“Do you suspect the Eldest Young Master?”
At Jin Hagun’s question, Jin Paecheon asked in return.
“Then are you suspecting Layman Hwa?”
A taut tension flowed between the two of them.
Even until he came here, Jin Hagun had harbored a faint, surely not, in one corner of his heart....
But the instant he heard those words from his grandfather, he knew for certain.
‘Cheonae Geosa planted it in him with Mind Control Art so he would say his own name.’
If one implanted Mind Control Art in a subordinate one commanded, would one not make him give someone else’s name even under torture?
Yet Cheonae Geosa had struck at the blind spot of that common sense; by driving suspicion upon himself as the mastermind, he had perfectly extricated himself from being the mastermind.
This choice was a method possible precisely because the target was his grandfather. His grandfather had known Cheonae Geosa since his youth. Since then, the friendship between the two had continued to this day.
It was probably something like this.
Suppose he continued building his friendship with Geom Mugeuk from now on, and several decades passed.
Then someone came and said Geom Mugeuk was the mastermind behind evil? Have these bastards lost their minds?
That must have been exactly how his grandfather felt now.
And the reason Cheonae Geosa had made this choice was clear.
“I asked where the Eldest Young Master is.”
Since such a thing had happened now, when the Eldest Young Master was in Wuhan, there was no choice but to believe it had naturally been plotted by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Knowing that defending Geom Muyang in this situation would only further inflame his grandfather’s anger, Jin Hagun answered obediently.
“He is at a manor not far from here.”
The Martial Alliance Leader could not go personally, nor could he summon him to the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
“Bring him to Cheongunrim.”
Jin Hagun obediently followed his grandfather’s words.
“Yes, understood.”
Jin Hagun left the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
Shaaaaaaa.
When Jin Hagun came out of the Alliance Leader’s Hall, the rain was still pouring down. After telling a warrior of the Alliance Leader’s Hall to have a carriage prepared, he stood for a moment and watched the falling rain.
He should have handled this matter with his own hands, but he had not expected the White Dragon Unit Leader to die like that. Now it would be even more difficult to reveal that Cheonae Geosa was behind it. Even if other evidence came out, his grandfather would think it had been fabricated.
Cheonae Geosa’s face came to mind. When he was young, he had followed him around, calling him Grandfather. Unlike his strict grandfather, the man had treated him and Jin Haryeong warmly. Whenever he came to see them, he would bring rare toys from all over the Central Plains.
And that man was behind the conspiracy?
Jin Hagun lifted his head and looked up at the sky. Thunder was flashing within the pitch-black storm clouds.
* * *
Geom Muyang stood in the courtyard of the manor, getting drenched by the rain as he watched the carriage arrive.
When the carriage door opened, Jin Hagun was inside. From the fact that he had come personally to find him, Geom Muyang sensed that something had gone wrong with taking away the White Dragon Unit Leader.
“The Alliance Leader wishes to see you.”
As Geom Muyang immediately walked toward the carriage, Homyeong followed after him. He said, We will escort you, but Geom Muyang declined.
“You all wait here.”
How could Homyeong not know? Now that the Martial Alliance Leader himself had stepped forward, all of them would die to a single strike of his sword.
But apart from that, sending Geom Muyang alone made him worried and uneasy. If something happened to him, all of them would have to offer up their necks. It would be better to die protecting him instead.
He sent another look saying he would accompany him, but Geom Muyang firmly shook his head.
“Please be careful.”
Leaving behind Homyeong and the warriors of the Earth Unit, and Gwak Yeong, who stood at the very back watching with concern, Geom Muyang climbed into the carriage.
Once he got in, the carriage set off.
When the carriage started moving, Jin Hagun told him what had happened in the Alliance Leader’s Hall. In the current situation, there could not be even the slightest misunderstanding, so he judged that he must not hide anything from him.
“The White Dragon Unit Leader was under Mind Control Art.”
Geom Muyang flinched. Even though he had tortured the man himself, he had not known that fact. If it was a Mind Control Art that could evade even his eyes, then it had to be a sorcery planted by someone stronger than himself.
If so, it was not a sorcery cast by Cheonae Geosa. Having seen him for so many years, there was no way the Martial Alliance Leader would have failed to notice that he possessed such sorcery.
“Whom did he name?”
“He said it was Cheonae Geosa after all.”
