Chapter 2
Chapter 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: A Vow of Vengeance
-----------------------------------------------------------------
How much time had passed?
Bu Eun-seol slowly opened his eyes.
A strange energy emanated from within the iron coffin today.
It was a cold so penetrating that even Bu Eun-seol, who had played dead countless times, struggled to endure it.
"I want those ceremonial robes and that sword."
Picturing the splendid robes and sword, Bu Eun-seol clenched his jaw.
Bu Jan-yang had never once broken a promise.
If he could just hold out until sunrise, he would surely receive the robes and sword as a gift.
"Ugh..."
But as time went on, the chill seeped past his skin and deep into his bones.
*Clatter.*
His teeth began to chatter uncontrollably, and Bu Eun-seol clenched his fists.
*No!*
Unable to bear the surging cold any longer, Bu Eun-seol finally squeezed his eyes shut and pushed open the lid of the iron coffin.
As he did, he saw a vision of the lustrous robes and sword flying away into the sky.
*Sigh.*
Bu Eun-seol hung his head and climbed out of the iron coffin.
"You little rascal. I knew you would!"
The end of his game of playing dead was always marked by the sound of his grandfather's hearty laughter.
But this time, Bu Jan-yang's voice was nowhere to be heard.
*Why is it so quiet?*
Sensing something was wrong, Bu Eun-seol cautiously stepped outside.
"Grandfather!"
He called out loudly, but no reply came.
Bu Eun-seol blinked as he searched the mortuary where the bodies were kept.
"Did the constabulary call for him again?"
The constabulary would summon Bu Jan-yang day or night, whenever the body of someone who died away from home was brought in.
Since he was nowhere to be seen, he had most likely gone to the constabulary.
"What the..."
Just as a disappointed Bu Eun-seol rubbed his eyes and turned to go back to his room,
"!"
Bu Eun-seol froze as he crossed the courtyard.
The urns stacked in a corner of the courtyard had all been shattered.
"Ah."
Startled, Bu Eun-seol grabbed a broom and rushed out.
The area around the urns was a complete mess, as if a storm had torn through it.
Not only that, but sharp, deep cuts were etched into the stone walls of the storage building.
"What is this?"
As Bu Eun-seol reached out to touch one of the marks on the stone,
*Chiiing.*
A sharp, metallic sound rang through the dawn sky.
Had Bu Eun-seol been a martial arts master, he would have recognized it as the sound of fine swords clashing.
But to Bu Eun-seol, who knew nothing of such things, it was merely an ominous, bizarre sound.
"Grandfather."
Muttering under his breath, Bu Eun-seol walked out the main gate as if in a trance.
He walked toward the sound, and in the distance, he saw a large tree standing at the village entrance.
A brilliant full moon hung above its branches, illuminating the dark path.
*Ching.*
This time, the metallic ring was shorter than before.
A strange sense of foreboding, more potent than before, washed over Bu Eun-seol, and he broke into a frantic run.
*Thump, thump, thump.*
After running for some time, the once-faint tree came into sharp focus.
And there, in front of it, a familiar figure was slumped on the ground.
"Grandfather!"
Bu Eun-seol cried out in relief upon seeing the figure.
The figure leaning against the tree in the settling darkness was none other than Bu Jan-yang.
"Grandfa—"
Bu Eun-seol ran toward him with a smile.
But when he saw Bu Jan-yang's face in the moonlight, he froze solid.
The gentle eyes that had always gazed at him so kindly were now nothing but dark, empty sockets.
The bony arm that had always stroked his hair so gently was severed below the shoulder.
The broad, thin back that had carried him so warmly when he couldn't sleep was now a ruin of exposed bone, riddled with dozens of hidden weapons like the quills of a porcupine.
*Drip. Drip. Drip.*
Tears streamed from his eyes, down his cheeks, and onto the ground.
Just then,
"...Is that you, Seol?"
Though he could not see, Bu Jan-yang sensed his grandson's presence and slowly spoke.
"You little rascal. I knew you would."
