The Road to the Alliance
Route 66. We were still on the road to the Murim Alliance in Henan. In terms of distance, it was a week and a half; in terms of days, the end of our long nine-day journey was finally in sight. I had originally budgeted over two weeks, expecting all sorts of trouble along the way, but we had made much better time than anticipated. However, because we arrived so early, a minor issue—or rather, a non-issue—had cropped up.
"Shouldn't we have run into some bandits by now, challenged their boss to a duel, won... you know, stuff like that?"
Perhaps bored of talking inside the carriage for nine straight days, Seonwoo Seol let slip a rather bloodthirsty remark. When I first met her, she had seemed cold, cynical, and aloof. These days, though, she felt more like a typical college freshman—setting aside the fact that she was breathtakingly beautiful. Of course, seeing how she had crushed the skull of the Poison-horned Water Snake in a single blow left no doubt that she was indeed the Little Heavenly Demon, but she had definitely become much more lively and cute...
"..."
Geez, look at me, letting my mind wander. Shaking off my thoughts, I watched the coachman shudder at Seonwoo Seol's bizarre expectations.
"Aigoo, young lady! Please don't say such terrifying things. If we run into bandits, I'll be the very first one they do away with!"
"Ah, I didn't mean it like that..."
As Seonwoo Seol offered a sheepish apology and chatted softly with the coachman, the carriage began to slow. We were climbing a mountain ridge. It was quite impressive that a proper highway had been paved along such a steep ridge. Just as I was marveling at the scenery—
"Whoa, easy there." The coachman pulled back on the reins, bringing the horses to a halt.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I was planning to take the newly opened highway, but there's some kind of barricade blocking the middle of the road."
"A barricade?"
Poking my head out the window, I saw a sturdy barricade made of interlocking logs standing squarely in our path. I could also sense faint presences radiating from all directions. It felt as though martial artists were hiding in the thickets, holding their breath and watching our carriage. However, given the lack of bloodlust or fighting spirit, they seemed to be merely observing us.
"Judging by the messy nature of their energy, they really might be bandits."
"What? R-real bandits?" Seonwoo Seol blinked in surprise at my words, while Gongson Yeongji and Man Hanseok, sitting beside her, shot her resentful glares.
"You just had to jinx us..." Man Hanseok muttered.
"Disappointed..." Even Gongson Yeongji, whom Seonwoo Seol had trusted, looked at her with disappointment. Seonwoo Seol protested indignantly.
"I'm not a fortune teller! I only said it because I was bored. Why are you all blaming me?"
"Well, they do say words have power," Man Hanseok replied.
"That's completely different!"
You're grasping at straws here, Seonwoo Seol. She argued passionately, but of course, no one was buying it.
"Keep your voices down for now. I'll go handle this."
"Are you going to slaughter them?" At her incredibly casual question about whether I was going to massacre them, I immediately pinched her cheeks.
"Wh-why are you doing thith?!"
"Leave this young lady's body at once, you bloodthirsty demon!"
"I-it was a joke! Just a joke!"
Even if she was joking, it seemed that in Seonwoo Seol's mind, bandits were nothing more than target practice. Moments like this reminded me that she truly was the Little Heavenly Demon. At any rate, since my senses didn't detect any hostile intent, I decided to try talking to them first.
"I know you're watching us from the bushes. Come on out!" I called out in a loud voice as soon as I stepped down from the carriage.
Rustle, rustle. Sure enough, several hulking men, only slightly smaller than Man Hanseok, emerged from the foliage. Though their attire varied, the dominant green and yellow colors made it clear they belonged to the Green Forest. Among them, a massive man who appeared to be the leader stepped forward with a hearty laugh.
"Your senses are quite sharp."
He was surprisingly skilled for a bandit. With martial arts of his caliber, he was likely the head of a local branch.
"Did you put up this barricade?" I asked.
"We did," the leader replied, crossing his arms to show off his massive chest muscles.
"This highway was carved out by the bandits of the Ilmi Chae, a branch of the Seventy-Two Fortresses of the Green Forest. If you want to pass, pay the toll."
"Pardon?"
Huh? I had expected the cliché "Hand over everything you've got!" but this was completely unexpected.
"You carved it out yourselves? This highway?"
"That's right."
"And because you built it, you're charging a toll?"
"Exactly."
This was literally a tollgate. Granted, there was no automated pass system, and instead of a friendly toll collector greeting us with a smile, we had hairy, muscular men of the Central Plains. Still, to think a toll road existed in the Murim. I had plenty of questions, but first, I needed to ask how much it cost. If we didn't pay, the bandits of the Ilmi Chae might swarm us and demand thirty times the original amount in damages. I addressed the leader directly.
"How much?"
"Five people, so half a tael of silver!"
