Chapter 139: Chapter 139

At the declaration of going to see an elder immediately, Yang Goeng hurriedly raised both hands with palms facing out to stop Jang Geon.

“W-wait! Calm down for a second, Brother Jang! You must not know who Elder Bae Yang-o is, but he is the power of powers within the Council of Elders! When the elders of the Council of Elders gather, he sits in the center presiding over the meeting, and if the Council of Elders goes somewhere, he is the man taking the lead at the very front!”

Yang Goeng continued speaking, gesturing with his eyes toward Jeok Se-in beside him as if telling her to come to her senses as well.

“And what do you intend to ask when you go see him? Do you plan to ask why he was receiving Harmonizing Heat Ginseng as a gift every month? Then what would that man say? He’d just say he took it because someone gave it to him as a gift!”

“Then we will be able to find out who gave that gift.”

At Jang Geon’s indifferent tone, cold sweat trickled down Yang Goeng’s neck.

“Th-that is true, but…”

“You were the one who said he received gifts. Then do you know who gave them too?”

“Even I don’t know that far… I just found out that the person in charge of Elder Bae’s quarters brews a Harmonizing Heat Ginseng decoction every month…”

“Then we must go and ask.”

Yang Goeng fluttered his lips, looking back and forth between Jang Geon and Jeok Se-in, before finally dropping his head and slumping his shoulders.

“…Fine, let’s go. What does a Murim Alliance elder or whatever matter? Screw it, thanks to you I’ve even seen the Alliance Leader’s face, so let’s see an elder too. Damn it.”

At Yang Goeng’s reaction, Jang Geon smirked, placed a hand on his shoulder, and patted him lightly as if offering encouragement. When Yang Goeng raised his head with puzzled eyes at that touch, Jang Geon looked him in the face and spoke.

“What are you doing? Lead the way.”

“Huh? Me? Wouldn’t Patrol Member Jeok know the Murim Alliance better? Why must I…”

Yang Goeng forced an ambiguous smile and stole a glance at Jeok Se-in. However, she was already glaring at him with narrowed eyes and a coldly frozen expression. Having realized that he couldn’t just brush things under the rug the moment he traversed the Murim Alliance alone and returned, Yang Goeng let out a deep sigh and nodded.

“…Let’s go, then.”

Watching Yang Goeng take the lead like that, Jeok Se-in muttered.

“The internal building layout of the Murim Alliance has already been completely compromised… This is a matter worthy of lodging a formal complaint to the Imperial Army.”

Naturally hearing that muttering, Yang Goeng put on a vacant expression as if he no longer cared about anything. Just as she had said, if the Murim Alliance truly took the Dark Dragon Squad issue seriously and clashed with the Imperial Army, it would do no good for the Dark Dragon Squad agents.

That was because the Imperial Army, which had maintained close cooperation with the local Murim Alliance all this time, might choose to cover up the issue by using a few Dark Dragon Squad agents as scapegoats rather than ruining relations with the Murim Alliance. Even in the best-case scenario, it was safe to say the current operation to grasp internal movements within the Murim Alliance was completely ruined.

Watching Yang Goeng, Jang Geon spoke.

“Look on the bright side. If you catch demonic persons, you can make up for it with that merit.”

“…Do you truly believe demonic persons of the Demonic Palace are operating within the Murim Alliance?”

“Then do you think it’s normal for the Murim Alliance to show such a lukewarm attitude after an assassination attempt took place in the streets of New Sichuan just a few days ago?”

Hearing those words, Yang Goeng pondered for a moment, nodded as if finding it plausible, and soon wiped away his frivolous demeanor to adopt a firm expression. Having exposed the Dark Dragon Squad to Jeok Se-in, he realized that in order to preserve his own life, he had to move seriously toward digging up information on the Demonic Palace.

If he had simply kept his distance from Jang Geon in the Reception Hall, there would have been no problem, but poking his nose around needlessly out of curiosity had brought about this disaster. Thinking so, Yang Goeng trudged forward taking the lead, feeling as though tears were about to well up.

