Chapter 32
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Ghosts Against Heaven (2)
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The collapsed building was a tombstone for those who had died desolate deaths.
“...”
Cheon Muryang closed his eyes.
It was a brief moment of prayer for the dead.
“My lord!”
It was then.
Neung Ryeoun and Cha Myeonghak approached.
Covered in blood, they looked as if they had fought a desperate battle.
“You’re here?”
He had a rough idea of what had happened.
“You must escape!”
“Ah, you managed to find me.”
“My lord!”
Unlike the two frantic men.
Cheon Muryang was perfectly composed.
He spoke to them in a tone that suggested nothing was wrong.
“There are traces of the Demonic Cult here.”
“The Demonic Cult!”
“It seems they really think the Cheon Family is a pushover.”
*Rustle.*
He sensed presences.
They must have noticed the disturbance.
Moreover, he could feel an encirclement forming, tightening by the second as they pursued Neung Ryeoun and Cha Myeonghak.
“My lord! You must get away.”
“You two get away.”
“My lord!”
“Where would we even run?”
They were blocked on all sides.
Where could they possibly escape to?
Cheon Muryang had no intention of running.
He wanted to rip out the roots of that detestable Demonic Cult.
“...”
At this, the two men resolved to drag Cheon Muryang away, even by force.
Who would stay, and who would take Cheon Muryang?
“You go, Cha Myeonghak. I’ll stay.”
Neung Ryeoun stepped forward.
Cha Myeonghak wanted to argue that he should be the one to stay, but there wasn't even time for that.
*‘Someone has to do it.’*
Neung Ryeoun had just been the first to volunteer.
The two men wore resolute expressions.
“What are you two doing?”
“...”
“Yes, it’s a very noble sentiment, but…”
*Pfft.*
For some reason, he let out a laugh.
“My lord!”
“Ah, sorry. It was just funny.”
The encirclement had drawn near.
Rather than trying to persuade Cheon Muryang, who clearly wouldn't move of his own free will, Neung Ryeoun and Cha Myeonghak decided to use pressure points to take him by force.
“Oh?”
Cheon Muryang grew wary.
“Stop.”
“...”
Their attempt was neutralized.
“Those who seek to live will die, and those who seek to die will live.”
*Whoom!*
The Heavenly Light flared.
“Fight with the resolve to die.”
“...”
All three prepared for death.
It was then.
A strange voice was heard.
“If you truly don’t wish to die here, follow me.”
“Oh?”
Cheon Muryang’s eyes gleamed.
It was because he saw the rage simmering in the man’s eyes.
“Follow me.”
“My lord.”
“Fine. Let’s follow him.”
Cheon Muryang followed the man.
The encirclement he thought was impenetrable was not, in fact, perfect.
Their perimeter failed to form a perfect seal around a certain area.
*‘So that’s where this man is headed.’*
And so, they broke through the encirclement.
By the time they could no longer sense their pursuers, he realized they had entered a new territory.
He could feel a different kind of presence from the others.
“So. You’re the infamous trashy Great Young Lord of the Cheon Family, are you?”
“I am.”
“You’ve grown a lot.”
“Do you know me?”
“Of course I do. The day you were born.”
He spoke with hollow eyes, devoid of any emotion.
“Was the day countless people, myself included, were driven out of the Cheon Family.”
*Sting.*
Cheon Muryang furrowed his brow.
It was due to a sharpness that felt like dozens, even hundreds, of swords were aimed squarely at his forehead.
“As expected of the Ghosts Against Heaven.”
He thought he had escaped the enemy's net, but instead, it seemed he had walked right into the tiger's den.
*Shhhk.*
Figures emerged from all sides.
Though their haggard appearances were different from those consumed by demonic energy, the rage within them was the same.
“Yes. Since that day, we were forced to become ghosts who curse the heavens.”
His voice was as dry as a barren desert.
This, perhaps, was what happened when rage reached its peak.
“But now, what gives you the gall to show your face to us?”
He sneered.
No matter what Cheon Muryang said, that sneer would not fade.
“I am here to right the wrongs of the past.”
His sneer did not vanish.
In fact, it deepened.
“Who is righting whose wrongs?”
“I will bear the karma of the Family Head.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit.”
“I admit it. In the past, the Family Head was weak. He was merely swept along by the situation.”
Cheon Wigang must have been overwhelmed just trying to maintain the Cheon Family.
He, too, was not free from the original sin of having joined hands with the council of elders.
