#148. Those with Black Masks (7)
The Spectrum Five Ghosts Sword Formation halted just an inch from Jin Sowoon's nape, and the middle-aged man from Jeomcheong gritted his teeth as he scanned the figures atop the wall for their leader.
"Who are you? Who dares interfere with Jeomcheong's business!"
At the middle-aged man's shout, the warriors all turned to a single point.
"It's been a while, Senior Bungwang Ilseong."
Bungwang Ilseong ground his teeth at the sight of the woman who lightly descended from the wall and cupped her fists in greeting.
"Since when has the Namgung family stood above Jeomcheong?"
Namgung family. Men in uniforms bearing the emblem of the Changgung Unit were scrutinizing the estate interior with stern gazes.
"The Namgung family has never stood above Jeomcheong."
"Then how do you explain this situation?"
"……."
Bungwang Ilseong pointed his sword at Jin Sowoon.
"Jin Sowoon, masked, inflicted irreparable harm on a Jeomcheong disciple here in Yuwolmun's estate. Have you come to shield him?"
Namgung Seonhwa, who had been looking at Jin Sowoon, gave a small nod and spoke.
"Of course not. I merely came here to investigate the disappearances happening in Akyang."
"……."
At Namgung Seonhwa's words, Bungwang Ilseong's eyebrow twitched violently before he turned his gaze to Yuwolmun's warriors.
"……."
One of Yuwolmun's warriors subtly shook his head, and Bungwang Ilseong schooled his expression as he glared at Namgung Seonhwa.
"What nonsense is that? Disappearances in Akyang?"
"If you'd been in Akyang, Senior, you'd have heard of those committing murder and abduction in the name of the Demonic Cult. We're here investigating them."
"And that means…… Yuwolmun?"
"For now."
"You know Yuwolmun is Jeomcheong's lay affiliated sect, right?"
Defiling a lay affiliated sect was tantamount to defiling Jeomcheong itself. Bungwang Ilseong was asking if Namgung Seonhwa could bear Jeomcheong's wrath.
"They committed evil deeds and hid their shame by claiming to be the Demonic Cult. What's important now isn't whether they're Jeomcheong's lay affiliated sect."
"Answer me! Do you know Yuwolmun is Jeomcheong's lay affiliated sect and act this way regardless?!"
Namgung Seonhwa stared at him for a moment amid Bungwang Ilseong's thunderous roar.
"……."
Backing down now would bring a massive backlash. She absolutely couldn't retreat.
"……I know it very well."
"Good. We'll settle this through the Murim Alliance. Not just this incident, but we'll demand compensation for crippling a Jeomcheong disciple."
Namgung Seonhwa's face hardened at Bungwang Ilseong's words.
Taking this to the Murim Alliance would mean the evidence gets destroyed—it was obvious. And for some reason, bringing up Jongbyeokgi's severe injuries would torpedo any proper investigation.
At that moment, Jin Sowoon, surrounded by the Spectrum Five Ghosts Sword Formation, removed his mask and spoke.
"What's the need to drag the Murim Alliance into this?"
Bungwang Ilseong's lips trembled at Sowoon's leisurely tone overflowing with composure.
"Shut your mouth. Regardless of this, the harm to Junior Jong will be repaid with your sect's blood."
"That won't happen. Jeomcheong needs to take responsibility first for its disciple masquerading as the Demonic Cult."
"You bastard!"
Bungwang Ilseong flared with killing intent, on the verge of exploding.
"You'd better not."
Namgung Seonhwa's low voice.
"What?"
"If you're thinking of silencing us through murder, stop. The Namgung family isn't that weak."
A chill settled on Namgung Seonhwa's face, whom he'd taken for a naive innocent. Bungwang Ilseong faltered momentarily before steeling himself and gnashing his teeth.
"Everyone, that guy……."
But Bungwang Ilseong couldn't finish his words.
A leisurely voice from somewhere cut him off.
"Now, now, let's stop this. What's this between fellow Murim Alliance members?"
Five men crossed over the main gate. Dressed in Murim Alliance uniforms, their faces were ones even Bungwang Ilseong knew well.
"Akyang Branch Chief……."
"Long time no see, Brother Song. I heard you were resting quietly in Akyang, but it seems not entirely."
"Why are you here……."
"Naturally, to investigate those impersonating the Demonic Cult."
Bungwang Ilseong glared murderously at Namgung Seonhwa.
The situation was turning sour.
After the Mareung Plateau incident, the previous Akyang branch chief from Mudangpa had resigned, and the new one was from the Sichuan Tang family. If the scales tipped, it would favor the Five Great Families.
"Branch Chief, we can't cooperate with investigations on such a grave matter without headquarters' permission."
"Of course. But surely you can at least allow an investigation?"
"This is an insult to our blood ally Yuwolmun and Jeomcheong."
"Oh dear, what to do……."
