“Gate Master Jeok! This is an outrage!”
“That’s right! We only went there to talk, yet they suddenly attacked us!”
“All our men were taken prisoner. Please help us. Even now, who knows what hardships they are suffering?”
“Please help us!”
The Gate Masters of the Azure River Sect, Fire Sword Sect, and Iron Mountain Sect stood before Jeok Rihyeon, pleading with tears in their eyes.
Jeok Rihyeon found himself in a difficult position.
The very Gate Master of the Escort Sect they were condemning had personally come to greet him.
Would a sect that went out of its way to offer greetings truly attack them for no reason at all?
Jeok Rihyeon did not think so.
Moreover, he knew exactly what kind of places the Azure River Sect, Fire Sword Sect, and Iron Mountain Sect were.
Their story was not convincing.
They must have gone as a group to throw their weight around, only to get beaten senseless.
He had to make a choice.
Would he continue accommodating them?
Or would he stand with the newly established Escort Sect?
His heart leaned heavily toward the Escort Sect, but he could not make such a decision based on feelings alone.
He knew nothing about them.
There was no such thing as kindness without reason, and he could not simply trust the Escort Sect because they had been friendly.
He was just about to calm the three men down and send them away when—
“Father. It’s me, Jeok Wigang.”
Jeok Wigang’s arrival had never been more welcome.
“Yes! Come in.”
When the door opened, Jin Muryang entered behind him.
Jeok Rihyeon blinked in surprise.
“No, how are you two together?”
“It sounded like this involved the people here, so I brought him along.”
Only then did Jeok Rihyeon remember that Jeok Wigang could hear things from a great distance.
“Is that so?”
At the words that this concerned them, the three Gate Masters turned to look at Jin Muryang.
“And who might you be?”
“I don’t believe we’ve met before.”
Jeok Wigang spoke to the puzzled men.
“Introduce yourselves.”
Jin Muryang cupped his fist.
“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Jin Muryang, Gate Master of the Escort Sect.”
At the words Gate Master of the Escort Sect, the three Gate Masters shot to their feet.
“H-how is the Gate Master of the Escort Sect here?”
They looked at Jeok Rihyeon as though demanding an explanation.
Jeok Rihyeon, in turn, looked at Jeok Wigang.
His eyes carried an unmistakable accusation.
How exactly are you going to deal with this?
Jin Muryang asked the three Gate Masters in a deep voice.
“I heard there was some sort of incident between your sects and the Escort Sect. Could you tell me exactly what happened? I have heard nothing about it.”
The three Gate Masters exchanged uneasy looks before finally speaking.
“W-we heard that a new sect had been established in Yullyang County and went to offer our congratulations. But perhaps there was a small misunderstanding, because the Escort Sect attacked us. We had merely gone to congratulate them, but they seem to have mistaken us for attackers.”
“That is strange. My people are not usually so rash. Besides...”
Jin Muryang glanced them over.
“You do not look strong enough to provoke such a response from them.”
The Gate Masters bristled at once.
“What are you talking about? We merely went easy on them!”
“That’s right. Since it was all a misunderstanding, we simply withdrew!”
“We have no desire to make this matter any worse. Just return our people, whom you have taken hostage, and we will never speak of this again.”
“Hostages? You are saying my people took your men hostage?”
“That is right! That is why we could not use our full strength and were forced to retreat.”
“You should count yourself fortunate, Gate Master Jin. If our men had not been taken hostage, you would have had nowhere left to return to.”
“So release our people immediately.”
Jin Muryang let out a quiet laugh.
The lie was obvious.
So was their lack of ability.
At best, they had reached the upper levels of the supreme level.
The weakest of his subordinates were already at the supreme level.
Hostages?
Did these fools have nothing better to do? Why try such a transparent ploy?
Killing intent began to leak from Jin Muryang’s body.
Tap—
Someone rested a hand on his shoulder.
When Jin Muryang turned his head—
A chill ran through him.
Jeok Wigang’s eyes had gone cold.
In an instant, Jin Muryang felt as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head.
—I apologize.
—I would appreciate it if you were more careful in front of my father and the rest of my family.
—Yes. I will remember that.
—Still, thank you for keeping the promise I asked of you.
The promise?
—I told you not to kill indiscriminately around here. So you only captured them?
—Th-that’s right.
—You did well.
That was close.
His men had done well.
He would need to reward them when he returned.
As he was thinking that, Jeok Rihyeon spoke.
“It appears there has been some misunderstanding between you. Let us go to the Escort Sect and examine the situation for ourselves. Gate Master Jin, would that be acceptable?”
Jin Muryang cupped his fist toward Jeok Rihyeon.
“I apologize for causing such trouble from our very first meeting. Of course, that is acceptable. I also hope we can clear up this misunderstanding and get along as neighbors.”
Jeok Rihyeon smiled at his answer.
The other three Gate Masters, however, had no desire to go.
“D-do we really need to go there ourselves? Just order them to release our men.”
“That’s right. That is all we want.”
They had come to drive a wedge between the True Martial Sect and the Escort Sect.
They had never expected the Escort Sect to come first and offer greetings.
It had caught them completely off guard.
And judging by Jeok Rihyeon’s expression, he seemed to think highly of Jin Muryang.
