Maeng Hyeon could only doubt his own ears.
He was no longer the Young Palace Lord?!
It was a bolt from the blue – something he had never once imagined.
“F–Father! I’m your eldest son! It’s only natural for the eldest son to succeed his father. How can you suddenly say something like that?”
“Don’t fool yourself. Not a single record in Zhurong Palace states that the eldest son must inherit the position of Palace Lord.”
“If I’m cast out of the Young Palace Lord’s position like this, I’ll become a laughingstock!”
“Better you suffer humiliation now than bring ruin upon Zhurong Palace’s future.”
“You’re saying I’m a disgrace?!”
“…”
Hearing Maeng Hyeon speak only of himself without a thought for Zhurong Palace, Palace Lord Maeng Jin sighed and tightly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, every trace of warmth had vanished from his voice.
“This decision is final.”
Faced with Palace Lord Maeng Jin’s unwavering resolve, Maeng Hyeon resorted to his final measure.
“Father! Then you might as well kill me right here!”
“What did you say?”
“I said you should kill me! I’d rather die than suffer such humiliation!”
“Haa…”
Maeng Jin sighed.
“You’ve just reminded me why stripping you of the Young Palace Lord’s position was the right decision. I nearly let you bring Zhurong Palace to ruin.”
Shing.
Maeng Jin rose from his seat, drew his sword, and approached Maeng Hyeon.
Seeing the Palace Lord advance on him, Maeng Hyeon stumbled backward.
“F–Father? What are you doing?”
“Didn’t you ask me to kill you? Since that is your wish, how could I, as your father, refuse…?”
Maeng Hyeon trembled violently as Maeng Jin’s genuine killing intent washed over him for the first time.
“At least I’ll make sure you don’t suffer.”
Vwoom–!
Maeng Jin’s sword swept toward Maeng Hyeon.
“Eek!”
A great clump of his hair was severed and scattered across the floor.
Thud.
Maeng Hyeon collapsed where he stood.
“What’s wrong? Weren’t you asking me to kill you?”
“I–I’m sorry! I was talking nonsense!”
“And that is precisely why you’re being removed from the Young Palace Lord’s position.”
Shing, click!
Maeng Jin sheathed his sword and spoke coldly.
“Confine yourself to your quarters and reflect on your conduct.”
“…”
“Get out. Now.”
Maeng Hyeon staggered out of the office. Palace Lord Maeng Jin clicked his tongue as he watched him leave.
“Wasn’t that a little too harsh?”
Outer Chief Administrator Hae Dal-man had silently watched the entire confrontation from the side. Despite his concern, Maeng Jin merely shook his head.
“If he doesn’t have what it takes, then I need to replace him as soon as possible.”
“That is true enough.”
Hae Dal-man nodded before continuing.
“Still… Isn’t your second son always in the western archive where Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho went? I doubt you allowed him inside without knowing that. Were you hoping something would happen?”
Maeng Jin nodded at the question.
“I wanted to know what Young Palace Lord Eun thinks of that boy.”
After entering the archive, I looked over the bookshelves and soon realized that I wasn’t alone.
Who is it?
I cautiously approached the direction where I sensed a presence and found someone leaning against the wall beside a bookshelf, reading.
That man…
His face was younger than I remembered, but there was no mistaking him.
He was someone with whom I had shared a connection in my previous life.
Perhaps sensing my presence, he lifted his head and looked at me.
“I haven’t seen you before. Since you were allowed inside, I assume you received my father’s permission.”
At his courteous greeting, I cupped my fist and returned the courtesy.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Eun Seo-ho, Snow Wind Palace’s Young Palace Lord. The Palace Lord granted me permission to search for some records here.”
He nodded at my introduction.
“Ah, so you’re Snow Wind Palace’s Young Palace Lord. I heard you had come for the Ice-Fire Conference.”
He set down the book he had been reading and introduced himself.
“My name is Maeng Cheon. I’m the Palace Lord’s second son. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Ah… So he was Zhurong Palace Lord’s second son.
Was my meeting Young Lord Maeng Cheon here part of someone’s design? Or was it merely a coincidence?
With that thought in mind, I studied Young Lord Maeng Cheon.
His expression was calm, and keen intelligence shone in his eyes.
He’s completely different from his elder brother, Young Lord Maeng Hyeon.
His appearance, gaze, and even his voice were exactly the same as the man I had known in my previous life.
Though he had used a different name back then.
What in the world had happened to him in my previous life?
Regardless, if he spent enough time here to be present at this hour, he must know the archive well. I should ask for his help.
“Are you familiar with this archive?”
