Chapter 37
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: What Is Your Identity?
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With a tearing explosion that ripped through the air, a fierce blue palm wind surged toward Cheonwi. It was a strike intent on crushing the opponent in one go without closing the distance, brimming with killing intent.
Cheonwi didn't dodge. He simply curled his lips in a sinister smile, watching the incoming palm wind with keen interest.
The moment death loomed right before him.
Paat-!
A white flash burst from behind Cheonwi.
Chaeng-! Kwaaaa!
With a sharp metallic clash, Nangong Pae's palm wind shattered into pieces in mid-air. The shockwave spread outward, kicking up dust from the garden.
Nangong Pae doubted his own eyes.
The one who had blocked his strike.
The familiar white martial robe, and the gleaming White Flower Sword gripped in her hand.
"......So-yeon?"
Nangong Pae's voice trembled.
Sword Empress Nangong So-yeon had blocked her own father's attack and now stood guarding Cheonwi.
Her stance was flawless. A perfect defensive posture without the slightest flaw. Yet the tip of her blade pointed squarely at her father, Nangong Pae.
"Stop."
A chilling voice flowed from Nangong So-yeon's lips.
"Don't lay a hand on my Master."
"Ma... Master?"
Nangong Pae staggered as if hammered in the back of the head by a massive mallet from the sheer shock.
"You... What did you just call him? Master? That bastard?"
"That's right."
Nangong So-yeon's gaze held no hesitation. No, it burned with a fanatic resolve bordering on madness. The absolute command Cheonwi had imprinted in her mind last night—"Protect your Master"—overrode even the natural bond with her father.
"Even if it's you, Father, I won't forgive you. If you try to harm my Master... you'll have to cut me down first."
She tightened her grip on the White Flower Sword, radiating murderous intent.
Nangong Pae's jaw dropped. His pupils shook violently, as if struck by an earthquake. This was a nightmare. It had to be. His own daughter, proud blood of the Nangong Clan, drawing her sword on her father to protect a mere eunuch!
"Kuh...! You're insane... You've lost your mind! What the hell did that bastard do to you? Black magic? Or poison?!"
Nangong Pae bellowed in outrage and injustice.
In the midst of that chaotic standoff, Cheonwi strolled out leisurely. He wrapped his arms around Nangong So-yeon's slender waist from behind.
"Aigoo, Father-in-law. Calm down. My girl treasures me this much—shouldn't you be blessing us instead?"
"You... you bastard... Get your hands off her!"
Ignoring Nangong Pae's roar, Cheonwi kneaded So-yeon's trim waist possessively and rested his chin on her shoulder.
"So-yeon, your father looks pretty shocked. We should show him how close we are to put his mind at ease, right?"
"Ah... Yes, Master."
At Cheonwi's whisper, the murderous aura around Nangong So-yeon vanished in an instant. She sheathed her sword, blushed, and leaned into his embrace. Gone was the Sword Ghost who had seemed ready to slaughter her father moments ago—replaced by a shy girl in love, no, a bitch in heat craving her Master's affection.
Mwah.
Cheonwi planted a deep kiss on Nangong So-yeon's cheek.
"Hng..."
Nangong So-yeon let out a soft moan, closing her eyes to savor the kiss.
Witnessing that brazen scene up close, Nangong Pae collapsed to the ground on the spot.
"Impossible... This can't be..."
The world's greatest sword, his daughter, fawning in that bastard's arms.
Nangong Pae clutched the back of his neck and swayed. In that instant, his lifelong pride as Murim Alliance Leader and father crumbled to dust.
Cheonwi looked down at the dazed Nangong Pae with a victor's smile.
"As you can see, So-yeon is mine now. Body, heart, and even that prized sword of yours."
"Ugh..."
"So you'd best accept reality. Oh, and..."
Cheonwi's eyes narrowed sharply.
"If you have more to say, or if you want your daughter back, come to my office. We have some 'business' to discuss."
With that, Cheonwi released Nangong So-yeon's waist as if done with the matter. He picked up the fallen collar from the ground.
"Let's go, pup. Walk's over. Time for breakfast."
"Yes! Master! I'm hungry!"
Ignoring her father slumped on the ground, Nangong So-yeon beamed brightly as Cheonwi tugged the leash and followed him obediently.
Cheonwi paused mid-stride, glancing back at the slack-jawed Alliance Leader with a playful glint, then reached out.
Smack-!
A crisp slapping sound echoed through the garden. Cheonwi's palm had struck Nangong So-yeon's firm, bouncy ass.
"Hing..."
Nangong So-yeon let out an adorable whimper, rubbing her butt, but followed meekly without complaint.
Watching their retreating figures, Nangong Pae sat frozen in shock, staring blankly at the dirt without even thinking to stand.
A heavy silence hung over Cheonwi's office. A suffocating stillness. The air between the two men crackled with a cold, razor-sharp tension—the polar opposite of the morning garden chaos.
Cheonwi lounged crookedly in the head seat, propping his chin. Before him stood Murim Alliance Leader Nangong Pae. Gone was the dignity of the man who once commanded the world; his face twisted with bewilderment, rage, and an inexplicable dread.
