#145. Those with Black Masks (4)
“Greetings to my benefactor.”
A woman whose face bore the faint traces of time, her black hair streaked here and there with white. Even after the years had stolen her youth, she exuded a unique and subtle beauty in her very presence as she performed a deep bow.
I quickly moved to help her up.
“They say excess courtesy is discourtesy. Whether by jianghu hierarchy or age, I'm the junior here—this kind of lavish welcome is too much for me.”
Despite my words, the woman only smiled faintly at the corners of her mouth.
“Who else in this world could be a benefactor if not the one who saved my child from my arms?”
She was Hae-ryeong, the first disciple of Haomen Lord Yeo Mi-mi.
Hae-ryeong rose gracefully from her seat and gestured elegantly toward the table. At her action, Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa somehow stiffened up even more.
“May I prepare tea for you?”
“……”
“……”
At Hae-ryeong's words, the two young women nodded in unison, and Hae-ryeong let out a small laugh as if finding their reactions adorable.
Pour. The way she prepared the tea and poured it—every motion was infused with beauty. This must be what they called dignity in the tales of the world.
Before her, Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa sat ramrod straight, tense like students before a strict teacher.
The savory aroma of the tea rose up, and parched as I was, I downed it in one gulp. Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran stared at me in shock.
“……!”
What're those looks for?
“Why the stares?”
“……No reason.”
“……”
I tilted my head, wondering what I'd done wrong, but the two women offered no reply. Instead, Hae-ryeong covered her mouth and chuckled, as if even that amused her.
“Young master, you're as unchanged as ever.”
“It's not been long enough for a person to change, has it?”
“In that short time, your reputation in the jianghu has soared to the heavens.”
“How could that be solely my doing? It was only possible with the aid of a splendid faction like Haomen.”
“I'm grateful for your kind words.”
As Hae-ryeong and I exchanged words known only to us, Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa looked at me with barely contained curiosity.
“Um…… who might this lady be……?”
Seeing the usually fiery Seong Moran suddenly turn so ladylike, I wondered if Hae-ryeong carried some inexplicable air of authority.
I had no idea how to introduce Haomen's first disciple. I'd never expected to meet her here in the first place, and given her secretive nature, I'd assumed she'd have me leave Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa waiting outside if we did meet.
But before I could ponder further, Hae-ryeong rose and bowed deeply.
“I am Hae-ryeong, Pavilion Master of Haomen's Manbingak Pavilion.”
“……”
“……”
At her words, Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa exchanged glances, their mouths slowly falling open in disbelief.
“Pavilion Master of Manbingak…… that would make you…… the first disciple of the Haomen Lord……”
“Yes. She took in this unworthy soul.”
“Heh……”
“……I heard Haomen never reveals the identities of its key figures to the outside world.”
Hae-ryeong looked between me and the women before speaking.
“Because you're friends of our Young Master Jin.”
“……‘Our’?”
“……She said ‘our,’ right?”
Her words left the two looking utterly perplexed.
As they puzzled over it, Hae-ryeong turned to me.
“You've come regarding Elder Jang, correct?”
“You knew?”
“We were keeping watch. When we heard you'd arrived in Akyang, we figured you'd stop by.”
If they'd anticipated that much, Haomen wouldn't have sat idle. I swallowed once and asked cautiously.
“……So it is the Demonic Cult?”
The most crucial question. Even the two young women, lost in their shock, snapped their heads up at the words “Demonic Cult.”
Hae-ryeong rose and approached the bookshelf.
“The reason I came to Akyang was that very rumor. About the Demonic Cult abducting people—such nasty talk.”
Hae-ryeong unrolled a large scroll across the table's center. A map of Akyang in intricate detail. Red and black dots were marked all over it.
“Red dots mark those whose deaths are unconfirmed. Black for those confirmed dead.”
“All of them?”
The sheer number and spread of the dots showed abductions and murders scattered too widely to pinpoint any specific area.
“No common threads between the dead and the missing, either. This Heo Hu-ran here was an eighty-year-old grain trader. And Jeong Hwa, the missing girl, was a gisaeng playing music at a pleasure house.”
“……No idea what the culprits want.”
“Exactly.”
As I listened, I circled back to my initial question.
“Where did the rumor start that the Demonic Cult was behind this?”
If the real Demonic Cult were active, their identity wouldn't leak. The Murim Alliance would already be in an uproar if it had.
