Chapter 496

Unhwi looked at Yang Uiji.

Yang Uiji was fiercely proud. But when it came to a duty entrusted to her by the Heavenly Wayfarer, she knew how to set that pride aside. Her loyalty to the Heavenly Wayfarer outweighed it.

The order to protect Viper Valley must have come from him.

To carry out that order, she had bowed her head to a Blood Heaven Arbiter she did not acknowledge.

That was the kind of woman Yang Uiji was.

Unhwi spoke.

“Valley Master.”

“Yes.”

“Raise your head.”

Yang Uiji raised her head.

Unhwi spoke evenly.

“This is not something for you to bow your head over.”

“......”

“You are the master of Viper Valley, and you made a decision to protect Viper Valley. That is not shameful. It was the right thing to do. Much less something that should wound your pride.”

Yang Uiji’s eyes trembled almost imperceptibly.

“The Heavenly Wayfarer must also have had a reason for placing you in this position.”

“......”

“It could not have been merely because you were renowned as the Poison Marquis Witch, nor because you had served as a protector or an elder. He must have judged that you were someone capable of protecting Viper Valley without fail.”

“......”

“And you are proving for yourself that his judgment was not mistaken.”

Yang Uiji stared at Unhwi.

For a long while.

Her gaze had changed.

Until now, the eyes that had acknowledged him only halfway...

Had tilted a little.

Just a little.

Further in his favor.

“......Thank you.”

Her voice was low.

Unhwi rose from his seat.

“I will meet Heo Jinsa.”

“Now?”

“There is no reason to delay.”

At Unhwi’s resolute answer, Yang Uiji also rose.

“I will guide you.”

“Before that, I have one more question.”

“Go ahead.”

“What is Heo Jinsa’s realm?”

“Early Unity of Heaven and Man.”

“Among the thirty or so who follow him, what is the highest realm?”

“Two of them are at late Unity of Heaven and Man.”

Unhwi nodded.

“I can handle them alone. You need only remain behind me.”

Yang Uiji looked at Unhwi.

He could handle them.

There was clearly a basis for those words.

***

Yang Uiji walked ahead.

Unhwi followed.

Deeper into Viper Valley.

The valley narrowed. The cliffs on either side rose higher. The strip of sky grew thinner. The path continued between moss-covered rocks.

Martial artists of Viper Valley came into view.

Whenever Yang Uiji passed, they made fist salutes.

But their eyes were directed at Unhwi.

Wariness.

Not quite hostility, but certainly not welcome.

Unhwi paid it no mind.

He asked as they walked.

“Where is Heo Jinsa’s residence?”

“South-Facing Pavilion. It stands at the southern end of the valley.”

“Is he there now?”

“He should be. I have people watching it.”

“Watching it......”

“......He has probably noticed.”

Unhwi nodded.

“Then he will be preparing.”

“......Preparing for what?”

“Either escape or resistance.”

Yang Uiji looked at Unhwi as he spoke.

“What do you intend to do?”

Unhwi considered for a moment.

“Valley Master.”

“Yes.”

“Gather every martial artist in Viper Valley before South-Facing Pavilion.”

Yang Uiji’s eyes widened.

“......Every one of them?”

“Every one.”

“Including Heo Jinsa’s people?”

“Yes.”

“......Then Heo Jinsa will become wary.”

“He should.”

Unhwi spoke calmly.

“More precisely, we must make him wary.”

“......What do you mean?”

“We cannot give him a chance to escape. But we cannot capture him from the shadows either.”

Unhwi continued.

“He must be dealt with before all of Viper Valley.”

Yang Uiji understood.

That was what it meant to deal with him in the name of the Blood Heaven Arbiter.

If he were eliminated in secret, rumors would spread. Rumors that the valley master had assassinated the vice master. Cheon Saeum’s former subordinates would then resist. They would have justification.

But it would be different if his crimes were exposed and he was executed before everyone.

By order of the Blood Heaven Sect.

Under the authority of the Blood Heaven Arbiter.

Who could resist that? It would eliminate the very justification for resistance in the first place.

Yang Uiji nodded.

“......Understood. I will do as you say.”

“How much time do you need?”

“One hour will be enough.”

“Then I will meet you before South-Facing Pavilion in one hour.”

Yang Uiji turned.

She walked away quickly.

Unhwi was left alone.

Within the valley.

The wind blew.

A damp wind.

Unhwi looked around.

Viper Valley.

He had visited several times in his previous life. After Cheon Saeum’s death. After Yang Uiji became valley master. After many years had passed and his relationship with Yang Uiji had improved.

The Viper Valley of that time had been far more orderly than it was now.

It was a Viper Valley Yang Uiji had refined over the course of decades.

This was before then.

This was a Viper Valley where Cheon Saeum’s shadow still remained.

Time to set it in order.

Unhwi walked slowly toward South-Facing Pavilion.

***

One hour later.

The martial artists of Viper Valley had gathered in the broad courtyard before South-Facing Pavilion.

Over a hundred of them.

It was not everyone. The guards and those stationed at the outlying posts had been excluded. But every essential member was present.

They murmured among themselves.

“Why were we summoned so suddenly?”

“I heard it was the valley master’s order.”

“Isn’t the Blood Heaven Arbiter here?”

“The Blood Heaven Arbiter? That monster is here? Why?”

Uneasy faces could be seen.

Especially among one group.

They stood together on the right side of the courtyard.

More than thirty people.

A slight distance separated them from the other martial artists. Their expressions were different. Not anxiety, but vigilance. They exchanged looks and signals among themselves.

Cheon Saeum’s former subordinates.

Heo Jinsa’s people.

Heo Jinsa stood at their center.

A man in his early forties.

He had a thin frame and long fingers—the distinctive hands of a man who handled poison. His eyes were dark and sinister. Anxiety and calculation turned together within their deep sockets.

