Five Tablets, One Door
By the time I reached the Central Pavilion, the plaza in front of it was already packed.
Hm. Geumbong Valley and Cheongun Gate still aren't here?
Judging by the headcount, though, it seemed most of the investigators who'd entered the realm had gathered here.
And wherever that many cultivators congregated, the atmosphere turned as brittle as a sheet of thin ice — uglier than I'd expected.
"They were nowhere to be seen at the entrance, and here they all are, huddled together. The sneaky bastards got here first — what exactly were they up to?"
The Blood Demon Sect disciple who spat those words was facing a cluster of about five Cheongyun Gate disciples. At their head stood a middle-aged scholar at the tenth stage of Breath Cultivation, who stepped forward.
"Ha. Whatever we were doing here, what business is it of yours? If you've got errands, by all means go on in. Though I doubt you'll manage it."
At that, the Blood Demon Sect disciple's face twisted.
"So that's it. You Yu generation bastards were clinging to the entrance, blocking the way."
"Listen to him talk. A child whose cultivation is lower than mine."
"What did you say? These Yu bastards have lost their minds!"
As the standoff stretched on, the Blood Demon Sect side raised its aura first.
The Cheongyun Gate disciples answered in kind, qi flaring to meet them.
The rest of the investigators made no move to break it up — they simply watched the show.
If the two sides tore into each other, it could only work in everyone else's favor.
I, too, quietly observed the commotion from a little distance away.
Everyone has to get in eventually, but apparently nobody's figured out how yet.
"Ugh, out of the way, you bastards."
Just then, a ninth-stage Breath Cultivation disciple from the Blood Demon Sect stepped forward, drew out a sword-shaped artifact, and hurled it straight at the formation guarding the Central Pavilion.
The moment the artifact struck the translucent barrier, a heavy concussion erupted — and the formation flung that force right back at the disciple who'd attacked it.
"Gahk!"
With no time to shield himself, he was flung backward in a graceless sprawl, rolling across the ground.
His fellow disciples scrambled to haul him up, and the middle-aged Cheongyun Gate scholar clicked his tongue.
"Tsk tsk. As if we hadn't already tried the obvious."
"Shut your mouth!"
"We were only trying to save you the trouble."
The other investigators, evidently uninterested in getting caught up in it, edged quietly away.
Even so, they kept stealing glances at the formation.
The Blood Demon Sect fool had just demonstrated it with his own body, so everyone knew the answer by now — apparently they simply couldn't let go of the hope.
As time dripped by with nothing happening, someone among the minor sects muttered in frustration.
"At this rate, the hours will just burn away."
"Someone will figure out the method eventually."
"And you think whoever finds it will share?"
"First one through the door owns it. That's how it works."
Fair point.
Of course, a weakling who tried that would be the first one beaten bloody.
Meanwhile, those Cheongyun Gate bastards — even mid-standoff, they seemed to be subtly shielding something with their bodies.
I let my gaze drift a little lower.
The ground directly in front of the pavilion entrance.
Five grooves, set in a cross shape — east, west, south, north, and center — something meant to be slotted into each one.
Good thing I packed it.
I had one.
And if the Cheongyun Gate bastards were hiding something with their bodies, that meant they'd gotten their hands on tablets too. The number of jade tablets scattered through Janheowon was probably exactly equal to the number of grooves.
How many do they have, I wonder?
I was mulling that over when a stir rippled through the back of the crowd.
"It's Cheongun Gate."
"And Geumbong Valley's here too."
The crowd parted of its own accord.
Cheongun Gate's disciples entered first.
The ones I ran into on the way in.
Whether or not they'd spotted me, a few of them dipped their heads in a slight bow. I answered with a brief nod and nothing more.
So Seomun Hyeok is coming out as their representative?
Sure enough, Seomun Hyeok stepped to the front of the Cheongun Gate group.
"If you got here first, did you learn anything?"
"And even if I had, would I tell you?"
"All flash, no substance."
By then, the Geumbong Valley disciples had arrived as well.
Leading them was a woman at the tenth stage of Breath Cultivation.
Geum Hayun — I'm fairly sure that was her name.
