Chapter 443
Chapter 443
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 443
Chapter Title: An Encounter at the Ruins
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ecstatic Joy Powder.
It was a potent aphrodisiac with no antidote; it could only be neutralized through physical intimacy.
With his powerful internal energy and mastery of the Glacial River Arts and the Great Scorching River Energy, Bu Eun-seol could have easily suppressed or burned away such a substance.
But So-yo could not.
“I’m sorry.”
So-yo said, her face flushing as she lowered her head.
“I’m just going to rest for a moment.”
“So-yo.”
“It’s fine. I just have to endure it until the effect wears off.”
She said as much, but…
Ripples disturbed her silver eyes, which were usually like a frozen lake, and her small, glistening, rose-pink lips trembled faintly.
Despite her calm voice, she was clearly suffering from extreme agony.
“So-yo.”
When Bu Eun-seol called her name, she turned her head, her eyes unfocused.
So-yo wasn’t a classic beauty, but she had a slender frame, mystical eyes, and harmonious features.
Moreover, she possessed a poignant beauty that was somehow sorrowful, making one want to protect her.
‘It will take at least five hours for the Ecstatic Joy Powder to leave her system.’
For the entire time it took for night to turn to day, So-yo would writhe in the agony of her body melting.
Bu Eun-seol could not stand by and watch that happen.
‘If I use the Great Scorching River Energy, I can burn away the aphrodisiac’s energy in an instant.’
—Especially that extreme yin and extreme yang. Try not to use those two powers if you can help it.
Suddenly, his master’s warning flashed through Bu Eun-seol’s mind.
He had warned that if Bu Eun-seol continued to use the arts of extreme yin and extreme yang, his body could break down again.
But with So-yo in pain, Bu Eun-seol decided to use it without a moment’s hesitation.
“There’s no need to endure the pain for so long. I can detoxify you.”
“De… toxify?”
“That’s right.”
As Bu Eun-seol nodded confidently, So-yo’s face turned crimson, and she averted her gaze, muttering.
“…Pervert.”
“No! Wait, listen to my explanation!”
Bu Eun-seol’s eyes widened as if he’d seen a ghost.
“By injecting the Great Scorching River Energy from the Scorching River Sacred Palace, I can instantly burn away the aphrodisiac’s energy. That’s the kind of detoxification I meant.”
He had likely never spoken so quickly in his entire life.
“I understand.”
So-yo smiled faintly and nodded, then closed her eyes and spread her arms.
“Do as you please.”
“…Did you not hear what I just said?”
“I heard you.”
“Then you don’t need to spread your arms. I just need to inject the energy.”
“Alright.”
Bu Eun-seol took her by the wrist and injected the Great Scorching River Energy.
*Fwoosh.*
As the powerful heat flowed into her meridians, all of the Ecstatic Joy Powder that had been absorbed into her body was annihilated.
“I’m sorry.”
So-yo spoke, sounding apologetic toward Bu Eun-seol.
“I won’t act so rashly from now on.”
“As long as you understand.”
Bu Eun-seol said calmly.
“I’ll take care of things here. And… did you find the estate?”
“Ah, yes.”
So-yo said in a low voice.
“Of all the estates with the character ‘Ha’ in their name from the last thirty years, the only one that suddenly vanished is the Saha Estate in Gilan.”
“Gilan.”
“Yes. Of course, there might be others we haven’t found… but based on our investigation so far, that’s it.”
‘I have to go there first.’
So-yo’s words made Bu Eun-seol’s heart race.
He had never once rushed or acted hastily about anything.
But now that he had found the estate that might reveal his origins, he felt an unprecedented sense of urgency.
“So-yo, I have to go there.”
“But you’re currently a captain of the Martial Alliance, aren’t you?”
“My status doesn’t matter. I only need to check it for a moment, anyway.”
“I understand.”
So-yo nodded, realizing the mix of desperation and urgency in Bu Eun-seol’s voice.
She guessed that he intended to use his ultimate movement technique to head to Gilan.
“Go on.”
“There’s no need to try and follow me.”
*Paang!*
With those parting words, Bu Eun-seol shot into the sky like a meteor.
He was heading straight to Gilan in Jiangxi to see the Saha Estate with his own eyes.
***
Gilan, Misu Village.
Though now in ruins, it once had over three hundred houses and was home to a thousand people.
And near the Usu River, there was a beautiful estate named Saha.
The master of the estate, though young, was highly learned and constantly received invitations from the local gentry.
