Chapter 218

"Chief Seong."

At Unhwi’s curt call, Chief Seong, who had been silently keeping watch from the eaves, hurried to approach him.

By now, it was nothing new for Chief Seong to be secretly observing from a distance.

"So you went through with it after all."

"They made it impossible to let it pass."

Unhwi gave a subtle glance. Catching on immediately, Chief Seong went over to the woman and said something quietly, upon which she left without so much as a backward glance.

"I spoke to you once before about Cheonun."

"If you mean that incident at Seolap, yes, we did."

"As I said then, I don’t believe in this so-called ‘Heaven’s Fortune.’ I believe in a person’s will. At first, I couldn’t quite grasp it, but now I think I’m starting to."

"..."

"Why the reconstruction of the Cheonui Alliance, which never happened in my previous life, has come to pass now... and why I’ve heard the name Ju Seongseok here."

Chief Seong listened quietly to Unhwi’s words.

"Thinking back on it, I was told not to interfere—but they never said not to set the stage."

"...Young master...?"

"Don’t you find it interesting?"

"What is?"

"After the sudden death of a man named Yewonje, Vice Alliance Lord Mae Wuidong set the stage for the reconstruction. And seeing that stage, Yang Seoljin laid out his own. But none of them knew—"

"...Knew what?"

"That a far greater stage had already been laid, one they themselves weren’t even aware of."

Chief Seong didn’t understand what Unhwi meant.

What on earth is he talking about?

But with the next words that came from Unhwi’s mouth, he understood everything.

"The Celestial Daoist. The Celestial Daoist killed Yewonje... and drew me in."

***

Deep within Seongrim Mountain, behind a flowing waterfall, there was a hidden cave.

This was the base of Cheongbongchae, one of the Eighteen Forest Strongholds, and the interior of the cave was lavishly decorated, with dozens of bandits bustling about.

At the center stood a chair carved from jade and stone, and upon it sat a man.

He appeared to be in his mid-forties, yet there wasn’t a single wrinkle on his face.

Instead of looking like a bandit, he wore a blue silk robe, and at his waist hung a heavy iron mace.

This was Ju Seongseok, the leader of Cheongbongchae.

One of the bandits came rushing in and dropped to his knees.

"Boss!"

"What is it?"

"T-The brothers we sent to Sohojin..."

Ju Seongseok’s gaze turned cold.

"The brothers what? Speak."

"...They’re all dead."

In an instant, the temperature inside the cave seemed to plummet.

Ju Seongseok’s aura flared explosively, blue qi swirling around him.

"...It was just bringing in one woman, and they failed? Who? Which dog-spawned bastard dared to interfere?"

Though his voice was quiet, the rage in it was enough to make the air tremble.

"Four of them died by the sword, and the other... I’m not sure. Whether it was a fist or a foot, his limbs were scattered in every direction—it looked like he couldn’t even defend himself... Definitely a master."

Ju Seongseok rose from his seat. He was over six cheok tall, and his presence was overwhelming.

"And the woman?"

"...We don’t know."

Ju Seongseok fell silent in thought. His fingers gripped the armrest so tightly that the hard jade stone cracked and broke.

"Anyone passed through the area lately?"

"Yes, boss. Many people have been heading toward the Cheonui Alliance recently. With the reconstruction, there are lots of delegations from each sect... It must be one of them."

"...Then how many arrived at Sohojin?"

"A very young man, and a man who looked to be in his early forties. Two in total."

Ju Seongseok nearly struck the bandit before him.

"Those two... were a delegation?"

"...Weren’t they?"

"You idiot. Most delegations are at least dozens strong. And this is for the reconstruction of the Cheonui Alliance—you think two people makes sense?"

"I’m s-sorry...! Forgive me...!"

Ju Seongseok narrowed his eyes.

Recently, near the entrance to Seongrim Mountain, a group of bandits including Gil-yeong had been found slaughtered, and now more of his men were dead.

This was a matter of face.

Who did these rootless vermin think they were to meddle here of all places?

"Prepare to move. We’re going after them."

Ju Seongseok’s fury was immense.

He truly hated being interfered with.

Perhaps it was a side effect of the martial arts he had learned long ago from the Thunder-Lightning Demon Cult, but once angered, he would not stop until the matter was ended. Those around him called him a mad dog.

This time, there was no helping it.

Only killing them would cool his rage.

He didn’t know where they were headed, but he knew exactly where they were right now.

If they had left Sohojin in a carriage, it meant they were traveling along made roads—and every route out of Sohojin was already covered by Cheongbongchae’s men.

Today, they would be caught, one way or another.

"Let’s go!"

"Yes!"

***

Seongrim Mountain was by no means small.

But it wasn’t a famous tourist spot, nor did it have spectacular scenery, nor was it particularly rich in qi for martial cultivation.

It was simply an unremarkable yet massive mountain.

Still, it had long been notorious as a den of bandits, and was said to be home to no fewer than three of the Eighteen Forest Strongholds.

The truly strange thing was that beyond Seongrim Mountain lay Cheonsu Mountain.

