Chapter 91 - Sword in the Heart
The heavy air in the meeting hall settled at last.
Smoke rose languidly from the incense burner, drifting through the air before dissipating, while the teacups on the table had long gone cold.
"Amitabha. Does the Palace Lord of Okhwa Palace have something to say?"
Shaolin Abbot Gongyo chanted softly as he turned his gaze to Buso-yong.
The other sect leaders focused their attention on her as well.
The once-peerless beauty of the world. Though years had passed and her face was veiled, Buso-yong's elegance and allure still stirred ripples in the men's hearts.
"The Wudang sect leader stepped out briefly for urgent business. There's no particular reason to suspect him."
Buso-yong's voice was soft yet firm.
Gongyo nodded leisurely and spoke.
"And how does the Palace Lord know this?"
"Because I was with him."
The air in the meeting hall froze for an instant.
The sect leaders murmured lowly.
"You were... together... Amitabha."
Gongyo trailed off, nodding his head.
"......"
Buso-yong's eyes narrowed slightly.
It wasn't much, but the way Gongyo let his words hang felt laden with meaning.
"Is there a problem?"
Buso-yong's tone sharpened.
Gongyo fiddled with his prayer beads—clack, clack—pausing for a moment before posing his question in a relaxed voice.
"Could you tell us what that urgent business was?"
Buso-yong stared piercingly at Gongyo through her veil.
Her voice was gentle, but his demeanor felt like an interrogation of a criminal.
Muheo bristled, about to step forward, but Buso-yong grabbed his arm again.
"......!"
Muheo went limp like a docile lamb, behaving at once.
Buso-yong spoke.
"Who knows? I wouldn't presume to know the private affairs of another sect's leader."
Buso-yong concealed Wudang's situation.
For some reason, it felt like the right thing to do.
"Amitabha. That's precisely my point. No one knows why Daoist Hyeonjin left. It might even be connected to what's happening now."
Buso-yong furrowed her brow.
Why is this old monk so fixated on Wudang?
Shaolin and Wudang, the two pillars of the righteous Murim.
That made their relationship close yet distant.
But that didn't mean they hounded each other without cause.
Today, however, Gongyo was openly picking at Hyeonjin.
Buso-yong shifted the topic.
"Wouldn't it make more sense to suspect the Nangong family first? This is their estate, after all. Yet the Nangong family head is nowhere to be seen amid this chaos."
"Mm... Amitabha."
The sect leaders buzzed, glancing around.
As Buso-yong said, the Nangong family head was absent.
By Gongyo's own logic, wasn't that suspicious?
Creeeak—
At that moment, the door opened, and a handsome middle-aged man stepped into the meeting hall.
It was none other than the Nangong family head, Nangong Yeong.
"It seems the Palace Lord was looking for me."
"Oh! There you are, Family Head!"
"Family Head! We heard massive explosions one after another—what happened?"
"Our disciples have vanished!"
The belatedly arrived Nangong Yeong smiled, calming the sect leaders.
"No need to worry overly about the juniors. They'll be fine. More pressing is another matter."
"Amitabha. Another matter?"
Nangong Yeong met Gongyo's eyes with a meaningful gaze.
"By a curious coincidence... the Demonic Cult has invaded."
"......?"
"......?"
The meeting hall froze in an instant.
Demonic Cult.
The eternal terror for all who lived in the jianghu.
The name echoed abruptly through the hall, leaving the sect leaders dazed.
"Did you just say... the D-Demonic Cult?"
"Why would the Demonic Cult suddenly...?"
A few sect leaders stammered.
Explosive chaos rapidly engulfed the room.
Those whose sects were near the Demonic Cult's territory panicked visibly, pressing Nangong Yeong.
"Nangong Family Head! Is that true?"
"How could the Demonic Cult! How did they reach this place?!"
"Don't tell me those explosions...?!"
Nangong Yeong nodded gravely.
"Yes. They've kidnapped the juniors."
"Amitabha..."
"Ah...!"
"N-No, that can't be!"
Disbelief turned to chaos, and chaos spread to anger.
"How could the Nangong family have such lax defenses?!"
"Unbelievable! Is there proof the Demonic Cult did this?!"
"Nangong Family Head! You're not lying, are you?!"
Nangong Yeong continued calmly amid the accusations.
"An envoy claiming to be a Demonic Cult elder delivered a message."
"An envoy?"
"Yes. 'Fulfill our demands if you want the juniors back,' they said."
"Hah!"
It was utterly unbelievable.
This was the Nangong estate—how could a Demonic Cult elder lead demons here to kidnap dozens of disciples?
"Something's off, isn't it? Pulling this off would require at least a division's worth of forces."
"Exactly. For that many demons to move without the Beggars' Sect or Haomen noticing..."
The initially panicked sect leaders began spotting holes in Nangong Yeong's story one by one.
Juniors or not, they had all trained formidable martial arts.
Especially the Nine Great Sects' juniors—many were masters in their own right.
To take so many such experts hostage at once? Impossible without years of preparation.
