“The Wudang Sect has reportedly thrown the Martial Alliance’s people into the dungeon.”

At the Hao Sect Lord’s words in Seolhwa’s room, Seolhwa—who had just changed and was straightening her sleeves—paused.

Who had gone to Wudang?

Namgoong Cheonghae and Jegal Hwi, and with them Peng Mirang and Silver-Flash Spear. Escorting them was the Black Tortoise Division led by the Shaolin monk Do Ryang.

They imprisoned all of them?

“...What’s the reason?”

“The truth is unclear, but they claim the Alliance people trespassed into Wudang’s secret vault... though that’s only Wudang’s claim.”

Trespassed into Wudang’s secret vault?

Seolhwa’s expression turned grave.

When the Martial Alliance decided to send people to the Wudang Sect, she had thought nothing major would happen.

In the previous life, Wudang collapsed only years later than now.

They would self-destruct, so she hadn’t paid Wudang’s affairs much mind. But—

If the Martial Alliance exposed Wudang’s bare face earlier than before...?

If the changed past had rippled into Wudang’s case as well?

The people who went to Wudang are in danger.

If they truly learned Wudang’s business, Wudang would not easily let them go.

They might even try to kill them to silence them.

Seolhwa hastened to finish her sleeves, then hurried to scrawl something on the paper on her desk.

“Ryeong.”

“Yes, Union Lord.”

Ryeong, who had been standing at one side of the room, came over.

“Take this letter to my grandfather. As fast as possible.”

“You mean the Alliance Lord?”

“Mm. And...”

Seolhwa fell briefly into thought.

“There’s one more stop you need to make on the way.”

****

So-and-so came two evenings later.

Unlike when meeting the Merchant-Lord of the Silver Phoenix Merchant House, this time Seolhwa herself donned the human-skin mask to face him.

He looked far more gaunt than four years ago.

“The one who gave me this stone—that was you?”

He asked about the stone the instant he sat.

Seolhwa smiled faintly and answered,

“Have you been well?”

“!”

Surprise flooded So-and-so’s eyes.

“It truly was you? The one who handed me the pouch with the note four years ago?”

“How are the children I saved then?”

At that, So-and-so became certain she was the one he’d met four years prior.

Back then, the affair of finding the missing children was known to no one but himself, Chunpal, and the late Dragon-Head Lord.

Convinced Seolhwa was that person from four years ago, tension crept into So-and-so’s face.

He cast a Qi Screen around them both.

“How did you know?”

“Know what?”

“That someone was after the Dragon-Head Lord’s life. Your note said so—that within five years the Lord would be killed.”

Four years ago, Seolhwa had warned So-and-so in advance of what would befall the Beggar’s Union.

If possible, she had hoped he would protect the Lord; if not, she had at least hoped So-and-so himself would not die.

At the time, Seolhwa had too many urgent matters; that was all she could do.

“You couldn’t save the Lord.”

“I tried as well. I dug hard into the traces, just as you said. I even found that the Lord and the Hugae were in secret dealings with the Hwaoru brothel, and I warned the Lord of their danger. But...”

Seolhwa had told him two things.

One: the Lord would be killed within five years.

Two: the Lord and Hugae Cheon Guiho were in contact with a certain faction.

So-and-so had not laughed off her warning—he had investigated and unearthed the Hwaoru’s existence. Yet—

“I could not prevent the Lord’s death.”

“Can you tell me in detail about the day the Lord passed?”

So-and-so wore a troubled look, then let out a sigh and began.

“The Lord was trying to cut ties with Hwaoru. I didn’t even need to persuade him. He already knew what that place was.”

Hwaoru hid behind the façade of a brothel and committed every vile deed worse than any underworld force.

Its infamy was already whispered among those in the know, so the Beggar’s information network would have uncovered it easily.

“But that was the end. When I went to the place where he and I were to meet, the Lord was already—... Blood everywhere, and the Lord’s body was mangled beyond recognition. It was horrible.”

Good fortune in misfortune: before his death, the Lord had entrusted the Dog-Beating Staff to So-and-so.

There had been a matter requiring proof of the Lord’s will through the staff, so he had lent it out for a time.

“I was beside myself. I never thought the Lord would be struck down like that. But those who arrived ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) late accused me as the killer.”

The one set to meet the Lord had been So-and-so.

Those who saw So-and-so by the dead Lord’s side began to brand him the murderer who killed the Lord, and the misunderstanding spread fast.

