#93. Time of the Hunt (7)
"They're gone."
Jegal Somyeong furrowed his brow. Again. The gateway tokens had vanished once more.
The examiners for the Murim Academy exam followed the gateway tokens. Chasing them determined pass or failure in the end. But with four thousand tokens just at the first gate, it was impossible to track them all.
That was why they predicted paths and relayed token positions to examiners in the next areas.
When asked if human error might be the cause, Jegal Somyeong shook his head firmly.
"We have double and triple safeguards precisely to prevent that."
Besides, if it were mere mistakes, the reports from the messengers were too subtle.
"Two hundred. And only from major sects at that."
Two hundred tokens gone between the first and second gates. It seemed within margin of error compared to the four thousand at the first gate, but looking at which tokens and people vanished, it wasn't.
The Nine Great Sects. The Five Great Families. The 108 Peaks. All targets were those with high chances of passing—future pillars of the Murim Alliance.
"Do you think it's the unorthodox sects' doing?"
"……."
Jegal Somyeong glanced at Maeng Ju-won, who had suddenly chimed in. Dark circles extended from under his eyes down to his cheeks. Yet his gaze was still sharp and alert.
"Why do you think that?"
"It's too clear-cut for simple errors. The samples are obvious."
"More detail."
"Most are second-generation disciples from the Nine Great Sects and 108 Peaks. A small number overall, sure, but these are the ones who'll support the academy entrants and future Alliance activities. Removing them throws the whole balance off."
"Ha."
Despite the gravity, he couldn't hold back a chuckle. If just one more like this were here, he might even retire from the Myriad Communications Division someday.
"Who do you think is behind this?"
"The easy answer is the unorthodox sects."
Jegal Somyeong's brow furrowed again.
"But... it's not them."
His eyes widened once more.
"Don't hold back—speak."
"If war breaks out with the unorthodox, it'll be total war. Their max gain would be over half the martial world. From that view, the Murim entrance exam is just them lying under the persimmon tree, waiting for fruit to fall. No need to get their hands dirty."
Jegal Somyeong nodded. Spot on. Every exam saw orthodox blood spilled across the land. The Alliance grew more elite, but overall strength plummeted.
"Then who do you think it is?"
Maeng Ju-won pondered, then shook his head.
"No specifics."
"……."
"But I know what they're after."
"What?"
"The fall of the Murim Alliance."
"Haa."
Jegal Somyeong let out a long sigh. Maeng Ju-won had voiced the dark thought swirling in his mind—one he'd hesitated to pursue. Words only the young and hot-blooded, still naive, could utter.
"And you're just going to sit there?"
"……?"
The Murim Alliance never halted the entrance exam, no matter what. Any issue became part of the test—that was tradition.
"But this is too big a problem."
"It looks big, but it's not confirmed. If the Alliance steps in now, it raises doubts about fairness."
He knew that full well—why bring it up suddenly?
"This could turn into a real disaster."
"……."
Was the kid seeing something he hadn't?
"Our little Sowoon entered an area where tokens vanished. We need to rescue him before it's too late."
"……."
He'd never even met the boy, yet it was already 'our' Sowoon.
"Otherwise, I'll never marry, never have fox-like kids or rabbit-wife and... argh!"
A stick was too kind for the delirious fool. The judge's brush in his hand unleashed the famed Red Leaf Flying Flower technique on Maeng Ju-won.
"Die!"
#
"We're from the Namgung family. Who are you?"
As Namgung family warriors tended the wounded, Namgung Seonhwa called out to the black shadows—but no reply came.
"Battle formation!"
Ching ching ching ching ching!
Namgung and Iron Sword Sect warriors drew silver blades in unison, forming ranks.
"Reveal yourselves, or we attack!"
"……."
The twenty black shadows said nothing. No signs of conferring. They stood like statues rooted there from the beginning, which only heightened the chill.
And for some reason, her heart pounded harder.
Unable to bear the pressure, Cho Mubin finally shouted.
"Charge!"
In that instant, white blades thrust from cloaks that had looked like black rocks. Jagged, uneven swords. Eerily, blood trickled down the entire lengths.
