Chapter 126: A Girl Who Is Crazy About Poisonous Plants
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 126: A Girl Who Is Crazy About Poisonous Plants
Tang Soyeol began acting strangely the moment she learned we would be dining with the Sword Queen.
Her eyes trembled, and a nervous cough escaped her lips. She couldn't seem to keep her body still, fidgeting incessantly.
I was perplexed by her reaction at first, but it made sense when I considered what the Sword Queen represented to every female martial artist in the modern world.
If we excluded the Unorthodox Faction's Heavenly Sword Queen, she was considered the pinnacle—the martial artist who had reached the highest realm attainable by a swordswoman.
It was impossible not to respect her. Despite living a relatively short life compared to other world-renowned masters, her achievements were legion.
Even when she wasn't wielding a sword, she commanded reverence.
Even Namgung Bi-ah, who usually seemed as detached from the world as I was, had brightened noticeably when speaking with the Sword Queen during our return journey to the Gu Clan.
“I’d heard the Sword Queen had been missing for several years…”
“She was merely traveling.”
Although her condition had improved, explaining why the Sword Queen had withdrawn from the world for those past few years was complicated. It wasn't something I could easily divulge, so I offered a different answer.
“Then why is she here at the Gu Clan?”
Tang Soyeol, who had initially been so reserved upon arriving here, was now leaning forward, her eyes shining with curiosity as she asked question after question.
Her interest in the Sword Queen was palpable; she clearly admired her greatly.
The truth was, the Sword Queen had come to accompany Gu Ryunghwa and claimed to have business with the Gu Clan. Of course, I couldn't tell Tang Soyeol that.
“I think you should ask her yourself when you see her later. As it's not my story to tell, I should be cautious with my words.”
“Oh…”
Tang Soyeol fell into a quiet whisper, seemingly psyching herself up. She looked like she was thinking, Can I really do this? I'm so shy…
Shy? Tang Soyeol?
I hadn't gotten that impression from her, but if she said so, it must be true.
Leaving the fidgeting Tang Soyeol to her nerves, I turned my attention to Namgung Bi-ah, who was trying to make herself small in the corner of the room.
As before, she didn't seem well. I approached to check on her, but she flinched and slapped my hand away again.
“Are you really alright?”
“…Yeah…”
She gathered her long hair and pulled it across her face like a curtain, clearly aware of how flushed her cheeks were.
I was considering summoning the Immortal Healer when I sensed a presence at the door. It opened as I turned.
“They said you were here, Brother—“
It was Gu Ryunghwa, whom I was seeing for the first time since arriving at the Gu Clan.
The girl frowned as she surveyed the scene.
Tang Soyeol was practically vibrating with excitement.
Namgung Bi-ah was huddled in a corner, hiding her face.
To Gu Ryunghwa, this was anything but normal. After a quick scan of the room, her eyes settled on me.
“…What’s going on?”
“Good question… What is going on?”
I wanted to know myself. What is happening here?
Explaining this mess felt like a futile effort, so I just sighed and addressed Gu Ryunghwa.
“You said we were eating together today?”
“Yeah. Didn’t you know, Brother? You said we should have a meal sometime.”
“I didn’t know it was today.”
“Oh, did I forget to mention it? Well, it doesn’t really matter.”
As she said, it wasn't a big deal. Eating together was fine, but I needed to inform her that our party had grown.
“It seems we'll have more guests joining us today. Is that alright?”
“More guests? Is it Sister Bi-ah?”
I gestured toward Tang Soyeol instead. The Tang girl was making a curious face, wondering who this new arrival was.
“This is my sister. And this is Tang Soyeol.”
“Tang…? The Sichuan Tang Clan?”
“Oh, hello. I am Tang Soyeol.”
Recognizing the girl's identity, Tang Soyeol immediately stood and bowed respectfully.
Gu Ryunghwa quickly returned the gesture with equal courtesy.
“I am Gu Ryunghwa…”
My sister looked like she was wondering why a member of the Tang Clan was here, but I had no easy way to explain.
-She came here because she has a crush on me.
I knew better than to say that out loud.
The two girls assessed each other, their expressions revealing their thoughts as clearly as if they'd spoken.
Gu Ryunghwa was thinking, She looks incredibly innocent for a girl who specializes in poison.
Tang Soyeol was thinking, She seems so gentle for someone with Gu blood.
