Chapter 258 – Time Flows Like Water (2)

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The first emotion felt upon entering Huayin County was desolation.

Huayin County boasted an enormous scale that spoke of its past glory. Large halls were visible everywhere, and the streets were wide and clean. But the streets were extremely quiet.

Though a city of this size should normally be filled with many people, such scenes were completely absent in Huayin County.

Silver Family Castle unpacked at a small inn within Huayin County. The two-story wooden inn was extremely shabby. Though there used to be many large and luxurious inns before, this was now the best among operating inns in Huayin County.

Jeok Yong-cheon said to his group:

“Rest here today and climb Mount Hua tomorrow. Everyone drink moderately and get good rest.”

“Yes!”

With their answers, the merchant caravan members dispersed to their rooms.

Jeok Yong-cheon looked at Moon Su-gyeol and Jo Won-myeong.

“You two can stay here as well.”

“Thank you, Hero Jeok.”

Moon Su-gyeol made a respectful gesture thanking him. Jo Won-myeong beside him also bowed.

“Thanks to you we could come here comfortably. We won’t forget Silver Family Castle’s consideration.”

“Not at all, Young Hero Jo. I too enjoyed traveling together.”

“Thank you.”

“Then rest well.”

“Yes!”

Jeok Yong-cheon waved his hand and walked away.

Regret that had been carefully hidden until now appeared on Jo Won-myeong’s face.

Eun So-cheong was nowhere to be seen.

After briefly dining together the first day, Eun So-cheong no longer showed herself. It was the same here. She had gotten off the carriage and gone to her room before Moon Su-gyeol and Jo Won-myeong.

Moon Su-gyeol placed his hand on Jo Won-myeong’s shoulder and said:

“Let’s go to our room first.”

“Yes! Uncle.”

The room assigned to the two was a double room and among the cleanest in the inn.

“Unexpectedly we’ve ended up coming to Huayin County.”

“Indeed.”

“Meeting Silver Family Castle unexpectedly, then becoming connected to Mount Hua Sect again. I really don’t understand how the world works.”

“I think the same.”

Jo Won-myeong answered while sitting in a chair.

Though the world simply knew them as an uncle-nephew pair with strong martial arts, they had another identity unknown to others.

Team Leader Yi of the Martial Alliance’s Dark Cloud.

That was Moon Su-gyeol’s true identity.

Dark Cloud was the Martial Alliance’s secret intelligence organization completely unknown to the world. Not just its existence but the number of members and their true identities were also top secret.

Even in the Martial Alliance, only a few leaders knew of Dark Cloud’s existence. Among them, only Alliance Leader Nam Cheon-san, Vice Leader Jo Ui-myeong, and Military Advisor Namgung Chang knew the details about Dark Cloud.

Moon Su-gyeol was known as a wandering hero roaming the world without a fixed home, but in reality he was regularly collecting and reporting information about the world to the Martial Alliance together with his nephew.

“Has there been any notable movement from Mount Hua Sect lately?”

“Nothing special has been reported.”

“Is that so?”

Moon Su-gyeol stroked his beard with his hand.

Jo Won-myeong silently watched Moon Su-gyeol. Though privately his uncle, officially Moon Su-gyeol was also his superior. He had to follow Moon Su-gyeol’s decisions.

Moon Su-gyeol muttered:

“I’m not sure if we’re needlessly making trouble, but I can’t help being curious.”

“I feel the same, Uncle. How about naturally gathering information while staying here?”

“Hmm!”

“If we hover around Miss Eun, answers will come.”

Jo Won-myeong revealed his true thoughts. At this, Moon Su-gyeol briefly furrowed his brow.

During the journey here, he could sufficiently notice that his nephew had developed feelings for Eun So-cheong.

It was natural for a young man in his prime to be interested in a beautiful woman. Moon Su-gyeol had no intention of blaming Jo Won-myeong for such things.

‘Brother always wanted that kid to start a family early. Miss Eun would surely please Brother too.’

