Donggak’s eyes brightened.

“It’s coming.”

FLAP-FLAP-FLAP!

The bird that landed by the window looked at Donggak and chirped sharply.

An old man carefully took the bird in hand and untied the message tube fastened to its ankle.

Donggak, who had been puffing hard on his pipe tobacco, frowned.

“Damned bitch. If she went in as a spy, she should be sending even minor reports promptly.”

She would have to send information again within forty-five days from now. If she failed to keep that rule, he intended to report it to the leadership and have her punished properly.

The old man spoke.

“It is a letter from Number Seven of the Small Health Corps.”

“Mm.”

At present, there were four contacts residing in the Martial Alliance’s outer district.

They worked respectively in the smithy, the stables, the medical office, and the foodstuffs warehouse, and every one of them possessed first-rate skill.

The senior among them was Number Seven, who had hidden inside the Small Health Corps, the foodstuffs warehouse. Since this was the first report, the lead contact seemed to have sent it personally.

Donggak tapped out his pipe and said, “What information is it?”

“Detailed information concerning the Commander of the Evil-Smiting Corps, one of the Martial Alliance’s field-force units.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

Donggak’s face twisted visibly.

“It may be the first report, but she sent nothing on one of the Service Lords, only the personal details of some field-force unit Commander?”

He was not unaware that the Commanders of the Evil-Smiting Corps and the Demon-Sweeping Corps were being called the foremost members of the younger generation in the Central Plains.

But in the end, they were still only younger-generation figures. Their martial strength would not work against true masters.

And because they were as young as that strength implied, they were not people who needed immediate attention.

Yet she had sent information on such a person—and not even both of them, just one? Gi Uhui’s handling of matters was almost absurd.

The old man held the letter out to Donggak.

“I do not think this is information we can simply dismiss.”

“What?”

“For information on a single person, the volume is considerable. The contents are more serious than expected as well. I believe you should read it yourself.”

“Mm?”

Donggak looked at the old man with puzzled eyes.

The old man’s face was serious. Unlike his appearance, which made him look like an ordinary slash-and-burn farmer, the old man possessed an outstanding mind. There was a reason Donggak brought along an old man who had not learned a handful of martial arts.

Donggak took the letter without a word and read it.

A moment later, his eyes widened.

“What is this? The core of the Martial Alliance’s political struggle?”

The old man’s eyes shone.

“Judging only from the contents written in the letter, it is no exaggeration to call him the central figure behind the many political struggles that have occurred inside the Martial Alliance until now.” 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Donggak was dumbfounded.

“Does that make sense? The core of the Martial Alliance’s political struggle? At barely over twenty?”

“......”

“Could this be a smokescreen?”

The old man’s thoughts were similar to Donggak’s.

But when something could not be confirmed, he could not firmly say yes or no.

“Whether it is a smokescreen or not, the Saintess would not have sent a letter like this for no reason. The information is far too unexpected to simply overlook.”

“Hmm.”

“I think the first step should be to investigate this person named Yeon Hojeong in detail.”

Donggak frowned.

“I know a certain amount about him. Wasn’t he said to be a young master who lived as a fool for over ten years, then suddenly began to distinguish himself? He took the lead in bringing down the Ming Clan of the Nine Provinces, and he even rendered outstanding service in annihilating the Corridor Band, which was tied to Perverse Lust.”

Contrary to his somewhat rash words and behavior, Donggak was no less intelligent than anyone else. That was simply his personality. When he grew serious, he displayed an above-average mind.

In other words, he had memorized every major incident and key piece of information in the Central Plains. And in recent years, the one who had caused the loudest incidents in the Central Plains martial world was Yeon Hojeong, the man called the Green Mountain Tiger Commander.

“Still, the core of the political struggle...”

After muttering to himself, Donggak asked the old man, “If this Cult moves without revealing itself, how much intelligence power can we mobilize?”

“It should be far superior to the Central Plains’ middling intelligence organizations. And...”

The old man’s eyes flashed.

“If the Depot Master moves, then although it may not match the Beggars’ Union, we should be able to investigate in considerable detail.”

