Chapter 174 - It Won't Work on Us

When Jo Ibaek reached the summit of the tallest mountain near the Orthodox Martial Alliance, the Martial Alliance Leader was standing at the edge of a cliff with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Alliance Leader."

"Ah, Master Jo. Come over here."

Jo Ibaek stood beside him. The view was as magnificent as the elevation promised.

"The scenery is splendid."

"That's why I come here often."

"It is thanks to you that we can enjoy this beauty at all. Isn't it your steadfast support of the martial world that keeps the Demonic Cult's rabble from stirring up trouble?"

"Thank you for saying so."

When the Martial Alliance Leader had asked to meet here, Jo Ibaek had privately hoped they would discuss the marriage. Since he had chosen a mountaintop rather than the Alliance, Jo Ibaek assumed he wanted a frank conversation as parents, away from prying eyes.

"Master Jo."

"Yes, Alliance Leader."

"How long have we known each other?"

"I believe it must be over thirty years now."

"They say time flows like water. Has it already been that long?"

The two stood there for a while, reflecting on the years gone by.

"Was there a particular reason you summoned me today?"

"I wanted to see you about your son."

Just as he had expected—the marriage. Jo Ibaek's expression brightened. He had promised an enormous sum of money to support the Orthodox Martial Alliance. Even so, the leader had remained lukewarm, making him wonder whether things were going awry.

'Too much money to turn down, isn't it, Alliance Leader?'

Jin Paecheon slowly turned his head to look at Jo Ibaek.

"Have you ever heard of the Heavenly Mandate Society?"

The unexpected question made his heart sink, but Jo Ibaek answered calmly.

"This is the first I've heard of it."

He even calmly asked what sort of organization it was.

"They claim to be a secretive sect. I understand they've been involved in a number of unsavory affairs."

"Murim is full of all sorts of scum."

"Master Jo."

"Yes, Alliance Leader."

"It seems your son is involved with that scum."

Despite his cautious phrasing, Jin Paecheon's gaze was sharp enough to pierce straight through Jo Ibaek.

"What do you mean?"

"Young Master Jo has been recruited by the Heavenly Mandate Society."

Jo Ibaek looked startled. His reaction was so natural that it was impossible to tell whether his surprise was genuine or feigned.

"Your son, Jo Sin, was recruited by an organization called the Heavenly Mandate Society and attempted to abduct my granddaughter."

As his astonishment grew, Jo Ibaek raised his voice.

"That's absurd. With marriage negotiations underway, why would he do such a thing unless he'd lost his mind? There must be some misunderstanding."

"I hope so too, but we have clear evidence."

"What evidence?"

"The man acting on Young Master Jo's orders confessed."

"It could be a confession intended to frame my son."

Without a word, Jin Paecheon gazed at a rocky mountain rising sheer in the distance, his hands still clasped behind his back. At that moment, their hearts were turned against each other with edges far sharper than that jagged mountain.

"Alliance Leader, please let me see my son. I'll speak with him and hear what happened."

"The Alliance's rules do not permit it."

"You cannot do this—not after all our years together."

"You're right. After all our years together, this cannot be allowed."

Jin Paecheon fixed Jo Ibaek with a cold, stern gaze.

"I know you belong to the Heavenly Mandate Society."

"!"

"Don't even think of denying it."

Jin Paecheon unleashed his qi presence. A frost-sharp force swept over Jo Ibaek. A savage storm on a boundless sea bore down on him. That force carried emotion: I could kill you. I want to kill you.

Jo Ibaek gritted his teeth and resisted, but his precariously balanced body seemed about to be swept off the cliff at any moment.

Then the storm that had threatened to tear him apart slowly subsided. Jo Ibaek found a foothold on a tiny island in that boundless sea.

"I do not want our long association to end like this. Only one subordinate and I know about this affair."

As Geom Mugeuk had advised, Jin Paecheon was giving Jo Ibaek room to breathe.

Instead of pressing him about being one of the Society's leaders, he had simply called him a member. Saying that only he and one subordinate knew also hinted that he might cover up the matter if Jo Ibaek cooperated.

Jo Ibaek knelt before the alliance leader.

"There were circumstances beyond my control."

"I understand. When many people depend on you, sometimes you must walk a path you never wanted."

"I don't know what to say in the face of your ocean-deep generosity. I am sorry, Alliance Leader."

Tears streamed from his eyes—so freely that it seemed impossible for them to be anything but sincere.