Cheonsu Mountain was the stronghold of the Cheonui Alliance, with its five peaks forming the Alliance headquarters. Though the distance wasn’t short, it was undeniable that the Eighteen Forest Strongholds were practically on the Alliance’s doorstep.

And not for ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) just a few years—they had been there for well over a decade.

It was strange, but considering the character of the previous Alliance Lord, it wasn’t so strange after all.

He had been a man immersed in ideals, one who declared that the demonic and heretical sects, the orthodox and the domineering paths, could and should all coexist.

The Eighteen Forest Strongholds were classified as heretical. And no matter what they did, Yewonje hadn’t cared.

It was simple.

Yewonje was a madman drunk on pure ideals, who had sought to create a world for ‘martial men.’

The common folk living in the Cheonui Alliance’s territory had cheered when Yewonje died.

They had nearly cleared Seongrim Mountain when—

"Hey—! You—! Dog-spawned bastard—!!"

The voice boomed through the mountains. Unhwi smirked, and Chief Seong, who was driving the carriage, let out a deep sigh.

Quietly, Unhwi stepped down from the carriage, and Chief Seong followed.

From the forest, ahead and behind them, dozens of men appeared. All wore green headscarves, but unlike those they had encountered the day before, these were far better armed and showed no trace of fear in their eyes.

That detail about their armament was important.

They looked almost like soldiers.

And that was no exaggeration.

Iron armor, greaves, and even steel gauntlets.

It didn’t take much to extract information.

Just from their appearance, one could glean a great deal.

No matter how great a forest stronghold was, acquiring military supplies like that wasn’t normal.

If they were equipped to that extent, they likely had warhorses as well—proof enough they were in league with the Wunguk that ruled this region.

The reason the Five Sword Sects and the outer sects of the Demonic Alliance had been summoned for the Cheonui Alliance reconstruction was, above all, reform.

Unhwi had no intention of dancing to someone else’s tune, but he was willing to make use of the situation.

From among the bandits, one man stepped forward.

"I am Ju Seongseok, leader of Cheongbongchae. You bastard, you’re less than human scum, and you dared to steal my woman... Huh?"

Ju Seongseok forgot his pride and blurted out something stupid.

This was...

This made no sense.

"...S-Snow Mountain Demon Lord... Seol Unhwi...?"

What was that bastard doing here?

Unhwi’s distinctive feature was his ashen hair.

That alone was unusual near the Snow Mountain, but in the Central Plains, ashen hair was rarer than people thought.

Still, an ashen-haired man who carried a sword long enough to drag along the ground was exceedingly rare.

No—rare wasn’t the word. There was only one.

"Ju Seongseok."

At Unhwi’s frigid voice, Ju Seongseok swallowed hard.

By cultivation level, Ju Seongseok was higher.

But in terms of sheer presence as a human being—

He felt cowed. And that shouldn’t have been possible.

"You’re in a hurry to die."

The coldness in that voice made his spine prickle.

In that brief instant, Ju Seongseok’s thoughts twisted into a tangled mess. What should he do?

Swallowing again, he spoke slowly.

"...This mountain is our territory. For someone of your stature to pass without paying the toll is one thing, but you also killed brothers of our stronghold who had nothing to do with you—don’t you think that’s going too far?"

At the sudden veneer of politeness, a faint gleam flickered in Unhwi’s eyes.

If there was one person who would not be fooled by Ju Seongseok’s ploys, it was Unhwi.

"Trying to save face?"

"..."

"Not long ago, one man’s move managed to entangle three great organizations at once."

"..."

"I don’t want to be toyed with again, but you keep creating situations that are hard to overlook."

"Ahem..."

"If you want to keep your dignity, I’ll give you the chance. Kneel and apologize. Do that, and I’ll let it go once."

"...Before that, you killed our brothers without paying the toll. Shouldn’t you apologize for that first?"

Ha.

Unhwi let out a short, derisive laugh.

"Street-corner trash who can’t uphold the way of a martial man dare to make demands of anyone?"

At his overwhelming spirit, everyone instinctively took a step back.

"Ju Seongseok."

"...Speak."

"From this moment, I don’t know whether you’re connected to the Thunder-Lightning Demon Cult or not. But I will count to three. If you don’t kneel before then, you die today."

"...This is the Central Plains. To lay a hand on me is to lay a hand on the Forest Strongholds—"

"One."

"Think carefully before you act! We can resolve this without either side—"

"Two. The bravado you had at first is gone, and now only the spirit of a coward remains."

"...You bastard, when I’m speaking nicely— You worm..."

"Three."

With a hiss, the Heavenshaking Spiritblade slid from Unhwi’s waist.

"Chief Seong."

"Yes, young master."

"Kill every bandit except Ju Seongseok."

Chief Seong drew his sword and shouted.

"As you command!"

Even as he charged, Ju Seongseok yelled.

"Kill those two—"

Unhwi’s body moved like lightning.

Though they were over twenty jang apart, the distance vanished in an instant.

The Heavenshaking Spiritblade came down toward Ju Seongseok’s head.

Sseae-aek—!