Chapter 97 - The Sharpest Blade in the Dark (4)
"They... are the ones who tried to kill us."
The day had dawned.
Along with the light shining upon the plains, the Dark Soul-Severing Squad vanished with the darkness as if being chased away.
The scene they faced with the breaking dawn was gruesome beyond measure.
The surviving examinees realized what a terrifying scene they had been in during the night and fled in sheer terror.
"I know."
Naturally, the ones remaining at the scene were mostly warriors abandoned by their employers.
I suggested that we save the critically injured first, but the warriors did not easily move.
"You're going to help them even knowing that? Young Master Jin... are you a Buddha?"
I shook my head.
"I, too, absolutely do not forgive those who target me. But aren't they just people who moved under someone else's orders?"
Although the level of warriors that could be mobilized was limited to the Peak Realm, not all the hired warriors could be at the Peak Realm.
Especially for families with weak influence or no money, they would often hire First-Rate or Second-Rate warriors, and in severe cases, even Third-Rate warriors.
And among those who died on the plains, there were more underlings than employers, and more lower-rate fighters than experts.
"Those abandoned by their employers will have to just wait here to die."
"..."
"..."
The examinees who had brought along separate escort warriors for safety had all run away in the emergency. These people were used like tools. Just like our Minor Orthodox Unit in my past life.
"Besides, don't we have people to look after as well? If you take care of them, I will look after these people."
Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa, who had been listening silently, stepped forward.
"Alright. Let's do that."
"Squad Captain, please do so."
Kang Seopyo and Cho Mubin, who had disapproving expressions, eventually nodded.
Twenty warriors from the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect had died.
Considering the starting number was sixty, it was a very small number, but that did not mean the death of those as close as flesh and blood was easy to accept.
Finding at least their corpses and burying them in a sunny spot was the duty of the survivors.
Accompanied by the Geum-eun-dong Brothers, I began emergency treatment for the critically injured.
Most of those receiving emergency treatment could not lift their heads out of shame.
Those who had not let out a single scream even though it must have hurt quite a bit since it wasn't a proper treatment, finally spat out a single word right as they were about to leave after the treatment roughly finished.
"... T-Thank you."
Instead of replying, I simply gave a nod as my answer.
Around noon, Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran returned.
"We'll help."
"You don't have to push yourselves."
My actions toward these people were out of pity for my past life. Nothing more, nothing less. I didn't want to pass my burden onto Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran.
"It's because I feel like we won't pass the Third Gate if we take this long. After managing to survive, what could be more unfair than failing to make it on time?"
"You won't have to worry about that."
"Do you have a way?"
At that moment, a group of carts roughly pushed their way onto the plains.
"Sowoon!"
I had a feeling, and surely enough.
"Owner Yang!"
Yang Gunbaek arrived, leading the disciples of Haomun and physicians.
"...?"
"...?"
Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran looked at me with expressions asking what on earth was going on.
"I sent a missive yesterday. I told him a battle would likely break out around here, so I requested him to handle the aftermath."
"Hah..."
Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran couldn't close their mouths.
* * *
"F-Five hundred?"
Zhuge Somyeong stared blankly at the Cheonmok Pavilion's report for a moment before picking up another report.
Casualties: Four hundred eighty.
It was slightly fewer, but still a massive number.
He snapped back to his senses and picked up the third report, but the change in the number was minimal.
"What in the..."
While it was normal for numbers close to a hundred to die in a large-scale battle, this battle was not even a large-scale one.
It was a one-sided battle waged to snatch the admission tokens owned by the Namgung Clan, the Iron Sword Sect, and the Taiyi Sect.
Once the admission tokens were secured, another fight would surely break out amongst themselves, but martial artists, who grasped the dynamics of power faster than anyone, would not let it escalate into such a desperate battle.
Moreover, the problem was...
The primary target of this battle. Most of the Namgung Clan, Iron Sword Sect, and Taiyi Sect's group had survived.
"Why is that a problem? It's a stroke of extreme good fortune."
"..."
Zhuge Somyeong gave a glance at Maeng Ju-won, who had tactlessly chimed in, before looking at the other Mantong Bureau members around him.
He had just thrown a fit out of a foul mood caused by the recent report. Naturally, the Mantong Bureau members were avoiding eye contact and failing to hide their tension for fear of being caught on even the smallest flaw, but this bastard Maeng Ju-won had chimed in without a trace of fear.
There was a limit to letting things slide.
"Manager Maeng, have you finished drafting the proposal for the Murim Alliance's structural reform?"
