When Geom Mugeuk returned to the safe house, Bi Sain was in the courtyard, circulating his qi and regulating his breath.
“You’re back?”
Bi Sain greeted Geom Mugeuk with a peaceful expression.
Geom Mugeuk studied him closely, then asked with a suspicious look.
“Who are you?”
Thinking this was just another prank, Bi Sain gave no reply.
“I asked who you are. My friend, the Young Alliance Leader, is not a man who wears such a peaceful expression. When my friend is in a good mood, he looks like he’s handing a challenge letter to his sworn enemy. Get out of my friend’s body this instant!”
Bi Sain shook his head with a look of disbelief.
“Can’t you go even one day without joking around?”
“I have to joke as much as I can while I’m still even a year younger. Look at your master and my father. How stiff and boring are they? We’ll end up like that when we get old too.”
“You’ll still be joking around even when you reach that age, won’t you?”
Unable to deny it, Geom Mugeuk grinned.
“How did things go?”
“The discussion went well. Nothing much happened, except that they’re going to ambush the Alliance Leader.”
“What!”
Knowing that Geom Mugeuk was not the sort to joke about such matters, Bi Sain quickly asked,
“What happened?”
Geom Mugeuk told Bi Sain everything that had occurred.
“I drove him into a corner that way. Now the only method left for them is to kill the Alliance Leader and seize the Sado Alliance. I’m sorry. There was no other way to draw them out.”
Bi Sain might well have grown angry, saying he had placed the Alliance Leader in danger, but instead he silently nodded.
“Why aren’t you angry?”
“Didn’t you say there was no other way?”
Geom Mugeuk could clearly feel that his relationship with Bi Sain was different from before. The man who had once stood far away was now standing right before him.
“They won’t dare attack while he is in the Alliance Leader’s Hall.”
The Alliance Leader’s Hall itself was a fortress, and countless hidden experts guarded its surroundings. One or two might be able to enter by following Hyeok Sagun, but from the start, it was impossible for a large number of enemies to infiltrate.
“They’ll aim for him when he leaves the Alliance. The Deputy Strategist is the first to know the Alliance Leader’s schedule.”
Geom Mugeuk nodded, as if he had been thinking the same thing.
“The reason I said the Demon Physician and the Poison King would arrive in ten days was because I wanted you to take part in this fight.”
A tremor passed over Bi Sain’s face. Because his face was so hideous and frightening, that tremor left an even more powerful impression.
“I know you’re thinking of me, but there’s no need.”
Bi Sain spoke words Geom Mugeuk had not expected.
“Plan without taking me into account.”
“Will that be all right?”
Bi Sain nodded.
Do not grow accustomed to it.
After hearing those words from his master, Bi Sain had been able to steady his heart. He had realized that now was not the time to fight, but the time to change his bandages. It was not the time to boil over, but the time to cool down.
Geom Mugeuk could feel it. Bi Sain had grown a great deal.
“You’ve changed a lot.”
“Thanks to someone.”
Their gazes intertwined gently in the air.
“Then rest.”
Geom Mugeuk turned to leave, but Bi Sain spoke from behind him.
“Thank you.”
It was only a single phrase, but it contained Bi Sain’s sincerity.
“Then don’t just settle it with words. Grant me one request.”
It was the same request he had made of Baek Jagang.
“Tell me.”
“I’ll tell you once this matter is over.”
Then came an astonishing promise from Bi Sain.
“Whatever it is, I’ll grant it without fail.”
To say he would grant anything without even hearing what it was—and for those words to come from the mouth of a man who would certainly keep his promise—was greater and more valuable than any expression of gratitude.
It was also the moment when the basket filled with gratitude was emptied.
“What if I ask for your position? How can you say you’ll grant anything?”
As Bi Sain turned and entered the building, he said,
“Then I’ll challenge you for the position of Young Cult Leader.”
Geom Mugeuk shouted after him.
“One look at my father and those words will vanish from your mouth!”
* * *
The next day, Geom Mugeuk went to the Alliance Leader’s Hall again.
As he walked down the corridor, he stopped before the steel wolf that stood there again today.
“Do you like that wolf?”
At the unexpected question, Geom Mugeuk looked in surprise at Ingung, the captain of the guards who had been guiding him.
On the way here today, too, he had thrown all manner of questions at Ingung. When did he sleep while serving as a guard? How much stealth technique did one have to learn to reach such a level? Who controlled the poison needle holes beneath the Alliance Leader’s Hall? Of course, Ingung had not answered a single word.
