Chapter 12: The Sure Fire Plan (3)
“The Cheon Clan is involved?”
“It’s not confirmed yet, but that’s what I believe.”
“Brother, are you messing with me right now?”
Jin Yeowoon’s expression twisted with a frightening intensity.
“Do you really think anyone in the Cheon Clan would dare harbor other thoughts when the current Cult Leader’s authority is that formidable?”
“That’s exactly why they have to operate beneath the surface. If they get caught, it’s all over.”
I locked eyes with Jin Yeowoon.
It hadn’t surfaced yet, but I already knew what was going to unfold within the Cheon Clan from here on.
“The current Young Cult Leader has several critical weaknesses. What do you think they are?”
He was still young, but Jin Yeowoon knew a fair amount about the power dynamics within the cult.
“First and foremost, her gender. It’s not like there’s never been a female Cult Leader in history, but I’ve heard their authority was always weaker.”
“You know your stuff. What else?”
“The existence of the current Cult Leader. Female leaders traditionally hold weak authority, and to make matters worse, the current Cult Leader holds absolute power under the title of Heavenly Demon!”
Jin Yeowoon’s voice brimmed with deep respect for the current Cult Leader.
“That’s right. Unless she achieves something exceptional, the Young Cult Leader will begin her reign with a major disadvantage.”
To overcome that weakness, she enforced a reign of iron so brutal that she earned the epithet "Heartless."
“Is there anything else you know?”
“Ahem! Well, I guess not? That’s about all I know.”
I nodded.
“Well, even knowing that much is quite impressive at this point.”
“Are you teasing me? Then why don’t you keep going? What other weaknesses does she have?”
“It’s simple. The Young Cult Leader has very little support from within the Cheon Clan.”
“Huh?”
“More precisely, the elders and collateral branches of the Cheon Clan who should be supporting her are all fractured.”
The current Cult Leader, Cheon Taejong, had only one child: Cheon Yura.
But that didn’t mean she was the only young person of the Cheon surname in her generation.
“There are quite a few youths from the collateral branches of the Cheon Clan in her generation. Among them, many have been recognized for their talent.”
“Oh, those guys?”
Jin Yeowoon tilted his head slightly, as if recalling who they were.
“I wouldn’t exactly say they’re proven talents. They all seemed pretty questionable to me.”
“And that’s the point. ‘Questionable’ means there’s still a chance.”
I held back my words slightly.
It was true that their evaluations were ambiguous, but I, knowing what was to come, understood that those assessments were deceiving.
“And if they were truly just mediocre, things wouldn’t have escalated like this.”
“Hm, is that so?”
“In the end, the elders of the Cheon Clan—those who should have united to support the Young Cult Leader—are instead scheming to raise one of those guys to the position of Cult Leader and seize power for the next generation.”
Looking back now, there were many suspicious signs at the time.
‘No matter how complicated things were inside the Cheon Clan, this wasn’t something that should have dragged on this long.’
The Cheon Clan’s internal conflict.
It was the greatest crisis Cheon Yura had faced before ascending to the position of Cult Leader.
It was also the event that sparked the first major rupture within the Heavenly Demon Cult, which had been teetering due to various internal disturbances.
“So? You’re saying the current situation is related to those collateral branches of the Cheon Clan?”
“Exactly. They’re probably planning to use this as one of the cards to slowly pressure the Young Cult Leader.”
“Hmm. It’s not entirely implausible… Fine, let’s say that’s true.”
Jin Yeowoon stroked his smooth chin, still looking like something didn’t quite add up.
“But that’s not what I’m really curious about. I don’t care that much about the Cheon Clan or whatever.”
“Then what is it?”
“I’m wondering why you’re moving so actively over something this petty.”
Flinch!
Honestly, the only reason I knew things would escalate was because I’d seen the future. To Jin Yeowoon, this was just some petty ‘back-alley’ matter.
No—truthfully, even if it did grow bigger later, Jin Yeowoon wouldn’t care in the slightest.
