Chapter 72: Warmth
It was an inn near Jangan Commandery.
Needless to say, the place had been completely emptied out. A plate of dongpa pork, two bowls of somyeon noodles, and five bottles of Jukyeopcheong liquor.
The inn's cook, the last one to leave, had provided it all before going on his way.
Myo Man-li, who had been silently draining the Jukyeopcheong straight from the bottle, let out a long, deep breath.
"Back then, you asked me whether I had any connection to the Imperial Palace."
"Yes."
"I'll tell you. I did have a connection to the palace."
Did. The past tense.
"The father of the current emperor, Janganje, was a man called Daejokje, the Great Foot Emperor. He possessed an organ known as the Emperor's Sword. Cheonchang — that was its name."
Cheonchang.
Yi Do had never seen it with his own eyes, but he had heard of it.
How best to describe it? The hidden blade of the Imperial Palace, perhaps. These days the Brocade Guard handled every affair of the palace, but it had not always been so. Cheonchang was an organization founded by Daejokje back in his days as Prince Mu, and it wielded immense power — from the moment he set his sights on the throne, through his ascension, and all the years he spent holding that power in his grip.
When the current emperor, Janganje, took the throne, the Brocade Guard rose in prominence, and Cheonchang vanished from the world.
"I came from Cheonchang."
Frankly, Yi Do was a little surprised.
Perhaps more than a little.
"To be precise, I was born and raised within Cheonchang, and when I turned sixteen, I ran away."
"Was that when the purge began?"
"That's right. My father — the head of Cheonchang, a man of the Myo clan whose name carried the character for 'truth' — smuggled me out of the compound just as the massacre was unfolding."
"Why was Cheonchang purged?"
"A false accusation."
"A false accusation, you say?"
"Your memory is still sharp, I see. The slander was that the head of Cheonchang — my own father — had violated one of the Emperor's consorts."
"……"
"My father was not that kind of man. As proof of it, I spoke with her on more than one occasion myself. Father once said something to me about her."
"What did he say?"
"He told me I might be gaining a stepmother, so I should try to get along with her."
Myo Man-li took another long drink of the Jukyeopcheong.
"And before long, Cheonchang was annihilated, root and branch. The process was tangled and ugly, but to give you only the conclusion — I managed to survive, by sheer luck."
Pieces of the picture were falling into place.
In his past life, Yi Do had heard that Myo Man-li had violated an imperial princess and taught martial arts to the child born of her…… But if all the rumors surrounding Myo Man-li had been twisted beyond recognition, then it stood to reason that that story had been twisted as well.
He didn't know exactly who the princess had been, but by all accounts she had not been particularly old.
What Yi Do did know was that the princess was the daughter of a concubine.
The timeline matched, too.
The princess Myo Man-li had abducted in the future had been in her early twenties. Myo Man-li's current age was forty-six.
The incident in the future had taken place well over ten years from now — which meant that fully thirty years ago, Myo Man-li had gained a younger sibling he never knew existed. And if that sibling had borne a child…
And if that child was a woman, and she was pregnant…
Every thread of the story fit.
Myo Man-li's father had shared love with the Emperor's concubine. Cheonchang was Daejokje's hidden blade, and its head was said to be a master of the Realm of Myth — from the Emperor's standpoint, parting with a single concubine would have cost him nothing. But she would not have been favored by the next emperor.
She would have needed to be cast aside. And an affair between a consort and the head of Cheonchang was a perfectly convenient pretext for exactly that.
The imperial princess whom Myo Man-li abducted in the past life was, without question, his own kin.
What Myo Man-li had been trying to protect, in the end…
Was his family.
"Do you know why I'm telling you all this?"
"I honestly don't."
"Because I want to bring things to a close at this point."
"……"
"I wanted to make you my disciple. But you have no intention of becoming my disciple. In that case—"
In that case.
Myo Man-li held out a bottle of Jukyeopcheong to him.
"How would you feel about becoming sworn brothers?"
Yi Do gazed at him in silence.
"I have never told you my secrets, Great Elder. From your position, I must seem like a man riddled with suspicious things. Wouldn't you agree?"
