Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: The Shadow Network's Master
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The midday sun poured down its scorching rays.
A man who had left the Heavenly Demon Palace for the first time in a while wiped the sweat from his brow.
Sima Jin, heading toward the outer castle's eastern sector after passing through the inner castle gates, barely found his way by relying on the single piece of paper in his hand.
"Is this the place?"
Sima Jin arrived at what appeared to be an utterly ordinary village.
He glanced at the paper again, murmuring the name written there.
'Cho Sahyeon, Cho Sahyeon.'
The night before, he had come all this way on foot to meet the person Hyeok Mulin had personally named.
At the Cult Leader's sudden directive, he had pulled an all-nighter investigating Cho Sahyeon.
But even after digging through everything, he found absolutely nothing.
In other words, this person was no different from an ordinary commoner.
'He commanded it, so I've come to meet her... but still.'
Though he moved to meet her, Sima Jin still couldn't grasp the Cult Leader's intentions.
To that end, he wore a human-skin mask to conceal his identity, ready to slip away at any moment.
"This must be it."
He looked up at the sign reading Aroma Scroll Pavilion and entered the shop without hesitation.
The interior space was modest, but the books were not.
In the narrow pathway left open, books were piled so high it was hard to find a place to stand.
'Well preserved.'
They might look haphazardly stacked at a glance, but the condition of the books showed most were kept neatly.
Preserving old tomes was no easy task, and the owner's skilled hand was evident.
After browsing the shelves briefly, Sima Jin approached the counter.
A woman there was buried in paperwork, but she looked up with a bright smile as he neared.
"Need any help?"
"I've come to see Cho Sahyeon. Is she inside right now, by chance?"
"That's me."
"...Pardon?"
"I am Cho Sahyeon."
Sima Jin was momentarily speechless.
He had assumed it was a man from the name, but unexpectedly, it was a refined woman.
As Sima Jin hesitated, she turned the question back on him.
"What brings you here? You don't look familiar, so you must be from out of town."
"That's right. I've come to ask if Madam Cho Sahyeon would consider working with us."
"Working with you?"
"Yes. If that's too much, you could simply meet our lord at your leisure."
Cho Sahyeon wore a puzzled expression.
"Who are you, and who is this lord of yours?"
"I can't say until you've agreed to join us. But I can tell you we're one of the top powers in this region."
"In that case, you'd better be on the level of the Seven Great Demon Clans, or I'll be disappointed..."
"Then you won't be disappointed."
Cho Sahyeon fell silent at Sima Jin's confident assertion.
She eyed him suspiciously.
"I'm just a humble bookstore clerk. Why on earth—or how—did you find me?"
Sima Jin scratched his beard.
"Truth be told, I don't know either."
"Pardon?"
As her eyes widened like a rabbit's, he spoke with genuine bafflement.
"I didn't come here of my own will. My lord simply ordered me to bring you."
"Is that so?"
She nodded firmly.
"Then I refuse."
"Understood."
At her clear rejection, Sima Jin turned and left the bookstore without a second thought.
He then set off back to the Heavenly Demon Palace.
'What exactly did the Cult Leader see in her?'
If his eyes weren't deceiving him, her demeanor, speech, gaze, and very aura all screamed ordinary commoner.
Unable to find anything unusual about her, Sima Jin returned to Pure Heaven Pavilion with his questions unanswered.
He immediately met Hyeok Mulin, who was handling some affairs after training.
"Did you go?"
"Yes. She refused outright."
"Oh?"
"She showed no interest in joining us."
"I see. So that's how it went."
Hyeok Mulin leaned back in his chair, stroking his chin in thought.
Then he nodded and spoke.
"Go again tomorrow."
"Pardon? She refused today—why would she change her mind in a day?"
"No. This time, she'll accept."
Hyeok Mulin stated with utter certainty.
"Without fail."
Sima Jin nodded at the conviction in his eyes, exhaling softly.
"Understood. I'll visit once more tomorrow."
When the Cult Leader spoke so assuredly, it was a subordinate's duty to obey.
Besides, there weren't many other candidates worthy of becoming the hall leader anyway.
'I didn't want to resort to this.'
He hated bribing with wealth, but to sway her heart, some preparation was needed.
Sima Jin reviewed the list of available jewels, accelerating his plans for the follow-up visit.
The next day.
The door to Aroma Scroll Pavilion was firmly shut.
Inside, Cho Sahyeon was buried among the bookshelves, her face weary.
Having stayed up all night, her hair disheveled and dark circles under her eyes, she clutched her head tightly.
"Nothing... it's not coming up...!"
The day before, when that man had come looking for her, she thought her heart would stop.
She ran a small bookstore in this quiet village, but her true identity was the master of Amhyang, one of the top individual intelligence networks in the black path.
Amhyang dealt in Central Plains information centered on the righteous sects, yet its master operated from the heart of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult—something no one could have predicted.
She had never been tailed before, so she believed no one knew her secret.
'But yesterday, that certainty shattered.'
Why else would they seek out a mere bookstore owner for recruitment?
They had to know her true identity.
Thus, the moment the mysterious man left, Cho Sahyeon closed shop and launched her own investigation.
