A Storm of Rumors
A storm of rumor swept across the Central Plains murim.
The wave spread so far that even ordinary folk who had never cared for the martial world came to hear of it.
The content of that shocking rumor was this: Cheongryu Geomhyang, Namgung Uncheon, was dead.
It was said that after Yu Gonggae had captured Wolyeonggwangheun Dokjeonhwa and was escorting him to the Beggars’ Union, an unidentified man in a black hat had appeared before them. That man had been the peerless master who had slain the New Moon Assassin. He had tried to take Dokjeonhwa by force, and to stop him, Yu Gonggae and Cheongryu Geomhyang had fought together. In the course of that battle, Cheongryu Geomhyang had lost his life to the black-hatted man, and Yu Gonggae himself had been forced to withdraw.
What had happened after that, no one knew.
A middle-aged man mid-conversation wore a look of genuine regret.
“Good heavens. Cheongryu Geomhyang wasn’t even past twenty yet, was he?”
“Exactly. The Namgung Family has lost a precious young man.”
Another middle-aged man who had been listening nearby waved a hand.
“That’s still uncertain. When people went to check the place, Cheongryu Geomhyang’s body was nowhere to be found.”
“Hmm. If no one carried the corpse away, does that mean he’s alive?”
“There’s no way to know. No one knows what happened after that, I tell you.”
Regret and worry sat together on the faces of the middle-aged men.
“If Cheongryu Geomhyang’s death is confirmed, the Namgung Family won’t stay quiet either. Isn’t his father the Head of the Law Enforcement Hall—Hanpungnaengsim?”
“That’s right. The son of the Law Enforcement Hall’s master isn’t someone you can brush aside lightly.”
“Haa… Things had been quiet for a while. At this rate, some enormous chaos is going to break out.”
“You’re telling me. When the Central Plains murim falls into disorder, the world suffers almost as badly as it does in wartime.”
“Who knows how many innocent people will get hurt this time…”
From the perspective of ordinary people, turmoil in the murim was comparable to war between nations.
Then a man with a thick beard on his chin spoke up.
“Come to think of it—have you heard the rumor that the family heads of the six great houses are holding a conference?”
“I have. They’re supposed to speak frankly about the Baekcheon Blood Sect Incident, which they’ve treated as taboo all this time.”
Just as they said, a conference of the six great families was about to convene. The meeting place was the Zhuge Family of Hubei.
“If all six families gather at once, something is bound to happen, don’t you think?”
“It might…”
Thok.
A man in blue set his cup down on the table. He had heard every word of the conversation from the floor below. Deep furrows gathered between his brows.
The man across from him refilled the cup and said,
“Hyeonwu, my brother—don’t worry yourself too much. Nothing has been confirmed yet.”
“Yes, Family Head. Thank you for your concern.”
Namgung Hyeonwu answered with a detached look in his eyes.
The middle-aged man seated before him was Namgung Cheonwu, Family Head of the Namgung Family. They were on the road to the Zhuge Family in Xiangyang, Hubei, for the conference of the six great houses. Along the way, they had heard the rumor.
It was an incident tied to Wolyeonggwangheun Dokjeonhwa. Yu Gonggae had captured Dokjeonhwa and been escorting him to the Beggars’ Union when the black-hatted man appeared, and Uncheon—who had been traveling with them to offer aid—had stepped forward and been struck down.
Yu Gonggae himself had said that the black-hatted man was the master who had killed the New Moon Assassin.
If the family had not sent Wolyeonggwangheun along in the first place, nothing of the sort would have befallen his son Uncheon—that thought had crossed Hyeonwu’s mind as well. And yet, if the black-hatted man had truly killed him, why had Uncheon’s body vanished?
Namgung Hyeonwu refused to abandon even the faintest hope.
Biryu Hall had investigated the site of the fight, but there had been no corpse discovered anywhere in the surrounding area, nor any sign that one had been buried.
That boy is not fated to die yet. For all I know, he is somewhere living at his ease.
Namgung Hyeonwu did not believe in his son Uncheon’s death. His faith in Uncheon ran deep. He was certain his son was not destined for an early grave.
Namgung Cheonwu continued to offer what comfort he could.
