Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: A Secret Grief
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Just then, Jang Ung rushed over, looking alarmed.
"My lord! You're bleeding heavily!"
"Oh..."
I hadn't noticed until now, but my left shoulder and right buttock suddenly stung with pain.
My buttock hurt more.
"You need treatment."
"It's nothing. Let's go."
I said, walking toward the main gate of the Dong-ro Branch.
"Gwi-ryong, follow me."
Gwi-ryong picked up the Blood Shadow Sword from the ground, then abruptly rose into the night sky and vanished.
Jang Ung, after losing sight of Gwi-ryong, said,
"That man, Gwi-ryong, has disappeared."
"Let him be."
To be honest, I don't really care about Gwi-ryong or the Blood Shadow Sect. The important thing is that I defeated the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable.
But it was a bit strange that Gwi-ryong took only the Blood Shadow Sword and left without collecting the ashes of his master, the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable.
* * *
We returned to the Jaun Pavilion.
"My lord, this way, please."
Jang Ung led me into a room.
"Please lie down for a moment. I'll bring some medicine."
As I lay with my eyes closed, replaying the fight with the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable in my mind, Jang Ung returned.
As my left shoulder was being treated, a subtle fragrance tickled my nose, and the touch was incredibly gentle.
When I opened my eyes, I was surprised to see not Jang Ung, but Ja-un treating my shoulder.
"Huh? Ja-un?"
"Yes, my lord. My brother doesn't know how to treat injuries."
"Oh? Do you, Ja-un?"
"I learned medicine from a famous physician."
"Oh! I see."
Feeling weary, I dozed off for a moment before waking up.
But while I was lying on my back before, I was now lying on my stomach.
Also, my right buttock felt cool, and as I tried to sit up, I heard Ja-un's calm voice.
"I'm treating you. Please don't move."
"Mm. Alright."
But it wasn't alright. Didn't my buttock feel cool? That meant my pants were down.
'Huh?'
Ja-un was treating my right buttock.
"Hey, hey! Ja-un, that's enough."
"I'm almost done."
"I said stop."
Ja-un's small, warm hand pressed gently on my buttock.
"I am a physician and you are the patient, so please don't be embarrassed."
"Wh-what are you talking about! Who's embarrassed?"
My face flushed.
"If not, then please stay still."
"Hah... honestly!"
Still, Ja-un offered some words of comfort.
"I didn't pull your pants down far, just enough to expose your right buttock, so don't worry."
Regardless of how much was showing, it was the first time in my life I'd exposed my buttock to a woman.
Ja-un treated my buttock with great care for a long time.
* * *
The night had grown late.
Ahn Do-pil and the other branch members were dead drunk, and the servants of Jaun Pavilion had helped them to their rooms to sleep.
"Would you like a drink?"
Ja-un, who had just treated my bare buttock, asked with a bright smile.
"Yes. I could use a drink."
It was quite late, but I had killed the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable. I was in a good mood, and my conversation with Soyang-gun wasn't finished, so a drink was in order.
"Alright. Please wait a moment."
Ja-un's beaming smile got on my nerves.
"Stop smiling."
"Okay~!"
Watching Ja-un leave with a cheerful reply, she seemed to smile even more brightly.
When our eyes met, Ja-un covered her mouth with her hand and went outside.
Then I noticed Jang Ung smiling faintly.
"What are you smiling about?"
"My apologies."
The stray spark had landed elsewhere.
* * *
Soyang-gun spoke quietly.
"Let's finish the conversation we were having earlier."
"What conversation was that?"
Soyang-gun wore a serious expression.
"About establishing the Martial Alliance's main headquarters in Dong-ro Prefecture."
"Ah, that..."
Soyang-gun cut me off.
"As they say, a man's word is worth a thousand pieces of gold, and to speak with two tongues is to have two fathers."
I knew what that meant. A man's word is like a thousand pieces of gold, and speaking with two tongues means you have two fathers.
Having two fathers is a vile insult, implying one's mother was unfaithful.
If I went back on my word—that they had to marry the Alliance Lord to me to establish the Hangzhou branch in Dong-ro Prefecture—I would be the one with two fathers.
'Hmph!'
When I glanced at Sang Gang-jo, he had a troubled expression.
I thought he was as perplexed by this as I was, but then I noticed the corner of his mouth twitching upward slightly.
'Is he smiling?'
Perhaps seeing my expression harden, Sang Gang-jo quickly resumed his troubled look.
But I had already seen through him.
Soyang-gun said calmly,
"I will discuss the matter with the Alliance Lord and give you an answer then."
"Will you?"
I felt like a mute suffering in silence.
Sang Gang-jo said in admiration,
"My lord, the Light-Splitting First Stance you performed earlier was far more perfect than my master's."
"Didn't I tell you I was on a similar level to your master?"
I was still annoyed after seeing Sang Gang-jo smile, so my mood was sour. I guess this proves I can hold a grudge.
"My apologies."
Soyang-gun asked with a curious expression,
"What was the sword technique you used to kill the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable?"
"Man-geop-jeon."
Sang Gang-jo, not knowing what it was, tilted his head in confusion, but Soyang-gun's eyes widened.
"The technique Man-geop-jeon, one of the Three Absolutes of the Blue Heavens?"
"You know it well."
"Oh! Does this mean you've mastered the Three Absolutes of the Blue Heavens from the Blue Heaven Divine Sword, one of the Three Divine Swords of the World?"
"It's nothing special."
I said that, but my shoulders squared with pride.
Sang Gang-jo had heard the name "Three Absolutes of the Blue Heavens from the Blue Heaven Divine Sword" countless times, but he didn't know what kind of sword art it was.
