“Did you come?”
“…Did you come, Lord Hyangju.”
Upon reaching the summit of Unryusan, Nua Hyogyeom and Unsa, who had been waiting, lowered their heads.
The two had been waging an old war over the occupation of Unryusan as the heads of Red Thunder God’s Gate and Uncheong Blue Gate, respectively.
Though we had regained peace through my mediation and shared the spoils equally…
Unlike Nua Hyogyeom, who was bowing his head in loyalty, Unsa looked a bit displeased.
[Hahaha]
[Why the face like you just bit into poop?]
[Unsa’s expression is priceless]
[Looks like he wants to get hit again]
[Totally Relatable]
Nua Hyogyeom spoke.
“I’ve captured the Lord Hwangwiganju Giha Moon you mentioned. I’ve taken some measures, so you should be able to find him easily.”
“Just finding his location would be fine. Thank you.”
“Of course, it’s my duty.”
Nua Hyogyeom bowed his head once more.
I turned my gaze to Unsa, who was only slightly bowing his head.
“Unsa.”
“…What is it?”
“Is there no news from Cheongmu-hyang? I’ve heard they haven’t been offering Spirit Herbs and Spirits lately.”
“That’s right.”
“Why aren’t they offering them?”
“…It’s the will of Lord Cheongjinryeong.”
“Hmm…”
The reason Uncheong Blue Gate had been providing a massive amount of Spirit Herbs was due to Cheongjinryeong’s command.
The war over the ownership of Unryusan was also essentially at Cheongjinryeong’s behest.
But now, they’ve stopped offering Spirit Herbs?
“Is there no mention of me? You must have known that the Lord of Jeokmu-hyang has changed.”
“……”
“Be honest. We’re bound to meet soon anyway.”
[???: If you don’t want to die, speak up]
[Hahaha]
[Stop overthinking and just spill it]
[Something feels off]
[Is he trying to pull something?]
[One more hit and he might talk]
Unsa seemed to struggle, opening his mouth and then closing it repeatedly.
He looked like he was unsure if he could say this.
“Soon.”
“Soon?”
“…A guest will be visiting Jeokmu-hyang. By then, you’ll learn whether you want to or not.”
“?”
A guest?
Is he talking about Cheongjinryeong?
I wanted to ask more, but Unsa seemed firmly shut off, as if it was beyond his authority.
Nua Hyogyeom next to him urged him to speak up, but he wasn’t planning on opening his mouth.
I was curious, but right now, what I needed to do was find the secretary, Lord Hwangwiganju Giha Moon, rather than pry into Unsa.
“First, let’s meet this Giha Moon person.”
“This cocky Unsa punk… Ah! Understood. Please follow me.”
“This arrogant Unsa guy… Ah! I understand. Please follow me.”
“……”
As I followed Nua Hyogyeom’s guidance, I discovered a door hidden among the gigantic trees.
It was a structure that only those with high rank or awareness of the ‘door’ could see. When I opened it, a long passage-like space revealed itself.
It looked like a cave.
As I ventured in, I spotted a man kneeling, surrounded by several practitioners.
He looked somewhat disheveled, as if he had been through a lot, with his power at the level of the Record Phase’s entry.
He didn’t seem strong enough to be considered a close aide of Lord Jeokmu-hyang.
He was definitely weaker than both the Ascension Archlord and the Ascension Deputy, not to mention Nua Hyogyeom.
“Hyangju!”
“You’ve arrived.”
“Is this the person?”
“That’s right. This is Lord Hwangwiganju Giha Moon.”
The practitioners bowed their heads and made way for the man on his knees.
He had a very disgruntled expression.
“Do we really need to catch the one who ran away? Lord Jeokmu-hyang!”
“This rude…!”
“Mind your manners! Giha Moon!”
“Just a moment.”
I raised my hand, and the practitioners ceased talking and stepped back.
I had heard about Giha Moon three days ago.
Still, the reason I hadn’t sought him out immediately was that, as he stated, there was no pressing need to catch the one who ran away.
Even though I had become the new Lord Jeokmu-hyang, not everyone accepted me as such.
No matter how much Junseon recognized me, it wasn’t easy for others to accept that I had seized the position overnight.
Because of this, some among the practitioners caused disturbances and were restrained, while others simply left Jeokmu-hyang.
“If a monk dislikes the temple, they will leave.”
And the monk who disliked the temple was precisely Giha Moon.
If he had caused a disturbance, that might have been a reason, but there was no need to seek out and subdue someone who had left.
However, during my conversation with Yena, I felt it necessary to look further into the matter regarding Lord Jeokmu-hyang.
“Don’t worry. If you just satisfy my curiosity, I’ll let you go soon.”
“…You’re not just going to suck out the information and devour my spirit and Origin Spirit, are you?”
“Come on. I’m not the former Lord Jeokmu-hyang or anything like that.”
I would never do such a thing.
[Except for knocking your head around.]
