Sama Myeong could tell.
He knew that a green flag was waving in Geom Mugeuk’s heart.
A sign of his absolute trust in the Poison King.
Their special bond was something that not even the analysis of the brilliant strategists of the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion could decipher.
“Where is my brother's next destination?”
Sama Myeong looked at the topographical map and answered.
“The First Young Master's next destination is the Black Hand Sect in Akyang.”
A subordinate strategist placed a piece of paper with the name ‘Black Hand Sect’ on it over the location of Akyang.
Even without a specific order from Sama Myeong, the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion strategists began to gather and classify data on the Black Hand Sect on their own.
It was a true display of the greatest intelligence organization in the martial world.
And Sama Myeong was already familiar with the basic information about the Black Hand Sect.
“The Black Hand Sect is a notorious group even among the dark factions of Hunan. They’ve grown their organization through all sorts of evil deeds and have now become one of the top ten powers among the Unorthodox Path sects in Hunan. It seems their attempt to purchase the counterfeit Piercing Spike was to crush their rivals and seize control of the Hunan dark factions.”
“What kind of person is their leader?”
“The leader of the Black Hand Sect is a man named Hwang Pae, an Unorthodox Path man to the bone. He's so greedy for wealth that you could say he's obsessed with money. Having been born and raised in the rough underworld, he has never backed down when facing an enemy. In the Hunan martial world, he's considered a madman. He's probably the type who wouldn't fear our Main Sect either.”
At that, Geom Mugeuk gave an unexpected reply.
“That will actually make it easier for my brother to deal with him. The man's greed will be a useful weakness to exploit. And if the opponent plays dirty, my brother will let his own nature show. You all just don't know. My brother's temper is the worst in the entire sect! You're all being fooled right now!”
Geom Mugeuk’s voice boomed through the operations room.
Others might have frowned at him for badmouthing his brother behind his back, but at least Sama Myeong and the strategists here knew better than anyone.
They knew how much Geom Mugeuk had struggled not to kill that foul-tempered brother of his.
“Please send all information and data on the Black Hand Sect to my brother as quickly as possible.”
“Understood.”
Geom Mugeuk rose from his seat.
“I will be on my way now.”
“Take care.”
Sama Myeong cupped his fists and bowed respectfully.
“But it’s late, Grand Strategist. Are you not leaving?”
“I have a place to sleep here. I stay here during emergencies.”
“Do you mean your office?”
“No. There are quarters with a bed.”
It seemed there was a place to sleep within the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion.
Since they had always met in the operations room or his office, he hadn't known such a place existed.
“May I have a look for a moment?”
“Of course.”
Sama Myeong led Geom Mugeuk to the strategists’ quarters.
There were rooms for the regular strategists to sleep in, and a separate room was prepared for Sama Myeong.
It was more spacious and comfortable than he had expected.
“The Cult Master had it newly furnished for me shortly after I became the Grand Strategist.”
He thought that perhaps it was around that time his father had begun to truly trust Sama Myeong.
“Do you sleep here often?”
“I used to sleep here only during emergencies, but I find myself sleeping here often these days.”
“You’re not young anymore. You should sleep at home.”
Sama Myeong’s house was located within the sect’s grounds, but if he went, he would be alone in that large house.
This place was more comfortable.
But he couldn't give that as a reason.
“As I mentioned before, I am greatly benefiting from the heart technique the Cult Master taught me.”
He had spoken with Sama Myeong many times and had even shared drinks with him at the Flowing Wine Tavern.
But he didn't actually know much about him.
Take his house, for instance.
He had a house within the sect grounds, but he had never once visited.
Geom Mugeuk himself had kept his distance out of consideration for Go Wol, and Sama Myeong also rarely spoke of personal matters.
“Do you have any hidden wine?”
Sama Myeong had once said that in his younger days, he could drink anyone under the table.
He had said it as a joke, but Sama Myeong took out a bottle of wine from a cabinet.
