Chapter : 009
The order issued by Munryeong Pavilion reached Gu Hui-ryang not long after she led the third group—the last to arrive—into Uido County.
The other two groups had waited at the inn for half a month, their faces growing darker and darker as they began to wonder whether something had actually gone wrong. When Gu Hui-ryang finally showed up, she walked in with her arm slung around Yeonhwa’s shoulders, waved a chicken leg in her hand, and shouted boldly:
“Meat, meat, meat! Get those ugly faces out of my sight and bring me some meat!”
She had just finished tearing into food, washing up, sleeping, waking again, and waiting for another round of meat when the order was thrust in front of her—much to her displeasure.
“Hmph.”
Gu Hui-ryang casually tossed the document she had been reading to Yeonhwa.
Despite the light motion, a refined trace of martial skill guided the paper precisely into Yeonhwa’s hands.
After reading it, Yeonhwa neatly folded the order and returned it.
“Nothing to say, my little kitty?”
“…I’m sorry for interfering with the training. It’s all because of me.”
“It is because of you—but not because of anything you did, so there’s no need to apologize. Besides, there’s not much left around here worth dealing with anyway.”
She didn’t bother adding the obvious—that there was nothing left to do and it was about time they moved on—but it was enough to make Gwak So snort.
After all, on their way to Uido County, they had already wiped out several secret branches of the Demonic Cult, along with one mountain stronghold and one water fortress.
They had agreed to gather intelligence and meet up, yet ended up taking care of everything on the way. Was that something to be praised… or just proof that splitting into three groups had been a pointless complication?
Either way, it seemed this training would end here.
When Gwak So stood, Gu Hui-ryang gave him a look.
Understanding immediately, he gathered the Guardian Squad and the Envoy Team members to wrap things up.
Yeonhwa also tried to rise, but Gu Hui-ryang caught her.
“Kitty.”
“……”
“I don’t intend to criticize Samryeong for uniting the Murim Alliance under one banner using Namgung Seonyu’s corpse and standing at the center of power.”
The Demonic Cult, being a single sect, only grew more tightly bound as its influence expanded.
The Murim Alliance, on the other hand, gained more members whenever it faced crisis—but internal division worsened alongside that growth.
If the Alliance had managed to turn those divisions into healthy competition, perhaps it could have dreamed of a better future. But it hadn’t.
Without Samryeong, the festering rot that crept into the cracks of the Alliance’s divisions might have rotted the massive body of the Alliance beyond saving.
“But using even his younger sibling as a living symbol to strengthen your banner and preserve its meaning—isn’t that a bit cowardly?”
And on top of that… how obsessively they clung to their little childhood games—shaking the girl around, gripping her tight, never letting go.
“Kitty, before I knew you, your situation and pain meant nothing to me. But now that I know you, everything about you keeps weighing on my mind. I haven’t even known you long, yet I find myself wanting to play childhood games with you too—just like your brothers.”
If she could, Gu Hui-ryang would be the bold, generous older sister—not a petty one.
Because the moment Namgung Yeonhwa climbed the mast, cut the rope, and unfurled the sail to the wind, Gu Hui-ryang had completely fallen for her.
Yeonhwa stared at her quietly.
The clear eyes of the strong, beautiful woman seemed to pierce straight into her heart.
Everyone else was busy with their own tasks; only the two of them remained seated at the table, undisturbed.
Time passed as they faced each other in silence.
Then Gwak So approached with a question, and Gu Hui-ryang rose.
Before leaving, she leaned close to Yeonhwa and whispered:
“Kitty… I think your brother died at a time too perfect—when his corpse could be sold at the highest price. Have you never once doubted that?”
With those words, she left.
Yeonhwa clenched her teeth and stared down at her tightly balled fist.
Her fingertips trembled, pale and bloodless.
It wasn’t as though no one had ever brought her rumors like that before.
But she had never once listened.
Then why did those words shake her so deeply today?
Was it because they had come from Gu Hui-ryang?
With a cold expression, Yeonhwa remained seated alone for a long time.
* * *
The entrance to the Jeongmu Academy—an educational institution affiliated with the Murim Alliance—buzzed with crowds of gathered students.
Their eyes were bright with anticipation as they shifted impatiently, clearly waiting for something.
Then someone spotted a group approaching in the distance and cheered.
“They’re coming! The Envoy Team is back!”
“Waaaah!”
Amid the cheers, their attention quickly turned to speculation.
“They achieved so much even during training—just like the Guardian Squad! Amazing!”
“Was it only the Guardian Squad? I heard the Envoy Team did their part too.”
Another student leaned in, joining the conversation.
“Sounds like both did well. That’s why the rumors are spreading everywhere. But shouldn’t we bet on which battalion earned the biggest merit this time?”
“Why bother betting? It’ll obviously be the Azure Dragon Battalion.”
“No way. The Vermilion Bird Battalion trained like crazy with their teeth clenched. Maybe it’s them this time.”
Even as they argued, they all knew what everyone really wanted to ask:
‘Did the always-last Black Tortoise Battalion really perform that incredibly?’
‘Was the young lady’s martial skill truly that extraordinary? Were all those nasty rumors just lies?’
Some who had once supported her blindly and gotten cornered kept their mouths shut out of caution.
Others who had mocked them also stayed silent, just in case.
“Enough arguing among ourselves. According to tradition, the battalion with the greatest merit enters through the main gate first—we’ll know soon enough.”
No sooner had those words been spoken than the answer appeared.
“It’s the young lady!”
“It really is her!”
Students lined up along both sides of the path erupted into thunderous cheers.
Yeonhwa heard them too.
No explanation accompanied the shout, yet no one here—no one in the Murim Alliance or even in the entire martial world—could mistake whom they meant.
Because there was only one person who needed no mention of clan or sect behind her name:
The Jewel in the Palm!
The only one worthy of that title—Namgung Yeonhwa.
Even though being the Envoy Team’s commander was prestigious, some deliberately called her “young lady” to express the Alliance’s affection for her.
On the other hand, members of the Black Tortoise Battalion, some within the Envoy Team, and many both inside and outside the Alliance used it as a sarcastic, contemptuous nickname—and that was understandable too.
“But where’s the Black Tortoise Battalion? Why is the young lady standing at the front alone?”
“She’s not alone. The vice commander is with her.”
“That’s not the point!”
Whispers followed, but Yeonhwa paid them little attention and walked through the crowd into the academy.
The moment they returned, trouble had erupted on the Hubei–Jiangxi front, and Gu Hui-ryang—who had been dispatched there—had arranged the marching order before they parted.
No one could argue with her reasoning: she absolutely refused to see the Black Tortoise Battalion, which had dragged everyone down, strutting proudly behind her little kitty.
“The young lady really is something. She bewitched Samryeong, and now she’s even caught the interest of the commander—the last hope of the Nine Great Sects.”
The Envoy Team members’ chatter drifted from behind.
Yeonhwa briefly wondered what would happen if those words reached her brothers.
But now wasn’t the time to worry about future trouble.
“Yeonhwa.”
As she entered the academy, someone was already waiting.
The strongest sword of the Murim Alliance—a man whose single step could change the tide of war against the Demonic Cult.
If word spread that such a formidable man had waited at the academy just to greet his younger sister, countless people across the land would sigh in envy.
“…Brother Museong.”
At her call, the gray-wolf-like man strode toward her.
