The Five Families Alliance (1)
Joo Eun-ri continued relaying the conversations of the martial artists.
Her voice mimicked their speech patterns and breathing so perfectly, as if she were intent on transmitting the situation exactly as it unfolded.
It was a sign that she had fully merged with her spell.
Hearing the exchanges of various martial artists through Joo Eun-ri's voice—without missing a single word—felt as vivid as a storyteller recounting the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Seo Baek focused his mind and listened intently to what she conveyed.
"Not a single rat in sight."
"One's the errand boy, one's the cook. So where's the owner?"
"Must be hiding in some rat hole."
"With an eagle circling overhead, what choice do they have but to crawl into a hole? Heh heh heh!"
"They couldn't have gone far."
Five martial artists spoke in turn, and the last voice rang out particularly sharply.
"The liquor and food are still warm. They were here just moments ago."
The man must have glanced at the table where Seo Baek's group had been drinking.
"Search every inch around the inn!"
"Yes, sir!"
Even excluding the five leaders, there had to be over a hundred martial artists remaining.
Seo Baek could almost hear the footsteps of those hundred subordinates scurrying around the inn in his ears.
His group pressed their backs against the sheer rock face, holding their breath as they waited for the search to end.
Their hiding spot was quite a distance from the inn. A hundred men weren't few, but combing a vast open plain like this was beyond them.
Moreover, the location Song Hyeon had found was completely invisible from the inn's side—unless they unleashed hunting dogs, there was no risk of discovery.
Running out in panic across the plain now would only get them spotted easily.
Even after sunset, there were five experts among them capable of piercing the darkness to discern shapes.
At that moment, Joo Eun-ri spoke again.
"There's a man with a bear-like build carrying two spears on his back."
This time, it wasn't relaying the martial artists' talk but describing what she saw through her spell's gaze.
Song Hyeon narrowed his eyes upon hearing it.
"Shandong Yue Family's Ak Gwanbi. Famous for his near eight-chi height and twin spears."
Seo Baek's expression turned serious as well.
Song Hyeon had identified the martial artist at the distant inn solely from a description of his weapon and build.
More than that, his tone conveyed not guesswork or supposition, but certainty. Seo Baek figured Song Hyeon had every reason to be that confident.
Song Hyeon kept identifying figures from Joo Eun-ri's descriptions of their appearances, features, and weapons.
"The man with a bloated belly like a pregnant woman wears a massive reaper sword at his waist."
"North Paeng Family's Paeng Jagol. His body is obese, but his Five Tiger Breaker Dao is renowned for its lightning-fast speed."
"The man with a beard reaching his waist is gaunt as a skeleton beneath his yellow robes, carrying no visible weapon."
"Pearl Eon Family's Eon Ja-seong. When he first ventured into the martial world, his Eon Family Fist—eighteen strikes in a single breath—made his name in an instant."
Song Hyeon identified all three martial artists on the spot.
Listening to him respond instantly to every detail Joo Eun-ri provided, without pause, felt like watching him read from a ledger of martial artists' profiles.
Then Wang Yi Sam, his buzz worn off, grumbled to Seo Baek.
"Ugh, what the hell are those two on about? What's the North Paeng Family? Pearl Eon Family?"
"Listen quietly."
"……."
Seo Baek didn't even turn his head, focusing on the exchange between Joo Eun-ri and Song Hyeon.
Even the usually hot-tempered Wang Yi Sam shut his mouth without complaint, seeing Seo Baek's grave expression.
"There's a woman veiled in blue, covering her face except for her eyes. She carries a single sword at her waist."
"Moyong Family's Moyong Hwa-jeong. The sword at her waist is a decoy; her true weapon is the chain sword worn like a belt—beware it."
"Finally, the man with the piercingly shrill voice has a delicately handsome face that could make countless women weep, marred only by a long, ugly scar across his right eye."
"Namgung Family's Namgung Jin. Once called the Namgung Twin Blossoms alongside his peerless beauty and cousin Namgung Yu, but she died, and he took a sword slash to the face from a Wudang drunkard, ending that era."
Song Hyeon had identified all five martial artists.
They were all from famed families; no one in the Central Plains martial world worthy of the name wouldn't know them.
Yet Song Hyeon had named them all flawlessly from mere descriptions of looks, traits, and weapons.
It went beyond encyclopedic knowledge—true deductive prowess backed it.
Even Seo Baek, who already knew Song Hyeon was exceptional, now saw him in a new light.
Song hyung-nim was from Cheongwi Escort Agency, right?
Seo Baek recalled what he'd heard at the dockside streets.
Escort agencies traversed the Central Plains, delivering people and goods.
Having aided Shaolin in the past, it made sense he'd have vast martial world knowledge.
Even so, Song Hyeon's skill was astonishing.
What a tremendous gain.
