-Puahaha. It was my first time seeing that old man look surprised like that.
He must be pretty shocked. He must have been under the impression that I was dead.
Actually, the trap that this man had dug was so deadly that even Blood Star-level warriors would have been unable to break through. However, I possessed this Golden Eye along with the Illusion Eye and helpers like Short Sword and Iron Sword in this situation.
-Right, right.
-Hm.
Of course, the reason why the man was surprised wasn’t just because U was still alive. It had to be because of the skinny old man on my back.
The old man’s identity was Chun Mu-seong, the real Martial Heavenly Sword Emperor who had been imprisoned inside the prison.
Whisper!
The surroundings became noisy as people began to recognize the old man’s face.
“Do you see how that old man looks?”
“He resembles Lord Chun Mu-seong.”
“Similar, right? It would be the same as long as he gained some weight.”
It wasn’t just similar. It was the same.
Honestly, I thought that the fake would have killed the real one to get rid of the evidence. Contrary to what I imagined, however, he wasn’t killed but simply moved to a hidden place at the top of the tower.
During Baek Hye-hyang’s escape, she said that she had found something that could cause some trouble.
-Why didn’t he kill the real one?
Well…
I don’t know the reason why. Even though it would be conclusive evidence, the real one was kept alive.
We have to know if it was due to overconfidence or if there was a special reason for it.
Tak!
At that moment, someone came at me at the speed of light. It was an old man with wild eyes and reckless nature, but the force coming from him wasn’t normal.
‘At this level, he should be a master.’
Even if his strength wasn’t on par with the Eight Great Warriors, the sense of intimidation from him was real. It was strong enough for me to question whether or not I could win against him.
“Wang Cheo-il.”
Wang Cheo-il?
He was the head of the Neptune Order, one of the four major orders here.
No wonder he was strong.
He was a warrior who was ranked among the top five in this place, and he was pointing to the man on my back.
“That is the proof?”
I shouted loudly enough so that everyone could hear.
“This is the true Martial Heavenly Sword Emperor, Chun Mu-seong!”
My voice echoed around the place. After hearing this, most of the members of the Martial Heaven Order didn’t react, likely because most of them were fakes who had replaced their members to aid the fake Lord, but those who were the real members were shocked.
“He is the real Lord?”
“What is all this about?”
“So are you saying that the current Lord is fake?”
Judging from their reactions, it seems like they didn’t realize it until now.
Well, even if they knew the truth, they would have struggled to get the truth out too.
Then, someone with drooping eyes appeared. He looked to be in his mid-50s.
“To confuse an order like this, if that statement is a lie, be prepared for the consequences!”
“Lord Guyang. Calm down.”
Guyang?
So this man is Guyang Gyeong, the lord of the Annihilating Martial Order.
In my past life, I only heard of this man before I died.
“I am not agitated. Let us not let this situation become overlooked. The honor of the four lords is at stake now.”
“Who doesn’t realize that? However, if the words of Lord Jin and that man are correct, then the entire order had been unaware of an unknown person entering our ranks.”
The information from the Lower District was right. The forces of the Dual Martial Forces had been divided.
Guyang Gyeong was trying to protect the fake Chun Mu-seong until the very end as if it was the side he chose to support.
-Does he know the truth?
If that were the case, then this situation wouldn’t be resolved at all. I realized that I shouldn’t let my guard down.
Wang Cheo-il looked at the old man on my back and held his hand.
“First, we determine if he is the real one or not.”
Seeing that, he held out his hand as if wanting to confirm if there was a human skin mask being used. At that, I smiled and said.
“Instead of that, how about having a direct talk?”
“Direct talk?”
At that moment, the old man on my back opened his mouth.
“Cheo-il, is that you?”
When the hoarse voice came out, the eyes of the old man widened.
With his eyes closed, they must have thought he was unconscious, but the man was awake.
It was just that he had been stuck underground and in dark places for too long. He wasn’t used to being out in the light.
“Lord Chun… No, Mu-seong. Is that you?”