"True. Gathering the Three Flowers at the Peak at your age, and wielding a strange art born of fusing the Five Thunder Demon-Burning Sword Method with the Thunder Spirit Boundless Sword Formation. Merging schools of martial learning is a feat only a supreme grandmaster could ever manage — something I myself barely accomplished only after reaching the Realm of Entering Divinity. No matter how gifted you may be, it should be utterly impossible for someone your age. Yet you did it. This master you claim to have, your unflinching resolve, the judgment you show in battle, that heart of yours that never wavers no matter what — you are a suspicious one, through and through. And yet."
And yet.
"It was thanks to you that I was able to reach the Realm of Entering Divinity."
"You would have gotten there without me."
"It would simply have taken far longer. Merging schools of martial arts is no easy thing. I have watched countless souls wander for decades at the boundary between the peak of the Realm of Harmony and the threshold of Entering Divinity, unable to cross that single step, until at last they died with the wall unbroken. There is no law that says I would have fared any differently. You cracked that wall for me. The art you gave me is one whose value cannot be reckoned in gold or glory. If I cannot have you as my disciple, what else is there to do but make you my brother?"
"I would like to tell you my secrets. But this is not a decision I can make alone."
"I understand."
"You won't regret it?"
Myo Man-li laughed.
"Hehehehehe."
Listening to that characteristic laugh, Yi Do accepted the bottle. Myo Man-li spoke.
"You once said you meant to live a life without regrets. Am I wrong?"
"You are not."
"It may not look it, but I am the same. I strive to live without regret as well. And as the old saying goes, an elder brother must never be a source of discomfort for his younger sibling."
Then that settled it.
His bond with Myo Man-li had begun in Jangryeong Commandery.
He didn't know when it would end, but it didn't matter.
He would not think about the ending.
He would look only at the present.
"Allow me to pour you a drink, Brother."
"Hehehehehe. Yes, let's see this little brother of mine pour me a cup."
And so, that day, Yi Do gained himself an older brother.
Myo Man-li asked.
"So what will you do about that demon child?"
The question came oddly out of nowhere.
"Didn't I already tell you? He's mine now. I'm going to go bring him back."
"Shall I come along?"
Yi Do shook his head.
"This time, I'll go alone."
Myo Man-li's gaze drifted outside.
"You said that boy's name was Un Do-hyeon?"
"Yes."
"He's a useful one. I don't much care for his Five Dragons Coiling Fortress origins…… but how about it — shall I give him some guidance while you're gone?"
"Yes. It will likely take me several days. In the meantime, I'd like you to forge him toward the Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak."
Myo Man-li laughed.
"I can hardly refuse my little brother's request twice in one day. And it just so happens the boy is already standing at the very threshold of the Three Flowers. Very well."
And then—
"May I ask one more favor?"
"Hehe, working your elder brother to the bone the moment you've made him, are you?"
"If you'd rather not, I won't press — but it's important."
"Hmmm…… Fine. Whatever it is, I'll do it."
Truly an open-hearted man. So Yi Do, matching his openness, brought up the real matter without ceremony.
"Go to Geongon Fortress, in the State of Yeon."
"……Hm?"
Yi Do wrote something on the spot and handed it to Myo Man-li. The moment he laid eyes on it, the old man's brow furrowed deep.
"……Good heavens. I never dreamed such a sealing art existed in this world……"
Yi Do simply looked at him, steady and silent.
"A man cannot eat his own words. Very well. I'll see this dealt with properly."
"Thank you."
And with that, Yi Do set out on the road.
Myeong Hyeon was confined in the underground torture chamber of the Bright Moon Sword Clan.
Iron shackles bound both his arms, both his legs, and his neck, and through the tears in his clothing, wounds that looked as if they had been carved by a blade showed through — numbering in the hundreds.
Bloodied and broken, Myeong Hyeon lifted his head. A man in remarkably clean attire was wiping a dagger clean in his hand.
"As you well know, this is to suppress the demonic art you cultivated. So don't go feeling wronged."
"……I do feel wronged."
"Do you? Because from where I stand, you've nothing at all to feel wronged about…… Wronged, you say?"
"Was this on the Sword Emperor's orders?"
"It was."
"For what reason?"
"I would think you'd know. Do you truly not?"
"I don't."
"Honestly……"
The man — Myeong Jusin, head of the Bright Moon Sword Clan — clicked his tongue.
"There was a letter instructing you to investigate the whereabouts of the Golden Heaven Divine Sword, was there not? And you've never once given a proper answer."
Myeong Hyeon didn't bother to reply. He had drawn his line against the Emperor Sword Sect long ago, back when he was still working alongside Yi Do.
