Chapter The Demonic Cult Instructor Returns Chapter 318
Chapter 318
Jeok Mu-rin gazed at the massive gate standing firm atop the hill.
‘Is that the place…?’
Centered around the enormous gate that resembled a castle, walls connecting east and west stretched endlessly.
‘Indeed, the Jeongdo Alliance is as vast as I’ve heard.’
The sheer scale alone was overwhelming enough to be awestruck.
Jeok Mu-rin lifted his head and looked up at the sky.
It had been roughly two weeks since he left Heavenly Palace.
Since it had been a long time since he left the palace, he hadn’t been in much of a hurry.
Instead, he slowly traveled while enjoying the scenery of early winter with its fallen snow.
In his heart, he wanted to meet Hong Myo as quickly as possible, but trying to maintain leisure the more anxious he became was like an old habit of his.
And finally, he had reached the main headquarters of the Jeongdo Alliance.
As he approached the main gate, two sharp-featured martial artists saw Jeok Mu-rin and stretched out their hands.
“Stop. Where do you come from, sir?”
Befitting representatives of a prestigious righteous sect, they were strict yet maintained proper courtesy.
Jeok Mu-rin clasped his hands in greeting and answered the two men.
“I am called Jeok Mu-rin, from Heavenly Palace.”
“Heavenly Palace?”
The two men looked at each other and slightly furrowed their brows.
Then one of them opened his mouth with an “Ah” of realization.
“Heavenly Palace—could that be the main headquarters of the Blood Death Alliance?”
“That’s correct.”
When Jeok Mu-rin answered nonchalantly, their expressions immediately became noticeably distorted.
Of course, it wasn’t a good change.
Anyone could see that contempt and mockery were written in their expressions.
One of the gatekeepers twisted his lips and asked.
“What business does the Blood Death Alliance have here?”
“I’m on an errand for our Alliance Leader. I’ve come to see Hong Myo-nim who is staying here.”
When Jeok Mu-rin casually moved his hand toward his chest, the two gatekeepers immediately brandished their weapons and shouted.
“Stop right there!”
“Don’t move!”
Jeok Mu-rin hesitated and looked at the two men.
“I was trying to show you our Alliance Leader’s seal.”
“Shut up and don’t budge.”
At this point, Jeok Mu-rin felt anger slowly rising.
He had originally disliked the Jeongdo Alliance’s martial artists so much that he had caused incidents and received disciplinary action.
But now they were provoking him first, so he couldn’t help but feel inwardly indignant.
“If I don’t move, how am I supposed to prove anything?”
When Jeok Mu-rin glared coldly, one gatekeeper snorted and walked over, sticking his hand into Jeok Mu-rin’s chest.
“Aren’t you people the type who would stab someone in the back the moment you look away?”
“……”
While Jeok Mu-rin suppressed his rising anger, the gatekeeper pulled out letters from his chest.
“Hmm…? There are two of them?”
“One isn’t for you to see.”
“Then who is it being delivered to?”
“Our Alliance Leader is sending it to Hong Myo-nim.”
“I’ll need to take a look.”
“I told you it’s not for you to see.”
Jeok Mu-rin gritted his teeth and spoke as if spitting out the words.
But the gatekeeper paid no heed.
Rather, he frowned and shouted loudly.
“You people cause trouble at every opportunity, so we need to thoroughly inspect from the beginning, don’t we?”
“You people…? I clearly informed you that I came representing our Alliance Leader, and even showed you the seal, didn’t I?”
“So what? This one seems to not know his place. You haven’t forgotten the fact that you lost to our main alliance, have you? You should be groveling, and that still wouldn’t be enough.”
“Hey. Hand it over while I’m asking nicely.”
Jeok Mu-rin’s eyes turned coldly.
When his energy changed, the gatekeepers flinched and glanced at each other.
But remembering that this was the main headquarters of the Jeongdo Alliance, they lifted their chins and shouted.
