Senior... By Any Chance...?
"Um... my lord. Some nangin have arrived, if you please?"
"Ah, thank you. I'll be out shortly."
At the attendant's notice, Hyeok Gi-rin adjusted her white headscarf and straightened her robes.
Junior sister...
The Jade Dragon Hero, Hyeok Gi-rin, recalled her first meeting with Yeo Il-ye.
Those eyes had been filled with poison and hatred.
From that day on, Hyeok Gi-rin had always worried for her. Yeo Il-ye had endured enough, even at such a young age, to hate the entire world. Hyeok Gi-rin had done everything in her power to embrace her. Perhaps that effort had borne fruit—Yeo Il-ye at least pretended to listen when Hyeok Gi-rin spoke.
Hyeok Gi-rin's care had stopped Yeo Il-ye from hating the world itself, but it could never stop her from hating the nangin.
That always weighed on Hyeok Gi-rin's mind.
On the day she had been steeling herself to scold Yeo Il-ye until the tears poured out if she caused another incident, Yeo Il-ye had returned with completely different eyes.
I truly intend to take my revenge.
Hyeok Gi-rin had stood in her way, yet she could not find her bearings. Was it right to block the path of a Yeo Il-ye who had finally cast off her hatred of the nangin and resolved to punish her true enemies? Was it truly for Yeo Il-ye's sake to tell her to forget the grievances of her family drifting in the nine heavens and keep her confined to Jeomchang?
Unable to decide, Hyeok Gi-rin had failed to stop the Yeo Il-ye who had grown stronger through enlightenment.
Hyeok Gi-rin walked toward the Dao Hall.
Before the hall stood Yeo Il-ye, clad in pure white long robes.
Leave of Absence.
Upon arriving at Jeomchang with Mak Yeo-bu, Yeo Il-ye had immediately applied for a leave of absence. Jeomchang was a Daoist temple that served the descendants of the Dao. Every single disciple of the Jeomchang Sect was a Daoist. One became a formal disciple by having one's name entered into the Jeomchang register of Daoists.
A Daoist was originally meant to cast off all worldly affairs and pursue their own Dao—yet how could human affairs ever be severed and tied as cleanly as a string?
Even a Daoist was human, and so the threads connecting them to the secular world remained. That was why Jeomchang allowed each disciple to apply for a leave of absence once in their lifetime.
An opportunity to cast off the status of a Jeomchang disciple and settle one's worldly affairs.
Yeo Il-ye was waiting to undergo the ten-day leave-of-absence rite.
"You have come, Senior Sister."
"...Yes."
Hyeok Gi-rin found the Yeo Il-ye after her enlightenment a little awkward. Yeo Il-ye had always bristled and opposed her on sight. After all, Hyeok Gi-rin had taken on the role of restraining her.
To Hyeok Gi-rin, the Yeo Il-ye who had always been filled with irritation and rage felt far more familiar than the one standing before her now.
"Senior Sister."
"Hm?"
"Since coming to Jeomchang, I have incurred debts to you beyond words. The other martial siblings embraced me as well, but I always knew it was you who embraced me most actively. Even before I received enlightenment from my benefactor."
Yeo Il-ye offered a gentle smile. Hyeok Gi-rin swallowed at the gratitude and affection shining in her eyes.
"It was my benefactor who provided the key that woke me from this long dream. Yet I have only now realized that what sustained me through that long dream until I met my benefactor was this Jeomchang, my martial siblings... and you, Senior Sister."
Hyeok Gi-rin could clearly feel how much Yeo Il-ye had changed. She had only ever dropped by the sect in passing and left again, never having a proper chance for a long conversation, so she had simply never known until now.
"Do you intend to behead every last one of your enemies?"
"I will take their heads. I will expose their evil deeds to the world and settle the grievances of my household. But I will strive so that the blood of the innocent flows no more."
Once the heavy topic ended, the two began exchanging news of recent days. Yeo Il-ye had not known how Jeomchang had been faring in her absence, and Hyeok Gi-rin was curious about what Yeo Il-ye had been doing outside.