Donggak shook his head.

“The Depot Guard is out. The imperial palace right now is an even worse den of demons than the martial world. Complete control will take two or three years at the shortest, and as long as ten years at the longest.”

“So it is impossible after all.”

Donggak clicked his tongue.

“Perverse Lust is a shame. If they had handled Yangcheon properly, we could already have had Ink Dragon Manor in our hands. If so, we would have known the martial world’s situation far more thoroughly.”

Recently, he had heard that Yangcheon’s movements had become unusual. Looking at the way things were flowing, it seemed Yangcheon had somehow seen through Perverse Lust’s intentions.

Perverse Lust will have no choice but to move more carefully.

If it came to strength against strength, how could something like Ink Dragon Manor possibly be a match for Perverse Lust?

But Ink Dragon Manor was not the only thing that existed in the martial world. The Martial Alliance was a massive power that could not even be compared to Ink Dragon Manor, and they still had not grasped how many hidden old masters existed among the Nine Sects and One Union and the Six Great Clans.

In other words, the Three Creeds had not fully grasped the Central Plains martial world’s strength.

If they launched a full-scale battle, they could anticipate victory, but the damage to their own side would also be catastrophic. Rather than obtain such an awkward victory, it was better not to fight in the first place.

The old man spoke carefully.

“In that case...”

“Do you have a good idea?”

“What about receiving help from Mad Blood?”

Donggak’s eyes deepened.

“Mad Blood is out as well. No, it is far more dangerous than receiving help from the Depot Guard.”

“I thought as much.”

The Mad Blood Cult.

It was difficult to say which of the Three Creeds held the advantage over the others. If power did not refer only to martial force, then the Three Creeds were certainly equal in strength, and each had its own clear specialty.

Among them, the Mad Blood Cult could be called the most violent and rough of the Three Creeds. In a certain sense, it could also be called the sect that had inherited the blood of the Blood God, who had been defeated three hundred years ago by the martial god of the Central Plains, in the thickest form.

“Mad Blood is a den of beasts. Divine Flame and Perverse Lust became human while carrying the nature of demons, but Mad Blood did not. They are still the demons themselves from three hundred years ago.”

“......”

“Mad Blood is a group that must be considered only after endless deliberation, even in the worst of the worst situations. Of course, that is only my opinion.”

The old man nodded.

“Then, since you said we still have room, I will approach this more slowly. Even if it takes time, I will investigate as carefully as possible.”

“Yes, that would be better.”

The old man folded the letter.

“I will copy it and send it to the next base.”

“Do that.”

The old man took out a fine brush and wrote out the letter in an instant.

Astonishingly, even the handwriting was identical down to the smallest detail. It was an agent’s writing method, one that blocked information about the writer from remaining in the script.

The old man whistled.

SKREEE!

The old man’s whistle was very strange. It was so quiet that one might miss it without listening closely, yet when heard properly, it was oddly sharp.

FLAP-FLAP-FLAP.

A moment later, a pitch-black crow settled by the window.

The crow had a bronze-colored beak and red eyes. At a glance, it was no ordinary crow.

When the old man fastened the letter to the crow’s leg, the crow soared powerfully upward.

FLAP-FLAP-FLAP! SWISH!

Donggak’s eyes flashed.

CLATTER!

The instant the crow flew up, Donggak opened the door and rushed outside, then looked around.

The old man stared at him in puzzlement.

“What is it, team leader?”

“......”

“Team leader?”

“...Mm. It is nothing.”

Donggak frowned.

“It seems it was just the sound of the wind.”

He had heard something alien. Just in case, he had rushed out at once, but he could not sense any human presence.

“I must have been oversensitive.”

His senses were as sharp as a beast’s. He could detect the stealth of most assassins from five zhang away.

There was no way anyone was there.

Donggak shut the door and returned inside the thatched hut.

“I will guard this place, so you go investigate Yeon Hojeong in detail.”

“Understood.”

*****

“This tea tastes wonderful.”

“Hehe, right?”

Je Gal Munho spoke with a cheerful face.

“I have drunk countless teas, but as expected, tea brewed by my daughter is the best.”

