Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Birdbrain After All?
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Ilno stroked the three bumps protruding like horns above his crown and asked in a dazed tone.
“Uh, are you really Senior... the Azure Sea Ferocious Ghost Senior?”
「That’s right. It is so.」
Ilno had long heard the rumors about the Azure Sea Ferocious Ghost.
He too had been a martial artist active around the Azure Sea.
There were tales of his belligerent nature, how he would forcibly summon hidden eccentrics rumored to lurk in remote mountains and valleys just to clash with them.
From a bottom-tier third-rate ronin, he had risen to become an elder of the Divine Cult—a towering figure whose fame had spread far and wide across Azure Sea Castle.
And yet, here he was now: a bird.
A bird clacking its beak.
「I came full of expectations for a junior from the Azure Sea, only to find such a dimwit. With a mindset like this, how do you expect to serve at the Young Cult Leader’s side alongside me!」
In that instant, Ilno’s eyes changed.
“No! I can do it!”
「Really?」
“If need be, I can even offer my life!!」
Onma silently gazed into Ilno’s eyes.
Ilno’s pupils were blazing fiercely.
Like the sacred fire burning somewhere in this world.
Onma smiled faintly.
‘Good. This is the spirit of the Dark Demon Divine Fire Sect.’
Once, he had envied the Divine Fire Sect’s followers.
Each harbored their own blue flame in their breast, much like the sacred object they revered.
As long as that fire did not extinguish, they always displayed unyielding resolve.
That was precisely why the Divine Fire Sect—despite being the weakest among the Nine Great Sects—had produced the most cult leaders.
Now that he himself had pledged to the Divine Fire Sect, it was time for him to adopt that very attitude.
「Never speak such words in front of the Young Cult Leader.」
“Yes? What do you—”
「You mean well, wishing to show your resolve to the Young Cult Leader. But imagine how deeply it would wound him to hear it?」
“!!”
「He bears the six years of forced exile as his original sin. If a follower now speaks of sacrifice... well?」
“...Junior’s thinking was shallow.”
「It’s fine. Just take care from now on.」
Onma waved it off casually with a flick of his wing—or was it a wing-wave(?).
The sight struck Ilno differently.
‘So impressive!! How can his devotion to his lord run so deep!’
Ilno now understood why Onma had become Unhwi’s closest aide No. 1(?).
He wanted to become such a dignified, steadfast adult himself.
And the supreme expert representing the Dark Demon Divine Fire Sect.
Such thoughts flashed through Ilno’s mind.
Seeing Ilno’s eyes sparkle as they fixed on him, Onma puffed out his chest with an ‘Ahem!’ and struck an even more imposing pose.
「In any case, we are the retainers who must stand by the Young Cult Leader until he restores the Divine Cult. Let’s work well together from here on.」
“Please guide and teach me much from now on!”
「Likewise, I look forward to it.」
It was then, as Onma’s wing and Ilno’s hand clasped firmly in a show of unity—
「Which is why I’m bringing this up.」
“Yes. Please speak.”
Ilno tensed up.
This was the first command from the close aide No. 1 to his newest counterpart.
He wondered just how profound with loyalty its contents would be, too deep even for him to guess—
「What did you say your name was again?」
“??”
「My memory hasn’t been what it used to be lately.」
Ilno blinked twice.
...I’m sure I told you just three seconds ago.
As expected... birdbrain?
While he puzzled over how to respond—
Suddenly, Ilno and Onma’s gazes snapped in unison to the opposite direction.
There, along the ridgeline, a legion of troops was charging.
Two flags fluttered vigorously overhead.
—Tang.
—Nine Dragons.
It was the relief force from the Tang Clan’s Nine Dragons Branch Family.
They had come at Tang Guijin’s lead upon hearing Unhwi was heading to Dosung County.
The prickling sensation on Ilno’s skin intensified at the sight of their rapid advance.
‘That’s... the power of a mere branch family?’
Their aura showed no sign of inferiority to the North Sea Sect’s ghost blades, which had suffocated them until now.
If the branch family wielded such might, what must the main Tang Clan be like?
