The situation was resolved faster than I thought.
I thought that so of the Eungnam rchant Guild's martial artists would die or get injured because of so of the Black Society guys who were desperately trying to escape, but they said there was no damage.
Their martial arts skills seed to be quite outstanding, more than I thought.
Especially, the skill of the martial artist Yeo Dong-gyu was outstanding among them.
Of course, he couldn't compare to or my Master, but he was still at a level close to first-class.
Although I wondered why he was doing rchant guild security with such skills, it wasn't a very important matter to , so I decided to move on.
"Hwi-ya, what's the next plan?"
My Master naturally asked .
Since I was leading the situation, it was no different from conveying his intention to follow my words to the end.
I smiled brightly and said, "Of course, there's a next plan."
"Are you going to attack the Black Society?"
I shook my head.
My Master looked at as if he was surprised.
Perhaps my Master thought that I would take advantage of the night and wipe out the rest of the Black Society as well.
"The total number of mbers of the Black Society is about a hundred. Since we killed forty-four here, there are about sixty left."
"It doesn't seem like a number we can't win against. If we let the others go back to the rchant guild and only that person over there goes with us."
The place where my Master's fingertips were pointing was where the martial artist Yeo Dong-gyu was standing.
As expected, my Master also seed to have noticed that that person was a considerable master.
"It's not because I don't think we can win. There's sothing more urgent and important than wiping out the Black Society right now."
"There's sothing more important?"
"The Black Society is now just a ragtag bunch of leftovers, and since not a single one of them escaped from here, no one knows that the Eungnam rchant Guild attack has failed. So at least until tomorrow, the Black Society won't be able to interfere."
"Then what is that important thing?"
"It's to catch the head of the Black Society."
"The head of the Black Society, you an the White-Faced Gentleman, Lee Mun-hak? To catch him, don't we have to go to the Black Society even more?"
"Lee Mun-hak doesn't usually reside in the Black Society. Since he has to pretend to be a chivalrous hero of the Orthodox Faction on the outside, he only shows his face at the Black Society when sothing happens or when there's an important request. It's safe to say that the actual head of the society is the Juksan Ancient Sword who died earlier."
"Lee Mun-hak... I've seen him a few tis before. At that ti, it was at the Martial Arts Alliance, so the head of an Unorthodox Faction was fearlessly going in and out of the Martial Arts Alliance."
"Because he must have been confident that he wouldn't be caught."
It will be another five years before it is revealed that the head of the Black Society is the White-Faced Gentleman.
The Black Society, whose actions were becoming more and more daring, even took on assassination requests, even though they were not an assassination sect.
Among them was an assassination request for the second young master of the Namgung family, the Azure Sky Sword, Namgung Ryu-jin.
The client was a man nad Jeong Dae-in, a great wealthy man from Anhui Province, and when his only daughter fell in love with Namgung Ryu-jin and died of lovesickness, he went crazy and said he would give all his fortune to have him killed.
Since it was too much money to refuse, the White-Faced Gentleman, Lee Mun-hak, personally went on the assassination mission, but since Namgung Ryu-jin's martial arts skills were more outstanding than he thought, he just revealed his identity and was captured by the Namgung family's martial artists after failing.
But how could the White-Faced Gentleman escape the wrath of the Namgung family and live until he died at my hands?
It was because the White-Faced Gentleman, Lee Mun-hak, had cleverly traded information about the client for his own life.
He gave the information that the client was Jeong Dae-in and was released from the Namgung family, and as soon as he returned to the Black Society, he revealed his identity to the world and joined the Unorthodox Faction's alliance, the Sadomaeng.
The Namgung family first attacked the nearby Jeong Dae-in, annihilated his family, and confiscated all his property.
And when they were about to annihilate the Black Society, it was already under the influence of the Sadomaeng.
Especially since the head of the Sadomaeng was fond of the White-Faced Gentleman, who had originally been highly respected in the Orthodox Faction.
