Shadows of the Spear and Flame
Gong Ya-cheong, the branch leader who had arrived at the village at the request of his superiors, furrowed his brow.
The villagers had gathered the bodies in one place before his team arrived.
They'd had no choice if they wanted to maintain even a semblance of normal life, but with the scene so thoroughly disturbed, any hope of piecing together the full story was gone.
With no other option, Gong Ya-cheong instructed his subordinates to dispose of the corpses while extracting whatever information they could.
"Could you tell me more about what happened that day?"
Gong Ya-cheong asked the owner of the inn where the incident had unfolded.
The innkeeper hesitated, glancing nervously at Gong Ya-cheong's face.
"Don't worry—just speak freely. I need to understand the events to report them upward."
Gong Ya-cheong gently reassured the wary man.
"That young hero bears no blame."
"Young hero? You mean the one who killed these men?"
The innkeeper let out a deep sigh and nodded at Gong Ya-cheong's question.
"He was a guest who came to stay at our inn that day."
With that, the innkeeper spilled everything about the events.
Even if they were third-rate black path gangsters from unorthodox factions, for one man to handle so many alone...
Gong Ya-cheong's curiosity burned about the identity of this "young hero" the innkeeper described.
He had no intention of tracking the man down to punish him.
The Murim Alliance was well aware of the underhanded atrocities these black path gangs committed in secret and had been biding their time for an opportunity.
Gong Ya-cheong's interest in Woo-gang was purely the curiosity of one martial artist for another.
That was when it happened.
"Bind them all!"
Voices of branch warriors rang out from outside.
"Excuse me."
Gong Ya-cheong rose hurriedly from his seat and stepped out of the inn.
His branch warriors had surrounded a group of men.
The encircled men showed no will to fight, raising their hands above their heads and dropping to their knees.
As Gong Ya-cheong approached, the warriors parted to let him through.
"Who are you?"
"W-We’re from Daewoongbang. We came to... dispose of the bodies..."
"Daewoongbang thugs, eh?"
"Yes, that's right."
The Daewoongbang men answered meekly.
Gong Ya-cheong narrowed his eyes and stared at them for a moment before speaking again.
"You weren't planning to use 'body disposal' as an excuse to wreak havoc on the village, were you?"
"N-No, absolutely not!"
The Daewoongbang men jumped in alarm at the accusation.
Sensing something off in their expressions and reactions, Gong Ya-cheong pressed further.
"What's happened at Daewoongbang?"
"Well..."
One of the Daewoongbang men confessed that Woo-gang had come to their stronghold alone.
Gong Ya-cheong's face hardened as he listened.
What on earth was he thinking, going to Daewoongbang by himself?
"Split into three teams. One takes these men back to the branch. Another cleans up the bodies and follows. My team and I head straight to Daewoongbang. Move!"
"Yes, sir!"
At Gong Ya-cheong's command, the branch warriors sprang into disciplined action.
With a grim expression, Gong Ya-cheong led his men toward Daewoongbang in all haste.
Gong Ya-cheong scowled again.
Villagers bustled about, hauling water to douse the flames, and the inferno that had engulfed the entire Daewoongbang stronghold was finally losing its fury.
Are we too late?
They'd rushed as fast as they could, but the situation had already resolved itself.
The burning Daewoongbang made the outcome plain for anyone to see.
"Help the villagers put out the fire. Find any trace, however small, related to the intruder's identity."
"Understood!"
The branch warriors joined the villagers in battling the blaze.
Before long, only faint wisps of smoke rose into the sky—the flames were fully extinguished.
Gong Ya-cheong ventured into the still-scorching Daewoongbang.
The branch warriors shooed away the curious villagers and began their search.
With everything charred and in disarray, clues would be hard to find, but the warriors scoured every inch with eyes wide open, missing nothing.
Gong Ya-cheong approached the charred corpse of Hwang Dae-ung.
A foul stench assaulted his nostrils, but he examined the body without so much as a grimace.
No sword marks. That shoulder wound—piercing injury?
The skin had melted, obscuring details, but the wound on Hwang Dae-ung's shoulder was clearly from something sharp stabbing through.
Yet it wasn't a sword.
Too large for an arrow.
Gong Ya-cheong's gaze shifted to a nearby wall.
Something had been deeply embedded there.
"A spear?"
By the mark, it could only have been a spear.
Then, a sudden thought struck him, and he slowly scanned the surroundings.
"Spear... and fire."
Muttering as if entranced, Gong Ya-cheong's face stiffened.
Spear and fire.
One name immediately came to mind.
"No way, the Flame King? Impossible."
The innkeeper had called the killer of the Daewoongbang thugs a "young hero."
That implied youth.
No one would call the Flame King a young hero.