Behind her was the man I'd crossed paths with once back at Hanseolji. He must have sensed my gaze, but he gave no reaction at all.
Geum Hayun walked forward at an unhurried pace, stopping directly in front of the Cheongyun Gate disciples. Her eyes, too, were fixed on the patch of ground the Cheongyun Gate group was so discreetly shielding.
"If you arrived early enough to block the doorway, why don't you step aside now? You already know, don't you — the way to open the formation."
At her words, the murmuring among the spectators behind her swelled.
The middle-aged scholar's eyes narrowed.
"What exactly are you implying?"
"Is there really any point in playing ignorant?"
"Geumbong Valley should speak first, if it knows so much."
"Hehe. And why on earth would I be the one to say it?"
The two exchanged smiles as they traded barbs, but there was nothing warm in the air between them. If anything, Geum Hayun had said it out loud precisely so the other investigators would start putting the pieces together — and they did.
"The way to open the formation, you say?"
"Oh, just look at the ground there."
As the murmuring grew, the middle-aged scholar's face began to harden.
Just as I thought.
Slot the jade tablets into those grooves. That had to be it.
Cheongyun Gate had figured it out first but hadn't gathered all the necessary tablets — that was why they were standing there like human fences.
Apparently I wasn't the only one who'd reached that conclusion; Geum Hayun's lips curled first.
"From the look of things, you haven't collected them all either."
"……Fine. We've come this far — hiding it longer would be pointless."
At those words, the Blood Demon Sect disciple who'd been injured earlier let out a shout.
"These Yu generation bastards…!"
He looked ready to lunge on the spot, but the middle-aged scholar remained placid, giving no reaction whatsoever.
"No need for temper. No one here has the full set yet, after all."
I crossed my arms at my leisure and watched the situation unfold.
The middle-aged scholar spoke slowly.
"Very well. I'll be honest. Cheongyun Gate holds two."
"Our Geumbong Valley has one."
Every gaze in the plaza swung toward Cheongun Gate. Seomun Hyeok paused for a moment, then nodded.
"One for us as well."
Four, counted together.
Everyone began craning their necks, searching for where the last one might be.
The Blood Demon Sect disciples looked sour.
"We have none."
"Seriously? You couldn't find even one? What have you been doing?"
At the curt reply, Geum Hayun's words lashed out like a whip.
The minor sects, for their part, just rolled their eyes at one another. Since nobody spoke up readily, it seemed none of them had one either.
So the last tablet really is the one I'm holding. How amusing.
At some point, Geum Hayun's gaze began sweeping the crowd, smooth and unforced.
Sharp eyes. She was counting.
Four tablets confirmed — there was no way she didn't realize the fifth had to be somewhere in this plaza.
And that gaze paused, briefly, on me.
Quick on the uptake, isn't she.
I didn't look away.
Geum Hayun lifted the corner of her mouth lightly and spoke.
"Come to think of it, that Cheongun Gate investigator over there has been rather quiet."
At her words, Seomun Hyeok turned his head naturally.
"Ryu Dowoo?"
"What is it?"
"Could it be. The jade tablet—"
Geum Hayun was startlingly direct.
"Aren't you the one holding the last one?"
Every eye in the open ground snapped toward me at once.
Instead of answering, I laid the jade tablet out on my open palm.
The middle-aged scholar's eyes narrowed to slits.
"……How long have you known."
"Do I really need to tell you that?"
The scholar's face puckered at my reply, while Geum Hayun looked all the more amused for it, visibly fighting down a smile.
Seomun Hyeok let out a short sigh.
"……In any case, that makes all five accounted for. So then — who goes in?"
That one question turned the mood on its head again.
Five tablets, gathered.
The problem was that those five were now split between three different factions.
Cheongyun Gate, Geumbong Valley, and last of all, Cheongun Gate— no. Cheongyun Gate stood with the other two; the Blood Demon Sect had nothing. From that side, someone snorted.
"Even if we pool the tablets, the moment we slot them in, won't everyone just start clawing at each other? What does it matter who holds what?"
Not wrong.
Insert all the tablets and the pavilion would open.