“But things will be different now.”
“Different? What will be different?”
He went from sneering to laughing maniacally.
He laughed so hard it seemed he might choke.
But his bloodshot eyes were fixed on Cheon Muryang.
“If you hadn't cut down those corrupted ones, we would never have met like this. Get lost, if you truly don’t wish to die here.”
“I will change it.”
“Shut up.”
“Then will you join hands with the Demonic Cult and give up your humanity?”
“...!”
“Or will you just die in a sunless place like this, crying out against the heavens while doing nothing?”
*Shing!*
His sword lunged forward.
“I told you to shut up!”
Neung Ryeoun and Cha Myeonghak reacted.
“Stop.”
The two swords stopped in mid-air.
Cheon Muryang stood his ground, not dodging the incoming blade.
*Splat!*
Blood splattered.
The sword grazed his neck as it passed.
Yet, Cheon Muryang faced him without so much as blinking.
“I, too, find the Cheon Family disgusting.”
“...”
“Saying I’ll right the wrongs isn’t asking you to pledge your loyalty to the Cheon Family once more.”
Amidst the swirling storm of killing intent, Cheon Muryang continued to speak calmly.
“Use me.”
“...!”
At that moment, even these vengeful ghosts who cried out against the heavens were dumbfounded.
They couldn’t believe their ears.
“What kind of sophistry is that?”
*Heh.*
Only then did Cheon Muryang smile.
“I, too, have many complaints about the Cheon Family. So, I intend to completely cut out the rotten parts.”
Cheon Muryang shrugged.
“But the rotten roots run so deep, it seems impossible for me to do it alone.”
Even if he cut out the rotten roots.
If he couldn't fill the void with new growth, the Cheon Family would surely fall into decline.
“So, I’m telling you to use me.”
“...”
“I’m telling you to use me to create the Cheon Family you truly wanted to build.”
“After all this time… you think some slick, sweet words will make our thirst for revenge disappear?”
“I’m offering you a chance to prove that you were right and the Cheon Family was wrong.”
Cheon Muryang spoke with conviction.
“What more perfect revenge could there possibly be?”
*Grind.*
“Those are words… your father should be saying, not you.”
“Come now, let’s be honest at this point. You didn’t have any faith in the Family Head either, did you?”
These were the people of the former Family Head.
In other words, they were not men who had sworn loyalty to Cheon Wigang.
“The mysterious death of the former Head, the disappearance of the Great Young Lord. During that chaotic time, did you truly intend to serve my father, the new Head, as your own?”
“...”
The former Family Head died.
And the former Great Young Lord disappeared.
At that moment, their loyalty was not directed toward Cheon Wigang.
“Instead, didn’t you suspect him?”
“We had no choice.”
They had suspected Cheon Wigang.
After all, the one who benefited most from the former Head’s death and the Great Young Lord’s disappearance was Cheon Wigang.
And so, they did not pledge their loyalty to Cheon Wigang.
“However, our devotion to the Cheon Family was genuine.”
They remained neutral, supporting neither Cheon Wigang nor the council of elders.
They resolved to act only for the sake of the Cheon Family.
It was to carry out the will of the former Family Head.
“That was your mistake.”
“...”
“Because from that moment on, the family had already begun to rot from its very roots.”
They couldn't have known.
That the Supreme Elder, Cheon Jungho, was harboring other ambitions.
“The ones who drove you out were the council of elders. Did you know that?”
“What?”
Their expressions changed.
Until now, the target of their vengeful blades had been the current Family Head, Cheon Wigang.
Looking at these Ghosts Against Heaven, Cheon Muryang gave a bitter smile.
“Consumed by rage, you probably never even knew the true target of your revenge.”
Or perhaps.
“If not that, did the elders tell you it was the Family Head’s will?”
These men hadn't simply been driven out.
In the process, they were framed for all sorts of crimes and had their honor annihilated.
Moreover, they had shed countless blood.
That blood belonged to their families and their comrades.
“Don’t lie. We were told it was all the Family Head’s will.”
“Who? The Third Elder? Or did the Supreme Elder tell you that?”
“...!”
“Then open your eyes and see. Who is it that has colluded with the Demonic Cult?”
“...”
“You must be hearing news from the Cheon Family as well. Where do you think the funds siphoned off by the former heads of the Inspection Corps and the Golden Pavilion went?”
Silence fell.
Instead, it was Cheon Muryang who sneered.