If the Namgung family attacked the Black Society and the Sadomaeng sent martial artists to support the Black Society, a war between the Orthodox and Unorthodox Factions could break out, so the Namgung family did not attack the Black Society.
He was able to continue his tenacious life because of the complicated reasons and politics that were intertwined.
But how could I wipe out the Black Society and kill the White-Faced Gentleman?
Because I was not a person who cared about what others thought.
Although I was a martial artist of the Orthodox Faction, in fact, I was a martial artist who had been cast out by the Orthodox Faction.
Because I didn't listen to what the high-ranking people said and moved as I pleased.
And I didn't even care if the Sadomaeng sent support or not, I just walked in and killed all of them in one day.
So it was difficult to hold responsible later, and it was also ambiguous to start a fight with the Orthodox Faction, so it was just passed over.
"That's... a shaless guy. I didn't know he was that kind of person. Then do you know where the White-Faced Gentleman is now?"
"Of course. I also know that, so I suggested we go and catch him."
"Where is he?"
"By now, he's probably sleeping with courtesans on both sides in a place called Sohyang Giru, not far from here. On the outside, he pretends to be a gentleman, but in reality, he's a lecher who can't even sleep without a woman."
"Sohyang Giru?"
My Master looked at with an expression as if he was asking how I knew even that.
That gaze seed to pierce right through , and my heart pounded.
'Did I go too far?'
I was so excited that the situation was progressing so quickly that I had taken the lead too much without realizing it.
I had also revealed too much information that the youngest disciple of the Wudang Sect could not have known.
The information I just said is ambiguous to pass off as a revelation from the Primordial Heaven Supre.
Because no matter how much it's the Primordial Heaven Supre, he wouldn't appear in my dream and say, 'The White-Faced Gentleman is a lecher! He's sleeping at Sohyang Giru!'
As I was thinking about what to say, my Master looked at and asked slyly, "Hwi-ya. Tell the truth. Did you by any chance..."
I waited for my Master's next words, wondering what he would say.
I swallowed my saliva without realizing it.
"Did you go to the swallow's nest?"
"......!"
At my Master's words, I was so surprised that I looked into his eyes.
His eyes were not filled with doubt, but with conviction.
The swallow's nest is a slang term for the Haomun.
The two great pillars of the Central Plains' information organizations that can be compared to the Beggars' Sect.
I instinctively managed my expression and deliberately widened my eyes and opened my mouth.
Perhaps from my Master's point of view, it would be an expression of 'How did you know that?!'.
"I see. No wonder. You're really smart. You haven't even been on a martial world journey a few tis, but you've already thought of using that place."
Although using the Haomun can get you a lot of information, there is one risk.
That is, if we are caught using the Haomun, we could be disliked by the Beggars' Sect.
The Beggars' Sect considers the Haomun to be their only competitor in the Central Plains.
Of course, in terms of martial arts skills, they are not even a competitor.
The Beggars' Sect has all sorts of strong martial arts that have been passed down from the past, and the reason they were able to enter the Nine Factions and One Sect in the first place was not only because of their role as an information organization, but also because they had a military force that was not inferior to the other Nine Factions.
So they would have attached the 'one sect' to the Nine Factions and One Sect and made them belong to the sect that beca the center of the Orthodox Faction martial world.
On the other hand, it is a great stretch to call the Haomun a military organization.
Most of the mbers of the sect are common people such as waiters, courtesans, horsen, gamblers, and petty thieves.
There are also countless cases where they are mbers of the Haomun but do not know any martial arts at all.
But the reason the Beggars' Sect considers them a competitor is 'information power'.
Just as beggars exist everywhere in the Central Plains, common people also exist everywhere in the Central Plains.
Sotis they get better quality information than the Beggars' Sect. Because even high-ranking officials or top masters get drunk at courtesan houses, and a drunk person's mouth becos loose.
