Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Killing Curtain
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"Pack your things."
"You're leaving right away?"
"Yeah."
Yi Chung was the type who didn't care about others' stares. But even he had no intention of staying in Jiwon to treat Baek Hyanga by Baek Chuseo's side.
Of course, he desperately wanted to finish the treatment. The problem was one thing. The unconscious urge to draw his sword and sever Baek Chuseo's neck.
Baek Hyanga had already passed the crisis of death anyway. All that remained was for her to steadily take medicine for a month or two, recover slowly, and manage her blocked meridians. There would be no issue leaving the rest to Physician Seop.
Dang Mujin and Yi Chung left the still-unconscious Baek father and daughter at the Jiwon Baek Family's main hall and dropped off instructions for making the medicine at Physician Seop's house.
In the dark predawn before the sun had risen, the three departed Jiwon.
*
Baek Chuseo woke at a slightly later hour than usual.
His position was uncomfortable, so he looked around and saw Baek Hyanga lying beside him. At the same time, last night's events flashed vividly in his mind.
It felt as if his heart had moved to his temple—his pulse throbbed there. And below his chest felt tightly constricted.
Baek Chuseo let out a deep sigh and habitually moved to begin qi circulation and breathing, then stopped. If he entered qi circulation now, he'd fall into qi deviation.
Instead, Baek Chuseo approached the sleeping Baek Hyanga. It wasn't lust rising within him. To be precise, he'd never harbored lust for Baek Hyanga. He simply wanted to check her condition. As a father, and as the head of the Jiwon Baek Family.
Baek Chuseo placed his hand on Baek Hyanga's abdomen and carefully circulated his internal energy.
His internal energy control wasn't as precise as Yi Chung's or Dang Mujin's. But it was enough to gauge the amount of internal energy the other possessed.
'The yin energy has weakened.'
And at the same time, he sensed internal energy drifting through her body without settling in her dantian.
The amount was astonishingly large. It wasn't much inferior even compared to Baek Chuseo's internal energy, cultivated over decades.
If he slowly melted the remaining yin energy and accumulated it in her dantian, how much internal energy could she gather? Steady effort would surely yield great results.
Baek Chuseo felt a small sense of deprivation. But a greater joy filled his chest.
She might not reach the heights of when the Sword King shook the Central Plains martial world, but if Baek Hyanga became a proper martial artist, the Jiwon Baek Family could rise to a mid-tier sect.
Everything had turned out well. Baek Chuseo thought so and felt relieved.
"Mmm..."
At that moment, Baek Hyanga let out a small groan. She seemed about to wake.
Baek Hyanga slowly rose and looked around with half-closed eyes. Then she spotted Baek Chuseo.
Baek Chuseo was simply sitting there, no different from usual. Yet Baek Hyanga's pupils trembled faintly for an instant. Eyes clearly filled with repulsion and fear.
Though Baek Hyanga's expression quickly returned to normal, Baek Chuseo sensed it instinctively. Baek Hyanga knew everything that had happened.
"You're awake?"
"...Yes. It seems the illness has improved, so that's good."
Baek Chuseo spoke calmly, as if nothing were amiss. But his chest tightened again, and his pulse raced even more fiercely than before.
He lacked the confidence to meet his daughter's gaze. Baek Chuseo desperately steadied his breathing, feigned composure, rose, and left the room.
He thought he heard Baek Hyanga say something from behind, but it didn't register.
Baek Chuseo exited the Jiwon Baek Family's main gate. Then he walked aimlessly to a place untouched by people's footsteps and stares. Baek Hyanga's gaze filled with repulsion resurfaced in his mind.
His chest boiled. He felt anxious and afraid.
He couldn't be certain that some swordsman named Yi Gyun or whatever wouldn't open his mouth. Even if he kept silent, what had happened wouldn't vanish. At the very least, Baek Hyanga would remember it.
Every time Baek Hyanga saw Baek Chuseo, she'd recall that horrific idea and decision. The father-daughter bond could never return to how it was. Their once harmonious relationship, however difficult, was completely over.
Perhaps because of that. Baek Chuseo could finally separate himself from Baek Hyanga, and himself from the Jiwon Baek Family, in his thoughts.
