The Gathering of the Righteous Sects.
This was a eting convened by the Martial Alliance when an incident occurred that could shake the very foundations of the orthodox sects. The main participants were the Nine Great Schools that supported the Martial Alliance, the Four Great Noble Families that served as its pillars, and several other famous families. In addition, large rchant guilds that funded and activated cities were also involved.
It was an impressive assembly of leaders from the most powerful factions in the martial world, gathering to discuss everything from how to deal with a particular incident to, in extre cases, even the future of the Martial Alliance itself.
Considering the magnitude of the recent event, I was certain that a Gathering would be held.
If it were to happen, the most likely location would be Hanam. Of course, just because the Gathering was held didn’t an that everyone was obligated to attend.
‘But would they really not co?’
It was a eting where the core figures of the orthodox sects gathered to discuss matters. Whatever was discussed, the information alone would be of imnse value. rely being present would be proof of prestige and reputation.
These were people who valued their pride more than their lives. They would definitely attend.
Especially since...
‘Their children's lives are at stake…’
Even if they ca just to express their anger, it would be understandable. That much made sense. But what Moyong Hee-ah had just said didn’t.
“…What do you an by that? Run away?”
Moyong Hee-ah’s father, the head of the Moyong family, was Moyong Tae, known as the White Heavenly Sword Master. He was once a contender for the title of Sword King, having rivaled Namgung Jin in swordsmanship. He was regarded as one of the most exceptional swordsn of his ti, but his skills had diminished sowhat after marrying and fathering Moyong Hee-ah.
Regardless of his current strength, as the head of the Moyong family, it was clear that if the Gathering were held, he would attend.
‘So why run away?’
It didn’t make any sense.
What did Moyong Hee-ah’s father attending have to do with running away?
“Do you think the head of the Moyong family is going to try to kill or sothing?”
I asked jokingly, as it seed like a ridiculous idea.
“Yes.”
“…”
She answered seriously.
What did she just say?
“…What did you say?”
That the White Heavenly Sword Master might try to kill ?
As I furrowed my brows and asked, Moyong Hee-ah hesitated and glanced away, clearly embarrassed.
“…It’s a bit embarrassing to admit…”
She brushed her hand along her arm, as if trying to soothe her discomfort.
“My father… likes a lot.”
Her face flushed red as she spoke.
How embarrassing could this be?
‘Everyone knows that.’
It wasn’t exactly a secret.
The head of the Moyong family was known for his excessive love for his daughter. In fact, many believed that the reason Moyong Hee-ah's father had fallen behind his peers was because of his obsession with his daughter.
But so what? That didn’t give him any reason to kill .
“And?”
“Do you think our relationship is… ordinary?”
“Isn’t it? It seems pretty normal to …”
“Just shut up for a second, okay?”
“…Uh, okay.”
Her sharp tone made shut my mouth.
Our relationship… well, it wasn’t exactly ordinary.
For years, I had been transferring my inner heat to her to help cure her illness. Her unique constitution caused her body to freeze over, and my heat was able to prevent the cold from taking over.
Ever since I learned that my internal heat could cure her condition, this relationship had continued.
Her body was perpetually freezing, and while she could suppress it with her own Qi, during battles, the cold often surged uncontrollably. That’s when my heat was most needed.
Because of this, she had to stop her martial training every ti my heat settled into her body.
This had been going on for years.
It was a serious issue for a martial artist, but Moyong Hee-ah didn’t seem too concerned.
The treatnt had been quite effective, too. At first, I had to transfer heat every few days, but over ti, the intervals grew longer. Now, about once a month was sufficient.
‘Is that the problem?’
Perhaps her father saw as so strange guy clinging to his precious daughter, transferring heat and whatnot. It wouldn’t be surprising if he was enraged at the sight.
Still, there was sothing odd about this.
“Didn’t we get permission to do this in the first place?”
“Huh?”
I an, didn’t the Moyong family already agree to providing heat as part of her treatnt?
In fact, they had paid a substantial sum and granted access to trade routes as compensation. A Moyong family elder had even co to visit.
This arrangent had led to the establishnt of several Moyong family guilds in the western mountains, revitalizing the area.
Surely, such a deal couldn’t have gone ahead without the head of the Moyong family’s consent.
“…Well…”
Moyong Hee-ah looked down, avoiding eye contact.
What was that reaction?
“Did you… do sothing?”
“No, I didn’t do anything…”
Her face was a rare sight.
