Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Dan-ya (4)
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"Clan Leader. I'm entrusting this guy to the Infinite Pavilion branch for the time being. He may not look it, but he's fairly useful."
"You're handing over the master of the Desert Assassins' Valley to our sect?"
"Give him some suitable position, whether guest elder or whatever, and put him to work. Can you manage that?"
Yo-ran couldn't give an easy answer.
It was no simple task to recruit a master of this caliber, even with mountains of gold.
For the always militarily weak Hao Clan, there was no reason to refuse such a powerhouse's joining.
'Can our sect handle him?'
From what she could guess, he was a powerhouse who could easily rank among the top hundred experts of the martial world.
If someone like that started causing trouble, there'd be no way to deal with it.
And sure enough, the man in question immediately rebelled.
"My lord. Why must I stay here? I wish to follow you."
"You made the mess, so you clean it up."
"If it's compensation, there are other ways..."
"Dan-ya. 'Those guys' are here."
Dan-ya's eyes instantly flashed with murderous intent.
"Hoo... Is that so?"
"You've been bored lately, right? Staying here should provide plenty of prey. With the Clan Leader's help, it won't be hard to establish a base and turn it into a hunting ground."
"Intriguing. I was right to follow you, my lord."
Seeing Dan-ya revert to his cold-blooded assassin's demeanor, Chu Un-hwi turned his gaze to Yo-ran.
"Didn't you need a sharp blade to deal with traitors? Well, you have to keep some boundaries, of course."
"Not for personal gain, but solely against 'those guys.' Right?"
"Haha. That's why I like you, Clan Leader."
This time, he pulled out several books from his bosom.
"Oh Ha-jam-do. This will be your compensation."
"This is..."
Oh Ha-jam-do's eyes widened as he examined the books.
"Heavenly King Sword Technique and its essentials? And this one."
"You recognize it. I selected only those without owners, so you can learn them without issue."
"This... is too much for mere compensation."
"I picked them up along the way. What of it? I even threw in some gold ingots."
"Pfft."
The quick-witted Yo-ran let out a small laugh, grasping the implication of 'gold ingots.'
"Still..."
"Humility is good. But it needs at least some skill to back it up, or it's just recklessness."
How could they not know he was pointing out their own lack of strength? Oh Ha-jam-do's face fell immediately.
"It's an order to protect the Clan Leader, so don't refuse."
"I shall serve with my life."
"I'm leaving you some gold too, so Dan-ya, grant whatever this guy wants."
Thud.
He even pulled out lumps of pressed gold.
Chu Un-hwi followed up with several proposals.
Ways to restore their tarnished reputation from the raid, methods to teach martial arts to their subordinates, and all sorts of miscellaneous advice.
Before long, Oh Ha-jam-do's eyes, which had entered sullenly, were now glazed over in awe.
'Oh dear. Is he bewitching people again?'
Yo-ran shook her head as if she couldn't stop him.
Even the excited Oh Ha-jam-do had left.
At his offer of a drink before departing, she had prepared a private table for just the two of them.
"This should wrap things up neatly, right?"
"Our sect did suffer great losses, but having the raider join as a guest elder, plus immense wealth and martial arts manuals? Honestly, it's overly generous."
"Is it? I thought it was just right."
Watching Chu Un-hwi click his tongue, Yo-ran pondered.
'What if I had begged for my life?'
Instead of enmity, propose a compromise.
Abandon revenge and turn a blind eye to her disciples' deaths.
'Would he have taken care of me like this?'
Most likely not.
Because he deemed her trustworthy, he was trying to give her even more.
She was grateful, but it stung that he had tested her.
'I can't show it.'
This might be another test.
Still, a little petulance while hiding her true feelings should be fine.
"Even in our private time, must we talk only of business?"
"No way. I just think your furrowed brow suits you less and less these days."
"Hmph. Hmph. Wrinkles come with age; it's inevitable."
Chu Un-hwi smiled faintly.
"True enough."
At his gentle smile, Yo-ran suddenly felt an ominous premonition.
'He might leave me before I even grow old.'
A certainty gripped her heart, making it sink.
'No. Just a little longer.'
Pass a few more tests.
As she bit her lip and whipped herself inwardly, her hand pouring the liquor trembled.
"Oops. Looks like the Clan Leader is tired."
Meeting his cool gaze, Yo-ran quickly composed herself and smiled lightly.
"Given the circumstances."
"Guess I should head back."
Seeing him about to leave abruptly, Yo-ran grew inexplicably urgent and scrambled for a topic.
She wanted to savor their time alone, even if just a bit more.
"Milord."
"Hm?"
"Why do you call the master of the Desert Assassins' Valley 'Dan-ya'?"
The master of the Desert Assassins' Valley was Black Night.
Master of six months of dark moons and six months of white light moons—that was the story she'd heard.
"Ah, the name?"
Chu Un-hwi, back to his relaxed demeanor, explained.
"Well, desert assassins don't have real names. They pick up rootless orphans and raise them as killers."
"What about Black Night?"
