Chunpal rose from his seat with a complicated look after the conversation ended.

Chunpal stepped out of the command tent first. Yu Gang, about to follow him out, stopped and looked back at Cheon Guiho.

“Why? Do you still have something to say to me?”

“You asked Chunpal just now—how he could be sure Elder So-and-so didn’t kill the Dragon-Head Lord.”

“I did.”

“How are you, Hugae, so sure that he did?”

This was the source of the discord Yu Gang had felt during the exchange.

Chunpal had, the instant he sat, insisted on So-and-so’s innocence.

Yet the answer that came back was only a question: why do you think that?

After that, Cheon Guiho said he had been angry that the Beggar’s Union’s atmosphere had been ruined—but now he thought there “must be a reason.”

In the end, wasn’t that an answer that did not at all rule out the possibility that So-and-so hadn’t killed the Dragon-Head Lord?

“You told us the same: that you wanted to ask him why he would do such a thing.”

“...”

“Did you see it yourself?”

That So-and-so killed the Dragon-Head Lord?

Cheon Guiho did not answer.

But from his firm expression, Yu Gang could tell he still believed firmly that So-and-so had committed the murder.

“If you tell us what you’re hiding, we can help you.”

“My request was only to find Chunpal. What comes after is our Beggar’s Union’s affair. But this I can say for certain: I am a man who can lay down even my life for the Beggar’s Union.”

“...Understood.”

The Martial Alliance cannot interfere at will in another power’s internal affairs.

All the more so if it’s something that could plunge the Central Plains into peril.

In the end, Yu Gang had to turn away, leaving behind doubt and curiosity.

He gave Cheon Guiho a brief nod and stepped out of the tent.

Chunpal was waiting for him in front of it.

Yu Gang left the Beggar’s Union stronghold together with Chunpal.

Only after the two had run for quite a while and put real distance between themselves and the stronghold did they speak.

“How is it?”

“No one’s tailing us.”

It seemed there was no Beggar’s Union shadowing.

But at the words “no tail,” Chunpal’s expression grew even more complicated.

“Are they really just letting me go...?”

“You’re Beggar’s Union too.”

“That’s true, but...”

Chunpal glanced back in the direction of the stronghold.

“Not long ago they even issued an extermination order on me. I nearly got killed more than once with every man I ran into charging me.”

“It was that bad?”

Chunpal nodded.

If that was so, this situation—meeting the Hugae without incident and slipping away unscathed—could only feel suspicious.

“Anyway, thanks. You saved my life twice over. Without you, my head would’ve been off already.”

Chunpal ran a hand over the back of his neck in thanks.

“I only did what I had to. So—where to now?”

“I need to go to my ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ master. Tell him what happened today and ask what he intends to do.”

“Will you be all right alone? Want me to come?”

“Drag you along so my master can beat me to death?”

Chunpal chuckled, kik-kik, and gave Yu Gang a light jab.

“I’m stronger than I look.”

“You look it.”

“Once things settle, we should have a bout. For the record, I won the last one. You bolted.”

Yu Gang burst out laughing at that.

From Chunpal’s side, it made sense to think the man who suddenly vanished had fled.

“Of course. Go safe. I’ll be waiting.”

“Yeah.”

After a final farewell, Chunpal set off toward where So-and-so was.

Yu Gang watched his back until Chunpal was out of sight.

****

Hebei was a land of cliffs.

The mountains were so rough and the peaks so sharp that steep ranges were everywhere.

Maybe that was why.

Looking at Hebei’s mountains made Yu Gang think of the day he first climbed Mount Hua.

He had not yet trained in martial arts, but he prided himself on sturdy natural sinew and bone—yet Mount Hua had been a brutal ascent.

Back then he had driven his legs with a cry, afraid that if he couldn’t keep up, he would be abandoned.

Was he already thinking only of bringing Mount Hua down back then?

Back when he took me to Mount Hua.

Back when he taught me Mount Hua’s martial canon.

Was Mount Hua already an enemy to him?

Rustle.

Sunk in thought, Yu Gang smiled at the sound of a presence and looked toward it.

A moment later, Seolhwa stepped out from behind a large boulder.

“You’re here?”

“Mm.”

Seolhwa looked around, intrigued.

Following Seolmae through the brush and up a deserted mountain path, the view had opened into a sudden splendor.

From here one could take in at a glance the vast sweep of harsh, jagged mountains—like...

Mount Hua...

Seolhwa looked at Yu Gang.

He was brushing the spot beside him on the boulder where he’d been sitting.

“Sit here.”

“...Mm.”

Seolhwa sat beside him.

Instead of meeting Seolhwa’s eyes, Yu Gang looked back over the view and spoke.

“Like you said, I put Chunpal in front of the Hugae. Chunpal asked him to help arrange a meeting with So-and-so. But... will Elder So-and-so even agree to meet?”

“He probably won’t try to meet in person.”

Because he has to guard the sacred object.

All the more reason to avoid it—if he met the Hugae while carrying it, the risk of having it taken would be high.

“But I’ll make it happen.”

“How?”