In that moment, a powerful doubt gripped Ilno: just what sort of place was the one where the Young Cult Leader resided?
* * *
Clang!
Golden Sword Sect’s Hyeok Ugi was forced to duck into a crouch as an inkstone whistled perilously over his head.
“So what? You dawdled around like an idiot, accomplished nothing, and got chased off?”
“F-Father, it was because people suddenly appeared at the Lion Gate—”
“Shut your mouth!!”
Hyeok Sinwol could no longer contain his fury at his son’s pathetic excuses.
“Do you even grasp the opportunity you squandered? Emei Sect and Azure Blossom Manor! One rules the Sichuan martial world, the other houses experts counted among the top ten in the Central Plains! And all you have to say for it—”
“That’s enough. Ugi understands fully by now, so please calm your anger, my lord. Any more will only harm your health.”
“Imja, but—”
“Please.”
“Hoo! If you insist, then I shall.”
Hyeok Sinwol drew a long breath at his wife Song Manseon’s urging.
Song Manseon was no mere principal wife who had borne him a son.
She was the wise partner who had backed the Golden Sword Sect with Emei Sect’s support to claim its current standing.
He had to heed her counsel—but the human heart was not so easily swayed.
And rightly so, for both Yu Sumin and Sima Seon were women who might one day succeed Emei Sect and Azure Blossom Manor.
Even if he failed to win their favor, he should at least have left a favorable impression, no?
Yet at the abrupt arrival of the Lion Gate contingent, his son had stood there dumbfounded like a straw figure left in the field. Worse, the swaggering Tang Unhwi had utterly overwhelmed them instead.
The two were the same age, yet their demeanors stood in such stark contrast.
With so many eyewitnesses to the scene, the rumors were already racing through Dosung County.
—They say Golden Sword Sect’s Hyeok Sinwol got above himself, tried lording it over Tang Unhwi, and got thoroughly trounced.
—Tang Unhwi smashed the Daoist squad in one go, proving the Mad Storm is still alive and kicking.
—Meanwhile, Hyeok Sinwol pissed his pants, so the January Moon Fairy and White Sword Orchid dumped him.
He had tried every means to quash the gossip, but it would only hold for so long.
Soon enough, it would blanket the entire Sichuan martial world.
This very morning, letters had arrived from Emei Sect and Azure Blossom Manor—polite thanks for past attentions, but no further need for a guide.
Their ties were severed.
Hyeok Sinwol’s long-held dream of elevating the Golden Sword Sect to true martial power status was crumbling.
“I never want to see your face again. Confine yourself to your quarters!”
Hyeok Ugi shot his mother a pleading look, but her impassive gaze made him drop his head.
No one knew better than he how her wrath outstripped even his father’s when roused.
“...Understood.”
Hyeok Sinwol kneaded his throbbing temples as he watched his son slink dejectedly from the study.
“How on earth do we salvage this mess!”
“What’s spilled is spilled—you can’t gather it back up. We reset the board.”
“What about Emei Sect? Any chance there?”
“The sect leader has drawn firm lines since youth. Strict as they come. No further leverage.”
Song Manseon shook her head matter-of-factly.
She shared a bond of childhood studies under the same roof with Emei’s leader, true—but she despised the sect’s ironclad rules that prevented truly exploiting it.
“Then what other path is there?”
“Did you happen to see this among this morning’s reports?”
Song Manseon pulled one report from the stack atop the desk.
Hyeok Sinwol nodded gravely.
“I did. Hard to credit.”
Its contents were straightforward.
—To avenge the Daoist squad’s humiliation, the Lion Gate has dispatched an expert to the Nine Dragons Branch Family.
—Eyewitnesses claim the expert is the Lion Blade King himself.
The rumors of the Red Lion Blade, Cha Do-yang, and the Daoist squad all falling to Unhwi had already stunned Hyeok Sinwol.
Now the Lion Blade King had mobilized personally for revenge?
The Lion Blade King’s name carried no small weight.
Beaten by the Azure Heaven Sword Emperor, perhaps—but he was an absolute pinnacle expert said to rival the Ten Supremes, the unrivaled sovereign of Guizhou’s martial world.
