bookpower Chapter 359 : Intelligence (4)
Chapter 359 : Intelligence (4)
The moment the word got out that Seo Wan-pyeong had woken up, Il-mok went straight to him.“Come on in, youngest.”
"Third Brother, how are you feeling? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Besides, there's something more important than my condition right now, so let's talk about that first."
With that, Seo Wan-pyeong reached over and rummaged through his black robes, which had been stripped off for treatment, and pulled out a single letter before holding it out to Il-mok.
"What's this?"
"It's a secret letter," Seo Wan-pyeong answered, "that the Martial Alliance Leader Cheok Pae-myeong sent to the Imperial Family."
***
About a month earlier.
BANG!!
"It's been months since I sent people up north, so why the hell haven't I heard anything back yet?!"
The Martial Alliance Leader struck the table with a furious expression as he growled.
Gongsun Hyeon watched him for a second before replying in a calm tone. "It seems the Maitreya Luminous Cult has taken precautions of some kind."
"This is driving me crazy. I might as well just head up there myself at this point.”
"By all accounts, the northwestern plains are practically Maitreya Luminous Cult territory at this point. Walking straight into the enemy’s land alone isn’t wise, Alliance Leader.”
“Are you saying you doubt my strength?”
“Of course not. As your Chief Strategist, I’m accounting for the worst-case scenario."
Cheok Pae-myeong stared him down for a moment before asking, "Then give me a solution. And don't just tell me to send another messenger like last time."
Not long ago, the Martial Alliance had dispatched messengers to several sects.
The reason for this move was the Blood Cult.
Since the Beggars Gang, Qingcheng, Wudang, and even the Hwangbo Family had all mobilized to hunt down the Blood Cult, it didn't take long to figure out that their intel had come straight from the Maitreya Luminous Cult.
The Alliance had sent out warnings telling everyone not to fall for the Maitreya Cult's schemes, but it was all for nothing.
Instead, they got various replies of:
When Cheok Pae-myeong brought up that incident, Gongsun Hyeon bit down on his teeth and answered with caution in his voice. His tone lowered to the point that even the guards surrounding the Alliance Leader's quarters couldn't hear.
"What if we were to ask for help?"
"Help? Don't tell me you're suggesting we go crawling to that person?”
"Yes. With their power, I’m sure they'd more than be capable of tearing through whatever veil the Maitreya Luminous Cult has cast over the north."
"We already received their help with the Blood Cult last time. And now you want me to go back and ask again? Are you out of your mind?”
Cheok Pae-myeong made no effort to hide his displeasure. He knew damn well that if he kept running to them for help, that person would start seeing him as useless.
Gongsun Hyeon could tell exactly what the Alliance Leader was thinking, but he had no intention of withdrawing the suggestion.
"Alliance Leader, asking for help might cause some disappointment, but if we fail entirely, then there will be nothing left to gain at all."
"..."
After a long pause, Cheok Pae-myeong let out a deep sigh and said, "I'll have a letter prepared."
***
While the Martial Alliance was busily digging up dirt on the Maitreya Luminous Cult, Seo Wan-pyeong and the other warriors of the Dark Shadow Pavilion were moving across the Central Plains to track down traces of the Imperial Family.
The trail had gone cold before, but thanks to the information Il-mok had provided, they'd managed to reignite it.
As a result of restarting their investigation with Guizhou Province where the massacre occurred as their starting point, they found several traces believed to belong to the Eastern Depot. It was becoming increasingly clear that the Guizhou massacre was the Eastern Depot's doing, but the Dark Shadow Pavilion wasn't satisfied with that and kept chasing them further. They needed solid evidence that it was the Imperial Family's handiwork, and, more than anything, they needed to know the actual purpose behind it all.
But as expected, the Eastern Depot caught wind of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult sniffing around and immediately started cutting loose ends.
Just as the trail was starting to go cold again, Seo Wan-pyeong raised a concern to the Pavilion Lord.