The Sichuan Tang Clan was indeed known for their brutal martial arts that could melt and rot flesh, but their members were also famed for their innocent, unassuming appearances. Similarly, Gu Ryunghwa possessed a soft demeanor belying her origins.
They were quite similar, in a way. I almost laughed, remembering Wi Seol-Ah once saying Gu Ryunghwa looked like a squirrel. I'd chuckled then, earning me a kick from her. Suppressing a smile, I asked Gu Ryunghwa,
“Where is your master?”
“Brother, why are you smiling?”
“I’m not smiling…”
“You look like you are.”
“I said I’m not. Don’t raise your foot.”
“Tch.”
She's sharp. Who did she get that from?
[Well, definitely not you.]
…
“Master said she had some business and would be late, so she told me to come ahead.”
It seemed the Sword Queen would be delayed. Gu Ryunghwa then glanced at Namgung Bi-ah in the back.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“I don’t know. If you're curious, go ask her yourself.”
Since Namgung Bi-ah seemed averse to my approach, I suggested Gu Ryunghwa try.
As Gu Ryunghwa moved to do so, Tang Soyeol intercepted her.
“Sis said she's feeling a bit tired today! She'll be fine in a moment!”
“Oh, okay…”
“Oh, by the way… Are you the Sword Queen’s…?”
Tang Soyeol cautiously inquired if Gu Ryunghwa was the Sword Queen's disciple. Gu Ryunghwa's expression tightened momentarily, but she nodded in admission.
There was a time when she would have hidden it for her master's sake, but now she acknowledged it with confidence. Likely because Gu Ryunghwa was awakening to her potential, and the Sword Queen was regaining her health.
Then, Tang Soyeol grabbed Gu Ryunghwa's hands. Gu Ryunghwa was startled by the sudden contact, but she didn't pull away.
“W-What are you doing?”
“Lady Gu…”
“Yes…?”
Gu Ryunghwa shot me a pleading look, but Tang Soyeol pressed on, “Is there any poison that the Sword Queen might like?”
“Pardon?”
Gu Ryunghwa stared in bewilderment. Even Namgung Bi-ah peeked out from her hair, wondering if she'd heard correctly.
I facepalmed internally.
Could this situation possibly get any more chaotic?
* * *
Around the time Gu Ryunghwa arrived at my quarters, the Sword Queen was on the mountain behind the Gu Clan estate.
It was late at night, and the mountain path was rough, but having recovered about half of her strength, the Sword Queen traversed it without difficulty.
-Ring!
A faint chime sounded as she passed a specific point, but she wasn't startled. It felt like passing through a barrier.
She was only halfway up the mountain, yet she had already encountered a protective formation. The Sword Queen didn't know how much qi it required to maintain, nor how much more lay ahead.
When she reached a flat expanse, she saw a figure standing in the center, holding something behind his back.
Seeing him, the Sword Queen said, “I did not expect you to be here so early.”
“I dislike keeping people waiting.”
“True. You always arrived before the rest of us.”
The man standing under the moonlight was none other than the Sword Venerable.
The woman walked slowly toward the old man.
“It has been a long time.”
“Yes… Have you been well?”
His journey had lasted months. The Sword Venerable was leading a horse, and the Sword Queen fell into step beside him.
There was no way she wouldn't have recognized him. She didn't know why he was performing tasks like leading a Gu Clan horse, but she simply observed him.
“Sir Alliance Leader.”
The Sword Venerable smiled wryly at the title.
“Like the Immortal Healer, it seems everyone still calls me that, though I'm merely a useless old man now.”
“If you prefer, I could call you Elder.”
“No need. A change in address won't change anything.”
“How have you been all this time?”
How long had it been? Their last meeting was after the Sword Queen had returned from her traumatic ordeal in the Abyss. That was at least a few years ago.
A decade, in fact.
It felt both shorter and infinitely longer.
The Sword Venerable had resigned as Alliance Leader and vanished from the world. Gu Cheolun, once leader of the Dragon Army, had disbanded the unit and become clan lord.
During that time, the Sword Queen had journeyed to the Abyss, seeking knowledge and understanding.
In the end, she had learned far more than she ever wished to.
“What do you think?” the Sword Venerable asked.
The Sword Queen remained silent, her gaze fixed on him.
It was too late. The Sword Venerable, who once seemed invincible, had been defeated by the relentless flow of time, reduced to a withered old man. The deep shadows etching his wrinkled face spoke of the years he had endured.
