Chapter 120
Translator: penny
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Sword Phoenix Stands Firm
"And if that's not the right thing to do... I won't let you bear the stigma alone, Gaga."
Only for me, Moyong Hui had pointed her sword at the Shandong Mok Clan.
I felt a slight lump in my throat at the sight of her.
'Hee-ah, it's always you and no one else!'
Meanwhile, the squad leader's face started to redden with anger.
"Is this truly your will, Sword Phoenix?!"
"..."
Moyong Hui chose silence.
But anyone could tell what her answer was.
The squad leader fumed for a long while before grinding his teeth and growling again.
"This is my final warning. Step aside."
His grip on the spear was no joke.
He looked ready to charge at any moment.
But as for me, who'd somehow become a mere spectator, all I could do was let out a hollow chuckle.
'As if.'
These guys couldn't even get past me alone.
And now they were going to try with Moyong Hui joining in?
'If they were going to, they would've already.'
A barking dog never bites—why else would this guy, who'd been lunging earlier, be hesitating now?
"..."
With Moyong Hui giving no response, a heavy silence fell.
The Shandong Mok Clan members surrounding us tightened their grips on their spears, visibly tense.
It was a powder-keg moment, on the verge of erupting into battle.
But just as I'd predicted, the squad leader soon showed his true colors.
"How dare you interfere with the Shandong Mok Clan's affairs... We'll take this up with the Moyong Clan!"
With that, the squad leader clenched his jaw and turned away.
It was obvious to anyone—he was backing down.
'Acting tough right up until you run away, punk.'
The surrounding Shandong Mok Clan members relaxed their grips as if on cue, lowering their spear tips. The squad leader shot a glare at his sighing subordinates before finally turning his gaze to me one last time.
"Mok Jimyeong, was it? I'll remember you too."
I just smirked dismissively.
'Remember me all you want.'
This clan was doomed to fall in a few months anyway.
What was there to fear from scum like them?
Taking it up with the Moyong Clan was the same story.
The Moyong Clan was a family that had largely stepped away from the martial world to begin with.
What could they possibly do about it?
In the end, it just meant tattling to the family elders...
'Father-in-law already knows what kind of guy I am.'
Moyong Hwan was the man who'd handed over his daughter despite knowing full well about my history with women.
There wouldn't be any issues.
The Shandong Mok Clan members gathered their wounded and quietly withdrew.
Once they were completely out of sight, Moyong Hui approached with a pouty expression.
"Gaga, satisfied now?"
Of course I was.
More than satisfied, even.
But I masked those feelings and put on the most apologetic face I could muster.
"Satisfied? What do you mean... I just feel bad that you got dragged into trouble because of me, Hee-ah."
"Pfft—whatever! Just... forget it!!"
The poised demeanor she'd shown standing against the Shandong Mok Clan was gone; now her cheeks were puffed out adorably.
It was unbearably cute.
As I gazed at Moyong Hui with a fond smile, Sa Hye-rin stepped forward belatedly.
"You're Young Master Mok, right? Thank you for helping us."
She was every bit as stunning as Moyong Hui.
Her calm composure, even after having her life threatened moments ago, was also quite appealing.
I kept my friendly smile and responded kindly.
"When fellow travelers of the eastern seas are in need, helping them is only natural, isn't it?"
"Since when have you cared about that, Gaga?"
No sooner had I finished than Moyong Hui latched onto my words.
She looked full of dissatisfaction.
But thanks to what she'd just done for me, it only came across as endearing whining.
Sa Hye-rin seemed to sense the same, chuckling softly as she thanked Moyong Hui.
"Sword Phoenix, thank you too. I owe you one."
"...I only helped because of Gaga."
With that, Moyong Hui strode off toward where Cheon Woojin was.
She'd naturally made space for us.
That thoughtful gesture stirred a rising desire in me.
'Gotta keep her up all night for real.'
I'd get a nice haul of internal energy for once.
With Moyong Hui stepping aside, Sa Hye-rin looked surprised.
"Sword Phoenix must really like you, Young Master Mok."
She spoke with what seemed like envy for our relationship.
But this wasn't good.
