Chapter 353
Chapter 353
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 353
Chapter Title: Eyes of Suspicion
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Namgung Hwayoung led Soo-hyuk and Unhyang into the Alliance Lord's Hall. She ordered a servant to bring tea for the two of them.
Having removed his bamboo hat and mask, Soo-hyuk let out a deep breath as if it had been suffocating.
"I have no idea how Ye-ryeong walks around wearing this stuff."
The problem was that he had layered too many masks to tightly cover his face. On top of that, he had an inner face guard flipped over inside the mask, which only doubled the stuffiness.
Unhyang felt just as stifled.
"This feels like they tied it extra tight just to mess with us, doesn't it?"
"We'll settle it later."
"Sounds good."
Watching the two of them joke around in the heart of the Murim Alliance, Namgung Hwayoung smiled faintly. Then, suddenly, she remembered the people who had come out to greet her earlier.
"Wasn't that a bit too obvious?"
Bamboo hat, mask—it stood out way too much.
"They look suspicious no matter how you slice it. Anyway, with the face guards on, no one should recognize your faces."
There were plenty of people in the Murim world who would recognize Unhyang's face. It was far too well-known.
Soo-hyuk's face was somewhat known now too, if to a lesser degree. After all, when he took down the Poison King in the Sacheon Tang Clan, he hadn't bothered with a mask.
But even so, wasn't the face guard on top of the mask and bamboo hat a bit much?
"That's the important part."
"Being suspicious?"
"Yes. There has to be something off from the usual for anyone to react, right?"
Soo-hyuk gave an immediate example.
"Like that escort captain we saw earlier."
"Captain Im?"
Namgung Hwayoung couldn't hold back her laughter.
"Anyone but him. Absolutely not."
Im Mugwang's loyalty to the Alliance was stronger than anyone's. He protected her as naturally as he breathed.
But Soo-hyuk saw it differently.
"That's exactly why we need to suspect him more."
It was the kind of thing only Soo-hyuk could say.
"It's when you think it's a given that your back is most exposed. The blade that strikes an unguarded back cuts sharper than any famed sword."
He had already experienced it once before.
That made the advice hit even harder.
For a fleeting moment, Namgung Hwayoung found herself thinking it.
What if Im Mugwang harbored treacherous thoughts? What if, like the Murim world betraying Lee Soo-hyuk, he placed a knife at her back? The mere idea was horrifying.
Letting out a soft sigh, Namgung Hwayoung gazed at Soo-hyuk. Asking him for help had been the right call. Just look at how he had reawakened her vigilance.
Soo-hyuk continued.
"If I were them, I'd target people like that first. The ones you'd never suspect. That way, they become the deadliest blade at the perfect moment."
"You sensed something too, didn't you, Soo-hyuk-nim?"
Soo-hyuk nodded at Unhyang's words.
Namgung Hwayoung, unable to follow the cryptic exchange between the two, asked,
"What did you sense?"
"The way that man looked at us. Like we were obstacles in his way."
Was that so strange for an escort captain? As Namgung Hwayoung had that thought, her eyes met Soo-hyuk's.
Right. Thoughts like that were dangerous. Especially now, with no telling what might happen or who Jindo-ha might have swayed and how.
'Above all, that man served the previous Alliance Lord for so long.'
She recalled the detail she had momentarily pushed aside amid the familiarity.
"What do we do now?"
"We gave things a light shake, so let's watch and see."
In response to Namgung Hwayoung's question, Soo-hyuk leisurely sipped his tea, as if there was nothing urgent to do at the moment.
"See how they react. Whether they rush or play it cautious."
Even here in the very center of the Murim Alliance, Soo-hyuk remained utterly calm.
Namgung Hwayoung admired the sight. For him, this place must feel like the heart of enemy territory.
And the reason for her admiration went beyond mere confidence.
"You really trust my judgment, Soo-hyuk-nim."
It was the faith he had shown in her.
"Honestly, I figured you'd laugh off the idea that a single argument would make that elder try to reclaim the Murim Alliance."
"You know Jindo-ha. How monstrously ugly that seemingly upright old man truly is."
"I... only just realized."
And she had watched him from far closer, for far longer. Namgung Hwayoung gave a bitter smile.
"No need for self-recrimination. I only saw it after the knife was already in my back. Your instincts worked better than mine did, Alliance Lord."
"What should I do?"
"Just one thing."
"One thing?"
"Go back and judge anew who is truly on your side. Reset every relationship to zero. If Jindo-ha really intends to take back the Murim Alliance, he'll start by seizing it from the inside."
Soo-hyuk gazed out the window at the view. The towering structures of the Alliance Lord's Hall loomed into sight.
"The Murim Alliance—the place you thought safest—might just be the most dangerous of all."
Jindo-ha strolled through the courtyard.
He moved with the swagger of a man treating the Murim Alliance like his own home. Lately, he had been showing his face there more and more.
Escort Captain Im Mugwang led his escort team past at a distance. The two men did not meet eyes, but they conversed via transmission.
A new variable had emerged. Of course, variables like this could pop up anytime.
