Under the wall where the red sunset had fallen, a branch of peach blossoms stretched beyond the wall and swayed in the wind.Rustle.Zhuge Inhwi stopped walking. The reason was that a faint acrid smell was mixed with the scent of peach blossoms.He quietly raised his hand. The soft energy wrapping around his forefinger rode the air current and charged straight ahead. Then the smoke that had been approaching receded like an ebbing tide.Zhuge Inhwi waited until the lingering scent disappeared. Soon, the surroundings were filled only with the pure fragrance of peach blossoms.Only then did Zhuge Inhwi take another step toward the entrance. He took down the wind chime hanging from the eaves and slipped his finger into the frame. Warm ashes brushed against his fingertip.When he hung the wind chime back again, Zhuge Inhwi’s face darkened.'It seems he doesn’t mean only to speak about reopening headquarters.'When he entered the quarters, the Alliance Leader was sitting in the pavilion. The Alliance Leader was sitting on the railing, reading a book. Keeping his gaze on the book, he opened his mouth as if he knew Zhuge Inhwi had come.“Everyone’s so restless. I’ll have to open the gates soon. If I keep listening to those old nags any longer, I’ll end up throwing away this Alliance Leader’s seat and going back to Kunlun myself.”As if disgusted, the Alliance Leader shook his head. He spoke sincerely in his usual manner. He seemed the same as before he had gone to Geumeunsan.Zhuge Inhwi replied, in the same detached tone as always.“Yes. I will prepare so that headquarters can be reopened again.”“Good. Not right away—just have everything ready. Make it as noisy as possible. If there’s a hint that the gates are opening, things will probably stay quiet for a while.”“Yes. I will do so.”Zhuge Inhwi agreed like a man absent of spirit.The Alliance Leader did not find Zhuge Inhwi’s attitude strange.Rather, he himself behaved °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° oddly and gave a strange order.“And review all of Tang Sohwa’s information kept in Hahyeon Hall.”“...Yes, I will do so.”“Things about the Tang Clan Head or her birth mother’s misdeeds are fine too. Also go over her exchanges with the Namgung Clan and the Anguk Merchant Group carefully. We need any grounds that could justify imprisoning her in Sagye Hall.”“Yes.”“How long do you think it will take?”“Three days should be enough.”At Zhuge Inhwi’s quick answer, the Alliance Leader exhaled a long breath.“Three days should be fine, then. Ah, don’t you have anything to report to me? If the alliance members were lining up to cause such a fuss before me, they must have been pestering you as well.”Without thinking much, Zhuge Inhwi answered immediately.“The Wudang Sect asked if there would be an award ceremony.”“Wudang? Ah, right, the disciple of Wudang won. They must be asking when they’ll receive the Han Cheol.”“Yes, that’s right.”The Alliance Leader clicked his tongue.“An award ceremony in this situation? A banquet, really? They’ve no sense. None at all.”It wasn’t a rebuke, since laughter followed his words.“I envy that carefreeness beyond words.”The Alliance Leader set the book down and lifted his gaze.“So, what do you think should be done? You’re a wise one—give me a wise answer.”In a calm voice, Zhuge Inhwi spoke his thoughts.“Since it’s something that must be given anyway, I think delivering it quickly wouldn’t be bad. People are whispering that the award ceremony is being delayed out of fear a Blood Cult infiltrator might steal the Han Cheol, but if the Han Cheol is awarded to Wudang, it will give the impression that all internal inspections have been completed.”The Alliance Leader said nothing for a while. After some time, he gave a dry laugh.“You prefer certainty, so I expected you’d say not to send the Han Cheol outside headquarters. Seeing your answer... that really must be the wise one your own head thought up.”The Alliance Leader nodded to himself.“Alright. Let’s conclude the Duel Tournament with that. This year, we won’t hold a ceremony, but deliver the Han Cheol to Wudang’s disciple. Prepare to reopen headquarters four days from now.”Like a man brushing away an uninteresting matter, the Alliance Leader settled the Duel Tournament issue in one stroke.Zhuge Inhwi did not object. He only said the usual formal words, because the Alliance Leader expected them.“Yes. I will do so.”