Chapter 268: The Weight of a Borrowed Name-1
Chapter 268: The Weight of a Borrowed Name-1
Shortly after, thanks to the Saintess clearing away all the debris, we were finally able to discover Jin Tae-do buried beneath the valley floor.
And having found him more easily than expected, we couldn't help but all be shocked upon seeing his condition.
Until we discovered him, I had honestly been thinking we'd be lucky just to recognize his face.
Even before being buried, he had already been gravely injured and unable to move, and after that, he had been crushed by rocks of tremendous weight, so by now I thought he wouldn't have even retained his form.
But astonishingly, after clearing away all the debris, the figure we found was in far too intact a state.
No, he was beyond intact—he was still alive.
I let out a hollow laugh of admiration and spoke to him.
"...Truly remarkable vitality. It's even worthy of respect."
Then he chuckled and replied.
"Heuheuheu, I saw a gap beneath the large boulder that had fallen in front of me. So I crawled in under there for the time being. Keuheuheu. It was a foolish thing to do. Had I known it would end up like this, I wouldn't have gone in...."
At his self-deprecating words, I couldn't bring myself to answer.
The lower half of his thighs that I could see were all horrifically crushed.
The gap in the rocks where he had taken shelter wasn't very large, so the only part of him that could avoid the falling boulders was his upper body.
"And on top of that, to have survived only to see your face as the last thing I witness... Truly, it must have been the worst choice of my life."
I didn't answer that either.
I merely stared silently at his face, which had gone as pale as a sheet of white paper.
From his crushed thighs and the shoulder that had been struck by the Demon Sovereign, blood was now barely flowing out.
Because he had already lost too much blood.
He was dying.
The only reason he hadn't died yet was that he was a master of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World; if it had been anyone else, it wouldn't have been strange for them to have died several times over already.
He was silent for a moment, then abruptly opened his mouth and asked me.
"That child... is he truly alive?"
I knew immediately who he meant by that child.
He was probably referring to the bloodline born from the Demon Blade Yun Sak's woman.
I nodded.
"He's alive."
At that, the bastard smiled a fishy grin.
"...A foolish bunch. To actually keep the son of your enemy alive."
Having said that, the bastard's lips quivered a few times.
He looked as though he had something he wanted to say, but couldn't quite bring himself to say it.
I sighed and spoke to the bastard.
"I will ensure that his child inherits your True Dragon Sword Technique. If you have any words to leave for that child, say them. I will convey them."
Then he smiled that fishy grin once more, his eyes slightly clouded.
"...You fool."
He then stared up at the sky with a somewhat vacant expression for a moment before opening his mouth again.
"I have no words to convey. Just... raise him to be like you. Not a failure like me... Inparang, like you."
His voice was steadily growing softer and weaker.
He slowly closed his eyes and said.
"Do you know? More than half of the Hainan Sect... were those who followed me. Trash who didn't care what I did... as long as their own interests were guaranteed... You... from now on must rule over such bastards...."
Continuing his words with a strained voice, he finally let out his last breath.
At long last, he was dead.
It was the futile death of Hyo-ung, the Southern Sea Demonic Sword Jin Tae-do, who had seized the seat of the Hainan Sect leader through conspiracy and had even tried to claim hegemony over the Southern Sea.
I let out a deep sigh.
"Hooooo."
Even until his death, he did not know the fact that I was not Inparang.
I had considered telling him a few times, but I couldn't bring myself to tell a dying man that the person who killed him was actually someone with no relation to him at all.
He was certainly someone who deserved to die, but....
Somehow, I felt sorry about that fact alone.
I let out another deep sigh.
"Hooooo."
Somehow, it seemed that living under another's name—this case of Inparang—would have to be the last.
Because killing people while pretending to be someone else felt exactly like shifting the weight of the killing onto another.
If I had to take a life anyway, I wanted to do at least that much under the name of Seonwoo Jin.
Bearing that responsibility, and bearing the grudges and revenge as well.
***
The people of the Hainan Sect came looking not long after the South Sea Saintess Si Seo-u and the personnel of the Fujian Yong Family had departed.
The ones who came were Family Head Ja Gae-chu of the Hainan Ja Family, Family Head Yu Hae-eung of the Hainan Yu Family, and the warriors of the Hainan In Family and Hainan Sa Family whom I had met before.
Seonwoo Jin was honestly a little surprised.
Because the timing of their arrival was far too soon.
At this rate, they must have set out barely a day or two after Jin Tae-do had departed.
