We both were climbing up the cliffside of the mountain. Compared to the basic footwork method learned in the Blood Cult, the technique used by the Beggars Union was amazing.
Though it was a technique that made the user look like a primate that utilized their hands and feet. That…
-He climbs the cliff like a dog…
Well, when someone walked on their four limbs, it tended to look like that. Still, the speed was shocking.
But do dogs climb cliffs?
-He isn’t an idiot. How do you plan to solve that?
The reason Short Sword asked this was because of our conversation half an hour ago.
Cho Sung-won, burning with desire to get his revenge, almost fell for my words until he asked a question.
[Leader So, according to your words, that old man would reveal that I am a spy of the Beggars Union embedded here?]
Even if he was a clumsy spy, he wasn’t as stupid as Short Sword said. He was someone who used his head.
It was clear, as he said, a situation where the Beggars Union could release the information cannot be ruled out.
He said he would swear to be under me if I could solve that possibility. He handed down that burden to me.
-If you don’t want to, then spit him out. No one likes a thorn in the mouth. You’ll get hurt if you try to bite down on a thorn without a plan.
Short Sword was speaking the truth. I shook my head since I, too, had the same thoughts as her.
I sent a message to Cho Sung-won, who was climbing up like a dog.
[I have one thing to ask.]
[Yes?]
[Did you come in as a spy on your own? Or did someone in your sect know about this?]
The boy didn’t answer right away. It looked like someone knew.
[Did you not come alone?]
[No. I came alone.]
[You came alone? If you aren’t being honest, it wouldn’t be good for your life.]
He paused for a moment at my words and said.
[…I asked the beggar in charge of the Huan branch for information about the Six Blood Valley to collect the records of the villages and missing people in the last decade.]
Ahh.
Was this because he wasn’t aware of the power struggle? He didn’t report to people directly but left his marks.
-They might know.
‘Probably.’
Even if Cho Sung-won didn’t report it directly to a superior, this must have already gone into the ears of the sect leader sooner or later.
He had been missing for a year, so their doubts would have been answered. However, as they have been silent till now, my predictions were correct.
-He was abandoned?
‘Right.’
He was in a position to fight for the succession. But the man himself disappeared.
It was now possible to process and release the information at the right time to get rid of Cho Sung-won.
-Sounds bad.
The head of the Beggars Union dealt with large amounts of information. Of course, it was inevitable that their head moved faster than other sects. It was really just that they planned things out.
-Why not just give up? We don’t have to get involved in this.
Short Sword warned me. She was speaking the truth.
If I took him in, I needed to prepare for the blow.
-Giving up?
I asked her.
‘If we have a thorn, we should blunt it down before eating.’
-Uh?
Short Sword seemed puzzled as we managed to arrive at Hae Ack-chun’s cave. The candidates were already moving the luggage out.
Song Jwa-baek inside looked at me and walked up angrily.
“Yah! I told you to come up quickly…?!”
The guy frowned as he looked at Cho Sung-won’s puffy eyes and swollen face.
Cho Sung-won gently raised both hands and looked at him as if he meant to explain it.
Then Song Jwa-baek came to me and asked.
“If you were going to discipline him, you should have told me in advance.”
He was saying, ‘Look. You should have done it in moderation.’ However, his following words were weird.
“You jerk. Still, he is a newcomer.”
“What?”
Cho Sung-won asked.
Even the other candidates, surprised at Cho Sung-won’s bruised face, became shocked at those words.
Honestly, they didn’t know, but if that crazy old man hits you, you wouldn’t be able to see for a few days. On severe days we would be forced to crawl, so this looked cute in comparison.
“Disciplining?”
“So like family.”
I could hear the whispers of the candidates.
Right. This was a family-like atmosphere, now and in the future too.
We came down with the luggage in our hands, and the other candidates moved them.
I took Cho Sung-won to the place where Hae Ack-chun was staying. Before entering the room, I said.
[When we go inside, don’t show any reaction, and most of the time, just accept what I say and answer what I ask.]
[Uh?]
[If you want this to be resolved well, do what you are told.]
[… okay.]
He said with a worried face because he didn’t know what he would be put through. Either way, I knocked on the door.
Knock!
“Come in.”
Hae Ack-chun’s voice could be heard. He must have recognized us because he didn’t even ask who we were.
Druk!
I opened the door, and Hae Ack-chun was with Jang Mun-wong. They seemed to be having a serious conversation.
“What? Why is his face like that?”
As soon as we entered, Hae Ack-chun looked at Cho Sung-won’s face and asked, to which I casually answered.
“It took a little bit of work to figure out if he was hiding something.”
‘…!!’
Hearing those words, Cho Sung-won’s eyes were like they would explode. He believed that the problem would be solved and followed me, but I was pushing him into it instead.
“Hiding? What do you mean he is hiding something?”
“He isn’t from the Lower District.”
Hae Ack-chun and Jang Mun-woong frowned at the same time.
“Where is he from if not from the Lower District Sect?”
“Beggars Union.”
“What?”
The name Beggars Union changed the expression on both their faces.
It was the momentum to move. Cho Sung-won looked at me, not knowing what to do.
