Chapter 369
Seol Unhwi spoke.
"Landlord."
The innkeeper, a man notable for a heavily furred face, swallowed at Seol Unhwi's voice.
He looked young, but there was something not ordinary about his presence.
A high-level expert, or the scion of a powerful family.
Whatever the case, he was not someone to be dismissed.
"Is there any other inn?"
"There is, but... it will be similar."
Seol Unhwi thought for a moment, then took a few silver nyang from his breast.
"Then could you at least let us use the stable?"
The landlord's eyes widened.
"...The stable?"
Seol Unhwi nodded.
From context it meant they would sleep in the stable for the night, which made Chief Seong beside him nervous.
But Seol Unhwi was resolute, and the landlord read that clearly.
"Huh... well..."
The hesitant landlord looked at the silver and finally nodded.
"Very well. Please wait a moment — I'll clean the stable properly."
The two men nodded.
About half a shijin later, the landlord returned to say the cleaning was finished, and the two men moved to the stable.
The smell of horses was strong. There was a faint manure odor, but it seemed to have been mostly cleared; only traces remained.
Chief Seong grimaced.
"Young master... are you really going to sleep here?"
"Is it uncomfortable?"
"Of course it's uncomfortable."
"Then Chief Seong, will you take a room."
"...Those tracking the hidden realm, I don't think silencing them by anything other than killing would stop the talk...."
"And?"
"...Then just sleep. Here."
Seol Unhwi snorted softly and settled into a corner of the stable.
He laid down clean straw and sat upon it.
"One night only. Bear it."
"...Ha."
Chief Seong sighed and sat beside him.
"Relax your face — when will you have another experience like this?"
"True."
Chief Seong mulled it over, and the situation seemed to brighten him.
He had slept outdoors with Unhwi many times, but spending a night in a stable? This was a rare memory worth bragging about.
Seol Unhwi closed his eyes and checked his insides; Chief Seong kept a sharp watch with clear eyes.
Time passed.
Half a gak, half a shijin, one shijin.
Then—
"Ah. There, there they are."
A voice.
Seol Unhwi opened his eyes; Chief Seong's expression, interrupted in the middle of this precious moment, hardened.
The innkeeper had come.
He brought with him a middle-aged man.
The innkeeper smiled awkwardly and introduced the man.
"This is the magistrate of Baekhwa Hamlet."
Seol Unhwi's brow tightened.
"...The magistrate?"
The middle-aged man bowed hastily.
"Ah, pleased to meet you! I am Jang Wi, magistrate of Baekhwa Hamlet."
Seol Unhwi inclined his head without much interest.
Jang Wi looked embarrassed but continued.
"But, sir Seol to be sleeping in such a place! This won't do! Come to my office!"
"It's fine."
"No — how can the Heavenly Alliance's Heavenly-Justice Inspector and the current Hyun Seollin of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace be...?"
"Whatever the titles, I came to this inn as a guest and, because there's no room, I decided to stay here for a night. What more is necessary?"
Jang Wi glared at the innkeeper with a cool look.
Just as the pale-faced innkeeper was about to say something—
"The stable is perfectly acceptable. He'll never have an experience like this again in his life; perhaps you should return."
"...Then at least a meal...."
"I am not well, and I have no appetite. If there is time later, I will come to you myself."
Jang Wi let out a sigh.
"...Then I would like to do something for you. Is there anything you need?"
No matter how much Seol Unhwi insisted on no special treatment, his position mattered.
From the magistrate's point of view, if word spread that Seol Unhwi had come to the village and, lacking a room, slept in a stable, many people would hear odd rumors from all directions.
Something had to be done.
Seol Unhwi answered briefly.
"Two horses and one carriage."
"Is that all?"
"Sufficient."
"Very well. Since you said you wanted a different experience, as magistrate I cannot refuse. I'll have two top-grade horses and a carriage prepared."
"Thank you."
Magistrate Jang Wi looked at Seol Unhwi a moment, then withdrew.
"...As expected of the young master."
Seol Unhwi opened the Tao-Beginning Innate Heart Method and began to read; Chief Seong tried to sleep. Of course their perception had been maximized, so if anyone approached they were ready to rise at once.
Still, he thought: not a bad day.
The next morning.
Seol Unhwi and Chief Seong rode the carriage Magistrate Jang Wi had provided and headed for the snowy mountain.
***
The Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace, a great palace set upon a pure white snowy mountain.
The carriage stopped before it.
The doors opened slowly, and Seol Unhwi and Chief Seong stepped down in order.