The lady of the estate was known for her kind heart, helping the needy and those in difficult circumstances in the area.
But then, a strange thing happened.
The Saha Estate burned down overnight.
All the servants within the estate died gruesome, fiery deaths, while the master’s family vanished without a trace.
The authorities investigated, but they could find neither the cause of the fire nor the missing family.
The problem began after the Saha Estate disappeared.
Suddenly, the villagers began to fall ill one by one, and a terrible plague swept through the village.
In the end, the thousand or so people either died or scattered, and Misu Village became an uninhabited ruin.
“…”
Bu Eun-seol, disguised as Seon U-jin, stood stock-still on the empty lot where the Saha Estate once was.
‘Hmph.’
Bu Eun-seol took a deep breath.
While Misu Village, now a ghost town, still showed some traces of human habitation…
The site of the estate was completely barren, as if nothing had ever been there.
And despite more than twenty years having passed, no one had returned to settle in this village.
‘A plague.’
When a plague strikes, a village falls to ruin and its people scatter.
The once beautiful Usu River had also dried up, becoming unnavigable for boats.
Once merchant ships could no longer pass, the marketplace vanished, and all the shops closed down.
With all means of livelihood gone, no one had settled in Misu Village again.
‘Someone with immense power must have been involved.’
It wasn’t uncommon for a perfectly fine estate to be wiped out by an attack from bandits.
It was also possible for a plague to devastate a village.
It was even plausible for the surrounding geography to change and the local economy to collapse.
But the probability of all those things happening simultaneously was virtually zero.
“I have no… memory.”
Bu Eun-seol scanned the ruined estate grounds intently, but no memories came to mind.
It might have been because the scene was so starkly different from the beautiful, serene estate he had seen in his dreams.
‘Could it be somewhere else?’
When he had briefly synchronized with the Lord of the Nangya Pavilion, he had only seen a single character flash by.
The character ‘Ha’ (霞).
Perhaps this was just another estate that coincidentally had a similar name.
‘There is something I can check.’
If this was the estate from Mumu’s dream…
Then there had to be a secret passage.
*Ziiiing.*
Bu Eun-seol activated his Mind-Reading Art and began to meticulously scan the ground in the area.
‘If only that passage is here…’
Then this was the estate where he had lived with his parents, and it would be a great help in tracing their footsteps.
‘It’s not here.’
But there was no secret passage.
He had used his Mind-Reading Art to search every inch of the estate’s foundation… but there was no secret passage.
He couldn’t find any trace of a mechanism.
“Was it a different place?”
Bu Eun-seol’s eyes grew desolate.
He thought he had finally found a clue to his roots.
But it seemed this was not the estate he had seen in his dreams.
‘I should go back.’
If the Saha Estate wasn’t where he had lived, there was no reason to waste time lingering here.
But was it because of his lingering disappointment?
Bu Eun-seol found it difficult to take a step away.
*Step, step.*
Just then, the sound of light footsteps approached, and a tall shadow walked toward him.
He turned his head to see a dashing man dressed in white robes.
The man, carrying a bundle like a peddler, glanced at Bu Eun-seol and walked slowly into the estate grounds.
“It seems I have company.”
The white-robed man smiled faintly, looking at Bu Eun-seol with a curious expression.
The man’s eyes were clear and profound, and his voice and demeanor held no malice.
Furthermore, his features were well-defined and handsome, possessing a quality that would make anyone feel favorable toward him.
“You don’t seem like an ordinary person, brother. What brings you here?”
At the white-robed man’s casual question, Bu Eun-seol answered calmly.
“I was just passing by.”
Bu Eun-seol was currently disguised as Seon U-jin.
But he unwittingly replied in his usual, stiff manner of speech.
“It looks like there was once a large estate here, but now there’s nothing…”
“Indeed.”
The white-robed man nodded, then sat down comfortably in the ruins.
“Well, what does it matter? For a passing traveler, a place to rest for a moment is enough.”
The man set down the bundle he was carrying.
It was filled with bottles of wine. It seemed the man intended to have a grand drinking session here.
“Would you care for a drink?”
The white-robed man gestured to the pile of gourds and said.
“As you can see, there’s more than enough to get thoroughly drunk.”
A faint smile touched Bu Eun-seol’s lips.
He might refuse tea, but there was no reason to refuse wine. Besides, he felt a strange liking for the white-robed man’s easygoing demeanor.