It wasn’t often that I saw her making excuses.
Normally, Moyong Hee-ah would find another solution rather than make excuses. And she rarely put herself in a position where excuses were necessary in the first place.
“…You know, Young Master…”
That expression was sothing I’d never seen in my previous life.
“Go on.”
“Everyone makes mistakes sotis, don’t they?”
A fair statent, but one that seed oddly out of place coming from her. I asked her in response.
“Didn’t soone once say, ‘If you prepare properly, there’s no need for mistakes. And if you can’t manage that, don’t cause trouble in the first place?’”
“Who would say sothing so arrogant and selfish? They must have had a strange upbringing. People make mistakes—it’s called being human. Scary.”
“…”
I sighed internally as she frowned at .
For the record, that quote was sothing Seolbong had said to in my previous life.
She had said it after I made a mistake during a hunt.
“So, what mistake did you make?”
What had she done to make the White Heavenly Sword Master want to kill ?
Moyong Hee-ah hesitated for a mont before finally speaking.
“You may not know this, but the deal with the Gu family ended up being… a bit more than originally intended.”
“What?”
“For example, setting up a guild in the western mountains was practically forced. It eventually worked out, but…”
Co to think of it, the western mountains weren’t exactly bustling. The neighboring Anhui and Hanam provinces were far more active. The idea of establishing a guild in the western mountains seed like a loss for the Moyong family.
I had thought it was because the treatnt was that important to them, but was it more complicated?
“I think it was sothing I said that caused the problem.”
“What?”
“My father… the head of the family… he really doesn’t like the idea of entrusting my body to an outsider. Especially soone who’s already engaged.”
“Well, that makes sense…”
“So I told him that even though you’re engaged, your heart actually belongs to , and you plan to break off the engagent and marry instead.”
Wha…?
“And I suggested that since you’re going to be his son-in-law soon, why not treat you like one in advance?”
“…What did you just say?”
“It seed to calm him down. Thankfully, everything worked out in the end.”
Moyong Hee-ah still wasn’t looking in the eye as she said this. She must have realized just how ridiculous it all sounded.
So, according to her story…
The White Heavenly Sword Master believed I was engaged to Namgung Bi-ah but had secretly fallen for Moyong Hee-ah and was planning to break off the engagent to marry her.
“…How did it get to that point?”
Just hearing it gave a headache.
How had things escalated to this?
“Well, like I said…”
When I pressed her for answers, Moyong Hee-ah responded.
“People make mistakes sotis, right?”
Was she really saying that with a straight face?
I stared at her, speechless.
Noticing my gaze, Moyong Hee-ah kept her head lowered.
An uncomfortable silence lingered.
Given her intelligence, she must have known what she needed to say at that mont. But her pride was holding her back.
Several more seconds passed.
Finally, unable to bear the awkward silence, Moyong Hee-ah spoke up.
“…I’m sorry.”
Hearing her apology, I nodded slightly.
Though she had tried to maintain her pride, once she let it slip, Moyong Hee-ah was quicker to admit her faults than I had expected. She probably had been building up to that apology from the beginning.
I couldn’t be sure, but based on my experience with her, that seed to be the case.
‘The situation…’
From the White Heavenly Sword Master’s perspective, I wasn’t what he had thought.
I was still engaged to the Namgung family.
And I had been involved with Wi Seol-ah, Tang So-ryeol, and even his own daughter, Moyong Hee-ah.
To make matters worse, I was regularly transferring heat to his daughter. It must have looked like I was touching her body under the pretense of treatnt.
Oh…
‘Yeah, I can see why he’d want to kill .’
I didn’t have children myself, so I couldn’t fully empathize, but I could imagine that from the White Heavenly Sword Master’s perspective, he’d want dead.
He’d probably want to chop into pieces and burn to ashes.
‘…This isn’t good.’
Really not good.
Now I understood why Moyong Hee-ah had suggested running away.
But the problem was, we couldn’t run.
Or maybe running would be better for the White Heavenly Sword Master? It might look like we were eloping, and that could calm him down.
Wait a minute…
I turned to Moyong Hee-ah, my thoughts racing.
Noticing my gaze, Moyong Hee-ah flinched slightly.
It seed she had figured out what I was thinking.
“…You…”
“Oh, it’s so hot. Don’t you think it’s hot today, Young Master?”
Even though it was spring, with traces of winter still in the air, and Moyong Hee-ah had a body that naturally emitted cold, she was suddenly claiming it was hot.
