Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Murim Alliance
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Murim Alliance.
A massive organization formed by the orthodox sects, centered around the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families, wielding influence across vast regions of the Central Plains.
Excluding distant areas under the sway of the Demonic Cult, unorthodox factions, and imperial forces, it effectively dominated most of the Central Plains...
'Why the hell are they summoning me there?!'
Yet they were calling me to such a place.
It was impossible not to panic.
'What did I do?! Have I messed up somehow?!'
How could anyone think they were being summoned for a good reason when dragged off out of the blue like this?
Unless they were ridiculously optimistic, someone like me couldn't help but feel uneasy in every way.
'Think, think—what have I done lately? Did I screw anything up? Gotta figure it out fast...'
I racked my brain at top speed, leaving the man in front of me standing there.
"Um... do you happen to know why I've been summoned...?"
I was hoping for any clue, but
"I'm afraid I don't know the details..."
The man before me seemed to know nothing beyond his orders.
Sweating bullets inside, I pondered my options, but
"...Fine. If they've called for me, I suppose I have to go..."
I decided to go along quietly.
Resisting wouldn't stop them from taking me anyway, and getting smacked for putting up a fuss would only make things worse.
Besides, there was that lingering thought: No way the Murim Alliance would drag a lowly fortune teller like me in just to kill me, right?
This wasn't the Demonic Cult; I trusted they wouldn't pull something like that right in the middle of Shaanxi.
...I wanted to believe that.
-Step, step.
'The Murim Alliance, huh...'
It had been quite a while since my last visit.
Aside from searching for "Dan Yuseong" after that business with So-yeon, I rarely ventured out anyway.
I was just a warrior who had mastered Mount Hua's swordsmanship—not the sect leader—so they had no reason to summon me.
Even if they did, unless it was urgent or unavoidable, I would've refused.
The current Alliance Leader, along with the heads of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families, were all from a different generation than me.
An old monster like me who refused to die showing up too often would make them uncomfortable, so I generally avoided public appearances.
To reiterate, I wasn't the Mount Hua Sect Leader.
So I'd wanted to decline this summons too, but...
'Yeo So-cheon...'
A call from an old comrade I hadn't seen in twenty years—whom I'd only just reunited with recently—was hard to ignore.
I had plenty of questions for her myself.
Why she'd sought out him and me that day, how she'd overpowered me, and what happened between them while I was out cold.
Especially since he'd been so restless afterward—his claim that nothing happened rang false.
I hadn't pressed him, but Yeo So-cheon was different.
We'd never been close and clashed often, so even as old comrades, there was no reason she couldn't swing her sword. We'd settled our friction with spars plenty of times before.
Of course, she'd try talking it out first if possible.
-Creak.
The door swung open, revealing Yeo So-cheon perched on the table as if she'd been waiting.
"Long time no see, Sword Empress. Did you sell off that courtesy of making your presence known before entering?"
"You sensed it with your qi perception anyway. I didn't bother hiding it, so you knew exactly where I was. Was that really necessary?"
"Knowing and showing you know are two different things, don't you think?"
"I don't particularly feel like showing courtesy to you."
"Oh, what a coincidence. Same here."
It was the kind of bickering even Taoists might blush at, but only possible because we were comrades who'd once fought back-to-back.
I didn't talk to others like this normally.
If anything, she was the one with the rougher tongue.
"Is this a side effect of getting old then young again? Your body's youthful, but your speech is still granny-like. I mentioned it back then too, and you're still the same—do you even realize you've aged yourself?"
"...Didn't you pull off a rejuvenation too?"
"Ha, like I told you before, I didn't age then de-age—I was never old to begin with. From back then until now, I've looked exactly like this. Don't lump me in with you."
I scowled, scanning Yeo So-cheon on the table from head to toe.
Her appearance was even younger than a twenty-something.
Certain parts were disproportionately developed for her apparent age, but overall, she looked so youthful it was hard to adjust.
"So that habit of sitting on tables instead of chairs is still going strong. Guess it barely evens out your eye level with others."
-Crack.
This time, Yeo So-cheon scowled.
"Hmph. You think I'd have this habit just because of that? I just find it more comfortable up here."
"Then why not hop down? I can check if you've grown a bit in the meantime."
"Urk..."
As I'd said, her youthful look came with a height that—even charitably—wasn't tall or average.
She'd always been sensitive about it since way back.
I didn't want to poke at someone's sore spot, but she'd started the provoking.
And I hadn't been so old before my rejuvenation that I'd gotten those jabs myself.
"No need to be embarrassed. We're both ageless, aren't we? Even after twenty years, it's possible you haven't grown a whit."
"I—I have grown! Not that you'd notice or anything! I've grown properly!"
"Ho ho... then I definitely need to check."
"Eek..."
I narrowed my eyes at her, and she slyly averted hers.
"If you really hate standing, I could just scan your body with my qi perception?"
"N-No way!"
"If you hate that too, then what do you want?"
"F-For starters, why are you so obsessed with my height?! Have you ever helped me grow even an inch in twenty years?!"
A little prodding, and she blew up on her own.
Her personality had always been like that—prime teasing material for the others.
In the grueling day-to-day of the battlefield, a comrade you could rib like that was precious.
"Alright, enough of that. Let's get to the point."
"A-After teasing me to your heart's content?!"
"Want more?"
"...No."
Even after all this time, Yeo So-cheon was still Yeo So-cheon.
She'd occasionally show a mystical side, but at her core, she was easily embarrassed, shattering the aura quickly.
Anyway, down to business.
"Why summon me all the way here? If you just wanted to talk, you didn't need to drag me to this place."
I had many questions, but this was the most pressing right now.
Why bring me here of all places?
A spot neither of us had reason to visit.
"Oh, it's not like I had business with you specifically. The main matter's elsewhere—you're just needed for that. My business isn't with the Sword Empress herself."
"Hm?"
She outright treated me like an afterthought, but it had been so long since I'd heard it that it didn't even bother me.
Her next words, though, left me stunned.
"I summoned that fortune teller who saved your life. Turns out he's pretty famous—the Faceless Golden Ghost, right?"
"W-Wait a second."
"Gotta give thanks, don't you? He saved the life of an orthodox hero, the Sword Empress, after all."
Calling him to the Murim Alliance was shocking enough, but what she'd said before that was even more bewildering.
He saved my life.
It was the reason he'd given me—to use my name without discomfort—but I'd never told anyone else.
Only he and I knew... so how could Yeo So-cheon...
"...Ah."
Her blue hair caught my eye.
Right—I'd forgotten. She could see and hear things even when absent.
She must've used that to find out.
'Damn it.'
Her playful expression made it clear this wasn't benevolent.
I still didn't know exactly what happened that day, but her malice toward him was obvious from the situation.
The man I knew hated excessive attention, and being summoned to the Murim Alliance was a floodlight of it.
He wouldn't just show up and leave—he'd have to meet and talk with someone at least.
"...Who did you call?"
Anyone else, maybe not—but in her position, if she wanted, she could summon the heads of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families. With a decent pretext, of course.
And her answer was
"I wanted to call everyone, but rounding them up on short notice has limits. Got about seven."
"..."
"Oh, the Alliance Leader goes without saying. He listens so obediently—must've drilled successor training into him before stepping down. Was worried he might not recognize me."
-Thud.
She said something that made me slap my forehead.