As warriors charged fiercely to overcome fear, they sensed the air quiver and halted instinctively.
The sensation from Jin River Harbor. Pressure sucking in all surrounding air.
After this air's tremor...
The shockwave hit faster than expected.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!
The technique that had shattered dozens of departing ships at Jin River Harbor now stretched toward the black shadows.
"Hah... hah... We have to run!"
"What?"
No reason given. Jin Sowoon, ever calm in any crisis, sowed deeper unease among the warriors. Gang Seopyo and Cho Mubin exchanged glances instinctively.
They'd joined to ensure passes, but their frontline duty was protecting Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran. They chose to trust the Jin Sowoon they'd seen so far.
"Let's go!"
"Move!"
Warriors scooped up the wounded and kicked off the ground in a flash.
Jin Sowoon, conversely, plunged into the space where Radiant Heaven Divine Palm's aftershocks lingered, returning moments later. In his hands: that chilling sword and a severed arm.
"Young Master Jin..."
"Talk later... We must head to Pung-hyeon now."
They'd planned to detour through Pung-hyeon to avoid eyes. But his expression left no room for questions.
*
'Why are they here? And what's their goal?'
Jegal Somyeong is a true genius. He memorized every Myriad Communications Division record and realized something. It's not just smarts. He builds systems.
No system, no sect lasts. There are 10-year systems. 50-year ones. 100-year ones.
He built a 100-year system for the Murim Alliance—unique to how he handles info.
Organized Myriad Communications, set up Simhyeongak to classify intel as low/mid/high priority. Efficiently used Heavenly Eye Pavilion and limited Alliance manpower to plant eyes and ears everywhere.
Then lined up acquired info chronologically, filling human-transmission gaps. Viewing the world like it's in his palm from Myriad HQ.
Yet even with double-triple safeguards, info voids appear. He called them 'disappeared pieces.'
Despite his flawless system, he always considered unknowns. And he noted: to find a disappeared piece, gather surrounding ones.
'Disappeared Pieces Theory.'
Now, in my mind, pieces assemble per his theory, revealing the missing one.
◎ Ambush on Moyong Sangwon.
◎ Demonic Cult intent to conquer the martial world.
◎ Disappearances of Mudang's Hyeonjeong and Huashan's Yeon Umun.
◎ Traces of Fluid Bone Sword in Hyeonjeong and Yeon Umun's skeletal remains.
◎ Dark Absolute Soul Unit, which shouldn't exist here.
With surrounding pieces fit, the 'disappeared piece' emerged per Jegal Somyeong.
- Assassination of key Murim Alliance figures in prep for the Orthodox-Demonic War.
"Damn it."
The problem: that piece meant they'd slaughter us to hide their intent.
Dark Absolute Soul Unit. Elite squad of just twenty, dubbed a 'unit.' Trained in Demonic Cult's bizarre Dark Demonic Sword fusing stealth and swordsmanship, then subjected to illogical Fluid Bone Sword surgery—Demonic monsters.
One platoon of four could match ten of the world's top hundred masters, given terrain.
And they were targeting us.
"Light... I need light."
Key to fighting them: environment. Night's darkness was their stage. Radiant Heaven Divine Palm had drained my qi to the dregs. Even throttled, its ferocity forced scraping my dantian bottom for bare Heavenly Lone Walker God Step.
But results: one Dark Absolute Soul member reduced to a lone arm by my snap palm.
Past-life Small Justice Squad would've showered me in hazard pay for that.
"What the..."
"Don't stop, no matter what!"
Whether we could counter them was secondary. Confronting now endangered Namgung, Iron Sword, and the gold-silver-bronze brothers.
"Kuhk!"
Despite my words, screams from behind turned Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran's heads.
A warrior sprawled, arm outstretched. Gang Seop-yo nodded to another, who led Namgung Seonhwa ahead as he rushed back. A black shadow thrust its white blade at the downed man.
Gang Seop-yo unleashed Heaven-Piercing Free Swordsmanship with sword aura.
Shurra-la-la!
