Chapter 216

"It seems they also know that Yang Seoljin was ‘subdued’ and imprisoned in the underground dungeon."

"Subdued and imprisoned, huh... What’s your take on that?"

"...They likely know his dantian was destroyed as well."

"So even after we thinned them out, some still remain."

"Yes. Someone is feeding them information. But it’s not active—more like they’re still in the ‘recruitment’ phase."

"Anyone come to mind?"

"I’m not certain, but it’s possible the Palace Lord is making a move."

"Through an intermediary?"

"Yes. If not that, then it means they’re already using another channel—and if the Palace Lord isn’t the one pulling the strings, then they’re moving in a way that even evades my eyes... which would put constraints on my actions."

It wasn’t wrong.

But right now, the picture Unhwi was drawing was close to flawless.

"Seo Hyo."

"Yes, Commander."

"From here on, your role is crucial."

Seo Hyo’s eyes turned serious.

"You need to do two things."

"Two things?"

"First, you must block Yu Cheong’s line of sight. Bind his hands and feet so he can’t move directly."

"...And the second?"

"Bring over the people you can take from within Cheonrim. You know better than I do which ones to pick."

"Of course. You mean people who won’t obstruct your path, will obey my orders absolutely, and are quick on the uptake."

Seo Hyo was indeed quick on the uptake.

That was precisely why this next question had to be asked.

"We don’t have a card that can divert Yu Cheong’s attention. And above all, binding his hands and feet... it’s by no means easy, and pulling people out from inside Cheonrim will be even harder."

Unhwi just looked at him in silence.

"Why... are you looking at me like that?"

"Seo Hyo. Think about it carefully."

"...Think about what?"

"Do we really have no card in our hand?"

At Unhwi’s question, Seo Hyo blinked. He’d never thought of himself as an idiot, but strangely, in front of Unhwi, he always felt like one.

No card?

No.

No matter how he thought about it, there wasn’t one. A card that could overturn the board? If they had one, there’d be no need to be wracking their brains this hard... huh?

"...Ah?"

Unhwi smiled at that reaction.

"So you’ve finally thought of it."

"C-Com... Commander... don’t tell me...?"

"Yes. We have one extremely powerful card."

Unhwi paused briefly, then pointed at himself with his index finger.

"Me."

"Ah..."

"The day I came out of the secret realm, I had a very deep conversation with Yang Seoljin. Given his personality, he would have thought to use me as a ‘blade’ and would have passed that along to Yu Cheong."

"C... Commander..."

"After that, Yang Seoljin wouldn’t have been able to send a single letter to anyone. Now, in your name, tell Yu Cheong—‘I’ve obtained a formidable blade.’"

Seo Hyo’s mouth fell open, and beside him, Commander Seong dropped the gold-powder medicine he was holding.

Crazy.

What the hell is he saying right now...?

"It would be good to add this as well. Although Seol Jungcheon’s rise to the Heaven-Earth Apex was unexpected, Yang Seoljin had already been in contact with Seol Unhwi, the blade, from early on, and he will be of great help in rebuilding the Thousand-Year Demonic Sect... most of all, he bears no ill will toward its restoration, and surely harbors the grievances of living as the youngest in the Everlasting Snow Palace—enough to make him well worth using as a blade. I trust you’ll package it well."

"Heo... What in the world kind of picture are you painting here?"

"It’s simple. We’ll muddy Yu Cheong’s vision and weed out those cooperating with him. We’ve already shaken down the Everlasting Snow Palace—now it’s time to shake down the central plains. I intend to find them—the faction at the core of Cheonrim that even you don’t know about."

Seo Hyo scratched his head.

"And Yu Cheong will never abandon the Everlasting Snow Palace. Since he’s set on finding the Cheonji Wonyoung, he’ll have to plant people there one way or another. Someone like me would be a card he can’t take his eyes off."

Seo Hyo flinched.

"Cheonji... Wonyoung—you mean one of the Three Great Divine Artifacts of the Thousand-Year Demonic Sect?"

"That’s right."

"...Good heavens, so it was in the Snow Mountains."

"I’ll tell you the details later. For now, focus."

Duly impressed, Seo Hyo focused on Unhwi’s words.

They had obtained the blade called Seol Unhwi. So what would follow from that?

His mind spun furiously.

Everything Unhwi had done until now replayed in his head.

To put it plainly, Unhwi was unlike any of the warriors of the Snow Mountains.

The Snow Mountain people had no thought of moving into the central plains.

Too troublesome.

But Unhwi, even back in Seolap, had taken it for granted that he would cross into the central plains.

He had gone toe-to-toe with the Yang Empire, the Martial Alliance, and the Sichuan Alliance, and in the end, seized everything.

Yang Seoljin had assessed him thus—

The most necessary blade for the restoration of the Thousand-Year Demonic Sect.

Then—

"What will Yu Cheong think?"

"...Like Yang Seoljin, he will regard you, Commander, as the sharpest blade."

"I may not know much about Yu Cheong, but I know exactly what his goal is. Which means it’s easy to predict the next step. A man who wants something bigger, who has the ambition to swallow the world whole, and who intends to return what was done to him in kind."

A flash of killing intent passed through Unhwi’s eyes.

"Who created Cheonrim?"

"Yu Cheong and Yang Seoljin built it together."

