Chapter 354
Chapter 354
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 354
Chapter Title: The Truth of a Thirty-Year Wait
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“Master.”
A-yeon clasped her hands and bowed her head deeply.
“Could you please tell me the truth about what has happened until now?”
“What are you talking about?”
A-yeon looked into Ok Yu-ha’s unsettled eyes and took a deep breath.
“I heard that because you loved a man… you forsook your dharma name and lowered your own status, even though you could have become the Pavilion Lord.”
“Who told you such a thing?”
As Ok Yu-ha’s eyes flashed fiercely, A-yeon spoke cautiously.
“I… No, it is a fact known to all the disciples of this pavilion.”
“What?”
“That you made such a choice because the Supreme Elder forced you. And also that you were compelled to take the Bright Silver Divine Pill… which only worsened the sickness in your heart.”
The Bright Silver Divine Pill was a sacred medicine that forcibly cooled the body, producing an effect similar to the Cold Heart Arts.
However, long-term consumption led to delusions and hallucinations, which in turn weakened one’s mental fortitude.
Ok Yu-ha, seemingly shocked, spoke in a trembling voice.
“Where on earth did you hear such a thing?”
“I happened to overhear the head of the infirmary and the master of the gardens speaking.”
Then she added one more thing.
“Not only that, but they also said it was wrong for the Supreme Elder to intentionally leave the Pavilion Lord’s seat vacant and lead the pavilion by herself.”
“They said such things?”
“Are there any secrets in this pavilion?”
A-yeon’s words were no exaggeration.
The Sword Pavilion was situated on the remote Great Sword Mountain, completely cut off from the secular world.
Stories that spread within its walls would inevitably circulate over and over again.
After a moment’s hesitation, A-yeon spoke candidly.
“To be honest, my inner demon arose for the same reason.”
Silence fell.
As a deathly stillness filled the air, A-yeon began to regret her honest confession.
Embarrassment aside, she couldn’t bear to see the deep disappointment on her master’s face.
But an unexpected reply came.
“The fact that you fell prey to an inner demon because of a man named Bu Eun-seol is known to every disciple in this pavilion.”
“How could you know?”
“Are there any secrets in this pavilion?”
Ok Yu-ha let out a small chuckle and said calmly.
“You would sometimes call his name in your sleep.”
A-yeon’s face turned red.
To think that what she believed to be her own secrets were already common knowledge.
“Do you like him?”
A-yeon blushed at Ok Yu-ha’s direct question.
“I don’t know. It’s just that his face appears whenever I close my eyes.”
Ok Yu-ha gave a dry smile and said.
“What kind of person is he?”
“He’s the heir to the Demonic Cult. As the world knows, he is very intelligent and powerful in martial arts.”
“I don’t mean things like that.”
Ok Yu-ha offered a faint smile.
“Tell me not how others see him, but what you felt.”
For a moment, A-yeon’s eyes wavered greatly.
But faced with Ok Yu-ha’s gaze, which seemed to understand everything, she lowered her head and spoke in a low voice.
“He’s like a child hiding a deep sorrow in his heart. He seems to view the world coldly, but he is actually warm-hearted.”
“How did you know that?”
“I just… I don’t know. That’s just how I felt.”
“It is always like that.”
Ok Yu-ha let out a deep sigh and said.
“When you truly come to like someone, you begin to see a side of them that others cannot.”
It was her own experience as well.
“The man who shook this master’s heart was an upright and just person.”
Then she gazed into the empty air and said.
“But his true self was that of a cruel murderer, a great demon who slaughtered masters and spread poison throughout the martial world.”
Taking a deep breath, she spoke with a pained expression.
“To the extent that he used this master to set a trap and brutally kill the elders of our pavilion.”
A-yeon covered her mouth.
To think her master, who was always so cold and composed, had such a painful story.
“Unaware of that fact, this master pleaded with him. To abandon everything and leave the martial world with me… to live in hiding together.”
Ok Yu-ha took a ragged breath and continued.
“I told him that if he did, I would look only at him and live only for him for the rest of my life.”
It was so shocking and sad.
That her master, Ok Yu-ha, who was always as cold as ice, had made such a passionate and ardent confession.
And that the man had used her heart to create such a vicious trap…
“But he deceived me to the very end. He claimed the elders were after this master, who had lost consciousness, and promised to bring proof of it back to the Sword Pavilion.”
Ok Yu-ha’s gaze wavered uncontrollably.
“This foolish master believed him again. I thought that since he was a man who kept his promises, he would surely find that proof.”
“…”
“And that if he brought the proof, I would abandon my dharma name, my status as heir to the Sword Pavilion… and follow him.”
Ok Yu-ha’s voice trembled greatly as she stared into space.
