The man burst into loud laughter.
"Hahaha. More than that, since we've met like this, it must be fate. How about we introduce ourselves?"
As if disliking the awkward atmosphere, the man swept his gaze over the four of them one by one and suggested they exchange names.
Then, before the others could even react, he revealed his own name.
"I am Guo Yi."
Xuandao's forehead creased.
"Guo Yi...?"
As Xuandao unconsciously let the name slip, the man, Guo Yi, shrugged his shoulders.
"What's wrong?"
"It's a name I've never heard before, that's all."
"There are countless people in the world; how could you know all their names?"
"But it's hard to believe that someone like you is nameless."
"You evaluate me highly."
"I haven't evaluated you highly."
At Xuandao's blunt words, Guo Yi laughed.
"Hahaha, is that so?"
"Actually, it hasn't even been a year since I stepped into the Jianghu."
Xuandao felt hesitant, but accepted it.
Listening to their conversation, Xia Wujin and Zhen Gai's expressions constantly changed.
Especially Xia Wujin's expression was serious.
'If Senior Xuandao speaks to that extent, then at the very least...'
While Xia Wujin deeply memorized Guo Yi's appearance in his mind, Zhen Gai had been staring intently at Guo Yi's face since the moment he heard the name.
'Guo Yi? I've heard that name somewhere before?'
Repeating the name 'Guo Yi' which clung stubbornly to his mind, Zhen Gai racked his brain.
'Where did I hear it?'
He kept racking his brain, but couldn't recall when or where he had heard it.
Just as his thoughts deepened.
"Now, isn't it your turn?"
When Guo Yi, looking at the four who had kept their mouths shut, demanded their names, Xuandao spoke first.
"...I am Xuandao."
"I am Xia Wujin."
Guo Yi's eyes widened.
"The Huashan First Sword and the Flying Smoke Sword Lord!"
His eyebrows curved like a crescent moon as he spoke, and he alternated his gaze between Xia Wujin and Xuandao.
"Hahaha! I'm in luck. I never expected to meet Zhenren Xuandao, the Huashan First Sword, and the Flying Smoke Sword Lord, the future of the Zhongnan Sect, in a place like this."
Guo Yi beamed with a wide smile.
Shortly after, his eyes met Zhen Gai's, who had been quietly suppressing his presence.
"This humble one is Zhen Gai."
Zhen Gai, who had been staring intently, quickly introduced himself the moment their eyes met.
"Zhen Gai...? Hmm, a good name."
Guo Yi said as if he lacked interest.
It was a lukewarm reaction contrasting with earlier, but Zhen Gai, the person involved, understood Guo Yi's feelings bone-deep.
'Since it follows the introduction of the two Zhenren...'
The difference in their fame was like heaven and earth.
Swish—
At that moment, Guo Yi turned his head.
He stared at Tianhui with the most intense gaze he had shown so far.
"And you are..."
"I am Tianhui."
"Tianhui, Tianhui, you say."
Guo Yi kept repeating the name.
Then, he suddenly changed his expression and spoke.
"But it's truly surprising. I heard that the relationship between the Huashan Sect and the Zhongnan Sect has been poor lately, but it must be a rumor..."
Guo Yi couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence.
It was because Xuandao and Xia Wujin had closed their mouths with displeased expressions.
"Hmm."
At their reaction, Guo Yi and Zhen Gai could grasp the truth of the rumor.
"...It seems it wasn't a rumor."
'Yes!'
Unlike Guo Yi, who spoke out loud, Zhen Gai cheered inwardly.
'Hehehe, it was difficult to ask all this time, but I can use this man.'
He felt a favorable impression of Guo Yi, who was satisfying his curiosity on his behalf.
"We are not on very good terms."
Xuandao admitted it straightforwardly.
No, he had no intention of hiding it in the first place.
The fact that the two sects were on bad terms was already widely known in the Jianghu.
"It's true we're not on good terms."
Xia Wujin also said with a bitter smile.
Originally, the Huashan Sect and the Zhongnan Sect in Shaanxi didn't particularly interact, but as Daoist sects in the same region, they had maintained a good relationship for a long time.
However, their relationship twisted in an instant.
On the day of the tragedy when the Huashan Sect lost the Plum Blossom Sword Hero and the Plum Blossom Sword Maidens, a Daoist from the Zhongnan Sect happened to reach the Tianwu Realm.
The Zhongnan Sect rejoiced at the emergence of a Tianwu Realm master for the first time in decades.
