Catching the Hidden Fiends (6)
Jin Sowoon, having exposed the fiend lurking in Saruryongmun, set his next target on Hwangsa Gate. And in a ridiculous twist, the fiend hiding there turned out to be none other than Gal Cheongi.
"No way! It wasn't me! Don't talk nonsense!"
Given how deeply he'd grieved Gu Gye-ak's death, no one in Hwangsa Gate could even imagine Gal Cheongi as the fiend. But Jin Sowoon sliced off Gal Cheongi's head in one stroke, ignoring the sect warriors' attempts to block him. He then peeled away the human-skin mask from the face, revealing the truth. The disciples of Hwangsa Gate couldn't hide their stunned expressions.
With that, everyone thought the fiends had all been caught, and tension within Sahyeokryeon began to ease at last.
But Jin Sowoon's "focus method" didn't stop there.
"I'll catch and kill every last one."
The leaders, sensing crisis in his storm-like rampage, admitted their past mistakes and tried to rein him in. But Jin Sowoon showed no sign of stopping.
He dragged out a fiend from Madomun, the last major force in the pro-war faction. Then from the neutral factions' Blood Tiger Gate and Black Killing Room as well.
The Madomun takedown was especially spectacular...
"Oh dear, he ran away, did he? Don't worry. I've got everything prepared."
The fiend, who hadn't yet gone on a killing spree, had disguised himself as an ordinary warrior and fled under cover of night.
"Just catch the runaway and bring back his head, right?"
But Jin Sowoon sent Dang Seohui—the venomous daughter of the Tang Clan—after him. She returned with the severed head, and he peeled off the human-skin mask right there in Madomun for all to see.
They said they'd believe him without proof, but the ruthless black path warriors inwardly clicked their tongues at the sight of the mask coming off before their eyes.
'That guy's properly insane.''...What kind of righteous path guy is that? He's a slaughter-crazed maniac.''At this point, isn't his martial art just ripping off human-skin masks?'
But no one dared voice complaints about Jin Sowoon's "focus method" catching fiends left and right. If he pegged you as a Demonic Army spy, your head would roll before you could twitch—no appeals after that.
"Why are you all staring like that?"
"Ahem... nothing..."
"N-no, nothing..."
Everyone avoided his gaze whenever he appeared.
And so Jin Sowoon's rampage came to an end. The people of Sahyeokryeon let out long sighs of relief—not so much at rooting out the hidden fiends, but at his blade finally sheathing. It was the moment when the fame of the Black Flame Dragon—righteous path's rising star and black path's saint—solidified even further.
"Hmmm..."
Gun Yuhyeon, reviewing recent events, let out a long sigh.
"I have no idea how he pulled it off."
His intellect was unmatched—no real rivals in that regard—but the current situation baffled him.
"There shouldn't have been any way to detect them."
Ever since Jin Sowoon asked for his help, he'd racked his brains but found no method to uncover the fiends. Yet Jin Sowoon nabbed them one after another. With that ridiculous "focus method," no less.
He knew full well no such thing existed. Jin Sowoon mentioned it only as a smokescreen—to hide his real methods and instill unknown fear, driving them to irrationality. And it worked perfectly; one fiend even fled in panic and got caught.
All signs pointed to the envoy delegation as culprits. Pro-war factions preaching war with the Murim Alliance, allied groups egging them on. The odds of catching the real perpetrators were near zero.
Yet Jin Sowoon pierced those impossible odds, just like with the sword plaques.
"What trick did he pull this time?"
But he couldn't guess this one's mechanics.
"Is there a reason little demon took notice of him...?"
Pondering, Gun Yuhyeon drew his geompae to divine.
Thud, thud-thud, thud.
A satisfied smile crossed his face as he gazed at the cards.
"As expected."
The completed array on the floor was the Linked Sword Formation. Like last time, the strongest possible hand.
"Even if you lose the battle now, you must win the war to claim ultimate victory."
Gun Yuhyeon carefully gathered the cards.
Ilgak, whom he'd met at the Murim Academy after the Sichuan ordeal, had said:
"Jin Sowoon seems like an 'enlightened one.'"
