Those Who Scheme (2)
If the Murim Alliance had a strategist, then so did the Magyo. The Mae No. It wasn't just about martial arts; this was the title bestowed upon the sharpest mind in the wars between factions.
The current Mae No, Sima Jun, could reach only one conclusion no matter how hard he thought. The Magyo of today was doomed.
Ever since the Cheonma's crushing defeat at the hands of the Sword Saint Geomseong in that duel that decided the fate of the Ilwol Singyo, the Magyo had been as good as finished. They said a fallen rich man took three years to recover. Or maybe it was because there were no other powerhouses left in Cheonsan besides the Magyo. Or perhaps, as the saying went, even a rotting fish had its head intact—the Cheonma might have lost to the Sword Saint, but he could still beat every other demon around.
The Magyo was hanging on by a thread. Numbers had dwindled, forcing them to patch up threadbare clothes. They lacked the resources to repair shattered halls, so when demons squabbled, they were told to take it outside. And most of the Magyo's Ten Demons had already betrayed the sect, eyeing a way into the Central Plains or half-way there already.
Still, the Magyo lived on. Barely.
If the Murim Alliance's strategist hadn't been a Jeon-ga clansman, Sima Jun might have slipped into the Central Plains, whitewashed his past, and become their strategist instead.
But there was hope. As the Cheonma himself had quickly concluded, if the present wouldn't work, bet on the future.
And a path to that future had cracked open.
The moment Sima Jun heard the report, he headed straight for the Cheonma's residence, the Magyeong Pavilion.
Or tried to.
"Where is the Cheonma?"
"He's sleeping."
Sima Jun drooped his head at the words of Uho Beop, who wore a black tiger mask over his face.
"It's urgent."
"You know better than anyone, Mae No. Waking him means your head rolls."
"......This is a matter of moments."
"Shout outside, and anyone dies. Wait until he wakes."
"Is he drunk?"
"Yes."
Sima Jun's shoulders slumped at Uho Beop's confirmation.
It was all the Sword Saint's fault. The Magyo's hero, brimming with vigor and ready to overturn the world, had devolved into an irredeemable human wreck, a trashy wastrel. All because of the Sword Saint.
But what could be done? The righteous Murim flourished day by day, even developing a cure for Jeolmokjeung.
"What do you think the Cheonma will say when he wakes and hears this?"
"Who knows. I'm curious too?"
Sima Jun immediately bowed at the voice from behind.
"You've arrived, Eldest Princess."
"Yes. Is Father passed out again today?"
"Eldest Princess, that's—"
"It's not the first day or two."
Even amid his unease, Sima Jun glanced up at the Eldest Princess, who voiced exactly what he'd wanted to say. Her head barely reached his waist. Petite enough that among the other old monsters—demons his age—she could pass for a granddaughter without raising eyebrows.
Yet this girl was the Magyo's hope. Its survival hung entirely on her, no exaggeration. That's why Sima Jun stayed, propping up the crumbling pillar before it collapsed.
"Mae No. I seek your wisdom."
"Ask away, Eldest Princess."
"We originally sent the Demon Physician and her disciple to the Moyong family not just for the assassination of their daughter, but also to find a cure for Jeolmokjeung, right?"
"Yes, Eldest Princess. That..."
"I don't really care either way."
The Eldest Princess's red eyes sparkled as she rolled up her sleeve slightly.
"Anyone who cultivates the Cheonma Singong won't die from Jeolmokjeung—lifespan's the only issue, not the pain."
"......."
"Reach Hyeongyeong before forty—no, Saengsa Gyeong—and it's solved. No big deal. The problem is now: the Demon Physician's disciple might stay with the Moyong family."
"...Y-yes."
Sima Jun was clever and knew survival inside out.
"Shall I order the Godok-bearer Seok Mu Wol to return to the Magyo? Right now?"
"No. That would bring the Sword Saint down on us immediately. Not until I can face him—at least not yet."
The Eldest Princess reacted negatively, but Sima Jun knew her true feelings well.
"But how can we leave a Magyo man in the righteous Murim? We must bring him back, restore him to the vacant Demon Physician seat. For the Magyo's revival."
"...Do you have a plan?"
Her ears perked up.
"A plan? We'll make one. Even if there isn't, we'll forge it. Even if it seems impossible, we'll make it happen. That's what a Mae No does."
Sima Jun knew how much she'd cried the day the Demon Physician and disciple left, so he chose his words with utmost care, refining them over and over.
"We'll stir up the entire Central Plains. No matter how exalted the Moyong family, if the Nine Great Sects, Five Great Families, and all Murim turn against them, they won't endure without pushing Physician Seok out."
"...Good. As long as my body holds out. Even if it doesn't, no matter."
Her eyes blazed as she brushed past Sima Jun.
"Even if those slutty Central Plains bitches defile him endlessly, as long as he ends up by this Cheonhwa's side."
"Ah, aah...!"
Sima Jun nearly burst into tears.
This was the spirit of the Ilwol Singyo's Cheonma, truly.
"Then... I'll have to rise to meet it."
Cheonhwa placed a hand on her chest.
"The absolute power to embrace Big Brother."
She strode forward.
"Eldest Princess, not now...!"
"Ha?"
"......!"
Uho Beop blocked her path, but a single glance from the Eldest Princess brought him to his knees.
Creeeak.
She flung open the doors of the Magyeong Pavilion.
A foul stench poured out as, in the center of the hall, a man slept snoring, barely clothed.
"......Tch."
She glared at him with open disgust, but he didn't stir even with the door open and people entering.
"No choice. I didn't want to use this method."
"Eldest Princess. The Cheonma..."
