Im Yuguang
When So Gayul's name left Im Cheongwol's lips, Dang Hyeongeuk's expression stiffened.
"Go on."
After drawing a steadying breath, Cheongwol explained, one by one, about the letter and the keepsakes her grandfather had left behind.
But because she had deliberately tried to keep Sunflower Manual hidden, she could not clearly explain why she had remained at Kongdong Sect for a little over two years.
"...That's how it was."
Dang Hyeongeuk fell silent for a moment, as if arranging his thoughts.
Before long, the silence had stretched longer than Cheongwol expected, and she was still blinking blankly when he spoke again.
"You remained at Kongdong Sect for quite some time. As a guest, no less."
Dang Hyeongeuk had lifted the hidden core of the matter with a single line.
Yet there was no hint that he meant to press her or that he was displeased, so Cheongwol did not answer at once and merely watched his face for clues.
Even if she had resolved to repay, however little, the sin her grandfather had left behind, could she so easily speak of the Im Clan's secret manual?
And yet the words Dang Hyeongeuk spoke next left her utterly stunned.
"You needed to learn Sunflower Manual, did you not? It seems you left the manual that contained the grand method in her care."
"H-How did the clan head know that...?"
Cheongwol's eyes shook violently.
How on earth did Dang Hyeongeuk know anything about the manual?
Seeing her shocked face, Dang Hyeongeuk let out a bitter smile.
"How could I not? The reason the Im Clan was branded a scourge upon the martial world and destroyed was all because of that martial art called Sunflower Manual."
When the cause of the clan's annihilation, which she had never managed to hear from her grandfather, came from Dang Hyeongeuk's mouth, Cheongwol could not say a word.
"Because of... Sunflower Manual?"
At that, Dang Hyeongeuk knit his brows slightly.
"You didn't know?"
"I only... thought our clan had been falsely accused and wronged..."
As Cheongwol lowered her head and let her words trail off, Dang Hyeongeuk gave a low hum.
He had not even passed on her mother's keepsakes, nor had he told her why the Im Clan had been destroyed.
And if she had not found the letter, she would have never learned the truth about the secret manual—Sunflower Manual—either.
It was hard to believe, but there could be only one conclusion.
Im Yuguang.
Whatever the reason, that man had likely tried, belatedly, to keep Cheongwol from walking the road of vengeance.
Though judging by the fact that Cheongwol had appeared here, it seemed his wish had not gone as planned.
He had been the enemy who had murdered Dang Ga-ryeong, his younger sister, so there was not the slightest possibility of forgiveness now.
Still, to bury the clan's hatred within his own chest for the sake of the enemy's child...
If the Dang Clan had suffered the same fate as the Im Clan, would he himself have been able to make the same choice?
Dang Hyeongeuk took his gaze off Cheongwol and said quietly, "Half of what you said is right, and half is wrong."
"...Pardon?"
Cheongwol lifted her head and glanced at him, and Dang Hyeongeuk finally understood that the moment to reveal the truth had come.
Still, he held back his haste, fearing that if he rushed her, her spirit might not endure it.
"The cause of the Im Clan's destruction, I mean."
Cheongwol bit lightly at her lower lip and steadied her trembling heart.
"I told you everything without hiding anything except Sunflower Manual. So this time, please tell me, clan head."
Their gazes met in the air.
"Why the Im Clan was destroyed."
---
That morning, too, had been an ordinary one like any other.
The birds' chirping as they heralded the break of dawn. Sunlight seeping through the crack of the window.
After getting out of bed and loosening the stiffness that had settled over his body through the night, Im Yuguang threw on the outer robe he had carelessly tossed aside.
When he first left Henan, he had wondered when he would ever return, but now it seemed he might make it back to the clan by sundown.
"Hah..."
After downing a bowl of cold water in one gulp, the drowsiness faded and his dull mind cleared.
Milady. Please, understand my heart.
Then the face he had tried so hard to forget suddenly clawed its way through his thoughts.
He had trusted her and waited until the late age of forty, and all that came back was nothing more than a vague refusal—that she could not betray her master and sect.
He was furious enough to resent So Gayul to death, and yet at the same time he could understand her, because he himself was the clan head of the Im family.
So Im Yuguang had only nodded slightly and silently turned away.
Without parting words of affection, without even a final embrace to share the last warmth between them.
...Milady.
From behind him, he heard So Gayul's voice, as if she were trying to catch him by even the tip of his sleeve, but Im Yuguang did not stop.
He simply walked, and walked, watching his feet.
He kept on until even the traces left by his heels had faded away.
