Step, step.
With steady footfalls, the man in the bamboo hat arrived at a small workshop.
The man took off his bamboo hat and tossed it at the wall.
The hat landed lightly atop a yellow long robe hanging there.
The man was middle-aged, with long, narrow eyes. The mysterious gleam in them seemed to have overcome every scheme and stratagem, and the dark cast over his face spoke of the many storms he had endured.
The man sat down on a small chair and began carving a wooden doll.
Scrape, scrape.
In the small space, only the sound of the carving knife shaving wood could be heard. With extraordinary movements of his hands, the man carved the wood, and a wooden doll the size of a finger was taking shape.
Just then, a young man entered without a sound. With bright vitality in his eyes, he was a handsome man with a bold, refreshing air.
He approached the middle-aged man’s back as he carved the wood. His footwork was no ordinary thing; even as he drew his sword and took his steps, not the slightest sound arose.
Swiish.
The young man’s drawn sword came to rest beside the middle-aged man’s neck.
The scraping sound had ceased. It was not because of the sword aimed at his neck. The small carving knife that had been in the middle-aged man’s hand was now floating before the eyes of the young man who had swung his sword.
The young man withdrew his sword and reached out to grasp the carving knife in midair.
But the carving knife did not budge, as if something invisible held it fast.
The young man even used his internal energy to try to move it, but it was no use. At length, when the young man gave up on moving the carving knife, the middle-aged man spoke.
“An expert does not fall to an attack that flies in from behind. That is why he is called an expert. When you kill an expert, you must look him in the eyes as you do it.”
At those words, the young man asked,
“Is that not more difficult?”
“That is easier. Only when you realize that can you become a true expert capable of killing experts.”
Scrape, scrape.
Once again came the sound of the carving knife shaving wood. Before anyone knew it, the carving knife that had been floating in midair was in the middle-aged man’s hand. It was so natural that it felt as though the carving knife had never left his hand in the first place.
“I will keep it in mind, Master.”
The young man bowed his head respectfully.
The two were master and disciple.
Through the window, martial artists could be seen standing around the workshop. The characters embroidered on their chests were the same as those on the young man’s chest: Exterminate Demons.
They were none other than the warriors of the Demon Extermination Unit, the Murim Alliance’s finest elites.
The young man was Jin Hagun, grandson of the current Murim Alliance Leader and commander of the Demon Extermination Unit. He was the elder brother of Jin Haryeong, who had a connection with Geom Mugeuk. After entering the Demon Extermination Unit, he had risen to the position of commander through nothing but his own ability.
The middle-aged man was his master, Baek Cheongyeong.
“You have not been neglecting your training lately.”
Jin Hagun had yet to receive the martial arts of his grandfather, Jin Paecheon, the Murim Alliance Leader. His grandfather wanted him to become the successor proudly through his own skill.
He had publicly declared that he would grant no special favors simply because Jin Hagun was his grandson.
“I am cutting down on sleep to train.”
Jin Hagun walked over to the display stand placed in the center of the workshop. On top of the stand was a scene of martial artist dolls, personally carved by Baek Cheongyeong, engaged in battle.
The sight was so vivid that it seemed as though a real fight was taking place. A battle between martial artists dressed in white and martial artists dressed in black. It looked as if it were depicting a battle between black and white.
Looking down at it, Jin Hagun said,
“The rumors coming from the Demon Cult lately are far from ordinary.”
Baek Cheongyeong remained silent, absorbed only in his carving.
“They say Geom Mugeuk, who newly became the Young Cult Leader, is expanding his power after bringing all the Demon Venerables under his control.”
Even at those words, Baek Cheongyeong appeared unconcerned, turning the wooden doll he was carving this way and that as he examined whether it had been shaped well.
“To be honest, he bothers me.”
At that, Baek Cheongyeong’s hands stopped moving. He rose from his seat and walked over to his disciple by the display stand.
“How does this battle look to you?”
“The martial artists in white appear to be at a disadvantage.”
“The white-clad martial artists are greater in number, so why do you think that?”
“Because of this man.”
Jin Hagun pointed with his finger at the black-clad martial artist who was leading the battle as he swung his sword.
“You saw well. It is because of this man. This man is controlling the board and leading the battle.”
Baek Cheongyeong lowered his body and gazed at the wooden doll with his small, elongated eyes.
“Do you wish to play this role?”
“Yes, I want to stand in that place. No, I absolutely will stand there.”
“Yes. Since you were young, you have always been that way. You never feared a challenge, and you never gave up.”
Whenever his master praised him like this, Jin Hagun’s chest swelled. That was why he trained harder in everything and tried never to give up. After his parents died early, he had lived thinking of Baek Cheongyeong as his father.
“The one standing in that place right now is Geom Mugeuk.”
Jin Hagun could not refute him. He knew that Geom Mugeuk had risen to the position of Young Cult Leader more splendidly than any successor in history.
