Chapter 85
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: A Wind Begins to Blow (5)
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Ho Yoseong’s face hardened.
But he showed no sign of fear or worry. It was astounding how he could remain so unfazed with a blade resting on his shoulder.
“I must say, I didn’t expect this turn of events.”
“Predictable developments are no fun.”
“I don’t know about fun, but it is certainly surprising.”
“Whatever you’re thinking is none of my concern.”
Ho Yoseong sighed.
“At least tell me why. What’s with this sudden change?”
“Shouldn’t I be the one asking that?”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t know how, and I don’t know why. But you didn’t come to me out of mere curiosity or goodwill.”
Seo Ryang’s eyes grew deep.
“Why did you seek me out?”
A vague alarm from his sixth sense.
The sixth sense that had been ringing a warning bell in the back of his mind when they first met was now stabbing at him like a dagger.
Eventually, he couldn't even focus on the conversation properly. His wariness of the man had grown so intense that all his attention was fixed on Ho Yoseong’s eyes and reactions.
He couldn't let it go on. He didn't know how or why he felt it, but he couldn't walk alongside someone who made him feel this endangered.
“So, you felt something was off, though you don’t know what, and you’re resorting to threats to find out? Is that it?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Drawing my blade wasn’t a simple threat.”
“…”
“If it comes to it, I intend to take your head.”
The corners of Ho Yoseong’s mouth lifted.
“You’d take the Grand Marshal’s head within the Cult’s grounds? Even for the Third Young Master, you wouldn’t get away with that.”
“It’s fine. I’ll just pretend to be a mountain bandit.”
“Aha? So your plan is to feign ignorance, claiming you didn’t know I was the Grand Marshal?”
“If a moment comes where I must, then that’s what I’ll have to do.”
Seo Ryang’s expression was serious. And Ho Yoseong instantly recognized that seriousness.
The mocking smile on Ho Yoseong’s face slowly faded into a blank expression.
“Sheathe your blade. This situation could be treated as treason.”
“Whether I die now or later, this way or that way, people die eventually.”
“I’ll count to three.”
“I’ll ask one last time.”
*Shing!*
A faint demonic energy coated the saber.
The energy was slight, but it was filled with an overflowing, resolute will. If he didn't give a proper answer to this question, Seo Ryang would truly take Ho Yoseong’s head.
Knowing this, beads of cold sweat slowly formed on the back of Ho Yoseong’s neck.
“Why did you seek me out?”
“…”
“Let me warn you in advance. If you mention simple curiosity again, you die.”
Ho Yoseong stared at Seo Ryang with a hardened face.
Finally, he sighed.
“How did you know?”
“When you’re asked a question, you should give an answer. The habit of asking back is not a good one. And I’m quite sure I said this was the last time.”
“I’ll tell you, so please, tell me. How did you know? That I had other intentions.”
Seo Ryang frowned.
“I don’t know. Just a gut feeling.”
“A gut feeling? You guessed it based on a feeling?”
“My sixth sense happens to be quite sharp.
And I’ve already learned that the world doesn’t run solely on logic.
So when reason and emotion clash, I usually follow where the latter leads. That way, at least I have no regrets.”
“…Well, I’ll be.”
It was a reason that naturally drew a disbelieving laugh.
Chuckling to himself, Ho Yoseong suddenly recalled a conversation with someone.
- You’ve never even seen my abilities. And yet you’d make me the Grand Marshal? Why?
- Are reasons so important?
- They are. At least to me.
- Let’s just call it a sixth sense.
- You’d make me Grand Marshal just because you have a good feeling about it? What is that? It makes no sense, no matter how I think about it.
- From now on, when you handle the Cult’s affairs, keep one thing in mind.
- You’ve already made up your mind, haven’t you?
- The world does not run on logic alone. That is a mistake people as smart as you often make.
- …
- Hone your intuition.
