Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Dan Yuseong
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"Have a seat for now. It doesn't look like you're here for something quick."
"...I'll accept the offer."
I left the group outside for a moment and entered the house alone with the man presumed to be Dan Yuseong.
There was no firm guarantee that he really was Dan Yuseong yet.
"Judging by the plum blossom on your sleeve, you must be from Mount Hua. But no matter how vast the Central Plains are, there can't be two women named Han Soyeon at Mount Hua, right?"
*Flinch*
"..."
The moment he knew that name, the odds of him not being Dan Yuseong dropped dramatically.
As he said, no matter how vast the Central Plains were, Mount Hua couldn't have two women named Han Soyeon.
"Are you perhaps..."
"Sorry for interrupting, but let me ask a question first."
A tremor and thick disgust laced his voice.
"What's your relationship with that woman?"
'...Ugh.'
It was a bone-deep question, even though I'd braced myself for it.
But I couldn't back down now that I'd come this far.
"...I'm that child's master."
It felt like my strength drained out with every word I uttered.
"...Ha. So you were her master?"
"..."
"You trained your disciple very well. She'd be something to boast about anywhere."
"I'm... sorry..."
His icy tone forced my head to bow.
"You sure took your time getting here. It's been over ten years by my rough count since that day. Why show up now? Just to dredge up bad memories?"
"...To repay... my debt..."
"Debt? Ha. Debt. Yeah, of course. You have to repay it after what she did. You ruined a life that once dreamed of being a martial artist. Naturally, you have to pay."
Guilt welled up inside me, choking my throat over and over.
"What Soyeon did is entirely my responsibility... She's my disciple, after all. As her master, I have to take responsibility. I'm truly... truly sorry..."
"Fine, say that's true. But why'd it take you so damn long? Ten years. Ten whole years. Weren't you curious how a kid like me lived through that ordeal?"
"...I'm not sure if this excuses it, but... I searched for you tirelessly. I wandered the Central Plains myself..."
"In the end, you left me alone for ten years, didn't you?"
"...I have nothing to say, even with ten mouths. I'm sorry."
I'd been keeping my head bowed the whole time.
I just couldn't bring myself to meet his eyes.
"As you can see, I'm doing fine now. Sure, I had to give up my dream of being a martial artist, but I was too young to just die. I scavenged food from trash heaps like a dog... and put whatever scraps of the skills I'd learned to use in odd jobs. Somehow, a path to survival opened up. Now I've got a stable life... but thanks to you, those barely buried bad memories are surfacing again."
"..."
When one's dantian is shattered, most become invalids.
I couldn't even imagine how much effort he'd put in to overcome that agony and live like this, or the horrific pain he'd endured.
"So... how exactly do you plan to repay that debt?"
"First... I'll fix your dantian, no matter what it takes. I owe a favor to the Divine Healer from before. If I ask him, he can surely mend it."
"What good's a fixed dantian at this point? You're way too late."
"...I'll teach you myself."
It was something I'd already considered.
Repair his dantian and teach him martial arts.
The old man's dying wish that brought him to Mount Hua had been to smell their plum blossoms, and Soyeon's scheme to approach him had revolved around that too.
"Ha. You're saying you'll take as a disciple the man your own disciple ruined?"
"...You don't have to become my disciple. I'd teach you anyway."
"..."
"You don't have to call me master. I won't demand anything from you, naturally. If you want martial arts, martial arts it is. Money? I'll give you money. If your heart's changed over these ten years and you have no interest in martial arts anymore, I'll mobilize everything I have to support you. Just say the word."
If the Mount Hua elders were here, they'd ask if I'd lost my mind.
But atonement came first.
Besides, I had the power to shut their mouths.
"...Honestly, I'm not that interested in martial arts anymore. Too late to start over now."
"...Is there anything else you want?"
"I might need your help with the work I do these days. Let me think it over. You showed up out of the blue, after all."
