Chapter 289: He Wouldn't Have Done That
Chapter 289: He Wouldn't Have Done That
As the relief of survival mingled with the overwhelming pressure radiating from the two Demon Lords, Jin Ha-ryeong’s heart hammered against her ribs.
Whether it was the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, standing tall with his massive blade strapped to his back, or the Fist Demon, slowly closing the distance—both were utterly terrifying.
So, these are the Demon Lords.
Until now, the Demonic Cult had been a vague, distant concept to her. She had heard endless stories of their cruelty and horror, but the only member she had actually met was Geom Mu-geuk. He was young, handsome, and always quick with a joke.
But today, she felt as though she had finally glimpsed the true face of the Demonic Cult.
The Fist Demon’s expression was fearsome as he approached, but Jin Ha-ryeong gritted her teeth and forced herself to remain composed.
“Thank you for saving my life.”
Her gratitude was directed toward the two Demon Lords and Lee An.
“I will surely find a way to repay this debt.”
Though she feared them, she could not bring herself to dislike the people who had plucked her from the jaws of death. The Demon Lords merely gave a curt nod, making no effort to boast or linger on their deed.
Her brother would likely call her mad for even thinking it, but she found herself genuinely curious about what kind of people these Demon Lords truly were.
After bowing to the two men, Jin Ha-ryeong turned her gaze to Lee An.
She knew how suicidal it was to hurtle through the air while clinging to a flying blade—especially one launched with the intent to kill. Like the Demon Lord she served, Lee An didn't utter a single word of self-importance. Instead, she offered a playful smirk as she helped unblock Jin Ha-ryeong’s stagnant internal energy.
“Hey, friend! We had a promise to meet, remember? Were you really going to break it like that?”
To Jin Ha-ryeong, that single word—friend—resonated more deeply than anything she had ever heard. In that moment, the bond between the two women shifted from mere acquaintance to something far more profound.
Jin Ha-ryeong touched her battered face and managed a weak smile. “That’s why I’m in this state, isn't it? My face is the only thing I have going for me.”
At her self-deprecating joke, Lee An said something unexpected.
“Then starting today, you’ll have to show the world something else.”
Jin Ha-ryeong understood immediately. Lee An never used her own stunning beauty as a weapon. That was why she was so strong, and why she could tell Jin Ha-ryeong she was beautiful without a hint of envy. She was reinforcing a truth: To us, looks don't matter.
Yes. From this day forward, the "Beauty of Hubei" was dead. She would become "Hubei's Finest Sword" and strive to become the "World's Greatest Sword." Never again would she be helpless in the face of death at the hands of someone like Cho-rim.
Furthermore, she had learned a vital lesson today.
Life and death had been separated by the thinnest of margins. If she had simply given up and accepted her fate, she would have been a corpse long before Lee An and the Demon Lords arrived. Because she had fought until her last breath, she had survived. She felt certain now that when the Heavens choose someone, they pick from those who refuse to yield until the very end.
Suddenly, a streak of light blurred toward them.
Swoosh!
Geom Mu-geuk landed perfectly, his Rapid Speed Step so fluid it felt as if he had been standing there all along. He scanned the carnage, his shoulders dropping as he let out a long sigh of relief. The Demon Lords and Lee An had made it in time.
“You certainly took your time,” Jin Ha-ryeong joked, her voice trembling slightly. “If it weren't for these people, I’d be dead already.”
Geom Mu-geuk smiled. “That’s why I keep them close.”
He looked at the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the Fist Demon. His trust in their judgment had been well-placed, and they had repaid that trust with decisive action.
“You can stand a little taller, Elders. You both look truly magnificent!”
“Where were you loitering while this old man was working so hard?” the Blood Heaven Blade Demon grumbled. Despite his gruff tone, his eyes were fixed with concern on the blood staining Geom Mu-geuk’s robes.
“Wasn't it worth the effort, Elder?”
“Tsk, you brat!”
The Fist Demon stepped forward, his voice low. “Are you injured?”
“It’s not my blood. I’m fine.”
The Fist Demon nodded, satisfied.
Watching them, Jin Ha-ryeong finally realized the truth of Geom Mu-geuk’s position as the Young Cult Leader. The rumors that he had "subjugated" the Demon Lords were wrong. He hadn't conquered them; he had made them his people. The way the two legends looked at Geom Mu-geuk was the same way her grandfather or her brother looked at her.
She understood now. While Lee An and the Demon Lords had physically saved her, she was alive because of Geom Mu-geuk. Without him, they wouldn't have moved an inch.
“The granddaughter of the Murim Alliance Leader owing her life to demonic cultists twice... My reputation is completely ruined,” she teased.
