The Stage Is Set
When we arrived at the Jegal Clan estate, the gatekeeper stepped in front of us and barred the way.
“What business brings you here?”
“We’ve come to see the young master.”
“I’m sorry, but the young master is away.”
I’m sure he is.
He’d probably be busy pulling strings even now.
At the gatekeeper’s stubborn response, Cheongha stepped forward.
“Then is my second older brother here, perhaps?”
“The second young master is also away.”
The gatekeeper’s tone toward Cheongha was far more polite than before.
“Then what about my father?”
“...He is here, but the clan head is refusing all outside visitors.”
The man’s voice was thick with annoyance.
At that attitude, Cheongha’s eyes sharpened.
“Am I an outsider?”
“My apologies. I’ll go ask.”
“No, wait a moment.”
The gatekeeper was already backing off, cowed by Cheongha’s bearing, so I stopped him.
Blundering in here by leaning on Cheongha’s status wasn’t the right move.
Yes, the clan head’s relationship with her was clearly bad, but storming into the heart of enemy territory without any preparation would be reckless.
Besides, the fact that they were refusing all outside visitors was proof enough that something was being hidden.
In a case like this, it was better to take a step back.
I lowered my voice and explained my thoughts to Cheongha.
“It’s suspicious, but we still don’t have decisive proof. I don’t think barging in without a plan is the right call.”
“I agree. Let’s find evidence first.”
More importantly, we still had two days.
It was a shame that Assistant’s memories reset every day, but two days should be enough to uncover some evidence.
We turned our backs on the Jegal estate and headed for the city walls to investigate the formation.
That was when a familiar flash of red caught my eye from across the street.
The owner of that blood-red hair could only be one person.
And beside her was, shockingly enough, Jegal Hyeon.
“What the hell?”
Why were those two together?
Don’t tell me Dokgo Ryeon was an accomplice?
Was that what she meant by having business?
She was a lunatic who called herself the Heavenly Demon, so maybe she’d fallen for some scheme like this after all.
I immediately ran after them as they moved away and shouted, “Ryeon! Stop right there!”
For just an instant, it seemed as if Dokgo Ryeon’s gaze flicked in our direction.
But then passersby crowded between us.
When my view cleared again, the two of them were already gone without a trace.
“So that’s how it is.”
Hurt feelings welled up in my chest.
Sure, it had only been a short time, but we’d still traveled together.
This was betrayal.
I didn’t know what kind of sweet-talking had lured her over, but apparently we were part of the target too!
Unable to swallow my indignation, I stamped my foot, and Cheongha, standing beside me, quietly spoke.
“That’s strange. There’s no way Ryeon unni would do that... To betray Song unni, of all people.”
There was a strange certainty in Cheongha’s words, but my mood didn’t improve one bit.
Just you wait.
If she really had betrayed us, I’d make her regret it.
After all the good I’d done for her!
I pouted and walked away from the spot.
Being upset was one thing, but the investigation still had to go on.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Leaning against the wall, I watched Cheongha trace the flow of the formation and sank into thought.
Simply stopping their scheme wouldn’t be enough.
They’d taken one of our companions, so we had to figure out their true purpose as well.
“Cheongha. Does your head hurt?”
“No. Like this, it’s bearable.”
Fortunately, as long as she didn’t try to pry directly into the formation and instead compared its shape and flow to the Jegal Clan’s basic arrays, the headache seemed to lessen.
According to Cheongha, a formation contained its purpose in its very shape.
If that was true, then there had to be a point where its power was being concentrated.
Especially with a formation spanning such a huge area.
Fortunately, though she was a runaway delinquent from the Jegal Clan, she had expert-level knowledge of Yangyang’s geography and its formations.
“Just as I thought. The formation is gathering along the qi veins. It’s drawing energy in toward some point.”
“Then let’s trace it one by one.”
Following her guidance as we retraced the streets, we discovered something remarkable.
The places where the strange incidents we’d experienced had all occurred.
The square, the teahouse, even the middle of the street.
They were all points where qi veins crossed or surged strongly.
“So that’s why business was booming.”
“I’m honestly impressed by how casually you can say something like that, unni.”
Trading lazy jokes back and forth, we kept walking.
Under the formation’s influence, every vein in the city was being drawn along a single current.
And the place where all that energy gathered was one we already knew very well.
“It’s here.”
“Yeah. Come to think of it, it makes sense.”
The plaza where the stage for the Yongbongjihoe had been erected.
It was bustling with laborers putting the finishing touches on the opening ceremony, and all of Yangyang’s qi veins were converging there.
I didn’t know what the goal was, but one thing was certain: something was going to happen at this gathering point where every sect in the region would meet.
With security this tight, there was no way we could just smash the formation outright, so we decided to first figure out what was happening at its center.
“Please wait.”
Just then, a martial artist from the Jegal Clan stepped in front of us, warily blocking our path toward the stage.
“What are you here for?”
“Ah, there’s such a huge stage here that I got curious.”
“Unless you’re an invited guest, nobody is allowed any closer right now.”
“Invited guest? Is there some event going on?”
I asked with my most innocent expression.
The martial artist looked down at me and answered without the slightest suspicion.
“For this Yongbongjihoe, we’ve decided to hold a banquet before the opening ceremony. It’ll begin shortly, so unless you’re staff, please step away.”
