174th It won’t work on us.
When Joy Baek reached the top of the highest mountain near the Murim Alliance, the leader of the Murim Alliance was standing on the edge of the cliff with his backpack on.
“Your Majesty.”
“Master Cho, are you here? Come here.”
Joy Baek stood side by side with the leader of the martial arts world. The higher the place, the better the view.
“The scenery is really nice.”
“That’s why I come here often.”
“It is all thanks to you, my lord, that we can enjoy this beauty. Since you are firmly supporting the world of martial arts, isn’t it the case that the demonic cults cannot act?”
“Thank you for saying so.”
When the leader of the Murim Alliance asked to meet here, Joy Baek secretly expected to talk about marriage. Moreover, since he had asked to meet at the top of the mountain, not at the Murim Alliance, she thought he was going to have a candid conversation as a parent in a place where no one would notice.
“Cho Jang-ju.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“How long have we known each other?”
“It seems like it’s been almost thirty years.”
“They say time flies, but it’s already become like that.”
The two stood there for a while, looking back on the years that had passed.
“Is there a special reason you called me today?”
“I asked to see you about my son.”
As expected, Joy Baek’s expression brightened as he thought that he had been called for a marriage issue. He promised to provide a huge amount of money to the Murim Alliance. Despite that, he showed a lukewarm attitude, so I wondered if things would not work out well.
‘Isn’t that too much money to refuse, my lord?’
Jinpaecheon slowly turned his head and looked at Joybaek.
“Have you ever heard of Cheonmyeonghoe?”
Even though it was a shocking and heartbreaking question, Joy Baek answered calmly.
“It’s my first time hearing about this place.”
Rather, he calmly asked what kind of place it was.
“I know that this place, which calls itself a mysterious sect, is involved in many evil deeds.”
“There are all kinds of scumbags in the world of martial arts.”
“Cho Jang-ju.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“I think my son was involved in that trash.”
Even as he spoke carefully, Jin Pae-cheon’s eyes were sharp as if they were piercing through Joy Baek.
“What do you mean?”
“It is said that Prince Jo was recruited into the Cheonmyeonghoe.”
Joy Baek was surprised. It was so natural that it was hard to tell whether he was really surprised or just pretending to be surprised.
“Your son, Jo Shin, was recruited by an organization called Cheonmyeonghoe and attempted to kidnap my granddaughter.”
As the surprise grew, Joyback’s voice also grew louder.
“That’s nonsense. There’s a wedding in progress, so why would he do something like that unless he’s crazy? There must be some kind of misunderstanding.”
“I wish that were the case, but there is now clear evidence.”
“What is the evidence?”
“There was a confession from someone who received the order from Prince Jo.”
“It could be a confession intended to trap my son.”
Jinpaecheon silently looked at the steep rock mountain rising in the distance, carrying his luggage on his back. Right now, the hearts of the two people were directed at each other much more sharply than the sharp rock mountain.
“My lord, please let me see my son. I will meet him and hear what happened.”
“That can’t be done according to the rules.”
“Even if you think about our past relationship, you can’t do this.”
“That’s right. I can’t do this because of our past relationship.”
Jinpaecheon’s cold and stern gaze flew towards Joybaek.
“I know you are from Cheonmyeonghoe.”
“!”
“Don’t even think about evading the issue.”
Jinpaecheon opened his prayer. A frosty momentum swept over Joybaek. A vast ocean storm swept over him. The momentum was filled with emotion. I could kill you, I want to kill you.
Joy Baek gritted his teeth and fought against the momentum, but his precarious body felt as if it would be pushed off the cliff at any moment.
The storm that seemed like it would tear him apart slowly subsided. Joy Baek was able to climb onto a small island in the vast ocean.
“I don’t want to end my long relationship with Jangju like this. Only I and my subordinate know about this matter.”
As Geommugeuk said, Jinpaecheon was opening up Joybaek’s airway.
The fact that he didn’t pressure anyone by saying that he was a member of Cheonmyeonghoe and just called him a Cheonmyeonghoe member, and that he said that only he and one of his subordinates knew, was a hint that if he cooperated well, he could cover it up.
Joy Baek knelt before the leader.
“There were things that couldn’t be helped.”
“I understand. If you have too many people to follow, you’ll end up going down paths you don’t want to go down.”
“I don’t know what to say to your generosity. I’m sorry, your lord.”
Tears flowed from his eyes. They flowed so profusely that it seemed as if they were not sincere.
