Chapter 881
When Bu Eun-seol remained silent, the waiter cautiously asked,
"Sir?"
"Three bottles of baijiu. Bring some peanuts as well."
"Understood."
As the waiter left, Bu Eun-seol once again surveyed the surroundings of the guest inn.
At the tables where martial artists sat,
without fail, cheap baijiu and dried peanuts were laid out.
"Here you are, sir."
The waiter brought the baijiu and peanuts.
Bu Eun-seol filled his cup to the brim and downed it in one go.
"Hmm."
As the sour liquor went down, he slightly furrowed his brow.
The cheap baijiu wasn't particularly strong—it was just tart and vinegary.
"Hmm."
If there was one thing Bu Eun-seol was particular about, it was his standards for alcohol.
If he wasn't going to drink at all, that was one thing.
But when he did, he insisted on only the finest, most fragrant, and potent brews.
Because opportunities to drink were rare. When he did indulge, he sought only the most satisfying experience possible.
'But this is the liquor of the Rivers and Lakes, they say.'
Martial artists who trained in the martial arts had remarkably high alcohol tolerance.
However, strong liquor was rare and expensive, so unless they were well-off,
most martial artists ordered cheap baijiu to drown their daily sorrows.
Gulp, gulp.
Bu Eun-seol drank the baijiu in quick succession, like a cow chewing cud.
Since the liquor wasn't particularly strong,
this was the only way he could even begin to feel the drunkenness.
'Not bad.'
A faint smile touched his lips.
Even though the liquor was harsh and sour,
it gave him a greater sense of satisfaction than the finest brews he'd had before.
Because it allowed him to experience something he never had before—the simple, ordinary ambiance of the martial world.
Murmur, murmur.
The sound of countless conversations.
The hurried movements of the waiters. The clinking of people eating and drinking.
All of it blended into a soothing fragrance, satisfying his five senses.
"Three more bottles."
After finishing all the liquor, Bu Eun-seol ordered another three bottles of baijiu.
Occasionally, he tossed a few shriveled peanuts into his mouth as a snack.
Tap.
Before he knew it, he had nearly emptied the three bottles and was pouring the last cup when—
Thud.
The bustling noise of the guest inn suddenly fell silent.
It was as if time itself had frozen.
Thump, thump.
At the same time, faint footsteps could be heard.
Someone was climbing the stairs to this floor.
Bu Eun-seol naturally turned his gaze toward the staircase.
The figure that finally appeared was a thoroughly ordinary-looking middle-aged man.
A face one could see anywhere, a slow gait, and dim, somewhat unfocused eyes.
There was nothing distinctive about him—he was the very picture of mundanity.
And yet, there was a strange magnetism to him, compelling one to stare as if entranced.
"Is there a seat?"
At the middle-aged man's question, the approaching waiter scratched his head.
"Sir, we're full at the moment..."
Just then, the middle-aged man glanced around and noticed the empty liquor bottles on Bu Eun-seol's table. He cautiously approached and asked,
"It seems there's some space. Might I join you?"
Normally, it was the waiter's job to suggest sharing a table.
But this middle-aged man had climbed up to the silent guest inn and, with utter nonchalance, proposed sharing a seat with Bu Eun-seol.
"Of course."
At his assent, the middle-aged man beamed and took the seat across from him.
"Three bottles of baijiu. For snacks, stir-fry some fresh pork in chili oil. The meat must be fresh, and use whole dried chilies."
The waiter took the order, and before long, he returned with the liquor and food.
The middle-aged man must have been hungry, for he drank ravenously and devoured the stir-fried meat.
The cook here was skilled—the stir-fry gave off a subtly spicy, mouthwatering aroma.
Bu Eun-seol savored his last cup slowly, using the middle-aged man's actions as a side dish.
"Ahhh."
After eating and drinking for a while, the middle-aged man slowly wiped his mouth.
Then, smiling at Bu Eun-seol, who had been staring intently at him, he asked,
"Well? Was it a satisfying meal?"
