Chapter 97 :

Chapter 97. The Sharpest Blade in the Darkness (4)

“Those people…”

Dawn had broken.

As light spread across the plains, the Dark-Side Soul-Severing Corps disappeared with the darkness as though being chased away.

The scene revealed by the morning of a new beginning was utterly horrific.

The surviving examinees finally realized how terrifying the place they had spent the night truly was and fled in complete panic.

“I know.”

Naturally, most of those left behind at the scene were warriors abandoned by their employers.

I suggested that we save the critically wounded first, but the warriors did not move easily.

“You know that, yet you still intend to help them? Young Master Jin… are you the Buddha?”

I shook my head.

“I will never forgive those who targeted me either. However, were these people not merely acting under someone else’s orders?”

Although the level of warriors who could be mobilized was restricted to peak experts, not every hired warrior could possibly be at the peak level.

Families with little influence or money often hired first-rate or second-rate warriors.

In extreme cases, they even hired third-rate warriors.

Among those who had died on the plains, there had been far more hired men than employers and far more weak warriors than experts.

“They tried to kill us.”

“Those abandoned by their employers will have no choice but to wait here for death.”

“…”

Every examinee who had brought personal guards for safety had fled during the emergency.

These people had merely been used as tools.

Just like the Sojeong Unit in my previous life.

“Moreover, do we not also have people we must look after? If you take care of them, I will tend to these people.”

Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa, who had been listening silently, stepped forward.

“Yes. Let us do that.”

“Captain, please do as he says.”

Gang Seopyo and Cho Mubin, who looked displeased, eventually nodded.

Twenty warriors from the Namgung Family and the Iron Sword Sect had died.

Considering that they had begun with sixty people, it was an extraordinarily small number.

Even so, that did not make it easy to accept the deaths of people who had become as close as blood relatives.

It was the duty of the survivors to at least recover their bodies and bury them in a sunny place.

I brought the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers with me and began administering emergency treatment to the critically wounded.

Most of those receiving treatment were too ashamed to raise their heads.

The treatment was crude and must have been quite painful, yet not one of them screamed.

Only when the treatment was roughly finished and they were about to leave did they finally speak.

“…Th-Thank you.”

Instead of answering, I merely nodded.

Around noon, Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran returned.

“We will help.”

“You do not need to push yourselves.”

My actions toward these people came solely from the regret I felt over my previous life.

They were nothing more and nothing less than that.

I did not want to place my burden upon Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran as well.

“If this takes too long, we might fail to pass the third checkpoint. After surviving all this, nothing would be more unfair than arriving too late.”

“You do not need to worry about that.”

“Do you have a plan?”

At that moment, a group of carts came rumbling violently onto the plains.

“Lord Sowoon!”

I had suspected it, and I was right.

“Shopkeeper Yang!”

Yang Gunbaek arrived with Haomun disciples and physicians.

“…?”

Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran looked at me as though asking what was happening.

“I sent a message yesterday. I told them that a battle would probably occur around here and asked them to handle the aftermath.”

“Haa…”

Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran could not close their mouths.

The group that had been the primary target of this battle—the Namgung Family, the Iron Sword Sect, and the Taeul Sect—had mostly survived.

“Why would that be a problem? It is an incredible blessing.”

“F-Five hundred?”

Jegal Somyeong stared blankly at the report from the Heavenly Eye Pavilion before picking up another one.

Deaths: four hundred and eighty.

The number had decreased slightly, but it was still enormous.

After regaining his senses, he picked up a third report, but the number barely changed.

“What in the world…”

It was common for nearly a hundred people to die in a large-scale battle.

However, this had not even been a proper large-scale battle.

It had been a one-sided conflict to seize the checkpoint plaques held by the Namgung Family, the Iron Sword Sect, and the Taeul Sect.

Once the plaques were secured, the victors might fight among themselves again.

Even so, martial artists were quick to understand the balance of power and would not normally allow a conflict to become this brutal.