Jinpaecheon’s expression as he looked down at him was nothing but bitter. He had chosen the path of betrayal even though they had known each other for thirty years. Was it the other person’s fault? Or was it his own fault for forcing him to leave?
“Just hand over the Thousand-Myeong-Hoeju. Then it will all be in the past.”
Although he didn’t say it directly, it was a promise to forgive him. Joy Baek climbed up into the opened airway and took a breath.
“He recruited my son without my knowledge. I can never forgive him for that. I will have a meeting with the Cheonmyeonghoeju tomorrow, so please bring your son to that meeting.”
“You said tomorrow?”
“The Thousand-Minute Meeting is not far from here.”
It was said that there was a thousand-mile walkway within a day’s distance. It was truly astonishing, as if the darkness was under the lamp.
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“Good idea.”
“Then I will contact you after making a reservation. I would like to thank you again for your kindness, Lord.”
He bowed and turned around.
With each step he took, his expression slowly began to harden. There was neither heat nor cold. There was no emotion, so it was impossible to guess what he was thinking, but at least it was clear that he was a completely different person from the one who had knelt down and shed tears.
A moment after he disappeared, a sword dance appeared there.
“Can you send them back without supervision like that?”
“It’ll be okay.”
I was hoping that Geommu-geuk would just let it go and do everything he could, so that he could sort it all out at once.
“I think we should also keep in mind the possibility that he might betray us. Asking me to bring my son tomorrow means exchanging my son for the leader of the Cheonmyeonghoe. Doesn’t that mean that you don’t completely trust the leader?”
“Are you doubting that my mind will change after I catch the Thousand-Minded Mantle?”
“If it’s only that suspicious, then that’s good, but we can also join hands with Cheonmyeonghoeju and set up a trap. For now, I think we should take it as a 50-50 deal. Leave the rest to me.”
It was a dangerous situation even if Joy Baek betrayed him, and it was also dangerous even if he didn’t. Because it was a matter of capturing Cheonmyeonghoeju, who no one knew.
“Are you really saying you want to handle it by yourself?”
“If by any chance they have second thoughts, it could be dangerous. It is not something you should do alone.”
“Are you in no danger?”
“Because it was my job from the beginning.”
Jinpaecheon stared at Geommu-geuk for a moment. To his surprise, he had this thought. How great would it be if Geommu-geuk was a martial artist of the Jeongpa?
“Don’t be too heartbroken by the author’s betrayal. The author was originally a villain. He just hid himself and stood by the leader. This side was good-willed, and the other side was evil-willed.”
He was even comforting himself. Jinpaecheon wanted to have a drink with this kind of sword dance.
“Would you like to have a drink with me?”
It was Geommugeuk who was about to leave after forming a good relationship with the leader. There was no way he could refuse a drinking party with just the two of them.
“Eat here. I’ll buy it for you.”
“I’ll wait.”
“Do you have a favorite drink?”
“Bring me some strong alcohol.”
The sword dance disappeared from there in an instant.
After a while, Jinpaecheon was startled. The swordsman who had returned was holding a bottle of wine in his hand. No matter how outstanding his lightness was, it was already too late to go down and come back.
“Did you bury the alcohol in the mountain?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve had a drink, so my mind was a bit shaky, and I was walking a bit faster.”
When I came back from Dongho the other day, I didn’t bother to catch up with him in a light way to hurt the leader’s pride, but I didn’t come late today on purpose either.
“I also bought a nice glass.”
I poured him a drink.
Slurp.
It was at that moment that someone appeared. It was none other than the unmanned man who had always been hiding around the Geommu Theater. He was the first to appear.
“I will check the alcohol.”
He checked with a silver needle whether the alcohol was poisoned.
I thought he would be sharp and angular, but he was a round and gentle man.
I could tell. This was the person the leader of the martial arts world trusted the most. If my father had a wife, then the leader had this man.
This loyal subordinate had been around me all this time, and although he knew that I was not the type to drink poison, he never allowed himself to let his guard down even for a moment when it came to his master’s safety.
Only after confirming that the alcohol was not poisonous did he disappear again.
“At least say hello before you go.”
When I expressed my regret half-jokingly and half-seriously, Jin Pae-cheon smiled faintly and said.
“I’m an inflexible person by nature, so you need to understand.”
“I know. The person I like the most was once my bodyguard.”
“Why aren’t you escorting me now?”
“I pushed him away, telling him to stop following other people’s lives and start living his own life.”