Tears streamed down, completely blurring Bu Eun-seol's vision.
Though his eyes were gone, Bu Jan-yang offered a benevolent smile, as if he could see his grandson perfectly.
"This old man must have scared you, Seol."
Even amid wounds and pain so agonizing he might have wished for death, Bu Jan-yang's only concern was for his grandson's shock.
"Grandfather..."
Choking back a sob, Bu Eun-seol cautiously stepped forward and cupped Bu Jan-yang's cheeks.
"Grandfather... Grandfather."
"I'm all right."
Bu Jan-yang smiled and tried to move his shoulders.
He was likely trying to gently stroke the weeping boy's head.
"Grandfather. Grandfather..."
"I'm all right. I'm all right."
Despite his empty sockets, Bu Jan-yang seemed to look right at his grandson and smiled faintly.
"It seems this old man will have to leave soon."
"Who was it?"
A bloody glint, darker than blood itself, flared in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
A thick killing intent, unimaginable for a boy still so young, radiated from his entire being.
"Who did this to you!"
His desperate cry echoed through the night.
"There is only one thing this old man wants."
After a long silence, Bu Jan-yang spoke in a gentle voice.
"This old man has no need for last rites. Use the Corpse Melting Powder. Leave no trace that I ever existed in this world."
Bu Eun-seol shook his head.
Corpse Melting Powder was the most potent poison in the world, capable of dissolving a corpse into a mere puddle of liquid.
But it was so difficult to create that a single drop was worth more than a diamond the size of a bean.
Bu Jan-yang, in preparation for his own death, had once told Bu Eun-seol where he had hidden the powder.
"No!"
"Are you refusing to listen to this old man?"
"Revenge! I will get revenge!"
"Seol... If you do that... this old man cannot rest in peace."
Bu Eun-seol swallowed back his tears and nodded.
"Then I'll die too."
Bu Eun-seol said, large tears rolling down his cheeks.
"Who will look after you in the afterlife? Who will cook your noodles and help you with the rites?"
"Seol."
"You always said the afterlife is no different from this world, didn't you? I want to go to the afterlife with you."
For a moment, the corners of Bu Jan-yang's lips trembled.
The man in black had been cruel, ensuring Bu Jan-yang would feel hellish pain until his very last breath.
Yet, he had managed to remain composed, all due to his profound love for Bu Eun-seol.
"This old man always thought he could depart peacefully..."
Bloody tears streamed from Bu Jan-yang's empty sockets.
He had always thought his own life was as insignificant as a leaf tumbling down the street...
But the thought of leaving his beloved grandson behind was a pain so great he couldn't bear to close his eyes.
"Seol. This is this old man's final wish."
Though he had no arms, Bu Jan-yang used the last of his strength to pull his grandson's body into a tight embrace.
"When I die, you must go far away."
Bu Jan-yang could not say more.
Blood was now pouring not only from his empty sockets but from his mouth, ears, and nose as well.
Bleeding from the seven orifices.
His life force was completely spent; his time had come.
"Seol."
Bu Jan-yang mustered his last ounce of life and spoke one final sentence.
"The time we spent together... I was so happy."
*Thud.*
With a kind smile still on his lips, Bu Jan-yang's head slowly slumped forward.
Watching him, Bu Eun-seol quietly pulled his grandfather's body into a tight embrace.
He pressed his face against his grandfather's cooling chest, rubbing it again and again.
* * *
A gaunt old man lay upon an embalming table made of chestnut wood.
It was the body of Bu Jan-yang, who had drawn his last breath beneath the tree at the village entrance.
"Grandfather."
Bu Eun-seol gazed at his grandfather's body, his own face swollen from crying.
He had brought a cart and carefully moved his grandfather's body to the embalming table of the Pyeong-an Funeral Home.
"Let's live happily in the afterlife, too."
Bu Jan-yang had wanted his beloved grandson to leave the village and live an ordinary life.
But Bu Eun-seol could not do that.
Instead, he resolved to perform the last rites for his grandfather, and then follow him in death.
