Guanyin Hall (1)

“Elder, we will arrive at Guanyin Hall soon.”

The Emei Sect’s youngest elder, Elder Gyeoljin, only nodded once at her disciple Jeong-hye’s words.

She knew her elder’s mood was sour, but as the youngest among the ten disciples on this investigation party, Jeong-hye had no choice but to ask again, carefully.

“Elder… what will we do when we get there?”

Elder Gyeoljin looked back at Jeong-hye with sharp eyes and asked in return.

“What do you mean, ‘what will we do’? When visiting another sect, the proper etiquette is to pay respects first, is it not?”

Jeong-hye, flustered, asked again.

“B-but what if that place is truly the Blood Cult’s den that kidnapped Sister Jeong-in? If that turns out to be true…”

They were on their way to verify the contents of the letter Jeong-yeon had sent about Guanyin Hall.

Thus, the order to announce themselves formally and enter was something Jeong-hye simply could not accept.

At Jeong-hye’s pushback, Elder Gyeoljin scowled and shouted.

“Has it even been confirmed that it is the Blood Cult’s den?! You would doubt Guanyin Hall, our Emei’s old ally, based on unverified claims? And call yourself a disciple of Great Emei?!”

“But Elder, we came specifically to investigate them—!”

“Silence! You still don’t see your mistake and yet you talk back! When we return to the mountain, I’ll ask the Sect Head to put you under reflection for a month!”

Jeong-hye bit her lip.

Things were unfolding exactly as her master, Elder Gyeolun, had feared.

This was why Elder Gyeolun had insisted on coming personally…

The letter Jeong-yeon had sent days earlier had caused an uproar among Emei’s leadership.

It stated that Emei’s most brilliant young talent had been kidnapped by the Blood Cult; upon reading it, the current Sect Head, Elder Gyeolhan, tried to ignore Jeong-yeon’s report.

But Jeong-yeon had not sent her letter to Sect Head Gyeolhan alone.

On Seonu Jin’s advice, she had sent the same letter to her own master, Elder Gyeola; thus, in a full elders’ meeting, Elder Gyeola could publicly rebuke Sect Head Gyeolhan for trying to bury the report without mention.

“You would ignore a report that an Emei disciple has been kidnapped and her life is unknown? Are you truly Emei’s Sect Head, Senior Sister?!”

Elder Gyeolhan had been thrown into panic.

She had never imagined two copies had been sent.

Yet Elder Gyeolhan had risen to Sect Head on political cunning alone.

Unruffled, she claimed the report was too absurd to merit discussion.

“Jeong-in, who was supposed to be confined for punishment, slipped out and now claims she was kidnapped? By Blood Cultists disguised as the Righteous Chivalry Guild? Anyone can see that’s just an excuse to avoid punishment! And I was supposed to believe such nonsense?!”

Many were furious at her disregard for her disciple’s safety.

But Elder Gyeolhan was not one to care about the opposition’s anger, and things seemed to be going the usual way.

A lot of noise, then—under the authority of the Sect Head—nothing done.

If not for other evidence, that would have been the end.

Fortunately, Elder Gyeola had evidence.

Seonu Jin had torn a Blood Cult manual in half: one half went to Sag Muhun; the other he gave to Jeong-yeon to enclose with her letter.

Holding the manual, Elder Gyeola smiled confidently at Elder Gyeolhan.

“Absurd, is it? Even with a Blood Cult manual enclosed right here?”

“…What?!”

In the end, even Sect Head Elder Gyeolhan had to agree to an investigation.

At least the discovery of Blood Cultists was a fact.

But now the issue became who would go.

Originally, Elder Gyeola—Jeong-yeon’s master and a rival of the Sect Head—or Elder Gyeolun—Jeong-hye’s master—had argued to go themselves.

But Sect Head Gyeolhan declared that such matters were educational opportunities for the junior elders and appointed Elder Gyeoljin as lead.

Naturally, Gyeoljin belonged to Gyeolhan’s faction.

Thus the present situation.

Elder Gyeoljin must have been ordered by the Sect Head to only make a show of investigating. But why? With Blood Cult devils exposed and Sister Jeong-in kidnapped, why give such instructions?

Jeong-hye couldn’t understand.

More importantly, she didn’t know what to do.

She felt helpless.

Elder Gyeoljin even unpacked their luggage at an inn near Guanyin Hall and sent a visiting card to the hall.

They politely informed them they would visit the next day.

Jeong-hye was so aghast she could barely speak.

‘I have to… I have to do something.’

She spent the night thinking through what she could do.

The next morning, Elder Gyeoljin led ten disciples—including Jeong-hye—to Guanyin Hall.

The main gate stood wide open.