‘I’m changing, too.’
Was it because he was maintaining a state where the martial arts of the Orthodox, Unorthodox, and Demonic coexisted within him?
Or was he himself changing as he journeyed through the martial world?
He had never been this way before.
But lately, he found himself feeling a sense of camaraderie with people he had just met.
It had been that way with So-yo, and with Captain Seongwi, Baekri Mu-jo.
And now, he was feeling a strange affinity for this nameless man as well.
“The fragrant aroma of wine has been wafting from that bundle…”
Bu Eun-seol said in his most deadpan voice.
“…I was just starting to resent you for not generously offering a cup.”
“Hahaha.”
The white-robed man burst into a hearty laugh.
“It seems I’ve found a good drinking companion for once.”
His cheerful laughter seemed to echo in the sky, becoming a cloudless spirit.
“Catch.”
*Thwack.*
The white-robed man tossed a gourd, and Bu Eun-seol caught it lightly.
In that instant, his eyes deepened.
Though it was a simple act of tossing a wine bottle, it contained the profound principles and discipline of martial arts.
He was clearly a great young master who had made a name for himself in the martial world.
*Pop.*
But Bu Eun-seol opened the gourd with an indifferent expression.
He didn’t have the mental space to be curious about who the man was.
He had come here with the hope of finding traces of his past, only to discover nothing… He could only feel frustrated and resentful of his tragic life, not even knowing his parents’ faces.
*Gulp, gulp.*
Bu Eun-seol pressed down his anguish and frustration with a bottle of wine.
“This is good wine.”
He nodded after downing the wine in the gourd in one go.
The wine the man had brought was like the wine served at the Martial Alliance. It was very smooth with a deep aroma, fit to be offered on an ancestral altar.
“You know how to drink, brother.”
The white-robed man nodded in surprise as Bu Eun-seol emptied the gourd in a single draft.
*Gulp, gulp.*
The white-robed man also emptied his gourd in one go and nodded.
“A true man should drink his wine with such gusto… but these days, the young fellows of the martial world sip from cups the size of a finger.”
Then, he generously pointed to his bundle and said.
“Drink as much as you like. There’s plenty of wine.”
Under the descending moonlight in the ruined estate, the two men drank, trading turns.
They felt a mutual liking for each other.
They were like old friends, feeling no discomfort even without much conversation.
“This is already the last bottle.”
Bu Eun-seol picked up the last remaining gourd.
He drank half of it and tossed it back to the white-robed man.
“You not only drink well, brother, but you also know the way of drinking.”
After finishing the rest of the wine in the gourd, he spoke again.
“By the way, brother, what is your name? You seem to be from a prestigious family.”
“…”
“I wander the martial world like a vagabond and am not well-versed, so I cannot recognize you.”
“A life adrift, like duckweed.”
Bu Eun-seol gazed at the distant sky and murmured calmly.
“Our lives are a cycle of meeting and parting. What good would it do to know each other’s names?”
The white-robed man, who had been looking blank, burst into cheerful laughter as if he had gained some enlightenment.
“Hahaha. I suppose that’s one way to look at it.”
As he smiled brightly, Bu Eun-seol clasped his hands together.
“Thank you for the drink.”
Then, with a blunt yet affectionate gaze, he said.
“Next time, I’ll be sure to buy you a drink.”
Though he didn’t even know the man’s name…
Bu Eun-seol was certain they would meet again and promised to buy him a drink then.
“I’ll look forward to that.”
The white-robed man, who had been smiling and showing his white teeth, suddenly adopted a solemn expression.
“You must keep that promise.”
Bu Eun-seol clasped his hands.
The man also smiled and clasped his hands.
“Well then.”
As Bu Eun-seol slowly turned to leave, the white-robed man let out a deep breath and muttered softly.
“His exterior is as pliable as a blade of grass, but his core seems to be made of tempered steel.”
Taking a deep breath, he took out another gourd from his robes.
It was a wine far more luxurious and potent than what they had been drinking.
“If you were still alive, you would be drinking with me like this now.”
Lowering his head with a pained expression, he opened the cap of the gourd in his hand.
“Even coming here every year out of guilt doesn’t ease my heart.”
Memories of his childhood surfaced in his mind.
And they were…
Secret memories that must never be revealed to the outside world.
“After today, I intend to cast off this guilt.”
*Swoosh.*
Pouring all the wine from the gourd onto the ground, the white-robed man looked up at the distant sky.
