If people come from the government, things will be resolved more easily than now. But if the prisoner who has been silent all along says that the demonic sect was actually involved in this incident, it becomes irreversible.

‘Just being associated with the demonic sect would make them dislike us. No, it would be beyond mere dislike.’

Although the demonic sect is not very active in the martial arts world, they are a group that causes problems just by existing. Even ordinary people unrelated to the martial arts world would be in trouble if involved with them.

It was because those who should know the reality that their power cannot be ignored all knew it.

Of course, according to Ha Heun, the sorcerer himself claimed to have no connection with the Black Sky Gate, but……

‘I cannot fully trust the words of an evil person who harms children.’

It was not that he distrusted Ha Heun’s words, but that he suspected the sorcerer might have lied to Ha Heun.

Of course, by that logic, whether the sorcerer was actually part of the demonic sect in the first place was also something to reconsider. Still, he could not take the risk that it might be true, even if it was a slim possibility.

Yu Sung continued his thoughts, still failing to realize that his nephew was a bit too old to be called a child.

‘I wonder if he’s still blaming himself for letting that man escape, being the tender-hearted person he is.’

Everyone in Hwasan knew that while his talent was incredibly outstanding, at the same time he had a personality that was not at all fitting for a martial artist despite that talent. Remembering his gloomy expression with dried blood still on him, Yu Sung sighed again. Hearing that sound, the clan leader spoke.

“You didn’t come here expecting this kind of situation, I feel newly apologetic.”

Yu Sung, finally breaking out of his own thoughts, replied with a start.

“No, no. There’s no need to feel that way. Rather, I feel regretful that I don’t seem to be of much help to you, clan leader.”

“What do you mean you haven’t been helpful… If the sect masters weren’t here, we wouldn’t have been able to properly defend against the attack, nor would we have been able to attempt to grasp the situation by capturing the intruder. Moreover, all my children have now regained consciousness. I can’t tell you how relieved I am just for that.”

The clan leader, faintly smiling, certainly seemed more stable than a few days ago. Yu Sung nodded and continued the conversation.

“Come to think of it, I heard that following your other children, your eldest son, young master Sung, has also woken up. How is the young master’s health?”

“They say there are no problems whatsoever. I heard he’s just weakened, but will regain his health soon if he rests well.”

“Amitabha. That’s fortunate.”

“Yes. Above all, actually, that boy……”

As Yu Sung was quietly listening to the clan leader’s continued words, he suddenly paused.

“Hm?”

As Yu Sung tensed his body, the clan leader also stopped speaking and widened his eyes. Yu Sung gestured with his eyes for the clan leader to be quiet, then focused his senses on the presence outside the door.

From the corridor outside the room where they were, someone’s presence was approaching.

‘…Not a martial artist?’

The tension was momentary. Yu Sung realized that the approaching footsteps were not those of someone properly trained in martial arts, and tilted his head in momentary confusion.

Although they seemed to be trying hard to muffle their footsteps, it was already long since Yu Sung had detected them. The clan leader beside him still seemed unaware of what was happening, but he couldn’t fool Yu Sung.

‘Then who could it be?’

It seemed possible to subdue them without drawing his sword, but Yu Sung placed his hand on the sword hilt just in case. Then he approached the doorway, sticking to the wall so his shadow wouldn’t be visible in the corridor.

The presence kept getting closer and then……

‘The next room?’

It stopped in front of the room where the prisoner was confined.

‘A non-martial artist sneaking in to rescue that prisoner? Were there more collaborators within the merchant group?’

By this point, the clan leader had also noticed the presence outside. Yu Sung briefly looked at the clan leader, whose expression had turned serious as if he had the same doubts, and grabbed the door handle. He intended to rush out and catch them in the act the moment the person outside stepped into the next room.

But his plan did not proceed as he thought.

The unknown person outside opening the door to the next room was as expected, but… immediately after, the prisoner who had been silent for two days uttered words he could never have imagined.

“Young master Sung! You’ve finally come!”

Yu Sung, who was about to rush out, stopped his movement and turned around. The clan leader met his eyes with a pale face.

If their ears were not mistaken, he had clearly said “young master Sung”.

It meant that the person who had stealthily approached the prisoner’s room so late at night was one of the clan leader’s two sons. Moreover, he even greeted him right away as if they already knew each other’s faces?

The room where the prisoner was held had its windows blocked and was surrounded by wooden partitions on all sides to prevent sound from leaking in and out.

Perhaps because of this, the prisoner seemed unaware that Yu Sung and the clan leader had actually been staying in the next room all along, and began to quickly pour out words.

“You’ve come when no one else is around! There’s so much I need to explain right away! How am I supposed to understand this situation……”

“Shut up!”