"Chang-nyeong has entered closed-door training this time. She went in determined to complete the Ten Thousand Palace Thunder Arrow."
"Heh. Isn't this already the third time?"
"...You remembered."
Yeo Il-ye shared her own recent affairs as well.
"Do you know whom I met on Hyeongwi Mountain? I met the Poison Doctor."
"That Poison Doctor counted among the Three Great Divine Physicians?"
"Indeed. And by chance I also met my benefactor."
Hyeok Gi-rin became absorbed in the conversation with Yeo Il-ye. She had tried many times to hold Yeo Il-ye and draw out her stories, yet never before had Yeo Il-ye volunteered her own tales so freely.
From meeting the Poison Doctor of the Three Great Divine Physicians, to the chance encounter with Ho Cheon-an, and everything that followed—
All of it only stirred Hyeok Gi-rin's interest further.
"It seems the time has come."
"So it has."
When had the time slipped by? Hyeok Gi-rin, who had forgotten even the flow of time while listening to Yeo Il-ye's stories, flushed and cleared her throat. Yeo Il-ye smiled faintly at the sight, then wiped the expression away again.
"Then, Senior Sister. May you remain in peace."
"...I will pray for your return."
For the duration of the leave of absence, Yeo Il-ye's ties to the Jeomchang Sect would be severed. Until the leave ended and her name was once more entered into the Daoist register, Yeo Il-ye and Hyeok Gi-rin would no longer be martial sisters.
That was why the leave-of-absence rite was held in a small temple outside the walls of Jeomchang, and why the garments worn were not the Daoist robes of the sect. Until the rites were performed again at the main hall of Jeomchang, they would be thorough strangers.
The door of the small temple closed. Hyeok Gi-rin gazed at it for a moment, then walked the path leading to the gates of the Jeomchang Sect.
Bandits have appeared in Sichuan Province.
Her conversation with Yeo Il-ye had made it certain. Yeo Il-ye had not spoken the concrete names of her enemies, yet she had not hidden that they were people of great power. Of course—the Yeo Family Mountain Villa of fifteen years ago had been a villa that had amassed enormous wealth. Those who had swallowed such a villa whole could never have been weaklings to begin with.
Using the wealth of the Yeo Family Mountain Villa as a foothold, they would only have grown stronger.
This is a warning aimed at Yeo Il-ye.
Hyeok Gi-rin's eyes sharpened. It was not as if an entire stronghold had been wiped out—merely the capture of a single chieftain—and yet four strongholds had risen. Such a thing was impossible without someone's influence. In Hyeok Gi-rin's mind, suspicion hardened into certainty.
After all, Hyeok Gi-rin was one of those well-versed in the ways of the powerful.
As she turned over the conversation she had shared with Yeo Il-ye today, Hyeok Gi-rin felt flames rising within her. Yeo Il-ye had been calm, a person capable of smiling well. She had never been someone who merely screamed in hatred and rage.
Yeo Il-ye remembered everything.
How far her martial siblings had progressed in their martial arts, how many times each had entered closed-door training, what heart Hyeok Gi-rin had held when she stood in Yeo Il-ye's way.
It was only that the bloodbath of the Yeo Family Mountain Villa—far too much for any single person to bear—had swallowed every part of Yeo Il-ye.
I cannot forgive this.
Hyeok Gi-rin controlled the surging fury as she thought. Was it not enough to have massacred the household of the Yeo Family Mountain Villa and swallowed their wealth? The method of seizing the property of innocents and taking hostages simply to shake Yeo Il-ye was something she could never accept.
Yeo Il-ye's revenge belonged to Yeo Il-ye. With the leave of absence underway, Hyeok Gi-rin was no longer her senior sister. Therefore she could not join that revenge, and must not join it.
Yet punishing the bandits flooding into Sichuan Province was something she could step forward for even without any connection to Yeo Il-ye. Punishing bandits who tormented and plundered the innocent was only proper for a disciple of Jeomchang.
I must resolve the matter of the bandits who have settled on Jeongnam Mountain!