"And you already belong to me."

Unhwi looked at Seo Hyo and finished the question.

"Then if Yu Cheong wants to contact me, through whom must he go?"

"...Through me."

Excitement crept into Seo Hyo’s voice.

"Correct. In the end, I will be the one controlling the whole board."

Unhwi picked up the fallen gold-powder medicine and placed it back into Commander Seong’s hand as he continued.

"Of course, a meticulous man like Yu Cheong won’t rely on a single point of contact. Once you send the letter, someone will surely approach me before long. Seo Hyo, you know what you have to do from now on, don’t you?"

"...Yes. There’s no way I wouldn’t."

As Cheonrim’s head of command near the Snow Mountains, Seo Hyo had a reason to remain there.

And once Yu Cheong began to focus on contacting Unhwi, paradoxically, Seo Hyo would be granted freedom.

After all, Seo Hyo would stay in the Snow Mountains, and Unhwi would be in the Thousand Alliance.

"...So this is how Jegal Yeonghyeon must have felt."

He might not have realized it, but the move Unhwi had just made could only be described as a masterstroke.

"Yu Cheong toyed with the Snow Palace."

"..."

"Now it’s time for the tables to turn."

There had never been a moment of doubt—Unhwi was a man worth following. Just look at him now.

He was already ahead.

"Just in case, when you deliver that message to Yu Cheong, Yang Seoljin must already be treated as dead."

That went without saying.

"You approached Yang Seoljin in secret, spoke briefly with the man who was a cripple unable to speak more than a few words, got a few stories out of him, and passed them on to Yu Cheong—that’s the picture you must paint. And you must not damage the credibility of this message in the process."

"Then... we’ll need to put some fresh meat on the table."

"I told you earlier—Cheonji Wonyoung."

"Ah..."

"The common link between Yu Cheong and Yang Seoljin—something even you didn’t know. If you mention that, Yu Cheong will believe it. Can you do it?"

"I can."

The reason for going this far was simple.

How exactly had Yang Seoljin and Yu Cheong communicated?

In the Original Blood Sect’s code? The Thousand-Year Demonic Sect’s? Or perhaps some other code unknown to the world?

There was no certainty.

Which meant they couldn’t afford to give him the time to doubt.

A dying Yang Seoljin leaving his last words to Seo Hyo—that was the best scenario.

"The situation has been laid out. Now make it entirely ours."

"I’ll do my utmost."

"And before long, the Palace Lord will come to see you. When that happens, tell her everything exactly as it is, and when you meet again afterward, make the contact as secretly ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ as possible."

"I’ll remember that."

"One more thing."

A faintly odd smile curved Unhwi’s lips.

"The Palace Lord likes Go. Try challenging her to a game."

Seo Hyo smiled.

"I will. And... please take care of yourself."

"That’s nothing to worry about."

Then Seo Hyo drew a small mirror from his robe and handed it to Unhwi.

Unhwi’s gaze asked what it was, and Seo Hyo answered.

"The Cheonjin Tamwon Mirror."

Unhwi’s eyes changed.

The name alone gave it away.

"This is the one?"

"Yes. Thanks to this, I was able to detect and predict the internal conditions of the secret realm."

Examining it closely, Unhwi found characters engraved on the back of the Cheonjin Tamwon Mirror.

"Three (三)?"

"Yes. It’s the third. From what I’ve gathered, only ‘thirty’ of these exist in the world."

"Only thirty..."

"A bit few, right? Unfortunately, half of them have already been used up. And each Cheonjin Tamwon Mirror can only be used to detect nine times in total—this third one I’ve given you can still be used all nine times. Think of it as brand new."

"A brand new one... How do you use it?"

"Inject your qi into the mirror. Then it will detect all secret realms that will appear within a two-hundred-ri radius in the next ten years."

Unhwi gave him a peculiar look.

"If the number is fixed, there must be someone who made these. Do you know who?"

"...Unfortunately, I don’t."

"And if Cheonrim used all its resources to find out?"

"Yu Cheong already tried. Couldn’t track it down."

Unhwi more or less understood.

"Seo Hyo."

"Yes, Commander."

"I need every location of every secret realm Cheonrim has tracked so far."

"...Hmm. Do you know the Thousand-Year Demonic Sect’s cipher system?"

"I do."

"...I’m curious how you know it, but I won’t ask. I’ll send it to you as soon as possible, written in that cipher."

With that, Seo Hyo rose to his feet.

"Then I’ll take my leave. I’ll find out as much as I can and report back."

When Unhwi nodded, Seo Hyo’s body dispersed into smoke where he stood.

"Let’s go."

No answer came.

"Commander Seong."

"...Ah... Yes, young master."

"Let’s go."

"...Understood. But you’ll have to explain this to me on the way."

"Explain what?"

"The situation. Just what are you plotting? I’m starting to worry so much I won’t be able to sleep."

Unhwi smirked.

"I’ll explain, but start the carriage first."

"Got it."

And so, the carriage set off.

***

The road to Mount Cheonsu was harsh.

It wasn’t that the Thousand Alliance had deliberately chosen a hard-to-reach location—this was simply the terrain of the central plains.

Mountains, strangely many of them.

As if the land itself had suddenly risen and sunk in an instant.

Deep valleys, steep mountain paths, and endless stretches of forest. The carriage sped along that road.