Chapter 61
The Secret Is Revealed (2)
Late at night, in the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
Low groans drifted from the Murim Alliance Leader’s bedchamber.
As though trapped in a nightmare, Ak So-gun groaned and sweated profusely.
The woman sleeping beside him shook him awake.
“Alliance Leader. Alliance Leader.”
Ak So-gun’s eyes snapped open as he awoke.
He released in one breath all the air he had been unable to breathe properly.
“Huaaaaaah!”
Although he was awake, he still had not fully come to his senses. The woman asked him anxiously,
“Are you all right?”
The woman gazing worriedly at him with a blanket wrapped around her naked body was none other than On Byeok-hwa, the Master of the Secret Pavilion.
The two of them were lovers who shared a bed.
Since both were unmarried, there was no moral issue involved. However, because she held an important position within the Murim Alliance, their relationship could easily become the subject of scandal.
Only one person knew about them: Pung Geuk-an, the commander of the Secret Guard.
Whenever she visited the Alliance Leader, all the other guards were dismissed, leaving only Pung Geuk-an to protect him.
“Did you have a bad dream?”
“No. I’m fine.”
“You’re sweating far too much.”
The moment she reached out to wipe the sweat from Ak So-gun’s body, he harshly slapped her hand away.
“I said I’m fine!”
“I’m sorry.”
His irritated behavior was unlike him.
Rather than feeling offended, On Byeok-hwa became even more worried. For some time now, the Alliance Leader had been growing increasingly irritable. There was no apparent reason for it, yet he seemed unable to control his own anger.
“Haaaaah.”
The sigh Ak So-gun released felt like ominous smoke rising from lava on the verge of erupting.
“I’m sorry.”
Ak So-gun spoke gently and patted her shoulder once before rising from the bed. Despite being over seventy years old, his body was still robust.
“Is something troubling you?”
“No.”
“You haven’t been sleeping properly lately either. I’m worried about you.”
For a moment, Ak So-gun looked as though he was about to say something, but he restrained himself.
On Byeok-hwa could tell. He had nearly shouted, I told you I’m fine! once again, only barely holding it back.
The Alliance Leader was clearly unable to control his anger.
“I’m going out for some fresh air.”
Ak So-gun dressed and left the room.
On Byeok-hwa watched his departing back with concern.
Is it because of Unit Leader Baek after all?
The only recent change was Baek So-cheon’s return as the leader of the Hyeoncheon Unit. All these changes had begun after his return.
But Ak So-gun had calmly held a celebratory banquet for the Hyeoncheon Unit and had even bestowed the Returning Shadow Sword upon him again. At times like that, it seemed as though his relationship with Baek So-cheon had improved.
These days, however, Ak So-gun was truly impossible to understand.
What in the world happened between you and Unit Leader Baek?
She was just as curious as Baek So-cheon himself.
After parting ways with Cheon-geuk, Baek So-cheon was about to enter his house when he stopped before the front gate.
“Who is it?”
His quiet question flew toward the darkness at the end of his gaze.
Someone was standing there. The person was not deliberately concealing himself, but merely leaning against a wall shrouded in darkness.
The man stepped forward and revealed himself.
Upon identifying him, Baek So-cheon was startled.
“Alliance Leader?”
To his astonishment, the uninvited visitor who had come so late at night was Ak So-gun.
“So-cheon.”
Ak So-gun’s voice was different from usual. It was not soft and gentle, but rough.
“What brings you here?”
Baek So-cheon became tense.
He had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Baek So-cheon readied himself to raise his internal energy at any moment. Now that he could draw power directly from the meridians throughout his entire body, he could react seven times faster than when circulating it from his dantian.
As he watched Ak So-gun walk toward him, he examined the presences nearby.
There was no way the Alliance Leader had come alone.
Just as expected, he sensed the concealed warriors of the Secret Guard surrounding the area.
In the meantime, Ak So-gun came to a stop before Baek So-cheon.
Seeing him up close, Baek So-cheon was startled once again.
Ak So-gun’s face was flushed bright red, and sweat poured down him like rain. He had also been red-faced and sweating at the Secret Pavilion Master’s banquet, but his condition was even worse now.
He looked so ill that he seemed ready to collapse at any moment.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“No. I’m fine.”
Considering the Alliance Leader’s condition, the guards should have already intervened. Since they were merely standing by, it seemed Ak So-gun had given them strict orders not to interfere under any circumstances.
