I was wrong to think that the words left behind by that guy, Gun Yuhyeon, were just the ugly struggles of a sore loser.

'We. Are. Screwed.'

My mind was completely filled with those three words.

That crazy ideological inquisitor is finally causing an accident.

'Then it cannot be helped.' he says?

Whaaat? Cannot be heeelllped??

Not only me, but Ilmyeong also stared at Ak Byeongbi with appalled eyes.

Seeing his lips move slightly, it seemed he was sending a sound transmission, but Ak Byeongbi's expression remained completely unchanged, only twitching in reaction.

An unpleasant, metallic voice flew in from the side.

"Keul-keul-keul... I knew it. The narrow-mindedness of those hypocritical Orthodox faction bastards is as obvious as can be, isn't it?"

Was he the Hwangsa Sect Leader? The man who had been sneering since earlier spoke sarcastically.

"You probably came here under the pretext of being a delegation just to figure out our scale."

At the man's words, Ak Byeongbi's eyes somehow grew sharp.

"Do you think our Murim Alliance would use such a petty method?"

At Ak Byeongbi's words, the man instead looked pleased and said.

"Isn't it the Murim Alliance's specialty to falsely accuse and condemn innocent people!"

At the man's words, Ak Byeongbi displayed a rare burst of anger.

GRIND.

"... How dare you run that filthy mouth of yours."

No, mister, we're right in the middle of enemy territory!

It was no longer a matter of whether an alliance or an agreement would be formed.

We were practically standing at the crossroads of whether the declaration of war would be made by document or with the heads of the delegation.

In fact, considering that there was no clearer expression of intent than cutting off the delegation's heads to declare war, our lives were essentially hanging by a thread right now.

At that moment.

"Enough. Why are you saying such things with guests present? This is why they say Underworld bastards have no manners."

A man standing opposite to the Hwangsa Sect shouted.

The Gang Leader of the Black Death Gang, Kang Maengji.

He was an influential Underworld figure I had ties with from the Demonic Spirit Plateau.

He looked at Cha Seokdu and expressed his opinion.

"Alliance Leader. Our Underworld Alliance is a faction that has just begun to emerge. I do not think there is a need to start with war from the very beginning. If we try to wage war before the drunkenness of the founding ceremony even wears off, what will the people of the world think of us?"

As the people standing around Kang Maengji nodded one by one, the Hwangsa Sect Leader sneered.

"Did you want to play power games now that we've formed an organization?"

He stroked his weapon for all to see, provoking Kang Maengji.

"But what can you do? It seems you will never become the Alliance Leader in your entire life."

"... You had better shut your trap."

"Kel-kel-kel, you reveal your true colors so quickly."

As expected of an Underworld group, they looked ready to throw hands in the middle of a discussion forum, prompting the leader of the Underworld Alliance to change the atmosphere.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

"Enough! Do not show any more disgraceful behavior."

"..."

"... Ahem."

The atmosphere in the hall cooled down as if a sudden shower had fallen.

When I looked at the Underworld Alliance's leader, Cha Seokdu, he was also looking at me.

He gave me a slight nod and opened his mouth.

"I believe this matter cannot be decided right away, so we will discuss it again after the founding ceremony concludes."

Moved just by the fact that it wasn't an ending with our heads on pikes, I bowed deeply and left the grand hall with my group.

* * *

SLAM.

Entering the inner room last, I closed the door hard enough to break it and approached Ak Byeongbi.

As soon as he returned to the inner room, he was already trying to pick up a liquor cup.

"What are you doing right now?"

"I am trying to drink."

"..."

'Do you think that's what I'm asking?!'

I refined my emotions as much as possible and said.

"Do you want to bury your bones here?"

"..."

He looked back and forth between his liquor cup and my face, then downed the alcohol in one gulp as if he had made up his mind.

"Kuh... What are you dissatisfied with?"

"What am I dissatisfied with?"

If we were to go to war with the Underworld Alliance, an amount of blood incomparable to the blood shed in the war against the Blood Cult in the original history would flow.

And the Murim Alliance would end up facing the Demonic Cult in a much more precarious state than in the original history.

... I had absolutely no intention of sitting back and watching that happen.

"Do you not care even if countless amounts of blood flow across the world?"

"..."

"Among the corpses piled up like mountains, there will definitely be people from the Ak Clan as well."

I took a short breath and looked straight at Ak Byeongbi.

"Do you want to see that sight with your own two eyes?"

SLAM.

Ak Byeongbi roughly slammed his liquor cup down.

In an atmosphere that felt like walking on thin ice, Ilmyeong, who was watching from the side, stepped in to stop me.

"Benefactor Jin... I think it would be best to stop."

I shook off Ilmyeong's hand.

"Do you also want a war with the Underworld Alliance to break out, Senior Ilmyeong? Is shedding so much blood what the Shaolin Sect calls 'justice'?"

"Benefactor Jin..."

"The Head's actions and decisions might cause innocent people to bleed. Are you really just going to stand by and watch that happen?"

"..."

Ak Byeongbi, who had been glaring at me with a murderous gaze, now brought the liquor bottle straight to his mouth.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Did you not hear from the Mantong Bureau what the Head is supposed to do?"

"... You are telling me to do the impossible."

In that moment, heat rushed all the way up to the top of my head.

"What do you mean it's impossible! The Underworld Alliance is probably already considering at least an agreement!"

Ak Byeongbi, who had been fiddling with his liquor cup, downed his drink in one gulp once again.

"... If you're so frustrated, then you do it."

"What did you say?"

"I said you do it!"

Even though he thought of me as a spy for the Underworld and had dragged the Inspection Pavilion into this for his own gain, I had thought he was at least a man with some sense of responsibility.

Because the Ak Byeongbi I had seen in my past life wasn't this base.

I looked down at Ak Byeongbi, who had his head bowed, with cold eyes.

"To think that someone of only this caliber is an entity meant to properly uphold 'justice'... The Inspection Pavilion is finished as well."

"..."

Despite my sarcasm filled with contempt, Ak Byeongbi did not lift his head.

"Benefactor Jin... Let us go get some fresh air for a moment."

Ilmyeong restlessly pulled at me.

Being dragged out by his hand, I said.

"Fine. I will handle it from now on. You just sit still and drown in your liquor, Head."

Ak Byeongbi did not budge an inch until I left the inner room, led out by the hands of Ilmyeong and Tang Seo-hee.

* * *

While I was reining in my emotions, Ilmyeong hesitated before stepping closer to me.

"Benefactor Jin... Please try to understand the Head, just a little."

I tilted my head.

Ilmyeong wasn't the kind of person to be this oblivious...

This matter was clearly the Head's fault.

Our delegation hadn't come here just to offer congratulations.

Helping the warriors of the Murim Alliance bleeding in Sichuan Province so they could fight safely was the mission given to us.

Therefore.

This wasn't the time to be full of useless pride, damn it.

"Did I do something wrong?"

As my mood soured, my voice naturally grew cold.

But right now, I didn't want to care about Ilmyeong's feelings.

Ilmyeong slowly shook his head.

"... That is not it."

"Then what on earth am I supposed to understand?"

"..."

Ilmyeong hesitated and looked at Tang Seo-hee.

As if she also knew something, she added in a small voice.

"... I also think you were a little harsh, Jin Sowoon."

"..."

Perhaps sensing my expression gradually stiffening, Tang Seo-hee and Ilmyeong exchanged complicated glances.

Eventually, Ilmyeong tightly clenched his fists as if making up his mind.

"Benefactor Jin... The story you are about to hear must be known to you alone."

"What is it?"

After hesitating several times, Ilmyeong finally opened his mouth.

"The Hwangsa Sect Leader, Gu Gye-ak. He is the main culprit behind the 'Cheongju Incident'."

The Cheongju Incident refers to the time when hundreds of Underworld figures attacked the Ak Clan's traveling procession.

Due to this incident, thirty people from the Ak Clan and nearly two hundred Underworld figures died.

I looked at the two of them and tilted my head to the side.

"... What does that have to do with anything?"

"..."

"Does the fact that the Ak Clan's sworn enemy was here justify the Head's actions?"

Even now, countless large and small fights and battles are taking place in Jianghu.

The number of people dying from those conflicts is impossible to count.

The Cheongju Incident?

It certainly must have left a scar on Ak Byeongbi's heart.

But so what?

There are countless people in Jianghu who have felt the same pain as Ak Byeongbi, if not more.

Take me, for instance...

'Damn it...'

Therefore, I could not stand by and watch a great cause be ruined by a personal grudge.

At my rigid attitude, Ilmyeong let out a long sigh.

Eventually, he carefully parted his lips.

"At that time, the Head's beloved died."

"..."

"And his beloved was carrying his child."

In an instant, I felt my head, which had been burning as hot as a furnace, go cold.

Vivid enough to bring to mind the faces of my father, my junior disciples, and the Minor Orthodox Unit members who died painfully right in front of my eyes in my past life.

As if the story wasn't over yet, Ilmyeong's lips moved again.

"The one who murdered the Head's beloved was none other than... that man, Gu Gye-ak."

Perhaps because my head had gone cold, it felt like my mouth had frozen shut too.

"At that time, there wasn't a place in the world the Head didn't search to find Gu Gye-ak. After fifteen years passed like that... that man Gu Gye-ak, who had vanished without a trace, appeared before the Head as the Hwangsa Sect Leader."

"Damn it..."

At the curse word that slipped out without me realizing, Tang Seo-hee frowned.

"Swearing is bad."

'Did I swear because I wanted to? I did it because I had no other choice.'

'Just what was that man Zhuge Somyeong thinking?'

'If he knew the man had such a backstory, shouldn't he have been excluded from the delegation?'

'... Could it be that Zhuge Somyeong didn't know?'

"The Chief Strategist also knows about this matter. Therefore... I also do not know the reason why he sent him as the Head of the delegation. He must have had some deep intention."

'No matter how deep his intentions might be, shouldn't he have avoided doing something like this?'

'Who in the world could speak of peace and stability while standing in front of the sworn enemy who killed their wife and child?'

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"... It is not a story that can be easily told, is it?"

"Haa..."

Somehow, Ak Byeongbi's overreaction during the incident with Ak Jupyeong now made sense to me.

Because humans are beings who cannot easily forget a violent emotional shock deeply embedded in their minds.

As I squeezed my hopelessly scrambled head, Ilmyeong's voice was heard.

"Perhaps... the words the Head spoke were sincere."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean his words about leaving the rest to you, Benefactor Jin."

To be precise, it was, 'If you're so frustrated, then you do it.'

"He must have felt frustrated by his own limitations as well."

Now that I had heard the inside story, I couldn't get the slightest grasp on how to resolve this matter.

Even so, the Head of the delegation was aggressively pushing for war right in front of his sworn enemy.

If we ignored that and proceeded to form an agreement, it was obvious that Ak Byeongbi's heart would be torn to shreds, but if I didn't say anything, the image of countless corpses flickered before my eyes.

Through my complicated thoughts, Ilmyeong's voice intruded.

"The Head probably wants to form an agreement as well."

"... Why do you think so?"

"Because if he didn't, someone who normally never touches a drop of alcohol wouldn't be drinking like that."

"..."

'Was Ak Byeongbi the one enduring a greater pain than anyone else?'

"... Even so, I do not want to rationalize the Head's actions."

I deliberately spoke coldly, but Ilmyeong looked at me and smiled gently.

"He probably wouldn't want that either. For now, it would be better to focus on carrying out our mission."

"..."

Regardless, even without considering the Head's circumstances, not to mention an alliance, even a peace agreement seemed quite difficult.

Because while the Hwangsa Sect Leader, Gu Gye-ak, was speaking, those who seemed to agree with his opinion already appeared to be over half.

Even if we mobilized Cha Seokdu, Kang Maengji of the Black Death Gang, and all our connections from the Demonic Spirit Plateau, an agreement wouldn't be easy.

Moreover, the biggest problem was that we were stuck in the middle of enemy territory, unable to do anything.

If we could at least figure out the Underworld Alliance's internal situation, we might be able to come up with an appeasement strategy, but right now, we were smack in the middle of the Underworld Alliance, where we couldn't even pull in personnel from Haomun.

