Chapter 144 - The Ones Wearing Black Masks (3)

The atmosphere in the area settled down as coldly as if frost had fallen.

Although they had already disappeared into the history of Murim, the weight of the name 'Demonic Cult' was enough to sink our excited hearts.

Furthermore, the people here had taken the standard exam with me and had witnessed the Demonic Cult with their own eyes.

"What do I do... What should I do... What am I supposed to do?"

Jang Dowon, having lost all of his usual sharp gaze, wandered around the courtyard frantically as if he had lost his mind.

"Elder... Why do you think the Demonic Cult committed such an act?"

"... Such rumors have been circulating in Yueyang for a few months now. That the Demonic Cult has been resurrected, and they are plotting to take over the world."

"Then the disappearance cases..."

"They started around the same time as those rumors."

Jang Dowon suddenly put on an expression of realizing something and began to cling to me.

"Y-You! You definitely entered the academy, right? I've heard the rumors about you quite well. Do you by any chance know anyone in the Mount Cangshan Sect?"

"Why are you looking for the Mount Cangshan Sect?"

"Isn't Mount Cangshan the best in Yueyang? They should be able to find my granddaughter who was kidnapped by the Demonic Cult."

"..."

I didn't mind helping him, but I was deeply conflicted about whether I should tell him right now that I was not on good terms with the Mount Cangshan Sect.

"Please help me. If you do, I will never forget this favor."

Jang Dowon cried like a child, shedding tears and a runny nose.

Why was it that, looking at Jang Dowon's face, I was reminded of my own?

There was no need to prolong my hesitation.

"Let's go. Elder, I don't know if it will be of help, but I will join you."

* * *

Seongsa Tea House was a famous tea house in Yueyang, and also a place that served as a branch of Mount Cangshan.

For an ordinary person, simply meeting the Pavilion Master would have been a difficult task to begin with, but as soon as I revealed that I was an academy student of the Murim Academy, we were immediately guided to where the Pavilion Master was.

"Hmm... We are investigating the disappearance cases happening in Yueyang to some extent. Go back and wait, and I will inform you as soon as there are results."

"I heard there are rumors that the Demonic Cult is involved... Is that true?"

The Pavilion Master furrowed his brow.

"Are you being swayed by tales fabricated by ignorant fools who know nothing?"

At words that inspired no trust at all, Jang Dowon pleaded.

"My lord, please save my granddaughter. She lost her parents and now has no one left in the world but me."

The Pavilion Master furrowed his brow deeply and waved his hand in dismissal.

"Did I not say we are currently investigating? It takes time to resolve a case, so wait."

I listened quietly to the conversation before speaking.

"Are there any suspects on your list by any chance?"

The Pavilion Master glared at my appearance from top to bottom.

"I cannot tell you, as we are in the middle of investigating the case."

"Is it an opponent that Mount Cangshan would be afraid of?"

"... Young hero. Watch your mouth. Mount Cangshan does not fear injustice. Even if it were the actual 'Demonic Cult'."

"... Even the 'actual Demonic Cult'?"

As I was about to say another word at his strange remark, Namgung Seonhwa blocked my front.

"Where is Young Master Jong Byeokgi right now?"

"... Do you know Young Master Jong?"

"We don't have any personal relations, but we have exchanged names."

"Who might you be, Lady, to ask about an individual's private matters?"

To the Pavilion Master who spoke as if finding it ridiculous, Namgung Seonhwa said.

"I am Seonhwa of the Namgung Clan. Is this much enough to know where Young Master Jong is?"

"..."

* * *

After leaving Seongsa Tea House, Jang Dowon glanced sideways at Namgung Seonhwa and whispered to me.

"H-How did you form a connection with the lady of the Namgung Clan?"

I could have explained every single detail, but it seemed like none of it would reach his ears right now.

"It just ended up happening somehow."

"... Anyway, thank you. It seems things are working out a bit thanks to you."

"Don't mention it. Isn't this the obvious thing to do?"

"... If I had known this would happen, I should have secured a place somewhere earlier."

At Jang Dowon's passing remark, I asked.

"Was there a place that offered to take you in, Elder?"

