Chapter 231: Chapter 231
[Honestly. Are you already thinking of having a weapon made for a child who has not even been born yet?]
In the darkness, a smile hovered at the speaking woman’s lips.
She was speaking as though she found him hopeless, but her expression looked so lovely that Ak Byeong-bi grinned and played along.
[It is your child and mine. The child will probably become the greatest under heaven. For a child like that, even preparing now would be late.]
The woman shook her head as if there was no helping him.
[Just how great a burden do you intend to place on the child, dear?]
In truth, Ak Byeong-bi did not wish for anything great from the child.
He had merely wondered what he could give the child soon to be born to express this overwhelming feeling.
The fact that his conclusion had been a weapon was, even in his own opinion, somewhat pathetic.
The woman tenderly stroked her belly.
[I only want our child to live healthy and happy.]
[Hmm…… Then what should I prepare? Should I buy land or an inn?]
[Goodness……]
The way the woman shook her head as though scolding him for not understanding what mattered at all was lovely to Ak Byeong-bi.
That gaze looking at him as though he were hopeless was something Ak Byeong-bi liked.
That face, smiling brightly at him as though she had gained the entire world just by looking at him, was simply lovely.
[All you have to do is stay by my side.]
Was that alone enough?
Could someone live happily with only such a small thing?
[Yes. That alone is enough. For me and our child.]
⦙
⦙
⦙
[But……]
Blood flowed from the woman’s lips.
[But…… you……]
Blood began pouring between her feet.
[You cannot even do that much……]
The woman collapsed to the floor and reached out resentfully.
Ak Byeong-bi tried to run to her like a madman, but the chains binding his entire body held him fast, leaving him unable to move an inch.
[Heh, Heh, Heh…… You incompetent bastard……]
Gu Gye-ak, who had hidden the woman from sight, looked at Ak Byeong-bi as though he were pathetic.
At that gaze, fire lit in Ak Byeong-bi’s eyes.
“You bastard……! You bastard……!”
[Live your whole life bearing regret and despair.]
“Gu Gye-ak!!!”
Clank, clank.
He dragged up all his inner arts and struggled desperately, but his body would not move.
Heave, heave, heave.
Ak Byeong-bi began convulsing so violently that the entire bed shook.
The physicians and Medicine Women all rushed in and tried to restrain him, but Ak Byeong-bi refused to quiet down.
“Numbing Acupoint! Press his Numbing Acupoint!”
“It is not working, Physician!”
“It seems he is using Innate True Qi……”
“Damn it!”
He had heard stories that, among martial artists, there were occasionally those who used their qi even while unconscious, but this was the first time he had heard of someone using even Innate True Qi.
Just what was making this patient struggle so desperately?
“There is no other way.”
At that moment, Dang Seo-hui, who had been waiting as the guardian, uncrossed her arms and stepped forward.
“I shall try.”
The physician shook his head.
“No medicine or needle is working on the patient right now! Please step aside.”
“I know because I have seen it. But……”
Three small mother-of-pearl bottles and three long acupuncture needles appeared from Dang Seo-hui’s robes.
“We have not tried poison yet.”
“Pardon? What do you…… If you do that, this patient will……”
“I will use it only to the extent that he will not die. So…… there is no need to worry.”
When Dang Seo-hui waved her hand as though fanning them away, the physicians and Medicine Women stepped back at the same time.
Ak Byeong-bi’s eyes had rolled back until only the whites were visible, and he looked ready to make his True Qi explode and fall into Qi Deviation at any moment.
Dang Seo-hui began moving her hands with eyes that had sunk coldly.
“We will be in great trouble. He must not die like this.”
The hands of the White-Hand Divine Maiden began to move.
The physicians and Medicine Women witnessed firsthand why the epithet “White-Hand” had been attached to her name.
Day two since the incident.
The number of people outside the lodging had increased.
Beyond the existing guards, there were even people loitering around the pavilion.
There were people from the Yellow Sand Sect, and there were also people whose Sensory Perception I had never felt before.
“There are more and more people.”
At my words, Blood Battle clicked his tongue while looking at a go record.