How futile it had all been.
Even now, in this very moment, it seemed as though he could still hear So Gayul calling after him.
After swallowing his bitterness, Im Yuguang ate a simple meal at an inn and set out on the road again.
No matter how capable his younger brother might be, the clan head had been absent for almost a full year; there was no way the elders and retainers would let that slide.
...Wait.
For some reason, Im Yuguang suddenly stopped walking and looked up at one side of the sky.
He could not simply cast aside the position of clan head because of a mere love affair, but if the elders and household retainers were to raise someone else up as head...
For instance, a younger brother who had perfectly fulfilled the duties of acting clan head in his absence.
A faint smile slowly surfaced at the corners of Im Yuguang's mouth, which had so long remained dark.
He knew all too well how heavy the office of clan head was.
He had sacrificed every year of his youth just to endure that burden, so how could he not know?
But the instant his bond with So Gayul was severed, Im Yuguang realized something.
In the end, he had simply never been suited to that role.
If someone unfit for the position stayed on as clan head, all it would do was make life harder for everyone.
Once that thought reached him, his heart grew restless.
So Gayul had said she would live alone, spending her entire life in penance, but who knew what her master might do.
Im Yuguang moved his halted feet again and kicked off the ground.
His face was so bright it was hard to believe this was a man almost certain to be driven from the clan head's seat.
And then, after crossing the road and climbing over the mountain valley, the moment the Im Clan finally came into view.
Im Yuguang froze in place.
For beyond the blood-red sunset, the Im Clan was being mercilessly ravaged.
"Agh!"
"Keugh!"
Flames shot up from every direction, and the screams of the household members echoed all around him.
Was he still dreaming?
While he stood there stupefied and unable to gather his wits, someone suddenly clutched at his ankle.
"Clan head... p-please... s-save me..."
Slowly lowering his head, he saw a blood-soaked young martial artist who looked barely past his twenties.
Im Yuguang hurriedly felt for his pulse and tried to stop the bleeding, but it was useless.
Both legs had been severed above the knees, and in the time he had been crawling and dragging himself along, he had lost far too much blood.
"...Do not speak. I will surely..."
-thud
Even as he tried to move his trembling hands regardless, the young martial artist's head drooped to the ground.
"Ah..."
Before Im Yuguang could even accept that death, a shriek that seemed to tear the ears rang out nearby.
"It's Im Yuguang! The martial-world scourge who practices demonic arts is here!"
He jerked his head up. Blood-smeared figures were charging straight toward him.
Demotic arts? A martial-world scourge?
It was nothing but nonsense he could not understand, but he had no time to brood over it.
-whoosh!
He twisted his body just enough to deflect the sword, but the tip still sheared off a lock of hair from his head.
The blade that had brushed past left behind a stench of blood.
There was no need to ask whose blood it was.
With a single sweep of Im Yuguang's arm, three flashes cut through the air.
It happened in the span of a heartbeat, but all three assailants rushing him clutched at their slit throats and collapsed.
The others who had been about to rush in stopped short in alarm.
"That bastard! Not only do you refuse to repent and offer up your neck properly, you commit yet another crime!"
After a moment, one man raised his voice first, and the others followed suit.
"You really played the righteous sect man all this time!"
"Seems heaven was not blind after all! Your evil deeds have finally been laid bare before all under heaven!"
"What is the point of talking further with someone who practices demonic arts?"
With those words as the signal, the assailants hurled themselves at Im Yuguang once more.
---
Go to the hidden cave in the mountains. Did your father not say there was a secret manual there?
At some point, the hallucination that had begun to ring in his ears led Im Yuguang forward as if under a spell.
Whether it was because of the guilt of failing to protect the clan, or because he had cut down everyone in sight, he did not know.
"Hah..."
All that was clear was that his mind was no longer sound.
Clutching his side, where blood seeped through the cloth, Im Yuguang searched for the clan's hidden cave.
Calling it a cave was generous; in truth, it was little different from a small Buddhist hall.
"All this time I devoted myself to you with sincerity, and yet when things came to this, you only stood by and watched. Is this the mercy you spoke of?"
Staring at the Buddha image with its serene eyes, Im Yuguang let out a bitter lament.
Then he swung his sword, full of pent-up fury.
-CRASH!
When the golden Buddha's head struck the floor, a hollow boom rang through the cave.
Im Yuguang stared for a moment at the statue with its head severed, then staggered over to the side.
Sunflower Manual.
The secret manual the Im Clan had so desperately tried to hide was waiting for him inside the Buddha.