"Take me in, my foot, an old man who just makes ornaments... I just heard that they would protect me if I joined their faction. Of course, I refused due to their attitude of treating me like a servant. Thinking about it now, I should have done so earlier. At the very least, it would have been easier to resolve if I had been under the shade of Mount Cangshan."

"..."

Our conversation stopped in front of the Red Pavilion where Jong Byeokgi was said to be staying.

"Only Elder Jang and I will go in."

At my consideration, being careful because the nature of the Red Pavilion might show embarrassing scenes to women, Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran spoke as if dumbfounded.

"We've even slept in the Red Pavilion before, so why are you acting like this all of a sudden?"

Bringing up what happened during the standard exam, Seong Moran threw the door open and walked in.

Inside the Red Pavilion, a strange fragrance wafted through the air as heated moans could be heard, and many men and women were wandering around, making it hard to tell if they were undressed or clothed.

"There he is."

The highest seat of honor in the Red Pavilion.

Jong Byeokgi and his companions were each sitting with women by their sides, drinking heavily.

"Young Master Jong."

"Huh?"

Jong Byeokgi, who was tossing back a drink while looking at a gisaeng with half-closed eyes, looked at Namgung Seonhwa.

"Why, Lady Namgung! What brings you here? ... With a string of those beggars in tow?"

At Namgung Seonhwa's appearance, Jong Byeokgi's companions hastily tidied up their clothes.

But they were so drunk that they couldn't even close their garments properly.

"I came because I wanted to know about the disappearance cases happening in Yueyang."

"Disappearances? Ah, aah... That thing. It's nothing much. It's something that often happens to those who can't manage their households properly."

"... It's said that this elder's only granddaughter has gone missing. I would like for Young Master Jong to help a bit."

"Elder...?"

Jong Byeokgi looked at Jang Dowon with bleary eyes before twitching his eyebrows.

"Hah, it was that arrogant old man."

"..."

"Do you know him?"

"We visited to put him to valuable use in our Mount Cangshan, but he acted so conceitedly. However... you say you lost your granddaughter?"

"..."

Jang Dowon fell to his knees right on the spot.

"My lord, I was ignorant of my place and acted arrogantly. Please save my granddaughter."

"Hehe, if you had come to Mount Cangshan earlier, this wouldn't have happened... Tsk, tsk."

Namgung Seonhwa also stepped forward.

"Young Master Jong, I ask of you."

Jong Byeokgi, who was smirking, waved his hand a couple of times.

"Understood. I will look into it, if only for Lady Namgung's sake. Remember this in exchange. Lady Namgung owes me a debt."

"... I will remember."

"You may leave now. Looking at that old man is about to make my alcohol lose its taste."

Along with the order of eviction, Jong Byeokgi began to flirt with the gisaeng again, and his companions also had smiles on their lips as if quite satisfied with the sight.

* * *

I brought Jang Dowon home, tapped his sleeping acupoint to put him to sleep, and quietly stepped out into the courtyard.

"I suppose I should have talked a bit more to Young Master Jong."

Namgung Seonhwa couldn't hide her regret.

"Just you stepping forward for us was already enough."

Furthermore, Namgung Seonhwa even said she would owe him a debt at the end.

As a person of the Namgung Clan, she herself would know very well just how heavy the weight of those words was.

It was no different from her doing the best she could.

"But Young Master Jin, you seem to have a somewhat unsettled expression."

"..."

It was because the doubts regarding the disappearance of Jang Dowon's granddaughter were not just one or two.

Among the records of the Mantong Bureau, there was a document regarding the Yueyang disappearance cases, but no connection related to the Demonic Cult could be found.

Of course, it could be because I learned about the true identity of the Demonic Cult much later in my past life, but to assume that the current disappearance cases were caused by the Demonic Cult was too much of a stretch.

The Demonic Cult were indeed lunatics who didn't even hesitate at human sacrifice to use their bizarre arts, but they weren't idiots enough to pull off such acts in a bustling place with many people like Yueyang.

Even without going out of their way to come to Yueyang, there were plenty of children in the world who had lost their parents, and there were countless people living in areas beyond the reach of government influence.

The Demonic Cult, who had tried to hide their identity thoroughly to the very end, came all the way to Yueyang where tourists from all over the world gathered to pull off something like this?

