Chapter 138: Ok-ryeong, Eyes Open.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 138: Ok-ryeong, Eyes Open.
Sensing the flow, Sun-woo slowly moved his internal energy according to the mnemonics of the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth.
He had to internalize this sensation quickly before it vanished.
Sun-woo spread his internal energy throughout his entire body.
Five years' worth of cultivation began to slowly envelop him.
Soon, a thread-like layer of internal energy coated his skin.
Using that energy, he twisted the flow of force acting upon his body.
Thump.
A portion of the earth pressing down on him shifted, and a tiny space opened up around him.
It was a success.
He had manifested the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth.
"Phew..."
Sun-woo gasped for air.
It was a small space, but it was enough to breathe.
However, Sun-woo soon sighed as he looked at the hollowed-out area.
Despite concentrating all his nerves to cast the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth, he had only managed to secure enough room to breathe.
It was a matter of internal energy.
His current reserves were insufficient to fully twist the weight of the earth, which amounted to thousands, if not tens of thousands, of pounds.
'Shit.'
Sun-woo cursed inwardly.
It seemed escaping would take a considerable amount of time.
Sun-woo closed his eyes and reactivated his senses.
He caught the flow of the forces acting upon his body once more.
Thump.
Sun-woo cast the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth again.
Once more, the earth began to give way, if only by a fraction.
It looked like he would have to repeat this process countless times.
Sun-woo sighed and focused again.
He didn't have a choice anyway.
He could only move forward.
*
Ok-ryeong was drifting through a dream.
It was a very happy dream.
In it, she was with Sun-woo.
They were taking a stroll along White Flower Peak.
The warm sunlight, the pure, nameless wildflowers in bloom, the forest filled with lush greenery, and the incredibly refreshing breeze—everything filled her with joy.
Especially the presence of her young husband beside her.
Sun-woo’s presence made her happier than words could describe.
She prayed and prayed again.
She wished for days like these to repeat for the rest of her life.
That was when it happened.
Dark clouds suddenly began to gather.
Soon, thunder and lightning struck, thoroughly destroying everything that had made her happy.
The wildflowers and lush greenery began to burn, the sunlight was obscured by the dark clouds, and the breeze turned into a gale, blowing everything away.
Perhaps it was because of her desperate wish that even if she lost everything, she didn't want to lose Sun-woo.
She tightly gripped Sun-woo’s hand beside her.
As if she would never let go.
She felt a warm heat through his hand.
"Do you like me that much?"
Suddenly, a discordant voice came from Sun-woo.
She slowly turned her head to look at him.
She gasped in horror.
It wasn't Sun-woo.
"Ok-ryeong, I'm asking. Do you like me that much?"
The person whose hand she was holding was Lee Jae-won.
She tried to pull her hand away quickly, but it was no use.
Lee Jae-won simply held her hand with a crushing grip.
"Hahahaha! Shall I have a taste of Ok-ryeong after all this time?"
Lee Jae-won lowered his trousers, revealing his manhood.
Ok-ryeong fell into despair.
She hated it.
She hated it so much.
She didn't want to be toyed with by this man anymore.
She desperately called out for Sun-woo.
"That bastard isn't coming anyway! He's the same as me! He'll use you and then throw you away miserably!"
"No!"
"No? He's not much different. That guy deceived you. He's not Sun-woo, he's Jang Sam!"
"No!"
"Ok-ryeong, are you being fooled again?"
Lee Jae-won mocked her mockingly.
Rage began to boil inside Ok-ryeong.
He was wrong.
Sun-woo was nothing like Lee Jae-won.
She remembered.
She remembered his final appearance as he stepped forward to face the Sword Emperor Yang Tae-san to protect her.
She remembered him carrying her on his back through the mountain paths with his broken body just to escape from Lee Jae-won.
They were different.
From head to toe, they were entirely different.
Rip!
She violently shook off Lee Jae-won’s hand.
"Has this bitch gone mad?!"
Lee Jae-won spat out a curse as he looked at her.
"Get lost."
She whispered coldly, staring at him.
"You... you... you damn bitch!!!!!"
Lee Jae-won lunged at her.
Squelch.
"Huh?"
In an instant, Lee Jae-won heard the sound of something being severed.
He slowly looked down.
There, his severed manhood was writhing on the ground.
"AAAAAAAGH!"
Lee Jae-won screamed.
His phallus had been cut off.
"Don't try to control me, even in a dream."
Ok-ryeong stepped on Lee Jae-won’s manhood, crushing it completely.
"GYAAAAAAH!"
Lee Jae-won let out a monstrous shriek.
"Begone."
Crumble.