But in that instant — was there really a single soul present who wouldn't get greedy?
The middle-aged Cheongyun Gate scholar looked slowly around him.
His gaze settled on the minor sects, the ones biding their time for an opening.
"……Let's get one thing straight first."
His eyes drifted naturally toward Geum Hayun and Seomun Hyeok.
Geum Hayun gave a light nod. Seomun Hyeok sent back a brief flicker of the eyes.
There was no need to waste words. The ones holding the cards had already aligned their interests.
The middle-aged scholar took a step forward and spoke.
"Those who failed to obtain a jade tablet today have no right to enter the pavilion."
The plaza froze in an instant.
The minor sects erupted first.
"What did you say?"
"You heard me."
Geum Hayun parried smoothly.
"Failing to find a tablet is each sect's own affair. Call it a matter of ability."
"We risked our lives to get this far, and you're telling us—"
"If it sticks in your throat, you should have found a tablet. Or you could take one. If you're capable."
The plaza fell silent again.
The Four Great Sects were, rotten or not, still the Four Great Sects. That even at the same cultivation stage they outclassed the minor sects was beyond dispute.
The tablets were held by Cheongyun Gate, Geumbong Valley, and Cheongun Gate — three Great Sects in agreement. What chance did a minor sect have of forcing its way in?
The minor sects traded glances among themselves.
Look at those eyes darting around.
If anyone got brave against the three Great Sects here and now, they'd be swept aside before they so much as glimpsed the inside of the pavilion.
After a long silence, the minor sects backed away one by one.
The middle-aged scholar nodded.
"A wise decision."
And then—
"Our sect has no intention of withdrawing."
A deep voice rolled out from the Blood Demon Sect side.
Stepping to the front of their group was the disciple who functioned as the Blood Demon Sect's leader here — the one who'd kept his mouth shut until now.
Tenth stage of Breath Cultivation.
Unlike the fool who'd been flung backward earlier, this one had watched everything from start to finish in silence.
The middle-aged scholar's eyes narrowed.
"You don't have a tablet."
"So what if we don't? You think we'll slink off obediently just because you tell us to?"
A short silence passed.
Geum Hayun looked the Blood Demon Sect disciple over once, then lowered her gaze slightly.
Seomun Hyeok's expression stiffened too.
"Well…… if it's the Blood Demon Sect, I suppose they're capable of it."
His words amounted to tacit consent, and outrage burst from the minor sects.
"Wait — the Blood Demon Sect gets to stay and we—"
"You consider yourselves the Blood Demon Sect's equals?"
At the middle-aged scholar's words, the minor sects fell silent.
Cold, yes — but not wrong.
So that's the arrangement settled, then.
The four Great Sects go in; everyone else stays outside and watches.
The middle-aged scholar turned toward the grooves and said,
"Then let's finish this."
The five of us who held jade tablets — myself included — lined up before the grooves.
The middle-aged scholar said, simply:
"Together."
Five jade tablets slotted home in unison.
The barrier stretched across the pavilion trembled, then vanished — sucked inward, as if drawn into the depths.
The entrance had opened.
A heartbeat of stillness.
And the silence was broken from a place no one expected.
"I can't stand it!"
A disciple burst out from among the minor sects.
Eighth stage of Breath Cultivation. His eyes burned red with greed.
He drew his artifact and charged straight for the entrance.
"We came all this way just to watch? You're joking!"
At that, the disciple leading the Blood Demon Sect moved a single finger.
Shwaek—!
A crimson line split the air.
I didn't even catch the sound properly.
The charging disciple crumpled forward where he stood.
Across his back, a single red line of blood had been drawn, vivid and clean.
I'd better be careful around him.
No wonder he led his sect. I filed that face away in the back of my mind.
"Tch. Trash."
No one else spoke up over it. If anything, the ones who'd half-risen, feet already edging forward, quietly drew them back.
With the matter more or less settled, the middle-aged scholar spoke again as if nothing had happened.
"Right — let's go in."
I'll need to be careful coming out, too.
It would be a mistake to assume the ones left waiting outside would stand by politely.
Still, for now, in we go.
Without further hesitation, I stepped into the pavilion.