Chapter 47: Tang Family Sword Peak-3
Chapter 47: Tang Family Sword Peak-3
Though I had resolved the matter of Miss Hae Cheong-yeon, I had failed to prevent what I already knew would come to pass.
The death of Miss Mae Yeo-kyeong, the death of Myeong Sa-hyeon....
I was so very angry and disappointed.
I had thought I had been doing well—that because of this, I might even change the future.
These events felt as if they were telling me, no matter what I tried, it was all for nothing.
So it was that even after the search ended, I stayed behind to investigate Ju-gwi's trail alone.
Miss Cheong-yeon approached me and spoke.
"Squad Leader Ma Yu-gyeom took Miss Dang Yeo-eun into the woods. Did you know?"
"Excuse me?"
"Those two... I gathered you had been keeping an eye on them, Seonwoo Gongja, so I thought I should mention it."
I gave a bitter smile.
She was truly an uncannily perceptive young lady.
How on earth could she know that when I had never once spoken of it?
At this point, it was nearly frightening how well she seemed to read me.
But I was actually somewhat grateful.
To me, struggling alone to change the future, it felt as if someone was saying, 'I see you. I acknowledge what you're doing.'
I smiled and replied.
"Is that so. Thank you."
It seemed those two wounded souls were finally finding solace in each other.
In my past life, they had started seeing each other soon enough, so probably the same would happen now.
And if things did go like my past life, Miss Dang Yeo-eun's life would unfortunately become a tragic one, but I had no particular justification to meddle in matters between a man and a woman.
At that moment, Miss Cheong-yeon cautiously added a word.
"And... I'm not certain about this, but...."
"Yes?"
"I saw Squad Leader Ma eating some kind of pill. It looked similar to the poison pellet Elder Seok gave you. Of course, I'm not certain."
"Ah, did you?"
I nodded absently as I answered.
Then, in that instant, like a flash of lightning, something went off in my head.
The Blood Demon's telepathy, Ma Yu-gyeom who had grown strange thereafter and ultimately defected to the Blood Cult, the poison pellets of the Blood Cult, and even Ju-gwi whose traces could not be found....
It all seemed to connect into a single thread.
I hurriedly asked Miss Cheong-yeon.
"Did you happen to see where they went?"
"Yes, they headed toward the eastern forest. Shall I go look?"
"Yes, I've got something to check on."
I dashed off toward the eastern forest at once.
The moment I heard "eastern forest," a gut feeling struck me.
It was where Miss Mae Yeo-kyeong had been found.
And fortunately, I arrived not a moment too soon and could observe their actions from hiding.
"Repeat after me. 'Dang Yeo-eun belongs to Ma Yu-gyeom.'"
The instant I heard those words, I understood.
That what Ma Yu-gyeom was attempting was something akin to the Soul Captivation Art, and this was the very reason that Dang Yeo-eun had been dragged around by him in my past life.
It was urgent.
A surprise attack required silence, but preventing that act from proceeding was now the greater priority.
I immediately shouted and hurled a throwing weapon.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
But, as expected of Ma Yu-gyeom, he threw his body aside with ease and evaded my blade.
Then, upon recognizing me, his face contorted into that of a madman and he began to exude killing intent.
Chang!
Blue sword qi rippled atop his blade as he drew his sword.
"Hap!"
I flung myself aside to evade his assault and shouted.
"What are you doing, Squad Leader Ma?! Is being a lust demon not enough—now you'd stoop to soul-captivation and murder?!"
At this, he flinched for a moment.
I deliberately chose to feign ignorance about him using something like the Soul Captivation Art.
"Come to your senses, Squad Leader Ma! I know you're grieving Miss Mae's loss, but if you fall apart like this, wouldn't she be sad as well?! Before you cross the line, please get a grip on yourself!"
At that, Ma Yu-gyeom stared at me with a complex look in his eyes.
He seemed to be hesitating.
My plea for him to get a grip before crossing the line was, at least, sincere.
Of course, if he had truly killed Miss Mae Yeo-kyeong, then he had already crossed the line—but that was not yet certain, was it.
If there was any way at all, I wanted to bring him back.
