Guanyin Hall (4)

The Emei disciples decided to return straight to the main mountain.

That included Lady Jeong-hye, who had come with Elder Gyeoljin as part of the investigation team, as well as Lady Jeong-yeon and Lady Jeong-an, who had been moving with us.

We had spent several days together, so it wasn’t without regret; but defying Sect Leader Gyeolhan’s warning would have burdened them, and more than anything, I judged that infiltrating the Righteous Chivalry Guild was beyond their current strength.

Just before they set out, Bi Sayoung and I watched the Emei ladies surround Hwa Yeong-bin in a circle and greet him like excited girls.

Seeing them talk to him with eyes shining as if looking at their beloved Jung-in, I truly felt why every Emei disciple adored Hwa Yeong-bin.

“Senior Brother Hwa, thank you again for saving us this time.”

“Senior Brother Hwa, please, save Senior Sister Jeong-in as well! And be careful.”

“Senior Brother Hwa, you must visit Emei again. Promise!”

“Senior Brother Hwa…!”

“Senior Brother Hwa…!”

Lady Jeong-an had joined them too, fingers laced before her chest, gazing at Hwa Yeong-bin; glancing at the sour face beside me, I said to Bi Sayoung,

“Seems Senior Hwa truly loved that Lady Jeong Seon. Look at him—so many ladies look his way and he didn’t waver at all.”

It was a ‘don’t be too crushed’ sort of consolation.

Bi Sayoung murmured,

“I need to become a real master.”

The sudden line made me frown.

“What are you on about?”

He answered with a wry look.

“I can’t beat Senior Hwa in looks. If my martial arts at least catch up, I might have a chance.”

“Ah.”

True enough, but…

A thought occurred.

He couldn’t surpass those looks—but could he catch up in martial arts?

Hwa Yeong-bin wouldn’t be standing still either.

For someone like Bi Sayoung, still only first-rate, to catch a man aiming at the super-pinnacle—nearly impossible.

Even so, I just nodded.

You couldn’t tell him to give up on both looks and skill, right?

He gave me a sideways grin.

“You just thought that won’t work either, didn’t you?”

Cough.

Caught off guard, I saw his expression wasn’t bad, so I decided to be honest and laugh.

“Yeah, man. Do you really compare to Senior Hwa? Looks, skill, background—and even personality—you’re a third-rate warrior before a pinnacle.”

“Urk! What’s with the sudden truth-bludgeon? And fine, maybe the rest—but I’m better in personality, right?”

I answered as firmly as I could.

“No. Not at all.”

“…Hah, some friend you are…”

“If I weren’t your friend, I’d just tell you to reincarnate and try again.”

“What did you say?!”

While we bickered, Ladies Jeong-yeon and Jeong-an—done greeting Hwa Yeong-bin—walked over.

Lady Jeong-yeon, cheeks flushed, bowed to me with careful politeness.

“Lord Seonu, thank you—truly—for everything. I owe you so much. If we meet again someday…”

I cut in gently, smiling.

“No need for thanks. Anyone would have done the same. Please stay well, my lady. Oh—and don’t worry too much about Emei Sword Peak Jeong-in; I will rescue her.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

I may not have experience with women, but even in the Flying Dragon Unit lately, I’d had plenty of admirers; I could guess her heart.

Even setting that aside, with her cheeks always flushed and unable to look me in the eye—it wasn’t hard to tell.

So I didn’t want to leave her any false hope.

I’d recently learned that being firm was better than trying to be the “nice guy.”

She was so kind and lovely—but there was no empty place in my heart.

Lady Jeong-yeon lowered her head with a lonely look, not wanting to show the faint shimmer in her eyes.

While we fell silent, the fellow beside me—Bi Sayoung—looked oddly solemn as he bid Lady Jeong-an farewell.

“Please be careful, my lady. When I become a master rivaling Senior Hwa Yeong-bin, I will come to see you again.”

At his grave promise, Lady Jeong-an blinked roundly and asked, puzzled,

“Huh? We won’t see each other until then?”

“…Pardon?”

Her radiant face dimmed a little.

“I so enjoyed our time together. I thought we’d grown very close… Maybe I was mistaken.”

Now he panicked.

“P-please, my lady, that wasn’t a mistake.”

At a loss for words, he faltered, while she bowed with her spirits drooping.

“Forgive me. I must have misunderstood again.”

Bi Sayoung blurted,

“N-no! I also truly enjoyed our time together!”

Oh!