*Splash.*
Bu Eun-seol lifted a clean cloth from a large basin of water and began to gently wash his grandfather's body.
As he worked, his hands suddenly froze.
Examining the wound on Bu Jan-yang's shoulder, Bu Eun-seol's eyes turned crimson.
"Grandfather..."
The cut on the severed arm was as clean as glass.
Even for the greatest master of the age, it would be impossible to sever both arms of a resisting man simultaneously with such precision.
There was only one way such a thing was possible: if the victim had offered his arms willingly.
"You were trying to protect me, weren't you?"
Bu Eun-seol understood how it had happened.
To protect something more precious than his own life, his grandfather had offered up his own two arms.
"The killer cut off both his arms... gouged out his eyes... and severed his ligaments and muscles..."
Bloody tears streamed from Bu Eun-seol's eyes as he clutched the clean cloth.
The killer had not only harmed Bu Jan-yang in the most brutal way imaginable but had also ensured he died in agony.
*Flash.*
The bloody glint returned to Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
He could never forgive this cruel killer. His rage would only be sated when he found the man and tore him limb from limb.
"I have to find him."
Bu Eun-seol began to carefully examine the wounds left on Bu Jan-yang's body.
A martial artist's techniques are as unique as their own face.
Even when disciples from the same school perform the same technique, its power and trajectory will vary immensely.
"I can find him."
For years, Bu Eun-seol had tirelessly studied the wounds on corpses alongside his grandfather.
Just by looking at the wounds, he could instantly discern the victim's posture and circumstances, as well as the opponent's fatal technique.
"From top to bottom..."
As Bu Eun-seol examined the cut on Bu Jan-yang's shoulder, one of the world's most bizarre sword techniques unfolded in his mind.
Shockingly, the killer had struck from below, an upward slash that had severed both arms.
Upward-rising slashes were rare among the martial world's sword arts. Moreover, the attacker had altered the trajectory of the same slash that severed the arms to then pierce both eyes.
It was clearly not an orthodox sword style, but one from the demonic path.
"But a movement like that is impossible..."
No matter how bizarre the sword art, it was still performed by a body of flesh and blood.
Unless one could freely lengthen and shorten their bones, wielding a sword in such a way was impossible.
"No, it's possible."
In that moment, Bu Eun-seol recalled something his grandfather had once said.
*"There are countless esoteric arts in the martial world. Among them are the Flexible Body Arts, which allow one to freely lengthen and shorten their bones and muscles."*
"The Indian Flexible Body Art."
The killer had to be a sword master who had mastered the Indian Flexible Body Art.
Bu Eun-seol then turned his attention to Bu Jan-yang's back. Ninety-three distinct hidden weapon marks were embedded there.
"How could someone throw ninety-three hidden weapons with one hand? Could it be the Rain of Ten Thousand Blossoms...?"
Bu Eun-seol thought of the ultimate technique of the Sichuan Tang Clan, but then shook his head.
Even the Tang Clan's legendary Rain of Ten Thousand Blossoms could only launch sixty-six projectiles at once.
"Was there an accomplice? No."
Shaking his head, Bu Eun-seol's eyes flashed with realization.
"He used a hidden weapon mechanism from the Sahyang."
Sahyang.
A renowned family of assassins that had maintained its position for ages in the long history of the martial world.
It was said that the numerous master craftsmen gathered there could create mechanisms capable of firing hundreds of projectiles in a single volley.
"And the signs of poisoning..."
The underside of Bu Jan-yang's tongue and the insides of his fingernails on the severed arm were stained black.
Such a symptom appeared only with poisoning from a potent toxin of the Flesh-Rotting, Blood-Corrupting type—one that took effect with mere skin contact.
Bu Eun-seol bit his lip.
"Someone who has mastered the foreign esoteric art of the Indian Flexible Body Art, possesses a legendary hidden weapon mechanism from Sahyang, and favors poisons of the Flesh-Rotting, Blood-Corrupting type."
There couldn't be many such individuals in the martial world.
Bu Eun-seol vowed in a low voice.
"I will find you."