The leader's booming, cheerful reply left me a bit dazed, but I nodded. Half a tael of silver was equivalent to a thousand copper coins, which meant about two hundred coins per person. That wasn't much different from what a standard toll would be.
"Hanseok, get half a tael of silver."
I had no desire to fight these Green Forest bandits, who had likely spent days hauling rocks and flattening the dirt to build this road. Besides, I had a pretty good idea why the Green Forest, the most notorious bandit syndicate in the Central Plains, was suddenly in the road maintenance business. When Man Hanseok handed me the silver, I passed it directly to the leader and asked a question.
"Is it because we're close to the Murim Alliance and Mount Song?"
"You mean the road maintenance? Spot on," the leader readily agreed, launching into an explanation. Over the past few years, public safety across the Central Plains had deteriorated rapidly. This had put the Green Forest, who traditionally survived on extortion, in a tight spot. Blocking perfectly good public roads to demand tolls had drawn the ire of both commoners and the righteous sects, who frequently beat them half to death for it. So, they had devised a clever workaround: carve out entirely new highways themselves and charge a fee to recoup their labor costs. Naturally, escort agencies, merchants, and even the local officials—who were spared the trouble of roadwork—were thrilled. For a small fee, they could speed along a beautifully paved road. I nodded as I listened, then asked another question.
"Is the business profitable?"
"As long as we get three meals of meat and alcohol a day, we're happy. It's much less dangerous than raiding, so these days, plenty of fellas are lining up to join the Green Forest."
Good meals and plenty of booze. What was this, a legitimate construction firm? It was a bizarre feeling to watch the Green Forest, once reviled as unorthodox villains, adapt to the changing times by launching a thriving infrastructure business. I guess there really was always a way to survive. At any rate, after receiving a polite thank-you from the bandits for paying the toll, we set off again as soon as the barricade was cleared. Watching the bandits of the Ilmi Chae wave us goodbye, Seonwoo Seol rested her chin on her hand and spoke.
"I guess the Murim Alliance really is terrifying. Even the mighty Green Forest, with branches all over the Central Plains, has to resort to honest labor to make a living."
"Especially since the Alliance headquarters is right next door. Bandits wouldn't dare run rampant here."
The Murim Alliance wasn't like the UN, wagging its finger and saying, "Now, now, you shouldn't do that." It was a military coalition that received combat forces from various sects and clans. Looking at it that way, the current Murim was certainly peculiar. It was quite different from the world I had imagined during my four years in the cave. The romanticized bandits Seonwoo Seol had talked about had turned into the Central Plains Expressway Corporation, while the righteous factions, who were supposed to uphold justice and chivalry, were degenerating into petty hypocrites who hurled insults at innocent bystanders. Meanwhile, the Demonic Cult, once the ultimate villains of the Central Plains, was actually helping me out. What was this? A bizarro world where the orthodox and unorthodox had swapped places? As I was pondering this, Man Hanseok spoke to the coachman.
"Mister, aren't we almost at the Murim Alliance?"
"Yes, young master. Thanks to the fine road those Green Forest fellas paved, we'll be there in no time."
Addressed as "young master," Man Hanseok gazed into the distance with an intrigued expression. Beyond the mountain ridge, a massive city sprawled alongside a wide, muddy river. One landmark in particular caught our attention. Though it looked as small as a bean from this distance, an incredibly tall pavilion towered over the cityscape. It was a grand ten-story structure, undoubtedly Imcheondang, the symbolic heart of the Murim Alliance. Seeing Imcheondang meant the Alliance was right before our eyes. Finally, after nine days, our journey was coming to an end. The others seemed equally excited, their faces bright with anticipation.
"The end of martial arts is known only to the heavens, so cultivate without ceasing."
"What are you blabbering about all of a sudden?" I asked.
"Chef Yoon, you don't know this famous quote? It's what the Alliance Leader said when Imcheondang was first built."
"I don't know anything about it other than the fact that it's ridiculously tall."
"You really don't care about anything outside of cooking and medicine, do you?"
"I may not know much, but I certainly don't want to be lectured about a lack of interest by a guy who looks like a bear."
To think I'd be told to show some interest by the most bear-like guy here. I was dying of embarrassment. Shortly after, we got off at an inn located in the outskirts, a slight distance from the Murim Alliance. The reason, of course, was Seonwoo Seol's disguise techniques. It seemed she planned to change her face in a completely different way this time, rather than going for the dark-skinned maid look. While she could have applied the disguise inside the Alliance, that was far too risky. If the person who entered looked different from the person who left, she'd be caught in an instant and forced to snort spicy mala soup in the Alliance's dungeons.
"Wait just a moment, okay? And don't cry because you miss me."
"If you make me wait too long, I'll wail so loudly the whole neighborhood will hear, so look forward to that."
"You're crazy, seriously."
Letting out a soft chuckle, Seonwoo Seol slipped into a room and emerged much sooner than I expected. Oh, wait.