Elder Bae Yang-o’s office was not far from the Medical Hall. Jang Geon could sense that through the gazes around them.

As if the incident at the prison before entering the Alliance Leader’s Office had spread in the meantime, the alliance members who saw them coming and going cast complex glances mixed with astonishment, curiosity, and hostility. There were even people who stopped in their tracks to murmur while watching them.

Sensing those stares as well, Jeok Se-in walked alongside Jang Geon and muttered.

“…I don’t know if this is wise.”

“Why? Does it feel like walking straight into a tiger’s jaws?”

“Exactly that. As you know, Elder Bae is Bae Won-chan’s uncle… Having humiliated his nephew like that just a short while ago, who knows how he will react. He might even act emotionally out of personal spite.”

However, Jang Geon spoke calmly without the slightest excitement or tension.

“We’ll have to see who the tiger is.”

Seeing Jang Geon’s composure, Jeok Se-in wondered whether it was because he had confidence in his martial arts or because he was originally such a person. Perhaps it was both. Thus, she suddenly thought she should ask about the Soaring Green Eagle Squad, about which she had only harbored doubts until now. If Jang Geon was truly an expert capable of conducting a funeral for all of them, she felt she could somewhat understand his current confidence.

However, before her mouth could open, Yang Goeng’s steps taking the lead came to a halt.

“Alright, we’re here. Who will enter first? Surely I don’t have to lead the way here too, do I?”

Before the halted Yang Goeng stood a wall of moderate height and a main gate decorated with large roof tiles. Beside that main gate hung a signboard reading ‘Murim Alliance White Forest Department’, and right beyond that gate, a martial artist could be seen sitting with his chin propped on his hand at a desk and chair.

After briefly looking at each other, Jang Geon and Jeok Se-in walked inside with long strides. The martial artist who had been resting his chin blankly saw the two entering and spoke reflexively.

“Ah, Elder Bae is currently busy, so guests…”

However, the martial artist soon recognized Jeok Se-in’s face and clamped his mouth shut. She was a patrol member well known throughout the Alliance for the scars crisscrossing her face and her outstanding skill. It was impossible not to recognize her. Moreover, the incident where her party had humiliated Bae Won-chan less than half a day ago was already spreading inside the Alliance.

“Wh-what brings you here…?”

“I have questions for Elder Bae. Is he very busy?”

The martial artist stammered with a dumbfounded face for a moment, then sprang up from his chair.

“I will, I will go inside and ask! Please wait just a moment!”

Shouting that and leaving the three standing there, he scurried inside. Watching the martial artist from behind Jeok Se-in, Yang Goeng snickered and spoke.

“Must be a White Forest Sect martial artist? If he were an official Murim Alliance member, there’s no way he’d be that terrified of you.”

At those words, Jeok Se-in looked at Yang Goeng with sullen eyes in silence. It was a look that seemed to say shouldn’t you be the one afraid of me? Shrewdly catching that meaning, Yang Goeng avoided her eyes and took a step back.

After the three waited inside the gate for a short while, a group of people poured out from the inner quarters where the martial artist had run off. At the very front strode a man with a long beard who looked past middle age toward elderly years, and beside him followed the young man who had introduced himself as Bae Won-hyeong, half a step behind. Behind them could be seen about a dozen men, unsure whether they were White Forest Sect martial artists or Murim Alliance members.

The man who appeared to be Elder Bae Yang-o twitched an eyebrow in surprise upon confirming that Jeok Se-in had indeed come to see him.

Jeok Se-in took a step forward and cupped her fists toward them as they approached.

“I am Patrol Member Jeok Se-in.”

“…Pleased to meet you. I am Elder Bae Yang-o.”

“Since we are not in a relationship to sip tea and share idle chatter, I will get straight to the point, Elder Bae. You receive the medicinal herb called Harmonizing Heat Ginseng as a gift every month, do you not? May I know who you received that gift from?”