At her single word, Lee Jae-won turned into dust and began to slowly vanish.
Ok-ryeong looked around.
The world began to return to how it was at first.
The warm sunlight, the gentle breeze, the pure wildflowers, and the brilliantly shining greenery.
Beside her, she saw Sun-woo looking at her lovingly.
It was exactly the image of happiness she had first dreamed of.
But soon, she shook her head from side to side.
She slowly caressed Sun-woo’s cheeks with both hands.
"It's time to say goodbye now."
Sun-woo made a dejected expression.
"I'm going to stop drifting in this fabricated dream. The time has come."
At her words, Sun-woo hugged her tightly.
"Thank you for comforting me until now."
She hugged Sun-woo back with all her might.
Hearing her words, Sun-woo smiled brightly.
Soon, everything around her began to collapse.
Ok-ryeong simply watched it all happen calmly.
It was time to wake up from the dream.
.
.
.
.
.
Ok-ryeong’s eyes, which had been closed as she lay there, began to slowly flutter open.
It seemed she had finally awakened from her long dream.
Opening her eyes, she gently looked around.
She saw a familiar-looking earthen cave.
And all around her were jars.
She knew exactly where this was.
It was the secret hideout of the Baekgeom Sect.
Stagger.
She slowly began to push herself up.
Thud.
But it was too much.
Perhaps because she had been lying down for so long, her muscles lacked strength.
Grit.
She clenched her teeth.
But she didn't have time for rehabilitation or to wait for her strength to return.
She had to check.
Where Sun-woo was.
And if he was hurt anywhere.
She slowly began to circulate her internal energy.
Soon, vitality began to sprout throughout her body.
After replacing her missing muscle strength with internal energy, she took a step.
Then she slowly stood up.
Wobble.
Her steps were still awkward and she staggered, but she didn't fall from a lack of strength.
Step.
Step.
She slowly began to walk out of the cave.
*
A month had already passed since Sun-woo was buried underground.
Despite the passage of a month, Yorang was still eagerly waiting for Sun-woo to return.
Sometimes, the ominous thought that he might have died like this crossed her mind.
Whenever that happened, Yorang would run to the Yin-Yang Demon and ask about Sun-woo’s well-being.
Of course, she would get a flick on the forehead from the Yin-Yang Demon for being noisy, but she was able to hear the fact that Sun-woo was still alive.
Yorang believed the Yin-Yang Demon's words implicitly and simply waited.
Today, she was also sleeping near the spot where Sun-woo was buried, snoring away.
"Zzzzz... whew... zzzzz... whew..."
Yorang’s sleeping spot was always near where Sun-woo was buried.
It was so she could welcome him warmly whenever he came out.
Step.
Flinch.
Yorang, who had been deep in sleep, suddenly twitched and woke up.
The sound of footsteps from somewhere had tickled her ears.
Step.
The sound of footsteps reached her ears again.
'Who is it?'
Yorang wondered.
The footsteps were far too light to be those of the Yin-Yang Demon.
Yorang slowly opened her eyes.
Then she turned her gaze toward the direction of the footsteps.
The footsteps were coming from the cave.
Step, step, step.
The footsteps grew louder, and soon the owner of the footsteps revealed herself.
The owner of the footsteps was a beautiful woman dressed in white.
Yorang’s eyes grew as wide as lanterns.
Yorang knew the identity of that woman.
It was because she had asked the Yin-Yang Demon several times about the identity of the woman they were treating.
The woman who had thrown her life away like a piece of straw to save Sun-woo.
The woman who had made Sun-woo risk his life to infiltrate the Tang Clan.
The woman Sun-woo loved most in the world.
It was Ok-ryeong.
"Child, why are you in the secret hideout of the Baekgeom Sect?"
Ok-ryeong spoke as she looked at Yorang, whose eyes were wide with shock.
"............"
Yorang’s mouth worked, but she didn't know what to say first.
Ok-ryeong simply stared at Yorang without saying anything else.
The two women just stood there, silently looking at each other.
*
Inside the Great Hall of the Hwangbo Clan.
In the meeting room.
Middle-aged men exuding an unusual aura were sitting at a massive table.
Every one of them was dressed in incredibly high-quality silk robes.
Furthermore, their physiques were substantial, exuding an indescribable sense of intimidation.
They all wore serious expressions as they looked at the man sitting in the seat of highest honor.
That was when the man in the head seat, Hwangbo Gang, spoke.
"Thank you for coming all this way. Was the journey difficult?"
Hwangbo Gang offered a formal greeting as he looked at them.
"Skip the pleasantries. Get straight to the point."
The head of the Paeng Clan, Paeng Sang-gi, replied curtly to Hwangbo Gang’s greeting.
