Episode 80

Once all the top masters were captured, the rest of the Blood Sect disciples were bound to fall into disarray.

With the added strength of the Amipa elder, Gyeoljin Satae, and the combined forces of Bisa-yeong, Jeong-yeon, and Jeong-an Sojeo, the thirty or so Blood Sect members were soon either dead or forced to surrender.

But even though the battle ended in victory, the atmosphere was far from good.

Three of the ten Amipa disciples had already died.

The Amipa disciples wore somber expressions as they gathered the bodies of their fallen comrades.

What made things worse was the strange attitude of Gyeoljin Satae, the person in charge.

Without warning, she snapped at Jeong-hye Sojeo.

“Jeong-hye! This entire mess is because of your reckless actions! Three people died because of you!”

Jeong-hye Sojeo clenched her teeth in frustration but eventually bowed her head and said, “…I’m sorry.”

“Do you think saying sorry is enough?! How do you plan to take responsibility for all this?! When you return to the main hall, I will report this to the sect leader and make sure you are severely punished!”

At that moment, Jeong-an Sojeo, having heard the situation from the other senior disciples, stepped forward.

“Madam Satae! How can this be Jeong-hye Sojeo’s fault?! The investigation team’s goal was to expose the Blood Sect disciples, and thanks to Jeong-hye Sojeo, we were able to identify them! If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t have known they were Blood Sect members at all…!”

But Gyeoljin Satae cut him off sharply.

“Shut up! Jeong-an! And Jeong-yeon! You two are no better! How dare you go out with Jeong-in without the sect’s permission and cause this disaster! When you return, expect severe punishment!”

Her voice was sharp and fierce like a wildcat’s, but Jeong-an Sojeo didn’t back down.

Instead, he raised his voice even louder.

“I accept the punishment for going out without permission! But isn’t that because the sect leader failed to properly investigate the repeated kidnappings of women?! Blood Sect disciples are abducting women right under Amipa’s nose…!”

At that, Gyeoljin Satae exploded, screaming like a banshee.

“Shut up, you wretched woman! How dare you mention the sect’s internal affairs in front of outsiders! Are you insane?!”

Meanwhile, exchanging glances with Jeong-yeon Sojeo, I roughly understood what was going on.

It seemed she wanted to pin all the blame on Jeong-hye Sojeo.

To think someone like her was a close aide to the Amipa sect leader—astonishing.

When I only heard Jeong-yeon Sojeo’s words, I wondered if Amipa had really fallen that far… but seeing this firsthand made the severity painfully clear.

Unable to stand it any longer, Hwa Young-bin sighed and intervened.

“The most important thing right now is to rescue Jeong-in Sojeo before anything else happens. Shouldn’t we start by finding her?”

Gyeoljin Satae responded with an angry expression.

“Hwa Sajil, no matter how much you are a disciple of Cheonggwangjin, interfering in Amipa’s internal affairs is disrespectful, isn’t it?”

Her sharp retort didn’t faze Hwa Young-bin, who smiled politely and tried to calm her.

“How could I possibly interfere in Amipa’s internal matters? I’m only concerned for the safety of Jeong-in Sojeo, an Amipa disciple.”

But Gyeoljin Satae showed no sign of softening.

She glared fiercely at Hwa Young-bin, then suddenly sneered.

“Why are you so worried about Jeong-in? Are you trying to forget Jeong-seon and start something new with another woman? You pretend to be a noble hero, but you’re nothing more than a frivolous playboy! Oh ho ho ho!”

She laughed, thinking she was clever, but her words crossed a line.

Hwa Young-bin’s expression turned icy cold as he slowly radiated a powerful aura and asked, “…What did you just say, Satae?”

The sneer on Gyeoljin Satae’s face froze instantly in the face of Hwa Young-bin’s overwhelming presence.

No fallen Amipa elder could withstand the might of someone on the verge of reaching the pinnacle.

Swallowing nervously, she stammered, “H-Hwa Sajil, how dare you speak to Amipa like that…”

At that moment, Bisa-yeong and I approached the leader who had both his arms severed and asked, “Hey, where did you hide the women?”

Having assessed the situation, we figured it was better to interrogate him first rather than try to stop the chaos.

As expected, all eyes—those of Hwa Young-bin, Gyeoljin Satae, and everyone else—turned to us.

The man grinned maliciously and said, “Kuhahaha, what a stupid question. You think we’d just keep the women here when Amipa sent a visitor’s pass? We moved them all yesterday. Kuhahaha.”

“What? You sent a visitor’s pass?” we asked, stunned, looking at the Amipa members.

Jeong-hye Sojeo glared resentfully at Gyeoljin Satae, who blushed deeply and cleared her throat, avoiding her gaze.

It was easy to guess what had happened.

Then, the unyielding Bisa-yeong spoke up.

