Chapter 89: Things Going Awry-1
Chapter 89: Things Going Awry-1
The Murim Alliance's Mancheong Pavilion.
Chief Strategist Jegal Ji-gang slammed his hand down on his desk in fury.
Bam!
"What?! Guyueumma Jigieum said such a thing?!"
The Lord of Mancheong Pavilion, kneeling before him, bowed his head again as he answered.
"Yes, he did."
"Why, that—!"
The report from the Lord of Mancheong Pavilion stated that Guyueumma Jigieum, who had gone to the Jeonghyeopbang and dealt with Sa Won-yang, had spoken the name of Jegal Ji-gang in front of the Cheongseong and Dang Clan members.
Jegal Ji-gang realized he had been done in.
Originally, his plan had been to use the Jeonghyeopbang's exposed crimes to pressure the Blood Demon for violating their agreement, but that bastard had swiftly handled Sa Won-yang with his own hands.
Up to that point, he could at least understand it.
It was to prove to the martial world that they knew nothing of the matter, of course, and to flaunt their faithful adherence to the agreement.
But to bring his own name into it, of all things....
Jegal Ji-gang gritted his teeth and muttered.
"This snake-like bastard...."
On the surface, bringing up his name would appear to be a move to prove their own forthrightness.
But in Jegal Ji-gang's view, that was not the only reason.
Because of that bastard's words, the martial world would now be led to believe that he, the Alliance's strategist, and by extension the Murim Alliance itself, were still in communication with the Blood Cult.
And that would have the effect of diverting the hostility toward the Blood Cult away and dispersing it onto the Murim Alliance instead.
Now, whenever the people of the martial world recalled the atrocities of the Blood Cult, they would remember the Murim Alliance right alongside them.
Furthermore, this also felt like a warning from the Blood Demon to Jegal Ji-gang himself.
'He's saying that even if everything gets exposed, they have nothing to lose. It's a message telling me to think carefully about who suffers more from an exposure before I act.'
This was apparently the Blood Demon's answer to Jegal Ji-gang, who had sought to pressure them through this incident.
Jegal Ji-gang had to struggle mightily to suppress his rage.
But the report on the Jeonghyeopbang incident was not the only thing enraging him.
"This... is a letter from the Sword Saint?"
"Yes, that is correct."
Previously, Jegal Ji-gang had requested that the Sword Saint come to the Jeonghyeopbang in order to deal with him, while also having asked the Blood Cult to handle his disposal.
But as he read the Sword Saint's reply, Jegal Ji-gang had to clench his teeth to keep from crumpling it up in front of his subordinates.
The Sword Saint's reply was written thus:
That at present, he had no mind for frontline matters, and that matters north of the front line should be managed by the Alliance themselves.
In short, despite the Alliance's order, he would not be moving from the front line.
'The Sword Saint... if that man didn't move from the front line....'
Gnashing his teeth, Jegal Ji-gang hurried back to his office at Military Headquarters, where he could confirm the secret letter that had indeed arrived from the Blood Demon.
And just as expected, the contents were as follows.
[The man never appeared at the Jeonghyeopbang, so I could not kill him. We prepared properly, only to be sent on a wild goose chase. It worries me that Strategist Jegal's brilliance is not what it once was. Even so, I trust you will not make a foolish request to kill him while he is on the front line. The price for sending us on a wild goose chase this time will be collected later.]
"Crrk!"
Jegal Ji-gang ground his teeth and crumpled the letter fiercely.
The Blood Demon was right.
The Sword Saint could not be killed on the front line.
If the Sword Saint, who was practically an idol to the martial world, were to be killed there by a Blood Cultist, no matter how much real power Jegal Ji-gang held within the Alliance, he would not be able to stop the Second Great Blood War from erupting.
Thus, far from being rid of the Sword Saint, Jegal Ji-gang had instead incurred a debt to the Blood Demon and was even being mocked for it.
A fury surged to the very top of his head.
All of this was because of that man, the Sword Saint.
Alone in his office, Jegal Ji-gang shouted that name, his voice thick with wrath.
"Hae Un-baek!"
But after barely managing to cool his head a moment later, Jegal Ji-gang could not shake the feeling that something was off.
Blood Cult demon heads had appeared north of the front line, even going so far as to mention the Second Great Blood War, yet the man had ignored all that and refused to move.
No matter how great the shock of losing his daughter, was this not an aberrant course of action, entirely alien compared to the Sword Saint he had known until now?
