jinin?!
We were startled by the name and asked back.
"By Cheong-gwang Jinin, you don't mean...?!"
Then Jeong Yeon Sojeo nodded and confirmed.
"Yes, it's the one called the Cheongseong Strange Immortal, one of the Five Oddities of the World."
Good heavens!
He was a far greater figure than expected, which was astonishing.
The disciple of the Blue Castle Ghost Immortal Cheong Gwang-jin, one of the Five Oddities among the One Emperor, Two Kings, Three Sages, Four Demons, and Five Oddities.
The Cheongseong Strange Immortal was on the same level as the Seductive Ghost Son Eun-sang whom we had met, the Murim Alliance Leader Hyeopwang Mo Yong-geom, and the Blood Cult's Slaughter Blood Demon Jeon Mu-gwang.
And Jeong Yeon Sojeo's ensuing explanation was even more astonishing.
She said that Cheong-gwang Jinin's fourth disciple, Hwa Young-bin the Red Sunset Divine Sword, had been the lover of Jeong-seon Sojeo, who was the Ami Sword Peak and known as the number one beauty of Sichuan over ten years ago.
The two, who had met by chance during a heroic deed, fell in love instantly, and after several years of courtship, they even received permission to marry from their respective sects.
Listening to the story, I murmured to myself without realizing.
"The union of the Strange Immortal's disciple and the Ami Sword Peak. That must have been an incredible event."
Then Jeong Yeon Sojeo nodded heavily as well.
"It was a tremendous event. It was the marriage of the Mount Qingcheng Sect's greatest prodigy and the Ami Sect's greatest prodigy. I was young at the time, but I still remember the whole mountain buzzing when the sect leader gave her permission."
Up until then, no one doubted that the finest talents of the Ami and Mount Qingcheng Sects would be united and live happily.
But the world is unpredictable. Just as they were on the verge of marriage, the Great Blood War broke out.
The Ami Sect, being a sect of women, had a history of countless disciples falling victim to the Blood Cult's demon heads.
Therefore, they could not simply stand by and watch the Great Blood War, and they mustered their full strength to prepare to subjugate the Blood Cult.
With the sect leader at the time, Gyeol-heo Satae, and numerous elders all joining the war, it was only natural that Jeong-seon Sojeo, as Gyeol-heo Satae's disciple, would participate as well.
But even though his beloved joined the war, Hwa Young-bin the Red Sunset Divine Sword did not participate.
No, he could not participate.
"His beloved woman joined the war, but the man didn't? Why?"
To Bi Sa-yeong's question asking for the reason, Jeong Yeon Sojeo explained.
"Even now, the Mount Qingcheng Sect is less a single sect and more akin to an alliance of several martial bloodlines. Because of this, the sect leader of Mount Qingcheng acts more like a coordinator who mediates the opinions of the various bloodlines, rather than a decision-maker who sets the sect's direction like our Ami Sect leader. So, each bloodline had almost no right to interfere in how others acted."
Hearing that, I suddenly felt a bit curious.
I had imagined the sect leader of the Nine Great Sects to be an absolute ruler with unchallenged power, but the position of Mount Qingcheng's sect leader wasn't what I had imagined at all.
Jeong Yeon Sojeo continued speaking.
"It is said that the sect leader of Mount Qingcheng at the time, Cheong-won Jinin, was not on very good terms with the Murim Alliance. So Mount Qingcheng Sect originally had no intention of participating in the Great Blood War, but the next sect leader, the current sect leader, Cheong-myeong Jinin, participated independently with his followers."
"Then it seems Hwa Young-bin the Red Sunset Divine Sword Daehyeop belonged to a different faction."
"Yes, it wasn't just different—it was the complete opposite. It is a well-known story that the current Mount Qingcheng sect leader, Cheong-myeong Jinin, and Cheong-gwang Jinin are practically sworn enemies to this day."
It was a story I had never heard before.
The sect leader of Mount Qingcheng and the Strange Immortal, the greatest master of Mount Qingcheng and one of the absolute beings of the martial world, were sworn enemies.
How can a sect even function when its greatest master and its leader are sworn enemies?
I had thought all the sects within the Nine Great Sects were more or less the same, but apparently, the world was wide and diverse.