Moreover, the real problem was…

Jegal Somyeong glanced at Maeng Juwon, who had intruded without reading the atmosphere, then looked at the other members of the Ten Thousand Information Department.

The latest report had put him in a foul mood, and he had already caused a commotion.

Naturally, the other members avoided his gaze and could not conceal their tension, fearing he might seize upon even the smallest mistake.

Yet Maeng Juwon had entered without the slightest fear.

There was a limit to how much indulgence Jegal Somyeong could show him.

“Deputy Maeng, have you finished the proposal for reorganizing the Martial Alliance’s system?”

“Yes. I placed it on your desk, Strategist.”

“I heard the Righteous Path Association submitted a proposal to be promoted into a pavilion. How did you reject it?”

“I summarized why it could not be approved, the side effects that might arise if the Righteous Path Association were promoted to pavilion status, and the fact that the White Path Association and the Twelve Peaks Fortress would also seek promotion. I sent it to the association leader and its members. A copy is also on your desk.”

“…The Alliance Leader said he intends to audit the Enforcement Pavilion…”

“The Enforcement Pavilion is notoriously rigid, is it not? To deal with people like them, either the Ten Thousand Information Department or Simhyeon Pavilion must take action. I selected and organized candidates for the audit after the Martial Academy entrance examination ends, and placed the list on your desk.”

Maeng Juwon smiled shamelessly at Jegal Somyeong.

“You have nothing else to criticize, correct?”

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

Thinking he might have gone too far, Jegal Somyeong subtly changed the subject by returning to the report.

“What do you think?”

“It is certainly strange. Our Sowoon’s group had only sixty people, yet they survived against a thousand.”

“Do you think this can be dismissed as merely a strange incident?”

“Of course not.”

“Then what do you believe the problem is?”

Maeng Juwon stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment.

It was a habit he displayed whenever he became lost in thought.

“Too many people died.”

“I can read the report too.”

“No. What I mean is that the number of deaths far exceeded the maximum that could reasonably occur in such a battle.”

“Explain.”

“If I imagine myself traveling with our Sowoon from Heze onward, there are very few choices I could make. And if I chose a direct confrontation as Sowoon did…”

Maeng Juwon’s fingers twitched as though touching something in the air.

He was calculating something within his mind.

“Two hundred. That would be my limit.”

Jegal Somyeong also tilted his head.

His own rough calculations produced a similar number.

“But the real problem is that I would have no confidence in surviving afterward.”

He could kill as many as two hundred.

However, he could not guarantee that he would survive.

This was Maeng Juwon, one of the greatest figures under heaven, saying so.

Yet Jin Sowoon had accomplished that impossible feat.

He had also left five hundred people dead.

That number went beyond common sense and far outside ordinary cause and effect.

“What if we simply failed to understand the Taeul Sect’s true strength?”

There were only a few possible explanations.

Perhaps the Taeul Sect had hidden its martial arts all this time.

Perhaps Jin Sowoon was actually an old master who had undergone rejuvenation.

Without something like that, the situation could not be explained.

Maeng Juwon shook his head.

“There is a clear point at which the Taeul Sect’s circumstances began changing. There is also a clear point at which our Sowoon’s martial arts began developing. If you calculate the speed, rejuvenation is impossible from the outset.”

“Then what?”

“Do you remember the meaningless conversation you and I once had?”

Maeng Juwon spoke nonsense almost every day.

However, Jegal Somyeong immediately understood what he meant.

“The destruction of the Martial Alliance?”

“You refuse to consider it because no traces of Cheukdo remain, correct?”

That was the greatest problem.

If someone were standing behind the curtain, they should have left at least a small trace.

Yet nothing remained.

“Did you not say that something does not cease to exist merely because we cannot see it?”

“…Another missing piece.”

However, this time there were no surrounding pieces to fit together.

