All the way back to the Alliance Leader’s Hall, Jin Hagun thought and thought again.
What should he report to his grandfather about Cheonae Geosa?
Since it was a task entrusted to him like a test for the successor, he would have liked to give a clear answer, but in the end, the conclusion Jin Hagun reached was this.
“To be honest, I’m not sure.”
His grandfather, whom he had expected to be disappointed, silently nodded.
Jin Paecheon considered it only natural.
If Cheonae Geosa truly was a villain?
How could his grandson uncover a scheme so deep and terrifying that it had deceived even him?
And if he was not?
If one suspected an innocent man, confusion and uncertainty were inevitable.
Either way, it was not an easy situation to see through.
Jin Paecheon rose from the grand chair and slowly walked to the window.
The panoramic view of the Murim Alliance as seen from the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
He had lived his whole life to protect this unchanging scenery. And he felt that he was now facing a battle more difficult than any he had ever experienced.
Jin Hagun’s question came from behind him.
“Will you meet with Geosa-nim?”
Jin Paecheon nodded.
“My friend was ambushed. Of course I must meet him.”
The time had come to meet him in person.
How should he treat him?
His grandson trusted Geom Mugeuk so deeply that he believed this incident was not a scheme of the Demon Cult, but he himself could not simply think the same.
He had to consider many possibilities. With one wrong misunderstanding, he might lose his closest friend.
Just then, an unexpected report came from midair.
“The acting cult leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult requests an audience.”
Jin Paecheon, who had been looking out the window, turned around. Jin Hagun, too, could not hide his surprise. It seemed he had come without even notifying his grandson in advance.
Even Geom Mugeuk had come in person?
It was one of two things. Either he truly believed Cheonae Geosa was behind this, or they themselves were the ones plotting.
Jin Paecheon said calmly,
“Show him in.”
“Yes.”
Jin Hagun felt his grandfather’s aura change. The gentleness with which he treated his grandson vanished, and in its place settled the dignity and authority of the Murim Alliance Leader.
His grandfather was now standing on a battlefield.
Though Geom Mugeuk was his friend, he was making his grandfather tense.
As if to prove it, Jin Paecheon reminded him of one fact.
“Do not forget where you said you placed your trust in that man.”
Jin Hagun had said he trusted Geom Mugeuk fifth. After his faith that they were right, his grandfather, the subordinates of the Demon-Slaying Squad and the martial artists of the Murim Alliance—only then would he trust him.
His grandfather was telling him now. Do not be swayed by some idle friendship and lean into emotion.
“I will keep it in mind.”
A moment later, Geom Mugeuk entered the Alliance Leader’s Hall with a bamboo hat pulled low over his head.
At the entrance, he removed the bamboo hat, then walked slowly to the foot of the grand chair and bowed with proper courtesy.
“I greet the Alliance Leader. Have you been well?”
Jin Paecheon descended from the grand chair.
He, too, received Geom Mugeuk with due courtesy.
“Welcome, Cult Leader Geom.”
He treated him not as Young Cult Leader Geom Mugeuk, but as Acting Cult Leader Geom Mugeuk. Personal ties were personal ties, and the courtesy that had to be observed between the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and the Murim Alliance was another matter.
“Please treat me comfortably. I did not come today as the acting cult leader, but as Hagun’s friend.”
As he said that, Geom Mugeuk looked at Jin Hagun. Their gazes met in midair. In their eyes was a sentiment that could be understood without words.
Good to see you, my friend.
You always have to surprise people like this, don’t you?
Though his grandfather was watching, Jin Hagun did not hide his gladness. Once he actually saw Geom Mugeuk, he could not suppress it. Even though this was the man who teased him like that every time, seeing him made him this glad.
Geom Mugeuk turned back to Jin Paecheon and spoke respectfully.
“I arrived in Wuhan today. Since this concerns my elder brother, I moved discreetly. I apologize for not sending word in advance.”
Since he was greeting them on the day he arrived, it was not as though he had secretly entered Wuhan and conducted activities there. In other words, the only issue was that he had come without prior notice; there was nothing wrong with Geom Mugeuk coming to Wuhan itself.
After silently nodding, Jin Paecheon asked in a gentle tone,
“How is it, now that you have become cult leader?”
Geom Mugeuk looked up at the grand chair atop the steps. The Alliance Leader’s grand chair would surely be no more comfortable a seat than his father’s. If it had been a comfortable place to sit, that seat would already have been taken by his father.
“I have come to understand how difficult it is to protect that seat.”
Then he turned to Jin Hagun and said,
“Hey, friend. This time right now is much better.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Jin Hagun only smiled faintly.