I suddenly organized the story I'd heard so far.
"Anyway, so of the two who promised to marry, Jeong-seon Sojeo joined the Great Blood War, and Hwa Yeong-bin Daehyeop could not. And since Jeong-seon Sojeo did not return after the Great Blood War ended, the marriage naturally never came to be."
At my words, both young ladies nodded with somber expressions.
It wasn't just Jeong-seon Sojeo—none of the Ami Sect disciples who participated in the Great Blood War had returned, so for them, as disciples of Ami, it was probably the most tragic event in the world.
Their expressions were so downcast that I hesitated to speak first, but fortunately, Jeong Yeon Sojeo composed herself first and continued.
"Hwa Yeong-bin Daehyeop, Hwa Sahyeong, lost his beloved that way, but even after that, he never abandoned his loyalty to the Ami Sect. For ten years, he's only longed for Jeong-seon Sajeo and has always shown concern for and helped the Ami Sect in its difficulties, as if it were his real in-laws' family. To the Ami Sect of today, he is the most grateful benefactor in the world. If it weren't for him, how desolate would it have been for Ami's disciples... That's why Ami's disciples often call him Hwa Sahyeong, with both gratitude and affection."
"Ahh."
It was an astonishing tale.
To still hold feelings for Jeong-in, who had been dead for ten years, and live on without forgetting her.
And not just feelings for her, but to continue caring for her sect as well.
It was so surreal it felt like a character out of a story.
But setting aside the fact that he was a remarkable person for now, I decided to focus on the more practical aspects.
So, he was the disciple of the Strange Immortal, an absolute being of the martial world, a disciple of the Mount Qingcheng Sect, one of the Nine Great Sects, and someone who looked after the Ami Sect's affairs as if they were his own?
That was good.
If only one more condition were met, it would be perfect.
My eyes suddenly brightened as I asked Jeong Yeon Sojeo.
"You said earlier that the Strange Immortal is not on good terms with the current sect leader of Mount Qingcheng. Then Hwa Daehyeop, as the Strange Immortal's disciple, probably doesn't have much influence within Mount Qingcheng either."
But at my words, both ladies firmly shook their heads.
"No. In Mount Qingcheng, the faction that follows Cheong-gwang Jinin is larger than the faction that follows the sect leader, Cheong-myeong Jinin. So, Hwa Sahyeong's influence in Mount Qingcheng is likely even greater than Cheong-myeong Jinin's."
...That's the best possible scenario.
Isn't this just too perfect?
I smacked my fist into my palm and exclaimed.
"Then that's settled! Let's go find him! Let's tell him about this situation and ask him to mobilize Mount Qingcheng!"
Then Jeong Yeon Sojeo hesitated slightly and asked.
"But... we'll still have to report to Mount Ami."
I smirked and answered.
"Of course you must report. However, let's do it by letter."
"...Huh?! By letter?!"
Seeing how flustered she was by the suggestion to report to the sect by letter, I explained the undeniable reasons to her.
"Sometimes a letter can be more effective than reporting in person. If you send a letter, won't they focus more on what the disciple said rather than punishing her for disobeying orders? If you attach just a bit of evidence, even those who want to stay close to Jeonghyeopbang will have to act. Moreover, if we can mobilize Mount Qingcheng to save an Ami Sect disciple, they'll be even more compelled to act swiftly."
Then Sak Mu-heun hyeongnim, who had been quietly listening until now, asked me.
"So, are you planning to move with these young ladies?"
Perhaps because he had been asked by the Sword Saint to escort Cheong Yeon Miss, Sak hyeongnim didn't seem too keen on having to go all the way to Mount Qingcheng.
I smiled and said to him.
"Sak hyeongnim, if you could go back and let Jo Won and the others know about this, I'd be grateful. And... could you change your departure and also report this to the Murim Alliance?"
Then he asked back with sharp eyes.
"Are you planning to drag the Alliance into this too?"
"Yes, the more ways to respond, the better. Once they learn that Jeonghyeopbang is the Blood Cult's forward base, they'll have to act in some way."
I deliberately did not say that if they didn't move, we would have to suspect that they had condoned the Blood Cult's northward advance, or were perhaps in cahoots with them entirely.