Unless he'd vanished not due to disappearance but voluntary seclusion, and in that time achieved the legendary reversal of aging through enlightenment—but that was absurd.
Did he have a disciple? I've never heard such rumors.
Gong Ya-cheong frowned.
He didn't know the culprit yet, but his instincts kept pointing to the Flame King.
Just then.
"Branch leader. Word from some villagers: a man asking about the Flame King's sect. He carried a spear too."
A subordinate approached with the report.
Gong Ya-cheong's suspicions hardened into conviction.
"Miss nothing, no matter how trivial! This could connect to our missing senior, the Flame King."
"Yes, sir!"
The branch warriors responded loudly and redoubled their search.
Leaving them behind, Gong Ya-cheong stepped out of Daewoongbang to gather more information.
What he learned was limited.
Just confirmation of a young man wielding a spear.
He knew the intruder had left the village, but not where to.
It was all speculation verified, nothing more.
The search of Daewoongbang yielded little too.
The fire had destroyed or damaged most traces.
Back at the branch, after much deliberation, Gong Ya-cheong drafted his report to the Murim Alliance headquarters.
Daewoongbang Incident Report.
Daewoongbang leader Hwang Dae-ung: deceased.
Daewoongbang compound: completely destroyed by fire.
Most Daewoongbang members killed or gravely wounded; all by a single individual.
Weapon: spear. Arson suggests possible link to Flame King. Confirmed reports of someone inquiring about Flame King's sect. Further investigation needed to confirm same perpetrator.
Currently tracking the lone warrior who challenged Daewoongbang.
...excerpted...
If the perpetrator is indeed the Flame King's disciple, headquarters must intervene.
There wasn't much to report, given how little they'd uncovered.
But it was enough to prompt specific directives from above.
All Gong Ya-cheong could do now was wait.
A colossal fortress dwarfed even the majestic Bing Palace.
Towering walls enclosed massive structures that left onlookers awestruck.
This was the Murim Alliance headquarters.
A place of immense prestige, entry into which every martial artist in the jianghu dreamed.
Hundreds, even thousands of reports and letters arrived here daily.
The Cheopun Dan, which handled intelligence gathering, espionage, and agent management, reviewed and sorted them.
Some escalated quickly based on priority; others were handled at the Cheopun Dan level.
And today.
Among the flood of documents reaching the Murim Alliance was Gong Ya-cheong's report.
The envelope bore the words "Urgent Dispatch."
The Cheopun Danju didn't even glance inside before hurrying off with it.
To one of the grand buildings at the alliance's heart.
Clutching the report, the Cheopun Danju entered.
He climbed endless stairs to a door firmly shut.
"Cheopun Danju here. May I enter?"
"Come in."
A curt reply from within. The Cheopun Danju opened the door cautiously and stepped inside.
A large window dominated the far wall.
Sunlight flooded the room, illuminating a figure gazing out.
This was Sa Ma-gang, the Murim Alliance's literary leader and true power broker.
Even with only his back visible, an overwhelming aura radiated from him, impossible to approach lightly.
"An urgent dispatch from Branch Leader Gong Ya-cheong."
"Urgent?"
"Yes."
The Cheopun Danju handed over the report with a brief reply and stepped back to wait.
Sa Ma-gang took it, slowly tore open the envelope, and unfolded the contents.
His eyes snagged on one word midway through the short document.
"The Flame King, eh..."
As the name slipped from Sa Ma-gang's lips, the waiting Cheopun Danju glanced curiously at the report.
"Did the Flame King have a disciple?"
"Not as far as we know."
"True. He wouldn't advertise raising one. Still, check just in case."
"Understood."
Sa Ma-gang handed back the report, and only then did the Cheopun Danju read it.
"What are your orders?"
"If Gong Ya-cheong suspects as much, he has reason. Map every route from the Flame King's last known location to Daewoongbang."
"Yes. I'll contact the branches and mobilize personnel."
The Cheopun Danju bowed.
"One moment."
"Another command?"
"Since we're at it, let's turn this to our advantage. Examine ties among black path gangs centered on Daewoongbang. Track the man and weave a web to draw them in. We'll observe, confirm if he's the Flame King's disciple. We move after."
"As you command."
"Also, leak a rumor to the Sword King's side. If he's interested, he'll stir—and come to us. That sedentary lord needs some exercise."
"Understood. Anything else?"
"Proceed as discussed."
"Yes. Excuse me."
The Cheopun Danju bowed and exited with the report.
Sa Ma-gang turned back to the window.
"The Flame King's disciple... If he truly is, we'd best bring him under our wing early this time."
Sa Ma-gang murmured softly.
His mind already buzzed with schemes assembling like puzzle pieces.