Chapter 6: Haomun (2)

As soon as I mentioned the Haomun Lord, the disciples of Haomun, who were scattered throughout the place, drew their swords.

It was a swift draw, considering they were warriors of Haomun, whose disciples were said to have significantly lower combat power.

The rain of swords couldn’t reach me.

Seeing this, Muyeon drew his sword much later than the disciples, but he deflected all the swords in an instant.

“You apologized for your aggressive attitude earlier, but isn’t this a bit much?”

I said it mockingly, but Dowoonchu just kept glaring at me.

“Isn’t this information more than enough to cover the commission fee?”

“I must set aside my prejudice against you, Gongja-nim. You’re completely different from the person I thought you were.”

“I don’t know how you know, but that’s probably right?”

“How did you know?”

The fact that the Haomun Lord had disappeared was a top secret even within Haomun.

It was something most people didn’t know, not just within Gaebang but throughout the orthodox sects.

In the first place, the very existence of the Haomun Lord was shrouded in mystery, so knowing he had disappeared was strange.

‘If I said I found out in the future, would they believe me?’

They’d probably think I was an idiot and start a knife fight, but it wouldn’t have any positive effect.

“You keep asking strange things. Why ask when you know there’s no answer?”

“If Gu Clan’s information network is only this much, was there really a need for you to seek us out?”

“Branch Chief-nim, I didn’t come here just to exchange riddles.”

I didn’t care what Dowoonchu thought about it.

Tok tok.

Amidst the strange, lingering silence in the room, only the sound of fingers tapping on the desk echoed.

“I have the information you need, and you have the ability to bring me the information I need, right? That’s all that matters.”

“Gongja-nim, how can we trust whether that information is true or not in the first place?”

“That’s something you have to verify. Why are you trying to beat around the bush like this?”

I stopped tapping my fingers.

Dowoonchu returned to a blank expression, but I thought her mask had already shattered.

“That’s something you do when you have the luxury to pick and choose, Branch Chief-nim. If you don’t need it, just quit. I was planning to visit Gaebang anyway.”

Ah, and if things go south, I could leak a little something about the Haomun Lord to Gaebang.

The conversation ended with that barely whispered remark.

Whatever decision they made was up to them, but from my perspective, the answer was already decided.

---

“Why did you just let him go?”

After Gu Yangcheon left, only a few Haomun disciples and Dowoonchu remained in the room.

Dowoonchu let out a wry smile at the Haomun disciple’s question.

“It went wrong from the start. I should have just played dumb, but I couldn’t.”

If you know, pretend you don’t.

If you don’t know, pretend you do.

These were words like the ironclad rules of Haomun.

Dowoonchu had survived this long based on these words.

She had come this far, protecting that single principle through countless crises and on the brink of death.

Yet, just because a secret was discovered by a mere boy, the entire foundation was shaken.

“…I don’t think we should have just let him go.”

“So what should we do? Grab him and torture him?”

“If necessary, even like that…”

“Ya-cheol, don’t say foolish things. Do you think Gu Clan looks like a punching bag just because we’ve only focused on the Four Great Clans?”

Gu Clan is undeniably a prestigious family (Myungga).

Why is it a prestigious family?

It’s a prestigious family because its power and reputation, built over many centuries, are renowned. Because it never stopped growing during that long time. Because it grew along with the times without falling behind, it is called a prestigious family today.

To provoke Gu Clan, the protector of Shanxi, in the land of Shanxi?

Furthermore, provoking Gu Clan’s blood relative and the family head’s only son could, if mishandled, shake Haomun itself.

“If it were just Gu Clan, maybe. But provoking Gu Clan naturally gives the orthodox sects justification to attack Haomun. In a situation like this, we should have been even more careful.”

“…I apologize, Branch Chief-nim.”

“The reason I’m not blaming you for drawing your sword without permission is twofold: first, because Gu Clan’s Gongja-nim didn’t blame you for it, and second, because I already ruined things from the start with my own mistake.”

And the third reason I wouldn’t tell Ya-cheol is the young man who was guarding Gu Yangcheon.

Although he looked like a clumsy youth at first glance, he not only deflected the sword aimed at Gu Yangcheon in an instant.

If the disciples had tried to move even one step further…

‘He definitely would have tried to cut them all down.’

The reason he didn’t swing his sword any further was probably because there was no killing intent in the swords aimed at Gu Yangcheon.

After all, those swords were drawn merely to threaten.

Likewise, the guard only deflected the swords and didn’t counterattack.

Yet, Dowoonchu couldn’t even properly see the sword the guard swung.

At the very least, first-rate. Though it didn’t seem like Dowoonchu’s level of martial arts, perhaps a warrior who had reached the very peak of first-rate.

If someone like that was brought as a guard, it’s reasonable to assume they predicted the situation beforehand.

