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Chapter 359. Encounter with the Enemy (6)
Just as Jin So-un had predicted, Kang Sun-tak had moved quickly in order to minimize his own wrongdoing.
Even on the road back to the Murim Alliance, Kang Sun-tak stopped at every shop and martial hall affiliated with the Qingcheng Sect to send carrier pigeons.
He traveled by day and sent carrier pigeons by night.
Staying up through the night, saving every precious moment, he dispatched messages to his contacts in every direction.
"You think I'll fall here......! Never, never! That will not happen!"
W̆еb nȯ v̂ ѐ l̄ Еnu m â
It was not only Kang Sun-tak and the Qingcheng-affiliated personnel who had mobilized. All of the instructors joined in.
This matter did not concern only Kang Sun-tak's reputation and the honor of the late No Jin-ha.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
They had certainly seen it too.
That existence in the Black Forest.
Overwhelming, oppressive, defying all reason--a horrifying sight.
The reason they had failed to respond was not merely because the enemy possessed greater strength.
Е̊ň ü ḿ a.і̀ḋ
Fear born of ignorance.
Terror of the unknown.
Hesitation before something they had never been taught.
All those feelings had tangled together, and they could do nothing but run.
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Forgetting entirely the responsibilities they carried on their shoulders.
And by the time they became aware of their duties, they had already fled too far.
W̆е̊ b̄ n о̄ v_е́ l Еnu̇ḿ а
By now, the fear and terror of that time had transformed into shame.
A place the academy students alone had been able to break through.
An enemy that Jin So-un and a handful of students had been able to fight.
Once they realized they had fled from something so unremarkable, only fury remained.
When a man is startled by a dog's shadow, doesn't he take his anger out on the dog?
They had no intention of losing everything over a mere dog's shadow.
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"This is just the beginning. Watch yourself, Jin So-un......!"
And so they moved with desperation.
Downplay the enemy that had appeared in the Black Forest as much as possible. Shrink their own failings as small as they could.
At the same time, they exaggerated Jin So-un's reckless behavior and his gang's insubordinate attitude toward the instructors.
In the end, they even briefly floated the suspicion that the friendly relations with the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect might have been used to subject the academy students to experiments.
The truth was irrelevant.
Еñ u m̈ а̄. і d
A brief mention was enough. There would always be those who wanted to believe it was true.
They contacted Qingcheng Sect's main mountain and spread the word among their seniors at the Murim Alliance.
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Those who received the messages acted in proportion to their closeness with Kang Sun-tak.
From the Murim Alliance's standpoint, rather than investigating an unconfirmed enemy, they took issue with the academy students' defiance of instructors, and further designated the unauthorized the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect as a serious act of sedition.
Thanks to splitting his sleep to travel, Kang Sun-tak arrived at the Murim Alliance far earlier than scheduled, and by the time he got there, the groundwork had already ripened to a considerable degree.
But.
Ĕň ŭ.m̌ а
"Jin So-un committed espionage, you say?"
For some reason, the reaction from the Execution Pavilion--the very people he had expected to welcome this news most warmly--was tepid.
"Jin So-un committed espionage, you say?"
He had deliberately sought out the Third Hall's Hall Master, who was known to fly into a fit at the mere mention of "Black Path."
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"Jin So-un committed espionage, you say?"
This yaksha of a man, who looked as though he had just climbed out of hell, repeated the same question over and over.
Е núm а̇
"Jin So-un committed espionage, you say?"
The problem was that his reaction was not what they had expected.
From what they'd heard, his nephew Ak Ju-pyeong had been crippled and expelled from the academy, creating an unbridgeable rift between the Ak Clan and Jin So-un......
'Why does he seem unconvinced?'
For Kang Sun-tak and the instructors, it was bewildering beyond measure.
For now, the priority was to inflate anything related to Jin So-un as much as possible.
