Pyeongwi entered the Baekgye Merchant Guild.
On the days he came after meeting the palanquin, his whole body ached as if he were dying.
He briefly gazed at the empty training ground under the cold moonlight.
After taking a deep breath, he moved his steps carefully. He had to stay focused. If he made a mistake, it wouldn't merely hurt—he would truly die.
He walked, stepping exactly on the designated spots. The moment he even took a single wrong step, mechanisms and formations that would tear his whole body to pieces were installed.
He passed the training ground and entered the building.
In the corridor filled with an eerie air, he knocked on the wall twice.
A moment later,
Sssssss.
As the formation was dispelled from within, the scenery before his eyes changed. Surprisingly, a formation had been laid in this narrow corridor.
Installing a formation in a narrow indoor space was far more difficult than creating one outside. Just by looking at this, one could tell how high the level of the person who made this formation was.
Passing through the corridor, he entered the innermost room.
There were two people in the dark room.
One person was lying on a bed. The man with a completely sickly complexion was the guild leader, Seo Jeongtae.
In front of him, his wife sat with her back turned.
“Tomorrow is finally the day.”
They were Pyeongwi's words, filled with resolve.
On the other hand, the wife's voice was weary and exhausted.
“I will trust only the Vice-Guild Leader.”
“Yes, Madam.”
Pyeongwi respectfully bowed his head and exited the room.
In front of the door, Pyeongwi took a large, deep breath.
He did not know how he had ended up coming this far.
When he raised his head after being unwittingly swept along by that thing called fate, a black palanquin was floating before his eyes.
* * *
Geom Muggeuk had slept in for the first time in a while.
Until late at night, he had used the Reverse Heaven Secret Technique, saving even sleep, to train in martial arts.
He repeated his training, recalling the bloody battle with the Extreme Evil Soma. He repeated it until he was sick of it.
Because enlightenment always came the very next day after he shouted that he couldn't stand it anymore and stormed out.
Since he had slept his fill, his head was clear and he felt refreshed.
Geom Muggeuk rose from bed, opened the window wide, and took a great deep breath.
“Ah! Great!”
Just as he was about to look up at the endlessly clear, sunny sky, someone was standing in the yard with their back turned.
It was the back of someone unexpected.
Leaning against the window, Geom Muggeuk spoke to him.
“Just how badly do you want to play that you'd come in the morning? The pleasure house doesn't open in the morning.”
Then the man turned toward Geom Muggeuk.
A rugged face that now felt rather welcome, a face that he occasionally even found handsome in a manly way—he was none other than Bisain.
“The sun is already high in the sky, what do you mean, morning! Can a martial artist sleep so obliviously? A hundred assassins could have come and gone.”
Of course, if Bisain had tried to enter the room or revealed even a faint killing intent, the Heavenly Demon Guardian Art would have activated and woken Geom Muggeuk.
“I'm a pacifist, unlike you. Assassins have no reason to come.”
An uncontrollable smile formed on Bisain's savage face.
He had run here personally to warn him of the crisis. And Geom Muggeuk had been preparing today in advance for him here at Cheonhwaru.
“Are you ready to save me?”
Bisain's cold, chilling gaze and Geom Muggeuk's clear, deep gaze intertwined in the air.
“I'm ready to die with you.”
Bisain knew. Those words were not spoken merely to sound good.
“I don't want to die at the same hour as you. So please be sure to save me.”
“Don't we have a reliable mighty warrior as a friend? Ask him.”
Geom Muggeuk leaped and flew out the window.
“By the way, you brought sophisticated clothes that go well with white, right?”
“Just who are you meeting to go this far? Don't tell me it's a woman?”
Since he said sophisticated clothes, not just any clothes, it had to be a woman.
“If it is a woman?”
“I'm not interested in women.”
“If it's a woman, you should start by asking if she's pretty!”
Geom Muggeuk asked with a look of disbelief.
“So? You did bring them, didn't you?”
“...I brought them.”
As Geom Muggeuk looked at him with a strange smile, Bisain changed the subject.
“Where is Commander Jin?”
“He's found a new occupation.”
Geom Muggeuk took Bisain to the back quarters of Cheonhwaru.
Jin Hagun was there in front of the warehouse.
“What are you doing?”
At Bisain's question, Jin Hagun set down the liquor crate he was holding and answered.
“As you can see, I'm sorting liquor.”
“Have you fallen into the Young Cult Leader's trap again?”
Jin Hagun laughed at Bisain's words. This was the only moment he shared common ground with Bisain.
Their common enemy, Geom Muggeuk.
“Seeing as I'm wearing clothes I've never worn in my life and doing things I've never done, perhaps I've fallen into another trap.”
Bisain sympathized with Jin Hagun's self-reproach.
“I seem to have fallen into the same trap, at least when it comes to clothes.”
When Jin Hagun made an expression asking what that meant, Bisain answered.
“There's a reason. Do I just need to move this?”
Bisain went over and began helping move the liquor crates.
Geom Muggeuk raised his voice.
