Chapter 51: Escape (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 51: Escape (2)
It’s not as if I remember every single detail from before my regression.
However, I remember the major events that shook the martial world with perfect clarity.
One of those events was the death of the Merciless Wind God, Jin Seong-baek—one of the Eight Great Masters.
It was shocking enough to learn that one of the Eight Great Masters was my biological father, but knowing that he was destined to die soon was a heavy blow.
That, I didn't know.
Peerless Fortress had suddenly announced Jin Seong-baek’s passing, and people could only speculate that something had happened internally.
“...You look quite shaken. It’s only natural. Even I was stunned when I heard from those who fell down here that the lad had become one of the Eight Great Masters.”
My maternal grandfather had fallen into this place about twenty years ago.
It seemed he had kept up with the news of the outside world by listening to the stories of those who occasionally tumbled into Bongnim Valley.
The Sodam Sword clicked its tongue in amazement.
Are you mocking me?
Who could have imagined that my biological father was one of the Eight Great Masters?
But would it have made a difference?
Before my regression, my dantian was destroyed, and I had a body that couldn't learn martial arts.
Different if he had known?
Do you think he would have healed my dantian and made me his successor if he’d known I existed?
To be honest, I wasn't sure.
A moment ago, I was too shocked by the revelation of his identity and his future to think clearly.
But now that I’d calmed down a bit, a doubt began to surface.
At the time, he was the Young Sect Leader, but he hailed from the Wind Shadow Eight Streams Sect, one of the Four Great Martial Sects that led Peerless Fortress.
Since then, he had become the Sect Leader and one of the Eight Great Masters.
What do you mean, "and"?
He had gained such immense power, yet I couldn't understand why he had ignored my maternal grandfather, who was imprisoned here in Bongnim Valley.
The same went for my mother.
I didn't know the full story because I hadn't heard it yet.
But looking at the situation now, he didn't seem much different from my adoptive father, So Ik-heon.
Perhaps he, too, had lived only for himself.
After a moment of deliberation, I spoke to my grandfather.
“...I don't understand why someone who rose to become one of the Eight Great Masters would just leave his father-in-law imprisoned like this.”
At those words, Ha Seong-un’s expression darkened.
He let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“The man who is your father is not that kind of person.”
“How can you be so sure? If it were me, the moment I gained power, the first thing I would have done was search for my father-in-law who was trapped here.”
“There seems to be a misunderstanding.”
“Pardon?”
“I am not imprisoned here.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I heard this through Kang Bu and the other children, but it seems Peerless Fortress believes I died along with my vassals when the main sect was purged.”
“...You mean you weren't locked away by them?”
I had assumed Peerless Fortress had confined my grandfather here.
But it seemed there was a different truth.
“What the Martial Alliance demanded as a condition for the alliance was the total annihilation of the main sect. Even if no one had ever escaped Bongnim Valley, would they have left any seeds of future trouble behind?”
With those words, my grandfather lifted his tattered shirt.
His upper body was covered in countless scars.
When he showed me his back, I saw nine distinct marks that looked like old arrow wounds.
‘Ha...’
To think he survived after sustaining such injuries.
I was speechless.
“These are the marks I received while escaping Peerless Fortress. When I was struck by a hail of arrows and fell into the rapids, even I thought my life was over.”
The rapids... Did he fall into them before reaching the waterfall of Bongnim Valley?
Lowering his shirt, my grandfather turned his head and looked at a pile of stones stacked in a corner of the cavern.
It was piled up like a grave.
“Brother Joje rescued me after I fell, riddled with heavy wounds. If not for him, I would have lost my life.”
Joje.
That seemed to be the name of the person inside the stone grave.
Hearing the story, he must have been an incredible person. To save someone who had been struck by a volley of arrows and was heavily injured, all without proper tools.
My grandfather pointed to the top of the stone pile.
There, I saw a weathered sect token.
“I only learned this before Brother Joje passed away, but he said he had studied under the same master as the Divine Healer of Ten Thousand Ailments.”
“A senior disciple of the Divine Healer?”
This was startling.
To think a fellow practitioner of the Divine Healer’s medical arts had been here.
“Before he died, Brother Joje gave me that token. He told me that if I ever escaped this hellish place, I should seek help from his junior brother. He said that if it were the Divine Healer, he might even be able to restore my dantian.”
My grandfather’s voice trailed off, sounding skeptical.
It seemed he didn't truly believe his dantian could be recovered.
That was likely why he had placed that token—which could have been a treasure—atop the grave instead of a headstone.
I spoke to him.
“It is possible. My dantian was also destroyed, but the Divine Healer helped me. You will be able to recover as well, Grandfather.”
