A short while later, having arrived at the entrance of the Wulin Alliance, Tianhui looked up with astonished eyes.
'It's incredibly huge.'
Even compared to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the Wulin Alliance was far more massive.
It was as if there was another fortress within Wuxian Fortress.
'So this is why the elders made such a fuss about needing to conquer the Central Plains. Even our Cult couldn't afford such luxury.'
The buildings of the Wulin Alliance were so enticing, proving it wasn't for nothing that the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had coveted the Central Plains since ancient times.
'Though it has nothing to do with me now.'
He finished his thought.
Targeting the Central Plains, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and whatnot.
It was entirely unrelated to him, now a Daoist of the Huashan Sect.
'I'm too busy just worrying about the Huashan Sect now, let alone the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.'
Xuandao couldn't help but laugh at Tianhui's attitude of staring at the Wulin Alliance with wide eyes.
'It is surprising when you first see it.'
Anyone facing the Wulin Alliance for the very first time was bound to be overwhelmed.
Had he not been the same?
"The Alliance is the same as ever."
The two, who had briefly muttered to themselves, were about to approach the massive gates when—
*Chaeng!*
The two gate guards guarding the Wulin Alliance's entrance crossed the long spears in their hands.
"You are from the Huashan Sect."
"What business do you have at the Alliance?"
"The Strategist summoned us."
Xuandao handed over a letter along with his words.
The gate guard carefully examined the letter, and his pupils shook.
"This is the Strategist's personal seal..."
"Verified."
Soon, with solemn expressions, the two retracted their spears, stood them upright, and pushed the gates open.
*Grrrrrk—*
The massive gates opened with a loud noise, revealing the interior of the Wulin Alliance.
'At this scale, it's practically a small fortress?'
Tianhui marveled as he looked inside.
There truly was a fortress within the fortress.
Countless pavilions existed, and small streets connecting them were everywhere.
And many people, too.
"What? The Huashan Divine Sword?"
"The Huashan Divine Sword?"
The attention of those near the gate instantly focused.
Those wearing various martial uniforms and Daoist robes froze like statues, maintaining the posture they had while walking as if their feet had taken root in the ground.
'We're completely a spectacle.'
Feeling the piercing stares, Tianhui slightly turned his head to look at Xuandao.
Xuandao already seemed slightly flustered by the gazes focused on him.
'What should I do when he can't even gather his wits?'
As he was thinking of a way to break the situation, the crowd suddenly parted.
"You have arrived."
A short while later, a group of people emerged through the crowd.
Among them, dressed splendidly, a beautiful young man took a step toward Xuandao and unfolded a folding fan.
"I have been waiting for you."
Tianhui stared into the pupils of the man who was looking at them while covering his nose and mouth with the folding fan.
'A snake is hiding in there.'
They were eyes that clearly harbored ulterior motives.
Something unsettling.
As he thought that, the young man's eyes curved like a crescent moon, and a smiling-eye expression bloomed.
However, that was only for a moment; he shifted his gaze and looked at Xuandao.
*Tak!*
After that, he briskly folded the folding fan in his hand and respectfully offered a cupped-fist salute.
"This humble one is the Wulin Alliance's Deputy Strategist, Shejian."
"Deputy Strategist?"
At Xuandao's question, Shejian smiled.
"That is correct."
"...I am Xuandao of the Huashan Sect."
"It is an honor to meet you."
Tianhui stared fixedly at Shejian.
He didn't like how the pupils observing him wriggled like a snake.
'This kind of guy needs to be suppressed with force.'
As if sensing the gaze, Shejian smiled with his eyes.
"If it is not an imposition, may I ask the Young Hero's honorable name?"
"I'm Tianhui."
"Nice to meet you, Young Hero Tianhui."
At that moment.
"Deputy Strategist."
One of the people who had come with him called out to Shejian.
"What is the matter?"
"As I mentioned earlier, we will guide Daoist Xuandao."
"...Understood."
Shejian made a displeased expression but nodded as if he had no choice.
Then, looking at Xuandao, he spoke.
"Daoist, you just need to accompany those people."
Wrinkles formed on Xuandao's forehead.
"Were you not the one guiding us?"
"I would like to as well, but..."
Shejian pointed his index finger at the tall pavilion behind him and shrugged.
"When the esteemed ones up there tell me to do so, what can I do? As a mere underling, shouldn't I obey without complaint?"
Already upset that this task had been passed off to him, he spoke sharply.
"Oh, right! And Young Hero Tianhui, you just need to follow me."
Instantly, Xuandao's face turned fierce.
"Why are you going separately?"
At the growling voice, Shejian flinched slightly but tried hard to hide it as he spoke.
"The Alliance Leader and the Strategist wish to meet the Daoist, not Young Hero Tianhui."
Xuandao's expression distorted.
"Then why did they invite Tianhui?"
"Not the Alliance Leader, but there is someone who summoned Young Hero Tianhui."