At her abrupt question, Bae Yang-o’s expression turned peculiar. And the faces of the martial artists behind him instantly flushed red and purple.

“Look here! What kind of talk is that, barging in out of nowhere? Are you interrogating the Elder right now?!”

“Such an attitude cannot be tolerated even if the Patrol Division submits a formal request and asks for a meeting! What are you playing at? Could it be you claim this is the Alliance Leader’s will…”

The martial artists shouted with reddened faces as though they were the ones insulted. However, those shouts subsided at once the moment Bae Yang-o lightly raised a hand. The sight was like watching trained hounds.

Having silenced the other martial artists with a single gesture, Bae Yang-o leisurely clasped his hands behind his back and stepped forward a little.

“Hmph. Yes, when I was young, I too moved according to where boiling blood led me. Sometimes it put me in greater difficulty, but in the end, there were more cases where charging forward with irresistible force turned the situation around. Procedures and etiquette are important, but they are not more important than resolving the problem.”

His hand naturally stroked his beard.

“The matter of your obstructing the Council of Elders’ orders has not yet been brought forward as an agenda, though disciplinary action is certain to follow. Regardless, you are still a patrol member of the Murim Alliance. The Patrol Division is the investigators of the Murim, the vanguard warriors of the Murim Alliance acting for justice. Therefore, if you are tracking a clue in a certain case, it is proper to answer your questions faithfully, even as an elder of the Alliance. However…”

Bae Yang-o’s eyes turned toward Jang Geon standing beside Jeok Se-in. He tilted his head slightly and continued speaking.

“To my knowledge, you are neither a patrol member nor an alliance member. Then are you merely acting as Patrol Member Jeok’s reinforcement? But the Murim Alliance is not a place where just anyone can roam as they please. If Patrol Member Jeok needs to resolve a problem, that is an affair to receive assistance from other alliance members, not a matter for outsiders to intervene in.”

His gaze was as though scolding someone without authority for brazenly being in a place they shouldn’t be. The other martial artists, excluding Bae Won-hyeong, also glared at Jang Geon with hostile eyes. However, while one might normally tremble under the collective stares of a dozen people, Jang Geon shrugged them off without any particular wavering.

Without a word, Jang Geon pulled out the Righteous Dragon Medallion received from the Alliance Leader and presented it.

“Wait, isn’t that?!”

“Heavens… It truly is the Alliance Leader’s will…”

“How could such an item be given to an outsider who isn’t even an alliance member?”

Unlike the shaken martial artists, Bae Yang-o widened his eyes upon seeing the sparkling Righteous Dragon Medallion, but soon regained his composure as if thinking something over. Then, nodding his head, he spoke.

“Yes, it seems the Alliance Leader has deep intentions. Very well. He must have his own thoughts. What was the question?”

“…I understand that you receive the medicinal herb called Harmonizing Heat Ginseng as a gift every month. Who gives you that gift?”

At Jeok Se-in’s follow-up question, Bae Yang-o stroked his beard again and nodded.

“Mhm. Harmonizing Heat Ginseng is an expensive herb, frequently brought by merchants or sects wishing to establish ties with me. But there is only one person who gifts it every month.”

Whether it was a habit when speaking of important matters, he closed his eyes and paused for a moment before continuing.

“…There is a merchant named Heo who procures New World herbs and trades them in the Central Plains. He possesses a large warehouse and residence at the pier. I received the Harmonizing Heat Ginseng as a gift from him.”

“We need a proper name. Who is this Merchant Heo?”

At Jeok Se-in’s persistent inquiry, the martial artists flared up again, but Bae Yang-o’s answer came faster.

“He is a merchant named Heo Seon-pung. As he is a merchant renowned for herb trading, you will easily find the warehouse if you look for him at the pier.”

“Thank you for your cooperation, Elder Bae… The matter regarding Patrol Member Bae Won-chan earlier was unavoidable.”

At Jeok Se-in cupping her fists and continuing her words, Bae Yang-o nodded as if understanding and waved his hand lightly to dismiss them.