“I sometimes have a glass when I can't sleep.”
Sama Myeong poured a cup for Geom Mugeuk.
“You should have a glass too, Grand Strategist.”
“I do not drink when we are on alert.”
Sama Myeong poured some cold tea from a kettle and took a sip.
“Is it always on high alert like this, even when I'm away?”
“To be honest, a higher level of alert is issued.”
Well, that made sense.
If an alert was issued even when his brother was away, it was only natural for the situation to be more serious when the successor was outside the sect.
Whenever he returned, Sama Myeong always greeted him calmly, but now he knew that behind the scenes, he had endured this long, tense period.
Just looking at the piles of documents on the desk against the wall was enough to tell him.
He could see how Sama Myeong’s peaceful smile was forged.
“I apologize.”
“What are you saying? This is my duty, of course.”
“No, I’m apologizing in advance. I might start wandering around again once my father comes out of seclusion.”
Sama Myeong gave a faint smile at Geom Mugeuk’s half-joking words.
Geom Mugeuk felt like he wanted to do something for the Grand Strategist who was suffering because he had met the wrong Young Cult Master.
“Grand Strategist, is there anything you wish to do? Ah, besides the unification of the Martial World.”
Geom Mugeuk’s addition made Sama Myeong’s smile deepen.
“Not particularly.”
“Is there anywhere you’d like to go?”
As if the answer was still no, Sama Myeong quietly shook his head and drank his tea.
“Then what was your childhood dream? Surely it couldn’t have been to become the Grand Strategist of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect, could it?”
Sama Myeong briefly recalled his childhood.
He felt like there were many things he had wanted to do.
But surprisingly, he couldn't quite remember what he had wanted to become or what he had wanted to do.
“I don't remember well, but perhaps it was to become the Grand Strategist of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect?”
This time, it was Geom Mugeuk who laughed at Sama Myeong’s joke.
“If you can't remember, it's because you've used your head too much trying to keep this sect afloat.”
This time, Sama Myeong asked about Geom Mugeuk’s dream.
“Acting Cult Master, what was your dream? Besides becoming the successor.”
“There was nothing else.”
Sama Myeong was surprised by Geom Mugeuk’s answer and asked.
“Nothing?”
“No. Why are you so surprised?”
In his life before the regression, he truly had no dream.
From a young age, his competition with his brother had consumed him, and his only desire was to become the successor.
After that, he lived only with the goal of regression.
And his dream after regressing?
“I just thought that someone like you, Acting Cult Master, would have had many dreams.”
“You must have felt that way because I talk a lot.”
Geom Mugeuk emptied his cup and rose from his seat.
“I'll stop bothering you and really be on my way now.”
“I will see you tomorrow.”
Sama Myeong followed him out and saw him off.
When he looked back from the entrance, Sama Myeong was not returning to his quarters but was walking back to the operations room.
The state of alert here would continue until all the flags that were out returned to the sect.
Hwang Pae, the leader of the Black Hand Sect, was angry.
He was always angry, but today, he was exceptionally so.
“So? You still haven't found the goods?”
“No.”
The one who answered curtly was Hwang Pae’s right-hand man, Myeong-gwi.
If the one reporting had been any other subordinate, his head might have already been smashed by a single blow.
But he couldn't do that to Myeong-gwi, of all people.
The person who had made the Black Hand Sect what it was today was none other than Myeong-gwi.
Myeong-gwi’s martial arts were even superior to Hwang Pae’s, the leader, and the reason he pledged loyalty to Hwang Pae was out of gratitude for saving his son.
Five years ago, a group of wanderers had raped and killed Myeong-gwi’s wife and were about to kill his young son when Hwang Pae, who happened to be passing by, killed the wanderers and saved the boy.
From that day on, Myeong-gwi became Hwang Pae’s right-hand man and pledged his loyalty.