Jin Paecheon looked down at him with only bitterness on his face. Despite knowing him for thirty years, this man had chosen betrayal. Was the fault Jo Ibaek's? Or was it his own, for leaving the man no choice but to turn away?

"Just hand over the leader of the Heavenly Mandate Society. Then all of this will be behind us."

Though he did not say it outright, he was offering forgiveness. Jo Ibaek surfaced through the opening he had been given and drew breath.

"That man recruited even my son without my knowledge. That, at least, I can never forgive. I will arrange a meeting with the Society's leader tomorrow. Please bring my son there."

"Tomorrow, you said?"

"The Society's leader is not far from here."

That meant the leader was within a single day's journey. The darkest place was beneath the lamp, as the saying went. It was truly astonishing.

"You've made a wise decision."

"I will contact you once the meeting is arranged. Thank you once again for your kindness, Alliance Leader."

He bowed at the waist, then turned away.

With every step, his expression slowly hardened. It held neither warmth nor coldness. Devoid of all emotion, it gave no hint of what he was thinking. But one thing was certain: he was an entirely different man from the one who had knelt and wept.

A short while after he disappeared, Geom Mugeuk emerged.

"Is it wise to let him leave without anyone watching him?"

"It should be fine."

By leaving him free, Geom Mugeuk actually hoped he would do everything within his power. That way, he could deal with it all at once.

"We should keep the possibility of betrayal in mind. Asking you to bring his son tomorrow means he wants to exchange the Society's leader for him. Doesn't that mean he doesn't fully trust you?"

"He suspects I'll change my mind once we've caught the Society's leader?"

"If that's all he suspects, we're fortunate. He may join forces with the Society's leader and stake everything on setting a trap. At this point, I'd put the odds at fifty-fifty. Please leave what comes next to me."

The situation would be dangerous whether Jo Ibaek betrayed them or not. After all, they were trying to capture a Society leader whose identity they did not even know.

"Are you truly saying you'll handle this alone?"

"If there's even the slightest chance they have other intentions, it could be dangerous. Someone as important as you shouldn't venture out alone."

"And you won't be in danger?"

"This was my task to begin with."

Jin Paecheon studied Geom Mugeuk for a moment. Astonishingly, he found himself thinking how wonderful it would be if Geom Mugeuk were a martial artist of the orthodox factions.

"Don't take that man's betrayal too much to heart. He was evil from the start. He merely hid his true nature while standing beside you. Your intentions were good; his were malicious. That's all."

He was even offering comfort. Jin Paecheon wanted to share a drink with this young man.

"Will you have a drink with me?"

Geom Mugeuk intended to leave on good terms with the alliance leader. There was no reason for him to turn down a drink alone with him.

"Let's drink here. I'll go buy some liquor."

"I'll wait."

"Is there a particular liquor you prefer?"

"Bring something strong."

Geom Mugeuk vanished in an instant.

A short while later, Jin Paecheon was startled. Geom Mugeuk had returned with a bottle in his hand. No matter how exceptional his lightness arts were, there hadn't been enough time to go down the mountain and back.

"Did you bury liquor up here?"

"It's been a while since I've had a drink. My thirst got the better of me, so I moved a little faster."

On their return from East Lake, he had refrained from using his lightness arts to catch up unnecessarily and wound the leader's pride. But that did not mean he would deliberately take his time today.

"I bought some fine cups too."

He poured the leader a drink.

Just then, someone smoothly emerged into view. It was the martial artist who had always remained hidden near Geom Mugeuk. This was the first time he had shown himself.

"I will inspect the liquor."

He used a silver needle to check it for poison.

I had expected someone sharp and angular, but he was a round-faced man with a warm appearance.

I could tell that he was the person the Martial Alliance Leader trusted most. Just as Father had Hwi, the leader had this man.

After staying near me all this time, this loyal subordinate knew I was not the sort to poison the liquor. Even so, he permitted not the slightest lapse where the leader's safety was concerned.

Only after confirming that the liquor was free of poison did he conceal himself again.

"You could at least have said hello before leaving."

As I voiced my disappointment, half joking and half serious, Jin Paecheon gave a faint smile.

"He's always been rather inflexible. I hope you'll understand."

"I know the type well. The person I'm fondest of was once my bodyguard too."

"Why are they no longer your bodyguard?"

"I forced her out and told her to stop following someone else's life around and try living her own."

Geom Mugeuk's words stirred strange feelings in Jin Paecheon. His character was so unlike that of a demonic martial artist that Jin Paecheon wanted him for his own side, yet at the same time felt an odd fear. It began with the question: What if this man became the Heavenly Demon?