About thirty armed men lined both sides to welcome them.

A middle-aged warrior, seemingly the representative among them, stepped forward, clasped his fists, and greeted them.

“Welcome! You came all the way from Emei—what a hard journey you must have had!”

Guanyin Hall was only a day away; arriving on the second day, they had hardly suffered.

Still, at his courteous words, Elder Gyeoljin smiled with satisfaction and returned the salute.

“Not at all. We are the uninvited, yet you show such hospitality—I’m grateful. I am Gyeoljin of the Emei Sect.”

The other bowed respectfully in return.

“Ah! Elder Gyeoljin! Your name precedes you. It’s an honor to meet you in person. I am Jin Won-guk of Guanyin Hall.”

“So, Senior Jin—your great name, of course I’ve heard it. An honor to meet you.”

Elder Gyeoljin had never heard the name Jin Won-guk, but she greeted him warmly.

Then she glanced back at Jeong-hye.

As if to say, ‘See? This is how the orthodox conduct themselves.’

But Jeong-hye did not meet her gaze.

She had already decided how she would act today.

Jeong-hye stepped forward, bowed, and spoke.

“An honor to meet you. I am Jeong-hye of the Emei Sect. I once received great favor from Hall Master Seo. Might I pay my respects to the Hall Master?”

Elder Gyeoljin glared at Jeong-hye for speaking out, but with so many eyes on them, she couldn’t shout.

Jin Won-guk gave an awkward smile.

“So you have ties to our Hall Master. Regrettably, the Hall Master is away. Had we known you were coming, I’m sure he would have waited to greet you.”

The Hall Master was absent?

Jeong-hye’s eyes sharpened.

Still smiling, she asked again.

“I see. A pity. Then perhaps I could meet Chief Choi or Branch Master Yang? I’ve been hoping to see them as well.”

Jin Won-guk’s eyes flickered.

He answered again, with a strained smile.

“Ah—those two are also away at the moment. When they return, I will certainly…”

In that instant, Jeong-hye abruptly drew her sword and lunged at Jin Won-guk.

Clang!

“—Huk?!”

Lightning-quick as it was, Jin Won-guk slipped back and avoided the strike.

Scowling at Jeong-hye, Elder Gyeoljin cried out in shock.

“Jeong-hye, you wretch! What do you think—!”

But Jeong-hye was faster.

Pointing her sword at Jin Won-guk, she shouted,

“Blood Cult devil—I’ve got you! There is no ‘Branch Master Yang’ in Guanyin Hall!”

At her words, even Elder Gyeoljin turned to Jin Won-guk in confusion.

Jin Won-guk’s face tightened for a moment—then he began to chuckle low.

“Heh-heh-heh… so it can’t be helped. If only you’d stayed ignorant, you might have walked away. Blame your own cleverness.”

Elder Gyeoljin’s face went pale.

So it was true? Then…

Jin Won-guk shouted,

“Attack!”

At once, the “welcoming” warriors lining both sides twisted into feral grins and charged.

“Kill the old hag! Take the young ones alive!”

“Idiot! Only the pretty ones need to live! We’re burning this place anyway!”

They were about thirty strong; the Emei investigation party numbered only eleven.

And the problem wasn’t just numbers.

“Die, old hag!”

“How dare you!”

No sooner had the fighting begun than three warriors rushed Elder Gyeoljin.

A faint blade-qi shimmered from each of their sabers.

They were all lower-peak masters.

“Hraaaah!”

“Chaap!”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Though Elder Gyeoljin was an Emei elder—a peak master beyond seventy years of inner strength—she was immediately driven onto the defensive by the three.

“Curse you Blood Cult devils!”

Gritting her teeth, she barely held back their offense, while the three laughed and pressed harder.

“Ha-ha-ha! What shall we call you—old hag?”

“Not just old—ugly, too! Kahahaha!”

“Right! Old and ugly! Kee-hee-hee!”

At their filthy jeers, Elder Gyeoljin’s face flushed scarlet.

“You vile swine!”

The Blood Cultists exchanged brief looks. Their eyes on the easily-provoked elder were like wolves eyeing prey.

Meanwhile, Jin Won-guk—their apparent leader—took his time, strolling toward Jeong-hye.

He didn’t even draw a weapon, hands clasped behind his back. Yet Jeong-hye, sword leveled at him, kept retreating.

His oppressive presence was too much to withstand.

He was far beyond her capacity.

Jin Won-guk smirked.

“I like you, girl. Clever—very much to my taste. Rest easy. We’ll kill the others, but you I’ll take along alive.”

Jeong-hye swallowed, then shouted through clenched teeth,

“If we don’t return, Emei’s elites will descend on you! We already know the Righteous Chivalry Guild is the Blood Cult’s den! Do you think you’ll escape alive?!”