Going to the Escort Sect now would only expose what they had done.
Jeok Wigang smiled faintly at their troubled expressions.
—Father, from the look of things, those men came here to pit you against the Escort Sect.
—What? Pit us against each other? Why?
—Isn’t it obvious? They could not handle the Escort Sect themselves, so they came here hoping to use the True Martial Sect to take revenge. And if the two sects clashed and the True Martial Sect was weakened as well, that would be even better for them.
After hearing Jeok Wigang’s words, Jeok Rihyeon understood the situation.
He was displeased.
He had intended to help them in good faith, yet they had tried to exploit that goodwill to manipulate him.
—Would you like to leave this to me and go rest?
—You will handle it?
—Yes.
Jeok Rihyeon considered it for a moment, then nodded.
—All right. You are better suited to dealing with this sort of matter. I’ll leave it to you.
Having reached a decision, Jeok Rihyeon cupped his fist toward the Gate Masters.
“My apologies. I remembered an urgent matter that requires my immediate attention. My son will accompany you and assess the situation first. Shall we speak again afterward?”
“N-no, there is no need for that.”
“That is right. Gate Master Jin only needs to order his people to release our men.”
“I am busy, so I am placing full authority in my son’s hands. Discuss the rest with him.”
With those words, Jeok Rihyeon hurriedly left.
Once he was gone, Jeok Wigang stepped forward.
“All right, matters like these should be checked thoroughly. We need to establish exactly who is right and who is wrong, so that this sort of misunderstanding does not happen again.”
“This is not your place to interfere.”
“Didn’t you just hear him? He placed full authority in my hands. That makes it exactly my place to interfere.”
The three Gate Masters glared at Jeok Wigang.
“Why are you looking at me like that? I am trying to help you. Is there some reason you cannot go to the Escort Sect?”
“T-there is no reason!”
“You are young and inexperienced. We are simply worried about having you mediate.”
“Oh, I see. Please trust me with it. This is the first time my father has entrusted me with something like this, so I am extremely motivated. Come on, let’s go.”
The expressions of the three Gate Masters twisted.
It looked like they would be forced to return to the Escort Sect.
They remembered saying that they would not let the Escort Sect off if they ever saw them again.
“I-I will not go.”
“I have no desire to return there either.”
“We will go back to our sects. You can go, investigate the matter, and safely return our men to us.”
Jeok Wigang grinned at their attempt to back away.
“That will not do. We need to resolve this together. I already told you—we must be thorough, so that no such misunderstanding occurs again.”
“If we say we will not go, then we will not go.”
“Muryang.”
“Yes!”
“Knock them out first.”
“Understood.”
The three Gate Masters recoiled in shock.
Jeok Wigang was casually giving orders to the Gate Master of the Escort Sect, and Jin Muryang was accepting them as though that were perfectly natural.
“Y-you, who are you?”
“Were you two working together all along?”
“D-did the True Martial Sect deceive us?”
Panicking, the three Gate Masters tried to flee.
But they were no match for Jin Muryang.
In an instant, their pressure points were sealed. They lost consciousness and collapsed where they stood.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
*****
The three Gate Masters regained consciousness to the sound of commotion.
They found themselves tied to chairs on a raised platform.
“W-what is this?”
A familiar face appeared before them.
“I believe I made it clear that we should not meet again. Yet here we are.”
His tone and expression were gentle.
For some reason, that made the three Gate Masters shudder.
“N-no, it’s just... we did not come back because we wanted to.”
“That’s right! We woke up after being knocked out and found ourselves here. It truly is unfair.”
The man nodded at their words.
“I understand. I do. Sometimes, life carries us along in directions we never wished to go. Things beyond our control.”
“E-exactly. Beyond our control.”
“But in the end, those things are usually the consequences of one’s own actions, returning in time. What sort of karma did our Gate Masters accumulate to find themselves back here?”
The man smiled brightly as he asked.
Another man approached and whispered something into his ear.
After listening, the man grinned.
“Ah. I see. We sent you away and told you to quietly return home, yet you planned to set the Escort Sect and the True Martial Sect against each other? That is impressive.”
“It is a misunderstanding!”
“That’s right! We merely thought that if we asked the True Martial Sect for help, we might at least get our men back...”
“You wanted your men returned? Hm. Fine. Shall we ask them whether they want to go back?”
The three Gate Masters nodded.
“They say a second meeting is fate, so let me introduce myself. I am Mujin, chief steward of the Escort Sect. Ah, there is no need for you to introduce yourselves. I already know who you are.”
Mujin said what he wanted to say, then ordered the man beside him.
“Gather all the men we just recruited in one place.”
“Understood.”
After the man left, Mujin smiled.
“Would you wait a moment? We will gather them soon, and then we can listen together to what they have to say.”
A short while later—
The martial artists from the three sects were gathered in one place.
Even though the Gate Masters they had once served stood before them, the martial artists’ gazes were cold.
There was hardly any need to ask.
Still, Mujin did.
“All right. Raise your hand if you want to return to your former sect.”
No one raised a hand.
“Truly no one? This is your final chance. We will not hold you back or harm you. If you say you want to leave, we will let you go. So raise your hand.”