Legends and Reality (3)
The door creaked open with a long, drawn-out groan.
A shaft of light poured through the gap. So Bang scrunched her face as hard as she could, squinting against the sudden brightness.
Though faint sunlight trickled in through the small window, it was barely enough to make out the interior of the solitary cell. After so long in near-total darkness, the abrupt glare stung her eyes and brought tears to the surface.
That was when it happened.
Hssssss.
So Bang’s entire body froze.
The hand covering her face trembled violently. A suffocating, murderous aura rolled in from the man stepping through the doorway, wrapping around her mind and body like iron chains.
A sharp throb shot up from her broken thigh.
She had managed to set the bone somehow, but with her inner energy sealed, poor meals, and terrible conditions, the injury should have festered and killed her long ago. Only the faint traces of true qi still circulating through her body had kept her alive.
The bone had mostly healed and the pain had dulled—until this moment. The moment she faced the man’s killing intent, an excruciating wave of agony surged from her thigh, nearly making her lose consciousness.
“So Bang, was it?”
The low voice carried a pressure so heavy it felt like it could crush the breath from her lungs.
“As expected. Even with your inner energy sealed, your recovery is remarkably fast. That would be impossible with a half-heartedly trained body.”
Creeeeak—thud!
The door slammed shut.
So Bang stared at the man with eyes full of wariness.
Yeon Hojeong sat down directly across from her and placed a small bundle on the floor. The cell was so cramped that the distance between them was less than ten feet.
“Eat.”
“……”
“Not hungry? You must be starving by now.”
“……”
“What trick is this?”
Yeon Hojeong tilted his head.
His eyes burned with a crimson glow hot enough to incinerate the darkness, yet his expression was one of genuine puzzlement. The mismatch between his gaze and his face was deeply unsettling.
“A trick?”
So Bang swallowed hard before speaking.
“Did you poison the food? If you’re going to kill me, at least make it clean.”
“Well said. If I wanted you dead, you’d already be dead. I don’t waste precious food by poisoning it.”
“Maybe you just want to torture me longer.”
“It’s not strange that you’d think that. You know nothing about me.”
Yeon Hojeong smiled.
The shallow curve of his lips and those blazing red eyes—hot as a volcano yet strangely cold—made So Bang’s heart pound twice as fast.
“There are so many torture methods that can make a single moment feel like a year that I couldn’t even count them all.”
“……!!”
“So stop rejecting kindness when it’s offered. After all, you don’t know when you might die, do you?”
A sneer formed on So Bang’s face. Anyone could tell she was forcing it.
“You kept me alive just in case, and now you’ve finally found a use for me? How frugal. How admirable.”
“One must be thrifty to live well. I don’t cling to things I’ve thrown away, but I make sure to use everything I’ve gone through the trouble of acquiring.”
“……”
“Just as you said—I kept you alive just in case. But now that things have come to this, I’ve found a way to put you to use. So focus on recovering properly, eat well, and take care of your stamina.”
“Just kill me.”
“That’s not something I expected to hear from the mouth of a woman who was desperately fighting for her life.”
So Bang’s face stiffened slightly.
In contrast, Yeon Hojeong’s smile deepened. And the deeper the smile, the heavier the oppressive aura became.
“There is probably no one in this world who hates the Saeum Sect as much as I do. Yet I spared you. You—a high-ranking member of that very sect.”
“……”
“In that urgent situation filled with killing intent, displaying patience that doesn’t suit me at all is not my hobby. So why do you think I didn’t kill you on the spot?”
“……”
“You are different from that bastard Yayul Jeok. Even before discussing loyalty, your obsession with staying alive is frighteningly strong.”
“Shut up!”
So Bang’s face flushed red.
“I won’t be shaken by such cheap insults! Kill me right now! I’d rather die than become a tool for a bastard like you!”
“Even though your life is guaranteed?”
“What kind of nonsense—!”
“Once I’ve used you up, I will let you go. Whether you choose to live somewhere in the Central Plains or return to the Saeum Sect, I won’t stop you.”
“……!!”
For a moment, So Bang found herself speechless.
Yeon Hojeong shifted into a more comfortable position. He planted one hand on the floor and raised the opposite knee, looking as relaxed as if he were sitting in his own room.
It was both an open, comfortable posture and one perfectly suited to subtly pressuring the opponent.
Yeon Hojeong was good at this. He knew exactly what tone and posture to use depending on the other person’s psychology to create the atmosphere he desired.
“I no longer care what kind of personality you have. But one thing is certain. You have an incredibly strong attachment to life. You would betray the group you belong to if it meant surviving.”
“Shut your mouth!”
“If that’s not true, then die.”
“……”
“What?”
Oooooooong.
The crimson light radiating from Yeon Hojeong’s eyes grew even denser.
The flame-like hue unique to the Jujak Hwagi gradually shifted into a sticky, blood-like color. The killing intent alone was enough to rupture an opponent’s heart veins.
“Kill yourself.”
“……!!”
“I have no desire to dirty my own hands just to take one insignificant life. Commit suicide.”
“Y-you—!”
“You claim to want death so badly, so why are you still alive? Do it yourself. Of course, I have no obligation to give you a proper burial, so you’ll probably end up as food for wild dogs on some mountain. But you were prepared for that much, weren’t you?”
“……”
“Just what are you living for? If you truly wanted to, you could have killed yourself long ago. Did you really think we would welcome you with open arms? That we would politely send you back to the Saeum Sect? You can’t possibly be that naïve.”
