Chapter 321. In the Darkness Beneath the Lamp.
I remained alone on the sparring platform for a moment, briefly looking around at those drifting away in groups of three or five.
“…….”
The day was growing dark.
The atmosphere did not suggest that the martial contests would continue after dinner. I stepped down from the sparring platform and walked slowly with my hands clasped behind my back, passing near the group of the White-Robed Scholar, whom I had been keeping in mind from the start.
Their voices were too low to hear clearly, but in any case, their tone was that of an argument.
“Why is that bastard calling you comrade?”
“What is the intent behind that question?”
“For a moment…….”
Perhaps someone noticed me passing by, because the conversation cut off abruptly.
I could feel the gazes from the White-Robed Scholar’s side turn toward me, but I did not bother turning my head. Soon, an uncomfortable silence settled. In the end, feeling stifled, I looked toward the White-Robed Scholar’s group, and all of them were glaring at me as I passed.
I said to the White-Robed Scholar,
“Martial Emperor, enjoy your dinner.”
“…….”
It was not as if I had said anything bad, yet the White-Robed Scholar glared at me. Seeing it like this, Deungpyeong in particular seemed to hate me. Judging by the arrangement of those who had been conversing, it seemed Deungpyeong had been questioning the White-Robed Scholar about his relationship with me.
It was only natural.
Jewunjong, the term comrade, even the White-Robed Scholar’s sudden martial contest…….
In any case, Deungpyeong, who had asked the question, did not seem to be the White-Robed Scholar’s disciple. With the White-Robed Scholar’s personality, his disciple would not have been able to ask such a question in the first place.
The reason I was paying attention to that group of the White-Robed Scholar was simple.
It was because the White-Robed Scholar had come out too brazenly.
How had he heard about the martial contest?
Why had he entered the Murim Alliance so boldly?
The suspicion that there might be some separate reason behind all this shamelessness.
Moreover, I knew the fact that in my previous life, the White-Robed Scholar had actually entered the Murim Alliance.
That was a fact known only to me.
How in the world had the man called the Evil Emperor done it?
It meant that from the beginning, he had possessed a status that allowed him to come and go from the Murim Alliance.
I arrived at Wolhagwan and took a table with the Four Great Villains for dinner.
Perhaps some degree of consensus had formed among us…….
As we ate dinner, we spoke quietly. Perhaps Eldest Brother had been thinking along similar lines, because he asked me while eating.
“It is somewhat unexpected that he is here. Did you not say he attacked the Beggars’ Sect leader before?”
I nodded.
The Lust Demon looked at the Sword Demon.
“There must be a reason he is so brazen. In truth, if Third had revealed his identity, he would have been attacked jointly by the kings on the spot.”
The Sword Demon nodded and asked me,
“Is there a reason you hid his identity?”
I nodded.
“Let’s eat first, then go upstairs and talk.”
There were several lodging areas, but in any case, more and more people were gathering even in Wolhagwan’s dining hall, so we ate quietly for a while.
***
We spoke while drinking tea in the Sword Demon’s room.
“……It may sound a little strange, but I’m trying to find out why he can be so brazen.”
The Ghost Demon asked,
“Speak freely.”
I looked at the Four Great Villains and said,
“We did not become enemies with the Mo clan.”
“We did not.”
“We probably will not become enemies with the Nong clan mentioned by the Mo clan either. The scholar faction is individualistic. What I mean is…… if we rashly define the White-Robed Scholar as an enemy, then we have to deal with him as an enemy. But if we simply leave him be, he may not be an enemy. He is merely a variable. In any case, this time his face and skill have all been exposed, so the military council or Gongsun Wol will draw a likeness and keep a record. His skill is also high enough that he has become a Martial Emperor. From now on, he can no longer act like a mysterious figure or behave like a hidden mastermind.”
The Lust Demon asked,
“Then what of the time he attacked the Beggars’ Sect leader?”
“That is even simpler. I intervened and the fight was smoothed over. Senior Divine Beggar is alive and well. If anything, I killed many of the scholar faction, so I was the problem. That is why the dispute with the Life-Chasing Scholar broke out.”
The Ghost Demon asked,
“Then does the White-Robed one move differently from Cheonak?”
“From what I saw then, Cheonak and the White-Robed one were not in a superior-subordinate relationship. They looked like fellow disciples, or friends who spoke without reserve. If so, I suspect there is one more person above them, a scholar who is like the overall commander…….”
I suspected that it was Hall Master Kwae, but I could not reveal even the name Hall Master Kwae to the Four Great Villains without any basis.
At that moment, we stopped talking and looked toward the corridor.
After footsteps sounded, an Alliance member announced,
“Please rest comfortably today. They say the martial contests will resume tomorrow morning.”
After the footsteps faded, I opened my mouth.
“……These scholar bastards are questionable by their very existence. It is always ambiguous whether they are enemies or allies.”
To summarize what I was doing in simple terms, I had left room to drive a wedge between the White-Robed Scholar and the other scholars.
The Sword Demon said,
“For now, it would be better to tell the Alliance Leader about the White-Robed Scholar.”
“Mm.”
“That way, no misunderstanding will arise.”
