Chapter 165
Chapter 165
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 165
Chapter Title: Hunting the Fox
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A martial artist standing tall in the world of the jianghu lives their entire life alongside the martial arts.
Martial arts, martial techniques, martial prowess, martial grace, martial way.
They train and hone powers that target human lives.
Thus, on battlefields where martial arts clash endlessly, life and death hung by a thread, and martial artists cultivated their bodies and the martial way daily while tempering their spirits.
To stand proudly in the jianghu, above all else, they needed the resolve to stake their lives.
Hoe Jeong was the same.
After joining the Mount Hua Sect, he learned their swordsmanship, tempered his body steadfastly, and armed himself with unyielding will.
Thus, he had considered himself a martial artist of considerable mental fortitude.
When he descended from Mount Hua and wandered the Central Plains, even after facing perilous moments in several battles, he never retreated and fought to the end, claiming victory each time.
But that was wrong.
Now, with true death staring him in the face, all his vows proved worthless.
"Grk... grrr..."
Under the crushing killing intent weighing down his entire body, his lips wouldn't even move. He was barely vibrating his throat with the single instinct to survive.
But even that slight motion wasn't permitted, so he gathered all his inner energy into his throat and forced out a sound.
"I don't... really... know who..."
His trailing words seemed identical to before at a glance, but the state was subtly different.
He didn't know who.
This implied he was connected to some unknown figure targeting the sect leader.
As Hoe Jeong confessed his crime, Hyeok Mulin slightly eased the intensity of his killing intent.
Cough! Cough!
Spitting saliva in streams and coughing violently, he quickly added more.
"Every first of the month, at night, a bottle filled with a white liquid would appear under my bedding."
"And you mixed it into the sect leader's tea."
"...Yes."
Hyeok Mulin stared intently into his eyes.
'Doesn't seem like he's lying.'
Not a spy from the unorthodox sects, and he really was a Mount Hua disciple.
Just properly sweet-talked, with some reward promised, he pretended not to notice the suspicious signs.
What an utter fool.
If they were plotting to harm the sect leader, how could he not realize they'd eliminate anyone involved afterward to leave no loose ends?
Hyeok Mulin shot him a pitying glance before speaking.
"Is that your last testament?"
"What?! I've told you everything, why...!"
As Hoe Jeong's panicked eyes wavered, Hyeok Mulin drew his sword.
Approaching slowly, Hoe Jeong flinched in terror and banged his head on the floor.
Suddenly recalling something, Hoe Jeong raised his voice.
"Moonflower Cluster!"
At that, Hyeok Mulin halted, and Hoe Jeong hurriedly continued.
"There was a day I returned to my quarters early, right after the bottle was delivered. I caught a faint sweet scent in the room! It reminded me of the moonflower cluster's fragrance!"
Hearing his desperate voice, Hyeok Mulin sheathed his sword.
Interrogation was simple.
Push them to the brink, and they'd spit something out eventually.
Just like now.
"Get out."
At Hyeok Mulin's order to leave, he scrambled out in a panic.
Sangseo then entered the room, turning back with a puzzled expression.
"What on earth happened to scare him like that?"
"Just a simple interrogation."
Brushing it off lightly, Hyeok Mulin soon shared the details.
Sangseo listened intently to Hoe Jeong's confession and let out a groan.
"Moonflower cluster..."
"Is there a place nearby where moonflower clusters bloom?"
"Just one spot. Mangwol Fortress. A garden overflowing with them. It's not far from here."
But Sangseo's face darkened as he explained the location.
"However, that place..."
Sangseo continued with a grim expression.
"Is only accessible to the sect's elders."
Sangseo's mind reeled at the mere utterance.
He could hardly believe there was a traitor in the sect plotting against the sect leader, let alone one of the elders.
After a brief moment of stunned shock, he looked to Hyeok Mulin and asked.
"Is that why you didn't tell the elders and suggested investigating instead?"
"Yes."
Hyeok Mulin nodded.
A plot targeting the sect leader over a long period.
It wouldn't end with just one second-generation disciple attending him.
Someone with freedom of movement, unobserved by others.
Clearly, one of the elders was colluding with the unorthodox sects.
"This is serious."
Sangseo's face grew gravely serious as he grasped the situation.
The sect leader was already kidnapped, and there was a traitor inside.
Faced with this bolt from the blue, Sangseo couldn't think of any way to navigate the crisis.
After much deliberation, he finally turned to Hyeok Mulin with a pleading voice.
"No matter how I think about it, you're the only one I can trust right now. With Mount Hua hanging by a thread like a lamp in the wind, will you help us?"
Hyeok Mulin wasn't an official Mount Hua member but a complete outsider. Yet, right now, Sangseo trusted no one else.
Hyeok Mulin fell silent at his earnest plea.
'It came to this after all.'
When first invited to Mount Hua, he'd envisioned only meeting the Sword Sage and having a brief chat.
But things had spiraled in an unexpected direction.
Who'd have thought the Sword Sage he came to meet would vanish?
The flow had changed due to the Shimseo Sword Cloud Society incident.
But rationally, there was no loss.
No, it might even be a gain.
'Owing a favor to Mount Hua isn't bad.'
Whether the righteous and unorthodox got along or not had no bearing on the current Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
They weren't locked in endless war until one perished, nor was the main cult marching on the Central Plains immediately.
No urgent messages from the cult either, so there was time.
