Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Another Witch
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War Sword King Chapter 82
Another Witch
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Led by Bang Dae-gang, the escort guards drew their swords in unison and blocked her path.
But their movements looked feeble, like a family of reindeer facing a pack of ferocious wolves.
"Do you truly possess the Treasure Sword?" the strange monk asked Yong Seol-ran.
His voice was colder than ever.
Yong Seol-ran quietly rose from her seat. Then she turned to the Heavenly Wind Young Master.
"Where did you see me?"
"Heh heh heh. Beautiful lady, pretending otherwise now is useless. That night, I saw with my own two eyes how those who came down from the mountainside joined up with the carriage you were riding on the main road and disguised themselves as an escort agency's procession."
"Wasn't it flying the escort agency's flag from the very start, not a disguise?"
"Heh heh heh. Isn't it all the same?"
"Not at all—it's entirely different. We weren't disguising ourselves as an escort agency; we were an escort agency's procession from the beginning."
"Then how do you explain your subordinates racing down a mountainside with no path? And why did they whisper among themselves for a while after joining up before fleeing for their lives? I suspect they confirmed the Treasure Sword and then hurried away."
Yong Seol-ran shook her head slowly.
Then, ignoring the Heavenly Wind Young Master, she turned to the strange monk and said,
"It seems like nothing I say from now on will convince you all. But I'll do my best to explain."
Yong Seol-ran let out a long sigh.
As a thin breath escaped her small, beautiful lips, people felt an inexplicable ache in their chests without knowing why.
Her words continued.
"First off, you're right that our actions that night could cause misunderstandings. We were rushing through the mountain path at night because our schedule was tight. But suddenly, from the woods, we heard loud shouts and the clash of swords."
Yong Seol-ran's subsequent explanation went like this.
At first, they planned to just pass by.
But thinking it might be poor escorts like themselves, traveling at night, getting captured by bandits and suffering, she sent a few escorts to scout.
Helping the weak was good, but they had a duty to safely complete their escort mission, so she reminded them to withdraw if the situation seemed dangerous.
But when they returned, an old man had already been hacked to pieces and killed. And one of the scouts said something strange.
The dead old man seemed to be the Gold Axe Thrower King. Having heard rumors about the Treasure Sword multiple times during the escort, they realized it was big trouble.
So they quickly fled the scene.
"That's the whole story of what happened that night."
"It's certainly hard to believe," the strange monk said.
It was a story hard to believe, yet somehow they wanted to.
Whenever her voice, trembling as if desperately trying to stay calm despite her fear, spilled from her lips, pity welled up naturally in their hearts.
Yong Seol-ran turned to Bang Dae-gang and said,
"Tell the escorts to drop their swords."
"Miss Escort...!"
"Now."
Bang Dae-gang couldn't understand.
Why was she suddenly saying things that would expose them, when they should be fighting tooth and nail? Why tell them to drop their swords?
But she was no one he could measure with his dull mind. Surely she had some clever plan.
"Everyone, drop your swords!"
At Bang Dae-gang's command, the escorts dropped their swords. Everyone wore a baffled expression.
Yong Seol-ran's words continued.
"Search us now. Not just the cargo, but the escorts' bodies too—everything. Take all the time you need; don't miss even the smallest detail. If you want, I'll tell the escorts to strip."
"Not a bad idea. But how do we guarantee you haven't hidden the Treasure Sword somewhere else?"
"There's nothing I can do about that."
The strange monk stared piercingly at Yong Seol-ran, and silence fell for a moment. Then he spoke again.
"Fine, let's say that's settled. But what about you? You won't claim we can't search you just because you're a woman, will you?"
Yong Seol-ran slowly closed her eyes.
As her eyelashes seemed to grow moist, she slowly opened them again. Then she spoke to Hong Gong-tak, who stood a little ways off.
"I've heard the Righteous Alliance reveres justice and chivalry. As a scion of the prestigious swordsman family from Shanxi and a renowned warrior of the Righteous Alliance, you must value justice and chivalry above your life."
"What are you getting at?"
Hong Gong-tak asked.
"I'm going to take off my clothes one by one from now on. If the Treasure Sword doesn't appear even after I've stripped completely... can you kill the Heavenly Wind Young Master right here?"
"......!"
A single tear finally welled up in Yong Seol-ran's eyes. As the clear droplet wet her delicate eyebrows and finally trickled down her white cheek, people's hearts felt like they were breaking.
A low sigh escaped from the crowd.
Heuk Do-san tilted his head.
He was certain she was the culprit who stole the Gold Axe Thrower King's Treasure Sword. But seeing her go this far, something felt off.
'Did I see wrong?'
"So be it."
Hong Gong-tak said firmly.
Just from his voice, he already seemed resolved to kill the Heavenly Wind Young Master.
Yong Seol-ran wiped the tear outward with her slender finger and turned to the escorts.
"Everyone, strip."
