The element of surprise wields its power when it is least expected.
And so it was with Bisain’s surprise now.
—What do you mean?
His voice transmission trembled as his eyes flew wide open.
—It is exactly as I said. The children purchased from the Black Snake Guild were being sent to the Sacred Path Alliance. I am merely a middleman.
Taejo had truly wished to keep even this secret hidden. But with the atmosphere turning toward summoning the Black Snake Guild Leader itself, he could not simply stand by. Being dragged off to the Martial Alliance or the Demonic Cult to pay for his crimes was something he could not allow.
—I merely handled the work as I was told.
—Who ordered it?
—I cannot say.
To Bisain’s knowledge, there was no organization within the Sacred Path Alliance that purchased children. Which meant someone had been carrying out this affair in secret.
—Tell me who it is.
Even though Bisain’s tone had taken on an icy edge, Taejo did not speak the name.
—If you do not speak, you may very well die by my hand.
Though his life was threatened, intimidation did not work on Taejo.
—Even so, I cannot tell you.
Taejo was certain. Bisain could not kill him over this matter. After all, buying and sending the children had ultimately been for the sake of the Sacred Path Alliance. You cannot kill me.
—Can you take responsibility for what you just said?
—With my life hanging by a thread, why would I dare tell a lie? First, you must send those two back.
Even to Taejo’s voice transmission, Bisain offered no reply.
—Young Alliance Leader, if this becomes known outside, it will become troublesome.
Bisain fell into deep agony.
As the two men’s telepathic conversation deepened, Geommugeuk deduced that the children were being sent to the Sacred Path Alliance. In this situation, that was the only thing that could make Bisain agonize so.
Geommugeuk offered no advice. This was the moment when a martial artist named Bisain would decide his own fate. Depending on that choice, not only Bisain’s personal fate but the fate of the Sacred Path Alliance, and indeed the fate of the murim itself, would be affected.
Bisain, please make the right choice!
After agonizing for a long while, Bisain finally opened his mouth.
“Just now, Sect Leader Tae confessed of his own accord. He said he knew that children were being purchased regularly.”
Taejo was horrified. He had never expected Bisain to say such a thing. And this unexpected behavior was only the beginning.
“Young Alliance Leader! Why are you doing this? Did you not understand what I told you?”
“I understood. You sent those children to the Sacred Path Alliance, did you not?”
For a moment, silence fell over the room.
Taejo was aghast. He had never expected him to speak of such an important matter in front of everyone. It was a gathering where even the Demon Extermination Squad and the Sacred Path Thirteen Wolves were present.
The words *Are you crazy?* rose to his throat. He had very nearly blurted them out.
Geommugeuk had already guessed the content, but Jin Hagun had not expected it. What was surprising was not that the children had gone to the Sacred Path Alliance, but the fact that Bisain had revealed it. The Sacred Path Alliance he knew was an organization always desperate to cover up and hide incidents. Its very existence was that of a villain.
He had actually expected the secret voice transmission to go something like this:
—They are making a mountain out of a molehill over a few measly kidnapped children.
Would Bisain’s thoughts have been much different? He would likely be conflicted only because of his relationship with Geommugeuk. Yet Bisain’s current response completely surpassed his expectations. That he would admit it so readily? This was not something even he himself could do easily.
Bisain stated the reason he had revealed the truth.
“To hide one secret, ten lies are needed. I have no intention of keeping this matter buried in secrecy.”
He saw Geommugeuk smiling at him. Seeing that smile, he felt that his choice had not been wrong.
Yes, perhaps he was being swayed by that Geommugeuk. Yet his heart answered the worry in his head thus:
Even so, it is fine.
Geommugeuk was in a good mood. Though time would pass and today’s matter would become but a moment in the past, this choice would greatly influence Bisain’s life going forward. Well done, Bisain. Only by living this way can you establish your own sacred path.
Jin Hagun sent a voice transmission to Geommugeuk.
—Young Cult Leader, did you know things would turn out this way?
—I did not know the children were being sold to the Sacred Path Alliance. However, I never believed the Young Alliance Leader would overlook this matter.
Jin Hagun looked at Geommugeuk. Geommugeuk’s deep gaze was fixed on Bisain.
—We may now be witnessing the birth of a magnificent next-generation Sacred Path Alliance Leader who will be remembered in the history of the murim.
And Bisain was handling this situation wisely.
Bisain asked Taejo.
“When the Main Alliance desired children, did it order you to kidnap and send them?”
“It did not.”
“Then it is not the Main Alliance’s fault. Why did you entrust the matter to the Black Snake Guild?”
Taejo could not answer at all.
The one who saw straight through his inner thoughts was Geommugeuk.