Geom Muyang was not surprised in the least. He had already confirmed several times just how meticulous they were.
“Then he must be dead.”
“How do you know?”
“Because that is how I would have dealt with it.”
Jin Hagun could tell. Geom Muyang, too, had grasped their intent.
“There is no way the Alliance Leader did not see through what we can see. It’s just....”
He simply does not want to believe it.
Jin Hagun could not bring himself to continue those words with his own mouth.
Geom Muyang merely nodded without saying anything.
Contrary to Jin Hagun’s thoughts, he considered it possible that the Alliance Leader had not seen through it. Or perhaps he was thinking something entirely different.
The one who truly did not want to believe it might be Jin Hagun. The fact that his grandfather could make a wrong judgment.
But Geom Muyang did not reveal such thoughts. It was only because his interests were distant that he could view it objectively, like offering advice from the sidelines. If it became one’s own affair, who could guarantee anything?
Thus the carriage carrying the two of them arrived at the bamboo grove.
The guards of the Alliance Leader’s Hall were all standing at the entrance. It seemed the Alliance Leader had forbidden anyone from entering.
Geom Muyang and Jin Hagun got down from the carriage and moved toward the grove.
Once they entered the grove, the rain became a fine drizzle.
The two walked through the rain. It had been a very long time since either Geom Muyang or Jin Hagun had been rained on like this.
There was a small pavilion in the middle of the bamboo grove.
Jin Paecheon stood in the pavilion with his hands clasped behind his back. He did not conceal his presence.
“On rainy days, I sometimes come here.”
Geom Muyang slowly moved his steps and ascended into the pavilion.
Jin Hagun did not go up with him, but waited below.
Geom Muyang, having stepped into the pavilion, greeted him with respectful courtesy.
“I greet the Alliance Leader.”
Jin Paecheon, who had been looking far into the distance, slowly turned around.
“Eldest Young Master, it has been a long time.”
His gaze and attitude toward Geom Muyang were calm and courteous. When he had ordered him brought here, he had seemed ready to roar at him at once, but his manner now was entirely different.
That was why Jin Hagun, standing below the pavilion, felt relieved on one hand and more tense on the other. He did not know when or how his grandfather’s rage might erupt.
“What do you think of the scenery?”
“It is beautiful.”
Indeed, the view from the pavilion was beautiful. The mist flowing through the thinned rain was lovely and dreamlike.
There, only the sound of rain could be heard, as if every sound in the world had vanished.
“Is the Cult Leader well?”
“He has entered closed-door cultivation.”
Since the Martial Alliance would already know that fact, Geom Muyang answered honestly.
“To tell the truth, I was surprised when I first heard the news.”
At their level, closed-door cultivation was not something that happened often. Because of that, the Alliance had even convened an emergency meeting. Was he truly in closed-door cultivation, or was he trying to pull some other trick?
But amid the meeting, as various reports and opinions were exchanged, Jin Paecheon was picturing Geom Ujin in closed-door cultivation.
He knew instinctively. The Geom Ujin he knew was not someone who would use deceit over something like this. He could be even more certain because he had met him at the last tripartite conference.
A Geom Ujin who did not play tricks was more frightening than a Geom Ujin who did.
That was why, though he did not show it outwardly, he was inwardly on edge. After all, the martial realm of none other than the Heavenly Demon was changing.
It was amid such circumstances that this incident had occurred.
“My younger brother is serving as acting Cult Leader.”
When Geom Mugeuk was mentioned, a smile formed at the corners of Jin Paecheon’s mouth. The only demon cultist who made him smile no matter the situation. Yes, if not for Geom Mugeuk, this meeting would not have existed in the first place.
“The Young Cult Leader is someone who would do well no matter what task he is entrusted with.”
Geom Muyang nodded as if in agreement.
Was it because they had thought of Geom Mugeuk?
Like the mist flowing among the bamboo, silence flowed between the two of them as well.
How much time passed like that?
Jin Paecheon abruptly said,
“It was unexpected.”
Geom Muyang looked at him. Now Jin Paecheon also gazed straight at him and said,
“That you came all the way to Wuhan.”
It was a natural question. The forgery of the Golden Dragon Hidden Weapons was certainly a serious matter. But even so, it was not enough for the Eldest Young Master to come all the way to Wuhan.
“There were circumstances that required it.”
“Can you tell me what they were?”