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If they piled the charges high enough, then even if the final outcome was not what they wished--
By that point, their own mistakes would have long since fallen out of everyone's attention.
In that regard, their choice of person had been the best possible one.
If there was anyone suspected of ties to the Black Path, this was the man who would fabricate charges and brand them Black Path no matter what--the infamous Blood Star himself.
But.
"Are you truly certain?"
E ñu m̈ а̄. іd
That very man was doubting the charges against Jin So-un, who was practically his sworn enemy.
He had come to the Third Hall specifically for this purpose......
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What had been puzzlement was beginning to curdle into regret.
"So many academy students died in the Black Forest, and the instructors who should have been protecting them aren't marching alongside the students but have come sprinting back to the Murim Alliance with their tails on fire......"
The massive frame dwarfed the relatively small documents he flipped through page by page, sending sharp glances over them. Ak Byeong-bi.
"Rather, I'm inclined to suspect the instructors deliberately abandoned the students in the Black Forest to kill them."
W е b̈ ñ о̃ v̈е̂l̈ Е̄ n u̇ mа̂
The panicked instructors erupted before even Kang Sun-tak could.
"......What are you talking about!"
"Now see here! Third Hall Master!"
"If you keep this up, we'll report you to the Great Hall Mas......"
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"Go ahead."
"Hm?"
Ẅě bn o vѐl̂ Е n̂ŭ mа̀
Ak Byeong-bi set the documents down and leaned back leisurely in his chair.
Then he tilted his chin up and met each instructor's eyes, one by one.
"I said go ahead and report me."
"What do you......"
The flustered instructors stumbled backward, and Ak Byeong-bi curled his lip with a gaze colder than frost.
"The Great Hall Master you're looking for is standing right in front of you. Go on, report away."
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"......"
"......"
With Ak Byeong-bi, soon to be promoted to Great Hall Master of the Execution Pavilion, stepping in, all investigations into Jin So-un were suspended.
And around that time--
A carrier pigeon arrived from the Execution Pavilion agents who had been dispatched to Yunnan and made first contact with the academy students.
-Dispatch Report.
Ẁ ëb̈ ṅ о̀ v̇è ľ Еnum̄ а
-Multiple academy student casualties due to unidentified assailants in the Black Forest.
-Substantial evidence consistent with weapons used by attackers discovered throughout the Black Forest.
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-Confirmed as factual by Dragon and Phoenix Assembly member "Yong So-ah."
The classified carrier pigeon's format allowed only brief content, but its impact was devastating.
The Murim Alliance was turned upside down.
***
Еn̈ u m а̌ .і̂d̂.
The matter at the Kunming branch was resolved well.
No--not just well. It was resolved splendidly.
The Execution Pavilion agents who had come to arrest us, apparently trying to make up for their blunder, scoured every avenue to procure carriages.
They insisted on loading not just the wounded but even the uninjured onto carriages, causing us no small amount of trouble.
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In any case, unlike the journey here, every academy student could ride horses on the way back.
On top of that, Alliance members from the Kunming branch accompanied us as escorts.
Е̄ n u m а̂
So far, so good.
Yes, it had been very good.
The problem was--
"Sigh......"
--these unnecessary tagalongs(?) had latched on as well.
"The noodles here are not good."
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They'd said they were traveling through the south on some assignment when they came to the Black Forest......
Then they unilaterally declared they would accompany us back to the Murim Alliance.
An already exhausting journey became even more exhausting.
I stared blankly at Dang Seo-hui as she pushed aside her half-finished noodles, and she tilted her head.
"What? Oh, is it hard to watch those villains?"
Dang Seo-hui picked up several chopsticks and glared at a group of men seated in the corner of the restaurant who appeared to be Black Path.
Е́ń u m̌а
What's with that righteous, spirited expression?
"Just say the word......"
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"They haven't done anything. Senior Dang."
Namgung Seon-hwa plucked the chopsticks from Dang Seo-hui's hand.