Thinking it was an opportunity given by heaven, the Zhongnan Sect hastily pushed for his journey into the Jianghu, and the result was a success.
The Daoist roamed the Jianghu unhindered.
He reaped the heads of the infamous demonic leaders, helped the suffering commoners, and thanks to that, the Daoist newly acquired the title of Zhongnan Sword Saint.
The fall of the Huashan Sect and the soar of the Zhongnan Sect.
The reversal of the two Daoist sects' statuses happened in the blink of an eye.
The more it happened, the more the Huashan Sect shuddered with rage.
They had remained silent to exert implicit pressure on the Murim Alliance's decision, but the Zhongnan Sect had seized the opportunity to raise its status.
Fortunately, due to certain circumstances, it didn't escalate into a major war, but their once-good relationship had rapidly grown cold.
"Then why are you traveling together?"
Guo Yi asked with a curious expression, then added, "Oh my," as he continued.
"Was it an impolite question?"
"No, it's fine."
Xuandao said with a bitter smile.
"We are traveling together because our destination is the same."
"Hmm, is that so?"
Guo Yi tactfully asked no more and took a step back.
As a brief silence lingered.
"Where did you learn your martial arts?"
Instead, Xuandao asked him.
"I learned my family's inherited martial arts."
"Family-inherited martial arts? Are you a member of the Feitian Society?"
"Hahaha, it's a very small family. Even if I tell you, no one will know."
Guo Yi said with a bitter smile, but.
"That's strange."
Someone reacted to those words.
It was Tianhui.
"For an inherited martial art, the Neijia Qigong is quite unique."
Instantly, Guo Yi's eyes twitched.
"W-what do you mean?"
"It's an internal qigong that's hard to see in the Central Plains."
At Tianhui's words, who held a faint smile, Guo Yi's eyes darted around.
At that moment, Xuandao interjected.
"What kind of internal qigong is it that you say so?"
"That internal energy is..."
"Young Hero, you have quite a good eye. A long time ago, part of the oral formula for the Neijia Qigong was lost, so my internal energy is still unstable."
As Tianhui was about to answer Xuandao's question, the startled Guo Yi hastily bluffed.
"Hmm, is that so?"
Tianhui turned his head as if asking, 'Is that right?'
Guo Yi looked at Tianhui with a strange gaze, then quickly changed the subject.
"More importantly, I heard that the Huashan Sect's Plum Blossom Sword Art is peerless..."
* * *
The next day, Guo Yi spoke to the four who were busily preparing to leave.
"If only our directions were the same, we would have traveled together; it's truly regrettable."
As if he enjoyed the night's conversation, Guo Yi opened his mouth while staring at the four.
"May I visit you later?"
Xuandao and Xia Wujin held smiles.
"Come anytime."
"Is there even a need to ask for permission to visit? Please come anytime."
"Well, the Beggar's Sect is a bit..."
"Hahaha!"
When Zhen Gai spoke awkwardly at the end, Guo Yi laughed and patted his back.
"Then, whenever you think of me, please contact me first."
"Keuh, khem. I understand."
"And..."
Guo Yi turned his gaze to Tianhui.
He looked at Tianhui with a complex gaze, then let out a low voice.
"I'd really like to see you again too."
"If it's fate, we'll meet someday."
Guo Yi's eyes widened in surprise, then he threw his head back and laughed heartily.
"Hahaha!"
Guo Yi, who laughed for a long time with a guffaw, wiped the tears from his eyes and said.
"Right, as you say, if we are fated, we will meet next time."
Guo Yi turned around refreshingly.
Then, he sent a sound transmission toward Tianhui.
[I will definitely visit you later.]
After that, without even waiting for an answer, Guo Yi parted ways, promising their next meeting.
* * *
Luotian County in Shaanxi.
Perhaps because it served as a bridge connecting Gansu in the west and Shanxi in the east.
Most of those who visited Luotian County were merchants or guests.
Because of that, the streets developed in a different direction from ordinary counties.
Into a night street designed to hold onto its visitors for even a little longer.
At the hour transitioning from the Hour of You to the Hour of Xu.
The sun, which had been peeking out while casting the sunset, finally began to hide behind the mountain, just as darkness was about to fall over Luotian County.
Fwoosh!
The street, as if refusing the darkness, drove it away by lighting the lanterns hanging on the walls.
From now on, it was Luotian County's time.
From the taverns, a mouth-watering smell, different from before, slowly spread.