“It wasn't a setup by the guys who sold the goods, was it?”
This time, they had secretly agreed to pay a large sum for the Ten Great Forbidden Hidden Weapons.
But on the very day they received the goods, they were stolen by someone.
Whoever it was must have known about the deal in advance and waited for an opportunity.
“We haven't paid them yet, so how could that be?”
The sellers had said they would receive payment for the goods later.
If they had intended to steal the goods in the first place, they would have taken the money upfront.
“Was it those bastards from the Great Light Sect?”
The Great Light Sect was another Unorthodox Path sect that vied with the Black Hand Sect for interests in the Hunan region.
Just then, Myeong-gwi quietly raised his hand to get Hwang Pae's attention and spoke softly towards the door.
“Who’s there?”
The door opened, and a man appeared.
“I’ve come for the money.”
The man wore a bamboo hat pulled down low, hiding his face, but his low voice carried a rough and domineering aura.
Myeong-gwi sent a telepathic message to Hwang Pae.
‘Be careful, he's no ordinary man.’
The fact that he had infiltrated this far, avoiding the eyes of his subordinates, was proof enough.
Hwang Pae gave a slight nod and asked the man in the bamboo hat.
“What money are you talking about?”
“If you received the goods, you should pay the money.”
The man walked over and sat down across from Hwang Pae.
“We did not receive any goods.”
“The Changsha Escort Agency said they definitely delivered the goods to you.”
Hwang Pae's eyes grew fierce.
The fact that he had to pay money without even receiving the goods made him furious.
Of course, if he were the type of person to meekly hand over money in such a situation, he wouldn't have survived in this rough Unorthodox Path underworld until now.
“What if I say I won’t pay?”
The man then said softly.
“Since you didn't receive the goods, you must not have had a chance to test the hidden weapon.”
He raised his hand and aimed it at Hwang Pae.
Somehow, a Piercing Spike was in his hand.
“Would you like to become a test subject yourself?”
Shing.
Myeong-gwi’s sword was halfway out of its sheath.
He too was ready to cut down his opponent in an instant.
“No matter how fast that sword is, it can't be faster than this.”
Even with the Piercing Spike aimed at him, Hwang Pae's spirit was not broken.
“If this bastard kills me, cut off his arms and legs, peel off all the skin from his torso, and throw him in a salt barrel.”
Hwang Pae's bravado was backed by the belief that the man wouldn't shoot as long as he hadn't received the money.
Indeed, the man did not fire the Piercing Spike.
“Bring me the man who made the deal with us in the first place.”
“Why him?”
“If there is no money, a life must pay the price. I will at least collect the life of the one who first called us.”
He spoke as if it were their law.
Hwang Pae was inwardly overjoyed.
He had been thinking of trying to get a discount, but if he could pay with a subordinate's life instead, he would gladly accept.
Just as Hwang Pae was about to order his subordinate to be brought in.
“You!”
Myeong-gwi, who had been watching the man silently until now, spoke up.
“You're not from that place, are you?”
Hwang Pae looked at Myeong-gwi with a surprised face.
“This man is not someone who would serve as a subordinate and go around collecting money.”
The instinctive sense of danger Myeong-gwi felt from the opponent was something he had never experienced in his life.
“Take off your bamboo hat!”
At that, the man slowly removed his bamboo hat.
The person revealed from under the bamboo hat was none other than Geom Muyang.
He had taken advantage of the fact that the sellers of the counterfeit weapons had agreed to receive payment later to disguise himself as one of them.
What Geom Muyang needed to find out from the Black Hand Sect was how they had learned of the weapon sellers and how the deal was made.
There must have been someone in the Black Hand Sect who handled the practical side of things.
So, this plan was based on the information that Hwang Pae was a man obsessed with money.
Because he was surely the type to offer a subordinate instead of money.
He thought it was an easier and more certain method than beating up a madman to get information.