The letters he was required to send at least once a month — he had discussed them with Yi Do before sending.
He had sent nothing but worthless filler, and this was that conversation catching up with him.
"And above all — why did you never report that the Cruel Demon is targeting Jangan Commandery? You know full well that Jang Un-yeon is driving himself half-mad with training, obsessed with killing the man. If you had simply lured the demon somewhere quiet, none of this would have happened."
"Why would I have needed to? The Emperor Sword Sect has nothing to do with Jangan Commandery. Whether it gets annexed or not — that was never my mission. There was no reason to report it, and so I didn't."
"There you go again. Why must you insist on making your own judgments?"
The man pressed the dagger to Myeong Hyeon's face.
"You are a dog. Do you not know whose hand holds the leash around your neck? When your master says bark, you bark; when he says crawl, you crawl. And yet here you are — you didn't bark when told to bark, and you stood on two legs when told to crawl. What business do you have thinking for yourself, I ask you?"
Myeong Jusin dragged the blade hard downward.
Shlk.
Myeong Hyeon's cheek split open wide. Blood streamed down, the raw flesh beneath laid bare — but Myeong Hyeon did not let out so much as a groan.
"……Truly, they didn't name you the Yaksha for nothing. Endurance like this…… Personally, I rather like it. But the Sword Emperor worries — perhaps you've turned your back on us for good."
"……So?"
"So, I intend to resolve that doubt cleanly. He said I may kill you if need be, so I'll wager everything I have and make you spill every last thing. Not that it matters much — with your body in this state, even if you raised your demonic art to its limit, it would amount to nothing. So. I'd like to have a proper conversation now. Are you ready?"
Myeong Hyeon quietly closed his eyes. The world went dark. He had known this would be his future. He could bear it. No — he had foreseen it all along.
He said nothing.
"I've said everything I have to say. I have nothing more for you. Deliver it to the Sword Emperor exactly as it was. If you won't do that, then kill me."
"Oh dear…… Whether I deliver it or not, whether I kill you or not — that's for me to decide, not you."
Myeong Jusin, who had been speaking with oily softness, suddenly swung his leg with every ounce of his strength.
CRACK—!
Myeong Hyeon's head snapped back. The blow had landed on his cheek — the very spot the dagger had just carved open.
His brow creased. Honestly, it hurt.
It hurt, but it was bearable.
Because the pain in his heart outweighed the pain of his flesh.
He had not known the man called Yi Do for all that long, but he had been more genuinely a martial artist than any warrior Myeong Hyeon had ever laid eyes on.
A man who kept every promise he ever made.
Where there was gratitude, he repaid it with gratitude; where there was grievance, he repaid it in kind, without fail.
Even knowing it could unravel everything, he had sent the Heavenly Net Letters along without a fuss. He had even added gold coins on the pretext of travel expenses.
The man's generosity dwarfed that of a sinister old schemer like the Sword Emperor. Calling it a difference of degrees would have been an understatement.
Myeong Hyeon had wanted to stand beside him. But deep in his chest, he had always known it could never be.
He had learned the demonic arts.
He had done every filthy deed imaginable in the Emperor Sword Sect's shadow.
If a man like Myeong Hyeon walked at Yi Do's side, the road Yi Do traveled would be stained for it.
Everything he had ever done would become the perfect pretext to brand Yi Do's path as connected to the demonic way — and that would ultimately drag Yi Do into ruin.
He refused to let that happen.
At the very least—
Even if he died here, or died at the Sword Emperor's hand, that man Yi Do would protect the thing Myeong Hyeon most wanted protected.
Shameless of him, perhaps. But they had worked side by side in the shadows all this time, so his family would surely be spared. Of that much he was certain.
It was an unshakable faith.
Because Yi Do was that kind of man.
And that was enough.
So the beating continued. Violence dressed up as interrogation.
Myeong Hyeon never made a sound.
He was sad.
He had steeled himself for death.
No — steeling himself had nothing to do with it. It was simply an inevitable death.
"……Stubborn bastard……"
Myeong Jusin spat on Myeong Hyeon's head and was reaching for another dagger when—
His brow knotted. He stopped moving.
Myeong Hyeon, whose internal energy had been drained to nothing and who was all but an ordinary man now, couldn't understand the reaction. He could only stare at the man through eyes swollen shut.