I looked at the Sword Demon and replied nonchalantly.
“What are the chances that Alliance Leader Im is a scholar?”
“Impossible.”
The Lust Demon spoke with a startled expression.
“Wow, now you’re even suspecting the Alliance Leader?”
“What I mean is, even if Alliance Leader Im were a scholar, it would not matter, but we still have to be careful. In any case, the scholar faction is a chaotic mix of villains and those who are not villains. A complete mess of an organization, in other words. The problem is that we do not know what other bastards are there……. Even today, we did not know that some of the New Northern Five Tigers were on the scholar side.”
The Lust Demon said,
“So what you are saying is that even if Alliance Leader Im is a scholar, he is a good scholar? Like the Mo clan.”
“That’s right.”
The Sword Demon asked,
“Is it intuition?”
“The chances of him being a scholar are very low. But I do not know why the White-Robed Scholar bastard entered the Murim Alliance so brazenly. He is too bold. No matter how curious he was about the martial contest, it was not enough to risk his life over. If I had distorted the situation with words earlier and driven it that way, that bastard would have been killed or captured today by the joint attack of the masters gathered at the Murim Alliance. If I had tattled that he was the bastard who attacked the Beggars’ Sect leader together with Cheonak and then looked at Alliance Leader Im, Alliance Leader Im would have given the order to attack or drawn his sword first. If Alliance Leader Im gave the order, the kings would have had no choice but to move. If the Saber King, Sword King, Fist King, Seomun, and Namgung attacked together, and we joined in as well, how could that bastard withstand it? He would have been captured, at least. But even if he were captured, he is not the sort of bastard who would say anything. He is the completely insane type. Torture or threats would not work on a man of his caliber.”
The Ghost Demon nodded.
“So you are saying that for now, it is better to find out why that bastard could brazenly enter the Murim Alliance.”
“Wouldn’t that be so?”
“But there is a flaw in what you said.”
“What is it?”
“He likely entered without knowing you would suddenly be at the Murim Alliance. From the start, he would have had the identity of an acquaintance of the Sinbuk Five Tigers.”
“That could be.”
For a moment, I looked down at my arm.
I had been imagining all sorts of things, and goosebumps had risen on my forearm. All four of the Great Evildoers were staring at them.
The Lust Demon asked,
“What’s with your arm?”
There was a gap between what I had known in my previous life and what I knew now. The story of the White-Clad Scholar that I had vaguely heard in my previous life was that he had been the librarian of a demonic faction.
What I actually knew now was that he was the library manager of the scholar faction.
In other words, there was a difference between what I had known in my previous life and what I had found out now.
After that, the White-Clad Scholar supposedly incurred someone’s hatred and moved to the Murim Alliance—that was from my previous life, but it was a rather dubious detail.
Because I could only guess at the intention behind it.
Perhaps what I had known in my previous life had not been accurate information. After all, ours had not been a relationship where I could discern even the White-Clad Scholar’s lies.
And as I thought that far, goosebumps suddenly rose on my skin.
I stood up and said to the Four Great Evildoers,
“For now, I’ll go meet Alliance Leader Im. We need to exchange information. There are things I’m curious about, too.”
The Sword Demon nodded.
“Go on.”
I quietly left the room and headed for the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
As I walked, I sorted out my thoughts. I was moving almost entirely on instinct, but for now, it seemed that only Im Sobaek’s help could resolve my question.
There was only one thing I hoped.
I hoped that, at least, Im Sobaek was not part of the scholar faction.
Because, somehow, he was far too well suited to the role of alliance leader. When I arrived at the Alliance Leader’s Hall and stated the purpose of my visit to the guards, I was told to wait.
A short while later, an alliance member said,
“I will guide you. This way.”
It was my second visit, but it felt quite different. However, the person guiding me spoke the exact same words as during my previous visit.
“Alliance Leader, I have brought the Hao Clan Leader.”
“Come in.”
The alliance member opened the door for me.
“Please enter.”
I looked at Im Sobaek, who was drinking black tea at his desk.
“Alliance Leader.”
Im Sobaek pointed across from him and poured tea.
“Sit. I knew you would come.”
“Yes.”
Looking at the desk, I saw there was one more teacup. As Im Sobaek poured black tea into the empty cup, he said to me,
“If the alliance leader offers you tea with poison in it, will you drink it without resistance? Or will you refuse? If you drink it, it is poison; if you refuse, it is defiance.”
He pushed the black tea toward me.
Im Sobaek drank his tea and looked at me. The tea looked unappetizing, so I asked,
“I should drink it for now. It looks terribly bad. Is it medicine? You should at least mix in some honey.”
Im Sobaek nodded.
“It is medicine. What kind of medicine, I wonder? Try to guess.”
I picked up the teacup and first sniffed it.
“It is medicine for suppressed anger.”
Im Sobaek answered with a startled expression.
“Oh? How did you know?”
How did I know? Because Teacher Moyong had brewed it for me.
I drank the tea while looking at Im Sobaek, then frowned. It was similar, but this was a little more bitter.
“Ugh……”
Im Sobaek chuckled and said,
“What would you have done if it contained poison? You drank it readily enough.”
