Chapter 96 – Beyond the Door (3)
Song Hwa-rin had seen Gwang-du a few tis before.
Until now, she had only known him as a servant of the Byeok Clan Sword Manor and Byeok Ri-dan.
But the Gwang-du displaying martial arts in front of her now looked more like a true martial artist than any other.
Swoosh!
Gwang-du’s saber slashed through the air with trendous force, as if ripping it apart. Thanks to having completely mastered the Seven Forms of the Southern Sea and practicing diligently every day without fail, its power was incomparably greater than when he first learned the martial art.
She should have turned away after seeing soone else’s martial arts training, but his saber techniques were so impressive and powerful that she couldn’t take her eyes off them.
Belatedly, she turned her body and made her presence known.
Gwang-du stopped his training and looked in her direction.
“Who’s there?”
Song Hwa-rin turned back around at Gwang-du’s question.
Recognizing Song Hwa-rin, Gwang-du’s eyes widened.
“Huhk!”
He was so surprised that Song Hwa-rin was startled too.
“Young Miss?”
“Yes, it’s .”
“Waaah! How did you co to be here, Young Miss?”
Gwang-du hurriedly ran over and bowed to her.
His excessive greeting made Song Hwa-rin bow her head as well.
At this, Gwang-du jumped up.
“How could you bow your head to a lowly person like ?”
“Lowly? Don’t say such things.”
She had never looked down on servants. Moreover, the martial arts she had just seen from Gwang-du were skills that no one could easily dismiss.
“But what brings you here?”
“I ca to Wuhan on an errand for my father. I heard that you were staying at this inn, so I stopped by briefly. The innkeeper told you were training here, so I ca.”
Unexpectedly, she had co to see Gwang-du training in martial arts, not Byeok Ri-dan.
Gwang-du wore a regretful expression.
“Young Master is not here at the mont.”
“Ah, I see. It’s alright, I just dropped by while passing.”
Of course, it wasn’t alright. She had volunteered for the errand because she wanted to see Byeok Ri-dan.
She had considered the possibility of not eting him since she ca without prior notice, but actually not seeing him made her feel disappointed.
“Please tell him I stopped by.”
“Of course.”
Gwang-du looked even more regretful. Wasn’t Gwang-du Song Hwa-rin’s absolute supporter?
“Young Miss.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t let our Young Master slip away!”
Song Hwa-rin was startled by this unexpected statent. She hadn’t expected Gwang-du to say such a thing.
Gwang-du was serious. In his earnest gaze, Song Hwa-rin could glimpse his sincere concern for Byeok Ri-dan. It wasn’t for his own sake. It was for Byeok Ri-dan, and sensing that sentint made her feel grateful and close to Gwang-du.
Song Hwa-rin answered vigorously.
“Yes.”
Even after answering, Song Hwa-rin was surprised at herself. She hadn’t expected to answer so energetically. It was a sentint she rarely showed even to Su-ran.
Perhaps she had received so sort of ‘encouragent’ from Gwang-du. Maybe she had been desperately wanting soone to cheer her on.
She smiled and added:
“In return, please help a lot.”
Gwang-du smiled brightly and said in a loud voice:
“Don’t worry! I’m always on your side, Young Miss!”
***
The very next day after drinking with Im Yeon-jeong, Ma Ryeong-in ca to see .
“How was yesterday?”
“What do you an?”
When I pretended not to know, Ma Ryeong-in smiled enigmatically.
“You seem to have taken a liking to her.”
“Why do you think that?”
“It’s written all over your face. That you really enjoyed it.”
“How could that be?”
I went to the mirror and looked at my face. The unfamiliar face of the naless traveler stared back at grumpily. Before I could even get used to Byeok Ri-dan’s face, I was now seeing a new face every day.
But it’s alright. It doesn’t matter what my face looks like. I was on a long journey to find my sword of the heart.
“There’s nothing written on my face.”
“Hahaha. How could you see your own feelings for a woman with your own eyes?”
I sat down in front of him again and said:
“I’ll be honest. I do like her.”
“What do you like about her so much?”
“She has a pretty face, an amazing body. And she’s smart too. She’s a really charming woman. If I could date a woman like that, I might even risk my life.”
“But she’s a dangerous woman.”
“I like dangerous won even more.”
Then I glared at him and asked:
“Don’t tell ? Are you jealous?”
“Hahaha. Of course not! I’m not the kind of person who covets a friend’s woman.”
