From his residence, Geom Muyang gazed out the window.
He saw the martial artists of the division in the courtyard.
They were scattered about, slumped over as if resting from work, yet they maintained an ironclad perimeter of their own.
Geom Muyang suddenly recalled what Gwak Yeong had said earlier.
"You must have a brother, don't you? If you do, you should understand how I feel, shouldn't you?"
He had answered that he was someone who had wished his brother dead, but that was a feeling from the past.
What if his brother were taken hostage?
The first thought that came to mind was this.
Please, someone, just take him away.
Following that thought, another one naturally arose.
It’s not like they could take him even if they wanted to, but even if they did, they’d probably die of frustration.
Truly, after listening to all his nonsense, they’d get confused about who the real hostage was.
They’d find themselves saying, ‘Please, we’ll let you go, just leave.’
As he thought this, a faint smile formed on Geom Muyang’s lips.
It was no longer surprising to have such thoughts about his brother.
What was surprising was the lack of surprise itself.
Just then, Ho Myeong's voice came from outside.
“The investigation is complete.”
The door opened, and Ho Myeong and Gwak Yeong came inside.
Ho Myeong handed Geom Muyang a paper with the results of the investigation written on it.
Geom Muyang read it slowly.
It detailed when and how the enemies had approached, and what they had said.
It also described their appearances, accents, and even their physical characteristics.
She also remembered how long the carriage ride was when she was taken, blindfolded, to make the counterfeit weapons, and what sounds she heard along the way.
Geom Muyang lifted his head from the paper and looked at Gwak Yeong.
As if she knew why he was looking at her without him having to ask, she answered.
“I desperately memorized everything. I had a feeling a day like this might come. I just didn't know it would be you, not the Martial Alliance.”
Geom Muyang's gaze returned to the paper.
It detailed whom she met at the place where the counterfeit weapons were made and the process of their creation.
It also listed the type of iron used and the tools required for the work.
She was certainly intelligent.
Not because she had a good memory, but because she had memorized only the essential parts.
Geom Muyang handed the paper back to Ho Myeong.
“Send this to the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion immediately.”
With such detailed information, the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion might be able to find a clue about the culprits.
Ho Myeong left, leaving only Geom Muyang and Gwak Yeong.
She first thanked Geom Muyang for promising to save her brother.
“I was in a state of shock earlier and couldn’t thank you properly. Thank you so much.”
Geom Muyang said nothing.
Instead, he turned his head back to the window.
Now that the investigation was over, she grew even more tense.
What would happen to her now?
She was still guilty of forging the Demon Sect’s weapons.
He had promised to save her brother, but he had not promised to forgive her.
“I’m useless now.”
She had told them everything she knew.
“I won’t resent you even if you kill me and bury me. I won’t come back to haunt you as a ghost.”
Of course, she did not mean it.
She did not want to die.
Saving her brother was more important than her own life, but what if this man succeeded in rescuing him?
She wanted to continue living with her brother.
She wanted to see him get married and have children.
In place of their parents who passed away early, she wanted to watch over her brother until he could live on his own.
If she died too, he would be an orphan all alone in the world.
Just then, Geom Muyang spoke abruptly.
“You said you would get me a promotion?”
For a moment, her eyes widened.
She had said that when she was yelling at him in the interrogation room.
That she would do whatever he ordered for the rest of her life, making whatever he told her to make.
That if he took her with him, he would even get a promotion.
Of course, she had just been spouting nonsense in her agitated state.
She had never once considered a life of making weapons for the Demon Sect.
“That… are you really going to take me with you? You’re joking, right?”
As the flustered woman was at a loss for words, Ho Myeong rushed back in.
His expression alone showed how urgent the matter was.
“I think you need to leave.”
Geom Muyang shot up from his seat.
“An urgent message has come from the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion. The White Dragon Division Lord has been given an emergency mission, and the target is this location.”
Outside the window, the martial artists of the division were already moving.
They retrieved weapons hidden among the lumber and piles of dirt and climbed onto the walls and roofs, taking up their true guard positions.
It was surprising enough that the Martial Alliance knew their location, but the objective was even more shocking.
“The mission is to rescue this woman.”
