Light Novel: Volume 23 Episode 23
Manhwa: N/A

Namgung Seol furrowed her brows as she looked at her subordinate.

“What did you just say?”

“The troops we have sent to track were all annihilated.”

“Are you expecting me to believe that?”

“I’m sorry.”

The subordinate bowed his head in remorse.

“Who was in charge of leading the pursuit party?”

“It was… Lady Go Yeonhwa.”

“What happened to her?”

“She has not been found.”

“What do you mean? Do you mean her body hasn’t been found, or that she isn’t dead?”

“I’m sorry.”

The subordinate bowed his head once more.

By the time he arrived, everything was over.

The warriors from both the Golden Heaven Society and the Silver Lotus Society were all dead, and Go Yeonhwa had disappeared without a trace.

They had sent out experts in tracking to go and find Go Yeonhwa, but to no avail.

Whether she soared to the heavens or sank into the earth, no trace of her could be found.

Eventually, they gave up searching for Go Yeonhwa and returned.

“Did you say the person was Hwangbo Chiseung?”

“That’s right.”

“Tell me, is he a master capable of annihilating the elites of the Golden Heaven Society and the Silver Lotus Society?”

“We found the body of Sa Domun. His upper body was blown away with a single blow.”

“Hah!”

Namgung Seol let out a sigh at her subordinate’s words.

Sa Domun was a high-ranking martial artist in the Golden Heaven Society.

If a master of such caliber had his upper body blown away by a single blow, then it was easy to guess the extent of Hwangbo Chiseung’s martial prowess without saying more.

“So, he was that skilled.”

“I’m afraid to say this, but perhaps Master Yul San-yeong acted too hastily.”

“Haa! That man…”

A flash of killing intent briefly crossed Namgung Seol’s face.

She knew that Black Winged Sword Hero Yul San-yeong appeared lighter than he seemed from the outside. However, his martial skills were strong and he had gained a good reputation, so she trusted him with the task, not expecting him to cause such trouble.

When Yul San-yeong returned with internal injuries after encountering Hwangbo Chiseung, he claimed that he had been defeated because his opponent had used cowardly means. He then disparaged Hwangbo Chiseung.

He said that Hwangbo Chiseung’s martial artist might be strong, but his character was poor and his methods were cruel, fitting for a demonic path. 

That was the decisive reason for the formation of the tracking team.

“Awarrior strong enough to defeat Jeon Mu-yeol with a single blow using underhanded tactics against Yul San-yeong? That doesn’t make sense. Investigate the situation further.”

“Understood.”

The subordinate withdrew after responding.

Left alone, Namgung Seol murmured to herself,

“Hwangbo Chiseung…”

Not only members of the Silver Lotus Society but also those of the Golden Heaven Society had been annihilated.

Hwangbo Chiseung couldn’t have done it alone.

He had to have an accomplice. And Namgung Seol already had a guess on who it was.

“Pyo-wol! I’m sure it’s him.”

According to the report submitted by her subordinates, the dead warriors all had fatal wounds at their vital points.

It was a typical sign of an assassin’s ambush.

One or two assassins were not enough to kill all the elite members of the Golden Heaven Society and Silver Lotus Society.

It was clear that at least a few dozen assassins had been mobilized.

In the current Jianghu and Poyang Lake, Pyo-wol was the only one who could mobilize this many assassins.

“He had not left after all. He has been lurking around here.”

She had deployed her subordinates to search the area last winter. But no sign of Pyo-wol or his assassins could be found anywhere.

This led many to believe that Pyo-wol had left Poyang Lake, but she thought differently.

She had predicted that Pyo-wol had not left and was definitely hiding somewhere. And this incident confirmed it.

Pyo-wol was lurking somewhere close to them.

With all her thoughts organized, Namgung Seol stood up from her seat.

Her destination was Lee Geumhan’s residence.

There were several layers of gates, but no one stopped Namgung Seol.

Namgung Seol was the most powerful figure in the Silver Lotus Society.

Lee Geumhan had entrusted all practical matters to her while he secluded himself in the training hall for closed-door training.

Because of this, almost no one except Namgung Seol had seen Lee Geumhan’s face throughout the winter.

Namgung Seol looked around as she walked.

Everyone she encountered greeted her respectfully.

After taking control of the Silver Lotus Society, Namgung Seol filled the top positions with her own people.

They all held absolute loyalty to both Lee Geumhan and her, and there was no reason to doubt their loyalty.

The problem was that some of the existing warriors had left when they took control of the Silver Lotus Society.

They were all capable individuals, valuable talents who could have been useful to keep around. Their departure was undoubtedly a painful loss.

At first, she didn’t consider their absence a big deal. She thought she and her subordinates could fill the gap sufficiently. However, as time passed, she increasingly felt the absence of those warriors.

She particularly missed her younger brother, Namgung Wol.

Namgung Wol had been the central figure among the old warriors.

It was only because of him that the martial artists of the Silver Lotus Society were able to stay united instead of scattering.

But with him leaving the Silver Lotus Society on his own accord, the decline in cohesion was noticeable. 

To strengthen the Silver Lotus Society, she knew she needed to bring Namgung Wol back, even now. However, her pride prevented her from bowing her head to him, causing her to hesitate.

Moreover, Namgung Wol’s whereabouts had been unclear since he left.

She had sent people to look for him, but they reported that he had briefly visited the Heavenly Guardian Association and then disappeared.

“He couldn’t be with him, could he?”

Namgung Seol bit her lip tightly.

Though it was highly unlikely, if her suspicion proved true, the situation would become grave.

Thud! Thud!

Namgung Seol knocked on the door of Lee Geumhan’s closed-door training room.

“It’s me, Seol!”

