Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Building Inner Power Like Eating Candy - 5
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The world was always like a cold blade—one misstep, and a frail body like hers would be sliced clean through. It was an utterly dangerous place.
There was nothing strange about that.
She didn't even know who her father was, or her mother.
The only ones around her were the other beggars eyeing the handful of rotten food she'd begged for.
If living among them day after day could be called safe, that would be the real joke.
Still, she'd always been nimble even as a child, so the adult beggars had never taken it from her by force. But that didn't mean the world had ever been safe.
Even nights when everyone else slept peacefully weren't times of rest for her.
With no small wall to protect her, she'd never truly slept—not once—lest those leering at her with lust or scheming to drag her off and sell her into slavery catch her off guard.
If she hadn't had that sharp instinct from childhood, or if her body hadn't withered away from chronic hunger into something unappealing to most tastes...
She might have already lost her life, or been sold as a slave.
Fear.
Terror.
And malice.
In a harsh world with no walls to shelter her or pillars to lean on, Sayoon was far too weak to survive.
That's why she envied them.
Every time she sat in the gutters looking up at the world, she saw girls her own age—girls whose faces brimmed with happiness, clutching massive, sturdy hands that protected them as if it were the most natural thing.
And those hands stroking them with deep affection.
To Sayoon, nothing was more enviable.
"That time... the way he looked at me after I ate felt just like Father's gaze."
She must have held her breath without realizing it as she headed to Hongryeon's room, clutching the letter and package from Postal Gate.
Sayoon quietly pressed her ear to the door.
More attuned to malice from her slum days than Hongryeon, who was steeped in the world...
Even more than herself, who'd been brought to Crimson Star Sect by the Sword Saint and gained the power to protect herself but still knew so little...
It was the senior sisters, sharper at reading gazes, who assessed it.
So Sayoon closed her eyes slightly and thought.
The voices inside were surely recounting the day's events.
Yes, today's events.
For her, who'd survived the slums and then taken the Sword Saint's hand to come to Crimson Star Sect, life here was no different from paradise.
The other disciples might grumble that the food was bland, but to Sayoon, who'd only ever eaten spoiled scraps, Crimson Star Sect's meals were veritable feasts.
Dishes several—no, dozens of—times tastier than anything she'd known.
How about the soft porridge that soothed her insides? Or the crispy fried eggplant that followed?
The Hongwol pork, with its deepening aroma the more you chewed and its sweet-salty tang lingering in the mouth, went without saying. Even the outer-crispy, inner-moist gye-ryuk-sam had the other disciples exclaiming in delight, not just Sayoon.
Just thinking of those mouthwatering dishes now...
And the gaze she'd glimpsed from the one who'd served them.
'I... don't really know.'
Yes, she didn't. But it couldn't be helped.
Innkeeper Yuwol.
The gaze from a man of an age unfamiliar to her was so awkward that Sayoon struggled to process it.
But one thing was certain: it held no malice.
Sayoon was more sensitive to evil than even Hongryeon, who'd grown inured to the world.
So was it mere lust?
One night, when the senior sisters teased her about the world's dangers as they lay in bed...
They'd told her there were deranged pedophiles out there—filthy scum who only got aroused by small children like her.
Sayoon knew enough about that to feel chills rack her body.
Even in the slums, there'd been those who eyed her that way.
Men who'd lure girls her age into their rooms on the pretext of a single dumpling.
Of course, her scrawny frame and hyper-vigilance had kept their hands off her, but even now in Crimson Star Sect, recalling those looks made her legs tremble.
'But... it wasn't that.'
No, it wasn't.
His gaze was too warm for lust, too tender for contempt.
As she recalled that gaze she'd never known, Sayoon remembered the voice she'd overheard earlier.
- That time... the way he looked at me after I ate felt just like Father's gaze.
A father's gaze.
The family gaze she'd never had.
The gaze monopolized by that enviable girl in the slums.
Could it really be?
Could Innkeeper Yuwol really have looked at her that way?
Sayoon felt a corner of her heart warm just a little.
The big man she'd met in the alley.
After she'd saved him from crisis and clashed with the vicious Cunning Wolf assassin Kajun, that shout bursting out in her moment of peril echoed in her mind.
Without that voice, Kajun's awl would have properly pierced her side.
She'd forgotten it amid the tension then, but looking back now...
"No..."
The emotion in that voice wasn't just fear of her defeat putting him in danger.
Worry that she might get hurt.
Regret for potential peril.
Remembering those warm feelings directed solely at her, Sayoon's breath grew ragged.
"Huuuuh..."
Crimson Star Divine Art stirred unbidden. Her tense, rigid body relaxed, color flushing her cooling face.
Yes.
This heat in her cheeks...
It had to be the Crimson Star Divine Art reacting to her emotions.
With a small nod, she cracked the door and slipped inside.
"Hmmm..."
Facing the senior sisters inside, the warm, ticklish thrill deep in her chest faded.
No matter her mood, Sayoon was too capable to delay what needed doing.
So even seeing the new package, she could only offer a soft smile.
"What did his letters say so far?"
"Uh... The first was 'Have you eaten?' And the second was just 'Call me Uncle'."
Letters from a total stranger.
Perhaps because of the enclosed silver, or because her excessive wariness met with such innocuous content, her guard had dropped considerably after just two.
But this latest letter was enough to heighten Hongryeon's suspicions considerably.
And rightly so—it contained a map, a map of Crimson Star Mountain no less.
"Where's this?"
"Hm... South mid-slope of Little Heaven Peak on Crimson Star Mountain. Near Dragon Head Rock, I think."