“They were already children with plenty of dissatisfaction toward the Murim Alliance, were they not? A fine spark has caught fire.”
“Still, if it is you, Elder Blood Battle, you can handle them all, can you not?”
“Eh?”
What do you mean, “eh”? Hey, then why are you even here?
“Did you not come here to protect us?”
“Well, on the surface, yes, but would the greater purpose not be to watch you so you cannot flee?”
“……”
Even if both sides had already noticed what lay behind the scenes, that was not something one said so openly.
I only ruined my own mood by bringing it up for nothing.
In any case, it was dangerous to keep waiting like this.
I did not know what decision would be made inside the Black Thought Alliance, and if I simply kept waiting quietly for that decision, I might even miss the time when I needed to respond.
“Please let me meet the Black Thought Alliance Leader.”
“Hm? Why are you telling me that?”
“Because, right now, you are the only person I can ask for help, Lord Blood Battle.”
“Help?”
Blood Battle smirked, but his eyes did not leave the go record.
“Do you think I would have such authority?”
“You, the famed Lord Blood Battle under heaven, are no fool. There is no way you would obediently follow just because an organization called the Black Thought Alliance was formed. You likely came here because of a personal request from the Black Thought Alliance Leader, did you not?”
Blood Battle’s eyebrow twitched.
“You sharp bastard. As expected, you really are different from the other Rising Stars, is that it?”
After saying something I could not understand, Blood Battle asked casually.
“What are you planning to do if you meet him?”
“I need to resolve the problem.”
“The problem?”
I had regressed and come all the way here.
I also had no certainty that a third life was still promised to me.
So I could not die in a place like this-
“It is not as though I can simply die like this, can I?”
“Hooh?”
Blood Battle’s gaze turned to me for the first time.
“Are you saying that even if you die when the time comes, you will struggle to the end?”
“Why are you already certain that I am going to die?”
“If not, so be it.”
Blood Battle looked back down at the go record and began playing go again, as though he had no interest at all.
Was this simply not his business anyway?
“Then how about making a wager with me?”
I looked at the go record in his hand.
Blood Battle also looked up at me, seemingly intrigued.
“A wager?”
“If I win ten games of go, please arrange a meeting with the Black Thought Alliance Leader.”
“Ha, ha. This bastard, I humored you, and now you are trying to grab me by the hair! In that case-.”
Blood Battle, who had been cackling, suddenly erased his smile.
“What will you give me if you lose?”
I did not avoid his gaze.
“What do you want?”
A smile once again hovered at Blood Battle’s lips.
“Your life.”
Il-myeong, who had been sitting facing the wall off to one side, whipped his head around.
“Benefactor Jin!”
A moment later, Blood Battle’s cold voice weighed down the air.
“If you dislike that, sit quietly. Even the impudence you have shown so far has made me more than a little displeased.”
Il-myeong, who had approached before I knew it, grabbed my arm and tugged.
I shook off his hand and stepped forward.
“Very well.”
“What?”
“Benefactor Jin!”
I raised a hand and stopped Il-myeong from speaking.
“But if I win, you must keep your promise.”
“……”
Blood Battle’s expression became more emotionless than ever.
“Do my words sound like a joke to you?”
“Of course not.”
“Then do you not know how precious your life is?”
“Neither is the case.”
I sat across from him and looked straight into his eyes.
“I simply have no intention of stupidly waiting for death.”
“……”
Then, after arranging the go stones, I picked up a white stone.
Blood Battle, who had quietly followed my movements, leaned forward.
“I do not dislike impudent bastards. But I never leave arrogant bastards alone.”
Blood Battle took the white stone from me.
“I will not take your life. Instead, I will take your left arm.”
If my right arm was cut off, I could not use a sword, but if my left arm was cut off, I would lose the Azure Dragon Bracelet.
But right now, I had no other alternative.
“……Understood.”
“Benefactor Jin!”
I looked at Il-myeong and gave a small shake of my head, then placed a black stone on the go board.
The match began in an instant.
Blood Battle’s eyes sank calmly.
“Flame Ghost Consort.”
“Yes.”
“Hold his left arm.”
“Hmm…… There is no helping it. Even if he loses one arm, my dear husband will still be my dear husband.”
