Even though a month had passed and things had calmed down to some extent, stories about the Hero's Sect's exploits still flowed everywhere in the River Capital.
Whenever two people with mouths gathered, they all talked only about that story.
As rumors tend to do, they were inflated to their limits as they passed from mouth to mouth.
Although the boiling fervor of that time had cooled down significantly, what took its place was a myth, cold but firm like ten-thousand-year-old snow.
"They say Great Hero Kim drew a sword in each hand and swung them repeatedly, and the evil cult bastards were erased and sliced down in heaps. Isn't that truly incredible?"
"Truly incredible, just incredible. Not being able to witness that sight myself is an eternal regret."
"To cut that Blood Rakshasa in two with a single strike! I had only considered him the number one in the River Capital..."
"I'm telling you, it wasn't cutting him in two. He erased him! Don't you know 'deletion'? Deletion?"
Amidst the rumors of the Great River Capital War, other anecdotes constantly emerged.
"In the past fortnight alone, three mountain fortresses near the neighboring walled city completely vanished. They say Sect Leader Kim paid them a personal visit."
"...But that place is hundreds of li away from here, isn't it?"
"Hey, it's Sect Leader Kim we're talking about, right?"
"The human trafficking gang that tried to set up shop where the Assorted Antique Shop used to be was completely wiped out by the members of the Hero's Sect a few days ago. I heard they were acting on Sect Leader Kim's orders."
"Hahaha. Ah, that's hilarious."
"What's funny?"
"No, isn't it funny that those filthy bastards still tried to set up shop in this River Capital? How dare they, in this sacred walled city?"
"Right, right. Especially with Great Hero Kim here."
"More than all that, have you heard about the old couple in the eastern alley? They say Sect Leader Kim personally paid off the debts of an old couple who had lost their child and were buried in debt. And that's not all. He also took care of the loan shark who was harassing them for it."
"As expected of a living Buddha."
"And that's not all! They say he opened a new school in front of the Prefect's office. I heard even the children who couldn't be brought into the Hero's Sect are learning to read and write there. And they say he doesn't charge a single coin for it."
"I even heard that for the children who wish it, the Ten Disciples teach them martial arts separately."
"Hah, innkeeper! Living in the River Capital makes my heart swell with pride, it truly does!"
Before long, all matters in the River Capital, big and small, were being sorted and gathered under the name of a single man: Kim Rae-won.
Whether the one performing the deeds was a member of the Hero's Sect or Kim Rae-won himself, it made little difference to the people of the River Capital.
Wherever the Hero's Sect's hand reached, the downtrodden rose up, and the wicked vanished.
Now, not only the River Capital but the entire surrounding region was being noticeably purged and organized within a month, and people did not doubt for a moment that the source and origin of it all was Kim Rae-won.
And.
Words without feet travel a thousand li.
Those who heard the rumors bustled about to spread the news, and so the rumors traveled another thousand li.
In this manner, the rumors about Kim Rae-won and the Hero's Sect, greatly embellished, spread beyond the River Capital and throughout the world.
Dong Bongsu walked indifferently through the midst of all these flowing stories.
In teahouses and inns, in pavilions at alley entrances and in marketplaces, men made the name Kim Rae-won the centerpiece of their conversations and embellished their tales.
Wherever he passed, footsteps would pause and then resume.
Some offered long greetings with clasped hands, while others simply bowed their heads deeply from a distance.
Each time, Dong Bongsu, in a 'Kim Rae-won-like' manner, would slightly raise the corners of his mouth, offering a light acknowledgment in return.
It was a good foundation for Faith.
In a system where numbers meant power and power meant Faith, the foundation of Faith grew stronger with every step he took across the streets of the River Capital.
Dong Bongsu's walk to the All-Knowing House was not a simple commute, but more akin to replenishing the nutrients for his Faith bonus.
Before long, he arrived at the All-Knowing House, opened the door, and stepped inside.
Click-.
Strangely, the winds of change seemed to have blown fiercely here as well.
The foul stench of the beggars, which had seemed to relentlessly assault one's sense of smell, was gone.