"Amitabha. What does the Demonic Cult want?"
Even so, Gongyo treated the invasion as fact and questioned Nangong Yeong.
As Shaolin Abbot and Murim Alliance Leader, when he stepped forward, the others had no choice but to hold their tongues.
Nangong Yeong swept his gaze over the sect leaders before speaking heavily.
"To save the juniors, hand over each sect and family's secret manuals."
"Amitabha..."
"What?!"
"Ridiculous!"
Chaos erupted anew.
A sect's secret manual was tied directly to its survival.
If its weaknesses were exposed and countermeasures spread, could that sect endure in the Murim?
"Nangong Family Head! Is that really what you said? Where are those bastards? Let's go end this now."
"Amitabha. Does the sect leader value those manuals over your disciples' lives?"
"Pardon? W-What do you mean?"
Gongyo quelled the sect leaders' rising fervor and began conversing with Nangong Yeong.
What manuals they wanted, the deadline, how the juniors would be released, and so on.
The grand hall grew silent, filled only with the pair's gentle voices, like a lullaby.
"Hm..."
Yet to Buso-yong, watching quietly, it felt like a perfectly scripted play.
Why were those two alone so unperturbed?
Buso-yong whispered lowly to Muheo.
"Where's the Jin family head?"
"Huh? Who?"
Muheo, who had been dozing with his arm linked in hers, blinked like a fool.
Buso-yong scowled, sharpening her voice.
"The Jin family head. Something feels off about this situation."
"Oh, yeah. He must've gone to rescue Hayeon."
"Mm..."
Buso-yong eyed Nangong Yeong with a meaningful gaze.
If he was scheming something, he wouldn't invoke the Demonic Cult without reason.
Jin Muhon was a Demonic Cult alum, after all.
The Sword Demon...
That didn't make Jin Muhon suspicious now.
On the contrary, Buso-yong suspected Nangong Yeong's plot had already been thwarted by him.
They might've been rescued already.
Inconceivable for a demonic path walker, yet the Sword Demon had already surpassed his old realm. No matter how she racked her brain, she couldn't picture the likes of Nangong Yeong troubling him.
"Amitabha. I see. Then one by one would be fine?"
"Let's negotiate with that for now."
Soon, the hall echoed only with Gongyo and Nangong Yeong's exchange.
The sect leaders and family heads watched in heavy silence.
"Amitabha. Understood."
The conversation concluded at last.
Gongyo raised his eyes, scanning the room.
"You've all heard. The situation is graver than thought. But saving the juniors comes first, doesn't it? I suggest handing over each sect's manuals for now, then retrieving them later."
"Abbot, are you certain?"
Jegal Gak, head of the Jegal family—who had maintained composure throughout—spoke gravely.
"Hm? Certain of what?"
Gongyo narrowed his eyes at Jegal Gak.
As the Murim Alliance's strategist, he wasn't one Gongyo could dismiss lightly.
"If the Nangong Family Head speaks true, the Demonic Cult wouldn't attempt this without countermeasures. They'll have a way to transport the manuals to the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. Abbot, do you truly believe we can recover every single one without exception?"
"Amitabha. Where there's a will, there's a way."
Gongyo twirled his beads leisurely, as if it were no issue.
Jegal Gak nodded.
"I see. Then are you convinced the Nangong Family Head's words are true?"
"Hm? Why would he lie?"
"Why not? If he absconds with our manuals, the Nangong family could lord over all families and the Nine Great Sects. Isn't that right, Nangong Family Head?"
Jegal Gak's eyes gleamed as he turned to Nangong Yeong.
Among the Nine Great Sects, Shaolin and Wudang were prickly with each other.
Among the Five Great Families, Nangong and Jegal were much the same.
Nangong Yeong chuckled softly.
"One of the captives is your family's young master, isn't he? Well, you have many heirs, so losing one means simply naming another. But my first and second sons both fell into their hands. Why would I sacrifice my only two sons for this?"
"Who knows? We have no way to confirm if they're really captured."
"Good grief. You're impossible."
"Basing this on no evidence is just like you, Nangong Family Head."
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Gongyo slammed the podium.
"Enough!"
Nangong Yeong and Jegal Gak shut their mouths, turning to Gongyo.
All eyes from the sect leaders and family heads turned to him as well.
"Time is of the essence! Have you no shame as elders?!"
"......"
"......"
Nangong Yeong nodded faintly.
Jegal Gak, meanwhile, watched Gongyo with gleaming eyes.
Gongyo struck the podium again in irritation, lending force to his voice.
"As Alliance Leader, I command: If you trust the Nangong Family Head, hand over your highest secret manuals first. Shaolin shall do the same. If not, leave this hall now and find your own way to save your juniors."
"......"
"......"
The sect leaders clamped their mouths shut without retort.
Nangong Yeong watched them, lips faintly curled.
They could bicker all they wanted now, but with Gongyo stepping in, no one would act alone. Righteous folk always moved in packs, for all their bluster.
Then.
Creeeak.
The door opened, and something whooshed inside.