Shrrrk.
In that instant, Flame Ghost Consort undid the ornament she had worn at her waist, and it wrapped around my left arm with a rattling sound.
Was what she wore at her waist a soft sword?
“You can play go with only your right hand, can you not?”
“……I leave it in your hands.”
CLACK- CLACK- CLACK- CLACK- CLACK-
Only the sound of go stones moving echoed through the room.
“It is not known to the world, but I have several identities.”
CLACK- CLACK- CLACK- CLACK- CLACK- CLACK-
My speed was one thing, but the speed with which Blood Battle placed his go stones was no joke.
“One of them is the identity of the Imperial Go Master, ‘Doa.’”
My hand stopped dead.
To think the name of “Doa,” the former Imperial Court’s go teacher and the creator of countless marvelous go records, would appear here.
Blood Battle also stopped his hand for a moment and looked across at me.
“Do you know Doa?”
Because I had first learned go through “Doa’s” records, his name was one I could never forget even if I tried.
“……This truly is the end of days. To think Blood Battle was Doa…… How were you not caught? It should have been quickly exposed that you were a Black Path figure.”
“They simply could not cast me out. My skill must have been too valuable for them to keep me away merely because I belonged to the Black Path.”
CLACK- CLACK- CLACK- CLACK- CLACK- CLACK-
Our speed returned to what it had been.
Neither Blood Battle nor I yielded even slightly in the speed of playing go.
As though doing me a favor after revealing his identity, Blood Battle asked me.
“Do you now understand whom you made a wager with?”
“……Yes.”
“Apologize even now and sit quietly. Then I will count you as having played against me and will not take your arm.”
Apparently even a Black Path man had something called mercy.
Truly, it was enough to write the character for astonishment.
However.
I shook my head without the slightest hesitation.
“Let us continue the wager.”
“……What?”
“As I said, I cannot die like this.”
Honestly, I had no confidence in beating him through martial arts.
Unless it were a Life-and-Death Battle, perhaps.
Escape from his grasp?
It would probably be easier to escape from the Buddha’s palm. At least the Buddha would not smash your skull, right?
But go was different from martial arts.
“And when it comes to go, I am confident too.”
I began pulling out the tens of thousands of go records stored in the book repository inside my head.
After hearing that Ak Byeong-bi had awakened, Hwang Bu-sik headed to the lodging where the Envoy Delegation was staying.
Originally, it was a matter he should have reported separately, but he had shown consideration so they could at least exchange final farewells among themselves.
‘In any case, it is no different from owing a debt to the Black Flame Dragon.’
When Hwang Bu-sik reached the lodging, he frowned at the Black Path martial artists who had camped nearby and were pouring out killing intent.
The bastards who put their own emotions before procedure had hurriedly taken their places here before any decision had even come down from the Black Thought Alliance command.
Those stupid bastards did not realize in the slightest that this was exactly why they were pushed back by the Orthodox Path martial sects every time.
“Clear those bastards away.”
“Yes.”
At Hwang Bu-sik’s order, the iron-armored warriors dispersed the Black Path martial artists gathered near the lodging all at once.
There was a little resistance, but as of yet, no one openly rebelled.
But how long would that last?
Gu Gye-ak, who had essentially been the head of the pro-war faction, was dead, yet public opinion inside the Black Thought Alliance had, rather, gained even more strength in favor of the pro-war faction’s argument.
Those who had merely been watching from behind Gu Gye-ak began stepping forward one by one and building their own forces, while the peace faction figures often lost even the little foothold they had and were pushed backward.
At this rate, a real war might break out.
Hwang Bu-sik shook his head to clear away his thoughts and entered the Envoy Delegation’s lodging.
Contrary to his expectation that they would have continued waiting for him, the Envoy Delegation and the watchers were gathered together with their heads close even after he came in.
‘Go?’
Hwang Bu-sik hurried closer in puzzlement.
Blood Battle and Jin So-un were playing a game, and Flame Ghost Consort had wrapped Jin So-un’s left arm with her concealed weapon, the Soft-Thread Sword.