Ilmyeong hadn't affirmed or denied it then. It was a common delusion.
Monks who attained Unmoving Mind sometimes projected their inner defeat onto foes, deeming them extraordinary to avoid facing it. Only later, realizing the opponent was just mortal, did they admit their feelings as defeat and denial.
Natural enough.
But now, Ilmyeong suspected he'd been the one in denial—not Ilgak. The "enlightened one" he'd thought of was Yong So-a. Everyone acknowledged him, so Ilmyeong had too.
Meeting Jin Sowoon in Sahyeokryeon made him rethink: Had he elevated mere mortal Yong So-a to excuse his own shortcomings?
"Sacrificing someone to advance is a choice for when bigger problems arise."
Ak Byeongbi's words urging him to go on without him, and Jin Sowoon's reply, echoed vividly.
And with it, a certain man surfaced: Yong So-a. What would he have said?
Probably something unsettling. Ilmyeong shoved the thought aside.
Jin Sowoon's actions bordered on foolish bravado. A situation where all could die.
Yet he shattered their despair and turned the tide.
No more stones or spear-tips flying at the lodgings. No more passersby radiating killing intent for duels, no early-day bravado or hostility.
Instead, they averted eyes from the delegation like guilty criminals, detouring paths to avoid them.
What righteous path saint—or any righteous warrior—could forge such a scene? Strength and smarts alone wouldn't cut it. Only enlightenment, reaching a higher plane, could.
'Though his methods are a bit unorthodox...'
"Focus method," of all things. A Daoist disciple using a term unused even in Shaolin—tongue-clicking worthy. But good results were good, right?
Then, someone approached cautiously, snapping Ilmyeong from reverie.
"Monk. Here you are."
A boy looking like an ordinary errand lad handed over a thick stack of papers. Ilmyeong didn't know the contents. He'd delivered the paper from Jin Sowoon and the black plaque as instructed; this seemed the reply.
"Is this all?"
"Yes. Deliver it, and Young Master Jin will handle the rest."
"...Who said that?"
"The Haomen Lord."
"...Amitabha."
Haomen Lord herself passing word. He hadn't doubted Jin Sowoon's "guest" claim, but facing it head-on was shocking.
Haomen's "guest" status wasn't handed out lightly. A youth barely past thirty as one? Ilmyeong's Unmoving Mind nearly cracked from curiosity.
Suppressing it, he pressed palms together.
"Understood. Farewell."
Curiosity aside, duty called. Grabbing ingredients and herbs, Ilmyeong dashed back to Sahyeokryeon.
With fiends exposed, hostility toward the delegation vanished inside. Yet Jin Sowoon insisted on sourcing food and meds externally.
'Does he still think fiends remain?'
He hurried to the lodgings, but Jin Sowoon, Baek Du-chil, and Yeom Gwi-bi were absent.
"Did Jin the lay practitioner head out?"
No more fiends—where to now? Dang Seohui, busy with hands, turned.
"To the banquet. We should go too—drop the stuff and prep."
"Banquet?"
"Yeah. The alliance lord's hosting one for us."
"..."
Hosting a banquet signaled resetting enmity to amity. Perhaps even broach the once-unmentionable peace treaty.
At this point, Ilmyeong had to concede.
"Jin Sowoon seems like an 'enlightened one.'"
Ilgak was right; he'd been wrong.
"Amitabha."
As Ilmyeong and Dang Seohui entered the grand hall, laughter filled it.
"Kuhahaha!"
"Kekekekeh!!"
Only two voices, though.
"As expected—you down the liquor like a champ!"
"Sahyeokryeon lacks roots, but damn, the booze is top-notch!"
"Kuhahaha! Brewed by hopeless drunks like us—has to be!"
"You know it's all thanks to me, right? Without me, Sahyeokryeon'd be kaput."
Jin Sowoon mimed slitting his throat with a thumb. Chaseokdu nodded.
"Right, right! True Black Flame Dragon! Even rethinking it, that moniker fits perfect."
Bam!
"You call that fitting? How much I hate that nickname!"