“Biryu Hall is still moving. Word should reach us before long.”
“Please don’t concern yourself. I will see that this conference suffers no interference. There’s a saying that no news is good news, isn’t there? I expect Uncheon will send word when he is able.”
“That’s right. Keep your heart at ease, and good news will come.”
Watching Namgung Hyeonwu answer so calmly, Namgung Cheonwu felt reassured. Here was a man who could truly separate the public from the private.
“Hyeonwu, my brother—who do you think that black-hatted man was? From Yu Gonggae’s account, no faction in the present murim has ever displayed martial arts like his.”
Yu Gonggae was a man of the Beggars’ Union. If even the Beggars’ Union—said to know everything under heaven—knew nothing of him, then no one did.
But Namgung Hyeonwu had his suspicions.
“Family Head, the inner force the black-hatted man unleashed was said to have been red in color. Moreover, that crimson energy was said to have burrowed into the heart. Does nothing come to mind?”
“…”
Namgung Cheonwu’s expression hardened for an instant.
A legend of the murim that had vanished three hundred years ago. Two powers that had climbed to the absolute summit of the Central Plains murim through peerless martial arts. Both men knew of the Twin Palaces of Heaven—Mucheon Palace and Ilwoljaha Palace.
Three centuries past, the Central Plains murim had been unable to withstand the absolute force of the Twin Palaces of Heaven; it had pressed itself flat to the ground and watched those two powers for cues. The great families of the Central Plains and the orthodox and unorthodox great sects had once challenged them, only to be defeated and forced to withdraw. In that age, the Twin Palaces of Heaven had had no rivals save each other.
Then one day, the Twin Palaces of Heaven had vanished from the Central Plains murim as if by a lie—in a single breath, leaving not a trace. No one had known why, and no one had known where they had gone. Over the three hundred years that followed, they had faded little by little from people’s memories.
But the martial artists who still remembered them knew all too well how terrifying the Twin Palaces of Heaven had been.
The Sword Emperor Namgung Cheonwu’s voice trembled faintly.
“Honggihwa… Hyeonwu, my brother—is that what you mean?”
“If it is a death-dealing crimson flower that bores into the heart… then Honggihwa seems right.”
“Honggihwa is a martial art of Mucheon Palace. Are you saying that Mucheon Palace, which vanished three hundred years ago… still exists?”
Fear colored Namgung Cheonwu’s voice. The name Mucheon Palace was a shock even to the Sword Emperor.
“Family Head, nothing is certain. The world is full of similar arts we know nothing of.”
“That may be so. But if it truly is the Honggihwa of Mucheon Palace, should we not prepare ourselves?”
“We should. Still, I don’t believe we need to be overly afraid. Compared with three hundred years ago, our family’s martial arts have advanced dramatically.”
As Namgung Hyeonwu said, over the long years the Namgung Family’s arts had made great strides as well. Namgung Cheonwu looked at him and nodded.
“As always, Hyeonwu, you view the situation with a cool head. I am fortunate to have you at my side.”
“Not at all. I am as fearful and astonished as you are. For now, I think it best that this matter remain known only to us.”
“So be it.”
Namgung Cheonwu let out a long breath and steadied his heart. He had to deal first with the business already upon them.
“Tomorrow we will reach the Zhuge Family. I wonder whether the other houses will join us.”
“They will, of course. To refuse would be to invite suspicion upon themselves.”
“Mm.”
“Family Head—which house do you find suspicious?”
“Father used to say that if any family had found a piece of the Cheonhwangdo Map, there was only one place that would still be hiding it after all this time.”
“I see. I share that thought.”
Namgung Hyeonwu nodded.
“In the end we will know. To obtain what they desire, the Cheonhwangdo Map must come out into the world somehow. Let us keep a careful watch.”
“Understood. I will see that he is watched.”
Rattle-rattle-rattle.
A massive wooden bridge spanning the cliffs began to lower from the far side.
Kuuuung!
The wooden bridge struck the ground with a thunderous roar.
Gong Hwaseon looked at Uncheon, who was still being carried on Chae Eunjang’s back. Uncheon’s eyes were bound with a strip of black cloth.
“Young Master Namgung, we have arrived at the Yaweol Sect.”