The streets, which had been quiet and peaceful during the day, rapidly changed when night fell.
The brothels and taverns lit their seductive lights as if they had been waiting, preparing themselves.
A short while later, their business began.
And as if they had been waiting for it, people poured out of the taverns.
The brothels and taverns lining every street seduced them, and because of that, all sorts of figures flocked as if possessed.
Burning vitality and lust of the people.
Clip-clop— Clip-clop—
Right on time, a carriage entered.
The carriage, which had only arrived in Luotian County after three days had passed, was passing down the main road between the brothels and pavilions.
"So there was a place like this."
"...Amitabha."
Xuandao and Xia Wujin frowned.
To them, who had lived their entire lives as Daoists, the streets of Luotian County were unpleasant.
Unlike the two who hastily turned their eyes away, Tianhui impassively scanned the streets.
The people roaming the streets, the reddish lights that shone whenever he turned his head, and the cheap seductions beneath them.
"Come this way."
A woman wearing a sheer silk garment sat on the windowsill of a brothel's second floor, where cheap ornaments fluttered, sending seductive glances.
'It's nothing special.'
Having sickeningly experienced temptations far worse than this, he didn't feel even a hint of excitement.
Only Zhen Gai reacted.
"Hehe, it's nice."
Zhen Gai, who was driving the carriage, grinned widely at the surrounding scenery, his face stretching out in a goofy, lustful leer.
As the carriage advanced in that state.
"Soon..."
"Baigui Castle."
Xuandao and Xia Wujin's expressions changed.
As if realizing they were getting closer to Baigui Castle, they slowly regulated their breathing.
At that moment, the carriage rattled and stopped.
Zhen Gai turned his head slightly from the driver's seat and whispered very carefully.
"This is Baigui Castle."
The three's gazes turned outside the window.
Ahead was a massive wall towering well over eight zhang, and above it, a pure white, massive roof briefly came into view.
Tianhui stretched and said.
"Ugh, we're finally here."
At that moment, Xuandao looked at Zhen Gai and said.
"You've worked hard until now."
Zhen Gai swallowed dryly at those words.
Already during the journey, he had been able to grasp what the three's purpose was.
"Are you going in with just the three of you?"
Xuandao nodded.
Then, staring straight at Zhen Gai, he spat out in a stiff voice.
"Before we go, I have a request."
"A request?"
Zhen Gai's expression turned serious.
"It's nothing serious."
Xuandao said, reassuring him.
"You just need to spread a rumor in Luotian County."
"A rumor, what kind..."
"Just spread the word that Baigui Castle sent the Soul-Slaughtering Unit and the Hundred Ghost Unit to annihilate the Bifeng Merchant Guild."
Zhen Gai's pupils shook.
"I-Is that true?"
"The traces will still be there."
Zhen Gai closed his eyes tightly, then opened them.
"So there was a reason you brought me along."
"Isn't it a mutually beneficial outcome?"
Zhen Gai, realizing that instead of extracting information, he had been used by Xuandao, scratched his greasy head.
"Phew, do you need anything else? If you request troops from the Alliance right now, saying that Baigui Castle attacked first..."
"Enough. This is our grudge."
Xuandao cut him off firmly.
He already had no trust in the Alliance.
"You just need to let them know we have the justification to attack Baigui Castle."
"I understand."
Just as Zhen Gai, who was answering, swallowed his saliva.
"How dare you against the Castle Lord!"
A sharp voice was heard from outside.
The startled Xuandao turned his head to where Tianhui was, but it was empty.
"Don't tell me...!"
As he hurriedly stepped out of the carriage, he saw Tianhui standing in front of the gate guard of Baigui Castle.
"I'm telling you, they're inside."
Tianhui glared back at the glowering gate guard, raised his left hand, and opened his palm.
That moment.
Boom!
The gate guard flew backward like an arrow, shattering the sturdy main gate of Baigui Castle.
"...!"
Zhen Gai's jaw dropped.
He had thought Tianhui was extraordinary, but the skill, no, the martial prowess he was displaying now far exceeded his expectations.
'To think the Huashan Sect has a late-stage expert like that...'
While Zhen Gai was staring blankly, having even forgotten about leaving.
Crunch—
Tianhui walked with long strides toward the shattered gate and lifted his chin.
Beyond the rather wide courtyard, there was a castle.
A castle that perfectly fit the name Baigui Castle—entirely pure white, yet damp and dark as if ghosts dwelled within.
"There it is."