"He hears everything even in his sleep. You think a Hyeongyeong master can't?"
Step.
"Report: The Demon Physician Baek Myeon's disciple, Seok Mu Wol, cured Moyong Seol's Jeolmokjeung."
"......."
The man didn't rise.
"Cured Jeolmokjeung. So I don't need to cultivate Cheonma Singong anymore—there's a way to fix my body now?"
"......."
Even her prodding didn't rouse him. She sighed deeply, pinched her nose, and spoke.
"The Demon Physician's disciple spent the night with Moyong Seol."
Twitch.
"And because of it, the Sword Saint spat blood and collapsed."
"What."
The man—the Cheonma—slowly opened his eyes.
"The Sword Saint collapsed?"
"...Yes."
Cheonhwa clenched her fist tight.
"Spat blood and collapsed, you say?"
His dazed look—like he'd just woken, trying to rise from bed only to tumble forward—was anything but normal.
"He bedded the Sword Saint's dau—urk, spent the night, and made the Sword Saint spit blood?"
Even with his face planted on the floor, his wide eyes burned a bloodier red than Cheonhwa's own.
"Kuhaha, kahahaha!!"
The Cheonma burst into mad laughter.
"Yesss, I knew I had an eye for people! That one I picked up, staring me down straight! Uhahaha! He finally did it! Kuhaha!"
"...Jeolmokjeung. It's cured."
"So?"
He hauled his slipping body up, grinning ferociously.
"Tell that bastard—urk, his name... Ah, right! Tell the Demon Physician's disciple! Keep drinking! Until the Sword Saint falls to heart devil watching his daughter get eaten! Kyahak, kuhahaha!!"
"......."
"Uho Beop!! Bring booze! On a day like this, we must get wasted! Uhahaha!!"
Watching Cheonhwa grind her teeth, Sima Jun quietly bowed his head.
No wonder they all betray us.
Indeed. The Magyo was finished.
If there was hope, it lay in the Eldest Princess toppling the Cheonma—or someone killing the madman.
What if we remove the Godok from Seok Mu Wol, grant him freedom, and commission him to assassinate the Cheonma for the Sword Saint?
The thought flickered, but Sima Jun shook his head.
Realistically, the man took his virginity. Why would the Sword Saint cross the continent to Cheonsan and kill the Cheonma for some Magyo scum?
Late at night. After the Alliance Leader wrapped up in the main hall and everyone from the Moyong family who wasn't family left the estate.
"You two, follow me first."
"Father, that—"
"Plenty of questions, I know. But let's talk somewhere without people."
The Sword Saint led me and Moyong Seol back to the Moyong family's annex.
We drew curious stares from the household servants along the way, but he silenced them with his aura, clearing the path.
Once at the annex.
"What do you want to ask, daughter?"
"What was the Murim Alliance Leader thinking, revealing his prized disciple is the Cheonma's daughter?"
Moyong Seol voiced the doubt gnawing at me too.
"If he wanted to threaten... he could've just exposed Physician-nim's background right away. Sinseung would've backed him too."
Why reveal Kunlun's weakness to shift the topic? Why bury the suspicions on me under other doubts?
"To hide Physician Seok's identity."
"Pardon?"
"The Leader's kinder than he looks."
The Sword Saint answered Moyong Seol's question without hesitation.
"He owes me a big debt."
"He exposed his own disciple... to cover for Physician Seok?"
"Yes."
"Why...?"
"He owed me. To me."
The Sword Saint pointed to the sword at his waist.
"If I hadn't crushed the Cheonma, Kunlunpa would've been wiped out. It's right under the Magyo's nose."
"Ah...."
"Never thought old ties would circle back like this, but it'll give him headaches afterward. Especially that damn monk Sinseung... Hah."
The Sword Saint showed open irritation at Sinseung.
"Physician Seok."
"Yes, Family Head."
"Did you know the Cheonma's daughters had Jeolmokjeung?"
"I knew about one, not the other two. I knew he had one daughter with it, but not about the other two until now."
"I see."
The truth.
"I only just learned they were his daughters."
"Them... You had suspicions."
"Likely Kunlun's senior disciple Jin-hyeon and Jeomchangpa's Soyeonjeok. I never imagined he'd plant his own daughters among orphans like me."
Truly.
"I couldn't fathom someone like the Cheonma abandoning his children like that."
"I see."
"Yes."
"Then you'll need to grow stronger from now on."
The Sword Saint drew his sheathed sword.
"Seol-ah. The Cheonma will use those daughters to steal Physician Seok from you."
"......!"
"No— he'll rally the entire Central Plains to rip him from you."
"Why?"
"For revenge against me."
"......."
"Your pain is my pain now. He'll make you suffer from here on—heart more than body."
"......Yes."
Moyong Seol stepped forward.
"What will you do?"
"......I."
Moyong Seol reached for the drawn sword.
"I'll learn the sword properly. I never trained seriously before."
Even half-trained, she was a first-rate—no, peak Jeoljeong master. As she slowly unsheathed it, azure sword qi flowed like starlight.
As expected of the Cheonmu Jiche.
A woman blessed by heaven in martial arts, mastering any technique effortlessly—the world's greatest talent.
"To protect Physician-nim."
She took up the sword to guard me.
Blue light gleamed in Moyong Seol's eyes.
"Anyone trying to take Physician-nim—I'll cut them all down with this."
The blade shimmered with starry sharpness.
And at midnight.
"Yugoein, sect leader of the Jageom Sect. I've come to the Moyong family to cure my daughter's Jeolmokjeung."
A Jeolmokjeung patient knocked on the Moyong estate's main gate.