A banquet before the opening ceremony?
I’d thought we still had two days before the Yongbongjihoe opened, so I’d let my guard down, but they’d been preparing something like this the whole time.
The purpose was almost painfully obvious.
My eyes sharpened as I asked again, “Wow! Then all the sect leaders are gathering too?”
“That’s right. Most of the major figures from each sect will be attending. Many of them have already gone inside.”
Glancing past his shoulder, I could already see several people seated at the prepared tables.
The Yongbongjihoe was a martial festival open even to the general public.
But this banquet before the opening—the one gathering only the key figures from each sect—was taking place at the very spot where the city’s qi converged most intensely.
The board had been set beautifully.
Without a doubt, some kind of scheme was going to begin here today.
“Unni, this... we have to stop it.”
Cheongha’s whisper at my ear matched my own thoughts perfectly.
What if the strange phenomena we’d seen here were amplified and brought to full effect?
What if the leaders and major figures of the great clans, the very people who shaped the martial world, had their memories and emotions manipulated?
I could already see it in my mind.
There would be bloodshed, no matter what.
I asked the Jegal Clan martial artist to confirm it.
“Do you happen to know where the young master is?”
“The young master said he had some business to finish. He should be here before the banquet begins.”
So it really was Jegal Hyeon.
For the young master of the Jegal Clan to be absent from such an important banquet and instead be checking the formation... the reason wasn’t maintenance, it was because he needed to activate the thing and stir up trouble.
My suspicion hardened into certainty.
Then where exactly was he controlling this enormous formation from?
I looked around.
He wouldn’t be doing it openly on the stage.
There were several peak-level masters gathered here.
Any suspicious movement would have his head rolling in an instant.
So he’d be hiding himself, and the closest place to here was obvious.
Under the stage.
“Actually, if you don’t mind me asking... is there a way to get under the stage?”
“What are you talking about?”
The martial artist’s suspicious eyes fixed on me as I pressed the question.
Damn. Had I pushed too hard?
But who was I?
The peerlessly pretty girl all the martial world dreamed about.
I clasped my hands together, let my eyes sparkle, and looked up at him. His expression softened almost at once, and the suspicion drained from his face.
Easy. Too easy.
“Ahem. There is, of course, but it’s confidential, so I can’t tell you.”
“Oh, what a shame. Then I suppose I’ll have to ask someone else and repay the favor.”
I made a show of reaching into my chest to take out a handkerchief, and his eyes followed the movement as if bewitched.
The dazed look on his face was a sight to behold.
“Ahem. There are stairs over that way, but you mustn’t go there.”
“I see! Thank you, kind sir.”
I smiled brightly and tucked the handkerchief back into my chest.
The martial artist’s gaze drifted toward my chest.
“The handkerchief...”
“I never said I’d give it to you.”
“What do you mean—”
Leaving the bewildered man behind, I spun on my heel.
A laugh slipped out of me, and Cheongha whispered from beside me, “Unni, your methods are getting more and more vicious.”
“What a thing to say. You make me sound like a villain.”
We headed straight for the direction he’d indicated.
As expected, the Jegal Clan martial artists guarding the stairs stepped in front of us.
“This area is off-limits.”
We’d come this far, so it was time to pull out the trump card I’d been saving.
At my glance, Cheongha stepped forward.
“I have business here. Are you going to stop me too?”
“Young lady... no. Please, go ahead.”
The reason I’d saved this card until the very last moment was exactly this.
If I’d gone around using Cheongha’s identity to pry here and there beforehand, word would surely have been passed down to bar her from entering.
Since this was the first time, the Jegal Clan martial artists didn’t dare block her.
We descended the stairs into the underground with proud, unhurried steps.
Then—
Jiiing—
A deep gong echoed through the entire plaza.
The signal that the event was beginning.
The banquet had started.
“Already?”
We had less time than I’d expected.
I quickened my steps down the stairs.
But then I noticed that Cheongha’s footsteps had fallen silent behind me.
When I turned around, she was sitting on the stairs, clutching her head.
“Cheongha! Are you all right?”
“Ugh... my head suddenly...”
With the start of the banquet, she—having already been under the formation’s influence for days—began to complain of pain.
The formation had already been activated.
We couldn’t just stand there waiting for her to feel better.
“Sorry. Let’s hurry down first.”
“S-sorry, unni.”
I supported her and hurried on.
When we reached the underground, I opened the heavy door leading beneath the stage.
Beyond it, the smell of damp earth, the chill of the underground, and the faint glow of lamplight greeted us.
It was the kind of suspicious place you could have drawn by hand.
And there, standing in that place, was one man.
“I was waiting for you, little brother. Even after erasing your memories, you still made it all the way here. Not bad.”
The man lifted his chin with a disdainful, arrogant smile.
It was Jegal Yun.
His eyes shone with a sinister red light as he spread his arms to welcome us.
Cheongha let out a shocked gasp and leaned against me.
Seeing my hardened expression in the face of this unexpected situation, she clearly mistook something and whispered in awe, “So... unni had already figured everything out.”
“Uh... yeah.”
No, I hadn’t.
Even as I nodded vaguely, my head was a mess of confusion.
What was this situation?
Why are you here?
Wasn’t Jegal Hyeon the one behind this?