Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Seeds of Suspicion
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It took a mere five days to forge the personal information of thirty-two people.
Five identities for each person. Over one hundred and fifty in total.
…They made all this in just five days?
Unaware of their capabilities, Wang Cheon and Ju Seung’s eyes widened.
“Will this be enough?”
“…”
At Shin Ye-rang’s words, the two men could only blink, unable to answer.
It was more than enough. They could change identities every year and still have enough to last their entire stay in the Central Plains.
Neung Un-bi watched them, filled with a sense of pride.
*Did you see that? This is the level of their skill.*
“Take them.”
“Yes.”
Still in awe, Ju Seung and Wang Cheon quickly took the prepared items.
He gave them a considerable extra payment, but he didn't feel it was a waste for the friends he was finally seeing again.
What worried him was the condition of Kim San and Shin Ye-rang.
Kim San’s hands trembled as he handed over the pouch of identity tokens, and dark circles were stark beneath Shin Ye-rang’s eyes as she passed him the bundle of papers detailing their histories.
It seemed they had stayed up all night for five straight days.
*And they’re not young anymore…*
Feeling sorry for having made his friends work so hard, Neung Un-bi took out another money pouch from his robes.
“Take good care of yourselves.”
“What? You’re giving us more?”
“For a job well done.”
“What? But this is too much…”
“Just think of it as having a good friend.”
“…”
Neung Un-bi smiled brightly as he handed them the additional pouch.
Though Neung Un-bi’s heart ached for the friends he’d missed, Wang Cheon, oblivious to his feelings, was merely displeased.
*Their skills are impressive, but how can he spend money like water?*
*Even if it’s wealth stolen from bandits, every coin is precious when we have no support from the Cult…*
*It’s because he grew up without knowing hardship.*
*If he doesn’t know, I have to teach him! That’s what a Guard Captain is for!*
“My lord! This is more than necessary. Our own situation isn’t ideal…”
“Enough!”
Wang Cheon scolded him like a frugal housewife, but when Neung Un-bi glared with the eyes of a tiger, he pouted and backed down.
*Shut up. What do you know of my lonely heart?*
*If we leave like this, who knows when I’ll see them again…*
If we run out of money on the road, we can just raid a mountain or water bandit fortress. It was a familiar task back when we were struggling with a severe lack of operational funds.
“Then our business is concluded. Please travel safely, Third Young Master.”
“That sounds like you hope we never meet again.”
Neung Un-bi, feeling a pang of disappointment at Shin Ye-rang’s bow to the departing group, pouted and grumbled.
“Because we’re not the kind of people you should be happy to see again.”
“…I suppose so.”
Unable to reveal his true feelings, Neung Un-bi found even those words disappointing.
“So, where are you headed now?”
“…”
He knew she wouldn’t answer, but he asked out of lingering attachment. Shin Ye-rang, who had lifted her head to stare at him, soon broke into a faint smile.
“To a place you couldn’t find even if I told you.”
“Heh, hehehehe.”
A laugh escaped him.
And so, his first encounter with the past came to an end.
After their farewells, they vanished as if fleeing, never once looking back.
Gazing at their retreating figures with a wistful look, Neung Un-bi muttered to himself.
“Please…”
But the rest of the words wouldn’t come.
He wanted to tell them to survive, to not die like he did, but they were already too far away to hear.
Also, a question he couldn’t ask lingered in his mind.
“Ten years ago…”
“…”
Wang Cheon and Ju Seung tilted their heads, but they couldn’t possibly understand the meaning of his words.
*Well, they’ll find out eventually. The day will come when we meet again.*
*And then, I will surely reveal it.*
*Though I don’t know if they’ll believe the strange thing that happened to me.*
Smiling as he promised himself that distant day, Neung Un-bi mounted his horse.
“Ju Seung!”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Rendezvous with the Lunar Eclipse Squad and meet me at Mount Chwiryeong, about a hundred li west of here. Memorize your respective cover identities. We will head directly to Jiuquan.”
“Yes!”
Answering Neung Un-bi’s command, Ju Seung turned his horse and headed out of the village where the Lunar Eclipse Squad was staying.
“Wang Cheon, let’s get going too.”
“Of course.”
As they leisurely rode out onto the main road, Wang Cheon trotted up to him, burning with curiosity, and asked.
