“Brother Kwak, what if someone overhears...?”
Hu Gae startled, but Kwak Yeon answered calmly.
“Brother Hu, you need not worry. There is no one within ten zhang of us.”
He can sense every presence within ten zhang outside the building from in here?
Hu Gae realized that Kwak’s martial attainments had advanced yet again.
Did the Alliance Leader summon him and feed him some miraculous elixir?
“Then there’s nothing to worry about. Still...”
Hu Gae would have believed Kwak even if he claimed the moon was the sun. He readily nodded, then asked,
“How did you know Sister Jin had gone there in the first place?”
He himself had learned it from Jin Cheongha only moments ago.
“I thought you’d been outside the city until now.”
“You’re right, Brother Hu. I only returned to the Inner Fortress a short while ago.”
“That only makes me more curious.”
Kwak could see that Hu Gae would not let the question go unanswered. It was also something both of them needed to know, so he spoke.
“On my way back, I met someone called Sa Gwirang, First Kill of Hidden Moon Forest.”
Hu Gae’s eyes widened.
“That one-armed old-woman assassin?”
“...!”
Jin Cheongha also flinched and turned to Kwak.
“That’s right.”
“Huh. So that assassin had somehow survived all this time.”
“Not anymore.”
“What?”
Kwak briefly recounted what had happened at Dragon King Hall in Golden Sand Village.
He omitted, however, the part involving Kang Su, Chief Protector of Ghost Night Castle, in keeping with the man’s request.
Once Kwak had finished, Hu Gae said,
“The one who shot the old woman was most likely Geoncheon Corps Commander Jwa Ye-geuk. I’ve also heard that the Geoncheon Corps Commander is an absolute master of the strongbow. If that’s true, then your suspicion was right after all. The Right Military Strategist is certainly suspicious.”
Hu Gae frowned.
“Ha... They say there’s no monster worse than the human heart, but to think that Baek Ri-gi—the virtuous gentleman everyone praises—would be involved in this. Still...”
He looked at Kwak with regret.
“Why did you burn the old woman assassin’s body?”
“...”
Kwak’s downcast eyes gave Hu Gae his answer. With a helpless nod, Hu Gae said,
“Right. Even though she asked for it, it would have meant desecrating her body. Still, it’s a shame. If we caught Geoncheon Corps Commander Jwa and beat the truth out of him, we might have uncovered the Right Military Strategist’s true nature as well.”
“Brother Hu, even then, our suspicions about the Right Military Strategist would remain circumstantial. And there is no guarantee that the Geoncheon Corps Commander would speak willingly.”
Hu Gae nodded at once.
“That’s true. We’d only be tipping off the enemy.”
He judged that trying to seize a mere underling like Geoncheon Corps Commander Jwa Ye-geuk might risk losing the real body of the matter—the Right Military Strategist.
He really does think things through.
Hu Gae was impressed once more by the cool way Kwak assessed the situation, despite his youth.
That only made him more curious about how Kwak had known of Jin Cheongha’s movements.
“Fine, that explains Dragon King Hall. But how did you know Sister Jin had been to the Right Military Strategist’s hall?”
At Hu Gae’s blunt question, Jin Cheongha too looked at Kwak with open curiosity.
For all she knew, the Martial Alliance warriors might have discovered some mistake she had unknowingly made.
“I heard that the intruder who entered the Strategists’ Office left an arm behind. That arm was burning in blue flames that would not go out even when smothered with sand.”
“Blue-Scale True-Flame Demon Blossom?”
Hu Gae recoiled in shock and looked at Jin.
As both Hu Gae and Kwak watched her, Jin nodded weakly.
“I had picked up an iron sphere the old woman assassin dropped in Aju County City and kept it with me. But today, an infiltrator called Hidden Shadow blocked my way out. I had no choice but to use it.”
It was a forbidden horror, certainly, but what else could she have done when she had been cornered and her life was in danger?