“Why? You don’t believe me?”
Geom Mugeuk said to Jin Paecheon,
“Please make him take it on, even briefly, so he can learn just how hard it is. It feels unfair that I’m the only one suffering.”
Jin Hagun could tell. Geom Mugeuk joking like this was also his way of saying to his grandfather, Please entrust the position of successor to your grandson soon.
‘Grandfather, how could I not trust someone like this?’
He had already saved his life, and even his younger sibling’s life.
And such a man had stood before him in many forms.
There were times when he was not the Young Cult Leader, times when he was, and now he stood as the acting cult leader.
Though each position was different, he had always been the same.
That was why he could say with certainty. Even if Geom Mugeuk ascended to the position of cult leader, he would be exactly as he was now.
“To be honest, when I first came, I intended to move secretly. I thought this matter was not ours, but something for the Murim Alliance to resolve.”
“Then why did you change your mind?”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned to Jin Hagun.
“I remembered a promise I made with that friend long ago. That if something happened, we would be sure to contact each other. If there was danger, we would be sure to help each other.”
At that, Jin Paecheon asked in passing,
“Are you not the most dangerous one?”
Geom Mugeuk lowered his voice ominously as he answered.
“I am certainly the most dangerous.”
Just as it seemed he was admitting it readily,
“But only to the wicked. I do not possess the generosity and mercy that the Alliance Leader bestows upon evildoers. I do not believe in repentance and reform either.”
Since this was an opportunity to learn Geom Mugeuk’s thoughts, Jin Paecheon asked calmly,
“Why do you not believe in it?”
“Because the repentance that only one out of a hundred sinners is capable of becomes a shield for the other ninety-nine villains.”
He meant that he would prevent the greater tragedy that clumsy forgiveness could create.
Jin Paecheon did not ask whether that one person should not still be saved. Jin Paecheon, with his domineering nature, was of the same mind at least in this regard.
“I, too, have no mercy for evildoers.”
“That is why I respect you, Alliance Leader.”
Geom Mugeuk met Jin Paecheon’s intense gaze head-on.
“I thought I had to receive the Alliance Leader’s permission before I began handling this matter.”
This degree of courtesy was enough. No, compared to the past, it was overflowing with courtesy. When had the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult ever notified them before taking action? Since Geom Mugeuk became Young Cult Leader, things had at least begun to change.
Jin Paecheon asked cautiously. From the moment he heard that Geom Mugeuk had come, this was what he had wanted to ask.
“What are your thoughts on this matter?”
Not only Jin Paecheon, but Jin Hagun as well was curious about what Geom Mugeuk thought.
“Do you mean the rash opinion of someone who has only just arrived and has not even seen Cheonae Geosa’s face yet?”
Jin Paecheon nodded.
“Yes. I want to hear that rash opinion of yours.”
Geom Mugeuk held his tongue for a moment. After showing through this brief silence that what he was about to say was by no means a rash answer, Geom Mugeuk spoke firmly.
“I believe Cheonae Geosa is behind this matter, and that he is a villain.”
A heavy silence flowed through the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
Jin Paecheon knew well what kind of person Geom Mugeuk was. He was the man who had brought him and the leader of the Sado Alliance to a shabby tavern in front of the main headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
He was the man who had made the successor of the Sado Alliance and his own granddaughter dance in front of countless masters. He was the man who had danced together with them there. He was the man who had ended the succession struggle without bloodshed.
Such a man had said this.
The Alliance Leader’s friend is a villain.
Even before he heard the reason, his chest already felt tight. Because there was certain to be a plausible reason.
Instead of his grandfather, Jin Hagun asked,
“May I ask the reason?”
Jin Hagun was exactly half in doubt and half in belief.
His grandfather might not want to face the truth, but he had to hear it. In order to protect his grandfather and the Alliance.
Though Jin Hagun had asked, Geom Mugeuk answered Jin Paecheon.
“Because I would have chosen that method as well.”
“!”
It was an emotional answer, but stronger than any other. Because it was Geom Mugeuk’s words, the answer had even greater force. It was the method a person as clever as he was would have chosen.
“Gaining the Alliance Leader’s trust means gaining the trust of the entire orthodox murim. If not for the fact that Cheonae Geosa is the Alliance Leader’s close friend, would he truly have been able to gain the reputation he has now?”
He would not have. There were countless people in murim who practiced righteousness and bestowed chivalry. And yet the reason Hwa Yulcheong had come to be known as if he represented them all was because he was the friend of the Murim Alliance Leader.
Geom Mugeuk asked something unexpected.
“Do you remember when you first became acquainted with Cheonae Geosa?”