As the Akyang branch chief scratched his head.
"I think I can help with that."
Turning toward the voice, it was Jin Sowoon inside the Spectrum Five Ghosts Sword Formation.
"Hm? And you are?"
"Jin Sowoon, representative of the Murim Academy."
"Ah, you're Jin Sowoon? I've heard all about you from Seohee—my ears are still ringing."
Jin Sowoon looked flustered.
"……My stories?"
"Yeah, that quiet kid chattered nonstop, so I figured I'd have to meet you someday. To think it's here…… Anyway, what do you mean you can help?"
"First…… release Junior Seong Moran, and we can know the incident without investigating the place."
"Really?"
Jeomcheong's warriors, who had initially refused to yield, eventually retreated one by one under pressure from the Murim Alliance members.
The moment Seong Moran, who had leaped over the wall into the woods upon release, returned carrying a pale-faced woman on her back.
"This is Jang Seoryeon. She was imprisoned in this estate's basement."
-----------.
A heavy silence blanketed the grounds for a long while.
Jin Sowoon looked down at Jongbyeokgi writhing on the ground and spoke.
"I came here to find Junior Jang, encountered Jongbyeokgi, explained the situation, but he attacked me as if exposed as the mastermind, so I merely responded in kind."
As if Sowoon's claim was absurd, a Yuwolmun warrior bellowed.
"Lies! You attacked Young Master Jong without a word!"
Jin Sowoon grinned disgustingly.
"Whether my words are true, just check the warehouse basement. That's where I found Junior Jang."
"Ah……!"
Only then did Yuwolmun's warriors grasp their mistake.
But words once spoken couldn't be retracted.
At this point, even Jeomcheong's warriors and Bungwang Ilseong couldn't interfere.
As the Changgung Unit and Jeomcheong faced off, Murim Alliance members swiftly opened the warehouse and entered.
And shortly after…….
"Huh?"
"Here……."
"People…… people are locked up!"
The branch chief looked at Bungwang Ilseong as the Alliance members searching the basement cried out.
"……."
A question of whether Jeomcheong was involved too.
Bungwang Ilseong's face flushed beet red as he unleashed his internal energy in all directions.
Boom boom boom.
His uniform ballooned as if about to burst, drawing tension from the warriors with his killing intent.
"Everyone, prepare!"
At Namgung Seonhwa's shout, the Changgung Unit warriors drew their swords in unison, ready for battle.
The moment Sowoon and the Tae-eulmun kids reformed the White Tiger Death Sword Formation to prepare.
Bungwang Ilseong shot toward Yuwolmun's warriors like an arrow.
"To dare commit such filth in Jeomcheong's name!"
Yuwolmun's warriors panicked…….
"G-Great hero! From the start, this was Jeomcheong's……."
"Shut up! What are you doing? They've defiled Jeomcheong from within its embrace!"
No sooner had Bungwang Ilseong spoken than Jeomcheong's warriors began cutting down Yuwolmun's.
"Kyaak!"
"S-Spare……!"
"Mercy!"
The Namgung family had no chance to intervene.
The violence was too sudden and ruthless—no one could or even thought to stop it.
It was a one-sided, overwhelming slaughter.
Dying Yuwolmun warriors glared resentfully at Jeomcheong's, but Jeomcheong's men looked at them like insects.
"Tsk tsk tsk."
The Akyang branch chief, who had approached Jin Sowoon, spoke.
"Justice is truly cruel, isn't it?"
The words' intent was inscrutable, but Sowoon somehow felt they weren't wrong.
Jang Dowon was truly a strong man.
In his previous life, when he'd come to the Murim Alliance.
The masters of the martial world had gone mad over the Fifteen Divine Armaments he'd forged, trying to coerce him into making ones just for them, but he refused.
Even with blades to his throat or outright violence, Jang Dowon didn't yield.
Everyone wondered if a man without a scrap of internal energy could be this strong.
"Sniff…… hu-hu-hu……."
Now, such a Jang Dowon wept endlessly.
I, who hadn't known of his existence, watched as he clutched his granddaughter, tears streaming for a long time.
"We'll give them space."
They needed time to release the anxiety of possible loss and savor their reunion's joy.
The hostages underwent brief questioning before being sent home.
The Alliance stepped up for the uneasy ones, but Jeomcheong had already sent them off with utmost care.
"Why did Jeomcheong step in? It was their doing, after all."
"What else but the thief's foot burning?"
They'd pinned it on Yuwolmun as a scapegoat, but centered on the Murim Alliance, everyone now knew Jeomcheong's rotten true face.
Their prestige would inevitably sink lower and lower.
On the way back, I got a moment alone with Bungwang Ilseong.
He glared at me, grinding his teeth.
"Jin Sowoon, I won't forget today's events."
"You shouldn't forget, of course."
"……What?"
"You caught those who sullied Jeomcheong's name from within. Naturally, you should reward it. Right?"
