The questions about the Heavenly Demon, and the worry over the Blue-Eyed Blood Demon who had stolen the Heavenly Killing Star's energy—I decided to set both aside for now.
There was something more important to deal with at the moment.
"It seems you have some inkling of what this letter contains… What do you plan to do?"
"Ah, but you see, Great Master Gakjeong, you haven't been informed of the situation here."
I trailed off there and looked at Great Master Jeonghyeon. What came next was not something I could say with my own mouth.
"The White Moon Sword Lord is currently under a seal, Master."
"A seal? What kind of vile thing…! Is it the Demonic Cult's doing after all? No wonder you've always harbored such animosity toward the Demonic Cult."
"No. I suspect it's a seal placed by the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha and an unknown Great Immortal. He was born already bound by that seal."
"What?"
Great Master Gakjeong, who had unknowingly turned the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha into something sinister, flinched for a moment.
Only after patting his own mouth a few times did he speak.
"Are you certain?"
"At least, that's how it appeared to me. I couldn't precisely determine what kind of seal it was, though…"
"That's fine. I'm merely surprised that you, who despise Vajrayana methods to begin with, would go this far."
"Have I not received many favors from the White Moon Sword Lord? And above all… after witnessing Master seal the Heavenly Killing Star of the Heo benefactor the other day, this disciple's thinking changed considerably as well."
"Heh heh. Is that so?"
Though Great Master Jeonghyeon was not young himself, strangely, he felt as if he grew younger in the presence of Great Master Gakjeong.
Despite all that had happened, the two remained close fellow disciples.
The two exchanged warm smiles, but even as they did, Great Master Jeonghyeon was explaining, one by one, what he had discovered.
Finally, when I and Tang So-wol added our account and conveyed the matter of the Blood Buddha, Great Master Gakjeong, having heard the full story, nodded.
"…I roughly understand. I had thought my part ended with the last affair, but it seems that was not to be."
"I know it is a shameless request, but may I ask for your help once more?"
"Oh my. Benefactor Cheon keeps making me feel embarrassed. I have already received much from you. This is no ill deed, so I should help as much as I can. After all, is that not why I came here in the first place?"
"Thank you."
"However, there is still something that troubles my mind. So rather than putting this into action right away, it would be best to first verify this method the Heavenly Demon spoke of in our own way."
"Of course. I was thinking the same."
I folded the letter again and handed it to Great Master Gakjeong. I had memorized all of its contents anyway. The problem was that I couldn't understand what it meant.
"By the way, if what I just heard is true, we would need an exceptional Taoist master to test this out…"
At Great Master Gakjeong's muttering, Tang Jincheon gave a wry smile and shook his head.
"I did bring the matter up with the Zhongnan Sect, but unfortunately, while they do have the records, they say there is no one who can fully interpret them and actually perform the arts."
"If it's the Zhongnan Sect, they should be descendants of the Quanzhen Sect, and a place that has preserved quite a few of the secret arts from that time…"
"If it's that matter, I believe I can be of assistance."
What cut between Tang Jincheon and Great Master Gakjeong, who had been sighing heavily, was Jegal Bu, the strategist of the Murim Alliance.
At this, the Murim Alliance Leader, who had been blinking his eyes at the unfamiliar topic, asked.
"Strategist, you mean? I'm not deeply versed in this sort of thing, so I don't know much, but I was under the impression that the Jegal Clan has no great connection to the Daoist path."
"Heh heh. As the Alliance Leader says, our Jegal Clan does not follow the teachings of the Dao. Nor do we follow Buddhism, for that matter. However, we do frequently study such matters academically. After all, the very concept of formations originated from the attempt to unleash a weakened technique by borrowing the power of nature rather than that of an individual."
"Oh. I believe I've heard something similar before."
"It seems you've looked into it quite a bit since it concerns your own affairs. That's right. In the distant past, Zhuge Liang, the founder of the Jegal Clan, was not a Taoist priest, yet he read the heavenly signs and summoned a southeast wind. In this way, to discern the rules that fill heaven and earth, and to twist them slightly to bring about the desired result is…"
As I chimed in agreement, Jegal Bu's eyes sparkled as he poured out a torrent of professional knowledge.
A middle-aged man of considerable years getting this excited… it felt oddly familiar.
The Namgung Clan.
Not just Namgung Dowi, but even his son Namgung Jong—whenever the topic of swords came up, their always-grave expressions would crumble and words would come pouring out in a rush.
I was momentarily taken aback by the overlapping memories. Then the Murim Alliance Leader and Great Master Gakjeong shook their heads with thoroughly exasperated looks.
"That strategist is truly a remarkable talent… but sometimes, he's hard on the ears."
"The Jegal Clan of this generation is no pushover either."
From what I heard, this wasn't a recent development—the previous generation of the Jegal Clan had been much the same.
I had never once visited the Jegal Clan, but somehow, I felt I could already sense the atmosphere there.
That's right… it's not for nothing that one family has held the military advisor position of the Murim Alliance for generations…
Honestly, until before the regression, I had assumed there would be corruption or issues of symbolism involved, as was often the case with the Black Alliance, but now I saw it—there was just one more crazy family here.
My inward chuckle lasted only a moment. In the end, Tang Jincheon, who had been listening patiently, cut in.
"Enough. Shall I get to the point? Is it possible or not?"
"It's possible. It's just that this is the first time I'm deploying a formation in this manner, so I'll need as much reference material and preparation as I can get."