Jin Paecheon nodded.
“How did you meet?”
Geom Mugeuk dug in from their very first meeting.
Jin Paecheon told him of that day long ago.
There had been a time in his youth when he wandered as a wandering hero. In those days, when he went about punishing evil, he heard the sounds of fighting in a village he was passing through.
“When I ran over, that friend was fighting against Green Forest bandits who had attacked the village.”
That was his first meeting with him. He helped him and cut down all the bandits.
Jin Paecheon realized Geom Mugeuk’s intention.
“You seem to want to say that meeting was planned.”
Indeed, Geom Mugeuk nodded and asked,
“Why do you think it was not?”
“At that time, not only bandits, but many villagers died as well. There were more dead than living.”
After letting out a sigh, Jin Paecheon added,
“Even several children died. That man is… not the kind of person who would do that.”
Jin Paecheon answered firmly. Even if he conceded a hundred times over, he could accept that the man might have approached him intentionally. But to sacrifice innocent lives who had not even learned martial arts in order to approach him?
He recalled the sight of him that day, holding a dead child in his arms and weeping bitterly. Those tears had not been sincere? Those tears that he still remembered vividly, as if branded into him?
“There is no way.”
Geom Mugeuk did not insist.
“That is why I told you, did I not? That this is the rash opinion of someone who has not even seen Cheonae Geosa’s face yet. My thoughts went too far.”
But in his heart, he did not think they had gone too far.
Because he had once experienced something similar. When he had returned to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to find Bimahon, the final material for the Great Rite.
At that time, he had deceived everything and everyone solely for the purpose of taking Bimahon.
If he, too, was a man with such will?
Geom Mugeuk did not reveal those inner thoughts.
“For now, I will investigate this matter with Squad Leader Jin. Whoever the bastard is, he tried to use the Alliance Leader’s friendship, so we should use friendship to deal with him as well.”
Jin Hagun nodded. He felt a conviction that, together with Geom Mugeuk, they would surely be able to uncover the truth.
This relief no longer wounded Jin Hagun’s pride. Rather, he was grateful that he had such a reliable friend.
Jin Paecheon, on the other hand, said nothing.
Though Geom Mugeuk had taken a step back, saying he had spoken rashly, Jin Paecheon could tell that he still considered Cheonae Geosa to be behind this. If he had not believed that, he would never have said in the first place that he was a villain.
Then Geom Mugeuk gave unexpected advice.
“When you meet your friend, tell him everything honestly.”
The scope of that honesty was beyond what he expected.
“Tell him that I have come, and tell him that my elder brother and I strongly suspect him. Tell him honestly how you feel as well, Alliance Leader—that the Demon Cult keeps acting like this, and it troubles you.”
It was truly unexpected advice, but there was a reason for it.
“You are someone who has protected the position of Alliance Leader for a long time, so you must have seen countless sorts who scheme. If you set your mind to it, you could likely deceive Cheonae Geosa without showing any sign.”
No, he thought he would not be able to deceive him.
The opponent was someone who had been at the Alliance Leader’s side for decades. He knew the Alliance Leader better than anyone.
“Even so, why should the Alliance Leader engage in a battle of deception? You possess a weapon far stronger than that.”
The weapon Geom Mugeuk spoke of was this.
“Fight with truth. Are you not someone who has led the orthodox murim all your life with a life free of falsehood? A half-baked truth would only be exploited by cunning evil, but the Alliance Leader’s truth will be as strong as ten-thousand-year cold iron.”
Was it because he could not bear to lie in front of his grandson?
With an awkward expression, Jin Paecheon spoke honestly.
“I am good at lying, too. I have dealt with people through lies before.”
Geom Mugeuk laughed pleasantly.
“Yes. Fight with that truth right now.”
Of course, he did not think the Alliance Leader’s truth would defeat him. If sincerity or truth could get through, how could it be called evil?
Even so, there was a reason he had said this to the Alliance Leader.
Because if the Alliance Leader met him while in such a complicated state of mind, it was obvious he would lose a hundred battles out of a hundred. He knew he would be swayed exactly as the other man intended.
No matter how clever a person was, no matter how strong-willed, the moment they were swayed by their opponent, it was over. Rather, because they were clever and strong, they would be drawn in more deeply and more powerfully.
That was why he had given him a standard.
It might be rigid and somewhat frustrating, but precisely because it was rigid, it was something he had steadily built up and could cling to tightly. He was telling him to take his reverent and steadfast life as his weapon.
And if Murim Alliance Leader Jin Paecheon could at least face him without being swayed—
“Then you may see something that only you, Alliance Leader, can recognize.”
Absolute Regression Chapter 638