Even if Baek Hyanga cultivated martial arts and successfully revived the Jiwon Baek Family, it wouldn't be the result of Baek Chuseo's efforts.
Baek Chuseo remained incompetent, accomplished nothing, and was a selfish, ugly father.
Baek Chuseo regretted it belatedly.
If only he'd remained quietly incompetent as always, how good that would have been.
Or if he'd succeeded in his plan without anyone finding out, how good that would have been. Baek Hyanga might have suffered but would have kept the secret.
Baek Chuseo dropped to his knees, hands on the ground, gasping roughly.
Aside from the endless enmity toward Yi Gyun who had ruined everything, Baek Chuseo's mind gradually regained calm.
Baek Chuseo didn't know that this unfamiliar peace was the first step into falling to heart demons.
Baek Chuseo rose and headed east of Jiwon.
Toward an ordinary, unremarkable tavern: Chowol House.
When Baek Chuseo arrived at Chowol House, its doors were closed. It was too early to open for business.
But Baek Chuseo didn't feel disappointed and entered the small warehouse behind Chowol House.
The warehouse interior connected to a secret space within Chowol House. That secret space was a hideout managed by the Killing Curtain of Jiwon.
An ordinary person wouldn't even know such a place existed, but someone like Baek Chuseo, who had long put down roots in the area, inevitably learned at least one way to contact the unorthodox paths.
Entering the room at the end of the warehouse, a man in black clothes stared at Baek Chuseo.
Baek Chuseo vaguely guessed the man was affiliated with the Killing Curtain. On the other hand, the branch chief naturally recognized Baek Chuseo's face.
"Isn't this the renowned head of the Baek Family? What brings you to this shady den of the unorthodox paths?"
"Who are you?"
"Just call me the branch chief."
Though an upright faction martial artist had entered without warning, the branch chief's voice held leisure.
After all, plenty of those who pretended to be righteous secretly commissioned assassinations.
"I came because there's someone I want dead."
"Who is it?"
Yi Chung, the strange physician. The last words Yi Gyun had spoken echoed in Baek Chuseo's mind.
-Dreams aren't greedy only if they're too big. If your abilities are meager, even ordinary dreams can be greedy.
It was a statement denying Baek Chuseo's entire life and efforts.
The most painful and horrific words he'd ever heard since birth, a single phrase that crushed his soul. Cutting off his arm would have hurt less.
"About a fortnight or ten days ago, a physician named Yi Gyun entered Jiwon. He's a bit over fifty, with graying sideburns."
In Baek Chuseo's mind, the two people behind Yi Gyun vaguely surfaced. But their faces were hazy, and no matter how he looked at them, they seemed like mere underlings or errand boys for Yi Gyun.
Moreover, even thinking deeply about them stirred no killing intent.
Baek Chuseo thought satisfactorily. Yes. The villain is that bastard Yi Gyun. I can overlook the riffraff with my broad magnanimity. I'm a fair and magnanimous upright faction martial artist, after all.
However, the Killing Curtain branch chief reacted lukewarmly. Killing a mere physician who wasn't even a martial artist wouldn't earn much.
"If it's a physician, you didn't need to come all the way to the Killing Curtain."
Baek Chuseo looked at the branch chief with cold eyes and spoke.
"He's no ordinary physician. The physician identity is a disguise—he's actually a martial artist. His skill is on par with mine; he wouldn't be pushed even in a fight against me."
In truth, he'd been subdued after just a few exchanges, but Baek Chuseo had no desire to recount something so humiliating before filthy unorthodox folk.
Conversely, the branch chief thought a decent commission had come in.
'Since Baek Chuseo is neither dead nor injured, his skill must indeed be on par with Baek Chuseo.'
No need for the branch chief to step in personally; just gathering the branch's men for an ambush would suffice.
Also, he liked that the client rated his target as equal or superior to himself. If he valued the opponent that highly, he wouldn't haggle over the price.
"Understood. How would you like to handle the fee?"
Baek Chuseo pulled a gold nugget slightly larger than his thumb from his bosom and tossed it to the branch chief.
It was ample as a commission fee, but Baek Chuseo promised even more.
"That's just the advance. I'll pay more upon completion."
The gold nugget wasn't the least bit regrettable. If he could just see Yi Gyun's severed head, he'd pay any amount.
