Chapter 251
Chapter 251
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Filling the Heart (3)
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The one-armed old man entering the dim alleyway recalled the boy smiling brightly.
"Grandpa, are you from the Hawon Sect?"
He was the first child to approach during his wandering days, heartbroken after losing his family.
"I want to join the Hawon Sect too!"
The young boy had made that request with an innocent smile.
Even years later, the image of him grinning with a missing milk tooth lingered in his memory.
"Dad said if I join the Hawon Sect, I can help people."
The reason seemed to be the death of his family.
"I'll raise my little sister properly."
He remembered how the little fellow had spoken so maturely, dragging along a tiny girl who didn't even reach his chest.
"I absolutely won't send her to a brothel like Mom."
Apparently, the boy's mother had been a courtesan.
She had been a beautiful woman, but unfortunately caught the eye of the Green Net Sect leader and was sold off.
'Poor kid.'
But he was also a strong child.
That's why he stuck in his heart so deeply.
"I need to let that kid know."
The Twin Dragon Sect's counterattack had begun, and it was no small matter.
They were currently snatching people near the shanties at the edge of Fujian Province, but no one knew who or when they might strike next.
The Twin Dragons' reach extended everywhere in Fujian.
"I'll tell him to hide with his sister for the time being."
Having lost his family long ago, he had no one left to grow attached to—except this one child who had lodged in his heart.
That's why he wanted him safe.
"I want to become a Hawon Sect disciple."
"The Hawon Sect is a faction for the lowly, right?"
"I want to become one so no more victims like my mom appear."
"I hope nothing unnecessary happens..."
He was advancing through the alley, wary of any trailing gazes, when a familiar shadow caught his eye from around the corner.
'Yacheok, was it?'
What was he doing here?
As he approached, the other noticed and his eyes lit up.
"What brings you here?"
"I'm here to repay a favor before my anger boils over."
"A favor? What favor?"
"When my benefactor lost the small pickaxe he used to dig herbs, someone gave him one for free."
"...Is that so?"
He wondered what kind of favor it was, but it turned out to be nothing much.
His expression must have shown it, for the man added sternly.
"It wasn't a simple favor. Thanks to it, my benefactor didn't starve, and he could dig herbs to feed his family of four."
"...I apologize for my rudeness. It was no ordinary favor."
"I accept your apology."
When he asked where the gruff reply was headed—somewhere familiar—the response came.
"He's a little boy working at the iron shop. You might not know him."
"Ah..."
He figured this meddlesome guy had gone around helping people again.
"The Hawon Sect is a place where lowly folk help each other, right? Helping ahead of time. Hehe."
Every time he gave things away for free, he'd scolded him, and now the pieces fell into place.
"Looks like you're looking for the same person. Come along."
The one-armed old man's heart warmed a bit as he added,
"By the way, to your master..."
"Not yet."
"?"
"I haven't become his subordinate yet."
"My correction. Tell the Dark Lord that the Hawon Sect may have to make an unavoidable decision."
"Noted."
In the oddly detached atmosphere, the two cautiously made their way through the alley.
But what they saw at the alley's end was a reality they didn't want to face.
"W-What in the world happened here?"
Amid shattered furniture everywhere, the iron shop owner sat with a bruised face.
"Kano... sir."
"Man, what happened?!"
'I thought the Twin Dragon Sect's wrath hadn't reached here yet.'
Urged on, the blacksmith finally broke his silence.
"...Hah. It's all my fault."
"What do you mean?!"
"Why'd you tell the kid about the Hawon Sect?!"
"...What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
As he fell silent like a mute who ate honey, the blacksmith bellowed repeatedly.
"A passing Green Net Sect disciple heard the song the kid was humming—the one the officials sing!"
"What song?"
"What song else?! The damned Hawon Sect door song!"
The Hawon Sect's door song.
It was a tune weary souls hummed to forget their pains.
Nothing special—just a simple melody to ease their hardships.
"They took the kid just for humming a song?"
"Hah. What can I do? That's how it happened."
The raging blacksmith righted a broken chair and squatted down.
"In times like these, even a tiny pretext is enough."
"...Good lord."
"And when Ok-i showed up trying to stop them from taking him, their greed flared up again."
"Tch."
Ok-i was the shop owner's little sister.
The once tiny girl was starting to blossom into a young woman, which might have sparked their lust.
Selling budding girls to brothels was the Death Sect's longtime business, after all.
"Do you know where they were taken?"
"They drag the captives to the guild shops in the central market of Fujian City."
"Got it."
The one-armed old man swallowed his boiling fury and turned.
"What do you plan to do?"
"I'll go fetch Gwani."
"Even able-bodied folks come back crippled. You think it'll be different if you go?"
"...They're after me. If I can save a young life with this old one, it's a profitable trade."
Watching the unfolding situation, Yacheok kept quiet, sensing something oddly amiss.
'Looks like my benefactor's been taken.'
The timing couldn't be worse.
If only he'd arrived sooner, maybe he could help. With that thought, he stepped forward.
"Old timer. The kid just got nabbed?"