“It must be because it costs less money. In this affair, finding talented children is not the difficult part. Persuading their families is difficult. And after spending so much time persuading them, you must also provide them fitting compensation. But if you join hands with the Black Snake Guild, matters become too simple. You merely kidnap them, and that is the end of it. Could you not earn a great deal of money sitting idle, doing nothing?”
Taejo could not refute a single word. Geommugeuk had spoken as if he had entered Taejo’s very heart.
Bisain did not miss this opportunity.
“You have tarnished the Main Alliance’s honor for the sake of personal greed.”
He steered the matter so that it was not the Sacred Path Alliance’s fault. He limited the blame to the wrongdoing of Taejo and the Black Snake Guild.
“Young Alliance Leader, I cannot understand why you are doing this.”
Bisain acknowledged his words.
Yes, had he not met Geommugeuk, a matter of this degree might have passed as nothing. He would have lived a completely different life. But meeting Geommugeuk had greatly influenced him, and decisively, at the moment Geommugeuk asked what his sacred path was, his own life had changed as well.
“Until now, this may have been something taken for granted, but from this moment on, it is not.”
Bisain gave an order to the Sacred Path Thirteen Wolves.
“Send a letter to the Black Snake Guild Leader immediately and arrange a meeting.”
He showed the will to resolve the child kidnapping issue definitively.
“Convey that if he does not appear at the appointed place, the name Black Snake Guild will disappear from the murim.”
A martial artist under the Sacred Path Thirteen Wolves ran out to send the letter.
Taejo realized that he had not known at all what kind of person the Sacred Path Alliance’s Young Alliance Leader was.
*Was the Young Alliance Leader this kind of person?*
With a trembling heart, Taejo asked.
“Then what becomes of me?”
Bisain pressured him with a calm tone.
“Sect Leader Tae. I am not so magnanimous a person. Nor am I broad-minded enough to overlook those who challenge my authority.”
Bisain glanced at Geommugeuk. The quick-witted Geommugeuk understood from that gaze alone what he had to do.
“We will take Sect Leader Tae.”
At Geommugeuk’s words, Taejo’s heart beat madly. He wondered if they would truly send him to the Demonic Cult, but Bisain gave a slight nod. Before Bisain’s permission could even be granted, Taejo cried out first.
“It cannot be. The Demonic Cult is absolutely unacceptable.”
Geommugeuk put on a kind smile.
“We will treat you well.”
He knew that could not possibly be true. If dragged away, his dantian would be destroyed, and after being tortured, he would be imprisoned in the inner dungeon. Death would be preferable.
“Young Alliance Leader, I beg you.”
He pleaded, but Bisain remained cold. What was needed now was to hear from him about the mastermind behind this affair.
“If you must send me away, please let me go to the Martial Alliance.”
Jin Hagun also joined their combined ploy.
“I refuse.”
“Why on earth do you refuse? Please take me!”
“I refuse. Your crimes are too severe for that.”
In other words, he should be dragged to the Demonic Cult and suffer more terribly.
Geommugeuk spoke with a deliberately aggrieved expression.
“You are all too much. Anyone watching would think our cult is a den of monsters. Our cult’s inner dungeon is also a place where people live. One can grow accustomed to it.”
This was even more frightening than a threat. In the end, Taejo could endure no longer. He could accept anything else, but being dragged to the Demonic Cult was absolutely unacceptable.
—Commander Pyo orchestrated this matter.
An unexpected name came out.
—Commander Pyo? Which Commander Pyo?
There was no one surnamed Pyo among the current commanders. Then he remembered someone.
—Could it be? The former Black Dragon Corps Leader?
—That is correct.
Pyo Gigung.
He, who had been the corps leader of the Sacred Path Alliance’s Black Dragon Corps, had stepped down from his position over ten years ago after suffering severe injuries. He had heard that afterward, the man lived like a cripple, scraping by drinking at banquet halls. He was someone who had faded from memory.
—Why would he…?
—Several years ago, he came to me. He said he was secretly creating a secret organization within the Sacred Path Alliance. That was why he needed children of outstanding martial talent. Because it was top secret, he firmly threatened me with death if this was leaked.
—He is someone who stepped down from his position. You believed his words?
—He said that the higher-ups had entrusted him with this matter. He said the fate of the Sacred Path Alliance rested on the secret organization he was creating. He gave me a large sum of money as an advance. It was money that Commander Pyo could not have gathered alone. He also said the Alliance would secure him various profit rights afterward.
—Were the promises kept?
—They were.
Thanks to that, Yugungmun had been able to expand its influence, and even host Cheongbaek Igeom as a guest.
Bisain could see it now. This was not a simple child kidnapping incident. Something was happening inside the Sacred Path Alliance—something he, the Young Alliance Leader, did not know about.
“We will take charge of this man’s punishment.”
Geommugeuk and Jin Hagun readily accepted Bisain’s wish.