"Thanks to you."
Bu Eun-seol glanced around the guest inn and replied in a low voice,
"It was a most excellent experience."
"That's a relief."
The middle-aged man smiled faintly.
"I'd heard that you always traveled the Rivers and Lakes alone, never once properly stopping by a guest inn in Chengdu. And I found that deeply regrettable."
"So you've been tracking my movements all this time."
"Of course. I've been following you since the very day you first stepped into the martial world."
The middle-aged man grinned.
"So I made preparations. To ensure you could enjoy the atmosphere of an ordinary guest inn."
Astoundingly, the middle-aged man hadn't just prepared the guest inn—
he had filled all of Chengdu with people placed there for this very purpose.
And Bu Eun-seol, having realized this, had entered Chengdu, strolled through the marketplace,
and confidently stepped into this crowded guest inn to drink.
"All these people... they're real commoners, aren't they?"
It was astonishing.
The ones who filled Chengdu and the guest inn—
"So these are truly ordinary civilians who've never practiced martial arts at all?"
"To track my untraceable movements in one sweep and orchestrate all this in advance—impressive indeed."
"That would be impossible."
The middle-aged man shook his head.
"There exists no intelligence organization in Murim capable of anticipating and locating your movements beforehand."
Then, with an amused smile, he added:
"Merely emitting an energy likely to pique your immediate interest wasn't particularly difficult."
He hadn't pinpointed Bu Eun-seol's location.
Instead, he had scattered a specific energy signature along all anticipated routes to lure him in.
Had Bu Eun-seol headed toward the Azure Heaven Alliance rather than the Same Heart Society, this identical scenario would have unfolded at some guest inn in Sichuan.
"You detained civilians just on the off chance I might come?"
As Bu Eun-seol furrowed his brow, the middle-aged man shook his head again.
"Of course not. We merely remembered that with enough money, one can even make ghosts dance."
He had spent lavishly to keep civilians on standby for Bu Eun-seol's unpredictable arrival—
thus enabling this elaborate setup.
"Why go to such lengths?"
"I thought it might earn me your goodwill."
"Disappointing."
Bu Eun-seol drained his cup of baijiu and shook his head.
"Such methods won't buy my goodwill. And—"
A bloody light erupted in his pupils.
"I don't converse with liars."
"Seems I've been found out."
The middle-aged man shrugged, eyes glinting.
"But what if I possess crucial information? Surely that would warrant a conversation?"
"Unlikely. Unless you're a Realm Lord of the Three Realms, you hold nothing to whet my appetite."
"A Realm Lord, you say."
The man tilted his head curiously.
"Why assume I'm not one?"
"Once, I met a peculiar old man who called himself a Messenger."
Bu Eun-seol set down his cup.
"He deployed an extraordinary Mindscape—claimed it was power reaching the Third Layer. That implies higher tiers exist."
He glanced around almost regretfully.
"If you were a Realm Lord of the Three Realms, shouldn't you demonstrate strength beyond that old man's, rather than this Mindscape tainted with dark sorcery?"
Drip.
As he spoke, the inn's surroundings began melting away.
In their place, an unexpected scene unfolded.
The figures of patrons filling the establishment crumpled one by one—
transforming into human-shaped paper dolls.
Even the spacious inn itself—
morphed into the image of a shabby, dilapidated lodging.
This place wasn't Chengdu at all,
but a remote inn dozens of li away from the city.
The "civilians" bought with money weren't real people either.
Phase.
The middle-aged man had deployed the same mysterious form of Mindscape
once used by the Old Man in Blue, not only recreating Chengdu's scenery across a ten-li radius
but employing arcane arts to make paper constructs appear human.
"Has the Mount Mao Sect been rebuilt?"
Bu Eun-seol exhaled, surveying the dense clusters of paper dolls.
"The Paper Transformation Spirit Command Art originates solely from there."
In Murim, only one sect was ever known to craft human forms from paper—
the long-extinct Mount Mao Sect's Taoist Arts.
