Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Yeon So-hyeon (昭賢)
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They say the face is the window to the mind.
As long as his inner world remained unstable, it was impossible to naturally correct his expressions on the spot.
That was why he chose to control every single muscle in his face individually.
It was a method he could conceive only thanks to the bodily control abilities granted by the Jeam Jincheon Scripture.
But in the end, it was a method impossible without his abnormally sharp memory.
He had memorized every single change in people's expressions during those brief moments as situations shifted.
“……Good.”
After a final check, he opened the door and stepped out into the courtyard.
An exclamation slipped from his lips unbidden.
“Ah…….”
The sunlight was warm.
It was a gentle sun that made him forget the horrific cold of that dreadful darkness.
Unknowingly, he walked barefoot to the center of the courtyard.
“Eldest Young Master, did you cough?”
The servants cleaning the yard outside offered rough bows in greeting.
The Eldest Young Master never minded such minor discourtesies from them anyway.
The scholar paid the servants no attention whatsoever.
He seemed utterly oblivious to their presence.
He simply stood there, slowly spreading his arms to feel the sunlight.
Like a tree that had waited a thousand years for a single ray of sun.
He even closed his eyes.
“Eldest Young Master……?”
Even as a servant questioned the odd behavior, he gave no response.
The servants merely exchanged uneasy glances.
It was strange.
Normally, no matter what the Eldest Young Master did, they would have shrugged it off and ignored it.
Gulp.
Cold sweat began to bead on the servants' hands, one by one.
It was the kind of thing underlings serving a strict master might experience.
As the discomfort lingered, the Eldest Young Master's mouth finally opened.
“……Summon all those under me.”
It was a voice from the Eldest Young Master they had never heard before.
It sounded the same as yesterday, yet fundamentally different somehow.
A voice no mere servant could dare defy.
“……Pardon?! Yes! Right away!”
Startled into action, the servants bolted off at full speed.
They scattered in perfect unison, rushing to gather the other servants from every corner.
“What's going on……?”
“What? Something happen?”
The summoned servants drifted in one or two at a time, openly annoyed.
Had it not been for the urgency in the messenger's tone, some might not have shown up at all.
What they beheld was the bizarre sight of the Eldest Young Master standing barefoot in the dirt, arms spread wide to bask in the sunlight.
Murmurs rippled through the gathered servants.
“Stuck in his quarters all this time, looks like he's finally lost it.”
“Ah…… I was napping so nicely, no idea why he's causing a fuss.”
An older-looking one clicked his tongue openly.
“Tsk tsk, with the Eldest Young Master like that, what will become of the great Luoyang Sword Clan…….”
To them, the Eldest Young Master was an 'easygoing' and 'harmless' figure.
They had spent long years with him.
He never scolded or reprimanded them.
He accommodated most of their requests.
Moreover, his residence, Yuan Ge Pavilion, had far less work than its size suggested.
No guests ever came, so no need to polish every corner multiple times a day. The expansive garden was mostly tended by the Eldest Young Master himself. His wardrobe was minimal, so even laundry was no great burden.
Thus, the servants of Yuan Ge Pavilion had grown lax and indolent.
And crucially,
Calling him the Swordless One was an open atmosphere throughout the entire clan.
Even though they had no right to disdain him, no matter who he was.
The problem was having seen his excessively mild nature up close for so long.
“……Ahem.”
“Ahem.”
At first, they voiced their displeasure at the Eldest Young Master summoning them for his eccentric display.
But somehow, the yard fell into a deathly silence, as if mice had been slain.
No one had shushed them.
Just like the first servants,
They gradually refrained from idle chatter.
They gradually restrained their irreverent movements.
They gradually grew anxious.
“…….”
“…….”
In the end, only an eerie stillness and ominous quiet remained in the yard.
No one dared break it.
Unbeknownst to themselves, they were already dominated by the aura emanating from the Eldest Young Master.
“……Is everyone here?”
The bizarre atmosphere persisted until the Eldest Young Master spoke.
“Yes?! Yes, everyone is here.”
He didn't even glance at the flustered servants.
“From this moment, you are no longer needed at Yuan Ge Pavilion. Report to the Housekeeper's Office immediately and get reassigned.”
His voice was low, but it rang clearly in every ear.
“W-what……?!”
“……Eldest Young Master!”
Even those who had only been bowing tensely in fear now rebelled against his words.
“If you cast us out so suddenly, what are we supposed to do?!”
Once one or two found their courage and shouted, they all raised their voices in unison.
“What are we supposed to tell the Housekeeper's Office?!”
“They'll look at us with suspicion!”
“Eldest Young Master!”
They cried out together, condemning the Eldest Young Master's decision.
“......Heh heh heh.”
Then, a laugh cut sharply through their loud voices.
It was a sneer from the corner of the Eldest Young Master's mouth.