But the Sword Queen could not sympathize.
“I, too, have been aged by time.”
The woman who once dreamed of world peace was now middle-aged.
“I have seen and learned many things, yet I still cannot comprehend your actions, Alliance Leader.”
“The Immortal Healer said the same.”
“Why did you do it?”
That was the question the Sword Queen most wanted answered.
Why had he done such a thing?
“Many who admired you, who followed your lead, lost their lives.”
That was the root of the Immortal Healer's hatred and the Sword Queen's resentment.
The utter destruction of the Dragon Army.
The Sword Queen still remembered it vividly—the army's annihilation after being sent into the Abyss on the Alliance Leader's orders.
She resented herself for not being there with them. She felt a piercing pain, remembering the youngest survivor ending his own life in her arms.
“It wasn't merely a sacrifice.”
Sacrifice was necessary. Nothing great could be achieved without it. That was why strategies were debated and loyalty was paramount. Every member of the Dragon Army understood this. They lived not for themselves, but were prepared to die for their comrades. For their goal, they sacrificed without hesitation.
The Sword Queen knew that had she died in the Abyss, she would have had no regrets.
Even when the survivors took their own lives, she hadn't blamed the Sword Venerable. It was the same when she heard of the army's destruction. She had not resented him.
She had resolved to live on, believing these were necessary sacrifices. They died gloriously for the sake of world peace.
She had forced herself to believe that… until she learned the truth.
“Please, answer me.”
As she spoke, the Sword Queen drew her sword.
The Sword Venerable didn't move a muscle at her action.
“For what reason did we have to die? Was it truly…” A faint, crimson aura began to swirl around her blade. “To save your own child?”
The Sword Venerable's eye twitched at her words.
The sword aura condensed, and light whirled around the Sword Queen.
“I'm sorry.”
As the Sword Venerable offered his meek apology, the Sword Queen's sword struck.
- Claaang!
A deafening clangor reverberated through the night, followed by a massive shockwave that scoured the earth.
The once-flat ground was transformed into a wasteland. The explosive force of the sword slash left a sharp, cleaved scar across the landscape. Trees and rocks were sheared in half. Where the Sword Queen's blow landed, the soil was blasted away.
Yet, the Sword Venerable remained standing precisely where he was, completely unharmed, without a single scratch.
Seeing this, the Sword Queen spoke.
“…You are still the same.”
She couldn't help but smile bitterly. Her body was still compromised by the toxic qi that had plagued her, and though not fully recovered, she was stronger than when they last met. She had never stopped swinging her sword since that day.
But not for revenge. She had vowed never to wield her blade for such a purpose.
Yet, despite her growth, the chasm between her and the Sword Venerable remained vast, insurmountable.
“Do you desire my death?”
“What would you do if I said yes?”
“I would acquiesce, if that is your wish. I don't believe my life holds much value anymore.”
“…!”
“However, I… I cannot die just yet.”
The Sword Venerable held no weapon. He simply gazed at the Sword Queen, but the woman held no illusion that she could defeat him.
It wasn't a pressure exerted through qi. It was an overwhelming presence that only a martial artist who had transcended a certain realm could possess.
She wondered if she should be glad to finally perceive the gap between them, or despair at the immense, unscaleable wall that separated them. The Sword Queen found it difficult to accept either emotion.
“That's contradictory of you.”
“I'm sorry…”
“Is it because of that child?”
“…”
“I have seen her as well. She is a very lovely girl.”
Wi Seol-Ah, was it? The Sword Venerable's granddaughter.
A beautiful child. The Sword Queen had smiled, seeing her kindness and friendliness toward everyone.
But as the Sword Queen regained her strength, she also perceived the immense potential sleeping within that girl. Others might sense nothing, but to the Sword Queen, it was the opposite. The girl's latent power was so vast it was imperceptible to ordinary senses.
The Sword Venerable did not answer the woman's question.
“What do you dream of?”
“…”
“Do you dream of that girl's happiness?”
The Sword Queen's tone turned sharp.
“If you are capable of such a dream, then perhaps your actions make a twisted sense.”
She remembered the youngest member of their army, weeping as he ended his life in her embrace. A young hero, barely twenty, who had lived to protect others, driven to suicide because of this.
“I don't know what you and the captain witnessed, or why you choose to live this way, but you are merely running away.”