Jin Pae-cheon felt a strange emotion at the end of Geommu-geuk. Since he had a personality that was not like a demon at all, he felt greedy but also strangely afraid at the same time. It was a fear that started with, “What if this person becomes a heavenly horse?”
After filling each other’s glasses, the two toasted and drank.
“Do you like alcohol?”
“You don’t drink often. What about you?”
“I drink it sometimes too.”
After a long time of drinking, I thought of my drunkenness. I wonder if I’m still swimming around that lake drunk?
In a sense, even though it was a dangerous situation on the eve of a decisive battle, the drinking party with the leader was calm and peaceful.
This is probably because both of them knew that something big that would change their lives was not something that could be prepared for and accomplished suddenly, but something that was accomplished through their past lives.
“Is your father well?”
The leader of the martial arts world asked about Cheonma.
“How are you?”
“Janelle, I miss the Sword Master. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him.”
“I’ll tell you when I get back. I’m sure your father will like it.”
“No way. Your father would want to kill me.”
“How are you, my lord?”
“I was like that until now too… … .”
After a brief pause, Jin Pae-cheon revealed his honest feelings.
“I changed my mind after seeing Janelle.”
I thought that if the Heavenly Horse of the day died, this sword martial arts master would become the Heavenly Horse. Rather, wouldn’t it be better now for the sake of the Jeongdo martial arts world? Surprisingly, he was thinking about this young man.
“How is your relationship with your father?”
“We used to be awkward, but we’ve gotten a lot better recently.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“I got better at playing Go with my father. My father learned Go from the military commander of our school and beats me every time. On the other hand, the military commander I got doesn’t know how to play Go.”
“The military can’t play baduk?”
“As expected! Same reaction. I will definitely tell my soldiers. Even the Martial Arts Leader had the same reaction!”
The leader laughed at the swordplay.
“I went hunting in the mountains with my father. I also drank alcohol at an inn. Do you know how the inn owner reacted when my father came to the inn?”
Geommugeuk deliberately told stories about his time with his father. He told them as cheerfully as possible, and Jinpaecheon listened to Geommugeuk’s story with a smile.
Geommu-geuk knows the sadness hidden in the smile of the Murim leader. He is a father who has lost his son. He cannot even dare to imagine what it must feel like, but he can tell that he is thinking of his son right now.
And as always, Geommugeuk is someone who believes that emotional wounds should not be buried.
“Do you miss your son a lot?”
The leader of the martial arts world flinched for a moment. His expression changed from moment to moment. Anger, embarrassment, sadness, and longing. All sorts of emotions passed through him in a short time.
“sometimes.”
Jinpaecheon drank his wine without saying anything more. Geommugeuk also drank his wine without asking any more questions.
Has he ever been asked this question after his son died? I don’t think so. Who would dare ask such a question to the leader of the martial arts world?
“Let’s go together tomorrow.”
“No, I will go alone.”
“I also know that you are an unrivaled expert. It is dangerous to go alone.”
“If we mobilize the masters of the Martial Arts Alliance, there may be someone among them who is related to Cheonmyeonghoe. If the secret is leaked and the Cheonmyeonghoe leader runs away, we will probably never be able to find him again.”
“Then you and I will go together.”
Jinpaecheon knew that what he was saying was sincere. Geommu-geuk was truly impressed. What leader of the martial arts world would dare to go to a place where there might be a risk of death, and that too with the blood of the Demon Lord?
I thought that as long as Jinpaecheon was healthy, the Jeongpa Murim would also be healthy.
“Your Majesty, you have other things to do.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You must prepare for the case where the True Dragon Master betrays you. He is in danger of losing everything he has worked for his entire life. He said that the leader will forgive him, but will he really believe that? If not, he will use all means at his disposal.”
“for example?”
“They tried to use Lady Jin by putting the marriage first, so we used Jo-sin. We used her a little more aggressively than they did. How do you think they will react then?”
Jin Pae-cheon’s expression hardened as he recalled one situation.
“At the time when the lord and I move together, they may target Lady Jin. Since they used my child, I think they will feel the same way. Since it is a life-threatening choice, a master will go. The lord must be there. Protect your family.”
Geommu-geuk raised his glass at the sight of Jinpae-cheon’s worried eyes.
“Please trust and leave it to us for once. No matter how evil it is, it will not work on us.”
Jinpaecheon drank with him.
We only had one bottle in a short period of time, but it was better and more impressive than any drinking session I’ve ever had in my life.
As he put down his last glass, Geommugeuk bowed politely.
“I will say goodbye early today. Please take care of yourself until we meet again.”
