< Episode 656 > The Plan.
The hour when the sun seemed on the verge of rising.
As the wind blew quietly, slumbering birds awoke and grasshoppers stirred.
Over the Central Plains—and specifically over Henan—a massive object was flying past at high speed.
Whoooosh-!!
An incredibly fast speed for its size.
Moreover, it was large enough to attract the eye, so people should have noticed it immediately, yet for some reason, the people of Henan paid little attention to the sky.
They seemed not even to know that something was up there.
It was a mystery how no one was aware of such a massive object, but—
Above the building of the Murim Alliance located in the heart of Henan Province.
A man was staring intently at that anomaly.
“Hmph.”
“What is it?”
At the question, the man—
Beomdong pointed his finger at the sky.
“Vice Commander.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you see that?”
At Beomdong’s words, the man frowned and looked at the sky. He even raised his senses, but still saw nothing in the air.
“…Forgive me.”
“No, it’s nothing to apologize for. Hmm…”
Beomdong nodded slightly at the man’s answer.
‘The Vice Commander can’t see it.’
Beomdong looked at the sky and focused, infusing energy into his eyes.
Then, in the distant sky, space distorted and something became visible.
Dark clouds?
It couldn’t be.
‘A dark cloud that can only be seen by infusing energy?’
Rather, that was even stranger.
It was still the middle of the night, so there was a limit to how much he could heighten his senses.
The sun was gradually rising, but that alone was insufficient.
However, light would shine properly soon.
Since he felt he would know for sure then, Beomdong sat still and watched that spot.
But.
“Hm?”
Beomdong frowned at something he saw.
A massive something was being sucked into somewhere.
To Beomdong’s eyes, it looked almost like black smoke being rapidly sucked down toward the ground.
Seeing that, Beomdong raised his upper body.
“Vice Commander.”
“Yes, Commander.”
At the Vice Commander’s reply, Beomdong pointed below the direction he had been watching.
“That way. Do you remember what was there?”
“If it’s that way….”
The Vice Commander looked at the fingertip.
It was a forest to the west. Also, land not yet fully developed.
Recalling that, he immediately added to the Commander:
“It is land currently being developed.”
“Developed?”
“Yes. The owner is probably….”
The Vice Commander pondered for a few seconds before answering.
“I believe it is the Baekhwa Merchant Guild.”
“Baekhwa Merchant Guild.”
A place he knew well.
It was among the top merchant guilds in the Central Plains.
It sponsored funds to the Alliance, yet it was an ambiguous place to call pro-Murim Alliance.
Moreover.
‘A place connected to that Gu clan.’
It was said the guild master was the wife of Hohyeop, the head of the Shanxi Gu Clan.
Therefore, perhaps.
‘There might be a connection.’
He didn’t know if it was connected to ‘those bastards’ who had been making Henan rowdy these past few months.
The fact that what just happened fell precisely on the Baekhwa Merchant Guild.
At that subtle coincidence, Beomdong turned around and moved.
“I’ll be back shortly. Wait here.”
“Huh? Where are you— Commander? Commander!”
By the time the Vice Commander urgently called out to him,
Beomdong had already disappeared.
******************
Dawn of the third day after two days had passed since departing from the North Sea.
We had arrived at our destination before we knew it.
It was a much faster speed than last time.
I looked at the forest visible below while simultaneously examining my body.
‘I’ve used about half of my internal energy.’
Half of that abundant internal energy.
In terms of quantity it was quite a lot, but from a cost-efficiency standpoint, it was debatable to call it much.
‘Considering the speed and the stealth, this much isn’t bad.’
Ttolttori was so huge that if he just flew around carelessly, too many eyes would see.
So we traveled through areas with fewer people as much as possible. Even then, I had to fully shroud him in energy to greatly reduce his presence.
The energy used for several days straight like that was half.
‘Not bad.’
It was a reasonably satisfactory result where I could feel my realm rising well.
Whooosh.
I raised my head at the felt wind.
I could feel that the scent of the air had changed.
Unlike the air in the North Sea, the air of the Central Plains was somehow different.
Was it because it was where I was born and raised? Or because the North Sea was foreign land?
Anyway, breathing familiar air felt comfortable inside.
I looked around and stroked Ttolttori’s scales.
“Let’s go down slowly.”
Grr.
As if understanding, Ttolttori gradually lowered his altitude.
There happened to be a good spot to land.
Ttolttori seemed to have known early on and slowed down toward the spot I wanted.