Geom Mu-geuk and Lee An laughed together. Then, Mu-geuk turned to the Demon Lords.
“Please wait at the safe house with Lee An. I’ll escort Miss Jin back to the Murim Alliance and join you shortly.”
“Is it over, then?”
“No. There’s one more thing I need to confirm before I go.”
He had to know if the Murim Alliance Leader had truly annihilated the Mokcheon family. No matter how he looked at it, Jin Pae-cheon didn't seem like the type to commit such a massacre—but it was a different story if he had been lured into a trap.
Geom Mu-geuk looked toward the distant silhouette of the Murim Alliance headquarters. He repeated a joke he had made once before, though now it carried a weight of grim possibility.
“We might really have to make a run for it this time, Elder!”
*
Jin Ha-gun strode into the Alliance Leader’s Hall, his expression grim.
Jin Pae-cheon, who had been staring vacantly out the window, turned urgently. “What news?”
“I mobilized the Demon Extermination Squad and searched the entire Dongho area, but there’s no sign of her. Has there been any word from the Blue Dragon Unit?”
Jin Pae-cheon shook his head.
“What about the Flying Tiger Unit?”
Another shake of the head. Despite unleashing the elites of the Murim Alliance in every direction, Jin Ha-ryeong had vanished without a trace. There had been no demands from Baek Cheon-gyeong, the presumed kidnapper. Jin Pae-cheon’s insides were churning with a cold, sharp anxiety.
“Perhaps we should make this public,” Jin Ha-gun suggested. “Searching in secret limits our reach. If we announce it to the Murim world, witnesses might come forward.”
But Jin Pae-cheon shook his head. The culprits were bold enough to snatch the granddaughter of the Alliance Leader from under their noses; they wouldn't be spotted by commoners. A public announcement would only invite the Unorthodox Path Alliance or other vultures to interfere.
Jin Ha-gun braced himself, expecting his grandfather to roar that this was all his fault. But Jin Pae-cheon said no such thing. He was not a man who shifted his burdens onto others when backed into a corner.
“Is there still no word from Geom Mu-geuk?”
Jin Pae-cheon nodded silently.
The situation was reaching a breaking point where a demonic cultist was becoming their last hope. However, the more that became true, the darker Jin Ha-gun’s thoughts grew.
Could I have been deceived?
What if this was all Geom Mu-geuk’s master plan? He imagined his sister held captive in Mu-geuk’s grasp, used as a bargaining chip to blackmail the Alliance at a critical moment. Driven by the terror of losing her—the only person he could truly talk to—his mind spiraled into paranoia.
He had never imagined a life without her. Now that it was a reality, the fear was paralyzing.
At that moment, Jin Pae-cheon was thinking the exact opposite.
“That boy was confident,” the old man whispered. “He was sure that only he could save her.”
Jin Ha-gun realized his grandfather was placing his faith in Geom Mu-geuk. When the news first broke, the Alliance Leader hadn't trusted him. When asked who was responsible, he had given two names: Geom Mu-geuk or Baek Cheon-gyeong.
Back then, he had hoped the Alliance warriors would find her. But now, that hope had withered. His trust in Mu-geuk wasn't born of friendship, but of the sheer desperation of a grandfather with his back against the wall. Even as the strongest man in the world, Jin Pae-cheon was just an old man terrified for his kin.
“I will go out and search again,” Jin Ha-gun said, turning to leave.
Just then, a warrior burst into the hall, breathless.
“Lady Ha-ryeong has returned!”
The two men froze. Jin Pae-cheon bolted from his Grand Tutor’s chair, leaping down the steps in a single bound.
A moment later, Jin Ha-ryeong entered the hall. She walked in first, with Geom Mu-geuk following a few paces behind.
“Grandfather!”
Jin Ha-ryeong ran and threw herself into Jin Pae-cheon’s arms. The moment she touched him, the dam broke, and tears poured down her face. Having just stood on the precipice of death, she realized anew how much he meant to her.
“Are you hurt? Anywhere?”
“I’m okay... I’m okay.”
Her face was bruised and her robes were tattered, but her internal energy was stable.
“You’re back. You’re safe.” Tears welled in Jin Pae-cheon’s eyes. He was a man with a heart of iron, but seeing his granddaughter return from the dead shattered his composure. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried.
Jin Ha-ryeong then turned to Jin Ha-gun. “Brother.”
Jin Ha-gun hugged her so tightly his arms shook. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
All of this had started because of his suspicion, his pride, and his master.
“Why are you sorry? It was my own clumsiness that got me caught,” she whispered.
“Don't say that. Never say that.”
Once the reunion settled, the heavy, intense gazes of the two Jin men turned toward Geom Mu-geuk. Saving Jin Ha-ryeong was a debt greater than if he had saved their own lives.