And yet now Ingung had spoken first.
“Do you know? Since we first met, this is the first time you’ve spoken to me.”
“You seemed to be looking closely at that wolf.”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned back to the wolf. It would have been like him to joke, So you spoke not because of me, but because of the wolf, but instead he spoke calmly, his eyes deepened.
“It looked lonely, somehow.”
That was why he liked it. It seemed like his father, and also like the Geugak Soma sitting alone in a pure white room, and also like the Leader of the Sado Alliance walking through a windswept field, and also like this captain of the guards silently guiding him. And it also seemed like himself in the life before his regression.
Ingung’s gaze also turned to the wolf. It was an answer he had not expected. He had passed through this place countless times, but not once had he ever thought such a thing. The Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult was certainly different from the martial artists he had seen until now. Then again, that was probably why he was standing in this corridor.
Geom Mugeuk spoke again, unexpectedly.
“I feel as if this wolf will come to life someday.”
Those words, too, were sincere. Because that was the feeling he had. He did not know what it was, but there was a strange pull that drew him in.
Ingung looked at Geom Mugeuk. Among his own subordinates, not one believed that legend.
‘You believe what even we do not.’
Geom Mugeuk stroked the wolf’s head once.
“You there, don’t doze off. Guard this place properly!”
Guided by Ingung once more, he resumed walking.
Before the doors of the Alliance Leader’s Hall opened, Geom Mugeuk said to Ingung,
“He is strong.”
Whenever Geom Mugeuk met the Leader of the Sado Alliance, Ingung had always been with them.
Having heard every conversation while concealed, he knew what Geom Mugeuk meant.
“Understood.”
Ingung answered politely.
It was something the captain of the guards, at least, had to know, and so Geom Mugeuk had reminded him of the Fighting King’s strength.
The doors opened, and Geom Mugeuk went inside.
Baek Jagang, the Leader of the Sado Alliance, sat in the Taishi chair with his eyes closed, lost in thought. Geom Mugeuk knew better than anyone how important such moments of contemplation were for experts of the Alliance Leader’s caliber, so he walked forward while making as little presence as possible.
Only when Geom Mugeuk had approached the foot of the Taishi chair did Baek Jagang finally speak.
“Was your plan to come and go so freely, then kill me?”
It was Baek Jagang’s joke about how soundlessly he had approached.
“If one wishes to kill the Leader of the Sado Alliance, shouldn’t one put in at least this much effort? Ah, but I suppose I must train my movement technique further. I think I’ll need to approach at least ten more steps in secrecy to seat my friend in that position.”
Baek Jagang’s eyes snapped open. As expected, banter was only amusing when the other person said it so freely, without watching his mood.
“Have you made a plan?”
“As you know, there are problems with the strategists in our Alliance. What do you think?”
“It is not as if I have any particular thoughts.”
Contrary to his words, Geom Mugeuk had already formed a plan.
“They won’t move while you remain in the Alliance, so there must be a natural reason for you to leave. Only then will they not suspect anything.”
Baek Jagang nodded, and Geom Mugeuk continued.
“You will go out to welcome the Demon Physician and the Poison King. The Chief Strategist, who has fallen ill, is currently being hidden outside, is he not?”
During their last meeting, Geom Mugeuk had asked Baek Jagang to take measures, saying Hyeok Sagun might kill him in order to eliminate evidence. Thus, the Alliance Leader had taken the Chief Strategist to a secret location.
“Use the pretext that you do not want to allow the Poison King and the Demon Physician into the Sado Alliance, and go out to meet them. Tell Hyeok Sagun that you intend to take them directly to the Chief Strategist. For them, there could be no better opportunity. They may not believe that I killed the Alliance Leader alone, but if they are told that the Poison King poisoned you to death, they will believe it.”
Baek Jagang was impressed. He thought that perhaps Geom Mugeuk had been thinking this far ahead from the very beginning, when he first lied that the Poison King and the Demon Physician were coming in order to corner Hyeok Sagun.
“Let us do that.”
Baek Jagang accepted Geom Mugeuk’s plan.
“What did Sain say about this matter?”
“The Young Alliance Leader said that he need not fight, so I should make the plan without minding him.”
Baek Jagang felt that the words he had conveyed had properly reached his disciple.
“Even so, I will bring the Young Alliance Leader out with me.”
“Why?”
