A Busy New Start (2)
Hyun-cheon-dae began with just three members.
It was unprecedented in the history of the Murim Alliance.
Normally, the creation of a new unit would be marked by a grand celebratory banquet, with gifts from other Alliance organizations as a time-honored custom.
But Hyun-cheon-dae had no such banquet, and no one came to visit.
Once again, everyone was tiptoeing around Baek So-cheon. This time, though, there was one more person whose mood they had to consider alongside the Alliance Lord: Je-gal Hyeon.
Je-gal Hyeon should have been the first to offer congratulations, but rumors were already swirling. They said he'd gone against the Alliance Lord's wishes and forcibly dragged Baek So-cheon into this. If that was true, no matter how immense the Grand Strategist's power, no one could ignore the Alliance Lord's gaze.
Im Choong and Beon Saeng had thoroughly cleaned the interior of Hyun-cheon-dae.
They'd scrubbed the captain's office on the top floor spotless, not a speck of dust remaining, and tidied their own workspace below just as meticulously.
The old building had everything they needed, despite its age. There were several rooms with beds for those who worked late and needed to crash on-site.
There was even a kitchen for cooking, an adjacent dining area, a spot to sip tea and relax, and a place to read books.
Once it was all cleaned up, it didn't seem half bad. Above all, this space was theirs alone.
"Whew. Looks like we're mostly done. Good work."
"You too."
As Im Choong and Beon Saeng wiped sweat from their brows and stretched their backs, someone passed by with a greeting.
"You've worked hard."
"Yes, sir. Welcome."
Beon Saeng waved in response.
Im Choong, who had his back turned, asked belatedly,
"That voice sounded familiar. Who was that just now?"
"The Grand Strategist."
"......"
"......"
Beon Saeng stared at his own raised hand in shock.
"Eek!"
"You just waved at the Grand Strategist like that?"
"He passed by too fast..."
"Someone might come this afternoon to chop that hand off."
"Don't joke like that!"
Only then did it sink in for the two of them. Their life at headquarters had truly begun.
Je-gal Hyeon stepped into Baek So-cheon's office on the top floor.
"Welcome."
"How is it?"
"Thank you for giving us such a fine place."
"No need. I'm sorry it had to be this for you. I'll move you somewhere better next time."
"I'm quite satisfied with this. But what brings you here?"
"Take this."
Je-gal Hyeon handed over an iron token.
"It's a token that grants access to everywhere I can go. I've already registered your clearance, so just show it and you'll be let in."
Ascension Token
A single dragon soars toward the heavens.
Baek So-cheon accepted it with due respect. He knew how difficult it had been to obtain this permission.
"And I'll have all incoming intelligence from the Hyun-cheon Pavilion's strategic command sent to you in real time."
"My thanks."
It was possible only because Hyun-cheon-dae fell under Hyun-cheon Pavilion. Of course, this too was a massive political favor. Je-gal Hyeon was staking his career on it, all for the sole wish of averting war.
Je-gal Hyeon broached the subject cautiously.
"If you wish to see the Alliance Lord... come with me."
Baek So-cheon replied with equal caution.
"......I'll see him another time."
"Understood."
Je-gal Hyeon turned to leave, but paused at the door.
"By the way, where will you head first with that?"
Baek So-cheon glanced at the floor.
Je-gal Hyeon smiled.
"You'll need some good liquor, then."
That afternoon, Baek So-cheon entered the Murim Alliance's Thunder Prison.
It was a place joked about as the last to fall even if the entire Alliance were conquered—the final holdout after the Alliance Lord's hall.
The security was that stringent, the dangers that profound.
The Thunder Prison was divided into three sections by crime severity.
White Prison for ordinary offenders, Blue Prison for those sentenced to life, and deepest of all, Red Prison for the most special criminals.
Baek So-cheon was headed to the Red Prison, buried in the lowest underground level.
To reach it, he'd passed through six layers of stringent checkpoints and met forty-six guards. Several among them were Strike Team Captain-level masters or higher.
No one could escape alive. Even in death, you didn't just leave. To prevent escape via arts like the Corpse Breath Great Law, the executed had their heads severed before removal.
The Red Prison had three sub-levels, and Baek So-cheon arrived at the bottommost.
Two prisoners were held there: the last surviving members of the Ten Great Evildoers.
They were true villains of legend, existing even before the current Alliance Lord. Many had died outside or been captured and executed, leaving only these two.
They were confined to separate levels, and Baek So-cheon had come for the one at the very bottom.
At his arrival, an old man with a scraggly beard thrust his face through the bars. He recognized Baek So-cheon instantly.
"You bastard, you're still alive?"
His booming voice betrayed a man far from death's door.
"Damn you! I'll chew you up alive!"
The old man was Goe-yeo, one of the Ten Great Evildoers.
He spewed curses because Baek So-cheon was the one who'd captured and imprisoned him here.
"Open this! Let's go another round! No inner power for you, right? None for me either. Fight fair like men! You worthless rag! Mongrel scum! Open it!"
Baek So-cheon watched him vent his rage.
Only after unleashing a torrent of filth did Goe-yeo's voice quiet.
