Chapter 56
A Master of Soul-Enthrallment Arts
Cheon-geuk led Baek So-cheon to a teahouse near the Martial Alliance.
Na Sa-rin was waiting there while drinking tea, and she greeted him brightly.
“Hello, Big Brother!”
When she had confronted Mr. Jong in the past, Na Sa-rin had openly revealed the depth of her gaze. Now, however, she had completely concealed her presence.
To anyone looking at her, she appeared to be nothing more than a child.
“Ah, hello.”
Baek So-cheon returned the greeting without thinking, then looked at Cheon-geuk.
“She’s my little sister.”
“You had a sister?”
“Why? Did you think we only take in orphans with nowhere else to go and raise them as assassins?”
“That’s not what I meant. It’s just unexpected. You having a sister, I mean.”
As he spoke, Baek So-cheon carefully studied Na Sa-rin.
“What is it, Big Brother? Is there something on my face?”
Baek So-cheon turned toward Cheon-geuk.
“Who is she?”
“I told you. She’s my sister.”
“Stop fooling around.”
“How did you know? As expected, no matter how hard someone tries to hide it, there are certain things that can never be concealed, aren’t there?”
“No. You two look nothing alike.”
Baek So-cheon looked back at Na Sa-rin.
Her playful gaze had already vanished, replaced by her usual depth as though declaring that the joke was over.
“Hero Baek, my name is Na Sa-rin.”
Although she was over eighty years old, she addressed him with great courtesy.
Seeing the profound look in her eyes, Baek So-cheon respectfully cupped his hands.
“I am Baek So-cheon.”
Baek So-cheon generally looked down on assassins.
However, once Na Sa-rin revealed her true bearing, her presence was truly extraordinary. Moreover, when a person of such stature treated him courteously, it was only proper for him to respond with equal respect.
Cheon-geuk introduced her.
“She is the most senior elder in our alliance and the person I respect most. She was also a tremendous help in obtaining the spiritual medicines.”
“You give me too much credit. The Alliance Leader went to great lengths this time. This old woman merely introduced her to someone.”
The two women passed the credit back and forth.
Baek So-cheon spoke to Na Sa-rin.
“You must also be well aware of the relationship between your alliance and me.”
“I am.”
“What happened in the past was regrettable.”
Baek So-cheon did not apologize.
His convictions had not changed.
He still believed assassins should not exist in the world. If they had to exist as a necessary evil, then at the very least, the position should be held by someone like Cheon-geuk, who observed certain fundamental principles.
“How could that have been Hero Baek’s fault? It was simply the cruel fate of people like us, who earn our living through the lives of others.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
The two of them shared a certain understanding.
Baek So-cheon’s first impression of Na Sa-rin was not bad.
He could sense the wounds and sorrow of someone who had lived her entire life in the body of a child, as well as the profound gaze of a person who had sublimated that pain.
It left a deep impression on him.
Added to that was the reassuring composure that came from someone who had walked all the way to the end of her path.
At that moment, Cheon-geuk added another detail to her introduction.
“Elder Na is the foremost master of soul-enthrallment arts.”
Baek So-cheon was startled by the mention of soul-enthrallment.
“Why are you so surprised?”
“It’s nothing. I was just wondering whether something like fate truly exists.”
“What do you mean?”
Baek So-cheon spoke respectfully to Na Sa-rin.
“Elder, forgive my discourtesy, but I would like to speak privately with Alliance Leader Cheon through sound transmission.”
“That is fine. Go ahead.”
Baek So-cheon sent Cheon-geuk a sound transmission.
—If she introduced you to the spiritual-medicine merchant, then she must know that I recovered my dantian.
—Yes. I told her. Where else would I go to purchase spiritual medicines? I needed an elder’s help. She asked whose request it was, so I honestly told her it was yours. You don’t have to trust me, but you can trust her. No matter what happens, she would never reveal a secret I asked her to keep. I’ll stake my life on it.
—You mean I can trust her that much?
—Of course.
—Then that’s enough.
Cheon-geuk apologized for involving Na Sa-rin without first telling him, especially after he had asked her to send away even the Guardian Killing Stars.
—I’m sorry.
—It’s fine.
After ending the sound transmission, Baek So-cheon cautiously asked Na Sa-rin,
“There is something I would like to ask regarding soul-enthrallment arts.”
The reason he had privately reconfirmed Na Sa-rin’s trustworthiness was partly because of this question.
Recovering his internal energy was a personal matter.
If something went wrong, only he would die.
But matters involving soul-enthrallment concerned the entire murim.
If handled incorrectly, the consequences would be enormous.