Besides, Jin Cheongha was the Young Castle Lord of Ghost Night Castle, one of the Demonic Eight Divisions. She was a practitioner of the demonic path who would use any means necessary to achieve her objective.
“...”
“...”
When Hu Gae and Kwak both fell silent, Jin spoke softly.
“I was waiting for Chief Secretary Kwak to return so that I could tell you what happened in the Right Military Strategist’s hall.”
“Yes. I’ve been waiting for you all this time, trying to contain my curiosity.”
Hu Gae urged her on.
“Sister Jin, go on and tell us everything. I’ve been sitting on pins and needles.”
“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, Sub-Branch Master.”
Damn it. ‘I’m sorry’ again.
Hu Gae showed a flash of irritation.
“You two aren’t even married. Why are you taking turns echoing each other with ‘I’m sorry’?”
“Brother Hu!”
Kwak frowned, and Hu Gae hurriedly changed the subject.
“What I mean is, stop circling around the matter and get to the point. Sister Jin, don’t misunderstand me.”
“Of course I don’t.”
Hu Gae’s flustered expression eased some of Jin’s tension, and she quickly continued.
“As I was moving in secret through the Right Military Strategist’s hall, I happened to overhear a conversation between the Right Military Strategist and an infiltrator named Hidden Shadow.”
Having begun there, Jin calmly related everything she had heard.
“...Hidden Shadow was undoubtedly an errand runner for the hidden mastermind’s forces.”
When Jin finished, Hu Gae’s face hardened like stone.
“So the Right Military Strategist was in league with the hidden mastermind. I can hardly believe it.”
“Sub-Branch Master, I don’t want to believe it either. But the Right Military Strategist truly is aligned with the hidden mastermind.”
“Haah...!”
Hu Gae let out a heavy sigh and muttered lowly,
“Why would the Right Military Strategist align himself with such an evil hidden mastermind?”
“He must have wanted something from them.”
“I can’t understand what he could hope to gain by colluding with the hidden mastermind.”
Kwak, who had been listening quietly, finally spoke.
“Brother Hu, I do not think he joined hands with them because there was something separate he wanted. I think their objective was the same.”
“Hm?”
“Otherwise, they would not have called it an alliance. And if they shared the same objective, the Right Military Strategist would have felt less guilt about joining hands with the hidden mastermind.”
Hu Gae was once again impressed that Kwak was inferring the situation with even the Right Military Strategist’s disposition in mind.
“Either way, Miss Jin has uncovered truly valuable information. This may even give us a chance to discern the outline of the hidden mastermind.”
“...?”
“...?”
When Hu Gae and Jin looked at him, Kwak continued evenly.
“If we learn what their common objective is, we will naturally learn who desires that objective most.”
SMACK!
“That’s it!”
Hu Gae slapped his palm against the table, then turned to Jin.
“Sister Jin, you’ve rendered us a great service.”
Jin felt a sting in her chest at the way both men were trying to defend her.
“You praise me for acting on my own. It is more than I deserve. And there is no guarantee the Right Military Strategist will confess willingly.”
“Miss Jin, we will find a way. More importantly...”
Kwak paused and looked at Jin before asking,
“Will you tell us now what you needed to learn badly enough to infiltrate the Right Military Strategist’s hall?”
Hu Gae also narrowed his eyes and watched Jin closely.
Even after revealing her identity, she had remained silent about why she had come to the Martial Alliance.
“...”
When Jin did not answer, Kwak said with a regretful look,
“It seems this Kwak has still failed to earn Miss Jin’s trust.”
“No!”
Jin shook her head hard.
“The trust you two have shown me is already more than I deserve. I only hesitated because I feared my own affairs would place another burden on both of you.”
Hu Gae’s face brightened.
“Sister Jin, let us hear it first, then decide whether we ought to worry. Isn’t that right, Brother Kwak?”
Seeing Hu Gae blink repeatedly, Kwak said,
“Someone I know once told me that if you do not intend to help someone through to the end, you should not offer half-hearted help.”
Hu Gae’s blinking stopped abruptly. Those were words he himself had once given Kwak.