And to top it off, he seemed to be choosing only those actions that would make a fool of Jegal Ji-gang.
Jegal Ji-gang stroked his beard and sank into thought.
"It's strange. Very strange."
If he dismissed even this as mere coincidence, he would have no excuse if someone called him unfit to be a strategist.
Clearly, there seemed to be someone behind the scenes pulling the strings.
The most suspicious figures suddenly came to mind.
"Could it be that the Sama Clan has begun to move?"
The Sama Clan had served as the brains for the previous Murim Alliance leader, the Nine Heroes King Cheon Gi-seong.
They were also the ones who, for nearly a hundred years, had pushed aside the Jegal Clan and never yielded the position of the world's greatest strategists.
After seizing power as the strategist of the current alliance leader Mo Yong-geom, Jegal Ji-gang had thoroughly brought about their downfall.
So thoroughly that they could never crawl back up again.
Since then, he had never let his surveillance of them waver, nor had he ever received a report of any movement. But still, whenever he considered who had the strategic mind to make a fool of him like this, they were the first to come to mind.
Jegal Ji-gang shot up from his seat and began moving back to Mancheong Pavilion.
He would need to hear a detailed report on the Sama Clan's and Sword Saint's activities, and everything concerning this incident.
***
Shadow Unit Vice-Leader Ju Won-seo, along with his direct subordinates, was inspecting a remote estate deep in the forest.
It was the very estate where Georyeokma Jeo Woong-won had stayed with his subordinates.
One of his subordinates approached and spoke to him.
"Vice-Leader, there are four bodies of Shadow Unit members discovered in total. They are severely damaged, seemingly pulverized by immense martial force, and with so much time elapsed, we could not confirm a precise identity."
Ju Won-seo, who had frowned at the report from his men, looked at the body laid before him and asked again.
"Can you at least distinguish the body of Eighth Squad Leader Hyu Ja-seung?"
"No, it seems that will be difficult regardless."
"Hmm...."
Eighth Squad Leader Hyu Ja-seung, who had tracked Georyeokma Jeo Woong-won and uncovered his ties to the Jeonghyeopbang, had sent no response to the summons issued right after his report.
It was as if he had simply gone into hiding, or else been annihilated before he could send a report.
So, faced with his complete lack of response—not even a reply, let alone returning to the Murim Alliance—Shadow Unit Vice-Leader Ju Won-seo had been forced to come all the way here to find him personally.
But all they could find here were the corpses of Blood Cultists, and the bodies of Shadow Unit members who appeared to have fought them to mutual destruction.
Even those were only bones and scraps of clothing, rotted beyond any hope of identification in the hot, humid forest. He couldn't even confirm if Eighth Squad Leader Hyu Ja-seung was among these dead.
Ju Won-seo frowned and muttered.
"But it's strange. If they fought the Georyeokma bastards to mutual destruction here, how was the report sent? And how were the captive women rescued?"
At that, a subordinate beside him asked cautiously.
"Could he have sent the report while gravely injured? Using the last of his strength to report before breathing his last...."
"Hmph. Hyu Ja-seung, that fellow? Do you mean him?"
Of course, a warrior with a strong sense of duty might do such a thing.
But the Hyu Ja-seung that Ju Won-seo remembered was not a warrior overflowing with mission or diligence.
Rather, he was a man who gave off a subtle pleasure in killing, making one furrow their brow....
After a moment of deliberation, Ju Won-seo gave new orders to his subordinates.
"For now, cease the investigation and gather everyone. We shall return, report to the Strategist, and await the next order. However, you three, stay here and try to inquire about the rescued women. Secure testimony about those who rescued them."
"Yes! Understood!"
After that, Ju Won-seo and his subordinates all dispersed on their separate paths.
Then, in the now-empty estate.
From the shade of a tree beside the deserted estate, a dark-clad figure rose up like a ghost.
It was Sak Mu-heun, the Fifth Squad Leader of the Shadow Unit who was now aiding Hae Cheong-yeon.
He frowned and muttered.
"Just as my saje Cheong-yeon said, they came to investigate personally. And to specifically look into the kidnapped women, no less. Sharp, aren't they?"
Hae Cheong-yeon had anticipated this situation from the start, so she had Sak Mu-heun create traces making it look like the Georyeokma gang and the Shadow Unit had fought to mutual destruction.
With that much time having passed, it was only natural the investigation team could find nothing out of place.