"If you let Lady Dang go and apologize, I'll pretend I never saw any of this! Release Lady Dang at once!"
At that, Ma Yu-gyeom suddenly looked toward Lady Dang.
She was still collapsed on the ground, weeping. She couldn't seem to come to her senses, perhaps because of what he had just done.
Ma Yu-gyeom abruptly let out a sigh, his face weary.
Then, releasing the sword qi from his blade, he spoke to me.
"Fine, I've shown you a pathetic sight. I'm ashamed. After Yeo-gyeong died, I found I simply couldn't bear it. I'll apologize to Lady Dang. But I'm quite drunk at the moment. Could you help me move her?"
His expression was so utterly wretched.
So much so that one would truly believe he had no choice but to act like this from sheer anguish.
But he didn't know.
That the reason he had fallen apart was not Miss Mae, and that I knew Lady Dang was not in this state from mere drink.
He had already gone too far to ever come back.
The moment I grasped that truth, I instantly threw myself aside and shouted.
Pa-bak!
"Squad Leader Ma has practiced the martial arts of the Blood Cult! Squad Leader Ma has defected to the Blood Cult!"
At that, the horrified Ma Yu-gyeom immediately launched himself after me.
"You bastard!"
When I glanced back, his face was horribly twisted like a demon's.
But I scoffed and quickened my pace.
Even Sak Mu-heun, who had seventy years of internal energy, had failed to catch me—there was absolutely no way he could.
"Ma Yu-gyeom has betrayed us! He's learned the Blood Cult's martial arts!"
Shouting as I flew forward, the moment the gap widened enough for me to vanish from his sight, I immediately concealed myself in the shade of a tree.
Just a moment later, Ma Yu-gyeom let out a ghastly roar and shot past where I hid.
"You bastaaard!"
Fleeing to the Thirteen Squads like this would have been easy, but I could not leave Lady Dang behind there.
Wild beasts or demonic beings—or a repentant Ma Yu-gyeom—could return and make off with her.
The moment he disappeared ahead, I immediately hurled myself back toward Lady Dang.
She still had not come to her senses, weeping and muttering to herself.
"Dang Yeo-eun belongs to Ma Yu-gyeom. Dang Yeo-eun...."
My heart sank.
It looked as though she had already fallen under the Soul Captivation Art.
I spoke to her urgently.
"That's not true! Dang Yeo-eun belongs to Dang Yeo-eun herself!"
At that, she faltered and then echoed my words.
"Dang Yeo-eun... belongs to Dang Yeo-eun?"
It was working.
The process apparently wasn't yet completely finished.
I hastily continued.
"That's right! Lady Dang belongs to Lady Dang herself! You belong to no one else, I tell you!"
She repeated it in a daze.
"I belong to myself...."
But then she burst into tears and spoke.
"That can't be. I should never have been born. I don't have the right. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being born, I'm sorry for being alive, Mother."
What in the world....
At her sudden rambling, I had no choice but to be utterly bewildered.
It was then.
I sensed a presence from the forest behind us.
Ma Yu-gyeom was coming back.
"Ah, damn it!"
Just as I had anticipated, the moment he'd lost my trail, he had circled back for her.
I frantically scooped her up and launched myself away.
Ma Yu-gyeom came bursting from the trees, spotted me, and yelled.
"You bastard! Stop! Leave her alone!"
"Leave her alone"?! That's my line!
I howled inwardly and hurled myself forward.
Another chase looked to be starting.
And this time, I was carrying her—with no way to conceal myself.
It was a pursuit where I was at a disadvantage from the very start.
It would be one thing if she had the presence of mind to cling to my back, but carrying her made the running posture far too awkward.
I simply couldn't build up speed.
On top of that, she continued crying and mumbling in my arms.
"I should never have been born. I have no right to live."
I couldn't tell whether this was Ma Yu-gyeom's doing or something else, but one thing I knew for certain was that I could not leave her like this.
So, despite my own struggle, I had to keep whispering to her.
"No. Lady Dang, you are worth being born. You're worth being loved, too. You are someone fully deserving of life."