“We don't know that either. But ever since it began, the marketplaces have been buzzing with talk of the ‘Demonic Cult.’”
Their goal wasn't demonic chaos or world domination. These pointless deaths and abductions would only heighten wariness toward the Demonic Cult.
Realization dawned, and heat began rising in my head.
“Someone…… impersonating the Demonic Cult for their own gain…… that must be it.”
Hae-ryeong nodded silently.
In my past life, how many agonizing deaths had I witnessed fighting the Demonic Cult? Countless sacrifices and setbacks, all because of them.
This went far beyond mere profit-seeking—it crossed every line.
“……Fucking bastards……”
This incident wouldn't appear in the records of the world I had memorized in my mental library—no ties to the Demonic Cult. Meaning it was something new in this life, absent from my previous one.
“When did this all start?”
Hae-ryeong flipped through a book she'd brought.
“Half a year ago. The first incident was on the gajin day of the imin month.”
“Half a year…… What big event happened in Akyang back then?”
“Nothing in Akyang itself, but something major in neighboring Hubei Province.”
“Hubei? What?”
Hae-ryeong chuckled and glanced at me.
“Young Master Jin led the black path factions on a march to the Murim Alliance.”
“Ah!”
So absorbed in the case, I'd forgotten my own actions.
“Come now, that's a misunderstanding. I only joined out of respect for their noble cause, transcending black and white.”
“We'll make sure the rumors reflect that.”
Hae-ryeong covered her mouth, chuckling as if it were the funniest thing.
Now it's nagging at me.
“……Anyway, did this start right after in Akyang?”
“Not immediately. The black path factions in Akyang—Mukhyulbang, Heukbugung, Yuwolmun, and Cheongsungpa—faced escalating conflicts, even bloodshed.”
“Weren't Mukhyulbang and Heukbugung the established powers there?”
“They harbored grudges from the Mareung Plateau incident and used the black path gathering as pretext to divide Akyang. But they failed, leading to the rise of Jeomcheong's Seongsa Dowi.”
“So we could suspect those black path factions seeking revenge.”
Hae-ryeong nodded.
“But we couldn't pin it on Mukhyulbang or Heukbugung.”
“……”
The case had quickly hit a dead end. If Hae-ryeong had solved it, she'd have brought the info to me.
I excused myself and scanned the list of missing and dead, committing each name to memory—just in case even a tiny clue connected later.
But as I stored the names, my mental process halted at one.
“Eunbong Guest House—isn't that run by the Sandong Ak family?”
“Yes. One of Akyang's top three inns by size. It even closed briefly after its owner was killed.”
“……”
“Something odd?”
I finished memorizing the book without answering. Then I cross-referenced it against my mental library.
Something…… something just out of reach, like a thin thread slipping through my fingers.
And then it clicked.
Snap.
“No deaths or disappearances among those connected to Jeomcheongpa.”
“……!”
“……”
An inexplicable silence fell. Not just because we were deep underground.
“Any info on what happened to these victims' businesses or families afterward?”
“……Yes.”
Hae-ryeong swallowed and fetched a thick, ledger-like tome from the side—crudely compiled from gathered intel, but sufficient.
“After old man Heo Hu-ran died, his grain trading rights went to a transport agency run by Cheongsungpa.”
“……Jeong Hwa's father is the owner of Cheongjukru. And recently, Cheongjukru did a property deal with Jeomcheongpa.”
“……So after each incident, the beneficiaries are always Jeomcheongpa or its affiliates……”
As we matched the data point by point, the room's heaviness thickened, pressing down on the air.
By the time we'd checked everything, no one could easily speak.
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……”
The evidence so far didn't prove Jeomcheongpa's guilt. It could all be coincidence, with them just happening to profit after.
“……Bullshit.”
My curse snapped the three out of their stupor, eyebrows shooting up.
“The so-called pillars of the Murim Alliance, impersonating the Demonic Cult for personal gain?”
“……”
Hae-ryeong looked at me with worried eyes.
“Young master, this evidence alone…… isn't enough to judge.”
It might be unrelated, of course. But with Yuwolmun and Cheongsungpa deeply involved, Jeomcheongpa couldn't be entirely innocent. Nothing happens without their say-so.
Hae-ryeong's polite words boiled down to: punishing Jeomcheongpa was impossible. Even if the Inspection Hall investigated, they'd dodge with excuses. And the backlash would turn on me, giving them cause to claim I'd insulted them.
