Chapter 212

Chapter 212
I had contemplated this before.

What would occur if I honestly disclosed my origins?

What if I revealed that I had traveled from the future to the past?

If I urged everyone to join forces to avert the catastrophe set to destroy the murim?

‘It would sound like lunacy.’

I was certain that no one would step forward to agree or assist me.

Given the abundance of enemies I already possessed, confessing such things would merely present another vulnerability, causing others to view me as mentally unstable.

I would likely pass my remaining years chained within a dungeon, surrounded by other genuine madmen I would be forced to call brothers.

……However, if I chose to be incredibly optimistic?

‘Hoo…….’

That scenario presented its own set of complications.

If rumors that “the master of the murim will change” were misconstrued and reached the high-ranking officials and nobles in Beijing, one false move could paint me as the leader of the Yellow Turbans.

Beyond becoming a pariah in the murim, I would immediately be labeled a traitor to the imperial court.

[How dare you suggest the master of the world will change?!]

[No! I was only speaking of those scoundrels in the Demonic Cult!!!]

[Silence, you treacherous cur! Execute him at once!]

Ugh…….

The mere thought was terrifying.

But currently.

I was on the brink of having my true identity exposed.

‘Damn it…….’

And by the one man who would take offense at being ranked any lower than second in intellect throughout the entire Murim Alliance.

Truly, by the man with the most exceptional five-star aptitude in the martial arts world.

“Who are you really?”

I could clearly feel myself gulping hard.

Obviously, Jegal So-myeong was not someone I could confuse with clever wordplay.

The mere fact that Jegal So-myeong had posed the question indicated that he had nearly finished assembling the picture using his “piece theory.”

He was merely missing a single piece for absolute certainty.

It was evident that he had even dismissed the Formation Masters just to uncover that “final piece.”

I forced myself to appear as composed as possible.

“……I am Jin So-un, naturally, the proud representative of the Murim Academy.”

“…….”

However.

The hollow expression in Jegal So-myeong’s eyes grew even more intense.

‘Damn it.’

His piercing gaze, as if it intended to bore right through me, scanned my frame.

“You, more than anyone, are fully aware of what I meant by that question.”

“…….”

What was I to do?

How could I offer him a piece that would transform the picture he had assembled into something entirely different?

Jegal So-myeong’s grave voice persisted.

“The Two Principles Eight Trigrams Myriad Phenomena Formation……. Though I instructed them not to be reckless, it is not something one can dismantle the moment it is sighted. If you truly possessed such capability, there would have been no reason for you to fight so hard to enter the academy, nor any reason to gamble your life to protect your sect.”

It was only now clear why he had silenced the Formation Masters to prevent them from suspecting me, only to then order them out of the chamber.

He viewed this situation as grave.

Jegal So-myeong snapped his iron fan shut and gripped it firmly in one hand.

In an instant, the tip of the fan was leveled at my vital pressure point.

“Are you…… a mole?”

I had wondered why he continued to carry a fan despite the cool breeze blowing.

It turned out it was to serve as a weapon aimed at my heart.

If there was one silver lining, it was that he didn’t suspect my ability to foresee the future, but rather believed me to be a spy.

‘Should I count myself lucky?’

In a scenario where I was being accused of being a villain rather than a lunatic, I couldn’t tell if I should laugh or cry.

Regardless, thanks to the Golden Wound Medicine that Sama Jeong had applied, the bleeding had ceased, and my mind began to clear.

It was truly…… highly effective.

I needed to request some for myself later.

I quickly steadied my thoughts and replied,

“Ahem, what exactly do you mean by that?”

“……If you speak the truth now, I will ensure no one from your sect who was uninvolved in this affair will come to harm.”

Instead, he would investigate with relentless scrutiny until someone was identified as a participant.

Naturally, people like Ak Byeong-bi would be deployed for that very purpose.

Did he think I was a fool?

“I have been falsely accused!”

“Are you suggesting, then, that you deciphered the Two Principles Eight Trigrams Myriad Phenomena Formation at a mere glance?”

To be honest, that sounded even less plausible.

After all, I had succeeded in an hour where the Demonic Brain had failed for a hundred days.