Without nearby fragments, there was no way to determine what belonged in the empty space.

“In the end, everything depends on what kind of report arrives from the branch.”

His head throbbed.

No matter how well the Alliance processed information, everything became meaningless if the information coming from the branches was obstructed.

The position of branch leader in each region could not be obtained through ability alone.

Every sect used every scheme and connection available to place one of its own disciples in the branch-leader position.

Naturally, those who reached the position with the support of their sects responded more quickly to their sect’s influence than to orders from the Martial Alliance.

For the sake of their sects, they sometimes filtered the information they submitted and handled incidents according to their own preferences.

Moreover, the victims of this incident included the second-line disciples of the Nine Great Sects and children of prominent sects within the Hundred and Eight Peaks.

Beyond the possibility that information might be contaminated, the proposed solution to the problem itself could be redirected in a completely different direction.

“It will be too late by the time the Enforcement Pavilion acts.”

A system capable of correcting their wrongdoing could only act after the wrongdoing had already occurred.

There was nothing it could do during an urgent situation like this.

“I will go.”

“What?”

“I will investigate the situation myself and bring back accurate information.”

“…”

“And while I am there, I would also like to see whether our Sowoon is safe.”

After thinking briefly, Jegal Somyeong shook his head and picked up the report.

He threw it toward Maeng Juwon using the Red Leaf Flying Flower technique.

The report flew in a straight line toward Maeng Juwon’s forehead, but he quickly lowered his head and narrowly avoided it.

“Whoa! What would you have done if that hit me? Do you not know that the entire Ten Thousand Information Department would stop functioning without me?”

“If you know that, why are you talking about traveling all the way to Henan Province?”

“How can I help worrying about our Sowoon?”

“Our Sowoon, our Sowoon! You have never even met the boy!”

“Is that not precisely why I feel even more attached to him—Aaargh!”

The report Jegal Somyeong threw eventually struck Maeng Juwon directly in the face.

“When I heard that Lord Sowoon had asked us to reveal your location to others, I truly struggled over what to do.”

After hearing about the operation I had devised to hide among the crowd, Yang Gunbaek seemed to have wondered whether the message was genuine.

“When I heard that you had raised the Taeul Sect’s flag, I was truly shocked.”

Even now, it was not a strategy any sane person would have chosen.

However, without it, all of us—including Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran—would have been killed by the Dark-Side Soul-Severing Corps.

“What exactly happened?”

“We were attacked by unidentified beings.”

“Unidentified beings? Did we not tell you that Wudang and Mount Hua were coming?”

“They never arrived.”

“…Then?”

I took out one arm belonging to a member of the Dark-Side Soul-Severing Corps.

Yang Gunbaek was horrified when he saw the grotesque arm, with black skin and a white bone sword protruding from it.

“Wh-What is this?”

“It belonged to one of those who attacked us.”

“Th-This is a human arm?”

“Yes.”

Yang Gunbaek examined the arm carefully with a calm expression.

He pressed the skin and handled the bone sword.

“This is definitely human bone.”

“Yes.”

“But the skin does not feel human.”

That skin was one of the defining characteristics of those who had undergone the Corpse-Fluid Bone Sword procedure.

“Look at this.”

I gripped one side of the skin and pulled.

The skin stretched like a piece of clothing, exposing the muscles and bones inside.

Yang Gunbaek stared in disbelief despite seeing it with his own eyes.

“I can hardly believe it even after seeing it.”

“There were nearly twenty people with bodies like this.”

“Are there more corpses remaining?”

“Unfortunately, this is all we have. The bones and skin of the others decayed and disappeared immediately after death.”

Yang Gunbaek looked at the remains with deep disappointment.

“That is unfortunate. If there had been more corpses…”

Even without saying it, Yang Gunbaek appeared to understand where these remains needed to go.

I drew the Black Dragon Sword, cut away the upper portion of the arm, and handed it to him.

