Chapter 616
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 616
Chapter Title: A Slip of the Tongue
The Four Seas Alliance headquarters was every bit as massive as the Righteous Heaven Alliance's main branch.
Unlike the Righteous Heaven Alliance, situated at the heart of the grand city of Luoyang, this colossal stronghold perched amid the treacherous peaks of Mount Heng—known as the Southern Peaks—was a sight of awe in its own right.
It was a spectacle of tremendous scale, different from what the Righteous Heaven Alliance offered.
Of Mount Heng's seventy-two peaks, more than halfway up the mightiest one was entirely claimed by the Four Seas Alliance.
The peak had once borne its own name, but no one remembered it now.
Ever since the Four Seas Alliance took root there, it had been called Four Seas Peak.
Gazing down at the Four Seas Alliance from the summit of Four Seas Peak was truly majestic.
And right now, Ha Mu-baek stood at that very summit, overlooking the grand and imposing expanse below.
The summit of Four Seas Peak was a forbidden sanctum, held sacred even within the Four Seas Alliance.
It had to be.
From there, one could look down upon the entire alliance like a god surveying his domain—no one could simply climb up at will.
Only those granted permission by the alliance leader himself were allowed.
After all, it loomed above the heads of everyone in the Four Seas Alliance.
Yet Ha Mu-baek stood there as if it were the most natural thing in the world, arms crossed, gazing down at the alliance below.
The paths leading to the summit were guarded with utmost vigilance, befitting its forbidden status.
But to Ha Mu-ba-baek, such defenses were no obstacle at all—as was to be expected.
Ha Mu-baek's current appearance was utterly bedraggled.
He had raced here to Mount Heng at full throttle.
Still, rather than seeking out Mun Inbaeksong right away, he had climbed straight to the summit of Four Seas Peak for one simple reason.
It had been ages since his last visit to the Four Seas Alliance, and he wanted to take stock of how things had changed.
"Still the same as ever."
A honed aura dominated the entire Four Seas Alliance.
The Righteous Heaven Alliance had its share of fools who dismissed the unorthodox sects as beneath notice.
But this place was anything but a pushover.
Sure, fierce power struggles likely simmered beneath the surface here too.
Yet the alliance leader's iron grip held it all together.
Unlike the Righteous Heaven Alliance, which had split into factions and was on the brink of open infighting.
Their unified might might even surpass the Righteous Heaven Alliance's.
The aura emanating from the Four Seas Alliance felt much the same as it had on his previous visit.
One thing was clear: the alliance leader's control over his domain outshone even So Hwi-woong's.
"Well then, shall we go?"
Ha Mu-baek gave his foot a light stamp, and his form glided smoothly down the mountainside.
The sentries monitoring every path to the summit never detected Ha Mu-baek as he slipped into the heart of the Four Seas Alliance.
Black Mist Division Leader's office.
Since Gongya Jangcheon's departure, Mun Inbaeksong had spent even more time holed up here.
It was all because of a certain matter in Golden Treasure Valley on the eastern side of Mount Heng.
The alliance leader himself had taken action—a first in the past two or three years.
Mun Inbaeksong had no choice but to focus on it.
Gongya Jangcheon was the Four Seas Alliance incarnate.
Especially now, with no successor named, anything happening to him would spell disaster.
"Looks like old man Gongya Jangcheon stepped out. Did you call me here because of that?"
Mun Inbaeksong, buried in paperwork, jolted upright at the sudden voice, snapping his head up.
At the low table in one corner of the office sat Ha Mu-baek, legs casually crossed, looking utterly relaxed.
His foot bobbed idly.
"Hah. It's a mercy you're not an assassin. If you were, even the title of world's greatest would be a joke."
Mun Inbaeksong rose calmly and walked over to the low table.
His back was drenched in sweat.
Ha Mu-baek had just demonstrated that, if he wished, he could take his head at any moment.
'This is why you have to be careful with that monster.'
Ha Mu-baek's overwhelming power that could sweep battlefields in an instant was fearsome enough.