"Your vision is remarkable."
The middle-aged man nodded readily.
"Our sect perished long ago, leaving no trace of its techniques."
Then he amended:
"Though it's not the Paper Transformation Spirit Command Art, but the Hundred Spirits Seed Transformation and Form and Qi Casting techniques. We've yet to restore the art of breathing souls into paper dolls."
Noticing Bu Eun-seol's blank expression regarding these arts,
"Ah, pointless digression."
He shook his head dismissively.
"This old man is Dong Wol-hyeon, disciple of Mount Mao Sect."
An unusual name.
"Mystery born from the eastern moon."
Bu Eun-seol shook his head.
"Likely symbolic of profundity and stillness—either a title or pseudonym."
When no answer came, he continued:
"Mount Mao Sect became the Vanished Sect ages ago. I wonder how its techniques survived extinction to be passed down so tenuously."
"You of all people should deduce why."
Bu Eun-seol's eyes flashed with realization.
"Shaolin's assistance."
Shaolin's Scripture Pavilion houses not only their Secret Arts,
but martial manuals from sects across the land.
And within Blood Shaolin's Scripture Pavilion—
alongside Orthodox Martial Arts, lie forbidden demonic manuals and forgotten Unorthodox Faction techniques.
With Shaolin's help, restoring Mount Mao Sect's arts would be no great feat.
"Correct."
"Then, has the Mount Mao Sect been rebuilt as well?"
In the past, Bu Eun-seol had fought Soulless Ones at Mount Mao, where the sect once stood, and had met Gongson Dan-a there.
But at that time, the place had been in ruins. Did that mean the Mount Mao Sect had been rebuilt since then?
"That is not the case."
The old man, Dong Wol-hyeon, nodded indifferently.
"The main sect has not been rebuilt. Only the lineage of its occult arts has been preserved."
He continued,
"And this old man serves as an instructor of the Life Spirit Art within our society, as well as its Ink-Form Landholder."
"Your society?"
"It is called the Same Heart Society."
Same Heart Society.
In an instant, Bu Eun-seol recalled the term "Society Leader" that the Ghost King had mentioned before.
'Could it be the Sect Council that Chu-so leads?'
But Dong Wol-hyeon surprised him with his next words.
"The Same Heart Society is not so much the name of a single Sect Council, but rather a gathering of factions united under the same purpose."
He added,
"And what we call the Same Heart Society—you may think of it as a coalition of the various factions you already know."
Bu Eun-seol frowned skeptically.
"So you're saying there are multiple factions operating under the name of the Same Heart Society?"
"Something like that. We are merely the Same Heart Society formed to achieve our own objectives."
"If you received Shaolin's aid, then you must be the ones who carried out the Absolute Demon Saber Project alongside the Buddhist Venerable?"
"Correct."
That was an unexpected answer.
Since the Buddhist Venerable had restarted the Absolute Demon Saber Project, if he had established any faction, its leader should have been him.
Bu Eun-seol had assumed that countless orthodox factions and martial masters, including Shaolin, would have eagerly participated in this plan.
But it turned out an organization called the Same Heart Society had been formed instead.
And this middle-aged man before him—
Was he part of one of those many Same Heart Societies, a faction descended from those involved in the Absolute Demon Saber Project?
"I don't understand. Are you saying the Buddhist Venerable, a Shaolin disciple, created a separate coalition?"
"The Honored One is merely a core member who helped establish our society—not its leader."
That was astonishing.
Did that mean Dong Wol-hyeon, a practitioner of the extinct Mount Mao Sect's arts, was also a core member of the Same Heart Society?
"Then who is the Society Leader?"
"That is not something I can disclose at this stage."
Dong Wol-hyeon replied,
"Simply revealing the name of our society is already a significant breach of secrecy."
Bu Eun-seol fell silent for a moment.
In the past, the Buddhist Venerable had told him that the Absolute Demon Saber Project had been revived and asked him to oversee its executors.