Then she began removing her own clothes one by one. People, who hadn't expected her to actually do it, began murmuring loudly.
Now that things had come to this, the flustered one was actually the Heavenly Wind Young Master. He couldn't advance or retreat, his face flushing red.
His conviction that the wench was the culprit hadn't changed.
But for some reason, it seemed she didn't have the Treasure Sword.
'I have to find it quickly, or I'm dead.'
Meanwhile, Yong Seol-ran removed her outer fur robe and carefully placed it on the table. This revealed a vest made of coarse undyed cloth.
The vests popular in the Song Dynasty came in various forms. Hers was sleeveless, open at the sides up to the armpits, and short enough to barely cover the waist.
The inside was lined with fox fur, so fluffy tufts protruded adorably at the edges.
Moments later, the vest fell away.
A silk jacket with a peach-blossom sheen and long pants shyly emerged. With the thick fur robe and vest gone, her beautiful figure was now fully on display.
People thought the peach-colored silk seemed like an extension of her skin. The more their eyes burned, the sadder her face grew.
Her hand went to the jacket. Untying that knot would reveal the flowing underskirt.
Everyone gulped involuntarily. The escorts were stripping nearby too, but no one paid them any mind.
She pressed her chest with her delicate hand and let out a short sigh. Then, perhaps lacking confidence or trying to buy just a little time, she sat on the chair and began removing her leather Tang-style shoes.
Pitying sighs openly flowed from all around.
Removing the shoes revealed white socks, and peeling those off exposed five dainty toes on a small, adorable foot.
Her refined movements, the beautiful figure revealed piece by piece, and her heartbreakingly sad face...
People forgot what they were even doing. The only thoughts in their minds were that they must not defile this pitiful, pure being—and an intense desire to protect her.
Now people began glaring at each other. They hated anyone but themselves seeing her bare skin.
They wanted to kill.
They wanted to gouge out eyes.
Here and there, people began stealthily drawing their blades.
It was then.
"You seductive witch! Cease your sorcery at once!"
The roar was tremendous, like the night sky over the desert booming. The strange monk had unleashed a lion's roar.
People felt their hearts drop in shock. Their foggy minds cleared, and they snapped awake from the dreamlike illusion.
The strange monk's furious words continued.
"Soul-Capturing Demon Spirit. So you are a witch?"
Heuk Do-san was startled.
He didn't know what Soul-Capturing Demon Spirit was. But he knew which women the martial artists of the day called witches.
'She's a shrine maiden of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?'
Suddenly, he recalled Bing-seol, who had escaped three years ago carried on Hyeon-gak's back. He knew she was no ordinary woman, but he hadn't expected her to be a shrine maiden of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult like Bing-seol.
"I didn't expect anyone to recognize the Soul-Capturing Demon Spirit. Thanks to you, my Amitabha is all for naught."
Yong Seol-ran said.
Her demeanor was starkly different from the fragile, terrified one moments ago. Only then did people truly realize she was a witch of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
"Hmph, you wench. I nearly fell for it. No more words. You just confessed to killing the Gold Axe Thrower King yourself. You don't seem to have the Treasure Sword—where did you hide it?"
"The original owner is dead, and the treasure hasn't fallen into the Righteous Alliance's hands yet, so the true owner hasn't appeared. Thus, the Righteous Alliance has no claim to ownership."
"......?"
"That's what you just said. Now that the true owner has appeared, shouldn't you all just back off? Unless you're bandits."
"Shut your mouth. One more twitch of that seductive tongue, and I'll tear you limb from limb right now. Tell me where you hid the Treasure Sword!"
"The only way to survive is to not reveal the Treasure Sword's whereabouts. That's what that filthy scum told you earlier."
"Shall I kill them one by one until you talk?"
"Here's a deal. Even if the Treasure Sword comes out of me, you'll all just fight each other to claim it anyway, right? So why not first decide who the owner is?"
In other words, fight among yourselves and pick the strongest. That way, the number of enemies would be minimized.
The classic proxy slaughter scheme.
Watching the witch spout useless words until the very end, the strange monk was dumbfounded.
"Ha, what a seductive thing."
What an audacious wench.
But he couldn't ignore it, for witches of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult were uniquely and harshly trained not to fear death.
If she had definitely hidden the Treasure Sword elsewhere, they might lose the only clue.
It was then.
Clap!
"I see! Now I get it!"
The Heavenly Wind Young Master suddenly clapped and shouted. While people looked baffled, he said to the strange monk,
"Until just a few dozen breaths ago, the Treasure Sword was definitely in that wench's hands. She foresaw this situation and hid it beforehand. Even so, the Treasure Sword is still within this woman's group."
"It must be."
"The Treasure Sword is right there with him."
The Heavenly Wind Young Master pointed at the hairy, disheveled monster of a man standing expressionless off to the side.
Heuk Do-san thought,
'Why is that finger pointing at me?'