Translator: FenrirTL 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Editor/Quality Checker: Saphartlantis

Murim Term Consultant: Kopke

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Chapter 349: I Never Gave Permission.

Bih Sa-in stepped into the long corridor.

On either side of the path leading to the Unorthodox Alliance Leader’s Hall, steel wolves stood as though they might pounce at any moment.

Whenever one passed through this corridor, a peculiar, stifling kind of aura could be felt.

Was that why?

There was a saying passed down that when an intruder entered, those steel wolves would move, tearing into the enemy’s throat until their own bodies were shredded to pieces—and maybe, just maybe, that saying might actually be true. 1

After passing through the corridor and opening the large doors, Bih Sa-in stepped inside to see a man standing at the far end of the Alliance Leader’s Hall, his back turned. His physique was ordinary. Neither thin nor fat, his back looked like someone you could find anywhere in the markets.

But Bih Sa-in knew. That it was a back unlike any other in the entire martial world.

Unorthodox Alliance Leader Baek Jagang.

The number one master of the Unorthodox Alliance, and the absolute ruler of the unorthodox martial world.

Bih Sa-in was Baek Jagang’s disciple. His master had no blood relatives. The reason was simple: family weakens the heart. In other words, he believed his heart should remain unweakened. 2

Bih Sa-in, tense, walked down to the bottom of the steps.

As always, standing before the Alliance Leader made one’s heart shrink and tense up.

“It feels like it’s going to rain.”

Baek Jagang’s voice echoed throughout the Alliance Leader’s Hall. He possessed a deep, resonant voice.

“It’ll be the first rain of the winter, then.”

Maybe that was why—he somehow looked lonely.

“Let’s go.”

“To where?”

Where were they supposed to go now?

But Geom Mugeuk already knew exactly where they needed to be.

“To that bastard. We need to confront him. Ask him why he handled things like this. If he wanted things wrapped up, he should’ve come and done it himself. Why send assassins? We need to ask him why he treated you like a joke.”

Geom Mugeuk was saying all the things Pyo Gigwang had wanted to say himself.

“I believe this operation wasn’t sanctioned by the Alliance.”

For a moment, Pyo Gigwang flinched—but then shook his head.

“That can’t be.”

Now that the time had come, Geom Mugeuk finally shared the decisive point he’d been saving.

“If this had been something the Unorthodox Alliance Leader had authorized, there’s no way he would’ve sent hired assassins. I heard it once before—the Alliance Leader despises assassins more than anyone.”

“!”

In that moment, a memory flashed through Pyo Gigwang’s mind.

Back when he was the Black Dragon Division Leader, he had once spoken with his subordinates about that very thing. About how the Alliance Leader loathed assassins. About how, in the Unorthodox Alliance of this generation, no one from an assassin background had ever risen in rank. He’d said that himself.

Goosebumps spread across his entire body. He had completely forgotten about it all.

After being injured, after stepping down from the division, after living like a broken man—he had buried those painful memories under a pile of apathy, bitterness and resentment.

‘If that man really served the will of the Alliance Leader, he wouldn’t have used assassins, would he?’

With that powerful doubt, a past conversation naturally resurfaced in his mind.

—Does the Alliance Leader know about this operation?

—Of course. That’s why it must remain absolutely secret.

At the time, he had assumed, without question, that the Alliance Leader was aware. That was why that man had stepped forward. That’s why he’d believed the Young Leader shouldn’t get involved. Because it was a classified mission, one even the Young Leader hadn’t been informed about.

Why hadn’t he ever questioned it?

He already knew the answer to that question in the depths of his heart.

It was because all he wanted was to escape that agonising situation. Because he wanted to escape, and then boast to those who had looked down on him, “Look what a grand task I’ve taken on, you fools!”

“If this operation was carried out without the Alliance Leader’s knowledge, then it’s treason.”

Pyo Gigwang’s heart sank. If that were true, then that man had dragged him into treason, and he had no excuses for his actions.

Pyo Gigwang felt completely lost.

“Let’s find out what the truth is—together.”

Just yesterday, Pyo Gigwang had believed he alone knew the truth. He had been a man no words could reach. But now, he was asking:

“Can we really do this?”

“You’ve already resigned yourself to death, haven’t you?”

Yeah, that’s right. He’d lost count of how many times today he’d thought, This is it, I’m dying, and closed his eyes. One more time wouldn’t change anything.

Pyo Gigwang looked at Geom Mugeuk and gave a nod.

Now, the tide had turned.

“From this moment on, we’re no longer fish. Let’s become fishermen—cast the net together with me. And then, let’s hear what that fish who’s been pretending to be the fisherman all this time has to say.”

1 : In the Divine Cult, it’s the Path of Blood, and here it’s the Path of Wolves. Wonder what it's like in the Murim Alliance. We’ll need to find a good name for the throne when it happens.

2 : Doing so leads to misanthropy and solitude, which is great for impartiality, but not so much about not turning into a tyrant. Then again, it is the Unorthodox Alliance.

3 : Not if Mugeuk has his word to say about it.

4 : Your master has a good head on his shoulders. It might not be a pretty worldview to possess, but at the very least he won’t be blind to reality.

5 : At this point, I wonder if it’s this era's natural course that led to so many influential people dreaming of unifying the martial world, or if it’s the masterminds behind Hwa Moogi that whispered that dream to their ears for decades to weaken them in a total war before their strike.

6 : *DUNDUNDUN* (Well not really, we already knew it XDXDXD)

7 : No matter what else can be said about the masterminds, they do have a great grasp over their victims' psychology. At least Mugeuk’s level.

8 : Lol, it’s not the assassins who control the aggro, it’s the aggro who rush at them first XDXDXD

9 : And acting. Definitely some great acting there.

10 : I hope we get to visit one day, it’s only the second time this sword forest was mentioned but it sounds like a cool place ^^