Chapter 196
Chapter 196. Namgung Cheong-hae
The mornings of the North Sea were unlike those of the Central Plains. The sunlight, trapped within clouds, descended faint and pale.
Though the soft light reached the ground and cast shadows, it still seemed dim to Namgung Jin's eyes.
Having just bound the last retainer of the Han Clan, Namgung Jin lifted his head.
Hundreds of martial artists from the Han, dong, and Yan Clans who had been on the island were stripped to the waist and tied up.
Members of the Four Directions Hall moved among them, checking that each prisoner's meridian was sealed and their bindings secure.
Barely thirty martial artists of Four Directions Hall had subdued hundreds without taking a single injury.
It seemed they were well accustomed to such situations—skilled in handling large numbers of defeated foes. Even without ropes, they showed no panic, simply tearing the prisoners' upper garments and twisting them into makeshift cords.
Rip!
Another cloth was torn apart. The Four Directions Hall martial artists worked with deliberate care, even fashioning proper ropes to bind them.
"This one's from the Yan Clan. The blood makes it look purple, so tie him with the others over there."
"Ah, right. Hard to tell in this light."
They even sorted the captives by clan.
With a weary expression, the Four Directions Hall members went about their tidy work methodically.
Namgung Jin watched it all unfold—seeing firsthand the efficiency of the group he'd only heard about in rumors.
He had long heard that the Four Directions Hall could dismantle an entire mid-sized sect with ease—and now he saw it was true. Judging by the calm, practiced movements of the martial artists, this level of cleanup was routine for them.
Namgung Jin's eyes rose reluctantly.
Above, on a nearby slope, the Four Directions Hall Lord was speaking with members of the Ice Palace.
Because of the qi barrier they had raised, he couldn't hear their conversation even though they weren't far away.
The tall martial artist standing in front of Peng Sihyeon glanced down at him. Namgung Jin didn't avert his gaze.
But maintaining eye contact made him uneasy—the Ice Palace martial artists, with their bodies draped entirely in white, didn't even seem human.
The figure, whose gender was impossible to discern, turned back to Peng Sihyeon.
He couldn't hear what they were saying, but the atmosphere appeared amicable.
Soon, three or four more Ice Palace disciples appeared. They said something to Peng Sihyeon, who nodded without question.
When the discussion ended, she leapt down from the ridge.
The Black Tortoise Pavilion Leader, who had been overseeing the captives, immediately turned toward her.
"How did it go, Hall Lord?"
So he had been listening after all; his attention had been fixed on that conversation the whole time.
"They're taking all the prisoners to the Ice Palace."
Peng Sihyeon replied.
"They asked if they should bring carriages to load them up, but I told them their legs are fine, they can walk."
"Of course, it's not our first time doing this. We kept their legs intact on purpose. They can walk on their own. Why pamper them by breaking their bones?"
"That's what I told them, too."
The Four Directions Hall Lord glanced briefly toward the ridge, then looked down again.
"Apparently, Young Lady Tang has already reached the palace. Someone called the Fourth Seat took her inside. She asked for a few of the prisoners, said she needed them for something. You'd better head there quickly yourself. I can't even guess what she's planning."
The Hall Lord sighed. She already knew that Tang So-hwa was no longer the kindly physician from the rumors.
"The Ice Palace disciples on the ridge will guide you, so follow them immediately. If something happens inside, return here."
"You're not coming with us, Hall Lord?"
Peng Sihyeon coughed lightly and gestured toward the water below. Understanding, the Black Tortoise Pavilion Leader bit back his words and nodded.
Beneath that water lay the Cold Iron.
Peng Sihyeon was clearly buying time, trying to find a place to hide it.
'It's normal for a martial artist to covet cold steel, but...'
He wanted to say more, but his own unease over what Young Lady Tang might do pushed him to hurry. He gathered his subordinates and the captives and headed up toward the ridge.
Soon, the prisoners and the Four Directions Hall martial artists disappeared from sight.
After a short while—perhaps the time it takes an incense stick to burn—the place fell silent.
Peng Sihyeon, still watching the slope, finally turned.
Namgung Jin frowned.
Instead of entering the cavern where the Cold Iron was kept, Peng Sihyeon was walking straight toward him.
"Moving elsewhere would draw attention, so let's speak here. Is that all right?"
Only then did Namgung Jin understand Peng Sihyeon's behavior.
She had shaken everyone off—not to hide something—but to tell him what had happened to Namgung Cheong-hae.
Namgung Jin, who had misunderstood her motives and assumed she'd stayed behind for the Cold Iron, felt guilty and quickly nodded.
"Yes. I don't mind at all."
"Good."
At that moment, the world fell silent.
Even the faint murmur of the stream faded away.
Without hesitation, Peng Sihyeon began to speak.
"About four years ago, the Gansu Branch sent a request for aid to the Four Seasons Hall. They'd found a box in Gongdong Mountain, and inside it were children."
Gansu Branch—that was the region where the Gongdong Sect was located. Namgung Jin listened quietly. For a simple case of children being found in a box, it made no sense for the sect to call for assistance from the Four Seasons Hall, which was so far away.