"Who?"
Shejian glanced at Tianhui, who had interrupted, then placed his folded fan against his cheek and whispered.
"The Gaibang."
"The Gaibang?"
Tianhui frowned.
His connection with the Gaibang was only one.
'Did Zhen Gai reveal my identity?'
As if having the exact same thought, two deep furrows formed between Xuandao's brows.
"Why would the Gaibang summon him?"
"I do not know the details either."
"If you don't know the details, why did they call Tianhui..."
"You will find out when you get there."
Shejian said, looking at Tianhui.
As Xuandao glared at Shejian—
"We must leave right now."
The men said urgently.
"The Alliance Leader is waiting."
"I understand. Wait a moment."
Xuandao, speaking firmly to those who were rushing him, approached Tianhui and whispered.
"Be especially careful not to let the Gaibang find out what you have done."
"I will."
Xuandao sighed.
Tianhui currently had no idea what kind of situation would arise if his identity was revealed, or how vicious the Gaibang could be.
"Keep that firmly in mind."
"Yes, yes."
"Firmly. I mean it."
After repeatedly emphasizing this until the very end, Xuandao walked away with the group.
Once they disappeared, Shejian muttered with a refreshed expression.
"Good grief. I need to snatch the Strategist position quickly. Doing these errands..."
Grumbling, he turned his head, looked at Tianhui, and flashed a bright smile.
"Then shall we get going as well?"
* * *
"This is the place."
"They say the Gaibang is a den of beggars, and it lives up to its name."
Tianhui looked at the pavilion in front of him with a displeased face.
The place Shejian guided him to was a shabby pavilion.
It was so old that it seemed as if the cracked walls or doors would crumble at the slightest touch.
"Hahaha. That's true."
Laughing awkwardly, he knocked on the shabby wooden door.
"Is anyone there?"
"Who is it!"
At that moment, a resonant voice exploded from inside, piercing their ears.
'...Sound technique.'
Tianhui dissipated the piercing sound technique with his internal energy and immediately shifted his gaze.
A sharp presence from ten zhang away was quietly and stealthily approaching.
As the presence grew closer—
"It's me."
Shejian frowned, covered both ears with his hands, and shouted.
"How am I supposed to know who you are if you speak like that?"
"It's Shejian."
"What? Was it you?"
Instantly, an old man sprang up from the floor.
"So what brings you... Hmm?"
The old man looked at Tianhui standing next to Shejian and tilted his head.
"Who is this brat?"
"He is the Young Hero Tianhui of the Huashan Sect that I mentioned last time."
"Tianhui? Did I mention him?"
The old man scratched his greasy hair with blackened fingernails, then belatedly seemed to recall something and clapped his hands.
*Slap!*
"Ah! The little brat who accompanied the Huashan Divine Sword and the Biyan Jianjun when they destroyed the Baigui Fortress!"
The old man stared intently at Tianhui.
Tianhui also looked at the old man.
'Filthy.'
His impression was simple.
The old man was the embodiment of filth.
'To the point I don't want to go near him.'
His eyes frowned involuntarily.
His greasy hair was clumped together like dirt, firmly stuck to his face, and the clothes he wore were so filthy that it was embarrassing to even call them clothes.
*Thud—*
The old man took one step closer.
At the sudden stench wafting over, Tianhui covered his nose and twisted his face.
"The stench is severe; could you please step back a bit?"
"What?"
At Tianhui's words, the old man's eyes widened, and then he burst into roaring laughter.
"Puhahaha! Shejian. Did you hear what this brat just said?"
"If possible, I think it would be better if you also kept your mouth shut."
Tianhui's brow furrowed deeply.
The moment he laughed, the foul breath piercing his nose forced its way past his covered nostrils, making his head throb.
"...Hah."
The old man patted the shoulder of Shejian, who stood there dumbfounded as if he had lost his words, and spoke.
"Hey, brat. Did you hear? He's telling me to shut my mouth and step back. Puhaha!"
The old man rolled on the floor, holding his belly.
After laughing for a while, he stopped and lightly wiped away the tears streaming from his eyes.
Tianhui, who had been watching this entire display with extreme disgust, squeezed his eyes shut.
'Damn it! I saw something I shouldn't have!'
What flowed from his eyes was clearly tears, but the tears on the fingers he wiped them with had already become filthy water.
"So you're the strange Daoist my disciple mentioned? You really are a weird brat."
The old man's expression hardened completely.
As if his crazy laughter from just a moment ago was a lie, he stared intently at Tianhui and opened his mouth.
"...Hmm. So it's the Huashan Sect after all."
"What do you mean by that?"
When Shejian, who belatedly regained his senses, asked, the old man's hand blade moved swiftly.
*Smack!*
"Argh!"
Shejian grabbed his head.
"What are you doing?"
"Daring to try and extract information from a Gaibang Daoist, don't you deserve to be hit?"