When the Sword Queen saw the colossal tree within the Abyss, she too had felt despair and accepted death, but she had never surrendered.
Even if they had seen horrors beyond her comprehension, she could not forgive.
“I wanted to die by your hand, Alliance Leader.”
“…!”
“That was my wish, years ago. Yet, no matter how I searched, you left no trace.”
The Sword Queen didn't know why the Sword Venerable had chosen to reveal himself now. More precisely, she no longer cared.
“But I, too, have a reason to live now.”
Her precious disciple was growing. The Sword Queen had accepted death, but now, given a second chance, she wished to continue living.
“I don't know what you live for. And I will not forgive you.”
The Sword Queen decided she would never forgive the Sword Venerable, even if an eternity passed.
It wasn't even her forgiveness he should be seeking.
“I at least hoped you wouldn't have become like this… But I was wrong about that, too.”
Had he remained the peerless martial artist looking down upon the world, the Sword Queen thought she might have felt some grim satisfaction. She could have raged at him, swung her sword in bitter resentment, even knowing she would lose.
“Do you know Taeryong's final words?”
It was the name of the youngest one, who died in her arms.
“He said he was scared. That to live is to endure.”
-Sister… I’m so scared…
The Sword Queen clenched her fists. The urge to swing her sword again surged, but she fought it back, mastering the strength coursing through her hands.
“I… Once I have settled everything, I will end my own life and go to them to atone.”
“I will not seek you out again after this.”
Like Gu Cheolun, the Sword Venerable seemed burdened by secrets he couldn't share, but the Sword Queen was finished.
No matter the reason, the past could not be undone or justified.
She now had things too precious to live for revenge. She had to protect them.
So, she would endure.
From the Sword Venerable's eventual death to her own.
She had come only to ask her questions, and that purpose was fulfilled.
“Did the Immortal Healer also come to ask about that child?”
The Sword Venerable remained silent on this question as well, but his silence was answer enough.
How had the Sword Venerable fallen so far?
The Sword Queen knew he hadn't always been like this.
He was once a man who raised his sword for the world peace he desired more than anyone, a man of steel who valued loyalty above all.
“I don't know what weakened you, Alliance Leader, but I hope you at least retain your pride.”
With those final words, the Sword Queen sheathed her sword.
She pondered briefly. If she had been stronger than him, would she have killed him?
…I don't know.
The fact that she was uncertain revealed her own incompleteness as a person.
She had needed a target for her resentment, and having found it, she had poured out the emotions festering within her.
“I'll take my leave. Thank you for meeting me.”
The Sword Queen turned and began her descent down the mountain.
Her steps were quick; her student was waiting.
Left alone, the Sword Venerable had only the moonlight for company.
He concealed a trembling hand and sank to one knee. Simultaneously, the barrier surrounding the mountain dissipated.
“…I'm sorry… I'm sorry…”
He covered his face with his wrinkled hand. His tears had long since dried up.
All that remained was to wait for the appointed time.
In silence, he contemplated the moment when he would finally end his worthless life.
* * *
When the Sword Queen arrived at the designated hall, she was escorted by a servant. She carefully schooled her expression, hiding her turbulent emotions. Her disciple was perceptive; if she didn't compose herself, Gu Ryunghwa would notice.
After calming her mind, she opened the door. Immediately, someone rushed toward her.
“Hello…!”
At first, she thought it was Gu Ryunghwa, but the girl's dark green hair revealed it was not. She seemed to be from a specific clan, so the Sword Queen searched her memory.
The girl, Tang Soyeol, nervously pressed a small jar into the Sword Queen's hands.
“It's an ointment made with Flowers of Elegance…! I-It's extremely good for your skin! Please accept it!”
Flowers of Elegance…?
Aren't those poisonous?
The Sword Queen stared at the girl, dumbfounded. Tang Soyeol merely offered an embarrassed smile.
-Pffbt-!
Gu Yangcheon, who was watching from the side, spat out his tea.
He truly hadn't expected her to give the Sword Queen poison.
“…Brother.”
“…Oh.”
Unfortunately, Gu Ryunghwa, sitting across from him, received the full spray of tea.
“Sorry.”
Gu Yangcheon apologized quickly, but Gu Ryunghwa's face had already darkened into a demonic mask.
He nodded to himself. She really did have the blood of the Gu Clan, for her face to contort like that.
She looks terrifying.
“You bastard!” the demonic Gu Ryunghwa roared.