Chapter 94: Demon-Subduing Awakening (6)

Both Namgung Byeok and Soyak felt internal energy running along the earth vein.

They did not know what that red stone was, but...

It was probably pressing down the largest channel of the formation.

Just kicking that stone away was enough to activate the formation surrounding the hut.

A formation that hid the formation itself.

A formation that let him know if someone was trying to eavesdrop.

Even a formation that singled out certain words so they could not be heard from outside.

It was ingenious.

It hid the very fact that a formation had been laid here.

It was not a matter of blocking outsiders from overhearing the conversation inside.

If it blocked them, then the moment it did, they would realize that something was interfering.

It was closer to a formation that thoroughly traced back who, exactly, was trying to probe this side.

The Zhuge Household could install the formation.

But the one who designed what kind of formation to place, how to place it, and what effects it would produce was Eunsong himself.

Namgung Byeok laughed in disbelief.

Just how thorough was this man?

"Please, all of you, come inside."

Standing on the wooden porch, Eunsong opened the rather wide door and beckoned them in.

Soyak took off her shoes and stepped up into the room without hesitation, but...

Namgung Byeok found himself thinking, for a moment,

that if he were not certain this man was an ally, he would never have gone in.

He let out a sigh and removed his black gat.

Then he stepped into the room and sat down.

Eunsong took the remaining seat and spoke first, lightly.

"It is quite a well-made formation, isn't it?"

"...The Zhuge Household's handiwork."

"It is more intricate than the one I saw before."

Soyak nodded as she gave her assessment.

It was not as though she had an exceptional eye for formations.

But it was more elaborate than the one she had seen at the Night-Heaven Hall safe house in Henan.

"You saw formations during your Roaming Pillar Journey too? You must have learned quite a bit."

"Yes. Though that one was broken."

"A broken formation?"

Eunsong tilted his head.

Formations drew upon the internal power flowing through the earth vein and used it.

To break one, you had to pour in even greater internal energy and crush it down by force.

For that to be possible, at minimum, one had to be in the Transformation Realm.

But experts of the Transformation Realm were extremely rare in the Central Plains.

Though one of them did happen to be sitting right in front of him...

At that moment, Soyak stared quietly at Namgung Byeok.

"Yes. I think this sir broke it."

"Are you saying he did something that crude?"

"Well, it's not like I can't pick out the Life Gate and step only on that, but..."

Namgung Byeok shrugged.

Then, pretending to look elsewhere for no reason at all, he let his true thoughts slip out.

"When I think about all the hell I went through there, I just wanted to scare them a little."

"There...? Was that place one the Namgung Household made?"

The place where Namgung Byeok had gone through hell.

If so, that meant the place where the inheritors of the Kill Veil had been gathered was, in fact, part of the Namgung Household.

"That's right. It was a Night-Heaven Hall safe house."

"I knew the Namgung Household had a Night-Heaven Hall, but... this is surprising."

"I kept watching the whole way. The one who tried to harm you at Mount Hua was a bastard named Gisan Gwang, the Deputy Commander of Night-Heaven Hall."

As he spoke, he loosened one tie of his black martial clothes.

Only then did Soyak realize that he had followed the path of her entire journey.

That brought with it a complicated feeling she could not quite put into words.

"...So you've been following me this whole time?"

"Yes. It was a request from Zhuge Yeon, the Internal Affairs Pavilion Lord of the Zhuge Household."

"Why would she...?"

Soyak furrowed her brow.

Something she did not know about had been moving beneath the surface.

Finding that out only after the fact was never a pleasant thing.

Knowing exactly how she felt, Eunsong patted her on the back.

"Do not bare your teeth too much, Soyak."

"But..."

"I told you. They are all people who share my purpose."

Killing the Sword Sovereign.

That was not a purpose he could share with just anyone.

Soyak gave a quiet nod.

Namgung Byeok spoke again.

"Have you ever heard of the Reverse Heaven Society?"

"...No. I haven't."

"It is the organization your master founded, and the one Zhuge Yeon serves as Society Head."

Namgung Byeok smiled faintly and leaned back against the wall.

Like some drifter, he rested his sword over his shoulder.

Then, narrowing his eyes, he continued.

"Reverse Heaven. The ones who intend to bring down the Alliance Leader and build a new order."

"...So that is why you said you shared the same purpose."

"You catch on fast."

Namgung Byeok let out a long sigh.

Because what he was about to say now was part of his own past.

"I can't tell you everything, but I owe the Reverse Heaven Society a life debt."

"A life debt...?"

"That's right, kid. Just like you said, I carry Namgung blood. Have you ever heard the name Namgung Byeok?"

"No. I haven't."

He gave a low chuckle.

It was not laughter born of amusement.

It was self-mockery soaked in bitterness and sorrow.

The resentment of a man whose very name had been erased.

"Right. Of course not. The Namgung Household would have erased my name."

"What happened...?"

"I am the Sword Sovereign's bastard. One way or another, I inherited the Namgung surname, but I was never even entered into the family register. They threw me into Night-Heaven Hall instead."