A sudden, blazing confession—even I jumped.

“Really? Truly?”

Her face lit bright again as she looked up.

For a heartbeat he stared, dazed.

She looked so enchanting he was struggling to think.

It was hard not to laugh at his vacant expression.

Then Lady Jeong-an’s face turned puzzled again—what a wonderfully expressive lady.

“But if you enjoyed it, why wait so long to visit? Are you lying so I won’t be disappointed…?”

“I’ll visit! I’ll definitely come on my next leave!”

She clapped, beaming.

“Really?! Yay, that’s wonderful!”

After we parted and they receded, Bi Sayoung, still dazed, asked me,

“I feel really good… but also weirdly toyed with. How am I supposed to read this?”

I snorted.

“Hah! You think I would know? How would I understand a woman’s heart?”

“…True. You and I both.”

He accepted that too easily; for some reason it left a bitter taste.

Still, wasn’t I a little better than him?

After sending the Emei disciples off, we headed straight to a local Hao Sect branch.

We needed information.

We went to the Hao Sect Misan Branch in Sichuan Province—the nearest—and perhaps thanks to Senior Hwa Yeong-bin, the branch chief himself came out and reported with excessive politeness.

“…Thus, the remnants of the Righteous Chivalry Guild, crushed by Mountain Sword, have returned to Sichuan.”

“Knew it!”

Bi Sayoung and I clenched our fists, delighted at the news of the battle between Mountain Sword and the Guild.

We had firm faith in Captain Seol Pung and Lady Cheong-yeon, but it wasn’t as if there hadn’t been any anxiety.

From the sound of it, things had gone just as I expected—Lady Cheong-yeon’s stratagem and the captain’s prowess had decided the fight.

Relieved by our comrades’ news, I moved on to the next questions.

Now for the real information-gathering.

“What’s the Guild doing now that they’ve lost?”

“Likely preparing a revenge battle. They are rallying their remaining lower-pinnacle masters and massing toward Guizhou Province.”

“Hm.”

I nodded.

Naturally.

The Guild could not accept losing to the likes of Mountain Sword and retreating. Pride and honor were now at stake.

And that was good news for us.

If their strength concentrated on Guizhou, their main base would be thinner.

I asked again,

“What about the Guild Master? Did he move as well?”

The branch chief looked troubled.

“That, we don’t know. As you know, the Guild Master’s identity isn’t publicly known.”

True—the Guild Master’s identity was still a blank to the world.

I suspected he was a Blood Cult devil directly under the Blood Fiend.

Either way, we’d squeezed out what a client could reasonably get.

Time to move on to… persuasion.

I smiled and asked the branch chief,

“By the way… will you be reporting our questions to the Guild as well?”

His eyes flickered for an instant.

Then he regained the Hao Sect calm and played dumb.

“I beg your pardon? I don’t follow…”

A slick old fox of the jianghu—wrong day for it.

“You seem to think I’m testing you, Branch Chief. My apologies, but if that’s what you thought, change your mind. This is likely your last chance.”

His face stiffened.

“…What exactly do you mean?”

I smiled thinly.

“I mean the Hao Sect Misan Branch has become a cat’s paw of the Blood Cult. Perhaps not just Misan, either.”

“What?!”

Not only he, but Hwa Yeong-bin beside me, looked shocked.

Only Bi Sayoung gave a knowing smirk, as if he’d expected it.

Hwa Yeong-bin turned on the chief, eyes burning.

“A cat’s paw of the Blood Cult, you say?”

The man protested hastily,

“Nonsense! Slander! My lord, you’re slandering us!”

I asked, smile sharpening,

“Slander? What’s slanderous—selling information on Emei Sword Peak Jeong-in so she’d be kidnapped by Blood Cultists? Even though Ladies Jeong-yeon and Jeong-an escaped and gave testimony?”

He cried, aggrieved,

“W-we only sold information to Guanyin Hall! How could we have known they were Blood Cult—!”

“Oh, you sold it to Guanyin Hall? Still clinging to that? From what I hear, you already knew Guanyin Hall had been swallowed by the Guild. Didn’t you pass that info to Lady Jeong-in’s party?”

“T-that…”

He gaped, losing his words.

He tried to rally, but I spoke over him.

“Save it. Next you’ll say you didn’t know the Guild was Blood Cult either. Noted.”

I stood and said to Hwa Yeong-bin and Bi Sayoung,

“Let’s go. Not worth talking anymore.”

