The Revealed Conspiracy (3)

Ui Jaeng headed toward the Central Plains after passing Neung Je-gang, and then discovered the caravan Neung Je-gang had spoken of. According to Neung Je-gang, he had been told to avoid them, but he waited until night and attempted to infiltrate when they made camp.

“Brother! Isn’t it about time we meet Secret Shadow again?”

“If he moved as I told him, we might run into him tomorrow or the day after.”

The caravan leader and the leader of the escort warriors who had called him brother were talking inside the tent.

“What will you do? If he realizes you taught him the wrong road, he may get angry.”

“He will not think that. It was not completely wrong, after all. Going by way of Xingxiu Sea is originally the route used by merchants here, is it not?”

“By the way, why is the Mountain Lord suddenly gathering food like this? Is he planning to wage war or something?”

“Shh! Do not bring up matters about the Mountain Lord carelessly.”

“What does it matter? There is no one to hear us. Brother, being too sensitive is a disease. A disease. When you met Secret Shadow, you should have just calmly sent him on his way, but you needlessly taught him a different route and made yourself worry, did you not?”

“Phew! Well, you are right. I do have that side to me. But one can never know what the heavens will do even one inch ahead.”

“Enough. Enough already. Anyway, what will happen now? Are we going to war with the Central Plains?”

“Well, I do not think we are ready to wage war yet.”

“Then why do we need this much food? Is it only this? Right now, are we not buying up everything possible from all over the Central Plains, whether rice or other grains? They say all the funds gathered so far are being poured into buying food.”

“He must have some thought in mind. Haa, my real worry is somewhere else.”

“You have a worry?”

“Have you never thought about it?”

“Thought about what?”

“About what will happen to Kunlun from now on.”

“What do you mean, what will happen to Kunlun?”

“If what the Mountain Lord is trying to do succeeds, it may not be a problem. But what if it fails?”

“Brother! Do not say such things. I am afraid someone might hear.”

“But we must think about such things too. Will people not regard Kunlun as being the same as the Necromancer Cult?”

“It is not the Necromancer Cult, but the Taepyeong Sect. And since Kunlun governs the Taepyeong Sect, are they not the same?”

“That is what I fear people will come to know. Even if the matter failed, they should have made it so Kunlun could be maintained, but I am afraid because they have made no such preparations at all.”

“You still have an attachment to Kunlun, I see.”

“It is the place where I was born and raised. It is my hometown, so how could I have no attachment to it?”

“It will be all right. Has there ever been anything the Mountain Lord said would happen that did not? This great undertaking will surely succeed as well.”

“Phew! How good it would be if that were true.”

The conversation between the two continued after that, but there was nothing else useful.

After leaving the caravan’s campsite, Ui Jaeng felt his breath quicken and his heart pound. By chance, he had heard an enormous story. There was indeed a reason Secret Shadow had said they were suspicious.

He could not know exactly what the Necromancer Cult’s goal was. But he had learned the very important fact that Kunlun and the Necromancer Cult were one. Ui Jaeng became secretly pleased. If he informed the Investigation Unit Chief of this fact, the man would surely be greatly shocked.

Moreover, if he added the fact that there was an unknown figure called the Mountain Lord and that they were buying food for some great undertaking, he might perhaps be promoted to the position of Vice Chief of the Investigation Unit.

Ui Jaeng ran and ran, night and day. It would be terrible if he needlessly sent the news through something like a carrier pigeon, only for the pigeon to suddenly become food for an eagle or hawk.

So he ran without rest on his own two feet, which was the most reliable method. And at last, he arrived at the Martial Alliance and went straight to Go Won-gi’s room without resting even for a moment.

“Is that you, Ui Jaeng? You worked hard.”

Go Won-gi patted Ui Jaeng on the shoulder. It had now become something of little use, but in any case, had he not gone on a long journey and returned?

“I have important news.”

“I also have something to tell you.”

“I will speak first.”

Ui Jaeng thought his report was more important than anything else.

“Is that so? Go ahead.”

“Unit Chief! Please rejoice. I have discovered who is behind the Necromancer Cult.”

“It must be Kunlun.”

“That is right. Kunlun is…! How did you know?”

Ui Jaeng’s blood turned cold. His excited reason also regained its calm. He had to quietly fold away his dream of promotion too. Some damned bastard had clearly beaten him to that important information.

“Is there anything else?”

“Everything was plotted by a man called the Mountain Lord.”

“You mean the Kunlun Record Keeper. Next?”

“The Necromancer Cult is buying food…”

Ui Jaeng lost confidence in the content of his report.

“Food?”

But suddenly, Go Won-gi showed interest in the word food. Ui Jaeng’s expression gradually came back to life as well. It was not yet time to give up on all his dreams.

Only then did Ui Jaeng tell him everything, without leaving out a single detail, from the moment he had started following Secret Shadow. Of course, he did not forget to say that he had run as if to die for his sense of duty, not in order to survive.

“They are siphoning food out of the Central Plains? For what purpose?”

“I did not hear that part. But would war not be at the end of it? They also spoke of war.”

“You are saying Kunlun Record Keeper intends to trust in the strength of Kunlun and the Necromancer Cult and fight the martial world of the Central Plains?”

“That is my guess.”

“…….”

Go Won-gi sank into thought for a while. No matter what, it was not such a simple problem. Also, there might be something else behind the Necromancer Cult besides Kunlun. It had taken this long just to find Kunlun, so if there was something else, there was no telling how much longer it would take.

“Understood. You may leave. Go and rest well. It must have been difficult.”

“Did you not say you had something to tell me?”

“I know everything, so what else? That was exactly it. The fact that Kunlun is behind the Necromancer Cult.”

“Ah, yes.”

Ui Jaeng, who had wondered whether it might be about a promotion, gave his respects and turned away in dejection.

After Ui Jaeng left, Go Won-gi looked at Go So-jeong.

“You heard everything, right?”

“Yes.”

“Inform the Black Alliance and the Eastern Depot of that information, and add the opinion that it seems we must establish a Joint Alliance. I will inform the Alliance Leader and push forward with the establishment of the Joint Alliance.”

“Understood.”

“And inform the Beggar’s Sect as well and ask them to find out how much food those people are buying.”

“Yes.”

After giving those instructions, Go Won-gi left his office for the first time in a while and went outside.

After he left, Go So-jeong was writing the documents to send to the Black Alliance and the Eastern Depot when she suddenly raised her head.

“Is that person safe? Everything I hear is only about him fighting… Sigh! I do not know. It is a fake face, So-jeong. Get a hold of yourself.”

Go So-jeong lowered her head again to write the documents.

Fortunately, the information sent from the Martial Alliance included that that person was still safe for now.

“Phew! What a relief.”

Princess Jang-ok let out a sigh of relief, but when she thought about it, the contents of this report were at least ten days old. There was no way to know what changes might have occurred in the meantime.

“A Joint Alliance means combining the Martial Alliance and the Black Alliance? Is that possible?”

She asked while looking at the important figures of the Eastern Depot gathered before her.

“In any case, it is only the leadership that will gather in one place. It is not impossible.”

“Though they are divided, when it comes to the Necromancer Cult, the martial world has already moved with one will for a long time. Once the matter of the Necromancer Cult is resolved, they will naturally separate again.”

“If they remain far apart as they are now, exchanging information takes far too long. Perhaps the Martial Alliance’s Investigation Unit Chief proposed that opinion because of that. Therefore, instead of creating a Joint Alliance, how about gathering only the Eastern Depot, the Martial Alliance’s Investigation Unit, and the Black Alliance’s Hall of Ten Thousand Sounds? If that happens, sharing information will be easy, and since the rest will remain as they are, I believe confusion will be reduced. Also, if that happens, we of the Eastern Depot may be able to manage the political situation.”

The opinions of the important figures of the Eastern Depot were that it was not very bad. As Princess Jang-ok listened quietly, she liked the opinion of Yeon Bo-pyeong, Chief of the Eastern Depot’s Central Plains Headquarters, that only the places handling information should be gathered separately.

Yeon Bo-pyeong had recently been promoted to Chief of Central Plains Headquarters, so these days he was going around smiling from ear to ear.

“Then should we call them to Beijing?”

“Geographically, the Martial Alliance would be best. But now that Kunlun has been revealed as the force behind the Necromancer Cult, I think it would be better to be close to Kunlun. Therefore, I think it would be best to tell them to gather at the Lanzhou Branch in Gansu Province.”

This opinion, too, was Yeon Bo-pyeong’s.

“What do you think?”

When Princess Jang-ok asked, everyone answered that Yeon Bo-pyeong’s opinion was good.

“Good. Then we will decide on that. Inform the Martial Alliance and the Black Alliance according to what has just been decided, and Chief of Headquarters, stay behind for a moment.”

After everyone else withdrew, Princess Jang-ok spoke to Yeon Bo-pyeong.

“Well done.”

“I merely did as I was told, Your Highness!”

“That is what I am praising. If something like this happens again next time, I will ask you from time to time.”

“Do not worry, Your Highness! This subject is prepared to do anything he is ordered to do.”

Yeon Bo-pyeong’s secret to success lay there. Giving opinions at meetings exactly as Princess Jang-ok instructed him.

After getting promoted, he seemed to have changed a little.

At any rate, the shrewd Princess Jang-ok was using Yeon Bo-pyeong to cook the Eastern Depot’s meetings to her own taste.

After Yeon Bo-pyeong left, she smiled in satisfaction.

“At last, I am leaving Beijing.”

Still, she no longer intended to sneak out in secret like before. It was because, thanks to Neung Je-gang, she had learned that depending on her actions, dozens of people might live or die.

“Who came?”

A guest had come to the newly built mountain fortress on Antang Mountain.

“I told you, the Divine Physician has come.”

Since the time they were on Hoe-gye Mountain, the only one called the Divine Physician was Je So-yeon.

Nam Yeong quickly went outside. Sure enough, Je So-yeon had entered the new home on Antang Mountain and was looking around everywhere in wonder, her eyes wide.

“Master!”

“Yes, yes. Was your achievement all right?”

“Yes, Master! But where is Senior Brother?”

“That fellow never thinks of returning once he goes out.”

“Really?”

Je So-yeon’s expression quickly drooped. But that expression did not last very long.

“But wait! Master, why are you here? Should you not be at the Commander’s Office?”

This time, Nam Yeong’s expression became gloomy.

“I have nothing to do.”

“What?”

“It seems they really sent usable fellows this time. It certainly looks like the princess has quite a strong influence. They take care of everything on their own, so there was nothing for a perfectly healthy old man to do. So I just left it to them and came back.”

“Oh my! Is that so? But what do you mean, princess?”

As if Je So-yeon had sensed something, her eyes narrowed at the word princess.

‘Oh-ho, look at this? She is jealous? If this goes well, it could be amusing.’

Nam Yeong, who had been bored for a while, took on the expression of a tiger facing prey for the first time in a long while.

“Well. It would not do if the princess came to like that fellow…”

“W-what do you mean?”

Je So-yeon became agitated.

“You know that while you were receiving treatment—no, was it not treatment but training? Anyway, during that time, that fellow went to Beijing, right?”

“Yes, but?”

“I heard he came to know the princess during that time? Goodness! I do not know well, so go ask Cheong Yeon. He was beside that fellow during that time, so Cheong Yeon should know.”

“Really?”

Je So-yeon sprang up and went off to find Cheong Yeon.

After she left, Nam Yeong began laughing.

“Hohoho! Cheong Yeon, who always knew nothing but training, will suffer for once.”

Je So-yeon had a subtly persistent side to her. One could tell by looking at how she acted toward Neung Je-gang. Even though he showed no particular response, did she not insist until the end that Neung Je-gang was hers? Cheong Yeon would probably not be able to sleep today until he told her everything that had happened.

“By the way, that fellow, just what is he doing out there that he is this late?”

It was already a place slow to receive news from the martial world. But after they came into Antang Mountain, they became even darker regarding information. At most, all they had was the news Ma-jil and his master Bibun picked up when they occasionally came and went.

So they knew absolutely nothing about the fact that Neung Je-gang had headed for Kunlun, or that Kunlun was behind the Necromancer Cult. Of course, that was also because the Martial Alliance and the Black Alliance were blocking that information…

“I hope nothing particular has happened…”

For some reason, these days Nam Yeong could not shake off his worries about Neung Je-gang.