Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Azure Ghost Mask
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Tang Guijin thought to herself after declaring a severance of ties with Namgung San-yeong.
‘Why don’t I just tell Unhui everything?’
Unhui’s birth mother had passed away not long after giving birth to him.
Others believed she had simply suffered from severe postpartum complications for an extended period before finally succumbing, but the truth was that the medicine used to treat her had been laced with trace amounts of poison over a long time.
Tang Guijin had only realized this after she had grown older.
“Our young lady will grow up to be a truly remarkable person. So you must hold onto that heart of yours and live accordingly, alright?”
The Little Madam held such fond memories for Tang Guijin that she could be considered a second mother.
Though Namgung San-yeong had always strictly ordered her to keep her distance, Tang Guijin would secretly visit the Red Chamber from time to time.
The Little Madam had taught her so many things.
How vast the world beyond the estate was.
How expansive the martial world.
How majestic Qingcheng Mountain was and how serene Mount Emei.
Even teaching her how sweet and delicious tangwa candy was—all of it came from the Little Madam.
Namgung San-yeong, always so stern, had only ever tightened the noose around Tang Guijin’s neck, but the Little Madam had loosened it, giving her room to breathe.
Naturally, this led her to play with Unhui often as well.
And then.
She had happened to glimpse the combination of herbs being secretly administered to the Little Madam.
“This combination—”
“Shh.”
It just so happened that Tang Guijin was deep into studying poisons at the time, so she immediately recognized how wrong that mixture was.
On the surface, it appeared to tonify yang energy, but in truth, it was a insidious ploy that gnawed away at the body.
Tang Guijin had rushed to the medicine hall to report that something was amiss.
But the Little Madam had grabbed her small arm.
She pressed a finger to Tang Guijin’s lips.
The Little Madam was smiling.
“I’m fine. I don’t want to cause unnecessary trouble.”
“But—”
“Anyway, I’m not long for this world.”
“!?”
“I’ve had an incurable illness for a long time. Thanks to the Branch Leader, I managed to hold it at bay, but it flared up again after giving birth to Unhui.”
“!!”
“What time I have left is maybe half a year at most? So in truth, those herbs aren’t doing me much harm. If anything, they ease the pain, so I should be grateful.”
“…….”
“So just let it be. I’m really fine.”
Tang Guijin’s throat tightened.
She wanted to say something—anything—but she couldn’t grasp the words.
She was still too young to fully comprehend.
The Little Madam pulled the distressed Tang Guijin into a tight embrace.
“Our sweet young lady, with such a tender heart. How will you lead the Nine Dragons Branch Family like this?”
“…I don’t have to do that.”
“But you do.”
“I don’t want to!!”
“That stubbornness is truly befitting of the Tang family. Hohoho.”
The Little Madam chuckled lightly as she gazed at Tang Guijin, whose eyes were now brimming with tears.
“It might be a difficult request for you, young lady, but could you promise me just one thing?”
“No. I won’t. So don’t die. Please?”
“Be friends with our Unhui. From now on, always.”
“I said no! I’ll bully Unhui! I’ll make him cry even more!”
The Little Madam said nothing more.
She merely stroked Tang Guijin’s hair with a warm smile that said she understood everything.
That image still lingered in Tang Guijin’s heart.
Two years later.
The Little Madam truly closed her eyes. Still wearing that warm smile.
The woman who had said half a year would be a long time had lived an additional year and a half.
Tang Guijin knew well that it was a miracle born from the Little Madam’s will to protect Unhui even one more day and create more memories.
Sorrow crushed her chest.
「Kikikik…….」
She saw Unhui clinging to the Little Madam’s casket, sobbing.
A heavy stuffiness pressed even harder on her chest.
「Kikikikikik…….」
Unable to bear the sight, she turned her head away.
She saw Namgung San-yeong, dressed in mourning clothes, feigning grief with her head bowed.
Beneath her shadowed face, the corner of her mouth was slightly upturned.
In that instant, rage crushed her chest even harder.
「Kikikikikikikik…….」
Her chest felt so suffocating.
She felt like she might burst from the inside out.
Tang Guijin looked around.
She wished someone would help her.
She wished someone would peer into this stifling feeling and release it.
But.
‘There’s no one.’
No one looked at her.
No one grieved the Little Madam’s death, no one pitied Unhui for losing his family.
They were all busy with their own distractions. Some even whispered secretly.
Now, an emotion too complex to put into words filled her chest, choking her.
「Kikikikikikikikik…….」
Now she was even hearing hallucinations.
Tang Guijin desperately turned to her father.
If it was her father.
Her father, who had loved his little wife enough to treat her incurable illness—surely he would understand her stifled heart—
「Kikikikikikikikikikikik!」
The moment she saw her father’s expressionless face, Tang Guijin’s chest finally shattered under the weight.
Crack!
She didn’t know exactly what had broken.
It felt like her chest, or her heart, or her soul had shattered.
Her chest simply felt hollow, as if a hole had been punched through it.
So Tang Guijin ran.
She ran until she was out of breath. She wanted to escape this place filled with nothing but demons.
And she thought that if she ran until she was breathless, the emptiness might fill even a little.
But no matter how much she ran, the void in her chest refused to be filled. She felt like she was going mad.
Finally, after running so hard she thought she might collapse and die, she reached a point where she could run no more and stopped briefly.