But they hadn't been able to do anything about the kidnapped women.
Managing all of them was not something Sak Mu-heun could do alone.
So he had hoped their thoughts wouldn't reach that far....
"Things are going to get a bit complicated."
Sak Mu-heun quickly wrote a short note, attached it to his personal messenger pigeon, and sent it flying.
It was a message for Cheong-yeon.
After confirming the pigeon flew safely into the sky, Sak Mu-heun immediately began tracking those who had gone to investigate the women.
If they discovered anything significant, he might have to deal with them.
***
The Mountain Sword Sect, which had been driven to the edge of a cliff, ultimately succeeded in surviving.
This was despite two great victories, and despite the majority predicting that this time, it would truly be the end of the Mountain Sword Sect.
Since the main force of the Jeonghyeopbang had gathered at the Guizhou Fortress border to strike the Mountain Sword Sect, that was actually a natural prediction.
No one could have expected that the Jeonghyeopbang would collapse on its own.
When it was suddenly revealed that the leader of the Jeonghyeopbang was originally the Blood Cult demon head known as the Small-faced Demon Lord, and the Cheongseong and Dang Clan took over their main base, the Jeonghyeopbang members gathered at the Guizhou border to subjugate the Mountain Sword Sect had no choice but to fall into chaos.
Because most of them were pure orthodox martial artists who took pride in the name of Jeonghyeop, not Blood Cultists.
In truth, when they first heard the news, everyone had sneered.
"Our faction leader is the Blood Cult demon head, the Small-faced Demon Lord?! Hmph! What ridiculous nonsense!"
"Looks like those Mountain Sword Sect bastards are pulling tricks to get out of a crisis!"
"The gods-damned antics of unorthodox scum, I swear!"
But as time passed, the news grew more specific, and even the leadership, who had seemed ready to charge into the Mountain Sword Sect at any moment, began only gathering with grim faces to hold meetings. The warriors of the Jeonghyeopbang could no longer deny that it was no false rumor.
The warriors had no choice but to fall into despair.
"How can this be...."
"Everything we've done up to now, was it all instigated by the Blood Cult?"
They no longer knew what to do, or whom to believe.
Some warriors felt disillusioned and immediately broke away from the group and fled.
But most of the warriors were still gathered near Guizhou Fortress, plunged into confusion and not knowing what to do.
It was then that someone came looking for them.
Surprisingly, it was Heo Gyeong, the leader of the very Mountain Sword Sect they had been trying to fight.
He had come directly to the Jeonghyeopbang's camp, leading only a small number of men.
Then, he shouted in a resonant voice, full of internal energy.
- I am Heo Gyeong, Leader of the Mountain Sword Sect! Though I lost my precious younger brother and vice-leader, the Burning Swordmaster Heo Jung, to the Jeonghyeopbang's invasion, I absolutely refuse to believe it was the will of the true orthodox martial artists belonging to the Jeonghyeopbang! I wish to believe it was due to the schemes of the Blood Cult bastards as has now been exposed, that we were swept up in their plot to make us slaughter each other! Therefore, I propose talks! If you too are not puppets of the Blood Cult seeking to make us fight, answer the call to dialogue right here and now!
It was a request: he was the victim of the Jeonghyeopbang's invasion, yet he would hold no grudge against the Jeonghyeopbang, so if they were not pawns of the Blood Cult, they should answer the call to talks.
The Jeonghyeopbang's side was in no position to refuse.
Though the Jeonghyeopbang had far more casualties, it was true they had invaded first, and the Jeonghyeopbang members themselves were now looking at their leadership with suspicious eyes.
And so, pushed into accepting the talks almost reluctantly, the peak-level masters of the Jeonghyeopbang had to hear something unimaginable from Heo Gyeong.
"The ones who have come with me are the Five Siblings of Doksu, who gave us aid this time and saved our Mountain Sword Sect."
The fame of the Five Siblings of Doksu was already well-known even among the Jeonghyeopbang members.
In a way, because they were enemies, they might have been even more famous than within the Mountain Sword Sect.
While everyone was marveling at the beauty of those renowned Five Siblings of Doksu, especially the fourth, Cheonsang Mihui Yeon Hae, Heo Gyeong continued speaking.
Everything followed the script Hae Cheong-yeon had prepared.
"In truth, these people are not ronin, but were sent to help me by a benefactor I had ties to in the past. In particular, Lady Yeon here has inherited the true transmission of the Hangsan Sect."