Regardless, if I didn’t provide a convincing narrative now, it seemed I would be under constant suspicion moving forward.

I strained my mind more than I ever had.

And I remembered one specific person.

“The truth is, I did not analyze it all in an instant.”

“……From what I gathered, your first visit to the Grand Riding Ground occurred only after the incident erupted.”

There had been an individual named Seo Un-chang among the members of the Sojeong Squad.

He was a con artist who had joined the squad despite having absolutely no martial talent.

According to Seo Un-chang, if you want your enemy to believe a lie, you must make them focus their suspicions on something else.

People were inherently incapable of being suspicious of two conflicting things at the exact same time.

That swindling bastard was proving to be useful after all.

“Of course, that was the first time it was revealed to the public.”

“……Publicly? Then are you implying you had witnessed it prior to that?”

“That is correct.”

“Ridiculous. Are you saying you saw it within the Jegal Clan……”

Jegal So-myeong tilted his head in confusion.

I looked at him and shook my head.

“No. It is true that I first saw it at the Murim Academy.”

“Mm?”

“For the first three days, the Two Principles Eight Trigrams Myriad Phenomena Formation was not a Mystic Gate Formation that threatened anyone, was it? I was inside it every night for those three days.”

“…….”

Then I tossed him a small breadcrumb of suspicion.

“And I am someone who memorized every shifting path within the Boundless Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation and managed to escape.”

Jegal So-myeong dropped his intense stare and regarded me with deep, calculating eyes.

At some point, he had shifted the position of his iron fan and was now tapping it against his own temple.

He was clearly attempting to complete the entire picture using the final piece I had provided.

It was fortunate that he had revealed even a glimpse of the puzzle he was constructing.

Intelligent people like Jegal So-myeong preferred arriving at truths through small, cryptic clues.

Once they reached a conclusion themselves, their suspicion naturally dissipated.

And indeed.

“Is this connected to the method you used to retrieve the Young Cult Master’s head?”

He began to follow the line of reasoning I had intended.

“That is right.”

“……Demonstrate it for me.”

His suspicion gradually intensified, and he was on the verge of reaching a conclusion.

If I passed this test, I would be free from scrutiny.

That was why.

“I would rather not.”

“What?”

“Those were feats I could only accomplish because I never showed anyone how I did them. If this matter forces you to suspect me, then so be it.”

“Even if you are accused of being a spy?”

I purposefully held my head high, keeping my expression calm.

“Did you not personally settle the doubts directed at me, Grand Strategist?”

“I can withdraw my word at any moment.”

“If you intended to do so, you wouldn’t have spoken those words to begin with.”

The corners of Jegal So-myeong’s eyes twitched.

It was a look I recognized well.

The look that screams, “What kind of monster is this?”

“I have many foes. I must bury my cards again and again just to keep pace with them.”

“…….”

After I delivered that line, Jegal So-myeong seemed unable to process any further, and he pressed his fingers hard into his temples.

The balance had shifted in my favor.

Now, it was my turn to turn the screws on him.

“So, what compensation will you offer us?”

“What?”

They said the cognitive capacity of geniuses like Jegal So-myeong far exceeded the average person, but even they had human limits.

I needed to keep overwhelming him with things to ponder so he could no longer afford to suspect me.

Besides, I genuinely needed some compensation.

My hand was aching significantly.

I leaned forward and asked, “Did our delegation not clean up the mess Jegal Jeong-gi caused?”

“……Technically, the Academy Head was present with you.”

“I’m not sure if you’re aware, but Senior Brother Buk is a Lay Disciple of our Taeul Sect. In that light, he is connected to our delegation in every possible way.”

“Grr…….”

I intentionally increased my pace of speaking.

“Was this not an incident where a rare, ultimate formation—the Two Principles Eight Trigrams Myriad Phenomena Formation—nearly claimed the lives of nearly a hundred people? Surely, you cannot simply let this slide. Am I wrong?”

“It was seventy-eight people.”

“Don’t people usually round numbers up in these situations?”

Jegal So-myeong let out a sharp laugh, finding it absurd, before asking,

“……What do you want?”

Naturally, I wanted something so complex it would make his head spin.

I clasped my hands together and rubbed them slowly.

“How much were you prepared to offer?”