That was when it spoke for the first time.
「Kikikiki! Hate them all, don’t you? Want to kill them all, right? Yeah?」
Tang Guijin realized then that it was a fragment of her soul that had broken off from her chest.
That was her first encounter with the Azure Ghost Mask.
* * *
「Let’s play together. Yeah? If you don’t like looking at something, just get rid of it. If you want to see it, just take it! How great is that!!」
Once it lifted its head, the Azure Ghost Mask refused to leave Tang Guijin’s side.
It whispered endlessly.
Kill any thorns in your side.
It’ll be so easy and refreshing.
‘No!’
But Tang Guijin resisted, shaking her head desperately.
She didn’t want it to take her over.
It was true that she hated the clan members who hadn’t mourned the Little Madam’s death.
But on the other hand, they were an exceedingly warm family to her.
She could seize them if she wanted, but she didn’t want to commit such wicked acts just because she suddenly didn’t like the sight of them.
Yet the Azure Ghost Mask’s temptations grew stronger with each passing day, forcing Tang Guijin to make an extreme choice.
She decided to leave the clan entirely and ascend Qingcheng Mountain.
The Heaven-Earth One-Day Scripture was her Golden Cudgel.
A Golden Cudgel to bind the wildly rampaging Azure Ghost Mask, just like Sun Wukong.
And once she fully mastered it and gained her freedom, she could finally return to the clan.
She met the Unhui she had longed for.
The clan she thought would have changed remained the same.
Namgung San-yeong still hated Unhui, and the retainers still shunned him.
But one thing had changed.
Unhui.
He seemed like an entirely different person.
And then.
‘It rarely manifests.’
She had broached the subject to reveal the long-hidden truth about the Little Madam, only to hear an utterly unexpected response from Unhui.
‘What does the past matter?’
That answer struck the back of Tang Guijin’s head hard.
‘We just need to do better from now on. The future matters far more to me.’
Only then did Tang Guijin realize.
‘The one bound by the past… wasn’t Unhui. It was me.’
The past no longer mattered.
She only wanted to look toward the future.
So she hadn’t spoken much about the old affairs.
He didn’t seem curious at all.
And she wondered.
‘What was the future I was seeing for myself?’
She could say with certainty: there was none.
Then perhaps she should create one now.
She imagined it.
What her future with her in it would look like.
.
.
In that vision, Tang Guijin was with Unhui.
Laughing happily.
‘So that’s it. That’s what I want.’
Tang Guijin recalled the time she shared drinks with Unhui and Tang Gon.
That was the most joyful and relaxed moment since descending Qingcheng Mountain.
The home Tang Guijin longed for was exactly like that.
Then.
To create such a future, what should she do?
The answer was already set.
‘Remove all the chains binding Unhui.’
So he could run toward the future without hindrance.
And so she could stand side by side with him.
She resolved to become his sword.
「Kikikik! Finally, something you want to get rid of? Good, very good. Let’s clear them all away!」
Even the Azure Ghost Mask’s laughter, which she had so hated, now sounded like the reliable chuckle of an ally.
From that moment, Tang Guijin began scouring Namgung San-yeong’s surroundings, and for the first time, she sensed demonic qi.
It was mixed with the aura of the assassin who had targeted Unhui.
She pursued it.
She discovered a suspicious shrine.
She wanted to enter, but a strange mist blanketed it, preventing her from rashly stepping inside.
So she had been waiting for someone to emerge from the shrine when… Namgung San-yeong appeared, pulling a carriage.
‘Mother.’
What are you plotting this time?
She considered ambushing the carriage right then, but decided to observe a bit more and hid to guard the entrance.
And then.
Rumble!
Not long after, a massive explosion shook the wild mountain. She saw the mist dispersing. Flames roared into the sky.
「Kikikikikik. Looks like a big incident’s happened? Let’s go! Hurry! Hurry!」
Tang Guijin was already leaping forward before the Azure Ghost Mask could urge her.
She didn’t know what had happened, but instinct told her this was the perfect moment to eliminate the enemy.
However.
‘What’s that?’
Atop the peak where the shrine stood, a grotesquely shaped demonic bird came flying.
A middle-aged man with a half-destroyed body rode it, grinding his teeth.
He was injured, his energy unstable. Thanks to that, he couldn’t evade the senses of the Heaven-Earth One-Day Scripture.
It was demonic qi.
‘That’s the one!!’
He had to be the leader of the assassins who had colluded with Namgung San-yeong to kill Unhui.
「What are you waiting for! Catch him!! Ihihihi. This’ll be fun. So much fun. Ihihihihi!」
“Ihihihihi! I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you dead!!”
A bizarre laugh spilled from between Tang Guijin’s lips.
The Azure Ghost Mask descended over her face.
Ghost Mask Fusion.
That was what Tang Guijin always called her union with the Azure Ghost Mask.
Clang!
She drew her sword.
Whoosh—
Sword qi shot into the sky.
Crescent-shaped sword qi.
The Heaven-Earth Sword Qi of the Heaven-Earth One-Day Scripture struck like lightning, cleaving the demonic bird’s body.
Infused with the power of Parasamgate Dharma, the bird burst into flames. Revival was now impossible.
“Aaagh! Damn it! What the hell is this!!”
The White Bone Net Master, suddenly bereft of his mount, plummeted helplessly to the ground.