"What does Night-Heaven Hall do?"

"It is the place that quietly murders those the Namgung Household finds displeasing."

It was a naked, brutally direct explanation.

Words he had ground out through clenched teeth.

Eunsong gave a slow nod.

"So Night-Heaven Hall possessed the martial arts of the Kill Veil."

"That's right, Eunsong. I can use the footwork too."

"You should keep that hidden, Namgung Byeok."

"I am already a man of the Reverse Heaven Society anyway."

The Reverse Heaven Society itself was an organization hidden from the world.

Eunsong nodded.

But Soyak did not.

"...Didn't you say they were people who shared your purpose? The Reverse Heaven Society?"

Soyak looked steadily at Eunsong.

Eunsong knew exactly what she was questioning.

"Do I know too little?"

"Yes. It seems the information is not being shared among you."

"...You really shouldn't be that sharp, kid."

Whatever Namgung Byeok said, Soyak simply kept looking up at Eunsong.

"Zhuge Yeon probably knew all of this."

"Then why wasn't it shared...?"

"That is how we operate. It still is not time for us to stir. So each gathers information alone, and without exchanging it, we all move toward the same purpose."

Once an organization became a proper one, its tail grew long.

And once a tail grew long, it was bound to be stepped on.

Each one knew of the others, yet they did not truly interact...

Not a cell network, yet something very close to one.

That was the Reverse Heaven Society.

"That is how we avoid being traced. The Sword Sovereign is cunning, Soyak."

"...Once it grows large, it inevitably becomes visible."

"Exactly. And please do not scold the child too much just because she understands quickly, Namgung Byeok."

"...Ahem."

Namgung Byeok gave a pointless little cough.

"Anyway, that bastard was the Deputy Commander of Night-Heaven Hall."

"What happened to him?"

"This child killed him. Her Head Senior threw himself in and made an opening."

Eunsong's eyes widened.

Then he looked quietly at Soyak.

"...It seems I should praise your Head Senior's effort a little more."

"Do that later. There is something more important now."

"Has the Demonic Cult risen as well?"

"Ask your disciple."

Both men's eyes turned to Soyak.

Soyak quietly opened her mouth.

"The Left Luminary Guardian of the Demonic Cult has appeared."

"...What?"

"And the Flame-Saber Lord, Ak Jupae, went with him."

*****

The explanation that followed was long.

Each time something struck him as questionable, Eunsong threw another question at the two of them.

And by crossing their answers against each other, he found what he needed.

By the time that had gone on for a good six or eight hours,

from Gisan Gwang's attack at Shaolin, to Seol Yehwa's circumstances,

to the Yacha Blood Gate's attack in Shandong, and even the appearance of Sword Ghost,

the sun had already drooped low, and the far western edge of the sky was turning black.

"Do you have anything left to ask now, Eunsong?"

"...No. This is serious."

"Yes. It is serious, Master."

Eunsong let out a deep sigh.

Because now he had to do something he had not wanted to do.

"Soyak."

"Yes, Master."

"It seems we will have to make a trip to the Zhuge Household."

Soyak's eyes widened.

The Zhuge Household.

But if they were going to interact that directly, then did that not make everything they had done until now meaningless?

"Is it to meet the woman named Zhuge Yeon?"

"Yes. She has probably already gathered the information, but..."

She was probably clutching her head right now.

He could see it clearly without even looking.

Before coming to him, she would be trying to solve it herself.

Why had the Flame-Saber Lord Ak Jupae followed the Left Luminary Guardian?

She had probably reached the same answer as well.

A son killed by an unknown martial art.

He had likely been told he would be given the martial art that killed that son.

But even Zhuge Yeon did not know what martial art it was.

This time, information only Eunsong possessed was necessary.

And in return,

Zhuge Yeon would try to draw Soyak completely into the Reverse Heaven Society.

"But, Master. As you said earlier, that is dangerous..."

"Because you need to enter the Reverse Heaven Society."

Eunsong looked steadily down at Soyak.

There was no apology in his gaze.

No pity.

No sympathy.

There was only firm resolve and absolute decision.

Soyak was no different.

A life that had lasted only fourteen years.

Young though she was, the resentment she carried was immeasurable.

Even now, whenever she closed her eyes, she could still hear it.

The agonized moans of her parents as they burned alive.

Their voices, suppressed because they feared even their screams might become an eternal shackle on their little daughter...

That resentment.

That heartbreak.

They were trying to draw a new person into this sparse and secretive organization.

That was something that had to be confirmed face to face, even at the risk it carried.

"Do not worry, Soyak. The Zhuge Household stands on the side of the Reverse Heaven Society."

"All of them...?"

"Not yet. But soon they will."

Eunsong's eyes gleamed.

The smile resting at the corners of his mouth.

It was the confidence of someone who clearly had a plan.

Soyak put aside her suspicion and doubt and lowered her head.

"Your disciple will do everything she can not to bring you shame."