It was far too trivial a matter for the great heir of the Jin Clan to bother with, just as he said.
I cleared my throat and made an excuse.
“I mean, I’m acting on behalf of the clan to form a good relationship with the Young Cult Leader, so of course I can’t just stand by if something happens to her, right?”
“I guess that makes sense… but honestly, isn’t this going a bit too far?”
As he tilted his head again, Jin Yeowoon casually dropped a line.
“Brother.”
“What?”
“Did you fall for the Young Cult Leader or something?”
“……”
For a moment, I was speechless.
I should’ve immediately denied it—but for some reason, the words wouldn’t come out.
Only after nearly ten seconds of silence was I able to open my mouth, feigning a sneer.
“Nonsense. I’m just putting in a bit of effort, that’s all. Don’t read too much into it.”
“Really?”
“I’ve got a few more places to check out, so go on ahead. You’re not interested anymore anyway, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
As he said, Jin Yeowoon’s face now showed no trace of interest.
The only reason he’d tagged along was to figure out how I’d gotten stronger.
Jin Yeowoon nodded.
“Yeah, I mean… who’d fall for a woman obsessed with martial arts and lacking even a shred of grace?”
Twitch!
I clenched my fist without realizing it.
And as always, sharp-eyed Jin Yeowoon flinched and looked over at me warily.
“W-What’s wrong?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“You looked like you were about to hit me…”
“Would a brother ever hit his younger sibling for no reason? Just get going already.”
“Well, fine.”
Grumbling, Jin Yeowoon headed back to the Jin Clan.
With that annoying leech gone, I shook my head, feeling a bit relieved.
“Well, shall we really start digging now? I’m curious what’s hiding in this pit.”
***
The next day, an agent sent by Sa Biyeon came to see me.
“It’s an honor to meet the Young Master of the Jin Clan. Please call me Black Dagger Number Seven.”
Clad entirely in black cloth, save for the eyes, with the character for ‘seven (七)’ marked on her back.
‘A thin voice.’
The heavy cloak and slightly altered voice were meant to conceal their identity, but they couldn’t fool my eyes.
“Alright, Number Seven. Nice to meet you.”
“I heard you wanted detailed information on Black-Spotted Blood. This is everything I’ve gathered so far. Here.”
Number Seven took a thick bundle of documents out from inside their robes and handed it to me.
As I accepted them, I said,
“Did the investigation hit a wall at Eunru Valley?”
“Gasp! H-How did you know that?”
“What do you mean ‘how’? It’s obvious if you just think about it.”
The Heavenly Demon Cult had the Cheon Clan and the Six Great Demonic Clans at its peak, with hundreds—no, thousands—of medium and small families and sects under them.
The back alleys were no different.
Unusual places like Black Market were managed directly by one of the Six Clans, but generally, areas were controlled by affiliated families or the victors of local power struggles.
But even among those, there was a lawless zone abandoned by all such families.
Its name was Eunru Valley.
The Hidden, Filthy Valley.
“If Lady Sa shook her head, then of course it means you’ve already combed through every back alley in all cult strongholds.”
“Y-Yes, that’s correct.”
“Eventually, you had no choice but to turn your eyes toward Eunru Valley. But that place is especially difficult to investigate because of its nature.”
Eunru Valley wasn’t just a pit full of people abandoned even by the back alleys.
Sure, most of the inhabitants were trash waiting for their second go at life, but mixed among them were more than a few formidable individuals who couldn’t be ignored.
Those who lost in competition and now lived without a future.
Demonic cultivators who had committed crimes and been exiled from their clans or sects.
Even spies sent from the orthodox or unorthodox factions.
“Let’s go.”
“...Pardon?”
“To catch a tiger, you’ve got to enter the tiger’s den, don’t you think?”
“E-Even if we go in, we’ll only be eaten by the tiger though...”
“...”
