Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: A Way Out
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As Mok Heon unbound Tak Mu and led him away, the highly charged atmosphere began to ease somewhat.
The disciples of Starpoint Sect returned to their duties, while the prisoners—still bound—were transferred to the holding area.
In that moment, as people's attention scattered ...
Maeng Yeon approached Baek Hyun, who was slowly lifting his head, and whispered.
"You prepared that line in advance, didn't you?"
"Yeah, but I didn't expect it to land that well. That old man's more sentimental than I thought?"
He liked it.
Seeing Baek Hyun nod with a satisfied smile, Maeng Yeon let out a small sigh.
So that's why he suddenly went off-script like that.
He'd clearly been waiting for the right moment to deliver his rehearsed line, seizing the perfect opportunity.
The guy acted normal most of the time, but every now and then, his otaku side peeked through.
Well, in the murim world, that kind of response was effective, so it made sense.
"Saying that stuff so casually in that outfit ... Aren't you embarrassed?"
"Pfft ... It was a bit burdensome, but I had to put on that performance to smooth things over. No choice."
"And your real feelings?"
"It was fucking hilarious. Who'd have thought I'd get to do a protagonist lecturing-the-villain sequence in real life ... Am I actually the protagonist of a shonen manga?
Though, if you write scenes like that wrong, they come off cringy. Since it's my first time, I hope I don't get hate comments for being clumsy."
"Cut the bullshit and fix your robe properly. Your dick's about to pop out."
With that, the two transmigrators hurriedly headed off to change out of their disheveled attire.
Meanwhile, Mok Heon—who had taken Tak Mu away—was conversing with Starpoint Sect's three elders.
They discussed the circumstances, their respective interests, and each other's thoughts.
This included how to handle the relationship between Southern Barbarian Beast Palace and Starpoint Sect.
The conclusion they reached after all that was this.
"Even if apologies have been made and positions understood, we can't just pretend none of this happened."
Gale Wind Sword Mok Jin glared at Tak Mu across from him with a displeased expression and continued.
As a righteous sect daoist, he couldn't bring himself to hurl harsh words at a man begging for his subordinates' lives on bended knee.
Yet Mok Jin, who had clashed directly with Southern Barbarian Beast Palace's warriors more than anyone, found it hard to harbor goodwill toward him.
"No matter the circumstances, continuing relations without safeguards with the very people who threatened us until moments ago ... As the captain of the Sun-Shooting Sword Squad, sworn to protect Starpoint Sect, I absolutely cannot allow it.
For now, detain this man—Tak Mu included among the prisoners—and release them in stages once they prove their sincerity for peace."
This was essentially putting an indefinite leash on Southern Barbarian Beast Palace to control them.
The most hardline response possible while adhering to righteous principles.
Mok Heon showed neither approval nor disapproval and asked Tak Mu.
"What say you to that?"
Tak Mu, who had been holding his tongue as much as possible, finally spoke at Mok Heon's question.
"He's right. Frankly, I don't trust you either. I bowed my head only to save my subordinates' lives—nothing more. I have no intention of begging Starpoint Sect for anything beyond that."
"Seems there's a misunderstanding. We're not a demonic cult or an evil alliance. Even if you hadn't bowed, we wouldn't have taken your lives."
"But if you wished, you could certainly mete out equivalent punishment."
Mok Heon fell silent at Tak Mu's firm words.
Because they weren't entirely wrong.
"Return half of the captured prisoners. That alone will keep their families from starving."
Mok Heon inwardly sighed at this minimal demand, made solely for his tribe's survival, without asking for anything else.
It seemed there were far too many mountains to cross for him and those kids to treat each other without reservation right now—between Starpoint Sect and Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.
"Senior Brother, isn't there a more pressing issue than the prisoners' treatment?"
At that moment, Meteor Sword Mok Seong—who usually spaced out even during important talks—uncharacteristically spoke first.
"I'm more concerned about the mysterious organization that manipulated Southern Barbarian Beast Palace. Didn't we ourselves suffer at the hands of some unknown group not long ago?"
A few years back, unidentified intruders had invaded Starpoint Mountain—practically Starpoint Sect's front yard—slaughtering the monstrous beings living there and stealing their inner cores. An unprecedented incident.
Since it happened right in their backyard, it was firmly etched even in Mok Seong's memory, who normally cared little for anything outside martial arts.
"I believe the group controlling Southern Barbarian Beast Palace is connected to those Starpoint Mountain intruders. But we have far too little information on them. All we know is that the vice palace lord was one of their members ..."
"We'll explain that part."
Just then, Baek Hyun and Maeng Yeon—now changed into fresh robes—opened the hall's doors and arrived.
Though young, they were both heirs to their respective factions and had played pivotal roles in this incident, so they were invited to this meeting that would shape the future.
"Sect Leader, we've straightened our attire and come as summoned."
"Good, glad you're here. But what do you mean by explaining the organization?"
"We don't have much information ourselves, but since we fought the vice palace lord directly, we gleaned some indirect details about the group. We'd like to share that."
Baek Hyun bowed his head slightly, choosing his words carefully for this venue.
Before coming, he and Maeng Yeon had decided to share Parunsa intel with each faction's leadership.