But this ghostly ability to appear without a trace was even more terrifying.
This was no ordinary place—it was the Four Seas Alliance headquarters.
The Black Mist Division, no less, which handled all intelligence.
The security net around it was as tight as could be.
Yet it had been breached all too easily.
Even Mun Inbaeksong himself hadn't noticed Ha Mu-baek's presence until he spoke.
Shhh, shh. Whoosh.
Only then did the Black Mist warriors hidden around the office reveal themselves, surrounding Mun Inbaeksong.
They were his personal guards.
They hadn't even caught Ha Mu-baek's voice—only reacting after Mun Inbaeksong moved, rushing in frantically upon realizing the intruder.
"Stand down."
Mun Inbaeksong ordered calmly.
"But..."
"If he meant to kill me, it'd be over already. Besides, I invited him. Stand down."
Mun Inbaeksong issued the command as if it were nothing, and his resolute demeanor sent the guards retreating to their hidden posts.
Sitting across from Ha Mu-baek at the low table, Mun Inbaeksong grasped the teapot nearby with both palms.
p>Heat from his hands warmed the tea inside in an instant.
"It's from a few hours ago, but have some anyway."
He placed a teacup before Ha Mu-baek, poured it full, then filled his own.
"Just as you said. The alliance leader is away at the moment. And yes, that's why I summoned you."
The guards had returned to position, but every nerve was now fixed on Mun Inbaeksong.
Yet no voices reached them.
Mun Inbaeksong's lips were clearly moving, but no sound emerged.
Ha Mu-baek had erected a barrier to block all noise.
In truth, it hardly mattered.
As an intelligence outfit, most in the Black Mist Division knew lip-reading anyway.
Ha Mu-baek glanced casually around the room.
Wherever his gaze lingered, a hidden Black Mist agent flinched.
"Don't mind them. They're watching even over the classified docs I handle here."
"Impressive faith in your subordinates."
"That's the Black Mist Division for you."
Mun Inbaeksong replied matter-of-factly to Ha Mu-baek's retort.
"Maybe for you, old man Mun. But I rub people the wrong way."
Snap.
As he spoke, flicking his finger lightly.
Black energy seeped from Ha Mu-baek's body, enveloping the two men.
Now blocking sight as well as sound.
Mun Inbaeksong tensed.
That black energy felt far from ordinary.
"Don't tell me... demonic qi?"
Ha Mu-baek chuckled.
"As if I'd bother."
Mun Inbaeksong nodded.
He couldn't wrap his head around Ha Mu-baek practicing demonic arts.
"You lie low for years, then suddenly demand repayment of a debt. What's going on?"
Ha Mu-baek's question drew a deep sigh from Mun Inbaeksong.
"Sigh. Indeed. It was a debt I swore never to call in unless my lord's life hung in the balance."
Ha Mu-baek stiffened at Mun Inbaeksong's words.
The implication was no small matter.
"My lord" meant Alliance Leader Gongya Jangcheon.
For his life, no less.
What peril could threaten that man?
"Planning a war?"
Ha Mu-baek's voice dropped low.
Mun Inbaeksong shook his head.
"Don't talk like that about a righteous-unorthodox war. I have no such intentions. Nor does the alliance leader. But disasters don't care about precautions or wishes."
"For a 'disaster,' targeting Gangseo Province feels pointed..."
"You were tied up in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, so we probed just in case."
Mun Inbaeksong's response was nonchalant.
Ha Mu-baek frowned.
The hidden meaning was straightforward.
In the event of a righteous-unorthodox war where the unorthodox fell and Gongya Jangcheon's life was at stake, he'd call on Ha Mu-baek to save him.
That's why the debt to Ha Mu-baek had been left unpaid all this time.
Calling it in now could only mean...
"Gongya Jangcheon is in danger?"
That was the only explanation.
An utterly unbelievable one.
Mun Inbaeksong nodded.
"He is. Sigh."
A heavy sigh escaped him.
Ha Mu-baek had guessed it tied to the absence, but he couldn't fathom how.
"Bang Sa-uk."