To the guy clearly reluctant to go, I stared her down and calmly said just one thing.
“Shall I relay your words to Lady Sa?”
“I apologize! I’ll lead the way!”
Black Secret Number Seven, who had only come to deliver intel, now wore a miserable face as she was roped into acting as a guide.
She probably knew that protesting would be pointless, given the massive difference in status between us.
“If you were an ordinary person, sure, you'd probably get eaten by a tiger. But we’re martial artists. If you’ve learned martial arts as a warrior of the Heavenly Demon Cult, taking down a tiger should be nothing.”
“B-But I’m not a combatant…”
“Quiet.”
I dragged Number Seven along.
‘Huh, but what’s this feeling?’
Something made my skin crawl.
Not some skin disease—my hyper-attuned senses were sending a signal.
‘Someone’s watching me?’
We were a bit away from the Jin Clan’s main estate.
‘At this moment… the most likely suspect would be someone from the family.’
It made sense if the family head had assigned someone to secretly watch me.
However—
‘Why does this presence feel familiar?’
Even though I was only at the level of a second-rate martial artist, I had brought over the senses of my past life, so I was confident that my perception could rival even top-level experts.
Which meant… I wasn’t wrong.
‘Well, there’s no hostility, so it doesn’t matter.’
I dismissed the thought and moved on.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, sir!”
Number Seven and I headed to Eunru Valley.
And not long after the two of us disappeared—
A woman with sharp features appeared where we had just been.
Her already sharp face twisted into a scowl, giving off a chilling murderous aura.
The Young Cult Leader, Cheon Yura, looked at the spot where we had vanished and sighed.
“Ugh… why am I even…”
At her sigh, the escort nearby sent her a sound transmission.
– Young Cult Leader. What shall we do?
“We follow them.”
The escort hesitated, surprised by her decisive response.
– But this is not something the Young Cult Leader should personally concern herself with…
“Biyeon advised me that if we leave this alone, it may snowball into something huge later on.”
– …
“At first, I was a bit annoyed, but the more I think about it… I feel like that man already knew.”
– Jin Yeomyung was known not long ago as a complete wastrel.
“Ha! Do you think a man drowned in drink and pleasure could block my sword?”
The escort fell silent.
Indeed, even among those nearing the age of thirty, there were few martial artists capable of blocking the Young Cult Leader’s sword.
“This is just a passing curiosity. Father said I’ve been training too much and should take a break, so let’s take this opportunity to see how that man handles the situation.”
– But Eunru Valley is too dangerous. Please wait, I’ll request reinforcements.
At those words, Cheon Yura’s expression turned icy.
“Reinforcements? Do you really think trash like them could do anything to me?”
– Even so!
“Silence. Just shut up and follow me.”
The escort panicked.
Cheon Yura had combined overwhelming talent with unmatched effort—she had never met a true rival until now.
But that only applied within the narrow sphere of the cult's elites.
Having trained solely within the confines of the Lesser Demon Hall, she was still naïve to the ways of the world.
If he insisted on calling for reinforcements now, her prideful and headstrong nature might cause her to draw her sword on him instead.
‘Damn it… I just have to hope nothing happens.’
***
Eunru Valley.
Located on the far southern edge of the Heavenly Demon Cult, this place was dozens of li away from the main stronghold, yet still boasted a dense population of over two thousand.
The problem was that most of these people didn’t live normal lives.
“Damn, the stench is already overwhelming.”
I scowled at the pungent odor emanating from Eunru Valley’s entrance.
People were sprawled all over filthy mats spread across the ground.
Most of them were missing limbs—due to one misfortune or another.
Literal castaways just waiting for death.
Black Secret Number Seven glanced at them before asking me,
“Can you really obtain information from a place like this?”
I clicked my tongue.
“Hearing you say that, I can tell you’re not a field agent.”
Hit right on the mark, Number Seven fell silent.
“Watch closely. It’s places like this—no, exactly places like this—where it’s easiest to find information.”