Namgung Seon-hwa, who had initially struggled even to make conversation, had by now grasped Dang Seo-hui's true nature and taken on the role of reining her in.
"The name of the Namgung Clan is too good for you! Just look at those men's faces. 'Villain' is written right on their foreheads!"
Ĕñũ m а
Her voice was quite loud, carrying all the way to the men seated in the corner.
They flinched visibly, but after taking in our numbers, our uniforms, and our banners, they scowled and turned their heads away.
I felt oddly apologetic.
"The poor things......"
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Namgung Seon-hwa, expressionless, once again confiscated the chopsticks from Dang Seo-hui's hand.
"Judging everything by appearance alone is foolish behavior. Look at Young Master Jin here. He's called the Black Flame Dragon, he sometimes acts like a villain, and his attitude is completely indistinguishable from a Black Path practitioner. But he's more righteous than anyone."
Е̃_n u ḿ a
What? Is that a backhanded compliment?
While I blinked in confusion at the unexpected attack(?)--
Dang Seo-hui looked back and forth between me and the men she'd assumed were Black Path, then eventually put the chopsticks she'd snatched back into their holder.
"Fine......"
Thank heavens Namgung Seon-hwa was here.
For reasons I couldn't fathom, every mealtime since we'd started traveling together, the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly had joined my table.
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At first, the people who'd been eating with me took it in stride and ate alongside them.
But after a few incidents, everyone but Namgung Seon-hwa had vanished from our table.
'What kind of party is this?'
But even more incongruous than anyone else was the person sitting directly across from me.
When I turned my gaze from Dang Seo-hui and looked straight ahead--
A man who looked as though he'd been painted sat eating noodles in silence.
Е̌n̈ um̈ á
Even when our eyes met because I was staring, he simply went on eating as though nothing were amiss.
'What the hell is he scheming?'
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At the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect he'd tried to kill me, and at the Kunming branch he'd proven the truth on my behalf.
And since joining our party--
"......"
Not a single word.
Ě n̆ ŭm_а
As though that night had never happened.
In my past life and this one, the man was impossible to read.
In my previous life, setting aside the time just before my death, there had been no opportunity and no reason to be this close to him.
Yet even at this proximity, his inner thoughts showed not at all on the surface.......
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One thing was certain: he was devious to the bone.
"Nngh......"
E n.ūm̈ а.id
Seated beside me, Hwa Jeong-san was drinking since broad daylight.
He's a total old man, not even--
Then a question occurred to me.
How had these three managed to work together all this time?
Dang Seo-hui had surely been running around playing chivalrous hero.......
Yong So-ah was inherently unpredictable.
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And there was no one to put the brakes on them the way Il-myeong or the others would.
Hwa Jeong-san was...... tch.
Hwa Jeong-san answered my unspoken question with a languid air.
"Cleaning up a few Black Path small fry is no big deal. We don't even need to step in. Dang Seo-hui handles it all."
Hands-off.
Their choice had been to stand back.
Е̄ n üm̄ӑ . ĩ d
Well, even if things escalated into a fight, the three of them could handle anything one way or another.
Honestly, even for me, I couldn't begin to estimate how many ordinary warriors it would take to deal with these three.
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GLUG.
"Kah!"
Hwa Jeong-san tipping back his cup with a satisfied sigh was the very picture of an idle layabout.
Were it not for the plum blossom sword propped against the wall and the champion's headband tied around his head, no one would believe he was a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect.
Ё n ù m̃ а . і̀ḋ
Given his track record of tormenting me alongside Gye Cheol-yeong in my past life, I held no warm feelings for him. But if I had to describe the man in a single phrase, there was one that fit perfectly.
A genius cursed by fate.
No matter what era he had been born into, he was probably destined to walk the hero's path.
The word "cursed" was attached to Hwa Jeong-san because of the other "monsters" who happened to be born in his time.
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"Hmm hmm, I'm still hungry."
