Return Only What You Received (2)
Myeol Ji-ryun, Pa-jeong, and Rap-sa were emerging from the Alliance Lord's hall.
The Alliance Lord had specially summoned the three of them for a meal.
To buy them half a shichen's time, the plan had mobilized not only Je-gal Hyeon but also On Byeok-hwa and Pung-geuk-an, the head of the secret bodyguard unit.
On Byeok-hwa had mainly engaged Myeol Ji-ryun in conversation, while the elderly Rap-sa fell to Je-gal Hyeon.
The young Pa-jeong was handled by Pung-geuk-an, chatting about escorts and martial arts alike.
Half a shichen wasn't so long that it felt dragged out; they passed the time quite naturally.
With the brief gathering concluded, the three returned from the hall to their lodgings.
Once Rap-sa had gone inside first, leaving only Myeol Ji-ryun and Pa-jeong, he shot her a meaningful glance.
"I'll step out for some air."
It was code for heading off to work on the formation.
"Be careful."
"Yes."
Just before turning away, Pa-jeong's transmission voice reached her.
—Endure just a few more days. It's almost complete.
Myeol Ji-ryun smiled with quiet confidence.
Today, she would render the greatest service to the Blood Cult's grand undertaking.
After they departed, Baek So-cheon arrived at the Alliance Lord's hall.
He reported to Ak So-gun and Je-gal Hyeon everything that had transpired earlier—the nature of the formation they were crafting and its true purpose.
Ak So-gun's eyes settled into a calm stillness. Baek So-cheon knew well that this was how he looked when his rage truly burned.
"What do you think?"
Baek So-cheon answered Ak So-gun's question with firm resolve.
"We endured it once, but not twice. Leave it to me."
Sharing the same mind, no further words were needed.
Ak So-gun issued a solemn command.
"Make them pay for daring to mock our main alliance. No matter how you handle it, I'll bear the aftermath."
Pa-jeong arrived at a secluded training ground.
It was precisely southwest on the strategic map, where a building had once stood—now reduced to an empty lot after its relocation.
Pa-jeong extended his senses to scan the surroundings. Confirming no one nearby, he skipped any pretense of a casual stroll.
He began the work right there. Muttering incantations and forming hand seals, a single drop of blood welled at his fingertip.
He let it fall to the ground.
Shoooo...
With a faint hiss, the blood seeped into the earth.
Pa-jeong circled the predetermined path, murmuring his seals.
At his incantations—akin to shamanic rites—the single drop of blood on the ground began tracing eerie characters. Of course, they were invisible to ordinary eyes.
He continued the chants for some time. Then—
Someone approached.
Normally, he'd have nodded in passing and finished the ritual without pause. But Pa-jeong halted his incantations.
Stopping midway meant starting over from the beginning, yet the approaching figure was someone he couldn't simply ignore. It was Baek So-cheon.
Baek So-cheon greeted him first, amiably enough.
"Hello there."
Anyone else, and Pa-jeong might not have cared—but this was Baek So-cheon. Tension gripped him inwardly.
'Why is he here?'
Pa-jeong dipped his head slightly in greeting. He hoped Baek would just pass by, but instead, he spoke up.
"What are you doing out here?"
"Taking a walk."
"In a place like this?"
Baek So-cheon glanced around. It was far too barren for a stroll.
"I ended up here while walking. Is there a problem?"
"No."
"Let me ask you something in turn."
"Go ahead."
In that instant, Pa-jeong's eyes gleamed red. He unleashed his Seop-hon-sul—the Soul Subjugation Art—in a flash, no need for a battle of wits.
Of course, few in the murim could wield such a technique, and it demanded immense mental fortitude and inner power.
"Why did you come here?"
"To meet you."
Pa-jeong's suspicions were confirmed.
'Just as I thought! Something felt off.'
He hadn't believed encountering Baek So-cheon here was coincidence.
"Why seek me out?"
An unexpected answer emerged.
"To kill you."
"What?"
Pa-jeong started in shock.
