In the evening, at the main unit of the Sichuan Province for the Jeonjin Sect.
A guest had arrived.
Elder Man Jong, sect leader of the Jeonjin Sect, held a ritual for the disciples who had died in the ambush and paused to greet the guest.
The guest was none other than the Second Military Head, Sima Jong-hyeong, of the Murim Alliance. As soon as he saw the elder, Sima Jong-hyeon bowed in greeting.
“Elder.”
Elder Man Jong greeted him warmly and asked.
“It has been so long, military head. Weren’t you planning to drop by Guizhou province and head back to the Murim Alliance?”
Elder Man Jong, who had separated from the government officials, knew what his plans were.
So this visit was rather unexpected.
“That’s right. It became a bit difficult to head back.”
“What do you mean?”
“Are there any ears listening in?”
“Who will enter this place without my permission?”
“Then I am glad.”
Sima Jong-hyeon was showing more caution than usual.
He was usually quite cautious, which made Elder Man Jong even more nervous.
“Did something happen?”
“Please promise me first.”
“A promise?”
“Only Elder Man Jong will know of this.”
“Huh.”
Elder Man Jong walked towards a small altar and lit an incense at this wariness.
“I swear on this table of my ancestor, the august and true Taoist, Wang Jong-yang, that I will not speak of this to anyone.”
Taoist Wang Jong-yang.
The man who had established this sect. As the oath had been made in the name of Jeonjin’s founder, Sima Jong-hyeon sighed.
“It seems like there is a spy in the alliance.”
“Spy? If it is a spy, then isn’t this a small issue?’
“If it was like that, I wouldn’t have told you.”
Sima Jong-hyeong took out something folded in his hand. It was the size of his palm and was a letter with a seal. Something seemed to have been in it, but there was nothing now.
“What is this?”
“The direct letter.”
“A direct letter!”
Direct letters were ones shared between the military heads and the alliance leader.
Elder Man Jong had to listen now.
Upon receiving the letter, Elder Man Jong read its contents. Inside was written.
[If the words of the military head are true, this is a danger for the alliance. We will investigate this matter in secret, so please return.]
“Wasn’t this a reply to the report from what happened near the government office?”
At Elder Man Jong’s question, Sima Jong-hyeon shook his head.
“No.”
“Then?”
“I sent something different from the official letter.”
“And that is?”
“Do you remember the Flashing Swordsman who disguised himself as the Blood Demon?”
“I do.”
Because of that man’s appearance, many of Elder Man Jong’s disciples were killed. Although he followed the path of Tao, he couldn’t ignore the sadness and anger.
“The person named Ja Gyung was aware of the ambush, so it could not be a coincidence. This incident must have happened because the information was leaked from within.”
“... I thought the same as well.”
Even Elder Man Jong had been suspicious of this information leak.
However, the death of his disciples had saddened him so much at the time that he didn’t bring it up.
“Then, do you think this happened because there is a spy?”
“... there is. That too in the heart of the alliance.”
“What do you mean?”
The elder was shocked.
A spy at the alliance’s heart meant the leak was near the top. He now understood why this conversation was to be kept secret.
Sima Jong-hyeon lowered his voice and said,
“The letter you are seeing now... is not from the alliance leader.”
‘...?!’
The elder’s expression hardened further.
It was quite serious if someone sent a fake secret letter.
“Why would you say that? No matter how I look, this is...”
“Since the alliance leader’s letters are quite known, it is possible to copy his handwriting. However, there is a problem with the content.”
“Which one?”
He could not detect anything suspicious. Besides the letter also asked Sima Jung-hyun to come back and solve the case.
“The Alliance Leader has one distinct key when writing such secret letters.”
“And that is?”
“He doesn’t call me military head but calls me informally.”
Sima Jung-hyun’s family name would normally be used, but that word was not found here.
“Isn’t it too much to consider it suspicious based on one thing alone.”
“That was why I tried it. “
“What did you try?’
