Chapter 150: The End of Childhood (9)

It was not perfect certainty.

There was always a chance it was wrong.

However...

When she reasoned it through rationally, Soyak thought her assumption had more than enough possibility behind it.

And it was not Soyak’s thought alone.

Cheonjeong felt the same.

“If it is Great Grand Master Myeongjeok...”

“Yes. He is the one who stood before the wall of the Transformation Realm.”

“We have a problem.”

Cheonjeong pressed a hand to his forehead.

He did not know the details, but the Young Cult Leader had managed to seize an extraordinary host.

Whether he could use that strength properly, or draw out even more than that, was unknown.

But for now, it was true that one master who had reached the peak of Transcendent Apex had vanished from the Mount Hua Sect.

“And at this point, honestly, it is suspicious.”

“...Soyak.”

Cheonjeong quietly lowered his voice.

Because he had realized who Soyak suspected.

“But...”

“Yes, from Master Eunbyeok to Great Grand Master Myeongjeok. I know too. I know who stands above them. But that is not something we should presume on our own.”

“...Understood.”

Soyak was right.

But to Cheonjeong, Soyak’s safety mattered more than Soyak being right.

Mount Hua was a massive sect, but if it lost its head, it could collapse with frightening ease.

And the suspicion that its head had joined hands with the Demonic Cult...

That was a flaw more than sufficient to bring down Mount Hua, one of the Nine Great Sects.

But right now, that was not an issue for Soyak and Cheonjeong, mere third-generation disciples, to handle.

That matter...

Had to be handed over to Jeonggang and Eunsong.

And the one who would likely stand at the vanguard would be Master Eun Jeong.

“Let us go back.”

Cheonjeong spoke as he closed the doors they had opened one by one.

Soyak nodded as well, then closed each door she had opened.

After erasing the footprints in the yard and removing every trace that anyone had come...

The two left Myeongjeok’s residence through lightness arts.

*****

The next morning was the same as any other.

Sunlight came in through the wooden shutters, and the children woke noisily, chattering and bustling about.

When one heard that from just across a single wall, even sleep that still lingered was bound to be driven away.

Because of last night’s covert outing, Soyak did not wake early.

Cheonjeong was the same.

Ordinarily, he would have woken at dawn before sunrise and been the first to appear at the training ground.

Today, however, he had ended up waking at around the same time as everyone else.

“...Did something happen last night?”

Because of that, it was only natural for Cheonhwa to be curious.

After all, Soyak had slipped out at night, returned looking rather exhausted, and then woken unusually late.

Soyak shrugged and answered.

“There was something I had to do for a little while.”

“You are not going to tell me again?”

Cheonhwa pouted.

Soyak quietly shook her head.

Then she lowered her voice.

“Last night, Eldest Brother and I briefly visited Great Grand Master Myeongjeok’s residence.”

“...And? What happened?”

“There was no one there. Even the furnace had long since gone cold. It seems...”

Cheonhwa could infer the rest herself.

Her face turned pale.

Soyak glanced once to see whether anyone was entering, then warned Cheonhwa.

“You must not tell anyone.”

“I-I know. I know...”

“It would be best to pretend nothing happened, and that you heard nothing at all.”

Cheonhwa nodded repeatedly.

Then she began taking deep breaths.

Her complexion returned faster than expected.

“Still, I kept thinking surely not, surely not...”

“I also kept thinking surely not.”

Soyak opened the wooden shutters to air out the room.

Far below, she could see Cheonjeong standing on the platform.

It seemed he had finished folding his bedding first and gone out ahead of them.

Soon, she also saw Cheongak, Cheongu, and Cheonju coming out through the entrance.

“Sister.”

“Hm?”

“It seems we are the last ones.”

“N-No, no, no!”

Cheonhwa hurriedly finished roughly folding her bedding, then dashed out into the hallway.

Soyak...

Simply jumped down from the window.

It was obvious who arrived faster.

Cheonjeong quickly counted the children, then sent them all back to their respective masters.

Then he gathered the third-generation disciples under Eunsong together as well.

“You seem a little rushed today, Eldest Brother?”

Cheongak asked, his eyes round.

Of course he did. Cheonjeong was usually relaxed by nature.

More than once, he had used Eunsong’s absence as an excuse to skip duties and stare up at the sky.

Even while acting like an Eldest Brother, he had never been relentlessly strict.