"Why're you here? To mock me...?"
Then Goe-yeo sniffed the air.
"Hm? What's that? What smell is this?"
His gaze fell to Baek So-cheon's waist, where a bamboo flask hung.
"You! That's—!"
"Yes. Your favorite Hyeonghwa Village liquor."
Goe-yeo's eyes trembled. He loved drink—not just liked it, but to the point where no one in the jianghu could claim second place to his alcoholism.
Baek So-cheon uncorked the flask. A rich aroma filled the musty underground.
"Aaaargh!"
Goe-yeo bellowed. Deprived of liquor since capture, the scent alone drove him mad.
"Bring it here! Please!"
Baek So-cheon approached the frantically licking prisoner, flask in hand.
"Closer! Hurry!"
Goe-yeo thrust his hand through the bars.
Baek So-cheon held the flask just out of reach.
"Vicious demon! You're set on tormenting me!"
Then Baek So-cheon stepped forward and offered it.
Goe-yeo snatched it reflexively.
"For me?"
"Yes."
Goe-yeo eyed the flask suspiciously. Baek So-cheon wouldn't give it up easily.
"Poisoned?"
"Why would I waste my first poisoning on someone like you?"
"Then why give it?"
"If you don't want it."
As Baek So-cheon reached to take it back, Goe-yeo yanked it away desperately.
Poison or not, he couldn't endure any longer.
Goe-yeo gulped it down.
"Aaaah. Good... so good."
He drank and drank, roaring like a man in the desert finding water.
Soon, not a drop remained.
"Kaaah. I could die without regrets now."
He grinned with utter bliss. Naturally, his tone toward Baek So-cheon softened.
"Why'd you come?"
"Just to see your face after so long."
"Bullshit. You're not the type. Cut the crap and say your business."
Baek So-cheon gazed at him steadily.
"You're perceptive. I do have a question for you."
"What?"
"The Black Heaven Alliance Lord..."
Before the words finished, Goe-yeo hurled the bamboo flask outward.
He turned abruptly and flopped onto his bunk in the corner.
"Damn you! After what you did to me."
Baek So-cheon picked up the fallen flask from the floor.
"I'll come again tomorrow."
Goe-yeo said nothing, back turned.
The next day, Baek So-cheon returned with more of his favorite liquor.
"Get lost!"
"Understood. I won't ask anything—just drink."
"Quit your tricks and scram!"
Baek So-cheon set the bamboo flask within Goe-yeo's reach outside the cell.
Then he began physical training right there: handstands on a single finger.
He'd neglected stamina work lately amid Heavenly Thunder Nine Fists practice.
Time passed, sweat pouring.
How long had it been? Goe-yeo spoke from within.
"What kind of lunatic workout is this in front of someone else's house?"
Baek So-cheon didn't reply, switching to one-finger push-ups in handstand. The heavy bracelets on his limbs remained, but his form was far more vigorous and stable than when he'd first worn them.
He trained without pause.
Goe-yeo knew Baek So-cheon had no inner power. He couldn't believe it.
How can he do that without qi?
A few reps, fine—but hundreds?
Baek So-cheon, at his limit, gritted his teeth.
One more! Just one more.
That final rep decided if his body broke through.
"Nngh."
He collapsed only after completing it.
"Huff... huff."
Goe-yeo bellowed at the gasping man.
"If you're gonna fool around, do it somewhere else!"
Yet he slyly retrieved the flask and drank quietly in the corner.
The days repeated.
Baek So-cheon brought liquor and trained before the cell.
Goe-yeo drank in silence.
On the fifth day, Goe-yeo's tone softened as he asked,
"What exactly do you want to know about the Alliance Lord?"
He was a Black Heaven high master among the Ten Great Evildoers—not just affiliated, but close to the Lord himself.
"I have a few questions about him."
"You think I'll talk? You think my loyalty's that cheap?"
"Your loyalty is exemplary. Truly. Not a word about the Black Heaven Alliance or its Lord since we caught you."
Captured just before war's end, he'd been imprisoned here since. Multiple attempts to extract intel had failed utterly.
"Damn right! So why this pathetic ploy?"
"Isn't it time to set that loyalty aside? You've done enough."
"What the hell are you saying, you mad bastard?"
He bellowed, but his eyes wavered.
He thought it several times a day.
Why hasn't the Lord come for me?
He surely knew of the imprisonment. If he wanted, he could've bargained for it—plenty of Alliance captives in Black Heaven.
Anyone else, maybe not—but Goe-yeo believed he'd be rescued. Yet four years had nearly passed.
The Lord must have his reasons.
He consoled himself daily, but body and spirit wore thin regardless.
Right then.
"Your Lord must have his reasons too."
Goe-yeo startled. He'd just thought the exact same.
"Leaders always have their troubles, don't they?"
"Mocking me?"
"No."
Baek So-cheon answered plainly and walked away. It didn't feel like mockery.
"I'll come tomorrow."
Goe-yeo watched him go through the bars, silent.
Don't try your tricks!
Yet deep down, he hoped for tomorrow's liquor. And a curiosity stirred.
What does he want to ask about the Lord?