Mun Inbaeksong said curtly.
Ha Mu-baek's eyes widened slightly.
"You found out about that quick."
It had only just happened at the Beggars' Sect headquarters.
Even for the Four Seas Alliance, learning the details so swiftly was impressive.
"Heavenly Eye Pavilion Lord warned us to be cautious."
Ha Mu-baek understood at Mun Inbaeksong's reply.
Gong Son Dan-gyeong had passed on the intel discreetly.
Even amid righteous-unorthodox divides, vital information on the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult was sometimes shared.
Mun Inbaeksong continued.
"You might not know, but something similar happened in our Four Seas Alliance—or rather, the Gongya Clan. The circumstances differ a bit."
"What do you mean?"
Ha Mu-baek's voice turned icy.
He hadn't known about this.
Slurp.
Mun Inbaeksong took a sip of tea before continuing.
"The Gongya Clan has a young lady named Gongya Harang, the family head's youngest sister."
Ha Mu-baek was unaware.
"A woman of exceptional talent... who took an interest in demonic arts."
'She was insane.'
Mun Inbaeksong eyed Ha Mu-baek steadily.
"She's still a lady of the Four Seas Alliance. Mind your language."
"What?"
"Your eyes just cursed out the young lady."
Mun Inbaeksong spoke as if reading Ha Mu-baek's mind.
Ha Mu-baek replied coolly.
"Doing something that insane? It's only natural to curse."
"Insane... Well, attempts to study and counter demonic arts happened in the righteous sects too, I hear?"
They had, but were quickly abandoned.
Deemed hopeless.
Gongya Harang was different.
"The young lady seemed to find some clue within them."
"Gongya Jangcheon must've been mad too."
Mun Inbaeksong shook his head at Ha Mu-baek's sharp words.
"If the alliance leader knew, he'd have stopped her. She was like a daughter to him."
So she'd done it in secret.
He must have found out after the trouble started.
That's how the curse of demonic arts worked.
"Trouble struck in the end."
"It consumed her."
Ha Mu-baek stated it as fact, but Mun Inbaeksong shook his head.
"The curse manifested, but it didn't fully consume her."
Ha Mu-baek was mildly surprised.
'Don't tell me she's got the Vermilion Bird Blood Spirit Physique too?'
As far as Ha Mu-baek knew, that was the only constitution that resisted immediate takeover by the curse.
It would eventually succumb, but it could hold out awhile.
"She wasn't normal, though. Hmm. Yes, she's been in constant battle with the curse. We hid her away in secret and kept watch. It's been years now."
Ha Mu-baek was genuinely taken aback.
It resembled Bang Sa-uk's case but differed.
Bang Sa-uk had clung to life on the brink, forcing the curse to split its power to preserve its host, buying years.
The Gongya young lady, however, had endured purely on her own strength for years without succumbing.
"For brief moments each day, she'd regain her sanity. Enough to take regular reports."
From Mun Inbaeksong's long preamble, Ha Mu-baek pieced together what followed.
"She finally succumbed recently."
Mun Inbaeksong didn't deny it.
"More precisely, the regular reports stopped."
Same difference.
That's how the curse of demonic arts operated.
Years of stalemate, then sudden takeover.
And Bang Sa-uk's incident had preceded it.
There had to be a connection.
"So Gongya Jangcheon went to check himself. For his precious little sister, like a daughter to him."
Ha Mu-baek murmured calmly, as if it all made sense.
Mun Inbaeksong caught an emotion in those words.
Understanding.
Incredibly, Ha Mu-baek—this monster—understood Gongya Jangcheon's feelings.
Mun Inbaeksong blinked in disbelief.
"How does that bloodless, tearless monster..."
He couldn't believe it, and the mutter slipped out unbidden.
Ha Mu-baek smirked.
"Hearing that from an unorthodox thug stings a bit."
Mun Inbaeksong snapped to attention at Ha Mu-baek's retort.
"Ahem. That was a slip of the tongue. My apologies. I was just too shocked."
He covered his embarrassment with a cough.