Is this brat trying to lead me around by the nose?
Then Kwak continued.
“And unlike me, Brother Hu cannot endure being curious even for a moment. Isn’t that right, Brother Hu?”
Hu Gae could clearly see Kwak’s intention. But what was done was done, and his curiosity was too great for him to endure.
“That’s right!”
Hu Gae barked at Kwak, then turned to Jin with a much gentler voice.
“Sister Jin, anything is better than dying of frustration. Please.”
Jin bit her lip tightly before she spoke.
“I came to the Martial Alliance to find the location of the Great Demon Prison.”
“The Great Demon Prison...?”
Hu Gae wore a baffled expression as he continued.
“Sister Jin, do you mean the Great Demon Prison where the demons of the Demonic Eight Divisions—no, the practitioners of the demonic path—were imprisoned?”
Jin nodded.
“That is correct.”
“The Great Demon Prison was breached. Nothing should remain there. What are you trying to do by finding it?”
“Sub-Branch Master, how can you be certain that nothing remains in the Great Demon Prison?”
“Because the prisoners... no, the practitioners of the Demonic Eight Divisions escaped. There would be no reason to maintain it any longer. So naturally, they must have shut it down.”
“Then why does the Martial Alliance still keep the location of the Great Demon Prison secret?”
“There was a terrible catastrophe on the day it was breached. The Martial Alliance has no wish to publicize that place, so there is no reason to announce its location.”
Seeing Jin continue to question Hu Gae, Kwak said,
“Miss Jin, are you saying there is something in the Great Demon Prison?”
“Yes.”
At Jin’s firm answer, Kwak asked,
“What is it?”
“...”
When Jin fell silent, the main hall of the guest residence went quiet for a moment.
Fortunately, she spoke again soon afterward.
“The Demonic Venerables of the Demonic Eight Divisions.”
Hu Gae flinched.
The Eight Demonic Venerables of the Demonic Eight Divisions were great demons of the previous generation who had set off the Eight Desolations Upheaval. It was widely believed that they had died in prison within the Great Demon Prison.
“The Eight Demonic Venerables are alive and still inside the Great Demon Prison?”
“Strictly speaking, they are imprisoned there.”
Hu Gae tilted his head in bewilderment.
“What a strange thing to hear. I have never once heard that the Martial Alliance is still maintaining the Great Demon Prison.”
It was exceedingly rare for the Sub-Branch Master of the Beggar Clan—the greatest clan under heaven—to know nothing about a matter in the martial world.
“I, too, believed the Great Demon Prison had been closed.”
Jin’s answer only made Hu Gae more bewildered.
“You believed it was closed, yet you say the Eight Demonic Venerables remain inside? Doesn’t that make no sense? If they were alive and still held there, the Martial Alliance would not have closed the Great Demon Prison. And even if it had, they would have been transferred to another dungeon.”
“Sub-Branch Master, what if the Martial Alliance did not know that the Eight Demonic Venerables were imprisoned inside?”
Hu Gae shook his head.
“How could that possibly be? The Martial Alliance would have searched the Great Demon Prison ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) thoroughly before closing it.”
Kwak abruptly interjected.
“Brother Hu, I do not think such a thing is entirely impossible.”
“Hm? What absurd thing are you saying now?”
“Suppose someone among the Martial Alliance leadership wanted to bury those facts.”
Hu Gae suddenly understood.
“Baek Ri-gi.”
Kwak nodded.
“Since the Right Military Strategist oversees the Martial Alliance’s Outer Court, the Great Demon Prison would have been under his management as well.”
Hu Gae’s eyes widened.
“Ah! The Right Military Strategist must have told the hidden mastermind where the Great Demon Prison was too. It does fit.”
It was an assumption he could never have considered without knowing the Right Military Strategist’s true nature.
“Then the Right Military Strategist was the one who abetted every one of these incidents until now!”
Hu Gae slammed both palms onto the table.
BANG!
“Baek Ri-gi, you damned bastard.”
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter