The Hypocrisy of the Righteous
Although Namgung Eon and the members of the Cheonsan Sect had just exchanged a shocking conversation, I felt more calm than surprised.
From the moment I confirmed that Namgung Eon was secretly visiting the Cheonsan Sect and meeting with them, I had already prepared myself for any possibility.
Once their group had walked a safe distance away, Yeongho Bin approached me.
"What are your orders, My Lord?"
It seemed clear that Namgung Eon had betrayed the Sun and Moon Sect.
If I returned to the sect right now and reported what I had seen and heard today, my mission would end there.
The Sect Leader and the Lord of the White Tiger Palace would bind Namgung Eon the moment he returned, without giving him a single chance to make an excuse.
And the task of beheading Namgung Eon would likely fall to me.
If it ended there, I would be lucky.
The Sect Leader would also hold me responsible for confidently recruiting Namgung Eon a year ago.
Given my achievements so far, I didn't think he would strip me of my title as the Young Sect Leader immediately... but it would undoubtedly deal a massive blow to my standing.
But.
"Let us follow them."
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't just go back like this.
I wanted to see with my own eyes exactly how Namgung Eon was betraying the Sun and Moon Sect.
Moreover, the words of the Cheonsan Sect member weighed heavily on my mind.
'If things go well today, it's the end of the Demonic Cult.'
This wasn't just about Namgung Eon's safety or my own. I had to find out what kind of scheme the Cheonsan Sect and Namgung Eon were plotting together.
"Understood, My Lord."
Yeongho Bin and I followed them from a discreet distance.
The single road stretching from the gates of the Cheonsan Sect led straight to a village called Maehwa County.
Since their conversation had made it clear that Maehwa County was their destination, tailing them without being noticed wasn't particularly difficult.
It became even easier once we entered the village.
This was because disciples of the Cheonsan Sect were waiting at the village entrance and joined their group as soon as they arrived.
Although the Cheonsan Sect wasn't a massive sect, they seemed to wield considerable influence in this neighboring village.
A crowd of people began to follow the Cheonsan Sect group, making them stand out even from afar.
On the other hand, Yeongho Bin and I were able to blend into the crowd and naturally follow behind them.
"It seems the entire village has gathered," Yeongho Bin muttered, looking at the bustling crowd in the village square.
Just as he said, everyone from elders to young children had gathered, seemingly waiting for something.
The people nearby were whispering among themselves, mentioning the "Demonic Cult" this and that, but because so many people were talking at once, I couldn't make out the details.
"Quiet, everyone! Sect Leader Wi Jin-pyeong of the Cheonsan Sect has an announcement to make!"
As several men shouted, the square fell silent in an instant.
Amidst the quiet, a man stepped onto the platform erected in the center of the square.
It was the middle-aged man who had walked out of the Cheonsan Sect's gates with Namgung Eon earlier.
So that man is the Sect Leader—the absolute head of the Cheonsan Sect.
The man named Wi Jin-pyeong began speaking immediately, without any formal greetings.
"I know many of you have been deeply concerned about the women of Maehwa County who have been kidnapped, violated, and murdered over the past three months. Our Cheonsan Sect has worked day and night to track down and punish the perpetrators of these heinous acts. And their identity has been revealed to be none other than the Demonic Cult—the self-proclaimed members of the Sun and Moon Sect. Well, it is hardly a surprise."
This...
He was definitely talking about the people I had seen on the day I went looking for the Ming Sect's shrine.
Hearing his words, it seemed the disciples I saw back then had been committing these atrocities for quite some time.
"I knew it!"
"Those Demonic Cult bastards deserve to rot in hell!"
"What did I tell you? Didn't I say we should have entrusted our protection to the Cheonsan Sect long ago?"
Watching the villagers' immediate, furious reactions left me with mixed emotions.
On one hand, I wondered if it was a good thing that I had stepped in, even if late, to eliminate those scoundrels.
On the other hand, it was incredibly bitter to realize just how deeply the Sun and Moon Sect—the organization I belonged to—was loathed by the common people.
However, opposing voices rose from one side of the crowd.
"Do you have proof that they belong to the Sun and Moon Sect?"