"Why would a map of this place be in the letter...?"
"Maybe he wants to meet?"
Ryuhyeon muttered coldly after hearing the situation from Hongryeon and Sayoon.
She was a capable, righteous martial artist who'd slain wicked foes, bandits, and beasts—not quite to Hongryeon's extent, but still. It was no surprise she felt hostility toward pedophiles or those toying with people via letters.
"Better go check it out."
"Senior Sister, didn't you say we have to head out early tomorrow?"
Ryuhyeon asked worriedly, but Hongryeon shook her head. This might be the first time the sender was revealing their identity, after hiding it until now.
Especially lately, with all those irritating letters disguised as courtship missives but really provocations.
Like the martial world growing chaotic, so Crimson Star Sect should come help.
Or factions in the Martial Alliance saying demon beasts and bandits were rising, so join the fight.
Infuriating letters trying to use them kept coming.
No, that wasn't all.
Crimson Star Sect might be weak as a clan, but it had the Sword Saint and the Falling Sun Sword—a powerhouse.
Even taunting letters arrived, warning a strong foe like Iron Blood Clan might strike so beware—taunts that overlooked them at least somewhat.
Things unimaginable before were happening in the martial world now.
So.
Caution was better than none.
But that was her thinking; Sayoon seemed to disagree.
So to reassure Sayoon, who eyed the letter worriedly, Hongryeon said curtly,
"Maybe it's a warning about something dangerous here. We have to check. Especially since it's from that 'Uncle'."
Was it Hongryeon's outward acceptance of "Uncle"? A faint smile curved Sayoon's lips, and Hongryeon subtly gripped her beloved sword, Red Sun.
Seeing it, Ryuhyeon swallowed hard without thinking.
When she gripped that, it meant full commitment—Ryuhyeon tensed and said gravely,
"I'll have the other disciples stand by just in case."
"Mm. And Little One."
"Yes."
"You come too. Just in case."
Of course, the chance the letter's sender would be there was slim.
No time or date was specified.
But there was always an if.
If the sender really was there, Sayoon had every right to meet him.
Villain or not.
"Understood."
Hongryeon stroked the head of Sayoon, who nodded tensely, easing her nerves. As Sayoon pattered out, Hongryeon rose.
"If this guy's mocking Crimson Star, I'll shatter him to star fragments."
The face of the ever-bold senior sister, who reddened cheeks with crude jokes, transformed into that of the martial world's top expert, Falling Sun Sword Hongryeon.
Facing her, Ryuhyeon clenched her fist slightly.
Thinking she might have to unsheathe her blade today.
She'd have disciples on standby for safety, but no need for everyone to go.
The letter itself might aim to split their disciples.
So only Hongryeon, Ryuhyeon, and Sayoon moved.
The destination was Crimson Star Mountain anyway—their own front yard, essentially.
Even if it was a seldom-visited spot on the map, they had plenty of ways to handle emergencies.
Thus, the three swiftly reached the marked location.
And stared wordlessly, at a loss for words.
"This... a secret realm, right?"
"Yeah... seems like it."
Following the path hidden by dense foliage and vines downhill revealed something far more absurd than they'd imagined.
The entrance to a massive building, leisurely emanating red energy.
A secret realm.
A hidden facet of the world, creatable only by a select few whose realms touched the heavens among the enlightened.
No one knew why they formed, but martial artists prized them highly.
Secret realms were trials.
Overcoming the ordeals within let challengers claim fitting rewards.
Be it spirit herbs boosting inner power, martial arts matching the trial...
Or bizarre weapons holding powers beyond human reach.
The problem was why it was here.
"Good grief. There's a limit to missing things right under your nose..."
Even if Crimson Star Sect disciples rarely came here and the approach was concealed, how had they overlooked this?
Back in the Martial Alliance, she'd laughed hard hearing Wudang's Three Ancestors—one ascended as Immortal Thousand Days—had unearthed a secret realm on Wudang Mountain he'd made pre-ascension.
How long had Wudang been based there, and they just found it?
Now it was happening to them.
How the Alliance and Wudang would laugh hearing this.
She clutched her throbbing head.
"Sh-should we go in first? See what it's like..."
"Mm."
Hongryeon nodded slightly and placed her hand on the secret realm's entrance. At once, a dim red aura enveloped it.
- Who are you?
"Huh?"
A faint voice. Stern, dignified, solemn.
Recalling some secret realms only admitted the qualified, Hongryeon murmured low,
"I am an inspector of the Martial Alliance Inspection Department, known to the eastern martial folk as Falling Sun Sword. I am Hongryeon of Crimson Star Sect, senior disciple, desiring Crimson Star Sect's infinite prosperity and glory."
Her answer sent the red aura toward Ryuhyeon.
- Who are you?
The flustered Ryuhyeon answered similarly, and the aura moved to Sayoon.
Sayoon pressed her lips tight. Unlike the others, she had only one thing to claim.
- Who are you?
"...Crimson Star Sect disciple Sayoon."
With that, the red aura was sucked into the realm.
- Rumble...
The sealed stone door ground open.
As they startled back,
The door spat its final words as if it were obvious.
- You are duly qualified practitioners of Crimson Star Divine Art. This is a secret realm left for Crimson Star Sect.
That solemn voice was enough to plant the same thought in all three, including Hongryeon.
The "Uncle" who knew of a Crimson Star Sect secret realm even their ancestors didn't... wasn't purely dangerous.
After all, Crimson Star Sect's enemies wouldn't return what they'd lost.