Chapter 45 : Chapter 45

Chapter 45: It Didn't Go According to Plan

The Murim Alliance's Shanxi Branch.

The master of the State of Harmony that the Peng Clan, one of the Five Great Clans, boasted of, the Shanxi Branch Chief of the Murim Alliance, Unrestrained Saber Peng Ga-heon, was once again spending a boring day.

“Hmm. It’s two and a half breaths after all.”

Whether it was better to make a change in three breaths in this move of the Five Tigers Soul-Severing Blade Art, or to break the existing frame and make a change in two and a half breaths to catch the opponent off guard, was his most productive daily task, so what more explanation was needed?

The life of a Murim Alliance Branch Chief was like that.

If there was someone who caused trouble, you had to smack them, but you couldn't smack them too hard.

It was important to handle everything moderately, so as not to cause problems.

It was because in a place like Shanxi, where no great sect was established, the most important thing was balance.

As befitting his nickname ‘Fox Bear,’ Peng Ga-heon was excellent at grasping situations, so he evaluated himself as having performed his duties excellently while maintaining the dignity of a Branch Chief.

But he could not deny the fact that the process was terribly boring; it was because he too had the blood of the Peng Clan flowing in him, a man of passion.

“Branch Chief, a letter has arrived.”

“Hmm? From where?”

In reality, wasn't the life of the Shanxi Branch Chief of the Murim Alliance like that of an idler?

Since his clan didn't look for him either, it had been a long time since a letter had come.

“The Beggar's Gang.”

“The Beggar's Gang?”

“Yes. It is a letter that arrived with extreme urgency.”

“Hmm?”

Extreme urgency.

It was the first time in the three years since he had been appointed as the Shanxi Branch Chief, so it was only natural that Peng Ga-heon's curiosity was piqued.

“Bring it in quickly.”

As soon as Peng Ga-heon's permission was granted, a beggar ethereally appeared in front of Peng Ga-heon.

“It's been a long time.”

It was a familiar beggar, Jao-gae.

Since Peng Ga-heon also respected his righteous spirit, the long-awaited reunion was welcome.

“It's been a long time.”

“Take it.”

As if time was of the essence, Jao-gae quickly held out the letter.

Since formalities were useless in front of a letter of extreme urgency, Peng Ga-heon did not mind and quickly took the letter.

[Come to Sanmenxia by the Hour of the Goat in three days. You must prevent the outbreak of a war between the righteous and the heretics. -Dancheon Myeong-]

The letter, with its short content, contained an unusual message.

“A war between the righteous and the heretics.”

Although it was a very absurd story, it was hard to just ignore it.

It was partly because of the name written at the end, and also because the one who brought the letter with extreme urgency was Jao-gae of the Beggar's Gang, which added to its credibility.

But even so, he could not easily move the forces of the Shanxi Murim Alliance with just one letter.

Since he was the Branch Chief, he could do it if he wanted to, but it would be more correct to say that he just didn't feel like it.

“Hmm.”

As befitting his nickname ‘Fox Bear,’ a good idea came to his clever mind after a brief deliberation.

Just in time, a person came to mind.

The right person to do this job with.

There was a person who could replace the martial forces of the Shanxi branch, who was spending his days as boringly as himself.

Since he had also shown interest in the Divine Dragon of Dancheon after the Heuksu Mun incident, it might be a pretty good meeting.

“I will be away for a while.”

Saying so, Peng Ga-heon quickly got up.

It was because if it was the Hour of the Goat in three days, time was a bit tight to bring that person to Sanmenxia.

“Where are you going?”

“I'm going to the Murim Alliance.”

Leaving those words behind, Peng Ga-heon's bear-like figure disappeared from the Shanxi branch in an instant.

* * *

Even if I had lived in the future and regressed.

Even if that life was the life of the Beggar's Gang member Myeong-gae, who dealt with information.

It was impossible to know about all the things that were happening now and would happen in the future.

Even if it was a rather big incident like the murder of the Ice Palace delegation.

The reason being, it is proper to see an incident as a superposition of multifaceted stories.

Information is like that.

Most information tends to be described with a focus on the result rather than the beginning and the process.

It is because bold omissions and intentional omissions are the basics of efficient information delivery.

Therefore, the incident I had encountered as information was summarized in a rather contextually difficult-to-understand sentence: ‘On a certain month and day, at Sanmenxia, south of Shanxi, the martial artists of the Northern Sea Ice Palace were annihilated by an unidentified assailant.’

Of course, thanks to the overlapping power of the passage of time and personal interest, Myeong-gae knows a little more information than what is known to the public.

To summarize, it would be organized as the information that the Ice Palace delegation possessed the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Snow Ginseng, a supreme spiritual medicine, and the Heretic Alliance Lord Wiji Han attacked the Ice Palace delegation to obtain that Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Snow Ginseng.

Isn't the information that the Unrivaled Force Martial Emperor Wiji Han has a son suffering from Guyangjeolmaek a fact that most information brokers are aware of?

On top of that, if you narrow down the people who have the ability to execute the Ice Palace delegation without a sound, it is inevitable that the Unrivaled Force Martial Emperor would be the first on the list of suspects.

In fact, after the incident, Wiji Han's son's condition seemed to have improved, as he had shown his face at an official event, so it is not a completely unfounded speculation.

Even so, I know that I still have not come to know everything about the incident.

I don't know what happened to Bukgung Seol-a in that incident, and I don't know what happened to Han Baek-rim.

I know even less about what happened to the Unrivaled Force Martial Emperor Wiji Han.

It was because information usually contains only the incident and not the people, so it would be right to call it a limitation of information.

In the end, the important link is still omitted in the labyrinth.

If I were to pick the most curious among the omitted links of information, it would undoubtedly be about the Heretic Alliance Lord.

