Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: Returning Home (3)
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Drip, drip.
The dungeon for criminals of the Mount Hua Sect.
Ik Hyeon carefully entered, carrying a water bucket.
Seeing this, a Daoist sent a telepathic message.
-Are you going to see her again?
-Yes.
-I don't understand why you go through all this trouble. At your age, you should be focused on training.
-...Still, I'm the only senior brother she has left.
At the telepathic reply, the Daoist clicked his tongue in pity. A part of him also thought it was foolish.
The woman Ik Hyeon was visiting would never be able to leave unless Bai Duanxian permitted it.
Even approaching a disciple who had received such a severe punishment was not looked upon favorably.
One wrong move, and the trouble could spread to him.
But ever since Cheol Geum-san's rebellion, Ik Hyeon had visited the dungeon once every ten days.
Despite his close sect-brethren trying to stop him, and even with the Daoist guarding the dungeon glaring at him disapprovingly.
Ik Hyeon always visited the dungeon in simple clothes, carrying a water bucket and some light snacks.
Step, step, step.
After twenty-seven steps, Ik Hyeon glanced inside the cell and asked in a low voice.
“Junior Sister, have you been well?”
“…”
Yeong Mo-yeon didn't answer. No, it would be more accurate to say she couldn't.
‘I'm so ashamed.’
Yeong Mo-yeon's head turned slightly away from Ik Hyeon.
He was someone she couldn't bear to face.
Not only had she usually ignored him, she had acted indulgently, and after Cheol Geum-san's rebellion was thwarted, her tendons and meridians were severed, and she was always treated like a criminal. No, she was an actual criminal.
She herself believed this was right.
While following Cheol Geum-san, she had inwardly felt she was doing wrong, and she had indeed taken the lives of many of her sect-brethren.
She had acted knowing it was wrong, so it was a sin that could not be washed away, no matter how much she bowed her head.
That was why Yeong Mo-yeon stayed away from the sunlight, even in the dungeon.
The other Daoists treated Yeong Mo-yeon like an insect, or like trash.
But Ik Hyeon acted differently.
“The living must go on living, shouldn't they?”
“Please, go back.”
“Junior Sister.”
“Please, please… I'm begging you.”
Yeong Mo-yeon looked at Ik Hyeon with tear-filled eyes.
“I'm trapped here because of the karma from my wrongdoings. I killed our sect-brethren with these hands.”
“…”
“I don't know what you think of me, Senior Brother, but I'm not that person. So please, I'd like you to stop coming.”
“…Pfft.”
Hearing her out, Ik Hyeon burst into laughter.
“Did you really think I kept visiting because I had some other feelings for you, Junior Sister?”
“You don't?”
“You're gravely mistaken, Junior Sister.”
As Yeong Mo-yeon's face turned beet red with shame and embarrassment, Ik Hyeon continued in a cold tone.
“I'm only doing this because I don't think you're someone who absolutely must die.”
“…?”
“What you did was certainly a great wrong, Junior Sister. Even if Cheol Geum-san ordered it, you should never have drawn your sword on our sect-brethren. But, but….”
Ik Hyeon struggled to suppress the emotions welling up inside him.
Fearing his hard-won resolve would crumble due to his narrow-mindedness, he forced himself to hold on.
“There's a better life waiting for you outside than simply choosing to die here.”
“…Senior Brother.”
As his eyes met Yeong Mo-yeon's, Ik Hyeon suddenly felt a lump in his throat.
“I can never forget the senior and junior brothers you killed. Still, I don't want you—who was once the envy of them all, you who has talent unlike me—to rot away and die in here. That would be a great loss to our sect as well.”
“That's not true, Senior Brother.”
Yeong Mo-yeon gave a sorrowful smile.
“The day you received teachings from Martial Uncle Ouyang, I saw your potential.”
“…”
“You have no talent, nor a natural martial physique, but you defeated me for all to see.”
“But…”
“If that's not true skill, what else could it be?”
Yeong Mo-yeon moved as close to Ik Hyeon as she could.
Thud.
The wooden bars struck her forehead, turning the skin red. Her condition had deteriorated that much.
