Chapter 303

"Just like everyone in the martial world, he’ll be hiding a secret or two. So, how would Yeon Songbaek handle someone who knows his secret?"

Han Murin answered at once.

"He would kill them."

Wei Tianhu shared the same view—unfortunately, it wasn’t the answer.

"Ordinary people kill them. Yeon Songbaek does not."

Unhwi’s voice dropped.

"It isn’t easy for one man to govern two organizations at once—one in the light and one in the dark."

"..."

"Yeon Songbaek is clever and sly. And..."

Unhwi paused, then smiled coldly.

"He keeps those who know his secret close and uses them."

"...Sir?"

"Put yourself in the position of someone who knows the secret. If Yeon Songbaek placed such a person near him, gave them a high seat, and treated them well—what would they think?"

Han Murin’s eyes spread wide with realization.

"...They would give him their loyalty."

"Exactly. Jo Taehwa alone makes it plain. Among those in key posts within the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect, ‘several’ are people who know Yeon Songbaek’s secret. And their own intimates sit in the sect’s core positions."

Wei Tianhu let out a breath.

"Ah... so that’s why you said he would welcome Jo Taehwa’s death."

Unhwi nodded.

"Think it through. Has the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect behaved like a normal organization?"

No.

Absolutely not.

"Jang Icheong, the Myriad-Sword Sovereign, died— and countless warriors of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect at the Heaven-Earth Apex and below who tried to aid him kept dying in succession. They sent an envoy—and that envoy died as well."

It didn’t end there.

"One of Cheonrim’s Four Guardian Generals is dead, and three have joined the Heavenly Alliance. Bluntly, Cheonrim is for all intents and purposes within the Alliance already."

Unhwi paused, then spoke with weight.

"If this were normal, one step should have appeared in the middle of all that."

"...?"

"A full-force, martial response."

Han Murin and Wei Tianhu slapped their thighs at the same time.

"To speak frankly, forming the Nine-Gate Assembly and shaking the court of Un’guk were sound moves. But all of that was, in the end, only ‘preparation.’"

"Then..."

"The Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect has not moved at full strength even for a single instant. Yeon Songbaek, the Sect Master, and the sect’s very top elite—his personal guard—have not moved. Instead they’ve answered with forms and appearances."

Of course, matters had unfolded in a rush, and the world at large credited Unhwi’s schemes for continually getting ahead of Ihwa’s; thus, they spoke of outcomes turning out well. But that was the talk of those who did not know.

Unhwi’s eyes sharpened.

"In the end, this can be explained by the nature of the martial world."

He looked at the two of them.

"If you can read the opponent’s intent, and what lies hidden within that intent, your sight will widen."

The two held their breath and listened.

"Yeon Songbaek is not to be underestimated."

Deep experience colored Unhwi’s voice.

"Even now, this instant, he is weighing whom to kill using me as the knife. To press such a man and bring the situation itself into my hands, I need to be holding a few cards."

Han Murin asked, "Then this trip to Calmheart County is to pick up those cards?"

"Close."

"...May I ask what those cards are?"

Unhwi shook his head.

"Watch. You’ll know."

He said nothing more.

Han Murin was puzzled.

It felt as if Unhwi had wanted Wei Tianhu to hear that talk.

Why?

Was he still suspicious of Wei Tianhu?

He didn’t know.

And beyond that—was Yeon Songbaek of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect truly using Unhwi to carry out a kill-with-a-borrowed-knife stratagem?

Han Murin did not think himself a fool, but somehow, near Unhwi, he felt like one.

Was Yeon Songbaek really such a man?

The Sect Master of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect—truly?

The question did not take long to answer.

Roughly six double-hours later—

Unhwi raised a hand to halt.

Everyone stopped at once and stared at him in puzzlement—when a voice came from behind a tree.

"Good instincts, boy."

Two figures stepped out.

The one in front was a man in his mid-fifties.

A sturdy frame, a rough face; a heavy, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) thick sword was strapped across his back.

He even looked a little like Wei Tianhu.

Following him was a woman in her late thirties.

Cold beauty, a long sword at her waist; a chill killing intent leaked from her entire body.

Unhwi smiled.

"I’ve heard the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect has seven swordsmen called the Ihwa Seven Swords."

"So what?"

"Judging by appearances, you must be So Yeongjin, titled the Flower-Severing Sword, and Jang Jinok, titled the Flower-Breaking Sword."

Han Murin’s face went pale.

The Ihwa Seven Swords.

The Sect Master’s personal guard.

Among them, So Yeongjin was known as the strongest— a master at the Celestial Being Stage, credited not only with innumerable assassinations but with expanding the sect’s reach as it founded branch halls.