She meticulously checked the recent activities of the major players who might suspect her identity.
Someone this unexpected popping up suddenly suggested some seismic shift had occurred.
However.
"Nothing at all."
Zero.
There were no anomalies in their movements.
Even trying to track the man who visited her yielded nothing—as if someone had deliberately blocked all traces.
Given that capability, their claim of being on par with the Seven Great Demon Clans wasn't bluster.
'Still, something felt off.'
At least the man who came yesterday didn't seem to know her identity.
He truly appeared to be acting on his lord's orders without knowing why.
'I was so confident no one would ever uncover me.'
Not even the Beggars' Sect or the Mu Family.
So how had they found her?
A powerful wave of curiosity surged within her.
"...I am curious, though."
As Cho Sahyeon muttered to herself.
"Are you there?"
A familiar voice called from outside.
The man from yesterday had returned and was knocking.
Cho Sahyeon hurried to the door and opened it.
"You're inside. The door was shut, so I feared something had happened."
"Everything's fine."
"Good."
The man smiled brightly and got straight to the point.
"I've come to supplement yesterday's proposal..."
"I'll go."
"...Pardon?"
"I said I'll go. Lead the way now."
His pupils shook, harboring no such expectation.
"You're really going?"
"Should I not?"
"No, let's go right away. The meeting place is a bit far, so I'll escort you by carriage."
Cho Sahyeon lightly boarded the luxurious carriage he had prepared outside the bookstore.
He naturally took the reins and set off.
Gazing out the window, she continuously guessed their destination.
'Not the inner castle, then.'
She had assumed they'd meet in the inner castle, given the resources for such a carriage, but her prediction went awry from the start.
Where on earth were they headed?
Quite some time passed in bewilderment, and they entered a remote outer area on the outskirts of the outer castle.
'Was there a place like this here?'
The carriage glided smoothly through a bamboo grove stretching toward the sky.
Even she, well-versed in strongholds, didn't know this area.
After piercing the bamboo forest, the carriage stopped before a manor.
It was an isolated spot with nothing but bamboo around, feeling like a secret safehouse.
Creeeak—
Following him as he opened the door and entered, Cho Sahyeon stepped inside.
The interior was impeccably maintained, exuding an antique air.
The odd part was that, despite the manor's considerable size, there wasn't a single sign of human presence.
A place like this should have at least a dozen servants, yet not even a shadow stirred.
As she glanced around in slight surprise, her guide spoke.
"This way, please."
He headed straight for the central inner quarters without hesitation.
Reaching the building, he knocked lightly.
"I've brought her as instructed."
A response soon came from within.
"Let her in."
He stepped back and gestured inside with an open palm.
Seeing this, Cho Sahyeon placed her hand on the latch. With slight tension, she opened the door and entered.
'...So that's how it is.'
Upon entering and scanning the room, her eyes gleamed.
The front was obscured by a curtain, allowing only the silhouette of the so-called lord to be visible through the light.
A method often used by high-ranking figures who wished to hide their identity.
'From the build, a martial artist exceptionally trained in physical conditioning. Not too old—around thirty, perhaps.'
Cho Sahyeon quickly pieced together the clues to gauge his identity.
Then,
Thud.
The door closed behind her, and she glanced back briefly.
Turning her gaze to check the window for an escape route, a man's voice resounded.
"Sit comfortably."
The voice carried an inexplicable majesty, and she slowly took her seat.
"Why did you seek me out?"
"Didn't he tell you? I hold your abilities in high regard."
"I'm just a bookstore clerk with no connections or talents."
"Bookstore clerk."
He lightly acknowledged her words, then continued indifferently.
"Do bookstore clerks these days scour the black path in detail?"
"...!"
Her body stiffened at the chilling tone.
"I already know everything, and you've guessed as much. No need to hide it."
"Hoo..."
Exhaling a sigh, Cho Sahyeon nodded.
"You're right. I am the master of Amhyang."
Having confessed, she pressed on.
"Then who are you?"
Who could summon her here, when no one else had ever found her?
She voiced the question burning in her chest.
Then.
Whoosh.
The man slowly rose from his seat.
As his silhouette shifted, Cho Sahyeon swallowed hard.
If he truly was some upper-echelon figure, as the man who brought her had assured...
'Too young for a clan patriarch. Perhaps the young master?'
Considering his physique, aura, age, and succession, he couldn't be from the Cheon, Man, Sima, Yagul, or Duguo clans.
'That leaves Gu or Hyeok...'
A sudden flash struck her mind, and she froze like stone.
'N-No, no way...!'
The piece she had dismissed from the start, assuming it impossible.
Fitting it in, everything clicked perfectly for one person.
Someone who could own such a secret outer manor, discreetly clear it of people, and manage it.
Someone who could control all information in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, making backtracking impossible.
Her body trembled as if an earthquake had hit.
As he parted the curtain and revealed himself, Cho Sahyeon slowly raised her stone-stiff face.
Her mouth gradually fell open, her eyes filling with shock, her face paling.
"I am."
Facing her directly, he calmly parted his lips.
"The Cult Leader, Hyeok Mulin."