“……”
“Or perhaps you thought you might be able to escape?”
So Bang could not answer.
In truth, she herself didn’t know why she hadn’t committed suicide. The Hyeol-eum Sagi had sealed her inner energy so completely that she couldn’t circulate even a fingernail’s worth of it, and the suppression only grew stronger with time.
She had already realized it instinctively. Unless the person who cast the seal personally released it, she would never be able to use the Hyeol-eum Sagi again for the rest of her life.
In other words, escape was impossible. The other party wasn’t a fool; there was no way he would release her inner energy.
That left only two outcomes: being used or being tortured. In that case, So Bang should have killed herself. She should have died for the sake of the sect. She could not allow herself to spill information under torture.
Yet she hadn’t committed suicide. In fact, the very idea of suicide had never even crossed her mind.
Her eyes shook as if struck by an earthquake. Why?
Yeon Hojeong, who had been quietly watching her, let out a small chuckle and stood up.
“Be honest with yourself. You’ve already come too far to protect your pride with excuses.”
“……”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
Blood vessels burst in So Bang’s eyes. The crimson gaze, as if she might cry tears of blood at any moment, was filled with subtle fear and confusion.
“You people wouldn’t understand. Just how terrifying our sect truly is.”
“I don’t care.”
“Our sect never forgives traitors.”
“That’s hardly surprising. That isn’t some special privilege belonging only to your damned Saeum Sect. No organization in the world forgives betrayal.”
“It’s not the same! The god our sect worships—!”
“If the Saeum Sect truly serves a god, then that god must undoubtedly be an evil god. What kind of deity would be so cruel to the followers who worship him?”
“You know nothing about our doctrine!”
“I can live just fine without knowing such nonsense. And it seems you’re the same.”
“……!”
“If one feels fear rather than reverence when speaking of a god, then in my opinion there is no need to believe in such a god to begin with. You people seem to view your god not as an object of respect and worship, but as an object of terror. I simply don’t understand why you choose to live that way.”
So Bang’s eyes widened.
She had never thought about it in that way before. Although her desire to live was strong enough to make her consider betrayal, she was ultimately just an ordinary follower who had been brainwashed by doctrine since childhood.
Yeon Hojeong turned away.
“What’s inside the bundle is medicinal food. My subordinates are skipping even a single extra piece of meat just so I could make that for you.”
“……”
“Eat it and recover properly. I’ll come see you again tomorrow. If you still haven’t made up your mind by then, I’ll kill you myself.”
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
Sunlight from the small window illuminated the bundle. So Bang stared at it, her face filled with overwhelming confusion.
A short while later.
Srrrrk.
The sound of the cloth wrapping being undone echoed inside the solitary cell.
The prisoner has finished her meal.
“My Lord.”
“Speak.”
“The prisoner has finished eating.”
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes grew cold.
“Understood.”
Yeo Guk bowed his head.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
“Ah, what about Ok Cheong?”
“He has improved greatly. His recovery is accelerating by the day. The physician says that in about five days he should be able to use his movement techniques without strain.”
“Good. Continue to look after him well.”
“Yes, sir.”
With that, Yeo Guk left the room.
Moyong Woo, who had been sitting across from him, let out a long sigh.
“Yeon Je.”
Not Daesu, but Yeon Je. It meant he wanted to speak privately, not as a subordinate.
“Must you really go that far?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m talking about that Saeum Sect member, So Bang.”
“Hm?”
A shadow fell over Moyong Woo’s face.
“You put chronic poison in that medicinal food, didn’t you?”
“And what if I did?”
“……”
“I don’t trust my enemies. How can I let her recover peacefully when I don’t know when or how she might turn on us?”
“But still…”
“If you want to turn a horse’s head, you need reins. If I’m not going to kill her cleanly, then I’ll use her until her bones crumble to dust.”
Yeon Hojeong took a sip of water.
The heavy feeling in his mouth eased.
“The atmosphere in Guangdong is still chaotic. To stabilize the situation quickly, that damned woman’s existence is absolutely necessary.”
Moyong Woo sighed again.
“I have nothing more to say to you, Yeon Je. However, the physician came to me today. He asked if this was not excessively cruel, even for handling the affairs of the Martial Alliance.”
“Tell him to direct his complaints at me.”
“That’s not the issue. You said that poison was made based on medicine the physician himself prescribed.”
Moyong Woo glanced at Sama Hyeon, who was quietly sitting to the side with his arms crossed.
“Even though that friend was the one who actually prepared it.”
Sama Hyeon remained silent. He had only arrived here recently.
Yeon Hojeong shook his head.
“There is no room for mercy toward enemies in my sense of justice. If someone is my enemy, I will deceive them a thousand times and use them ten thousand times.”
“……”
“Let’s stop talking about this.”
“Huu… Very well.”
Moyong Woo stood up.
“I’ll take my leave now. You should get some proper rest as well, Yeon Je.”
As Moyong Woo headed for the door, Yeon Hojeong suddenly spoke.
“Commander Moyong.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
“Once this matter is over, I will head straight to the Tangma Army.”
Moyong Woo smiled.
“It would be an honor.”
With those final words, Moyong Woo left the room.
Yeon Hojeong stared at the closed door for a moment before drinking another sip of water.
“……It’s bitter.”
He closed his eyes.
His mood was foul.