“My lord.”
“Hm?”
“But… who were they, exactly? You seemed to have known each other for a very long time.”
“…”
“No, really, how do you even know people like that? People who can perfectly forge over one hundred and fifty cover identities in just five days? Even the Third Elder’s department would struggle with that, even if they worked themselves to the bone.”
“…”
“No, wait. Now that I think about it, it was strange. Could it be…”
Wang Cheon’s eyes narrowed.
His gaze was filled with suspicion.
*No way. Is he suspecting my relationship with them?*
*If this guy starts digging into it, it could become a nuisance for them…*
Desperate to change the subject, Neung Un-bi spotted a beggar nearby and took out his money pouch.
*Jingle.*
“Oh, my benefactor! Thank you!”
“W-wait, that much money! Are you crazy?”
The beggar’s eyes went wide at the money tossed into his bowl from horseback, and he bowed his head low. Wang Cheon, who hadn’t been able to snatch it in time, immediately grew irritated.
“We should help those in need.”
“Damn it all! We’ve got a saint here, a real saint. Ugh, just how much was that?”
“…”
Wang Cheon stared repeatedly at the beggar’s money bowl, looking like he could die from regret.
But knowing there was nothing more shameful than taking back what was given, all he could do was fidget anxiously.
*…I regret it too.*
*But what can I do? It’s because you keep prying into things you shouldn’t know.*
“Let’s hurry. The others will be waiting.”
“That son of a… Fine, fine. We can always earn more money. But I absolutely must have an answer today.”
Wang Cheon clung to the topic tenaciously.
*Sigh, this guy just doesn’t know when to quit…*
“Tell me.”
“What do you keep asking me to tell you?”
“Were you secretly raising a faction of your own behind my back?”
“…Huh?”
Neung Un-bi blinked, dumbfounded by the unexpected direction of his reasoning.
*Is-is that what this was about?*
*Ah, right. This is Wang Cheon.*
*I forgot for a moment. I shouldn’t overestimate him.*
*Damn it, if I’d known, I wouldn’t have given that money to the beggar. That was a lot…*
Neung Un-bi smacked his lips, glancing back at the beggar’s bowl receding in the distance.
*Should I ask for it back now?*
“I’m right, aren’t I? How else could someone who has only ever lived in the Demonic Cult know the Central Plains so intimately?”
“…”
“You see, I thought I knew everything about you, my lord. But lately, I’m completely confused. Thinking about it, isn’t it a bit strange? It almost seems like coming to the Central Plains was all part of your plan… Tell me. Please?”
“…”
“Once I started thinking that way, more and more strange things came to mind. Before you suffered from Qi Deviation, you were the one spouting pipe dreams about conquering the Central Plains and creating a world ruled by the demonic path. I wonder why you were so quiet then…”
“…”
“Tell me. You were preparing behind my back, weren’t you? Preparing to become the Cult Leader.”
As they left the village, Neung Un-bi, who had been staring at the persistently questioning Wang Cheon, let out a smirk.
“It’s a seeecret.”
“Why you—!”
“What?”
“…That was a mistake.”
“A mistake you seem to make quite often. It sounded pretty heartfelt to me.”
“It must have been your imagination.”
“Aren’t you forcing the pieces to fit a bit too much?”
“Ahem! That’s not what’s important. I’m asking you to just tell me. What kind of faction have you been raising without my knowledge? I understand. I really do. Your circumstances forced your hand. But it’s okay now, isn’t it? Snow Mountain Manor, myself, and the Lunar Eclipse Squad are all in the same boat now.”
“Hey, I said it’s a secret.”
“What do you mean, a secret? I just witnessed the scene of your scheme with my own eyes!”
“…And what if I was raising a faction? What’s it to you?”
“What? What’s it to me? Are you really going to be so cold? Is that any way to talk to your loyal Guard Captain!”
“Loyalty, my foot. Just forget it.”
“How can I forget! My chance for fame and fortune might be snatched away by some other guy! As it is, Ju Seung is already rising through the ranks and I can’t even sleep at night… Come on, just tell me. There is something, isn’t there? Right?”
*Sigh, that damn fame and fortune. Is this guy the living embodiment of a lust for power?*
*In times like these…*
*Crack!*
*Hee-hee-hing!*
At the sudden crack of the whip, the horse reared its front legs powerfully before galloping out of the village along the main road.