They hadn't shared details on Parunsa before due to potential spies lurking outside.
Thus, they'd only trusted each other to counter Parunsa's schemes.
But the situation had changed.
If there were Parunsa spies within Starpoint Sect, they surely would have acted during this golden opportunity.
The plan had leaked early, but from Starpoint Sect's perspective, it had been a precarious crisis.
In a scenario where one significant traitor inside could collapse everything, it was hard to accept that a Parunsa agent would stay hidden through it all.
Southern Barbarian Beast Palace's situation was similar.
Thus, at this point, it was reasonable to assume no Parunsa lackeys remained in either Starpoint Sect or Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.
"First, that organization's name appears to be the Wheelbreaker Society."
Even so, the info Baek Hyun and Maeng Yeon decided to share with the leadership wasn't extensive.
They didn't have much to begin with, and they'd filtered it further to avoid suspicion.
Just three pieces.
One: The organization name, Wheelbreaker Society.
Two: Basic structure of Great Prince, Crown Prince, and Emperor.
Three: Their ultimate goal, 'the Emperor's ascension'.
Ideally, they'd share more details.
But anything beyond risked raising alarms, so the rest would come naturally later.
"That's everything we learned from them."
The leadership, having heard it all, hardened their expressions gravely and resumed deliberations.
The info was scant.
But it sufficed to pinpoint the vague enemy organization's existence and roughly gauge its scale.
"Southern Barbarian Beast Palace's vice palace lord was a Great Prince, with Crown Prince and Emperor above him ... It might be larger than we thought."
Strategy Pavilion Master Mok Seon stroked his beard with a troubled look and continued.
"Moreover, aiming for ascension where an emperor already sits suggests their power might surpass even the imperial house ..."
"That goal could be a ruse—they might actually be Blood Cult puppets. Aren't they behind most of the dirty deeds in the jianghu?"
"Not impossible. They're fiercely battling the Demonic Cult, so they could seek to seize the outer martial world to bolster forces.
But we can't rule out a third force either. We just lack info."
As Elder Mok Seon said, with only the provided intel, such speculation was the limit.
But it was enough for now.
Recognizing the clear enemy and preparing countermeasures changed everything.
Parunsa's forces would lie low for a while, so Starpoint Sect and Southern Barbarian Beast Palace needed to shift to combat readiness in the interim.
"Whatever it is, that group's no pushover. We should inform the Martial Alliance and have the righteous sects respond as one ..."
"No, we won't tell the Martial Alliance."
Mok Heon—who had pondered deeply after hearing about Parunsa—flatly rejected Mok Jin's proposal.
Mok Seon couldn't hide his fluster at the firm opposition, but Maeng Yeon and Baek Hyun nodded at Mok Heon's wise decision.
"A few years ago, when we reported the unidentified intruders to the Martial Alliance, their response was woefully inadequate."
"! Senior Brother, you don't mean ...!"
"Exactly. There's a high chance Parunsa has infiltrated the Martial Alliance leadership. If a group that size hit Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, other major sects might be compromised too."
The Martial Alliance might be riddled with Parunsa agents.
The elders, seasoned in the jianghu, grimaced at this grim hypothesis.
"Then, the only ones we can reliably trust now are us and Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, who've been through their ordeal. This makes deeper cooperation inevitable ..."
"We can't forge solid ties overnight, though. There'll be backlash from the lay disciples.
So, Senior Brother, let's make it look like minimal exchanges on the surface, while cooperating as needed in practice.
If we maintain smooth collaboration for a few years without incident, we could even consider a formal alliance then."
The anxiety of having no allies shifted Starpoint Sect's stance markedly toward moderation.
Mok Jin frowned at the new approach but, aware of the need for reliable allies in the current crisis, couldn't oppose it.
"Sorry, but we can't do that."
The opposition came unexpectedly—from Tak Mu himself.
"Why not? Didn't you say you wouldn't make big demands? Our terms seem generous enough."
"Southern Barbarian Beast Palace is a coalition of tribes. But this battle inflicted damage severe enough to threaten that union."
One major pillar, Poison Valley, had lost its leader and exhausted all its poisons—practically beyond recovery.
Numerous other warriors had died or been captured, and vast numbers of their reared monstrous beings perished too.
They'd preempted Parunsa's scheme and defended successfully, but Southern Barbarian Beast Palace's losses were immense.
"With our central figure—the palace lord—bedridden due to that Wheelbreaker Society's plot, the already shaky coalition hangs by a thread.
Now, with this massive blow ... The palace's very existence is in peril. It'll stay that way until Yeon grows up. Thus, we can't even manage minimal cooperation with Starpoint Sect."
Only then did they understand Tak Mu's resolute attitude.
Since the palace lord was already half-dead in a vegetative state, Starpoint Sect's response hardly mattered.
What meaning was there in leashing or binding limbs on someone who couldn't move, let alone think properly?
The atmosphere turned solemn in an instant.
"I believe I can resolve that issue."
Baek Hyun spoke up, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"The problem Tak Mu mentioned would mostly resolve if the palace lord just awoke, no?"
"That is true ... but surely you don't mean?"
"Yes, I think it's possible."
Treating the palace lord, right?
Baek Hyun's golden eyes gleamed with luster.