“I am immune to at least a hundred poisons. More importantly, how did you know I was coming?”
“We each have things to ask, so either I would have called for you, or you would have come. Who shall ask first?”
I nodded.
“For some reason, I would like to hear what you have to say first, Alliance Leader.”
Im Sobaek folded his arms, leaned his chair back slightly, and looked at me.
“Where should I even begin? Why did you cover for the White-Clad Scholar? Could it be that you, Clan Leader, are also the scholar’s disciple? Somehow, I do not think that is the case.”
Well now, what a novel question.
It seemed that I had suspected for a moment that Im Sobaek might be one of the scholars, while Im Sobaek had suspected that I might be the scholar’s disciple.
And yet, on the sparring stage, neither of us had shown the slightest sign of it.
It was truly a refreshing exchange of questions and answers, and at the same time, we were both fumbling through the darkness beneath the lamp.
I looked at Im Sobaek.
“It seems today’s conversation will be rather long.”
“I think so as well.”
“Where should I begin? First, how did you know about the White-Clad Scholar?”
Im Sobaek said,
“In truth, I did not know.”
“Hm.”
“But the moment you referred to him as the White-Clad Teacher, I immediately understood that he was not the White-Clad Teacher, but the White-Clad Scholar.”
Now that I thought about it, this man was the leader of the Murim Alliance. I had no way of knowing what information had been updated and reported to him. However, an enormous amount of information must have reached him.
Only then did I ask after one person’s recent situation.
“What has Noshin been doing lately?”
“Recently, for various reasons, he has been temporarily confined in the underground prison.”
“Still, you must have obtained information about the scholar faction from Noshin, correct?”
“When he was first brought here, he spoke freely on his own. After I fed him a few cups of wine, that is.”
Noshin was the bastard who had been persuaded by the White-Clad Scholar and betrayed his master. Naturally, he knew quite a bit about the scholar. Once he entered the Murim Alliance, he must have spilled it all to Alliance Leader Im.
In other words, Im Sobaek also knew far more about the scholar than he had in my previous life. He did not show it, but Im Sobaek was a meticulous man. He knew how to conceal what he knew, and he had the patience to observe the situation.
Im Sobaek said,
“Clan Leader, you have yet to answer. The reason you covered for the White-Clad Scholar. If he is the one who tried to kill the leader of the Beggars’ Gang, then he is certainly an enemy of the Murim Alliance. No matter how Senior Divine Beggar chose to let it pass, I cannot do the same.”
I nodded.
“It must be the same reason you did not kill the White-Clad Scholar on the sparring stage, Alliance Leader. As you know, the scholars are ambiguous fellows. Treat them as enemies, and they become enemies; leave them be, and it is still unknown whether they will become enemies or allies. Even if I tried to hide him, had you given the order, the White-Clad Scholar would have died today. It is the same reason you let the Life-Chasing Scholar go at Dongho.”
Im Sobaek nodded.
“Correct. There is that reason, and I also trusted that, given how deeply you think, you must have had your reasons.”
In any case, it seemed that Im Sobaek and I had each set the matter aside for the time being while trusting one another.
“In the end, the White-Clad Scholar dealt with that Seomun bastard, and the result wasn’t bad. Anyway, what were you so curious about that you came running as soon as you finished eating?”
“Exactly.”
In truth, I had come because my thoughts and conjectures were not yet in order, and I wanted to see if they fit together.
I looked at Im Sobaek and said,
“There is somewhere I would like to go. It would be fine to go with you, Alliance Leader, or I think it would be fine for me to go alone. In any case, I can only go if you grant permission.”
“Where?”
I studied Im Sobaek’s expression and answered at once.
“I would like to take a look at the Murim Alliance’s secret vault.”
The moment I mentioned that place, Im Sobaek’s expression sank.
“The secret vault?”
“Would that be possible?”
Inference and intuition had no limits. This was why chills had run down my spine while I was conversing with the Four Great Villains.
The Murim Alliance had a secret vault that not just anyone could enter.
As the name suggested, the secret vault was a hidden storehouse, and within it was also an archive.
Im Sobaek said,
“This is somewhat bewildering. No one can enter the secret vault without my permission. You don’t seem like the sort to covet weapons or martial arts manuals. Am I to understand that you simply want to see it?”
“Yes.”
“If your reason for wanting to see the secret vault has anything to do with the Scholar’s forces, I think I would be far too shocked.”
“I haven’t seen it yet, so I don’t know either.”
Im Sobaek pressed his temples with his thumbs for a moment, then said,
“Jaha.”
“Yes.”
“You are not a member of the Alliance, but I trust you. However, that place is one only a limited number of people are allowed to enter. In any case, I will guide you, so let us go together once it grows a little darker. Drink some of that tea. If I suddenly take someone who is not an Alliance member into the secret vault, the members will be startled.”
“Yes.”
The two of us sipped the tea that treated pent-up anger and waited for it to grow a little darker.
Im Sobaek seemed deep in thought today. He looked as though he were retracing old memories, or perhaps organizing his thoughts.
In the darkness beneath the lamp…….
It strongly felt as though we were going to confirm what lay there.