“Oh? This bastard’s lying? You expect us to believe you sent a visitor’s pass to investigate Blood Sect disciples? Who in their right mind would do that? Stop lying!”

Gyeoljin Satae’s face turned red as if about to burst.

I barely held back a laugh and nudged Bisa-yeong to calm him down.

“Hey, Sayoung.”

But he snapped back, “Why? That guy’s making ridiculous excuses! Sending a visitor’s pass to conduct an investigation? That’s just blatant obstruction! No one but a Blood Sect spy would do that!”

Then, surprisingly, he stared boldly at Gyeoljin Satae, whose face looked ready to explode, and asked, “Isn’t that right, Satae? Spreading such nonsense and tarnishing Amipa’s honor! It makes me angry!”

For a moment, Gyeoljin Satae seemed at a loss for words, opening and closing her mouth without answering.

Finally, she forced out, “W-Who exactly are you? Which sect do you belong to…?”

At this point, she was trying to assert the sect’s authority to pressure us.

I smiled and answered first.

“Oh, us? We’re just passing martial artists. We happened to cross paths while chasing Blood Sect disciples and managed to rescue Jeong-yeon and Jeong-an Sojeo. Due to circumstances, we can’t reveal our identities. Please understand.”

Since we wouldn’t reveal ourselves, she couldn’t use her sect’s prestige to intimidate us. Her face twisted in frustration.

Anger simmered beneath the surface, but to vent it, she shouted at Jeong-an and Jeong-yeon Sojeo.

“How dare you be rescued by unknown outsiders! You disgrace Amipa’s honor…!”

Bisa-yeong quickly cut her off.

“Oh, by the way, we also saved your life from the Blood Sect’s leader just now. In case you forgot, no need to thank us.”

“W-Well…”

Gyeoljin Satae was speechless again.

Since she had also been saved by us, she couldn’t very well talk about Amipa’s honor.

I noticed Jeong-yeon and Jeong-hye Sojeo struggling to keep their composure, trying not to laugh.

Meanwhile, Jeong-an Sojeo burst out laughing brightly.

“Ahahaha!”

He was as carefree as Bisa-yeong, and they oddly suited each other.

Gyeoljin Satae’s eyes narrowed in anger, about to scold Jeong-an Sojeo, but Hwa Young-bin stepped in first.

“If you’re not trying to obstruct the investigation, shouldn’t you start looking for the women now?”

“What did you say?!”

Gyeoljin Satae glared at him furiously, but after earlier events, Hwa Young-bin clearly had no intention of showing her respect.

Faced with his cold stare and intimidating presence, she flinched and fell silent.

Afterward, we searched the observation chamber thoroughly.

But as the leader said, we found nothing inside.

It seemed all the women had been moved to the main interrogation room.

Hwa Young-bin asked me, “If they were moved recently, maybe we should strike the main interrogation room quickly. What do you think?”

“Hmm…”

If we only considered Jeong-in Sojeo’s safety, that would be the right move.

But with our current numbers, storming the main base of the interrogation room was likely too risky.

I asked him in return, “What kind of reinforcements can we expect from Cheongseongpa, and when?”

His expression darkened slightly.

“No need to worry about numbers. There will be at least twenty top masters. But timing is the problem. Even if they leave as soon as possible, it won’t be until tomorrow at the earliest. And if the sect leader disapproves of the master’s event, it could be even later. Cheongseongpa’s internal affairs are quite turbulent, though not as bad as Amipa’s. But… I’m guessing you asked because you think we can’t handle this alone.”

I sighed and nodded, acknowledging his accurate guess.

“Yes, honestly, that’s what I think. If they were wary of Amipa and moved the women, they’re probably on even higher alert than usual.”

He let out a heavy sigh and said, “You’re right. But we can’t just stall forever. Even the smallest delay could mean life or death for Jeongin Sojeo…”

At that moment, we suddenly sensed a group approaching and turned to look.

Soon, about thirty women appeared—Amipa disciples.

Recognizing them, Gyeoljin Satae called out with delight, “Jangmun Sojeo!”

They were Jangmun Sojeo Gyeolhan Satae and her close aides from Amipa.

Their arrival was completely unexpected.

Gyeoljin Satae hurried over and reported to Gyeolhan Satae that the group we’d encountered were from Hyeolgyo, and it seemed the women had already been moved to Jeonghyeopbang.

Earlier, there had been an uproar over disciples dying because of Jeonghye Sojeo, but for now, they didn’t seem to be bringing that up.

‘Probably because if they mentioned that, it would imply they had prior notice and time to move the women,’ I thought.

It was obvious.

But we didn’t bring it up either—not the time to argue.

After hearing the full report, Gyeolhan Satae nodded and said, “So Jeonghyeopbang really was a Hyeolgyo stronghold, just as I suspected. Well done, Gyeoljin Sama. I hurried here fearing the worst, so I’m relieved you’re safe.”

