A Hero's Reason (4)
The steady clop of horse hooves echoed down the road.
The merchant caravan Seomun Hwan had joined moved with purpose.
The journey to Hubei was still long, but everything was unfolding exactly as planned.
Rumors about the treasure the caravan carried had spread like wildfire through the Hao Clan’s information network, growing wings of their own.
What began as a simple planted rumor had now drawn the eyes of the entire murim world.
The strong made no effort to hide their greed, and the clans and sects were beginning to tense like bowstrings.
Anyone with even passing interest in the matter would have started moving by now, in one way or another.
Whether they acted themselves or sent disposable underlings, traces would surely remain.
Seomun Hwan had intended to seize that fleeting gap and catch their tails.
But the situation had veered in a completely unexpected direction.
They refused to show themselves. Instead, an entirely new rumor began to circulate—one he had never heard before.
It was clearly not sown by the Hao Clan. The texture of the information felt different, and the speed of its spread was subtly off.
This was intelligence someone had leaked with clear intent.
The Phantom Demon's Cave has been discovered.
Caw!
A crow sliced across the sky and landed carefully on Seomun Hwan’s arm. The bamboo tube tied to its neck clinked softly.
With practiced ease, he lifted his arm to receive the bird, untied the knot, and pulled out the message.
What news had it brought?
The moment he read it, his brow furrowed deeply.
“These crazy bastards!”
A low curse slipped out.
The tube contained something he had never anticipated—a literal “insane rumor.”
“The Phantom Demon’s Cave has been discovered?”
The Phantom Demon’s Cave.
Even thirty years after the Phantom Demon’s death, the name still stirred the murim like a lingering legend.
The tale claimed that before he died, the Phantom Demon had gathered every rare treasure, spiritual medicine, and supreme martial art he had collected throughout his life and hidden them inside a secret cave somewhere.
In other words, the entirety of the Phantom Demon’s legacy lay sealed within that hidden vault.
Whoever found it would obtain the greatest martial arts and wealth the world had ever seen.
At one point, people had scoured the land with burning eyes in search of that fabled cave.
But the truth was…
“As if I would ever make something like that.”
The name alone was ridiculous. And to create such a place, one first had to consider what a proper secret cave even entailed.
It wasn’t just digging a hole in the ground. The entrance had to be concealed to deter grave robbers. The doors required complex formations or bizarre mechanical traps. The interior needed multiple layers, with martial manuals, treasure chests, spiritual herbs, and weapons carefully arranged by section.
To complete something like that, one would need masons, stoneworkers, carpenters, architects, weaponsmiths, and even people who knew nothing about martial arts.
Dozens of laborers. Months—perhaps years—of time.
And the cost? It would require enough wealth to run an entire respectable clan.
In short, it was pointless extravagance.
Why would he create such a thing for someone to find after his death?
“Why the hell would I do something that stupid?”
Yet people had always fallen for such nonsense. That was why rumors of the treasure map’s discovery surfaced periodically, only to end in disappointment every single time.
Empty legends or con artists’ tricks. Eventually, no one believed them anymore.
But this rumor was different.
This time, they claimed the real treasure map had appeared—and the proof was none other than the secret manual currently being transported by the Seomun merchant group.
People’s eyes were no longer on a simple Murim Alliance commission. They were now locked onto the caravan carrying the Phantom Demon’s secrets.
“So this was their scheme.”
Whether they had planned it from the beginning or changed tactics when things didn’t go their way, he couldn’t be sure. What was clear was that his opponents were no ordinary foes.
Even so, he had no intention of simply taking the hit.
“Fine. Let’s see how far you’re willing to go.”
Seomun Hwan placed a reply inside the bamboo tube and sent the crow back on its way.
Caw!
Peep!
“Where do you think you’re going? Get back here!”
Peep?
The rumor that the Phantom Demon’s secret manual and the treasure map recording the cave’s location had surfaced was now shaking all of Hebei.
But the rumor quickly transformed.
The forbidden arts of the Phantom Demon that had vanished for decades, the spiritual medicine said to convert a living person’s internal energy into blood, and enough gold and silver to topple a kingdom—if all of it truly existed inside that cave, it was no longer mere treasure.
It was hegemony over the world itself.
The great factions of the murim began moving quietly, as though fire had been lit beneath their feet. Smaller sects and schools could no longer hold back and set out first. Even nameless ronin, wanted criminals, and penniless swordsmen were streaming toward Hebei.
Unidentified figures began establishing camps at every mountain pass.
“The one who finds the secret cave will obtain the world.”
Hebei was being dragged into an unprecedented, bloody contest the likes of which had never been seen before.
In the midst of that storm, the Seomun merchant caravan finally entered the heart of the region.
Clatter. Clatter.
The atmosphere was anything but ordinary. One could feel it the moment they arrived.
The plains at the foot of the mountain were packed with travelers who had set up camp. Flags of merchant groups and escort companies fluttered here and there, but the most eye-catching sight was the throngs of martial artists openly displaying their weapons.
Every passing traveler was being stopped and questioned. Temporary checkpoints had been erected at various points along the road.
“They say someone carrying out a special mission for the Murim Alliance will pass through here.”
“We’re searching for the one with the treasure map. He’s somewhere nearby.”
Countless sects and families were entangled in the area, but the two that displayed the most overwhelming presence were the Peng and Huangbo families from the Five Great Noble Families.
Having formed their battle lines and seized the center, the other forces could only watch nervously, not daring to raise their voices.
Into that murderous atmosphere, the Seomun caravan finally appeared.