“Why are you two suddenly acting close? You two aren't close, are you? Without me around, you're so awkward you can't even exchange a word, aren't you?”
Bisain pretended not to hear and spoke to Jin Hagun.
“Thank you for coming. If you need me next time, be sure to call me.”
“I will.”
“Even if you're grateful, you should be thanking me!”
Geom Muggeuk shouted, but the two pretended not to hear.
Geom Muggeuk sat in an old chair and watched the two carry the liquor crates.
“Instead of just watching, why don't you help too?”
“Then wouldn't our Young Alliance Leader's friendship toward you be damaged?”
“Excuses.”
Geom Muggeuk was lazing around like that when he suddenly spoke.
“Dangerous mechanisms and formations are spread throughout the Baekgye Merchant Guild. They've laid traps, so don't go there recklessly. They've been confirmed to be very high-level mechanisms and formations. I'm telling you in advance so you can deal with them carefully later.”
Bisain set down the crate and sat on it.
“I can't understand it.”
That the Baekgye Merchant Guild would try to kill him, and that they had spread such mechanisms and formations. They were closer to the Demonic Path Alliance than anyone.
“Could it be them?”
At Bisain's question, Geom Muggeuk nodded.
“It seems so, after all.”
There were too many parts that didn't make sense if this were the Baekgye Merchant Guild's independent action, and above all, it was too reckless.
“As those bastards have done until now, they must have dug into a place that would become the Baekgye Merchant Guild's weakness. Their dark scheme must be hidden somewhere no one could predict.”
Jin Hagun's and Bisain's expressions grew serious. They had already experienced how secretly and tenaciously those bastards dug into people.
“But this case feels a bit different from before. Rough somehow.”
Bisain and Jin Hagun knew well what Geom Muggeuk's words meant. That the substance of that feeling was danger.
Especially in this case, the Cult Leader or Alliance Leader would not intervene; the three of them had to resolve it purely on their own.
“We have to show them that we've grown up now too.”
At Geom Muggeuk's words, Bisain and Jin Hagun nodded.
“By the way, where are the Thirteen Wolves of the Demonic Path?”
At Geom Muggeuk's question, Bisain answered.
“They're looking around inside and outside Cheonhwaru. They're probably in a contest of spirit with your subordinates.”
* * *
The Thirteen Wolves of the Demonic Path were surprised twice upon arriving at Cheonhwaru.
Once outside, and once inside.
First, outside, it was because of the Faceless Guests.
The Thirteen Wolves searched the surroundings first. When the Young Alliance Leader held a drinking party at a pleasure house, naturally they had to inspect the surroundings perfectly.
When they knocked on the door of the nearest house, it opened.
Ten Faceless Guests were waiting there. They had already heard that they were here, but they still had to search.
An inexplicable tension heightened between the searching Thirteen Wolves and the watching Faceless Guests.
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
At Illang's greeting after finishing the search, the Faceless Guests nodded silently.
It wasn't just that house. All houses adjacent to Cheonhwaru were occupied by Faceless Guests.
In the past, they would have driven out the residents, but this time they paid ample money and rented them for a day.
It was surveillance, but if a large fight broke out here, the residents' lives would be in danger, so Geom Muggeuk had asked the Extreme Evil Soma to empty them out entirely.
The Faceless Guests were hiding in nearby houses, carriages, temporary structures, and up in trees. Truly, the outside was guarded like an iron fortress.
That was their surprise outside, and inside there was another surprise.
“It's the Demon Extermination Squad.”
Even without Irang telling him from the side, Illang could tell. Because he knew the person sweeping the yard over there.
Especially since the Thirteen Wolves of the Demonic Path and the Demon Extermination Squad were organizations directly under the successors, they were in competition with each other, knowingly or not. Therefore, they knew plenty about each other.
Those Demon Extermination Squad warriors were disguised as workers of the pleasure house, working here and there: chopping firewood, carrying luggage, delivering liquor.
The Thirteen Wolves felt the gravity of this matter to the bone. Until escorting Bisain here, they hadn't known such an ironclad defense was in place.
“This is the first time.”
At Illang's words, Irang looked at him.
“That Sima Jeong is conducting a joint operation. This is the first time since I joined the alliance.”
That was why this scene was so unfamiliar.
“The Demon Extermination Squad must have already inspected, but still look thoroughly. We do our job.”
“Yes!”
Thus the Thirteen Wolves also investigated the inside of Cheonhwaru thoroughly.
Checking for ambushes, and whether the food ingredients were safe. Truly, they took every precaution for the Young Alliance Leader's safety. They only exchanged glances with the Demon Extermination Squad warriors.
Fortunately, they finished the search without any clashes.
Illang felt that Sima Jeong's atmosphere had truly changed from before, just by this. That the Thirteen Wolves, the Faceless Guests, and the Demon Extermination Squad could be in one place. And so peacefully, at that.
Illang sensed that a new Jianghu was coming.
Because above the head of the Demon Extermination Squad warrior sweeping the yard, from within the tree branches beyond the wall, a white mask was smiling.
