An Eye for an Eye (1)
“No!”
Myeol Ji-ryun's eyes flew open in shock at the sight of a sword bursting from Rap-sa's heart. It had been a dream.
But the moment she realized Rap-sa's death was all too real, she bolted upright.
“Pa-jeong!”
She lay on a worn, stiff bed. The surroundings were dim, but upon closer inspection, she recognized it as a prison cell.
Why am I here?
Her last memory was resting briefly with Pa-jeong.
Then she flinched.
Someone sat on a small chair beyond the bars, watching her.
“Who are you?”
It was Baek So-cheon.
Only then did she realize she hadn't escaped the Murim Alliance's pursuit.
“Where is this? Where's Pa-jeong? Where is he?”
“This is the Murim Alliance's prison.”
“Pa-jeong?”
“He's dead.”
“Liar!”
Myeol Ji-ryun shouted. As far as she knew, Pa-jeong's skills were top-tier. He wasn't someone who could be killed easily, no matter the opponent or situation.
But Baek So-cheon's calm gaze told her it was true. If he were alive, she wouldn't be locked up here.
Shock, rage, and the fear that she might die too enveloped her.
“Did you kill him?”
Baek So-cheon shook his head.
“There are plenty of masters who could kill him besides me.”
Since they hadn't decided how to handle her yet, he didn't tell her the full truth.
“Even if we're from outside the central plains, is this how you treat guests?”
Pa-jeong had told her the Murim Alliance knew everything, but she played dumb.
“Calling you a guest feels a bit off.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don't call someone trying to harm the master of the house a guest, do you?”
“I have no idea what you're talking about.”
To survive, she had no choice but to deny everything. She racked her brains, but unfortunately, her opponent was Baek So-cheon.
As if he had nothing more to say, Baek So-cheon stood up.
“Rest then.”
“What do you plan to do with me?”
“That depends on how your father responds.”
Baek So-cheon had been given full authority by the Alliance Lord to handle this matter.
He had no intention of killing her anyway. It would only make things worse. Better to use her to get what he wanted.
“If my father doesn't do what you want... you'll kill me?”
Baek So-cheon answered without hesitation.
“Yes.”
“You're supposed to be the righteous faction, aren't you? This isn't right!”
“Why do you think it's okay for you but not for us?”
Myeol Ji-ryun had no response to his counterquestion.
She approached the bars. She tried to muster her inner energy, but her dantian was completely sealed.
“Let me go. Let me face a fair trial.”
“A fair trial? For you, that means execution.”
She flinched at the word execution.
“I'm handling you unfairly so you might live.”
“Baek So-cheon! Are you really going to do this?”
“I don't think your father will abandon you easily. So just wait quietly.”
“If you leave me here, I'll kill myself.”
“Go ahead.”
“What?”
“Bash your head against the wall and die if you want. We'll deal with it accordingly. You're worth a fortune to your father, but to me, you're less than a rolling stone—at least that gives me something to sit on.”
Baek So-cheon walked out.
“Just you wait! I'll never forget this humiliation!”
Baek So-cheon paused.
When he turned back to the bars, his eyes were even colder.
“Myeol Ji-ryun, have you ever wondered why your father and grandmaster tried to implant the Cheon-wae Won-go in our Alliance Lord and set up the Eight Directions Ghost Blood Array?”
“Because only we could do it in the Murim world.”
“Yeah, I figured you'd say that. But you're wrong. It wasn't because your clan's sorcery is so great.”
“Then why?”
“Because they fear us.”
“...!”
“To you, the righteous faction probably seems old-fashioned and rigid. Frustrating and pathetic, right?”
It was true. She thought they were fools, bound by pointless codes of honor and etiquette.
“But know this: your father and grandmaster are stirring up this mess out of fear of those very righteous fools. They have to scheme and even use their own daughter.”
“Shut up!”
“Myeol Ji-ryun, you're wrong. Instead of saying you won't forget today's events, you should say this: 'Please forget what happened today.' And those words you're saying? They're mine.”
Baek So-cheon stared at her intently.
“Don't forget. I won't forget what happened today! That you tried to drag the person I admire and respect most into a fate worse than death—I will never forget it.”
Overwhelmed by an inexplicable pressure, Myeol Ji-ryun couldn't muster a rebuttal.
Leaving her fearful gaze behind, Baek So-cheon quietly departed.
* * *
Myeol Saeng sat in the exact center of the cult leader's hall.
In the Alliance Lord's hall, the throne was typically at the far back, elevated to overlook the space below.
But the Blood Cult leader's seat was in the dead center of the hall, with a red cushion instead of a throne.
This arrangement was for when a grand ritual requiring multiple masters was performed. The leader at the center, with cult experts forming a circle around.
Today, Myeol Saeng sat alone, legs crossed in meditation, circulating his energy.
Snake-shaped blood-red energy swirled around him, and the snake tattoo on his forehead glowed crimson. The Blood Snake was said to appear only upon achieving great success in Hyeol-cheon-gi.
The Blood Snake energy coiling around him soon absorbed into his body.
Having gathered his energy, Myeol Saeng slowly opened his eyes. They flashed blood-red before shifting to gray.
Blood energy surged from his entire body. Red qi rose from his palms. A single palm strike could reduce the hall to dust—the immense power swirled in his hand.