“I sent someone with a similar build to mine wearing a human skin mask towards the place where we embalmed the body of the fake Blood Demon and sent them to the Murim Alliance.”
“No....”
“They disappeared on the road.”
‘...!!!’
The procession that returned to the Murim Alliance had vanished. This meant that they were attacked.
“Who would do....”
“There is one thing I can guess about this spy.”
“Who could it be?”
“As you know, the former military alliance had died. And...”
At that moment, Elder Man Jong held out his hand and became silent as his eyes trembled.
I had practiced quite a bit but wasn’t sure this would work. It might be possible now since I was beyond the wall.
I raised my hand and placed my thumb and middle fingers together.
I then snapped loud enough for them to hear. The guards became silent as if they had been killed.
I used the Wind Shadow Steps and went inside.
-Oh. It worked.
Short Sword said in passing.
All of them looked forward with blank eyes after falling into a hallucination.
I had tested to what extent I could do it, and it worked. The sound was meant to make a person lose consciousness.
However, it wouldn’t last very long. The guards would soon return to their senses, but it didn’t matter.
I made my way through the warehouse. The size of it was also odd inside a ship the size of a sailboat.
-Just like Jwa-baek said,
Six beggars were inside and had food and drinks while standing in front of a large box.
‘What?’
It seemed as if they wouldn’t eat it but were hiding it?
This reminded me of the time when I was a spy.
But then I heard a voice.
“Release the Turtle Breathing Technique.”
It was Hong Geol-gae’s voice.
‘Turtle Breathing Technique?’
It was a method to stop breathing or slow it down enough so that the heart and body temperature would slow to the extent of vanishing a person’s presence.
Baek Hye-hyang had used it on me in the past to hide me from Mu Ack.
But why use it here?
‘...!?’
I felt a presence inside the warehouse, and the number was increasing.
‘What is this?’
The number of presences continued to grow.
There were around ten people, all around the master level.
Was this the reason why I heard the sound of swords? There were warriors inside those boxes.
Grrrr!
At that moment, the ship rocked violently as if it had stopped suddenly instead of bumping into something.
-Seems like something happened outside.
Perhaps I needed to head out.
I dropped from the ceiling and flicked my fingers as I did when I entered. After distracting them, I left the room.
“Raise the sails!”
The sails on the mast were being pulled as the crew moved.
The ship could not move forward without wind if the sails were withdrawn.
And that wasn’t all.
It looked like the sailors had thrown the anchor into the water.
Just what was this?
Why were they stopping this ship in the middle of the river? In the meantime, the three other ships had moved forward one by one.
‘Why?’
I heard a puzzled voice.
“Sajae, you were here.”
It was the Wind Wave King.
“Sahyung.’
“When I went to your cabin, they said you were out for some air.”
Was he looking for me?
If I had come out just a little bit later, he would have caught me near the warehouse.
At that moment, I heard the sailors shout.
“Raise the sails and anchors. We start again.”
‘Uh?’
Was there no problem
As soon as the ships began to move, we raised our anchors again. Could it be that this was a change in position?
I pretended not to realize and asked.
“Did you stop to move the position of the ship?”
Hyuk Cheon-man scratched his head and said,
“You are quick-witted. That’s right.”
“Why, though? Was it so sudden? Was there something wrong?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“If we don’t change, they will notice.”
“They?”
At my question, he smiled.
“I am talking about everyone in the warehouse who just woke up.”
What?
Did he actually feel their presence? I pretended to not know.
“What do you mean?”
“Sajae, you must have felt the presence of the people growing within the warehouse, right?”
“... aren’t they goods?”
“Goods? That’s true. We will send them to the base of the river families.”
‘...!!’
What did he say just now?
“Is sahyung talking about the 18 River Families of the Yangtze River?”
“Yes.”
I knew it.
This wasn’t just some random thing.
There was a different purpose.
“Then... the commission for the Peace Merchant Union wasn’t for goods.”
He continued to speak meaningfully.
“All of this is just for a show.”