“Because it’s about time I made my move.”
Taking a deep breath, he instantly unleashed his movement technique.
A lotus-like radiance bloomed around him, and he flew into the distant sky like an immortal.
Nine Ranks of the Lotus Throne.
It required not only immense internal energy but also the ability to divide that energy into nine streams.
It was a technique rarely mastered in Shaolin, a supreme Buddhist movement art said to be known only by the Buddha himself… and it was being displayed by the white-robed man.
After the two men left, an eerie wind blew through the estate grounds…
*Pitter-patter.*
Suddenly, the sky darkened, and raindrops began to fall.
Soon, a cold, relentless rain was drenching the earth as if to swallow the world.
As if offering a glimpse into the future fate of the two men.
***
So Ja-myeong had returned to the Hall of Four Shadows.
This was because the deal between Bu Eun-seol and Yeop Hyo-cheon had been struck.
The Hellblood Star Fortress had colluded with the Infinite Realm to supply poisons and troops to the Great Cloud Forest.
Bu Eun-seol had intended to hold a Demonic Council to expose and punish the Hellblood Star Fortress for their crimes.
But with Yeop Hyo-cheon’s mediation, the matter was concluded with Gongye Geuk, the Lord of the Hellblood Star Fortress, stepping down from his position.
And in exchange for accepting the proposal, Yeop Hyo-cheon had returned So Ja-myeong, Captain of the Nine Kills Unit.
From Bu Eun-seol’s perspective, the Hellblood Star Fortress had now become a place he could crush at any time.
But an exceptional talent like So Ja-myeong was not easily found anywhere in the martial world. Thus, he had readily accepted Yeop Hyo-cheon’s proposal.
And it had been the right choice.
“Myo Cheon-u… are you certain it’s him?”
Inside a secret chamber within the Hidden Demon Pavilion.
This was a hidden room that Bu Eun-seol had asked Yu Un-ryong to create after discovering a spy among the captains of the Hall of Four Shadows.
And seated there were not Bu Eun-seol, but Yu Un-ryong and So Ja-myeong.
“Yes.”
Upon So Ja-myeong’s return, Bu Eun-seol had given him a new mission.
He had ordered him to find the spy who had infiltrated the Hall of Four Shadows.
After a long investigation, So Ja-myeong had found the spy.
And the culprit… was none other than Myo Cheon-u.
“But why are you telling me this?”
Yu Un-ryong asked with a grave expression.
“Shouldn’t you report this to the Lord immediately?”
“I already have.”
So Ja-myeong let out a soft sigh.
“Three months ago.”
*Thud.*
Yu Un-ryong’s world went dark.
Bu Eun-seol had known all along that Myo Cheon-u was a spy. Yet he had shown no sign of it, carrying on as usual.
“The Lord is a brilliant strategist.”
After a moment of shock, Yu Un-ryong spoke calmly.
“He must be employing some brilliant plan to capture all those behind this in one fell swoop…”
“Captain Yu.”
So Ja-myeong cut him off firmly.
“You know the Lord’s personality better than anyone, don’t you?”
Yu Un-ryong lowered his head.
Bu Eun-seol did not trust easily.
But once he gave his trust, he would never betray that faith.
Even if that person was a spy holding a knife to his neck…
‘Bu Eun-seol.’
Yu Un-ryong bit his lip.
Bu Eun-seol was waiting silently.
Waiting for Myo Cheon-u to quit his spying and return to the fold of the Hall of Four Shadows. His patience was far greater and wider than others.
He would probably… wait for a very long time. Perhaps he would still be waiting even as the knife was pressed against him.
So Ja-myeong knew this all too well, which was why he had finally sought out Yu Un-ryong.
Because he was Bu Eun-seol’s most trusted subordinate and friend.
“You came to see me in advance because of the agenda for the upcoming meeting, I presume.”
A captains’ meeting for the Hall of Four Shadows would soon be held.
And Yu Un-ryong had to report a grave development concerning someone related to Bu Eun-seol.
That would likely bring more hardship and danger to Bu Eun-seol.
So Ja-myeong, knowing this well, had secretly requested to meet with Yu Un-ryong.
“I understand.”
Yu Un-ryong nodded, his mind made up.
“If he endangers the Lord again… if he exposes his whereabouts once more…”
*Grit.*
Swallowing his rising anguish, Yu Un-ryong bit his lip and said.
“I will take responsibility and deal with Myo Cheon-u myself.”