Chapter 77: Lesser Sword Immortal (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 77: Lesser Sword Immortal (4)
Late that night.
In a guest room at the Yangpyeong Inn.
So Yeong-yeong, who had been unconscious for a long while after suffering internal injuries from mental shock, finally opened her eyes.
As she stared blankly at the ceiling, someone called out to her.
“Yeong-mae, are you feeling any better?”
“Sister?”
The one calling her was Namgung Ga-hee, the Hall Master of the Phoenix Hall. She held a towel soaked in warm water, looking as though she had been nursing her for some time.
“Why… am I… here?”
At So Yeong-yeong’s question, Eon Yeong-in of the Jinju Eon Family approached and spoke.
“Are you alright, sister? Your brother carried you here after you fainted, so I brought you into the room.”
“My brother?”
The memory of her brother flooded back.
[Yeong-yeong. You, too, carry the blood of the Blood Demon.]
A sudden chill raced through her, and her body began to tremble violently. Startled, Namgung Ga-hee grabbed hold of her.
“Yeong-mae? What’s wrong? Why are you shaking like this?”
Her breathing grew ragged. Seeing her in such a state of confusion, like someone who had suffered a massive trauma, Namgung Ga-hee tried to lay her back down on the bed.
So Yeong-yeong waved her hands, refusing.
“I-I’m fine.”
“Fine? You’re breaking out in a cold sweat. Look at you—your lips are so parched they’re about to peel. Yeong-in, go ask the innkeeper for some warm tea.”
“Understood. Wait just a moment, sister.”
Eon Yeong-in hurried out of the room to fetch the tea.
Just as Namgung Ga-hee said, So Yeong-yeong was covered in a cold sweat, and her mouth and lips were bone-dry, as if she were suffering from a severe fever.
Namgung Ga-hee firmly grasped So Yeong-yeong’s trembling hands.
“Don’t shake, Yeong-mae. Did you hear something bad?”
“Sister…”
So Yeong-yeong’s eyes welled with tears.
“Oh, dear!”
Namgung Ga-hee pulled her into a tight, motherly embrace. She didn’t know the details, but she could see how much the girl was suffering.
In the warmth of Namgung Ga-hee’s arms, a single tear rolled down So Yeong-yeong’s cheek.
I… I carry the blood of the Blood Demon…
It was a truth that shattered her entire world.
Like her brother, So Woon-hwi, she had endured a difficult childhood. What had sustained her through it all was her life as a martial artist of the Hengshan Sect. Her purpose in life was to overcome her tragic past and gain fame as a great female master of the Orthodox Faction, just like her teacher, the Hengshan Lady Hero, Jo Il-hye.
Pat, pat.
“Yeong-mae. I don’t know what happened, but don’t let it hurt you so much.”
Namgung Ga-hee soothed her, gently stroking her back.
“Sister…”
So Yeong-yeong began to sob uncontrollably. Though her clothes were getting soaked with tears, Namgung Ga-hee simply held her closer, offering comfort.
It took a long time for So Yeong-yeong to calm down. After the outburst of tears, even her trembling subsided.
Wiping the tear tracks from So Yeong-yeong’s cheeks, Namgung Ga-hee spoke playfully.
“I guess the rumors were wrong.”
“Pardon?”
“Seeing how he made our kind and sturdy Yeong-mae cry, your brother must be a bad man. Should I go over there right now and scold him? I’ll give him a good thrashing!”
So Yeong-yeong let out a small, sudden laugh.
“They say if you laugh right after crying, you’ll grow horns on your bottom.”
“Then let them grow.”
Namgung Ga-hee’s lips curled into a smile at the response.
“There’s the Yeong-mae I know.”
“…Thank you, sister.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Sometimes, I wish you were my real sister.”
Seeing the cute way So Yeong-yeong looked up at her with sparkling eyes, Namgung Ga-hee squealed and hugged her tight again.
“Kyaa! I should just keep you by my side forever. Don’t ever get married; just live with me.”
“Si-sister… I can’t… breathe…”
Pressed against Namgung Ga-hee’s ample chest, So Yeong-yeong flailed her arms.
“Oh!”