“Lord Sowoon…”

“The lower portion still remains, does it not? I am not yet a member of the Martial Alliance, so I have no obligation to hand over the entire body.”

“Ah…”

“This will create the difference between the Beggar Gang and Haomun.”

Yang Gunbaek had been staring blankly at the remains.

At my words, his eyes widened.

He repeatedly looked between the remains and me before realizing something, then stared at me with shining eyes.

“You deliberately summoned me.”

“…Yes. Well, among other reasons.”

“I do not know how to thank you. Although you are our guest, you have helped us more than anyone.”

If Haomun learned of the Demonic Cult’s existence first, it might be able to predict future appearances of the cult by tracing its movements.

That would allow the entire murim world to develop a sense of urgency about the coming war much sooner.

At the same time, Haomun, as the organization that first began investigating the Demonic Cult, could surpass the Beggar Gang in a single leap.

Then the fastest and most accurate intelligence organization in the murim world would become my reliable supporter.

“Is this not also for the sake of all of us?”

There were no further attacks between Fuyang and Namak.

Perhaps the rumors had already spread.

Perhaps everyone who intended to come had arrived the previous day.

Whatever the reason, once we entered Namak, everyone was finally able to relax completely.

Seizing checkpoint plaques from one another was forbidden throughout the area controlled by the Martial Alliance’s Namak Branch, where the third checkpoint was held.

As soon as we arrived in Namak, we sent the wounded to the Medical Pavilion and finally slept.

The moment we woke early the next morning, we first sent messages to the warriors we had left behind in various regions, informing them that we had reached Namak safely.

Afterward, before heading to the Martial Alliance’s Namak Branch, everyone scattered to handle their individual tasks.

“Why are you still carrying that flag?”

Eunho, who had gone somewhere early in the morning with Seong Moran, was still holding the Taeul Sect’s flag upright.

“I was told that the Taeul Sect’s flag must never be lowered carelessly.”

“Ha! Did I say that too?”

“No. The Sect Leader did.”

“In any case, did we not return alive from that hellish battlefield? This flag is now a symbol of our confidence. It means that we will not bend, and anyone who wishes to challenge us may come.”

“If you wish to make such a declaration, remove the candied fruit from your mouth first… More importantly, where did you get the money to buy that much food?”

I managed the money of our entire group.

I was not stingy with my junior brothers, but I had not given them enough spare money to buy the entire bundle of snacks he was carrying.

“Ah, this? Sister Seong bought it for me.”

“Young Lady Seong did? Why?”

Eunho stopped eating the candied fruit and stared at me in silence with a sullen expression.

“Sister Seong said that half the participants in Hubei are in that condition.”

“Was there another enormous battle there?”

“No. The Wudang Sect traveled throughout Hubei Province and eliminated the examinees.”

“They said everyone would become competitors after the third checkpoint, so they removed them beforehand.”

“I do not see any insignificant nobodies among the wounded.”

Most of the injured belonged to sects ranked near the top of the Hundred and Eight Peaks.

“That is probably not the case. Perhaps those are simply the only sects capable of caring for their own people.”

I naturally nodded at Eunho’s words.

It had been the same on the Fuyang Plains.

Employers who hired people temporarily for money rarely took responsibility for them afterward.

“In any case, I do not want to encounter Wudang or Shaolin.”

Eunho muttered quietly while looking at a cart piled high with coffins.

I felt the same.

My ill-fated connection with Wudang was already more than sufficient with Yong Soa alone.

“This may be… difficult.”

Seong Moran’s voice sank as she left the Medical Pavilion.

The warriors who had appeared fine on the plains collapsed after entering Namak, as though their tension had finally disappeared.

Only twenty warriors of the Iron Sword Sect remained.

Regardless of the result of the third checkpoint, that number was far too small to endure the final examination.

“Even so, it is an incredible blessing that so many returned alive from that battlefield.”

“…That is true.”

Hundreds of people had died during the night.

