Chapter 32 : The Death of Grandmaster Gwang Oh
Shudder!
Jang Baekseo felt a shiver run down his spine and glanced at one side of the Qingcheng pavilion.
'Tsk, if I had known that old man would come, I would have used a more natural method…'
Jang Baekseo was regretting that if he had known Grandmaster Gwangha would come, he would have used a more natural method.
After an eventful day, evening came, and the party of the Mysterious Profound Sect also finished their eventful day and returned to their assigned quarters to rest.
A week from now, the Qingcheng branch meeting would begin.
Whether the third power would approach the Mysterious Profound Sect within a week or not… there was nothing the Mysterious Profound Sect could do about it.
'Please just ignore it…'
Grandmaster Gwangha had said that if the third power did not approach them during this week, he would announce this matter to all of Qingcheng and officially search for the secret power.
That's why Jang Baekseo earnestly prayed that nothing would happen during this week.
But.
Meow~!
A black cat slipped in through the open window.
"What, a cat? It's black too… aww, bad luck…!"
Jang Baekseo, who had stopped talking, found a note tied to the cat's neck.
'Damn it!'
He had hoped so much that there would be no contact, but how could they make contact like this on the first day!?
While thinking that, Jang Baekseo acted as naturally as possible.
"What's this? Does this cat have an owner? What's on its neck… a note?"
Although he didn't feel any suspicious presence around him, there was absolutely no 'absolute' in the martial world.
Although the martial world was ignorant about things like sorcery or spells, Jang Baekseo, who had been active in the Demonic Cult before his regression, knew the troublesomeness and usefulness of sorcery and spells better than anyone else.
That's why he acted as naturally as possible in case the secret power was watching him using spells or sorcery.
"Th-this is… hup!"
Jang Baekseo, who had unfolded the note without much thought, was startled and hurriedly went out of the room to find the elders of the sect.
"…"
While doing so, he did not forget to send a signal with his eyes.
The group, who had received Jang Baekseo's gaze, also understood what this meant at once.
Ju Yeongchan, Cheongmu, Cheongdo, and Cheong Yeonah read the note in order, and their expressions changed seriously.
"…Ho ho, how on earth should I take this…"
To summarize the contents of the note, it was roughly like this.
-First of all, we welcome the Mysterious Profound Sect's new entry into the Qingcheng branch.
We are a small group within the Qingcheng branch, formed by those who are worried about the future of the Qingcheng branch, and furthermore, the western martial world.
Upon hearing the news that the Mysterious Profound Sect, a sect that rules Gangjeong County, would be entering the Qingcheng branch, we have decided to invite the Mysterious Profound Sect to our group after a deep internal discussion.
If you participate in this group, the other sects of the group will join forces to support the Mysterious Profound Sect, and as a family, we will guarantee your position within the Qingcheng branch.
If the Mysterious Profound Sect is willing to accept this proposal, the acting Sect Leader, Great Hero Ju Yeongchan, the Mystic Heaven Sword Great Hero, Cheongmu, Young Hero Cheongdo, Young Heroine Cheong Yeonah, and Young Hero Jang Baekseo should come secretly to the designated place from now on.
The faces of the party, who had not expected to receive such a letter on the day of their arrival, changed from moment to moment.
But the action they had to take was decided.
What was the reason why the Mysterious Profound Sect had acted to enter the Qingcheng branch in a troublesome way in the first place?
It was to reveal the identity of this secret power.
'You can't catch a tiger without entering the tiger's den!'
For a moment, the elders of the Mysterious Profound Sect 'pretended' to have a meeting about this matter, and at the same time, they secretly sent a signal.
Currently, in the quarters of the Mysterious Profound Sect, Grandmaster Gwangha's disciple, Myeonggwang, was secretly hiding.
He had been hiding and waiting in advance, not knowing when the contact from the secret power would come.
Of course.
'He probably didn't expect it to come in just one day…'
Leaving behind Myeonggwang, who had received the signal and was leaving the quarters without a sound, Jang Baekseo's party quietly left the quarters, avoiding people's eyes.