Their disciples might even storm the Murim Academy for my head.
“I know.”
“……”
“But we can't just let it slide. Right?”
Unlike the anxious Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran, Hae-ryeong let out a small sigh.
“How can we assist?”
“You'll help?”
“You'd push ahead regardless, wouldn't you?”
# We returned to Jang Dowon's house.
We told the Tae-eulmun kids what we'd learned, and naturally, the four of them were even more outraged than us.
But anger alone couldn't blow it all open.
“Touch Jeomcheongpa, and it'll drag down not just us, but the Namgung family and Iron Sword Sect too.”
I agreed with Saryeon's words. Resolution was needed, but rash moves would backfire, shattering us.
“The Namgung family won't stand for this.”
Namgung Seonhwa said that, but giving Jeomcheongpa pretext could plunge the barely stabilized Namgung house into chaos again.
“In the end, we need to find the missing without alerting Jeomcheongpa.”
I nodded at Eunho's assessment.
“Haomen's searching, but it'll take time. And if they know we're onto them, they'll erase evidence.”
Eunho pondered, then scratched his cheek.
“……This is kinda off-topic, but Geum Pyo-hyung and I devour snacks right away, while Dongryong always saves his for later.”
“……Huh?”
His sudden tangent made me tilt my head, but Eunho continued.
“We know Dongryong saves them, so we always hunt for his hiding spots. But he's gotten better at it.”
“……And?”
“One day, we asked if he'd eaten his hidden snacks. He said they were so sweet, ants would come if left out.”
Dongryong's eyes sharpened, recalling it.
“Dongryong glanced at us, then dashed to his stash. We split what he hid.”
“You little……”
Dongryong lunged at Eunho the moment he finished, and Eunho played the adult, holding him off.
“……Hm.”
Instead of us hunting, make them come to us…… Not a bad idea.
I ignored the bickering Eunho and Dongryong and turned to Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran.
“Shall we try it?”
“……Try what?”
# Akyang's night streets outshone the day.
Throngs flocked to see Dongting Lake by night, merchants hustling amid the crowds—it was so packed you could barely walk. Akyang's night streets.
People who ignored officials or renowned jianghu figures now stared at the two women.
“Whoa…… human or fairy?”
“I thought Seop-hon-seo-si and Ok-an-so-so were the pinnacle of beauty, but today's broadening my horizons.”
“Who the hell are they?”
“Don't approach. Some Hwaha-gongja punks tried talking to them earlier and flew three zhang.”
“Martial prowess too?”
The two, drawing all eyes, headed to Hwamwolru—one of Akyang's priciest pleasure houses.
Men trailed them en masse, and the touts flung open the doors like manna from heaven.
As the women entered, Hwamwolru fell silent.
“……”
Then whispers rose, forgetting prior chatter, all eyes on them.
Touts rushed forward, competing to seat them.
“I'll serve you properly tonight.”
“Leave it to me.”
“Any ideal type in mind? I'll scour Akyang to find them.”
The women, exchanging amused glances and chuckles, spoke.
“We're not here for drinks and entertainment.”
“Ah, then……?”
“Come to see my cousin. Heard she plays the geomungo here.”
“Ah…… May I have the name?”
“Jeong Hwa.”
The touts exchanged puzzled looks.
“Jeong Hwa? A gisaeng by that name?”
“First I've heard.”
“No Jeong Hwa at Hwamwolru.”
They answered in unison.
“That's weird. I heard she played geomungo here.”
As the first two hesitated, the third stepped up.
“Why are you looking for her?”
“Nothing major. Grandpa insisted she attend the upcoming Namgung family event.”
“What?”
The tout gaped, and Namgung Seonhwa tilted her head.
“Why the surprise?”
“N-no. Might the young lady be……”
“I'm Namgung Seonhwa.”
“……”
“Jeong Hwa's a distant cousin, but family and Grandpa doted on her.”
“……I see.”
“Not here, then. No help for it.”
Having “failed” to find Jeong Hwa—or never intending to—Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran left Hwamwolru.
As eyes followed again, they donned veils and slipped into an alley.
Deep in the shadows, a transmission reached Namgung Seonhwa.
-Well done.
The sender: me, Jin Sowoon, watching from Hwamwolru's roof.
Namgung Seonhwa nodded subtly, out of sight.
-Any changes?
-One tout's shoving through the kitchen staff, heading out.
-The one I talked to, probably.
-Likely. The culprit's checking the bait.