Chapter v19c7

## A Hundred Years of Longing

– Meeting the Envoy (Continued)

“But isn’t it the same either way? I doubt they’re united by such strong bonds that they could maintain their organization for over a hundred years without a leader. A hundred years is a long time, enough to cool the passions of even the most devoted.”

Clap!

Ma Jin-Ga suddenly clapped his hands.

“That’s it!”

“Huh?”

Lee Si-Geon, startled by the sudden clap, asked in a bewildered tone.

“The problem is that they’re not devoted at all.”

“I’d appreciate it if you could help me recover my memory.”

“Since they’re not devoted, there must be someone forcing them to stay loyal. Not a warden, but a manager.”

Several people frowned as the pronoun was replaced with a title.

“Frankly, it’s daunting to imagine how powerful that presence must be.”

He shuddered involuntarily, the feeling so vivid. It was a memory etched into his mind and body.

Ma Jin-Ga asked in a low voice,

“Have you ever heard of the ‘Four Heavenly Calamities’?”

Lee Si-Geon felt a shiver run down his spine.

* * *

The Four Heavenly Calamities!

The four harbingers of death, the shadows of the Heavenly Calamity Blood God, who had spread terror and despair alongside their master. They had obeyed only one man, and it was said that most major decisions were made by them.

They all wore bronze masks, so only two people knew their true identities: the King of Hell, master of the Book of Life and Death, and the Heavenly Calamity Blood God himself. But their power was said to be the embodiment of terror, blood, and death.

But now, their names were covered in a thick layer of dust. After the defeat of the Heavenly Calamity, their names had been cast into the pit of oblivion, and no one had dared to disturb them.

Until now. Ma Jin-Ga had just unearthed them from the past.

“B-but they all died a hundred years ago, didn’t they?”

Ma Jin-Ga shook his head.

“That’s the official story. But like most official stories, it hides the truth. I wasn’t there myself, but I learned the truth from the elders later. Only two of them were confirmed dead: Southern Heaven, who was dismembered by the Martial God’s Red and Blue Swords, and Eastern Heaven, who was cut into nine pieces by the Martial God Demon’s Heaven-Shaking Blade.”

“Do you know what happened to Western Heaven and Northern Heaven?”

“The Three Saints of Cheonmu cornered Western Heaven, but they only managed to severely injure him. The failure to eradicate evil left a lasting regret in their hearts. And Northern Heaven, the strongest of the Four Heavenly Calamities, vanished after the battle. Some say he faked his death and went into hiding, but no one knows for sure.”

“So you’re bringing them up now because…”

He already knew the answer. Ma Jin-Ga nodded, confirming his suspicions.

“We believe they’re still alive.”

As expected! Lee Si-Geon cursed inwardly.

“If that was all, we might be able to rest easy. But a terrifying thought occurred to me. What if those powerful individuals are hiding behind the perfect disguise of death, infiltrating and controlling key organizations?”

Ma Jin-Ga’s sharp, dark eyes bored into Lee Si-Geon’s, as if trying to see through him.

Lee Si-Geon would have bet his entire fortune that the organization they were talking about was the Machun Pavilion.

‘Why are they revealing all this to me? As if they’re bragging about their deductions.’

He struggled to maintain his composure. This was a test. A deliberate provocation, a stone thrown into a lake to create ripples.

Bragging? No way. They wouldn’t reveal top-secret information to an outsider for such a trivial reason. Judging by the pale faces of some of the elders, these were closely guarded secrets. They were secrets that could cause chaos if leaked. Why were they revealing them so casually?

His back was drenched in cold sweat. Goosebumps erupted on his skin. But he maintained a calm facade, his face betraying no emotion.

He knew four eyes were watching his every move, every twitch of his eyelids.

Two of those eyes were hidden behind a barrier, but that didn’t make them any less terrifying.

He was afraid.

He couldn’t remember what happened after that. His mouth seemed to be moving, forming words, but he had no idea what he was saying. He felt like an automaton, mechanically answering Ma Jin-Ga’s questions.

“…So what about your accommodations? We’ve prepared a special residence for envoys. Why don’t you rest there?”

Lee Si-Geon only realized the meeting was over when Ma Jin-Ga said those words. His ears were still ringing as he heard the Headmaster’s deep voice.

“Why? Don’t you like our accommodations?”

He had to say something.

“No, it’s not that. But I’ve already made arrangements. I’d like to rest there and unload my burdens.”

Ma Jin-Ga’s smile made him uncomfortable.

“As you wish. If you find this place stifling, I understand.”

“I appreciate your hospitality.”

He wanted to leave this cursed place as soon as possible. A sense of defeat gnawed at him. He gritted his teeth, but his eyes still smiled. He had more to say, more to act.

“Then I’ll see you at our next meeting.”

As the official envoy from the Machun Pavilion, he had many tasks to complete. He would have to return to this place, or a similar one, whether he liked it or not.

‘But did I accomplish anything today?’

He felt a lack of confidence in himself. He wasn’t sure.

* * *

## Replay

– Flushing Out the Snake

“Are you sure about this?”

Ma Jin-Ga asked cautiously. He still wasn’t convinced. Or rather, his heart wasn’t convinced. He wanted his trusted advisor to reassure him.

“Are you worried, Headmaster? About being too honest?”

Son Mun-Gyeong, the Hidden Eyes, smiled, his narrow eyes barely visible.

“Honest? Who’s being honest?”

Ma Jin-Ga pretended to look around.