'Well...'

In my opinion, having deeply felt their cunningness to the bone on the frontlines of the war, it was an 'absolute no'.

And.

"Did you not sense anything strange at Seongsa Tea House?"

"Something strange?"

"Didn't the Pavilion Master say he wouldn't be afraid even if it were the 'actual Demonic Cult'?"

"..."

"Why was the Pavilion Master so certain that the Demonic Cult wasn't the actual one? When such rumors have spread so much in Yueyang. Did he simply not believe it?"

It could be an oversensitive thought, but a lingering unease remained, just like when I was scammed in gambling in the Minor Orthodox Unit.

At times like this, you had to search the undergarments of every bastard sitting at the gambling table.

I said to the kids of the Taiyi Sect.

"When Elder Jang wakes up, make sure to reassure him as much as possible."

"Yes."

"Young Master Jin, where do you plan to go?"

I answered Seong Moran's question.

"I need to look into it separately."

* * *

"First, I need to gather some information."

"If it's the Beggars' Sect, shouldn't we go to the beggars' village?"

Since the Beggars' Sect held a tight grip on most of the information in Jianghu, it was no wonder that they would think of the Beggars' Sect first.

However, I knew an information organization just as capable.

The place I headed to was a small drapery located in a corner of the busy streets.

"Why here?"

"We already bought clothes earlier."

The two of them harbored doubts upon seeing me stop by the drapery again.

I wordlessly approached the drapery owner and held out the black token I had received from Yeo Mimi.

The drapery owner, who had been affectionately tending to his business, hardened his face for a moment, bowed politely, and then guided me inside.

Inside the drapery, there were stairs leading down to a basement.

As we descended, an inner room even larger than the drapery appeared.

In the inner room, all sorts of bizarre items were waiting for their owners.

Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran couldn't close their mouths at the continuous surprising sights.

"Is this by any chance... a secret shop?"

"A secret shop?"

At Seong Moran's question, Namgung Seonhwa spoke without being able to hide her surprise.

"It's a secret shop run by Haomun. It's said that you can obtain all sorts of things that can't be found in the light, from women's undergarments to corpses... But I heard that gaining the right to use that secret shop isn't an ordinarily difficult task..."

At Namgung Seonhwa's explanation, the drapery owner who was walking ahead smiled warmly and said.

"The goods traded in the secret shop also have grades. The items you just mentioned are things that a regular-grade customer could obtain."

"... Then does that mean there is a separate special grade?"

"There is truly nothing you cannot obtain there. From the blood of a living person, to the bone fragments of the dead. As long as it exists in this world, we will bring it to you, no matter what it takes."

"... What must one do to acquire that grade?"

To Seong Moran's question asked while gulping down her saliva, the drapery owner replied with a smile still on his lips.

"That grade is not something you can acquire just by wanting it. You must have the qualifications."

The drapery owner looked at Namgung Seonhwa's face once and answered.

"For your reference, even the Divine Sword, the lady's grandfather, does not possess those qualifications."

The two of them were shocked at the drapery owner's answer.

"You know who I am?"

The drapery owner smiled gently.

"If I couldn't recognize the two of you, who are counted among the top three beauties of Anhui Province, would I even be a man?"

Despite the man's words, the two of them still couldn't erase their surprised expressions.

"You said even the Divine Sword isn't qualified, then who in the world possesses such qualifications?"

At Seong Moran's words, spoken with a groan, the drapery owner shifted his gaze without answering.

And at the end of that gaze...

"Hah..."

"Just... what kind of person are you, Young Master Jin?"

Embarrassed, I quickly changed the subject.

"Are you the Yueyang Branch Chief?"

"Yes. That's right."

"I came because I had something to ask."

"I will guide you inside first. There is someone waiting for you."

Waiting for me? Does that mean they knew I was coming and were here in advance?

At his incomprehensible words, I silently began to follow the Yueyang Branch Chief again.

After passing through the secret shop and going deep into the maze-like interior for quite some time, the branch chief's footsteps came to a halt.

He opened the door without delay.

"I offer my greetings only now, using my busy affairs as an excuse."

Inside, an unexpected figure was offering a greeting.

A somewhat familiar face and a polite attitude...

No, why is this person here...?!