“There is something we must do. Cheongak, go to Master and tell him we would like him to come to Grand Master Jeonggang’s residence.”

“M-Me?”

“Yes, you.”

Cheongak was not the only one whose eyes went round.

The others were the same.

For Cheonjeong to act like this meant something had happened that Jeonggang must not learn later than Eunsong.

This matter concerned Myeongjeok, and also Sect Leader Jeongyang.

Their master would likely understand as soon as he heard from Cheongak.

“T-Then we will see you at Grand Master Jeonggang’s house?”

“Yes. The rest of you, come with me to Grand Master.”

*****

“You are saying the house had grown that cold?”

Jeonggang muttered as he stroked his snow-white beard.

There was sorrow in his eyes and voice.

Though Myeongjeok was not his own disciple...

He was still a master Mount Hua had raised.

Jeonggang had thought he might reach the Transformation Realm.

“Yes. The ash in the furnace had clumped damply together.”

Eunsong, too, listened to Cheonjeong’s story with a grim expression.

Soyak merely sat demurely beside Cheonjeong.

And behind her...

Cheonju, Cheonhwa, Cheongak, and Cheongu sat with expressions of disbelief.

“Then Master Myeongjeok has...”

“I know, Eunsong. It seems he has most likely become a sacrifice. What matters now is where he is, but...”

The situation had become difficult.

They could not openly comb through everything, and his whereabouts were unclear.

If only he had disciples of the same line, at least...

But among the third-generation disciples, Cheonhwa and Cheonju had lost their enemy when they came here.

Even Eunbyeok was dead.

So there was no one who would “find it strange that Myeongjeok was not visible.”

It was difficult even to obtain a pretext for beginning a search.

But at that moment, someone knocked on the door.

Jeonggang’s disciple.

And Eunsong’s master.

Myeonggon.

“What fascinating discussion are you all having gathered here like this?”

He seemed to know everything.

Naturally, because Jeonggang and Eunsong had told him.

Unlike Jeonggang or Eunsong, however, he had no particular bond with the third-generation disciples.

That was why he had been keeping away for a while on his own.

But now was the time for him to step forward.

The person who would find it strange if Myeongjeok disappeared.

The person who could create a natural plausibility that would allow a search to begin.

That person was Myeonggon alone.

To Eunsong, Myeongjeok was merely his master’s Brother.

To Jeonggang, Myeongjeok was merely his disciple’s Brother.

But to Myeonggon, Myeongjeok was an Eldest Brother with whom he had built up years since childhood.

Myeonggon sauntered over and sat beside Eunsong.

Only then did Soyak realize that she had...

Regrettably, not thought of Myeonggon at all.

“...Will you take charge of this, Great Grand Master?”

When Soyak asked politely, Myeonggon gave a soft laugh and nodded.

Then he teased Soyak.

“Where did that bold little girl who asked whether I disliked her so much disappear to?”

“That was...”

It had happened several months ago.

To think he had not forgotten it and was still teasing her.

Soyak even felt a little wronged.

“It was a joke, so do not worry. I would rather have a child that bold. Raising one when you cannot tell what is inside him is truly exhausting.”

“...Master. I am sitting right next to you.”

Eunsong, struck by a jab he had not expected at all, narrowed his eyes with a troubled look.

Only then did Myeonggon laugh heartily and pat Eunsong on the back.

Meanwhile, Jeonggang thought quietly for a while, then asked Myeonggon,

“But, Myeonggon. Were you and Myeongjeok not on poor terms?”

“That is true, Master. But even so, would it not sound strange if I said that hatred itself became a kind of attachment?”

“Indeed... it would be more natural than with anyone else.”

Jeonggang nodded.

Myeonggon looked over Eunsong and Jeonggang, then accepted the tea Jeonggang poured for him with both hands, drank it, and opened his mouth.

“When should I stir things up?”

“When...”

Jeonggang narrowed his eyes and thought.

Eunsong, too, worked his mind fiercely.

As they said, one should strike while the iron was hot; they could start causing a commotion as early as tomorrow.

However, Jeonggang believed there was still one more place they had to search.

“Let us do it the day after tomorrow.”

“Is there a reason for leaving one day open?”

When Myeonggon asked, Jeonggang answered.

“Do you know there is a small storage room behind the Red Tile Pavilion?”

“...There is no way I would. I have never gone in and out of that place.”