Chapter 293

“I was going to appoint you two as Elders, but seeing things now, it seems better you not stand in the open than be exposed at the front.”

The man and woman looked at each other.

“You two will handle intelligence and funds within the Heavenly Alliance.”

“Thank you for entrusting us with such an important—”

“Not immediately.”

“...Pardon?”

At Unhwi’s words, the two tilted their heads.

“Where is Poison Lord Mu Cheoru right now?”

***

Poison Lord Mu Cheoru resided in Cheongpung City, two days’ ride south of Cheonsu.

Cheongpung City, a representative commercial hub of the southern Central Plains, was a market where various trade caravans converged to buy and sell; thousands of merchants passed through each day.

Once, in conversation with Blood-Spirit Fist King Yeong Unseong, Unhwi had said that a poison called Myriad-Deaths Soul-Scattering Powder was produced mainly in Red Eye, but Red Eye was not the only place one could procure it.

Cheongpung City was a place where countless toxic herbs were traded—hundreds of poisonous plants, venomous insects, toxic ores... a market that gathered most poisons that existed in this world.

It was famous across the Central Plains as a place said to lack no poison, and for him to live there /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ suited his epithet—Poison Lord—perfectly.

And when he refused Unhwi’s proposal—no, the proposal conveyed on Unhwi’s orders by Seo Hyo—it was likely because he knew the affairs of the Heavenly Alliance and Un’guk better than anyone among the Four Guardian Gods of Cheonrim.

But that proved a blunder.

He had been given one chance. Anyone who tried to use that chance for their own gain had no place in Unhwi’s plan.

Before even the first rooster crowed, three people were already riding hard.

Unhwi rode in the lead; Ya Mukcheon and Sa Seollan followed. Cheongpung City was about two hundred li away—if they didn’t rest, they could reach it in a day and a half.

And at this moment, Ya Mukcheon was deeply uneasy.

This won’t do.

“Heavenly Arbiter.”

Unhwi turned his head.

With the wind raking his face in time to the horse’s speed, Unhwi’s expression was perfectly unreadable, and it matched the long scar carved into his forehead to give him a strange air.

Ya Mukcheon, who had called out because he had a question, went momentarily blank-faced.

“Do you have a question?”

Snapped back to himself by Unhwi’s words, Ya Mukcheon bobbed his head in haste.

“Ask.”

“...Is there a reason we’re departing this quickly?”

The answer was simple.

“Because this isn’t something to drag out.”

For something like that, Unhwi was moving without an escort.

The Chief of the Inner Guard who always kept to his side was not here, nor Han Murin—said to be his hand picked up at Yangryeong—nor the Bright Lord Seo Hyo.

All had their tasks and had been left at the Heavenly Alliance.

There was, admittedly, a tension with his saying this wasn’t something to drag out.

“...That place is under Mu Cheoru’s ‘control.’”

Control...

“It sounds to me like there’s ample room for trouble from the very entrance.”

“Correct. Above all, we’re going there to persuade him—if we bring at least a strike team of the Heavenly Alliance, he’ll be more inclined to—”

Unhwi let out a faint laugh.

At that laugh, both Ya Mukcheon and Sa Seollan knit their brows at the same time.

They were about to ask why he was laughing—pointless. Unhwi spoke at once.

And at those words, the man and woman’s eyes went round.

“When did I say we were going to persuade him?”

“Pardon?”

“I want to ask you: can you two take over the Cheonrim territory that the Poison Lord manages?”

At that, the two looked at each other; Sa Seollan nodded, and Ya Mukcheon answered.

“Yes. We can. But...”

“Are you afraid of retaliation?”

“...We have heard what kind of war this is.”

“Did Seo Hyo tell you?”

“Yes. We only learned of the organization called the Mukse Society this time, but we agree.”

“You agree—with what?”

“We are saying that we fully agree with the Mukse Society absorbing Cheonrim.”

Unhwi considered for a moment and smiled faintly.

“So you two have no interest in the rebuilding of the Thousand-Year Demon Cult.”

Both flinched.

“Was your true wish simply that Seo Hyo’s dream be fulfilled?”

At last, the silent Sa Seollan spoke.

“How did you know?”

“Even Seo Hyo agonized deeply and came to me several times to ask whether this was right. But the two of you didn’t need even a day to decide. That alone tells me.”

Though they couldn’t see Unhwi’s face from where he stared straight ahead, they could feel that he was smiling slightly.

“It’s two things. One, that you give your loyalty not to Cheonrim but to Seo Hyo; and the other—”

Unhwi’s words stopped there.

He said no more.

Silence settled for a time.

Only the pounding of hooves and the wind drawing away could be heard. But both of them knew.

What Unhwi had meant to say last.

It was simple: if one of the two—or both—were moles.

After about half a quarter-hour of silence, Unhwi spoke.

“I only hope it is not the latter. If it is, Seo Hyo will be very sad.”

Silence settled again.

They all understood why Unhwi was taking only these two to meet the Poison Lord.

