Chapter 285: Trust for Trust

TL: FoodieMonster007

Murim Alliance Chairman Jin Paecheon was confused.

He had faith in Geom Mugeuk, but he struggled to believe Baek Cheongeong had kidnapped his own granddaughter. Jin Paecheon had just shared tea and conversation with the man yesterday.

Geom Mugeuk said, "First, please dismiss your attendants. With you here, Chairman, it's not like I can run away, is it? And even if I were lucky enough to escape, you'd know exactly where I went."

He had a point. As the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, Geom Mugeuk would not abandon his position to hide in the mountains. His destination was clear.

Jin Paecheon dismissed everyone, leaving only his closest bodyguards.

Geom Mugeuk slowly looked over the remaining bodyguards. Jin Paecheon saw that Geom Mugeuk truly believed one of Baek Cheongeong's people was among them.

"What? Are you suspicious of these men too?"

"No, I trust your judgment, Chairman. Now I can speak freely. I was investigating Baek Cheongeong at Young Master Jin's request. I used Miss Jin as an excuse to come here. From the start, when Young Master Jin asked for help, we made it seem like I came because Miss Jin invited me."

He then briefly explained the situation, but Jin Paecheon still could not believe it.

"Should I trust the man who's taught my grandson without incident for ten years, or should I trust the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult? In this situation, who would you trust?"

"Then why are you just leaving me be?"

The answer lay in Geom Mugeuk's last words.

"Because if I had orchestrated this, I would never have ended up in this situation."

Jin Paecheon knew what kind of person Geom Mugeuk was from their past encounters. The rumors he had heard since then only confirmed his assessment.

Of course!

Moreover, the Demonic Cult kidnapping his granddaughter would mean war, yet there were no signs of war preparations from them at all.

Jin Paecheon asked, "Are you truly saying that man, Baek Cheongeong, is behind this?"

"……"

"Would you be willing to confront him?"

Geom Mugeuk replied, "Of course, but he won't be in his residence."

Jin Paecheon sent a telepathic message to his fastest subordinate, ordering him to bring Baek Cheongeong here.

"If what you say is true, why didn't Hagun ask me for help?"

"He probably thought you wouldn't believe him. You don't believe me even now, do you?"

"If Hagun had told me!"

"You would've believed him even less. You would've just assumed that a conflict had arisen between the two of them."

Jin Paecheon could not deny it. It was just as Geom Mugeuk always said. Sometimes, being too close prevents one from seeing clearly.

"There's one more reason. Young Master Jin suspected that Baek Cheongeong had eyes and ears within the Murim Alliance. That's also why I spoke to you via telepathy earlier."

Jin Paecheon decided to trust Geom Mugeuk's perspective. It seemed unlikely that the man who had already saved his granddaughter once would now try to harm her.

"Very well, then. Why did that man, Baek Cheongeong, kidnap Haryong?"

"At first, I thought he was targeting me, but now I'm not so sure. I doubt he'd escalate things this far just to get rid of me, no matter how much of a thorn in his side I am. Since he doesn't know about our relationship, Chairman, he must have expected a huge fight to break out here."

If that happened, the problem would escalate from one between Geom Mugeuk and Jin Paecheon to one between the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and the Murim Alliance. He could not have been unaware of that.

Geom Mugeuk was certain there was a reason he did not know.

"Please let me go. I'll rescue Miss Jin and find out the reason."

Jin Paecheon closed his eyes and said nothing. He had been forced to entrust his granddaughter's safety to Geom Mugeuk last time, and now he had to do it again?

Some time passed. The subordinate sent to Baek Cheongeong's residence returned and reported that he was not there, just as Geom Mugeuk had said.

"Why does it have to be you?"

"Because this was aimed at me. If you get involved, Chairman, he'll deny everything one way or another, and you might never find Miss Jin."

Jin Paecheon shouted furiously.

"How dare you threaten me? I'll find my own granddaughter."

Jin Paecheon suddenly fired a finger qi bullet, subduing Geom Mugeuk's and Lee Ahn's blood dao.

Lee Ahn was startled and caught completely off guard, but Geom Mugeuk was not surprised at all.

"Your granddaughter is no blood relative of mine, so what more can I do? Do as you please."

Jin Paecheon scoffed and yelled, "Now you show your true colors. Escort these two to the Alliance."