“Friend?”
I showed a slightly flustered expression, but he said confidently:
“Yes, friend.”
“Fine. Then prove it.”
“How?”
“Take to her right now!”
Ma Ryeong-in shook his head with a troubled expression.
“She drank yesterday, it would be troubleso to disturb her work again today.”
I gave him a ‘See, I told you so’ look.
“Heh. I thought so.”
“It’s all for your life’s sake.”
Indeed, Ma Ryeong-in was a master. He knew that making more desperate before taking was more effective than taking right away.
If his opponent hadn’t been , they would have been helplessly played by his manipulation. Many must have fallen for it until now, and that’s how he got to his current position. If the tail is this formidable, how amazing must the body and head be?
“Instead, I’ll treat you to a grand drink today.”
“Hahaha. Sounds good.”
The fact that Ma Ryeong-in moved directly like this ant he had so purpose.
That day, I went to a brothel with Ma Ryeong-in and drank and played to our hearts’ content.
When I was thoroughly drunk, he finally revealed his true colors.
First, he let out a deep sigh.
“You look like the world’s about to end. Did sothing happen?”
“No.”
“Co on. Tell what’s wrong.”
After drinking several cups in succession and dismissing all the courtesans, he finally revealed his troubled state of mind.
“When the Golden Grand Banquet opens, my father and brothers will co here.”
“I suppose so.”
“Then I’ll have to see my brother.”
“Brother?”
“Ma Cheol-gun, I an.”
“Ah! You an the Great Hero Ma, the likely successor?”
At that, he snorted.
“Great Hero? Don’t make laugh. He’s not soone who should have the title ‘Great Hero’. He’s a person whose inside and outside are completely different.”
“Is that true?”
“He’s committed all sorts of dirty deeds behind the scenes. Even murder and rape.”
I couldn’t know what kind of person Ma Cheol-gun really was. But at least all these words Ma Ryeong-in was saying now were likely lies or slander.
“There’s no one trustworthy in the martial world, is there?”
I spoke casually, as if it had nothing to do with anyway.
Nevertheless, Ma Ryeong-in continued to badmouth Ma Cheol-gun. He was in the process of making him out to be soone who deserved to die.
“To think I have to lose the successor position to such a person!”
He expressed his anguish and drank several more cups of alcohol.
“Do you know why I’m doing all this? It’s to reclaim the successor position from him.”
“But how can you reclaim it?”
Ma Ryeong-in said nothing.
I spoke his thoughts for him.
“You’re thinking of killing him.”
Ma Ryeong-in didn’t answer, keeping his head down, then slowly raised his head to look at .
His face was filled with despair, borrowed from drunkenness. It was more intense and pitiful because it was an expression he had never shown before.
Without realizing it, I blurted out:
“I’ll…”
But I swallowed the words offering to kill him instead. I might feel a sudden surge of emotion, but it wasn’t a matter to hastily offer to do.
Ma Ryeong-in raised his cup, and I silently toasted with him.
That was the last cup, and our drinking session ended there.
***
For several days, Ma Ryeong-in didn’t co to see .
Instead, Joo Do-chi ca and gave one more simple job.
It was to eliminate a villain worth 6,000 nyang. Above all, maintaining the reputation of the Naless Hero was important. While the rumors about the Naless Hero had subsided a bit in Zhengzhou due to preparations for the Golden Grand Banquet, his popularity was still soaring in other regions.
This new act of eliminating a villain would keep the Naless Hero a topic of conversation.
I finished the job as quickly as possible and then conveyed to Joo Do-chi that I wanted to et Ma Ryeong-in.
Two days later, Ma Ryeong-in ca to see in person. He was moving according to his own ticulous plan.
“I drank too much that day.”
“I was so drunk too that I can’t even rember.”
“It’s fortunate you’ve forgotten my drunken behavior.”
“I rember one thing.”
“One thing?”
“What you want to do. The story about your brother.”
At that, Ma Ryeong-in showed a startled expression.
“I’ve been thinking about it carefully since that day.”
After a brief pause, I said:
“I’ll do that for you.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you say? That we seem to have a connection.”
“You!”
Ma Ryeong-in looked at with an impassioned expression. Then he shook his head and said:
“It won’t do. You’ll end up dead.”
“I’m going to die in a year anyway.”
“Aren’t we researching an antidote now?”