He didn’t have to say anything, and his eyes were doing the speaking practically screaming, ‘What are you doing!’
He probably didn’t know that I would reveal this.
Pak!
“Uh-huh!”
Hae Ack-chun rose up and grabbed Cho Sung-won by the neck. Cho Sung-won could do nothing but hold on to Hae Ack-chun’s hand.
“What did you plan? You must be a spy…”
“He isn’t.”
“What?”
Hae Ack-chun looked at me, not being able to understand.
“It is true that he came to commit himself to us.”
At my words, Hae Ack-chun asked.
“How can you be sure of that?”
“Young master. What the elder is saying is right.”
Jang Mun-wong was siding with the old man, and I said,
“To be precise, he came from the Beggars Union but not part of them.”
“What?”
To the two who were puzzled, I explained Cho Sung-won’s situation. I explained that he had joined the fight for the successor position of the Beggar’s Union and was pushed away by the leader’s bloodline and desired to get revenge on them.
Hae Ack-chun glared at Cho Sung-won with a suspicious look.
Of course, I didn’t think it would work by itself, then Jang Mun-wong asked.
“But how did the young master know that he is from Beggars Union?”
This is the crucial part. Without changing my expression, I said.
“I saw him in Yulang County a few years back.”
“You saw him?”
“He came to the Ikyang So family for work.”
“Ah… Ikyang So.”
Judging from his reaction, he seemed to know about my origin.
“At that time, I didn’t recognize him, as he was younger and seemed a lot messier than now, but I could recognize him during the selection process.”
At my words, Cho Sung-won, dangling by the neck, looked at me with confusion. Well, that was natural. We both never met.
A pure lie.
“So you remembered?”
“Remember? Cho Sung-won tried to apply for a higher position with the help of the family head of Ikyang So.”
Anyone could see that he tried to join Na Shim-hyung’s side and suddenly changed his direction.
“Because I recognized him, I sent him a message, and he was shocked.”
Cho Sung-won nodded his head in fear. Hae Ack-chun looked at him and asked.
“So, how did he come out then?”
“It was quite interesting.”
“What do you mean?”
“At first, he was afraid that his origin would be figured out, and he would be kicked out, so he begged me not to tell. Tch tch.”
Hearing my words, Cho Sung-won looked confused. It seemed absurd that I was telling them stuff that never happened.
-As expected, you are a scammer.
Short Sword clicked her tongue.
Now she was appreciating me when I lied, then I continued.
“What would the teacher or commander have done?”
“Um?”
“Still, I couldn’t believe him. I thought he was a spy, so as you can see, I ended up using my hands.”
I pointed to his bruised face. It seemed like the commander understood it. However, they still seemed suspicious of him.
“Young master did say that you used your hands, but it feels like we need to confirm further if or not he is a spy.”
Here, I threw in what I prepared.
“He has been in the valley with us for a year. But he gave me some interesting information.”
“Interesting information?”
And I told them,
“He said the relationship between the Murim Alliance and Warriors is likely to break.”
“What?”
Jang Mun-wong got up from his seat. Hae Ack-chun, too, looked shocked, and Cho Sung-won just nodded as he looked at me.
Because I was saying things that he didn’t know.
-What? Is that real?
It was real.
About half a year from now, the alliance between the Murim Alliance and the Warriors would break down.
As the relationship between the two forces broke down, the Blood Cult, which had been hidden, would begin to rise up.
Before I died, it was just something that happened, but now it could be important information for the Blood Cult. At least they would get to prepare.
Hae Ack-chun looked at Cho Sung-won in confusion.
It looked like he wanted to kill the guy a moment ago, but it all changed in a second.
Hae Ack-chun looked happy as he received this new information, and all this was done by me.
As we moved away, I sent a message to Cho Sung-won.
[Good? No problems, right?]
Cho Sung-won nodded. He didn’t have to worry about his sect trying to throw him away.
‘Uh?’
But suddenly I realized something.
Obviously, even if the information was released that he was a spy of the Beggars Union, usually the Blood Cult wouldn’t protect him, but I changed the situation.
‘And if this guy releases information about me inside the Blood Cult to his side, I will not only become an aide to this guy according to the Beggars Union but will be given an achievement too.’
Suddenly, I would be a traitor who sold information about the Blood Cult.
Cho Sung-won recognized what happened.
‘Ha!’
Even if he changed his mind, he could not back out anymore. It is absurd, but So Wonwhi looked at him and smiled.
A genuinely clever and terrifying person.
‘… what is his identity?’
Cho Sung-won thought, but he could never know.
Depending on the information, So Wonhwi was a person who didn’t hesitate to move ahead.
It wasn’t known why this person was called his family’s trash. But one thing was sure.
No, Cho Sung-won’s instinct told him that this man was too dangerous to be made an enemy.
Cho Sung-won, who looked at So Wonhwi for a long time, lowered his head slightly and said.
[I swear my allegiance to Leader So.]
At midnight that night.
I got out of my room and headed for the vacant lot near the main hall.
It’s time to receive my reward for the bet with the Bloody Hand Witch.