“Saying I didn’t do it was useless. In less than an hour I’d become a wretch.”

In the end, the only way to prove his innocence was to show the Lord’s body before everyone.

So-and-so did not use edged weapons; that, he thought, could at least partly prove his innocence. However—

“While we were moving the Lord’s body to the stronghold, it vanished. Without a trace. I had no choice but to flee.”

“Why did you run with the sacred object?”

“Thinking back, it all felt wrong. As if someone had arranged the pieces to fall into place. I couldn’t trust anyone.”

Driven by the sudden turn, So-and-so felt the wrongness and fled with the sacred object, going to ground.

The Beggar’s Union hunted him, but no one knew its information network more thoroughly than So-and-so; he slipped their net.

“I tried to meet the Hugae and talk more than once. But he wouldn’t hear it.”

Contrary to Cheon Guiho’s words, So-and-so had tried to talk to him.

But Cheon Guiho only sought to kill him, not meet him.

“I didn’t know what to do. I took the risk of coming here thinking you might know something.”

To So-and-so, Seolhwa was the last lifeline.

She had known since four years ago that this would come to pass; perhaps she also knew a way to break through it.

After listening to everything, Seolhwa slowly nodded.

“First—my apologies for not helping you sooner while you were driven this far.”

She knew the Beggar’s Union’s problem, but had to admit the Union hadn’t been her priority.

Had she stepped in earlier, the Lord’s death might have been prevented.

She felt only regret for that.

“No. It is we who should apologize for asking an outsider to shoulder our affairs.”

So-and-so rubbed his face as if weary.

He looked only frustrated that, unable to resolve an internal matter, they had to rely on an outsider.

“I understand the Hugae has proposed a meeting.”

His hand froze mid-rub. He looked at Seolhwa, startled.

“How did you know? ...Are you, perhaps, of the Martial Alliance?”

“Close enough.”

She was of the Alliance—but she was not facing So-and-so as the Alliance.

“I’ll be blunt. Meet Cheon Guiho.”

So-and-so’s face hardened for an instant.

“They’ll try to kill me. Call me out for talks and kill me—that’s their aim.”

“I think so, too. Even so, go.”

“You’re telling me to walk into a place I know is for my death?”

“If your innocence is not made clear, the Beggar’s Union will fall as it is.”

If the misunderstanding around So-and-so was not cleared, the Beggar’s Union would pass into the Blood Cult’s hand.

She knew it was dangerous, but there was no other choice.

“Trust me. I will help you take the Beggar’s Union back.”

“Ha...”

So-and-so couldn’t answer right away.

He had come seeking help, grasping at straws just in case—but what of this woman warranted staking his life?

And yet, beyond believing, there was no suitable method left, no stratagem not yet tried.

“I will protect you.”

“...”

So-and-so looked at Seolhwa.

Though the human-skin mask hid her face, he met the sincerity in her gaze.

“...Very well.”

It was not an affair that would end by running forever.

If it had to be faced someday—

“I’ll place my trust in you.”

****

Deep night.

Alliance Lord’s office.

Rustle.

With a long sigh, Namgoong Mucheon finished reading and rolled the letter in his hand.

His face was heavy with concern.

The letter Seolhwa had sent in haste said this:

[Leave what’s here to me and send the Alliance’s forces—all of them—to Mount Wudang. If we misstep, the lives of those held there may truly be in danger.]

Even now the Alliance was split over whether to send the remaining forces to Hebei or to Mount Wudang.

Some argued—surely the Wudang Sect wouldn’t really do anything to the captives; others argued they must rescue those held on Mount Wudang before the Beggar’s Union.

In conclusion, more trusted the Wudang Sect’s good faith.

Ordinarily, the Alliance’s forces would have been sent to Hebei. But—

“Is this truly Seolhwa’s will?”

“Yes. The young lady wrote it herself.”

Seolhwa knew the future.

If a child like that sent an urgent letter, then the lives of those on Mount Wudang were in real peril.

But in Hebei, a fight with the Outlanders was underway as well.

That front also needed support.

“Chief Division Lord.”

After a spell of deliberation, Namgoong Mucheon called Seop Mugwang.

Seop Mugwang stepped forward.

“Yes, Alliance Lord.”

“Summon the Lord of the Azure Dragon Division at once.”

“...”

“I will lead them myself—to Mount Wudang.”