"Exactly! You Cheonsan Sect people always blame the Demonic Cult whenever something bad happens. Who knows if you have some other motive?"
"What are you talking about? Are you one of those Demonic Cultists too?"
But those voices were in the minority, and perhaps because the overall atmosphere was heavily biased against the Demonic Cult, they were immediately shut down.
Shouts and curses flew back and forth among the villagers, and it looked as if a brawl might break out at any moment.
Knowing that there were people defending the sect, even if they were few, made me feel more embarrassed than pleased.
After all, I knew for a fact that those scoundrels really were members of the Sun and Moon Sect.
"Quiet down!"
The Sect Leader of the Cheonsan Sect bellowed at the villagers, then continued speaking.
It seemed the main point of his speech was about to begin.
"You speak the truth. I have brought proof—no, a witness—to confirm that they are indeed members of the Sun and Moon Sect. Listen closely."
With those words, he gestured to someone standing behind him, calling them forward to the center of the platform.
That someone was, of course, Namgung Eon.
"Young Master Namgung here is a member who holds an important position within the Sun and Moon Sect. He came to our Cheonsan Sect and assisted us in investigating those scoundrels. Young Master Namgung! Please, explain to the people."
Nodding his head, Namgung Eon stepped up to the platform with a solemn expression.
This must have been the "important role" the Cheonsan Sect Leader had mentioned earlier.
Whistleblowing the sect's criminal acts in front of the villagers.
The villagers' attention immediately locked onto Namgung Eon.
"My name is Namgung Eon. As Sect Leader Wi just introduced, I belong to the Myeongsin Palace of the Sun and Moon Sect. I testify before you that the men who kidnapped and murdered the eight women of Maehwa County were indeed disciples of the Sun and Moon Sect. The interior of the sect was thrown into an uproar because of this incident..."
Listening to Namgung Eon's quiet testimony, I felt as if my vision was turning black.
"My Lord... are you alright?"
Yeongho Bin asked in concern, noticing the sudden change in my complexion.
It wasn't because I was witnessing Namgung Eon's betrayal firsthand.
Can I really... punish Namgung Eon for this?
Disciples of the sect had murdered eight innocent villagers.
Of course, this was a rogue act that directly violated the sect's doctrine of protecting the common people, and if the Sect Leader or the high-ranking officials had known of their crimes, they would have undoubtedly beheaded them.
However, they likely would not have openly admitted to their guilt to the villagers like this.
Namgung Eon wasn't lying. He was simply telling the villagers the truth they deserved to know.
"Because overnight, every single one of them was killed. They were slaughtered in one place by someone. I do not know who killed them, but I suspect it was the Cheonsan Sect."
Yet, by the Sect Leader's command, I had to punish Namgung Eon's betrayal with death.
Even if I wasn't some saintly paragon of virtue, and even without bringing moral values into it, I didn't think I could bring myself to do such a thing.
Nor did I want to.
While I was agonizing over what to do, Namgung Eon continued speaking.
"Why? Listen carefully to what I have to say next."
However, his words began to drift in a slightly different direction than I had anticipated.
"It is because the Cheonsan Sect bribed those Sun and Moon Sect disciples, instigating them to kidnap and murder the village women!"
Everyone listening to Namgung Eon, including myself, froze in their tracks.
It was as if someone had pressed a pause button.
Amidst the stunned silence, Namgung Eon's words flowed like a rushing river.
"Do you understand? While it is true that the disciples of the Sun and Moon Sect physically committed the deeds, the ones who ordered them to do so was the Cheonsan Sect standing right here! Bribing nine disciples to commit such atrocities must have cost quite a sum. Initially, you probably promised to pay them and send them far away once the job was done. But you slaughtered them all because you didn't even want to pay that money, didn't you?"
"Young Master Namgung, what nonsense is—"
"Are you denying it? When I have the very written agreements you signed for them?"
As the atmosphere shifted violently, the pale-faced Sect Leader of the Cheonsan Sect tried to stop Namgung Eon.
But before he could even speak, Namgung Eon pulled a bundle of papers from an envelope inside his robes, held them high for everyone to see, and shouted.
They were documents torn in places, with vivid bloodstains clearly visible on them.
"Look! You quickly retrieved these before the Sun and Moon Sect could investigate their corpses. But you never expected me to sneak into your sect and steal them back, did you?"
