Chapter 101
Chapter 101
A man wearing a black heukrip low over his face entered the inn.
With unhurried steps, he went up the stairs and took a seat at a table where the sky—dimmed by heavy clouds—was visible.
“Welcome, sir. What can I—ah! Aren’t you the one who comes by often? Shall I bring you any liquor again today?”
“Yeah.”
“Understood. Please wait a moment.”
After the waiter left, the space was filled by heated chatter coming from a nearby table.
“What? The First Young Master of the Cheonma Divine Cult showed up at the Hangryong Gate? You’re not spouting nonsense?”
“Come on. Say something that makes sense… These days the whole region is on edge with talk about Salmak, so now the Cheonma Divine Cult is getting dragged into it too. Would someone who’s the First Young Master really reveal his status out of nowhere and call for the Hangryong Gate Master?”
“No, I’m telling you it’s true. The rumor’s already spread everywhere in Sichuan and Hubei. Even the Sogaju of the Baekri Clan and the Lord of the Hwangcheon Escort Agency keep saying they saw and heard it with their own eyes and ears, so it can’t be wrong. It’s not like there were just one or two witnesses!”
“Hmm. If it’s true, that’s enough to send chills down your spine. If he went to Hangryong Gate so blatantly, doesn’t that mean he had a purpose?”
“Hah. So the Cheonma Divine Cult is showing itself again? It’s terrifying—like the nightmare of the Jeongma Great War coming back. This is Qinghai, and it borders Xinjiang, and we still haven’t fully recovered the damage….”
“Would it really go as far as war? You’re worrying too much.”
The waiter hurried up and set a porcelain bottle of liquor and two cups down in front of the man.
“Here’s your drink, sir. This is the last bottle we’ve got—an amazing one. The taste is strange, so the name’s strange too. It’s called Jinmyo… Here, I’ll pour you a cup.”
The man, who had been silently watching the clear liquor fill the white cup, asked the waiter in an offhand tone.
“Then after this bottle, I won’t be able to taste it again?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, that’s right.”
“I’m curious why.”
“I heard the brewer and the head of the merchant troupe had a huge falling-out. Something about that side trying to pull a scam and getting caught….”
After the man took a light sip, the waiter, with his back bowed, left. It had been a casual exchange, but the contents were quite secret.
Jinmyo was dead.
Cause of death: suicide.
However, it had not been a suicide carried out by Jinmyo’s own will. The sorcery inscribed by Cheonmu Ryeong had activated.
So he tried to leak confidential information.
It was unexpected.
It seemed the Director of Chwihyangwon had a knack for torture. For someone of Jinmyo’s caliber to raise both hands and feet and try to betray Yeonghwang Yuse—only to lose his life.
He had been a chess piece it felt wasteful to lose like this, but one could also say it was a fate only natural for Jinmyo.
Most of Salmak’s assassins were dead.
The few who survived merely continued living as Cheonmu Ryeong’s puppets, just as Jinmyo had.
By Cheonmu Ryeong’s hand, some had their memories tampered with or lost, and some even had control of their bodies taken away.
All of it had been measures Cheonmu Ryeong chose to handle his chess pieces more easily, but the results did not seem very satisfying.
Those whose memories had been altered became noticeably less useful than before.
In Jinmyo’s case in particular, once Cheonmu Ryeong erased the obsession rooted in the existence called the Thousand-Faced Demon and part of his desire for revenge against Wolgeom Ilsal, his patience and judgment sharply deteriorated, and his value dropped.
If Cheonmu Ryeong had not placed a suicide sorcery on him as a precaution, cleaning up afterward might have become somewhat troublesome.
Just as the man was about to tilt his third cup—
Step.
“…….”
Another figure who had come up the stairs suddenly sat down in the chair across from him.
The young man’s height was two spans shorter than the man in the black heukrip, and for a man he was somewhat slight.
