Chapter 654: I Intend to Stand on the Stage with Him

TL: FoodieMonster007

The Heaven's Edge Hermit reacted to the words 'avatar of revenge'. He had shown only a minimal response no matter how much Geom Mugeuk provoked him, but he reacted strongly to this particular phrase.

"Wait!"

By the time the Heaven's Edge Hermit shouted, Geom Mugeuk had already opened the door and departed.

The Heaven's Edge Hermit ran and hastily opened the door, but Geom Mugeuk was already gone. Instead of Geom Mugeuk, a middle-aged man was walking toward him from the far end of the hallway.

"Chairman, what is the matter?"

The approaching man was Chamberlain Ju, the general manager of the Nothing Manor. He was a man who had always lived for the Heaven's Edge Hermit and the Nothing Manor, his presence almost unnoticeable.

Chamberlain Ju's full name was Ju Somyeong.

"Have you seen the Young Cult Leader?"

"No, I have not."

He had been walking down the hall, yet Geom Mugeuk had vanished, completely evading his eyes. Since the hallway windows were all closed, he had disappeared as if he were a ghost.

Considering Geom Mugeuk had slipped past the eyes of numerous martial artists to get inside, it might have seemed natural for him to disappear in such a manner.

"He even slipped past your eyes."

Surprisingly, this statement implied he trusted the chamberlain's eyes more than all the martial artists who had been guarding the manor earlier.

At those words, the look in Ju Somyeong's eyes began to shift. It was a gaze he had never once shown to any visitor of the Nothing Manor.

His usually friendly eyes turned sharp and cold, transforming Ju Somyeong into a completely different person. In that moment, he was no longer Chamberlain Ju Somyeong, but Hwa Yulcheong's longtime subordinate, Ju Somyeong.

Ju Somyeong scanned the hallway once more. He checked the closed windows and then the ceiling.

Soon, Ju Somyeong shook his head. There was no trace of the Young Cult Leader's escape anywhere.

In other words, he had slipped past him.

"His skill is hard to believe."

The Heaven's Edge Hermit's gaze shifted toward the window.

"Yes, he is a hard man to believe."

Just as his voice had changed to a low bass, his eyes changed as well. It was a gaze and a voice he had never revealed while he was with Geom Mugeuk.

Now, even his aura had changed.

Originally, his aura was like a single flower blooming proudly in a snowy field.

The color of the falling snow turned a dark gray. What now scattered around was not snow, but the flying ash of something burning.

Screams filled with agony echoed from all directions.

The ground, where the snow had vanished, was filled with corpses, and blood flowed like a river. The scattering ash came from the burning bodies.

He stood in the middle of a battlefield where only sorrowful resentment floated.

His eyes, looking out over the battlefield, were boiling. It was a heat so intense that one had to wonder how he had managed to hide it for all this time.

This was his true aura.

"The Young Cult Leader knows about me."

Knowing what that meant, Ju Somyeong's expression hardened.

"That can't be. He must have just made a guess. Isn't he an exceptionally bright man?"

The Heaven's Edge Hermit nodded, revealing his honest feelings.

"The word 'bright' is not enough. If I were just ten years younger, my identity would have been exposed."

He had been shaken by Geom Mugeuk. There was something about the Young Cult Leader that stirred people's emotions. Listening to him while looking into his eyes truly made something surge up from within.

However, he did not know.

He did not know that even though he was not ten years younger, he had ended up revealing his identity after all.

He did not know that Geom Mugeuk was standing right before his eyes at this very moment.

It was Geom Mugeuk, inside the Spacetime Manipulation Technique.

A moment ago, as Geom Mugeuk opened the door and stepped out, he had sensed someone approaching from the end of the hall and entered the Spacetime Manipulation Technique.

It was a spur-of-the-moment thought that if someone remained here after everyone else had left, they might share an important conversation.

And his prediction was spot on.

Even knowing he was the mastermind, his acting had been so perfect that a sliver of doubt had remained. But now, it was confirmed without a doubt.

Outside the Spacetime Manipulation Technique, Hwa Yulcheong looked toward him and said, "Geom Mugeuk, you will be the villain of this stage. The war between the Orthodox and Demonic factions will happen eventually, and you will be the cause."

Geom Mugeuk stood before him with a cold gaze.

Fine, I'll play the villain.

He had no intention of stepping onto such a grand stage for free.

But your life will be my appearance fee.

Jin Paecheon stood in the garden in front of his residence, his hands clasped behind his back as he looked up at the sky.

His back, which supported the orthodox sects, felt particularly lonely today.

He had lived his life without knowing fear.

He had never feared any villain, any master, the Demonic Cult, the Evil Alliance, or anyone else in the world.