“You may leave. Even though the Alliance Leader and the Council of Elders are at odds, please know that it too is for the sake of a better Murim Alliance.”

Seeing that gesture, Jeok Se-in turned around immediately, and Yang Goeng, who had already been halfway out the door, swiftly slipped out of the White Forest Department. Jang Geon, who was about to follow behind them, made eye contact at the last moment with Bae Won-hyeong, who had remained silent the entire time. Both exchanged inscrutable glances.

However, that encounter was fleeting, and the three soon exited the White Forest Department. Once they disappeared, the martial artists standing behind Bae Yang-o fell silent and watched his countenance.

Bae Yang-o quietly watched the main gate of the White Forest Department where they had disappeared, then spoke in a low voice.

“Who was the one who brewed my medicine?”

“…It is an ordinary servant.”

“A loose-lipped one.”

Without even specifying what to do, two martial artists who grasped his meaning bowed their heads and moved somewhere. The remaining martial artists kept their mouths shut in silence, as if awaiting Bae Yang-o’s next order.

Watching Bae Yang-o, whose gaze remained fixed on the main gate, Bae Won-hyeong asked quietly.

“Will it be alright? He holds the Righteous Dragon Medallion.”

“It doesn’t matter. The Alliance Leader must have anticipated it to some extent anyway. He seems to be trying to create a situation using that man Jang Geon’s death and the Righteous Dragon Medallion, but I cannot let it pass so easily. We must dispose of those young pups and move faster than the Alliance Leader to flip the board in one stroke. Go to the pier and confirm the conclusion. I must go personally to the one lying low.”

“…Yes.”

Bae Won-hyeong bowed his waist in reply, and Bae Yang-o strode straight toward the gate he had been glaring at, leaving the White Forest Department. The White Forest Department martial artists followed behind him. Straightening his waist and watching them, Bae Won-hyeong soon turned around. He had to take the back alleys to reach the pier warehouse before Jeok Se-in’s group.

* * *

Having obtained the clue from Bae Yang-o, the three swiftly exited the Murim Alliance. Along the way, there was an encounter and warning from the guard still blockading the main gate, but Jang Geon simply silenced him by flashing the Righteous Dragon Medallion.

“…That is a token condensing the justice of the Murim Alliance. I only pray you know its weight.”

Holding his long spear with his expression hidden under his bamboo hat, the guard merely said that much.

Exiting the Murim Alliance like that, the three immediately moved toward the New Sichuan pier. Since they would be navigating crowded streets, they did not ride horses. However, that did not mean there was no discomfort among the bustling crowds.

“Damn it all. Let’s just go a bit slower. That bastard Heo Seon-pung—no, not bastard. We don’t know yet. At any rate, would that Merchant Heo have prepared anything? It seems fine to just go slowly.”

Unlike Yang Goeng flailing amid the crowd, Jang Geon cut through people as if he were the wind itself, and Jeok Se-in also advanced smoothly without major collisions. Feeling a sigh escape at the two casually ignoring his words, Yang Goeng diligently followed behind. Only if something came out of this could he survive as well.

After passing through the crowded streets, they could now see laborers carrying goods and various merchants. They had arrived at the pier.

Looking around here and there, Jeok Se-in soon found someone she recognized, approached him, and asked about the merchant named Heo Seon-pung and his warehouse.

“Ah, there? It’s a warehouse whose owner changes often. That Merchant Heo is the current owner. Haven’t seen goods moving out recently, though.”

Having learned the location through the laborer’s explanation, the three were able to discover a large warehouse building in a secluded corner to the north of the pier. Other large and small warehouses stretched alongside it, but they all appeared deserted, as if originally used for long-term storage.

Looking at the surroundings, Yang Goeng spoke.

“Doesn’t this feel… a bit ominous?”

“Wouldn’t your future be even more ominous?”

Yang Goeng’s mouth fell open at Jang Geon’s joke, staring blankly at him. Ignoring Yang Goeng, Jang Geon strode toward the warehouse. The large door for bringing in goods was locked, but the small side door next to it had no special lock.

Approaching from the side, Jeok Se-in saw that too.

“It is indeed a strange warehouse. To be so lax while storing expensive medicinal herbs…”

“That’s what I’m saying! Isn’t this damn weird?!”

However, without any particular reaction, Jang Geon swung the door open and stepped inside. Jeok Se-in blinked at Jang Geon’s actions for a moment, then hurriedly followed behind him.

The inside of the warehouse was dim, with no lit torches or candles to be seen anywhere. It truly looked like a warehouse used merely to stack goods. Jeok Se-in and Yang Goeng grew cautious at that dimness and chill, but Jang Geon strode forward toward its very center without hesitation.

And the instant the other two, though flustered by Jang Geon’s demeanor, hurriedly followed behind him to stand in the middle of the warehouse, torches flared up along the second-floor railing and walkway built into the warehouse walls.

“Wh-what the fuck?!”

Startled, Yang Goeng and Jeok Se-in quickly drew their respective weapons. However, the figures holding torches and encircling the second-floor railing were already aiming bows and arrows at the three below.

“Dear me. I did not expect things to unfold like this. Patrol Member Jeok, Martial Artist Jang. How unfortunate.”

The owner of the voice echoing loudly within the warehouse was Bae Won-hyeong. Looking down from the second floor at Jang Geon and the two with an attitude that couldn’t be more relaxed, he watched them. Seeing him, Jeok Se-in shouted.

“What is the meaning of this? Do you intend to detain me before the Council of Elders’ orders?!”

“Ah, it is nothing like that, Patrol Member Jeok. There is no Council of Elders meeting today. An order will probably come tomorrow or the day after. I simply intend to dispose of Patrol Member Jeok here. And Martial Artist Jang as a bonus. I apologize, but we don’t have time to babble about why we are doing this, so let us make this quick.”

Saying so, Bae Won-hyeong raised his left hand smoothly. At that, the bowstrings aimed at the three grew taut. Uniformed in black clothes, the archers all wore masks, making it impossible to identify their faces. However, it was evident that the eyes revealed above were the incomparably cold eyes of killers.

“Holy shit… What the fuck is this mess after being dragged along for nothing…”

Drawing a short heavy sword, Yang Goeng looked around at the archers and muttered pitifully in a trembling voice. In his eyes were reflected the large bows and arrows held by the archers.

Bae Won-hyeong intended to give the signal immediately. But at that moment, just as in the Murim Alliance, he made eye contact with Jang Geon once again and froze involuntarily.

At the same time, Jang Geon spoke.

“Your breathing is rough. Did you run all the way here, by any chance?”

“…What?”

Despite the arrows aimed at him, Jang Geon was at ease.

“Thinking about it made me laugh. The image of you running frantically through the back alleys of New Sichuan to arrive here before us after we left.”

At those words, Bae Won-hyeong stared blankly at Jang Geon as if finding it absurd, but soon shook his head slowly.

“What nonsense are you…”

“Who is that person lying low? Is he the assassin who appeared on the first day?”

Having failed to grasp the meaning for a moment, Bae Won-hyeong soon realized that Jang Geon spoke as if he had heard the conversation between Bae Yang-o and himself at the White Forest Department. Although he thought that made no sense, Jang Geon’s expression looking up this way was incomparably calm.

Turning instantly pale, he hurriedly lowered his hand and shouted.

“Shoot at on—”

At that instant, Jang Geon on the first floor raised his right hand and struck the empty air. As if struck by that very palm, Bae Won-hyeong on the second floor was violently hurled backward, colliding against the wall with a loud bang. Just as Bae Won-hyeong slid down the wooden wall, a roaring noise like the howling of a dragon echoed through the warehouse.

Stepping forward with his right arm raised as if striking empty air, a red Fire Dragon smoothly surged along Jang Geon’s arm.

In that very stance, Jang Geon gazed up at the second-floor archers.