But Myeong-gwi had seen through the fact that Geom Muyang was not a person who would go around collecting money.
The fact that he recognized it despite him wearing a bamboo hat and feigning a fierce and rough aura showed that Myeong-gwi’s judgment of people was extraordinary.
Geom Muyang returned the words he had heard to Myeong-gwi.
“You’re also not a person who should be a subordinate to someone like this.”
The moment his eyes met Geom Muyang’s, Myeong-gwi knew.
‘This is not someone I can face.’
On the other hand, feeling that he had been ignored, Hwang Pae shouted.
“You bastard, who are you?”
Geom Muyang placed the Piercing Spike he was holding on the table and asked.
“Who were you planning to kill after buying our weapon?”
Hwang Pae, who had been momentarily dazed, shot to his feet.
“The Demon Sect!”
This reaction was a confession that he knew the weapon he was trying to buy was a hidden weapon of the Demon Sect.
A heavy silence flowed.
A single cold phrase flowed from Geom Muyang’s lips.
“Sit down. Don’t look down on me.”
Now, Geom Muyang revealed an aura on a completely different level from the one he had shown before.
The cold chill in his eyes made Hwang Pae feel as if he were suffocating.
‘If he intended to kill me, he wouldn't have bothered with a disguise in the first place, would he?’
He judged that acting tough would be to his advantage.
“Just because you’re from the Demon Sect, you think I’ll be scared…”
Pow!
Hwang Pae’s face was brutally whipped to the side.
Geom Muyang’s fist, which had flown faster than he could see, had struck his face.
Shing!
The moment Myeong-gwi drew his sword.
“Don’t.”
At Geom Muyang’s single word, Myeong-gwi’s body froze.
A powerful demonic energy pressed down on him, rendering him immobile.
Hwang Pae spat out a mouthful of broken teeth and shouted.
“Kill this bastard!”
Demon Sect or not, he was the type who had to act on his temper to feel satisfied.
The next moment, Hwang Pae’s body flew through the air.
Geom Muyang had thrown him through the door.
Crash.
Hwang Pae, who had smashed through the door and tumbled across the courtyard, shot to his feet and shouted.
This time, he shouted at the subordinates filling the courtyard.
“Kill that bastard!”
But no one moved.
“What are you doing, you bastards!”
Suddenly, Hwang Pae was startled.
He thought they were his subordinates, but unfamiliar martial artists were looking at him.
They were none other than Division Lord Ho Myeong and the elites of the Changsha Division.
Behind them, his own subordinates were kneeling on the ground.
A few who hadn't recognized their opponents and had charged in were beaten so badly their faces were unrecognizable.
The Black Hand Sect might be a big shot in the Hunan Unorthodox Path, but how could they stand against a Division Lord of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect and his elite subordinates?
Upon seeing Hwang Pae, one of his subordinates instinctively tried to get up and rush forward.
Stab!
A martial artist from the Division standing behind him nonchalantly thrust a sword into his neck.
Watching him collapse, spewing blood, the martial artists of the Black Hand Sect all bowed their heads.
They had lived their lives without knowing fear.
They were the ones no one dared to make eye contact with in the streets, but today, they had truly met their match.
Even in this situation, Hwang Pae gritted his teeth.
“So what if you’re from the Demon Sect? Go on, kill me! Try killing Hwang Pae in this land of Hunan! Do you think the Unorthodox Alliance will just stand by if you touch us!”
If he wanted to kill me, he would have done it already.
With this one belief, he held out until the end.
He acted even tougher because his subordinates were watching.
Geom Muyang, who had been watching him rage with an indifferent gaze, turned his head and looked at Myeong-gwi.
“I heard you lost your family to wanderers?”
Myeong-gwi was startled by the sudden mention of that incident.
In other words, it meant he had investigated him before coming.
“We looked into it and…”
At that moment, Hwang Pae cut off Geom Muyang’s words and shouted.
“What is it that you want?”