“So-and-so sent a positive reply.”

Last night, Merchant-Lord Jang Wigwan of the Silver Phoenix Merchant House came with an answer regarding the proof token sent through him.

The answer was: “I will come in person.”

She had braced for the Beggar’s Union’s situation to be dangerous enough that he might delay the meeting or refuse it—but fortunately, the answer was that he would meet.

“I’m going to hear what happened and, if possible, persuade him to meet with the Hugae.”

“Won’t that be dangerous?”

“It will. Probably.”

In the previous life, he had died at the Blood Cult’s hands.

She did not know how, or exactly who killed him.

What was certain was that in the process of the Beggar’s Union falling under the Blood Cult, he too was sacrificed.

So the odds are high it’s dangerous this time as well.

No matter how much the situation had changed from the previous life, it was too early to be at ease.

“So I have a favor.”

Seolhwa’s eyes turned sober.

“If a fight breaks out, don’t get involved—no matter what. Not you, not Young Lord Tang, not Miss Golden.”

“...What?”

Shock washed through Yu Gang’s gaze.

Don’t get involved in the fight? Watch and do nothing?

“Instead, stay hidden, and if So-and-so and Chunpal are in danger, protect those two. If we start to lose, at least those two must be kept safe.”

Only then would there be a next step.

“...What about you?”

“I’ll be there as the Sado Union Lord anyway, so I’ll be fine. No one will kill me easily.”

Yu Gang’s lips parted with a look full of protests.

But he knew well how strong Seolhwa was when wielding the Sado Union Lord’s power.

As Shadowless Demon God, Seolhwa was at least at the Flowering Realm.

As she said, if they jumped in, the fight could grow even more entangled.

In the end, Yu Gang reluctantly nodded.

“Got it.”

He disliked pushing only Seolhwa toward danger, but if he was there, he could help at any time.

All the more since by now the Martial Alliance would have received the letter and learned of what was happening here.

By the time it mattered, reinforcements sent by the Martial Alliance would arrive as well.

“When I meet So-and-so, I’ll send a message slip.”

Seolhwa was about to rise and end the conversation when Yu Gang suddenly caught her hand.

“Do you have to go right now?”

His clear eyes could not hide his regret.

“Are you busy?”

“I don’t know when So-and-so will show up. I can’t be away long.”

“...I see.”

The strength slipped from Yu Gang’s hand holding hers.

“Be careful. The Hugae is convinced So-and-so killed the Dragon-Head Lord. There’s a chance So-and-so really could be dangerous.”

“Mm.”

Seolhwa knew So-and-so was not dangerous, but because she understood Yu Gang’s worry for her, she nodded.

“I’ll be careful.”

“...Mm.”

But Yu Gang still did not let go of her hand.

It was a grip she could have easily shaken off—but for some reason, she didn’t want to.

“Oh—right.”

At Seolhwa’s words, Yu Gang snapped his head up to look at her.

Seolhwa let out a tiny laugh.

“The one at Greenscale Pavilion wearing the human-skin mask.”

“Mm.”

“That wasn’t me.”

“...Huh?”

Yu Gang tilted his head, not immediately understanding.

The one in the human-skin mask wasn’t Seolhwa?

“If it wasn’t you, then who...?”

“The mask was Ryeong’s. I was one of the guards standing behind.”

“...Huh?”

“Ryeong asked me—do you like me?”

“...!”

In that instant, the memories from Greenscale flashed through Yu Gang’s mind.

He remembered himself in heavy makeup, smiling with his eyes.

He remembered the cold gaze beyond the human-skin mask looking at him.

He remembered his own needless pang of hurt at that gaze.

Watching Yu Gang slowly redden as if placed on hot coals, Seolhwa tittered, kideuk-kideuk, with a laugh.

“I’m going.”

Seolhwa turned and left.

Yu Gang’s hand let her go all too easily.

How far had she gone when—

The faint sounds of someone writhing in mortified silence drifted to Seolhwa’s ears.

****

Hubei Province, Wuhan. Martial Alliance.

Rustle.

Having read the letter Yu Gang sent, Namgoong Mucheon asked the strategist Jegal Myeong,

“Which combat units can the Alliance move right now?”

“Only the Azure Dragon Division.”

The Vermilion Bird Division had gone into closed training, the Black Tortoise Division was away escorting the party sent to the Wudang Sect,

and the White Tiger Division was out inspecting the western Central Plains. The only combat unit remaining at the Martial Alliance was the Azure Dragon Division.

“It seems we must hurry and send the Azure Dragon Division to Hebei.”

Namgoong Mucheon handed Jegal Myeong the letter Yu Gang had sent.

As he read swiftly, Jegal Myeong’s expression hardened.

“Understood. I’ll summon the Division Lord of the Azure Dragon to the Alliance Lord’s office at once—”

Just then—

“Alliance Lord!! Brother!!”

Chief Division Lord Seop Mugwang burst into the office with an urgent voice.

He had run so hard that his face was slick with sweat.

“What has happened?”

“The Wudang Sect has thrown the party the Alliance sent—into the dungeon!”