Gyeoljin Satae gave a slightly awkward smile and bowed in thanks. “Thank you for your concern, Jangmun Sojeo. Your insight is unmatched.”

Their conversation was strange.

From what I heard, it sounded like Gyeolhan Satae had suspected Jeonghyeopbang from the start.

That was completely different from everything we’d heard before, including what Jeonghye Sojeo had told us moments ago.

I sent a silent message to Jeongyeon Sojeo.

—Sojeo, who are the people accompanying Gyeolhan Satae? Are your or Jeongan Sojeo’s masters among them?

—No, they’re all just Jangmun’s close aides.

Hmm, I see.

I had a rough idea of the situation.

After a brief talk with Gyeoljin Satae, Gyeolhan Satae glanced at Hwayoungbin and us, then fixed a stern look on Jeongan and Jeongyeon Sojeo.

“How dare you run off without the sect’s permission and cause such trouble! This will not be overlooked! Be prepared—if Jeongin is found, she will face severe punishment as well!”

I smirked and sent Jeongyeon Sojeo a message sharing my suspicions.

She smiled faintly and replied politely, “We deserve punishment for leaving without permission. But since we uncovered the existence of Hyeolgyo and the true nature of Jeonghyeopbang, the Murim Alliance has taken action, haven’t they? That’s a merit that should offset our fault.”

“…What?”

“The Murim Alliance. Didn’t Jangmun Sojeo act after receiving their notice?”

Gyeolhan Satae couldn’t answer immediately.

Given that she had been a key figure in Jeonghyeopbang and even accepted tributes from them, her sudden change of stance was telling.

‘She must have received a report from the Murim Alliance—probably because Brother Sak reported it.’

And once the Murim Alliance informed her of Jeonghyeopbang’s true identity as a Hyeolgyo nest, she must have panicked.

If it came out that she had accepted tributes from Jeonghyeopbang, it would be a fatal blow.

That’s likely why she hurriedly gathered only her close aides to strike Jeonghyeopbang first.

To show the world she had no ties to them and to silence Jeonghyeopbang.

Also why no one outside her followers was allowed to be there.

Jeongyeon pressed further.

“Did you not receive the notice? We specifically asked the Murim Alliance’s warriors to inform Amipa as well. Strange. I’ll have to check with them again…”

Gyeolhan Satae quickly replied, “No! We did receive the notice! But… did you really contact the Alliance separately?”

“Yes. We met a warrior from the Alliance who was carrying out a secret mission. After hearing our story, he said we had done a great service.”

“I see. Where is this warrior now?”

She glanced at us, probably trying to confirm if one of us was that warrior.

Jeongyeon shook her head as I had instructed and answered, “He’s investigating Jeonghyeopbang, looking into whether their leaders have any collusion with other sects.”

“Is that so?”

At the mention of investigating ties with other sects, the color drained from Gyeolhan Satae’s face.

She must have imagined something terrifying.

Well, now that we’ve given her a sense of urgency, let’s see how she acts.

I sent a silent message to Hwayoungbin.

He glanced at me briefly, smiled faintly, and said to Gyeolhan Satae, “We were just debating whether to go to Jeonghyeopbang to rescue Jeongin Sojeo. We want to act quickly, but it might be too much for us alone. What are your plans?”

Gyeolhan Satae answered eagerly, “How could we hesitate when a disciple’s life is at stake? We’re going to Jeonghyeopbang immediately! And since this is Amipa’s matter, we won’t accept help from outsiders!”

In other words, they were telling us to stay out of it.

Hwayoungbin looked disappointed but asked again, “I understand. But since this involves Hyeolgyo’s leaders, wouldn’t it be better to have all the help we can get?”

A reasonable suggestion, but Gyeolhan Satae scowled and retorted, “Do you think Amipa’s strength is no longer what it used to be? That we can’t handle Jeonghyeopbang on our own?”

“No, not at all. How could I say that?”

“Then don’t argue.”

She spoke firmly, then addressed her disciples behind her.

“We’re going to Jeonghyeopbang now to defeat the Hyeolgyo leaders and rescue Jeongin! Time is critical—everyone must give their all!”

“Yes, Jangmun Sojeo!”

Then she turned to the investigation team that had arrived earlier.

“Gyeoljin Sama, follow me. The other disciples will return to the main temple under Jeonghye’s lead. Jeongyeon and Jeongan, you will accompany them. If anyone disobeys orders again, they will be severely punished!”

“Yes, Jangmun Sojeo.”

With that, Gyeolhan Satae led her group away in a hurry.

They seemed very anxious.

After they left, Hwayoungbin approached me and asked, “Things went as you predicted. What’s the plan now?”

I took a moment to gather my thoughts and said, “First, let’s gather more information.”