But why hadn't he explicitly mentioned the existence of the Same Heart Society back then?
Had he known, Bu Eun-seol might have considered things differently.
"You didn't summon me here just to boast about your occult arts."
Swallowing his thoughts, Bu Eun-seol asked,
"Why go through all this trouble to call me?"
"I came to make you an offer."
"Speak."
"By now, you must understand enough of Murim's affairs to realize how much sacrifice our society's plans have demanded."
He sighed and continued,
"And you will inevitably clash with us again and again in the future."
"Sorry, but I'm not interested."
Bu Eun-seol scoffed.
"As long as you don't interfere with my path, I couldn't care less whether you're the Same Heart Society or the Different Heart Society."
"I doubt that will be the case."
"What do you mean?"
"Our banner is no different from that of the Three Realms."
The middle-aged man dropped a bombshell.
"Our society was founded with the Three Realms' support."
At those words, Bu Eun-seol suddenly remembered his past conversation with the Buddhist Venerable.
—It was to protect the world and its people from the corrupted factions.
—By 'corrupted factions,' do you mean the Three Realms?
To that question, the Buddhist Venerable had given an ambiguous reply.
—Do you truly believe they are the only corrupted forces in Murim?
'Was it because he was already connected to them that he spoke like that?'
Still, he wasn't overly shocked to learn the Buddhist Venerable had ties to them.
From the moment he heard that the Absolute Demon Saber Project was meant to end the war between the Baekri Clan and the True Demon, he had found it suspicious.
If such a plan were executed—
The ones who stood to benefit the most were none other than the Three Realms.
Even if they had betrayed the Baekri Clan, they still had to face the True Demon, their greatest enemy.
From the Three Realms' perspective, the Absolute Demon Saber Project was an irresistibly advantageous scheme.
"So you knowingly joined forces with the Three Realms, even though they drag innocents and martial artists into their atrocities?"
"Great endeavors inevitably demand great prices and sacrifices. The Absolute Demon Saber Project was no exception... and neither is our current path."
"If you're just going to spout nonsense, leave. I have no intention of accepting any offer."
"I know. That's why, after much deliberation, our society has prepared a proposal you might accept."
Dong Wol-hyeon said,
"What if we limited the Three Realms' test subjects not to innocent people, but to vicious martial criminals—those who have already fallen to evil?"
"..."
"Out of respect for your principles, we will limit the subjects of our experiments to those who have committed evil in the martial world—those who have already strayed onto wicked paths—rather than the innocent."
"Are you claiming to speak for the Three Realms?"
"If I could, would you accept?"
Now it was clear.
Dong Wol-hyeon, much like the Buddhist Venerable before him, had come here with the intent to recruit Bu Eun-seol—to bring him into the fold as a guiding master for those trained under the Absolute Demon Saber Project.
"Are you saying you can communicate with the leaders of the Three Realms? That you can advocate for changes in their plans?"
"That is our task. You need only give your answer."
"So in the end, you still mean to toy with human lives as if you were gods?"
Bu Eun-seol spoke decisively.
"Among those who became the Dew of the Execution Ground, there were those who died under false accusations—those who suffered the gravest injustices. Even the government office, with its thorough investigations, makes mistakes. How could the Same Heart Society possibly distinguish with certainty between true criminals and those merely branded as evil?"
In short, even those the Three Realms labeled as wicked might not be so.
Thus, Bu Eun-seol had outright rejected his proposal.
"I expected as much."
Dong Wol-hyeon spoke calmly.
"Bringing this up first was merely to demonstrate how highly our society values your opinion—how greatly we esteem you."
"So there's another proposal?"
"Indeed."
Dong Wol-hyeon's expression hardened.
"Our society is dedicated to the nobility of humanity—to protecting this world. In truth, our goals are not so different from yours."
Then, with solemnity, he continued:
"If you truly wish to save countless lives—if you wish to save this world... then join us."
The middle-aged man spoke firmly.
