Chapter 285 - Trust for Trust

Martial Alliance Leader Jin Paecheon was confused.

He did trust Geom Mugeuk. But how was he supposed to believe that Baek Cheongyeong had abducted his granddaughter? Only yesterday, they had shared tea and pleasant conversation.

“First, please send your men away. With you here, I couldn't escape anyway, could I? Even if I got lucky and escaped, you'd know exactly where I'd gone.”

He had a point. Geom Mugeuk wasn't going to abandon his position as the Demonic Cult's young lord and hide in the mountains. There was only one place he could go.

Jin Paecheon dismissed everyone except the guards he kept closest to him.

Geom Mugeuk slowly looked over the remaining guards. Jin Paecheon could tell that he truly believed Baek Cheongyeong had planted someone among his people.

“What? Do you suspect these men too?”

“No, I trust your judgment. Now I can speak freely. At Young Master Jin's request, I've been investigating what sort of man Baek Cheongyeong is. I used Miss Jin as my excuse for coming here. When Young Master Jin first asked for help, we arranged it to look as though I'd come at her invitation.”

He briefly explained what had happened since, but Jin Paecheon still couldn't believe the situation.

“Do I trust the man who taught my grandson for ten years without incident, or the Demonic Cult's young lord? Who would you believe in my position?”

“Then why haven't you done anything to me?”

The answer lay in Geom Mugeuk's earlier words.

[“If I'd plotted this, I would never have put myself in this position.”]

Jin Paecheon's previous encounters with Geom Mugeuk had taught him what sort of person he was. The stories he'd heard since had been full of accomplishments that made him think, “Just as I expected!”

Besides, for the Demonic Cult to abduct his granddaughter would mean it was prepared to go to war. Yet there was no sign whatsoever that the Cult was preparing for one.

“Are you saying Baek Cheongyeong really did this?”

“Yes.”

“Would you be willing to confront him face-to-face?”

“Of course. But he won't be at his residence.”

Jin Paecheon sent a sound transmission to his fastest subordinate, ordering him to bring Baek Cheongyeong here.

“If what you say is true, why didn't Hagun ask me for help?”

“He must have thought you wouldn't believe him. You don't believe it even now, do you?”

“If Hagun had told me!”

“You would have been even less inclined to believe it. You'd have assumed the two of them had had a falling-out.”

Jin Paecheon couldn't deny it. This was precisely the sort of thing Geom Mugeuk was always talking about: being too close to someone to see them clearly.

“There's another reason. Young Master Jin suspected that Baek Cheongyeong had eyes and ears inside the Orthodox Martial Alliance. That's also why I used sound transmission earlier.”

Jin Paecheon decided to consider the situation on the assumption that Geom Mugeuk was telling the truth. Having already saved his granddaughter once, the young man seemed to have no reason to harm her now.

“Very well. Then why did Baek Cheongyeong abduct Haryeong?”

“At first, I thought he was targeting me. But... now I'm not sure. No matter how much of a thorn in his side I am, I question whether he'd go this far just to drive me away. He doesn't know about the relationship between us, so he must have expected a major fight to break out here.”

Had that happened, it would have escalated from a dispute between Geom Mugeuk and Jin Paecheon into one between the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon and the Orthodox Martial Alliance. Surely Baek Cheongyeong knew that.

Geom Mugeuk was certain there was some reason he hadn't uncovered yet.

“Please let me go. I'll rescue Miss Jin and find out why he did this.”

Jin Paecheon closed his eyes without a word. Last time, he'd had no choice but to entrust his granddaughter's safety to Geom Mugeuk. And now he had to do it again?

Some time passed before the subordinate sent to Baek Cheongyeong's residence returned. Just as Geom Mugeuk had said, he reported that the man was absent.

“Why must it be you?”

“Because this was aimed at me. If you intervene, he'll deny everything by whatever means necessary. If that happens, we might never find Miss Jin.”

Jin Paecheon suddenly roared.

“How dare you threaten me! I'll find my granddaughter myself.”

Without warning, he unleashed finger force, striking Geom Mugeuk's and Yi An's paralysis points.

Caught utterly defenseless, Yi An was startled. Geom Mugeuk wasn't surprised at all.

“Your granddaughter isn't my flesh and blood. What more do you expect me to do? Do as you please.”

Jin Paecheon snorted and shouted,

“At last, you show your true colors. Escort these two to the Alliance.”

“Lay a hand on me, and you won't be able to handle the consequences.”

“Shut up!”

