In that instant, the surroundings fell silent.Just then, footsteps came from the stairs.“Young Clan Head, you should come up for a moment. The Baekgeumgak manager says he has something to tell you.”The Young Clan Head cast a brief glance at Namgung Hyun and answered.“Support Hyun.”“No, I can walk.”Though wounded, Namgung Hyun refused help. Namgung Jin looked at Namgung Hyun with an unreadable gaze, then went up the stairs first.No sooner had Namgung Jin come up than the Vice Hall Lord bowed his waist.“Thank you, Young Clan Head! I will not forget this favor!”Namgung Jin replied impassively.“My younger brother is the one who tried to save you, so it seems right to give your thanks over here.”And in a voice full of suspicion, he asked.“In truth, I came because I heard Oseoksan came into Baekgeumgak, so there is much I wish to ask the manager.”At that moment, one of the Namgung warriors who had come up the stairs shook his head to the Young Clan Head.It meant there was no Oseoksan left in the underground Bigo.Namgung Jin’s face darkened.“Oseoksan?”Tilting his head as if hearing the name for the first time, the Vice Hall Lord asked.“What is that?”“Was there not ore in the Bigo?”“Yes, there was ore. However, there was no ore called Oseoksan.”“The fellow who raided here earlier said it was true that I had siphoned off Oseoksan.”“Pardon? He said that? Young Clan Head, you can confirm it, but those thieves plundered our Bigo. Whether there was some trinket called Oseoksan in there, I do not know, but it is not as if we hid it. We do not even know what that is.”Seeing the manager feign ignorance, the Young Clan Head swallowed a sigh.For now, there was no evidence. Having been a step late, Oseoksan had vanished.Once the unconscious Blood Cult bastard woke, they would likely have to interrogate him.The manager before his eyes did look like a victim, but Namgung Jin did not completely trust him.He was merely withdrawing for the moment, because if he touched a merchant in tatters for no reason, he could end up shouldering the false charge that he had raided Baekgeumgak.‘It is suspicious that Hyun came here, and it is strange as well that Young Lady Tang, who called me to Hubei, has disappeared. What in the world is happening in Hubei?’Setting aside his curiosity for a moment, Namgung Jin spoke with caution.“By the way, I heard you had something you wanted to say to me.”“Ah……”The Vice Hall Lord scratched his head as if troubled.“In truth, the thieves made our boys move the things that were in the Bigo. The moment they returned from carrying the goods, they bound them in the basement. Perhaps what you just mentioned, Young Clan Head, was also in the cart those bastards told them to move.”Limping, the Vice Hall Lord came closer.Lowering his voice, he whispered to Namgung Jin.“We do not know what that is, so we cannot know if it is truly the thing you are looking for, Young Clan Head. I know one should keep one’s mouth shut at a time like this… but if it is an item the Blood Cult covets, then entrusting it to the Martial Alliance might be safer for ordinary people like us…”Babbling, the Vice Hall Lord let his words trail off.With furrowed brows, Namgung Jin asked back.“Are you saying you will tell me where the cart was moved?”When Namgung Jin summed it up briefly, he nodded.Watching that, Namgung Hyun swallowed a breath.It was because he had seen through the Vice Hall Lord’s intent.The Passage of Hubei.The mad Vice Hall Lord seemed intent on sending Namgung Jin to the Passage. Having seen the Namgung warriors handle the Red Blood Hall elites easily, he must have felt hope.The Vice Hall Lord had no loyalty to the Blood Demon, but he was a man who could lay down his life for the Crimson Blood Hall Lord.I had heard that the frames raised in the Great Desert and the Northern Sea were raised like livestock penned on a farm. Having grown up in isolated regions, they were one another’s brothers, parents, and children.The Vice Hall Lord’s worry was understandable. Now that the Blue Blood Hall Lord had crossed over, if the Red Blood Hall Lord chased with elites as well, it would be dangerous.Thus the Vice Hall Lord meant to throw Namgung as bait to draw their gaze.There was no way they would spare a Central Plains man who had learned the route by which the Blood Demon came to Geumeunsan, so he would order them to capture Namgung Jin. And neither the Red Blood Hall Lord nor the Blue Blood Hall Lord would dare disobey the Blood Demon’s command.Namgung Hyun’s gaze slid to the Young Clan Head’s back.Namgung Jin was no fool.Though wearing a tranquil face, he would even now be suspecting the Vice Hall Lord. And there was no way he would move meekly to such a paltry ploy.Moreover, a few years ago, he had suffered a harsh defeat after moving secretly following Namgung Hyun’s words, so he would not repeat the same mistake.Yet contrary to his expectation, Namgung Jin said something strange.“When can you guide us?”Namgung Hyun knit his brows.By contrast, the Vice Hall Lord’s face brightened. In a slightly raised voice, he said,“We must do urgent treatment, so in about half a shichen…”Urgent treatment was an excuse. He meant to go first and open a formation. Finding it absurd, Namgung Hyun stared openly at the Vice Hall Lord.“If it is inconvenient to move your body, I will carry you on my back. Then can you depart now?”Namgung Hyun’s gaze turned to his elder brother.At a decision unbefitting a Young Clan Head, a corner of his chest turned cold.Because he thought he knew the reason.In his haste, Namgung Jin prepared to depart even before hearing the Vice Hall Lord’s answer.“Inil, inform the Hubei Branch of this and, if possible, get reinforcements and follow.”Unconsciously, Namgung Hyun cut in.