"How will you kill me?"
"I'll draw my sword and sever your neck."
He'd slain even the Black Heaven heir; one couldn't underestimate him despite his lost inner power. The questions pressed on.
"Why try to kill me?"
"Because I know what you're up to."
"And what is that?"
"You're crafting the Pal-bang Gwi-hyeol Jin."
Pa-jeong recoiled in horror. He never dreamed those words would pass Baek So-cheon's lips. But the true shock was yet to come.
"How did you know?"
"The Black Heaven Alliance Lord told me."
"What? The Black Heaven Lord?"
"He informed me when he came to watch the matches this time."
"How did he learn of our plans?"
"Rap-sa. He's the Black Heaven Lord's right hand."
"...!"
Pa-jeong's face twisted.
Incredible as it sounded, no one ensnared by his Seop-hon-sul could lie. Every answer rang true, beyond doubt. Otherwise, Baek wouldn't be here, nor know the formation's name.
"What are your plans for Lady Myeol?"
"After killing you, I'll kill her too. Then pin the blame on the Black Heaven Alliance."
Pa-jeong paled.
"Go back now and dismantle the surveillance net around Lady Myeol. Immediately!"
"Understood."
Baek So-cheon turned with a vacant expression and walked back the way he'd come.
Pa-jeong staggered as the Seop-hon-sul ended. Merely extracting truth drained his power, but issuing commands multiplied the mental and inner energy toll manifold.
No time to rest, though.
Pa-jeong hurtled toward Myeol Ji-ryun's location.
Pfuk!
A bloodied blade tip burst from Rap-sa's heart.
Myeol Ji-ryun was so stunned she thought her own heart might leap from her mouth.
He wasn't one to fall so pathetically to a backstab.
But it was from someone he utterly trusted—and whose martial prowess surpassed his own.
Rap-sa, mid-sip of tea, collapsed without a word, breath fleeing.
"Pa-jeong!"
Myeol Ji-ryun shot to her feet in alarm.
"What is this?!"
"He's a traitor."
"A traitor?!"
"He's the Black Heaven Lord's subordinate."
"Nonsense! He's devoted his life to our cult."
"He's lived his entire life as a Black Heaven spy. No time for long explanations—the Murim Alliance knows about the Pal-bang Gwi-hyeol Jin."
"What? How?"
"Didn't you hear? Rap-sa was the traitor. This isn't the time. We need to escape now. Baek So-cheon came to kill me; I barely held him off and rushed here."
Both Pa-jeong and Myeol Ji-ryun were reeling.
Myeol from Rap-sa's death; Pa-jeong obsessed with spiriting her away safely.
The grand scheme of the Pal-bang Gwi-hyeol Jin could fail, but Myeol Ji-ryun had to survive.
Myeol Ji-ryun followed Pa-jeong out of the lodgings. As per Baek So-cheon's planted command, the guarding warriors had all vanished.
The pair swiftly slipped from the alliance grounds.
After racing out of Wuhan, they stopped at a safehouse prepared to the west.
There, they dispatched a carrier pigeon to the Blood Cult requesting aid.
It detailed Rap-sa's betrayal and Black Heaven Alliance's involvement.
Afterward, they fled along the prearranged emergency route.
Winter brought early dusk.
Pa-jeong and Myeol Ji-ryun paused for rest by a streamside.
To evade pursuit, no campfire.
"Half a gak, then we move."
"Pa-jeong."
"Yes."
"Are you absolutely sure Rap-sa was a traitor?"
"Certain. Do you still doubt me?"
"Could it be Murim Alliance divide-and-conquer tactics?"
"Impossible!"
"Even so, you should have consulted me first."
"No time. The alliance forces were closing in."
Myeol Ji-ryun sighed.
Events had unfolded too swiftly, leaving unease and doubt lingering. Rap-sa was her father's most trusted man.
'A traitor?'
It defied comprehension. Pa-jeong himself seemed suspicious now. Yet he was Jeok Pa-rap's disciple.
