Chapter 55
Chapter 55
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Shadow Under the Eaves (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Murong Suhyang let out an involuntary gasp.
"You're thinking of recruiting that bastard?"
"Yeah."
"Are you insane?! Out of all the people you could recruit, you're going for an assassin? And not just any assassin—the one who came to kill my sister!"
Murong Bi waved her off without even turning around.
"If you're going to get in the way, then get out."
"This isn't getting in the way—I'm talking common sense here!"
"Neither you nor I are exactly paragons of common sense."
"Even if you're not, the main family is!"
"And that's exactly why it's crumbling under all that common sense."
"...!"
"If it weren't for Big Sis, the main family would've been done for already. But no more."
There was no gravity in his tone, but Murong Bi's voice still carried weight.
"Right now, we need power. Getting hung up on common sense will just keep us spinning our wheels."
"Fine, you make a good point! But recruiting an assassin just to get some power? That's not even common sense—it's suicide!"
Murong Suhyang's words weren't entirely wrong.
No normal person would even dream of turning an enemy who came to kill them and their family into an ally. They simply couldn't be trusted.
But Murong Bi was different.
If he could embrace them, if he was confident he could bend them to his will as one of his own, then it wasn't foolishness—it was an opportunity to leap forward.
Just as the generals who founded nations in the past had done, and as those who endured wars had done, the ability to turn anything into his own strength when needed was crucial.
And now was the time to demonstrate that ability.
"Is what you're worried about him betraying us and stabbing us in the back?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
"Why?"
"...Are you an idiot?"
"Does this guy strike you as someone loyal to Hwang Gyu?"
Murong Bi addressed Shadow directly.
"Friend, would you carry brushwood on your back and charge into a fire for Hwang Gyu?"
Shadow gave no reply.
No change in expression, no words.
If anything, that very attitude confirmed Murong Bi's suspicions. Sometimes, silence speaks louder than denial.
"Of course not. If he had any loyalty, he'd have tried to take his own life somehow. Or at least attempted to negotiate with us."
"..."
"If he'd kept a talent like you hidden all this time, it was probably more of a transactional relationship than master and subordinate, right? Hwang Gyu doesn't strike me as capable enough to have an assassin of your caliber as a subordinate."
Shadow finally spoke.
"What are you trying to say?"
"Want me to repeat everything I've said so far?"
"...You're asking me to become one of the Murong family?"
"No."
"...?"
"Become mine first."
Murong Suhyang's jaw dropped. It nearly hit the floor.
"Even so, it'd be hard for the family retainers to just accept someone who came gunning for the patriarch's life. How about starting under me instead?"
"...There's one thing I need to correct, at least."
"What's that?"
"I didn't come to kill you all. I came to scout your movements."
Murong Bi's eyes turned icy in an instant.
"Once you confirmed Hwang Jihwa was captured, you'd have gone straight for me or Big Sis to rescue her, right?"
"..."
"Am I wrong?"
Shadow couldn't deny it. There was no point in lying to someone who read his intentions so uncannily well.
"You had two paths ahead of you. Lucky for you, we opened a third one you never imagined. Otherwise, blood would have been spilled."
"That's..."
"Let's skip the word games. If things went south, you'd have tried to kill us anyway, right? What's there to correct about that?"
Shadow involuntarily bowed his head. He had nothing to say.
"So, what's it gonna be? Wanna come under me? If you need time, I can give you half a day more."
"What you really want from me isn't my skills—it's the Blood Replenishing Pill, isn't it?"
"Isn't it?"
Shadow's eyes burned even redder.
"I'm a warrior, not an apothecary."
"An assassin-turned one."
"...I devote myself to the sword. I have no desire to become an apothecary."
"Make pills and train with the sword."
"Are you saying you'll teach me the sword?"
"If you impress me."
"That's not a deal—that's a slave contract."
Whoosh.
The air in the warehouse grew frigid.
"Then die."
"...!"
"You think I'm thrilled about recruiting you? Have you forgotten? You're the one who tried to kill my sister."
Sujing was his great-grandniece and his older brother's granddaughter. Losing her to an assassin's blade would have been unbearable.
"I'm setting aside that rage and despair to keep you alive. Of course, you have something I need. You think I'd have let you live this long otherwise?"
"..."
"You should be grateful just to be breathing. Don't try to haggle. Should I make it so you can't live or die?"
Shadow swallowed hard again.
His lips were cracked, yet saliva still came. That was how intense Murong Bi's killing intent was.
"Get this straight. What you have? From my position, I can just write it off as no connection at all. It'd be a shame, but I can do without it."
"..."
"But killing you now would at least feel good. No loose ends, like Suhyang said."
"..."
"I was going to treat you like a person if you played nice, but even in this situation, you're stiffening your neck? Looks like words alone won't cut it for you."
Murong Bi stood up.
In that instant, Shadow felt darkness close in before his eyes.
He had merely risen from his seat, yet it felt like a mountain had blocked his path.
"I'll give you half a day. Like you said, decide if you become a slave or get torn apart."
"..."
"One more thing: the moment you choose life, you're truly a slave."
Murong Bi turned away, showing no lingering attachment whatsoever.