The low, rumbling sound carried a strange metallic edge, as if clawing at their eardrums.
A grotesquely chilling noise.
The servants' napes prickled.
Their tongues stiffened.
Their movements halted.
“…….”
Their mouths shut, but the Eldest Young Master's ominous laughter showed no sign of stopping.
Because the mockery was not directed at them.
It was self-directed scorn.
'How stifled and ignorant was the old me.'
He had believed that if he extended goodwill first, others would reciprocate in kind.
Even if they didn't immediately, eventually sincerity would prevail.
No, he had wanted to believe it.
The servants now rampaging ignorantly before him were practically his own creation from that past self.
At last, the Eldest Young Master withdrew his smile and looked down upon them.
Not a trace of emotion remained in his gaze.
Under that glass-bead stare, the servants shrank back even further.
“What is my family name?”
When he pointed at one, the man startled and answered.
“Y-Yeon!”
The Eldest Young Master of the Yeon family nodded as if satisfied.
“Correct. And this clan, the Luoyang Sword Clan, belongs to the Yeon family.”
He pointed at another and asked again.
“What is my name?”
The pointed servant trembled without knowing why and replied.
“……The character 'So (昭)' and 'Hyeon (賢)'!”
So-hyeon—the one named So-hyeon of the Yeon family asked another servant.
“Right. Then what is this Yeon So-hyeon to this clan?”
The pointed servant swallowed dryly and answered.
“The E-Eldest Young Master.”
Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon smiled.
But it was a smile in form only, hollow and utterly chilling.
“Correct. I am the Eldest Young Master of this clan, Yeon So-hyeon.”
Blue flames seemed to flicker in his eyes.
“Then what are you, defying that Eldest Young Master?”
His lips twisted.
“Are you the masters of this clan?”
At those words, every servant paled and prostrated themselves flat.
Foolish and unlearned they might be, but not so dull as to miss their own graves.
“P-please spare us!”
“It's not defiance!”
“We, your humble servants, merely……!”
Their pristine uniforms grew soiled.
Even more than Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon's bare feet, which they had mocked.
“Shh……!”
When Yeon So-hyeon raised a finger to his lips, not even a breath escaped the servants with faces pressed to the dirt.
“It is my fault that you grew lax, so I will not punish you further.”
A bright smile graced Yeon So-hyeon's lips.
“So pack your things and get out, all of you.”
No sooner had he spoken than the servants offered thanks.
“Th-thank you!”
“Thank you, Eldest Young Master!”
With a twisted smile, he looked down upon them.
When he treated them endlessly well, he heard only complaints and grudges behind his back.
Only when he squeezed them mercilessly did thanks come.
Such was the irony of human affairs.
Now, there was no reason to rejoice or lament over such trifles.
More importantly, there was a graver reason for dismissing all the servants.
'With this, I've removed the unnecessary "eyes" for now.'
Many servants in Yuan Ge Pavilion had been reporting Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon's every action to other factions in the clan.
He had known this even before, but indifferent to power, he had ignored it.
He could have made examples of them—servants spying on their master—but he chose not to.
'No need to beat the grass and startle the snakes just yet.'
There was no need to make them wary of him.
At least not yet.
“You there.”
It was a servant scrambling to flee Yuan Ge Pavilion, luggage half-packed.
Pointed out by Yeon So-hyeon, he collapsed in terror, prostrating himself.
“Y-yes! Eldest Young Master! Command me!”
Even as he kept his face to the ground in reply, his belongings and clothes scattered across the dirt.
Neither he nor Yeon So-hyeon paid it any mind.
“Tell the Housekeeper's Office—no…….”
Yeon So-hyeon's eyes narrowed.
“Tell the Chief Housekeeper directly to select and send one child to attend me personally.”
The 'Chief Housekeeper' was a figure so lofty that lowly ones like them could not even meet his eyes.
One who could command such a person.
Too late now, but the servant finally realized whom he had served.
“Y-yes! Understood, I will relay your command, Eldest Young Master.”
“And……”
His next question was utterly absurd.
“Where is the sun passing now?”
“The sun…… you mean?”
Yeon So-hyeon, gazing up at the sky, posed a question beyond comprehension.
The servant simply answered as asked.
“It's over there right now. So white, shining so brightly it's hard to look at.”
At the reply, he tilted his head slightly.
“……Is that so?”
Yeon So-hyeon waved his hand.
The servant bowed deeply and scurried away.
“……Around there?”
Looking up at the sky, Yeon So-hyeon saw only warm sunlight.
The sun's form was nowhere to be seen.
“……Has even the sun turned its face from me now?”
In his ears, the Jeam Jincheon Scripture's mad laughter still echoed vividly.
[From now on, you shall breathe in the darkness, wield the sword of judgment within the darkness, and become the Venerable Lord of Darkness who punishes all the karma of the world!]