Even the acrid smell of smoking had vanished, leaving only the fragrant aroma of tea, making the interior of the All-Knowing House feel refreshing.
The beggar-clad informants of the All-Knowing House were seated neatly in their designated spots on the wide wooden floor.
Their clothes were not disheveled, and there was no dirt under their fingernails.
No smoking paraphernalia was to be seen either.
In the middle of this scene sat three women.
They were the women from the Slash-and-Burn Village whom Dong Bongsu had rescued from Sang Gwanhwi's group, the Patrol Sword Corps of Vast Heaven, and entrusted to Bae Dal-pae.
The first was boiling water for tea in the tea kitchen, while the second was lightly sweeping the dust from the wooden floor.
The last was serving tea not to someone who had come for information, but to an actual customer who had come to drink tea.
Although it had been less than a month since the women took over running the All-Knowing House, the beggar informants already seemed to have been tamed by their rules.
Those who used to spit phlegm on the floor, wipe their noses on their sleeves, or enjoy a smoke had all completely vanished.
The acrid smell inside the All-Knowing House had thus been completely replaced by the fragrance of tea.
From a table in the back, Bae Dal-pae offered a light fist-and-palm salute and beckoned Dong Bongsu over.
"Ah, thanks to you, Sect Leader, we've managed to shed our beggar-like appearance. Haha. If the main sect saw us in this state, they'd surely give us a thrashing."
"Thanks to?"
"...Thanks to you, we are now due for a thrashing."
"Are you now?"
"...Thank you. Thanks to you, we are living in luxury."
"Yes, yes. It's all thanks to me."
"Namu Amitabha Buddha, Bodhisattva Kim Rae-won."
"What's that?"
"It means it is all thanks to your grace, Sect Leader."
"Bullshit."
"...Hah, as expected of a living Buddha, such a refined choice of words."
"You wanna die?"
"..."
"Enough with the nonsense. Unpack your bundle."
As usual, when Kim Rae-won took a seat, Bae Dal-pae gently pushed a teacup in front of him.
"We have gathered most of the information you previously requested from the All-Knowing House, Sect Leader."
Bae Dal-pae folded his fingers one by one.
"First, the overall movements of the Seven Great Demonic Sects. Among the seven powers, none has shown any direct activity. However, there is some strange news from the southern jungles about a sudden rise in large-scale poaching. Well, since the people of the southern lands love hunting, it's probably not a major issue. Some of our informants do say that 'something seems to be stirring.' This is because, with the exception of a few, even our Great Beggars' Sect cannot pinpoint the exact locations of the Seven Great Demonic Sects."
'Large-scale poaching.'
Dong Bongsu thought quietly as he took a sip of tea.
He had done many things so far, but one of the matters he had paid the most attention to was studying the state of affairs in this Murim.
And the enlightenment he had gained from going through countless scenes of carnage.
There are no coincidences in this world.
A coincidence in this Jianghu?
That was a faith held only by the foolish and complacent.
"What will you do? If you think it's a one-in-ten-thousand chance, it seems better to focus our intelligence gathering on other areas besides the southern jungles."
"No. On the contrary, dig deeper there."
"..."
"It's because it's a one-in-ten-thousand chance that we have to dig deeper."
"May I ask what you mean?"
Dong Bongsu said, lightly tapping the rim of his teacup with his index finger.
"Things with low probability usually pack a bigger punch when they hit."
That's how human history is.
The things that were 'almost' unseen, 'almost' unknown, 'almost' unattainable.
When you get hit by those things qualified by 'almost', it hurts like death.
The lottery is like that.
The lower the probability, the bigger the payoff.
The reverse is also true.
"However, our available tracking resources are limited."
"Yes, I know. That's why I'm telling you to commit more."
"Understood. Then how much more should we commit?"
"Half."
"...What?"
"Divert half of the All-Knowing House's operational intelligence force to the southern jungles."
The corners of Dong Bongsu's mouth curled slightly, then relaxed.
"I'll pay ten times the price for it."
"We could send all of them, if you'd like?"
"Bullshit."