Two Baekryeong Guard warriors at the entrance discovered Seol Unhwi and immediately saluted courteously.
"The Palace Lord awaits you."
Seol Unhwi inclined his head and turned toward Chief Seong.
"It won't take long."
"Understood. I will wait."
Seol Unhwi walked slowly into the palace.
It was a familiar path.
He walked down the corridor toward the central hall.
At the hall's front stood five Baekryeong Guard warriors.
One of them was quite familiar.
Sim Munryong, bearing the character twelve carved upon his ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) back, scratched his head and offered a formal salute.
"The Palace Lord awaits you."
Seol Unhwi snorted softly at him.
"Keep doing what you always do."
"We are doing as instructed. What more would you ask?"
Seol Unhwi glanced at Sim Munryong for a moment and cocked his head.
"Now that I see it, this seems to be Hyun Seollin's personal greeting."
Sim Munryong said nothing.
The four Baekryeong Guard members flanking him had faces that were also familiar on closer inspection.
Perhaps former brothers-in-arms.
"Your names...?"
"They all share the Ming syllable."
"Are the Baekryeong Guard suits working well?"
"Of course."
"That will do."
Seol Unhwi pushed the hall door.
Creak.
With that sound, a wider corridor unfolded.
There were people in that corridor too.
This time a man marked with the character eleven upon his back stood with his chest exposed.
The Baekryeong Guard's Eleven Order.
At the sight of the Twelve-order Sim Munryong it had already been felt, but now it was clear: from this onward the Twelve-order elite of the Baekryeong Guard were all present up through the First Order.
"Greetings to Hyun Seollin. Eleven Order, Yeongwol."
"Senior Yeongwol. I heard you were dispatched to the 'north' — pleased to meet you."
Yeongwol smiled faintly.
"It is my honor to meet Hyun Seollin personally."
Yeongwol stepped aside.
Seol Unhwi walked on.
Thus he met the Ten Order Han Musan, Ninth Order Nang Seolpung, Eighth Order Mo Cheonhan, Seventh Order Gwak Hanya, Sixth Order Bang Yuhan, Fifth Order Im Soya, Fourth Order Chu Yaseong, Third Order Yang Yaso, and Second Order Seo Hanseong.
Whatever Hyun Seollin wished to show, the intent was clear.
"I have not been idle; I have made the Baekryeong Guard even stronger. See for yourself and judge."
It was more than expected.
And then, last.
When he faced the First Order, Seol Unhwi let out an inward bitter laugh and a deep sigh at once.
At the entrance to the Palace Lord's hall stood a tall, well-built man.
He spoke.
"First Order, Ha Baekhyun."
"Senior Ha. But if I recall correctly, the First of the Twelve-order used to be Gong Yeongheo, using the style name Kong-Yeong. I thought him the invincible steel-order Gong Yeongheo."
A man of consummate talent, Gong Yeongheo had been highly anticipated within the palace. Indeed, the Twelve-order had all once followed him.
"Where someone enters, someone must leave."
The former Ha Baekhyun had been Second Order.
Second surpassing First?
No — that interpretation was shallow. It must never be read that way.
"Is he dead?"
"If you mean the previous First Order, no."
"......"
"It seems I must tell you plainly. Senior Gong moved north after being defeated by me."
"To face barbarians, you say."
"Yes. He did not lose limbs nor inner power. He is alive and intact."
"Truly fortunate."
"Yes. And—"
Ha Baekhyun paused briefly and then spoke in a quiet voice.
"The Palace Lord awaits you."
It was the same phrase every one of the Twelve-order had spoken.
Seol Unhwi moved forward.
One step, two steps.
Standing beside Ha Baekhyun, Seol Unhwi stopped and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Senior Ha."
"Yes. Hyun Seollin."
"There are indeed many kinds of people in this world."
"......"
"I have a tiresome trait: anyone who plays tricks with me, whoever they are, I make sure they pay for it."
"I do not know what you mean."
"I do threaten. I have done it many times. Yet the cleverer ones take it differently."
"In what way?"
"As a guide, or a warning."
Ha Baekhyun's expression stiffened.
Seol Unhwi's grip tightened on him.
"Be mindful of your conduct."
"......"
"Ha, you are of the Baekryeong Guard and previously Second Order, but now you hold the First Order among the Twelve — remain true to that role."
"......"
"Answer."
"......I understand."
Seol Unhwi reached out, seized Ha Baekhyun by the collar, and pulled him close to his nose.