The chief sprang to his feet and shouted,

“We truly didn’t know they were Blood Cult! What are you going to do?!”

I chuckled.

“Slow judgment for a Hao Sect branch chief. We already did it. We let Senior Hwa Yeong-bin hear our entire conversation. Imagine what he’ll do with this—what will become of the Hao Sect in Sichuan.”

He turned, aghast, to Hwa Yeong-bin.

He knew exactly who Hwa Yeong-bin was—and how deep his hatred of the Blood Cult ran.

Now, in front of that man, his cooperation had been exposed—and he’d even tried to hide it.

Hwa Yeong-bin’s eyes were filled with killing intent.

He spoke slowly.

“I will inform Qingcheng and every sect in Sichuan, and the Martial Alliance as well. I don’t know what judgment the Alliance will render, but of one thing I am sure: the Hao Sect in Sichuan will have to wash this crime with blood.”

His killing intent filled the room.

The dense bloodlust of a man on the cusp of the super-pinnacle.

A mere second-rate like the branch chief couldn’t withstand it.

He trembled, ghost-pale.

“G-great hero, we… we never…”

Hwa Yeong-bin had heard enough. He looked at the man like ice, then turned away.

As the chief sagged into his chair in despair, I spoke up.

“There is one way…”

Startled, he looked at me with desperate eyes; even Hwa Yeong-bin paused and glanced back.

To the man who looked ready to kowtow to a straw, I said, slowly,

“There’s only one way for Hao Sect to survive.”

“W-what is it?!”

Meeting his eyes, I enunciated,

“What else? Take the vanguard in eradicating the Blood Cult.”

“…Pardon?”

I smiled without warmth.

“Mobilize all Hao Sect intelligence and identify every sect the Guild has occupied—like Guanyin Hall—then expose them. Formally apologize to Emei and every sect the Guild has harmed.”

The more I spoke, the paler he got.

To him, it must have sounded like a nightmare.

Hao Sect had survived by staying neutral; now I was telling him to make enemies of the Blood Cult.

But that wasn’t my concern.

They had crossed a line and lost their justification; if they wished to remain “neutral,” they would have to pay in blood.

I drove it in.

“Above all, swear you will henceforth oppose the Blood Cult without exception. Only then will your claim—that you didn’t know the Guild was Blood Cult—have any plausibility. Even so, I doubt you’ll prevent all bloodshed.”

I looked to Hwa Yeong-bin.

He stared at the chief with frightening eyes, then sighed and said,

“Yes. If we see that resolve, your plea might carry a little weight.”

The chief looked on the verge of tears.

“T-that… that isn’t something I can decide…”

I cut him off with a final word.

“Don’t mistake me. I only offered advice—I’m not the decision-maker. The various sects and the Martial Alliance will decide. Of course, I fully understand how burdensome it is for Hao Sect—long neutral—to stand against a behemoth like the Blood Cult.”

At that, he nodded furiously—relieved I “understood.”

Then my smile turned sharp, and he froze solid.

“But it beats being branded a public enemy of the martial world and exterminated to the last man, doesn’t it? Discuss it well. I suggest you hurry.”

With that, I walked out.

He sat there, vacant, until we left.

Outside, Hwa Yeong-bin asked me,

“Was this your plan from the start?”

“Yes. The Guild’s reach can’t be limited to Guanyin Hall and Mountain Sword. Odds are they’ve made puppets of many sects. To map that, we need Hao Sect’s network. And if we can also keep the Blood Cult from using Hao Sect going forward, all the better.”

Simple words—but this was a major turning point.

In my last life, the Blood Cult had burrowed throughout the north of the front line; in this life, we might have cut them off at the root.

Maybe not entirely—but it would surely play out very differently.

I felt very satisfied.

For once, I could be proud of what I’d done.

Hwa Yeong-bin gave a helpless laugh and shook his head.

“Truly… remarkable.”

Bi Sayoung looked at me, grinning proudly at my side.

A bit embarrassed, I smiled back.

“Only possible because you were here, Senior Hwa. If it were just Sayoung and me, our ‘persuasion’ wouldn’t have landed.”

He chuckled, oddly hollow.

“No need for modesty. You did what I should have done, using me as a lever. When I was in the Flying Dragon Unit… if only I’d had a friend to use me like that. Anyway—what now?”

I grinned.

“With the Guild’s strength massing in Guizhou, of course we go rescue Lady Jeong-in.”

Round and round—and at last, time to head for the true source of this mess: the Righteous Chivalry Guild.