The talk wasn’t long, and it didn’t go particularly deep.

It was just the Sect Master saying it was a shame about the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, and thanking us for bringing his disciple back. That was all.

Even the small talk that drifted back and forth beyond that wasn’t exactly colorful.

It was ordinary.

Polite, and simple.

In other words, empty calories.

Watching it, I felt it again—sure as hell.

He’s drawing a hard line.

Seongheon was drawing a line with us.

No— not with us.

With me.

Whatever you brought, I’m not doing it.

Whether it was about the Medical Immortal or anything else, he was making it crystal clear: he wasn’t getting involved.

The fact that he kept blocking me before I could even open my mouth was proof enough.

“Please rest well before you depart. I would like to treat you better, but... there is a matter within Mount Hua at present, and I must apologize again that I cannot.”

He even tucked in an excuse. Something unspeakable was happening within Mount Hua itself, so he couldn’t offer help.

What could I say to that?

“Thank you for your consideration.”

That was the best I could do.

With that, the talk ended.

*****

When we came back outside, it was roughly around noon.

The sun hung high overhead, and there wasn’t any next step that had been officially decided.

“So what do we do now?”

Cheon Hyein asked me.

“...Hell if I know?”

“You didn’t think of anything?”

“What is there to think about? The main point’s already over.”

Bringing Yuyeon to Mount Hua.

That was the pretext. The thing everyone else in the group knew.

The matter of the Medical Immortal—only I, the Small Moon Unit Leader, and the Sword Emperor knew about it, so the others probably assumed this really was just an escort run.

“It’s not over.”

“....”

Cheon Hyein said it flatly.

“Just looking at who came along, I can tell it’s not normal. The Small Moon Unit Leader wouldn’t come along for a simple escort.”

I couldn’t answer. She wasn’t wrong— I’d been trying to cover the sky with my palm.

“You didn’t say anything, so I didn’t ask that side. But why? Want me to dig into it more?”

“It’ll get annoying, so please don’t.”

“If you want, I won’t. That means there’s a way, right?”

“...What do you even mean, there’s a way or there isn’t? You don’t even know what this is.”

“I don’t. You won’t tell me. But I figured you would have one.”

“....”

What was with that disgusting faith?

She looked like the type who’d freeze the world solid, but what came out of her mouth was absolute belief.

It was ridiculous.

Clicking my tongue, I answered her.

The funny part was—

“Yeah. It’s not like there’s no way.”

That stupid belief was, annoyingly, correct.

But.

“...It’s just going to be a pain in the ass.”

It wasn’t a method I liked.

*****

After the talk ended, the first thing I did was read the mood inside Mount Hua.

“Ah, Moon Knight.”

“Hello.”

To do that, the fastest route was looking at Mount Hua’s people.

And the person I chose was Yeo Hyeok.

Plum Blossom Upright Sword, Yeo Hyeok. We had history— and among them, he was the closest thing to “familiar,” so I went to find him.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt. You were training.”

“No. I was just about to finish.”

Yeo Hyeok smiled lightly, sweat-soaked.

He looked like a man. Same category as Do Hyeong, maybe.

“But what brings you here...? If you need guidance, I left it to the third-generation disciple.”

“Ah, I had something I wanted to ask. It was the kind of thing that’s awkward to ask Taeyong.”

“I see. Please speak. I will listen.”

Yeo Hyeok asked with a smile, and I went straight for the throat.

“Can you tell me what’s happening in Mount Hua right now?”

He flinched.

At the question, Yeo Hyeok’s expression hardened.

“And why do you ask such a thing?”

Wariness. I heard it and started stacking information in my head piece by piece.

Going straight into the main point was reckless, but nothing was more useful right now than this.

“Because of what the Sect Master said, and what I saw from you. It made me wonder.”

“Wonder...?”

I didn’t wait. I answered immediately.

This strike mattered.

“I was wondering if it might be connected to HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE.”

“...!”

Yeo Hyeok’s eyes shook.

That was it.

Kid. Goddamn it.

I got it right, and that made it worse.

I would’ve preferred it to be wrong.

Because if it was true—

...all the pieces fit.

Everything I’d been thinking snapped into place.

And nothing was worse than that.

I always assume the worst.

And the closer you are to the worst, the more it means the world is fucking you.

“...That’s...”

“If it’s difficult to speak about, you don’t have to.”

I cut him off.

Why ask and then not listen?

Because this was also a way to pull the words out.

Instead of yanking and yanking, stopping once and giving trust worked a hell of a lot better.

Even if you don’t say it, I don’t care. I’m not involved.

That was the thought I wanted to plant.

And at the same time—

“Truthfully, I was appointed in secret— in Henan— to investigate HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE. Please understand my question in that light.”

“...Pardon? An investigation into HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE?”

“Yes.”

I wasn’t appointed to anything. I was told to use my eyes and bring the Medical Immortal back safely. That was it.

So what?

If I can use it, I use it.

You don’t get the best outcome by playing everything safe.

So you use every tool you can.

Especially against a man like Yeo Hyeok.

“Is that something you should be telling me?”

“It’s fine. The Yeo Hyeok I’ve seen is someone I can trust.”

“...How can you be so sure?”

“We haven’t spent long together, but in that time, I felt it clearly.”

I turned my head and pulled up memories, fast.

“The way you take the lead more than anyone in the schedule, preparing for danger. The way you treat your fellow disciples— not oppressive, always trying to stand on equal ground. And when I saw how you treated the child in Huayin County, I became certain.”

I didn’t stop. I poured it out in a rush.

“Ah. This is a true righteous swordsman.”

“....”

Yeo Hyeok twitched.