"Ooh?"
"Unni, you look completely different...!" Gongson Yeongji gasped.
The real Seonwoo Seol had upturned eyes that gave her a lively, confident look. I wasn't sure if she only showed that expression to me, but that was her vibe. Her disguised face, however, had drooping eyes that made her look incredibly gentle and innocent, as if she couldn't even utter a harsh word. Her nose was slightly blunter, and her lips were touched with a plain, muted rouge, making her look like a modest martial artist who cared little for cosmetics. Yet, her underlying beauty remained. People often referred to a woman who scored a solid seven out of ten as a "seven," and her current appearance fit that description perfectly.
"I think you'll be very popular with the guys," I remarked.
"What? I deliberately went for a plain look, though?"
"If your original face was a flower blooming on a cliffside, now you look like a wildflower in a meadow."
"Flattery will get you nowhere, you know," she huffed.
Yet, she couldn't hide her grin, giggling softly. Uh, actually, that wasn't meant as flattery; I was genuinely worried.
"Did you change your voice too?"
"I lowered it to a slightly deeper register. How is it?"
The tone suited her new face perfectly. She sounded like a young lady who spent all her days in secluded cultivation. After showering her with compliments, we stepped out of the inn and began walking toward the Murim Alliance. Just then—
Fwip! Hearing a whistle from somewhere, I turned around. A group of arrogant-looking punks was staring intently at Seonwoo Seol, smirking.
"Which family's young lady might you be, traveling with two bodyguards and a little maid?"
"Judging by the ornaments on your sword, you must come from a wealthy household."
"If you have some free time, how about we grab a cup of tea at a teahouse?"
I seriously wished someone would open a pickup artist academy in the Central Plains. Where on earth did they dig up such outdated, cringeworthy pickup lines? If they were at least handsome, she might have giggled and played along. Seonwoo Seol's light armor was made of high-quality silk, so she did look like someone of high status. That was probably why they mistook Man Hanseok and me for her bodyguards, and Gongson Yeongji for her maid... Seonwoo Seol glanced at the three men, then kept walking, her voice completely indifferent.
"Not interested."
"Come on, miss, you can at least tell us your name."
"Why would you need to know?"
"Then how about your sect?"
"I'm not telling you."
As Seonwoo Seol continued to brush them off, a vein throbbed on the forehead of the dumbest-looking one among the three. Oh, looks like he's pissed.
"Ha, I wasn't going to bring this up, but..."
Was he from one of the Nine Great Sects and One Union? Or maybe a lay disciple or registered disciple? As I watched him with genuine curiosity, the guy boasted proudly.
"I am Jeon Jeung, the eldest son of the leader of the Ilhae Sect, a prestigious clan among prestigious clans!"
"Huh?"
The Ilhae Sect? What kind of sect was that? Having never heard of it in my life, I looked between Seonwoo Seol and Man Hanseok, but both of them merely shrugged. Gongson Yeongji also shook her head, which meant...
"I've never heard of it," Seonwoo Seol said.
"You don't know the Ilhae Sect, which produced the Blue Night Swordsman, Song Ho, one of the battle unit leaders of the Murim Alliance?!"
Jeon Jeung stared at us in disbelief at Seonwoo Seol's response. Just as the Demonic Cult called their combat unit leaders "squadron leaders," the Alliance seemed to call them "unit leaders." But how on earth were we supposed to know the name and title of every single unit leader? When we showed genuine ignorance, Jeon Jeung began to tremble with rage and pointed a finger at Seonwoo Seol.
"I see! You're not ignorant of the Ilhae Sect, you're just pretending not to know!"
"We seriously don't know."
"Don't lie to me!"
Was it really that hard to accept that his sect was completely obscure? Throwing a childish tantrum, Jeon Jeung reached out to grab Seonwoo Seol's wrist.
Smack!
"A punk like you has no right to touch her."
I caught Jeon Jeung's wrist instead, my voice dropping to a cold whisper. He glared at me in shock and yelled.
"Wh-what do you think you're doing?! Do you have any idea who I am?!"
"You're Jeon Jeung, the eldest son of the leader of the Ilhae Sect."
"That's not what I meant! Do you think you'll get away with crossing the Ilhae Sect, the home of the Blue Night Swordsman?!"
Get away with it? I pondered his words for a brief moment. Quickly reaching a conclusion, I squeezed his wrist with all my might.
"Argh! Aaaaargh! It hurts! It hurts, you bastard!"
I spoke calmly to Jeon Jeung as he screamed in agony.
"I think I'll be perfectly fine. You, on the other hand, are in deep trouble."
"What are you doing?! Grab this bastard right n—Aaaaargh! Argh!"
At his desperate cry, the two martial artists flanking Jeon Jeung lunged straight at Man Hanseok and me.