"You won't be able to handle the consequences if you touch me."

"Silence!"

At the Chairman's shout, distant martial artists turned to look. The nearby bodyguards came and led the two to a carriage.

As she was dragged away, Lee Ahn said urgently, "What are we going to do if they take us away like this?"

"We can't exactly fight the Murim Alliance Chairman, can we?"

Geom Mugeuk spoke in a loud voice for all to hear, sounding as angry as the Chairman. He did not whisper like her.

"What about Miss Jin?"

"She's his granddaughter. He'll find her himself."

"But you have to ask him! You have to persuade him. What are we going to do if we're taken away like this?"

"You saw him, didn't you? He's completely stubborn. There's nothing we can do."

The bodyguards loaded the two of them in, and the carriage departed immediately.

Lee Ahn could not understand the situation. Was he really giving up on Jin Haryong so easily just because the Chairman was difficult? Was he really reacting with such irritation? It was so unlike Geom Mugeuk.

Inside the moving carriage, Lee Ahn asked cautiously, "This isn't real, is it?"

The irritation vanished from Geom Mugeuk's face as soon as they were alone in the carriage. His usual expression returned.

"Of course not."

Only then did Lee Ahn sigh in relief.

Right, of course not.

A short while later, the carriage stopped in a deserted area. Jin Paecheon was waiting for them when they stepped out.

He had put on an act, worried that Baek Cheongeong might have planted someone among his men. If there was a spy, they would report that Geom Mugeuk was being escorted to the Murim Alliance.

Jin Paecheon had decided to fully trust Geom Mugeuk's words.

He fired another finger qi bullet, releasing their subdued blood dao.

Geom Mugeuk had not dodged the first finger qi bullet because he trusted the Chairman.

It was trust for trust. Jin Paecheon said nothing else.

"Save Haryong."

Their gazes met.

Geom Mugeuk knew. It could not be easy for the Chairman of the Murim Alliance to entrust his granddaughter's life to the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult for a second time.

Geom Mugeuk also wasted no words.

"I'll bring her back."

Seeing the sincerity in Geom Mugeuk's eyes, Jin Paecheon nodded once before climbing into the carriage. He felt he had made the right choice.

Of course, even though he entrusted the matter to Geom Mugeuk, he also intended to move heaven and earth to save his granddaughter.

Watching the carriage depart, Geom Mugeuk said to Lee Ahn, "Go straight to our Cult's safehouse and tell the two Demon Supremes exactly what happened."

"Any other message?"

"After that, the matter can be left to the judgment of the Demon Supremes."

This was the faith he had in the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the Fist Demon. He believed they would assess the situation and act appropriately without instructions. His faith in Lee Ahn was the same. He believed she would convey everything that happened without missing a single detail.

After Lee Ahn left, Geom Mugeuk launched himself in the opposite direction. From the Chairman to Lee Ahn, everyone was acting on faith.

Jin Haryong opened her eyes in an unfamiliar place.

It was a log house. Everything in the room was made of wood. The bed she lay on was made of whole logs joined together, and all the furniture and utensils were also wooden.

Why am I here?

She then remembered the last moment.

After parting with Lee Ahn, she had been walking when the wind blew a shower of leaves upon her. The moment the leaves touched her body, her vision went black, and she lost consciousness. The leaves must have been laced with a sleeping drug, or someone had used them to cast some kind of evil art.

She first checked her physical condition. Her inner arts were suppressed, but she had no other injuries.

She immediately got up and checked the door. She had trained in martial arts since childhood, even without her inner arts. Thinking a mere wooden door would be no match for her, she pushed with all her might, but it did not budge.

This is no ordinary door.

She realized it was not just a simple log door.

She examined the walls, floor, and ceiling in detail, but it was unlikely a prison room would have an exit.

Could this be Baek Cheongeong's doing?

He was the most likely person to have kidnapped her in the current situation. Still, even after it happened, she found it hard to believe.

Even if he's in conflict with Orabeoni, he'd kidnap me?

Just then, she heard someone walking toward the door.

Jin Haryong lay back down and pretended to be asleep. She hoped the person entering was not Baek Cheongeong. If he showed his face to her, it would mean he intended to kill her in the end.

Please!

The door opened, and someone entered. A man's voice followed.

"If you're awake, get up."