“Escort Sect Leader Tae to the Main Alliance.”
At Bisain’s command, the Sacred Path Thirteen Wolves suppressed Taejo’s acupoints and led him out. Taejo dared not resist. As he was dragged away, he looked at Bisain with fervent eyes. At least he was grateful not to have been sent to the Demonic Cult.
—If you wish to live, assist me from now on.
He had secured Taejo because his help would be needed to uncover this affair.
Bisain spoke to the Sacred Path Thirteen Wolves.
“We will go straight to meet the Black Snake Guild Leader.”
Geommugeuk and Jin Hagun naturally moved with him. Geommugeuk had something to say to Bisain, and Jin Hagun wanted to see this matter through to its end.
Geommugeuk, Bisain, and Jin Hagun rode together in one carriage. The Sacred Path Thirteen Wolves and the Demon Extermination Squad rode horses and escorted the carriage.
The martial artists of Yugungmun, including Cheongbaek Igeom, could only watch as the storm that had swept away their sect leader receded.
Cheongbaek Igeom finally relaxed and spoke.
“Jeong Sama, this is the first time I have seen three successors traveling together.”
“It is probably the first time in the history of the murim.”
“Will the sect leader return alive?”
That was something even Cheongbaek Igeom did not know. However, one thing was certain. They had survived until now because they had strictly followed one principle. When a storm rages, lock the gates well and refrain from going out.
The two men turned back inside and said.
“Close the door.”
* * *
Wind entered through the carriage window.
Bisain silently watched the wind flutter Geommugeuk’s sleeve.
Even this morning, he had never dreamed that he would ride in a carriage with them to meet the Black Snake Guild Leader. He had even less expected that he himself would be the one to issue a warning to the Black Snake Guild. Not knowing whether this matter would bring calamity or fortune to him, who would one day become the Sacred Path Alliance Leader, he felt inwardly anxious.
Just then, Geommugeuk spoke to Bisain.
“I witnessed your sacred path.”
Yes, this was why. The reason he had made such a decision. To show that his sacred path was one that protected children, at the very least.
“How was my sacred path?”
“It was magnificent.”
“You are so good at sweet lies that I cannot believe you.”
It seemed he wanted to hear that it was magnificent even more.
Geommugeuk smiled and said.
“It was truly magnificent.”
Jin Hagun, who was beside them, was drawn in as well.
“What did you think? Wasn’t the Young Alliance Leader truly magnificent?”
“I am not someone who speaks such words to a person’s face as easily as you.”
Jin Hagun turned his head and looked out the window.
“But I do think today’s decision and going to meet the Black Snake Guild Leader are the right things to do.”
Geommugeuk smiled and said.
“You are stretching out the word magnificent quite long.”
* * *
That night, only Geommugeuk, Bisain, and Jin Hagun stood side by side on a plain where clusters of stars spilled across the sky.
The Sacred Path Thirteen Wolves and the Demon Extermination Squad had been left at the campsite; only the three men were present.
Now was the time to inform Bisain.
“A certain force is scheming to seize control of the murim.”
“!”
Even more astonishing words followed from Geommugeuk’s mouth.
“They have infiltrated our cult, and the Martial Alliance as well. They were even in the foreign Pungcheon Cult.”
Bisain was startled. From Jin Hagun’s serious expression, it was no joke.
“In our cult, they targeted the Soul-Devouring Demon Lord; in the Martial Alliance, they targeted Lord Jin here. In the Pungcheon Cult, they targeted the young new cult leader.”
“Surely not?”
“Indeed. I believe that in the Sacred Path Alliance as well, there are agents they have sent hiding in secret.”
It was hard to believe. Had these words not come from Geommugeuk, he would not have believed them.
“I do not wish to fall to such bastards even if I die. They are ones who sneak in secretly, find our weaknesses, and aim for our backs. The moment we doubt one another, we will be defeated one by one. At least in dealing with these ones, let us combine our strength. Let us show them that the gangho is not something to be handed over to bastards like them. For the sake of the murim we will lead in the future as well.”
After a brief pause, Bisain suddenly asked.
“Is that truly the only reason? You are not the one behind that dark curtain, are you?”
“If you ask so openly, I might as well answer that I am the mastermind.”
“If that is the case, we are ruined anyway. Then tell me in advance. From today on, I will eat only what I want and be picky.”
Geommugeuk felt that Bisain had certainly grown. Being able to joke so comfortably meant that much composure had taken root in his heart.
“There is another reason.”
Geommugeuk first looked up at the night sky, and the gazes of the other two men also wandered among the twinkling stars. As they gazed, wondering what their respective stars might be, Geommugeuk calmly conveyed his true feelings.
“Because though we are enemies, we are also friends.”
Absolute Regression
Chapter 343