***
"…They're a secret power, alright, calling people to such a suspicious place…"
The place where the secret power had called them was a dark and deserted place in the mountains, to the extent that Jang Baekseo said such words with a dumbfounded face.
At Jang Baekseo's whisper-like muttering, Cheongmu answered.
"…It was hard to 'pretend' to be lost, thanks to that."
Grandmaster Gwangha, who had expected them to be called to such a remote place, had taught them a few secluded and secret places in Qingcheng that they might call them to in advance.
That's why, in fact, Jang Baekseo's party could have gone straight to the designated place, but they had 'pretended' to be lost for a long time, thinking that they might be suspected if they, who were new to Qingcheng, found the way so easily.
The place they arrived at in that way was a place with a grotto in Mount Qingcheng, a little away from the Qingcheng Sect.
It was a grotto created in the days when the Daoists who had gathered in Mount Qingcheng one by one to practice had dug their own grottos and practiced, before they had gathered under the name of the Qingcheng Sect and created the Qingcheng Sect.
Since it was in such a remote place, there were no people passing by, and thanks to that, it was a place where they didn't have to worry about others' eyes.
In the silence where no sound other than the chirping of birds and the sound of night insects could be heard, the party just stood silently and waited for the contact person.
But even after waiting for a long time, no one appeared.
It wasn't just Jang Baekseo's party that was frustrated.
'That old man must be even more anxious…'
Jang Baekseo glanced at a point in the forest.
The place where Myeonggwang, who had received the signal, had gone was, of course, Grandmaster Gwangha's quarters.
Grandmaster Gwangha, who had secretly followed the Mysterious Profound Sect in that way, was hiding in a tree with an excellent concealment technique befitting his transcendent realm, waiting for the moment when the secret power would make contact.
But…
'…Why is he so restless?'
Grandmaster Gwangha's concealment was so great that it was admirable. Of course, it was not enough to deceive the eyes of Jang Baekseo, who had reached the transcendent realm.
In Jang Baekseo's eyes, Grandmaster Gwangha seemed to be very restless right now.
'What on earth is he doing that for?'
Although Jang Baekseo had such a question, it was not a situation where he could run up and ask, 'Why are you so restless? I'm getting anxious just by looking at you!'
Thus, the night deepened, and even though the time they had suggested had long passed, the contact people did not appear.
Even after waiting for a long time, the contact person did not appear, and in the end, Jang Baekseo's party had no choice but to return to their quarters with a dejected heart as dawn was breaking, without any results.
Jang Baekseo's party, who had returned to their quarters and fallen asleep, could not even imagine what would happen after this.
***
The party of the Mysterious Profound Sect, who had fallen asleep after a late return, had to get up from their seats not even a few hours later.
The entire Qingcheng Sect was in an uproar.
The party hurriedly ran towards the center of the commotion and had to face a shocking sight.
"Gwang Oh!! You brat!! Why are you… why are you in this state!!"
The center of the commotion was a pavilion of Qingcheng.
And in the center of the countless crowd, the cause of this commotion, the current best swordsman of Qingcheng, and the one who had proposed the bait operation to the Mysterious Profound Sect, Grandmaster Gwangha, was sitting on the floor, holding someone in his arms and wailing.
The person in Grandmaster Gwangha's arms was a person that not only Jang Baekseo, but also Cheongmu and Cheong Yeonah knew well.
"The Fierce Sword, Gwang Oh…"
The master of Jeongpung, whom Jang Baekseo had dueled with yesterday, a person of the Gwang generation, a key member of the current Qingcheng, and at the same time, a master of Qingcheng called the Fierce Sword in the Central Plains, was a cold corpse in Grandmaster Gwangha's arms.
His face was stained purple, and his expression was extremely pained, so it seemed that he had died from poison.
A master of Qingcheng had died inside Qingcheng!
At this shocking fact, the people in the hall were in confusion.
Not only the participating sects of the branch meeting, but also the same Gwang generation of Qingcheng, and the Myeong and Hyeon generations below them, and the Jeong generation, were all at a loss for words at this astonishing incident.
In particular, Grandmaster Gwangha seemed to have been close to Grandmaster Gwang Oh, so his reaction was more intense.
And here.