“One of the people who’ll lead the righteous path, and Mount Hua.”

“Khh—hm.”

He coughed.

Embarrassment showed, but it wasn’t irritation.

This was when you pressed.

“A swordsman who’ll become a new hero is standing right in front of me. How could I not trust you?”

[......Seriously, your tongue is insane. How can you be that slippery and sweet?]

Yoo Cheongil delivered a disgusted kind of admiration.

Thanks for the compliment.

“...N-no.... You’re... you’re flattering me too much...”

Yeo Hyeok scratched the back of his head, bashful. Watching that, I added—

“Anyway... that’s why I trusted you enough to say it.”

And then I pulled back once more.

“As I said, I don’t intend to put you in a difficult position. If you can’t speak, that’s fine.”

I handed him the choice.

That way, he could settle his mind a little.

But.

If I handed it over completely, refusing would be too easy.

So I had to toss a little bait.

“...That is, indeed...”

Yeo Hyeok was about to refuse, as if he couldn’t help it—

“But since I trust you, there’s one thing I need to tell you about this.”

“Yes? What is it—”

I stepped closer and lowered my voice.

No— not just lowered it.

This had to be voice transmission.

—According to what I’ve uncovered....

Yeo Hyeok’s eyes widened slightly at the voice transmission.

—There seems to be a spy inside Mount Hua Sect.

“...!”

Yeo Hyeok’s eyes went wide.

This was a different reaction than before. His expression snapped stiff in an instant.

“...Moon Knight.”

What floated there was unmistakable displeasure.

“I will pretend I did not hear what you just said.”

He backed away.

And with the physical distance, the emotional distance grew, too.

“...That remark, as I hear it, is deeply rude.”

“....”

I understood why he’d be offended. Saying there was a spy inside his sect— of course that would piss him off.

But—

As expected.

His reaction made me more certain, not less.

“You already suspected it.”

“....”

“Maybe it’s suspicion. Maybe it’s delusion. But you’ve thought about it, haven’t you?”

Yeo Hyeok had definitely let the thought pass through his mind.

That was why the reaction was so intense.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“If I offended you, I apologize. But rather than taking my words as simple rudeness, I ask that you consider them differently. Because if you don’t—”

He’d stepped back.

So I stepped back too, two paces, and said it from there.

“Please understand that what happened to the Main Alliance Headquarters in Henan could happen here as well.”

“....”

HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE and DEMON CULT’s assault.

When I put it like that, something else entered Yeo Hyeok’s face.

“Thank you for hearing me out.”

I bowed my head and left.

Staying longer would do nothing.

Even as the distance opened, he didn’t follow.

[Ahae.]

Only then did Yoo Cheongil ask me.

“Yes.”

[Why didn’t you squeeze more out of him? If you pressed harder there, it felt like he would’ve cracked.]

“Probably.”

Judging by Yeo Hyeok’s reaction, if I pushed a little more, he might’ve talked.

But.

“That wouldn’t be enough.”

[What are you talking about?]

“Choice has weight when a person makes it themselves. If he comes to me because I poked him into it, that isn’t his will.”

I only needed to shake him.

I already knew which way the wind was blowing— all I had to do was make it stronger.

“If I grab the root and rip it out, he’ll see it as being forced, and he’ll develop resistance.”

But.

“A root pulled out by the wind doesn’t blame the wind.”

It only thinks its own root was weak.

Or it wonders if it wanted to be pulled out in the first place.

That was what I wanted.

Yoo Cheongil made a face like he’d tasted something rotten.

[...Terrifying bastard.]

“Your face is more terrifying, old man.”

Who the hell was calling who terrifying?

A scary-looking old bastard, of all people.

CRACK.

I rolled my neck.

Yeo Hyeok is fine at this level.

I didn’t know if he’d pop out cleanly yet, but I’d given him plenty of wobble.

Now what was left was—

...the Sect Master, and the Plum Blossom Commander.

And a few others.

Seriously...

Just imagining it drained me. Coming to the Central Plains always made me think the same thing—

I’d rather run my body into the ground.

“Thinking is just... not my thing...”

The moment I spat it out in irritation, the top of my head prickled.

I looked up.

Yoo Cheongil was staring down at me with a face like he’d eaten shit.

“What is that look?”

[Ah, right. I heard a dog barking while wearing human skin, so my eyes moved on their own.]

“...What ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) are you even saying?”

I ignored the incomprehensible bullshit and kept walking.

From here, I had to move fast.

*****

After I started moving past noon, night had already fallen.

Even though I’d only looped around Mount Hua a few times, time had slipped away that quickly.

When lamps began to light up around the quarters, as if to announce how late it had gotten—

SPLASH.

I stood in front of the pond in the quarters assigned to me, staring down at it.

My reflection in the water looked exhausted.

“...Ugh.”

Everything I’d done all day finally hit me like a wave.

I sat down as-is, my tired body sagging—

And then.

[Kid.]

The one I’d been waiting for— no, the ghost— appeared.

“...You must’ve fallen asleep.”

[Yes.]

It was Seongheon, Mount Hua’s Sect Master.

[Have you thought about what I asked you to do?]

He spoke with a greeting smile.

I heard it, and answered without expression.

“Yes. I checked, more or less. I think it’s correct.”

The first thing I confirmed by walking all over Mount Hua all day.

“Among Mount Hua’s people, thirteen are spies.”

I got the number.

Not all of them, but I could identify most of the ones currently staying inside Mount Hua.

And then—

“I’ll take the deal.”

Based on that, I was willing to listen to Seongheon.

“I will.”

I looked straight at him, half-transparent under the moonlight.

“I’ll kill the Sect Master for you.”

Quietly.

Brutally.