Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Audience
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The matriarch of the Paeguk Sect, Hwa Geumbi, stared silently at the girl named Wi Sowol for a long while.
Indeed, she had the kind of looks that justified the nanny's fuss.
Hwa Geumbi herself had never been outdone in beauty anywhere, but recalling her own appearance at that age, Wi Sowol's visage was a clear step above.
Her skin, pale to the point of translucence—like flawless ice jade—resembled a porcelain doll's. On such a petite head, those enormous eyes seemed impossibly large, and her delicate features were so finely wrought that even a master sculptor couldn't hope to replicate them.
And that was why.
The initial thought—that the nanny's words alone made her seem suitable enough as a plaything for her son—vanished in an instant.
A tolerable face.
Impressive medical skills.
Decent cooking.
All those merits were overshadowed by that one infuriating remark.
No, to be honest.
From the moment she laid eyes on her, she simply didn't like her.
Not some vulgar jealousy over superior beauty, but a primal instinct that they were simply incompatible by nature.
"You really know how to yap. I thought you were a bug, but maybe you're a stray cat after all?"
"Doesn't seem like there's anything here worth stealing."
Wi Sowol wasn't one to let a single line slide.
Hwangbo Yun's eyes widened round as saucers.
This was a side of her he'd never seen.
"If anything, you're the thief."
"Me?"
"You're trying to steal the Paeguk Sect, aren't you?"
Sharp kids like this were the worst.
Hwa Geumbi's eyes gleamed coldly.
Her sharp, elongated gaze was like the edge of a blade.
If someone could kill with a look alone, it would surely be eyes like hers.
But to Wi Sowol, it was laughable.
She knew true superhumans who could kill with a glance, a word—or even a mere thought.
And Wi Sowol herself was one of them.
The scrutinizing glare of a pampered noblewoman, content to manipulate others from her cushy life, held no sting or itch for her.
Wi Sowol's lips kept moving without pause, showing no sign of closing.
"By the current sect rules, even the sect leader's son has no guarantee of becoming the next leader. But you want your son to take that position no matter what."
Like a circuit inspector uncovering the truth, Wi Sowol began laying bare the reality unfolding in the Paeguk Sect.
The sect leader must achieve the Three Paewon Accomplishments.
But just because the father had done it didn't mean the son would.
On the contrary, even descendants of the founding leader had failed, making it hard to see high odds for Jin Damsun accomplishing the Three Paewon.
Yet Hwa Geumbi had no intention of letting go of the Paeguk Sect's power.
The greatest force in the unorthodox world.
Its immense might was so extraordinary that even the imperial court couldn't handle it lightly.
Thus, Hwa Geumbi chose another path.
If the sect rules prevented her son from ascending to sect leader, she would render those rules powerless.
Using the rules themselves to eliminate those opposing hereditary succession.
"Yeomheuk Pavilion bowed to the sect leader's authority, but the Inspectorate sought to reclaim that seat. So you decided to strike them first. Their rampage was something you incited, wasn't it?"
Hwa Geumbi didn't answer.
But that silence was admission enough.
Those who heard her tacit confession stared at her in stunned disbelief.
"So clever, yet so foolish."
Hwa Geumbi spoke in her usual bored tone, betraying no fluster or embarrassment.
"You should have considered how those words would rebound on you. Or did you know and still want to hear my answer?"
She seemed unchanged from her normal self, but Jin Damsun could tell his mother exuded an unusual air.
A side she never showed him.
A facet a mother hid from her son.
That was the Hwa Geumbi facing Wi Sowol now.
The hand that always gently stroked her son's hair now gripped another's lifeline, and the soft voice that sang lullabies now veiled threats of murder and annihilation.
If Hwa Geumbi ordered their deaths right then...
Could Wi Sowol and Hwangbo Yun escape alive?
From the Paeguk Sect, teeming with peak masters?
Safely?
Impossible.
Their feat of annihilating the Inspectorate's warriors and breaking out was astonishing, but that very exploit made escape now all the harder.
They would have depleted so much inner energy and stamina.
"Mother, these are the people I serve. The responsibility lies with me."
Jin Damsun stepped forward, shielding Wi Sowol.
Wi Sowol glanced at him sidelong and subtly raised her hand, waving it aside.
Infusing her intent into the motion, her qi followed, shoving Jin Damsun to the side.
This discourse had nothing to do with him.
It was purely Wi Sowol's own.
Whatever conclusion it reached, she was prepared to bear it.
"Fine."
Even as Hwa Geumbi hinted at murder and annihilation, Wi Sowol pressed on with what she had to say.
"There needed to be a line drawn."
"A line?"
"How far do we need to kill?"
Discussing murder and annihilation?
Wrong.
The one holding the blade wasn't Hwa Geumbi—it was Wi Sowol herself.
At least, in this moment.
"If you don't answer, I'll deem you the mastermind behind all this."
"Are you daring to threaten me now?"
"Threaten? Is that how it sounded? No. I'm just confirming."
Whether I need to kill you.
Shring—shring—
Crack.
The sound of blades drawn and fists clenched rang out simultaneously with Wi Sowol's calm declaration.
A powder keg on the verge of explosion.
Neither side yielding.
The tension hung taut, ready to ignite at the slightest breath from anyone.
And amid it all...