Though trying to lower his voice, a shout that couldn’t hide his anger was heard. It seemed the person who entered the room hadn’t fully closed the door, as the sound echoed through the interior of the building along the corridor walls.

Bang!

“Aagh!”

A heavy thud followed as if the chair the prisoner was tied to had been kicked over, but Yu Sung and the clan leader were still silent, their gazes locked.

More precisely, Yu Sung was examining the clan leader’s expression with a serious look, while the clan leader was at a loss for what to do.

“It can’t be.”

The clan leader barely managed to hold onto his senses, which were about to fade in this unbelievable situation. As a father, there was no way he couldn’t recognize his son’s voice.

The one who had intruded into the next room was his… eldest son.

It seemed what had rolled on the floor was indeed the prisoner, as the unfamiliar voice shouted angrily,

“What do you think you’re doing!”

“That’s my line! You put a curse even on me and then attack the household as you please? How dare you handle things like this!”

The prisoner and the eldest son, unaware of the people in the next room, began to argue in equally excited tones.

“What? Curse?”

“Yes! Wasn’t it you Black Sky Gate people who knocked me unconscious and stuffed me in a secluded storage room in the compound!”

“What are you talking about? You, unconscious? You sent us a letter telling us to attack the estate right away, and now you’re telling such lies?”

“Letter? When did I ever send such a thing!”

They seemed unaware that they were gradually raising their voices.

The clan leader staggered towards the doorway where Yu Sung was standing, with a bewildered expression. Yu Sung, while concentrating on the conversation in the next room, worried about the clan leader’s poor complexion and grabbed his arm to support him.

“Hick, you’re going to keep this act up to the end? We definitely received a letter! Didn’t you say that the curse didn’t seem to work properly on your younger brother, so we should rather kill him quickly through an ambush!”

However, even Yu Sung couldn’t help but be surprised at that statement. He reflexively glanced at the clan leader’s reaction.

“What? What are you saying!”

“You emphasized so strongly that we must attack within a few hours that we hurriedly gathered people! You said you’d take care of the warriors in the household yourself, but that was a lie too! You said there would be three or four Hwasan disciples but they’d all be young second-generation disciples easy to kill for fame? Were they ordinary and young second-generation disciples?”

“I never sent such a letter, what are you talking about! I’ve been saying all along, I was unconscious from a curse! Are you saying that wasn’t your doing?”

“Ha! You’re going to keep insisting on that? Now I get it!”

The prisoner snorted and spoke in an angry voice.

“You’re the one who hired people separately after making a deal with us! Your father and the Hwasan disciples who were trying to interrogate me said so. Some sorcerer fought against Hwasan’s second-generation disciples, fled while revealing our Black Sky Gate! I don’t know if that person was really a sorcerer or not, but it’s clear now that you were the one who ordered him to do so! That’s why you urged the attack so urgently.”

“I did no such thing, what nonsense are you spouting?”

“Nonsense? I won’t be fooled anymore. I was stupid to have believed in you until now when you didn’t show your face for two days. You coming to me like this now must be to create some kind of evidence! Do you think I, the Black Sky Gate, will be discarded like this? Whatever it is, things won’t go as you wish!”

The prisoner really seemed to have no connection to the demonic sect’s sorcerer, and the eldest son also appeared to know nothing about that sorcerer, and there seemed to be some misunderstanding between the two of them, but their confusion was not important now.

‘He’s not denying or saying it’s a misunderstanding about trying to kill his younger brother.’

Thinking calmly, Yu Sung slowly released the clan leader’s arm.

The clan leader also seemed to have already realized what Yu Sung had guessed, as his face had turned pale. After watching him for a moment, Yu Sung slowly went out into the corridor and headed for the next room. The silhouettes of the two fighting people were visible, having forgotten to close the door.

Yu Sung deliberately made his presence known.

“…The mouth that stayed shut all along has opened, so now there must be much to say.”

At that murmur, the eldest son who turned around instantly turned pale. The prisoner who had been shouting with his own mouth that he belonged to the Black Sky Gate also seemed momentarily flustered, but after glancing at the eldest son beside him, he shouted as if in desperation.

“That’s right! All the letters I exchanged with this guy are kept in our Black Sky Gate’s secret house. Even the contract is still there!”

“W-wait!”

“This guy asked to kill his younger brother…! Mmph, mmph!”

The eldest son rushed over to cover the prisoner’s mouth, but essentially all that needed to be said had already been said.

Yu Sung slowly sensed the clan leader’s presence approaching behind him. The surroundings, which had suddenly gone quiet, were engulfed in a chilly and heavy atmosphere.

From that air, Yu Sung could tell how this incident would be concluded.