Once both cups were filled, they toasted and drank.

"Are you fond of liquor?"

"I don't drink often. And you?"

"Only occasionally myself."

Drinking for the first time in a while brought the Drunken Demon to mind. Was he still swimming around that lake, drunk as ever?

In a sense, they were in the precarious position of men on the eve of a decisive battle. Even so, their drinking together was calm and peaceful.

Perhaps that was because they both understood that a life-changing undertaking could not be met through sudden preparations. It was all the days one had lived before that carried one through it.

"Is your father well?"

The Martial Alliance Leader asked about the Heavenly Demon.

"He is."

"Seeing you makes me want to see Cult Leader Geom. It's been quite some time."

"I'll tell him when I return. Father will be pleased too."

"Hardly. Your father would like to kill me."

"And how do you feel?"

"Until now, I felt the same..."

After a pause, Jin Paecheon spoke honestly.

"But seeing you has changed my mind."

He had the feeling that if the present Heavenly Demon died, Geom Mugeuk would take his place. Wouldn't the present situation actually be better for orthodox Murim? Astonishingly, this young man had prompted such a thought.

"How do you get along with your father?"

"We used to be distant, but things have improved considerably lately."

"That's good to hear."

"We've grown closer playing Go together. Father learned from the Cult's chief strategist, so he beats me every time. Meanwhile, the strategist I've found doesn't even know how to play."

"A strategist who can't play Go?"

"I knew it! The same reaction. I'll be sure to tell my strategist. Even the Martial Alliance Leader reacted the same way!"

Geom Mugeuk's banter made the leader laugh.

"I've also gone hunting in the mountains with Father. We've even had drinks at an inn. Do you know how the innkeeper reacted when Father walked in?"

Geom Mugeuk deliberately told him about the time he had spent with his father. He kept the stories as cheerful as possible, and Jin Paecheon listened with a smile.

Geom Mugeuk knew the sadness hidden in that smile. This was a father who had lost his son. He would not dare presume to know how that felt, but he could tell that Jin Paecheon was thinking of his own son now.

And, as always, Geom Mugeuk believed that wounds of the heart should not be buried.

"Do you think of your son often?"

The Martial Alliance Leader flinched. His expression shifted from moment to moment. Anger and bewilderment, sorrow and longing—all manner of emotions swept across him in that brief span.

"Sometimes."

Jin Paecheon drank without saying anything more. Geom Mugeuk likewise drank without asking further.

Had anyone asked him that question since his son's death? Probably not. Who would dare ask the Martial Alliance Leader such a thing?

"Let's go together tomorrow."

"No, I'll go alone."

"I know you're a master without equal. But going alone is dangerous."

"If we mobilize the Alliance's experts, some of them may have ties to the Heavenly Mandate Society. If word leaks out and its leader escapes, we may never find him again."

"Then let us go, just the two of us."

Geom Mugeuk knew Jin Paecheon meant it, and he was genuinely impressed. What Martial Alliance Leader in the world would propose venturing into possible mortal danger with only the Demonic Cult leader's own flesh and blood beside him?

He felt that as long as Jin Paecheon stood strong, orthodox Murim would stand strong as well.

"You have another task to attend to, Alliance Leader."

"What task?"

"You must prepare for the possibility that the master of True Dragon Manor betrays us. He's facing a crisis that could cost him everything he's built over his lifetime. You offered him forgiveness, but will he truly believe you? If not, he'll use every means at his disposal."

"For example?"

"They tried to use Miss Jin under the pretext of marriage, so we used Jo Sin. We were a little more forceful about it than they were. How do you think they'll respond?"

A possibility occurred to Jin Paecheon. His expression stiffened in disbelief.

"While you and I are away together, they may target Miss Jin. You used my child, so now it's your turn—that may be how he feels. Since he'd be staking his life on that decision, he'd send an exceptional master. You must be here. Protect your family."

Meeting Jin Paecheon's worried gaze, Geom Mugeuk raised his cup.

"Just this once, trust the Demonic Path and leave it to us. However vicious that evil may be, it won't work on us."

Jin Paecheon drank with him.

They had shared just one bottle over a brief span, yet it was more enjoyable and memorable than any drinking occasion in his entire life.

Setting down his last cup, Geom Mugeuk offered a respectful farewell.

"Let me say my goodbyes today, in advance. Please take good care of yourself until we meet again."