“… how can the voice of a friend be forgotten? It has been really too long.”
Tears welled up in the eyes of Chun Mu-seong.
His voice was choked up as well. It was as if he was overwhelmed at having met a friend after a long time of suffering. Wang Cheo-il mumbled in shock.
“I thought you had changed.”
Between them, Guyang Cheong then intervened.
“Just say a few words, and you think he is real. I will check it for myself.”
Chun Mu-seong’s eyes pricked at this.
“This isn’t the voice of Guyang Myung. Who is this?”
At that, Guyang Gyeong went still.
“Guyang Myung is the name of my father, the former lord. My father passed away due to an illness, and now I am the Lord.”
“Huh. So many years had passed. Well. The second one took the Lord’s position, huh?”
Despite those words, Guyang Gyeong came closer as if his thoughts hadn’t changed and touched Chun Mu-seong’s face.
His expression hardened as he looked for the mask, starting from behind the ear.
It was the real thing, so of course, there was no mask.
“What is…”
“Did you think this old man was lying? Lord Guyang?”
Guyang Gyeong was clearly confused because there was no skin mask. A moment ago, he didn’t seem to care about anything other than taking down this old man, but now he was still.
At that moment, Jin Song-baek, who was confronting the fake Chun Mu-seong, shouted.
“The two Lords have confirmed that man’s face. If you want to claim your innocence, then hurry up and pull from your own face.”
All of the eyes turned towards the fake one. He was glaring at me because I was the one who spoiled his plans.
He then spoke in a voice clear of anger.
“Fine. Whoever thinks that I am the fake one, come and touch my face.”
Everyone frowned at this.
It was as if he would kill those who went close to try and touch him.
The fake one then shouted.
“Why is no one coming? Didn’t I tell you to check my face? Why aren’t you coming? Shall I come to you then?”
With that, he pulled at his skin.
And the old skin began to be pulled along his fingers.
‘…?!’
-What? The skin is?
I didn’t predict this.
Usually, human face masks were made from real human skin, so they didn’t stretch. If one handled it wrong, then it would become stuck.
“Is that a human mask?”
“The skin is stretching?”
Everyone became confused, and the fake said to me.
[Did you think my identity would come out with just this?]
Hearing those silent words, I pointed to the fake and shouted.
“There is further evidence that he is fake.”
“Evidence?”
“There is a secret letter in the man’s office. He was communicating to someone.”
Whisper!
This time, everyone turned to look at me. The fake then said again.
[I thought you were smart, but you are actually stupid and foolish. Do you think I would leave such evidence in the open?]
He laughed as if I was acting like an idiot.
He was right.
Baek Hye-hyang found his secret place and another office inside, but there was no evidence. However, he overlooked one thing.
[All I need to do is make enough evidence.]
[What?]
I shouted again as I took out a slightly burned booklet that was rolled into my sleeve.
“There is evidence that he is fake.”
When I opened it, nothing was written inside.
On the other hand, the fake was becoming stiff and unsure.
Wang Cheo-il asked in puzzlement.
“There is nothing in there, though?”
“This is written with special ink, so we cannot look at the content. It is weak to heat, so if a light heat like a candle is placed, the text will become clear.”
“There is such ink out there?”
“We will know if we try it.”
Wang Cheo-il reached out, asking for the letter, and I simply gave it to him. His hand was already hot as he held it near the booklet.
Blue letters then began to appear on it.
“There!”
“The writing!”
I looked at the fake and smiled. There was no evidence in his office, but he had left this ink there.
It was a mysterious item that I never saw in the Blood Sect, which meant that it couldn’t be used anywhere else.
As the writing became clear, Wang Cheo-il read it aloud.
“Kill the head of the Storm Shadow Eight Classes?”
“That!”
The fake Chun Mu-seong opened his mouth in shock, but he couldn’t continue to speak.
He must be angry.
These were just the random writings of Baek Hye-hyang.
She made it look plausible enough. I then held on to the burnt piece and said.