“What would you like to know?”
“Before that, please speak casually to me. If Alliance Leader Cheon trusts you even more than herself, then you are certainly entitled to do so.”
Baek So-cheon subtly praised Cheon-geuk in the process.
“Would that be acceptable?”
“Of course.”
“Then I shall speak comfortably. Now, what do you wish to know?”
“If someone had been placed under a soul-enthrallment art, how could it be confirmed?”
Baek So-cheon had read books about soul-enthrallment arts in the Myriad Books Repository.
However, most of their contents focused on the effects and power of such arts, and there was almost nothing about how to dispel them.
The authors had learned about their power through various incidents, but had failed to discover a method of breaking them.
“That is a rather broad question. Let us narrow it down. How powerful is the person supposedly under the art?”
“What if they were at the Transcendent Realm?”
At those words, both Cheon-geuk and Na Sa-rin grew serious.
There were not many people in the current era who could be described as Transcendent experts.
“It would not be easy to place someone at the Transcendent Realm under a soul-enthrallment art.”
“What if the practitioner was equally powerful?”
“Even then, it would not be easy…”
Na Sa-rin shook her head, then asked another question.
“How long has the soul-enthrallment art supposedly lasted?”
“What if it has been two or three years?”
Baek So-cheon continued speaking hypothetically.
Na Sa-rin and Cheon-geuk had likely already guessed that this was something currently happening.
Even so, Baek So-cheon had no choice but to remain cautious.
“People often believe that once a soul-enthrallment art is placed on someone, it remains indefinitely. That is absolutely untrue. The effects of soul-enthrallment are extremely brief. Even if a tremendous master cast it, it would last only a few days at most. In exceptional cases, perhaps one or two months. But two or three years? That is impossible.”
“Wouldn’t an especially powerful soul-enthrallment art make it possible?”
“No.”
Na Sa-rin answered firmly.
It was unexpected.
The books had also said the duration was not very long.
Yet even while reading that, Baek So-cheon had vaguely assumed that a supreme master’s soul-enthrallment could last for years.
Na Sa-rin explained the single exception.
“However, the practitioner could remain nearby and continuously maintain the art.”
That was precisely what Baek So-cheon had hoped was impossible.
The chances of an expert like that remaining close to the Alliance Leader were slim.
As he continued speaking with Na Sa-rin, a sudden question occurred to him.
What if someone truly had used a soul-enthrallment art on the Alliance Leader?
Why would they have done it?
The Alliance Leader was exactly the same as before.
The only thing that had changed was his attitude toward Baek So-cheon.
That meant the soul-enthrallment art, if there was one, had involved something related to him.
But why?
If someone wanted to harm Baek So-cheon, wouldn’t it have been easier simply to kill him instead of enthralling the Alliance Leader?
Anyone capable of placing and maintaining such an art on the Alliance Leader should have been more than capable of killing Baek So-cheon directly.
Baek So-cheon began to suspect that the matter might not be so simple.
Or perhaps it was so simple that the truth had remained hidden precisely because of it.
“If you personally examined someone, would you be able to tell whether they were under a soul-enthrallment art? Or whether they themselves practiced such arts?”
“Unless the art was cast by someone more skilled than me, I would be able to recognize it. The same applies to determining whether a person has learned soul-enthrallment.”
Cheon-geuk spoke decisively from beside them.
“There is no one in the world more skilled than her.”
Baek So-cheon asked Na Sa-rin,
“Would you be willing to help me?”
She understood perfectly well what kind of help he was requesting.
He wanted her to determine whether someone had been enthralled or had learned soul-enthrallment arts.
Na Sa-rin looked at Cheon-geuk.
As a loyal subordinate, she could act only with Cheon-geuk’s permission.
“If you are willing, Elder, please help him.”
At Cheon-geuk’s words, Na Sa-rin readily accepted.
“I will help.”
“Thank you. Then I will take my leave.”
Baek So-cheon was about to leave after offering his farewell when he suddenly remembered something.
“Ah, do you happen to know of a symptom involving red dots appearing in both eyes in connection with soul-enthrallment arts?”
Na Sa-rin seemed to think for a moment, then shook her head.
“I am not familiar with it. There are simply too many different kinds of soul-enthrallment arts in the world…”
“I understand. I will contact you again soon through Alliance Leader Cheon.”
Baek So-cheon bowed respectfully before leaving.
Cheon-geuk followed him to the front of the teahouse.
“Stay here with Elder Na for a few days.”
“All right.”
As though remembering something belatedly, Baek So-cheon asked,
“By the way, what about your request?”