Outside the door, Sword Empress Nangong So-yeon's presence lingered. She would stand guard motionless until ordered inside, like a loyal gatekeeper.
Nangong Pae spoke first. His voice cracked low with suppressed fury.
"What the hell are you?"
He glared at Cheonwi and growled.
"No ordinary eunuch. You didn't even flinch at my palm strike. A hidden master infiltrating the palace? Or the Emperor's secret weapon?"
Cheonwi let out a scoff.
"Sharp eyes. Well, you've spent your life eating and training martial arts—you'd have to have that much instinct. No eunuch could beat the Murim Alliance Leader, right?"
Cheonwi reached into his robe. Nangong Pae flinched reflexively, dropping into a defensive stance. Instinct warned of hidden weapons.
But what emerged was no weapon.
Thud.
Cheonwi casually tossed a palm-sized black object onto the desk. It landed with a heavy metallic clunk.
"Does this explain it?"
Nangong Pae's gaze flicked to the desk. The moment he recognized the object's shape, his pupils contracted to pinpricks.
Jet-black metal. Its surface bore an eerie engraving of a serpent entwined with a blade, centered by a blood-red gem like a demon's eye.
No mere token. Something any martial artist would know—and wish they didn't. A legend whispered from the shadows: the king of darkness.
"Ah, Dark Heaven...? Th-this... the Dark Heaven Leader's Token?!"
Nangong Pae's jaw hung slack. His chin quivered with shock.
Dark Heaven.
The worst assassin group, ruling the shadows. Indiscriminate of righteous or demonic sects, they erased any target for the right price, leaving no trace. And proof of its leader lay tossed by this eunuch.
"Y-you... You're that infamous Dark Heaven Leader?!"
Nangong Pae screamed in disbelief. The eunuch he'd dismissed was the dark sovereign who terrorized the entire martial world.
"Shh."
Cheonwi pressed a finger to his lips, frowning.
"Too loud. Wouldn't want Brother Emperor hearing. Let's keep it our secret."
In that instant, pent-up killing intent poured from Cheonwi like a waterfall.
Kugugugu-!
The room's air grew leaden. No mere expert's aura—this was the thick, fetid stench of death from one who had claimed countless lives.
"Ugh...!"
Nangong Pae felt crushed by invisible giant hands. Breathing labored, cold sweat poured. Even as Alliance Leader, the overwhelming gap was unbearable.
Cheonwi smiled and gestured.
"Sit, Father-in-law. You gonna keep standing and cramp your neck?"
Nangong Pae barely kept his legs from buckling and slumped into a chair. It creaked like his cracking pride.
"What... do you want?"
He swallowed dryly. Against the Dark Heaven Leader, force was futile. Negotiation was all that remained.
Cheonwi crossed his legs and cracked his knuckles.
"So-yeon's already my woman. No returning her."
Nangong Pae's eyebrow twitched. No matter how fearsome the foe, he couldn't yield on his daughter.
"You're making my daughter your plaything?! The Sword Empress of the world, Nangong blood, reduced to a sex toy?!"
"Harsh words. Not a plaything—a 'companion.' A very lovable one."
Cheonwi replied shamelessly.
"And thanks to your daughter, I'm sparing the Murim Alliance. Be grateful."
"What...? Sparing the Alliance?"
"Heard things are rough for the Alliance lately? Clashes with imperial troops, infighting among sects. And behind the scenes..."
Cheonwi slid open a desk drawer and pulled out a thick scroll, dangling it before Nangong Pae's nose.
"Didn't expect this."
Nangong Pae's eyes locked on the scroll. Seeing "Murim Alliance Corruption Ledger" scrawled on it, blood drained from his face.
"Th-that's..."
"Details on how the Alliance embezzled imperial taxes for slush funds over the last decade. Even secret deals with demonic sects—all meticulously recorded. Quite the meticulous personality, Father-in-law."
Cheonwi clucked his tongue.
"What happens if I hand this to the Emperor? Treason. The Alliance wiped out, clan exterminated. Ever heard 'extinguish the nine generations'?"
Nangong Pae's vision darkened.
Dark Heaven token was bad enough—now this ledger held the Alliance's lifeline. Checkmate. No escape.
"You... Planned this from the start..."
"Plan? Just stumbled on it."
Cheonwi pretended to stow the ledger, then dropped the ultimatum.
"Choose. Give up one daughter to save the Alliance and your clan? Or vanish together on the execution ground?"
A cruel choice.
Nangong Pae's fists trembled. Nails dug into flesh, blood dripping.
Fatherly duty to save his daughter clashed with leader's responsibility to the martial world. But the answer was set. The foe was Dark Heaven Leader, Emperor's confidant, holding all his weaknesses.
Resistance meant ruin.
Nangong Pae bowed his head. Crushing defeat weighed on his shoulders.
"...What... do you want..."
His cracked voice was surrender.
Cheonwi leaned forward with a satisfied smile.
"Simple. Give me your daughter, and make the Murim Alliance my blade."