But it seemed my words could no longer reach her. She had lost herself, sobbing and repeating only the same words over and over.
"I'm sorry I was born, I'm sorry I'm alive, Mother. Please forgive me."
And Ma Yu-gyeom was still pursuing me, eyes blazing as if spewing fire.
"Seonwoo Jiiiiin! Stop right theeere!"
It was a predicament, and I was utterly exasperated.
Most of my memories of late seemed to consist of running away from someone.
Running from the Heuksangbang, running from the Murim Alliance's assassin, and now even from Ma Yu-gyeom.
Why on earth was everything like this lately?
Still, I wasn't hopelessly lost to the point of despair.
At least, not like it had been in my past life.
The gap between Ma Yu-gyeom and myself wasn't closing right at this instant. Of course, with the difference in internal energy and the extra weight I carried, the odds were high it would close soon—but not yet.
So for now, it was time to focus on Lady Dang.
I thought furiously as I ran.
What to say?
What could I say to bring Lady Dang back?
There was only one thing that came to mind.
Myeong Sa-hyeon.
The man who had loved Lady Dang more than his own life.
Hearing Myeong Sa-hyeon's story, I had been deeply shaken.
Even combing through every memory of my past life, I could not recall a single instance where someone subjected to the Blood Cult's Soul Captivation Art had ever halted their actions or ended their own life of their own free will.
Not even when they were lovers, brothers, or family.
I simply could not imagine it.
How unshakeable must his will have been, how fathomless must his love have been, for him to have done such a thing?
So I thought, if Lady Dang's heart was the same as his, she could certainly be brought back.
"Lady Dang! Think of Myeong Sa-hyeon, Vice-leader Myeong! Remember what kind of man he was, how much he loved you!"
And there was genuinely a reaction.
She stopped her muttering and called his name.
"Sa-hyeon...."
"Yes, do you remember? Myeong Sa-hyeon, Vice-leader Myeong, was a remarkable man—even I, as a man, had to admire him. And Lady Dang, you are the woman he loved. I mean to say, you are someone so precious, he could love you enough to throw away his own life. If you cannot believe in yourself, then believe in him. Believe in the woman he loved so deeply."
It had an effect.
She stopped her self-flagellation and began to weep while calling his name—and unlike before, it wasn't a sobbing that sounded trapped, but a natural one.
"Sa-hyeon, Sa-hyeon...."
I kept whispering into the ear of the weeping woman.
"It's alright. Everything will be alright. You are a person of worth. You're more precious and remarkable than anyone."
After I whispered like this for a long while, she finally stopped her murmurings and seemed to drift peacefully to sleep.
At last, one problem appeared resolved.
Which meant I only needed to solve the next one now.
"I'll kill you, Seonwoo Jiiiiin!"
The problem was the relentlessly pursuing peak-level master, Ma Yu-gyeom, and my own steadily draining stamina.
I wasn't entirely sure if the two could be called separate issues, but between them, my stamina was the more serious one.
Continually talking to Lady Dang while fleeing had exhausted me badly.
My original plan had been to lure him toward the Poison Forest.
During my last clash with Sak Mu-heun, the poison creatures had helped me greatly, and since I always carried poison-avoiding incense, I thought I could shake him off once inside.
But at this pace, reaching the Poison Forest meant running for at least another hour.
And I absolutely did not have the stamina left for that.
It couldn't be helped.
I had to make a choice before I was completely spent.
Abandon her and flee, or stand and fight a peak-level master.
I suddenly thought I should have rebuilt the pit trap I'd used against Sak Mu-heun.
But there was no use regretting it now.
After one final whisper in Dang Yeo-eun's ear, I set her down on a flat boulder I spotted while running.
And as I turned around, Ma Yu-gyeom, face twisted like a demon's, was flying at me, his sword already sweeping down.
The blue sword qi atop that blade rippled like hellfire.
I licked my lips and gripped Mukrang's hilt.
"Fine, let's see what you've got!"
I leaped toward him and drew my blade like a lightning strike.
Syu-haaak!
Over Mukrang's blade, now sprung free from its scabbard, violet sword qi flared and rippled.