Her opponent already knew she was awake.

Jin Haryong sat up and looked at the man. Fortunately, he was a stranger. He was Chorim, Baek Cheongeong's disciple.

As Jin Haryong stared at him silently, Chorim asked, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

"Someone worth talking to wouldn't treat another person like this, would they?"

She was defiant, even with her inner arts suppressed. If they had intended to kill her, they would have done so already. They must be keeping her alive for something.

"Aren't you curious who I am?"

Jin Haryong realized the man before her was her kidnapper. He carried the same scent she had smelled from the leaves.

"I'm not curious who you are. I'm curious if you know what you're doing. Have you properly wagered your life?"

Chorim simply smiled, not falling for the provocation.

"You must be thirsty. Have some tea."

Although she was thirsty, Jin Haryong did not touch the kettle beside her.

"Why did you kidnap me?"

Instead of answering, Chorim poured tea from the kettle into a cup.

"It's a healthy tea, so you can drink it."

He drank the tea first to show it was not poisoned.

He then poured tea into another cup and offered it to her.

Jin Haryong did not take the cup. Instead, she carefully examined her opponent's face, hands, and clothes, desperately searching for any clue or weakness that could help her escape.

Chorim placed the teacup on the table and turned away.

"I'll have a meal prepared for you shortly."

Only after he left did Jin Haryong open the kettle's lid. It was not just water, but tea mixed with medicinal herbs.

She was so thirsty she wanted to gulp it down, but she closed the lid again. She could not drink it without knowing what kind of herbs they were.

However, she could not hold out indefinitely by refusing water and food.

She had never dreamed she would be subjected to this so close to the Murim Alliance Headquarters. She had told her bodyguard, Chu Ho, to wait far away during her duel with Lee Ahn. He was probably panicking and searching for her by now.

In this crisis, she thought of one person first. That person was not her grandfather or her Orabeoni.

But Jin Haryong quickly stood and began searching the room for anything that might help her escape.

In the murim, survivors are not those with trustworthy people around them, but those who find their own way to live.

I arrived at Baek Cheongeong's workshop.

It was empty. The first thing I did was pull the cloth off the display stand.

All the dolls had been cleared away except for one. Lying on the floor was the hero doll that Baek Cheongeong had called Geom Mugeuk. The rest were gone.

He must have left this doll for me to see. This was not a doll. It was a display of his composure and mockery.

I took the doll and left immediately.

How will I find where Baek Cheongeong has gone?

One thing was certain. He would not be far from the Murim Alliance. He had spent time with the Murim Alliance Chairman while Jin Haryong was kidnapped to assert his innocence. This meant he had no intention of leaving the Murim Alliance.

If so, Baek Cheongeong must be nearby in a place where he could best exert his power. A forest.

"I will find you with the Swift Step!"

I ran at a terrifying speed and landed in a nearby forest. I released my qi after landing.

I was not looking for Baek Cheongeong. I was looking for his wooden dolls. When I first visited his workshop, I had felt a certain energy. It was a strange aura I never would have felt if I had not learned the Nine Calamities Demonic Art, and it emanated from everywhere.

I tried to find the energy that flowed from those wooden dolls. Since there were so many, I was confident I could find it.

When I did not feel the energy, I used the Swift Step again to move. I released my qi to search, then moved again. In a flash, I was releasing my qi from five kilometers away. The Swift Step, which I had completely mastered, was truly showing its worth today.

I searched like that for some time.

Found it!

I had finally found the energy from the workshop.

I slowly walked toward the energy's source. The dense forest blocked my path, but trees and grass could not stop me. I pushed deeper into a place where a path seemed impossible. The strange aura grew stronger as I went. At the end of the path was a wide, plaza-like space.

I was startled the moment I stepped into it. The place was arranged like a circular dueling arena, packed on all sides with small wooden dolls.

These were the dolls Baek Cheongeong had carved in his workshop over the past ten years. The thousands of dolls looked like they could grow and rush toward me at any moment.

I placed the hero doll I had brought in the center of the plaza. This created a formation where thousands of dolls were poised to attack it.

Just then, a voice spoke.

"I told you, that place is yours."

Baek Cheongeong revealed himself and slowly walked out.

I looked down at the lonely hero doll instead of at him and replied, "I thought it might be me. I do enjoy being the center of attention."