Chapter 14
“Are you feeling any better?”
“When you suddenly collapsed, you have no idea how startled we were.”
At daybreak, I met with Songgok and Noh Wonpyeong.
Though the reaper said nothing had happened, I needed to confirm with my own eyes and ears.
Both of them first worried over my condition.
I reassured them that I was fine and asked,
“While I was unconscious, nothing else happened?”
As if waiting for the question, Songgok answered,
“There was no major incident. But while investigating the deputy leader and his followers, we found this.”
What he handed me was a letter.
It roughly described the impending takeover of the Geumhwa Merchant Guild and included instructions on how to act afterward.
Among the words, one stood out: ‘extermination.’
As I thought.
Mass extermination.
It was confirmation that they intended to eliminate all the household members.
“Were you able to confirm who sent this to Yangchung?”
If we could prove that the sender was Elder Doosanbaek of the Nine Heavens Council, things would be much easier.
But there was no clue about the sender in the letter. Even the handwriting was bland, leaving nothing to distinguish it.
Still, I asked just in case, and as expected, Songgok shook his head.
“I’ve looked into it, but I think it’ll be difficult. Forgive me.”
It couldn’t be helped.
I never thought I’d so easily seize on the enemy’s weakness anyway.
Just then, Chief Noh, who had been listening quietly, stepped forward cautiously.
“If it’s about that, there may be a way. In fact, it connects with something I planned to discuss with you today.”
My gaze shifted to him.
Noh Wonpyeong.
According to Geumjamun’s memories, he had spent nearly thirty years in the guild.
He knew much, had sharp insight, and had been with the guild since before Geumjamun was born.
Most importantly, before I collapsed, he was one of those who had triggered the Eye of Insight.
It’s not just Heukjeonbang. There’s someone else. And even within the guild, there’s a traitor…
What I saw in him through the Eye of Insight was clarity.
And more than that—
If left alone, the guild won’t just be taken; lives will be lost. I don’t have the strength to stop it, but… I’ll do whatever I can.
His heart for the guild members was beyond reproach.
That alone made it worth listening to him.
But what I expected most was this:
First, I must discover who the traitor is and what lies behind it all.
If what I saw was true, Chief Noh likely knew something.
That gave me hope.
I hid these thoughts and spoke.
“Speak freely.”
“Before I begin, young master, may I ask—how much do you know about Doosanbaek?”
A sharp question. Exactly what I had hoped for.
“That he is an elder of the Nine Heavens Council. Honestly, that’s all.”
One might be disappointed in such an answer, yet Chief Noh only nodded calmly.
“You’ve been away from the guild for long, so it’s natural. Truthfully, most of us don’t know much more either. That’s because Doosanbaek only recently became known in the martial world.”
“How did someone like that become my brothers’ master? Wasn’t there any investigation beforehand?”
Chief Noh gave a bitter smile and bowed as though guilty.
“My apologies, young master. Even I paid more attention to his background than to the man himself.”
“Well, being from the Nine Heavens Council, that’s understandable. But why apologize? In the end, my father and brothers made that decision.”
It wasn’t something Chief Noh should apologize for.
It was the Geum clan’s choice, and thus the Geum clan’s responsibility.
Even when I pointed that out, he did not straighten his bowed body. His shoulders trembled slightly.
All his long years of thoughts and emotions were in that shaking frame.
And I—
—I did not comfort him.
Though I’d lived longer than most, I never learned how to comfort people.
I never tried, never had the chance.
But I did know what moved people’s hearts.
“Now is not the time for apologies. Now is the time to overcome this crisis. We cannot let those villains take the guild, can we?”
When one seeks to protect something precious, that alone fills the mind—and strength never before known arises.
“Of course. I’ll never let them have it. Not while I still draw breath.”
His back straightened, eyes blazing.
“Then I’ll save my apology for after the guild is safe.”
“Do as you please then.”
“First, allow me to share what I’ve discovered during my own investigation.”
After a short breath, Chief Noh began.
“To begin with, the only confirmed enemy in the guild is Doosanbaek. I’ve found no trace of the Nine Heavens Council itself moving.”
Though I assumed the Council was behind this, Chief Noh suggested otherwise.
“Of course, I can’t say for sure. Which is why we need to dig deeper. I’ve already prepared for that.”
I didn’t need to ask how.
I already knew.
“You mean to buy information.”
“Correct.”
In the martial world, there were groups that traded in information.
The first name to come to mind was the Beggar’s Sect.
The so-called rabble of beggars.
But they didn’t move for money—they moved for righteousness and honor. Not that they always upheld justice.
They were still human after all.
And a den of lunatics at that—strange beggars, wicked beggars, insane beggars. I’d met them all.
Good beggars? As if such a thing could exist.
They stank so badly you didn’t even want to stand near them.
Still, they pursued honor and righteousness. That much was true.
If it’s the Beggar’s Sect, they’d be useful allies.
At least they didn’t blindly side with people just for being in the same faction.