How believable.
“Hah.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
In this situation, at least it was better than the relationship we had in my previous life, where she would constantly ss with .
As that thought crossed my mind, I looked up at the sky.
‘Whether it’s the White Heavenly Sword Master or the Gathering of the Righteous Sects… I need to deal with that first.’
The black barrier that surrounded the area. I needed to break it if I was to move forward.
But I had no idea how to dispel it.
‘When I activated Demon Transformation, it seed to do so damage.’
Using the Red Sky technique after reaching the Fire Boundary, along with the martial arts I used during the Demon Transformation, had left so marks on it.
But the barrier quickly regenerated, making it a difficult opponent.
‘There must be another way.’
It seed that brute force wasn’t the answer. I needed to find a thod to undo it.
Perhaps I should locate the Black Dragon Sword, who was likely imprisoned sowhere, and see if I could get answers from him?
“…Young Master.”
‘But if the barrier is still intact even after the Black Dragon Sword was subdued, torture might not…’
“Young Master…!”
“Huh?”
As I was lost in thought, Moyong Hee-ah grabbed my shoulder and shook .
“What is it?”
“Look, over there.”
I followed her outstretched finger to see what she was pointing at.
“…What?”
Craack!
There, I saw sothing unusual happening to the black barrier.
The speed at which it was changing was much faster than when I had attacked it.
It didn’t take long to figure out what was happening.
The barrier was being erased.
******************
A dark space behind the Sinryong Hall.
The dim area, untouched by even a single beam of light, felt overwhelmingly unnatural.
It wasn’t underground.
Nor was it inside any building.
The black barrier that had enveloped the sky around the Sinryong Hall was of the sa nature as the one surrounding this place.
"Kkueeoo..."
Inside that space, a figure barely holding on to consciousness let out a pained groan.
It was the old man known as the Black Dragon Sword.
“Haa... haa...”
The monstrous appearance he had taken on with writhing tentacles was gone, and he had reverted to his original, frail human form.
Yet, despite having his limbs freed, his body didn’t move with ease.
His hands and feet were unbound, but the Black Dragon Sword looked as if he were bound by invisible chains, struggling against an unseen force.
Before him, a figure who had been silently watching approached and knelt down.
Upon recognizing the figure, the Black Dragon Sword clenched his teeth, letting out a furious growl.
“You... you bastard...”
“I’ll ask you.”
Despite the Black Dragon Sword’s murderous intent, the man—no, the Amwang—was entirely unfazed as he posed his question.
“Who is behind you?”
“You... you bastard! Amwang!!”
The old man’s voice, thick with killing intent, resounded with great intensity. It was filled with overwhelming emotion.
Yet for the Amwang, it was a voice devoid of aning, one he had heard far too many tis before. It held no significance to him anymore.
His deep, cold eyes, devoid of any feeling, regarded the Black Dragon Sword with indifference.
“I already know the answer, but I ask for confirmation. I would appreciate a response.”
“…You’ve betrayed ... forgotten our deal, have you?”
At the Black Dragon Sword’s sneering response, the Amwang tilted his head slightly in curiosity.
A deal?
“You claid you would never betray your client, but did you find the restrictions laughable?”
The Amwang raised his sleeve, revealing a mark on his arm—the symbol of the restriction.
From that mark, the skin was slowly rotting away, emitting a vile stench. The rot was undoubtedly a result of the restriction, and the pain must have been unbearable.
Yet, the Amwang showed no signs of discomfort.
“To say that you never betray your client…”
This was one of the reasons the Cheorya Assassination Corps was so feared.
Once they accepted a request, they never failed. Nor did they ever betray their client. It was an unwritten rule.
“Such a foolish statent…”
The Amwang had never liked that phrase.
“It’s simply because I kill everyone involved that no such stories ever spread. Your mind must be a field of flowers to believe otherwise.”
“…What did you just say?”
“And from the beginning, I had no intention of listening to you.”
Sshhk.
Thud.
As the Amwang spoke, he casually ran his fingers across his own arm, slicing it open.
The arm, marked with the restriction’s seal, was severed and fell to the ground with a thud.
“You…”
“It seems you’re struggling to answer, so let ask you sothing else.”
Unfazed by the fact that he had just cut off his own arm, the Amwang maintained the sa indifferent expression as before and asked the Black Dragon Sword another question.
“Is it true that the one behind you is the master of Taechun?”
At that quiet question, the Black Dragon Sword gritted his teeth even harder.
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