Because it was an official mission of the Alliance, not a secret one, the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion was able to learn of it quickly and send word.
Despite the urgent situation, Geom Muyang did not hurry.
“How much time do we have?”
“We need to be out within a quarter of an hour.”
Geom Muyang understood why they had kept Gwak Yeong alive.
Their intention was clearly to use her to create a conflict between them and the Martial Alliance.
It was a way for them to force his group out of Wuhan without lifting a finger.
And at this moment, the most important question was how they had found this place.
He had checked several times on the way here to avoid any tails or surveillance.
Then, a thought flashed through his mind.
With a look of disbelief, Geom Muyang asked Gwak Yeong.
“Did you receive anything from them?”
“No, nothing.”
Then, she flinched in surprise.
“There is one thing.”
She took a letter from her robes.
“It’s from my brother.”
Geom Muyang did not take the letter she offered with his hand.
As it floated in the air by his will, Ho Myeong realized what Geom Muyang was thinking.
Ho Myeong took out a leather pouch.
When he unfolded it, a dozen bottles of various sizes were nestled inside.
Ho Myeong took out one of the bottles, opened it, and dropped a single drop onto the letter.
The letter turned blue.
“It’s Tracking Incense.”
At those words, Gwak Yeong was stunned.
“They must have anticipated that we would find this woman and applied Tracking Incense. Or they might have applied it in case she tried to escape.”
Geom Muyang nodded at Ho Myeong's words.
He knew there was a very clever one among them, whoever they were.
Since it was a letter from her brother, she would always carry it with her.
Gwak Yeong was terrified.
More than the fear that this man might lash out at her in a fiery rage was the terror that he might cancel his promise.
The letter then floated over to her.
Catching the letter in her confusion, she asked Geom Muyang with a puzzled heart.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
Geom Muyang spoke with an indifferent gaze.
“This is the last time.”
The moment she heard those words, her heart sank.
She took it to mean he was going to kill her.
But that wasn't it.
She realized a moment later.
He meant for her to read it one last time before he burned it.
If they failed to save her brother, this letter would be his last words to her.
A surge of emotion washed over her.
She was truly grateful to Geom Muyang for thinking of her even in this urgent situation.
“I’ve read it dozens of times, I’ve already memorized its contents.”
With a trembling hand, she held out the letter again.
“Thank you.”
Whoosh.
The letter burst into flames in mid-air from Geom Muyang’s extreme yang energy.
In the meantime, Ho Myeong took another vial from his pouch and poured it all over her.
The Tracking Incense would still be on her body from carrying the letter.
He covered the scent with another one.
Geom Muyang led the way out of the room, followed by Gwak Yeong and Ho Myeong.
The martial artists moved, divided into scout teams, the main body, and a rear guard.
Two martial artists flanked Gwak Yeong, protecting her from any hidden weapons that might fly their way.
Just like that, they left the manor before the White Dragon Division Lord arrived.
At the finest courtesan house in Wuhan, the Red Flower Pavilion, a man was drinking.
White hair, a square face, and eyes like a wounded beast.
In reality, he was a man with deep emotional scars.
The man drinking alone, without any courtesans, was Han Wol-gaek.
Having lost his family to demonic practitioners, he was a man who would jump out of his sleep at the mere mention of the Demon Sect.
He killed any demonic practitioner on sight, without question.
His hatred for the Demon Sect was that immense.
The reason he came to Wuhan was because of a request from one person.
A request from someone he never thought would ask for a favor from anyone.
That made the request feel even heavier.
And he knew better than anyone how deep his own hatred for the Demon Sect ran.
—I will set the stage, so please perform a sword dance for me.
A demonic practitioner that only you can stop is on their way to Wuhan.
Han Wol-gaek did not refuse.
‘Yes, if the opponent is a demonic practitioner, I’ll dance as much as you want.’
At that moment, a martial artist with a message came, bowed respectfully, and reported.
“The time has come.”
A powerful killing intent flowed from Han Wol-gaek’s eyes.
After finishing his last cup, he said coldly.
“Go and tell them. Not a single one of the Demon Sect bastards who entered Wuhan today will make it back alive.”
After leaving the Red Flower Pavilion, Han Wol-gaek walked quickly.