It wasn't a lie.
The Divine Healer had indeed said it could be fixed.
“Is... Is that true?”
“It is.”
At the conviction in my voice, my grandfather’s eyes wavered.
To a martial artist, the dantian and internal energy were as vital as life itself.
Who wouldn't be shaken by the chance to recover them?
However, the brightness that had briefly touched my grandfather’s face soon faded back into darkness.
“But what use is it? There is no way out of here.”
It wasn't that there was no way out.
There was the option of persuading Sama Chak when he came to fetch me after the remaining time was up.
The problem was whether the man known as one of the Four Great Villains would agree to help if I asked him to save everyone who served my grandfather as well.
Just as I was debating whether to tell him about Sama Chak, my grandfather continued.
“In any case, Peerless Fortress announced that I was dead.”
Hearing the circumstances, I realized that not just Peerless Fortress, but my biological father as well, likely believed my grandfather was dead.
It was only natural to assume someone was dead after they fell into the rapids with nine arrow wounds and various other injuries.
‘...If that’s really the case.’
Did that man not even know if my mother was alive or dead?
I grew curious.
Whew. Guys.
It’s fine to disagree, but don't do it so loudly right in front of me.
I’m already stressed enough as it is. Okay?
Wait, that reminded me of something my grandfather said earlier.
[Ryeong... Ryeong was carrying a child?]
I had found it strange even then.
The fact that he said that meant he hadn't known my mother was pregnant.
I asked, just to be sure.
“Grandfather, did you not know that my mother was... that she was pregnant with me?”
At my question, Ha Seong-un’s face grew somber.
A bitter look filled his eyes.
He gripped my hand tightly and spoke.
“I’m sorry. I only just learned that your mother was carrying you. I have failed as a grandfather.”
‘Ah...’
If even my grandfather didn't know, the chances were very high that my biological father didn't know either.
In fact, my mother might have only realized it while she was fleeing.
Why was my life so tangled even before I was born?
“My child. As I listened to you talk about how your mother lived, I thought to myself... about how much she must have sacrificed to protect you.”
“.......”
A lump formed in my throat at his words.
My mother’s hidden past.
She had lost her entire family simply because she was a descendant of the Blood Demon.
Under such shock, she could have easily given up on life, but she survived until the end to give birth to me.
She even endured the stigma of being a maid who had been impregnated by the Head of the Yikyang So Family.
My mother never gave up on me, no matter the circumstances.
Squeeze!
My grandfather’s grip on my hand tightened.
“You are the very image of your mother. I consider your birth a blessing.”
“Grandfather...”
“Do not hate your father too much. I heard that after that incident, he never married and has lived alone all this time. If he had known of your existence, do you think he would have just stood by?”
‘He never married?’
That was news to me.
This was unexpected.
Even my mother had eventually opened her heart to my adoptive father, So Ik-heon, while living to protect me.
But I hadn't expected my biological father to have lived alone for over twenty years.
At first, I thought my biological father was no different from my adoptive one.
But hearing this changed my perspective.
My grandfather was a man as upright as the Orthodox path itself.
He was the one who had accepted that man as his son-in-law and entrusted his daughter to him.
If he still believed in him after suffering so much in this desolate place, I began to wonder what kind of person my father truly was.
I wanted to know what had really happened during the purge of the Flying Moon Hero Sect.
I’d have to meet him to find out the truth.
I was curious to know if he really hadn't known about my mother and me for twenty years.
The Blood Demon Sword, which had been listening quietly, pointed this out sharply.
Come to think of it, that was also a problem.
If left alone, my father, Jin Seong-baek, would die.
‘Damn it!’
Things were getting complicated.
I had to endure for a month to get out of here.
But things kept happening.
Preventing my father’s death was one thing, but the one-armed man, Kang Bu, was in critical condition right now. Moreover, my grandfather needed proper treatment as well.
“Is something troubling you? If it’s because of what I said...”
“It’s not because of that.”
“Then why do you have such a troubled look on your face?”
It didn't seem like a problem I could solve by agonizing over it alone.
I felt I should explain my situation and put our heads together.
“Phew... Actually, I was going to tell you earlier, Grandfather, but the reason I fell down here isn't the same as the others.”
“Not the same? Then what is it?”
“I am the Moon Evil...”
Before I could finish my sentence.
Someone rushed into the cavern.
It was the bearded man.
“Yo-Young Master! Something’s happened... Ah! Moon Elder!”
The bearded man, who was about to report something, was startled to see my grandfather awake.
“Are you alright?”
The joy was short-lived.
Sensing another urgent situation, the bearded man pointed toward the outside of the cave.