CLACK- CLACK- CLACK- CLACK- CLACK- CLACK-
Blood Battle’s skill at go was famous even within the Black Path Murim, but what surprised Hwang Bu-sik was, rather, Jin So-un’s movements.
He was matching Blood Battle’s speed and placing go stones without slowing, as though the two were exchanging a sword dance.
CLACK- CLACK- CLACK- CLACK- CLACK- CLACK-
When it came to go, Hwang Bu-sik knew only the basic rules, but even he could clearly tell that the moves the two were exchanging were no ordinary thing.
‘Still, he cannot beat Elder Blood Battle.’
He did not know what the circumstances were, but after realizing that Jin So-un was in danger of having his arm cut off, Hwang Bu-sik could not help but sigh.
After all, Blood Battle was famous for collecting the price of any wager.
Jin So-un’s arm was already as good as severed.
‘Is this as far as he goes?’
Rising Stars always overestimated their abilities like this and ultimately fell flat.
It was deeply regrettable that even the Black Flame Dragon, whom he had thought would be different, was ultimately walking the same path as the other Rising Stars.
Hwang Bu-sik approached the board to see how the situation was unfolding.
The two continued placing stones without pause for quite some time.
The first one whose hand faltered was Blood Battle.
‘Mm? Huh……!’
Blood Battle could not take his eyes off Jin So-un’s face, as if he were aggrieved.
Tremble, tremble.
Blood Battle’s body began trembling finely.
Hwang Bu-sik felt as though he might faint from shock.
Blood Battle had already been an absolute master of such lofty realm that he had seemed distant even when Hwang Bu-sik was a child.
Yet that ever-composed face of his had hardened stiffly.
It was a sight difficult to believe even while seeing it with his own eyes.
‘……He drove Elder Blood Battle into a corner with go?’
How many go masters existed in the Black Path Murim…… no, in the entire Jianghu, who could fluster a man said to have few rivals like this?
Blood Battle’s angry voice cut through the air.
“How did you do it?”
“I did not do anything. It is just. My. Skill.”
He did not know go well, but judging by the mood, he could tell that Jin So-un held the advantage.
“……”
After glaring at Jin So-un for a long while, Blood Battle let out a sigh and placed two go stones on the board.
It was the two-stone concession that meant he admitted defeat.
The Soft-Thread Sword that had been wrapped around Jin So-un’s arm came loose, and Blood Battle lowered his head.
“That makes all ten wins. Please keep your promise.”
“Very well.”
Did that mean he had not merely won one game, but ten?
Jin So-un noticed Hwang Bu-sik’s dumbfounded expression and said,
“Has the Delegation Leader woken up?”
“……Huh? Y-yes.”
“May I go now?”
“Ahem. Yes, let us go.”
The absolute master had lowered his head.
By contrast, the Rising Star who had only just begun to shine proudly straightened his shoulders and walked outside.
For some reason, Hwang Bu-sik felt that this strange sight seemed natural.
Ak Byeong-bi’s condition looked serious even to me, who had no specialized knowledge.
A grayish face.
Eyes that looked scorched black around the sockets.
According to the physician, Dang Seo-hui had forcibly awakened a man who originally should not have been able to wake.
He certainly did not look well.
Still, now was not the time to be considerate of this man’s condition.
Because of. This. Man. All of us were in danger of dying too.
“Why did you do it?”
Ak Byeong-bi weakly raised his head and looked at me with eyes like dead fish.
Within those eyes, where blood vessels had risen like spiderwebs, complex emotions such as bitter remorse, regret, and despair had settled.
“I……”
He parted his dry lips and spat out a rough voice.
“Did not do it.”
“Right now…… this is not a situation where you can escape the crisis with deceitful words.”
“……”
I snapped at him when he firmly closed his mouth again.
“The lives of not only you, Delegation Leader, but the entire Envoy Delegation are at stake.”
This incident would absolutely not end with Ak Byeong-bi’s life alone.
It would affect the Envoy Delegation, of course, and even the Murim Alliance and the warriors dispatched to Sichuan.
In other words, if he was going to make a pile of shit, he had made a truly enormous one.
“That is the situation we are in.”