"Pavilion Lord, no matter how much I think about it, there is something strange about this.”
"Something feels off, you say. Speak freely, Vice Pavilion Lord."
Since the Heavenly Demon had ascended, Seo Wan-pyeong was now called Vice Pavilion Lord instead of the title of Young Master.
“I'm talking about the Imperial Family's motive. They staged a mass slaughter and dressed it up as the Blood Cult's doing, so there are really only two possibilities for doing that. Either the Imperial Family is practicing some forbidden sorceries like the way the Blood Cult does and just pinned it on them. Or they did it to help the Martial Alliance."
Having spent years carrying out covert missions for the Dark Shadow Pavilion and grown into a seasoned veteran, Seo Wan-pyeong had developed quite a sharp eye for these things.
"I agree with you. That's exactly why we're digging around to nail down their objective."
To that, Seo Wan-pyeong made a suggestion.
“The Eastern Depot is already burning their bridges and wiping their tracks. If we keep doing things by the book, they're going to slip through our fingers just like last time. How about we take a gamble?"
"A gamble?"
The Pavilion Lord was about to ask what he meant when he came to the same conclusion as Seo Wan-pyeong and looked at Seo Wan-pyeong in shock.
"You're suggesting we spy on the Martial Alliance?"
"Yes."
"That's dangerous. The Martial Alliance is already going all-out trying to expose the Maitreya Luminous Cult. If we're spotted lurking around the Alliance, what then?"
"That's why I'll handle it personally this time. I won't let us get caught.”
"..."
The Dark Shadow Pavilion Lord looked at Seo Wan-pyeong in silence.
After beating back his Qi Deviation and breaking through to the next level, Seo Wan-pyeong had a look of reliability about him. His complexion was still pale and the dark shadows under his eyes were still there from years of paranoia and insomnia, but his gaze was firm.
After a brief pause, the Pavilion Lord nodded.
“Then we'll go together. The Martial Alliance's estate is too large for you to watch alone."
With that decided, the Dark Shadow Pavilion split its forces into two groups.
The bulk of their operatives stayed on the Eastern Depot's trail. Only the Pavilion Lord, Seo Wan-pyeong, and a minimal number of support personnel slipped away separately and headed for Dongting Lake. There, they set up their watch and began keeping a close eye on the Martial Alliance.
They were smart enough not to risk sneaking too close to the Alliance Leader's private quarters.
Cheok Pae-myeong was universally recognized as one of the strongest masters in the Central Plains; creeping right up to his doorstep was a surefire way to get their cover blown.
They spent about a month on stakeout, just watching the perimeter of the Martial Alliance.
Then, on a pitch-black night with zero moonlight, a lone silhouette slipped out of the Alliance compound under the cover of darkness. Whoever it was, they moved with a remarkable level of stealth, but Seo Wan-pyeong didn't lose them.
He sent a voice transmission to the Pavilion Lord before moving out after the shadow.
He spent a few moments carefully closing the gap between them. But then, a sudden chill crept up his spine and forced him to stop in his tracks.
A sharp arc of Saber Qi whipped right past his ribs.
For Seo Wan-pyeong, who had not even sensed a hint of the saber being drawn, it was a moment that gave him goosebumps.
"Tch. Just a bug."
The shadowy figure, who had unsheathed and swung his saber faster than the blink of an eye, casually clicked his tongue and kept walking. Right where the Saber Qi had carved through the air, the cleanly bisected remains of a bug twitched in the dirt.
Seo Wan-pyeong had narrowly avoided a crisis, but he didn't give up the pursuit.
He knew it instinctively. Something very important was about to happen.
Seo Wan-pyeong immediately realized that the person he was tracking was none other than the Martial Alliance Leader, Cheok Pae-myeong.
‘I can't believe the Alliance Leader is making a move himself.’
Not wanting a repeat of his near-death experience, Seo Wan-pyeong dropped way back and followed the Leader from a much safer distance.