At the very least, he did not appear to have come to kill Baek So-cheon. He would not have brought his entire guard contingent with him if that had been his intention.
Still, nothing was certain, so Baek So-cheon did not lower his guard.
“I came because I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
Ak So-gun suddenly seized Baek So-cheon’s hand.
Baek So-cheon nearly raised his internal energy and counterattacked. Fortunately, Ak So-gun had merely taken his hand, and Baek So-cheon managed to restrain himself.
“So-cheon, tomorrow’s battle will bring everything to an end. How do you feel?”
“...?”
Baek So-cheon was bewildered by the abrupt question. He could not understand what Ak So-gun was talking about.
“You must be nervous. I’m nervous too. But we will definitely win tomorrow’s battle. If we can kill Yeomhwa Sin tomorrow, this war will finally end.”
At first, Baek So-cheon did not understand.
But as he continued listening, he realized what Ak So-gun was saying.
These were the words Ak So-gun had spoken when he had visited Baek So-cheon the night before their final battle against the leader of the Cheokcheon Alliance.
Why is he suddenly talking about that day?
Ak So-gun continued speaking regardless.
He was not in his right mind.
At this moment, he was Ak So-gun from three years ago.
“Shall I confess something to you?”
Just as he had that day, Ak So-gun smiled awkwardly and revealed his true feelings.
“I can only tell you this now, but many people were jealous of you. Because of that, there were countless attempts to drive a wedge between us. Even so, I never once listened to them. I trusted only you. You know, don’t you? Even my second child likes you more than me. But I don’t mind. I think of you as one of my own children.”
He was repeating exactly what he had said that day.
As those memories suddenly returned, Baek So-cheon felt a surge of emotion.
That was right.
This was the kind of relationship he and the Alliance Leader had once shared.
It was the reason Baek So-cheon had been unable to leave the Alliance for the past three years and had continued agonizing over his relationship with the Alliance Leader.
He had genuinely respected Ak So-gun, and Ak So-gun had cherished him in return.
“To be honest, I’m human too. How could I not have felt jealous of you? Every warrior I knew respected and followed you. Whenever someone said we would lose this war without you, how do you think that made me feel? If I had cared for you even a little less, that jealousy would have devoured me. But...”
Rather than focusing on his words, Baek So-cheon carefully examined Ak So-gun’s condition.
His face was even redder than when he had arrived. It was so flushed that it looked ready to burst.
With a dazed expression, Ak So-gun repeated the final words he had spoken that day.
“...I truly care for you.”
The moment he finished speaking, the Alliance Leader collapsed backward.
“Alliance Leader!”
Baek So-cheon rushed forward and examined him.
Ak So-gun was gasping for breath, and his condition was clearly serious.
The Secret Guard immediately abandoned their concealment and revealed themselves.
Pung Geuk-an rushed over and took Ak So-gun into his arms.
“We will take him back to the Alliance first.”
He ordered one of his subordinates,
“Bring the Divine Physician at once!”
Holding Ak So-gun, Pung Geuk-an launched himself toward the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
It was truly an unforeseen calamity, like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
Even Baek So-cheon had no idea what had happened.
He followed them and ran toward the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
Inside the bedchamber, Divine Physician Ban Wol-ryang was examining the Alliance Leader.
Outside, all the Pavilion Masters who had rushed over after hearing the news were gathered.
There was an established rule that if anything happened to the Alliance Leader’s health, the matter was to be kept strictly confidential while the Pavilion Masters were informed.
Zhuge Hyeon approached Baek So-cheon and asked,
“What in the world happened?”
Everyone waited for Baek So-cheon’s answer.
“He came to see me at night and began saying strange things.”
“What did he say?”
“He spoke about what happened three years ago. He repeated the things he said to me on the night before our final battle. He was not in his right mind.”
“My heavens!”
Shadow Pavilion Master Hwang Jong-shin, who had been listening, looked unable to believe it.
For a moment, he suspected that Baek So-cheon might have done something, but soon dismissed the possibility.
Pung Geuk-an and the rest of the Secret Guard had been present, so there was no reason for Baek So-cheon to lie.
“Could he be suffering from qi deviation?”
“Perhaps.”
Everyone sighed.
With war just around the corner, it would be the worst possible situation if the Alliance Leader had fallen into qi deviation.
Hwang Jong-shin reprimanded Pung Geuk-an, demanding to know how he had handled the Alliance Leader’s protection.