“Time passed, and I grew older. But I was afraid he wouldn’t recognize me when he came for me.”
Pausing for a moment, Ok Yu-ha stared into the void and said.
“So… I learned the Grand Art of Verdant Locks and Blooming Visage from the Water Moon Palace, which allows one to regain youth by sacrificing one’s internal energy.”
The reason why Ok Yu-ha, the former Sword Queen, had such low internal energy.
It was because she had been practicing the mystical grand art of the Water Moon Palace, the Grand Art of Verdant Locks and Blooming Visage, which maintained a youthful appearance at the cost of internal energy.
Because she believed he would surely keep his promise and come for her… she had even sacrificed her internal energy, which was as precious as life itself, to preserve her beautiful appearance.
“But he never came.”
Ok Yu-ha’s eyes trembled.
She had believed in that one promise.
Having sacrificed her power, she waited thirty years for the man who had killed all the elders of her sect.
But in the end, that faith was betrayed. She could no longer bear it, and her heart fell sick.
“I have never spoken of this story in my entire life.”
With a devastated expression, Ok Yu-ha sighed and looked at A-yeon.
“Do you know why I am telling you this?”
“I do not know.”
“It is so you do not repeat the same mistake as this master.”
Ok Yu-ha was filled with regret.
She should never have believed the words of a man from the demonic path in the first place.
Instead of following her heart, she should have suppressed her tender feelings and killed that man, the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade.
“So that’s what happened?”
Just then, a man’s low voice came from outside the door.
“Who’s there!”
Ok Yu-ha shouted.
*Creeak.*
The door opened, and a dark shadow revealed itself. It was Bu Eun-seol, disguised as Seol-so.
“You are?”
“My apologies for eavesdropping. It was something I had to hear.”
As Bu Eun-seol clasped his hands, Ok Yu-ha wore a strange expression.
“Something you had to hear?”
“The man you spoke of, Master Ok, was none other than the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade, Bu Jan-yang, was he not?”
Ok Yu-ha wasn’t particularly surprised.
She had, after all, cried out ‘Bu Jan-yang!’ earlier.
The problem was why this man had pretended to leave the Sword Pavilion, only to hide here and eavesdrop on their conversation.
“What does that have to do with you?”
“If I learn the full story, I may be able to resolve your grievances, Master Ok.”
Bu Eun-seol had been tracking the whereabouts of the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade, Bu Jan-yang, for a long time.
When he learned that Ok Yu-ha had a close relationship with him, he couldn’t possibly leave without digging into it.
That was why he had claimed to be leaving after treating A-yeon, only to secretly infiltrate this place again and listen to her conversation with Ok Yu-ha.
This was possible due to his high level of martial arts, but it was thanks above all to the ultimate movement technique of the Wolf Fang Pavilion: the Extreme Speed Shadowless Step.
“From what you said, Master, he killed the elders while you were unconscious… and claimed it was to save you, is that correct?”
“Do I look like a fool to you? Or does this pavilion?”
Ok Yu-ha glared at Bu Eun-seol with cold eyes and said.
“I asked why you were hiding here, eavesdropping on my words.”
She was once again referring to herself with a formal, detached tone.
As shame and anger erupted, the sickness of her heart had flared up again.
“I have already said. If I know the details, I may be able to resolve your grievances and resentment…”
“Speak nonsense and I will ring the alarm bell immediately.”
“I have no choice, then.”
Bu Eun-seol took a dagger from his robes.
It was the favored weapon of the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade, Yeoro.
“That is…”
“Can you tell me now?”
“Is he… alive?”
Ok Yu-ha approached Bu Eun-seol, her voice trembling.
“Where on earth is he?”
“Master, please calm yourself.”
“Speak! How could you possibly…”
“If you shout like this, the other disciples will rush in, and I will have to leave.”
Bu Eun-seol said calmly.
“If that happens, Master Ok, you will never be able to hear the truth of that day.”
Ok Yu-ha trembled.
If Bu Eun-seol left as he said, she would never be able to resolve the resentment that had festered in her heart for thirty years.
“What are you trying to say?”
“Everything about the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade.”
“Don’t you know more about that than I?”
Bu Eun-seol told a half-truth.
“It is true that I have inherited the ultimate arts of the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade. But I, too, am searching for his hidden past.”
“I cannot understand.”
“I saved the heir of your esteemed sect without any conditions, and I am now trying to resolve your grievances. Can you not trust me on that point alone?”
Bu Eun-seol had never pleaded with anyone before.
But to find the whereabouts of the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade, and to hear his story from Ok Yu-ha, there was no other way.
He had no means of forcing her to speak, after all.
“Didn’t you say you would tell me the truth about the killing of the elders?”