“…….”

The corners of Jegal So-myeong’s eyes twitched once more.

—

The moment Jegal So-myeong stepped into Mantongbu, he felt a strange shift in the air.

Was the atmosphere heavier than usual?

Typically, Maeng Ju-won would cling to him, whining and complaining whenever he returned from field work, but today, he offered a polite greeting.

“You have returned, Grand Strategist.”

“What is this? Did you take some medicine?”

Even at the reprimand, Maeng Ju-won did not even frown.

“……Why would you say such a thing? Is it not only natural for a member of Mantongbu to greet the head of the department?”

“What…… is wrong with you?”

He scanned the other employees, but they were all in a similar state to Maeng Ju-won.

Now that he thought about it, even the interior of the office, which was usually on the verge of chaos, was remarkably tidy.

‘What is this? Did they all lose their minds together?’

His head was already aching, and with these people acting so strangely, his mood turned sour.

But then.

“You have arrived?”

“Huh?”

When he walked into his office, an even more bizarre sight greeted him.

Hyeok Mu-gang was sitting there, sipping tea.

It instantly explained why the employees of Mantongbu were behaving so out of character.

“Grand Strategist…… Shall I prepare some tea for you?”

When he looked at Maeng Ju-won, who was asking politely, the man was subtly shaking his head.

His intent was clear.

He wanted him to usher the Alliance Leader out.

Jegal So-myeong nodded broadly.

“Yes, we have a long discussion ahead, so brew about three pots of tea.”

An expression of panic flashed across Maeng Ju-won’s face.

“……Th-then, would you prefer to go to a tea house near the Alliance building?”

“Oh? How could we justify spending the Murim Alliance’s precious funds—where every coin must be conserved—at such a wasteful establishment?”

As if seeking validation, Jegal So-myeong turned his gaze toward Hyeok Mu-gang.

“I am certain the Alliance Leader would prefer to drink here rather than venture out. Isn’t that right?”

“I don’t mind.”

Maeng Ju-won’s face crumpled in dismay, and he retreated.

Jegal So-myeong clicked his tongue in disbelief.

“Hmph! You useless bastards. So the Alliance Leader is intimidating, but I am not, is that it?”

Hyeok Mu-gang, who had been observing, tilted his head.

“What are you implying?”

“Nothing. More importantly, why did you come all the way here? I told you I would come to see you.”

“How could someone who eats and plays all day in the Alliance Leader’s Hall summon a busy man back and forth? I decided to come here myself.”

“…….”

How wonderful it would be if he behaved this way during his regular duties.

The issue was that Hyeok Mu-gang only bothered to move his heavy backside for matters that deeply piqued his interest.

This was not the first time he had shown such intense curiosity, but……

‘Somehow, he seems even more captivated than when the topic was Yong So-ah or Il-myeong.’

Before the tea even arrived, Hyeok Mu-gang’s face was glowing with anticipation.

“How did it go? Was he a spy, just as you suspected?”

Jegal So-myeong remarked while observing the Alliance Leader, who looked as excited as a schoolboy.

“One might think you were hoping he was a spy.”

“That couldn’t be further from the truth!”

Jegal So-myeong sighed deeply.

“Your prediction was accurate, Alliance Leader. He appears to possess a martial art related to concealment.”

“Ha ha! Is that really true?!”

Hyeok Mu-gang burst into a hearty laugh, unable to contain his glee.

“This is not the time to be laughing. It means the Heavenly Eye Pavilion has been compromised.”

The Two Principles Eight Trigrams Myriad Phenomena Formation was a secret guarded jealously by the Murim Alliance.

Even with the Jegal Clan’s tight security, there was no way the Alliance would have stood by and done nothing.

Hyeok Mu-gang nodded.

“He is a child who retrieved the Young Cult Master’s head from the heart of the Blood Cult’s ranks. The Heavenly Eye Pavilion would have certainly struggled to track him.”

“Hoo…….”

“In any case, we have once again confirmed that the Murim Alliance possesses excellent talent, so why are you sighing?”

At that inquiry, Jegal So-myeong groaned.

“Because he is exceptional in a rather peculiar manner.”

“A peculiar manner?”

Jegal So-myeong nodded and continued.