'What's really happening?'
Pa-jeong understood her turmoil—he could scarcely believe it himself.
Her earlier question had chilled him.
—Could it be Murim Alliance divide-and-conquer tactics?
Could he truly be sure? He'd acted on instinct, unexamined possibilities be damned.
"Trust my judgment."
But Myeol Ji-ryun said nothing.
As Pa-jeong turned to her, he saw she'd slumped asleep, her blood points sealed while seated.
Baek So-cheon stood behind her.
Pa-jeong jolted up in terror.
"You—how?!"
His eyes flared again. Instinct drove the Seop-hon-sul.
"Did you come alone?"
"Yes."
Pa-jeong eased. He didn't know how Baek had arrived, but he could kill him one-on-one.
"How did you track us?"
"I've been tailing you from the start."
Pa-jeong drew his sword, intent on slaying Baek So-cheon in one stroke and fleeing.
"Rap-sa's betrayal is certain?"
"Was it?"
"What?"
Pa-jeong's eyes bulged. A chill of failure swept him.
"You! You're immune to my Seop-hon-sul?!"
"That's right."
"How?!"
Pa-jeong couldn't accept it. A prodigy since childhood, he'd become Jeok Pa-rap's disciple. His path had been one of unbroken triumph. His Seop-hon-sul had never failed. This blunder stemmed from the arrogance of long years unchallenged.
"I asked how you resisted!"
"I learned the way from someone far superior to you."
Thanks to Na-sa-rin's secret technique. He truly felt her profound mastery now—even blocking Jeok Pa-rap's disciple's art.
"I did deceive you, but what I said earlier was true."
"What was that?"
"That I came to kill you."
As the words ended, Baek So-cheon's Gui-yeong Geom flashed free.
In a blaze, a single sword-line slashed the air.
Thuk.
Pa-jeong vanished from the spot.
Forewarned and prepared, he'd melted into the shadows.
What he'd learned from Jeok Pa-rap was the Am-heuk Je-ryeong-sul—Dark Spirit Control Technique. In darkness, he vanished perfectly.
From the gloom, his furious voice assailed Baek So-cheon.
"You bastard! Tricking me! I'll tear you to shreds!"
He'd killed Rap-sa on Baek's deception. Fail to kill Baek and return, and he'd pay dearly.
"How shall I kill you? Heh heh heh."
His voice echoed from all sides, position untraceable. The malevolent aura crushed down on Baek So-cheon.
"Shallow prick—regaining your inner power and still deceiving us."
"Not words I care to hear from someone skulking to weave an evil formation."
"Even with your power restored, you die here. We failed this time, but we'll puppet your alliance lord yet. Shame you won't see it."
Baek So-cheon scanned about. The voice came from his left ear, then overhead right. This wasn't Cheon-geuk's stealth arts—a demonic sorcery beyond instinctual tracking.
"Futile! You won't find me."
Pa-jeong whispered at Baek's ear.
"Darkness is my ally."
"Did you ask the darkness?"
"What?"
In that instant, Baek So-cheon's Gui-yeong Geom rent the air.
Shiiiii—
Dozens of sword-lines blazed through the dark in a heartbeat.
The Cheon-su Yeo-rae A-su-ra Shin-geom unleashed—from first form to fifth in seamless succession. Before the first faded, the last was born.
With the fifth form mastered, it flowed as one fluid motion.
Hidden in shadow, Pa-jeong saw clearly: the darkness shielding him torn asunder, sword-lines hurtling in.
'...No!'
Only at the end did he realize—Baek So-cheon was no foe to toy with. Even unleashing ultimate arts madly, victory wasn't assured.
From afternoon till now, arrogance had led him to ruin.
Crack, thud.
Pa-jeong fell from the air, sliced into three or four chunks.
Baek So-cheon buried the corpse flawlessly, hoisted the sleeping Myeol Ji-ryun over his shoulder, and vanished.
The darkness, impartial to all, merely watched indifferently as it deepened over the scene.