At the alliance leader's shout, the martial artists standing farther away turned to look.

The nearby guards approached and took the pair to a carriage. As they were led away, Yi An spoke urgently.

“What are we going to do if they take us away like this?”

“It's not as though we can fight the Martial Alliance Leader, is it?”

Unlike her whispered question, Geom Mugeuk spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear, as though he were just as angry as the alliance leader.

“What about Miss Jin?”

“She's his granddaughter. He can find her himself.”

“You should still ask him! Persuade him. We can't just let them drag us off like this!”

“You saw him yourself. He's too stubborn to listen.”

Once the guards put them aboard, the carriage departed immediately.

Yi An couldn't understand what was happening. However frustrating the alliance leader might be, would Geom Mugeuk really give up on Jin Haryeong so easily? Would he react with such irritation? It wasn't like him.

As the carriage rolled along, Yi An cautiously asked,

“You didn't mean it, did you?”

Now that they were alone inside, the irritation vanished from Geom Mugeuk's face, and his usual expression returned.

“Of course not.”

Only then did Yi An sigh in relief. Of course. Naturally, he hadn't meant it.

A short while later, the carriage stopped in a deserted spot. When they stepped out, Jin Paecheon was waiting there.

He had put on an act in case Baek Cheongyeong had planted someone among the men he'd brought. If so, that person would report that Geom Mugeuk had been taken to the Orthodox Martial Alliance.

Jin Paecheon had truly chosen to believe him.

He released another burst of finger force, unblocking the pressure points he'd sealed.

Geom Mugeuk had only allowed the initial attack to strike him because he, too, trusted the alliance leader.

Trust for trust. Jin Paecheon offered no other words.

“Save Haryeong.”

Their eyes met.

Geom Mugeuk understood. How could it be easy for the Martial Alliance Leader to place his granddaughter's life in the hands of the Demonic Cult's young lord? And for the second time, at that.

He, too, wasted no words.

“I'll bring her back.”

Seeing the sincerity in Geom Mugeuk's eyes, Jin Paecheon nodded once and climbed into the carriage. He felt he'd made the right choice.

Of course, while he had entrusted this matter to Geom Mugeuk, he intended to pursue every avenue himself to save his granddaughter.

Watching the carriage leave, Geom Mugeuk told Yi An,

“Go straight to the Cult's safe house and tell the two Demon Supremes exactly what happened.”

“Any other message?”

“We can leave what happens next to their judgment.”

That was the kind of trust he placed in the Blood Heaven Saber Demon and the Fist Demon: trust that they would judge wisely and act without being told what to do. His trust in Yi An was no different. He trusted her to relay everything that had happened without leaving anything out.

Once Yi An departed, Geom Mugeuk sped off in the opposite direction. From the alliance leader to Yi An, everyone was acting on trust.

* * *

Jin Haryeong opened her eyes in an unfamiliar place.

It was a log house. Everything in the room was wood. Even the bed beneath her had been made by joining whole logs together, and every piece of furniture and every utensil was wooden.

‘Why am I here?’

Then she remembered the last moments before she'd lost consciousness.

She had been walking after parting with Yi An when the wind picked up, showering her with leaves. The moment they clung to her body and brushed against her, her vision had suddenly gone black, and she'd passed out. The leaves must have been laced with a mind-clouding drug, or someone had used them to perform some sinister sorcery.

First, she checked her condition. Her internal energy had been suppressed, but she had no other injuries.

She immediately got up and examined the door. Even without her internal energy, she'd trained in martial arts since childhood. Thinking a mere wooden door would be no obstacle, she pushed with all her strength. It didn't budge.

‘This is no ordinary door.’

She realized it wasn't a simple log door.

She examined the walls, floor, and even the ceiling in detail, but naturally, there was no escape route in the room where she was imprisoned.

‘Was this Baek Cheongyeong's doing?’

Under the circumstances, he was the likeliest person to abduct her. Yet even after it had happened, she could scarcely believe it.

‘Whatever conflict he has with my brother, he'd abduct me?’

Just then, she heard someone approaching the door.

Jin Haryeong lay back down and pretended to sleep. She hoped it wasn't Baek Cheongyeong coming through that door. If he showed her his face, it would mean he intended to kill her in the end.

‘Please!’

The door opened, and someone entered. A man's voice followed.

“If you're awake, get up.”

He already knew she was awake.

Jin Haryeong sat up and looked at the man. Fortunately, he was a stranger. He was Cho Rim, Baek Cheongyeong's disciple.

