am-books Chapter 256:
Chapter 256:
spy
“if anyone is interested in external martial arts training, feel free to join us.”
when mu-jin called out to them, some pretended not to hear and scoffed.
“can i really join?”
others, who had initially turned away, quickly turned back with faces full of anticipation.
upon closer inspection, those who showed interest in mu-jin’s offer were mostly warriors affiliated with the murim alliance or from small and medium-sized sects.
disciples of the nine great sects or the five great families, whether aligned with the shaolin or neutral, seemed too prideful to step forward.
‘well, for today, this should be enough.’
mu-jin, who thought there was no need to forcefully include everyone, responded.
“yes. since we are all part of the qinglong unit now, there is no problem training together.”
about twenty warriors joined in with bright smiles at mu-jin’s answer.
every time mu-jin demonstrated a body exercise, they responded in loud voices.
“understood! instructor!!”
for some reason, the new members all called mu-jin ‘instructor,’ likely due to the zhongnan sect disciples.
* * *
the qinglong unit’s self-training continued for about an hour.
meanwhile, the qinglong unit leader, dok-go pae, was also continuously summoning members for individual interviews.
each interview took about fifteen minutes, and more than twenty people completed their interviews by the end of the day.
“since it’s the first day, we will conclude the training and interviews here.”
dok-go pae, who announced the disbandment, turned to mu-jin.
“everyone else can leave now, but could the deputy leader spare a moment?”
“is this for an interview?”
“along with the interview, i would like to brief you on the upcoming schedule.”
at dok-go pae’s explanation, mu-jin willingly followed him into the hall.
“......?”
however, there was already a guest in the hall when they entered.
‘were the interviews supposed to be conducted with three people?’
while mu-jin was contemplating this, an elderly man’s voice echoed with an unfamiliar incantation.
“om arh neuge jimi sabaha.”
“......?”
mu-jin was briefly confused about what was happening.
“argh!!”
suddenly, mu-jin grabbed his head and let out a pained groan.
after a moment of groaning,
“hmm?”
the elderly man, who had been chanting, let out a puzzled noise, and mu-jin thought,
‘shit. did it not work?’
in fact, mu-jin was not feeling any pain. he was merely pretending to be in agony.
in the first few seconds, he wondered if the old man was suffering from dementia, but soon he inferred the nature of the incantation.
it was undoubtedly a spell to control yin-yang gu.
the shinchun faction believed he had ingested yin-yang gu, and there were shinchun spies within the murim alliance.
instead of capturing and interrogating the old man and dok-go pae, mu-jin decided that playing along would be a better strategy.
he could avoid conflict with the entire murim alliance and potentially gather more information about shinchun.
however, if his cover was blown,
‘should i just subdue them first?’
while mu-jin was contemplating this, dok-go pae asked the old man,
“is there a problem?”
“it is said that the yin-yang gu in the upper dantian should resonate, but i feel no such resonance.”
“from the shaolin dragon’s reaction, it seems to be working to some extent. try once more.”
“understood.”
as the old man began chanting again, mu-jin quickly moved his internal energy.
not to subdue them, but to resonate his internal energy at the crown point, mimicking the operation of the golden turtle technique.
“hmm...?”
it seemed all the confirmation was done.
“very well. from now on, i will give you two tasks. first, you will report the information exchanged among the allied forces, including shaolin.”
mu-jin understood that they intended to use him as a spy.
‘this isn’t even being a double agent.’
he would have to act as if he obtained information here and relay some back to the alliance while also passing some alliance information back here.
if he reported no information at all, they might suspect his act.
when dok-go pae gave the second instruction, mu-jin almost failed to maintain his composure.
“and the second task is to kill namgung jin-cheon.”
“.......”
mu-jin barely managed to suppress the curse that almost slipped from his mouth.
‘these crazy bastards are planning to start a war.’
while mu-jin was contemplating this, dok-go pae added,
“not right away. i will arrange a match like today’s later. at that time, kill namgung jin-cheon under the guise of an accident.”
“understood.”
barely maintaining his brainwashed act, mu-jin responded, and dok-go pae nodded and said,
“until i give the signal, forget what happened today and continue with your usual behavior.”
following his command, mu-jin replied with a dazed look, “understood.”
after shaking his head a few times, he looked at them with clear eyes.
“who is that person?”
pretending to know nothing, mu-jin asked, and dok-go pae casually replied,
“he is just a servant who came on an errand. don’t mind him.”
as soon as dok-go pae finished speaking, the old man who had cast the spell stood up.
“then i will take my leave.”
after the old man left the hall, dok-go pae turned to mu-jin.
“do you have any preferences regarding the team assignments? any individuals you want to group with or keep apart?”
“grouping friends together for potential confrontations with the demonic cult seems wise, but it seems against the leader’s intentions. feel free to assign the teams as you see fit.”
pretending to know nothing, mu-jin replied, and dok-go pae nodded.
“hmm. as you said, the leader expects this four divine units initiative to promote harmony among the factions. indeed, you are a man worthy of the leader’s expectations. hahaha.”
laughing along as if he knew nothing, dok-go pae concluded by telling mu-jin to join him for the military meeting scheduled for the next day.
* * *
after returning to the shaolin’s residence, a kind of high-level meeting was held, centered around shaolin.
leaders from wudang, the jegal family, the tang clan, zhongnan, and the beggar sect gathered, and mu-jin participated in the meeting with master hyun-hyeon.
“i heard the news. congratulations on becoming the deputy leader of the qinglong unit, monk mu-jin.”
jegal jin-hee, the representative from the jegal family, said to mu-jin, who modestly replied,
“it just happened. i don’t know the situation in other units yet. could you fill me in?”
“monk mu-gung has become the deputy leader of the baihu unit, and i have become the deputy leader of the xuanwu unit. the deputy leader of the suzaku unit is il-hwi dojang of the jeomchang sect.”
as soon as her explanation ended, the others in the meeting shared their thoughts.
“it’s a shame we missed the deputy leader position in the suzaku unit.”
“hahaha. but securing three out of four deputy leader positions isn’t bad.”
however, mu-jin’s question about the units was not out of curiosity about the positions.
“today, the qinglong unit selected a deputy leader, and the leader conducted individual interviews. was it the same for the other units?”
“yes. was there a problem?”
jegal jin-hee’s response made mu-jin sigh lightly.
‘so dok-go pae wasn’t acting independently?’
if the interviews were prearranged, it meant the higher-ups were behind it.
instead of pondering alone, it seemed better to share thoughts with others.
“what i’m about to tell you must remain confidential among those present.”
mu-jin then shared the details about the yin-yang gu and how dok-go pae and the old man had cast a spell on him.
finally, he explained the order dok-go pae had given him.
“he ordered me to kill namgung jin-cheon in the next match.”
“.......”
“.......”
a chilling silence fell over the hall.