Chapter 321

A violent chill crawled up Wang Sosam’s spine.

Unloading cargo from a ship in the dead of night was dangerous and difficult.

Unloading people was not.

Even with the vessels anchored out on the river, all they had to do was ferry people ashore in small boats.

And those small boats must have cut the lines to my net floats as they passed.

The moment all his questions fell into place, Wang Sosam felt an even deeper dread.

The waterlines of every merchant vessel had risen by an entire handspan.

That meant an enormous number of people had disembarked from those ships.

In the middle of the night.

Without anyone knowing.

The Martial Alliance’s patrol boats had been circling the outer perimeter of the anchored merchant fleet, so there was no reason they would have noticed.

“Old Wang, you figured it out sooner than I expected.”

Seeing Wang Sosam’s eyes widen sharply, Goncheon Corps Commander Geum Yulcheok gave a slight shake of his head.

“I knew an old man who’d spent his life on the river would work it out eventually. Still, I suppose it’s better for you to know why you’re dying than to die without understanding a thing.”

“Ah...!”

The instant Wang Sosam realized his fate and let out a groan of despair, Geum Yulcheok drew his blue-glinting blade.

SHING!

“Old Wang, there’s no need to answer my final question.”

WHOOSH!

THUNK!

Wang Sosam felt a cool breeze brush past his neck.

As the entire world spun around him, he heard the Corps Commander’s voice.

“That brief hesitation already answered it for me.”

As the light of the world rapidly faded, another question occurred to Wang Sosam.

How had the Goncheon Corps Commander of the Martial Alliance found him?

And why was he killing him?

Fortunately—or perhaps not—he managed to solve the first question before consciousness left him.

Guard Kang told the Goncheon Corps Commander!

But Wang Sosam never found the answer to the second.

CLANG!

CLACK-CLACK!

Wang Sosam’s severed head struck one of the rocks beside the dock and rolled into his small boat.

“So even now you find your way back to your beloved boat. What a stubborn old man. In that case, take the rest of yourself with you.”

Geum Yulcheok made a casual gesture, and Wang Sosam’s body rolled into the boat as well.

THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

Geum Yulcheok stabbed three holes through the bottom of the small boat, then pushed it out toward the middle of the Yangtze River.

SLOSH... SLOSH...

As he watched the boat drift toward midstream, slowly sinking beneath the water, a figure appeared behind him and dropped to one knee.

Without turning around, Geum Yulcheok said, “You heard everything, so you know what needs to be done.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“If we don’t want suspicion falling on the Great Flame Merchant House’s ships, we can’t have a commotion this early. Deal quietly with the man called Wholesaler Jeon and no one else. I’ll arrange matters so it appears he was killed by an assassin sent by a rival wholesaler.”

“By your command!”

*****

CLATTER. TAP.

When Kwak Yeon set down his wooden spoon, Taoist Cheongmu looked at him with concern.

“Little Martial Uncle! Why did you stop eating?”

Kwak Yeon had taken only a few spoonfuls, so the dried-ration porridge in his iron bowl was barely diminished.

“Why? Does it taste fishy? I didn’t put a mole cricket in this time...”

Hu Gae, seated a couple of steps away, abruptly spoke up.

“Taoist Cheongmu, the thing you put in the pot the day before yesterday wasn’t a mole cricket. It was a scorpion.”

Taoist Cheongmu whipped his head around and snapped, “I know that now. A scorpion!”

“...”

“I just misspoke.”

Hu Gae gave a quiet sigh and shook his head.

Kwak Yeon quickly intervened.

“Brother Cheongmu, the porridge doesn’t taste fishy at all.”

“Oh, really? Then why did you stop eating?”

“I’m just not very hungry right now. I’d like to finish it later. Would that be all right?”

Taoist Cheongmu nodded reluctantly.

“All right. You shouldn’t force yourself and upset your stomach. I’ll warm it up for you later.”

Taoist Cheongmu picked up the pot and headed toward the campfire.

Kwak Yeon rose as well.

“...?”

Hu Gae looked at him questioningly.

“Brother, I’d like you and Taoist Cheongmu to remain here a little longer. I have an honored guest to meet.”

“An honored guest?”

Hu Gae followed Kwak Yeon’s gaze toward the tunnel connected to the inner cavern and immediately had a rough idea who he meant.

Kwak Yeon would hardly call Jin Cheongha an honored guest.

So it had to be one of the Eight Demonic Venerables.

Hu Gae had no idea how Kwak Yeon had sensed the visitor’s approach, but that was clearly why he had suddenly stopped eating.

“Fine. I’ll keep a close watch on Taoist Cheongmu—no, I mean, I’ll take good care of him. Don’t worry about anything here. Go on.”

“Thank you.”

Hu Gae tilted his head as he watched Kwak Yeon walk deeper into the cave.

Kwak Yeon had told him that the Eight Demonic Venerables were sitting in their cave niches as motionless as stone statues.

Did one of them suddenly feel guilty and come looking for him?

Whatever the reason, even one of the Eight Demonic Venerables showing some reaction was a good sign.

Looks like Sister Jin’s efforts weren’t wasted after all. Wait. Then...!

A thought suddenly struck Hu Gae.

Jin Cheongha’s grandfather—

Jin Gwanho, Ghost-Hand Demon Venerable of Ghost Night Castle.

Unlike the other Venerables, Jin Gwanho had been reunited with his granddaughter.

He could hardly keep pretending to be a corpse forever.

Just as Hu Gae had guessed, the man who had come looking for Kwak Yeon was Jin Gwanho, Ghost-Hand Demon Venerable and former Castle Lord of Ghost Night Castle.