There was another person who was showing a fierce reaction…
"Who is it!!!"
The man, who was shedding tears, drew the sword at his waist and shouted.
It was Jeongpung, a blood relative of the Qingcheon Sect, a third-generation disciple of Qingcheng, and at the same time, a disciple of Grandmaster Gwang Oh.
Without giving the other disciples of Grandmaster Gwang Oh a chance to stop him, Jeongpung drew his sword and shouted at the crowd.
"Which son of a b*tch dared to assassinate my master!!"
Although the injuries on his shoulder and wrist from yesterday's duel had not yet fully recovered, Jeongpung did not care about that fact and swung his sword roughly, threatening the crowd.
And that crowd meant the sects participating in the Qingcheng branch meeting.
At Jeongpung's extreme action, the other disciples of Grandmaster Gwang Oh tried to stop him, but Jeongpung resisted fiercely and shouted.
"Let go of me, Senior Brothers!! If it wasn't them, who else could have assassinated Master!? Are you trying to say that a disciple of the same Qingcheng assassinated Master!? Or are you trying to say that an assassin came in from the outside, breaking through the perfect security of Qingcheng, assassinated Master, and then left without leaving a single trace of external intrusion!? That's impossible!! Then who else among the people on Mount Qingcheng now could have assassinated Master besides them!!"
For someone shouting in anger, it was a rather plausible remark.
Not only Jeongpung's senior and junior brothers, but also the key members of Qingcheng seemed to think so, and they soon began to question the people of the sects participating in the Qingcheng branch meeting about where they were and what they were doing last night.
Although the sects of the Qingcheng branch were displeased with their actions, they suppressed their anger inwardly, knowing that if they showed such thoughts in a situation like this, they could be instantly framed as the assassin who had killed Grandmaster Gwang Oh.
Thus, one sect after another testified about their whereabouts last night, and the turn came to the Mysterious Profound Sect.
At the question of a Myeong generation disciple of Qingcheng asking about their whereabouts last night, Ju Yeongchan's head turned white.
What did they do last night?
They had spent the night in a secluded grotto of Qingcheng at the request of the secret power for a contact…
They couldn't say that.
It was obvious that if they said that, they would become the most likely suspect in the assassination of Grandmaster Gwang Oh.
In this situation where they could neither do this nor that, Ju Yeongchan had no choice but to lie.
"Last night… we were resting soundly in the quarters we were assigned."
As Ju Yeongchan was explaining his whereabouts, pretending to be as calm as possible, from somewhere…
"That's a lie!!"
"!?"
A shout was heard.
"That's a lie! I saw it with my own two eyes! I clearly saw the people of the Mysterious Profound Sect leaving somewhere in a group last night!"
Ju Yeongchan's face, whose lie had been instantly seen through, turned ashen.
'I've been had!'
Jang Baekseo instinctively felt that they had been caught in a scheme.
'From where to where was the scheme!?'
From the note that the cat had brought last night? Or from accepting Grandmaster Gwangha's request and participating in the Qingcheng branch meeting? Or even before that…
'From the moment we met Grandmaster Gwangha's party on the way to the Geumjo Merchant Guild?'
While thinking that, Jang Baekseo looked towards Grandmaster Gwangha.
Then, as if he had noticed the commotion happening on the side of the Mysterious Profound Sect party, Grandmaster Gwangha entrusted the corpse of Grandmaster Gwang Oh, who had passed away, to his other senior and junior brothers and hurriedly ran this way.
"No, they are…!"
Seeing Grandmaster Gwangha, who was about to say something without a moment's hesitation as if things were going wrong, Jang Baekseo decided to think that at least Grandmaster Gwangha was not their enemy.
That's why…
"I'm sorry, this is all my fault!"
At the hostile atmosphere, Jang Baekseo shouted urgently.
At that sudden remark, the eyes of those around him all turned to Jang Baekseo.
"Child, what do you mean by that?"
At Jang Baekseo's incomprehensible words, the current Sect Leader of Qingcheng, Grandmaster Gwangseo, stepped up and asked Jang Baekseo.
"Actually, the people of our Mysterious Profound Sect were not in our quarters last night."
(End of Chapter)