By contrast, what about himself? He had not even officially risen to the position of successor yet.
Baek Cheongyeong slowly stroked the doll with his finger.
“How will you break this momentum?”
As if he had been waiting for the question, Jin Hagun answered.
“I received a report that Geom Mugeuk is currently in the Hunan region. They say he is pressuring Cheonhwamun while holding the son of the Cheonhwamun Sect Leader in custody there.”
He had been paying attention to the movements of Geom Mugeuk, whom he regarded in his heart as a rival.
“Cheonhwamun is a sect with formidable power, but it is impossible for them to face the Demon Cult alone. If you can save them from the Demon Cult’s grasp…”
Baek Cheongyeong’s gaze turned toward the hero doll.
“You will be able to lead the battles to come.”
Jin Hagun asked cautiously,
“But is Cheonhwamun not originally a sect that moved back and forth between the Demon Cult and the Sado Alliance?”
As it was known to the outside world, Cheonhwamun maintained four parts of its dealings with the Demon Cult, four with the Sado Alliance, and two with the Murim Alliance.
At that, Baek Cheongyeong’s gaze turned to the doll again.
“Do you think you can stand in that place by doing easy things?”
Jin Hagun was confident in everything, but he could not boast about this matter.
“If I followed my heart, I would lead the Demon Extermination Unit, strike the Hunan Branch, and rescue the Cheonhwamun Sect Leader’s son, but…”
If he did that, a war with the Demon Cult would break out. Far from becoming a hero, he might become a sinner for the ages.
After hesitating for a moment, Jin Hagun spoke carefully.
“As commander of the Demon Extermination Unit, I possess a unique authority that can be used during my term when dealing with the Demon Cult. If the Alliance Leader accepts my special authority, we can apply pressure on the Demon Cult in the name of the Murim Alliance. However, I do not know whether Cheonhwamun is a sect worth that much.”
“Cheonhwamun is a great sect in itself, but there are also dozens of small and medium sects that follow it. If you turn Cheonhwamun back to the orthodox faction, there will be no greater merit than that.”
“I understand that the Cheonhwamun Sect Leader is not an easy man. He has managed to walk the tightrope between the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic factions with infuriating skill, and later he may collude with the Sado Alliance and ignore the fact that we helped him.”
Jin Hagun considered the Cheonhwamun Sect Leader, who had his feet in all sorts of places, to be a foxlike man.
Then came a startling sentence from Baek Cheongyeong’s mouth.
“I will resolve that point.”
Jin Hagun was astonished. His master was well-versed in the state of Jianghu, but he had never personally stepped into Murim’s affairs. And the reason for it was enough to move Jin Hagun.
“If you accomplish this matter, it will become a decisive merit in your becoming the successor of the Murim Alliance. That is why I am stepping forward.”
Jin Hagun cupped his fist respectfully and paid his respects.
“Thank you very much, Master.”
Now that his master had stepped forward like this, there was no longer any reason to hesitate.
“Then I will proceed with the matter at once.”
Jin Hagun, who had been about to leave after offering his farewell, flicked the hero doll with his finger and knocked it down.
After Jin Hagun left, Baek Cheongyeong continued carving the doll.
Scrape, scrape.
How long had he carved the doll?
Baek Cheongyeong came to the display stand and stood the fallen doll upright.
Then he placed the newly carved doll in the center of the board. The doll, whether it was himself or Jin Hagun, stood proudly with its arms crossed.
* * *
Several days had passed since Cheonhwamun Sect Leader Seo Baekjung came and went.
He had taken no action whatsoever to save his son. It certainly did not seem as though he would give up on his son like this. Geom Mugeuk quietly waited to see how the other party would act while training in the Sicheon Secret Art.
The more he trained in the Sicheon Secret Art, the more, little by little, a time difference began to appear. The moment he could use the Sicheon Secret Art and compare the time it took for his internal energy to recover with the time gained, thereby seeing a temporal profit, he would train only while using the Sicheon Secret Art. As a secret art of defying the heavens and reversing time, it was not easy, but he trained and trained again.
After finishing his training in the Sicheon Secret Art, he was drinking tea for a while in the main hall when Jeokyeon entered with Seo Cheong. Seo Cheong had begged to meet him, so Geom Mugeuk had told Jeokyeon to bring him.
As soon as he stepped inside, Seo Cheong shouted as if in protest.
“Why have you not contacted my father?”
He had been imprisoned in the branch’s dungeon. Though he had been locked in the dungeon, his spirit had not been dampened at all.
“I contacted him.”
“Do not lie. If you had contacted him, there is no way he would not have come yet. Young Cult Leader, my father is not such an unreasonable man. If you speak frankly with him, you will be able to obtain what you want.”