"Understood. I'll help find the sect leader."
Sangseo's face lit up with unbridled joy at those words.
"Thank you! Truly, thank you!"
He breathed a deep sigh of relief at the ready agreement.
If they recovered the sect leader, they'd treat him as Mount Hua's benefactor and more.
Sangseo could only offer endless gratitude for his aid.
"So, what do we do next?"
At Sangseo's question, Hyeok Mulin slowly curled his lips.
"To catch a fox, either go into its den..."
His sunken pupils gleaming, Hyeok Mulin continued.
"Or lure it out."
Mount Hua Sect headquarters, deep within one particular hall.
The Mount Hua elders had gathered there.
All elders not dispatched externally sat around a round table.
Their complexions were far from bright.
The sect leader's disappearance had brought endless hardship.
From their seats, they spat irritable remarks.
"Summoning the elders so suddenly."
"What's the reason for this emergency meeting?"
"Have you found something new?"
Their gazes turned to Sangseo, who had called the meeting.
Sangseo countered.
"Among us here, has anyone pursuing the sect leader's trail found anything meaningful?"
At his words, all fell silent.
As he'd said, they'd relentlessly searched for the vanished sect leader over the past few days, but to no avail.
Thus, as no one readily answered, Sangseo spoke.
"I've realized the reason for the sect leader's disappearance."
"Is that true?!"
"What is it?!"
Everyone stared at Sangseo in shock.
Sangseo paused briefly before opening his mouth.
"Come in."
"...?"
Moments later, the door opened, and someone entered.
The elders' eyes turned to him.
A long-haired man with distinct features.
Grace flowed from his movements, drawing the eye inexplicably.
Someone voiced aloud at his appearance.
"He doesn't look like one of our sect disciples."
"Who is he?"
Sangseo explained on Hyeok Mulin's behalf.
"I mentioned him before. The one who saved us at the Shimseo Sword Cloud Society—he is Hyeok Mulin."
"Hoo..."
The elders showed mild interest.
Intriguing, but not enough to captivate them fully.
In normal times, they'd show immense curiosity toward someone who bested Sangseo in swordsmanship.
But now, with the sect leader missing, they lacked the energy for distractions.
"Why summon him suddenly?"
"Did you reveal our current situation to an outsider?"
The elders' sharp gazes pierced Sangseo.
Hyeok Mulin spoke in his stead.
"Mount Hua's power alone can't resolve this, so they asked for my help."
"What?!"
"That's not something we can overlook easily."
"Then, do you claim you can find the sect leader's traces?"
They pressed Hyeok Mulin with fierce questions and rising momentum.
But Hyeok Mulin answered calmly.
"Yes."
At his firm affirmation, they eyed him suspiciously.
Hyeok Mulin soon continued.
"The sect leader didn't vanish of his own accord. Someone took him."
"Kukukuku! That's an amusing tale."
"Do you think the sect leader is someone who could be taken like that?"
The elders scoffed at his words.
Knowing the Sword Sage's prowess better than anyone, the idea of him being kidnapped was inconceivable.
Then, Hyeok Mulin presented something.
A bottle containing an inky black liquid.
"This is No Pulse Divine Sleep Poison. One drop stops the pulse's flow, plunging you into slumber."
"Never heard of such a poison."
"Me neither."
"If you doubt it, test it now."
At Hyeok Mulin's signal, a martial artist entered from outside.
"You..."
"Isn't that Jeong?"
The elders murmured in confusion upon seeing Hoe Jeong, but Hyeok Mulin ignored them and handed him the bottle.
"Drink."
Hoe Jeong gulped and downed the liquid in one gulp.
Hyeok Mulin caught his collapsing body and addressed the elders.
"Check him."
The elders approached skeptically.
Upon inspection...
"It's real."
"He's completely asleep."
"His pulse has stopped too."
"Then really...?"
Confirming Hoe Jeong's state, the elders nodded in bewilderment.
As the flustered elders returned to their seats, Hyeok Mulin spoke tonelessly.
"Verify the full effects at your medical hall. You'll see it's true."
Of course, that was a lie.
No Pulse Divine Sleep Poison? Hardly.
Just ink mixed with ordinary sleep toxin.
The stopped pulse was Hyeok Mulin temporarily halting it by touch.
He had no intention of truly convincing them with this.
It was merely a foundation for what followed.
"And tracing him led to this."
Hyeok Mulin placed something in the round table's center.
"This is..."
"Definitely a piece of the sect leader's usual training garb."
"But that...!"
It was a torn fragment of the sect leader's frequent training uniform.
Stained with blood.
The elders' pupils dilated.
"Did the sect leader really get kidnapped?"
"Who dares touch Mount Hua?!"
"Who would do such a thing, and for what purpose...!"
Fury boiled over as they examined the evidence.
Hyeok Mulin provided the answer.
"Simple."
"...?"
"A group aiming to cripple the Nine Great Righteous Sects by toppling Mount Hua and shaking the righteous foundations. Foes of the Orthodox Path and the Murim Alliance—incurable villains."
Everyone held their breath at his words.
They stared at Hyeok Mulin with disbelieving eyes.
Meeting the elders' gazes, Hyeok Mulin nodded.
Facing their dawning horror, he declared.
"The culprits who kidnapped the sect leader are none other than..."
Hyeok Mulin slowly curved his lips into a smile.
"The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult."