The northwest wind began to blow in Sichuan Province.

Those who farmed spurred on their preparations for winter firewood, while merchants reduced their orders in preparation for a market economy that would freeze as solid as lake water.

The warriors dispatched thousands of li away from their hometowns felt even more lonely at the chill they felt every time they woke up in the morning.

But even this was only until today.

After the factions of the Underworld Murim that had been preparing for battle in Sichuan Province returned to their respective sects, they began sending some support supplies.

The narrative initially announced by the Underworld Alliance was a joint operation, but even so, no one had a big enough heart to fight back-to-back starting today with those who were their enemies until yesterday.

Furthermore, compared to the Orthodox faction, which had widely spread its influence in various regions, the support supplies sent by the financially unstable Underworld Murim were incredibly shabby.

However, despite all these circumstances, the Murim Alliance's morale was higher than ever before.

The sense of stability that they no longer had to worry about their backs was a sweet reward that could not be exchanged for anything else.

Moreover, centered around the Tang Clan's Poison King, the Qingcheng Sect, the Emei Sect, and many sects belonging to the 108 Peaks also spared no support for the Murim Alliance.

The Poison King stood in front of the personnel overflowing with morale, placing both hands firmly on his hips.

"We've dragged out this war for far too long! The time has come to end it!"

"UWAAAAAAAH!"

"Therefore, it is now time to show those bastards what happens when you defy the mandate of heaven!"

"LET'S GOOOOO!"

Originally, the Azure Dragon Pavilion Master of the Murim Alliance should have led the troops, but considering the symbolism and the warriors' morale, the Azure Dragon Pavilion Master maintained actual command while the Poison King outwardly assumed the role of commander.

This decision, strategically made by the leadership and the strategy department, raised the morale of the Orthodox faction to immense heights, just as expected.

If there were entities in the enemy camp using bizarre sorcery, their allied forces had the poison experts and the Poison King.

This simple and clear sense of security, combined with the expectation that the war would soon end, made the warriors of the Murim Alliance more ferocious than ever.

Formation masters sent from the Mount Mao Sect and the Zhuge Clan took the lead, dismantling the arrays installed by the Blood Cult.

Following them, the poison experts opened a path by clearing away the poisons scattered all over, and the Orthodox faction poured in ruthlessly along the entryway that led straight to the Blood Cult.

"Kill them! Kill them all!"

"They are bastards who play around with corpses! Don't leave a single one alive!"

"We don't need prisoners! Don't leave even a single blade of grass here!"

The Orthodox faction, filled with anger from the tyranny the Blood Cult had wielded all this time, swept through the Blood Cult like a storm.

In the deepest basement of the Blood Cult, a hundred corpses prepared to be turned into jiangshi were discovered, and over two hundred corpses showing clear signs of failed attempts at making jiangshi were found.

This gruesome sight spread through word of mouth to the dispatched troops, and among them, a sense of duty to eradicate all heaven-defying entities burned brightly, adding to their existing anger.

There was not a single shred of mercy left in their attacks.

They killed all the warriors and array masters of the Blood Cult, gathered all the data from the laboratories and research facilities, and then set them on fire.

"I-I surrender!"

"P-Please spare me!"

"I'll tell you everything I know...!"

There were those who surrendered early, knowing that the Blood Cult's life had come to an end, but the Murim Alliance tolerated no exceptions.

Aside from a few array masters who would be mobilized for sorcery research, most of the personnel.

Especially those who had learned the martial arts of the Blood Cult—all of them were beheaded on the spot.

While sweeping through the Blood Cult with a storm-like momentum, Poison King Tang Hyeokjae brought Maeng Ju-won along to examine the corpses and data used in the experiments.

"Tsk, tsk. I can tell just by looking that it's nothing special."

"I-Is that so?"

"Their level of study is low, and their experiments are clumsy."

At Tang Hyeokjae's words, Maeng Ju-won forced down the nausea rising in his throat and nodded.

"I-I see. But why am I here...?"

He was a strategist belonging to the support unit.

Traditionally, a strategist's job was only to formulate operational plans; it wasn't standard practice for them to enter deep into the battlefield.

"You have to see this situation to understand the enemy."

"..."

He thought he had adapted a bit to that strange manner of speaking, but he still couldn't understand the content of his words at all.

No, what was he supposed to do by learning about the enemy when he was the Manager of the Mantong Bureau?

"Tsk, tsk. To send such an idiot in this critical situation. I'll have to complain to that narrow-minded fool."

An idiot? Calling him, the top talent of the Mantong Bureau, an idiot...

Well, it was true that Zhuge Somyeong was narrow-minded...

Veins bulged on Maeng Ju-won's forehead at the tongue-clicking Tang Hyeokjae, but he painstakingly hid his emotions.

Because he hadn't yet made a clear judgment on how far he could act up.

The Poison King spat out casually while looking at the pale-faced Maeng Ju-won.

"Their main weapons were sorcery and iron jiangshi. Yet, these bastards didn't have the ability to create iron jiangshi. Do you still not know what this means?"

"Ah!"

Only then did Maeng Ju-won feel a tingling in the back of his head, as if he had been struck.

"Could it be... are you saying there are other entities behind them?"

Maeng Ju-won pieced the puzzle together in his head, assuming a scenario that absolutely should not exist.

How much wealth and human life had the Murim Alliance poured in just to deal with a single Blood Cult?

Moreover, even if they resolved the situation in Sichuan Province, there was no benefit to the Murim Alliance.

Because they were simply protecting what they originally had.

But what if these guys weren't the main body?

He didn't know how many of the Murim Alliance's pillars had been uprooted just to deal with what was merely a tail.

If enemies of this level appeared even a few more times, they would face an existential crisis, but if the mastermind appeared directly...

...the Murim Alliance would eventually collapse.

Tang Hyeokjae was talking about exactly that right now.

"It's not certain."

"..."

Unlike Moyong Gang, the world-renowned Poison King was famous for not talking nonsense.

There was no way someone like him would bring it up based on a simple prediction.

As if proving this, a shadow was cast over the Poison King's face.

"Still, we have to prepare."

"..."

Prepare...

It was a word that was too easy to say, yet difficult to put into practice.

However, seeing Tang Hyeokjae's rigidly hardened face, he seemed to already be thinking about the harsh days ahead.

"You'd better adapt as well. This won't be the last time you see a scene like this."

Leaving behind Maeng Ju-won, whose face had gone pale from continuous retching, Tang Hyeokjae turned around.

And at that moment, Maeng Ju-won felt goosebumps erupt all over his body.

'D-Don't tell me... I have to travel around like this for the rest of my life?'

Why hadn't he thought of that?

If a war broke out, not only would the Murim Alliance be shaken, but he, as a strategist, would also be dragged around the battlefields.

'I-I'm so fucked...'

At the thought that his lifelong wish might not come true, fear and despair began to fill his chest.

Meanwhile.

Regardless of Maeng Ju-won's mood, the warriors of the Murim Alliance were relishing the victory.

War exhausts everyone.

Just the fact that the war had ended and that they could return home brought unparalleled joy to the warriors who had participated in the battles.

The warriors of all sects, including the Tang Clan, Qingcheng, Emei, and the 108 Peaks, set aside their respective factions and threw their arms around each other's shoulders, thoroughly enjoying the victory.

"UWAAAAAAAH!"

"We won!!!"

"Let's go home!!!!"

* * *

"Have you resolved your curiosity?"

At Cha Seokdu's question, Dam-ak, who was lifting his teacup, set it back down.

"Actually... I still don't really know."

Right before Jin Sowoon woke up, Dam-ak wanted to meet with Jin Sowoon faster than anyone else.

He needed to identify the unknown entities that had appeared in his quarters.

However, the person who had just survived a deadly crisis.

It was only right that the Murim Alliance delegation should be the first to see Jin Sowoon.

Even so, Dam-ak made a request to Cha Seokdu, and Cha Seokdu, in turn, had to ask the Murim Alliance delegation.

However.

'To think that the little kid from the Tang Clan would be the stumbling block.'

Naturally, he thought Ak Byeongbi would be the first to refuse, but surprisingly, he didn't care much.

Instead, it was the little kid named Tang Seo-hee who threw a stubborn fit.

She even laid down an ultimatum, insisting that she absolutely had to be the one to see him wake up.

This was merely a simple expression of personal emotion that went beyond political choices or decisions, but it couldn't be easily broken.

From the start, she wasn't someone who could be persuaded by Ak Byeongbi or Ilmyeong anyway.

Knowing just how strong the Tang Clan's stubbornness was, Cha Seokdu was about to back down when...

Ilmyeong sent a sound transmission.

[-She'll step back if you let her play Vice Leader.]

Play Vice Leader?

What the hell does that mean, you damn monk!

To Cha Seokdu, who couldn't even grasp what it meant, the sound transmission was heard once more.

[-Just let her loosely lead the warriors of the Four Emperors Peak and do a couple of laps around the Underworld Alliance.]

At Ilmyeong's 'advice,' Cha Seokdu made the offer to Tang Seo-hee with a skeptical mind.

"... I-If that's the case, it can't be helped. It's a shame, but I will yield the first meeting."

Tang Seo-hee accepted this after deep agony.

She wore the iron armor of the Four Emperors Peak that didn't even fit her body.

Although Hwang Bushik suffered a bit because she sat on his shoulders and paraded around the Underworld Alliance a couple of times.

Neither he nor the warriors of the Four Emperors Peak felt too bad about it.

After all, she was the comrade of Jin Sowoon, who had saved the Underworld Alliance.

Anyway, it was a meeting arranged after going through such a series of events, yet he still didn't know?

When creases formed on Cha Seokdu's brow, Dam-ak slowly caressed his teacup.

"He risked his life to his own detriment. Even though that's what the Orthodox faction calls 'Chivalry'... my reason tells me that he wasn't truly acting out of 'Chivalry.'"

For some reason, the corners of Dam-ak's eyes were drooping.

If his face had resembled a sharp wildcat all this time, today he felt somewhat like a sullen puppy.

Cha Seokdu chuckled while looking at such a Dam-ak.

"Isn't it because you keep thinking about it purely rationally?"

"What do you..."

"I'm saying I roughly understand."

Dam-ak's lips parted.

"... You understand?"

"It's because both that guy and you are lonely beings."

"..."

Dam-ak's brow furrowed.

He had lived his whole life keeping books and texts close by, and though he hadn't learned martial arts, he was second to none when it came to being manly.

To call someone like him a lonely being.

Cha Seokdu looked warmly at the deep-in-thought Dam-ak.

"Do you know the kid's origins?"

"I heard it's the Taiyi Sect."

"Right, if you compare the Taiyi Sect to the world you were in... yeah, you could consider it to be about the level of a small village school stuck in the countryside."

Cha Seokdu snickered at something he found amusing.

"The kind of village school where the teacher is incompetent and water leaks from the roof because they can't even collect tuition properly."

"..."

"From such a village school, you know, that exam you passed..."

"Do you mean the provincial and metropolitan exams?"

Cha Seokdu nodded his head vigorously.

"Yeah! Did you say you become a Jinsa after passing those?"

"Yes."

"The guy is in that kind of position."

"..."

The smile that hung on Cha Seokdu's lips had vanished at some point.

"What happens when a kid who passed like that goes to Beijing? Does he rise in the world and enjoy wealth and glory?"

"..."

It's difficult.

Passing the provincial and metropolitan exams from a poor environment was an incredible feat, but in the end, it meant he had absolutely no background.

At the very least, if one came from a good academy, they could form some connections. A dragon born in a small stream would quickly plummet due to the hangers-on dragging it down and the people keeping the dragon from taking flight.

No matter how great they were, they would merely live as the master of the small stream.

Cha Seokdu, who was observing Dam-ak's expression, nodded lightly.

"That guy Jin Sowoon is in the same position. That's why he has no choice but to constantly be lonely."

The people of the small stream might look at the dragon and call it amazing, but the dragon itself feels frustration at the thought that it cannot soar freely through the world.

"His name is ringing across the world, but in the end, he must be feeling a loneliness that pierces to the bone. Because the Nine Sects and One Gang, the Five Great Noble Clans, and the Twelve Peaks and Castles of the 108 Peaks are masters of Machiavellian tactics on par with the nobles of Beijing. Furthermore, they possess private armed forces that nobles don't even have."

Come to think of it, Jianghu was even more ruthless than a place like Beijing.

There, only power struggles centered around the Emperor took place, but in Jianghu, direct physical force was exercised, wasn't it?

Dam-ak realized anew just what a terrifying place he had set foot in.

Cha Seokdu cast his gaze toward the pavilion where Jin Sowoon was and continued speaking.

"He must have been lonely. And he surely knows that his path forward will be lonely as well."

Before long, Cha Seokdu shifted his gaze to Dam-ak.

"You caught the eye of such a guy, standing alone in an unfamiliar world, preparing for revenge. He likely couldn't easily turn his head away."

At Cha Seokdu's words, Dam-ak's face flushed hotly.

He could anew feel Jin Sowoon's heart.