* * *
The three successors were in Geom Muggeuk's quarters.
Geom Muggeuk was showing them information received from Tongcheon Pavilion.
“It's data on the Baekgye Merchant Guild. Take a look.”
“Is it okay to just show us classified secrets like this?”
As Jin Hagun saw, they were documents from Tongcheon Pavilion.
“It's not.”
“But?”
“You all have to keep the secret.”
“I've heard that while a secret between two people can be kept, there's no such thing as a secret among three.”
Geom Muggeuk said with a smile.
“I'm not worried about you. If the secret is leaked, I'll be the one to do it first. That I'm this free of secrets with my friends! I wanted to brag.”
Bisain and Jin Hagun nodded with expressions that truly said he would do exactly that. The two dealing with him were in perfect sync.
The playfulness disappeared from Geom Muggeuk's face.
“It's content everyone knows, and it may not be very important, but I thought I should show you anyway so that nothing is missed.”
This was Geom Muggeuk's way. It was the same when he went outside and came back, reporting everything to his father, and to the demonic followers, and to these two here. Making sure there was absolutely no misunderstanding caused by not speaking was Geom Muggeuk's life motto.
Then, while looking through the documents, Bisain found something.
“When was this information obtained?”
“Recently.”
Because after the incident occurred, they had properly investigated them.
“Are all these contents true?”
“If you doubt Tongcheon Pavilion's information, you must never start a war with us in the future.”
That was how accurate Tongcheon Pavilion's information was.
“There's something wrong.”
Bisain held out the paper.
It was the part regarding why the Baekgye Merchant Guild harbored a grudge against Bisain.
The Demonic Path Alliance had misunderstood that the Extreme Evil Soma had massacred their warriors, and had pushed the Baekgye Merchant Guild into the territory he managed and supported them.
Afterward, the misunderstanding on both sides was cleared up, and the Demonic Path Alliance pushed away the Baekgye Merchant Guild while compensating the Extreme Evil Soma for the losses he had suffered over two years.
“At that time, the Baekgye Merchant Guild coughed up all the money they had earned over those two years, and afterward their household declined. Their relationship with the Vice-Guild Leader also worsened. There were also rumors that the guild leader's health had deteriorated. In the end, it is believed that this current grudge began from that revenge. What is wrong with this?”
Then Bisain spoke calmly.
“One might think that since we are of the Demonic Path, we would be merciless and shameless.”
Bisain said something unexpected.
“The money that we compensated back then was put up by the Main Alliance, not the Baekgye Merchant Guild.”
Geom Muggeuk was startled by those words. It was a very important part. Because that was the incident that became the reason for the grudge.
Since Bisain had no reason to lie, if they hadn't suffered losses? Then despite that, they had acted like victims as if they had paid that money?
“Then why did they target you?”
He could now understand the words Bisain had said earlier about them not making sense.
He had previously understood it like this. They were trying to kill the Young Alliance Leader just because they had to cough up money? He had said that didn't make sense.
Geom Muggeuk, who had been lost in deep thought, suddenly flinched. A suspicion arose: could it be.
“What if today's incident wasn't for the purpose of killing you?”
Bisain's and Jin Hagun's eyes also grew sharp.
“Then what is the purpose?”
At Bisain's question, Geom Muggeuk put forth one speculation.
“Destroying Cheonhwaru. What if that was the pure purpose from the beginning?”
Geom Muggeuk had focused on why they were trying to kill Bisain.
But if it wasn't that, and it was to destroy Cheonhwaru?
“When you met me before, you were curious. Just how were they planning to kill me? We even thought they might use a poison that could deceive the Thirteen Wolves of the Demonic Path. But they don't need to.”
Bisain picked up Geom Muggeuk's words.
“Just the fact that they tried to poison me would have gotten the master of Cheonhwaru executed, and Cheonhwaru would have been ruined.”
Why was Bisain the target?
Because he was the fastest and surest way to ruin Cheonhwaru.
Just the fact that there had been an attempt to assassinate the Young Alliance Leader, and with fabricated evidence and witnesses that the master of Cheonhwaru had ordered it, would have been enough.
The Baekgye Merchant Guild would likely not have been revealed as the culprit of the conspiracy either. They probably made it so that there was no fault other than inviting Bisain to Cheonhwaru.
But with the Heavenly Demon Cult intervening in this matter, and with him getting involved, the matter had grown bigger.
Bisain asked with calm eyes.
“Is there anywhere you suspect?”
Geom Muggeuk shook his head. At least one thing was certain.
“It must be someone trying to fill the void left by Cheonhwaru's disappearance.”
It must be someone trying to steal the master of Cheonhwaru's dream of becoming the Empress of the Night.
One trying to become the new ruler of the night.
Then Illang's voice was heard from outside.
“The Vice-Guild Leader of the Baekgye Merchant Guild has arrived.”
Geom Muggeuk looked at the outside scenery growing dark. Now the banquet was beginning, and it was time to get one step closer to the truth.
“Now, change your clothes.”