Namgung Ga-hee quickly released her. So Yeong-yeong, her face bright red, burst into laughter. Wiping the last of the tears from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, she spoke.
“Sister… can I ask you something?”
“Is there anything we can’t talk about?”
“Thank you.”
“Stop saying that.”
So Yeong-yeong caught her breath and spoke cautiously.
“Sister… if everything you ever knew turned out to be a lie, and an unbelievable truth became your reality… how would you accept it?”
“…Hmm?”
Namgung Ga-hee tilted her head at the difficult question. Sensing the weight of it, So Yeong-yeong waved her hands dismissively.
“No, no. I think I phrased that strangely. It’s just… I feel like I’m not qualified to be part of the Orthodox Faction. I feel so sorry toward my Master.”
“What are you talking about? Not qualified?”
“……Just everything.”
At the lack of confidence in her voice, Namgung Ga-hee squeezed her hand.
“Yeong-mae. If someone as strong and pure as you isn’t qualified for the Orthodox Faction, then who is?”
“I just… feel like I don’t deserve it.”
Namgung Ga-hee gave a bittersweet smile.
“I don’t know what’s causing this, but it sounds like you’ve run into a conflict between the Orthodox and Evil paths.”
“A conflict?”
“I’ve had thoughts like that before, too.”
“What do you mean? You’ve felt the same way as me?”
“You know that my eldest uncle left home and converted to the Evil Faction, right?”
“Ah!”
She had heard about it once after they became close. The defector of the Namgung Family, one of the Five Great Families and a prestigious pillar of the Orthodox Faction.
The Blood Purging Sword, Namgung In.
Ga-hee had mentioned that she had loved and followed her uncle when she was a child.
“To be honest, when I saw the betrayal of the uncle who used to give me piggyback rides every day, I agonized over the nature of Orthodox and Evil until my head hurt.”
“Really?”
“Of course. The uncle I knew was a good man with a sense of justice stronger than anyone’s. When he killed dozens of Orthodox martial artists and left the family, imagine how betrayed I felt.”
Though their situations were different, the core sentiment felt similar. So Yeong-yeong found herself drawn into the story.
“Actually, back then, the Namgung Family formed a special unit to capture him.”
“Did they catch him?”
She had never heard the end of that story.
“You see, Yeong-mae… the rest of the family doesn’t know, but my father and I were the first to find him.”
“Truly?”
“Yes.”
“Then… did the Family Head and you personally…?”
“What are you saying? No matter if he turned to the Evil Faction, he’s still family.”
“Ah…”
“At that time, we saw him living in seclusion in a remote village, smiling while giving children piggyback rides.”
Namgung Ga-hee’s expression turned nostalgic. There was no anger or disappointment in her gaze. She held So Yeong-yeong’s hand tightly.
“Seeing him laughing brightly with those children on a hill with persimmon trees at sunset… I just found myself smiling. You see, Yeong-mae? I thought he had changed, but my uncle was still the same person.”
Though she hadn’t seen it, the poignancy of the moment was conveyed so clearly that So Yeong-yeong felt a lump in her throat. The suffocating feeling in her chest seemed to ease.
“……I see.”
Namgung Ga-hee winked.
“Don’t get too caught up in the labels of Orthodox and Evil. Isn’t the most important thing that you live a life you’re satisfied with, one you aren’t ashamed of?”
“You’re right!”
Yeong-yeong nodded, her voice regaining its strength.
She couldn’t reveal the truth, but hearing Namgung Ga-hee’s story made her realize she had been tormenting herself by being too rigid. No matter who her ancestors were, what her mother’s past was, or what her brother had become—she was still herself.
And her brother was still her one and only brother.
“I think I need to go see my brother early tomorrow and talk to him more. Would it be alright if we departed tomorrow afternoon?”
“Go ahead. What’s the harm in being a day late?”
“Thank you, sister.”
“Honestly, though, why is Yeong-in taking so long? I asked her for tea; did she go to a plantation to pick the leaves herself?”
“Pfft! Sister, really.”
“It’s because she’s taking forever. Stay here, I’ll go down and check.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Why would you? You need more rest.”
Namgung Ga-hee opened the door and stepped out.
