“Subdue? You dare to subdue me?”

“It’s the Young Cult Leader’s order. If anyone directly or indirectly harms or threatens the Young Madam, regardless of who they are, I was told to subdue them. So, Elder Shin, please keep your distance.”

“You dare to me…”

Shin Hohyeol’s eyes widened.

As his eyebrows trembled and veins bulged on his face, his eyes shifted from Eun Do to me.

His mouth, which had been opening as if growling, slowly closed.

Shin Hohyeol looked at Eun Do with a frowning gaze, then slowly relaxed his expression. He exhaled and spoke in a quiet voice.

“I didn’t intend to threaten or harm her. I just came closer to greet her.”

Shin Hohyeol gestured with his chin for Eun Do to step aside, then looked at me and lightly clasped his hands.

“This is the first time I’ve officially visited you since the banquet. I am Shin Hohyeol, the head of the Cliff Rivers Shin clan. I pay my respects to the Young Madam.”

Apart from his overwhelming presence, his attitude towards me was quite polite. I quietly looked at him, then rolled my eyes to examine Eun Do.

Eun Do seemed to have felt my gaze and turned his head to me, then lightly shook his head.

‘Don’t trust him.’

As if saying that, he didn’t let his guard down.

I also didn’t think this man who suddenly visited was a welcome guest.

I let out a long sigh. When Hyuk Dojin was here, no one came in and out, but when I was alone, people came in and out as if it were their own room.

I felt anew that this place wasn’t safe without him.

“What brings you here without any notice?”

At my question, he glanced at Eun Do, then corrected his posture. And he recited in more detail the conversation Joo Hwarin and I had earlier.

What Namgoong Danghwi said and did, and even the demands he made.

However, I couldn’t understand why he came to me and said these things.

Joo Hwarin told me because I asked, but what was the reason for the head of the Cliff Rivers Shin clan to come all the way here and bring up this story?

As I was pondering deeply, his words were cut off.

He was looking at me with serious eyes. The time we spent looking at each other without saying anything gradually lengthened.

After chewing over his words and organizing my thoughts, I finally understood why he had come to see me.

“Do you need me?”

Shin Hohyeol quietly nodded his head.

“Currently, the only person who can satisfy the Righteous Sect is you, Young Madam. Although Elder Man Do is blocking them, they are being unreasonable and causing trouble.”

So that’s why he didn’t show up yesterday and today.

Certainly, as Shin Hohyeol said, apart from Hyuk Dojin and Hyuk Muhyeol, I was the only one from the Hyuk family.

Although I don’t hold any official position, it would serve as a justification. Moreover, as a member of the Moyong clan, I had sufficient reason to greet them.

However…

“The Young Cult Leader said that it’s not a good idea for me to have contact with the Righteous Sect. They came here using me as an excuse, and that excuse could escalate into bigger demands. So, I won’t be greeting them, Elder Shin Hohyeol.”

I clasped my hands together, sat down, and quietly looked up at him.

Meeting his gaze looking down at me, I narrowed my brow as if I couldn’t understand.

“By the way, I don’t understand. Is the Murim Alliance such a great place? Even I was from the Righteous Sect, but when the demands of the Murim Alliance were sometimes excessive, the elders of the clan often ignored their opinions without notice. The Moyong clan, which was a member of the Righteous Sect, also frequently disregarded their opinions. Let alone the Demon Cult, which leads the hundred thousand Evil Sects, reacting so sensitively to the words of a mere representative of the Murim Alliance delegation, not even the Murim Alliance Leader…”

I slowly tilted my head diagonally.

“Elder, are you afraid of the Murim Alliance?”

“Me, those trash-like bastards…!!”

As soon as I finished speaking, veins bulged in Shin Hohyeol’s eyes, and his voice erupted.

It was a loud voice that startled me for a moment, but I didn’t avoid his gaze.

Shin Hohyeol couldn’t finish the words he was yelling and gnashed his teeth.

Eun Do had already drawn his sword.

Shin Hohyeol glared at the sword pointed at him, then looked at me again and spoke softly.

“…If that is your opinion, Young Madam, I understand. But keep this in mind. While you stay here, laughing and chatting away your time, if the Demon Cult suffers unnecessary damage, the consequences of your actions avoiding responsibility will eventually harm the Young Cult Leader.”

I looked at Shin Hohyeol’s shoulders as he turned his back after finishing his words. I narrowed my eyes.

Is he leaving after saying everything he wanted to say?

“Is that your personal opinion?”

“…”

Shin Hohyeol stopped and turned to look at me. I slowly lifted the corners of my mouth as I faced him.

“I don’t know what you were thinking when you came to call me, but if it was truly for the sake of the main cult, you should have at least maintained your composure. Baring your teeth and spreading murderous intent in front of me…”

I smiled and stood up from my seat.

I took a step closer to him, who was standing stiffly, and spoke my final words.

“It means you didn’t sincerely consider me a member of the Hyuk family.”

“You dare to the Head…”

“I know that Elder Shin Hohyeol extremely despises the Righteous Sect. I wonder if that includes me…”

I stopped at a certain distance and lifted the corners of my mouth.