"……."
Bungwang Ilseong's eyes shook violently.
"No way the great Jeomcheong takes blood ally aid and lets it slide? Unbelievable. Tsk……."
His eyes trembled, now his lips quivering too.
Then the Akyang branch chief passed by, saw us, and stopped.
"You two still fighting?"
"No, Senior Bungwang Ilseong took my help and now pretends it didn't happen, so I pressed him. Didn't know the great Jeomcheong was so petty."
"……."
The branch chief looked at me with eyes no different from Bungwang Ilseong's.
"I don't want much. I expended a lot on this, so send some spirit medicine. Don't mix in poison thinking of assassination."
The branch chief's gaze shifted from me to Bungwang Ilseong.
"Will you send it?"
"……Jeomcheong."
Bungwang Ilseong swallowed his boiling rage and said.
"……never forgets favors or grudges."
With that, he turned sharply.
As I sneered at his back and turned to leave.
"Look at me for a sec."
"What's up?"
The branch chief moved first without answering.
Can't a guy answer when asked?
So here's the inside story.
Akyang had long been under a Mudang-affiliated branch chief.
Thus, despite Jeomcheong's lay sects, Mudang's influence was strong.
But after the Mareung Plateau incident sapped the Mudang branch chief's power and he vanished, Jeomcheong tried reclaiming Akyang.
However, with black path groups like Heukbugung, who'd lain low under Mudang's teeth, now rampant, Jeomcheong—limited to just two sects—found it hard to hold Akyang and resorted to invoking the 'Demonic Cult' to reorganize it.
"You knew all this, so why didn't you act sooner?"
I asked incredulously as the Murim Alliance branch chief explained the details.
He scratched his head as if I'd said something ridiculous.
"You think I didn't want to?"
"And why no follow-up investigation?"
"Investigation? Think we'd do it?"
"……."
"Jeomcheong's already moved. Declared Yuwolmun the mastermind and raided them."
It hadn't even been a day since the incident.
"Fast."
"What else? They've always been ready to bolt."
"Not surprised, huh."
"Isn't that how justice in the vast martial world is maintained?"
With that, the branch chief walked to one side of his office.
His office was filled with bizarre contraptions.
Lighting an oil lamp on one, gears of iron and wood whirred to life with winding sounds.
The lamp's flame heated a vessel atop it, steam rising to power the machine, it seemed.
Finally, fragrant tea trickled from the end with a gurgle.
He offered two cups.
I savored the aroma quietly, took a sip, and the fragrant taste filled my mouth.
"Delicious…… special tea?"
"Just common Yongjeong tea. Tea's more about how you brew it than quality."
Halfway through his cup, he stared at the rising steam and muttered to himself.
"Justice is similar. Depending on how you use it, it turns murky or clear."
"……."
"You don't seem to agree."
"Murky justice isn't justice."
"Is that so?"
Not intent on arguing, he scratched his head again.
"Anyway, good work this time. Thanks to you, my term extends a bit. Been a headache."
Feeling stifled, I asked again.
"No thought to resolve it yourself?"
Demonic Cult? Impersonating the Demonic Cult? That's not big guts—that's just balls.
And this nonchalant branch chief knew yet watched from afar like distant mountains.
"I did."
"Then?"
"Blocked immediately. By Jeomcheong."
"……."
"Being a Murim Alliance branch chief is tricky. Sometimes omnipotent power, sometimes just a figurehead."
"……."
"Could've fought with family backing, but no confidence in winning. Without someone like you, it wouldn't have resolved anyway."
Scratching his head, he said.
"Anyway, you cleaned it up neatly, so Akyang'll be quiet for a while."
"Shouldn't you step in more?"
"Me? Why?"
"Jeomcheong won't target me over this?"
He grinned broadly for the first time at my dissatisfied tone.
"You set up your own escape hatch, yet ask me to make one? What gives?"
"……."
"Half-killing Jongbyeokgi was personal grudge too, right? Jeomcheong's already framed it as his collusion with Yuwolmun."
"……."
"Plus, getting compensation via Bungwang Ilseong—how could Jeomcheong touch you?"
Hmm, all seen through.
Wasn't supposed to be this easy to spot.
I scrutinized the Akyang branch chief's face.
Sharp mind and keen insight—not ordinary, yet no memory of him no matter how I searched.
"No idea what you mean."
"Haha, just like Seohee said—shameless to the end."
"But you've been talking like we're connected since earlier. Makes me uncomfortable."
"Uncomfortable? Can't have that. No, really can't. I've sinned gravely. Truly sinned."
"……."
After his outburst, he suddenly stopped, mouth agape in a wide grin.
Now it felt a bit scary.
"Why wouldn't we be connected?"
"Pardon?"
"Didn't you use my Golden Jade Mechanism freely? That's a great connection, no?"
Crazy. Why bring that up now?