Just then, someone caught his eye.
A young man was crouching by the wall of the courtesan house, looking at a small weed that had sprouted through a crack in a stone.
Next to him was a bamboo collection tube and a small herb pouch containing a few roots.
Inside the collection tube were insects of unknown names.
Han Wol-gaek’s expression soured.
His personality wouldn't allow him to see such a sight and do nothing.
He walked over and spoke to the young man.
“What’s a man like you doing crouching down like that?”
The young man lifted his head and looked at him.
He was a very young and handsome man.
“A fine-looking fellow like you! You should be swinging your sword instead of wasting time like this. Slack off, and the Demon Sect bastards will cut off your head.”
He was the type who couldn't stand to see his juniors looking pathetic.
He knew the young ones these days hated being nagged by their seniors, but that only made him do it more.
If these kids collapsed, the Righteous Path Martial World would be finished.
After spitting out his heartfelt nagging, Han Wol-gaek strode past the spot.
The young man watched his retreating back for a moment before looking back at the plant.
After Han Wol-gaek disappeared from view, an old man approached the youth.
“What kind of plant are you looking at so intently?”
The young man answered.
“Look at this. A Secret Reed Herb is growing in a place like this.”
The young man was none other than the Poison King, and the old man was Sangseon, who assisted him.
The Poison King wore a long robe over his attire, so the Poison Pouches on his waist were not visible.
For that reason, this ordinary-looking robe could be considered the most powerful weapon in this martial world.
The moment the Poison King threw off his robe, revealing the Twelve Zodiacs painted on the twelve Poison Pouches, his opponents would be terrified into fleeing.
“It really is a Secret Reed Herb.”
Sangseon sat down next to the Poison King with a surprised expression.
He had already seen several unfamiliar poisonous herbs.
The Poison King had never had a reason to gather poisonous herbs in Wuhan until now.
It was at that moment.
From a distance, someone came running toward them.
It was the same Han Wol-gaek who had just passed by.
He was running in a hurry, looking as if he had left something important behind.
His stern face was now urgent and pale.
“Out of the way!”
Han Wol-gaek rushed past the Poison King and Sangseon like the wind.
This time, there was no time for nagging.
He ran straight into the Red Flower Pavilion and headed for the latrine.
Han Wol-gaek was a master who could control his bodily functions, but today, things weren’t going as planned.
It was truly the first time he had ever been in such a rush.
Dignity, demonic practitioners—those were problems for later.
Watching him enter the Red Flower Pavilion, Sangseon smiled and said.
“Looks like he’ll be stuck sitting in the latrine all day.”
The Poison King nodded at Sangseon’s words.
The moment Han Wol-gaek had spoken to him as he passed by, he had administered a poison that causes stomach upset.
Without lifting a finger, just by looking, he had poisoned him in that instant.
In a way, the most frightening thing about the Poison King was not his poison, but his youthful appearance that made people let their guard down the moment they saw him.
In any case, Han Wol-gaek should consider himself lucky it ended at this.
If the Poison King had been serious, he would no longer be a person of this world.
“I brought several interesting poisons this time.”
Even without the Poison King’s words, Sangseon knew the poisons used on this trip to Wuhan would be different.
Unless it was a matter of life and death for Geom Muyang, no one would die from the Poison King’s poison.
The Poison King himself knew better than anyone.
He knew what role he played in this martial world.
And what the consequences would be if he killed a member of the Righteous Path with poison in front of the Martial Alliance headquarters.
The two of them walked side by side.
Who would think he was the Poison King, with an herb pouch at his side and an insect collection tube in his hand?
“Please rest at the inn. I will let you know once the First Young Master’s new safehouse is decided.”
Since his arrival, the Poison King had been watching Geom Muyang’s back without a moment's rest.
“When is that person coming?”
“The Demon Buddha is coming as fast as he can, so he should arrive in Wuhan soon.”
A strange look of anticipation filled the Poison King's face.
Sangseon naturally assumed he was happy because he could share the burden of protecting Geom Muyang.
But what the Poison King was looking forward to was something Sangseon had never considered.
“Make a list of the rare poisonous herbs found only in the Wuhan area.”