"Someone's stirring upstairs…… From the look of it, we have a visitor. Let's pray it isn't him."
Myeong Jusin set the blood-slicked dagger down on the table beside him.
"It will be one of the two — Lord Cheongryong or Lord Hyeonmu, most likely. I'll go out and receive them, so wait here a moment."
Myeong Jusin grinned.
"Our conversation continues today. Or perhaps tomorrow — or the day after that. Look forward to it. I'll have you treated first, of course. It will make our time together all the more… pleasant. Hehehe."
With that, Myeong Jusin climbed the stairs. Myeong Hyeon hung his head. The man had told him to rest, so he intended to rest.
He closed his eyes.
And then, at Myeong Hyeon's ear—
A strange sound.
Shlk.
The sound of something being severed.
He opened his eyes.
Something came rolling and tumbling across the floor. What was it? It was Myeong Jusin's head.
Myeong Hyeon's eyes flew wide open.
He raised his head. The room swam before his eyes.
"Look at the state of you."
It was Yi Do. Myeong Hyeon could only stare at him, dazed.
Was he dreaming?
"Who gave you permission to run off and get yourself caught? I never allowed it."
"……If this isn't a dream…… then you're even madder than I took you for."
"It isn't a dream."
"……Then go. Even now, if you leave, this can still be smoothed over. Just abandon me. That's all I'm asking."
Yi Do gave a faint, dry laugh.
"You have something you need to hear from me."
"……I don't want to hear it. Please — go. You cannot fight the Emperor Sword Sect yet. Please."
Yi Do tossed the words out as if they cost nothing.
"This concerns your family."
"……What?"
"The seal the Sword Emperor placed on you is the Closed Meridian Origin-Sealing Method. And on your wife and your child, he placed its derivative — the Closed Meridian Origin-Linking Method."
Both of Myeong Hyeon's eyes flew wide open.
"If you die, your wife and your child die with you."
His eyes trembled violently. It couldn't be true.
"That's…… impossible."
"It isn't."
Yi Do had always been a man who kept his promises.
In his past life, the Yaksha had made a request of him. And upon receiving it, Yi Do had killed the Yaksha and set out at once for the State of Yeon.
There, he had found their corpses — long dead by the time he arrived.
On their bodies, he had found the traces of a sealing art.
The Yaksha's promise had been one that could never be kept. If the Yaksha died, his family died with him. That was the nature of the seal.
It was a forbidden art of betrayal from a sect long since destroyed — and in all the world, only the Sword Emperor could undo it.
That was no longer true. Yi Do had learned from the Yaksha's tragedy and saved Cheongryong's family in time.
This was the promise he had meant to keep then, and failed to.
"……I lived like an insect. And my wife was the one who became light for that insect. She was the one who gave me the name Myeong Hyeon."
Even that, Yi Do hadn't known.
He had assumed Myeong Hyeon was an alias — but it seemed it had been his true name all along.
"Myeong Hyeon."
"……Yes."
Yi Do spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"I'd say this settles it. Choose."
There was no way Myeong Hyeon could fail to grasp what he meant. He lifted his head.
"……Could you truly take me in? I am a man who learned the demonic arts."
"Blood meridians tainted by demonic qi can simply be purified, and the demonic arts themselves are a matter of never practicing them again."
"……Is that really so easy?"
"How many things in this world are easy? This isn't a question of whether you can or can't. It's a question of whether you will or won't."
His heart had been leaning that way all along.
Serving the Sword Emperor was vile. It turned his stomach. He had had to move in the shadows, cut the throat of a woman weeping as the Sword Emperor violated her, slaughter that woman's family to the last soul. He had been forced to live, utterly and completely, as a blade — to do every dirty thing that was asked of him.
He was done with it.
He had found a better road.
Tears slid down his cheeks.
"……I want to serve you. Will you take me?"
"Good."
With that word, Yi Do brought the Cloud Dragon Sword down.
Shkraak!
The two chains on the right sheared apart. He struck again, and this time the chains on the left were severed. Finally he extended the Cloud Dragon Sword and blasted apart the iron collar locked around Myeong Hyeon's neck.
To Myeong Hyeon, newly freed, he asked.
"Can you stand?"
"……I don't think I can."
Tsk.
Yi Do held out his hand.
"What a bother you are."
Myeong Hyeon gave a faint laugh and took the hand.
It was —
So very warm.