When Geom Muyang gave no answer, Jin Paecheon’s gaze turned slightly cold. Even though he sensed that change in his eyes, Geom Muyang gave no answer.
“You resemble your father more than the Young Cult Leader does.”
Looking at him called Geom Ujin to mind.
Well, if it had been Geom Mugeuk, he would already have been chattering away, telling him, There were this and that circumstances, and explaining everything.
Geom Muyang understood what those words meant. And he also felt that what was needed at this moment was not his own bluntness, but his younger brother’s kindness.
If it had truly been another situation, or another opponent, he would never have said it.
“That hidden weapon nearly killed my younger brother.”
At Geom Muyang’s answer, Jin Paecheon’s eyes widened.
Jin Hagun, who had been below the pavilion, raised his head and looked up.
Only now could he know for certain. Why Geom Muyang had said he would see this through to the end.
If he himself had nearly killed Jin Haryeong? Yes, even he would have to see it through. He, too, would have chased it all the way to the main altar of the Demon Cult.
“I merely tracked down the one who made the forged hidden weapons, and yet here I am meeting the Alliance Leader like this.”
It meant that whoever they were, they had paved the road well. Jin Paecheon sensed the barb in those words.
“Have you heard whom the White Dragon Unit Leader mentioned?”
“Yes.”
“What do you think?”
“I do not know that man.”
Geom Muyang looked straight at Jin Paecheon and said,
“The answer is surely known to the Alliance Leader.”
For an instant, Jin Paecheon’s expression twitched. A tremendous aura flowed out from his body.
“What does that mean?”
“Do you not already know?”
An overwhelming pressure began to whirl around them.
Dark clouds gathered, and the world grew dim. Jin Paecheon’s aura was a typhoon encountered on a dark sea.
In the rough waves that swept in an instant, Geom Muyang was lifted and thrown down again and again. A fear that burrowed into the abyss stirred even the depths of a person’s heart.
Originally, Jin Paecheon was a man suited to such an aura. Tyrannical and powerful. It was only that, having lived for so long as the Martial Alliance Leader, he had not often had opportunities to reveal that force.
Even within the storm, Geom Muyang stood firm against it. Then Jin Paecheon’s aura grew even stronger.
Below the pavilion, Jin Hagun’s heart grew urgent. It was his enraged grandfather, and Geom Muyang trying not to break.
If it were Geom Mugeuk, how would he handle this?
Thinking of him, he considered this and that, but he was not Geom Mugeuk. If he could not do as Geom Mugeuk would, then it would be better to remain silent.
Yes, let’s trust Grandfather. Though he is angry now, he is not someone who handles matters according to emotion.
In this matter, he had to play the most important role. He was the one who knew his grandfather best, and he was also the one who had to serve as the bridge with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
‘Yes, from now on, I must not hold preconceived notions. I must look properly at each and every person.’
Those words Geom Mugeuk had repeated again and again had become the most necessary thing in his life at this moment.
Jin Paecheon’s surging aura gradually subsided, and the surroundings became peaceful once more.
He had pushed him right to the limit before internal injuries would occur, but Geom Muyang endured it there without moving a single step.
After quietly looking at him, Jin Paecheon said calmly,
“Leave Wuhan.”
If it were some other region, perhaps not, but in Wuhan it was a demand he could make well enough.
But Geom Muyang did not accept it.
“I cannot.”
Jin Paecheon spoke amicably.
“This matter is ours. Once we find the answer, I will send word to you.”
“I am sorry.”
You will never find that answer alone.
Geom Muyang did not back down. This was a promise to none other than Jin Paecheon. If he said he would leave and then did not, that would be an even greater insult to him.
“You people really are!”
Who in this murim would dare defy his words?
Over Geom Muyang’s face, the image of Geom Ujin overlapped. Since he was that man’s son, how formidable must his stubbornness be?
At that moment, Jin Paecheon’s gaze slowly turned toward the distant mist. The look in his eyes changed.
Someone was there, far off in the mist.
The fact that he could only sense their qi after they had approached this close was enough to show just how outstanding the other party’s martial arts were.
“Stop eavesdropping and come out.”
Then someone began walking slowly toward them.
“Have you not experienced it yourself over the past several decades, Alliance Leader?”
Beyond the white mist, a golden radiance began to spread.
“Those Demon Cult bastards truly do not listen.”