Chapter 380
Chapter 380
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 100
>Chapter Title: Convergence (1)
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Throughout her tale, Cheong-ryeong recalled the past, her voice brimming with rage and sorrow.
Mok Kyung-un listened to her story with utmost seriousness.
As she recounted everything up to the moment she drew her final breath, her emotions surged once more, and bloody tears streamed down her face again.
How deep must her resentment be to shed tears of blood, even as a disembodied spirit?
Mok Kyung-un silently clasped her hand tight.
It simply felt like the right thing to do.
- Squeeze!
Cheong-ryeong, sobbing, gripped his hand just as firmly.
Like a child clinging to a parent's hand for comfort.
A vengeful spirit embodied pure yin energy, which should have felt chillingly cold, yet to Mok Kyung-un, her hand felt strangely warm.
But as she spoke of that final moment, the strength in her grasp faded.
It happened when she confessed her wish to become "his" bride.
Her voice choked with sorrow, she glanced at him shyly, gauging his reaction.
'Once I started talking, I couldn't hold back.'
She regretted sharing that last part.
She feared he might be disappointed now that he knew her true feelings.
She had loved him that deeply.
Even in her dying moments, she thought only of him.
-......
“......”
Mok Kyung-un stared at her, wordless in her embarrassment, before finally speaking.
“But there's something odd about it.”
-Odd? What do you mean?
“Cheong-ryeong... no, So-wol... You said you lost your father and family at the end, but you saw that man and the young lord of the Heavenly Vein or whatever die. So how did you become a vengeful spirit? Losing your family could leave lingering resentment, sure...”
The root of her grudge lay with that Bi So-heon.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say everything stemmed from him.
Yet according to her, Bi So-heon seemed to have been defeated by the very man she adored.
That was when it happened.
-No, he didn't die.
“What?”
He didn't die?
-I thought he perished too, hearing his dying screams at the end. But he survived.
“How do you know?”
-......I felt it.
“You felt it? That he was alive?”
-......I don't know about now, a century later, but back then, he was definitely alive. Alive, and he defiled me to the end.
* * *
How much time had passed?
Deep resentment turned into yin spiritual power, anchoring the soul to the world.
Newly formed vengeful spirits struggle to adapt to their ethereal form and lack the power for immediate self-awareness.
It took quite some time before she gained her sense of self.
When she finally did, the first thing she saw was a book.
'A... book?'
Instinctively, she knew it was bound to her by powerful ties.
This book served as the anchor keeping her tethered to the living world in her spiritual state.
But how could this unfamiliar book be connected to her?
Puzzled, she examined it closely.
And in doing so,
'!!!!!!'
She realized the book was made from her own heart.
Having become a spirit, she now perceived the world differently and knew it on instinct.
What had he done to her heart?
She opened the book, crafted from her crushed and dried heart.
Inside, like any scripture, verses were meticulously inscribed.
They detailed sword forms fusing the Eight Forms of Shattered Thought with her own Moonless Empty Sword, creating moon-themed sword principles.
'What is this...'
That was when it hit.
A headache pierced her skull.
Spirits shouldn't feel headaches—why did it hurt so much?
As she wondered, faint memories flooded her mind.
[Your heart is the source of life and a symbol of the soul. You and I will be together forever.]
'!?'
The image of that man flashing in her mind left her stunned.
How... how was he still alive?
He should have died by his hand... Ugh.
Another memory surfaced.
The man was carving verses into her heart.
[...So-wol. I'll preserve every trace of you here.]
-Squeeze!
She bit her lip hard, fury boiling over.
He'd carved this into her heart as if doing it for her sake—and kept it to gaze upon?
-Rumble!
Her enraged spiritual power erupted outward, shaking the surroundings.
She was livid.
Already a vengeful spirit from unresolved grudges, now even in death, he defiled her like this?
* * *
-Even in death, humiliated by him, I couldn't endure it and rampaged. As a new spirit, I lacked true power, but all I could think of was killing him.
“So that's when he sealed you?”
When they first met Cheong-ryeong—no, Ryu So-wol—her heart-bound manual had clearly been sealed with barrier arts.
Given her story, he must have sealed her to stop her rampage.
But,
-......I don't know. Honestly, my memories end there.
“Your memories end?”
-Yes. I have no recollection of how I was sealed.
She racked her mind for that moment, but nothing came.
Mok Kyung-un spoke with regret.
“Then you don't know how that heart-bound manual ended up in Timber Sword Manor?”
-No clue. From the sealing onward, it was like being cut off from the world. Nearly a century passed. But...
She had endured on pure thirst for vengeance.
He took her family and cost the man she loved his precious one.
That agony and deep grudge lingered even as she died.
-This resentment alone sustained me.
Harboring such profound hatred through those endless years was a battle against isolation.
Alone in that crushing loneliness, she persevered steadfastly. Yet even a vengeful spirit couldn't escape its toll on the soul.