“I’m curious.”

“…”

Shin Hohyeol glared at me as if he would burn me to death, then turned his head to look at Eun Do and bared his teeth.

“You’re doing unnecessary things.”

“…”

Eun Do said nothing. Shin Hohyeol turned his head away from him and glared at me. His eyes were filled with undisguisable anger.

He seemed to want to say something, moving his lips, but then he turned his body.

Without saying a word, he left the room. I quietly watched his back as he left, and when he finally disappeared from the room, I sighed.

“Is it really okay to do this?”

Eun Do lightly nodded his head.

When I was talking to Shin Hohyeol, it was Eun Do who told me how to respond through voice transmission.

His relationship with Hyuk Dojin, and what he wanted from me. Eun Do showed me the way.

“It’s alright. No matter what attitude we take, that person will never change. There’s no need to forcibly accommodate him. It’s better to draw the line and cut him off like this.”

I let out a long sigh at Eun Do’s resolute words. Is it really okay to do this? Somehow, my mind became complicated.

It had only been two days since Hyuk Dojin left. During that time, which would take at least four days, I hoped that no problems would arise.

However, contrary to my wishes, the Demon Cult was suffering from considerable headaches due to the Righteous Sect’s problem.

Namgoong Danghwi’s unreasonable demands could be forcibly ignored without issue, but the real problem was a completely different story.

“It seems like they came with a determination.”

“What do you mean?”

Man Do calmly answered my question while stirring noodles with his chopsticks.

“The Righteous Sect has the will to soundly re-establish their relationship with the Demon Cult this time. That in itself is not a problem. It’s also an opportunity for us to avoid an inevitable all-out war with the Righteous Sect for now and slowly expand our influence outside the sect, so it’s not bad. That’s why we’re also trying to treat them as politely as possible, but…”

Man Do rarely showed an irritated expression.

From my perspective, knowing that he always faced people with a smiling face, his change in expression was surprising.

“The attitude shown by the Righteous Sect is very unpleasant. Moreover, they are implicitly bringing up the history of hundreds of years of suffering they have endured and saying that they want to be compensated for it now. The vault of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, which has never been invaded, contains all the martial arts of the Righteous Sect. The Righteous Sect wants us to return the lost martial arts in that vault as we restore our relationship this time.”

That’s not all.

I blankly looked at Man Do, who let out a deep sigh, and quietly moved my chopsticks.

As Man Do said, the Demon Cult had as many martial arts of the Righteous Sect as their own.

The reason was simple.

As Man Do said, the sects of the Central Plains had all experienced being robbed by the Demon Cult when they came out under the pretext of unifying the Central Plains.

On the other hand, the Demon Cult had never been invaded even once due to its geographical advantage and unified strength.

Because of that, the Righteous Sect had always demanded the Demon Cult to return them, but it had rarely been actually done.

“Aren’t the martial arts of the Righteous Sect that the Demon Cult possesses mainly used as a bargaining chip?”

“It’s as Miss Moyong says. In the past, when large and small conflicts occurred, the Demon Cult often adopted the method of resolving matters by handing over lost martial arts in exchange. In other words, it’s an important means to exert influence outside the cult.”

“But I think the Righteous Sect also believes they have the right to have them returned since they were originally their martial arts.”

“That’s why it’s giving me a headache.”

Man Do put down his bowl and brushed his hair up.

It felt like his agony was overlaid on his tired-looking face.

“They take it for granted that we will return what we plundered to the owner if we are not mere barbarians. They call it what we plundered, but in fact, they also frequently take the martial arts of other sects whenever there are conflicts between sects. This is not just a problem of the Demon Cult. However, they are stumbling over it and demanding justification, so it’s giving me a headache.”

Indeed. Come to think of it, I also remembered seeing not only the martial arts of the Moyong clan but also the martial arts books of Mount Hua, Namgoong, and Wudang in the vault.

Considering that martial arts books can’t be bought with money, it meant that they were obtained through conflicts a long time ago.

“Then can’t we just ignore them? There’s no need to bother. Even if we soundly rebuild our relationship with the Righteous Sect, it’s not a relationship that will last for a hundred or a thousand years anyway.”

It would be a miracle for two groups that had been fighting with bared teeth for hundreds of years to reconcile simply based on me alone.

Is there any reason to pay attention to it in the first place?

Considering that there are no eternal friends or allies, it was an unreasonable demand that could be ignored. Why is he using his brain for that?

Man Do quietly looked at me, slowly exhaled, and shook his head.

“If it were as easy as you say, that would be the right thing to do. But the current situation is ambiguous.”

“How so?”

As I tilted my head in bewilderment, Man Do raised his chin and narrowed his brow.

“The ones who should be at the forefront opposing the demands of the Righteous Sect are actually agreeing with them.”

“Who?”

Who else? Man Do looked at the dining table with a displeased face and spoke slowly.

“The elders of the Holy Stream League and the head of the Cliff Rivers Shin clan, Shin Hohyeol.”