Chapter 88

Suddenly, a full-body prostration. The grand bow with all her strength left the room in shock, speechless.

The Female Taoist, who seemed poised to coldly and arrogantly list her demands, who could have guessed she would act like this?

The first to recover was Namgung Woo. Unlike the other three who were complete strangers, he had already grasped her existence to some extent, and his sense of responsibility as a representative, along with his superior mental strength from his high level of cultivation, helped him regain his composure.

In any case, Namgung Woo looked down at the Female Taoist, pondering what to ask first.

Unlike with Hangwi, he didn’t help her up immediately. He still hadn’t completely dispelled his suspicions about her.

“I’m not sure what to ask first…”

Namgung Woo, after a pause, avoided the awkwardness of the Female Taoist’s prostration by pulling a chair to the side and sitting down.

“I’ll listen. We have plenty of time.”

The survivor of the Namgung Family in Luoyang.

One might wonder if there’s any leisure to dawdle here when her life could be taken at any moment by the Dokgo Family’s assassination order, but what Jegal Chong told Namgung Woo wasn’t just about her survival.

‘For some reason, the Dokgo Family is turning a blind eye to that survivor.’

The reason was unknown. But Jegal Chong said that the survivor of the Namgung Family didn’t hide her origins, and although the Martial Alliance later took steps to conceal the information for her protection, it had already reached the Dokgo Family’s ears.

Yet, the Dokgo Family didn’t act. Even now, after considerable time had passed. So, at least for the time being, there was no need to worry.

“And first, lift your head. I don’t want to have a conversation with you in that state.”

“Yes!”

Whoosh!

As if Namgung Woo’s words were some divine command, the Female Taoist abruptly lifted her head. Her gesture was so violent it seemed her neck might snap.

Facing her directly, Namgung Woo slowly scrutinized her appearance.

‘Her eyes are unusual.’

At first glance, she didn’t seem much different from others, but to Namgung Woo, who could see through the Azure Tranquility Eyes, her peculiarity was evident.

‘She possesses the power to leap through space without any prior preparation, so it’s no surprise her eyes are special too.’

Though Paeng Ha-ryeong also had slightly slanted eyes, the Female Taoist’s eyes resembled those of a cat. Sharp, protruding eyes, a high nose bridge, and slightly thin lips.

Though different in style, she was a beauty who didn’t fall short compared to Paeng Ha-ryeong, who had subconsciously set the standard for beauty in Namgung Woo’s mind.

As Namgung Woo finished his thoughts on her appearance, the Female Taoist parted her lips.

“My name is Myorin.”

With her name revealed, the story of the Female Taoist, Myorin, began.

§

Myorin, as her attire suggested, was a Taoist. A Female Taoist, often called a Seonja.

Paeng Ha-ryeong constantly doubted whether such a frivolous woman could really be a Taoist, but it was true.

Myorin was a genuine Female Taoist. Moreover, she was the inheritor of a prestigious Taoist lineage with deep history and legitimacy.

To explain the depth of her lineage, one had to go back to the Southern Song Dynasty.

During the Southern Song period, Wang Chongyang founded the Quanzhen Sect by blending Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, inspired by Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism.

The Quanzhen Sect, which combined the teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism without discrimination, grew significantly by reducing mystical practices and establishing a systematic martial arts training regimen.

However, during the Yuan Dynasty, the Quanzhen Sect split into seven factions under Wang Chongyang’s disciples, the Quanzhen Seven. After a civil war over the sect’s legacy, they gradually declined, and the name Quanzhen Sect faded into history—except for the Huashan Sect, the final victor of the Quanzhen Sect’s internal strife.

The common belief is that the only surviving branch of the Quanzhen Sect is the famous Huashan Sect.

But there was another surviving faction.

“The Cheongjeong Sect, founded by Sun Bu’er, the only female disciple of Wang Chongyang, lost all its power, but its teachings have been passed down through a single successor. And the current inheritor is…”

“You?”

“Yes.”

The Quanzhen Sect, destroyed by infighting among its founder’s disciples.

To avoid the fate of their parent sect, the Cheongjeong Sect chose the path of single-successor inheritance, eliminating the risk of internal conflict. To survive, they reintroduced the mystical practices that Wang Chongyang had discarded.

Thus, the Cheongjeong Sect was reborn as a mysterious Taoist sect where a single successor mastered both mystical arts and martial arts.

“And…my master was a member of the Seekers in the Mist.”

“So, you asked me to save you because of that?”

“No. If it were just that, I wouldn’t have been worried. The Seekers in the Mist are so individualistic that even their leaders can’t properly manage their members. They probably didn’t even know I was my master’s disciple.”

“Then?”

At Namgung Woo’s question, Myorin, who had been answering promptly until now, hesitated for the first time.