"...Seems like it."
"I see."
Smacking his lips, Yacheok pulled a long iron rod from the pile of scattered metal.
"Too bad, but lucky to have this at least."
It was an iron bar used to push billets into the forge.
He swung it a few times to gauge its weight, then jammed it into his belt.
"What are you doing?"
"Didn't you say you're going to rescue the kid now?"
"That's true, but..."
"I'll tag along."
At that, the one-armed old man and blacksmith startled and shouted.
"What nonsense! You going?!"
"Aren't you the one who fought with the Dark Lord? You'll surely die!"
Despite their strong protests, Yacheok's expression didn't change.
"My benefactor said,"
Instead, he cracked his neck, loosened his limbs, and muttered calmly.
"Try to forget grudges when you can, and repay favors when you can."
Though she'd stubbornly refuse if he said he was repaying her.
As he muttered and headed for the door, the one-armed old man grabbed his sleeve.
"The favor you owe is light. You gonna throw your life away for that?"
"Think it over again."
Not just the old man, but even the blacksmith he'd met once chimed in. They knew how dangerous it was.
"In my view, my benefactor was wrong."
But Yacheok's response was unmoved.
"Repay grudges tenfold, favors tenfold. Right now's a chance to settle both, so what's a life worth?"
Faced with his unyielding gaze, the one-armed old man relented.
"Hoo. You and your master are both equally reckless."
"Not my master yet."
"Fine, I get it. But let's go together. Better than charging in blindly."
Even gutsy Yacheok didn't refuse this offer.
"With your help, my odds of repaying the favor rise, so I accept."
Thus began the peculiar duo's journey.
Rapidly leaving the iron shop, the one-armed old man said,
"They're rounding up people everywhere, so we won't link up with everyone."
Amid sounds of clashes and shattering from all sides, the door of a small cloth shop splintered as Green Net Sect disciples emerged.
"Come out!"
In their grasp was a woman, arms seized and dragged along.
"Aaaah! Mother!"
"Yang-a! Yang-a!"
The wailing girl trying to follow tumbled to the ground from a Green Net disciple's kick.
Seeing it, Yacheok drew his iron bar without hesitation.
"You planning to jump in now?"
"She's the woman who shared worn cloth to mend clothes for my benefactor."
"You remember even that?"
"The forty-sixth of the seventy-two benefactors whose favors I must repay precisely."
"......"
As they clicked their tongues, Yacheok had already kicked off.
Ssssh!
The sudden whoosh made the two dragging the woman scream like banshees.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Bending low to skim the ground mid-charge, Yacheok pounced like a beast.
Sssssh! Thud!
The iron bar tip wobbled, then slammed mercilessly into a Green Net disciple's side.
"Guhk!"
Stepping on the enemy's head as he curled like a shrimp, groaning, Yacheok leaped again and flicked his toe.
Tat!
The first disciple collapsed, dropping his sword, which Yacheok kicked up, snatching it mid-air for a swift strike.
Ssssh!
Infusing qi, his now more refined Nine Heavens Flame King Sword flashed like a predator's fangs.
Splatter!
Swinging like a staff, yet the wrists blocking horizontally sliced clean, spinning into the air.
"Aaaaagh!"
Thud.
The screaming disciple toppled backward. Now it was Yacheok's solo with the sword.
Stab. Stab.
After finishing the two not instantly killed, Yacheok wiped blood from his pale face and gleamed his eyes.
"Finally got a decent sword."
"...Is it okay to kill so recklessly? The Dark Lord might dislike it."
The Dark Lord was cold.
To the point of seeming indifferent to anything unrelated to him.
Yacheok replied,
"The Dark Lord agreed to help me settle my grudge. What I do before that is my business."
"...Strange relationship."
"Strange... maybe so."
Suddenly, Yacheok recalled how he'd cheerfully let him go when he said he had somewhere to visit briefly.
"If you need to sort ties, I won't stop you."
'Did he foresee this?'
He couldn't read his expression under the veiled hat, but somehow, it felt like he had.
"Let's hurry. More people gathering that way."
"Got it."
Putting thoughts aside, Yacheok sheathed his sword and moved to the next spot.
They clashed with Death Sect disciples repeatedly.
Over a hundred felled, more than twenty freed.
Many were second-rate experts, leading to fierce fights, but Yacheok, accustomed to the Nine Heavens Flame King Sword, toppled them easily.
"Almost there."
As they neared where the boy was taken,
The stroke of good luck twisted.
Woooong.
While preparing the fifteenth ambush, a gale blew from somewhere.
"Heh heh heh. Hiding here, eh?"
An elder in crimson robes landed lightly on the eaves.
"Reckless Dragon Sword Guanak!"
With him, ten figures aligned on the roof, leaving the one-armed old man speechless.
"Ten Swords... even Ten Swords..."
Squeeze.
As choking killing intent tightened his throat, Yacheok gripped his sword harder.
Then a leisurely voice reached his ears.
"Where's your master, leaving you alone? Heh heh heh."
Moonlight at his back, the crimson-robed elder's eyes brimmed with eerie malice.