His presence was so overwhelming that even Murong Suhyang stepped back to let him pass.
Just as Murong Bi reached for the warehouse door,
"When you come back, bring some water."
Murong Bi glanced back, his face devoid of any smile.
Shadow sighed as he spoke.
"If I become a slave, I'd like to drink it in commemoration. If I die, at least let me have one last sip before the end."
"I'll bring water. But if you choose the latter, I'll drink it all myself. Why waste good water on a dead man? You'll be buried anyway."
With that, the Murong siblings left the warehouse.
Left alone, Shadow leaned his head against the wall.
"...I'm dying of thirst."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Murong Suhyang glanced at her brother's back.
Maybe it was all the eating, but his nape seemed a bit thicker with flesh now.
"What?"
"What do you mean?"
"Stop peeking like that. If you have something to say, spit it out."
Murong Suhyang grumbled inwardly. Did this guy have eyes in the back of his head?
"You serious?"
"Don't know what about, but sure, I'm serious."
"When you said it'd feel good to rip that guy apart, were you serious?"
Murong Bi turned to her with a puzzled look.
"Of course. You should know better than anyone."
She hadn't known.
Honestly, she'd doubted him midway. Sure, he'd changed, but was he really treating her sister's life so lightly?
Thankfully, that wasn't the case.
"And you're still going to recruit someone like that, even as a slave?"
"He's useful."
"Because of that Blood Replenishing Pill or whatever?"
"People tsk at the butcher's cleaver for being cruel, but when a murderer jumps out of nowhere, they suddenly miss having that blade, don't they?"
"Same tool, different value depending on the situation?"
"Something like that."
Murong Suhyang wanted to ask how he even knew about the Blood Replenishing Pill.
Truth be told, she had more than one or two questions burning inside her.
But she couldn't bring herself to ask.
It wasn't that she wasn't curious. If anything, she might be even more curious than her sister.
He was blood kin who'd lived with her when Sis wasn't around.
Still, for some reason, it was hard to voice them. And she didn't even know why she felt that way.
"...What if that guy chooses death?"
"Then we kill him."
"Even so, is it okay to talk about killing someone so casually?"
"You think that's weird?"
"Obviously!"
Murong Bi smiled.
"Keep that mindset and live with it."
She bristled, thinking it was sarcasm, but it didn't seem like it.
"Killing is horrific and terrifying. Even if murder is the fate of we martial artists, you shouldn't take it lightly."
"..."
"Leave that sort of thing to me."
Murong Suhyang frowned.
"Why should I trust you with it?"
"It's fine. I'm used to it."
"Have you ever killed anyone?"
"Who do you think wiped out the Black Tiger Gang?"
The unexpected answer made Murong Suhyang flinch involuntarily.
Right. Now that she thought about it, this idiot brother of hers had single-handedly smashed that notoriously dangerous Black Tiger Gang.
She'd heard plenty had died there, of course.
Murong Suhyang was flustered.
'Why didn't I realize this guy had killed people?!'
Was it prejudice?
'No.'
Looking at Murong Bi, who had already regained his calm expression, her hands and feet felt cold.
'He killed people and came back without showing a hint of it.'
She'd even witnessed him snap Yeom Geom Yi Jeong's neck with her own eyes. Hadn't he thrown a sword and killed Hwang Jihwa's guard too?
Yet the thought that her brother had killed never crossed her mind.
More precisely, she'd forgotten it.
She'd been too busy trying to calm her own racing heart.
'This guy...'
Murong Suhyang realized why she'd forgotten.
It was Murong Bi's presence—his very existence.
No one had said it outright, but in recent days, the family had begun revolving around him.
Was that why? Everyone's eyes and ears were fixed on his back.
Including hers.
'I've just been chasing after him frantically. That's why I forgot.'
But even so, how could she have overlooked something like that?
Was it really okay to just keep following her brother like this?
It was like huddling under the eaves for shelter from rain and heat, staring at the sky while sucking her thumb. If she grew too comfortable in that sturdy shadow's comfort, was that truly living right?
Murong Suhyang halted her steps.
"Hey."
"Hm?"
"Spar with me."
It was an utterly out-of-the-blue challenge.
Murong Bi was surprised, but at the same time, he felt a swell of pride.
"A match?"
"He's still my brother—I can't go all-out with my life on the line."
"Fair enough. But why the sudden urge to fight?"
"Does a martial artist need a reason to spar?"
Of course there was one.
Murong Bi had a vague sense of what was on Murong Suhyang's mind.
"I was planning to suggest we spar this evening anyway."
"...!"
"Looks like you beat me to it. Good. That's how you live life—taking the initiative."
He'd planned to train more, but since she'd suggested it first, there was no reason to postpone.
"To the training grounds."
"Sure."
That was when the two arrived at the training grounds.
"Young Master! Ah, and the youngest miss is here too."
"What is it?"
Seok Ung held an unfamiliar letter, his face quite serious.
"A letter from the Hong Sword Clan."
"To the main family?"
"Yes. More precisely..."
Seok Ung's eyes turned to Murong Bi.
"It's addressed to you, Young Master."