Chapter 123

The martial arts hall where the banquet was being held was as bright as day, with lanterns hung all around even at night. Cheong-ra stopped his lightness skill and slowly approached on foot. The gatekeeper guarding the main entrance smiled and greeted him upon seeing his face.

"Are you a finalist? Please show me your finalist badge."

"Here it is."

The gatekeeper carefully checked the finalist badge and nodded, letting him pass. Cheong-ra entered with light steps.

'...I was worried the clothes Dang Ran-yeong gave me might stand out too much, but I would have stood out more if I hadn't worn them.'

Indeed, as he entered the building, he found the place filled with clothes of such vivid colors that it hurt his eyes. Everyone had dressed up as lavishly as they could. There were beautiful women in red and blue everywhere. A servant approached Cheong-ra, who was standing there blankly taking in the scene, and asked,

"Excuse me, who might you be?"

"Baek Ri Cheong-ra."

"Ah! You're Moonlight Flashing Sword. Please come this way. I'll show you to your seat in the banquet hall later."

The servant politely guided Cheong-ra. Following him, a luxuriously decorated banquet hall appeared. Today's banquet had invited not only the Phoenix-Qilin-Iris-Orchid Contest finalists but also the most influential figures in Beijing. Perhaps because of this, it was spacious enough to seat hundreds of people.

The Golden Flower Merchant Group seemed to be quite wealthy. The amount of food on the tables looked like it could feed everyone in Beijing and still have leftovers. The servant walked for a while before guiding Cheong-ra to a seat close to the head table.

"This is your seat. If you get confused about your place, you can check this number tag."

Indeed, there was a number tag with a single character placed at Cheong-ra's seat.

"Young Master Baek, you are to sit in the ninth seat of Heaven (☰ - Qian - Northwest). All seats are assigned, so please remember not to change them."

"I understand."

The servant explained various details, including the start time of the banquet and precautions. After the servant left, Cheong-ra looked around. Using his enhanced vision, he examined the number tags on tables in other distant areas one by one. He saw Lake (☱ - Dui - West), Fire (☲ - Li - South), and Thunder (☳ - Zhen - East). He could guess what was written on the rest without checking.

'So they've arranged the seats according to the Eight Trigrams...'

Was this banquet hall itself part of the brainwashing formation? If so, Cheong-ra's task would be to find and eliminate something arranged according to the rules of the Eight Trigrams here. He touched the Poison-Resisting Bead in his bosom. It was something he had managed to bring here because Dang Ran-yeong hadn't taken it away even when he was confined. At least he wouldn't fall victim to poison.

Cheong-ra got up from his seat and moved. While pretending to look around the banquet hall, he carefully examined the interior, but saw nothing arranged according to the Eight Trigrams rules except for the tables. Wondering if it might be outside the banquet hall, Cheong-ra went out of the building, suppressing his presence as much as possible.

Although not as good as Dang Ran-yeong, he was confident in his concealment skills to some extent. There were skilled martial artists stationed here and there outside the banquet hall, but none of them noticed Cheong-ra slipping by under the shadows of the trees.

He understood why this plan was dangerous. As if to show how important the Phoenix-Qilin-Iris-Orchid Contest was to the Blood Cult, there were countless martial artists spread all around. Yet, the participants were all enjoying the banquet, chatting and laughing without knowing anything.

'A master like Go Yeoryeong the Phoenix Sword would surely have noticed.'

If an expert of that caliber were to help, Cheong-ra's task would be much easier. But not knowing the other well, it could create unpredictable variables, so Cheong-ra abandoned his lingering thoughts about Go Yeo-ryeong.

He circled the building to check, but found nothing that seemed uniquely arranged. Well, if it had been in an easily visible place, Dang Ran-yeong wouldn't have needed to make Cheong-ra participate in the contest in the first place. Having no choice, Cheong-ra returned to the banquet hall and began exploring the building's interior. Soon, he realized something strange.

'There are no windows.'

Wasn't it too odd that this large three-story pavilion had only one entrance and no windows? Moreover, two burly gatekeepers were blocking the only entrance, carefully checking finalist badges every time someone entered or left. This structure made it impossible for outsiders to sneak in.

