Master?
Seol Muyeong stood motionless behind me like a statue, without the slightest disturbance.
I spoke to her for no particular reason.
"Muyeong."
"Yes, Master!"
"If a hunting dog wants to catch prey hiding in the forest, does it have to scour the entire mountain?"
At my out-of-the-blue question, Seol Muyeong's clear, icy eyes wavered for a moment.
"I... I believe so. By slicing the whole mountain apart with absolute force, or else..."
"No, wrong."
I tossed and caught the vial containing the Kwaerakwhan as I spoke.
"A hunting dog doesn't scour the mountain. It just lays out the most blood-scented 'bait' that would drive the prey mad and waits leisurely."
The corner of my mouth curled up slyly.
There was no need to chase them around frustratingly. According to the laws of the web novels I'd written, there was only one fastest way to draw out these slimy villains.
Strike at their most hidden reverse scale—the thing they desperately want to keep secret—and force them to move!
"Bring Branch Manager Byeoinseong back here. Time to scale up the board."
Creeeak.
The heavy door swung open, and Danga Sangdan's Akyang branch manager, Byeoinseong, came rushing in, panting.
Sweat beaded on his forehead from my sudden summons.
"Y-you called for me, Lord Yul-gong!"
"Branch Manager Byeoinseong. I've heard Danga Sangdan's information network and rumor-spreading skills are the best in the world. That true?"
I leaned back casually in my chair, draping myself in the most arrogant, haughty persona of a 'shadowy absolute being.' Drawing up the cool energy of Hwalcheon Simgyeol from my dantian, I infused my voice with heavy pressure.
"Of course! Once it passes through our mouths, even the innermost secrets of the imperial palace circulate among the Beggar Union's beggars in half a day!"
"Good. Then spread this rumor without missing a single back alley, inn, or brothel where martial artists gather in Akyang city right now."
I tapped the table with my finger, enunciating each word deliberately.
"'Physician Immortal Jo Myeong-hwan's sole direct disciple has appeared in Akyang.'"
"Pardon...? You mean the Physician Immortal's direct disciple?"
"Yeah. And that's not all. Spread that this disciple has already obtained Kwaerakwhan and started researching an antidote— that he's perfectly reverse-engineered the horrific drug's components based on his master's secret journal."
"Gasp...!"
Byeoinseong's mouth fell open wide. Even in the merchant's calculating mind, he could see the massive ripples my bait would cause.
Think about it. The Daeryeok Dobang thugs were profiting massively by selling drugs that turned people into narcotics addicts, all under the legitimate cover of escort agencies and merchant guilds. Then suddenly, some guy claiming to be the Physician Immortal's disciple shows up with the drug and declares, 'I'm here to research an antidote recipe that cures your addiction in one shot!'?
It was suicide.
"Wr-writer! That's too dangerous!"
Byeoinseong paled and tried to dissuade me.
"If that rumor spreads, Daeryeok Dobang won't sit idly by! They never let anyone who tries to cut their money line live...!"
"That's exactly my point."
I grinned.
"We need to make them move. And catching that movement is Danga Sangdan's job."
"Ah...!"
At that moment, a sharp exclamation burst from Seol Muyeong behind me.
Her eyes already sparkled with blind worship toward me, like starlight.
"Brilliant...! Master plans to become the deadliest bait himself, striking the enemies' home base by exploiting their greed and fear!"
She wasn't dumb, that was for sure. So how had she jumped off a cliff based solely on a novel? Must've been that desperate, huh?
Anyway, this narrowed Daeryeok Dobang's options to two.
First: Track down the Physician Immortal's disciple, kill him, and seize the formula.
Second: Immediately hide their drug labs and ledgers before they got exposed, with fire on their heels.
No matter how well they hid their tails, they couldn't ignore this fatal variable that could shatter their entire business model root and stem.
But the first option—coming after me directly—was nearly impossible. Why? They didn't know who the Physician Immortal's disciple was yet.
It would take considerable time to trace the link all the way to me.
And even if they found me, it wouldn't be easy. Surrounding me right now were Hwangbo Suyeon, daughter of Vanguard Fist King Hwangbo Daeryeok; Jegal Cheom, nephew of Cheoni-gak's leader and bearer of Murim Alliance Lord Yu Dae-un's token; and the mad-talented zealot Seol Muyeong.
"The moment they try to find me, they'll definitely... attempt to cover their tracks."
At my mutter, Byeoinseong clenched his fists tight.
