“Ha ha... indeed. A low-grade ploy cannot harm our Heavenly Arbiter.”
As events flowed on, Unhwi’s mind was spinning furiously.
If you connect the fragnts into one, eventually anything will erge.
A picture had ford in Unhwi’s head.
Not certain—yet.
He had the feel of it.
Unhwi rose slowly from his seat.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
“Huh... at least rest a little. You’ll wear yourself down at this rate.”
Unhwi smiled gently.
“Rest is for when I’m dead. There’s work to ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) do, and with the office of Heavenly Arbiter on my shoulders, I cannot rest.”
“You make feel needlessly sorry.”
“It’s fine. More than anything, it seems there will soon be a matter for the Alliance Lord to step forward—move then.”
“I am the one who must move?”
“Yes. We’re in the sa boat, are we not.”
“...”
“Are we not?”
Unhwi’s smile never changed, and strangely, that smile made Mae Wuidong ill at ease.
“Please rest.”
With that, Unhwi turned his back and left the Alliance Lord’s hall.
***
The mont I ca out of the hall, a man ca running toward .
I looked at that man, then glanced to the side.
There was another man there.
Two in total—one running, the other walking at an easy pace.
“Sir Seol!! An urgent report...”
Trailing off like that, the man was Jang Seok of the Seongjak Province branch of Gaebang, and as if only just sensing the presence of the man walking beside him, he toppled back in shock, eyes wide.
A man in his early fifties, sturdily built, carrying a heavy air.
“An honor to et you, Heavenly Arbiter. I am Wei Tianhu, Division Chief of the Martial Righteous Unit.”
Yes. This man was Wei Tianhu.
The man who had kept the Martial Righteous Unit—the Heavenly Alliance’s top combat corps—from the days of Ye Wonje until now.
This was not our first eting.
We had exchanged greetings in passing; for him to be standing there like that ant he had been waiting for .
I raised a hand and patted Jang Seok’s shoulder once.
Quick to read the room, Jang Seok cupped his fists, then slipped away beyond sight.
Wei Tianhu spoke.
“With respect—may I ask the Heavenly Arbiter a question.”
“Ask.”
“Have I... so problem.”
I furrowed my brow at the out-of-the-blue words.
What he ant—and what he intended.
I thought a mont, then ca to a swift conclusion.
“There is no problem.”
“Then why do you not use .”
“Because there has been no need.”
“...I do not understand. No need? Since you took office, incidents touching the Heavenly Alliance have been anything but few.”
Watching the look of incomprehension on Wei Tianhu’s face, I asked quietly,
“Do you require an explanation.”
“Yes. I do.”
“Very well. I will be concise. First: including what happened at the Un’guk court, none of those affairs called for the Martial Righteous Unit.”
“...”
“Seo Hyo is at the Celestial Being Stage, and my Protector, Seong Yangho, is at the Mythic Stage. And Han Murin, whom I brought from Yangryeong, is at the Three Harmonies Attainnt. If you look only at realm ranks, you may not understand, but each had a role, and Seo Hyo and Seong Yangho were individuals, not n to lead a corps. Do you understand.”
Wei Tianhu let out a breath and nodded.
“As the one who manages a corps, Division Chief Wei cannot move alone. If the Martial Righteous Unit steps out, the shape grows awkward, and when a task fails, the lives that must be forfeit only increase. Who am I to clutch the Unit’s lives in my hand and gamble.”
It was consideration.
“And if I include Division Chief Wei in the things I aim to do, the things I must mind only grow.”
“...Understood. And next.”
“Second: I am not keeping my distance from you.”
At that, Wei Tianhu blinked.
“...It felt like you were keeping your distance. Heavenly Arbiter.”
Saying the sa thing twice had no aning.
Plainly put, my not using Wei Tianhu was not to keep distance from him as a person.
There were exactly two reasons.
The first was because of the level above him.
That he had guarded the Martial Righteous Unit from Ye Wonje’s days until now could be viewed in two ways.
First, that he was loyal not to Ye Wonje but to another.
Second, that he belonged to nowhere else, but simply to the body called the Heavenly Alliance.
Which of the two he was had not been clearly determined.
And the second reason was, as I had kindly explained, there was no reason to use him.
In the forr case, awkward though it would be, if there were a reason to make use of him, I would make use of him. But the latter reason was far too great.
Of late I had not even borrowed the martial n of Cheonrak Prefecture, and had instead drawn only on Chief Heavenly Commander Pung Muhwi—there was nothing more to say.
It was not as if I could not understand Wei Tianhu’s sense of being slighted.
“Then allow one question.”
“Speak.”
“Know this first. If the answer to this question later proves a lie, I will stake everything and kill you, Division Chief.”
“...”
“I will hear no excuses or pretexts—without a word I will hew off your head on the spot. Do you understand.”
Wei Tianhu straightened. His eyes grew resolute.
“I understand.”
“Good. Division Chief Wei—whom do you serve.”
Without a hair’s breadth of hesitation, Wei Tianhu answered,
“I serve no one.”
“Then why do you hold the post of Division Chief of the Martial Righteous Unit.”