Ilmyeong slightly bowed his head.

"I am sorry for seemingly passing off such a difficult task onto you."

I shook my head.

"It's fine. We can't put spilled water back into the cup, after all."

Like that, without even being able to step outside, we tried coming up with various strategies around the pavilion, but no clear plan emerged.

Meanwhile, the sound of someone's approaching footsteps was heard.

"If it wouldn't be an intrusion, may I come in for a moment?"

The owner of the footsteps was none other than the Cheongwan Sect's Gun Yuhyeon, the very man who had flustered Ilmyeong.

"What brings you here?"

"You haven't shown up at the gambling house even once since then, so I came to see if something was wrong."

I shook my head and spoke politely.

"I do not think this is the time for such talk. Please leave."

"Haha, I didn't come looking for you to gamble either."

Gun Yuhyeon continued speaking with a friendly smile.

"I heard on the way here. You've run into a difficult situation?"

"..."

"I heard there might be a problem with the agreement. Is that not true?"

I went on high alert without letting it show.

"How did you know that?"

"Well, it is supposed to be confidential, but it naturally reaches the ears of those who keep them wide open."

"And so?"

Gun Yuhyeon took another step toward me.

"I thought I might be able to offer you some help."

I met Ilmyeong's eyes.

Eventually, we gave each other a small nod.

We had to utilize everything we could. His proposal would also be worth hearing out.

"Why are you offering to help?"

Gun Yuhyeon scratched the back of his head.

"Just because we are an Underworld sect doesn't mean we are all lunatics crazy for blood and battle. There are also those who had no choice but to take the path of the Underworld due to their individual circumstances. Furthermore, our Cheongwan Sect stands to lose a great deal if a war with the Murim Alliance breaks out right now."

War inflicts damage on everyone.

But among them, it inflicts the greatest damage on the powerless.

With his clever mind, Gun Yuhyeon seemed to have calculated that if a war between the Underworld Alliance and the Murim Alliance broke out right now, they would be the ones to suffer the greatest damage.

This time, Ilmyeong stepped forward and asked.

"How can you help us, Benefactor Gun?"

"I don't know if you're aware, but in the current Underworld Alliance, the influence of the alliance's major sects acts more strongly than the Alliance Leader's personal opinion."

It was something I could tell just by looking at the atmosphere in the grand hall.

Cha Seokdu had taken the position of Alliance Leader on the pretext of having formed the alliance, but his seat and power did not seem firmly consolidated.

As we pondered, Gun Yuhyeon whispered secretly, as if revealing a confidential secret.

"Instead, there is a person who can sway the grand consensus."

"Do you mean someone with practical power?"

He nodded.

"Yes. The current Alliance Leader may have created the justification for forming the Underworld Alliance, but in the end, the one who laid the foundation was someone else."

"Who is that?"

"You saw the man next to the Alliance Leader, right?"

"Dam-ak..."

When I spat out the man's name, Gun Yuhyeon nodded.

"That is exactly the man."

"Are you saying he can sway the grand consensus?"

"Yes. Most of the working-level officials running the Underworld Alliance follow Dam-ak. If his and the Alliance Leader's opinions align, then even if the other Sect Leaders oppose it, you will certainly be able to form an agreement."

Bokryong Dam-ak seemed to be recognized for his outstanding abilities in this life just as he was in his past life.

"But will that man, Dam-ak, even agree to meet us? From what I saw earlier, his wariness toward the Murim Alliance seemed quite significant."

At my question, Gun Yuhyeon smiled meaningfully.

"It's not official, but there is a place to meet separately."

"What kind of place?"

"Those who could be called the rising stars of the Underworld Murim have decided to hold a banquet among themselves."

A private banquet, and one for Underworld figures at that.

We might end up suffering a humiliation so great that the humiliation we faced at the Iron Sword Sect wouldn't even compare.

"And the Chief Strategist, Dam-ak, is scheduled to attend that gathering."

However, everything had already gone wrong with our straightforward approach.

"Would you like to attend together?"

If so, I had no choice but to approach it through another method.