The road from Hanyang County to Nakcheon County was unusually narrow and winding.
On such a rarely traveled path, a carriage was galloping without restraint.
Clack-clack— Clack-clack—
Inside the carriage that ran ceaselessly, leaving behind the sound of horse hooves, a conversation was in full swing.
"How long do you think it will take?"
To Hyundo's question full of impatience, Hwoo-jin measured the distance and answered.
"We should arrive in three days."
"Three days? We'll arrive quite quickly."
"It's all thanks to the merchant leader. If not for the merchant leader's help, we would have only just managed to get horses by now."
Hwoo-jin and Hyundo's gazes simultaneously moved toward the window.
The sun peeking over the peak of an unknown mountain was illuminating their journey.
It was still early dawn, evidence that their departure had been very early.
"I feel sorry toward the merchant leader."
Hyundo smiled bitterly.
The carriage they were riding in now was one responsible for the Bifung Merchant Group's transportation.
Despite the Bifung Merchant Group being in a bad situation, Go Gye-young willingly provided the carriage and horses, saying it would be of great help for their journey.
Normally, they would have firmly refused, but given the current circumstances, they accepted the goodwill.
"I should express my gratitude later."
"I should do the same."
While the two were conversing.
'Three days? That's quite a distance.'
Cheon-hwi, sitting across from them, looked at the driver's seat with a deflated expression.
There, a beggar with a shabby appearance was holding the reins and driving the carriage.
It was Jin-gae, a later-generation disciple of the Beggar Sect.
Originally, they had only intended to get information about the White Ghost Castle, but when Jin-gae saw the carriage behind, he volunteered to be the driver.
'The Beggar Sect is the same as always.'
Cheon-hwi saw through his intentions. More accurately, he knew the habits of the Beggar Sect.
'He must have been curious.'
With the recently estranged Jongnam Sect and Hwasan Sect traveling together, it was bait he absolutely couldn't miss.
It was then.
Swish—
Jin-gae, who had been pricking up his ears and listening to the conversation, casually glanced back out of curiosity.
"……!"
Jin-gae's eyes, thrown into confusion by the unexpected eye contact, darted around before letting out an awkward laugh.
"Ha, haha……."
Cheon-hwi grinned.
"You said you know a lot about the White Ghost Castle, right?"
Jin-gae opened his mouth with a fuss.
"Oh my! Of course I know. In the current world, those who know more about the White Ghost Castle than me can be counted on one hand."
Perhaps because he wasn't a Beggar Sect disciple for nothing, Jin-gae caught onto the intention of the question.
"Is there information you desire?"
"I'd like to know about the White Ghost Castle's military strength."
"Pardon?"
Thinking he must have misheard for a moment, Jin-gae asked with a dumbfounded face.
Then after a while, his eyes widened.
"T-the White Ghost Castle's military strength?"
"Yes."
Looking at Cheon-hwi with an unbelieving face at the answer, Jin-gae briefly glanced at Hyundo and Hwoo-jin.
However, the two didn't even react and were quietly listening.
'I thought something was unusual when they said they were going to Nakcheon County, but they're really heading to the White Ghost Castle?!'
The appalled Jin-gae gulped.
'This is beyond what I can handle…….'
How could it be easy for the Hwasan Sect and Jongnam Sect to ask about the White Ghost Castle's military force?
His lips became parched.
"Do you know or not?"
A gruff voice struck his ears, which had been completely stiff.
Coming to his senses, he looked at Cheon-hwi watching him and shook his head vigorously as if his neck would come off.
"I-I know."
Jin-gae caught his breath and asked.
"……Exactly what part are you curious about? Are you asking about the masters belonging to the White Ghost Castle? Or are you asking about the battalions or military strength within the White Ghost Castle?"
"All of it."
At Cheon-hwi's answer, Jin-gae briefly looked up at the sky with a pale yellow face.
"Phew, I understand."
He let out a big breath and calmed down.
"The White Ghost Castle has under its Castle Lord Baek Sa-shin a military strategist called the White Ghost's Grand Strategist and four masters known as the Four Direction Lords. Since the military strategist, the White Ghost's Grand Strategist, hasn't learned martial arts, I'll skip over him."