I couldn't read the contents of the documents Namgung Eon was waving around from this distance.
However, seeing how the faces of the Cheonsan Sect Leader and his elders twisted and crumpled in sheer panic, it was clear that those were indeed the written agreements they had drafted.
Needless to say, the villagers had already begun to murmur in agitation.
When a man with a booming voice shouted out, Namgung Eon answered immediately.
"Why would the Cheonsan Sect plot such a thing?!"
"It's obvious! They wanted to pin the blame on the Sun and Moon Sect, and then extort protection fees from you villagers under the guise of protecting you from the Demonic Cult!"
At that moment, the robes of the Sun and Moon Sect worn by the kidnappers at the shrine flashed through my mind.
I had thought it strange that they would wear clothes that so clearly revealed their identity while committing such a crime. I had assumed they were just incredibly reckless, but if the goal was to deliberately frame the sect, it made perfect sense.
However, the villagers seemed to latch onto the mention of "protection fees" even more.
"No wonder! Those bastards have been visiting the village since last year, subtly pressuring us to pay protection fees."
"I heard it's common practice in the Murim for sects to extort money under the name of protection."
"The Sun and Moon Sect doesn't do that! Aren't these guys even worse than the Demonic Cult?!"
With the villagers growing far more enraged than they had been when the Demonic Cult was mentioned, pushing them to the brink of an explosion, Namgung Eon's voice rang out clearly as he roared at the Cheonsan Sect Leader.
"You trashy hypocrites! The one who truly killed the eight women of this village is you, Wi Jin-pyeong!"
Having such words spat in his face by a mere greenhorn, Wi Jin-pyeong's face turned beet red. He looked ready to pounce on Namgung Eon at any second.
If the Cheonsan Sect elders hadn't held him back, conscious of the villagers' watching eyes, he would have undoubtedly struck him down right then and there.
One of the middle-aged men, who appeared to be an elder of the Cheonsan Sect, approached Namgung Eon and whispered quietly.
"Young Master Namgung, let us discuss the details slowly among ourselves..."
"I believe we have heard more than enough."
The one who blocked the middle-aged elder was none other than Yeongho Bin.
After gesturing to Yeongho Bin moments ago, I had pushed through the crowd of villagers with him to get close to Namgung Eon, positioning ourselves between him and the Cheonsan Sect warriors.
Since Namgung Eon had already said everything he needed to, and there was no telling what the Cheonsan Sect bastards might do despite the crowd, I figured it was time for us to step in.
"Warrior Yeongho?! How are you here?"
Namgung Eon's eyes went wide as saucers upon seeing Yeongho Bin's unexpected appearance.
And then...
"Ah! Young Sect Leader!!!"
The moment Namgung Eon saw my face, he shrieked even louder than before, as if he had seen a ghost, and threw himself flat on the ground in a deep bow.
No, you idiot... I understand you're shocked, but shouting it out that loud...
"Young Sect Leader?"
"The... no, the Sun and Moon Sect's?"
"The Sect Leader's... the Sect Leader's son... you mean his son is here?!"
"Heugh!"
It was only natural for the villagers to be frightened out of their wits upon seeing the Young Sect Leader of the infamous Demonic Cult suddenly appear.
Moreover, weren't these the very people who had been cursing the Demonic Cult just moments ago?
Every eye turned to look at the boy. Though somewhat small in stature, he exuded a cold, noble aura, paired with a terrifyingly fierce expression.
Suddenly, the entire village square fell deathly silent, as if cold water had been poured over it. Some people began to back away slowly, preparing to run.
Even the Cheonsan Sect warriors had turned pale.
Uh, well...!
Of course, out of everyone there, the most shocked person was me.
There was no way I could remain fine when so many people suddenly turned their attention to me.
Thanks to my experience as the Young Sect Leader, I managed to maintain a dignified, imposing expression on the outside, but inside, my mind was glitching like a broken machine.
In that quiet, frozen moment where no one dared to move...
"Ah! Mommy! That's the big brother!"
"Ah..."
From amidst the crowd, voices I hadn't even realized were there rang out.
It was the familiar voices of the mother and daughter I had heard on that dark night.