So Yeong-yeong was about to lie back down as instructed when a loud crashing sound echoed from outside.
Startled, she bolted upright. Grabbing her scabbard from beside the bed, she rushed out of the room.
When she looked down at the lower floor, she couldn’t hide her shock.
“Sister!”
A massive man was holding Namgung Ga-hee by her leg, dangling her upside down. Blood was trickling from the head of the woman who hung helplessly in the giant’s rough grip.
How could she…?
Namgung Ga-hee was a strong woman, capable enough to lead the Phoenix Hall. As a master of the Peak Realm, So Yeong-yeong had never seen her defeated so helplessly.
Who on earth is that…?
Shiver!
The moment she saw the giant’s face, goosebumps erupted all over her body. It was a grotesque sight—his eyes and mouth were sewn shut with stitches.
But there was no time for fear. She had to save Namgung Ga-hee.
Shring!
So Yeong-yeong drew her sword and prepared to leap down.
Namgung Ga-hee cried out with great effort.
“N-no! Yeong-mae… it’s… Inak-myeon.”
“Inak-myeon?”
So Yeong-yeong’s eyes widened.
For several months, a series of disappearances involving young women had occurred near Pazhong, Pingchang, and Dalju in eastern Sichuan. The cases, where victims vanished without a trace, initially didn’t receive much attention. However, they gained notoriety when the daughter of the Sect Leader of the Mujung Sect in Pingchang disappeared.
There was no information about the culprit, but the sole witness claimed the kidnapper had the face of a demon. Thus, people began to call him Inak-myeon—the Evil Human Face.
Initially, the Eastern Sichuan Martial Arts Branch requested help from the Martial Alliance, which dispatched the newly formed Phoenix Hall. The plan was to use the female members as bait to lure the culprit out.
But as soon as they were deployed and the Sichuan Branch of the Martial Alliance began to move, the disappearances stopped as if the culprit had sensed them. It wasn’t entirely without results; they found the bodies of six missing women in a mountain valley near Pingchang County.
They stayed for about a month trying to find the culprit, but with no further leads, the Phoenix Hall eventually decided to withdraw.
And now, Namgung Ga-hee was identifying this giant monster as Inak-myeon.
That man is Inak-myeon? But why hasn’t anyone else in the inn come out despite all this noise?
It was strange.
Then, Namgung Ga-hee screamed.
“Yeong-mae, run!”
She couldn’t do that. How could she abandon her comrade and flee? If she ran now, Namgung Ga-hee might suffer the same fate as those dead women.
As she hesitated, a voice rang out.
“Who said we’d let you go?”
Swish!
At the sound of something cutting through the air, So Yeong-yeong rolled to the side. She looked to see who had attacked her and found a masked man.
Creeeak!
“!?”
The guest room doors on the second floor swung open, and masked men poured out. There were more than ten of them. Furthermore, masked men who had been hiding below revealed themselves—about twenty in total.
“Surrender quietly if you don’t want to get hurt.”
A masked man approached, leveling his sword at her.
So Yeong-yeong glanced between the masked men and Namgung Ga-hee before leaping down to the first floor.
I have to save her and escape.
Defeating them all on her own was impossible. As she descended, she immediately unleashed a sword technique toward the giant suspected to be Inak-myeon. Her goal was to force him to drop Namgung Ga-hee.
However—
“Ah!”
The giant suddenly swung the upside-down Namgung Ga-hee as if she were a blunt weapon.
Startled, she aborted her technique and twisted her body in mid-air. She hadn’t expected such a cowardly move. In that brief moment, the masked men on the ground surrounded her.
One of the masked men muttered.
“Just as he said—one top-grade and one high-grade.”
He?
So Yeong-yeong frowned.
“Who the hell are you people?”
“Since you bothered to interfere with our work, you’ll have to make up the numbers.”
Dammit.
She didn’t know much, but two things were clear. Inak-myeon wasn’t just one person; it was an organization. And they intended to kidnap them with malicious intent.
The masked man spoke to the giant.
“Hand that girl over and subdue this one as well.”
At those words, the giant tossed Namgung Ga-hee to one of the masked men like a sack of grain.
“Sister!”
So Yeong-yeong tried to rush forward to save her, but the giant blocked her path.