With that resolve firm, Hyeok Gi-rin left the inn.
I must have had a ridiculous dream.
It seemed Hyeok Gi-rin's visit yesterday had given me a strange dream.
Hyeok Gi-rin had specifically named me and Heukmyo for a request.
Guidance and escort through Sichuan Province.
A disciple of one of the Nine Great Sects hiring Sichuan nangin as escorts—what kind of nonsense was that? Yet Hyeok Gi-rin's will had been firm.
From my perspective, Hyeok Gi-rin's request was a good thing. Why had Hyeok Gi-rin appeared in Sichuan Province now? Obviously because of the bandits that had shown up.
Sticking close to Hyeok Gi-rin, the great disciple of the Jeomchang Sect, raised the odds of obtaining high-level information related to the bandit situation, so I had to stick to her somehow.
Given Hyeok Gi-rin's nature, she would never harm me—the benefactor of Yeo Il-ye—so there was nothing to worry about.
"Hoo."
Since the ridiculous dream had woken me, I trained the Heavenly Origin Heart Method. By now all the internal energy of the Three Origin Divine Methods had been converted into the Heavenly Origin Heart Method, and a sense of stability had taken root.
I still needed to train first-rate sword arts as well, but they had fallen in priority.
In truth, first-rate sword arts and second-rate sword arts were about the same in practical combat. The only difference was whether or not one possessed ultimate techniques like the Falling Sun Severance Jeong Sam had shown.
The training methods and qi-reinforcement theory Yeo Il-ye had taught me had certainly been a great help.
Especially the qi-reinforcement theory Yeo Il-ye had taught—among them, the advice to focus on strengthening the legs. It had been simple advice, yet extremely effective. The very principles Yeo Il-ye had taught allowed me to produce effects similar to ultimate techniques with the martial arts I already knew, so there was no real need to learn first-rate arts.
Was this the level of the Nine Great Sects, counted among the absolute pinnacle of countless sects?
Even at the Tang Family, after just two days—and not even of martial training, merely martial discussion—my hidden weapon techniques had advanced by leaps and bounds.
Hmm.
If I resolved this request well, might I hear even a single word of advice from Hyeok Gi-rin?
Turning over such thoughts, I came down to the first floor to find Heukmyo already fully prepared and waiting.
As we were getting ready to head out on the request, Yu Sa-yeon appeared. The dark circles under her eyes were heavy—she must have been through a rough few days.
"If anything comes up while you're following Hyeok Gi-rin around, tell me."
"Don't worry. I've got that much sense."
"Right... I trust you."
Yu Sa-yeon seemed to find even bickering with me a waste of time; she finished her preparations and swept outside. Once this request was over, I would have to exchange information with her once as well.
Heukmyo and I also finished preparing and sought out the inn Hyeok Gi-rin had mentioned yesterday.
"You have come. I shall be in your care for a while."
"A pleasure, Hero Hyeok. By the way... are you truly all right with this?"
I deliberately looked around as I spoke. The people in the inn were murmuring as they looked at me, Heukmyo, and Hyeok Gi-rin.
Whispers asking why Hyeok Gi-rin, the foremost of the Later Ten Heroes, was associating with nangin could be heard.
"Traveling with Sichuan nangin will prove quite a hardship for Hero Hyeok as well."
"It is fine."
In truth, unlike Tang Do-gyeong, Hyeok Gi-rin would face no major problems traveling with Sichuan nangin. Her reputation might take a scratch, but Tang Do-gyeong's standing and Hyeok Gi-rin's standing were not even comparable.
"Do you know much about the bandits who have settled near Sichuan Province?"
"As much as anyone else."
"I would ask you to explain."
I roughly shared the information I knew. An alliance of four strongholds, four Super-Peak experts with five hundred subordinates beneath them. Countless merchant groups had already been stripped clean, and only those who possessed their own military force—like escort agencies—had managed to return to Sichuan after being gouged for enormous passage fees.
"Mm. Might the nangin fellow have any guess as to this Hyeok's purpose in coming to Sichuan Province?"
"Well, it must be because of the bandits, no?"