"......"
E numа́ . і̌ d̂
Dang Seo-hui and Yong So-ah, now sitting right before my eyes, were two of them.
He must have tried, at first.
But once he understood why the word "monster" was used, and to whom it applied, he would have given up on becoming a hero.
In another era, Hwa Jeong-san might have occupied the place that Yong So-ah or Il-myeong held.
Like everyone in our generation, he had simply been born with talent that faded in a cruel age.
'At least our generation could still aspire.'
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What thoughts had he harbored while watching the brightest star shine closest to him?
Did he sense something in my gaze?
Hwa Jeong-san's eyes darted nervously.
"Wh-What? Why? Why are you staring?"
I held no particularly good feelings toward him, but I offered a word of consolation nonetheless.
"What a pity......"
En̂ um̂å . і̌ ď
"......This little......!"
He looked about to cause a scene, so I hastily changed the subject.
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"By the way, what business brought you to the south? Isn't the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly's work nearly finished?"
"......We came to investigate."
"Investigate?"
"......Dragon and Phoenix Assembly classified information."
Е̄nu̇ m̈ â_
Hwa Jeong-san puffed up his nose as though he wanted to show off.
But.
"It's not classified."
"Hey, hey! How can you just say that!"
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Dang Seo-hui, more righteous and truthful than anyone, set the record straight.
Hwa Jeong-san panicked, but Dang Seo-hui did not stop.
Ēn ù ḿ å . і̌ d
"Hwa Jeong-san is a miscreant who spouts lies the moment he opens his mouth."
"Gghk......!"
While the two bickered, the answer came from an unexpected mouth.
"The atmosphere in the murim is unsettling."
"......"
What? Why is Yong So-ah suddenly chiming in?
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Despite my questioning look, Yong So-ah continued as though speaking only what he wished to speak.
"The forces hostile to the Murim Alliance are growing."
"That's always the case, isn't it?"
"It has always been so throughout history. The Murim Alliance is a place that can only sustain itself by having enemies. But this time is different."
What? Had he found a lead on the Demonic Cult's existence?
Yong So-ah, who had until now been staring into his bowl as he ate, raised his head and met my eyes with a forthright gaze.
É ṅ uṁ_а. їd̈
"This unprecedented enemy is more dangerous than any before."
"Unprecedented enemy?"
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"They are certainly planning, step by step, to bring down the Murim Alliance without revealing themselves."
Inwardly, I was stunned.
In this era, people in the murim had done nothing more than dismiss the Demonic Cult as a fringe heresy.
And yet...... Yong So-ah alone had truly grasped the danger the Demonic Cult posed?
E ǹü m а́. id̄
"What's your evidence?"
My throat went dry.
If Yong So-ah knew the Demonic Cult's true nature, and if that was something different from my past life--
The future might well take a different shape.
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Along with Yong So-ah's dry gaze, his impassive voice resonated.
"The formation of the Black Thought Alliance. And the consolidation of the Green Forest Alliance, centered in the south."
Ẁ е̃ b̌n ov ӗl̂ Ё num ӓ
"......Hm?"
When I tilted my head, Dang Seo-hui elaborated.
"Recently, the stronghold master of the Twin Dragons Stronghold unified the entire southern Green Forest Alliance. We expect this to spread to the north as well."
Yong So-ah quietly nodded at Dang Seo-hui's words.
"If this unfolds as predicted, then shortly after the emergence of the Black Thought Alliance, a powerful force called the Green Forest Alliance will appear in the murim."
"......"
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"And I believe this is no coincidence."
Yong So-ah's eyes, which had been impassive until now, briefly flashed.
Staring straight into mine.
"There is certainly someone behind the curtain, orchestrating all of this to bring down the Murim Alliance."
"......"
I had no idea where it had gone wrong, but this spine-chilling man had been hot on my trail.
Е́ ň ûmӑ.і̂ d́
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