Yuk Seol-jeong left, and about half a hour later, Jang Cho, who had rushed in, entered the room and sat down.

He drank tea as if his throat were parched and then said, "I heard the news. Are you okay?"

There was no way he was okay. Jin Sa-wol, with an expressionless face, asked Jang Cho, "Where is the Hao Faction Master?"

Jang Cho was puzzled that he was asking about the whereabouts of the Hao Faction Master after hearing the news about the Gangnam Grand Inn.

"Why the Hao Faction Master?"

"The inn has become like that, so there's no way the Hao Faction doesn't know."

"The place the Seo Mun Pavilion Master went to is the Man-gyeong Pavilion in Kaifeng."

"I'll leave now."

"It's too much to leave with that body. Drink the decoction I made for a few more days."

Hearing Jang Cho's words to drink more of that disgustingly tasteless, fishy, and bitter decoction, Jin Sa-wol suspected it might be torture.

Perhaps Jang Cho was taking revenge on him under the pretext of treatment?

It was possible.

'If it were me, I would have done that.'

Jang Cho smiled with his eyes and looked at Jin Sa-wol's stomach. Jin Sa-wol, just in case, asked, "There are no worms, right?"

"Fortunately, they're all dead. Still, I told you to stay for a few more days just in case."

"Then I can go."

Jin Sa-wol said as if he had made up his mind to leave. Jang Cho sighed deeply as if he couldn't help it and said with a look of regret, "The Hao Faction Master also saved you. If the Seo Mun Pavilion Master hadn't secured a retreat route, you wouldn't have been able to escape the cult easily."

It was a reminder not to forget.

Jin Sa-wol nodded. He was going to meet Seo Mun-ryeon to get information, and he had no other intentions.

Although there was the Dark Cloud Division, since he had seen Na Hyeon-gi, he judged it was better to keep a distance from them as well.

Since they were Na Hyeon-gi's people, it was clear that they would report everything related to him to Na Hyeon-gi.

Since he had seen Na Hyeon-gi sitting on the Cult Leader's grand master's chair, he felt that he was a different person than before. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Jang Cho, seeing Jin Sa-wol's expression change several times, became curious.

The expression of Jin Sa-wol he had seen so far was always similar. It was rare for his emotions to be revealed.

"What are you thinking?"

"The suspicion that you let me live when there were many opportunities to kill me."

"Is it because you're a killing ghost that you can't see goodwill as goodwill, and you can distinguish malice but can't understand goodwill? Or is it your original nature?"

"Goodwill is originally difficult to distinguish, and malice is easy to distinguish."

At Jin Sa-wol's answer, Jang Cho seemed to understand.

If Jin Sa-wol had been an enemy, Jang Cho could have killed him several times. Stabbing the opponent in the back when they were at their weakest was something every Demonic Cult member knew.

If they were an enemy.

"Suspicion originally complicates the mind. It is also necessary to have the wisdom to see things as they are."

"Pavilion Master Jang speaks like a person who has lived a long life."

"If you treat and kill many people, you hear all sorts of stories. I learned it because I had a greedy master and brothers."

Jin Sa-wol, listening to Jang Cho's words, went outside. There was no need to say goodbye.

In any case, they were people who would see each other again when the time came.

***

The news of the tragedy of the Gangnam Grand Inn, which had collapsed overnight, spread at a very fast speed.

There was a story that it was the work of the Blood Killing Faction, and there was also a rumor that it was the work of the Demonic Cult.

It was known that the members of the Martial Alliance's Guguang branch had all died while fighting the unorthodox faction group that had invaded the inn.

Because of that, the Martial Alliance was also on alert, and the Sword Wind Hall had come out.

In the evening, Bi-sun, who had opened his eyes on the bed, sat up with a hardened expression. Looking around the room, he let out a long sigh.

The events of this morning flashed through his mind.

He had entered the lake, swam with Jo-rim, and entered the promised lakeside.

