This Is Sichuan
We all headed to the Alliance Leader’s office together.
Once we were inside, Namgung Taeseong formed a barrier with his inner power, wrapping the surrounding area as though sealing it off.
“From this point on, no one outside can hear our conversation. Everything you hear here concerns the Martial Alliance’s highest secrets, so you must never speak of it to anyone else.”
Namgung Taeseong’s expression was completely different from the one he had worn during our spar earlier. He looked grave, almost severe.
With a gesture from Namgung Taeseong, Jegal Jinhyeon spread a map across the table.
“Recently, a strange and unexplained illness has appeared.”
“An illness?”
“It hasn’t spread enough to call it an epidemic, but according to the Beggars’ Sect’s information, it seems to be a new disease that has never existed before.”
Jegal Jinhyeon continued.
“Those who catch it are said to have all the blood drained from their bodies and die mummified. So far, there isn’t a single clue that would let us infer the disease’s transmission route or incubation period.”
Namgung Taeseong spoke with a serious face.
“The strangest part is that it may not even be contagious.”
“If it isn’t contagious, then why are people dying with the same symptoms?”
“That’s the question. There are far too many cases of people who nursed the dead for a long time or lived with them for ages, yet never became infected.”
Jegal Jinhyeon thought for a moment, then spoke.
“I do not believe this is a disease.”
“Not a disease?”
“Yes. I think this is the work of martial arts or sorcery.”
“Martial arts or sorcery?”
“Since ancient times, Murim has been home to countless martial arts. Among them, there are techniques whose methods of cultivation are vicious and cruel.”
Among the martial arts stories I vaguely remembered from my past life, there were indeed techniques used by villains who drank blood or absorbed an opponent’s inner power.
Then Jegal Jinhyeon began marking the map.
He drew one red circle after another.
And a pattern emerged.
The red marks grew denser around Sichuan.
“If it’s Sichuan...”
“That is right. I suspect the Tang Clan. Whether they are experimenting with poison, whether some force truly dangerous to Murim has appeared, or whether this is simply an actual illness, we need to confirm it.”
“Why are you telling me this...?”
“If a famous powerhouse of Murim like us were to begin investigating directly, whoever is behind it would likely hide. You came into the martial world from the North Sea, so no matter where you go, you won’t be suspected. Above all, you are strong enough that none of the younger generation can match you, which is the greatest reason I am entrusting this task to you.”
A dangerous and difficult mission to uncover the truth behind an unexplained illness? Just hearing it made me tired.
But if I refused, the look Sohui gave me made things difficult.
It was full of the expectation that, naturally, I would take on such a serious mission without hesitation for the greater good.
As though he had read my hesitation, Jegal Jinhyeon sent me a telepathic message that only I could hear.
“For the record, if you accept this mission, Sohui will accompany you.”
If I refused the mission now and returned to the Ice Palace, the Central Plains and the North Sea were far enough apart that seeing Sohui again would not be easy.
We had only just confirmed our feelings for each other. It was a shame to part ways like this.
“And if you successfully complete such an important mission, won’t that earn you quite a few points? Not only with Sohui, but with your future father-in-law as well.”
Startled by that, I looked at Jegal Jinhyeon, and he gave me a faint smile.
So he already knew.
If I rejected this mission, my connection with Sohui would be far more likely to end here.
So, with no other choice, I hardened my resolve.
“Thank you for entrusting me with such an important mission.”
“As expected, you were willing to accept for the greater good, Brother.”
Namgung Taeseong grinned broadly and took something from a drawer to hand to me.
What he gave me was a wooden plaque engraved with the word Alliance.
“Only take this out when your background as someone from the North Sea Ice Palace or your token as the Martial Tournament champion isn’t enough to prove who you are. It shows that you are acting on the Martial Alliance’s request.”
Then he also handed me a letter.
“We do suspect the Tang Clan, but the Tang Clan Lord is not that kind of man. Show this letter to him and ask for his cooperation in the investigation.”
I tucked the letter into my robes.
And so I was set to carry out the Martial Alliance’s secret mission.
Before leaving for Sichuan, I sent a letter back to the Ice Palace.
It said that the Martial Tournament in Anhui Province had ended safely, that I had taken first place, and that before returning to the Ice Palace I wanted to look around the Central Plains a little more, so I was heading to Sichuan.
Since the mission itself was classified, I explained to the Ice Palace that I was traveling for sightseeing.
After all the preparations were complete, I set out for Sichuan with Sohui.
There was a branch of the Jegal Clan along the route from Anhui Province to Sichuan, and I asked Sohui whether we should stop by for a moment, but we decided not to, choosing to finish the mission as quickly as possible.
And after several days, we arrived in Sichuan.
We went to the Tang Clan first.
Before entering, we introduced ourselves to the guard, and after a short while, a familiar figure came out to guide us.
It was Tang Ak.