***Zhuge Inhwi went down to the underground level of Hahyeon Hall.Sagye Hall was a single-storied building of simple structure, but its underground stretched endlessly deep. The vast basement encompassing all of Sagye Hall was its archive—the Bigo. A warehouse storing the items collected by Hahyeon Hall and confiscated by Chuhyeon Hall.Zhuge Inhwi descended alone to check the items transferred from the Hubei Branch.Standing before the solid stone wall, he lifted his gaze to the ceiling. In his clear gray-blue eyes, the faint red glow of night-vision gathered. That gaze slowly came down.Zhuge Inhwi approached the door and raised his hand.The pure energy drawn from his dantian circulated through his body, turned its flow, passed the Taiyang and Jingming acupoints near his eyes, and rose again to the Baihui point at the crown. Centered on those three acupoints, his inner energy circulated, drawing the energy touching his fingertips up to his head.Then the energy climbing the nape of his neck painted a picture inside his mind.It was a secret art whose nature or origin could not be known.He had realized this art and lost his sight.Yet he had never regretted it.If by giving up sight one could sense the essence of all things more vividly, who wouldn’t?A thin layer of wood was fixed over the door, showing nothing to the naked eye, but to the Administrator of Sagye Hall, the formation hidden behind it was perceptible.Zhuge Inhwi’s brow furrowed.The surface was intact, yet the inside of the wood had been intricately carved.Coincidentally, only the portion covering the spell pattern he had designed was damaged.He focused and read the entire formation carved across the door more than twice his height.If there were destructive sword techniques that could slice rock or topple a whole building, there were also arts that left the surface untouched yet shattered the organs within.That was one reason why, when someone was found dead in the martial world, they always investigated whether that person had any enemies.Because even if it looked like sudden death, when the body was cut open, the heart might be in pieces or the organs corroded by poison.However, as it was a martial art that used inner energy, the time spent cultivating internal power was as important as talent.Among those capable of secretly circulating their energy to dismantle this formation, there was only one person in all of headquarters.'Someone who knows me—and who desires what is inside here.'Zhuge Inhwi’s gaze lifted.The breach had been undone about seventy percent before it was stopped midway.Whatever had happened, he had not fully broken through the formation.'With only thirty percent left, next time he’ll open it completely...'Zhuge Inhwi no longer felt disappointment toward the Alliance Leader.With a face as expressionless as carved stone, he grasped the handle. The warmth flowing from his palm spread into the wooden grip. Energy gathered on the stone wall behind the wood and began to flow along the thin engravings like water.When the energy completing the complex formation made a full circuit and returned to his hand—Click.As his inner energy was withdrawn, the door opened.Inside the spacious storage room, boxes were piled high. Discovering the boxes containing five kinds of minerals separately divided, Zhuge Inhwi gauged their amount.Fortunately, there were no traces of anyone having touched them. The quantity was the same as when he had first entered.The Alliance Leader believed he was looking for Tang Sohwa’s secrets within Hahyeon Hall, but he was doing something else.Recently, anonymous strange records had been frequently delivered to Hahyeon Hall. The origin of the information was unknown, and the content described eerie sorcery.At first, it seemed so absurd that he had dismissed it lightly, but today Zhuge Inhwi examined those records again.Among them was information about a powder that clouded the mind.When burned and inhaled as smoke, it said, the user would obey the first voice they heard and become brainwashed.The intoxication of the smoke usually faded within an interval of one quarter-hour, but depending on the person’s constitution, it varied greatly and could last more than three days. Several other notes about it were recorded as well.The first time one inhaled the smoke, they regained their memory within at most one month. The second time, within two months. The third time, within three months. But if one was repeatedly exposed, the organ governing memory would suffer permanent damage, and memory could never be recovered again.Zhuge Inhwi had come down to confirm this, wondering if, seeing this Oseoksan again, he might think it too precious to destroy.Yet instead of greed, fear came first.This was something that should never exist in the world.The Administrator of Sagye Hall had always believed himself knowledgeable. The nature of Sagye Hall itself made him think so.But Zhuge Inhwi realized he had been arrogant. The unknown realm he did not know was vast, and the enemies held an amount of information that could not be measured.Zhuge Inhwi could not believe that if this dangerous item were owned by a righteous person, it would be used in a good way.Even the one he had trusted most had stood on the side of the Blood Demon.At last, sweeping away even the smallest doubt, the Administrator of Sagye Hall made his decision and closed the archive door.

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