Pung Geuk-an said nothing.
On Byeok-hwa also remained silent.
She was blaming herself.
There had clearly been signs from the moment she and Ak So-gun were together in the bedchamber.
I should have followed him.
However, accompanying the Alliance Leader late at night would have looked suspicious to anyone who saw them.
She should at least have tried to stop him from leaving.
Alliance Leader...
She genuinely loved Ak So-gun.
The two of them had begun to develop feelings for each other after she became the Master of the Secret Pavilion.
Ak So-gun had been the first to fall in love with her.
After his persistent courtship, she too had fallen for a man who shared values similar to her own.
Except for his incomprehensible attitude toward Baek So-cheon, Ak So-gun was a man worthy of respect.
At that moment, Divine Physician Ban Wol-ryang emerged from the room.
“What happened?”
Everyone crowded around him.
With a grave expression, Ban Wol-ryang described the Alliance Leader’s condition.
“He is suffering from an extremely high fever, and his blood and qi are moving uncontrollably. Neither medicine nor acupuncture has been able to stabilize him. His condition is currently critical.”
Everyone was shocked by the word critical.
Speaking on behalf of them all, Zhuge Hyeon asked,
“Has he been poisoned?”
“It is not poisoning.”
“Then has he fallen into qi deviation?”
“I do not believe that is the case either.”
“Then what in the world is causing this?”
“I will need to continue treating him before I can determine that.”
Even the Divine Physician could neither relieve the symptoms nor identify their cause.
That alone showed how serious the situation was.
When Ban Wol-ryang returned inside, Pung Geuk-an addressed everyone.
“This matter must be handled with the utmost secrecy. If all of you remain gathered here, word may spread outside. Please return to your quarters and wait. We will contact you immediately if there is any change in the Alliance Leader’s condition.”
The Pavilion Masters left the area.
“Unit Leader Baek.”
On Byeok-hwa followed Baek So-cheon outside.
“Yes, Pavilion Master?”
“What exactly happened?”
“It was exactly as I said earlier.”
“You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”
Her question was so direct that Baek So-cheon instead realized she was probably not involved in the current incident.
“I wish I were. If I were hiding something, it would at least mean I knew what was happening.”
This time, Baek So-cheon questioned her.
“Are you perhaps hiding something from me, Pavilion Master?”
“No.”
She did not reveal her relationship with the Alliance Leader.
Perhaps she could have spoken about something else, but that was not a matter she could disclose easily.
What happened today is definitely connected to Unit Leader Baek.
It was a woman’s intuition, but also the intuition of a subordinate who had observed Ak So-gun from close beside him.
Yet Baek So-cheon had also sensed something.
He had noticed On Byeok-hwa’s agitation when he asked whether she was hiding anything.
She’s concealing something.
The two of them each reached their own conclusion.
“I’ll be going now.”
Baek So-cheon left the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
The next day passed, and then another, but the Alliance Leader’s condition only continued to worsen.
No matter what medicines the Divine Physician used, the Alliance Leader showed no improvement.
Instead, his condition steadily deteriorated.
On the night of the third day after the Alliance Leader collapsed, two unexpected visitors came to Baek So-cheon’s house.
They were Cheon-geuk and Na Sa-rin.
Na Sa-rin was the one who had business with him.
Without any preamble, she bluntly asked,
“Did you say that red spots appeared in his eyes?”
“Yes.”
“Ah! I’ve grown so old that my memory has become useless.”
Only now had Na Sa-rin recalled something she had forgotten.
There was one possible cause for the symptom of red spots appearing in both eyes.
“If you wish to avoid disaster, you must answer everything I ask honestly from this moment onward. Will you trust me and do that?”
Na Sa-rin was a person who understood proper manners.
For her to behave this abruptly meant the situation was extremely urgent.
“I will.”
“Is that person the leader of the Murim Alliance?”
She asked him directly.
It was a question she should not have asked, and one Baek So-cheon should not have answered.
Nevertheless, Baek So-cheon answered honestly.
“Yes, he is.”
“Is he currently all right?”
“No. He has collapsed.”
Once again, Baek So-cheon answered truthfully.
“How long has it been since the Alliance Leader collapsed?”
“This is the fourth day.”
Na Sa-rin then delivered a shocking declaration.
“Your Alliance Leader will not survive the night. If you wish to save him, you must take me to him immediately.”