“So you came all the way here to see me, Jegal-noona? I knew it. You’ve been missing me too, haven’t you?”
Seeing that infuriating face again after so long immediately put me in a foul mood.
“We’re only here on a trip to Sichuan. The reason we came to the Tang Clan was to deliver a letter at the Alliance Leader’s request, not to see Young Master Tang.”
I said it firmly.
Tang Ak’s expression twisted a little.
“You’re traveling with some country bumpkin like him?”
“Didn’t that country bumpkin defeat you in a single stroke?”
At my provocation, Tang Ak’s face flushed red.
“I can’t let some country bumpkin like you into the Tang Clan! Jegal-noona may enter, then.”
“Hmm... then I won’t go in either. Just tell the clan lord we came.”
Sohui took hold of my arm and turned away.
“Once the Tang Clan Lord hears about us, he’ll call us again anyway. In the meantime, let’s go get information from the Beggars’ Sect.”
Leaving behind Tang Ak, who was still shouting in a fit of anger, we headed for the Sichuan branch of the Beggars’ Sect.
Sohui led me to a decrepit butcher shop on the outskirts of Sichuan.
When we arrived, flies buzzed all around, and the meat inside looked so old it seemed likely to cause illness if eaten.
Noticing our presence, the owner inside quietly came out.
“What are you looking for?”
At the owner’s question, Sohui answered.
“We’ve come to buy fresh meat.”
Fresh meat? In a butcher shop that looks ready to collapse?
“What kind of meat are you looking for?”
“I need sky-blue goldfish meat.”
Sky-blue goldfish meat?
I looked at Sohui, wondering what kind of nonsense that was, and she gave a sly smile.
“Please come inside.”
The owner’s eyes changed, and he led us into the building.
The inside of the butcher shop was just as cramped as it looked from outside.
“Please show me your token.”
At the owner’s words, Sohui presented the wooden plaque engraved with Alliance that Namgung Taeseong had given us.
The owner nodded and led us down to an underground storage room.
Carefully descending the dark staircase, we found that the basement was quite spacious.
The area was lined with countless bookshelves, and in the center stood a desk and a chair.
“Welcome. Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am the head of the Sichuan branch of the Beggars’ Sect. Is there any information you require?”
“We’ve come to determine the cause of the strange illness occurring around Sichuan. We need information about it.”
As soon as we mentioned the strange illness, the branch chief understood immediately.
“You mean the illness that kills people like mummies, with no incubation period?”
“That’s right. Do you know anything about it?”
“The newest information we have on the illness is that it has no incubation period at all, and that victims suddenly die with their bodies’ blood seeming to evaporate away, as if they’ve been turned into mummies. Because there is no incubation period, we have also confirmed that it is not contagious at all.”
If it isn’t contagious, can it really be called a disease?
The thought crossed my mind all at once.
“The distribution of the cases is too inconsistent to say it spreads through the air. So the Beggars’ Sect’s conclusion is that this is not a disease.”
“If it isn’t a disease, then what is it?”
“There is a strong possibility that this is someone’s handiwork. In the course of focusing our investigation on that possibility, one suspicious individual has emerged.”
“Who is it?”
“Tang Ak. The travel routes of Tang Ak, the second son of the Sichuan Tang Clan, overlap quite closely with the locations where the strange illness has appeared.”
“Hmm... Understood for now. I’ll have to speak with the Tang Clan Lord about the rest.”
With sour expressions, we left the butcher shop.
“Could Tang Ak really be conducting some kind of experiment?”
“I did hear that Young Master Tang was running some strange experiments, but...”
Filled with all sorts of doubts, we headed to an inn.
Once seated, we ordered a simple meal and kept thinking it over.
“Is there even a poison that makes all the blood in the body evaporate?”
“As far as I know, no. But couldn’t it be some poison the Tang Clan handles in complete secrecy?”
“If it were a poison they handled in secret, there wouldn’t be this many victims scattered around as if it were an actual outbreak...”
“That’s true...”
“In the end, we’ll have to investigate Tang Ak.”
Now that it had been established that this wasn’t a disease, it had to be the work of someone.
So the most suspicious person at the moment seemed to be Tang Ak.
Just then, someone approached our table.
He seemed to be wearing green clothes, so he looked like a member of the Tang Clan.
“Are you the North Sea Divine Dragon and Miss Jegal? The clan lord is calling for you.”
The man who had come to us was the Tang Clan’s eldest son, Tang Jin.
So different from Tang Ak that it was hard to believe they were brothers, the two of them gave off completely different impressions.
“Young Master, it’s been a while.”
“It has indeed been a while, Miss Jegal. You’ve already grown so much. Time really does fly.”
Unlike Tang Ak, Tang Jin was an extremely courteous young man.
“Then you must be the North Sea Divine Dragon who won the Martial Tournament? I’ve heard a great deal about you.”
“I was simply lucky.”
We shook hands and headed for the Tang Clan.