- Intuition…
- Logic yields an answer for the moment, but intuition presents the answer key to the future. True wisdom comes from there.
After hearing those words, Ho Yoseong had bowed to ‘him.’ It was a bow he hadn't even offered when facing the Imperial Prince, but he had no choice but to offer it to him.
Unlike the Prince, who only gave orders, he had bestowed upon him a teaching.
Ho Yoseong smacked his lips.
“Curiosity breeds imagination, and imagination conjures up countless answer sheets.”
“…”
“I wanted to know which of those innumerable answer sheets held the real answer.”
“So you intended to test me?”
“When I want to know an answer I don’t have, I must give the test paper to someone else. They might just be able to solve it.”
“What kind of test did you have in mind?”
“Nothing too grand. I was simply planning to escort you to the Heavenly Demon Armory.”
“Hm?”
“I have a way to get the Third Young Master into the Heavenly Demon Armory.”
“And?”
“I intended to let you in and observe.”
Seo Ryang’s gaze sharpened.
“It wouldn’t have been a simple observation.”
“If you showed me something interesting, I would have feigned ignorance, claiming I had no such method.”
In other words, he could have let him into the Heavenly Demon Armory with his own hands, only to later treat him as a trespasser.
He didn't know how that would be possible. But it was clear that Ho Yoseong had the brains and the power to do it.
If that had actually happened, Seo Ryang would have been sent straight to the Hall of Punishments.
At that point, being the Cult Leader’s disciple wouldn't have mattered; he would have been forced to serve a sentence. He might have even had to rot in the dungeons for the rest of his life.
The crime of trespassing in a forbidden area was among the gravest of sins.
Seo Ryang stared at Ho Yoseong for a moment before sheathing his blade.
“To be frank, you truly are a nasty piece of work.”
Ho Yoseong grinned. He sensed that the wariness directed at him had significantly dissipated with the change in the other’s tone.
“I hear that often. Sometimes they even call me a lunatic or worse.”
“What kind of gutsy bastard says that to you?”
“The followers of our Cult are quite spirited. They don’t say it to my face, but they whisper behind my back. You, Young Master, even drew your blade.”
“So you’ve been holding it all in.”
“I’d prefer you say I have a good memory. What can I do if I can’t forget?”
Seo Ryang snorted.
“In any case, it was a rather interesting meeting. Now, let’s go our separate ways.”
“Eh? You’re leaving?”
“What else?”
“Aren’t you going to the Heavenly Demon Armory? What about our drink?”
Seo Ryang was dumbfounded.
“Are you suggesting we go have a friendly drink with a man who was willing to send someone to the dungeons out of curiosity? As I said before, I don’t need to go to the Heavenly Demon Armory.”
“You promised.”
“What promise?”
“You promised to have a drink with me in exchange for letting you into the Heavenly Demon Armory.”
“And I’m telling you I don’t need it.”
Ho Yoseong’s expression became visibly downcast.
“I thought you were a man who kept his promises, no matter what.”
“And I didn’t know the Grand Marshal was such a treacherous person.”
“I stayed up for several nights to finish all my work for today.”
“Is there a reason I should care about that?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“Didn’t you send a bodyguard to the Lord of the Garden of Joy?”
“…”
“The fact that you sent him even after guessing my intentions, doesn’t that mean it wasn’t to find something out about the Lord of the Garden of Joy, but to give her a warning? To watch her mouth from now on.”
Seo Ryang’s eyes wavered.
Ho Yoseong smiled.
“Because of that, I have now been branded as an untrustworthy person by the Lord of the Garden of Joy. How will you take responsibility for that?”
Incredible.
Seo Ryang was genuinely impressed by the man’s keen eye. It was surprising enough that he had figured out who Ma Dongpil had been sent to, but his brilliance in instantly grasping the intention behind it was truly remarkable.
“Then you shouldn’t have messed with me.”
“How was I to know it would turn out like this?”
For all his brilliance, he was an utterly shameless man.
