Looking at him, Eun Seo-ho said,
“You look like you don’t believe it.”
Eun Seo-ho handed him a letter.
“Read it.”
He read the letter and quickly raised his head in shock.
It contained the fact that the Ragged Sage Physician had discovered this plague was man-made.
“Submit your report exactly as it is. They’ll say you’ve done well and that you no longer need to send reports. That’ll be proof they intend to erase this place.”
“…”
“Why? Lost your confidence? You were so full of it just a moment ago.”
Eun Seo-ho’s words sounded almost mocking.
He replied,
“I’ll show you just how righteous they are.”
I watched as the Thorn Gate Sect disciple placed the report I wrote into the bamboo tube.
My mind felt heavy.
I hated both the Murim Alliance, who lured him into this, and him, who agreed to it for his own gain.
Honestly, what part of the Murim Alliance does he think is so righteous that he’s so confident?
Well…
To those who haven’t seen their true face yet, I guess they do seem righteous.
After parting ways with him, the Ragged Sage Physician and I returned to the sect’s quarters.
“What are you thinking?”
The moment we walked in, the Ragged Sage Physician asked.
“Thinking about what?”
“Letting them know I discovered the plague was man-made. Isn’t that just inviting danger?”
He’d just learned from that bamboo tube letter that the Murim Alliance was behind this.
So his concern wasn’t baseless.
“True. But… I have a good idea.”
“…?”
I called out to the little one in my sleeve.
“Geumryeong.”
“Ku!”
“I’ve got a job for you. Deliver this letter to Palgap. And this one… to Father.”
“Ku.”
“If you do it well, I’ll give you a silver tael.”
“Kuuk!”
As expected, silver is the best motivator.
With the letter for Father tied to its tail and the one for Palgap tied to its leg, Geumryeong zipped away through the window in a flash.
It really is ridiculously fast.
Though… I wonder, if I feed it too much silver, will it get even rounder?
Well… that might be cute in its own way…
.
.
.
A few days later.
Inside the hollow of that tree, there was a bamboo tube.
It was the reply.
The disciple walked over, looking absolutely triumphant.
“I’ll show you just how wrong you are!”
He proudly pulled the letter from the bamboo tube and unfolded it.
I simply watched with a smile.
Then his eyes started trembling.
“Is something wrong?”
“T-This… This can’t… be…”
“Looks like it didn’t go the way you hoped.”
Thud.
He dropped the letter.
I picked it up and read it.
[You’ve done well. You don’t need to send any more reports. Stay inside the sect and wait.]
Just as I expected.
“N-No… No way… This can’t be…”
He shook his head, denying reality, then looked up at me.
“But… but this doesn’t prove the Murim Alliance isn’t righteous!”
“Sure. But… you’ll understand soon enough.”
I grinned.
“Go inside. The night wind’s getting cold.”
After parting with him, I headed for the Sect Leader.
The medicine the Ragged Sage Physician made worked incredibly well. The Sect Leader, the Guardians, and the Gatekeepers were all back on their feet.
Right now, there wasn’t a single person in the Thorn Gate Sect still sick.
“You’ve come, Handsome Young Hero.”
The Sect Leader greeted me.
I quickly waved my hand.
“Please, just call me Young Master.”
“How could I?”
“Sect Leader…”
“So, you were on your way back from meeting that pitiful disciple, weren’t you?”
He was asking about the one who had spread the plague and reported the situation.
Since he was a disciple of the sect, handling his punishment was the Sect Leader’s responsibility.
That’s why I told the Sect Leader everything.
“It went exactly as I expected. But… he’s still denying reality.”
“I see.”
The Sect Leader stroked his beard with a saddened expression.
“What will you do about him?”
The Sect Leader thought for a moment before answering.
“First, we should protect the boy.”
“You’re not just going to leave him be?”
“Whether we love or hate him, whether he sinned or not… he’s still a disciple of the Thorn Gate Sect. Of course we must protect him.”
I felt like I finally understood why the Murim Alliance chose the Thorn Gate Sect for this.
It was probably… because of things like this.
I remembered what Merchant Lord Namgoong Gang of the Baekcheon Merchant Group told me before I died.
“And frankly, we don’t like how upright you are. Raising the standard for ‘goodness’ is a pain in the ass. You people… you’re just an eyesore.”
The Murim Alliance was clearly wary of the standard for ‘good’ getting higher.
But why?
Why was the Murim Alliance trying to lower the standards for goodness?
A group of fifty was marching toward Mount Thorn Gate.
Leading them was Commander Cheongsong, feeling utterly bewildered.
He’d received orders from the Murim Alliance Leader.
Set fire to the Thorn Gate Sect on Mount Thorn Gate. Prevent the plague from spreading any further.
“There’s a plague going around the Thorn Gate Sect. It’s a plague deadly to those who practice martial arts.”
“…”
“I heard they’ve all died from it already. But… if we leave it, it could spread further. Go and clean it up.”
“Understood.”
But the private orders he received were… a bit different.
“If there’s anyone still alive… they must die there.”
“…”
“If you make a mistake… the entire Murim could fall.”
“I understand.”
The idea of cutting down living people… fellow martial artists of the Orthodox Sect at that… it gnawed at his conscience.
But this plague was fatal to those with internal arts.
Sacrificing a few to save the many… that’s what it meant.
So he hardened his heart.
But then…
“You heard? About the Thorn Gate Sect?”
“Yeah! They say they caught a plague that affects martial artists, right? How are they doing?”
“Heard they’re totally cured.”
“For real?”
“The Ragged Sage Physician made a miracle cure. Everyone recovered after taking it.”
Everywhere they went, the rumor spread.
The plague at the Thorn Gate Sect was gone.
The real problem came when they arrived at Yichang.