“You old fool! How dare you glare at us now?”
“I showed courtesy to mere gatekeepers, but you’re getting too carried away.”
Pat!
In an instant, Jeok Mu-rin kicked off the ground and flew like the wind, snatching the letter from the gatekeeper’s hand.
“Ah!”
As the gatekeeper stepped back in surprise, the one beside him gripped his spear properly and shouted.
“You bastard! So you’re going to resort to force after all?”
“What force? You people started the trouble first.”
“We were only trying to conduct an inspection!”
“I showed you our Alliance Leader’s seal, so the rest should be confirmed by the person in charge, shouldn’t it? It’s not something for mere gatekeepers to see.”
“You old fool, how dare you look down on us! Insolent!”
Swish!
The gatekeeper swung his spear and charged forward.
They instinctively knew.
That their martial arts were no match for Jeok Mu-rin’s.
But this was the main headquarters of the Jeongdo Alliance.
Unless they were crazy, they never thought that someone dispatched from the Blood Death Alliance would use force against them.
Besides, if he were someone of significant status, he would have been accompanied by other martial artists.
But hadn’t Jeok Mu-rin come all alone?
In their view, he seemed like just some insignificant errand boy.
Of course, their thinking wasn’t entirely wrong.
In reality, Jeok Mu-rin had currently been stripped of his Grand Master position in the Blood Death Alliance and was merely doing instructor work at New Life Group.
However, they didn’t know that he had quite a temper.
Thwack! Thwack thwack!
Jeok Mu-rin didn’t even draw his sword.
Instead, with quick hand movements, he struck the necks and chests of the two gatekeepers in succession.
“Gaaack!“
“Kuaak!“
One had his throat swollen and seemed unable to breathe, his face turning bright red as he dry-heaved, while the other coughed up blood and clutched his chest.
Only then did fear appear in their eyes.
“Why don’t you listen when I speak nicely?”
Jeok Mu-rin looked at the two fallen gatekeepers with eyes cold as ice.
Just then, having heard the commotion outside, martial artists came running out in a group.
“What’s going on? You old fool! Who are you to dare cause trouble in front of the main headquarters of the Jeongdo Alliance?”
A gruff-looking man roared and drew his blade, pointing it at Jeok Mu-rin.
Then the gate guards who followed him all stepped forward, completely surrounding Jeok Mu-rin.
Jeok Mu-rin looked at the gruff man and asked curtly.
“Are you the gate captain?”
“That’s right! Who are you?”
“I came from the Blood Death Alliance. Here is our Alliance Leader’s seal.”
Jeok Mu-rin took out the letter and threw it to the gate captain.
The gate captain caught the letter, quickly scanned through it, then spoke again.
“It seems legitimate. But why is the Blood Death Alliance causing trouble at our main headquarters…?”
“I didn’t cause trouble first. These men arbitrarily took my letter.”
When the gate captain looked at the gatekeepers, one of them quickly answered.
“He looked suspicious, so we were just trying to verify. But it seemed like some sinister secret correspondence or something, since he didn’t want to show it…”
The gate captain’s gaze turned back to Jeok Mu-rin.
An expression giving him a chance to explain.
Jeok Mu-rin smirked and said.
“Does the Jeongdo Alliance have no procedures or protocols? Put yourself in the opposite position—if our Alliance’s gatekeepers arbitrarily examined a letter written by the Jeongdo Alliance Leader, what would you do?”
As the answer became difficult, the gate captain cleared his throat and said.
“However, according to our Alliance’s rules, inspecting the contents of letters is unavoidable.”
“So if you inspect through proper procedures, who would complain? I only stepped forward because mere gatekeepers were trying to peruse our Alliance Leader’s letter.”
Since every word was reasonable, the gate captain had no grounds to argue further.
Finally, he sheathed his sword and clasped his hands in greeting.