“I lied to our clan’s Formation Masters right in front of him. The fellow mirrored his lie to mine on the spot without a second of hesitation.”

One would have expected him to show even a flicker of anxiety, but he displayed absolutely nothing.

Even Jegal So-myeong, who was listening, had almost believed he had genuinely heard such a story from Cheon-gi.

“Moreover, even when I dismissed the others and applied pressure, he did not utter a single word regarding his concealment martial arts until the very end.”

“He is a youth with remarkable nerves.”

“I cannot determine if he possesses supreme self-assurance or if he is simply incredibly quick-witted.”

“Hmm…….”

“Usually, a rising star has some element of innocence, some aspect not yet tainted by the world. But that boy has none of that. At times, it feels as if I am dealing with an ancient monster from the Black Path.”

Hyeok Mu-gang nodded.

“In that regard, the Four Emperors Peak Lord truly bestowed upon him a fitting alias.”

“He did indeed.”

A dragon was a dragon, but a black dragon.

Unlike other dragons that cultivated the Tao in peaceful mountains for the sake of a single wish-granting jewel, this black dragon had achieved the Tao through fierce battles in treacherous waters.

Why did the image of a massive black dragon suddenly manifest in his mind, clutching the corpse of an Azure Dragon in one hand and the remains of a phoenix in the other?

“Are you not worried, Alliance Leader?”

“Well.”

Hyeok Mu-gang stroked his chin with a finger.

“If that child were acting solely for his own benefit, would he have caught my eye or the Grand Strategist’s from the start?”

“……Tsk. That is true.”

This incident alone served as proof.

If he hadn’t wanted to be caught secretly investigating the Two Principles Eight Trigrams Myriad Phenomena Formation, the wisest choice would have been to avoid stepping forward to assist the Orthodox Path Association entirely.

Furthermore, was the Orthodox Path Association not the very group that had threatened Jin So-un’s delegation?

Had Jegal So-myeong been in Jin So-un’s shoes, he certainly would not have lifted a finger to aid them.

“His methods may be unrefined, but was that not merely to compensate for his humble origins?”

A flower raised in a greenhouse blooms effortlessly, but it is fragile against the elements.

A weed grown in the wild does not bloom easily, yet it remains unbroken even in the strongest storms.

Jegal So-myeong understood well how brilliantly such a wildflower shone when it finally bloomed.

“Now that we are certain his martial arts are of that caliber, we can fulfill the request of the Four Emperors Peak Lord.”

Jegal So-myeong, after mulling over Hyeok Mu-gang’s question, nodded.

“Well……. It wasn’t a situation where anything catastrophic would have occurred anyway.”

Even if something serious had happened, he couldn’t imagine that boy being caught by a simple trick.

“That is truly fortunate. I was wondering how I should refuse when he requested that we send a mere academy student as an envoy. Had we not originally considered sending the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly or the Seven Stars?”

“That is true. The Four Emperors Peak Lord is a piece of work himself. No matter what, asking us to send Jin So-un—has he lost his mind? Even if we do owe him a debt for the Blood Cult incident!”

“At least it is fortunate, isn’t it?”

“It is not fortunate!”

“Mm?”

At Jegal So-myeong’s firm declaration, Hyeok Mu-gang lifted his head.

“I believe you will need to unlock the Treasury.”

“Mm? What do you mean……”

“Ah, and you will also need to pull some budget from the Alliance Leader’s Hall.”

“No, wait, wait. What does that mean……”

“Because that bastard Jin So-un has submitted an expensive invoice regarding this matter.”

Jegal So-myeong produced a sheet of paper from his robe and placed it firmly on the table.

Hyeok Mu-gang gazed at the list, his mouth hanging open.

“No, why would this……”

“I had no choice. I lost, in the end. If you feel so aggrieved, Alliance Leader, you are welcome to go and negotiate with him yourself.”

“…….”

Yes, even if that brat went there, there was no great need to fret.

Anyone capable of fleecing the Grand Strategist of the Murim Alliance would not return after being stabbed in the back by a few commoners from the Black Path.

“Damned bastard…….”

With a curse whose target remained ambiguous, Jegal So-myeong sought to soothe his bitter insides.