“Thank you,” Jin Pae-cheon said, offering a formal fist salute. “Truly. You have my deepest gratitude for saving Ha-ryeong.”
Geom Mu-geuk returned the salute with perfect etiquette. “Miss Jin is your granddaughter, but she is also my friend. Please, do not give it another thought.”
A life debt is repaid with a life; Jin Pae-cheon resolved then and there that he would one day stand between Geom Mu-geuk and death.
Meanwhile, Jin Ha-gun felt a burning shame for having doubted Mu-geuk. I still have so far to go. In the past, that shame would have turned into bitter inferiority. Now, it was fuel. He felt the urge to work harder, to climb higher. Geom Mu-geuk was a man whose very existence forced those around him to grow.
“Go, get treated and rest,” Jin Pae-cheon commanded his grandchildren. “We will speak of the details later. And you... stay. I would speak with you alone.”
Jin Ha-gun and Jin Ha-ryeong realized their grandfather had private business with Mu-geuk. They stepped back obediently.
“Yes, Grandfather.”
As she walked away, Jin Ha-ryeong turned back one last time, her eyes red. “I’m so happy to see you again, Grandfather.”
Jin Pae-cheon smiled and nodded, his heart sinking at the thought of how close he had come to never hearing those words again.
Soon, only the two of them remained in the vast hall.
“What happened to that man, Baek Cheon-gyeong?”
“He is dead.”
Jin Pae-cheon had expected as much, but hearing it confirmed by Mu-geuk brought a strange chill to the room.
“Did he say why he took her?”
Geom Mu-geuk met the Alliance Leader’s eyes. “Baek Cheon-gyeong was the younger brother of the Mokcheon Family Head.”
Jin Pae-cheon’s eyes widened. The name hit him like a physical blow. How could he ever forget the Mokcheon family?
“They were all killed,” the old man whispered.
“No. One person survived. The younger brother. He faked his death.”
Only now did Jin Pae-cheon understand the depth of the deception. To think all of this was a ghost from his son’s death coming back to haunt him.
Then, Geom Mu-geuk asked the question that had brought him here.
“I must ask you, Alliance Leader. Was it you who annihilated the Mokcheon family?”
A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the hall.
Geom Mu-geuk did not take the silence as a confession. If the man were guilty, he wouldn't look so haunted. This was the silence of a man carrying a scar.
Finally, Jin Pae-cheon let out a ragged breath. “That day... I went there for revenge. It was for my family, so I went alone.”
His face contorted as the memories surged back.
“When I arrived, they were already dead.”
Jin Pae-cheon looked Mu-geuk in the eye, his voice trembling with the weight of an oath. “I swear upon the souls of my dead son and daughter-in-law. I did not kill them.”
For a man of his stature, swearing on his children was the ultimate proof of truth. He knew the importance of this moment.
“Seeing that sight... it brought me to my senses,” Jin Pae-cheon continued, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Do you know what I thought as I looked at the corpses, after I had rushed there like a madman seeking blood?”
He paused, a long, agonizing sigh escaping him.
“I thought it was a relief.”
Geom Mu-geuk remained silent, listening.
“I, the Leader of the Murim Alliance, felt relieved. I thought to myself that if someone hadn't beaten me to it, I might have been the one to commit that atrocity. I, who should have been outraged by the slaughter of innocents, felt glad they were already dead so I wouldn't have to kill them!”
Anguish was etched into every line of the old man’s face.
“You wouldn't have annihilated them, Alliance Leader,” Mu-geuk said firmly.
Jin Pae-cheon stared at him. “Do you really believe that?”
No one could ever be sure. Who could say how far a grieving parent might fall? And yet, Geom Mu-geuk didn't waver.
“Yes. Because you are not that kind of person.”
Jin Pae-cheon let out another long sigh, his domineering aura completely gone. The event had been a festering wound in his soul for years. He had been tormented by the thought that he could have done it, and by the self-loathing he felt for his own relief. Because he had lived his life by the code of chivalry, the guilt of his own potential for evil was a heavier burden than any enemy’s blade.
Geom Mu-geuk repeated himself, his voice a steady anchor. “You wouldn't have done that.”
Jin Pae-cheon’s eyes trembled. In that moment, he realized he had been waiting a very long time to hear those words. He had been waiting for permission to believe them himself.
Yes. I wouldn't have done it.
The Alliance Leader looked at the young man before him with newfound depth. “Why do you trust me so much? You barely know me.”
“No, I don't know you well at all,” Geom Mu-geuk replied calmly. “But one thing is certain, isn't it? If you were the kind of man who would slaughter a family in cold blood, would I be standing here alone in the heart of your Alliance?”