“Then I may remove the cloth now?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
Uncheon lowered the cloth from his eyes and took in the far side of the cliffs.
“Bleak, isn’t it. It feels as though we’ve come terribly deep.”
“Heh. I think so as well.”
Gong Hwaseon answered as if she found him amusing. No one had ever spoken of the Yaweol Sect the way Uncheon did.
“Now that we’ve reached the Yaweol Sect, please set me down. I will walk on my own.”
“Will you be all right?”
“A little walking should be fine.”
Chae Eunjang had not looked particularly strained, but Uncheon climbed down from his back and offered his thanks.
“Hall Master Chae, you’ve gone to a great deal of trouble.”
“Not at all. You weren’t very heavy.”
Uncheon tested a step forward. His qi and blood were still unsettled, but he could manage a short distance.
Gong Hwaseon asked, watching him,
“Are you all right?”
Uncheon took three or four more slow steps.
“Walking carefully shouldn’t be a problem.”
“I’m glad. Let’s go inside, then.”
Uncheon began to cross the bridge at her side, walking slowly.
A place where cold qi flows.
Uncheon arrived at the location Gong Hwaseon, Mistress of the Yaweol Sect, had told him of.
The forbidden grounds of the Yaweol Sect.
The frigid energy of the Cheon-eum-su struck his whole body and passed through him. After walking some thirty feet and emerging from the passage, a small space opened before him—a chamber of only a few square yards. In a hollow at its center lay a pool filled with a black liquid.
“So this is the Cheon-eum-su? It doesn’t quite seem like water…”
It was clearly no ordinary pool. Gong Hwaseon had said that after martial training, immersing oneself in the Cheon-eum-su would settle the inner force within the body.
Uncheon stripped completely and stepped into the Cheon-eum-su.
Hmm. A heavy sensation.
A pressure closed in around his entire body. The depth of the Cheon-eum-su reached Uncheon’s waist. Following Gong Hwaseon’s instructions, he sank until the liquid covered him to the neck, then carefully began to circulate his energy.
Srrrrr.
At once the Cheon-eum-su stirred like a living thing, forming gentle ripples that writhed across its surface.
Wooong—
“…!!”
The disordered inner force within him began to absorb the Cheon-eum-su, drawing it along his meridians. He had never expected the Cheon-eum-su to be absorbed into his body. Flowing along his pathways, the Cheon-eum-su then poured into Uncheon’s dantian in a violent rush, like a bursting levee.
Urgh…!!
His whole body swelled for an instant and turned black as the Cheon-eum-su itself. Then the Cheon-eum-su, now turned transparent, burst out of Uncheon’s body as if it would tear him open. At the same time, the internal injuries Mun Gu, Doheolsaja, had inflicted were perfectly restored, and Uncheon’s meridians grew even sturdier.
Shaaaaa—
Fierce heat like flame poured from Uncheon’s entire body, and the Cheon-eum-su began to turn to vapor. The steam that spread in every direction vanished into the empty air.
Uncheon opened his eyes.
“This is a problem…”
And, looking at once at what had happened around him, he was thrown into confusion.
The Cheon-eum-su was completely gone. Standing naked in the empty hollow in the earth, Uncheon had no idea what to do.
Then a presence reached his ear.
“Young Master! What’s going on?”
“Ah—”
“Ah!”
Gong Hwaseon stood before him.
After Uncheon had gone down into the Cheon-eum-su, Gong Hwaseon had waited at the entrance. In her own case, immersing herself and waiting for her inner force to settle took roughly an hour; she had thought he would need about the same. But only half an hour had passed when a powerful vibration of qi suddenly rose from below, where the Cheon-eum-su lay.
Something’s wrong!
In all the times she had entered the Cheon-eum-su, she had never felt a vibration of qi like this. Startled, she seized the handle of the entrance.
Shaaaaaaaa—
In that instant, vapor and wind surged up from the cavern below where the Cheon-eum-su was.
“Young Master! What’s going on?”
Gong Hwaseon unfurled her movement art and flew down as if taking wing—and her eyes met Uncheon’s as he hastily snatched up his clothes.
“Ah!”
She spun around.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. …You may turn back now.”