However, after going through this recent ordeal, he was feeling a strange sense of powerlessness. If he had lost through martial arts, he would not have felt this sense of loss. He could just train more. He could train and win again.

What tormented him now was the fact that his judgment was not what it used to be.

Am I getting old now?

In the past, he would have made a decision several times over by now, but he was still hesitating between Geom Mugeuk and the Heaven's Edge Hermit.

Whose words were right?

He tried to excuse himself by saying he needed decisive evidence, but in the past, he would have known instinctively.

He had supported the murim of the orthodox sects until now with that razor-sharp instinct.

However, he felt that instinct had dulled.

A person entered the garden, guided by the Chairman's Hall bodyguards.

Wearing a bamboo hat pulled down low, it was none other than Geom Mugeuk. Geom Mugeuk took off his hat and bowed politely.

"Greetings to the Chairman."

He had expected to meet at the Chairman's Hall, but the Chairman had him come to this even more private residence.

It would have been one thing before or after the tripartite meeting, but given the current situation, he did not think he would be allowed this far in.

Just then, a woman entered the place.

"It's been a while."

Seeing her, he understood why he had been called here. She was Jin Haryong.

Seeing her after so long, she seemed even more mature. She had always been beautiful, but now she looked stronger, with experience and training added to her. He could feel her achievements.

"I can feel the rough winds of the jianghu on you."

At Geom Mugeuk's joking greeting, Jin Haryong smiled and asked, "Is that a compliment?"

"Of course."

The two could now treat each other comfortably like old friends, even after not seeing each other for a long time.

There was a clear reason for her change.

Everyone is changing day by day because of someone, so how can I be the only one left behind?

It was the result of the effort born from that thought.

"Have you been well?"

"Thanks to someone, I haven't been. I can't leave this inner court."

Because of Geom Mugeuk's prediction that Jin Hagun and Jin Haryong could be targets, she had been unable to leave the inner court of the Chairman's Hall. Even within the inner court, the Murim Alliance bodyguard squad's martial artists were guarding her in layers.

"At first, I thought you guys had invaded."

It was true. She was at a prodigy gathering when the Chairman's Hall bodyguards stormed in and took her away. The martial artists who were with her probably thought a major problem had occurred in the Alliance.

"If we had invaded…"

"You're going to say everyone at that gathering would've died?"

When she looked at him with feigned suspicion, Geom Mugeuk laughed and waved his hands.

"No! I'm not one to break up a party, so you don't have to worry. You know, right? How much I love gatherings? Speaking of which, it's about time we met up, isn't it? I need to hear what Sain and the Princess have been up to."

Jin Haryong laughed at Geom Mugeuk's words. She knew how serious the recent situation was from what her grandfather had told her.

But Geom Mugeuk never lost his smile, even in a situation like this. How could she not love him?

Jin Paecheon silently watched the two converse. He suddenly recalled the moment Jin Haryong had brought Geom Mugeuk to him, saying he was the man she would marry.

Should I have just forced them to marry back then?

At the time, he had thought it was a ridiculous idea, but now, such a thought crossed his mind.

What would have happened if I had?

Would this current dilemma have been different?

Once their reunion was over, Jin Paecheon asked Geom Mugeuk, "Have you met him?"

"Yes, Chairman."

Seeing that he asked in front of Jin Haryong, it seemed she had heard about the whole situation.

"What did you find out?"

It was not a question that could be answered so easily. Yet the answer came quickly and decisively.

"I have confirmed that he is the mastermind."

A heavy silence fell.

Both of them knew well that Geom Mugeuk was not someone who would lie about such matters.

"Did the great master really join hands with the masterminds?" Jin Haryong asked Geom Mugeuk with a genuinely surprised expression.

In contrast to her, Jin Paecheon simply stared at Geom Mugeuk, revealing no emotion.

"He didn't join hands with them. He was the mastermind himself. If that weren't the case, he wouldn't have betrayed his friendship with you, Chairman."

His words were also for Jin Paecheon's sake. This was not a matter of friendship.

"This incident is not a betrayal. He entered your life, Chairman, and was merely acting from the very beginning."

The moment he heard those words, Jin Paecheon felt a small hole open up in his endlessly stuffy and complicated heart, allowing him to breathe.

Geom Mugeuk began to dig that hole even wider.

"It is just one of the countless conspiracies that occur in the murim. The period was simply long because you are such a great man, Chairman. So please, do not attach any meaning to this incident. Even if it weren't for him, there are so many other things to attach meaning to, aren't there?"

Geom Mugeuk's gaze turned to Jin Haryong. He was speaking with his actions. Weren't there precious people to whom he should give real meaning and heart?