“I do visit it often.”
“I see. In that case, may I ask for your assistance? There are so many records that I had no idea where to begin searching for what I needed.”
“I understand. What sort of records are you looking for?”
“Doyeon Sect and Blood Heaven Sect. I’m searching for information about those two sects.”
He flinched at my answer.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing. I was merely surprised because those weren’t the sort of records I expected you to seek.”
I suppose that was understandable.
If he visited this archive often, he likely knew exactly what sort of places those two sects were.
“The records you want should be over there.”
He took the lead and guided me deeper into the archive.
Along the way, he found a small cart and began pulling it behind him.
“Why are you bringing the cart?”
“Ah. There are quite a few books.”
“Don’t worry. I can carry all of them.”
“I’m sure you can. But carrying them in your arms would damage them. The books in this archive are precious, so they must be handled with care.”
“I see.”
I quickly nodded.
He was right. Cradling an armful of books would easily damage their covers and bindings.
Young Lord Maeng Cheon carefully examined the shelves, pulling out books one by one and placing them on the cart.
“That should be everything.”
“You must have read every book on this shelf.”
I couldn’t help but admire him.
He had found every book I needed in less than an hour.
“It’s hardly an impressive talent. You should be able to find the information you seek within those books.”
“Thank you for your help.”
“Think nothing of it. Take your time looking through them. I’ll leave you to it.”
As though helping me was one thing but being disturbed himself was another, he returned to the place where he had been reading.
I quietly watched his retreating back.
For a moment, the sight overlapped with the man I had known in my previous life.
Back then, he had been a wandering martial artist.
I met him when I needed to hire several wandering martial artists for a job.
Yet he possessed far too much knowledge for an ordinary wandering martial artist, and even his mannerisms carried a certain refinement.
As we worked together, his wisdom and learning won me over, so I asked him to join the Eunhae Merchant Group.
He refused at first, but eventually gave in to my relentless persuasion.
His talents soon began to shine. In particular, his strategy in the sugar trade had allowed us to establish an unrivaled position.
But he had been Zhurong Palace Lord’s second son?
At least this answered one question I had always had about him.
Why he had so firmly refused to conduct business in Yunnan.
After learning that he was originally from Yunnan, I once asked him to lead a trade expedition there.
“I will never go to Yunnan. If you try to send me there, I would sooner resign.”
As a result, I had no choice but to send him to Guangxi Province, a major sugar-producing region, instead of Yunnan.
Young Lord Maeng Cheon had probably refused to return to Yunnan because of Young Palace Lord Maeng Hyeon.
The man I saw yesterday was not the sort to leave anyone who crossed him in peace.
Young Lord Maeng Cheon had likely fallen out of favor and been exiled. Had he returned to Yunnan, his life might have been threatened.
What a tragic fate.
But that lay in the future. For now, examining these records was more urgent.
I sat before a reading desk.
Perhaps because it had been designed for an archive, the desk had a bookstand that made reading large volumes much more comfortable.
I began rapidly examining the books.
[At Doyeon Sect Leader’s request, Zhurong Palace agreed to bring his sect under our banner.]
Is this where the records concerning Doyeon Sect begin?
I continued reading through the entries.
Most were ordinary records with nothing particularly noteworthy. Before long, however, one entry caught my attention.
[According to those who returned from Doyeon Sect, the way they treated our party was suspicious. They reported that the sect appeared to have found another patron besides us.
The man who submitted the report has a keen eye, so the information is reasonably trustworthy.
They also claim to have seen a stranger there.
I reported the matter to the Palace Lord, and we decided to observe the situation for now.]
A stranger?
This record was written more than twenty years ago.
Of course, unlike the record I had read yesterday, this one hadn’t been written by the Palace Lord. It was the previous Outer Chief Administrator’s record.
After all, this wasn’t the same archive I had entered yesterday.
But that didn’t matter.
When it came to incidents like this, the records left by a Palace Lord’s subordinates were often more detailed and accurate than the Palace Lord’s own writings.
[According to the martial artist, one of his subordinates reported that the stranger seemed to carry the scent of blood, though he could not explain why.]
The scent of blood?
[As expected, Doyeon Sect eventually declared its independence. We asked them, somewhat pointedly, whether they had found themselves a powerful new patron. A Doyeon Sect martial artist replied that Doyeon Sect would now cast off its status as a frontier martial family and become a sect of the Central Plains.
A sect of the Central Plains?
What a ridiculous dream.
The Central Plains sects are as petty as they come, and they close ranks tightly against outsiders.
As though they would ever let Doyeon Sect into their circle.