"My lord! Just how many martial arts have you mastered?"
"I don't know myself."
If I told him the truth—that I've mastered one hundred and eighty-nine different martial arts—he wouldn't believe me.
And even if he did, I'd have to explain how I acquired them, so it's better not to say anything from the start.
Soyang-gun had been silent for a while, lost in deep thought as he toyed with his cup.
I guessed he was mulling over the matter of establishing the Martial Alliance's main headquarters in Dong-ro Prefecture.
'This could get out of hand. I can't let it. I need to take drastic measures.'
I called out to Soyang-gun casually.
"Matchmaker."
"Yes?"
Soyang-gun wouldn't be able to decide on the marriage between me and the Alliance Lord, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo, on his own; he would have to discuss it with her.
Of course, there was no way Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo, a woman of the lofty status of Martial Alliance Lord, would ever agree to marry a complete stranger, a country bumpkin who was the Grand Branch Master of a backwater like Dong-ro Prefecture.
But no one knows how things will turn out in this world.
So, it's better to be safe than sorry. I'll make Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo recall the past and completely lose interest in me.
I carefully pulled out a crumpled memory from my past.
"Ask the Alliance Lord if she knows the man from the Thatched Cottage Well."
"What is the Thatched Cottage Well?"
"She'll know if you just ask her that."
"I understand."
The matchmaker asked again.
"But who is the man from the Thatched Cottage Well?"
"Me."
It happened about fifteen years ago.
I was nineteen, a year after I had become a low-ranking warrior of the Martial Alliance, and I was sent on a long-distance mission to Mount Emei in Sichuan Province, a round trip of over six thousand li.
The mission involved fifty elite masters and two hundred mid- and low-ranking warriors of the Martial Alliance traveling to and from Mount Emei.
When we departed from Geumbosan in Luoyang, as always, we didn't know what the mission was.
Our direct superiors always explained the mission right before a battle, and that time was no exception.
At the time, the leader of the sixth squad, which I belonged to, had only said it was a simple long-distance journey, easier than lying down and eating rice cakes, just a trip to Mount Emei and back.
The squad leader's words were true only until halfway back from Mount Emei.
Near Mount Jing in Hubei Province, we were suddenly ambushed by the Ten Heavens of the Unorthodox Path.
The low-ranking warriors, who didn't even know the mission, scattered like a swarm of flies without even putting up a fight.
I too fled for my life with all my might and stumbled upon an old well at the foot of the mountain.
The dilapidated well, hidden by thick bushes and grass, was the perfect place to hide and escape disaster.
Just as I was about to jump into the well, I saw a low-ranking warrior in loose-fitting clothes running toward me, with masters of the Ten Heavens of the Unorthodox Path visible in the distance, chasing after them.
Without a second thought, I grabbed the warrior's hand and jumped into the well.
The water in the well wasn't deep, and it was so dark that no one could see the bottom from above.
The low-ranking warrior clung to me, trembling, so I held them tight out of pity.
After hiding in the well and narrowly escaping death, we emerged quite some time later to find that all the other Martial Alliance masters and warriors, aside from the two of us, had either been annihilated or had fled.
I hadn't realized it while we were in the well, but after we got out, I discovered that the person who had hidden with me was a pretty, ten-year-old girl with a small frame.
When I asked who she was, the girl only revealed that her name was 'Byeok-gyo'.
After that, I traveled with the young girl for over a month and a half, eventually arriving at the Martial Alliance's main headquarters at Geumbosan in Luoyang.
Only then did I learn that the young girl was Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo, the daughter of the Martial Alliance Lord, Hyukryeon Jeong-mu.
I received a reward of one hundred silver taels, and I sent it all to my master without spending a single coin.
The name of that well at the foot of Mount Jing was 'Chodangjeong'.
* * *
About ten days after killing the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable, I suddenly thought of Gwi-ryong.
After I burned the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable to death, I had told Gwi-ryong to follow me, but he had taken the Blood Shadow Sword and disappeared into the night sky without a word.
Since I won our life-or-death duel, the Blood Shadow Sect, of which the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable was the leader, now belonged to me.
But with Gwi-ryong gone, it would all be for naught if he kept his mouth shut.
From the beginning, I didn't care much for the Blood Shadow Sect, so I wasn't bothered whether it became mine or not.
However, I had taken a liking to that fellow, Gwi-ryong. I didn't care what happened to the Blood Shadow Sect, but I felt a guy like Gwi-ryong would be useful to have.
The Blood Shadow Sword Venerable had told me to take Gwi-ryong as my subordinate if he died, but how could I take him in if I didn't even know where he was?
Suddenly, I remembered how the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable used to summon Gwi-ryong.
"Gwi-ryong, come here."
So, I decided to try the same thing, just in case. I had nothing to lose.
And just then, a low voice came from outside the annex.
"Did you call?"
'He actually appeared!'
To appear immediately upon being called meant that Gwi-ryong had been nearby all along.
"Come in."
The outer door of the annex opened, followed by the room door, and Gwi-ryong entered. He looked exactly the same as when I first saw him.
Gwi-ryong stopped about three steps in front of where I sat in my chair.
He had long, flowing black hair that reached his waist, wore black robes of an even deeper shade, and had his mouth and nose covered with a cloth mask, above which his eyes shone with a cold light.
"Will you become my subordinate?"
"I would like to."
I nodded.
"We'll see about that later."
I asked the stiffly standing Gwi-ryong,
"I killed your master, so you must hold a grudge against me."
"I do not."
But unexpectedly, Gwi-ryong said he held no grudge.
"How can that be?"
"The Blood Shadow Sword Venerable killed my former master and took me in as his disciple."
"Is that so?"
This was a completely unexpected revelation.