"Yes. I left it on your desk, Chief Strategist."
"... I heard the Orthodox Council submitted a proposal to be promoted to a pavilion. How did you reject that?"
"I compiled the reasons why it cannot be done and the side effects that could occur if the Orthodox Council were to be promoted to a pavilion. Furthermore, I summarized the fact that the White Path Council and the Twelve Peaks and Castles also wish to be promoted to pavilions, and sent it to the Orthodox Council Leader and its members. A copy of that is also on your desk, Chief Strategist."
"... The Murim Alliance Leader mentioned that he would conduct an audit on the Murim Alliance's Disciplinary Pavilion this time..."
"The Murim Alliance's Disciplinary Pavilion is such an inflexible group, isn't it? To handle that level of stubbornness, the Mantong Bureau or the Simhyeon Pavilion needs to step up. I've selected and compiled a list of candidates to conduct the audit after the Murim Academy's standard exam ends, and placed it on your desk, Chief Strategist."
"..."
Maeng Ju-won looked at Zhuge Somyeong with a brazen smile.
"You don't have anything else to nitpick, right?"
"... Why the hell are your eyes wide open like that?"
"..."
Thinking he had been a bit too harsh, Zhuge Somyeong slyly steered the conversation back to the report.
"What do you think?"
"It's certainly strange. Our Sowoon's group only consisted of sixty people, yet they survived after facing a thousand."
"Do you think this will end as just a simple strange incident?"
"Probably not."
"Then what do you think the problem is?"
Maeng Ju-won stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment. It was a habitual action he did whenever he fell deep into thought.
"Too many died."
"I know that much from looking at the report."
"No. I mean that it far exceeded the limit of how many people could be killed in such a battle."
"Elaborate."
"If I were to imagine moving alongside our Sowoon starting from Heze, there wouldn't be many options I could choose. And if I were to choose a head-on clash like Sowoon did..."
Maeng Ju-won's fingers wriggled as if touching something in thin air. He was calculating something in his head.
"Two hundred. That would be my limit."
Zhuge Somyeong also nodded. He had come up with a similar calculation under the same circumstances.
"But the problem is that I wouldn't have the confidence to survive in that situation."
He could kill up to two hundred.
But he couldn't guarantee that he would actually survive.
This was the world-renowned Maeng Ju-won saying this.
Yet they had managed that difficult feat.
And they had produced five hundred casualties on top of it.
This was a number that went beyond common sense and completely defied cause and effect.
"What if it's simply that we didn't know the Taiyi Sect's underlying strength?"
There were only a few things they could speculate.
Either the Taiyi Sect had been hiding their martial arts all this time.
Or Jin Sowoon was actually an expert who had undergone Returning to Youth. Nothing else could explain it.
Maeng Ju-won shook his head.
"There is a distinct point when the Taiyi Sect's circumstances changed. The period when our Sowoon's martial arts developed is also clear. Calculating that speed, Returning to Youth is a completely nonsensical story in the first place."
"Then?"
"Isn't there that trivial conversation we shared before, Chief Strategist?"
Was it only a day or two that Maeng Ju-won spewed trivial nonsense? But Zhuge Somyeong immediately understood.
"The destruction of the Murim Alliance?"
"Yes."
"..."
"The reason you aren't considering it is because there are no traces of a dark hand left behind, right?"
The biggest issue.
If there were entities standing behind the curtain, they should have left even a small trace, but they had left absolutely nothing.
"Didn't you say that just because it's invisible to our eyes doesn't mean it doesn't exist?"
"... Another missing piece."
But this time, there were no surrounding pieces to match. Without the surrounding pieces, it was impossible to know what should fill the empty space.
"In the end, the key is what kind of report comes up from the branch."
His head throbbed.
No matter how well the Alliance processed information, it would be utterly useless if the information coming from the branches was blocked.
The position of Branch Chief in each region was not a seat one could reach through skill alone.
Each sect pulled all kinds of tricks and pulled strings to somehow place a disciple of their own sect in the Branch Chief position.
Naturally, those who sat in the Branch Chief's seat with the help of their sect would move much more swiftly to their sect's influence than to the Murim Alliance's orders.
For the sake of their sects, they would sometimes selectively report information and dispose of matters to their own liking.
Furthermore, pointing out the victims of this incident, they were the second-stringers of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the scions of the prominent sects within the 108 Peaks.
Beyond the possibility of the information being tainted, the proposed solution to the problem could be completely twisted in a different direction.