“I am from a drifter’s background. I entered as a regular mber of the Unit and have been here fifteen years.”
“Your attained realm is the Mythic Stage—did you never think to go elsewhere to pursue your ambition.”
“I raised my realm here, and I have gained much experience. I intend to pursue my ambition here.”
“What is that ambition.”
“To raise one organization higher than its competitors.”
“Competitors.”
“Yes. The Martial Alliance has the Upper Wisdom Pavilion, and the Sichuan Alliance has the Iron Bright Pavilion. My intent is to raise the Martial Righteous Unit into a corps to stand comparison with those bodies.”
I stepped forward a pace.
“Division Chief Wei.”
“...Yes.”
“What you just said had better be the truth.”
“...”
“A few days from now, delegations from the Five Sword Sects and the External Four Demon Sects will visit. You know this.”
“Of course.”
I told the Division Chief a few matters, and he nodded as if not to disappoint.
He cupped his fists.
“I will surely et your expectations.”
I nodded.
As I watched the Division Chief turn and walk away, I tossed out a word.
“Division Chief Wei.”
“Yes?”
“Late though it is, I believe there is ample ti for us to build trust.”
Wei Tianhu smiled faintly.
“Of course, Heavenly Arbiter.”
“And going forward, I’ll speak plainly.”
Wei Tianhu looked genuinely pleased.
***
Staring after the retreating back of Wei Tianhu, Jang Seok hurried up to .
“...Perhaps because you are the one who sets the martial world trembling, Sir Seol is always busy.”
Looking at Jang Seok, I asked evenly,
“You said urgent report—what is it.”
“I—has nothing changed for you.”
My gaze, which had run up and down the expectant Jang Seok, stopped at one spot: his waist—there were exactly five sashes there.
“You’ve beco Five-Knot.”
Jang Seok nodded.
Assigned to the Seongjak Province branch of Gaebang, he had already been temporarily promoted to Four-Knot—promoted straight to Five-Knot?
In Gaebang’s history, this was an almost unheard-of leap.
“So not formally Four-Knot, but Five-Knot... it’s good news, but is this the urgent report.”
At my question, Jang Seok scratched his head. His expression suddenly turned grave.
“In truth, that’s not the main point.”
I nodded and waited for what ca next. I had already anticipated it as well.
Jang Seok paused, then opened his mouth carefully.
The look on his face was still one of disbelief.
“In Gaebang... a great upheaval has occurred.”
“A great upheaval.”
“Yes. Of the Eight Great Elders...”
Jang Seok swallowed once.
“Three all passed away in a single night. Each in a different place, each by a different ans.”
Unhwi’s gaze sharpened. Three of the Eight Great Elders dead in one night? No one would call that coincidence.
Jang Seok went on.
“Imdiately after, an urgent dispatch arrived from Seongjak Province—promoting to Five-Knot.”
Complicated emotion shaded Jang Seok’s voice.
Joy crossed with unease.
When he was dispatched to Seongjak Province, Kang Gyeoljin—one of the Eight Great Elders and himself Seven-Knot of Gaebang—had sent Jang Seok a letter.
—Bear this in mind. You are interim. Though the Sect Lord holds Seol Unhwi in high regard, ability-verification is another matter. It had already been discussed to promote you to Four-Knot, so promoted you will be. But if in Seongjak Province you do sothing to disgrace Gaebang’s honor, you will be returned to Yangryeong Prefecture at once. Is that clear?
Kang Gyeoljin was one of the three who died this ti.
I asked,
“Was there anything particular in the promotion decree.”
At my question, Jang Seok shook his head.
“Only that the Seongjak Province branch’s rits were recognized. However—”
He hesitated, then spoke.
“The person who brought the decree said as much on the side: that Sect Lord Hyejeongsan had harbored a misunderstanding about Sir Seol, and that he wished to maintain amicable relations hereafter.”
My expression changed subtly.
My eyes sank cold, and a bitter smile spread at my lips. I saw straight through the course of events.
Blood-Spirit Fist King Yeong Unseong’s wrath had fallen upon Gaebang, and Hyejeongsan had chosen.
To be silent.
Perhaps that was the right choice.
Yeong Unseong had said it plainly to .
He would sever Hyejeongsan’s hands and feet.
This was the perfect fulfillnt of that promise.
And then, instead of revenge toward the Original Blood Cult, they promote Jang Seok—who is closely tied to ?
Hyejeongsan was clever.
He recognized that he lacked strength now, and he recognized he lacked justification.
A step back for two steps forward.
Jang Seok did not miss the change in my expression.
“Seeing your face, you seem to think this is the Poison Lord’s doing.”
Honeyed words, a blade in the belly.
It was plain that while Hyejeongsan spoke sweetly, he was thinking otherwise inside.
“You do not.”
Jang Seok wore a complicated look.
“I wished it were not so. Then... what should I do.”
“Accept it, for now.”
At that unexpectedly simple answer, Jang Seok’s eyes widened.
“So long as I account for the chance that, later, you might hit in the back of the head, this is a deal I can take.”
User Comments
0 comments from readers