The plague there was already gone, and the place was full of martial artists.
The mountain path leading to Mount Thorn Gate was completely packed with people.
“Why are there so many people here?”
Commander Cheongsong asked.
One of the gathered answered.
“It seems Commander hasn’t heard the rumors yet.”
“Rumors? You mean the one about the Thorn Gate Sect’s martial artists recovering from the plague?”
“That’s right. The Ragged Sage Physician is personally distributing medicine now to help other martial artists.”
“…”
Cheongsong’s mission was supposed to be secret.
But now… it was impossible to keep it secret anymore.
He reported this to headquarters immediately. Soon after, a letter arrived.
It was an order to retreat.
.
.
.
We stopped by an inn to rest before returning tomorrow.
Over dinner in the dining hall, they chatted about various things.
“At least… it worked out.”
“Yeah. The plague was cured before we arrived.”
Cheongsong nodded at his subordinates’ words. Honestly, he felt the same.
No matter how noble the cause, raising a sword against fellow martial artists who were sick… didn’t sit right.
On the way here, he’d kept thinking, ‘Is this why I trained in martial arts?’
After dinner, his men headed up to their rooms one by one.
Then, a group of people walked into the inn.
Normally, commoners avoided inns filled with armed men.
But tonight, since most were upstairs, they must’ve decided to come in.
They ordered dumplings and other dishes and started chatting.
“So the Ragged Sage Physician figured it out quickly? That the plague in the Thorn Gate Sect was deliberately spread?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Thank goodness there was medicine.”
“He made the cure pretty fast. By mid-month, everyone was already healed and back to training.”
Hearing that, Cheongsong realized something was wrong.
The order he received from the Alliance Leader came after mid-month.
Which meant… when he got that order, there was no plague in the Thorn Gate Sect.
‘Then… why… did the Alliance Leader…?’
I quietly observed Commander Cheongsong’s expression.
His eyes were full of confusion.
Of course, that was the whole point. The plan worked.
In my past life, a few days after the Gusi arson incident at the Murim Alliance pavilion… something happened that shook the entire Murim.
It was the news that Commander Cheongsong had taken his own life.
He left a will saying he was offering his life to the spirits of the heavens as atonement for his sins.
It was the talk of the entire Murim for a while.
From what I’d learned, Cheongsong had always been immensely proud to be part of the Murim Alliance.
And yet… he chose to end his own life.
I never understood why, but now… piecing everything together, I got it.
He was the one who carried out the order to burn the Thorn Gate Sect.
And… back then, he didn’t know the truth.
When he eventually discovered it… the guilt crushed him.
He was one of the most renowned masters in the martial world. A pillar of the Murim Alliance.
So now… I was going to crack that pillar.
That’s why I involved Palgap and the two escort guards to execute this plan.
And it seems… the plan succeeded.
.
.
.
On the road back to the Thorn Gate Sect, I turned to Palgap and the guards.
“You all worked hard.”
“Not at all.”
“Young Master, you worked much harder than us.”
“Ku…”
“And you too, Geumryeong. Good job.”
“Kuuut!”
I chuckled.
In the letter I sent with Geumryeong, I’d requested for the rumors to be spread.
And those rumors grew rapidly.
With the news that medicine was being distributed, martial artists from all over flocked to the Thorn Gate Sect.
Even the Murim Alliance couldn’t do anything when the sect was surrounded by this many warriors. That’s why they ordered Cheongsong’s group to retreat.
The Ragged Sage Physician must be exhausted from making medicine.
And the disciples… they’re probably struggling to handle the wave of incoming visitors.
Still, that’s better than being burned alive.
It was time for me to return to the Thorn Gate Sect.
Because I was very curious… about the face of a mouse that trusted a cat.
It was deep into the night.
Ji-un, a disciple of the Thorn Gate Sect, made his way to the tree where he always left the reports.
Amidst the chaos of welcoming the flood of martial artists, someone had quietly slipped a note into his sleeve.
It read, ‘Your promised reward awaits. Tell no one. Come to the usual place where you leave the reports at Hai (亥時, 9–11 p.m.).’
When Ji-un saw it, he rejoiced.
Finally, he was about to leave this tiny place and step into the bigger world.
He even wanted to show the letter to Eun Seo-ho.
See?
The Murim Alliance really is righteous!
They didn’t forget the reward they promised!
But… he couldn’t risk ruining things at the very end.
So he kept quiet and headed for the forest.
Soon, Ji-un arrived at the tree next to the boulder.
Just in case, he reached into the hollow.
His hand touched something.
He pulled it out.
“…!”
His eyes widened.
It was a silver tael.
“W-What’s this…?”
A voice came from behind him.
“Like the amount? That’s your ferry fee to the afterlife.”
“…!”
Startled, Ji-un spun around.
A man in black stood there, sword drawn.
“W-Who… Who are you?”
“I’m here to give you your promised reward.”
But… something felt wrong.
Ferry fee to the afterlife? And that murderous aura aimed right at him…?
“The Murim Alliance promised me the position of Commander!”
“You really think someone like you could be a Commander? How stupid.”
The man’s voice was full of mockery.
“With your skill, you wouldn’t even make it as a basic enforcer, let alone Commander.”
“W-What…?”
“You don’t even know your own sect’s martial arts. Thorn Gate sword techniques are built on formation and cooperation. Alone… you’re worthless.”
The man raised his sword.
“From the beginning, there was only one reward promised to you. Death.”
Swallowing his fear, Ji-un drew his sword.
“Consider yourself lucky. Thanks to how messy things got… at least you’re not burning alive. You get to die by my sword instead.”
The man’s figure disappeared in an instant.
By the time Ji-un realized… the sword was already aiming straight for his heart.
Clang—!
–TL Notes–
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