So the Beggars' Sect gets very upset if the Nine Factions and One Sect request information from the Haomun instead of them.
But there is one more problem. It is very difficult to get the necessary information from the Beggars' Sect.
Since they occupy one of the Nine Factions and One Sect, although they cooperate with the other Nine Factions, they independently judge why this information is needed and how much it will affect the martial world, and then decide whether to give the information or not.
To put it simply, they abuse their power with information.
But it is rather easy to request information from the Haomun. Because if you give them money, they will bring you information worth that money.
"As expected, I can't fool you, Master. Or did I make it too obvious?"
"Yes. It seed like you were openly teaching . I was sure when I heard the information that he was sleeping at a courtesan house."
"Ah... I see."
"It's not a big problem to use the swallow's nest without being noticed by the beggars. But what I'm curious about is this. Where did you get the money to use the swallow's nest? It must have cost a lot of money... did you by any chance use the money that the Sect Leader gave you for travel expenses as you pleased?"
"N-No!"
I said, waving my hands.
In the first place, I don't even have that money. Because Senior Brother Uncheol is carrying it.
"Then where did the money co from?"
Seeing my Master looking at with sharp eyes, I desperately rolled my eyes.
At that mont, a na flashed in my mind.
"Mok-woo!"
"Mok-woo? Is that a person's na?"
"Yes! He's a blacksmith who runs a blacksmith's shop in the Huainan area. I told you that I saved the people who were kidnapped by the Geoungbang on my way down from the mountain, right?"
"Yes. I heard. You said you let them go back to their respective hos."
"Just before leaving the Geoungbang, a man nad Mok-woo secretly approached and said. That he was actually a mber of the Haomun, and that he would help with anything he could as a return for saving his life."
"Really?"
"So I imdiately said. That I needed to know who the people who had requested our killing were, so please help get the information. Then he handed a small wooden plaque. He said that there is a Yeonju Inn run by the Haomun nearby, and if I give them that and request information, they will give information with all their heart."
"Ah... so that's what happened. I see."
I sohow squeezed my brain and recalled the na of the inn run by the Haomun closest to here and said it.
Fortunately, my Master seems to have been convinced right away. It seems that my Master also knows that the Yeonju Inn is an inn of the Haomun, or he believes my words.
"Since he earnestly requested that it should never be known that he is a mber of the Haomun, I couldn't tell you honestly. I should have told you everything... I feel a little relieved now."
"No. Their identity is no different from their life. But since I made you say it, it is I who have been rude to them. You have made a good connection in the martial world. That is also your fortune."
"I'm ashad."
My Master ssed up my hair.
Although a corner of my conscience was pricked, it seems to have passed well.
"Then let's say we go to catch the White-Faced Gentleman. Then what are you going to do with the rest of the Black Society? They will have to be wiped out in the end."
"I've also thought of that."
"Tell ."
"The biggest reason the Black Society has been able to survive until now is because they haven't crossed the line. They haven't done anything that would make the Martial Arts Alliance or other large sects strike them. Or even if they did, they erased the evidence well."
A corner of my Master's mouth lifted slightly.
He had a face as if he already knew what I was going to say.
"But this ti, there's more than enough evidence. Not only did they try to assassinate the disciples of the Wudang Sect, but they also attacked an innocent rchant guild, killed people, and tried to take their interests. Aren't we the living evidence in the first place? And Jin Tae-jin is also sleeping well in the closet. In other words, we have a just cause."
"While we catch the White-Faced Gentleman, let others strike the Black Society?"
"Yes. Perhaps the Martial Arts Alliance wanted to strike the Black Society long ago, but they couldn't lay a hand on them because they didn't have a just cause. There is a Hubei Province branch of the Martial Arts Alliance on the way to Sohyang Giru. We can stop by on the way."
We left the scene to the martial artist Yeo Dong-gyu and then moved right away.
Every mont was precious.
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