Jin-gae checked Cheon-hwi's expression and immediately excluded unnecessary information.
"The Four Direction Lords are all masters of the Wuji Realm, and if not for the White Ghost Castle, they would be ones who could become sect leaders of a sect."
"Masters of the Wuji Realm?"
For a moment, three faces flashed through Cheon-hwi's mind.
"Ah! So those guys were all Direction Lords."
"Do you know who they are?"
At Jin-gae's question with gleaming eyes, Cheon-hwi waved his hand as if to say don't ask.
"……I understand."
Jin-gae said with a sullen expression.
'There will be opportunities later.'
Curiosity still surged about who he had recalled, but he forcefully suppressed it and moved his lips.
"The known Direction Lords so far are the Poison Decapitation Sword and the Silver Hand Assassin, as well as the Little White Ghost, who is Baek Sa-shin's disciple. The identity of the remaining one was hidden, but we recently identified it."
"You found it out?"
"The Beggar Sect isn't the Beggar Sect for nothing. To find out an identity hidden for decades."
Hyundo and Hwoo-jin reacted in surprise.
The Hwasan Sect and Jongnam Sect had also gathered information about the White Ghost Castle, but had failed to identify the remaining one.
But they found out.
Jin-gae nodded.
"He is the Broken Sword Demon (破劍鬼)."
"The Broken Sword Demon……!"
"That atrocious bastard is still alive!"
Hyundo and Hwoo-jin were appalled.
Watching the two making a fuss, Cheon-hwi asked with an indifferent face.
"Broken Sword Demon? Who's that?"
For a moment, Jin-gae was flustered.
"Y-you don't know the Broken Sword Demon?"
"I'm asking because I don't know."
"He's the one who poisoned the current sect leader of the Buli Sword Sect (不二劍門), which once commanded the world, and stole their martial arts."
Hyundo abruptly spoke up. Then he muttered with a serious expression.
"I heard the Buli Sword Sect succeeded in their revenge……."
"We thought so too. But not only is he alive, he defected to the White Ghost Castle."
"Hmm……."
"If that guy has learned the Buli Sword Sect's sword arts that he stole, it will be dangerous."
When Hyundo and Hwoo-jin were groaning.
"Enough about that guy, what about the other military forces?"
Cheon-hwi cut off their groans.
Whether it was the Broken Sword Demon or the Buli Sword Sect's sword arts, he had no interest. What was important to him right now was the White Ghost Castle's military strength.
Jin-gae was briefly checking Hyundo and Hwoo-jin's expressions, but yielded to Cheon-hwi's urging gaze and continued speaking.
"As the White Ghost Castle's most famous military battalions, as everyone knows, there exist the Three White Ghost Brigades. The White Ghost Brigade, the Ghost Decapitation Brigade (鬼斬隊), and the Kill Soul Brigade whose existence is still uncertain—the murim refers to these three battalions collectively by that name."
"Are there other battalions besides those three?"
"There are seven other battalions. They handle the White Ghost Castle's finances, cleanup, and various other tasks. Though overshadowed by the Three White Ghost Brigades' fame, it's known that each possesses power comparable to a sect's military battalion."
"What's the total number of personnel?"
"About five hundred to seven hundred."
At Jin-gae's answer, which was one beat fast, Cheon-hwi stroked his chin.
"Five hundred to seven hundred."
"The military strength of great sects is mostly similar. If the White Ghost Castle had been exceptionally outstanding compared to the other Six Emperor Gates, wouldn't they have become the head seat long ago?"
It was information based on calculation and practicality.
"You know quite a bit in detail."
"It's the White Ghost Castle, one of the Six Emperor Gates. Shouldn't we pay special attention?"
Jin-gae shrugged his shoulders.
It wasn't just any other sect, it was one of the Six Emperor Gates.
Even in the era of the peaceful Nine Provinces Three Hegemons, in a cold war situation where it could escalate to war at any time, the information war was more intense than anything else.
"What's the possibility of hidden military forces?"
"Absolutely none."
Jin-gae was resolute.
"If there had been more hidden military battalions, Baek Sa-shin wouldn't have stayed quiet until now. If it were him, the moment the White Ghost Castle was pushed to the lowest seat of the Six Emperor Gates, he would have immediately gone to war."