“What was written in has to be written by the fake. If you compare the handwriting, you will see that he has been communicating with the person who sent the previous letters.”
“I sent that?”
The fake was angry.
There was no use caring about it. The burnt pieces were all of Baek Hye-hyang’s making.
Of course, she wrote one letter by imitating the fake’s handwriting. If she needed to write several sentences, then she would have needed months of training, but it was simpler to just write one sentence.
-How did you think of this?
Short Sword was shocked.
I had been a spy for over 8 years. Forging a fake letter was basic.
If one dug deeply and investigated it, it would play an important role in causing suspicion. All I needed to say was that the man in front of me was lying.
Like now.
Swish!
The fake and Jin Song-baek were surrounded by the warriors of the Storm Shadow Eight Classes and the Neptune Order. Even the warriors of the Martial Heavenly Order, who had been fighting against them until now, joined them.
They were all now suspicious of the man.
With this, the opinion had turned, and Jin Song-baek spoke once more as he readied to strike.
“There is no place to run to. Reveal your true identity.”
The fake was alone. He had nothing else that he could use. While this was basically a hopeless situation, the fake suddenly began to laugh.
“HAHAHAHAH!”
“Ack!”
“M-My ears!”
Even that laugh held qi in it.
Jin Song-baek tried to rush toward him to prevent further damage, but the fake shouted.
“Stop!”
“Do you think we would listen?”
“You should. Because if you don’t, you will regret it.”
Snap.
The fake snapped his finger, and an unexpected thing happened among those who surrounded him.
Two men walked out holding daggers to the neck of some young men wearing the same attire.
Even the slightest movement would cut them.
“Gyeom!”
“San!”
After seeing them, Wang Cheo-il, the head of Neptune Order, and Guyang Gyeong each called out different names.
As if they knew those people.
The fake wiggled his finger.
“You all better stay still unless you are fine with losing your child and grandchild.”
The identity of the young men was revealed. They were the grandson and son of those two.
“You coward!”
At Jin Song-baek’s shout, Chun Mu-seong smiled.
“What is cowardly in this? I am simply making up a strategy to retreat.”
The fake seemed to have planted spies in the other Orders in preparation for such a situation. Perhaps because of those two kids being held captive, the two people were now anxious.
“If you harm them, if you touch my grandson, I will never forgive you!”
“If you get out like this, you will never be safe!”
The fake simply laughed at their words.
“If no one chases me after I get out of here, I will consider if I have to release them or not. Ah! I have one thing to do before that. Guyang Gyeong, pierce the heart of the man in front of you. If not, your son dies.”
“What?”
Guyang Gyeong looked at his son and me in shock.
I swear, this fake was a cunning one. He took a child hostage and was using the situation like this.
Guying Gyeong shouted in anger.
“You cunning bastard!”
“HAHA, calling me that is no different than complimenting me.”
‘Cunning is a compliment?’
The man was taking pride in it. What was this man?
Instead of that, I should get away from Guyang Gyeong.
I would be in trouble if he attacked me to save his son.
“Guyang Gyeong! Do not listen to him! He wants to divide us!”
Jin Song-baek shouted. However, Guyang Gyeong was already gathering qi in his hand.
He was ready to attack as the fake said.
“I might be fake, but I have emotions of our time together, so I will promise. Kill him to save your son.”
Guyang Gyeong, who had been unsure, seemed to have come to a decision, and I, too, raised my qi to defend myself.
It was then.
Puak!
“Ack!”
“Kuak!”
Screams broke out that made the fake turn around.
His two men who had brought out the hostages had holes in their heads.
Roll…
A small iron ball came out of their forehead and rolled around.
“T-this?”
I looked at where the iron ball had come from, and I saw someone in a black robe between the swords.
The unknown man looked at me. The moment our gazes met, I went stiff.
‘Sima Chak!’
It was the Wicked Moon Sword, Sima Chak.
Shaking his head with an expressionless face, he walked over to the fake.
“You are not worthy enough to call yourself Wicked.”