Jo Won-myeong’s father Jo Hwan-cheon and Moon Su-gyeol were sworn brothers who met in the martial world. Though not blood relatives, the two shared closer bonds than real brothers.

Moon Su-gyeol nodded.

“Let’s do that. Since we’ve come this far, spending some time here wouldn’t be bad.”

“Thank you, Uncle.”

“But be careful in your actions. I hear Silver Family Castle’s leader cherishes Miss Eun tremendously. If you carelessly make her an enemy, the Martial Alliance could fall into great difficulty so be especially cautious.”

Silver Family Castle was one of the Martial Alliance’s greatest supporters. The enormous funds they provided were a reliable strength for the Martial Alliance.

“Am I a child? Don’t worry, Uncle.”

Jo Won-myeong beat his chest and boasted confidently. At this, Moon Su-gyeol smiled with satisfaction.

Opening the window revealed Mount Hua in the distance.

Eun So-cheong muttered while looking at the scenery visible through the window.

“Beautiful. Mount Hua.”

“Just considering its unyielding spirit, it could be called the greatest under heaven.”

Jeok Yong-cheon who had opened the door and entered answered thus.

Eun So-cheong smiled and nodded.

“Its spirit certainly seems the greatest under heaven. How about them?”

“They’ve gone to their rooms.”

“Were there any requests or words?”

“None.”

“That’s good. I was worried they might be bothersome.”

“Who would dare bother Young Lady? You needn’t worry about such things. Even if there were, this Jeok Yong-cheon wouldn’t stand for it.”

“Thank you, Hall Master Jeok.”

“You’re too kind, Young Lady.”

“I wish tomorrow would come quickly.”

Eun So-cheong’s face was full of anticipation.

It had taken a full three years to come here.

It was by no means a short time.

The girl who had been just young had grown enough to exude a woman’s fragrance, and the dark clouds that had covered the world had somewhat thinned.

***

Moon Su-gyeol left the inn early in the morning.

His nephew Jo Won-myeong was still sound asleep. Moon Su-gyeol didn’t bother waking the sleeping Jo Won-myeong.

Morning walks were his old habit. The habit of organizing his complicated thoughts while looking around the empty morning streets and planning the day’s tasks had developed after becoming Dark Cloud’s team leader.

Dark Cloud was scattered throughout the world collecting information that could help the Martial Alliance. Though Dark Cloud launched three years ago had little role initially, now it had somewhat established itself and was efficiently collecting information.

Though Dark Cloud was scattered throughout the world collecting information, activities in Shaanxi Province alone were particularly low. They only collected ordinary level information and maintained almost indifferent observation regarding Zhongnan Sect and Mount Hua Sect, the two pillars of Shaanxi’s martial world.

Moon Su-gyeol shook his head at these various complex thoughts.

‘Making judgments is for the Military Advisor and leadership. My job is just collecting information.’

Since they unexpectedly came to Huayin County where Mount Hua is, he just had to collect whatever information he could.

Moon Su-gyeol organized his thoughts thus and walked.

As he had almost circled Huayin County once, day broke and people began coming out and moving on the streets one by one.

It was time to return to the inn. Just as Moon Su-gyeol’s footsteps turned toward the inn.

Suddenly he stopped walking.

His gaze was fixed on one spot.

A woman in gray clothes entered Moon Su-gyeol’s view. The woman’s attire was very plain. But even shabby clothes couldn’t hide her curved figure.

She wore a fairly large bamboo hat and covered her face with white cotton gauze. But even so, she couldn’t completely hide her inherent beauty.

Moon Su-gyeol couldn’t take his eyes off the gray-clothed woman for a while. It wasn’t simply because he was captivated by the woman’s beauty.

‘It doesn’t match.’

She didn’t match this street.

People who live in one place for a long time become part of the scenery. Similarly, people who lived in Huayin County long develop an atmosphere matching Huayin County.

People who don’t match the street’s atmosphere are mostly outsiders. Normally her being an outsider wouldn’t be a problem at all.