He stood immersed in the dense darkness of the tunnel leading from the inner cavern, but Kwak Yeon’s eyesight had grown far sharper along with his cultivation, and he recognized him without difficulty.

“Kwak Yeon, Chief Secretary of the Martial Alliance, greets the Great Castle Lord.”

“...”

“If you had something to say, you need only have summoned me. There was no reason for you to come all this way yourself.”

“What sort of absurd nonsense is that?”

A sharp voice suddenly scraped through the tunnel.

“...?”

Though puzzled by the unexpected rebuke, Kwak Yeon also felt a sense of relief.

How long had he waited to hear this voice?

“You expect me to summon the man who saved me so that I can thank him? Even those of us from the Demonic Eight Divisions possess some sense of propriety.”

“...!”

“Anyway... thank you.”

From an ordinary person, those words might have passed without much significance.

Coming from one of the Eight Demonic Venerables, they carried far greater weight.

“I heard everything that happened from the Young Castle Lord. She said she survived safely because you looked after her, Taoist Kwak.”

“That would be overstating it. I also received a great deal of help from the Young Castle Lord. I would say we helped each other.”

Jin Gwanho stared at Kwak Yeon for a while, then let out a quiet sigh.

“All this time, this old man prided himself on having reached the very extreme of the demonic path. Yet today I realized I was nothing more than an ordinary man still clinging to the affections of blood and kin.”

“...”

“The moment I saw that child’s tears, the resolve I thought unshakable simply collapsed on its own.”

Kwak Yeon grew solemn at the Demonic Venerable’s self-reflection.

“Haa... Having gone from a ghost back to a living man, I suppose I ought to behave like one. But after cultivating demonic qi my entire life, rough words came out before thanks did.”

“I took no offense whatsoever, Great Castle Lord. Please do not concern yourself with it.”

Jin Gwanho gave him a thoroughly dissatisfied look.

“How does someone so young manage to sound as though mold is growing in his mouth? No one would ever mistake you for anything but a Taoist from Mount Wudang. Tsk, tsk.”

After clicking his tongue, Jin Gwanho continued.

“On a personal level, I am grateful to you. Unfortunately, I have little that would serve as proper repayment. Yet as one of the Eight Demonic Venerables, I cannot submit to the orthodox martial world merely because ordinary human feelings tug at me.”

Kwak Yeon gave a clasped-hands bow.

“As I said before, when I chose to accompany the Young Castle Lord, I did not harbor even the slightest hope that you would do so in return.”

Jin Gwanho studied him deeply.

“Regardless, it remains true that my blood descendant received your help. I cannot simply leave that debt unanswered.”

“...”

“Our martial foundations differ, but if any of my signature techniques interest you, I am willing to teach them without reservation.”

For a martial artist, passing down one’s unique martial arts was a repayment greater than surrendering one’s own life.

That alone showed how sincere Jin Gwanho’s gratitude was for the care Kwak Yeon had given his granddaughter.

“I am deeply grateful for your regard, Great Castle Lord. To offer me one of the consummate martial arts of the realm is an honor beyond words. However, I am a disciple of the Taoist-immortal line, so I can only accept the sentiment behind your offer.”

Jin Gwanho’s expression turned cold in an instant.

“How can someone so young be this hopelessly old-fashioned? What is so wonderful about being a Taoist on Mount Wudang? Tsk!”

His words were harsh, but Kwak Yeon could hear the deep disappointment behind them.

He lowered his head quietly.

“Then please allow me to receive your repayment in another form. I would like to ask {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} you one question.”

Jin Gwanho nodded.

“Very well. Let me hear what question could possibly matter enough for you to place it above my unique martial arts.”

With permission granted, Kwak Yeon asked the question he had been pondering all this time.

“Do you know of any way to rouse the other Venerables into action?”

“...!”

Jin Gwanho stared at him for a moment, then narrowed his eyes.

“Do you intend to keep forcing that absurd request for our signatures on the Righteous Heaven Banner upon me and the other Venerables until the bitter end? Give it up. The Venerables of the Demonic Eight Divisions are not moved in the slightest by some paltry debt incurred because you saved our lives.”

Kwak Yeon nodded readily.

“I know. Neither human feeling, gratitude, nor any other offer will move the Venerables’ hearts.”

“Then you should simply abandon the matter. Why ask me about a method that does not exist?”

“Because you are also a Demonic Venerable, Great Castle Lord.”

“...!”

“There is no fortress without a gate, is there? I simply believe I have yet to find that gate.”

“No fortress without a gate... Cheongha told me you would never give up, and she was right. Hah!”

Jin Gwanho let out a low exclamation, then asked, “Why are you so persistent? Is obeying the Martial Alliance Leader’s command truly that important to you?”

“Forgive me, but I did not come here under the Alliance Leader’s orders.”

“...?”

“I am following the dying wish of my late master, who told me to sweep away the evil energy disturbing the realm.”

“Who was your master?”

“Unseon Taoist of Samryeong Palace on Mount Wudang.”

Jin Gwanho’s eyes widened.

“I heard long ago that a Companion Immortal on Samryeong Peak could read the secrets of heaven. It seems he finally completed the immortal path and attained ascension.”

“He did.”

For a moment, the atmosphere inside the tunnel grew solemn.

To Unseon Taoist himself, it might have been ascension.

To those left behind, it was still the eternal loss called death.

Jin Gwanho broke the silence of mourning.

“To use your metaphor, there is indeed one gate.”

Kwak Yeon’s eyes lit up.

But Jin Gwanho slowly shook his head.

“That gate closed a very long time ago. No... it would be more accurate to say it was sealed completely.”

“...?”

“Even so, if you still wish to hear about it, I will tell you.”