As someone entered the hall, the energy in Myeol Saeng's hand quietly subsided.
The newcomer was Jeok Pa-rap. Over a hundred years old, with black hair and taut skin, he looked more like the disciple.
“What nonsense is this? A rescue request from Ji-ryun?”
Myeol Saeng rose and politely clasped his hands in greeting.
“Welcome, Master.”
“Answer me first.”
“My sister sent an emergency message. Rap-sa is dead, and she's escaping with him.”
“Rap-sa is dead? By whose hand?”
“Pa-jeong killed him himself.”
“Pa-jeong?”
“Rap-sa betrayed us and told Yeom Hwa-sin everything about this grand plan. Yeom Hwa-sin then attended the martial tournament and informed Baek So-cheon.”
“What nonsense! Rap-sa didn't even know about this.”
Jeok Pa-rap never hid his emotions, especially now in his over-a-century-old age.
“I don't know the details. All I have is Pa-jeong's message.”
“This is the Murim Alliance's scheme.”
“Is it, though?”
“What do you mean?”
“Yeom Hwa-sin might have uncovered it and tipped off Baek So-cheon.”
“Impossible.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Snitching to the Murim Alliance isn't his style.”
“He knows we tried to implant the Cheon-wae Won-go in him. And you still say that?”
“Exactly. He maintains the alliance despite knowing, which shows his magnanimity.”
“If you say so.”
Jeok Pa-rap reacted to the subtly mocking tone.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You've always held Yeom Hwa-sin in high regard, Master. Higher than me, even?”
“Don't misunderstand. I was just saying not to underestimate him.”
They'd argued over this before. Not wanting to dredge it up now, Jeok Pa-rap changed the subject.
“So? Did you send a rescue team?”
“I dispatched our hidden experts in the central plains to the rendezvous point.”
“I'll go myself.”
“If this is their scheme, wouldn't that play right into their hands? Just wait.”
“It's about Ji-ryun.”
“The outcome should be clear by now anyway.”
Jeok Pa-rap stared at Myeol Saeng silently.
“You're looking at me with that gaze again.”
“What gaze?”
“Master, no one loves Ji-ryun more than I do. Unlike Yeom Hwa-sin, who toys with his child's life. I didn't go personally for the greater good of the cult, setting aside personal feelings.”
“I know!”
They had deliberately shown conflict this time, spreading rumors to cover sending Myeol Ji-ryun and Pa-jeong.
But real tension simmered between them. If it were the overt kind they'd shown everyone, it might have been easier to resolve.
Their discord was subtle, nuanced.
First, Jeok Pa-rap meddled deeply in cult affairs.
Myeol Saeng had welcomed his master's help at first, but now it burdened him.
He couldn't tell him to back off now—not after years of effort, with many followers loyal to the master. Pushing him out would split the cult in half.
That irritated him to no end.
If he truly cared, he'd consolidate all power for him. But his master's ambitions were too vast.
And their personalities clashed too.
If they were total opposites, conflict might be less. They'd know their differences.
But their similarities bred constant doubt: Why does he act like that?
Thus, Myeol Saeng was the only one who disturbed the century-old Jeok Pa-rap's composure.
And vice versa for the Blood Cult leader.
Jeok Pa-rap softened his tone to reassure him.
“With Pa-jeong there, no need to worry.”
“Then she wouldn't have sent a rescue request.”
Jeok Pa-rap's face hardened, but Myeol Saeng looked away, feigning ignorance.
Strictly speaking, Myeol Saeng and Pa-jeong were master-disciple brothers. That was another point of friction—Myeol Saeng disliked his master's late-life disciple. These petty issues carved an invisible rift between them.
In the heavy silence, a subordinate rushed in with a report.
“Emergency message from the rescue team. The young lady never showed at the rendezvous. They even unleashed tracking hounds and scoured the area, but nearby... they found a mutilated corpse buried.”
Myeol Saeng shot to his feet.
“What?”
To the leader's agitation, the subordinate quickly added,
“Fortunately, it was Pa-jeong's body.”
Jeok Pa-rap exploded.
“Fortunately?”
The subordinate realized his mistake. Pa-jeong was Jeok Pa-rap's disciple.
“I deserve death!”
He prostrated, but Jeok Pa-rap's fury had ignited.
“You mad bastard! Fortunately?”
As Jeok Pa-rap reached out, the man flew into his grasp. Jeok Pa-rap's eyes turned white, his mouth gaping wide.
Ssssss.
Vital energy poured from the man's seven orifices into Jeok Pa-rap's mouth.
“Gaaah!”
The man screamed in agony before collapsing as a husk.
Myeol Saeng watched with unkind eyes. The subordinate had said “fortunately” because it wasn't Myeol Ji-ryun's body. A slip, sure, but killing him in front of him?
Does he wish for Ji-ryun to be dead?
The red energy roiling around Myeol Saeng thickened.
Jeok Pa-rap realized his own mistake but didn't apologize. His one disciple was dead—shouldn't Myeol Saeng understand?
Unable to stand the sight any longer, Jeok Pa-rap turned and strode out.
“I'll go to the Murim Alliance myself and bring Ji-ryun back. Send word that I'm coming.”
Myeol Saeng silently watched his master's retreating figure.
Still, when it came to cleaning up this mess, his master was the most reliable.