"Indeed. I am thinking of paying a visit to the strongholds—might we obtain some horses?"
Paying a visit to the strongholds, was it? Did she intend to try conversation or negotiation? After a brief thought I shook my head and cleared the notion away. For now I would leave Hyeok Gi-rin to do as she pleased and quietly gather whatever information I could.
The request I had taken was guidance and escort, after all. I only needed to faithfully provide guidance and escort. Telling Hyeok Gi-rin to do this or that was no way to treat a client.
To think I would end up renting horses from a stable under the status of a Sichuan nangin. Riding three horses leased in Hyeok Gi-rin's name, we left Sichuan Province.
Hyeok Gi-rin tossed various questions my way.
"Do you know the names of the merchant groups that suffered losses?"
"Have you heard anything of the provincial governor's response?"
After I answered within the limits of what I knew, Hyeok Gi-rin sank into thought. In the meantime I let out a sigh of relief.
Ah, this is hard. Really hard. I already know full well that she is a woman cross-dressing as a man and a princess, yet trying to act as if I know nothing without letting it show is not easy at all.
Senior. Is that person really the Jade Dragon Hero Hyeok Gi-rin? Something feels off..
Yeah, it would feel a bit off. She's a woman in men's clothes, after all. Heukmyo was an expert in disguise and reverse-disguise. Having spent her whole life learning how to hide herself, it was no surprise she would sense something incongruous in Hyeok Gi-rin's appearance.
This body of Ho Cheon-an.
Upon reaching first-rate I had learned how to use sound transmission, yet a first-rate's sound transmission inevitably leaked qi waves. To send a sound transmission without even a mouse or bird noticing required Peak-level technique.
Especially since my Mixed Blood made my internal energy control rougher than other first-rates, using sound transmission would give me away at once. So I merely gave a faint nod to convey my meaning.
She sometimes glitched out and flailed without recognizing her own emotions, yet fundamentally Heukmyo had survived this harsh world by her own strength alone. The moment she felt something off about Hyeok Gi-rin, a sharp edge began to seep into her sound transmission.
Did Heukmyo not know that Hyeok Gi-rin was of imperial blood?
That Hyeok Gi-rin was a princess was not widely known, yet neither was it a secret sealed completely airtight.
I had thought that if it was the Wolbok Hall they would know about Hyeok Gi-rin's origins... I would have to discuss this part with her later.
When I made a hand gesture carrying the meaning that it was fine, Heukmyo reluctantly nodded. Glancing ahead, I saw Hyeok Gi-rin still lost in thought.
How should I put it. Just looking at her like this is fascinating. Is that Adam's apple the result of reverse-disguise? Looking at the fair face or the ears left fully exposed by tucking the hair inside, a feminine impression came through as well.
Could that level of reverse-disguise really hide that she was a woman? At a glance she looked like a woman—would she not be suspected of being one?
No, perhaps I only saw her that way because I was already certain she was a woman.
Well, there must be circumstances for hiring Sichuan nangin, but.... she's suspiciously good-looking. It makes sense that the character for jade would go in her title.
Heukmyo began earnestly appraising Hyeok Gi-rin's appearance.
The lines of that physique are truly unmatched. Normally a man with long eyelashes and large eyes should look creepy, yet somehow this is charming.
Apparently women with long eyelashes and large eyes were the ones who were supposed to be charming.
There had never been a day more frustrating than today, when I could not properly use sound transmission. Once I truly reached Peak, sound transmission would be the absolute first priority I mastered.
That neck is pure deer. Pure deer. Even at a glance those arms are slender, yet with arms like that she can become a rising star representing one of the Nine Great Sects—amazing.
Yeah, that's because she's a woman. I sent various hand gestures carrying that meaning, but... Heukmyo only tilted her head as if the reception was not getting through. Hmm... frustrating. When I instead sent a gesture meaning we should just drop the conversation, Heukmyo suddenly snorted a laugh.
Senior. Are you jealous right now because I'm praising the Jade Dragon Hero?
And then she began to form a strange misunderstanding.