Of course, Geom Mugeuk knew well that this was not something that could be healed with a few words. That was why he focused on making the hole even bigger in his own way.

"It's not even worth your emotional energy. In fact, you should give it less meaning than a friend of five years, less than a friend of ten years, no, even less than a friend you made just the other day. This isn't a matter of friendship. The long duration makes it even more meaningless. He endured for decades? That's madness, not friendship, isn't it?"

Although he knew Geom Mugeuk was saying this for his sake, these words were clearly helping Jin Paecheon. He could feel the breathing hole getting bigger, little by little.

"This is not a matter of whether you, Chairman, could see through him or not. You are a martial artist, Chairman, not an actor. This is not our problem, but theirs. Their desire to swallow the murim is the problem. The problem is their persistence in hiding their identity for decades. None of it is normal."

Geom Mugeuk added one last thing.

"So, you can just say this. 'You punk, you worked hard pretending to uphold that forced sense of justice all this time. You really did.'"

Jin Haryong could feel it. Geom Mugeuk was trying his best to prevent a scar from being left on her grandfather's heart. Yes, this is the kind of person he was.

Jin Haryong questioned Geom Mugeuk as if to challenge him.

"What if you're the villain!"

Of course, she completely trusted Geom Mugeuk. Her words were spoken on behalf of her grandfather's heart.

"Then all hell would break loose."

At Geom Mugeuk's reply, Jin Haryong almost burst out laughing. His joking words hit home. Right, then all hell really would break loose.

Geom Mugeuk calmly told her, "But if I were to cause chaos, it wouldn't be in this way. I wouldn't have plotted a conspiracy that would leave me under suspicion until the very end."

As if pleading his case, Geom Mugeuk said to Jin Paecheon, "If I were to plot a conspiracy, I would have plotted a much easier and more exciting one!"

Agreeing with his words, Jin Haryong looked at her grandfather. You know it too, don't you, Grandfather? That what he's saying is true. That if this man were to truly plot something, he wouldn't even create this kind of situation. We'd probably be defeated without even realizing it was a conspiracy. We would have already been done for!

Jin Paecheon silently looked at Geom Mugeuk. How could he not know? That he was trying so hard for his sake.

Through this Young Cult Leader, he was constantly reminded that trust was not a matter of how long you have known someone.

"Why are you trying so hard for me?"

At that, Geom Mugeuk glanced at Jin Haryong and gave an unexpected answer.

"You're my friend's grandfather, aren't you? Then you're no different from my own grandfather."

Jin Paecheon looked at Jin Haryong. If it were not for Geom Mugeuk, neither his granddaughter nor his grandson would be in this world right now. Looking directly at Jin Haryong, he was reminded anew of what a great deed it was to have saved his granddaughter.

Even if that incident had no bearing on the truth of this matter, it had a great influence on his current decision.

If Geom Mugeuk had not been there, these children would not be here, and his life would have been meaningless. Why can't I trust this man?

"Tell me about this easy and exciting conspiracy you plan to cook up in the future. I can't afford to fall for it."

At those words, Geom Mugeuk smiled brightly.

Jin Paecheon had finally trusted him.

Geom Mugeuk bowed politely.

"Thank you for believing in me."

"I'm sorry for the late decision."

"If it were me, I would've agonized over it for another ten years."

Jin Paecheon smiled. This Young Cult Leader was making him smile at the very moment he was deciding that a friend was a traitor.

Right, I will trust him and see this through.

Jin Haryong smiled at Geom Mugeuk.

Thank you, my friend. I'll be sure to repay you for what you did for my grandfather today.

Geom Mugeuk replied with a bright smile of his own.

Once he made a decision, Jin Paecheon did not look back. He now intended to trust Geom Mugeuk and handle this matter.

"What is the reason you wanted to see me today? Did you perhaps come to get my permission to kill him?"

He had informed him he would meet the man, and he had. So he thought Geom Mugeuk was now seeking permission to kill him.

"No. I will show you clearly, Chairman. That he is the true mastermind."

Jin Paecheon shook his head, saying it was unnecessary.

"I believe your words."

"That is precisely why I must show you. Since you are someone who believes in me, I must show you."

The Chairman's breathing hole had been blown wide open. However, another small hole would now be there in its place. A hole of doubt. If he dealt with the matter without confirming it himself, that hole of doubt would never be filled. He had no intention of continuing his relationship with the Chairman like that.

Now, Geom Mugeuk began the work of filling that hole.

"I intend to stand on the stage with him."

And this was the favor he had come to ask the Chairman for today.

"Please be a member of the audience for that stage."