Her hesitation stemmed from fear.

Speaking this might be an irreversible act of self-destruction, and the anxiety and worry blocked her words.

But Myorin had already called upon the tiger, Namgung Woo. Even if she tried to say it was nothing and asked him to leave, the tiger, once interested, wouldn’t turn away.

To escape the tiger’s sharp claws and teeth, one had no choice but to ride it.

Myorin clenched her teeth and steeled herself. There was no guarantee she’d survive by staying still, so she decided to gamble, leaving her fate to the heavens.

“I…helped Yi Ja-ryong.”

The atmosphere in the room, which had been loosening, instantly tensed again.

Myorin felt the gazes on her become more violent, perhaps even more so than before.

Honestly, if it were just the Yang Brothers or Paeng Ha-ryeong, she wouldn’t have cared. Even if they drew their swords, she was confident she could shake them off and escape.

But Namgung Woo was different. The moment he decided, her neck would declare independence from its owner.

Myorin realized she was walking a tightrope. A life-and-death balancing act.

“Explain in detail.”

Namgung Woo’s voice echoed coldly. His energy mixed into his voice, filling the room with his aura.

This wasn’t a show of strength. Namgung Woo’s action was to block Myorin’s escape routes. Unlike martial arts, which use internal energy, mystical arts manipulate external energies.

But with Namgung Woo’s energy permeating the air, her mystical arts wouldn’t work properly.

Yi Ja-ryong, Dongbang Hwa…fighting against some of the world’s top mystics, Namgung Woo had unknowingly learned how to combat them.

In the midst of this life-threatening tension, Myorin struggled to speak.

“I…received a request from Yi Ja-ryong. He asked me to place a white stone in a location he specified…in exchange, he promised to give me a lost manual our Cheongjeong Sect has been searching for.”

“You used your space-leaping mystical art for that?”

“Yes. Yi Ja-ryong must have sought me out for that ability. The power to leap through space meant I could complete the task without being noticed, in an extremely short time.”

Myorin recalled how Yi Ja-ryong had contacted her. Unlike her master, who had no fixed abode and wandered as she pleased, Yi Ja-ryong had precisely found her.

He clearly knew how to summon the inheritor of the Cheongjeong Sect.

“Perhaps Yi Ja-ryong joined the Seekers in the Mist from the beginning to target my master…he had no deep connections with other members of the Seekers in the Mist…he must have been after the power passed down in our lineage…for the day he would rebel in Beijing….”

Myorin’s words were more like a murmured analysis of the past rather than an explanation.

And her words carried significant persuasive power, leading Namgung Woo to similar thoughts.

“…Even so, the fact remains that you helped Yi Ja-ryong.”

“That’s right! Do you know what happened in Beijing? How many people died or were injured…what were you thinking…!”

“I didn’t know!”

Cutting off Paeng Ha-ryeong’s intense interrogation, Myorin shouted. Her clenched hands on her knees trembled.

“I didn’t know the white stone would be used for that. I thought summoning the Ghost Gate was nonsense. How could a human summon the Ghost Gate? I just thought it was for eavesdropping or surveillance. Since he was entrenched in the Imperial Family, I thought he was trying to gather dirt on high officials…….”

“Not knowing…that’s not something you can just brush off with a casual remark!”

The argument between Paeng Ha-ryeong and Myorin.

It was more of a one-sided attack by Paeng Ha-ryeong, but Myorin tried to defend herself, refuting Paeng Ha-ryeong’s words.

But Namgung Woo wasn’t particularly interested in the women’s quarrel.

Of course, Namgung Woo also felt sorrow for the deaths and injuries. He had human compassion for those dying before his eyes and anger towards the heinous individuals causing it.

But he didn’t particularly empathize with the anger over the rebellion against the Imperial Family or the suffering of people he had never met.

What confused Namgung Woo more was not whether Myorin truly knew about and assisted Yi Ja-ryong’s rebellion, but the fact that Yi Ja-ryong had joined the Seekers in the Mist to target the Cheongjeong Sect’s power.

Namgung Woo recalled the memories of Yi Ja-ryong he had glimpsed when he killed him with his own hands.

Yi Ja-ryong’s true name was Zhu Jianjie. The cousin of the current Emperor, Seonghwa Emperor, and the only son of the previous Emperor, Jingtai Emperor.

How did Zhu Jianjie, who was said to have died at the age of six, become the terrifying mystic Yi Ja-ryong?

When the Seekers in the Mist were implicated as Yi Ja-ryong’s affiliation, Namgung Woo assumed they had raised him. But Myorin testified that Yi Ja-ryong joined the Seekers in the Mist only after becoming a mystic.

If even the Seekers in the Mist weren’t the ones who raised Yi Ja-ryong…who exactly created him?