That was the conclusion he had come to while imprisoned in the dungeon. The reason the Demon Cult was doing this was to draw Cheonhwamun over to their side. If not, there was no way they would imprison him like this. Surely they would not imprison the successor of Cheonhwamun just because he had killed a few passersby, low-ranking warriors, and such insignificant things, would they?
“Your father has already come and gone.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Seo Cheong was startled.
“What do you mean? Are you saying he came and went without meeting me?”
When Geom Mugeuk nodded, Seo Cheong was shocked and flustered.
“Nonsense!”
After standing blankly for a moment, he began pacing this way and that, babbling incoherently.
“If you are going to sow discord, do it properly. If you are the Young Cult Leader of the Demon Cult, then act like the Young Cult Leader and contact my father as promised.”
He walked to the table and tried to pour himself tea with trembling hands. But when he felt his own hand shaking, he turned back again.
At one moment he did not believe that his father had come and gone, and at the next he did.
“No matter who you are, you are in great trouble now. The fact that my father left without even meeting me means he is truly furious.”
Just then, Geom Mugeuk abruptly asked,
“How much do you know about your father?”
For an instant, Seo Cheong flinched.
“Young Cult Leader, then how much do you know?”
Geom Mugeuk thought Seo Cheong’s appearance was no different from his own before his regression.
If the him of that time had experienced something like this, he would have argued just as Seo Cheong did. He would have lashed out even more fiercely, saying, What do you know that makes you act so high and mighty? Because the fact that he had almost nothing to answer about his father would have driven him into a corner.
It was precisely then. A subordinate of the branch came and delivered an urgent letter that had flown in from Tongcheongak.
He thought it was a message about who had been chosen as the Hunan Branch Leader, but the contents written there were truly unexpected. It was a notice ordering him to release Seo Cheong.
Because he had never expected such a letter to arrive, Geom Mugeuk was astonished. The fact that such a decision had come down from Tongcheongak meant that his father’s permission was also involved. That, in turn, meant that immense power had intervened.
And the fact that the detailed circumstances had not been written and sent was likely his father’s will.
Now then, how will you handle this matter?
Even after he had become the Young Cult Leader, his father’s tests continued.
“Release our Young Master Seo.”
Jeokyeon was also shocked at the order to release him. But soon, Jeokyeon unsealed Seo Cheong’s internal energy.
With a face as joyful as if he might fly, Seo Cheong shouted loudly.
“What did I tell you? Did I not say it would turn out like this?”
He strode over to the table, poured tea, and drank it.
“Would you like a cup as well?”
Seo Cheong guffawed as he drank the tea. As if nothing had ever happened, he had regained his true nature.
He glared at Jeokyeon and spoke in a threatening tone.
“I remember every single face I have seen in this place.”
When Jeokyeon glared back at him even more frighteningly with his one eye, Seo Cheong turned his gaze to Geom Mugeuk.
Geom Mugeuk was looking at him and smiling.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because it is interesting. I had been feeling drained until now. Catching our Young Master Seo is not the end, is it? Young Master Yang, Young Master Jin, Young Master Cheon… all sorts of young masters will keep growing back no matter how many I pull out. But someone moved the main cult? I, the Young Cult Leader, was handling this matter, and they overturned it?”
Geom Mugeuk was sincerely delighted.
“This is several times more impressive than storming this place and rescuing you. I am seeing your father in a new light.”
“You realize that only now? I am the successor of Cheonhwamun!”
He strode out while shouting loudly.
“We will never meet again.”
“We will meet again soon.”
As Seo Cheong ran out without even looking back, Jeokyeon asked,
“What happened?”
“It seems the Cheonhwamun Sect Leader moved either the Murim Alliance or the Sado Alliance.”
Otherwise, the Heavenly Demon Hall would never have made such a decision.
“What do you intend to do?”
“They blocked the main cult’s Tongcheongak, so I will have to use what is mine.”
Jeokyeon sensed that, if anything, Geom Mugeuk was excited. That excitement was the joy one felt upon meeting a formidable foe.
In a situation like this, he, as a guard, had to be more rational than ever. And yet he realized that he, too, was just as excited. He was secretly looking forward to what would happen next. Even though, as a bodyguard, he ought to wish for nothing to happen.
While Jeokyeon let out a light sigh, Geom Mugeuk walked outside.
“Where are you going? I will escort you.”
“You cannot escort me. Wait here.”
“I can follow—”
He could not. The instant Geom Mugeuk kicked off the ground and launched himself into the air, he became a dot in the blink of an eye and vanished.
“…It seems I cannot. I will wait here.”
At that moment, Samho, who had been in the yard, said to Jeokyeon,
“It is not easy, is it?”
Jeokyeon rubbed his aching eye and nodded. Truly, Geom Mugeuk was both the easiest leader to protect and, at the same time, the most difficult.
Looking up at the sky where Geom Mugeuk had disappeared, Jeokyeon said quietly,
“But it will not be easy for his enemies either.”