None of the complex thoughts could be organized.

What could be the reason for Gu Clan’s young master visiting Haomun?

Is it actually to make a request?

There’s no way that boy could have found out this information alone.

It must involve Gu Clan, and if things get serious, even Gu Clan’s family head.

‘…What on earth is he thinking?’

It was frustrating.

Dowoonchu was already finding the overwhelming situation difficult, and with another person getting involved, she couldn’t come up with an answer.

Dowoonchu grabbed her chin with her hand and pulled it hard.

Jjiiik-

Her skin stretched and then peeled off with a tearing sound.

As Gu Yangcheon had predicted, it was a skin mask.

As Dowoonchu threw off the skin mask, Ya-cheol asked.

“Is it alright for you to take it off?”

“It’s stuffy. Please understand. Besides, no one is watching right now.”

Even her voice, which was pleasant for a man, had changed to a woman’s delicate tone.

“…No matter how I think about it, I can’t understand. Only a handful of people know the Lord-nim disappeared, so how did he find out?”

Due to Haomun’s nature, even if they treated the Lord as the Lord, they didn’t respect, trust, or follow him.

Rather, most were aiming for his position, wanting to become the Lord.

That’s why the Haomun Lord also lived in hiding.

And just because the Lord disappeared, someone else couldn’t suddenly become the Lord.

Only by inheriting the Haomun token held by the Lord could one be recognized as the Haomun Lord.

Perhaps other elders or disciples who knew the Lord had disappeared were frantically searching for his whereabouts for this very reason.

Dowoonchu didn’t know how much Gu Yangcheon knew when he came to find her, but from her perspective, it didn’t seem like he came with shallow information.

That’s probably why he sought her out even more.

‘That’s something you do when you have the luxury to pick and choose.’

Gu Yangcheon’s words echoed in her ears.

Dowoonchu thought of the missing Haomun Lord.

‘…Father.’

Just as Gu Yangcheon said, she was not in a position to pick and choose.

---

‘I almost screwed up.’

After finishing my business at Haomun, I came back out to the marketplace.

“Seriously, they actually drew their swords, those crazy bastards.”

Although I knew they weren’t trying to kill me, I really didn’t expect them to draw their swords.

I was startled for a moment.

Was it because I barged in too arrogantly?

The reason I could maintain my composure even in that situation was thanks to the sword Muyeon showed.

Glancing back, I saw Muyeon looking around, his pupils darting back and forth.

‘He seemed clumsy, but his movements were the real deal.’

Thanks to the thought that I could at least return alive, I could pretend to be calm and take the lead in the conversation.

I could feel Muyeon glancing sideways, secretly looking at me.

“Stop glancing over here like that. If you’re curious, just ask.”

“Because I don’t think you’ll answer even if I ask.”

“…You’re really perceptive. How did you know?”

“….”

“Just kidding. I’m a blood relative of Gu Clan, you know. Things happen.”

As if that were possible.

If worse came to worst, I’d caused so many incidents that maybe I could just say I stumbled upon Haomun by chance and went out of curiosity, adopting a ‘tough luck’ attitude.

Although visiting a sinister sect wouldn’t just end with a scolding, it was a necessary priority before it was too late.

‘If possible, it would have been more comfortable to go alone.’

Dragging Muyeon along was unavoidable.

Of course, it seemed to have worked out well thanks to that.

Fortunately, Muyeon didn’t find fault with my words.

Rather.

“…So there was a reason you insisted on going out to the marketplace last time.”

“Last time…?”

He must be talking about the first day I regressed, right?

“The day an Elder said he’d personally refine your martial arts, the day you ran away saying you didn’t want to. I really thought you ran away because you disliked it.”

“Huh…?”

“The Elder said that when he saw you next after you ran away, he’d carve you up halfway. Was that also an act with the Elder? I didn’t even know… As expected, Gu Clan’s blood relatives have a reason for even the smallest actions…!”

“….”

I didn’t almost screw up; I already had screwed up.

What kind of crazy bastard runs away from that!

Having an Elder personally refine one’s martial arts, excluding the family head Gu Cheol-un himself, would be one of the greatest privileges a blood relative could receive.

But I ran away from it just because it was difficult.

You crazy bastard… How can I be such an idiot?

“Let’s just buy some yakgwa…”

I remembered Wi Seol-ah eating them deliciously, so I bought a few.

But then I realized I didn’t bring any money, so Muyeon paid for them.

I’ll pay you back later, so don’t make that sad face.

Anyway, I’ll put the Haomun matter on hold for now.

‘Please give me some time to think.’

Dowoonchu said that, but she’d take the bait soon enough anyway.

It was the same with the ‘Haomun Lord Recapture’ that would happen a few years in the future.