“Elder Brother, are you going to move right now? There may still be Blood Cult bastards remaining nearby.”Though the Vice Hall Lord’s chilly gaze turned this way, Namgung Hyun did not close his mouth.It was because vexing thoughts filled his head.“How can you move so recklessly?”“We must hurry, of course, to catch them before their traces vanish.”The Young Clan Head gave a by-the-book answer, but Namgung Hyun did not believe him. He immediately asked what he had suspected.“Is it not because the one who disappeared is Young Lady Tang that you are overreaching?”At that question, Namgung Jin turned his body.Namgung Hyun met the cold gaze that came to him. He had wanted a denial, but a different line came from the Young Clan Head.“Hyun-ah.”Namgung Jin warned in a low voice.“Let us speak of the rest after I return. It seems you, too, have something to say to me.”Though the Young Clan Head drew a line, Namgung Hyun, far from cowering, answered in a sharp voice.“If you are going, then take me as well.”The Young Clan Head’s eyebrows went up. Namgung Hyun, for his part, had made a choice just as foolish.Watching his face to see what scheme there was, his half-brother spoke in a calm voice that sounded sincere.“Since you cannot trust me anyway, would it not set your mind more at ease to take me with you than to leave me here?”Namgung Jin was a little surprised. Because it was the first time Namgung Hyun had bared his inner thoughts so directly, he could not answer for a moment.Looking over the wrecked interior of Baekgeumgak, Namgung Hyun added,“Given your prudent disposition, Elder Brother, you will come back here and verify various things.”Namgung Hyun’s gaze returned to his elder brother.“I am also tired of receiving pointless suspicion.”For a long moment, the Young Clan Head watched Namgung Hyun. It was true that he did not trust his younger brother.Soon Namgung Jin’s gaze dropped to his brother’s arm. Blood was still dripping down.“It is not a question of trust or not. I am not taking you because I cannot let you die.”Yet separate from not trusting him, Namgung Jin pitied his half-brother.Namgung Jin knew well what those servants whom the Clan Head treated like invisible men went through. In the end, it had been his own mistake, but all the blame had flowed to that child.Even while enduring unbearable humiliation and pain, Namgung Hyun had never once shown signs of suffering.His half-brother looked delicate, but he was a child whose pride was higher than anyone’s in Namgung.Namgung Jin dimly understood his brother’s stubbornness.It might be better to become crippled fighting the Blood Cult with a ruined body. Rather than suffer humiliation yet again after being saved by him.In the uncomfortable air, the Namgung warriors fell silent.But the tactless Baekgeumgak manager broke that mood by clapping his hands.Clap. Clap.As if hinting that they did not have time to stand around like this.“The Young Clan Head is right! Please wait just a short while. There’s no need to carry him; I will prepare a cart you can put him on and take him.”Only then did Namgung Jin take his gaze off his younger brother.“I would be obliged.”“Elder Brother.”“Hyun-ah.”As Namgung Hyun started to say something, the Young Clan Head cut him off.“This is solely my decision. So do not interfere. If I make a mistake, you will end up shouldering that sin again.”Namgung Jin turned his body to Namgung Hyun.“Neither you nor I need repeat the same mistake, do we? I do not know what you think, but it was not pleasant for me to watch you take on ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) even my sins.”Though he spoke as if concerned, Namgung Jin’s eyes were impassive.“Before you are my younger brother, you are also a servant of Namgung. I want to be one who takes responsibility, not one who shifts blame to a servant. Yet no matter what I feel, if something goes wrong, the elders will make someone else a scapegoat and move the speck that stained me onto them.”Namgung Jin closed his mouth for a moment, then opened it slowly.“Do you not know that better than anyone?”From the ruined stone garden came the sound of a cart being drawn.As he moved toward the garden, Namgung Jin added,“Pride is not yours alone. Wait here.”When Namgung Jin walked toward the cart, the Namgung warriors followed, watching for his mood.Left alone, Namgung Hyun curled his hand into a fist.Staring at the ground with an unreadable look, he slowly lifted his gaze. In the light brown eyes, not the familiar helplessness but a strange emotion took hold.Tap.Namgung Hyun stepped out into the garden.At that small sound, Namgung Jin, who stood by the cart, turned his gaze.No sooner did their eyes meet than Namgung Hyun spoke.“Whether you make the right choice or a mistake, Elder Brother, in any case all punishment will fall to me.”A deep crease formed on Namgung Jin’s smooth brow. But meeting that gaze, Namgung Hyun added in an even voice,“If I am going to be punished anyway, then at least I want to make the choice I want.”Silence fell. Seeing that Namgung Hyun had refused his words, Namgung Jin could not open his mouth.It was because Namgung Hyun’s spirit was different.Without answering, he turned his body. However one looked at it, it was not a sign of permission, yet Namgung Hyun walked after the Young Clan Head.The Namgung warriors, sensing the mood, awkwardly pulled the cart.Only the man seated on the cart ignored the atmosphere and did his part.“Turn the road to the left and go to the North Gate.”When the cart turned its head to the north, Namgung Jin began running first. There was no more time to argue.Setting everything else aside, Namgung moved in silence to hunt the Blood Cultist.

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