At Ok Yu-ha’s words, Bu Eun-seol gave a bitter smile.
“That is right. If that is what you wish to know first, I can tell you the story of that day.”
At that, Ok Yu-ha spoke quickly.
“What I said before was everything. I arrived at the Guan Di Temple where we were supposed to meet, felt a sting in my back, and my pressure points were sealed.”
Taking a deep breath, she continued.
“When I opened my eyes again, the nine gruesome corpses of our pavilion’s nine great elders were scattered across the temple. They had known I was meeting him and had secretly followed me.”
After some thought, Bu Eun-seol asked.
“How were the nine great elders found?”
“Their bodies were riddled with countless tiny holes. He must have created hundreds of blade orbs and annihilated the nine great elders with them.”
“And the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade was unharmed?”
“Not at all. He, too, was covered in blood.”
Ok Yu-ha said proudly.
“The sword arts of our pavilion are the bane of demonic swordplay.”
“I see.”
Having heard the whole story, Bu Eun-seol could finally discern the hidden truth of that day.
“The Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade did indeed use his technique to save you. And the nine great elders, unable to evade it, were annihilated in a single blow.”
“How can you prove that?”
Bu Eun-seol was about to draw his Black Sword.
But when he saw A-yeon staring at him with wide eyes, he extended his hand to Ok Yu-ha instead.
“May I borrow your sword?”
“What do you mean?”
“Lend it to me for a moment, and I will prove it.”
Ok Yu-ha frowned, but seeing the earnestness in Bu Eun-seol’s eyes, she drew the treasured sword from her waist and handed it to him.
“Thank you.”
Taking the sword, Bu Eun-seol gathered his internal energy and said.
“Watch closely.”
He then unleashed the sword art of the Demonic Return of Life and Death, from the Seven Forms of the Blood Tear.
At that, hundreds of sword orbs began to rise at Bu Eun-seol’s feet.
*Swoosh.*
Bu Eun-seol passed lightly through the hundreds of sharp sword orbs and sent one of them flying toward the roof.
*Puk.*
It became a streak of light, piercing the roof and flying far into the sky.
“As a master of the sword, Master, you should be able to understand the truth of that day just by seeing this technique.”
Seeing the technique, Ok Yu-ha trembled.
It was something she couldn’t believe even seeing it with her own two eyes.
That he, whom she had always believed to be a wicked demon, whom she could never forget… was actually a righteous man.
“Did he… really try to save only me?”
Although her internal energy had diminished, she was a master who had immersed herself in the way of the sword her entire life.
She had instantly grasped the profundity of the technique Bu Eun-seol had displayed.
If the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade had truly intended to kill the nine great elders, he wouldn’t have needed to pierce their bodies with hundreds of holes; he could have simply taken their heads in an instant.
But he couldn’t do that.
That was why his own body had been covered with countless wounds torn by the sword orbs.
“The nine great elders had marks of sword orbs all over their bodies, and Bu Jan-yang was also covered in blood. That is because he used the Demonic Return of Life and Death to make the elders, who were trying to kill you, retreat.”
Bu Eun-seol sighed.
“But unable to complete the technique, the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade stood tall amidst it all, covered in blood. Hoping that would be enough to make the nine great elders leave.”
Nevertheless, the nine great elders had insisted on piercing through the blade orbs to kill Ok Yu-ha. And in doing so, they were annihilated by the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade.
“I don’t understand.”
Ok Yu-ha’s eyes widened as she spoke.
“Then why didn’t he show me this technique? He could have cleared his name immediately.”
“He couldn’t have.”
Bu Eun-seol said in a low voice.
“If you had learned the truth, you would have hated the Sword Pavilion and left it immediately. And that… was surely not the ending he wanted.”
“Not at all.”
Ok Yu-ha shook her head.
“If he had revealed the truth, I would have left with him at once. How could that be an ending he didn’t want?”
Bu Eun-seol remained silent.
—*The Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade must have wanted you to remain at the Sword Pavilion.*
He conveyed this meaning only with his eyes.
To say those words aloud could be too cruel a fate for her.
“If he revealed the truth, you would have despised your sect. He chose to protect the honor of the Sword Pavilion, even if it meant taking the blame.”
“The nine great elders…”
Ok Yu-ha’s gaze clouded over again.
“…So, that was it.”
She could finally understand the truth.
At that time, the Sword Pavilion had implicitly surpassed the Nine Sects and One Union to become the leader of the Orthodox Faction.
But its heir had fallen for a great killer from the demonic path and was about to abandon the sect… so they had intended to kill her to erase the scandal completely.
“Was I left alive only to properly raise an heir?”