Jang Jinok was at the Mythic Stage. Before long, ten more martial artists appeared behind them.

What shocked Han Murin was not their realms or identities.

The Commander... was right.

Unhwi had killed many whose realms exceeded his own— and recently, he had killed as many as three at the Celestial Being Stage.

How, then, to kill a man like that?

Naturally, you bring more martial artists of higher realm.

That was common sense.

This wasn’t the first or second time; it had been proven again and again. If they couldn’t even make that judgment, it was not merely stupidity—there had to be intent concealed within it.

Now they had brought one Celestial Being, one Mythic, and about ten more— all of them at the Divine Manifestation Stage.

Even the headcount looked tailored to match.

Had their route been read?

An insider was certain. Who?

And Unhwi had said it plainly:

—Even now, Yeon Songbaek is weighing whom to kill using me as the knife.

It was exact.

What Unhwi had said was exact.

Yeon Songbaek was not trying to kill Unhwi—he was trying to use him.

Kill with a Borrowed Knife.

Han Murin glanced at Unhwi. His face was as calm as if he had foreseen all of this.

So Yeongjin raked Unhwi with a cold gaze.

"You are the Heavenly Arbiter Seol Unhwi?"

"I am."

"You’re younger than I expected."

"What does age matter in the rivers and lakes? If one takes up a sword, all are the same—martial artists."

So Yeongjin gave a brief laugh.

"True enough. A neat thrust."

"More to the point—why are you here?"

At Unhwi’s directness, So Yeongjin shrugged.

"Our Sect Master has words to convey."

"I’m listening."

"Concerning everything the Heavenly Alliance has done thus far—let us draw a line under it here and now, and go forward together toward a new future."

"A new future..."

"I don’t know why you’re headed for Calmheart County, but two of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect’s branch halls fell a few days ago, and another lost functional capacity. The Sect Master is even willing to bury the branch-hall affair together."

"You don’t strike me as the sort to retreat easily. If the terms are that generous, there must be something he wants."

"You see clearly. Our Sect Master desires only one thing."

"And that is?"

"Lay down your office as Heavenly Arbiter and return to Snow Palace. That is the condition."

Unhwi let out a small, incredulous laugh.

Jang Jinok stepped forward a pace.

"Think carefully, junior. You know it and we know it. Whatever you do from that seat you call Heavenly Arbiter— the fact that we are here... you’re smart enough to know what that means, aren’t you?"

There was no missing it.

That their route had been read meant a traitor within the Heavenly Alliance was moving busily.

Unhwi asked, "And if I refuse?"

So Yeongjin’s lip curled, cold.

"Then we send you off. To the River of Three Crossings."

Unhwi snorted.

"Then you should have brought more."

At that, So Yeongjin and Jang Jinok said nothing.

Catching on, Unhwi’s eyes glinted.

"Ah—someone else was supposed to come."

"..."

"But give it up. Whoever it was, they won’t be coming."

"...What?"

"Looks like Senior Jang doesn’t know. Senior So does."

"...Know what?"

"Yeon Songbaek’s secret."

So Yeongjin flinched.

"...I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Twenty years ago. Yeon Hakcheol, the previous Sect Master of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect, had two disciples."

"..."

"His own son, Yeon Songbaek—and Shin Gang, whose talent rivaled, even surpassed, his."

There was nothing exotic in that. No one in the martial world failed to know the tale.

"Seeking to revise the Ihwa True Canon, penned by the sect’s founding master, Yeon Hakcheol entered seclusion with his two disciples. The retreat, planned for three years, broke in a single year."

"..."

"Mount Ihwa collapsed. Only Yeon Songbaek emerged, with the Ihwa True Canon in hand. He said this: ‘At the very moment my father attained enlightenment and began circulating his power, Shin Gang ambushed and killed him and tried to kill me as well. I drove a sword into his chest; Shin Gang died on the spot. And Mount Ihwa collapsed.’"

"Why bring up that anecdote now?"

"I think you know why."

"...So. Your answer to the proposal?"

"I decline."

So Yeongjin set a hand on his hilt.

"You killed Jang Icheong, I hear."

"Yes."

"Do you know who guided Jang Icheong when he first entered the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect?"

"I couldn’t say."

"Me."

So Yeongjin slowly drew his sword.

"That brat always made mistakes. I do not. No matter that you’ve created a new realm—facing a complete Celestial Being Stage master is high risk, even for you. So I’ll say it one last time. Stop your bravado there and quietly crawl back to Snow Palace."

"You can keep talking. My answer won’t change."

Unhwi also drew the Heavenshaking Spiritblade.

Again—Unhwi did not avoid the fights that came to him.

Killing intent coiled over the four directions.

Jang Jinok slid her sword from the scabbard on her back.