[Hahahahahaha.]
[That is indeed rude.]
[Let’s think about it after hitting him once.]
[Hahaha.]
[Play with Yena]
[Is this guy the culprit?]
“……”
“Now. From what I’ve heard, the previous Lord Jeokmuhyang─”
“Call me Lord Jeokho. You are now referring to me as Lord Jeokmuhyang.”
“Right. I heard that Lord Hwangwiganju was also aware of the plans you devised, is that true?”
The reason why Giha Moon, who was Lord Jeokho’s closest aide, ran away was simple.
The essence of Spirit Separation was to absorb everyone’s Origin Spirit and Lifespan, and that included Hwangwiganju Giha Moon as well.
Giha Moon chuckled.
“…If I say I don’t know, that would be a lie. You’re correct. I was aware that Lord Jeokho was unfolding the plan to absorb the lives of the ascetics. But what could I do?”
Even though he was the closest aide to the Archlord, Giha Moon was still a subordinate of Jeokho.
Subordinates had no choice but to follow their master’s orders.
“If the Archlord is doing something like that, how could I possibly say otherwise? All I could do was escape outside the influence. Fortunately, that much mercy was granted to me.”
“Then why haven’t you returned? You must have known that Lord Jeokho’s plan has failed.”
“To avoid this kind of situation.”
A multitude of practitioners were holding Giha Moon down while the new Lord Jeokmuhyang was interrogating him.
It wasn’t strange for his closest aides to flee as the regime changed due to a coup.
In fact, it was historically quite common, almost a natural phenomenon.
However, there was one thing I found questionable.
“If you didn’t suffer any harm, you shouldn’t have ever come looking for me. The fact that you found me means that I am, in some means, destined to be ‘disposed of’…”
“Why are you here? This is definitely not a good hiding spot.”
If he genuinely feared my ‘disposal’, he shouldn’t be hiding here.
This place was between Lord Jeokmu-hyang and Lord Cheongmu-hyang.
Though it was somewhat distant, it was always within the reach of my influence and actually had been detected.
If he truly wanted to escape, he should have fled to a completely different location.
Even if he just escaped to the centers of Cheongmu-hyang or Heukmu-hyang nearby, no matter how powerful I was, I wouldn’t be able to find him.
Even if I did find him, there was the law of Jangmugye that stated ‘an Archlord cannot invade another Archlord’s territory’.
As I said this, Giha Moon’s mouth closed.
[Right?]
[?]
[Why hide in Unryusan?]
[Huh?]
[Is there any reason to hide here?]
[Isn’t it because you’re stupid?]
“If you wanted to escape, there’s no reason to hide here. As a practitioner of the Axis of Transition, you could easily be accepted in another territory.”
“……”
“You have another purpose. The real reason you need to hide here.”
“There’s a purpose, isn’t there? The real reason I need to hide my body here.”
“……”
“I’ll guarantee your safety if you tell the truth.”
“Safety?”
“Do you know about the ‘Eye that Cuts Souls’?”
An eye that is a manifestation of powers on par with Junseon, capable of severing even souls.
A power that even Gyeoryu couldn’t notice was right below the highest floor of the Castle of Jeokmu-hyang.
I searched the reconstructed floor again, but I could no longer find any trace of the eye.
Seeing that it consumed Origin Spirit to activate its power, it seems the mastermind behind this is Jeokho… but since Jeokho is dead, the only one left who might know is Giha Moon.
‘Jeokho’s closest aide.’
Giha Moon’s eyes shifted.
The expression that was previously full of grievance, annoyance, and weariness vanished, and fear began to settle on his face.
[???]
[Huh?]
[?]
“A-A-Are you safe?”
“Yes. If you don’t know about the eye, you just need to tell me what you were doing here.”
“Th-That’s something I can’t talk about.”
“Why not?”
“It-It’s because I can never utter that person’s name…”
“That person? Who are they?”
I grabbed Giha Moon tightly.
Of course, this wasn’t a physical grab, but one with Cosmic Spirit and Infinite Completion.
Under the intense pressure, Giha Moon’s eyes went taut and suddenly turned to nothingness.
“That person’s name is Mukmu-jin (目無眞)…”
ㄱㅜㄴ…
.
.
.
KIAAAAAAA!!!
Giha Moon suddenly let out a scream and dashed off somewhere.
It was so sudden that even the Chat Window, which had been watching with interest, froze in shock.
In the brief moment I was stunned, the Practitioners, who had been quietly standing back, rushed out to catch the fleeing Giha Moon.
Nua Hyogyeom approached.
“That madman… I’ll bring him back right away!”
“…Time freeze? Or did he cut through an instant?”
“Uh? A-anyway, I’ll bring him back…”
“No.”
Crack…!
I pulled out the Dragon Heart.
About five thousand Infinite Completion energies from my promotion in the Record Phase surged through the Dragon Heart.
“I’ll bring him back.”
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