Two men stood beside him.

One was large, with broad shoulders and a thick neck. The energy of late Unity of Heaven and Man flowed from his body.

Go Hwak.

A former bodyguard of Cheon Saeum.

The other was a short, thin man. His eyes were quick, constantly sweeping over their surroundings. He too was at late Unity of Heaven and Man.

Eom Dusik.

The man who had once managed Cheon Saeum’s intelligence.

These two formed the core of Heo Jinsa’s fighting strength.

Yang Uiji stood at the front of the courtyard.

She watched the martial artists.

A single chair had been placed beside her.

It was empty.

Then—

Footsteps sounded from the rear of the courtyard.

Everyone turned.

Unhwi was walking toward them.

Slowly.

A black robe. A single sword at his waist.

His face was young.

He looked to be in his late ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) teens.

But there was something different about the way he walked.

There was weight to it.

Even beneath the gazes of more than a hundred people, he did not so much as blink.

He crossed the center of the courtyard and walked to the front.

He reached the chair beside Yang Uiji.

He did not sit.

He stood there.

His gaze swept across the courtyard.

One person at a time.

Slowly.

Then he spoke.

“I am Seol Unhwi, the Blood Heaven Arbiter.”

His voice filled the courtyard.

It was not loud.

But it was clear.

Internal energy carried it, allowing even those at the far end of the courtyard to hear every word distinctly.

“I have come because a matter has arisen in Viper Valley.”

The murmuring stopped.

More than a hundred people fell silent.

Unhwi continued.

“Vice Master Heo Jinsa.”

Heo Jinsa’s body stiffened slightly.

“Step forward.”

Silence.

Heo Jinsa did not move.

Go Hwak and Eom Dusik looked at him.

Heo Jinsa spoke.

“......It is an honor to have the Blood Heaven Arbiter visit Viper Valley.”

His voice was remarkably composed.

But his eyes shifted uneasily.

“May I ask what brings you here?”

“I told you to step forward.”

Unhwi’s voice did not change.

It remained calm.

Yet within that calm was a weight that could not be refused.

Heo Jinsa did not move.

One beat.

Two.

Unhwi spoke.

“I will not say it twice.”

Energy flowed from him.

It was faint.

But every martial artist in the courtyard felt the air change.

The temperature fell.

Cold energy.

The cold energy flowing from Unhwi swept across the entire courtyard.

Viper Valley’s damp air froze. Frost spread across the moss on the ground. White breath rose from the martial artists’ mouths.

Heo Jinsa’s face turned pale.

He took one step forward.

Then another.

Then a third.

He stopped in the center of the courtyard.

Roughly fifty feet from Unhwi.

“......I have stepped forward.”

Unhwi looked at Heo Jinsa.

“Heo Jinsa.”

“Yes.”

“What were you doing in the abandoned mine south of Viper Valley?”

The courtyard erupted into murmurs.

Heo Jinsa’s eyes shook.

“......I do not know what you mean.”

“I will ask only once more.”

Unhwi’s eyes turned cold.

“What were you doing in the abandoned mine?”

Heo Jinsa closed his mouth.

His eyes moved quickly.

Go Hwak to his left.

Eom Dusik to his right.

The thirty or so followers behind him.

He was calculating.

Unhwi could read it.

Heo Jinsa must already understand that escape is impossible.

That left him only a few choices.

Denial.

Or justification.

Heo Jinsa spoke.

“......I was conducting research.”

“Research.”

“Yes. I was continuing the research my master left behind......”

“By your master, do you mean the former vice master, Cheon Saeum?”

The corner of Heo Jinsa’s mouth twitched slightly.

“......Yes.”

“The Heavenly Wayfarer personally executed Cheon Saeum.”

The courtyard fell silent.

Everyone knew it.

But hearing it from the Blood Heaven Arbiter gave the fact a different weight.

“Do you know why he was executed?”

“......”

“Because he used living people in his experiments.”

Unhwi continued.

“Commoners. Even pregnant women.”

Murmurs spread.

A commotion ran through the martial artists of Viper Valley. Some had known of Cheon Saeum’s atrocities, while others had not. Those who knew lowered their heads. Those who did not widened their eyes.

Unhwi continued.

“The former vice master, Cheon Saeum, and the valley master, Seon Yangbaek, were executed for those crimes. And the moment the Poison Marquis Witch here assumed her position as valley master, she sealed his laboratory.”

He looked at Yang Uiji.

Yang Uiji nodded.

“And yet, Heo Jinsa, you eventually broke that seal.”

“......”

“Seven people were discovered in the abandoned mine. Commoners who had disappeared from nearby villages.”

“......”

“Five were already dead. Two were still alive, but their bodies had been destroyed.”

Unhwi’s voice lowered.

“Is this what you call research?”

Heo Jinsa’s face twisted.

“......You do not understand, Blood Heaven Arbiter.”

“What do I not understand?”

“What my master’s research was meant to accomplish!”

Heo Jinsa shouted.

The courtyard fell silent.

His eyes were bloodshot.

“My master studied the ultimate limits of poison! How the human body reacts to poison, how poison affects the blood and meridians—we must understand those things before we can develop antidotes or create new poisons!”

“......”

“What is Viper Valley? It is a valley of those who wield poison! Is it wrong for us to study poison?”

“I did not say the research itself was wrong.”

Unhwi spoke calmly.

“I said using living people as test subjects was wrong.”

“That was......”

“They were not animals. They were not corpses. They were living people.”

“......”

“And they were commoners. Not martial artists. Not enemies. People with no power whatsoever.”

Unhwi’s voice dropped even lower.

“That is why Cheon Saeum died.”

“My master was unjustly killed!” Heo Jinsa shouted.