The old man clicked his tongue.
"More importantly, since a guest is here."
The old man suddenly turned around and kicked the worn door behind him with his foot.
*Bang!*
Contrary to its worn appearance, the door was sturdy; it swung wide open, revealing a passageway.
"Follow me."
The old man went inside, and Shejian followed after him.
Tianhui watched them walk away and frowned.
He was not at all willing.
The old man alone was full of stench; how bad would the smell be inside?
"It seems like it will smell..."
"Don't worry. It doesn't."
At that moment, a voice came from inside.
As if having heard his murmur from this distance, the old man turned his head and smiled.
As Tianhui made an unbelieving expression at the sight of the old man's yellow teeth through the gaps of his missing teeth, the old man nudged Shejian's side with his elbow.
"Keok. Ah, I understand."
Shejian quickly added.
"Unlike his appearance, it surprisingly doesn't smell. Moreover, if you don't follow, this old m— no, this Great One will chase the Young Hero to the very end."
Tianhui's face crumpled.
'This is why I've hated these vicious beggar bastards since the old days.'
Just thinking about the foul-smelling old man constantly chasing him gave him a headache.
'But it's not like I can just kill him like I used to, either.'
With a sigh, he moved his lips.
"I'll just talk and leave."
"Understood."
The old man smirked and said.
His action was entirely untrustworthy, but Tianhui had no choice but to walk inside.
*Thud— Thud—*
Unlike its worn exterior, the interior of the pavilion didn't seem as old as expected.
How long did they walk like that?
"This is the place."
Stairs appeared.
As Tianhui looked down with a questioning face at the appearance of stairs leading underground—
"Is it fascinating?"
The old man chuckled.
"This is the Gaibang's Wulin Alliance branch."
Following the old man and Shejian descending the stairs, Tianhui went down after them.
The underground scenery at the bottom of the stairs was surprising.
There was a quite spacious underground space created artificially, and at the end of the wall, three red cushions were lined up.
The old man plopped down on a cushion.
"Don't just stand there making it awkward, sit here."
The two sat on the cushions.
As soon as he sat down, Tianhui asked.
"So why did you summon me?"
"I was curious."
"About what?"
"You, see."
The old man grinned, as if pleased about something.
"Hearing the information from my wretched disciple, I was more curious about you than the Huashan Divine Sword."
Shejian was dumbfounded.
"Did you summon a disciple of the Huashan Sect all the way to the Wulin Alliance just for that?"
"Did you just say 'just for that'?"
The old man's voice sank low.
"Do you know how the Gaibang became such a large faction? It's because we were curious about everything. Who are the masters of the murim? What kind of person are they? What martial arts do they possess? We gathered all that information, and that is how the Gaibang became the massive faction it is today."
"..."
Shejian closed his mouth.
Just as he said, the Gaibang was a faction renowned as an intelligence faction even before it was one of the Nine Great Sects and One Faction.
"Sigh, I told you not to speak so lightly. How will you ever succeed that Strategist fellow at this rate... Tsk tsk."
Looking at Shejian as if he was hopeless, the old man turned his gaze back to Tianhui.
"But to follow along obediently without even knowing who I am, you are truly a bold brat. What were you going to do if I was an enemy trying to harm you?"
"Were you an enemy?"
"Well, I am not, but..."
"Then it's fine."
"...You are quite relaxed."
"I have reason to be."
"Even like this?"
Instantly, the old man's aura changed.
The existence of the old man, who had only been smiling emptily, instantly devoured the entire underground space.
"Heok!"
Shejian hastily pulled up his internal energy.
But unable to escape the old man's pressure, his eyes were about to bloodshot when—
"Tsk, so it wasn't an empty boast."
The Gaibang Leader wore an expression of lost interest and retracted the aura he had raised.
"Wasn't that too much? He may be young, but he is a disciple of the Huashan Sect."
"What do you mean too much?"
The old man snorted.
"He's perfectly fine like that."
"Pardon?"
Shejian whipped his head around.
"...!"
And was shocked.
Large cracks had formed around Tianhui, who was sitting right next to him.
It was such a massive fissure that it was a wonder he hadn't noticed it, even though it happened right next to him.
*Gulp—*
Shejian's Adam's apple bobbed heavily.
"What did you do?"
"Do you know who I am?"
"An old beggar."
Tianhui no longer maintained his politeness. Since the old man had directed his internal energy at him, courtesy had been thrown out the window.
"Hahaha! An old beggar! That is true, but for some reason, the murim calls me by a different name."
The old man let out a laugh at that attitude.
The confidence and attitude, akin to childish arrogance, actually pleased him.
Soon, he revealed his identity.
"I am Longzhu Gai."
Instantly, Tianhui's eyes narrowed.
Even he knew the name Longzhu Gai. No, he had no choice but to know.
The massive faction commanding eight hundred thousand beggars.
Because the Leader of the Gaibang was precisely him.