“That’s only if it gets developed. Do you think I’m a fool? If there was an antidote that could be developed, it would have been done already.”
I raised my hand to stop Ma Ryeong-in as he was about to say sothing.
“Don’t try to dissuade before I change my mind. This is the first ti in my life I’m sincerely stepping up for soone.”
“You!”
“Thanks to you, I’ve experienced being an unexpected hero. I’ve earned money. I’ve t a beautiful woman. I’ve made a friend. Isn’t it best to leave when the applause is loudest? But I have one request.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll kill Ma Cheol-gun on the last day of the Golden Grand Banquet. It’s the last festival of my life, shouldn’t I enjoy it to that extent?”
“Friend!”
Ma Ryeong-in’s eyes were filled with tears as he grasped my hand.
Beneath those tears, he must be laughing with joy. He must be feeling elated at having manipulated a human being at will.
But you will never know. What I’m thinking right now.
Your tears will beco real tears.
***
After that day, I often went to the mansion with Joo Do-chi.
Of course, I was still blindfolded. Ma Ryeong-in made excuses about it being an absolute rule of the organization that even he couldn’t change.
Instead, Ma Ryeong-in’s treatnt of changed. Fearing that I might change my mind, he was careful with every word he said. He put up with my grumbling and tried to emphasize ‘us’ with kind words as much as possible.
Of course, as soone skilled in social tactics, he used the most powerful and sure thod to keep my heart.
After holding back and holding back, he finally let et Im Yeon-jeong today.
“Did you hear about ?”
“I heard you made a foolish decision.”
She was calm. While it’s true that she had shown special interest in , it wasn’t enough to want to save my life.
“I thought I’d found a good drinking companion, what a sha.”
“Is there almost no chance of surviving?”
“None.”
At her firm answer, I sighed.
“That’s unfortunate.”
Her lips moved slightly then stopped. She was about to say sothing but didn’t. It seems she felt it was a bit of a waste to just kill .
“Let ask sothing I’m curious about before I die. What exactly does your organization do?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“I’m about to die soon, can’t you show that much generosity?”
This is a crucial mont. Please, just casually drop one word.
But she wasn’t easy.
“You’re about to die soon, so there’s no need to show generosity.”
“You’re cold.”
“The martial world is not just cold, it’s ruthless. You have no eye for people, your ears are blocked, and even your heart is weak. You deserve to die.”
“How can you say such harsh things?”
I looked at her as if dumbfounded, then sighed.
“What can I do? That’s just how I’m made.”
Now the Golden Grand Banquet was just three days away. I had said I would kill Ma Cheol-gun on the last day, so I had thirteen days left.
Within that ti, I needed to find out who was behind these people. Now that I had beco the blade to kill Ma Cheol-gun, I was in an advantageous position in many ways.
“Alright. Then answer this.”
“What is it?”
“What’s in the room across from this one? I felt so powerful energy.”
At that ti, that energy had been emitted quite blatantly.
“There’s a very scary person there.”
“A scary person?”
Was that trendous energy really emitted by a person? Honestly, I was dubious.
It was too powerful to be a person’s energy, but too vivid to be the energy of sothing else.
So I had concluded that, like her laboratory here, it was so complex combination of things I couldn’t imagine emitting such energy.
But that energy was entirely emitted by a person?
It’s energy similar to or slightly less than mine during my ti as the Alliance Leader.
That ans it’s trendous energy. Of course, just because the energy felt is strong doesn’t an that person is that strong.
But martial artists tend to display skills very close to the energy they emit.
Who on earth could it be?
I had encountered an unexpected variable nad Im Yeon-jeong when I entered this door. And now there was another variable beyond the opposite door.
Anyway, for now, I need to continue finding out about the background organization according to my plan.
“Do you have soone you like?”
Im Yeon-jeong looked at at my sudden question.
“Why do you ask?”
“Didn’t Young Master Ma tell you?”
“Tell what?”
“So he was jealous after all.”
To her puzzled look, I said:
“That I…”
It was right then. There was a sound outside the door.
“It’s .”
It was Number Two’s voice.
“I’m coming in for a mont.”
Soon the door opened and Number Two entered. He wasn’t alone.
I was surprised to see the person who ca with him. But I couldn’t show my surprise.
Number Two said to Im Yeon-jeong:
“A new person has co down from the organization, so I’ve brought them to greet you.”
The woman who ca with him bowed politely to her and said:
“I’m Number Seven.”
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