"It's a name he gave himself as a little assassin. No one really calls him that."
A fond smile tugged at his lips, reminiscing.
"So those of us who've known him long, including me, call him Dan-ya. Black Night? What a joke."
It fit him perfectly.
Yo-ran thought of the chilling sight of him whipping up murderous aura and shuddered.
"Then who gave him the name Dan-ya?"
"Me."
"You, milord? What does it mean?"
"Short 'dan' and night 'ya'."
"Short night? May I ask why you chose it?"
"Nothing complicated."
Slurp.
Reclining under the moonlight, tilting his cup, Chu Un-hwi added,
"A rabbit's whelp—short night suits him just fine."
Yo-ran's face flushed crimson.
Back at the academy, when he reported Dan-ya's matter, Dokgo Yul looked visibly relieved.
"As expected of my lord."
He must have been quite worried.
Indeed, an uncontrollable Dan-ya rampaging would be dangerous.
"With the Murim Alliance already on edge from successive incidents, I feared it might escalate into a major affair."
A major affair meant the Alliance discovering the Desert Assassins' Valley master.
If things went smoothly, they'd try to win him over, but learning he was alone, they might go all out to kill him.
It was common knowledge that the desert was closely tied to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
"Well, Dan-ya should be fine."
"If the Alliance goes on high alert, the Divine Martial Academy would issue another alert order. We'd have to stand watch shifts, preparing for contingencies."
Chu Un-hwi's face paled.
"Fuck. We nearly had a disaster."
"And during alerts, duty or overtime gets no extra pay."
"Dan-ya, you fucking bastard. Trying to kill me?"
Dokgo Yul chuckled at the grinding-teeth Chu Un-hwi.
"This definitely seems better."
"What does?"
"When I saw you just now, I glimpsed your old self."
"......"
"It's been nearly ten years. The image of that boy, not even reaching my chest, ripping out Elder Dok's spine—how intense it was."
"...Forget it. Ancient history."
"Since it came up, let me ask. To us, you were a mystery, a faith. We believed following you meant going anywhere, and turning back, you'd be at the pinnacle."
"There were days like that."
"When you could obtain anything, why did you leave?"
"...Just realized thinking I could get anything was a delusion."
"That's a lie."
"...?"
"When you lie, my lord, you scratch your cheek with your index finger. You rarely lie outright."
Dokgo Yul pressed on, determined this time.
"I clearly remember the day you gave up. The raid on the Heavenly Rebellion Society's hideout."
"......"
"I remember vividly. Traces of hundreds in human sacrifice. Even facing mountains of corpses and lakes of blood, you remained calm—until you saw 'that' on the altar and were greatly shocked."
"...Seems so."
"It was the strangely charred corpse of a child. Yet, after seeing so many deaths unmoved, why that shocked you—I can't fathom."
"......"
"My lord."
Sighing at his sealed lips, Dokgo Yul continued.
"Now that Dan-ya has abandoned the Desert Assassins' Valley and left the desert, my father will soon learn the truth."
"Probably."
Dokgo Yul—no, Sa-ma Yul's father, Sa-ma Baek, was also part of the Dark Soul Black Wind Division.
One of the first subordinates taken in.
Naturally, with his absence, he managed the division in his stead.
"Father's loyalty to you borders on madness. He cherishes you far more than his own flesh and blood, me."
"...Likely."
"I think that's why you find my father burdensome—his blind devotion."
As Dokgo Yul said.
Prioritizing himself above all, he'd let his own son Dokgo Yul starve near death.
In his previous life, despite not learning martial arts, he jumped into assassins' blades to buy time.
Sa-ma Baek's life summed up simply:
A man who abandoned everything to live blindly for him, and died for him.
Thus, in this life, past guilt mixed with present burden made him hesitant.
"When such a man learns of your movements, he'll come running in an instant."
"Probably."
"And he'll surely ask me the same question."
Dokgo Yul chose his words carefully.
"I know you have the mystical ability to see the future."
"Incomprehensible acts always proved optimal in hindsight."
"Just tell me. Why did you abandon everything and leave?"
"Was that child's corpse the trigger?"
Murmuring amid the barrage, Chu Un-hwi replied.
"Not the child's corpse."
"Pardon?"
"The Heavenly Rebellion Society can't be eradicated. I could kill all current elders. With time, pile their bodies into mountains, fill rivers."
Yet,
Fatigue crept into Chu Un-hwi's voice.
"...Even killing them all, more will sprout. Like weeds. Again."
"Kill enough, and it'll end."
"Even victorious, nothing remains."
His expression softened fully.
Sleep weighed his eyes; his mouth hung slack.
The flawless grandmaster vanished, leaving only the lazy Bronze Hall instructor.
Like watching a keen sword dull in real time.
Seeing this, Sa-ma Yul's chest tightened. Clearing his throat, he asked,
"Just one thing. What is the one you're seeking to you?"
Bathed in crimson sunset glow, Chu Un-hwi answered.
"Salvation."
Before long,
The sunset deepened.