Though they were hiding for now, Seo Baek felt he'd seized a chance to turn the tables.
All thanks to Joo Eun-ri's otherworldly spell and Song Hyeon's profound insight!
If these two were strategists on a battlefield, they'd hold the edge in any fight.
Their talents meshed perfectly.
Seo Baek organized the information in his mind.
Shandong Yue Family's Ak Gwanbi, North Paeng Family's Paeng Jagol, Pearl Eon Family's Eon Ja-seong, Moyong Family's Moyong Hwa-jeong, Namgung Family's Namgung Jin.
Suddenly realizing something, Seo Baek furrowed his brow.
This feels just like the Five Great Families.
The Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families were the Central Plains martial world's premier orthodox powers.
Among them, the Five Great Families referred to the Sacheon Tang Clan, Jegal Clan, Namgung Clan, North Paeng Clan, and Shandong Yue Clan.
But Song Hyeon's intel excluded Sacheon Tang and Jegal, including Pearl Eon and Moyong instead.
The Sacheon Tang Clan rivaled any family in prestige but, isolated in distant Sichuan, rarely allied with others.
Their haughty demeanor, treating others like dogs, kept sects at arm's length.
Jegal Clan, with young master Jegal Seong as a Murim Alliance key figure, wouldn't side with these inn raiders plotting betrayal.
Replacing Sacheon Tang and Jegal with Pearl Eon and Moyong made it feel like a new Five Great Families gathering.
The Namgung Clan is scheming something.
Sure enough, the relayed talk revealed the context.
"Young master, no one's around the inn."
"They couldn't have gone far—must be holed up in some deep cave."
It was Namgung Jin speaking with a subordinate.
"No need to rush. To reach Shaolin, they'll have to pass the fortress anyway."
Fortress?
Seo Baek glanced at Song Hyeon.
"Is there a fortress nearby?"
"Not that I know of. But to get to Shaolin from here, you pass a gorge—narrow, takes a full day to traverse like a hallway. If they've built a fortress there in recent years, it'd be perfect."
An uncharacteristically vague answer from Song Hyeon, but understandable—he'd retired to Yunnan years ago and just returned to the Central Plains.
If a fortress rose amid the revenant outbreak's chaos, he wouldn't know.
Joo Eun-ri, eavesdropping via her spell, replied.
"Three days on horseback from Yongjeong Inn, a week on foot. A fortress blocking that narrow gorge, just as you described."
"I see."
Seo Baek nodded, marveling again at her spell.
With her vision projected elsewhere, she still caught every word of the nearby conversation between him and Song Hyeon.
She wasn't lost in trance-like unity with the spell but retained full awareness.
Meaning Joo sojeo can deploy martial arts even mid-spell...
Intrigued, Seo Baek shelved the question for later—priorities first.
Joo Eun-ri kept channeling the martial artists' talk.
"The rats have to pass the fortress for Shaolin, so we just wait with legs stretched out! Right?"
"Spot on, Moyong sojeo. Kahahaha!"
"Fortress aside, we've snared two hostages. If they're martial artists, comrades will come rescue them."
"Ha! Outdated thinking. When did the jianghu code hit the dirt? Who risks their neck for others?"
"Don't assume every martial artist is a coward like you."
"What?!"
Two martial artists began bickering.
Prideful famed family scions allying temporarily for gain—friction was inevitable.
"Enough. Our Five Families Alliance just raised its banner—already squabbling?"
A dignified tone: likely Namgung Jin.
"Squabbling? Just a brief difference in views—forgive us, Namgung gongja. Hohoho."
A coquettish lilt that could set men's hearts ablaze: Moyong Hwa-jeong.
Crucial info from Namgung Jin's words.
Five Families Alliance.
A pact of five families.
Seo Baek's hunch was spot-on.
Namgung had sidelined Sacheon Tang and Jegal, pulling in Moyong and Pearl Eon for their own Five Great Families league.
Their goal?
Reaping illicit gains against the Murim Alliance.
Proof?
Snatching Shaolin-bound travelers, leaking to unorthodox forces for bounties to sabotage Alliance efforts.
Those underworld hordes forcing Seo Baek's group off the boat mid-river? Their doing, ultimately.
And the mastermind: Namgung Clan's Namgung Jin!
Detoured off the boat, their Shaolin journey delayed.
But some matters demanded resolution, however long.
Punishing those exploiting the revenant outbreak.
Joo Eun-ri relayed Namgung Jin's order.
"Head back to the fortress for now. The rats need Shaolin, so they'll walk right in."
"Yes, sir!"
The Five Families Alliance departing the inn echoed like an auditory hallucination in Seo Baek's ears.
Then Joo Eun-ri's eyes widened, and she bit her lower lip until it bled.
Seo Baek sensed trouble.
Sure enough, in a voice colder than any he'd heard from her before, she said,
"'Burn the inn down.'"