"Understood! I'll mobilize every informant in the branch and every Haomen string-puller right now—half a day, and every ant and bird in Akyang's underbelly will hear this rumor! And any suspicious movements in Akyang, we'll report immediately!"
Byeoinseong left the room with a resolute expression.
Now the spiderweb was set. All that remained was for the bugs to stumble in and struggle.
A week later, late at night.
My guess hit the mark perfectly.
"Master!! We-we found them!!"
Byeoinseong burst in, nearly kicking the door down.
His face flushed with excitement.
"Daeryeok Dobang moved! Less than half a day after the rumor spread, our informants spotted suspicious activity at an old smeltery in Akyang's southern slums!"
Nice!
I inwardly cheered and clenched my fist.
Desperate moves to conceal their drug production process and site. They'd be hard to find if they stayed put, but once they moved, they couldn't escape Danga Sangdan's relentless radar net.
"Let's go. Strike before they erase all traces."
I shot to my feet.
Hwalcheon Simgyeol unconsciously circulated through my body, cooling my gaze to ice. Outwardly, I looked every bit the world's top investigator.
Our party slipping out the Danga Sangdan Akyang branch's secret back door was a dream team, no doubt. Everyone was coming along this time.
To my left: Hwangbo Suyeon, the golden flower of a prestigious family, her blue inner energy primed to erupt at any moment.
To my right: The mad zealot Seol Muyeong, clutching her eternally frosty blade Seola that exhaled pale chill.
And behind me...
"Young Hero Yeon. You're sure that's the place?"
It was Jegal Cheom, having perfectly shed his usual sniveling young master shell. His voice was calmly subdued, and the overwhelming intellect befitting a bearer of the Alliance Lord's token gleamed in his eyes.
A guy whose brain spun at top speed with ghost-like situational judgment. Though a total disaster when it came to romance, of course.
We swiftly infiltrated Akyang's southern slums following Byeoinseong's guided map.
Pitch-black darkness where even moonlight barely penetrated. The squelching mud and nose-stinging sewage stench proved this was murim's rock bottom.
"It's just ahead. Pass that narrow alley, and you'll see the smeltery they used as a hideout."
Byeoinseong pointed forward, holding his breath.
It was a long, narrow alley flanked by crumbling earthen walls, barely wide enough for two people abreast.
From the far end, faint torchlight flickered alongside the dull rumble of cart wheels and laborers' frantic shouts.
"Hurry and erase the traces! Scrape the cauldron bottoms clean! Burn it all before that Physician Immortal lackey barges in!"
At the Daeryeok Dobang thugs' urgent voices echoing from the dark, a smile crept onto my lips unbidden.
Perfect. Every condition for a raid was met.
Just dash through that alley and hit them—case closed.
I stepped boldly into the alley, humming a victorious tune inwardly.
"Alright, let's go. Cut off their air...!"
That was the moment.
The alley's air grew insanely heavy.
No, not just heavy. An overwhelming mass, like a colossal mountain suddenly crashing down on my head, crushed my entire body.
"Gasp...!"
"Nngh!"
Hwangbo Suyeon and Seol Muyeong at my sides groaned simultaneously, drawing their weapons.
But it wasn't killing intent.
This was a pure 'qi' barrier.
A wave of overwhelming inner energy, impossible for any human—like a massive natural disaster—filled the narrow alley, blocking our advance.
What the hell? Did the genre suddenly shift to cosmic horror?
My Hwalcheon Simgyeol spun furiously to suppress the fear, but my instincts screamed warnings like mad.
Ahead lay hell. Do not proceed. Absolutely.
Tap, tap.
Footsteps began echoing from the pitch-black alley's depths.
From the center of that massive, overwhelming aura, a figure slowly walked toward us.
Hwangbo Suyeon and Seol Muyeong's sharp auras shot toward the uninvited guest in the dark simultaneously.
But the figure brushed off the terrifying assault like a spring breeze and stepped into the moonlight.
And then, the revealed face.
"...Huh?"
I blurted out something stupid and froze in place.
It took considerable time for my optic nerves' input to process in my brain.
Worn-out changsam robes. Tousled white hair.
But unlike his shabby appearance, his eyes gleamed brightly, as if holding starlight—the old man.
The geezer the entire murim had gone into uproar searching for, presumed missing.
"M-Master?!"
Physician Immortal Jo Myeong-hwan.
My master stood blocking our path in this narrow alley right before Daeryeok Dobang's drug factory, with perfect timing.