"It'll be too late by the time the Murim Alliance's Disciplinary Pavilion steps in."
The system to correct their wrongdoings ultimately only applied after they had already committed the offense.
In a pressing time like now, there was nothing that could be done.
"I'll go."
"What?"
"I will go, grasp the situation, and bring back proper information."
"..."
"And while I'm at it, I'd like to see if our Sowoon is doing alright."
After pondering for a moment, Zhuge Somyeong shook his head and picked up a report. He then threw it at Maeng Ju-won using the Plucking Leaves and Flying Flowers technique.
The report flew in a straight line, aiming to strike Maeng Ju-won's brow, but Maeng Ju-won quickly ducked and barely avoided it.
"Gasp! What if you hit me?! Do you not know that the Mantong Bureau will come to a halt without me right now?"
"And the guy who knows that is saying he'll go all the way to Henan Province?"
"What am I supposed to do when I'm so worried about our Sowoon?"
"Enough with that 'our Sowoon,' 'our Sowoon!' You haven't even met the guy!"
"That's why he's all the more precious to me—AAAAGH."
The report Zhuge Somyeong threw ended up slamming squarely into Maeng Ju-won's face.
* * *
"I agonized a lot after hearing you tell people to spread your location, Sowoon."
Yang Gunbaek seemed to have debated whether the missive was genuine or not after hearing the plan I had employed to hide among the crowd.
"And I was truly shocked when I heard you raised the Taiyi Sect's flag."
Even thinking about it now, it wasn't a plan one could execute in their right mind, but if it hadn't been for this plan, all of us, including Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran, would have been killed by the Dark Soul-Severing Squad.
"What in the world happened?"
"We were attacked by unidentified entities."
"Unidentified? Didn't we tell you they were from the Wudang Sect and the Mount Hua Sect?"
"They never arrived in the end."
"... Then?"
I took out one of the arms of the Dark Soul-Severing Squad members.
"Gasp."
Yang Gunbaek was terrified upon seeing the grotesque arm with a white bone sword protruding from its black skin.
"W-What is this?"
"They are the ones who attacked us."
"A-Are you saying this is a human arm?"
"Yes."
"..."
Yang Gunbaek carefully examined the arm with a calm expression. He pressed the skin and fiddled with the bone sword.
"This is indeed a human bone."
"Yes."
"But the skin feels like it isn't human?"
The defining characteristic of those who had received the Flexible Body Bone Sword procedure lay precisely in that skin.
"Look at this."
I grabbed a section of the skin and pulled it. The skin stretched out exactly like a piece of clothing, and the muscles and bones inside began to show.
Yang Gunbaek looked like he couldn't believe it even though he was seeing it with his own two eyes.
"I can't believe it even while looking at it."
"There were up to twenty individuals with bodies like this."
"Then are there more corpses left?"
"Unfortunately, this is it. For the others, their bones and skin decayed away the moment they died."
Yang Gunbaek looked at the corpse with a face full of regret.
"That's a shame. If there were more corpses..."
Even without saying it, Yang Gunbaek seemed to know exactly where this corpse needed to go.
I drew the Black Dragon Sword, sliced off the upper part of the arm, and handed it to Yang Gunbaek.
"Sowoon..."
"The lower half is still left anyway, isn't it? Besides, I'm not a member of the Murim Alliance yet, so I have no obligation to give them the corpse."
"Ah..."
"This will be the thing that creates a gap between the Beggars' Sect and Haomun."
At my words, Yang Gunbaek's eyes, which had been blankly staring at the corpse, shot wide open.
He then looked back and forth between the corpse and me before realizing something, gazing at me with bright eyes.
"You called me on purpose."
"... Yes, well. It serves a dual purpose."
"How should I even express my gratitude? You are our Guest, yet you provide more help than anyone else."
If Haomun were to realize the existence of the Demonic Cult first, they might also be able to predict the Demonic Cult's appearances through the traces of their existence.
If so, the tension of war would form more quickly across all of Murim, and at the same time, Haomun, which had been the first to begin investigating the Demonic Cult's existence, would be able to instantly surpass the Beggars' Sect.
When that happened, the most accurate and fastest intelligence agency in Jianghu would become my definitive backer.
"Isn't this all for the sake of us all as well?"
* * *
There were no particular ambushes from Puyang to the Southern Peak.
Whether it was because rumors had spread or because everyone who was going to come had already arrived the day before, everyone was able to completely relax once they entered the Southern Peak.
That was because snatching admission tokens from each other was strictly forbidden in the vicinity of the Southern Peak Branch where the Third Gate was taking place.