For some reason, the faces of the friends he had competed with in the academy in the past came to mind.

"Even though... I am an enemy?"

Finding Dam-ak's reddened face, a smile unconsciously formed on Cha Seokdu's lips.

"The political arena might be like that, but Jianghu is the same. There are no eternal comrades, nor are there eternal enemies. So that friend simply wanted to do right by you while we were comrades. Even knowing that he would be put in a difficult situation."

"... A difficult situation?"

"Anyway, didn't the Orthodox faction's Divine Star lay down his life to save the Chief Strategist of the Underworld Alliance? Do you think the Murim Alliance's Inspection Pavilion and Disciplinary Pavilion will just sit still? They will try to find fault with it somehow."

"..."

Come to think of it, he had also heard that the Delegation Head of the Murim Alliance was a vicious man acting as the Third Hall Leader of the Inspection Pavilion.

If the unparalleledly ignorant Underworld figures were grinding their teeth at him, it meant he was no ordinary vicious man.

... He began to feel worried for Jin Sowoon all over again.

"Will he be alright?"

Cha Seokdu laughed at Dam-ak's question.

"Why? Are you suddenly worried about your friend?"

"F-Friend, my foot... I just hate being indebted."

"Well, he'll figure it out himself. And if he can't stand the persecution from the Murim Alliance and defects to the Underworld Alliance, that wouldn't be bad in its own way either."

Cha Seokdu, who burst into a bout of hearty laughter, continued speaking.

"Anyway, paying off the debt a little would be less of a burden for us. That guy was making a fuss earlier, too."

"Pardon?"

Cha Seokdu shook his head as if he was fed up.

"He came to me and made a huge fuss demanding I pay the price for saving you. How can a guy who just came back from the dead be overflowing with so much energy?"

Dam-ak spoke carefully.

"How far are you planning to go?"

"Well, what he wants is an alliance. But since I already said we wouldn't form an alliance... wouldn't going back on my word be laughable?"

"That's right. It would be best to avoid showing any signs of wavering as much as possible."

It was the basics of imperial statecraft.

The masses do not like a wavering throne.

Cha Seokdu nodded and asked Dam-ak.

"We have some items from the Orthodox faction in the Underworld Alliance's treasury, don't we?"

During the formation of the Underworld Alliance, the main sects had to pay an entry fee of a certain amount or more.

However, the Underworld sects, hating the idea of money leaving their own pockets, paid their entry fees with valuable antiques of the Orthodox sects or lost martial arts manuals that they couldn't use themselves.

At the time, it was an absurd behavior from Cha Seokdu's perspective, but the time had come for it to shine.

"How about we send him a few of those?"

"It would be sufficient as a symbol of friendship."

"Right. Anyway, if the items are good, Jin Sowoon will face a little less scolding. How about you prepare them?"

Dam-ak, who pondered for a moment, bowed his head.

"... Yes. I will find something suitable and prepare it."

Dam-ak spoke plainly, but Cha Seokdu knew.

That Dam-ak was already starting to rack his brain intensely.

And all to ensure that his friend belonging to the Orthodox faction wouldn't be put in danger.

* * *

I was currently faced with a crisis.

"W-What brings you here?"

A pretty big crisis at that.

All this time, I had avoided being alone with Ak Byeongbi as much as possible.

Because I didn't really have any excuses for what had happened inside the Underworld Alliance.

Searching for the hidden assassin was one thing, but risking my life for Dam-ak was crossing the line even from my perspective.

Because of that, I tried pressuring Cha Seokdu to somehow carry it all the way to an alliance, but that man wouldn't budge at all either.

Now I've really stepped in it.

'I'm the only one left looking like a fool.'

Thinking about the distant future, saving Dam-ak was the right thing to do, but right now, the biggest problem was how to persuade Ak Byeongbi and those communication guards from the Alliance Leader's Pavilion.

Because no matter how you looked at it, they would think saving the Underworld's Chief Strategist was crossing the line.

Anyway, I tried not to create an opportunity for a face-to-face meeting until we returned to the academy no matter what.

But Ak Byeongbi had eventually managed to force a face-to-face meeting.

How should I avoid this...

"Oh man, my body. I'm a little tired, so would it be alright if I excuse myself first?"

Just as I was half-awkwardly trying to stand up.

Ak Byeongbi spoke with a sharp glint in his eyes.

"Are you planning to join the Underworld?"

My body stopped abruptly.

My brow furrowed heavily.

"Excuse me?"

What is this guy talking about?