Seo Ryang sighed.
“Fine. Since it’s come to this, let’s go drink ourselves blind.”
“An excellent choice.”
“But we’re stopping by the Heavenly Demon Armory first.”
“Ah, of course. Will an hour be enough? I’ll tell the boys to prepare the table in advance…”
“What are you talking about?”
“Pardon?”
Seo Ryang looked at Ho Yoseong as if he were the most naive person in the world.
A look of unease immediately colored Ho Yoseong’s face.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Is an hour not enough?”
“You said you’d let me into the Heavenly Demon Armory.”
“I did, didn’t I?”
“You clearly said you’d let me in ‘once,’ but you never said I could only take ‘one’ weapon, did you?”
“…!”
“It’ll take half a day, not an hour, to look around and pick out a few items.”
Ho Yoseong’s jaw dropped.
Seo Ryang spoke with a face dripping with annoyance.
“Let’s get a move on. And if you’re going to tell the boys to set a table, have them bring three or four whole ducks, slow-cooked until they’re tender. I’ve been craving that lately.”
“But, Young Master…”
“For the record, I like my food plain. If it’s too salty or the spices are too strong, I won’t eat it.”
Having said his piece, Seo Ryang strode away.
Ho Yoseong, who had been staring blankly at his carefree back, burst into a hearty laugh.
“Well, I’ll be. How long has it been since I’ve been blindsided like this?”
* * *
He had said they would drink themselves blind, but Seo Ryang only finished a couple of bottles before getting up. It was to familiarize himself with the weapons he had brought from the armory.
Seo Ryang departed, carrying a bundle large enough for a person to fit inside, stuffed with various items.
Watching his back with drunken eyes, Ho Yoseong’s expression gradually grew serious.
“You never know a person until you meet them… The Lord of the Garden was right.”
He was a man who couldn't be described in a few words. While that could be said of anyone, there was something special about Seo Ryang.
“I just can’t figure him out.”
Among common folk, talk of marriage began after fifteen, and by their mid-twenties, people had started families and established a foundation for their lives.
But the martial world was different. Assuming one had outstanding talent, the mid-twenties was an age for a newcomer just beginning to make their mark.
It was common knowledge in the martial world that one generally reached their peak after forty.
Therefore, Seo Ryang was a fledgling. That was the normal way to see it.
But the Seo Ryang he saw today was by no means a fledgling.
“He seems frivolous at first glance, but it’s not frivolity at all. The words he tosses out here and there reveal his own unique perspective on the world.”
Ho Yoseong’s eyes gleamed.
“It’s as if a seasoned old warrior, who’s seen it all, has been reborn in a young man’s body.”
It had been nearly seven or eight years since they had met privately.
But Ho Yoseong knew everything about how Seo Ryang had lived during that time. It was the Grand Marshal’s duty to understand the personalities and martial arts of the Cult Leader’s disciples.
If he had lived as cruelly and ambitiously as Ho Yoseong had known him to, he could never show such a side of himself. Seo Ryang’s original personality wasn't like this at all.
‘There’s something more.’
Deep in thought, Ho Yoseong eventually let out a sigh.
“Well, he did go in and out of the Well of Judgment, so there’s no room for suspicion.”
At the very least, he wasn't someone who would bring harm to the Divine Cult. That must be why the Cult Leader had left the Third Young Master alone.
‘But…’
Ho Yoseong looked up at the sky.
Countless stars were dotted across the dark expanse, twinkling brightly.
“How very interesting. I wonder what kind of wind the Third Young Master, having cast off his past and transformed, will bring?”
Will it be a biting winter gale, or a spring breeze fragrant with new life?
Or will it be a bloody storm, reeking of carnage?
“You there.”
“Yes, Grand Marshal.”
“Send word to the Palace of the Demonic God.”
Ho Yoseong’s eyes shone.
“Tell the Cult Leader I will see him tomorrow morning.”