"Haha. Understood. We will handle this matter accordingly. However."
"What is it?"
"If we commit half of our informants to the south, we'll be short-staffed for other areas."
Tap, tap.
"Not enough informants..."
Dong Bongsu quietly glanced around.
The scene that met his eyes was completely unchanged from when he had first entered.
Three women, a couple of customers, and a dozen beggar bastards.
"So you mean you're short on beggars."
"Ah, please stop saying 'beggar'. This listening beggar feels bad hearing it."
"What else do you call a beggar? A noble? Anyway—"
Dong Bongsu looked straight at Bae Dal-pae and grinned.
"If you're short on beggars, then you should import some."
"Import? What do you mean?"
"The Great Mop Sect."
"...What?"
Having gotten too used to being 'Kim Rae-won-like', his habit of spouting nonsense had certainly grown.
"Ah, my mistake. The Great Beggars' Sect."
"..."
"Great, Beggar, Sect, You guys are the number one gathering of beggars in the world, aren't you?"
"...Ah, so that's what you meant. Bring personnel from the main sect here?"
"Yes. Why? Can't you?"
Bae Dal-pae let out a light sigh and folded his second finger.
"It's possible, yes. Secondly, because the Leader of our Sect himself has requested to meet you."
"Oh? The Sect Leader wants to see me?"
"Yes, the Leader of the Great Beggars' Sect sent a message personally."
"..."
"Since the Great River Capital War, reports about you have been going up so frequently through our main sect's All-Knowing House branch that the Leader himself ended up requesting a meeting."
"How? Do I go? Or does he come?"
"He... no, no. Haa, please stop infecting me with your strange manner of speech!"
"Bullshit. You're the one who started copying me, and now you're making a fuss about it."
"Yes, yes, I get it. Anyway, the Sect Leader said he would accommodate whatever time and place you decide."
"I'll keep it in mind."
"Yes, just please don't take too long to decide."
"Alright."
Then, another of Bae Dal-pae's fingers folded.
"Next, the third item is the state of the war between the Vast Heaven and the Dark Rakshasa. After the Great River Capital War, the Vast Heaven launched a full-scale counterattack, and clashes are occurring simultaneously in the east and south. In the east, the Blue Wind Sword Sect, an outer sect of the Vast Heaven, defeated one of the remaining Eight Rakshasas of the Dark Rakshasa in the northern Huai area. In the south, conversely, the Dark Rakshasa completely swallowed two Vast Heaven branch sects in the Hanzhong area. Neither side has been able to make a decisive move, and the situation is a prolonged stalemate."
"..."
"Even with the Formation Tower joining their side and the aid of Formation Dao, a significant portion of the Dark Rakshasa Way's main forces remains intact, so they are struggling to push further."
Dong Bongsu's indifferent gaze shifted to the window facing east, in the direction of Nirvanic Extinction Mountain, then returned to Bae Dal-pae.
"Both sides are just playing a waiting game."
"Yes, it seems so. Both sides have lost considerable strength, so if either were to lose one more major battle like the Great River Capital War, the tide of war would shift dramatically. It's judged that they are exercising caution for this reason."
"Alright, I understand."
Dong Bongsu lifted his teacup, drained the remaining tea, then stood up and turned to leave.
He felt he had heard all the necessary information.
Just then.
"Where are you going? The most interesting piece of information is still left."
As Dong Bongsu's gaze returned to him, Bae Dal-pae folded his last remaining finger.
"The place you asked us to investigate before, giving us only its approximate location—our sect's scouting team finally found a peculiar trace there after nearly a full month."
"..."
"The Heavenly Repository of Knowledge Academy."
As soon as he heard the word 'Academy', a fragment of Kim Rae-won's memory replayed in his mind.
"—...Karma Root... there are records..."
"The Heavenly Repository of Knowledge Academy?"
"Yes, the Heavenly Repository of Knowledge Academy."
"..."
"The academy that holds the records hidden by the heavens and all the knowledge of the world."
Bae Dal-pae continued with his final report, a triumphant expression on his face.
"That place was one of the entrances to that very academy."