As soon as we arrived at the Southern Peak, we put the injured in a medical clinic and caught up on the sleep we had put off.
As soon as we woke up early in the morning, we first sent word to the warriors we had left behind in each region to inform them that we had arrived safely at the Southern Peak, and after that, we scattered to take care of our respective tasks before heading to the Murim Alliance's Southern Peak Branch.
"Why do you keep holding that flag?"
Eunho, who had gone somewhere with Seong Moran early in the morning, was still holding that Taiyi Sect flag straight up.
"It was said that the Taiyi Sect's flag should not be heedlessly lowered."
"Hah! Did I say that again?"
"No. The Sect Leader did."
"..."
"Anyway, didn't we return alive from that hellish battlefield? This is a mark of confidence. It's like saying we won't break, so come at us if you dare."
"If you want to say something like that, at least take that candied fruit out of your mouth before you speak... Wait, where did you get the money to buy all those snacks?"
I managed the money for our group. While I wasn't stingy with my junior brothers, I didn't give them enough spare change to buy an entire bundle of snacks to hold in one hand.
"Ah, this? Sister Seong bought them for me."
"Lady Seong did? Why?"
Eunho stopped eating his candied fruit and silently stared at me with a sullen look.
"Eldest Senior Brother, what is your ideal type by the way? Do you also like women with strong martial arts?"
"It'd be fine as long as they can protect their own body. But why ask that?"
"Then that's all I need to know."
"What?"
After changing the subject like that, he muttered to himself, 'Well, it's close enough anyway.' I completely failed to understand and shook my head.
"Let's stop by the smithy first."
As Dongryong's sword forms changed day by day, his sword had been severely damaged. It was a good sword he had received during the talent scout exam, but even that sword ultimately couldn't withstand all of Dongryong's sword forms.
Not only was the blade completely chipped, but the sword was far too light compared to his changed sword forms.
"We need to get Dongryong a new sword."
"I don't think you need to do that."
Geumpyo pointed behind him.
There, Dongryong, who had been moving with Namgung Seonhwa, was holding some long cloth tightly against his chest.
"We don't have to go, Eldest Senior Brother."
"... And what is that?"
The answer came from Geumpyo.
"Sister Namgung Seonhwa apparently gave him a Cangqiong Sword."
"..."
The Cangqiong Sword was a sword one could only receive upon becoming an official warrior of the Namgung Clan. While it wasn't a famed sword or a treasured sword, it had a bit of cold iron mixed into the blade, meaning it wasn't a sword ordinary warriors could easily obtain.
"Sister Seonhwa and I decided to become sworn siblings. She said she always wanted a younger brother. This was a gift she gave me, asking me to take good care of her from now on."
"..."
*'Were Namgung Seonhwa and Dongryong really that close?' * With that question in mind, my gaze turned to Geumpyo.
"Geumpyo, why are you the only one empty-handed?"
Geumpyo, who had been making a sullen expression by himself, looked at me.
"Senior Brother."
"What?"
"Do you happen to know any other women? Someone who is wealthy, comes from a great family, and is slightly older."
One person came to mind, but I didn't bother to answer.
Just then, a massive procession of people appeared in the center of the main street.
"What is that?"
The procession was unusual beyond measure.
Almost none of the people standing at the front were uninjured, and a pile of massive coffins was stacked at the back of the procession.
I had seen something similar in the Gyeryong Merchant Group's procession, but the scale of this procession could not even be compared to the Gyeryong Merchant Group's.
Aside from the escort warriors leading the horses and mules, most were in a state of severe injury.
Eunho spoke as he chewed on his candied fruit.
"Sister Seong said that half the participants in Hubei are in that state."
"Did a massive battle happen there too?"
"No, the Wudang Sect went all over Hubei Province and eliminated examinees."
"..."
"Since they'll all turn into competitors after the Third Gate, they supposedly cleaned them up in advance."
"There aren't even any riffraff among the examinees."
The injured were mostly those whose names were ranked high among the 108 Peaks.
"That's probably not it. It just means those are the only sects capable of taking care of their sect members, wouldn't you think?"
At Eunho's words, I found myself nodding naturally.
It was the same on the Puyang Plains, but there was no such thing as an employer who looked after the aftermath of people who were merely hired temporarily with money.
"Anyway, I do not want to run into the Wudang Sect or the Shaolin Sect."
Eunho muttered quietly as he stared at the carriage piled high with coffins.
It was the same for me. The ill fate with Wudang was more than enough with Yong So-ah alone.