Yet in his pale, nobleman-like face, his eyes shone with keen intelligence, and his thin lips drew a relaxed curve, unadorned and at ease.
With an odd air about him, his black hair loosened long like ebony, the young man pulled the still-empty second cup toward himself and spoke.
“It is my first time meeting you in Qinghai, Pae.”
The man in the black heukrip—Namgung Pae—answered with only his chin visible.
“In the past several years, I have rarely left Anhui Province, and the days I have visited Qinghai can be counted on three fingers. It is an excellent place for traveling.”
“If you need anything, just say so. In Qinghai, Gansu, and Sichuan, my people are already spread everywhere.”
“I will keep it in mind, First Young Master.”
The young man—Choi I-ryang, the first First Young Master of the Cheonma Divine Cult—rested his arms on the table and asked.
“How was my younger brother?”
Recalling Jin Cheong-ak, Namgung Pae cast off the tangle of thoughts and put the briefest, most factual impression into words.
“I had felt it before, but once he was cleaned up and dressed properly, he was an outstandingly handsome man.”
“The Jin family has long had many beauties, regardless of gender.”
As if thinking of his younger brother, Choi I-ryang laughed lightly.
“Right… Did you figure out why he suddenly revealed his status?”
This question, too, was not worth deliberating over.
“I think it was because of Namgung Soyo.”
“If it’s Namgung Soyo, that would be the one Cheong-ak said he got hooked on playing at being a bodyguard for. He said she appeared out of nowhere, and he couldn’t even tell who she really was, didn’t he?”
Namgung Pae nodded lightly.
Choi I-ryang let a smile return to his lips. This time, it was closer to a snort.
“That makes no sense. Cheong-ak—that brat does have quite a hobby of playing with people’s hearts, but even so, he doesn’t have the temperament to put up with the hassle of broadcasting his status to the entire world over a single game. He hates drawing attention.”
“People can change in the time you don’t see them. From how well they seemed to know each other, it felt like they’d been together for quite a while.”
“Then are you saying Cheong-ak actually kept a woman in his heart and chased after her tail?”
Choi I-ryang burst into loud laughter.
It was so hearty it made Namgung Pae think of Jin Cheong-ak, the Cheonma Divine Cult’s First Young Master he had encountered at Hangryong Gate.
They shared no resemblance in appearance, personality, or even blood, yet their laughter was as identical as if drawn from the same mold, and it truly made them seem like brothers.
“Namgung Pae, you too have been thoroughly taken in by my younger brother’s tricks! Cheong-ak isn’t the type to play at love with women. Of course he isn’t! There must be some other scheme….”
Namgung Pae nearly said that woman was no ordinary woman, then closed his mouth.
There was no need to reveal Namgung Soyo’s true identity to Choi I-ryang.
Just because they had joined hands did not mean he could trust him completely. Namgung Pae wanted Choi I-ryang to achieve his aims, but he had no intention of standing by and watching them become masters of a force so powerful no one could touch it.
“It’s unfortunate the raid on the Murim Alliance failed. Was it because of Kwon Ja-seong after all?”
“I have not spoken with the Cheonmunju yet, so I cannot say for sure. But the likelihood is high.”
“To call it a failure… That doesn’t sound like the Cheonmunju. Still, since it became a foundation for the entire Jianghu to accept Salmak’s return, I suppose I should be satisfied to some extent. …How bitter. As expected, alcohol doesn’t suit me.”
Shaking his head, Choi I-ryang set down the cup and let out a long breath to dispel the lingering scent of liquor in his mouth.
As Namgung Pae watched the sky darkening quickly, he poured the last of the liquor and emptied it, then asked.
“Then what did you call me here for?”
Choi I-ryang, who had not even touched the rim of his own cup and only traced its edge with the tip of his index finger, answered in a tone like he was reciting an unremarkable part of his day.
“It is about time to move.”
“…….”
“Yeo Il—no, Namgung Soyo must be dealt with, Pae.”