His blade rent the shadow in three instantly. But his eyes widened—not a clean hit.
Puk!
The shadow dispersed like smoke from Gang Seop-yo's sword, then pierced the warrior's throat.
"What in the..."
Confirming death, it swung its white blade at Gang Seop-yo again.
Shiiik!
Faster, cleaner than his forms, it quartered his body.
I barely unleashed Heavenly Lone Walker God Step, reaching his back to grab his nape and flee.
Shwaak shwaak!
He'd escaped dismemberment, but long gashes from his chest sprayed blood like fountains.
"Kuhk."
I fired all spare signal flares skyward. Of four, three were blocked by their throws, puffing white smoke as they fell; one burst, briefly outlining the Dark Absolute Soul members.
"Eek!"
Gang Seop-yo, dragged behind, forgot his wounds and shrieked like he'd seen the unthinkable.
"The village!"
Pung-hyeon glowed like fireflies amid the darkness.
#
"No need for courtesans, perhaps?"
"……."
The brothel owner scanned our group, noted Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa, and shut his mouth.
"Ahem... Shall I summon some musicians?"
"Just bring food."
Cho Mubin tossed a pouch. The owner grumbled and left, displeased. No wonder—we occupied the brothel's vast first-floor prime spot.
With only thin silk dividers, turning heads revealed entwined flesh; amid our silence, moans intertwined.
"……."
"……."
I'd chosen the brothel over Pung-hyeon's trade guild. The group followed without protest. No one dared speak first. No time even to mourn the dead.
We survivors might join them anytime. In that sense, Small Justice Squad felt lighter—we chose our moods amid constant death.
"What were those?"
Gang Seop-yo, chest wrapped thickly. Wound shallow but wide; red still seeped through.
"N-never seen anything so horrific."
The eldest, most experienced Namgung warrior's words spread terror.
"......Is it safe here?"
Namgung Seonhwa's anxious eyes sought answers. I couldn't reveal all I knew, so I wove lies. No hesitation—this lie alone could save us.
"Once, traveling solo after leaving Tae-eul Gate, I saw them hit a caravan."
I pulled a vague vanished caravan from memory.
"Escorts skilled, firm reputable—I figured they'd win."
"......No?"
Mix truth in lies.
"Their swords never touched. Some odd art—slicing them was like hitting water, no damage."
Dark Demonic Sword masters with Fluid Bone Sword became air, water. In darkness, untouchable; they slipped shadows at will. Unslashable.
"Then that palm technique..."
"I'd only imagined fighting them. Never dreamed it'd work."
I pulled out the arm.
"Brought it on purpose. To identify them."
Tearing cloth revealed black skin.
"Th-that's..."
A jagged white blade protruded from the palm.
"Bone?"
The bone sword's edge chilled. Namgung Seonhwa, Seong Moran, warriors—all disbelieving.
"We must stop the exam now."
The disappeared piece said: Dark Absolute Soul Unit—no, Demonic Cult—aimed to prune future Alliance pillars amid the test.
"You know that's impossible."
Exams never halt mid-term. Victims die 'in test,' no probes. Ending now leaves no traces.
"Th-then..."
They erase tracks, strike blows. Clever. Such prep explained the Alliance's swift fall.
"Priority: report their identity to the Alliance."
"Right."
"After we survive."
"What? But we're already..."
"We won't give up."
What they feared most: their tiny trace exposed to the world. It'd alert the Alliance to Demonic invasion.
"......"
"They hid identities, struck unseen. We weren't hit till now 'cause they prioritized other examinees."
Gulp.
If they stormed now, they could kill us all.
"They won't abandon us."
But it'd draw eyes. Eyes bring suspicion. What they dread.
"Then... coming to the brothel..."
"Only lit, crowded spot at night."
The brothel's subtle scent eased tension—or so I'd known, yet no one relaxed. Especially holding their corpse.
They'd pivot plans to grab us.
"What now? Contact home bases?"
"Fail the exam?"
Namgung Seonhwa looked incredulous.
"We'll continue the exam."
And escape their grasp the way they least want.