Jin Sowoon slammed his cup down, glaring. Chaseokdu, once high in black path murim, now sat at its pinnacle—yet this attitude.
"Don't you know how mismatched 'Black Flame' is for a righteous elite?"
Chaseokdu refilled Jin Sowoon's cup.
"You're a stretch for 'righteous elite' to begin with."
Jin Sowoon downed it in one go, grinning.
"Fuck that, you call that talk?"
Stop, you madman!
Ilmyeong instinctively eyed Chaseokdu. But...
"Kuhahaha! Not your average guy—far from it!"
Chaseokdu wasn't sane either. Their drunken banter chilled Ilmyeong to the bone.
Was this Sahyeokryeon's culture? He scanned the leaders opposite the delegation. As expected, no one laughed along. Some even had bulging veins on foreheads.
Only Chaseokdu gleefully topped off Jin Sowoon's cup.
"Instead of this, why not switch to Sahyeokryeon? Vice-leader beats Murim Alliance pawn, no?"
"Ho! Vice-leader post exists?"
"Come, we'll make one."
"So generous—kuhahaha!"
Chaseokdu added semi-seriously.
"Why not? No backing, no cash—you top out at Alliance Lord's aide anyway. Real men risk for glory and riches."
"Hmm... maybe? It's gotten so filthy and petty I was cursing it out anyway. Kuhahaha!"
Madman, rein it in. Inspection Hall's third lord is right here...!
Ilmyeong swallowed, glancing at bandaged Ak Byeongbi.
"..."
Ak Byeongbi sipped silently, as if deaf to it all. Beside her, Dang Seohui's eyes sparkled, itching to join.
'Amitabha, Amitabha.'
The crude jokes blurred who the real black pathers were. Chaseokdu's proprietary attitude toward Sahyeokryeon irked the leaders plenty.
"Ahem."
"Alliance Lord. The jests are over the line."
"Indeed. Even at a drinking party..."
As leaders voiced discomfort, Chaseokdu and Jin Sowoon dropped their grins like shedding masks. They stared blankly.
Under the heavy silence, sweat beaded—then Chaseokdu sneered.
"Sheesh... since when do black pathers mind joke levels? Just jokes, jokes!"
"Hold on, Alliance Lord. Can't take a joke? Guess you're no true black pather. I'll "focus method" that Demonic Army spy's skull to bits."
"Kuh, ahem..."
"Amitabha..."
The duo's perfect synergy had Sahyeokryeon leaders—and even delegation members—shaking heads.
"Anyway, you nearly got wronged, then cleared our internal fiends too. We owe you... what'd be good?"
Jin Sowoon waved it off with a beaming smile.
"Nah, nonsense again. Me, righteous elite, taking gifts from black path overlord like you? Controversy city."
Official gathering with Sahyeokryeon council present. Calling the lord "overlord." Ilmyeong's heart dropped with each word.
Chaseokdu fiddled with his cup, feigning thought.
"Hmm... that'd suit me fine, but..."
Slide—
"Sheesh, 'but' huh? Think I'd let it slide? ...Hands off that Black Dragon Sword."
Slide—
"...Anyway, we Sahyeokryeon don't live indebted."
Jin Sowoon, toying with the Black Dragon Sword, downed a cup.
"How about an alliance between Sahyeokryeon and Murim Alliance instead of gifts?"
"Alliance?"
Jin Sowoon nodded.
"We even confirmed the ones sowing discord. No need playing their game, right?"
"Hmm..."
As Chaseokdu pondered, leaders' faces varied—relief, frowns.
"True, can't fall for their schemes."
"Then?"
"But alliance is tough. Can't read Alliance intent yet."
Chaseokdu extended a hand decisively.
"Not quite 'instead,' but let's wrap with a peace treaty."
Jin Sowoon eyed Ak Byeongbi briefly after glancing at the hand. Silent exchange. Ak Byeongbi lifted her cup wordlessly; Jin Sowoon spoke.
"A journey of a thousand li starts with one step. We'll take it slow."
Chaseokdu and Jin Sowoon clasped hands.