Chapter 4: The Watcher
The scent of ink and aged parchment clung to the dimly lit strategy room as Baek-Rim, eldest of the Northern Four, unrolled a map across the oak table. Moonlight bled through the paper windows, casting jagged shadows over the inked borders of the Central Plains.
"The Sect Leader grows suspicious," murmured Yoon Hak, his fingers drumming against the hilt of his dagger.
"Of course he does," Baek-Rim replied, tracing a route along the Black Raven Mountains. "Kwan-Ho is no fool. But suspicion without proof is just paranoia."
The door slid open.
Senior Disciple Kang stepped inside, bowing low. "My lords."
Baek-Rim didn't look up. "Speak."
Kang hesitated, then: "The second twin… he let Joon win today."
A pause.
Yoon Hak's dagger stilled. "Let him?"
"He took the hits too cleanly," Kang said. "And after, he told Mu-Won…"
"His pride will cut his own throat one day."
Baek-Rim's fingers curled into the map, crumpling the inked mountains.
"...Interesting."
The Web Weaves
Seo-Won knelt in the archives, a stolen candle flickering over The Gathering of Ten Thousand Shadows scroll. His fingers trembled as he traced the characters.
If I can master this before the betrayal…
A floorboard creaked.
He snapped the scroll shut, but not fast enough.
"Reading above your level, Young Master?"
Elder Cho, the sect's scribe, loomed over him, his wrinkled face unreadable.
Seo-Won bowed his head. "I was curious."
Cho studied him for a long moment. Then—
"Curiosity is a knife, boy. It cuts both ways." He slid the scroll from Seo-Won's grip. "Leave the shadows to those who know how to wield them."
As the elder walked away, Seo-Won's maroon eyes burned.
I will learn.
The Sect Leader's Doubt
Jin Kwan-Ho stood at the ancestral shrine, his back to the flickering incense.
"You've been watching them," he said, voice like gravel.
From the shadows, Dam Soo-Cheon, his most trusted blade, stepped forward.
"The second twin hides his skill," Soo-Cheon reported. "The elder one… his anger festers."
Kwan-Ho exhaled, slow.
"And Baek-Rim?"
"Meets with the others nightly."
Silence.
Then—the Sect Leader's hand settled on his sword.
"Double the guard rotations. Quietly."
The Trap Set
Mu-Won found Seo-Won sharpening his practice blade behind the barracks.
"Elder Cho told Father."
Seo-Won didn't look up. "I know."
"He's punishing you—"
"Good." Seo-Won tested the edge against his thumb. "Let them think I'm just a reckless child."
Mu-Won grabbed his wrist. "Why?"
Seo-Won met his brother's gaze.
"Because when the Northern Four strike…" He pressed the blade into Mu-Won's palm. "...they won't see us coming."
Outside, unseen, Baek-Rim's spy melted back into the night.