“It seems there was a minor misunderstanding. Please follow me for now.”
Even so, the other gate guards did not lower their guard.
Jeok Mu-rin sneered and began walking.
***
“I’m so sorry about this.”
Document Pavilion Master Won Gil said with a regretful expression.
Hong Myo Seo Rae-hyang smiled bitterly and waved her hand.
“It’s not something for the Pavilion Master to feel sorry about.”
“Still… just in case, I’ll give instructions to thoroughly search for any missing letters.”
“There’s no need. I’m fine.”
Rae-hyang answered briefly and hurriedly left the Document Pavilion.
Even so, she couldn’t help but harbor hope in one corner of her heart that perhaps something had been overlooked.
The Document Pavilion was an institution located in the outer courtyard of the Jeongdo Alliance, used when people residing within the Jeongdo Alliance exchanged correspondence with people outside.
Due to security concerns, individuals at the main headquarters of the Jeongdo Alliance could not freely send messenger birds.
Therefore, all martial artists within the Alliance were only allowed to send and receive personal letters through the Document Pavilion.
Of course, some high-ranking officials sometimes used messenger birds directly from the inner courtyard, but Rae-hyang, who was essentially being held as a hostage, had to use the Document Pavilion like the general martial artists.
Rae-hyang, who had recently sent a letter to the Blood Death Alliance Leader through the Document Pavilion, had come here again hoping that perhaps a reply had arrived.
Since the Document Pavilion didn’t deliver each letter individually, one had to personally visit frequently to check.
But recently, as Rae-hyang visited frequently, the Document Pavilion Master felt unnecessarily sorry.
A self-mocking smile appeared on Rae-hyang’s lips as she turned her steps toward the inner courtyard.
‘Right. He’s not someone who would build personal relationships.’
When she lifted her head, a particularly cold wind blew.
The tip of her nose felt cold.
Just as she was about to quicken her pace, she spotted a familiar man in the distance.
At first, she thought she might be seeing things.
But it was definitely a face she knew.
“Grand Master Jeok!”
A bright smile bloomed on her face.
Soon, a faint smile also appeared on Jeok Mu-rin’s expression.
It was truly a barely perceptible smile, but also an expression that could never normally be seen.
She ran over in one breath and grasped Jeok Mu-rin’s hands firmly.
“Grand Master Jeok! You really came! What brings you here?”
When Rae-hyang spoke with delight, Jeok Mu-rin actually chuckled.
“Have you been well?”
“There you go being formal again. I told you to speak comfortably.”
“It’s been so long… it’s not easy.”
At Jeok Mu-rin’s reply, Rae-hyang chuckled and continued.
“I adapt well anywhere. Rather, I’ve been living so comfortably that I feel like the poison inside me has drained away. Is our Alliance Leader doing well?”
“He’s doing well.”
Jeok Mu-rin replied with a bitter smile.
‘To ask about our Alliance Leader’s well-being the moment she sees me….’
While thinking she must miss him quite a bit, one corner of his heart couldn’t help feeling bitter.
As if reading Jeok Mu-rin’s feelings, Rae-hyang naturally asked.
“Of course, Grand Master Jeok has been well too?”
“Yes. Though I’m no longer a Grand Master.”
“Ah, I heard. You’re assisting Sa Bigang?”
“That’s what happened.”
“Was there any friction when you arrived at the Jeongdo Alliance?”
Knowing Jeok Mu-rin’s usual temperament, Rae-hyang asked with a guess.
Jeok Mu-rin smiled bitterly.
“There was a slight friction, but fortunately it passed well.”
“I see. So what brings you here?”
“I came on our Alliance Leader’s orders. To see Hong Myo-nim and deliver a gift.”
Jeok Mu-rin held out a small box wrapped in fine silk.
Instantly, Rae-hyang’s expression became flushed.
Up to this point, neither of them could even imagine.
The tremendous upheaval that this small gift would bring about.