No, if Jin Sowoon had not been there from the beginning, they too would undoubtedly have been found as mutilated corpses on the plains.

“It truly is an incredible blessing.”

“I believe that as long as you remain with Young Master Jin, nothing serious will happen from now on.”

Seong Moran looked surprised by Cho Mubin’s words.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Captain Cho, did you not dislike Young Master Jin?”

Cho Mubin’s face turned red.

“Young Lady, that was a long time ago. At the time, was he not a political enemy of our sect?”

“And now something has changed?”

“He may become the future imperial son-in-law…”

“What?”

“Ahem. N-Nothing. More importantly, Young Lady, take this…”

Cho Mubin hurriedly changed the subject and took out a small palm-sized container from inside his clothes.

“Is that not a powder case?”

“Yes.”

“I already washed. Do I still look dirty?”

“That is not what I mean. Earlier, I saw that Gang Seopyo fellow unfairly taking advantage of the time while you were bathing to visit an accessory shop with Young Lady Namgung.”

“…An accessory shop?”

“Why?”

Cho Mubin sighed at Seong Moran’s reaction.

How could she possibly succeed in romance when she was this oblivious?

Even so, he could not allow affection to ruin the relationship between Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran.

“In any case, is doing something not better than doing nothing?”

“No, what I mean is that we will be covered in dirt again during the third checkpoint anyway. Why bother wearing makeup?”

Cho Mubin cleared his throat and spoke.

“I was simply worried that Young Master Jin might think you look too much like a tomboy…”

“What? Ah, wh-what are you saying…?”

Seong Moran appeared to believe that no one had noticed she liked Jin Sowoon.

She normally had such a bold and straightforward personality that she mixed freely with the men of the Iron Sword Sect.

Yet the moment someone lightly touched upon the man she liked, her face turned red and her girlish side immediately appeared.

“If that is truly what you wish, there is nothing I can do. I will simply take this back to my wife…”

“Wait.”

“Yes?”

Seong Moran brought her index fingers together and fidgeted.

“…Young Master Jin clearly said that he likes strong women.”

Cho Mubin brightened and offered her the powder.

“If two women are equally strong, would he not choose the more beautiful one?”

“…Can I trust you?”

“Young Lady, you have seen my wife, have you not?”

Cho Mubin’s wife was famous for her beauty even within the Iron Sword Sect.

“With a face like mine, how else could I have obtained such a beautiful wife? Trust me.”

“A-All right.”

Seong Moran quickly turned around and lightly applied powder to her face.

“H-How does it look? Is it all right?”

“It looks natural. Perfect. Next is this.”

Cho Mubin produced another small porcelain container.

“Hair oil. Men are even more attracted to smooth, flowing hair.”

“…”

“And here is rouge.”

“Captain Cho, why do you know so much about women’s makeup?”

“Do you know how many errands I have run for my wife? I know enough to wish I were born as a woman in my next life.”

After they had roughly finished dressing her up and Cho Mubin finally gave his approval, they headed toward the Martial Alliance’s Namak Branch.

“There are more people than I expected.”

“The third checkpoint usually has more spectators than participants.”

“Even so, does the atmosphere not feel unusually hostile?”

After forcing their way through the crowd, they saw Jin Sowoon and Namgung Seonhwa.

Namgung Seonhwa also looked so radiant that no one would have believed she had fought through a war the previous day.

“You see?”

Just as Cho Mubin was about to praise himself, he sensed that the atmosphere was unusual and closed his mouth.

When Seong Moran and Cho Mubin approached, Jin Sowoon turned toward them.

“You have arrived.”

“Yes. But who are these people…?”

A long line of middle-aged men wearing martial uniforms of many different colors stood before the group with swords at their waists.

Behind them were dozens of young people who appeared to be disciples of their respective sects.

“They are the senior members of the sects belonging to those who died on the Fuyang Plains, including Wudang and Mount Hua.”