"Our society has fought tirelessly to prevent this long and bloody conflict, and now we stand on the cusp of reaping the fruits of our labor."
"..."
"Yet we still lack a few crucial elements. If you were to join us, that deficiency would be wholly resolved."
Just as Bu Eun-seol opened his mouth to scoff, the man swiftly cut in.
"This is not like the Buddhist Venerable's offer—we do not seek to recruit you as a guiding master for the Absolute Demon Saber Project."
"Then why do you want me?"
"We hold your exceptional wisdom and martial arts in the highest regard."
"..."
"Your brilliant intellect and insight—one might say they are the culmination of all we have researched."
Bu Eun-seol's expression turned blank.
He had assumed this would be another attempt to make him a manager of the Absolute Demon Saber Project, just as the Buddhist Venerable had proposed.
But instead, they were inviting him to collaborate on their research?
In other words—was this not a golden opportunity to obtain the forbidden knowledge the Three Realms had hoarded all this time?
"Can you accept this proposal?"
Bu Eun-seol furrowed his brow.
This offer was utterly unexpected—a concession so great it could shake the very foundation of the Three Realms' principles.
In one light, it could be seen as an offer of reconciliation.
In another, it might even imply a willingness to uncover the secrets of the Baekri Clan and the True Demon together.
"Research, you say."
Yet Bu Eun-seol quickly saw through the flaw in their proposal.
"To do that, I'd have to lay bare all my secrets, wouldn't I?"
"..."
"One of those so-called 'culminations' you mentioned—that would be my martial lineage, wouldn't it? Or perhaps the insights I've gained."
Dong Wol-hyeon exhaled deeply.
"It seems impossible to deceive you."
He admitted it outright.
"At your age, reaching such a profound martial attainment is unheard of in all of martial history. And that must be due to the education you received from Bu Jan-yang."
Bu Eun-seol had no choice but to acknowledge it.
It was only because of his grandfather's teachings that he had reached such heights.
"You must also know that the Absolute Demon Saber Project was meant to suppress the Baekri Clan and the True Demon?"
"I do."
"Bu Jan-yang was peerless in his time. Yet he left behind no secret arts—save for the Bloody Tears Seven Forms."
Bu Eun-seol frowned.
That phrasing made it sound as though the Same Heart Society already knew of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms.
"My grandfather raised me as an undertaker—not as a martial artist."
"It amounts to the same thing. In the end, you stand among the highest echelons of the new generation's grandmasters."
Dong Wol-hyeon pressed on.
"You are the perfected successor Bu Jan-yang painstakingly nurtured. Surely, you are capable of stepping into the same exalted realm he once achieved."
Bu Eun-seol let out a hollow laugh.
In the end, Dong Wol-hyeon's words were no different from the Buddhist Venerable's.
Perhaps they sought to recruit him for the same reason—to uncover the secrets of his and his grandfather's martial arts.
"I refuse."
"Is there truly no room for reconsideration?"
"None."
Bu Eun-seol's voice was iron.
"The murderer who killed my grandfather—and those who desecrated his remains."
His words were absolute.
"Bring them all before me, and I will join the Same Heart Society. I will offer every martial art I know—even my own body—for your experiments."
"That is impossible."
Bu Eun-seol's smile was cold.
"You claim you can alter the principles of the Three Realms... yet you cannot change a single thing regarding my grandfather."
Bloodlight erupted in his eyes.
Only now had he grasped one of the Same Heart Society's hidden truths.
"Then it's not that the Same Heart Society was born from the Three Realms' support..."
His gaze, blazing with blood light, bore down on Dong Wol-hyeon.
"From the very beginning, the Three Realms and the Same Heart Society were one and the same. Perhaps the Same Heart Society contains the Three Realms."
Instead of answering, Dong Wol-hyeon merely smiled faintly.
In the end, Won Se-mun had been right.
The Three Realms, struggling to escape the shadow of the Baekri Clan... had ultimately allied with another faction to break free of those shackles.