'And it's not easy to escape if something happens.'

According to what the servant had told him earlier, there was about half an hour left until the banquet started. Could he destroy the brainwashing formation within that time? What if he himself fell victim to it? After being confined by Dang Ran-yeong, Cheong-ra had personally realized how terrifying formations could be.

'It would be good if I had the prayer beads Monk Gang-ryong gave me.'

Dang Ran-yeong had left the Poison-Resisting Bead but had taken away Nam Gang-ryong's prayer beads and Wi Je-ho's jade token. Because of this, the only reliable item Cheong-ra had now was the Poison-Resisting Bead. Thinking that he might fall victim to the brainwashing formation if things didn't go well, he felt tension rising.

Steeling himself to be prepared for anything that might happen, Cheong-ra started examining from the top floor. Beautiful women were walking around laughing or chatting here and there. In other words, there was nothing special.

Still, as he was carefully looking around just in case, Cheong-ra paused and looked down at the floor. He glanced around and then, pretending to walk casually, stepped firmly on the same spot again. This time, he heard a faint hollow sound.

'It seems to be empty...'

He walked around searching for hollow spaces. Tung, tung, tung... Where Cheong-ra's feet stopped, guided by the faint sounds, was a wall in a secluded corner. He could sense a presence inside the wall. It clearly wasn't a presence from the first floor.

'...One person.'

Sensing the presence moving away, Cheong-ra confirmed that no one was around and then felt the wall. As he tapped it, he found a spot that sounded strange. Looking closely at that part, he saw a faint line-like gap. When he pushed hard on that gap, there was a clicking sound. Checking where the sound came from, he found that the wall under a nearby table had opened.

Cheong-ra quickly entered, and the opened wall closed behind him. As expected, there was a secret passage inside. The owner of the presence, who had been walking without thinking, paused upon hearing the sound of the secret door closing with a clatter.

"What's that sound..."

By the time he turned around, Cheong-ra's fingertips were already striking his acupoint. The man, his acupoint pressed, stiffened and collapsed on the spot. Cheong-ra searched the wide-eyed man's clothes. What came out was a familiar wooden mask. It was an item proving this person was a Blood Cult member.

"Looks like I've come to the right place."

Smiling faintly, Cheong-ra raised his hand and struck the man's solar plexus. Then he carried the Blood Cult member who had fainted without even being able to groan. A moment later, Cheong-ra returned, now perfectly dressed in the same outfit as the man, with no trace of his previous lavish clothes. He moved nonchalantly with his face hidden behind the mask.

As he walked on, he encountered another Blood Cult member. However, after glancing at the wooden mask Cheong-ra was wearing, the Blood Cult member passed by without any suspicion. Cheong-ra's lips curled into a smile as things seemed to be going smoothly.

'It seems the Golden Flower Merchant Group renovated the building and created secret spaces.'

Although the ceiling of the secret passage was low, it was high enough for a person to walk around with their back straight. As Cheong-ra moved around, opening only the rooms connected to the passage where he sensed no presence, he found weapons and what looked like ritual tools of unknown use. As he memorized the somewhat complex passages, he thought of Dang Ran-yeong.

'Dang Ran-yeong has a poor sense of direction, so he would surely have wandered around the same spot in a place like this.'

The corners of his mouth lifted at the mere imagination, but soon dropped. By now, Dang Ran-yeong would have returned and noticed Cheong-ra's absence. He was the one who had been confined, yet he didn't know why he felt as if he had betrayed Dang Ran-yeong.

Above all, Cheong-ra feared Dang Ran-yeong's retribution. As he was thinking that he should head to the Martial Arts Alliance immediately after finishing his task here, a door caught his eye. It looked ordinary at first glance, but what made Cheong-ra unable to just pass by was the mark engraved on the door.

'Iron...'

Cheong-ra touched the wooden mask he was wearing. Iron mask, red mask, white mask. If that indicated rank, did it mean only Blood Cult members wearing iron masks could enter this place? Because something important was inside? Cheong-ra couldn't help but be suspicious because two skilled martial artists were guarding that door with fierce eyes.