There, he had met the waiting Song Ha-sang, entered his house, and then lost consciousness. It was because of his internal injuries.

Since he had used the Explosive Art of the True Blood Demonic Art twice, he had to suffer the pain of his qi and blood being twisted throughout his body.

"You're awake?"

Song Ha-sang, who had opened the door halfway and entered, held out a decoction. Bi-sun frowned as he drank the decoction made by Song Ha-sang. It was disgustingly bitter.

The person who had corrected the qi and blood damaged by the Explosive Art was Song Ha-sang. Of course, it would take time to heal all the internal injuries.

"Just in case..."

Song Ha-sang had to help with the escape in case something happened to the inn. So he had hidden a boat in a suitable place.

When he saw the inn burning, he had quickly moved to the lakeside. It was a place he had seen with Jin Sa-wol in the past.

As Bi-sun finished the decoction, Song Ha-sang held out a candy and said, "The gisaeng house master is safe."

"Thank you."

Bi-sun refused his candy and went to the room where Jo-rim was lying.

Jo-rim was still deep in sleep. Since she had drunk a decoction that induced sleep, she had not yet woken up.

Song Ha-sang, looking at Bi-sun who was examining her injuries, asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know. But I will find out."

"They say the Demonic Cult has turned the inn into ruins. Such a rumor is circulating."

"There were guys from the Ghost Hand Pavilion, but that's not all."

Bi-sun said with a cold gaze and then sat down in a chair.

Touching his neck, he realized that the skin had peeled off slightly. Since he had been in the water for a long time, the mask had become soggy.

'It's time to take it off.'

Bi-sun's face was already well-known as the general manager of the inn.

Since Jo-rim's face was also known as the gisaeng house master, they had to take off their human-skin masks. Only then could they get out of here.

"The city is full of warriors from the alliance. There are also officials, and it seems they are catching all suspicious people."

Song Ha-sang, who was speaking, hesitated and then asked, "How about going to the alliance?"

"There's no need."

"Didn't we send all that gold to the alliance in preparation for such a thing? Since the Sword Wind Hall is here and investigating now, if you go, they will surely help. At least we need to know who the mastermind is."

"We are not inn people from now on."

With his words, Bi-sun took off his human-skin mask. Then, a completely new face appeared.

He was a man in his early to mid-thirties with a cold impression and a pale complexion.

Song Ha-sang understood what he meant and nodded. It meant that the alliance could not be trusted either.

"I understand."

Song Ha-sang's gaze turned cold. Like when he was living in the Ghost Spirit Valley, his face came alive.

There was surely a reason why the inn had collapsed. And Jin Sa-wol and these people would find it.

"I wonder what will happen when Jin Sa-wol finds out about this... I'm worried."

Song Ha-sang trembled his shoulders as he thought of Jin Sa-wol. Among the people he knew, the most inscrutable person was Jin Sa-wol.

Bi-sun spoke again.

"I'll have to go to Nanchang to recuperate. When Sa-wol comes, tell him I'm waiting in Nanchang."

Bi-sun slowly took off Jo-rim's human-skin mask. Then, a woman with a pale face in her early thirties appeared.

Song Ha-sang took the two masks, went out, put them in the furnace, and burned them.

That night, Bi-sun and Jo-rim left Guguang and headed for Nanchang.

***

"Crazy!"

Thump!

As the dining table was broken, the plates and food fell to the floor with a crash.

Seo Mun-ryeon, wearing a silk flower robe and a sword at her waist, glared at the middle-aged woman standing in front of her with a face full of anger.

Mae Gang-hwa bowed her head and was silent.

"The Martial Alliance? The Martial Alliance is trying to keep us as minions, and the elders agreed to that?"

"Yes."

"It was decided before I, the master, even came?"

"That's right."

Mae Gang-hwa answered without lying.

"The Demonic Cult has abandoned our faction, so who would like it? That's why the elders stood with the Martial Alliance."

"That sounds like you don't recognize me as the master."