Jin Won-guk laughed as if it were absurd.

“Oh? Emei’s elites will rush here? Do you really think so? Your Sect Head seems to value our ‘contributions’ more than Emei’s disciples.”

Contributions?

Jeong-hye’s eyes shook.

Was that why the Sect Head had been so friendly to the Righteous Guild?

Jin Won-guk continued,

“Look at today. If they truly suspected us, would they have sent this many? And with a visiting card?”

Jeong-hye couldn’t refute it.

His words stabbed right into her chest.

Smirking, Jin Won-guk looked around at leisure.

Everywhere his eyes fell, Emei disciples were being knocked down helplessly.

Thwack!

“Ahhh!”

“Senior!”

“Hahaha! Don’t kill that one—take her!”

“N-no! Kyaaa!”

Jeong-hye had to watch it all.

It was despairing.

But she clenched her teeth again.

Everything was unfolding as she had expected. She would bear the consequences.

In truth, she had foreseen this outcome if these were Blood Cultists.

What could Elder Gyeoljin—lowest among the aunt-masters—and ten disciples possibly do?

All she had wanted was to alert the sect to the Blood Cult’s presence, even at the cost of their lives.

With damage this severe, even a rotten leadership would be forced to investigate.

But seeing her expression, Jin Won-guk gave a dry chuckle and spoke again.

“You think your ‘sacrifice’ will let them catch us? Heh-heh… dream bigger. Once we finish you, we’ll burn Guanyin Hall and leave. Do you think Emei will ever find us?”

He made no move to strike her.

If anything, he seemed to enjoy talking—perhaps he took pleasure in crushing hope with words.

Jeong-hye glared and shouted,

“We already know you came from the Righteous Chivalry Guild! Even if you hide here—!”

Jin Won-guk cut her off with a lazy question.

“Do you have proof?”

Jeong-hye faltered.

“…What?”

“Proof. That we came from the Righteous Guild—or that the Guild is the Blood Cult’s den.”

“…”

There was a Blood Cult manual—but she didn’t bring it up.

Jin Won-guk smiled in satisfaction.

“Let me tell you how this will go. You will disappear. Your Sect Head, Elder Gyeolhan, will ‘dispatch’ an investigation party. She may even pretend to probe the Righteous Guild. But she will find no evidence, and she will never pressure the Guild. She’s taken too much from us over the years. She never considered those gifts might become a leash.”

Jeong-hye’s face darkened.

She already knew Sect Head Gyeolhan wasn’t admirable.

But she had believed Emei’s pride would at least be upheld. She hadn’t imagined rot this deep.

And if the Guild held her leash, perhaps there really would be no real investigation.

Her anxiety swelled.

Jin Won-guk drove in the nail.

“Your sacrifice will be for nothing. Emei won’t touch the Righteous Guild. And… do you know why we reached even into Emei’s territory?”

Smirking, he answered his own question to the stiff-faced, bewildered Jeong-hye.

“Because we judged that Emei, as it stands, is ripe to be devoured.”

Jeong-hye trembled.

His words felt true. That her proud sect had fallen this far—was unbearable.

Satisfied by the despair in her eyes, Jin Won-guk finally moved.

He looked toward Elder Gyeoljin—still holding on alone while the other Emei disciples were subdued—and said,

“Well, our pleasant chat ends here. I’ll take you down, then finish her.”

He reached toward Jeong-hye—

Whsssh!

Hidden weapons whistled from somewhere.

“Hm?”

Jin Won-guk jerked his hand back and batted them aside.

Tang! Tang! Tang-tang!

He turned toward where they’d come from, ready to shout—

“Who da—?!”

At that moment—

Fwap!

“Kyaah?!”

“W-what?!”

He froze.

In the brief instant of the thrown darts, someone had flashed in—almost as fast as the missiles—and snatched Jeong-hye away from right before him.

Human, presumably—but too fast to see clearly. Like a gust of storm wind streaking by.

It was Bi Sayoung.

With top-speed footwork layered with Bursting Advance Step, Bi Sayoung rescued the only disciple still unbound—Jeong-hye.

Snatching her away and sprinting out of the melee, he shouted,

“I’ll leave the rest to you!”

Jin Won-guk stared blankly at Bi Sayoung, who vanished with unbelievable speed.

Leave the rest—to whom?

Sensing danger, Jin Won-guk snapped his head back and tore his saber free.

Clang!

Another blur—this time barreling straight at him.

A strikingly handsome man.

He grinned savagely and shouted,

“Of course!”

Jin Won-guk flung himself backward.

In his eyes, his foe’s swordlight spread like blazing wings.

It was Seonu Jin.