Chapter 58

Despite them being uninvited guests, Mu-hwa brought out tea, trying to treat them as guests. Then, while watching Dang Ran-yeong's reaction, she requested,

"I'm sorry, but you must leave tomorrow without fail."

Dang Ran-yeong ignored her, took a sip of tea, then put down the cup with a frown and asked. Even if it wasn't expensive tea, Cheong-ra felt embarrassed by how rudely he showed his displeasure. Was it necessary to treat the young nun like this after forcing their way into the outer court?

"Where have the Sect Leader and the elders all gone?"

"The nuns had some business and are temporarily away."

Naturally, no one present believed Mu-hwa's words. It was too strange that not a single adult, let alone the elders, appeared when uninvited guests had rudely climbed over the gate in the middle of the night.

However, as Mu-hwa had been wary and scared of Dang Ran-yeong's threatening behavior from the start and kept her mouth shut, Hwan-hong stepped in instead.

"I am acquainted with Nun Hye-myeong. Nun Hye-myeong should have a position that prevents her from leaving the inner court, right? Is she not present either?"

"You know the Abbess?"

"Yes, do you remember? I visited the Hengshan Sect last year."

"Ah! Now that you mention it, your face does seem familiar."

Young and naive, Mu-hwa seemed to lower her guard a bit at Hwan-hong's claim of knowing the elder. Cheong-ra inwardly clicked his tongue. How did all the sect's adults end up being away? They had probably been holding out until now, using the excuse of closing their doors and locking up. But how long could that last?

Perhaps because it had been difficult to hold out alone until now, or because of her youth, Mu-hwa hesitated but finally opened her mouth.

"Actually, the truth is..."

Mu-hwa took a deep breath, then prostrated herself and cried out,

"I'm sorry to say this, but please help us for the sake of your connection with Nun Hye-myeong. I really don't know what to do anymore."

"Don't worry and just tell us. What exactly happened to the Hengshan Sect?"

As Hwan-hong gently took Mu-hwa's hand and spoke, tears welled up in the young eyes. Shedding tears sorrowfully, Mu-hwa began to explain what had happened.

"It was two months ago..."

Two months ago, several young disciples of the Hengshan Sect disappeared all at once. The relationship between master and disciple is often compared to that of parent and child, and this tendency was even stronger in the Hengshan Sect. This was because they were young disciples raised almost from infancy in the deep mountains, far from the secular world. When these precious children disappeared, the nuns fell into deep despair as if they had lost their own children.

Then, a month and a half later, a nun from the Hengshan Sect who had gone out to search for the children returned with an excited face and shouted,

'Sisters! I've found the children! We need as many hands as possible, so please follow me quickly!'

At the news of finding the lost children, the nuns of the Hengshan Sect immediately rushed out. And they didn't return until the sun had set that day. Others who went out to search for them also mysteriously disappeared and didn't return.

The few remaining elders of the Hengshan Sect suddenly began to fall ill as if struck by an epidemic, and then lost consciousness. The last elder to remain conscious barely mustered the strength to leave a warning for the young disciples.

'You must never go outside the sect. Do you understand?'

Following this, the disciples locked the doors, and as communication was cut off, rumors spread in the area around Mount Heng that the Hengshan Sect had closed its doors.

However, there was a limit to how long they could hold out like this. As time passed, the food stored in the sect gradually ran out. Just as Mu-hwa, the eldest, was at her wit's end about what to do, strange visitors came pounding on the gate in the middle of the night.

'What on earth could have happened to the Hengshan Sect...'

Cheong-ra listened intently to Mu-hwa's story with a serious face. Imagining if this had happened to Moon Lake Sect, he felt an indescribable dread, and at the same time, a desire to quickly uncover the mastermind behind this.

'That person must surely know who's behind all this.'

Looking at Dang Ran-yeong, his face was completely indifferent. It was clear that, as always, even if he asked, he wouldn't get an answer. A mastermind that hates spirit beasts, Buddhists, and Taoists... Just from these characteristics, it felt like an extremely vicious and hateful group.

"Nun Mu-hwa, you must have gone through a lot of hardship."

Nam Gang-ryong, who had been quietly listening, spoke in a kind voice to the young nun. Perhaps because the comfort from a fellow Buddhist was different despite him being a defrocked monk, Mu-hwa barely held back her tears and expressed her gratitude. Hwan-hong asked Mu-hwa,

"Young Master Jang here has deep knowledge of medicine. May I check the condition of the nuns and report back to Young Master Jang?"

"Yes, since it's the inner court, if only Devotee Gong comes, that would be possible... Please, I beg you."

Having obtained permission, Hwan-hong stood up and left the room with Mu-hwa. Nam Gang-ryong sighed softly and muttered,

"The young nun is going through such difficult trials. I'd like to help as much as this humble monk can."