The man's stealth skill was a step or two below Seo Wan-pyeong's, but the Alliance Leader had him far outmatched in terms of raw power and Qi perception.
‘I don't recall ever hearing that the Alliance Leader had trained in stealth arts.’
That thought lingered in his mind as he followed within a safe distance until the Alliance Leader eventually stopped in front of a small shrine built somewhere on a low hill.
Who or what it was dedicated to, he couldn't tell, but a figure rose from the shadows near the shrine.
The Alliance Leader handed over a letter to the person who had emerged from the shadows. Without much conversation, the figure turned and disappeared back into the dark.
Only after the figure left did the Alliance Leader turn back toward the Martial Alliance.
Watching from a distance while holding his breath, Seo Wan-pyeong didn't dare move a muscle until the Alliance Leader was completely out of sight.
Once the coast was clear, he set off to hunt down the courier who took the letter.
‘Damn it.’
It wasn't easy.
While he'd been waiting for the Alliance Leader to leave, the figure had already put considerable distance between them, and whoever the figure was, he was clearly experienced at this sort of thing as they left almost no trace.
After enduring many hardships, Seo Wan-pyeong finally succeeded in catching up to the figure.
Just as he'd suspected, the figure was a eunuch.
There was just one catch.
"Who's there?"
The eunuch sensed Seo Wan-pyeong's approach before he could strike. Given that he'd been entrusted with the task of making secret contact with the Martial Alliance Leader, he was clearly a highly capable operative even by the Eastern Depot standards.
In the dead of night, deep within a pitch-black forest, the two men stared each other down with about ten feet between them. Since both had trained in concealment-focused martial arts, their fight played out in near-total silence.
They crept through the trees with careful steps, and whenever a trunk or a thicket blocked the view between them—
Sparks showered the darkness as hidden weapons collided mid-air, followed by the sharp screech of steel as a sudden sword strike was deflected.
It was the quiet kind of fight that only assassins had, where one wrong move meant death, and it went on for several exchanges. Then Seo Wan-pyeong used the darkness of the forest again to press forward with a thrust from the Shadowless Fourteen Moves.
The moment their swords clashed,
"!!!"
Seo Wan-pyeong felt a sudden terror wash over his body.
He didn't know why.
The Eastern Depot dog he'd been fighting was in no position to counter. But trusting his gut and the experience built up over the years, Seo Wan-pyeong threw himself to the side without hesitation.
A slicing sound rang out a beat later.
Seo Wan-pyeong didn't make a sound despite the wound opening up along his side and immediately moved his left hand to press his acupoints to staunch the bleeding.
Through the darkness, the figure who had appeared came into view.
‘When did he get here?’
Seo Wan-pyeong hadn't noticed the approach at all.
Even accounting for the fact that he'd been mid-fight with another Eastern Depot operative, not catching the man until the moment of the strike said a lot about this newcomer’s skills.
‘He's several levels above me.’
Gulping down the lump in his throat, Seo Wan-pyeong stared down the two Eastern Depot agents.
The one he'd been fighting was swinging out to his right, cutting off his escape route, while the one who had ambushed him advanced step by step.
‘Is this where I die?’
The situation was overwhelmingly against him.
Seo Wan-pyeong shoved the dark thought aside and clamped his jaw shut.
Just as he'd resolved himself to a mutual kill—
The new eunuch closed the distance between them by using Ethereal Shift while his sword was already drawn in a silent strike.
But before it could land, a loud clash of steel was heard as the eunuch changed the sword trajectory mid-way to deflect a hidden weapon flying out of the dark.
Seo Wan-pyeong seized the opening and launched the Shadowless Fourteen Moves at him, but the Eastern Depot man took one step back with phantom-like footwork and slipped cleanly out of range.
At that moment, someone stepped out from the direction the hidden weapon had come from.
It was the supreme commander of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's intelligence network and Seo Wan-pyeong's direct superior, the Dark Shadow Pavilion Lord himself.