Yeong Mo-yeon smiled.
“Don't devalue yourself, Senior Brother.”
“…Still.”
Even as Yeong Mo-yeon continued to refuse, Ik Hyeon did not back down and said.
“I want you to return to Mount Hua, and pray for the souls of the dead with us.”
As Ik Hyeon spoke in a firm voice, as if he had made up his mind, Yeong Mo-yeon felt a sliver of hope.
‘Me?’
Yeong Mo-yeon looked down at her gaunt hands.
‘Do I, who killed my sect-brethren, have any right to return to Mount Hua? Wouldn't I just be desecrating the souls of the dead?’
Meanwhile, Ik Hyeon stood up.
“Junior Sister, I'll leave the water and food here.”
“…”
“I hope you'll have an answer for me next time.”
“Senior Brother….”
At her words, Ik Hyeon turned back.
A tear was streaming from one of Yeong Mo-yeon's eyes.
“…It's nothing.”
“Alright.”
Ik Hyeon bit his lower lip.
A bitter feeling churned inside him.
* * *
By the time Ik Hyeon left the dungeon, the Mount Hua Sect was bustling with its vibrant daily life.
In particular, the news of Ouyang Jue's return yesterday seemed to have spread happiness like a contagion.
But today, Ik Hyeon alone could not share in it.
‘Senior Brother would probably refuse to let Junior Sister out.’
He might even suggest beheading her, saying he just remembered.
Just as Ik Hyeon was thinking this, a familiar voice reached his ears.
“Ahem, you rascal. You should greet your Martial Uncle when you see him. What are you doing?”
“…Gasp.”
He had just been thinking about Ouyang Jue, and now the man himself had appeared.
Ik Hyeon couldn't hide his flustered state.
Meanwhile, Ouyang Jue caught the distinct musty smell of the underground from Ik Hyeon.
“What's this? Have you been somewhere underground?”
“Yes, Martial Uncle.”
“I believe I told you that the underground is the worst place to be when training in external arts... Well, I doubt you'd make a mistake like that, Hyeon.”
Ouyang Jue's gaze shifted to the dungeon located behind Ik Hyeon.
“You've been to the dungeon?”
“…”
When Ik Hyeon hesitated, unable to answer immediately, Ouyang Jue spoke frankly.
“You don't have to hide it. I may not know about others, but I bear no hatred for Cheol Geum-san's disciples.”
“Is... that so.”
“Of course.”
Having once destroyed the Mount Hua Sect in his past life, he had no right to condemn the disciples of Cheol Geum-san, especially when they weren't the culprit himself.
The disciples who had led the rebellion had long since committed suicide or been dealt with.
Thus, he only felt a sense of complexity towards the disciples currently imprisoned in the dungeon.
“Did you go to see Yeong Mo-yeon?”
“…How did you know?!”
“I could tell just by looking at your face. When people are worried about what will happen to their martial siblings, they all make a similar expression.”
Ouyang Jue used his fingers to pull the corners of his mouth down. It was a droopy expression that anyone could recognize.
Seeing that, Ik Hyeon let out an involuntary chuckle.
Ouyang Jue seized the moment and said.
“That's the expression I was just making. The smile of someone seeing a person worrying for nothing.”
At those words, Ik Hyeon felt a surge of anger.
“How could I not be worried!”
“Tsk, it seems your perspective has narrowed.”
Ouyang Jue pointed a finger at the dungeon.
“Did you really think I intended to kill everyone who participated in the rebellion and is now locked in the dungeon?”
“…You don't?”
“Of course not. Mount Hua is a Daoist sect. Even when facing the most heinous villains, we first attempt to subdue them, not kill them. And I am a Daoist belonging to Mount Hua.”
Ouyang Jue looked up at the sky, which was gradually turning crimson with the sunset.
“Of course, at first, I was a bit harsh with them to find out what Cheol Geum-san had done. But after that, I left everything to the Sect Leader.”
“Then the Sect Leader…”
“Forgave them.”
For a brief moment, Ouyang Jue's voice was tinged with annoyance.