"I hope the missing people are safe."

Cheong-ra murmured worriedly. Nam Gang-ryong, who had been chanting "Amitabha," glanced at Dang Ran-yeong, who had been strangely silent until now. Noticing the gaze, Dang Ran-yeong spoke indifferently,

"What are you looking at, you bald monk?"

"Hehe, I was just looking, Lord Owner Dang. A person's character is often reflected in their face and eyes, so I was wondering what your character might be like right now."

Suddenly, Nam Gang-ryong picked a fight with Dang Ran-yeong, who had been quiet. Cheong-ra looked on in confusion, wondering why he was doing this even though Dang Ran-yeong had been harsh to Mu-hwa. Dang Ran-yeong narrowed his eyes.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"How could that be? Even this humble monk values his life..."

Nam Gang-ryong, who had started the quarrel, seemed rather relieved. Cheong-ra couldn't tell whether the two were on good terms or not. Hwan-hong returned alone about half an hour later.

"Lord Owner, here it is."

Hwan-hong handed over a small ceramic bottle. Dang Ran-yeong took the bottle and pulled out a small pouch from his sleeve. Inside were pieces of cloth in various colors.

"How did it look on the surface?"

"They were unconscious with very weak pulses, their bodies limp, and a significant amount of their inner energy depleted. It seems to be a type of inner energy-disrupting poison."

As Dang Ran-yeong appeared about to do something, Cheong-ra observed intently, filled with curiosity and interest. Despite his fairly diverse experiences in the Central Plains, this was actually the first time he had someone from the Tang Clan so close. While each family had their own secret martial arts, the Tang Clan was particularly unique and very secretive.

Dang Ran-yeong laid out the cloth pieces on the floor, then tilted the small ceramic bottle over them. Red blood dripped one drop at a time, soaking the cloth pieces. Most turned dark red, but one among them took on a purple hue. After bringing the mouth of the small ceramic bottle close to his nose to smell it, he calmly confirmed,

"It's Lost Soul Powder mixed with Immortal's Lung."

Lost Soul Powder was a type of poison that caused unconsciousness, and Immortal's Lung was a kind of inner energy-disrupting poison. Inner energy-disrupting poisons were the most guarded against by martial artists as they prevented the use of inner energy.

First, they kidnapped the young disciples, then used them as bait to eliminate key figures. Even the remaining martial artists were incapacitated with poison, so it was clearly an attempt to thoroughly destroy the Hengshan Sect. Cheong-ra's expression hardened.

'Not content with spreading drugs in the Central Plains, they're hunting spirit beasts and trying to eliminate the Hengshan Sect.'

What purpose could they have for doing such things? At this point, he thought that such ominous events might be happening not only to Moon Lake Sect and Hengshan Sect but to other sects as well. Shouldn't this be reported to the Martial Arts Alliance?

After putting the small ceramic bottle in his sleeve, Dang Ran-yeong immediately gave orders to Hwan-hong and Nam Gang-ryong.

"Hwan-hong. Investigate further for traces of the disappeared spirit beast. Nam Gang-ryong. Take a look around this area."

As the two close associates left after receiving their orders, only Cheong-ra and Dang Ran-yeong remained in the room. Cheong-ra, whose after-effects had somewhat subsided, stared at Dang Ran-yeong.

"Young Master Dang, what about me?"

If he had brought him all the way to Mount Heng, shouldn't he give him something to do?

However, Dang Ran-yeong just stared intently at the floor with his dark eyes, as if lost in thought, without giving much of a response.

By now, Cheong-ra wasn't even angry at such disregard and just accepted it. As he was unpacking his luggage and neatly folding his wrinkled clothes, Dang Ran-yeong asked,

"Doesn't Young Master Baek Ri get tired of being so meticulous, always sweeping and cleaning?"

Just as the journey to Mount Heng had allowed Cheong-ra to learn about Dang Ran-yeong's lazy and indolent nature, it had also given Dang Ran-yeong more than enough time to become familiar with the other's habits. Cheong-ra, whose nerves were already on edge from enduring the insect hell today, replied without even looking at him,

"Being clean and tidy is much better than being dirty and messy."

But for some reason, Dang Ran-yeong seemed displeased and threw a coin at the luggage Cheong-ra was organizing. True to his Tang Clan heritage, he could use anything in his hand as a weapon, and in an instant, the luggage was in complete disarray. Cheong-ra turned his head abruptly, his face incredulous.

"When I ask you something, look at me when you answer."

Dang Ran-yeong said with a smile, but now his eyes didn't look very friendly. Cheong-ra belatedly realized that he had irritated the other.