Swoosh.
His massive body touched the ground, but this time, unlike last time, wind pressure didn’t rush in and the earth didn’t shatter.
I had scolded him so much that he seemed to listen well this time.
Immediately after landing safely, the passengers finally set foot on the ground.
“Uuuurk…!!”
Someone jumped down from Ttolttori’s back and dashed into the bushes immediately upon landing.
It was Yuri, of course.
Perhaps because her realm was the lowest, she looked like she was having a hard time enduring it.
Moreover, since the speed was much faster than last time, as expected, she seemed to have reached her limit.
That was fortunate.
‘If she had vomited up there, I would have thrown her off.’
But she held out. Thanks to that, she could keep her life.
Otherwise, I would have killed her myself.
“Wow… this is pretty fun. I never thought I’d have this kind of experience again.”
Descending after were Goeseon and Baekryeongeom.
Baekryeongeom had a somewhat sullen face yet showed excitement, while Goeseon simply looked at Ttolttori with interested eyes as if thrilled.
“To think I’d live to ride a demonic beast.”
Grrr-!
Perhaps the word *demonic beast* grated on him.
Ttolttori growled at Goeseon. Surprised, Goeseon hurriedly waved his hand.
“Sorry. It seems that upset you.”
Grrr…
Only after hearing the apology did Ttolttori turn his head.
Was he satisfied?
Anyway, he was easy to handle.
Goeseon also laughed heartily, perhaps finding the sight amusing, then looked somewhere.
“This fellow is a bit interesting, isn’t he. Right?”
“…Yes.”
At Goeseon’s words, someone flinched and answered.
It was Uhyeok this time.
To think he would flinch just because his master spoke to him.
Seeing that, I clicked my tongue.
‘Tsk tsk.’
The sight of him hesitating, unable to shake off guilt, looked exactly like me.
That pissed me off more, but I couldn’t do anything about it.
Because this was purely a problem Uhyeok had to solve himself.
Knowing that, Goeseon probably kept talking to Uhyeok.
Of course, with one arm gone, it wasn’t easy to accept from the way he spoke.
‘Ugh, you idiot.’
These were words directed at Uhyeok,
and also words directed at myself visible in his appearance.
I deliberately ignored it and waved my hand.
Woom.
Energy escaped from my fingertips and wrapped around Namgung Bia and Dang Soyeol, who were coming down.
Floating them in the air, I let them down gently to the ground.
At this, Dang Soyeol was slightly surprised but soon smiled, while Namgung Bia showed no particular change because she was half-asleep.
“You do all sorts of things.”
Paejon reacted as if bewildered seeing this, but I lightly ignored him.
‘We seem to have arrived safely.’
Next, I should return to the Baekhwa Merchant Guild and report.
“If it’s this way… roughly east… Hey, grab her.”
Dang Soyeol grabbed Namgung Bia, who was trying to stealthily walk off in her own direction.
Good, I just need to go the opposite direction of where Namgung Bia was trying to go.
Just as I was about to move with the group, convinced of that—
Rustle.
“Hm?”
A presence was felt from afar.
I wasn’t particularly tense. It was just one person with a low realm.
I thought it might be an herb picker passing by.
“Excuse me.”
The person who appeared was, surprisingly, someone from the Baekhwa Merchant Guild.
“I am called Seokhon of the Baekhwa Merchant Guild. Are you the young master Guyangcheon of the Shanxi Gu Clan?”
Amazed at the accurate address, I looked and stepped forward.
“That’s correct, but… how did you get here?”
I hadn’t even sent word that I would arrive.
Feeling strange, I asked, and the man called Seokhon answered:
“The branch manager sent me.”
“…The branch manager?”
If it’s the branch manager here,
‘It’s Moyong Huia.’
How did she know to send someone?
In an utterly incomprehensible situation, Seokhon spoke to me.
“The branch manager said you would likely return soon, so she selected possible arrival locations and stationed personnel. She instructed that we respectfully escort you immediately upon arrival.”
“…Ho.”
I let out a hollow laugh at his words.
Not only had she predicted the time of arrival, but she had even anticipated where we would land and sent people in advance. What thorough and frightening conduct.
‘Anyway…’
Her unbelievable handling of the situation was almost laughable.
A ghost-like woman—those words suited her perfectly.
“May I guide you?”
I held back a laugh and nodded at Seokhon’s words.
“Let’s go.”