How did the Heretic Alliance Lord know the route of the Ice Palace delegation?

Furthermore, how did he know that the delegation possessed the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Snow Ginseng?

These two were the questions that stimulated my curiosity the most.

It was said that a great information broker would usually fill in the omitted parts with inference and imagination.

In Myeong-gae's head, several assumptions were interlocked to produce one imagination, and the materials for that imagination are as follows.

The existence of her younger brother, Bukgung Han-yu, who is presumed to have taken control of the Northern Sea Ice Palace by becoming the next Young Palace Lord as soon as the Young Palace Mistress Bukgung Seol-a died.

The attitude of Bukgung Han-yu, who, despite losing the Young Palace Mistress to the Heretic Alliance Lord, did not even wage a war, let alone make a proper protest, and hushed up the incident.

And that Bukgung Han-yu is…….

Such information gathered, and a connecting link of information called ‘perhaps’ or ‘maybe’ was formed in Myeong-gae's head.

All my inferences were implying a secret strife between siblings.

Perhaps this was the reason why I had paid particular attention to the Ice Palace incident during my time as Myeong-gae.

But at the same time, there is something I must keep in mind.

The fact that although the inferences of information brokers can sometimes be infinitely close to the truth, they should not be equated with the truth.

It is because that is the duty of an information broker that I learned while living as Myeong-gae.

Therefore, what I need now is a conversation with Han Baek-rim or Bukgung Seol-a.

It is because by transforming the realm of inference and imagination into information, a more certain preparation for the upcoming future will be possible.

“What are you thinking so deeply about?”

Just in time, Bukgung Seol-a approached me and asked.

This would be the chance.

“I was thinking about death.”

“Death?”

I nodded with a heavy expression.

Thanks to her approaching me first, I was able to lay the groundwork more comfortably than I thought.

* * *

The answer I gave to Bukgung Seol-a was not a complete lie.

It was one of the topics I had actually been contemplating after my conversation with Han Baek-rim.

“What do you think of death, Young Palace Mistress?”

In reality, it might be a funny thing for me, who has experienced death, to ask this, but I was curious about her answer.

“……Well.”

Bukgung Seol-a, who had trailed off, paused for a moment and then…….

“Liberation, perhaps?”

she answered.

Even though she was hidden behind a veil, I could picture what kind of expression she was making now.

My honed intuition told me.

That Bukgung Seol-a had just confessed a secret from the depths of her heart under the guise of an ordinary conversation.

I am well aware that a moment comes when one can confess a secret precisely because the other person is a stranger with no connection.

“Please pretend you didn't hear what I just said.”

Did she herself feel it?

Bukgung Seol-a, who had quickly corrected her words, moved away from me.

“So that's what it was.”

A realization came to me.

No, to be precise, it was more like the cogs of information that had been vaguely interlocked had clicked into place in my head.

Now I understand a little.

I had instinctively seen a dark shadow in her that was quite different from coldness.

I could tell that the shadow of death lingered by her side.

It could also be said that it was a fate she had accepted herself.

Perhaps.

It might not have been the Unrivaled Force Martial Emperor Wiji Han who had led the Ice Palace delegation to their deaths, but the Young Palace Mistress Bukgung Seol-a.

But I also know that this is just an inference based on a fragmented conversation.

It would be good to get more information, but it is a shame that there is not enough time.

“Is something wrong?”

“Nothing's wrong.”

Han Baek-rim approached me and asked, but I deliberately did not mention Bukgung Seol-a's matter and changed the subject.

“More importantly, prepare yourself. We are approaching the first destination.”

“I see. I understand.”

Three days had already passed since I joined the Ice Palace delegation.

The sun hanging at the top of the sky told me that it was now noon.

And in the distance, in my field of vision, came Sanmenxia, the gateway from Shanxi to Henan.

Since I had told Peng Ga-heon the Hour of the Goat, the time was a perfect fit.

‘Great Hero Peng, I will trust you.’

I think that if he is as clever as to earn the nickname ‘Fox Bear,’ he will surely move according to my intentions.

I steeled my heart and took a step.

Perhaps this matter will not be easy.

* * *

Sanmenxia.

It is a pass that many people use to go from Shanxi to Henan.

It is also the area where the Ice Palace delegation met with a mishap in my past life.

In reality, I had contemplated a lot.

Since I had volunteered to be a guide, wasn't it so?

I couldn't help but think about the method of guiding the Ice Palace delegation to a different place instead of the scheduled route of Sanmenxia.

Looking only at the result, I would say it was a worthless deliberation.

It was a problem that the possibility of me obtaining the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Snow Ginseng itself would disappear if the incident did not happen, and there was also the reason that if I were to encounter the Unrivaled Force Martial Emperor Wiji Han in a place other than Sanmenxia, I would truly have no way to deal with it.

I had judged that the best course of action was to thoroughly prepare my arrangements by making the most of the pre-emptive information.

“Let’s pass through here.”

Following my guidance, the Ice Palace delegation took their steps.

And…….

“Look over here.”

I heard words similar to what I had heard several times during the three days from Yanggao to Sanmenxia.

However, the difference would be that the one who had spoken was not a boisterous Green Forest bandit, but an old man with an unusual impression.

“I don't want to cause a disturbance here, so follow me quietly.”

And a bigger difference was that his words were accompanied by the thick killing intent of an absolute master.

Since no one in the delegation had learned martial arts in vain, everyone had noticed that the old man's identity was unusual.

Quietly circulating my internal energy, I was able to shake off the old man's killing intent without difficulty.

“Will you follow?”

When I asked Han Baek-rim.

“……I will.”

He answered.

“Lead the way, old man.”

I said to the old man in a confident voice.

The time for the decisive battle had come.

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