"Because Jin Tae-do took all the naval warfare troops with him, there weren't many of his followers left in the Hainan Sect. Moreover, those followers immediately gave up resisting as soon as they saw the evidence of the Hapsan Sect and White Shark Sect that you, Soju, provided, and heard of his past misdeeds. For now, their personal soldiers are detained, and Family Head Oh Ik-deok of the Hainan Oh Family is watching over them."
These were the words of Hyeon Cheong-gun, the leader of the Hainan In Family warriors, as he spoke with eyes brimming with tears.
Having previously shown deep loyalty toward Inparang, he was now displaying a deeply moved expression, as if he might cry at any moment upon seeing Seonwoo Jin looking healthy.
Seonwoo Jin could only smile bitterly at his expression.
Because it was now time to reveal the truth.
He didn't mind so much with others, but he felt deeply sorry for the fact that he had to disappoint him and the warriors of the In Family.
But he couldn't put it off any longer.
They, too, had to know the truth now.
Seonwoo Jin, sitting before the four gathered people—Yu Hae-eung, Ja Gae-chu, Hyeon Cheong-gun, and Myo A-ran, who had recovered somewhat from her injuries—untied his bundle and took out the journal Inparang had left behind.
Then he held it out to them and said.
"This is the journal and the secret manual of the Southern Cross Sword left behind by Inparang, Young Master Yin."
"...Pardon?"
"......?"
At Seonwoo Jin's sudden words, all of them except Myo A-ran stared with blank expressions, unable to grasp what he meant for a moment.
Myo A-ran was letting out a deep sigh beside them.
Seonwoo Jin deeply cupped his fist toward them and said.
"I sincerely apologize for deceiving you all this time. I am not Inparang. My name is Seonwoo Jin. I had been impersonating him in order to fulfill Young Master Inparang's final wishes."
"...What?!"
"Wh-What do you mean?!"
They stared at Seonwoo Jin with expressions of shock.
Seonwoo Jin began to explain in detail to them his meeting with Inparang and the events that followed.
At this, the people of the Hainan Sect listened to his story with dumbfounded expressions, unable to say a single word.
"...That is what happened. Although it was done to fulfill Young Master Yin's will, I well know that deceiving you all and carelessly learning the Hainan Sect's Southern Cross Sword cannot be rationalized. I am sorry."
Finishing his words and cupping his fist deeply once more, Seonwoo Jin raised his head and looked at their expressions.
Everyone was in a state of shock, their faces blank.
And among them, the person who looked the most shocked was, naturally, Hyeon Cheong-gun, the leader of the Hainan In Family warriors.
He murmured with a devastated face.
"Then, then Soju, Young Master Yin is...."
In the end, hot tears spilled uncontrollably from his eyes.
The shock seemed too great for him—the fact that the master he thought he had finally found was actually a fake, and that his real master was already dead.
"Soju, Soju! Euheuheuk!"
As he collapsed to the spot as if crumbling, weeping, everyone looked at him with dark expressions.
Seonwoo Jin's expression had also become exceedingly dark.
He felt pitiful, and sorry.
After that, for a while, no sound was heard among the five of them except Hyeon Cheong-gun's weeping.
Because no one could bring themselves to speak.
Only after a long while did Ja Gae-chu, family head of the Ja Family, let out a deep sigh and speak.
"Hooooo. Did you say you are the Seonwoo... Gongja? First, let me offer my thanks. Thanks to you, Gongja, we learned the truth of what happened ten years ago, and we were also able to bring the villain Jin Tae-do who committed those acts to justice. It is also thanks to you, Gongja, that we recovered the Southern Cross Sword and the White Tiger Sword, which we had thought completely lost. So to say you are sorry is not fitting. Rather, how we should repay this debt of gratitude...."
It was as he was speaking those words.
Suddenly, Yongwangjigung Yu Hae-eung, the family head of the Hainan Yu Family, cut him off and spoke.
"I do not think this is a matter that can be settled so simply."
"Hm?"
Hearing this, Ja Gae-chu looked at Yu Hae-eung with a puzzled gaze.
Then Yu Hae-eung looked at Seonwoo Jin with sharp eyes and said.
"Regardless of the circumstances, an outsider has carelessly learned the martial arts of the Hainan Sect. And that too, the Southern Cross Sword left behind by the former Sword King himself. Furthermore, if you are not Inparang, the matter of killing Jin Tae-do also becomes an issue. Whatever kind of person Jin Tae-do was, for now, it amounts to an outsider killing the sect leader of the Hainan Sect. Therefore, even if we have received some kindness, we cannot simply let these matters pass."