Hearing talk of Moyong Huia, it finally felt real.
The fact that I had returned to the Central Plains.
‘It didn’t take that long.’
Yet somehow it felt like a very long time.
******************
I arrived at the Baekhwa Merchant Guild under Seokhon’s guidance.
It was early dawn so there were few people, and thanks to this man called Seokhon deliberately guiding us through less populated areas, we could arrive without drawing attention.
Sssss.
A sensation was felt on my forearm.
Sss…
A dark blue snake poked its head out along my sleeve and flicked its tongue.
Surprisingly, the snake was Ttolttori.
By reducing and reducing his massive frame that was like Mount Tai, he could return to a form similar to his old appearance.
Originally, there had been a limit to how much he could shrink, so I had sent him outside, but perhaps because his realm had increased, he could shrink enough to hide in my embrace.
‘Since it’s annoying to manage him anyway, I’ll probably send him out.’
If it were the past, maybe not, but now he hunts alone and finds his own food.
He also chatters noisily when kept by my side, so it was comfortable to just toss him out somewhere.
Right now, I was keeping him because I had used too much energy and had various things to check.
“I’ve brought tea.”
While sitting quietly and waiting, a servant appeared and served tea.
Goeseon and Namgung Bia needed treatment, so they had likely been sent ahead to quarters where a divine physician might be.
I brought the remaining people and waited in the guild’s branch manager’s office.
I glanced around the room.
Perhaps because it was the branch manager’s, the room was very spacious.
The cleanly organized environment contrasted with the piles of letters and documents; it felt like a room truly befitting Moyong Huia.
However.
‘When is she coming?’
The room’s owner, Moyong Huia, was not in her seat.
I hadn’t waited that long, but because it was Moyong Huia I was waiting for, something felt off.
‘It’s strange for her to make someone wait.’
Actually, Moyong Huia usually arrived quite late to crush the other person’s spirit or used it as a commercial tactic.
But such a situation where she simply wasn’t here was rare.
Curiosity arose and I asked Seokhon, who was nearby.
“What is she doing that she isn’t coming?”
At the question, Seokhon answered with an awkward expression.
“The branch manager said something suddenly came up… She seems to be a little late.”
“Something?”
“Yes.”
Seokhon said no more after that.
He probably wasn’t revealing it intentionally.
Watching this quietly, I slowly rose.
Seokhon called out to me, flustered at my appearance.
“Young master?”
“Ah, I’m going to the restroom.”
“Then allow me to guide—”
“Why would you guide me? You want to watch me take a dump?”
“…”
Seokhon froze.
I laughed and quickly slipped outside the door. Fortunately, Seokhon didn’t grab me this time.
Ah, of course.
It was true I was going to the restroom, so it wasn’t a lie.
‘However.’
I was also planning to look for Moyong Huia while I was at it.
Right.
Killing two birds with one stone.
****************
The first floor of the guild.
A teacup sat in the space for entertaining guests.
The tea hadn’t cooled yet as steam rose in columns, and strangely, though there was one teacup, there were two people.
Across the empty table, the beautiful woman who looked as cold as could be—Moyong Huia—was staring at her counterpart.
With that unique gaze of hers.
Even at Moyong Huia’s eyes, her counterpart didn’t seem to care one bit and took a sip of tea.
Slurp.
When the man moved, the epaulettes on his shoulders gleamed slightly.
Moyong Huia’s eyes narrowed slightly at this.
Not wanting to show it, she quickly smoothed it away and opened her refined lips.
“Forgive the humble reception.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m grateful you offered tea at all. Rather, I apologize for visiting so suddenly.”
“…Thank you for understanding. Then.”
Moyong Huia’s light blue irises focused as she asked the man.
“May I ask why the commander of the Alliance has come?”
The Murim Alliance’s direct unit.
Commander of the Biryongdae.
The man, Beomdong, nodded at Moyong Huia’s words.
“It’s nothing much. I received a report that an anomaly was spotted nearby.”
“Near here?”
“Ah, not near here… I received a report of an anomaly at the land the guild is developing.”
Moyong Huia’s brows furrowed at Beomdong’s words.
“So, you mean to say you came here?”
“No, not necessarily. I was also curious if the guild was running well while I was at it.”
At his slyly smiling words, Moyong Huia’s expression chilled even faster.
“Unless the Alliance side has issued an investigation permit, may I take this visit as an act of disregarding our guild?”