Wi Sowol and Hwa Geumbi silently read each other's eyes.
"Ha...!"
In the end, it was Hwa Geumbi who looked away first.
She felt it.
Wi Sowol was in earnest.
The instinct that if they clashed here, astonishingly, she herself would be the one to die.
"Very well. I was too hasty this time."
Had she jumped the gun because Jin Damsun was involved?
If only she'd prepared more thoroughly, or used a proxy like before...
But such hypotheticals were meaningless now that events had unfolded.
Hwa Geumbi crooked a finger toward an empty chair.
A maid, pale and drenched in sweat, hurriedly fetched it and placed it before her.
Seating herself, Hwa Geumbi crossed her legs and leaned back.
"You asked if I turned the Inspectorate into that."
Her response wasn't respect for Wi Sowol's victory, but self-reproach for her own mistake.
"Yes, I did orchestrate it. But that wasn't what I wanted."
Hwa Geumbi's words continued a bit longer.
Less an answer than a murmur to herself.
"I hoped they'd outright rebel."
"Mother!"
When the unthinkable was confirmed from her own lips, Jin Damsun cried out in horror.
It was Hwangbo Yun who calmed him.
"There, there, easy now," he soothed, gripping his shoulder, and Jin Damsun relented.
The one still conversing with Hwa Geumbi was Wi Sowol.
And Hwa Geumbi saw it that way too.
Even under her beloved son's gaze—mixed with resentment and betrayal—she fixed only on Wi Sowol.
"My ignorance of the murim's ecosystem was my error. I didn't realize their fear of the Alliance Leader ran that deep. No matter how cornered a rat gets, it can't bite a tiger."
Spineless fools.
Hwa Geumbi inwardly ground her teeth at the Inspectorate Chief, Gong Yatak.
It would have been simple if they'd rebelled and invoked the sect leader's rights, so why choose retreat out of fear?
"I didn't even need to lift a finger. The Inspectorate was rotting from within long before I acted."
"And now you're going to wipe them out?"
"Truth be told, no. They overreached and ruined themselves."
The sight of them shattering their own last hope with their own hands.
How utterly pathetic they were.
Hwa Geumbi recalled the Inspectorate crumbling on its own and sneered.
"Foolish lot. Blinded by greed for a position rightfully vacated by sect rules, they couldn't see past their noses."
Thus, they barreled toward ruin as she intended.
All she'd done was give those doomed souls the slightest nudge to hasten their steps.
Though not quite in the direction she desired.
Wi Sowol pondered how to deal with this woman.
The Inspectorate would have turned to evil paths eventually, whether from circumstances or internal rot.
Hwa Geumbi had triggered it, but her goal was to provoke open rebellion for a clean sweep—not to let them conduct human experiments and hoard power.
So, did Hwa Geumbi bear no responsibility for the human experiments?
"...It's atonement."
A child washing away a mother's sins.
Wi Sowol saw echoes of the Magnolia Lord and Lady Qingji—which she'd heard of and asked Abbot Deung Hwa about—in Jin Damsun and his mother.
"You should be grateful to your son. At least he tried to take responsibility for this mess."
"What are you...?"
"When dawn breaks tomorrow, purge the Inspectorate. You'll have justification aplenty. You're waiting for the sect leader, but if you do, everyone in the slums dies. Then you'll be accomplices. Clean it up while you can. Seize the chance while it's here."
Hwa Geumbi realized she'd been overwhelmed in spirit, left speechless.
The third time.
The third time she'd been utterly dominated from the heart, unable to muster a retort.
The first was the man who brought her into this world, the second the true master of this land who became her husband.
And now, the third had appeared.
"Jin Damsun. I've left a note listing the needed herbs and tools at Hye-min Pharmacy. Fetch it once things are settled."
"Y-yes, I'll do that."
Jin Damsun nodded without thinking.
"And we'll oversee the Inspectorate purge. Got to get a look at the chief's face, after all."
Only after delivering what amounted to an ultimatum did Wi Sowol rise from her chair, as if her business was done.
She strolled out leisurely, without even employing lightness skill.
Even then, neither Hwa Geumbi's escorts nor the White Ghost couldn't stop her.
"Wait."
Only one person could halt Wi Sowol.
"Let me ask one thing too."
She didn't turn, but Wi Sowol's head tilted slightly.
Hwa Geumbi, seeing it, asked.
"If I'd brought more escorts, what would you have done? Even fighting back, escape would have been impossible."
A foolish question.
Wi Sowol gave no direct reply, but circled back.
"Even if you'd come more prepared, you couldn't have harmed us."
"Why?"
"What you want is an intact Paeguk Sect, not a royal bloodbath."
The others didn't grasp the implication and looked baffled.
But Hwa Geumbi understood Wi Sowol perfectly.
"Truly..."
Hwa Geumbi murmured at Wi Sowol's receding back.
"Not a single thing about that girl sits right with me, from start to finish."
The faint words rode the chill night air to Wi Sowol's ears.
Not meant to be heard, but they were.
Wi Sowol's senses sharpened in the night.
"Same here."
Hwangbo Yun, flying alongside on lightness skill, blinked in confusion at her mutter.
"Huh? What?"
"Nothing."
And the next day.
As dawn broke, the clash of weapons echoing from the Paeguk Sect shattered the early morning.