"That's not it. I'm just telling you what the elders decided before you came, Master. And Elder Jang, who was discussing with the Martial Alliance, has died. Because of that, the elders are in a situation where they can't trust the Martial Alliance either. Where should we be?"

At the story that Jang Han-geom had died, Seo Mun-ryeon clicked her tongue as if it were pathetic and leaned against the window.

From what she said, it sounded as if they were trying to side with the Martial Alliance, but since the Martial Alliance had killed Elder Jang, they had put on hold siding with them.

If it was neither the Demonic Cult nor the Martial Alliance, they had to go their own way.

Seo Mun-ryeon, touching her fingernails, said, "Don't you know that the Martial Alliance sees us as a swarm of flies gathering on shit? You stupid things..."

"It's not that we can trust the Demonic Cult either."

"The one who killed Mun-hyeok was not the Demonic Cult. It wasn't the Martial Alliance either. But it can't be said that it's not related to the Demonic Cult. Mun-hyeok's death was his own doing. He just chose death himself."

At Seo Mun-ryeon's words, Mae Gang-hwa tilted her head and showed an expression of not being able to understand what she was saying at all.

"It should be this or that."

"It's neither the Demonic Cult nor the Martial Alliance. Just know that. And summon the elders."

"I understand."

"We will cut ties with the Demonic Cult for the time being. Of course, the same goes for the Martial Alliance. And the elders who sided with the Martial Alliance will have to be dealt with."

'Dealt with' meant to kill. Summoning the elders meant to gather them in one place and then kill them.

Mae Gang-hwa hurriedly shook her head.

"If that happens, there will be no one left to be loyal to you, Master. It's not a matter that will be solved by killing. Rather, you should embrace everyone."

"Hmm..."

Mae Gang-hwa was a necessary person for Seo Mun-ryeon, and there was no need to refuse her advice. Because she knew more about the faction than she did.

"Alright, let's do that. Is there any other news I should know?"

"A while ago, the Gangnam Grand Inn was turned into ruins by the attack of the Ghost Hand Pavilion and the Blood Killing Faction. Not only that, but it is said that the Guguang branch of the Martial Alliance all died while trying to protect the inn that was being attacked. The martial world is in an uproar because of that. According to the report that came to our side, unknown masked people appeared and killed the Ghost Hand Pavilion and the Blood Killing Faction members. They all disappeared at dawn, and now the Sword Wind Division of the Martial Alliance is investigating."

"Damn it!"

Seo Mun-ryeon, with her eyes wide open, rolled on the ground once without realizing it and then turned her body.

A dark garden came into view beyond the window. But it was not the garden, but Jin Sa-wol that she saw.

The person who had made a scratch on the body of the Demonic Cult Leader, who had seemed like an absolute being, was Jin Sa-wol.

He had killed Yuk Sam-yuk and Gang Hang, and he was the one who had hidden it.

He was also the one who had killed Mun-hyeok and cunningly blamed it on the Demonic Cult.

Seo Mun-ryeon bit her fingernails with an anxious face.

"Fuck! You fucking morons. You're crazy to die."

"Yes?"

"Is our faction involved in that matter?"

"A little."

At Mae Gang-hwa's answer, Seo Mun-ryeon's eyes widened as if she were flustered.

"Who is involved? To what extent?"

"The deceased Elder Jang is involved, but it's nothing much. He just passed on information about the inn. The master of the Do Faction there was Elder Jang's subordinate. He just passed on the information we knew."

"The price?"

"A stable relationship with the Martial Alliance."

"Pfft!"

At the absurd answer, Seo Mun-ryeon laughed without realizing it. As she laughed after getting angry, it was difficult for Mae Gang-hwa to adapt to her change.

"A stable relationship? So they killed Elder Jang."

"That's..."

Mae Gang-hwa had nothing to say about Jang Han-geom's death.

Seo Mun-ryeon was more worried about Jin Sa-wol. If he heard this news, he was not a person who would stand by.

(End of Chapter)