“Haha, you are sharp. I told you again, this isn’t for investigation. I truly just stopped by while looking around the area.”
He spat out the words, but anyone could see the meaning was the same.
Suspicion.
Clear suspicion existed in his words.
“Coming to the guild without proper investigation or evidence itself already seems to show your intent.”
Biryongdae Commander Beomdong.
He was someone Moyong Huia knew well.
He was said to be the second strongest among the Alliance’s five commanders and a martial artist ranked among the world’s hundred great experts.
Rumors also had it that for investigations, he stopped at nothing, and his methods were quite vicious.
A considerably troublesome man.
Especially at a time like now, he would be unusually sensitive and on edge.
Moyong Huia had to turn over various thoughts inside.
Watching such Moyong Huia, Beomdong waved his hands as if it really wasn’t so.
“Simply visiting isn’t a big deal, so it should be possible.”
“But it so happens that the commander of the Alliance came personally, so it is not easy for us to accept.”
“Hmmm. This is quite troublesome.”
Beomdong stared intently at Moyong Huia at her words.
“Surely the young lady Moyong knows as well.”
“Please address me correctly. I am the branch manager here.”
At the correction, the commander’s eyebrows moved slightly.
Moyong Huia didn’t miss that change.
“…Yes, the branch manager must know as well. Isn’t it noisy these days?”
“I know.”
The rumors coming from not only Henan but everywhere over the past month.
Rumors that would inevitably put the Alliance on edge.
“Therefore, I’m reacting a bit hypersensitively. I wish you would understand this as well.”
Beomdong spoke with a smile, and Moyong Huia smiled as well.
“Of course. I don’t know what anomaly has occurred, but if you bring a proper investigation permit, we can cooperate fully. Until then, you are merely an honored guest.”
“Haha, is that so?”
“Hohoho. Yes, indeed.”
Short laughter ended and silence fell.
Moyong Huia opened her fan and covered half her face. Beomdong watched her without erasing his smile.
However.
‘Troublesome.’
Inside, they were busy measuring each other.
‘A truly troublesome girl.’
Beomdong clicked his tongue inwardly.
As far as he knew, she couldn’t be more than in her twenties, yet strangely there were no gaps.
‘They said she was clever; it seems the rumors weren’t wrong.’
He had wondered how the flower of the Baekhwa Merchant Guild could be placed as branch manager, being from a prestigious family.
It seemed she possessed an unusual spirit for her age.
‘What should I do?’
He knew something was there.
Beomdong instinctively sensed it.
Whether it was related to the rumors or something else, he didn’t know.
His gut feeling told him it wasn’t related to the rumors.
‘It feels fishy.’
That something he saw in the air just now.
Even that alone felt like something poking at his mind, and it was related to the guild.
Moreover, a merchant guild—not one affiliated with the Murim Alliance—operating in Henan.
‘It smells.’
A faint but foul stench.
‘Then shall I dig a little deeper?’
No matter how outstanding the girl before him was, she was ultimately a young girl.
If he dragged the conversation on like this, he might find a gap.
If necessary.
‘It might be fine to give a slight threat.’
Beomdong had several other methods, so he thought he’d probe a bit more.
‘First, shall I give her a scare?’
It was the easiest method.
Especially when dealing with those of lower realm, nothing was easier.
Just a very small leak.
Enough to shake the opponent just a little.
Thinking so, Beomdong slowly put strength into his dantian.
Sss…
The leaked energy subtly seeped out and gradually headed toward Moyong Huia.
Not obviously, so that even if pointed out, he could excuse it.
He sent the energy controlled in that manner.
The moment that energy was about to reach Moyong Huia.
Slam.
“…!”
The energy was instantly crushed and vanished without a trace.
The moment Beomdong tried to react to this.
Crack-! Shatter-!
The teacup on the table split in half, and hot tea wet the table.
Kuuuung—!!!
“Kkeuugh!?”
An enormous pressure flooded the room and began pressing down on Beomdong’s shoulders.
At the same time.
“No wonder. I wondered why dog barking was so loud on my way here.”
Someone opened the guest room door and spoke.
“Oh?”
Moyong Huia widened her eyes upon confirming the person in question.
The one who entered was a young man with fierce-looking eyes.
Slightly upturned lips and an impertinent expression suited him particularly well.
The young man who appeared suddenly glanced at the seated Beomdong and spat out,
“So there was a dog bastard here. A very noisy one at that.”
Beomdong’s face contorted completely at these words.