“Well, I suppose you could say I was honest. I revealed everything I was thinking. I couldn’t have been more honest if I had cut open my stomach and showed you my insides.”

“Honesty is a good thing. It’s powerful because it’s true.”

He knew that truth was the greatest force that could move people’s hearts.

“And since there was no deception, there’s no moral issue, right? It’s beneficial in many ways.”

But that didn’t mean Ma Jin-Ga fully trusted Son Mun-Gyeong’s morality. A military advisor’s job was to deceive the enemy, so minor acts of dishonesty were considered part of the job. In fact, they were encouraged.

As many scholars had pointed out, honesty could be more brutal and cruel than lies.

In this case, if Ma Jin-Ga’s honesty was part of Son Mun-Gyeong’s strategy, it would create a paradoxical situation where Ma Jin-Ga’s honesty became Son Mun-Gyeong’s dishonesty.

“But was it really necessary to be so blatant? I did as you said, but…”

Was it wise to reveal so much in front of the Machun Pavilion’s eyes and ears?

Ma Jin-Ga was worried. And those eyes and ears might also belong to others. The Feathers, the ones who had been tormenting them for a hundred years.

It was an unpleasant thought.

“Wouldn’t it have been better to investigate quietly and gather evidence if you were suspicious?”

Important matters like this should be discussed in secret, in a quiet and secluded room, not in front of the Machun Pavilion’s representative. He still wasn’t sure if it was the right approach. It was too risky.

But his advisor had considered all that.

“I know what you’re worried about. You’re afraid of making the mistake of ‘flushing out the snake.'”

Son Mun-Gyeong said with a smile.

“You see right through me.”

If you startled a snake by disturbing the grass, it would flee. And once it disappeared underground, how could you find it? They couldn’t afford to waste years waiting for it to resurface. But Son Mun-Gyeong wasn’t worried.

“You’re the opposite of me.”

“Opposite?”

“Yes. I’d prefer it if they moved quickly and made themselves visible.”

The metaphorical grassland of the Central Plains was vast, and they lacked the manpower to search it thoroughly. They would exhaust themselves if they searched blindly.

“You deliberately provoked them?”

Son Mun-Gyeong smiled again.

“They’ve been hiding too well for too long. It’s unlikely we’ll find them above ground. They’re already coiled up deep underground. They’re a hundred-year-old snake. They won’t move unless we show them we’re willing to dig them out.”

“What if they burrow even deeper?”

It was a possibility. And Son Mun-Gyeong had considered every possibility. He had a prepared answer.

“It’s fine if they stay quiet.”

He said nonchalantly. But Ma Jin-Ga was worried.

“Why? Don’t keep it to yourself. Share it with me. That’s what I’m paying you for. It might not be my money, but you’re still my advisor.”

He didn’t want to waste time pretending to understand. An advisor was there to compensate for his shortcomings. He shouldn’t feel ashamed of relying on his advisor’s expertise. He should only feel ashamed if he wasn’t utilizing his advisor’s abilities properly. What he needed now wasn’t shame, but decisiveness.

An advisor couldn’t make decisions for him. And it wasn’t something he could delegate. Avoiding decisions meant shirking his responsibilities, which was the same as giving up his leadership.

He listened to Son Mun-Gyeong, determined not to regret his decision.

“Movement isn’t the only reaction. Silence is also a reaction. You have to be still before you can move. Stillness is also a form of movement. And vice versa. You have to be moving before you can stop. Movement is change. And that’s what I want to see. A change in their position, a difference, something that’s not the same as before. The bigger the change, the easier it will be to identify them. And not all grass is the same. We just marked one particular blade of grass.”

Ma Jin-Ga slapped his knee.

“Indeed!”

His mind hadn’t failed him.

“I see! We only revealed our suspicions at the meeting, so if that information surfaces elsewhere, it means it was leaked through that young man.”

Categorization was a mental process.

“Exactly. By marking only one blade of grass, we can pinpoint the source of the leak.”

“That’s why you told the elders to keep quiet.”

After the envoy left, Son Mun-Gyeong had asked the elders to keep the meeting confidential. He had also warned them of severe consequences if they disobeyed. They couldn’t afford to have them marking other blades of grass without permission.

“Do you think the Machun Pavilion is their headquarters?”

The implications were terrifying, but he couldn’t ignore the possibility. A leader had to consider the worst-case scenario, even if it was unpleasant. He couldn’t shirk his responsibilities because of personal preferences. In fact, the more unpleasant the scenario, the more attention it required. Because that was where the real danger lay.

“It’s too early to say for sure. But I believe their influence has infiltrated the Machun Pavilion to a significant extent.”

Otherwise, this incident wouldn’t have happened.

“They’re cunning foxes who have been hiding for a hundred years. They’re masters of hide-and-seek. They won’t come out unless we shake things up. We need to smoke them out.”

“I hope they’ll be startled by the smoke and flee their den.”

Then they could finally start hunting them.

“They will.”

Son Mun-Gyeong replied, his narrow eyes unmoving, a smile playing on his lips.

* * *

“Hong, are you there?”

“Yes, Headmaster!”

A voice came from the ceiling.

“I have a favor to ask.”

“Hmm, what is it?”

“…”

“…”

“You know, that thing.”

“Ah, that thing?”

“They say a competent subordinate understands without words. Do I have to spell it out for you?”

“Words are meant for times like this.”

“Isn’t that the same difference?”

But Ma Jin-Ga didn’t hear his answer. Hong was already gone.