He rose and headed to the kitchen.
Watching his back, I thought about how that young, frail boy from back then had grown into such a man.
Back when I first saw him, I'd wondered how he'd even passed the entry exam.
Now he was on par with any average man.
His once delicate, sickly face had turned healthy and robust.
"Have you eaten? It's about time for lunch."
"...I'll pass. I can't rack up more debt here."
"Then let me request it as part of your repayment. Stay for a meal. We'll probably see each other often if you're serious about settling this debt."
I couldn't refuse when he put it like that.
"...Alright."
He seemed used to living alone, whipping up food with practiced skill.
'...Come to think of it, I never asked his name.'
It was practically certain he was Dan Yuseong, but I'd never actually asked.
During those ten years of searching, amid endless failures, I'd more than once suspected he'd changed his name and gone into hiding.
"Are you still using your old name?"
"Yes. Same name as always. You doubt it?"
"...I'd wondered if you'd changed it and gone into hiding all this time."
"That excuse again? Listen up. My name hasn't changed from then till now..."
"Dan Yuseong..."
"Yuseong Dan..."
...............................
*Thud!*
"What did you just say?"
"Ha, haha! Just a slip of the tongue. Dan Yuseong. Yes, a little slip."
He waved his hands frantically, making excuses.
I'd heard it crystal clear.
Not 'Dan Yuseong', but 'Yuseong Dan'.
"..."
"W-Why are you staring like that?"
Now that I thought about it, there'd been something suspicious.
His dantian was indeed ruined.
But what Soyeon did to him wasn't just that.
In fact, you could argue it was a greater sin than shattering his dantian, yet he hadn't uttered a word about it.
"Are you... really the Dan Yuseong I know?"
Once doubt took root, everything started looking suspicious.
No matter how much time had passed, innate bone structure couldn't be changed.
Could a boy like that, without training in martial arts, really grow into such a sturdy young man?
"W-Would I be lying to you, Sword Empress?"
"Sword Empress... I only told you I was Han Soyeon's master. I don't recall revealing my title."
"...Urk!"
A similar face wasn't solid proof.
The image I remembered of him was from ten years ago, when he was barely past initiation age.
Faces change plenty in ten years.
And the Central Plains were no small land.
If you looked hard enough, you could find any number of similar faces.
"Listen. Let me ask you something."
"Y-You asking me questions..."
*Slash*
A gash appeared on the wall beside him.
"You think I haven't seen a single impostor in ten years of searching?"
"I-Impostor? What are you talking about!"
"Right. You knew so much, I didn't suspect. The impostors I caught before were just caught spinning tales on the spot."
The name Han Soyeon.
That she'd shattered a boy's dantian.
Knowing that, I'd assumed he was the one.
"My question. My disciple, Han Soyeon. Tell me everything she did to Dan Yuseong."
Anxiety flooded his face.
I could practically feel his brain scrambling desperately.
"Sh-She shattered his dantian."
"That's all?"
"Assaulted him?"
"I'll say it once more. That's all?"
Doubt flickered across his face.
He didn't know anything beyond that.
"...Ha."
He wouldn't know.
If he didn't, he couldn't even guess.
It was only natural.
No one could imagine that the famed beautiful and kind Sword Flower had tried to rape a boy not even past initiation age.
'Soyeon... what in the world did you...'
...The problem was that she actually did it.
"Which faction are you from? What's the goal behind this scheme?"
I was convinced he was a spy from some other faction.
Unfortunately, they hadn't nailed down the name properly, letting me see through it—but even that much intel meant deep infiltration into Mount Hua.
A fair number knew she'd shattered young Dan Yuseong's dantian.
But that she'd tried to rape him? Only a tiny few.
As a Daoist and as a human, it was an act so vile I couldn't even bear to record it myself.
"..."
"If you won't talk, I'll guess."
I pressed my sword to him and spoke.
"Blood Cult?"
A strange glint flickered in the man's eyes.