Seolhwa reached the Martial Alliance in no time, at a speed that far surpassed the long journey to Muhan. She went straight to the Alliance Leader’s chamber. However, the only people waiting for her there were Jegal Myeong and Namgung Cheong-un.
Namgung Mucheon was nowhere to be seen.
“What about Grandfather?”
“The alliance leader left a few shichen ago.”
“What…?”
He had sent Il Jirang to tell her to come quickly, yet he had already left? What in the world was going on? As Seolhwa stood there in confusion, Namgung Cheong-un held out a sheet of paper covered in writing.
The characters were densely packed together without any apparent meaning.
“What is this?”
“It came from a man named Guiwol—the man we met at Jade Flower Mountain.”
“Guiwol….”
Seolhwa examined the writing again. She still couldn’t make any sense of it.
“It appeared to be a code, so I brought it here and asked the strategist to decipher it.”
“And today, we finally uncovered its meaning.”
This time, Jegal Myeong spread another sheet of paper out in front of Seolhwa. As Seolhwa read the writing, her expression gradually hardened.
“This is….”
“It contains the correspondence between Elder Tang and Guiwol.”
“…”