All the elders, except for the Supreme Elder, Grandmistress Neung-in, had died at once.
With that incident, most of the Sword Pavilion’s martial arts were lost to history, so they had no choice but to keep Ok Yu-ha, who had learned those arts from them, alive.
*Drip, drip, drip.*
Tears streamed from Ok Yu-ha’s eyes.
Now, thirty years later, she understood everything. But all that remained was disillusionment with her sect.
“I knew it. He didn’t betray me.”
The terrible hatred that had festered in her heart flowed out as tears.
Deep down, she had known.
That he was not a cruel demon. That there must have been some reason.
That was why she had been able to wait for the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade, Bu Jan-yang, for so long.
She collapsed where she stood, sobbing quietly.
*Shhh.*
Bu Eun-seol turned his body.
There was no longer any need to ask Ok Yu-ha about the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade.
She had loved him, and he, in turn, had willingly become a villain for her sake.
What more was there to ask about the story between them?
*Zing.*
Just then, Bu Eun-seol’s extrasensory perception detected a presence on the roof. It was a very faint life sign, as if concealed by the Breath Concealment Grand Art.
*‘He who tied the knot must untie it.’*
He actually smiled.
And he slowly walked toward the outside.
“Are you leaving?”
Just then, A-yeon, who had been standing silently for a long time, spoke up.
“You saved me.”
A-yeon already knew that the man who had infused her with true energy was Bu Eun-seol.
She had seen his immense internal energy, unthinkable for someone so young, and his eyes, which burned with a warrior’s spirit yet also held a glimpse of deep sorrow.
A-yeon was happy.
The man she had held in her heart… had traveled thousands of miles to the Great Sword Mountain to save her after she was struck down by the Black and White Witch.
And he had generously infused his internal energy to save her life.
“Thank you. Truly.”
Realizing A-yeon had seen through his identity, Bu Eun-seol spoke in his original voice.
“We have had our share of encounters, so I could not simply pass by. Farewell.”
Then he opened the door and vanished like the wind.
A-yeon’s eyes were filled with longing and also, confusion.
She already missed the departed Bu Eun-seol, and she had no idea what she should do now.
“So that was him.”
Ok Yu-ha, who had been crying quietly, had composed herself and risen to her feet.
The rims of her eyes were still red, but her pupils shone brilliantly.
As if the sickness she had long held in her heart had been cured.
“I have been thinking wrongly all this time.”
Ok Yu-ha finally realized her mistake.
If she had truly loved the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade, she should not have waited for his promise.
She should have followed him immediately, without hesitation. She should have been with him, no matter the obstacles or hardships.
If she had, he too would have opened his heart to her. They would have joined hands and left the martial world.
But she had failed to do so, and because of that, she had lost the love she desired.
“If you are left with regrets and resentment, you will never be able to shake off your inner demon.”
Ok Yu-ha looked at A-yeon and said calmly.
“Follow him and express your feelings. So that you have no regrets.”
“Master.”
“And save him.”
“Save… him?”
Ok Yu-ha stared into the distant void and murmured.
“Now that I’ve cast off the sickness of heart that tormented me, my senses have finally become clear.”
Then she looked at A-yeon and said.
“The Supreme Elder was on the roof, watching everything that has happened until now. That is why he left so quickly.”
“The Grandmistress… you mean?”
“Yes. Now that she knows he is the successor to the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade, she will never let him go peacefully.”
“Why? He only saved my life.”
“Do you still not understand?”
Ok Yu-ha said with a pained expression.
“I loved a man from the demonic path and became a ruin of my former self. And now the same thing is happening to you… How could she possibly stand by and watch?”
A-yeon’s face turned pale.
The Supreme Elder, Grandmistress Neung-in, had spent her life lamenting what happened with Ok Yu-ha.
Just as her master said, she would never allow the same thing to happen again.
“The Supreme Elder will probably send both the Flame Blossom Brigade and the Lotus Blossom Brigade to capture him.”
The Flame Blossom and Lotus Blossom Brigades were comprised of the Sword Pavilion’s most outstanding disciples, and were essential to its ultimate formation.
They were the squadrons meant to deploy the Formation of Silent Void and Annihilation.
No matter how outstanding Bu Eun-seol’s martial arts were, he could not face them all.
“Do you want to save him?”
“Of course… He saved my life, so I must repay the debt.”
Ok Yu-ha took a deep breath and said calmly.
“But you will have to make a choice.”
“What kind of choice?”
As A-yeon asked, Ok Yu-ha replied in a grave voice.
“As you well know, more than half of this pavilion’s members are loyal to the Supreme Elder.”
Then, with an expression mixed with anguish, she lamented.
“If you try to save that man… the disciples of this pavilion will have to turn on one another.”