“Hey! Stop right there! You think you can lose me! I’m getting an answer out of you today!”
Wang Cheon gave chase behind him like an arrow.
An unexpected chase on horseback had begun.
And in an alleyway beside the road they had just left.
The beggar, who had been lying on a straw mat, shot up and headed for a secluded spot with no passersby.
*Riiip.*
Tearing off the skin of their face, the beggar’s body began to shrink rapidly.
In an instant, she had shed her loose clothes, revealing a petite woman: Hyang-i.
“The more I watch him, the more interesting he becomes. To think he’d plan to hide and travel through Jiuquan, the territory of the Heavenly Pillar Gate.”
The Heavenly Pillar Gate was a sect with roots in the Orthodox Murim Alliance.
While its influence might not match that of the Nine Sects and Five Clans, known as the pillars of the Orthodox Murim, it was a powerful force that had produced elders for generations and ruled over northern Gansu for a long time.
Neung Un-bi was now heading into their embrace—in other words, into the heart of enemy territory.
But for that very reason, it was a good decision.
The assassins who left the Demonic Cult have begun their pursuit in earnest.
Having abandoned the identities created by the Third Elder’s department and obtained new ones, tracking him won’t be easy.
Even if they discover he has entered Orthodox territory, they won’t be able to move easily.
The Heavenly Pillar Gate is no pushover.
The assassination of the Third Young Master is an open secret within the Demonic Cult, but no one wants any unpleasant friction to arise in the process.
So he will be safe. At least, within the territory of the Heavenly Pillar Gate.
“By the way, a female strategist who can create one hundred and fifty cover identities in five days, and an old man pretending to be frail while hiding his strength… Well, it doesn’t matter. Not when the Cult Leader, and even his disciples, command their own secret factions.”
Still, it’s unexpected.
To think that the Third Young Master…
Not only was he hiding his skills, but now it seems he was hiding his own faction as well.
“Just as the Cult Leader said, he’s truly fascinating to watch.”
Smiling faintly, Hyang-i took out a portable brush and ink set from her robes and briefly recorded what she had seen.
*Report on the Third Young Master’s movements in the Central Plains…*
A report summarizing only the key points. But she couldn’t send it immediately.
Though written in code, carrier pigeons weren’t secure.
She would send them all at once when she reached the secret location prepared in the Central Plains. To the Cult Leader, who would be more curious about the Third Young Master’s news than anyone.
Until then, she had no choice but to keep it with her.
Hyang-i waved the paper a few times to dry the ink, then folded it small and tucked it into her robes along with the portable writing set.
“…He’s quite generous, too.”
Feeling the weight of the bowl in her hands, Hyang-i smiled contentedly without realizing it.
Who would refuse some extra income?
Just as Hyang-i nonchalantly reached into the bowl to take the money pouch.
“Hey, lady. Freeze.”
“…”
A group of beggars swarmed into the alley where Hyang-i was hiding.
She had sensed their presence for a while but had ignored them, seeing no need to pay them any mind.
“Where’d that beggar bastard who was here go?”
*That beggar was me.*
“And that money… looks like it belongs to that beggar, doesn’t it?”
“…”
“Why don’t you put it down while we’re asking nicely? Us brothers are pretty scary people, you know?”
The beggar let out a sinister laugh, pulling out a sharp, gleaming piece of metal.
“Is that a threat? Right now? To me?”
“You catch on quick. So, that thing in your hand, don’t put it in your robes, just bring it over here. Seeing as you’ve got a pretty face, you might as well throw your whole body into this brother’s arms too.”
They snickered amongst themselves as he spoke.
A lecherous undertone was added to the sinister atmosphere.
Hyang-i considered for a moment.
They didn’t seem to be from the Beggars’ Sect, just local vagrants. They must have heard that a new beggar had appeared in their territory and rushed over.
*Well, I can understand that much. No one likes to give up their territory to others.*
“…But, you’re truly unlucky.”
“What?”
“You saw something you shouldn’t have.”
“…”
“My face.”
Hyang-i’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled brilliantly.
It was a smile beautiful enough to steal the soul of anyone who saw it, and it was the last thing the vagrants of Anbon County ever saw.