"Most of them were young, around the age of seven or eight, some had Severed Meridian Syndrome, and none were in good condition. So the Gongdong Sect took them to their main hall to be treated, but that same night, someone broke in and took all of the children."
Her tone sank lower.
"One of the elders of the Gongdong Sect crossed swords with the intruder. He said the man used Ice Arts. It wasn't even winter, yet frost formed on the walls where his blade passed, and it didn't melt for days."
"So the Four Seasons Hall sent people to investigate?"
Peng Sihyeon nodded.
"Two agents from the Autumn Pavilion were dispatched. During their investigation, they sent a messenger bird back to the Four Seasons Hall, and the contents were... strange. The Gongdong Sect members claimed the children weren't hiding in the box. They were packed inside it. Four children crammed together so tightly they couldn't move. And when the investigators arrived, the chill still lingered on the outer walls. The yin energy was so strong it had seeped into the wood, not simply making their hands cold, but giving them the sensation that their life force was being drawn away."
Her voice hardened with the weight of memory.
"No one in the Central Plains was known to wield Ice Arts of that level. The Four Seasons Hall Lord found it unusual as well. He spent days reviewing the archives, trying to learn everything he could about yin energy and Ice Arts."
"Did he find out who the intruder was?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"Even worse, the two investigators disappeared during the inquiry. That was when the Hall Lord came to me personally. He said he wanted to continue the investigation but needed discreet and capable officers. So I selected two from the Black Tortoise Pavilion."
Her voice grew heavier.
"One of them was Cheong-hae."
Namgung Jin's eyes darkened.
"At first, we found nothing either. Our report matched that of the Four Seasons Hall. The box that held the children was far too small. It didn't seem like someone had hidden them, but rather... arranged them like objects. The yin energy that lingered in the wood wasn't as strong as what the Hall Lord described, but the fact that it remained even then meant the caster's power was no ordinary level.
"If someone could manipulate such internal energy and still survive the backlash of yin essence, that body couldn't possibly be normal. So we speculated that the intruder might have come from the North Sea."
Peng Sihyeon paused for a moment, then spoke again. Her voice sharpened like a blade.
"And that same evening... another message arrived."
"It was an obituary, sent personally by Cheong-hae. He wrote that he'd found the bodies of the two missing investigators from the Four Seasons Hall."
She hesitated, as though the story weighed heavily on her tongue.
"There was more. He said that the Four Directions Hall officer who had gone with him had betrayed him and tried to kill him, and that he was being pursued by an unknown group. He promised to contact me again once he learned who they were, and he warned me to be careful."
At that moment, Namgung Jin understood why Peng Sihyeon had kept this from everyone.
There had been an internal breach.
The Four Directions Hall already had a spy within.
"The situation felt too dire to ignore, so I went to Gansu myself. I tracked Cheong-hae's traces from Gongdong Mountain, but by the time I arrived, he'd already left the province. Instead, I found the intruder the Gongdong Sect had mentioned."
Though she spoke of meeting the intruder, there was no anger in her tone—only exhaustion.
"At first, he tried to kill me. But when I asked about Cheong-hae, he withdrew his killing intent. Apparently, Cheong-hae had found him first and struck a deal. The man said Cheong-hae had gone to the Clan Head to ask for help returning the children to their homeland."
Namgung Jin's face stiffened.
The timing matched—the same period when he had received a secret message from his elder brother.
Namgung Cheong-hae had sent him a covert letter, asking him to arrange a private audience with the Clan Head, away from prying eyes.
"That intruder looked younger than me, but his martial ability was on par with the Alliance Leader himself. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I lost completely. I wasn't even close to being his match.
"But he spared me, for one reason. Because I had ties to Cheong-hae. Before leaving, he warned me: ‘There are spies even in the Main Headquarters. From now on, trust no one.’ After that, I went straight to Anhui, intending to meet Cheong-hae there."
Namgung Jin swallowed hard.
"So... did you meet my brother?"
Her reply came in a low, heavy voice.
"No. Cheong-hae had erased his trail completely. Even I couldn't find him. And your father insisted that Cheong-hae had never come to Anhui and told me to return to headquarters instead. Later, when the Blood Sect's resurgence became known, and I read the report you submitted... that's when I learned Cheong-hae was dead. And that your family had kept his death secret."
Namgung Jin's eyes lowered, his gaze dark.
Namgung Cheong-hae had been poisoned by an unknown assailant while crossing the Dabeishan Mountains.
Namgung Jin ran a trembling hand over his face, trying to steady himself.
Cheong-hae had trusted him. That was why he had sent the secret message, asking him to arrange a private meeting with the Clan Head.
The letter had even contained a desperate, borderline discourteous request: “The situation is urgent. It's difficult for me to move among crowds. Please come in person."
Back then, he had reported the message to the Clan Head.
But the Clan Head hadn't gone to Dabeishan Mountains himself. Instead, he had ordered him, then the Anhui Branch Leader, to go in his place, saying,
"If Cheong-hae is in danger, he'll need an escort. Take your younger brother, Namgung Hyun, and help him."
He had been unable to refuse his father's words. He'd gone with Namgung Hyun, acting under the Clan Head's authority, to the Dabeishan Mountains.
Now, his chest tightened painfully.
Namgung Cheong-hae's location had been exposed—because of him.