His movement toward the Nine Dragons Branch Family was no trifling matter.
It could well unleash a massive upheaval across Sichuan martial world!
“If we play this right, we might assemble a favorable board.”
Hyeok Sinwol’s eyes gleamed.
“A favorable board, you say?”
“Surely you know experts aren’t conjured overnight?”
“True enough.”
“But judging by recent supply movements, the Nine Dragons Branch Family seems to be plotting something major aligned with the Dark Venerable’s forthcoming visit.”
Only then did Hyeok Sinwol grasp his wife’s meaning.
“Tang Unhwi is one fruit of those preparations?”
“Likely. A mere bastard like Tang Unhwi has reached this level—do you suppose the rest are any smaller?”
“Far grander, no doubt.”
“Then the new center of Sichuan martial world is plain as day.”
“...The Tang Clan. Excellent. We’ll need to multiply those gift bundles earmarked for the Nine Dragons Branch Family several times over.”
Hyeok Sinwol aimed to seize the chance for deeper ties with the Nine Dragons Branch Family, using his son’s blunder as pretext for apology.
Beyond sect leader, he was a merchant with an uncanny nose for power’s scent.
The Golden Sword Sect brimmed with wealth.
Should the Tang Clan truly rouse itself, the supplies and funds required would be immense.
The Golden Sword Sect could become the dutiful hand soothing their itch.
‘My wife... truly wise beyond measure.’
Hyeok Sinwol marveled at Song Manseon’s foresight, sketching Sichuan martial world’s future from scant clues in this minor affair.
And he was grateful.
For her presence in the Golden Sword Sect.
“Our ties with Emei can wait until we’ve climbed aboard the Tang Clan’s back—then mend them at leisure.”
“Agreed. You truly are a treasure to me. Without you, the Golden Sword Sect wouldn’t exist.”
“This wife would do anything for my lord and our house’s happiness.”
“Gazing at you today stirs memories of our courting days.”
“Oh you— the sun’s still blazing high in the midday sky—”
As the couple reaffirmed their tender bond, Hyeok Ugi had returned to his quarters under confinement orders and was kicking aimlessly at the wall.
“Tang Unhwi! Tang Unhwi! That fucking Tang Unhwi!! That bastard dares make a fool of me!?”
The more he dwelled, the more his rage boiled over.
How insufferably galling to see the wretch—who as a child wouldn’t even meet his gaze properly—now strutting with puffed-up shoulders just from gaining some strength.
Worst of all: the humiliation before the two women he had set his sights on.
“Me... if I’d been born to the Tang Clan main house, I’d never have suffered such disgrace!”
Crunch!
Hyeok Ugi believed Tang Unhwi’s growth stemmed entirely from the Tang Clan’s backing.
With equal support, he too would have become a late-blooming prodigy to crush the Daoist squad with ease.
“Right. Anything else wouldn’t add up. And if they were lying in wait for me there from the start... it all fits. No—surely that’s it. Certain!”
Why else would the cur—supposed to be in Guryong County—appear precisely then and there?
Hyeok Ugi convinced himself it was all an elaborate trap to torment him.
The notion that he himself had spotted and approached Unhwi first never crossed his mind.
Grrrrrind!
Once the victim complex took hold, it snowballed, swiftly filling his head.
Rip Tang Unhwi to shreds. Ruin Yu Sumin and Sima Seon for daring reject him. Such venomous urges reared their heads all at once.
“That tale sounds most entertaining. Might I hear it?”
Hyeok Ugi jolted at the voice from the window, whipping around—only for his body to stiffen rigid.
Amid eyes swirling like a savage blizzard, a man with skin whiter than the snowfield smiled brilliantly with scarlet lips.
It was Gu Min-chae.
He had slipped into the Golden Sword Sect covertly to verify rumors that Tang Unhwi had visited Dosung County around the time Baeksan died.
And now he had overheard this intriguing exchange between Hyeok Ugi and Tang Unhwi.
It bore checking.
Gu Min-chae extended his alabaster hand.
Before the grinning white demon, Hyeok Ugi remained frozen, utterly helpless.
Shiver, shiver...