“Hmph. Then come by my quarters more often. Even when I want to brew you a cup of tea, it’s hard to see you.”

“Ha ha. What can I do when work is so busy? You haven’t been sleeping properly either because of the Evil-Smiting Corps’ formation training, have you?”

Je Gal Ahyeon smiled.

“Fortunately, that all ended as of yesterday. Now they move organically on their own, even without me setting their positions or timing.”

“Already?”

“Yes.”

Je Gal Munho was startled.

“Didn’t you say before that you would teach them parts of formations built by breaking down our clan’s Heavenly Gate Lock-Shattering, Four-Symbol Wind-Cloud, and Great Net Nine Palaces?”

“That’s right.”

“Each of those formations is a famed formation that is difficult to use in real combat even after three years of training. To deploy them freely requires more than five years of training. No matter how simply you broke them down and taught them, are you saying they can already move on their own even without a formation master?”

Je Gal Ahyeon shrugged.

“Maybe because they learned from a renowned clan, their understanding is good. Besides, they’re skilled at fighting like one body, so in terms of the time it took them to internalize it, they’re several times faster than our clan’s martial scholars.”

“Hoh!”

“And they’re only parts, not complete formations. It would take too long to learn them properly anyway, and since they’re our clan’s secret arts, I couldn’t ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) do that. This much is more than enough.”

“If you say so, then when you demonstrate it later, be sure to call this father of yours. I want to see it.”

“Of course.”

Seeing the confident smile on his daughter’s face, Je Gal Munho’s expectations also grew. He knew better than anyone how much of a perfectionist his daughter was in matters like this.

The father and daughter went on chatting warmly for a long while, for the first time in ages.

“Strategist.”

Je Gal Ahyeon was startled. It was a familiar voice.

Je Gal Munho said calmly, “Come in.”

The door opened, and Yeon Hojeong entered.

Je Gal Ahyeon blinked.

“What brings you here at this hour?”

Yeon Hojeong smiled once at her, then spoke to Je Gal Munho.

“I found them all.”

Je Gal Munho’s eyes shone.

“Was it only Divine Flame?”

“Yes.”

“How many places?”

“Four in total.”

“That’s quite a lot.”

“It means they are paying that much attention.”

“You weren’t discovered, were you?”

“On the way back, I checked three times each in reverse order. They didn’t notice.”

“Impressive, as expected.”

Je Gal Munho took a document from his desk and handed it to Yeon Hojeong.

“These are the people I narrowed down myself. Given the nature of the matter, most of them are inevitably from my clan.”

“As long as they have the ability, it doesn’t matter.”

Yeon Hojeong skimmed the document, and Je Gal Munho clasped his hands together, sinking into thought.

Between them, Je Gal Ahyeon blinked.

“What exactly is this conversation?”

“Mm?”

Yeon Hojeong, who had been scanning the list, looked at Je Gal Munho and said, “Strategist. One person is missing.”

“Who do you mean?”

Yeon Hojeong pointed at Je Gal Ahyeon.

“Her.”

Je Gal Ahyeon frowned.

“I’m asking what situation this is.”

Je Gal Munho smacked his lips.

“Ahyeon is your subordinate anyway, isn’t she? I assumed you would work her properly on your own, so I did not bother putting her on the list.”

“I see. Understood.”

“...Ahem. Please do not work her too harshly.”

“It’s not as though she’ll die. Her ability is outstanding.”

Je Gal Ahyeon finally raised her voice.

“I’m asking what you’re talking about!”

“You and I need to set up some watchtowers.”

“...Huh? Watchtowers? What watchtowers? And why me?”

“Quiet, brat.”

Yeon Hojeong grabbed the area near the back of Je Gal Ahyeon’s collar and lifted her as she was.

At the absurdity of the act, Je Gal Ahyeon could only blink. Her two feet dangling in the air looked strangely pitiful.

Yeon Hojeong smiled and said, “Then, good luck with your work.”

Je Gal Munho cleared his throat and waved.

“Always be careful.”

Je Gal Ahyeon shouted furiously.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”