“It’s a disaster, Moon Elder, Young Master!”
“Miyeom, what are you talking about?” my grandfather asked, frowning.
“It seems the cave walls have crumbled; the inner caverns are starting to flood!”
‘!!!’
I jumped to my feet in surprise.
That meant the caves were filling with water.
‘Could it be because of that?’
After the Golden-Eyed Man broke through the cave wall and left, the great cavern where the herbs and monsters were had been flooded and destroyed.
I’d had a bad feeling because the water had rushed in so violently that parts of the cave had collapsed, and now this was happening.
My grandfather urgently shouted at him.
“How much has been flooded? Is the water rising quickly?”
The scale of the caves within Bongnim Valley was enormous.
If water was filling such a vast, maze-like network of caves, it was hard to fathom how fast it must be moving.
“Judging by the rate it’s rising now, I think everything will be submerged within two days!”
‘Damn it!’
This was truly the worst-case scenario.
Two days was just an estimate; no one knew if it would be faster or slower.
I didn't even know how to get out, and if the caves flooded, I was at a total loss as to what to do.
My grandfather struggled to stand up.
“First, let us head to the highest ground in the cave. If what Miyeom says is true, this place will be filled with water before long.”
He was right.
We couldn't just sit here.
I quickly hoisted my grandfather onto my back.
The bearded man, Miyeom, also hurriedly picked up the sleeping one-armed man.
“Ah! My child. Take that as well.”
At my grandfather’s word, I grabbed the sect token from the stone grave.
Right. I needed this to give my grandfather a reason to be treated by the Divine Healer later.
With my grandfather on my back, I followed Miyeom, who was leading the way.
The highest ground in the cave would likely be near where the waterfall fell and created the rapids.
Other men joined us along the way.
We were rushing through the cave together.
‘Huh?’
I heard a familiar voice in the distance.
Perhaps because it echoed through the cave, I wasn't the only one who heard it.
My grandfather, on my back, muttered.
“I think I hear a woman’s voice from somewhere.”
“I heard it too.”
“Me too, Moon Elder.”
It seemed they could only tell it was a woman’s voice.
The sound grew closer.
“Guide me properly. If you try any funny business, I’ll slice your ears off right then and there, so keep that in mind.”
“Hieek! I-I told you I understood!”
The moment I heard that voice, I knew.
‘Could it be?’
I ran past Miyeom and dashed forward.
“Young Master!”
My grandfather, on my back, also seemed confused and asked me.
“What is the matter?”
“That voice just now. It’s a voice I know.”
As I ran forward, the voice suddenly went quiet.
It seemed they were suppressing their presence, perhaps because they heard the sound of my running.
However, there was only one path here, so we were bound to meet.
In the dim light of a dying ember ahead in the dark cave, I saw two figures.
“Young Lady Sama!”
At my shout, one of the two figures cried out.
“Young Master!”
The owner of the voice was none other than Sama Yeong.
The Sodam Sword shouted excitedly.
I hadn't expected to see her before the appointed date.
She let go of whoever she was holding and came running toward me at full speed.
“Young Masteeeeer!”
I couldn't believe how cheerful her voice was.
As she ran up and tried to throw herself into my arms, she spotted my grandfather on my back and looked slightly taken aback.
Sama Yeong asked me.
“Young Master. Who is this elderly gentleman you are carrying?”
Coincidentally, my grandfather, looking at the girl who had stopped in front of us, asked at the same time.
“Is she an acquaintance of yours?”
“Uh... well...”
I didn't know how to explain.
Who could have predicted we’d run into each other like this?
Seeing her delighted expression, my grandfather seemed to have guessed something, as he said with a faint smile.
“What is your relationship with this lovely young lady?”
It was awkward because we’d met before I could even explain who her father was.
Since we couldn't stand here forever, I felt I should at least briefly introduce them to each other.
“Grandfather. This is Young Lady Sama Yeong... and, um... she is the daughter of the Moon Evil Sword, Sama Chak.”
“Wha-what? The M-Moon Evil Sword?”
I thought my eardrums were going to burst.
The look on my grandfather’s face was a sight to behold.
But in the midst of that, Sama Yeong looked at me with wide eyes and asked.
“He’s your grandfather?”
“Yes. I only found out after coming down here...”
“Oh my!”
‘Oh my?’
Sama Yeong suddenly clasped her hands and bowed politely.
Then, with a shy smile and a face flushed red as if embarrassed, she spoke.
“Grandfather, I am Sama Yeong, your soon-to-be granddaughter-in-law.”
‘!?’
My grandfather’s jaw dropped, resting right on my shoulder.