* * *
"It might be... difficult."
Exiting the medical clinic, Seong Moran's voice sank heavily.
The warriors who seemed fine on the plains fainted upon entering the Southern Peak, as if their tension had snapped.
The remaining number of warriors from the Iron Sword Sect was now twenty.
Regardless of the Third Gate's results, it was an absurdly small number to endure the final test.
"Still, it is an extreme stroke of luck just to have returned alive from that battlefield like this."
"... That is true."
Hundreds of people had died the night before.
No, in the first place, had it not been for Jin Sowoon, it was certain that they, too, would have been found as gruesome corpses on that plain alongside the others.
"It truly is extremely fortunate."
"I believe that there will likely be no major issues if you continue to stay alongside Young Master Jin."
At Cho Mubin's words, Seong Moran made a surprised expression.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Didn't you dislike Young Master Jin, Captain Cho?"
Cho Mubin flushed.
"My Lady, truly, that's old news. Wasn't he our sect's political rival at the time?"
"And is something different now?"
"He is someone who will become the future son-in-law..."
"Pardon?"
"Ahem, n-no, it's nothing. More importantly, My Lady, here..."
Cho Mubin quickly changed the subject and pulled out a small, palm-sized ornament from his chest.
"Isn't this a powder compact?"
"Yes."
"I just washed up. Do I still look dirty?"
"That's not it. I saw earlier that Kang Seopyo, that cheap bastard, took advantage of the time you were washing up to visit an accessory shop with Lady Namgung."
"... An accessory shop?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Cho Mubin let out a sigh at Seong Moran's reaction.
With her being this dense, he wondered if she could ever properly handle romance.
Even so, he couldn't let the relationship between Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran be ruined because of affection.
"Regardless, wouldn't doing it be better than not doing it?"
"No, I mean, we'll just get thoroughly covered in dirt and dust again during the Third Gate anyway, so why go out of our way to put on makeup?"
Cho Mubin let out a dry cough and spoke.
"No, I was just worried that you might look too much like a tomboy in Young Master Jin's eyes..."
"What? A-Aww, what do you..."
Seong Moran seemed to think that it hadn't been obvious she liked Jin Sowoon.
Due to her usually boisterous and straightforward personality, she mingled casually with the men in the Iron Sword Sect, but seeing her instantly blush upon being subtly probed about the man she liked, her girlish side was quickly revealed.
"If that is truly your will, My Lady, then it can't be helped. I'll just bring this to my wife instead..."
"Wait a minute."
"Yes?"
Seong Moran brought her two index fingers together and twiddled them.
"... Young Master Jin clearly said he liked strong women."
Cho Mubin rejoiced and held out the powder.
"If both are equally strong women, wouldn't he choose the more beautiful one?"
"... Can I trust you?"
"My Lady, you've seen my wife, haven't you?"
Cho Mubin's wife was a famous beauty even within the Iron Sword Sect.
"How could I have ever gotten such a pretty wife with this face? Trust me."
"A-Alright."
Seong Moran quickly turned around and lightly applied powder to her face.
"H-How is it? Do I look okay?"
"It's natural and perfectly fine. Next is this."
Once again, a small porcelain box came out from Cho Mubin.
"It's hair oil. Men's eyes are drawn even more to flowing hair."
"..."
"Here's some rouge."
"Hold on, Captain Cho. Why do you know so much about women's makeup?"
"Do you know how many errands I run for my wife? It's to the point where I want to be born a woman in my next life."
After she was roughly done dressing up and Cho Mubin's approval was given, they were finally able to head toward the Murim Alliance's Southern Peak Branch.
"There are more people than I thought."
"By nature, the Third Gate has more onlookers than participants."
"Even so, isn't the atmosphere far too ominous?"
As they pushed through the crowd and went inside, they saw Jin Sowoon and Namgung Seonhwa.
Namgung Seonhwa, just like Seong Moran, looked incredibly radiant to the point where one couldn't tell she had gone through a war the previous day.
"See tha—"
The moment Cho Mubin was about to praise himself, he realized the atmosphere was unusual and shut his mouth.
As Seong Moran and Cho Mubin approached, Jin Sowoon turned around.
"You've arrived."
"Yes. But who are these people...?"
In front of the group stood a row of middle-aged men wearing various martial robes, all armed with swords.
And behind them were dozens of young men who appeared to be disciples of their sects.
"They are the elders of the sects whose members died on the Puyang Plains this time, including those from Wudang and Mount Hua."