“The first-generation disciples had committed sins worthy of death, so their tendons and meridians were crippled, and their tongues were cut out. But he didn't do the same for the second-generation disciples. It was because he was wary of making a mistake while trying to uproot the problem completely.”
When Ouyang Jue hinted at why Yeong Mo-yeon's dantian was still intact, and why she was the only one imprisoned, Ik Hyeon finally let out a cry of realization.
“Ah! Then have the others already… gone somewhere else?”
“See? Your perspective really has narrowed, tsk tsk.”
“Then where did the other second-generation disciples go? I didn't see them in the dungeon.”
“In exchange for forgiving them for this incident, he ordered them to start over from spiritual cultivation. It will take at least one to three years, so of course you wouldn't see them.”
“That's what happened…!”
“Of course, we planned to wait and see how things progressed before announcing it, in case the other Daoists complained. It's not like we were hiding it just from you.”
At those words, Ik Hyeon fell to his knees and shed tears.
“Thank you, Martial Uncle. Thank you!”
“No, I told you it wasn't my decision.”
In truth, Ouyang Jue had wanted to cripple the dantians of the first and second-generation disciples alike, but this had happened because Bai Duanxian's capacity for forgiveness was too great.
Ouyang Jue patted Ik Hyeon's shoulder and thought.
‘So indiscriminately killing or incapacitating them isn't the only way.’
Gradually, the wickedness in Ouyang Jue's heart lessened, and a virtuous connection began to blossom.
“By the way, will you come with me, Junior Brother?”
“Where to?”
“Well... it's a bit embarrassing to say it myself.”
Ouyang Jue scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“They're holding a banquet to celebrate my return.”
At those words, Ik Hyeon sniffed the air, and sure enough, the smell of pork fat, one he didn't usually encounter, was wafting through the air.
Ik Hyeon nodded vigorously.
A moment later.
Seeing Ouyang Jue appear with Ik Hyeon, Liu Zhangming spoke in a blunt voice.
“Junior Brother, you said you were just going to relieve yourself. What took you so long? How can the guest of honor be the last to arrive?”
“Haha, I ran into Martial Nephew Ik on the way.”
“Martial Nephew Ik?”
At the question, Ik Hyeon strode forward confidently and cupped his hands in a fist.
“I am Ik Hyeon, Martial Uncle Liu!”
“A pleasure.”
Liu Zhangming greeted Ik Hyeon with his usual gentle smile.
Just then, the outline of a child became prominent on the wide surface of Liu Zhangming's Daoist robe.
“A pweasure! I'm Jo Hun!”
“Hun, finish what you're eating before you speak. And should you be dirtying your senior brother's robes?”
“I'm sorry, Senior Brother!”
Jo Hun wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and approached Ik Hyeon.
“Feel free to call me Martial Uncle Jo!”
“…Understood.”
As Ik Hyeon failed to hide his reluctant expression, Ouyang Jue and Liu Zhangming had to force themselves to hold back their laughter.
On the other hand, they also thought they needed to have a word with Jo Hun.
‘Perhaps because he holds a high rank at such a young age, I didn't realize his speech is still unrefined. I'll need to emphasize etiquette more.’
Just as Ouyang Jue made up his mind, a burst of flames erupted nearby.
“Woooah!”
“Giggle!”
At the sound of the children squealing with delight, Ouyang Jue couldn't help but look in that direction.
“…What is that?”
A dry laugh escaped him.
The sight of Ha Jin-ak using the Heavenly Flow Fire Cloud Sword while a whole pig was skewered on an iron rod struck him as truly absurd.
And what about the internal energy required to roast an entire pig until it was crispy!
Just as Ouyang Jue was about to approach Ha Jin-ak, Liu Zhangming grabbed his shoulder.
“Ah, did I not tell you?”
“What is it?”
“Our Senior-most Brother has now become an absolute master of internal energy, at least within Mount Hua.”
“…What?!”
Even setting aside the unknown context, an absolute master of internal energy was using his skills to roast a wild boar?
Ouyang Jue could only watch what Ha Jin-ak was doing with a bewildered expression.