Now that there was no hostage, she didn’t need to hesitate. So Yeong-yeong unleashed the third form of the Hengshan Sect’s Azure Heron Sword Technique: Flying Carriage, Shadow Mirror.
Slash-slash-slash-slash!
The sword’s path traced a rhythmic trajectory as it surged toward the giant. Instead of dodging, the giant crossed his arms in a defensive stance.
What?
So Yeong-yeong’s sword strikes rained down on the giant. But instead of cutting him, the blade bounced off as if she were striking solid iron.
His body is like steel!
In her moment of shock, the giant kicked her in the stomach.
Thud!
“Agh!”
The blow to her abdomen sent her flying backward. She coughed up blood as the agonizing sensation of her internal organs twisting overwhelmed her. She smashed through two tables before coming to a stop.
Seeing her collapsed on the floor vomiting blood, the masked man grew annoyed.
“You idiot! Who told you to kick her that hard?”
“Uuuuugh.”
The giant, his mouth sewn shut, let out a grotesque groan. The masked man shook his head and signaled to the others. The masked men approached to bind the blood-spitting So Yeong-yeong.
She swung her sword and shouted.
“Who says… I’m going with you! Cough, cough.”
“If you don’t want to see more blood, you’d better come quietly, girl.”
“Shut up.”
So Yeong-yeong gritted her teeth and forced herself up. Her tenacity brought a glint of interest to the masked man’s eyes.
“Quite impressive for a slip of a girl.”
So Yeong-yeong kept the masked men at bay with her sword and spoke.
“You’ve made a mistake.”
“A mistake?”
So Yeong-yeong glared at the one who appeared to be the leader.
“Do you know who I am?”
The leader looked at her as if she were absurd and burst into a wild laugh.
“Kahahaha! This girl has no idea what’s going on.”
“The ones who don’t know what’s going on are you.”
With a bloody smirk, So Yeong-yeong took a deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs.
“BROTHEEEEEER!”
The leader mocked her with another burst of laughter.
“Kahahaha! What a stupid girl. Do you think we didn’t set up a barrier to keep the sound from leaking out? And 'brother'? Puhahaha!”
So Yeong-yeong’s face hardened. His words meant that his martial prowess had reached the peak of the Supreme Peak Realm or even the Realm of Superhumans. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to block sound with his True Qi.
Brother…
So Yeong-yeong bit her lip hard. She tore a strip of cloth from her sleeve and wrapped it around her hand and the sword hilt.
Brother said… he did everything he could to survive.
Even if she died here, she had no intention of being taken tamely. The masked man snorted at her display of defiance.
“A girl who doesn't know when to quit. Subdue her.”
At the leader’s command, the masked men closed the distance. So Yeong-yeong gritted her teeth and raised her sword.
Then, something caught her eye.
“!?”
A small dagger appeared before her. It was a very familiar sight.
She wasn’t the only one who saw it. The masked men were also bewildered by the dagger that had suddenly appeared, floating in the air and circling around So Yeong-yeong.
“A dagger is… floating?”
“Could this be…?”
As they faltered, So Yeong-yeong’s lips curled into a fierce grin.
“You’re all dead.”
“What?”
At that exact moment—
Cr-cr-crack!
Everyone looked up. The ceiling of the inn was buckling and collapsing. Through the mangled ceiling, something struck the center of the inn floor like a falling meteor.
BOOOOOM!
The unexpected happened.
The sheer force of the internal power caused everything on the floor to soar into the air. Tables, chairs, fragments of broken wood—even the masked men surrounding So Yeong-yeong were tossed upward by the impact.
“!!!”
As if the newcomer had seized control over everything in the room, the movements of the airborne masked men were frozen in time. That brief instant felt like an eternity.
W-what is this…?
The leader of the masked men, also tossed into the air, saw someone.
A tall young man was holding the airborne So Yeong-yeong. A sword slid from its scabbard of its own accord.
And then—
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
The unsheathed sword pierced through the bodies of the floating masked men at an incredible speed. As the blade struck, it left behind countless trails of blood like a spiderweb.
Seeing this, a name flashed through the leader’s mind.
L-Lesser Sword Immortal!