At his words, Ja Gae-chu spoke with a flustered expression.
"Ah, well, that is true, but Family Head Yu, to interpret the matter in that way...."
Yu Hae-eung looked at Seonwoo Jin with a grave expression and asked.
"I believe the reason you apologized to us earlier, Gongja, was probably because your thoughts had reached that point as well. Is that not so?"
Seonwoo Jin did not answer for a moment and silently observed Yu Hae-eung.
From the first time he had seen him, his face had seemed as heavy as a boulder, and now it was as hard as an actual boulder.
Seonwoo Jin could understand his words.
Because he had actually been worrying about that very point.
Yu Hae-eung was a man who could even confront his own sect's leader, Jin Tae-do, if he thought it was unreasonable.
So there was no way he would simply let things slide amicably just because he had received a kindness.
Moreover, on the surface at least, his words were clearly correct.
For an outsider to carelessly learn another sect's martial arts, and the act of harming a sect leader—these were offenses for which even an execution order would be beyond reproach.
It was then.
Myo A-ran interjected.
"I believe that Family Head Yu's words, while plausible on the surface, are completely nonsensical when the order of events is examined. The Southern Cross Sword is a martial art that could never have returned to the Hainan Sect if not for Seonwoo Gongja, and Jin Tae-do was also a man who could never have been sect leader once his evil deeds were exposed. If Seonwoo Gongja had not stepped forward, and so Jin Tae-do had acted according to his own will, what kind of situation would have unfolded by now? I believe Family Head Yu's words are unreasonable."
At Myo A-ran's words, Yu Hae-eung let out a deep hum with a grave expression.
"Hmm."
Then Ja Gae-chu also nodded as if agreeing with Myo A-ran's words.
"I also concur with Lady Myo's words. Indeed, the Divine Sword Peak has neatly organized the core issue for us."
Seonwoo Jin sent Myo A-ran a look of gratitude.
He too was well aware of the fact Myo A-ran had stated, but he could not say those words himself.
Because there would be a great difference between the person involved saying it and a person from the Hainan Sect saying it.
At that, Yu Hae-eung let out a sigh and said.
"Lady Myo's words are, of course, correct. And I, too, am deeply grateful to Seonwoo Gongja. However, I still believe it is a great problem that an outsider is currently practicing the Southern Cross Sword, which can be called the greatest martial art of the Hainan Sect. Furthermore, is it not the case that there is now not a single descendant of the Hainan In Family left who could inherit it?"
At his words, Ja Gae-chu's face darkened again.
Yu Hae-eung's words were clearly true.
The situation was that Seonwoo Jin, an outsider, was practicing the Southern Cross Sword, the greatest martial art of the Hainan Sect, while the Hainan Sect itself now had no one proper to legitimately inherit it.
That was not all.
Though it was a good thing that Jin Tae-do's evil deeds were exposed and he was executed, the damage the Hainan Sect suffered from this incident was too great.
The Hainan Sect was currently in a state where the bloodlines of not only the Hainan In Family and the Hainan Sa Family, but also the Hainan Jin Family had been cut off.
Because there was no other successor besides Jin Tae-do.
Furthermore, if the other family heads who had collaborated with Jin Tae-do were to be held accountable, there was no telling what would become of their families going forward too.
In the worst case, once this matter was all settled, only five of the Twelve Families of Hainan might remain.
So for Ja Gae-chu, who had rebelled against Jin Tae-do for the sake of the Hainan Sect, his feelings could not be anything but wretched.
He sighed and thought.
'Of course, I did think such a situation could occur if we fought against Jin Tae-do....'
Until not too long ago, he had thought it didn't matter.
Because he had thought that even if such damage was incurred, they had found the true successor of the Hainan Sect, so what they had gained was greater.
But at this very moment, he came to realize the fact that that thought had been nothing but an illusion.
It could not be anything but a deeply disappointing matter.
It was then.
Myo A-ran opened her mouth again.
"Regarding that matter, I have one solution I have thought of. Would you care to hear it?"
At this, the others looked at her with puzzled eyes.
Because they couldn't imagine what kind of method there could possibly be as a solution amid all this.
Then Myo A-ran looked at Seonwoo Jin with sparkling eyes and began to speak.
Seonwoo Jin felt her gaze was somehow deeply meaningful for some reason.