But asking their help would have to be a last resort.
The moment we sought them, the matter would become public, spiraling out of control.
Doosanbaek’s crimes would be revealed across the land, and many would condemn both him and the Council.
The problem was, it would likely end there.
Having lived within the righteous sects for so long, I knew—criticism and scorn abounded, but punishment rarely came.
The righteous sects did not openly fight among themselves.
It was an unspoken rule, kept for generations.
Unless one committed an atrocity too great to hide, matters would be buried quickly.
Even if they bowed their heads for now to appease the world…
It would only come back stronger later, vengeance sharpened.
Their greed for the guild would then be coupled with fury.
So I could not rely on the Beggar’s Sect—not yet, not until I could face them alone.
Which is why Chief Noh’s next words mattered.
“The place you had in mind—it’s not the Beggar’s Sect, is it?”
He wouldn’t have spoken so confidently if it were them.
And indeed, I was half-right.
“No, not the Beggar’s Sect. They are righteous like us, perhaps even in league with our enemies. How could I easily trust them?”
His answer aligned with mine, though for different reasons.
Because he was a merchant.
And his next words were merchantlike as well.
“To be frank, I don’t put much trust in people. Instead, I trust something else.”
“Something else?”
“We are merchants, after all. We trust money.”
“Funny. From what I’ve heard, money is the last thing to be trusted.”
Chief Noh only gave a thin smile.
His eyes said he understood me fully.
And yet, I also saw his unshakable conviction as a merchant.
I couldn’t fully agree, but I couldn’t deny it either.
That was how he lived.
“I don’t trust money. But I’ll trust your words, Chief Noh.”
“You honor me, young master.”
Even without the Beggar’s Sect, there were other groups selling information.
I didn’t ask which one.
Because when he spoke of money, a name had already come to mind.
One I felt both revulsion and nostalgia toward.
“You mean the Hao Clan, don’t you?”
The Hao Clan.
A long-standing group in the martial world, rivals of the Beggar’s Sect in the field of information.
Chief Noh’s eyes widened in brief surprise before he bowed.
“Yes. I’ve found a way to contact them.”
I asked directly,
“So what’s the method?”
Having learned the method from Chief Noh, I left the estate immediately.
It had been three days since I sent a carrier pigeon to Doosanbaek with news of Geumdanmok’s fake death.
By now, it should have arrived, and he should be moving.
That meant it was time for us to move as well.
More than anything, I wanted space away from the guild to gather my thoughts.
“I thought at least I was free from the fences of the world…”
Not just the fence of the righteous sects, but the countless prejudices of the martial world.
I had believed myself above them.
Yet when it came to the Beggar’s Sect, I hesitated.
But with the Hao Clan, I did not.
Though in truth, if it were about practical help, the Hao Clan was more reliable.
“All of it’s already in the past.”
The Hao Clan pursued profit above all.
If you had the money, you got the information.
And you never had to worry about them stirring trouble afterward.
Unlike the Beggar’s Sect, they wouldn’t go crusading over something unprofitable.
For this matter, they were the better choice.
Still, what unsettled me was the memory of a single face.
“Jincheon.”
The man who once owned this body, though never sect leader of Mount Hua.
The one who last carried this sword into battle.
A peerless genius, unlike any head of Mount Hua before him.
Had he not left, had he stayed a little longer…
Would he have thought as I do now, in this situation?
I couldn’t know.
He claimed it was nothing, but I still remembered.
If he were watching me now from somewhere above, I could almost hear him say:
“Once you’re old, you should die gracefully—whether man or sword.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle aloud.
It was as if I’d heard his voice.
And I let my imagination wander.
“What if he hadn’t left? What if he’d survived and become sect leader?”
Again, laughter burst out.
It didn’t seem like it would’ve been good.
If that lunatic had become leader of Mount Hua?
The Heavenly Demon’s assault wouldn’t have been the true calamity—he himself would have been.
Perhaps letting me return to Mount Hua and then disappearing had been Mount Hua’s greatest blessing.
“…Yes, well done leaving, Jincheon, you damned fool.”
Jincheon.
Known as one of the greatest martial artists of his era, the man who, before the age of thirty, defeated the Heavenly Demon.
To me, he was just a fool who couldn’t even manage his own life.
“Not that I’m one to talk.”
Since that day, I too had wasted away in seclusion.
Lost in these memories, I arrived at the place Chief Noh mentioned.
And curiously, the memories faded away, as if Jincheon had taken them with him, curses and all.
Yes, that was the man.
Though reckless, he still cared for those around him.
Perhaps I was remembering him too fondly, but so what?
Shaking off the lingering thoughts, I lifted my head.
Before me stretched a river as vast as a lake.
Oddly, though the river was wide, only a single ferryboat and one boatman were visible.
“Looking to cross?”
The boatman was a boy, barely ten years old.
“You getting on or not?”
He asked again.
I looked at the boy for a moment, then slowly opened my mouth.
