Sunk In Grief (3)

The people from the Martial Alliance who had met Prince Ye waited the next day for Prince Ye to summon them. Since he had promised mediation, they believed it would happen. But there was no word at all. Exhausted from waiting, they chose representatives again and sent them to Prince Ye’s Residence.

They returned dejected.

“What did he say?”

“It’s hopeless. Prince Ye’s Residence is in an uproar right now.”

“No, why?”

“There was a painting His Highness treasured most, but it was stolen last night. Because of that, His Highness has taken to bed. It’s all over. He won’t move an inch until the painting is found.”

“Huh! How could such a thing happen of all nights, last night?”

“Could it perhaps be Secret Shadow’s doing?”

Flinch.

Everyone looked startled. They thought that could be possible. Secret Shadow commanded the Eastern Depot. He would already know very well that they had met Prince Ye. If so, he would also know what request they had come to make.

Stealing a single painting might be nothing to Secret Shadow. Perhaps the painting was even inside the luggage of someone here. If that was true, they were truly finished. Prince Ye would think he had been deceived by the people of the Martial Alliance. Deceiving a prince meant the extermination of three generations.

“Let us just kneel. Think about it. In truth, Secret Shadow could have killed all of us last night. Yet the fact that he did not do so is the same as saying he is waiting for us to kneel. It means he has no intention of killing us.”

“But if that happens, the Martial Alliance will collapse.”

“Hasn’t it already collapsed anyway? Even our own sects have now notified us that they will no longer send disciples. The warriors keep leaving, and by the time we return this time, it may be almost empty.”

Lamentations burst out one after another. They also knew of the changes in the Martial Alliance. The warriors were blaming the elders. They said the Alliance would have been fine if they had simply left things alone, but the elders had needlessly provoked Secret Shadow and ruined the Alliance. Then again, the place that paid their wages was about to disappear, so they were people who had reason to resent them.

“Why in the world did the Alliance Leader leave the Alliance without even saying anything……?”

Now they even blamed the Alliance Leader who had gone into seclusion. They truly were people for whom no solution could be found.

“Those who do not wish to do so may remain as they are. I will go to the Eastern Depot as soon as day breaks. Huu!”

The person who had made up his mind also felt regret. He merely hoped that Neung Je-gang would forgive them and allow the Martial Alliance to function smoothly again. If not, the entire martial world would fall into the hands of the Black Alliance. It meant that a dark age would arrive for the orthodox martial world.

Day broke. The elders of the Martial Alliance lined up before the Eastern Depot. Since even their scheme of mobilizing a prince had collapsed, there was no longer anything they could do.

Step, thud, thud.

One by one, they knelt in order. It was an extremely rare sight. The rumor spread throughout all of Beijing in an instant.

People came out to watch. There were many who felt exhilarated by the fact that the martial artists who had once rampaged as if the world were too small for them had come to Beijing and were kneeling. On the other hand, there were also people who worried about what would happen afterward.

Neung Je-gang finally heard the news that the elders of the Martial Alliance had knelt. Since Princess Jang-ok would handle the process of forgiving them anyway, he stopped paying attention to it.

However, there were also people he absolutely could not forgive. They were those who still refused to kneel and were returning to the Martial Alliance as if fleeing.

“Gongsun Gyeong-in!”

“Yes.”

“Put that painting into the belongings of the people fleeing right now.”

“Understood.”

Gongsun Gyeong-in was starting a little late, but this much was child’s play to him. It was because the Eastern Depot told him exactly where they were, so there was no need for him to go through the trouble of finding them.

“Cheong Yeon!”

“Yes?”

“Go to Prince Ye and tell him that, no matter how one looks at it, it seems the thief is among those fleeing to the Martial Alliance right now.”

“U-understood.”

“Ma-jil!”

“Yes.”

“You just go play. I have nothing to order you to do.”

Was he that happy not to run an errand? Ma-jil cheerfully went outside. He would probably practice drainage work again.

The end of those who fled toward the Martial Alliance was by no means good. The soldiers of Prince Ye’s Residence, who had been contacted in advance and were waiting, stopped them along the way and searched their luggage. They inspected the belongings of everyone heading toward Zhengzhou.

And finally, from inside one person’s luggage, a beautifully rolled portrait of a beauty came out. That moment was their end. Merely because they had been traveling together, all of them were dragged off to Prince Ye’s Residence.

They denied it, saying it was not their doing, but since the evidence of the painting had appeared, there was nothing they could do. As they made excuses, they used martial arts and fled from Prince Ye’s Residence.

The Eastern Depot provided Prince Ye’s Residence with all information about their identities, residences, clans, and sects. Neung Je-gang did not need to take any further action. Prince Ye’s Residence stepped forward and completely ruined them. It arrested everyone, regardless of age or gender.

The Martial Alliance continued to exist, but its former authority disappeared. The Martial Alliance that had knelt to the authorities could no longer represent the martial world. Because of that, the martial world once again entered a new era led by the prestigious clans and the great sects.

The Black Alliance lasted a long time because it did not make as much of a spectacle of itself as the Martial Alliance, but after the Demon-Steed Branch Master left in search of the Black Cloud Demon, it collapsed while fighting over power.

Even as they fought one another, they desperately prevented acts that would harm ordinary people. It was because they knew well that if Secret Shadow took an interest, they would all be ruined together.

Of course, all of these things were events of the far future.