The branch chief smiled contentedly.
"Understood. I'll show you the results within three days."
*
Not long ago, Yi Chung had gone to the Sima Family in Luoyang and returned in just two days.
But that was when he'd moved alone using lightness skill.
Dang Mujin's lightness skill hadn't reached Yi Chung's level yet, and to make matters worse, their group included Dan Seoryeong, who knew no martial arts. The three trudged toward Luoyang on foot.
"Once we have some spare time later, should I teach you lightness skill at least?"
"Really?"
Yi Chung clicked his tongue as he listened to Dang Mujin and Dan Seoryeong.
"Forget it. Who are you going to teach, you with your shallow enlightenment?"
"It's still better than knowing nothing at all."
"Not wrong, but..."
In the end, the group met nightfall without reaching Luoyang.
To make matters worse, there were no villages between Jiwon and Luoyang to stay in, so tonight it was unavoidable camping.
If he'd been with Hong Geolgae, he'd have just spread a mat and lain down, but Dan Seoryeong was a bit more meticulous and proactive.
"Since we're resting anyway, let's go over there. The soil's softer there, and fewer night insects."
"How do you know?"
"There are lots of dragonflies. Where there are dragonflies, there are no mosquitoes or such."
It wasn't far at all, but the spot Dan Seoryeong suggested indeed had no insects bothering people.
Next, Dan Seoryeong cleared away the small stones on the ground and even laid down fallen leaves.
It didn't look forced. She was just naturally diligent.
That wasn't the end. Dan Seoryeong climbed a tree, pulled branches, tied them, and in an instant made a simple roof.
It wasn't fancy, but it should keep off the night dew well enough.
Yi Chung glanced at Dang Mujin.
"A sudden thought, but if I'd met Dan Seoryeong instead of you or Hong Geolgae in Chengdu or Zhuul Village, it might have been better."
"What a coincidence. I was just thinking it would've been nice if you'd taught her some of that stuff."
The three lay under the roof of woven branches, gazing at stars peeking through the gaps, idling away.
Yi Chung lay with eyes closed and began qi circulation and breathing. Lying cultivation.
Dang Mujin wanted to do qi circulation in such a comfortable position too, but lying cultivation was harder than it looked.
To make matters worse, Yi Chung had no intention of teaching Dang Mujin lying cultivation.
The reason was simple. How dare a brat lie down sprawled before an elder to cultivate?
Beside them, Dan Seoryeong fiddled with twigs and leaves, making small trinkets. Dang Mujin watched her busy hands.
Dang Mujin made trinkets too when he had time, but what Dang Mujin and Dan Seoryeong made was completely different.
Dang Mujin focused on intricate but static objects. Whittling a wooden statue or carving the scenery into a plank.
Dan Seoryeong, on the other hand, was interested in moving things.
Simply, she made a half-palm-sized bow and shot tiny twigs. More complexly, a toy that spun when released.
Of course, nothing moved for long. Two breaths after release was fortunate.
But making things that moved without human hands was never simple.
Dan Seoryeong spoke while watching Dang Mujin whittle a statue.
"If I had handiwork like yours, I'd make all sorts of things."
"Like what?"
"Not just one or two. Endlessly many."
"Like with the wooden doll ship, want to divide roles? You describe, I make."
"Sure!"
As Dang Mujin and Dan Seoryeong chattered, Yi Chung opened his eyes and sat up.
"Guests are coming."
"Guests?"
"Guests in pitch-black clothes. Dan Seoryeong, up the tree."
Dan Seoryeong didn't spout lines like 'I can fight too!' and instead scampered up the tree like a squirrel to hide. She wasn't stupid enough to stand on useless pride.
Soon after, six in black appeared.
He'd thought there'd be some simple talk like with the previous black-clad men, but these said nothing. Only muffled breaths leaked from behind their masks.
However, the black-clad men seemed displeased with the situation too. Yi Chung drew his sword and spoke.
"What, you thought wearing black and wandering at night would let you approach unseen?"
No answer came.
Dang Mujin lowered his stance, expecting the black-clad men to draw swords and charge.
All fights Dang Mujin had experienced so far were like that.
But the black-clad men didn't approach Dang Mujin or Yi Chung.
The six black-clad men simultaneously threw poison-coated daggers.