Dozens of guests passed through the Murim Alliance's gates every year. Two among them hardly qualified as a major disruption.
What nagged at him, though, was not knowing who they were.
The question meant: Proceed with the plan regardless?
The brief silence carried hints of deliberation and conflict. But soon enough, Jindo-ha replied via transmission.
The next day, a meeting took place within the Murim Alliance.
"Agenda regarding the accident on the Honam trade route. The Ho-gye Merchant Group was transporting..."
"The Semun Clan has requested support from the Murim Alliance. Conflict has erupted with a neighboring unorthodox faction..."
"The Huanglong Escort Bureau..."
There were numerous agendas, and plenty of discussion. But amid it all, Namgung Hwayoung had only one thought.
Who could she trust—and who couldn't? Where did Jindo-ha's influence begin and end?
Who were her people?
She had devoted her entire life to martial arts alone. She had believed that alone qualified her to become Alliance Lord, and it had earned Jindo-ha's recognition.
But now, viewing things from a different angle, she could see it clearly.
'I have no one on my side.'
There wasn't a single person she could confidently call her own.
On the flip side, there were plenty she could classify as firmly in Jindo-ha's camp.
She had known it on some level. Jindo-ha's influence still lingered heavily within the Alliance.
But she had never truly examined it like this before.
Because she was the Murim Alliance Lord. Subconsciously, she had assumed everyone here belonged to her side.
Thus, the meeting wrapped up amid thoughts twice as intense as usual.
Afterward, Zhuge Dancheon—who had not left—spoke once they were alone.
"Jindo-ha's movements are far from ordinary."
As the Alliance's Chief Strategist, he had focused all his attention on Jindo-ha's actions per Namgung Hwayoung's orders. Lately, the Alliance's strategists had been run off their feet with the task.
"He's meeting with the heads of various clans and the Alliance's unit leaders. He's calling back those who had scattered, seemingly to inspect his old power base."
Was it because of what she had heard the day before? Today, Zhuge Dancheon's report felt strangely unfamiliar.
He was someone she had always trusted and followed.
Looking back now, though, he too had spent a long time alongside Jindo-ha.
"He met with people from the Zhuge Clan as well, I assume?"
The Zhuge Clan had produced the Alliance's strategists and Chief Strategists for generations. Just like the man before her.
In a way, Namgung Hwayoung's question was a direct probe at the Zhuge Dancheon standing right there. She had no room in her heart for subtlety anymore.
"Most likely."
The current head of the Zhuge Clan was none other than Zhuge Dancheon's younger brother.
"I trust the Zhuge Clan head made a wise choice."
"And what would that wise choice be?"
"Not siding with anyone."
"Because the strategist position belongs to the Zhuge Clan anyway?"
Zhuge Dancheon answered with a faint smile. It was an affirmation.
Namgung Hwayoung let out a sigh.
Even if it was true, how could she feel resentful toward him? If anything, knowing he sided with no one brought more relief. At least the man from the Zhuge Clan wouldn't take anyone else's side.
"What about you, Chief Strategist?"
"If I say the same, would that ease your mind, Alliance Lord?"
"Lately, I don't know anything. I thought even a hollow Alliance Lord was still the Lord—as long as I did my part..."
She poured out the thoughts that had consumed her throughout the meeting.
"But now that I've truly opened my eyes... there isn't a single person I can trust as mine."
It was her first time voicing such a lament. She never imagined she'd say it to Zhuge Dancheon of all people.
Zhuge Dancheon refrained from telling her to trust him or declaring himself on her side.
He knew no words could foster trust right now. Trust came only when backed by circumstances.
Instead, he shared his own take on the situation.
"He might even propose re-electing the Alliance Lord."
"He couldn't do that without justification."
"Indeed. Which is why... he might try to kill you."
Namgung Hwayoung showed no surprise. As if fully prepared, she unleashed a razor-sharp aura.
"That's exactly what I'm hoping for."
A night with the moon on the rise.
Zhuge Dancheon, reading a book by the light of a single lantern, felt a chill wind.
There was no sign of anyone. It was merely the breeze slipping through the gap in the open door.
"So you've finally come."
He didn't know who the guest was.
But he was certain of one thing: their goal was his life.
He had steeled himself for this moment. After all, he had rejected Jindo-ha's offer to join him.
The Zhuge Clan's declaration of neutrality had been taken as allegiance to Namgung Hwayoung.
Zhuge Dancheon gripped the fan placed beside the lantern. Though a strategist, he had trained in martial arts and climbed the tower as a Player. He could put up a fight.
But Jindo-ha wouldn't have sent an assassin without knowing that.
And sure enough, locking eyes with the assassin as he turned—it hit him. Death.
Yet...
'Why isn't he moving?'
The assassin who had seized his back from behind remained strangely still. The dagger clutched in his hand gleamed faintly in the moonlight streaming through the window.
That was when he spotted another figure behind the assassin.
The mysterious guest who had returned with the Alliance Lord.
He stood silently behind the assassin, still wearing his bamboo hat pulled low.