It seemed his pride was wounded by the fact that they had gathered in Shandong.
"I understand. Then I shall get straight to the point. Clan heads, have any of you recently owed a debt of three thousand silver taels to the Mangeum Bank?"
Flinch.
At his words, the clan heads visibly shuddered.
How on earth did this man know that?
"How do you know that?"
At that moment, the head of the Moyong Clan, Moyong Jin-man, growled back at him.
Not long ago, his eldest son, Moyong Gye, had taken out a massive loan of three thousand silver taels from the Mangeum Bank.
And he had done so in the name of the family.
Moyong Jin-man had been furious.
While three thousand silver taels wasn't enough to bankrupt the family, it was an absurd amount for an individual to spend at will.
Moyong Jin-man had beaten Moyong Gye mercilessly.
He had demanded the money back, asking where it had gone.
But Moyong Gye had kept his mouth shut and refused to answer.
In his rage, Moyong Jin-man had whipped him countless times, nearly to death.
If his mother hadn't stopped him, Moyong Gye would have lost his life at Moyong Jin-man’s hands.
In the end, despite being beaten to within an inch of his life, Moyong Gye had not revealed the whereabouts of the money.
Moyong Jin-man was furious, but he couldn't beat his precious son to death, so he had simply suppressed his anger.
It was around then that Hwangbo Gang’s letter had arrived.
The letter didn't say much.
It simply mentioned the three thousand silver taels and called for a meeting of the clan heads.
Normally, he would have ignored it with an excuse of being busy, but he felt an inexplicable curiosity.
That was why he had come down to Shandong.
But when Hwangbo Gang revealed he knew about the three thousand silver taels, he was so surprised he had to ask.
Could the destination of that money be Hwangbo Gang?
"Rest easy, Clan Head Moyong. I am also a victim of this situation."
"This situation?"
"I mean that everyone here is a victim who was robbed of three thousand silver taels."
At his words, the clan heads let out gasps of admiration.
So it wasn't just their own children who had taken out the loans?
Perplexity flickered in their eyes, soon replaced by rising anger.
Who dared to extort money from the Five Great Clans?
This was unprecedented; it had never happened before and should never happen.
"Who exactly was it!"
Paeng Sang-gi raised his voice.
He was livid.
Who dared to extort money from a Rising Star of the Paeng Clan, the strongest in Hebei?
This was a challenge to the family itself.
"I'm curious as well. Even my clever Jia kept her mouth shut."
Zhuge Yong, the head of the Zhuge Clan, was also curious.
His daughter, who was famous enough in the Murim to be called the Divine Strategist Zhuge, had borrowed the massive sum of three thousand silver taels and was refusing to speak.
Since she had never been like this in her life, Zhuge Yong was more perplexed than anything.
But since Hwangbo Gang spoke as if he knew the culprit, his interest was piqued.
"The culprit is the Tang Clan."
"What!?"
"What did you say!?"
"Ho... the Tang Clan?"
"How can that be?"
At Hwangbo Gang’s words, the clan heads reacted with disbelief.
The Tang Clan?
They asked again to make sure it was the same Tang Clan they knew.
"It's hard to believe, but it's the truth. The Tang Clan intimidated our children and extorted the massive sum of three thousand silver taels from them."
Hwangbo Gang began to tell the story he had heard from Hwangbo Ak to the shocked men.
He told them about the Poison King’s sixth wife, Lee Ye-seol, and even the Poison King’s disciple.
As they listened, fury began to burn in the eyes of the clan heads.
How dared the crumbling Tang Clan touch their people?
"What a fool. Did he think the mere Tang Clan could stand on equal footing with us?"
"Maybe back when they were called the greatest family in the Central Plains, but do they still think we are beneath them? The Poison King is arrogant beyond belief."
"We cannot just sit back. We must protest immediately. How can they transfer a problem they have with Lee Ye-seol onto innocent Rising Stars!"
They all spoke passionately.
Their anger was boiling over.
"Calm yourselves. I understand how you feel, but we cannot protest."
Hwangbo Gang calmed the excited clan heads and continued.
"If this matter becomes public, the Rising Stars who stood by and watched the situation cannot escape responsibility either. Furthermore, we would end up making an enemy of the Heavenly Sword Empress, Joo So-yang."
"Ahem."
"Hmph."
At his words, the clan heads cleared their throats repeatedly.
He wasn't wrong.
"But that doesn't mean there isn't a way."
At Hwangbo Gang’s following words, the clan heads' eyes sparkled.
Looking at the expectant clan heads, Hwangbo Gang began to explain his plan step by step.
It was a night where the conspiracy deepened.