Cheon-hwi let out a smirk.
He liked Baek Sa-shin's course of action.
'He's a straightforward guy.'
For some reason, it overlapped with his past self.
"Well, even if there were, it would only be about one or two masters at most."
Hearing Jin-gae's immediately following words, Cheon-hwi immediately withdrew his gaze.
He had expected more from the White Ghost Castle, but the military strength fell short of expectations.
'It's just similar to the Hwasan Sect now.'
For a moment, silence lingered in the carriage.
Hyundo and Hwoo-jin, who had been conversing, also fell into thought upon hearing the White Ghost Castle's military strength.
Jin-gae looked at the two who had been quietly listening, unlike Cheon-hwi who kept asking.
'I thought one of the two would ask…….'
Right now, he was full of curiosity.
When he identified their identities through the conversation inside the carriage, Jin-gae had been so shocked he had difficulty breathing.
Hwasan's First Sword and the Biyeon Sword Lord.
He had thought they were not ordinary people, but their identities far exceeded his imagination.
But even more surprising than that…….
'Cheon-hwi, I need to find out about him. He's not ordinary.'
It was the young Taoist in front.
It was certain he was a disciple of the Hwasan Sect, but the words and actions he had shown so far were impossible to understand with reason.
'Since that young man seems to be leading not only the conversation but all situations…….'
Sweat formed on the hand holding the reins.
The questions in his mind were not resolved at all, but his intuition was telling him.
That this journey was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity sent from heaven.
* * *
The sun set, and darkness fell.
Due to the darkness where one couldn't see an inch ahead, the carriage stopped its relentless run, and the four were preparing to camp.
They could have forced themselves to go, but the horses were tired, and there was a risk of the carriage overturning if they made a mistake in the dark.
For the sake of the future, they needed to rest.
As soon as he got off the carriage, Jin-gae skillfully built a campfire. Even if it was hot during the day, it was bound to get chilly at night.
Crackle— Crackle—
As the fire on the firewood grew bigger.
'Hmm?'
Cheon-hwi's eyes narrowed.
There were footsteps approaching from afar.
Whoosh—
The next one to sense it after Cheon-hwi was Hyundo.
Turning his head toward the direction the presence was approaching, he pierced through the darkness with narrowed eyes and let out a low voice.
"Someone is coming this way."
"……!"
"……!"
When Hwoo-jin and Jin-gae, who hadn't felt any presence, flinched at those words.
"Well now, this is quite an unexpected group of people."
A man revealed himself from the darkness. The man's appearance illuminated by the firelight from the campfire was quite unique.
Worn-out clothes and a shaggy beard.
However, there was a smile on his face, making him look more relaxed than disheveled.
The man seemed to notice the three were on guard, yet approached in a defenseless manner.
"May I warm myself by the fire?"
"……Come."
Hyundo released his guard first.
Because it was hard to find any killing intent or fighting spirit from the man at all.
"Much appreciated."
The man sat across from Hyundo.
"Hahaha! As evening came, it got chilly and I needed a fire right at that moment."
At the man's hearty laughter, Hwoo-jin and Jin-gae naturally let their guard down.
"But that's quite a unique traveling party."
The man scanned the people sitting around the campfire one by one with interested eyes.
It was easy to identify who they were.
The cloud pattern engraved on the blue-white Taoist robe.
The plum blossom pattern engraved on the white-red Taoist robe.
And the five large knots swinging prominently from the waist of the dirty rags.
They possessed unique things that anyone even slightly familiar with the murim would know.
"Hwasan and Jongnam, and the Beggar Sect……."
As his gaze scanning Hyundo, Hwoo-jin, and Jin-gae across from him finally turned to Cheon-hwi.
"……."
He closed his mouth and tilted his head.
Even Hyundo across from him could faintly feel a presence, but from Cheon-hwi, there was nothing at all.
As if he had become a ghost.
When doubt was about to bloom in his eyes.
'Interesting.'
Cheon-hwi looked at the man and smiled.
The unexpected encounter that occurred out of nowhere entertained him.
'I didn't expect to find traces of the Sword Demon in the Central Plains.'