She could come to Huayin County unexpectedly like Moon Su-gyeol, or come on merchant business like Eun So-cheong. Nevertheless, the woman’s appearance was somehow alien. So Moon Su-gyeol couldn’t take his eyes off her even more.

That’s when it happened. As if sensing Moon Su-gyeol’s gaze, the woman turned her head to look at him. After confirming Moon Su-gyeol, the woman walked between the crowds.

Moon Su-gyeol immediately ran to where the woman had been but she had disappeared without a trace.

“Hmm!”

A bewildered expression appeared on Moon Su-gyeol’s face.

Though there were many people on the street, disappearing from his sight so instantly was by no means an easy feat.

‘Something’s there.’

His instinct was whispering.

Over the past three years, he had met and monitored countless people as a Dark Cloud member. One lesson learned from that was to never ignore his instincts.

Moon Su-gyeol looked at the street where the woman had disappeared. Behind the street where people came and went, the massive form of Mount Hua was visible like a folding screen.

Moon Su-gyeol immediately returned to the inn and woke Jo Won-myeong.

“Get up.”

“Uncle?”

“Quickly get ready.”

“What?”

“We’re going to Mount Hua too.”

“What?”

“I’ll explain the details later. Get up quickly.”

“Alright.”

Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Jo Won-myeong quickly got up from bed. Meanwhile Moon Su-gyeol looked at Mount Hua.

‘She’s definitely connected to Mount Hua Sect.’

Whatever the reason, Moon Su-gyeol thought it was worth noting if connected to Mount Hua Sect.

Just then commotion arose outside the inn. Looking out the window, Silver Family Castle’s merchant caravan was busily moving. They were preparing to leave the inn, connecting horses to carriages and wagons and checking luggage.

Eun So-cheong could be seen getting into a carriage. Just before boarding the carriage, Eun So-cheong raised her head and looked up at the inn. Then her eyes met Moon Su-gyeol’s.

Eun So-cheong showed a faint smile and slightly bowed her head. Moon Su-gyeol also nodded in acknowledgment.

Eun So-cheong gave orders to the merchant caravan.

“If everything is loaded, let’s depart.”

“Yes!”

With energetic answers, the merchant caravan departed.

Though Mount Hua looked so large it seemed right next door, they had to travel quite far along the main road even from Huayin County. That’s why they had to hurry.

Eun So-cheong was resting her chin on her hand while slightly leaning her head out the window. Huayin County’s scenery quickly passed before her.

Now quite many people were coming and going on the streets. Eun So-cheong watched the busily moving people with deep eyes.

Thud!

The carriage shook greatly while turning a street corner. Eun So-cheong’s body jerked along with it.

That’s when it happened.

Silently the carriage door opened and someone entered.

Eun So-cheong’s eyes widened in surprise at the stranger’s appearance. But she didn’t make the mistake of screaming.

Dozens of merchant caravan members were outside. Especially caravan head Jeok Yong-cheon was a renowned master in the martial world. The fact that even such a Jeok Yong-cheon couldn’t detect the woman’s appearance meant she was a master exceeding Jeok Yong-cheon’s level.

Instead of screaming, Eun So-cheong calmly looked at the person who had intruded into the carriage.

The gray-clothed visitor wearing a bamboo hat. Though her face couldn’t be confirmed due to the cotton gauze, her curved figure was enough to guess she was a woman.

“You must have very urgent business? Sister. To enter without even knocking.”

“I apologize for that, Miss Eun.”

“You know me?”

“I heard Silver Family Castle has a beautiful little fox called Little Fox. Is that right?”

“Who are you, Sister?”

Eun So-cheong’s pupils wavered slightly.

Little Fox was Eun So-cheong’s title. She had gained such a title after successfully completing several major deals for Silver Family Castle.

In other words, the other party accurately knew and had come looking for her.

The gauze-masked woman said:

“No need to be so wary. I just want to catch a ride to Mount Hua in your carriage. I won’t cause any harm to Miss Eun.”

“Mount Hua?”