“By now, you must have realized it too, haven’t you?”
In the past, they might not have known.
But now, there was no way they didn't know.
That the source of all evil was the council of elders.
The truth that it was the elders who colluded with the Demonic Cult.
*‘As proof, these men…’*
That was the reason they hadn't joined hands with the Demonic Cult.
“Is that not why you are refusing to join hands with the Demonic Cult?”
“...”
The rage vanished from them.
In its place, only emptiness remained.
*‘In the future, these people were gone. Geumsan was gone, too.’*
Which meant.
That these men had refused to join the Demonic Cult, refusing to sell their souls.
“Whatever choice you make…”
Cheon Muryang met each of their eyes.
“I will change the Cheon Family. That is my will and my resolve. So, I warn you…”
The Heavenly Light cried out in all directions.
In that moment, the sky they hadn't once looked up at since being cast out of the Cheon Family seemed to split apart.
“Do not walk the path of the demonic way.”
“...”
That, and that alone.
“I will never forgive.”
“Just who in the world are you?”
That question.
Cheon Muryang answered as if he had been waiting for it.
“Me? I, too, was once repaid for my devotion with a blade…”
The day he died.
Hadn't Nameless been stabbed by Cheon Muryang?
“I was a Ghost Against Heaven.”
If Nameless had survived.
*‘Would I, too, have cried out against the heavens?’*
Of course, there was no way to know.
Nameless had died, and he had been reborn as Cheon Muryang.
“...”
“Well then, I shall expect your answer soon.”
Cheon Muryang left.
No one blocked his path.
Before leaving, Neung Ryeoun and Cha Myeonghak issued a warning to the man who had swung his sword at Cheon Muryang.
“There won’t be a next time.”
“...”
After the two had also departed.
“Has he been hiding all this time, pretending to be a scoundrel?”
His words about being a Ghost Against Heaven.
Began to be interpreted differently from what Cheon Muryang had intended.
“As the legitimate son of a Head who lacked true legitimacy… he must not have been acknowledged by the family either.”
It suddenly occurred to them that it might not be a coincidence that the time Cheon Wigang began to be recognized as the Family Head and the time Cheon Muryang began to act like a scoundrel were roughly the same.
“They said the Great Young Lord had changed.”
Last night, Geumsan had come and insisted to everyone that the Great Young Lord had changed.
Recalling how Geumsan had boasted that he would prove it himself left a somewhat unpleasant feeling.
“Was it really true?”
*Thump.*
A heart pounded.
It was hard to believe this was something he could have done on his own.
“...”
None of them spoke, but they likely all felt the same.
From the day they were cast out of the Cheon Family, their time had stood still.
That frozen time was no different from being shackled.
But now, that time had begun to move again.
“Perhaps…”
The thought came that maybe they had been waiting for this moment all along.
*Shaaa!*
Was it a coincidence?
Dawn was breaking in the east.
The first rays of sunlight touched the earth.
Normally, they would have avoided even this, but today was different.
They, who had not looked up at the sky since that day.
*Whip!*
Without a single one being first, they all looked up at the sky at the same time.
“Ah.”
“It hasn’t changed.”
“...”
Just like that day.
It was the same sky they had once loved.
“The sky, the heavens…”
And so, they simply gazed up at the sky endlessly.
“The times have changed.”
* * *
Cheon Muryang’s party returned to the Wandering Inn.
The children Cheon Muryang had rescued were sleeping there.
“This isn’t your private room. What do you think you’re doing?”
The innkeeper grumbled.
However, seeing the children all clean and fresh, it seemed he had even provided them with water to wash.
“Thank you.”
“No need for thanks. I’ll be billing you for all of it.”
“Of course.”
But someone who should have been there was missing.
“Where is the Wandering King?”
“Who knows. That one is as elusive as a ghost.”
Geumsan was also nowhere to be seen.
The innkeeper smiled brightly and held out his hand.
“A little money might jog my memory.”
“...”
Neung Ryeoun took some money from his robes.
“Oh, what am I supposed to do with this pittance?”
“...”
Cheon Muryang had to pay a sufficient price.
“Heheheh. He said he was going to the Cheon Family.”
“...?”
Cheon Muryang was puzzled.
Why would the Wandering King go there?
He asked for a reason, but the innkeeper just laughed instead of answering.
“You’ll find out when you get there. You’d best hurry. As you know, that fellow has quite a temper.”
Cheon Muryang hurried outside.