'Tch, now that I think about it, this is a problem.'
I was grateful for what Moyong Hui had done, but it made approaching Sa Hye-rin that much harder.
To her, we probably looked like a very close couple.
'No way Hee-ah calculated even this...?'
If so, her scheming mind was truly astonishing.
While inwardly admiring Moyong Hui's moves, I smoothly changed the subject.
"Ahem, more importantly, Lady Sa, may I ask why you were fighting here?"
It was a casual, ice-breaking question.
But instead of answering, Sa Hye-rin hesitated.
'Some secret mission?'
I'd saved her life by chance, but we were from opposing sides—righteous and evil factions.
There were bound to be things she couldn't easily share.
Yet her actual response was utterly unexpected.
"Truth be told, we don't really know either."
"...Pardon?"
Still hesitant, she opened her mouth.
"Clashes between righteous and evil aren't unusual, but this is the first time we've tangled with the Shandong Mok Clan. And they came at us so suddenly..."
What kind of explanation was this?
'They just attacked out of nowhere?'
But their target had seemed so clear-cut.
The Shandong Mok Clan thugs had been dead set on killing Sa Hye-rin just moments ago.
"No other incidents? Any grudges or bad blood...?"
"No. You might not know, but our Sa Command Sect is one of the more moderate ones among the evil factions. Plus, we're based in the Honam region, so we've had no reason to cross paths with the Shandong Mok Clan."
'The Sa Command Sect is in Honam?'
I hadn't known that; by the time I was with the Red Serpent Sect, they'd already been wiped out.
I only knew them as the sect that had formed the Sa Command Unit.
'Not that it matters right now.'
The conversation was about why the Shandong Mok Clan had attacked.
"Then why venture all the way to Shanxi?"
"The recent situation felt off, so we were heading to the Four Black Alliance for information."
Still no clarity.
She didn't seem to be lying, either.
And considering the Shandong Mok Clan's location, it made even less sense.
It was over half a month's journey by carriage from here.
To come all this way just to kill her, there had to be a reason—but nothing clicked.
'Tch, what's going on?'
If I'd known it'd be this one-sided, I should've interrogated one of them earlier.
I pieced together what she'd told me.
"So, Lady Sa, you were en route to the Four Black Alliance to check on the situation. Then the Shandong Mok Clan suddenly tried to kill you. Is that right?"
"Yes. And with the tense atmosphere lately, we were being extra cautious, so I have no idea how they even found out."
Did they have a spy?
As my thoughts reached that point, something flashed through my mind.
'The Blood Cult?'
No evidence, but my instincts screamed it.
The Blood Cult was pulling strings behind the scenes.
'What if Sa Hye-rin had died?'
In my past life, she must have breathed her last here.
Without my intervention, it was obvious she'd be dead.
So what happened after that?
I didn't know the exact history, but I could guess well enough.
Sa Hye-rin was a late-stage prodigy who'd reached the peak realm before even thirty—a righteous equivalent to the Five Dragons and Five Phoenixes.
If someone like her died suddenly, the Sa Command Sect's response would be clear: revenge.
And if that sparked all-out war between the Sa Command Sect and Shandong Mok Clan?
The Sa Command Sect was evil faction, but its scale rivaled the Nine Great Sects or Five Great Families.
Best case, mutual destruction...
'And in fact, both factions perish during the Great War.'
In the end, both sects vanish into the annals of history.
Would the Shandong Mok Clan not know this obvious fact?
Yet they targeted Sa Hye-rin with zero grudge?
Thus, the Blood Cult came to mind.
'I'd already suspected the Blood Cult was behind the Great War anyway.'
Of course, it was all speculation.
I had no clue why they'd do it or how they manipulated the Shandong Mok Clan.
But assuming the Blood Cult, everything fell into place.
As I organized my thoughts, another realization chained on.
'Wait... then what happens from here on?'
I didn't know why the Great War started.
I only knew that it had happened.
But if—just if—Sa Hye-rin's death led to the clash between Sa Command Sect and Shandong Mok Clan, sparking the Great War...
'Does that mean... in this life, the Great War won't happen?!'
I might have just erased the fated history of the Great War today.