"Good. I'll ask the Zhongnan Sect to send whatever books they can."
With that, the room fell quiet for a moment. Partly because there was nothing more to say, but I also felt that the Jegal Clan's earlier antics had drained everyone's energy.
So when I opened my mouth, the gazes naturally turned to me.
"…Thank you all."
As I bowed my head, the people who felt awkward for no reason began scratching the backs of their heads or stroking their beards.
"It's nothing. We're just returning what our son-in-law has done for us."
"Amitabha. This too is thanks to the good deeds the benefactor has accumulated so far."
"Ahem. At least this is far simpler than cutting off someone's arm out of nowhere or cleaning up the mess of a collapsed building, so don't worry."
The Murim Alliance Leader's words had a strange bite to them, but in any case, the day came to a close in a warm atmosphere.
***
Half a month later.
Around the time my body finally caught up with the abnormally grown Intent, word came through the Murim Alliance Leader. Everything was ready.
I paused what I was doing and headed to the Leader's office.
It seemed I was the last to arrive—everyone else was already there, waiting.
"I came because I heard everything was ready… Is that true?"
"Yes. We checked from every angle, and even ran the Grand Ritual up to the very last step. It works without a hitch, and contrary to what we worried about, it isn't dangerous either."
Jegal Bu nodded confidently. Looking around, the others' expressions were bright as well.
"However, there is one issue? No, a condition."
"A condition? What is it?"
"You've probably guessed as much, but… not just anyone can enter the young hero's mindscape. One must have a deep connection and a genuinely sincere heart."
"So that means…"
"That only I, Hyang-i, and Sister Hwa-rin can do it."
As I was mulling over what she meant, Tang So-wol added a word to clarify.
"Yes. I had expected as much."
"I'm not so sure about that… Anyway, it won't be possible to see everything. Of course, compared to when I entered hastily and recklessly like last time, I'll be able to see more and for longer."
"I understand. Then what about the foggy perception Tang So-wol mentioned last time?"
"That's the most representative part I can't see. It seems to touch the core of the seal, so there's no way around it. The voice is the same."
"Ah… then what do you mean by seeing better?"
"The context. I won't hear every word of the conversation, but roughly what they're talking about, how the situation is flowing. I'll be able to know that much."
Whether Tang So-wol and her group will go so far as to guess the truth of my regression, I don't know.
But at least one thing I can convey for certain.
That the one overlapping above the three women was not someone else, but another version of myself.
That's enough.
"Is it starting now?"
"If there are no particular problems, that should be the case."
With those words, the Jegal Clan Head turned his gaze toward the Murim Alliance Leader. At that, the Leader grinned and spoke.
"Those who know will know, but still, please keep what you saw today a secret. It is, after all, a secret of the Murim Alliance."
"What are you planning to do that requires all this…"
His hollow laugh lasted only a moment. The Murim Alliance Leader stomped the floor a few times, then injected his internal energy into the bookshelf on the right. And then.
Krrrk-
One wall rotated entirely, revealing a hidden passage.
"What is this?"
"It is a mechanism trap known only to the successive Alliance Leaders and a select few closest to them. There is nothing grand about it, but there is no better place to conduct the Grand Ritual without anyone's interference. After all, the faces gathered here are quite prominent, so there are many prying eyes, are there not?"
As the Murim Alliance Leader had said, several Harmony Realm masters and representatives of their respective sects had gathered in one place.
Ordinarily, one would assume this was a secret meeting, and there were more than a few who took an interest in the Murim Alliance's secret gatherings. This was likely a precaution against any unforeseen circumstances.
Seeing this, the Jegal Clan elder's eyes went wide.
"Indeed! I knew the Alliance Leader had a secret escape route somewhere in the office, but I never imagined it would be here! So this is where you slip off to whenever you don't feel like working and dump everything on me!"
"I—I always came back, didn't I! …Though it was after the sun had set."
The Murim Alliance Leader's voice grew quieter and quieter. Come to think of it, the Beggars' Sect was said to have a stark divide between those who specialized in intelligence and those who focused on martial arts.
Given the Leader's martial level, the odds were high he belonged to the latter.
I let out a snort and wondered just how far I should follow behind him.
After passing through the corridor that was somewhat dark despite the night pearl fragments embedded in it, we came upon a space that was low-ceilinged but fairly wide from side to side.
At its center was drawn a complex script and geometric figures. And all around, expensive-looking vessels and implements were arranged.
"Lie down in the center. The rest of you, form a triangle around the White Moon Sword Lord, young hero, and lie down as well."
"Yes."
As I lay down as instructed, the three behind me found their own spots and lay down in turn.
Anticipation. And with a hint of worry, the Grand Ritual began.
Around the formation, the surrounding energy gathered. And before long, the sound of Great Master Jeonghyeon and Great Master Gakjeong chanting sutras reached our ears.
As I kept listening, something stirred deep in my chest. I couldn't say for certain, but it seemed something was underway.
The murmuring grew louder. Then, at some point, Tang So-wol exhaled a pale pink poison in the form of mist, enveloping the surroundings. And then.
Jingle.
The handbell held by the Jegal Clan rang with a clear sound.
***
Tang So-wol, Seol Ri-hyang, and Seomun Hwa-rin, all fast asleep. From the center of the three, a voice spoke.
"…Why am I still fine?"
"Well, that's because someone other than the young hero is entering the young hero's mindscape, isn't it?"
Ah, I see.