“Because this is the Young Alliance Leader’s fight as well. If he misses this chance, he will regret this day for the rest of his life. I do not wish to leave my friend with such regret. Do not worry. I will protect him well.”
No goosebumps rose along Baek Jagang’s ears.
There were people for whom this sense worked, and people for whom it did not. He found himself thinking that it would have been better if Geom Mugeuk were someone for whom it did not work.
In nearly every relationship where this sense had worked, what remained in the end had been disappointment. It was also the greatest reason he did not trust people.
‘Can you become the exception?’
The thought likely arose because of all the unexpected things this young Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult had shown him thus far. But surely that could not be.
“Do not worry about your friend. Worry about yourself. Do you know how many poison needle holes are beneath your feet right now?”
With an exaggerated gasp, Geom Mugeuk made a fuss.
“I suppose I’d better not look at the floor at all! Fortunately, I like looking at the sky.”
* * *
Several days passed in that way, and the day before the Alliance Leader was to leave the Alliance arrived.
“Good grief. Tomorrow, another wretched fight begins.”
At Instructor Cha’s complaint, Hwang Seokgyeong smiled as he moved training equipment with him. Tomorrow was the day a new group would enter the Samaeng Hall. Whenever their short leave ended, this was the complaint Instructor Cha always made, like an annual ritual.
“Think of them as the foundation stones that will protect the Alliance.”
“They may be precious foundation stones to you, popular as you are. To me, they’re wretched. I wonder what sort of brat will make my blood boil this time.”
After setting down the load he had brought, Hwang Seokgyeong said to Instructor Cha,
“By the way, I won’t be able to come tomorrow.”
“You? Why not? Are you ill?”
Instructor Cha was startled. The most diligent person in the Samaeng Hall was Hwang Seokgyeong. Even on ordinary days, he never missed a single day, so to hear that he could not come on the first day of receiving a new group was bound to shock him.
“There is somewhere I must go.”
“Where?”
Hwang Seokgyeong only smiled and did not answer.
“I’ll lock the storeroom door and leave, so you go on ahead.”
“You will?”
Instructor Cha, who had been walking away, turned back and asked,
“If there’s anything I can help with, tell me.”
Looking at him, Hwang Seokgyeong smiled brightly.
“It is all right. It is something I must do myself.”
Something only I can do.
After parting with Instructor Cha in that way, Hwang Seokgyeong returned to the storeroom from which they had taken the training equipment.
Entering the storeroom, he lifted away the dust-covered bundles piled in a corner. They were unused tools.
When he operated an intricate mechanism hidden in the wall, a door leading underground opened.
As Hwang Seokgyeong entered, the door closed automatically.
There, fragments of night pearls were embedded in the walls, faintly illuminating the view. It was a small secret chamber.
A treasured garment hung on the wall directly ahead. If they learned what it was, nine martial artists out of ten would scream.
Immortal.
The Immortal Divine Armor was his most cherished treasured garment and the protective armor he wore only for important battles.
After completely removing his clothes, he donned Immortal. Made by weaving together various special fabrics and heavenly silkworm thread, it clung tightly to his body as if wrapping around it. Thin yet powerful, it was an absolute divine artifact of the martial world that could not be obtained even for a thousand gold pieces.
That was not all. Hwang Seokgyeong fastened guards to protect his wrists and shins.
Twin Souls.
These protective guards named Twin Souls could not compare to the Immortal Divine Armor, but they were still rare artifacts of the jianghu that could not be obtained easily.
Next, he wrapped around himself a leather belt for holding daggers. When he opened the box placed beside him, it was filled with daggers. Like the divine artifacts before them, this leather belt and the daggers were no common objects.
Hwang Seokgyeong slowly and carefully placed them into the leather belt.
His movements as he prepared for battle were calm and solemn.
The last thing he put on was a pair of gloves.
War God.
Also made from special materials, these gloves were so light it felt as if he were not wearing them at all. They protected his hands not only from sword qi but even from sword aura, and they were rare treasures that drew the power of his fists to the utmost limit.
It was the first time. The first time he was going out to fight while wearing all of these things.
After putting his outer clothes back on, Hwang Seokgyeong left the secret chamber and went back up.
He piled the original bundles back over the entrance to the secret chamber. And there, he also set down his own sword. Today would be the last time he entered this place.
When he finally laid down his sword, he at last changed from Hwang Seokgyeong, instructor of the Samaeng Hall, into the Fighting King on the eve of the decisive battle.
Absolute Regression, Chapter 367