Even if they did, they would only use the sect and discard it afterward.
Still, we owe no obligation to those who chose to leave us.
That doesn’t make this any less infuriating.
If they meant to become independent, they should never have joined us in the first place. They milked Zhurong Palace for everything it was worth, and now…]
I let out a quiet snort.
The previous Outer Chief Administrator must have been furious when he wrote this.
Everything that followed was filled with condemnation of Doyeon Sect.
Yet something else in what I had just read bothered me.
It claimed Doyeon Sect had abandoned Zhurong Palace and allied itself with another power because it wished to escape the frontier and advance into the empire’s heartland.
But to accomplish that, it would have needed the backing of an influential power within the empire.
Doyeon Sect’s people took pride in considering themselves an Orthodox Sect, so they wouldn’t have joined hands with an Unorthodox Sect.
In fact, sects from the frontier tended to cling even more fiercely to that sort of pride.
Their customs and rules were simply more practical due to the nature of the region.
Then again, that only meant their surroundings were enough of a mess to demand such practicality.
And if Doyeon Sect had been willing to leave Zhurong Palace’s protection behind, its new allies must have possessed considerable fame or power within the martial world.
There was one more troubling detail – the record claiming that the person who had connected Doyeon Sect to its new patron carried the scent of blood.
I pulled out another book.
That volume contained an account of Doyeon Sect’s destruction.
[Something felt wrong. It was the same foul feeling one might have after discovering that someone had secretly devoured the sweets one had been saving.
I learned why at dawn the next day.
A report came that a Doyeon Sect martial artist had arrived. I hurried outside and found him prostrate on the floor, drenched in blood, his hair hanging wild around his face.
He begged us to save Doyeon Sect.
He said the sect had been attacked and stood on the brink of destruction.
So I asked him.
Had they also requested aid from the people who had promised to protect them?
The martial artist answered with a grief-stricken expression.
Their contact had suddenly been cut off three days earlier.
Sigh.
You damned fools.
What did I tell you? I warned you not to trust those Central Plains bastards.
In any case, I reported the matter to the Palace Lord and immediately led our disciples toward Doyeon Sect.
But we were too late. Nothing remained.]
These records pointed to a single conclusion.
Doyeon Sect’s destruction had been thoroughly planned long before it occurred.
[Believing that those who targeted Doyeon Sect might eventually come after us, the Palace Lord ordered us to identify the culprits behind the sect’s destruction.
We dispatched disciples throughout Yunnan and began an investigation.
After a long and relentless search, we uncovered the culprit.
Blood Heaven Sect.
They were an Unorthodox Sect that had suddenly appeared roughly five years earlier and established itself in the region.
They had kept quiet and caused no trouble, so we had paid them little attention. And now they had caused an incident like this.
After reporting the matter to the Palace Lord, we visited Blood Heaven Sect to demand an explanation.
They claimed self-defense, insisting that Doyeon Sect had drawn its blades against them first.
Something about them felt strange as we spoke.
Unlike an ordinary Unorthodox Sect, their order did not seem to be founded on money or strength. Something else held them together.
I also caught the scent of blood for a moment while meeting them, but it vanished almost immediately.
What a peculiar place.]
I bit my lip.
My attention remained fixed on the records mentioning the scent of blood.
The person who had visited Doyeon Sect had also smelled of blood.
Both North Sea Ice Palace and Zhurong Palace practiced martial arts closely aligned with nature.
As a result, their members possessed extraordinary instincts when it came to ominous things or distortions in the natural order.
Perhaps that was why both powers had remained on the righteous path instead of straying.
I had also sensed blood-soaked Unorthodox Qi several times before.
And Master had told me that Blood Cult members carried the stench of blood.
Then did that mean the Blood Cult had been involved in the incidents surrounding Doyeon Sect and Blood Heaven Sect?
Why had Doyeon Sect believed that its new patron was an Orthodox Sect from the Central Plains?
Had the Blood Cult manipulated Doyeon Sect into bringing disaster upon Snow Wind Palace, then founded Blood Heaven Sect to erase the pawns it had used?
But I soon had no choice but to sigh.
The problem was why.
Why had they gone to such extraordinary lengths to annihilate Snow Wind Palace?
And there was another problem.
That problem was how.
The Blood Cult was believed to have been annihilated, with only a handful of remnants preserving its lineage at best. Founding Blood Heaven Sect – let alone destroying Snow Wind Palace – should have been impossible for them.
I let out a slow breath. I still had a long way to go.
Still, this was enough. I had already uncovered a considerable amount.
–TL Notes–
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