Uncheon finished putting on his upper garments and faced her as she turned.
“What happened?”
“Well…”
Uncheon stepped aside and pointed to the hollow that had held the Cheon-eum-su.
“I don’t know how it happened myself, but the Cheon-eum-su simply… disappeared.”
“…!!”
Gong Hwaseon approached the empty hollow with a stunned expression. Something that had never once occurred before. Looking flustered, she asked Uncheon,
“What happened in there?”
“I only went in as the Sect Mistress instructed… and then it was suddenly absorbed into my body, and it became like this.”
Gong Hwaseon could scarcely believe it.
“Nothing like this has ever happened. That the Cheon-eum-su was absorbed into Young Master Namgung’s body—it’s hard to accept…”
This was a disaster. The Cheon-eum-su, with its outstanding power to heal inner force, was the Yaweol Sect’s greatest treasure.
Uncheon read her thoughts.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for anything to happen—I simply went in.”
“…”
Gong Hwaseon could form no clear thought for the moment.
“Give me… a moment to gather my thoughts.”
“Ah… yes.”
Uncheon followed her back up with an awkward look on his face.
The highest authority in the Yaweol Sect was its mistress, but Gong Hwaseon was still short on experience, and in every important matter she always sought the counsel of Inbyeok Salgaek, Chae Eunjang. Yet even Chae Eunjang, seated now with Uncheon, found it no easier to believe.
The Cheon-eum-su had truly vanished.
He studied Uncheon’s whole body from across the way.
He absorbed the qi of the Cheon-eum-su? Enough that it all disappeared?
He too could not say exactly what had occurred, but the loss of the Cheon-eum-su was without question a grave event for the Yaweol Sect.
“Young Master Namgung—how is your body?”
“Thanks to it, my inner force has returned to normal.”
“That is fortunate, but… the problem is that the Cheon-eum-su is gone, is it not?”
“Ah… I’m sorry. I truly don’t understand how it happened. I never imagined something like this would occur.”
“Haa… I know you did not do it on purpose. But from our sect’s standpoint, the damage is enormous. Isn’t that so?”
“…”
Uncheon could say nothing more. As the man said, he had, however unintentionally, inflicted real harm on the Yaweol Sect. Yet neither Gong Hwaseon nor Chae Eunjang had any ready remedy either. The Cheon-eum-su was already gone; it could not simply be restored.
“Until now we’ve accepted commissions while healing our inner force with the Cheon-eum-su… From now on, even taking commissions will become a burden.”
“…”
The Yaweol Sect’s true trade was commission work. If they could not take commissions, the very existence of the Yaweol Sect would suffer a blow.
Uncheon scratched his cheek and said,
“Sect Mistress—if there is anything I can do to help, I will do it.”
“Our work is commission work, and at times we do not shrink from murder. What help could there be for you to give?”
“If it isn’t murder, I may well be able to manage it.”
“You mean you’ll take our commissions yourself?”
“I ruined the Cheon-eum-su. If the Yaweol Sect wishes it, I will accept commissions that do not go against the principles of righteousness.”
“…Wait a moment.”
Gong Hwaseon seemed to find the idea a good one. After a brief consideration, she asked Chae Eunjang,
“Uncle Chae—Young Master Namgung says he will help with our work. What do you think?”
“Mm… It doesn’t sound bad. But if the Namgung Family learns of it later, won’t that become a problem?”
Uncheon answered him at once.
“I will keep it separate from the family. And again—so long as the work does not go against righteousness, that is enough.”
“Understood. Losing the Cheon-eum-su is a pity, but if you will lend your aid, I think it will be all right.”
Finding skilled assassins was difficult enough. The more competitors there were, the more securing good assassins became the assassin trade’s highest priority. Even raising one from childhood rarely produced an assassin who truly satisfied.
With Cheongryu Geomhyang’s skill, he would be more than enough to send into the field at once.
Chae Eunjang wore a satisfied smile.
“Sect Mistress—accept Young Master Namgung’s offer.”
“Very well.”
Gong Hwaseon looked at Uncheon with a bright expression. The Cheon-eum-su was a painful loss, but if Cheongryu Geomhyang would stay with the Yaweol Sect, that was no bad thing at all.