And I hastily added one more sentence.
"Ah, and please be sure to tell Man Jong-im Daeju this fact. I'm worried that if he doesn't know Jeonghyeopbang is the Blood Cult, he might cause some kind of incident."
At my words, Sak hyeongnim chuckled and answered.
"Surely not, he's a renowned veteran of the martial world, he wouldn't go that far. Anyway, understood. I'll head back to my same for now."
Sak hyeongnim said he would send the other ladies back himself on his way, and then departed.
But we didn't know then.
The fact that this matter would end up delaying him by a day....
***
That night.
The Un Clan estate, located in Geumsa, Guizhou City.
The Jeungak Dogaeks, the Twelfth Daeju Man Jong-im and his first squad members, were hiding in the shadows of the walls to infiltrate the Un Clan estate.
The Twelfth First Squad Leader Do Mu-gon asked Man Jong-im.
- Daeju, is this truly the right thing to do?
Then Man Jong-im answered with an expression of utter disgust.
- What in the world makes you so uneasy?! Didn't we just agree to check if there are Blood Cult groups within the Un Clan estate and then pull out?! And we're not even going alone—out of the three suspected locations, the Jeonghyeopbang personnel are looking into two, and we're only investigating one! So what exactly are you so dissatisfied about?!
Do Mu-gon couldn't bring himself to say anything more in the face of Man Jong-im's irritable response.
As Man Jong-im said, the plan itself didn't seem problematic.
But what made Do Mu-gon uneasy was that all these plans had originated from the mind of the White Jade Dragon Gu Yu-sang of Jeonghyeopbang.
He and his squad were merely following the plan Gu Yu-sang had formulated.
Of course, there was no doubt that Gu Yu-sang, the White Jade Dragon, was a brilliant prodigy, just as rumored.
He was a handsome man like carved jade, his martial arts were strong, and he seemed to possess both strategy and leadership.
'But... I still can't trust him.'
That was precisely the problem.
He simply could not shake the feeling that they had entrusted too much to someone they could not yet trust.
He was deeply uneasy.
But since Do Mu-gon himself wasn't the decision-maker, there was nothing to be done.
In contrast to Do Mu-gon, Man Jong-im Daeju seemed to trust Gu Yu-sang completely, even though he'd only recently met him.
The fact that the sole basis for this trust was that he was the divine dragon of the orthodox faction's Jeonghyeopbang only made Do Mu-gon more anxious.
Just then, Man Jong-im sent a telepathic message.
- It seems to be roughly the third watch now. Let's infiltrate.
Do Mu-gon let out an inward sigh but sent the signal to his squad members.
They had come this far, so there was no choice.
They weren't even fighting, just scouting and coming back, so it didn't seem like a major problem would arise.
And so, they all crossed the walls of the Un Clan estate.
Then Man Jong-im sneered at the Un Clan's lax defenses and sent a telepathic message to Do Mu-gon.
- The defenses against a night infiltration are utterly pathetic. Setting up sentries like this... Tch, typical of unorthodox scum.
Man Jong-im was still preoccupied with mocking the unorthodox faction even in this situation.
But Do Mu-gon let his words go in one ear and out the other and breathed a sigh of relief.
With defenses like this, didn't it seem like they could finish scouting and return without any trouble?
It was a great relief.
However, a moment later, it was when they had infiltrated deep inside, following the internal map Gu Yu-sang had given them.
As they were passing between the halls, fires suddenly blazed brightly from the surrounding walls.
Whaaa!
Startled, Man Jong-im shouted.
"Wh-What is this?!"
It was countless torches.
Countless torches completely surrounded them, having encircled the area from all sides before they knew it.
Just then, someone yelled.
"They sent real assassins as scouts! Filthy Jeonghyeopbang bastards! Everyone fire!"
Hearing this, Do Mu-gon was horrified.
What?! As scouts?!
Do Mu-gon realized his ominous premonition had been right.
But realizing it now was meaningless.
Just as Man Jong-im and all the squad members were frozen in shock, arrows and throwing weapons began pouring in at them from all directions.
Pyusyusyusyusyuk!
Pipipipipiping!
That place was hell.