That's why she crumbled before Mok Kyung-un, who shook her to the core.
“......”
Having heard it all, Mok Kyung-un—clumsy with emotions—understood in his heart the grueling, lonely fight she'd waged.
And so,
-Squeeze!
He gripped her hand and vowed firmly.
“I promise you.”
-......
“I'll erase everything tied to him from the world. Even if he's long dead and gone.”
Her expression shifted oddly at his bloodthirsty pledge.
Until now, this successor cared for nothing but his own revenge.
For such a one to vow vengeance for her sake stirred complex feelings she couldn't quell.
But soon, her eyes welled up as she spoke.
-I'm sorry, successor... My heart is rotten and festering—dead long ago. There might be no room left for you.
“Doesn't matter.”
-You... Even after hearing this...
“I can't help that I've already fallen for you.”
-Hah...
A century had passed since her death.
Yet "he" still lingered in her heart.
That made it all the harder.
In life and death alike, she'd seen only him as her man.
Now, this successor—not even connected to him long—shook her with every word, and she hated herself for it.
Was it just loneliness?
Was that why she yearned to lean on him whenever he stirred her?
Her heart, once unyielding as ancient wood, now swayed like reeds—she couldn't fathom why.
'I... I...'
This wasn't right, but every glance at him evoked "him" inexplicably.
Their speech, looks—nothing alike. Why?
'...No.'
She shook her head firmly.
She stared at Mok Kyung-un, still holding her hand tight.
Even as a spirit, her chest ached.
'Might have been better to keep it to myself.'
Confessing for the first time brought cathartic relief.
Yet bitterness crept in too.
It felt like she'd bruised his feelings.
Even if he said it was fine, knowing "he" still dwelled in her heart wouldn't sit well, successor or not.
-Successor. I...
“It's okay.”
-What?
“Cheong-ryeong... Ah, guess it stuck to my tongue. Anyway, So-wol, everyone has a heart. Loving someone and cherishing them isn't wrong.
-......Successor.
This guy unexpectedly tugged at hearts.
Even he barely grasped his own emotions.
A cold, ruthless soul trying to comfort her, of all things.
It made her chest twinge sharper.
“It's strange.”
-What is?
“Truth be told, if I followed my heart, I'd steal So-wol's feelings—even if she loved someone else.”
-......
“But hearing your story, forcing that would just repeat your pain for you. And I don't want that for So-wol.”
-......
“So right now, I'm focusing on my revenge—and resolving your grudge.”
Her eyes glistened at his words.
*Your words like these shake me even more.*
She wanted to say it but reined in her emotions, steadying herself.
This pull toward someone else was a first.
But she had to suppress it.
*Our bond ends with vengeance.*
Once a vengeful spirit's grudge dissolved, the outcome was set.
With an inevitable end, she couldn't afford to waver.
Realizing this anew, she steeled her shaken heart.
-Right. You're correct, successor. Let's focus on your revenge and my grudge for now. And...
“And?”
-No need to force 'Ryu So-wol' when it doesn't roll off your tongue.
“I'll get used to it...”
-Just call me Cheong-ryeong.
“What?”
-I want to keep being Cheong-ryeong to you.
* * *
A dark night.
Two carriages appeared on the mountainside below, not far from Spirit Sword Manor.
Driving them were Mok Kyung-un's subordinates, Seop Chun and Mong Mu-yak.
They had raced here to catch up with their lord, who had flown ahead via Sword Flight.
They figured finding the pearl would wrap things up without entering Spirit Sword Manor's territory.
Yet here they were, perilously close.
Spirit Sword Manor belonged to Gu Cheon-mu, one of the Six Heavens—no way even their lord would rush in recklessly. So why no word yet?
Then it happened.
-Creeeak!
“Whoa!”
Seop Chun, driving the rear carriage, yanked the reins as the front one halted abruptly.
He shouted ahead.
“Mu-yak! Signal if you're stopping... Huh?”
He soon saw why it had stopped.
Men resembling Spirit Sword Manor's inspectors blocked the path ahead.
Seop Chun flashed forward to assist—
-Whoosh!
'What?'
Mong Mu-yak wore a peculiar expression.
-Ssshing!
Questions aside, Seop Chun drew his signature weapon, the Radiant Dance Blade, ready for battle—
“Hold!”
Mong Mu-yak stopped him.
“Hold? Wait, what?”
Light dawned in Seop Chun's eyes.
At the inspectors' center stood a supreme-level middle-aged man, courteously cupping his fists in greeting.
Why were they doing this? As he puzzled—
“The young lord awaits you. Carriages can't proceed from here—please follow on foot.”
“Young lord? The manor head?”
Had they detected their intrusion and sent these men?
“No. The Heavenly Demon young lord sent us to greet you.”
'!?'
Seop Chun doubted his ears.
Heavenly Demon young lord?
[Convergence (1)] End