As soon as she identified herself, the door to the closed training room slid open.

Namgung Seol hurriedly entered the closed training room.

The training room was extremely spacious.

The rectangular space, each side stretching about ten meters, was entirely made of stone, and in its center sat Lee Geumhan.

A sword lay across the crossed knees of Lee Geumhan, who was sitting in a full lotus position.

Before Namgung Seol entered, he had been intensely training, so his whole body was drenched in sweat.

Namgung Seol started with an apology.

“Geumhan! I’m sorry.”

“What’s the matter?”

“It seems that Pyo-wol is hiding nearby.”

She told Lee Geumhan everything related to Hwangbo Chiseung.

Lee Geumhan furrowed his brow.

“Yul San-yeong is the problem.”

“Many of the members who joined us recently are acting recklessly, relying on their reputation alone. That’s why we’re hearing cracks everywhere.”

“We need to find out the truth and take action as soon as possible.”

“I’ve already taken measures. The problem now is that there is no central figure in the Silver Lotus Society.”

“Are you suggesting that I end my seclusion?”

“If you have achieved some level of accomplishment, it would be good to show yourself to the public now. You’re the leader of the Silver Lotus Society, after all.”

“Let’s do that! I have achieved some results, after all.”

“I’m sorry for causing you unnecessary worry.”

“No, don’t worry. I was getting tired of the closed-door training anyway. And it’s time to really take on the Golden Heaven Society. Jang Mugeuk is probably having similar thoughts as me right now.”

Like Lee Geumhan, Jang Mugeuk had also not been seen last winter.

It was obvious, without needing to see with eyes or gather information, that Jang Mugeuk was also undergoing closed-door training like him.

Of course, it was beyond his expectations that Pyo-wol hadn’t left Poyang Lake and was still staying nearby.

Lee Geumhan murmured, 

“I wonder where that person was hiding.”

* * *

Hwangbo Chiseung looked around with a surprised expression.

The area was obviously blocked by a cliff, but when he followed Pyo-wol and Soma through the cliff, a peaceful fishing village appeared as if by magic.

“Is this an illusion?”

Looking back, the cliff was no longer visible, only a dense fog could be seen.

It seemed that the cliffs only looked like cliffs from the outside.

“Hah!”

It was astonishing no matter how he looked at it.

There was another who was surprised to see the fishing village.

“I never knew there was a place like this near Poyang Lake.”

She was Go Yeonhwa, the Silver Winged Fairy.

Go Yeonhwa had earned quite a bit of fame by siding with the Silver Lotus Society, but she had been disappointed by recent events, particularly by Yul San-yeong.

He had tried to persuade Hwangbo Chiseung, but when that failed, he changed his mind and attacked. Go Yeonhwa had tried to stop him, but by then it was too late.

Because of this, she did not actively participate in tracking Hwangbo Chiseung, which allowed her to survive the ambush by assassins.

Most importantly, she had come here of her own volition.

She was curious about the base of the assassins who had wiped out the elites of both the Golden Heaven Society and the Silver Lotus Society without a sound.

But she had never expected the assassins’ base to be such a tranquil fishing village.

From its appearance alone, it did not seem at all like a hideout for assassins.

The hideout she had imagined was somewhere gloomy and enclosed, not an open space like this.

No matter how she looked, it seemed too bright and open to be a place where assassins lived.

As soon as Pyo-wol and the accompanying assassins entered the village, they dispersed to their respective dwellings. 

Pyo-wol said to Hwangbo Chiseung,

“You come with me.”

“Yes, my lord!”

Hwangbo Chiseung replied and followed Pyo-wol.

Left suddenly alone, Go Yeonhwa could only purse her lips.

She wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what to say.

Just then, Soma approached her.

“You should come with me, sister.”

“With you?”

“Yes!”

Soma smiled brightly.

Go Yeonhwa couldn’t refuse his offer.

So she followed him.

Soma led her to the dock right in front of the fishing village.

At the dock, a man was casting a fishing line.

Go Yeonhwa thought the back of the man’s head looked strangely familiar.

She looked at the basket next to the man.

There wasn’t a single fish in the basket.

The man looked as if he been fishing for quite a while, so it was odd that there was not a single fish in his basket.

Go Yeonhwa thought it could be one of two things.

Either the man was really bad at fishing, or he wasn’t interested in fishing at all.

Soma asked the man,

“You didn’t catch even a single one?”

“Nothing’s biting.”

“It seems like brother has no talent for fishing.”

“It seems so.”

“By the way, I brought sister!”

“Really?”

Only then did the man put down his fishing rod and turned around.

The moment Go Yeonhwa saw the man’s face, she let out a gasp without realizing it.

“Ah!”

“Long time no see.”

“How come… How did Young Master Namgung end up here?”

Go Yeonhwa recognized the man’s identity at a glance.

The man fishing was none other than Namgung Wol.

Although she hadn’t spent much time with Namgung Wol since he left the Silver Lotus Society, she still remembered his face clearly.

“Weren’t you supposed to go back to the Heavenly Guardian Association?”

“That’s right.”

“So how come you’re here?”

“I came back.”

“What?”

“Just know that it just happened.”

Namgung Wol’s explanation left Go Yeonhwa with a confused expression.

Indeed, she was.

Her mind was like a tangled thread, unable to think clearly. 

“Explain so I can understand—”

“Shall we take a walk for a bit?”

“Eh? Yes!”

“Then let’s walk.”

Namgung Wol smiled and stood up from his seat.

He strolled through the village with Go Yeonhwa.

Go Yeonhwa still wore a dazed expression on her face.

Namgung Wol looked at her profile for a moment before speaking.

“I’ve been here for a while.”

“Is that so?”

“How’s the Silver Lotus Society doing these days?”


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