They had agreed that if she purchased the spiritual medicines for him, Cheon-geuk would be allowed to make one request.
She hesitated, then delayed her answer.
“I’ll tell you later.”
“You don’t know what might happen to me. Take advantage of it while you still can.”
“There’s also pleasure in saving something for later, isn’t there?”
“Suit yourself. I’ll contact you soon about when and how we’ll move.”
Leaving those words behind, Baek So-cheon walked away.
Cheon-geuk remained where she was, watching his retreating back.
Na Sa-rin came outside and stood beside her.
“What do you think of him, Elder? Is he worth our investment?”
Na Sa-rin already knew.
Cheon-geuk had long since concluded that he was.
She was also treating Baek So-cheon with feelings that went beyond simple judgment.
Na Sa-rin joined her in watching his distant back.
“Trust your instincts, Alliance Leader. Are we not assassins who live and die by instinct?”
Baek So-cheon went directly to see Zhuge Hyeon.
The Grand Strategist was briefly away, so Baek So-cheon waited for him in his office.
With a little time to spare, he began circulating the Immovable Wisdom King Heart Method.
Because his entire meridian network now served as his dantian, he could circulate his energy anytime and anywhere.
Even if he did not gather the energy back into his dantian at the end, he could simply settle it within his meridians and stop the heart method.
A smile remained on Baek So-cheon’s face throughout the circulation.
Now that he was properly circulating his energy again, it felt unbelievably good.
How had he endured three years without experiencing this?
He felt proud of himself merely for having survived that long.
Circulating his energy alone relieved accumulated fatigue and made his movements smoother.
He could now reduce his sleep to the bare minimum.
In other words, he had gained far more time.
Even if he accumulated only one-third as much internal energy as before, abandoning energy circulation was absolutely unthinkable.
Baek So-cheon intended to add even the smallest trace of internal energy to his reserves.
At a moment of crisis, the difference between life and death could be the final handful of power squeezed out at the very end.
While he was doing so, the door opened and Zhuge Hyeon returned.
Baek So-cheon immediately stopped circulating his energy and greeted him.
“Grand Strategist.”
“Leader Baek. What brings you here?”
“There is something I would like to ask.”
“Ask anything.”
“Who currently has the closest access to the Alliance Leader? For example, someone who can meet him freely even after official duties are finished?”
Zhuge Hyeon had already been told that the Alliance Leader might be under a soul-enthrallment art.
This question was likely related to that matter.
“Hmm. First, there is Pung Geuk-an, the commander of the secret guard.”
Baek So-cheon knew him as well.
He had guarded the Alliance Leader for many years.
“What kind of person is he?”
“If you are asking whether he can be trusted, I can state with certainty that he can.”
Baek So-cheon agreed.
Pung Geuk-an was so taciturn that Baek So-cheon had never spoken deeply with him in private, but he had never received a bad impression from the man.
“Who else?”
“There is the Alliance Leader’s second son, Hero Ak.”
Ak Seo-pyeong, Ak So-gun’s second son, assisted with his father’s work.
He was still young to be addressed as Hero, but people used the title because he was the Alliance Leader’s son.
“And the last person?”
“The Master of the Secret Pavilion.”
On Byeok-hwa was someone the Alliance Leader had personally brought in from outside and appointed as Master of the Secret Pavilion.
“These three can freely enter and leave the Alliance Leader’s Hall and meet him.”
As he spoke, Zhuge Hyeon felt a sense of self-reproach.
He was not included among them.
Of course, Zhuge Hyeon could also enter the Alliance Leader’s Hall freely.
However, after his relationship with Ak So-gun became strained during the process of bringing Baek So-cheon back, he had stopped visiting frequently.
Come to think of it…
Before, he had seen the Alliance Leader’s face several times every day.
After the war, that became once every few days.
Now, they barely saw each other once a month.
How did things become like this?
During the war, they had naturally been forced to remain together constantly.
Even so, compared to those days, Zhuge Hyeon had become far too neglectful.
“I have a request.”
“What is it?”
“Please arrange a meeting with the Master of the Secret Pavilion.”
Baek So-cheon intended to determine whether she had any connection to soul-enthrallment arts.
Pung Geuk-an could be trusted.
Ak Seo-pyeong was the Alliance Leader’s own blood.
That left On Byeok-hwa as the most suspicious person.
“With the Master of the Secret Pavilion?”
“Yes. At a location I choose.”
Zhuge Hyeon was curious about the reason, but he had decided to trust Baek So-cheon completely.
“Very well. When should I arrange it?”
Whenever someone asked Baek So-cheon about timing these days, his answer was always the same.
“As soon as possible, please.”