It was about the elite forces of Haomun infiltrating the Black Night Palace a few years later to recapture the Haomun Lord, who would be held in its dungeons around this time.

Although the recapture ultimately failed and the Haomun Lord died.

The Haomun Lord was replaced by the one who led the recapture, and this incident, with various factors intertwined, caused Haomun to properly emerge into the spotlight.

‘All I know for sure is that the Haomun Lord was held captive in the Black Night Palace for over five years. And the person who led the recapture was from the Shanxi Branch.’

After the Lord was replaced, the new Lord also disappeared without a trace, just like the previous one, but the traces they couldn’t hide in their haste told the story.

Although called a recapture, it was essentially a war between Haomun and the Black Night Palace, a major force among the sinister sects. Afterward, the Black Night Palace collapsed, and Haomun was nearly annihilated.

It was none other than the Murim Alliance who took advantage of the fight with Haomun to bring down the Black Night Palace.

It was such a major event that even I, who had absolutely no interest in worldly affairs back then, remembered it.

‘I was lucky. If it hadn’t been Shanxi, but somewhere like Anhui or Shaanxi, I wouldn’t have even been able to attempt it due to the distance.’

It was half a gamble.

I didn’t know if he was the one from the rumors back then, whether Haomun even had a branch in Shanxi now, or if he was the Branch Chief, but I just went for it.

As a result, I gained a little insight from their reaction.

Since the opponent was Haomun, I had many thoughts.

It was a commission that had to be done, even if it meant choosing such a troublesome and dangerous method.

Whether by commissioning Gaebang or searching myself, I had to find him somehow.

Heavenly Wolf’s Fang (Cheonyurang-a) Je gal Hyuk.

A man who occupied a position in the leadership of the Demonic Cult at a young age.

He was the strategist, called the very brain of the Demonic Cult.

I intended to find him and kill him for the future.

---

I ate a few of the yakgwa I bought yesterday while I was out at the marketplace and gave the rest to Wi Seol-ah.

I don’t know what happened while I was gone, but she was covered in spices all over her body.

She said she was learning to cook, but how could she end up like that?

Still, when I gave her the yakgwa, telling her to keep up the good work, she was so excited she jumped around, making me wonder if I should buy more next time.

I told her to share the yakgwa appropriately with the other disciples.

Muyeon said he was going to report immediately after returning.

I asked Muyeon to keep what happened today a secret, as it concerned family matters.

Muyeon naturally agreed, but in reality, even if he reported it, I had already created loopholes to manage the situation, so I didn’t completely relax my guard.

And so, the next day.

As the sun rose and I went outside, I saw Muyeon and the Sword Saint chatting amiably.

“…What is that peculiar drawing?”

The Sword Saint was sweeping the yard with a broom, just like yesterday.

He was talking to Muyeon next to him.

“Elder-nim, so sword cultivation seems to be about ‘how much one should assimilate with the sword’.”

“Is that so? Hoho.”

“For example… Ah, do you happen to know of the Three Sovereigns of the World? I heard that the Sword Saint among the Three Sovereigns gained enlightenment while performing sword dances under the moonlight. They say he heard the sword’s heart then.”

“Hohohohoho!”

What is that?

Is that like ‘showing off wrinkles in front of a silkworm pupa’?

“I sometimes get that feeling too when I practice swordsmanship at night. That feeling when the sword occasionally speaks to you. When I swing the sword then, I feel… Ah, you probably don’t understand even with this explanation, I apologize…”

“It’s alright. An old man like me finds it interesting because it’s something I don’t know well.”

Seeing him excitedly rambling about swordsmanship in front of the Sword Saint made me feel even more embarrassed just watching.

Thinking it couldn’t go on any longer, I interrupted him.

“What are you doing?”

Muyeon and the Sword Saint looked at me and bowed.

Setting Muyeon aside, I still couldn’t get used to seeing the Sword Saint bow, even after days.

“..Well, I had a bit of enlightenment yesterday, and I guess I unconsciously wanted to chatter about it to someone.”

I understood his feelings, but the problem was who his audience was.

The Sword Saint chuckled at Muyeon’s awkwardness.

“Young Master-nim, I’m fine. Embarrassingly, despite being born a man, I’ve never even held a sword, so hearing the tales of a young warrior commanding the world made my heart race too.”

The old man who had truly commanded the world was acting like he knew nothing, saying such things.

Meanwhile, Muyeon, puffed up by the praise, was slightly annoying to look at.

“So, what’s going on this morning?”

At my question, Muyeon made a ‘Oops’ face and handed me a piece of paper.

This guy forgot because he was busy bragging.

On the paper I received, ‘Gu-ryong’ (俱龍) was written in red.

As soon as I saw it and frowned, Muyeon said.

“Young Master-nim, today is the day you need to attend the Gu-ryong meeting.”

Something that looked incredibly bothersome popped up.