This was a test.

Unhwi had clearly set out the moment these two arrived.

Then who knew that fact? To whom would they have told it?

When Unhwi handled matters, he was never at least careless.

The man and woman looked at Unhwi with a curious expression.

Something...

Seeing him in person, they could feel it.

If he was this meticulous, currying his favor would not be easy—and even that thought was the height of presumption.

They would have to worry not about flattering him, but about becoming pleasing in his eyes.

That was right.

Fweeeeee—!

With a tearing shriek of air, dozens of arrows whipped in from the forests on both sides.

They were incredibly fast, and not ordinary shafts—iron-tipped arrows.

“An ambu—!”

Ya Mukcheon, who shouted so, started to launch himself and then halted.

At some point, cold had begun seeping from around Unhwi, and that cold spread across the surroundings.

Heaven-Snow Dominion.

Kraaaang—!!

With a thunderous report, dozens of iron arrows froze in midair.

Seeing with their own eyes the martial art they had only heard of in rumors, the man and woman’s eyes flashed.

It was, undeniably, a formidable art.

And the two exchanged a silent glance.

There was only one meaning in their eyes.

Suspicion.

Is it you?—so each asked with their gaze, when Unhwi’s voice pierced both their ears.

“Will you just spectate?”

Meeting Unhwi’s still-numb gaze, they knew what they had to do.

They kicked free of their saddles at once—Sa Seollan sprinted left, Ya Mukcheon right.

Unhwi, as if he had no reason to follow, remained seated and watched the pair silently.

Before long, the Shadow Lord and the Killing Lord returned.

Both spoke the same words as if by appointment.

“Headcount twenty-three. All committed suicide.”

That was the Shadow Lord Ya Mukcheon.

“Headcount twenty-eight. All committed suicide.”

That was the Killing Lord Sa Seollan.

Both were at the Mythic Stage.

The time it took the two to return now was about the span it takes to burn one stick of incense.

If they wished, it was enough time to slaughter everyone and extract information, but Unhwi asked nothing.

He only spoke briefly.

“Mount up.”

At that, the man and woman were instead thrown off balance.

“...You won’t... ask anything?”

Ya Mukcheon said it, but Sa Seollan felt the same.

But Unhwi’s reply discomfited them even more.

“Must I?”

“...It hasn’t been long since we left the Heavenly Alliance. To be ambushed already—it would be natural to suspect us here... why...?”

“That’s enough.”

Ya Mukcheon’s eyes went wide at Unhwi’s cutting tone.

“I will ask nothing and find out nothing. And whatever you may have learned, there’s no need to tell me.”

“...”

“How far to Cheongpung City?”

“...At this pace, we can arrive within the day.”

Good.

“Let’s move.”

Putting their questions aside, the two mounted.

In a strange mood, Unhwi’s party set off again.

***

After nearly a full day had passed, the three paused at a small stream to water the horses and take a brief rest.

Gazing at Cheongpung City’s outline in the distance, Unhwi spoke.

“Two double-hours should see us there.”

Sa Seollan answered.

“In case, I’ve stationed ten of my people in Cheongpung City.”

“Are they trustworthy?”

“They’ve been with me fifteen years. All are assassins by training—you needn’t doubt their skill.”

As Unhwi nodded—

Puh-puh-puh-puh!

Suddenly, poisoned needles burst up out of the stream—hundreds at once.

Ya Mukcheon, who was nearest the bank, recoiled in fright.

Black energy billowed from his body.

Black Heaven Demon Art.

His hands began batting the incoming needles aside in an instant, but there were too many.

Nearly two hundred fanned out in a wide spray, and their force was like that of a Harmonization-stage warrior striking with full power.

Unhwi remained still—but Sa Seollan did not.

A brilliant red radiance flared from her entire body.

Blood-Slaughter Demon Art.

As she thrust out her hand, a vast barrier formed, centered on her and Unhwi.

The poisoned needles failed to pierce the barrier and sluiced down in a clatter.

Just then, rejoining them, Ya Mukcheon said:

“It’s a mechanical formation—but...”

He couldn’t finish.

Partly from the shock at these successive events, but more because he knew all too well exactly what kind of mechanical formation this was.

Not only Ya Mukcheon—Sa Seollan as well.

She let out a sigh, drew a dagger from the small of her back, and hurled it straight into the pond.

Swaaaash—!

With a hiss of cleaving air, the dagger plunged into the pond—thunked into something—

Boooom—!!

—and exploded.

Amid the cascade of water and clods of earth, a strange device came into view.

It was an octagonal bronze coffer, its surface engraved with intricate patterns.

At the coffer’s center was a carving of a venomous serpent biting its tail, and around it were bored hundreds of tiny holes.

Sa Seollan and Ya Mukcheon ground their teeth.

That’s right.

They knew all too well what it was.

Cheonrim Five Poisons Array.

One of the most lethal mechanical formations designed and manufactured in Cheonrim.

“...Why... is this here...?”

Sa Seollan murmured, her voice trembling.