When she stared at him in silence, he asked,

“Why aren't you saying anything?”

“Anyone worth talking to wouldn't treat someone like this, would they?”

Even with her internal energy suppressed, she remained defiant. If they'd meant to kill her from the start, she'd already be dead. They clearly intended to use her alive.

“Aren't you curious who I am?”

Jin Haryeong realized the man before her was her abductor. He carried the same scent she'd smelled when the leaves came flying at her.

“I don't care who you are. What I want to know is whether you understand what you're doing. Are you truly prepared to stake your life on this?”

Cho Rim merely smiled calmly, completely unmoved by her provocation.

“You must be thirsty. Have some tea.”

She was thirsty, but she didn't touch the teapot beside her.

“Why did you abduct me?”

Rather than answer, Cho Rim picked up the pot and poured a cup himself.

“It's good for your health. You may drink it.”

He drank first, as though to demonstrate that it wasn't poisoned.

Then he filled another cup and held it out.

But instead of accepting it, Jin Haryeong carefully studied his face, his hands, his clothes—anything that might offer a clue or a weakness. She searched for something that could help her escape.

Cho Rim set the cup on the table and turned away.

“I'll have a meal prepared for you shortly.”

Only after he left did Jin Haryeong lift the teapot's lid. It wasn't plain water, but tea infused with medicinal herbs.

She was thirsty enough to want to gulp it down, but she replaced the lid. She couldn't drink it without knowing what herbs it contained.

Still, she couldn't hold out forever refusing food and water.

Never in her dreams had she imagined something like this happening near the Orthodox Martial Alliance's headquarters. She'd ordered her bodyguard Chu Ho to wait some distance away so she could spar with Yi An. By now, everyone must be in an uproar searching for her.

In this moment of crisis, one person came to mind before anyone else. It wasn't her grandfather or her brother.

But soon, Jin Haryeong rose and began searching the room for anything that might help her escape.

After all, those who survived in Murim weren't the ones surrounded by reliable people, but the ones who found their own way to survive.

* * *

I arrived at Baek Cheongyeong's workshop.

It was empty. The first thing I did was pull the cloth off the display stand.

All the figurines had been removed except one, left there alone.

Lying on the floor was the hero figurine Baek Cheongyeong had called Geom Mugeuk. Every other figurine was gone.

He'd undoubtedly left it for me to see. This wasn't a figurine. It was a display of confidence and mockery.

I took it and immediately left.

How was I going to find where Baek Cheongyeong had gone?

One thing was certain: he wouldn't be very far from the Orthodox Martial Alliance.

Spending time with the Martial Alliance Leader while Jin Haryeong was abducted was meant to establish his innocence. In other words, he had no intention of leaving the Alliance.

That meant he had to be nearby. And he'd be somewhere he could make the best use of his power.

A forest.

“I'll find you with Swift Step!”

I raced at terrifying speed and landed in a nearby forest. Then I sent out my qi.

I wasn't searching for Baek Cheongyeong. I was searching for the wooden figurines he'd made.

On my first visit to his workshop, I'd sensed a particular energy. A mysterious qi permeated the place—one I could never have sensed without having learned the Nine Calamities Demonic Art.

That was what I was looking for: the energy that had flowed through those wooden figurines. There had been far more than one or two, so I trusted that I would find them.

When I sensed nothing, I used Swift Step to move elsewhere. Again, I sent out my qi and searched, then moved on. In a flash, I was releasing qi from ten li away. Having reached complete mastery, my Swift Step was truly proving its worth today.

How long had I been searching?

‘Found it!’

At last, I'd located the energy I'd sensed in the workshop.

I slowly walked toward its source. Dense forest blocked the way, but trees and undergrowth couldn't stop me.

I pressed deeper through places where it seemed impossible that a path could exist. The farther I went, the stronger the mysterious qi became. At the end of the way lay a clearing as broad as a plaza.

I was startled the moment I stepped inside. The place resembled a circular sparring arena, with small wooden figurines packed tightly around every side.

These were the figurines Baek Cheongyeong had carved in his workshop over the past ten years. There were thousands of them, and they looked ready to grow in size and charge at me at any moment.

I set the hero figurine I'd brought in the center of the clearing. Now the thousands of figurines were arrayed as though attacking it.

Then a voice rang out.

“I told you. That place is yours.”

Baek Cheongyeong appeared and slowly walked forward.

Instead of looking at him, I gazed down at the lone hero figurine as I replied.

“I thought it would be me, too. I've always liked being the center of attention.”