With gleaming black eyes, a figure stepped forward and blocked the path of Seomun Jin-gang’s carriage.
“Please halt for a moment.”
The ones blocking the way were a Huangbo warrior adorned with golden emblems and a Peng warrior carrying an enormous saber.
Their gazes had been locked for some time on the heavy, reinforced cargo wagon at the very center of the caravan.
Seomun Jin-gang stepped down from the carriage.
“Greetings. I am Seomun Jin-gang, leader of this merchant expedition. What seems to be the problem?”
The Huangbo warrior answered first.
A middle-aged giant whose face was more than half covered by a thick beard. He looked like the very incarnation of Zhang Fei.
“A pleasure. I am Huangbo Gi-mun. In the gangho, they call me the Lightning Fist King.”
The Peng warrior stepped forward as well, refusing to be outdone.
Another middle-aged man of similar stature.
“I am Peng Do-yun, known as the Undefeated Blade.”
Huangbo Gi-mun and Peng Do-yun.
Leading figures of the righteous path from the Five Great Noble Families, they possessed martial prowess, honor, and authority in equal measure. They were famous for never acting on personal emotion or selfish desire, always placing the duties of a murim warrior first.
At least on the surface.
In truth, they too had come with their eyes on the treasure map that was shaking the world.
But they could not reveal that greed. Their names carried the weight of the two characters for “righteous faction,” and that weight was far heavier than personal desire.
So they had no choice but to approach indirectly.
“Leader Seomun,” Huangbo Gi-mun began.
His tone was calm and restrained, yet his eyes pierced the carriage like sharpened blades.
“We have received intelligence that someone is attempting to bring a dangerous object into Hubei.”
Peng Do-yun added, “We have not yet confirmed what that object is, but we understand it is significant enough to affect the entire murim world.”
It was a courteous but blatantly leading question.
Yet Seomun Jin-gang showed no sign of intimidation. Instead, he smiled as though he had been waiting for exactly this and nodded.
“Ah, you must mean that. Yes, that is correct. The object in question is…”
He deliberately turned and raised his voice so everyone could hear.
“…the Phantom Demon’s treasure map, which we are transporting under an official commission from the Murim Alliance.”
Sudden silence fell over the area.
Every gaze that had been wandering nearby snapped toward the Seomun caravan at once.
A taut tension pressed down on the air like an invisible weight.
The rumors that had circulated until now had never been confirmed. They had remained nothing but hearsay.
But now someone had officially declared its existence—in the name of the Murim Alliance, from the mouth of Seomun Jin-gang.
The warriors from the Huangbo and Peng families could not hide their shock.
This was completely unforeseen.
They had only meant to probe.
They had no physical evidence, no clear circumstances.
Yet the other party had confessed before they could even ask—and in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Haha, to be honest I’ve been quite troubled about taking on something so far above our station,” Seomun Jin-gang said with a hearty laugh.
“Since both of your esteemed families have come out to greet us personally, it is truly reassuring for us.”
The words were a perfectly laid trap.
They were built on the assumption that the two families had come forward to assist the caravan.
To deny it now would be to admit they had been targeting the map like thieves from the very beginning.
They too had come for the Phantom Demon’s treasure map.
But as long as they carried the banner of the righteous path, the word “greed” could never be spoken aloud.
So they had approached under the pretext of carrying out a special mission from the Murim Alliance and searching for suspicious individuals.
Yet the one transporting the map had now revealed everything himself—right in the middle of an open clearing, surrounded by countless experts and warriors of the gangho.
Dozens of eyes watched. Members of the righteous path, the unorthodox path, ronin—everyone gathered in Hebei with the same goal.
They too were stunned by how the situation had developed.
They were no longer ambushers. They had become public figures before the entire murim.
No one would dare reach out recklessly now.
To touch the treasure map was to declare open war against two of the Five Great Noble Families—and by extension, the Murim Alliance itself.
Huangbo Gi-mun and Peng Do-yun realized this reality first.
They wanted to refute it, but the situation had already been decided.
Claiming belatedly that they were simply passing by would only turn them into a joke.
In this moment, only one person was smiling with perfect ease.
Seomun Jin-gang.
He bowed once more.
“Thank you. We also felt that transporting such an important item with only the Seomun merchant group was too heavy a burden. Having such distinguished individuals come forward to meet us is truly reassuring.”
He never explicitly used the words “collaborators” or “escorts,” but the meaning was obvious to everyone present.
Huangbo Gi-mun felt rage flare inside him, but he forced a smile and nodded.
“You give us too much credit. In these turbulent times, if we can be of even the slightest assistance, it would be our honor.”
Peng Do-yun quickly followed suit.
“We only stepped forward because there were many suspicious characters. We are simply honored to be able to help.”
Both men vaguely realized they had been played, but there was nothing they could do.
Any objection now would only expose their own greed.
Seomun Jin-gang gave a light bow.
“Then we’ll be counting on you.”
He turned and climbed back into the carriage without another word.
Watching his retreating back, Huangbo Gi-mun and Peng Do-yun exchanged bitter smiles.
“Ugh!”
After closing the door and straightening up, he quietly let out a breath.
Then he turned toward the person sitting on the inner sofa and smirked.
Surprisingly, another Seomun Jin-gang sat there.
Two Seomun Jin-gangs in one carriage.
As the one who had just returned circulated his energy, his face blurred and shifted back into Seomun Hwan’s own features.
Seomun Hwan looked at his still-dumbfounded older brother and spoke.
“Sorry, but this time I’ll have to do it my way.”