Ak Byeong-bi, who could not even open his eyes properly, squeezed out his voice.
“Is ‘that bastard’ definitely dead?”
“Anyone could tell they were traces of the Ak Clan’s Raging Fire Spear.”
Ak Byeong-bi lowered his head deeply and fell into profound remorse, remaining silent for a long time.
Then, at last, he raised his head.
“If this can be settled with my life alone, I do not care. But…… I definitely did not do it.”
“……”
At those completely unexpected words, not only I, but Il-myeong and Dang Seo-hui also pressed our lips shut.
“It is something I have hoped for a hundred times, a thousand times, hoped for over and over again. I swore and swore again that if the day ever came when I could cast away everything I carried on my back…… I would run to the Yellow Sand Sect without delay, no matter when that moment came. But……!”
His dry, cracked voice rang out so loudly that it grated on the ears like someone scraping an iron plate.
“This time, I truly did not do it!”
“Can you swear to that?”
“……I stake the honor of the Ak Clan……”
I stared down at his bloodshot eyes.
“No, not that. Stake something more precious.”
Ak Byeong-bi glared at me with eyes that looked ready to kill.
Grind.
He gnashed his teeth and barely spat the words out.
“……I can say it while staking my dead wife and my unborn child.”
It looked as though blood might pour from his lips at any moment.
“……This worthless father failed to take revenge with his own hands.”
His expression looked as though he would rather have taken that revenge with his own hands.
Seeing that, I could no longer doubt him.
“Then what happened to your wound, Delegation Leader?”
“I do not know. I thought you bastards had returned and was simply drinking wine, but my side burned, and I collapsed on the spot.”
If I took Ak Byeong-bi’s words as they were, it meant someone had attacked Gu Gye-ak and Ak Byeong-bi separately and made the people around them believe that Ak Byeong-bi had ambushed Gu Gye-ak……
Did that make any realistic sense?
It would make far more sense that Ak Byeong-bi, driven by revenge, had picked up his spear and put a hole in Gu Gye-ak’s chest.
And yet, for some reason, I trusted the words of this man who had only shown me such pathetic sights more.
“This is driving me mad.”
Il-myeong and Dang Seo-hui’s expressions were not much different from mine.
Sharp as they were, they must have understood better than anyone how serious this situation was.
At that moment, Ak Byeong-bi opened his mouth.
“If the situation cannot be brought under control, pass all responsibility onto me.”
“……”
“And somehow make it so that no harm reaches the Murim Alliance. ……If it is you, you can do it.”
What the hell was this man saying? How was I supposed to do something that difficult……
Bow.
Ak Byeong-bi lowered his head.
“……What are you doing?”
“I ask this of you. If you do that much for me, I will speak to my clan and make certain you receive sufficient compensation.”
What is this? Why is this man suddenly doing something he never does?
“If you were attacked, then someone else trapped you through hidden schemes, Delegation Leader. Do you not feel wronged?”
“I cannot place you all, as well as the Murim Alliance and Sichuan’s warriors, in danger merely to clear my own grievance, can I?”
Ak Byeong-bi looked straight into my eyes.
“Moreover, whatever the case, the result amounts to my revenge having been taken. I have no lingering attachment to life anymore. So hang everything on me as much as you like and move forward.”
“You say horrifying things.”
“Jin So-un!”
He called my name with all his strength, then spoke in a heavy voice.
“You cannot move forward by resolving every absurdity and contradiction in the world. At times, some things must simply be carried as you move forward. And-.”
His eyes flashed brightly.
“This is precisely such a time.”
“……”
“So move forward. Neither I nor the Ak Clan will resent you or hold you responsible for this matter.”
There was no way a man I had loathed to the bone would suddenly look good to me just because he said something like this.
To begin with, I had no intention of moving forward while resolving every absurdity and contradiction in the world, just as he said.
However.
“I will consider doing that only when a bigger problem arises.”
“Jin So-un!”
I lightly patted the shoulder of Ak Byeong-bi, who had lost his strength and was barely holding himself upright.
“For this incident, all we need to do is find the culprit who ambushed the Delegation Leader and Gu Gye-ak, is it not?”
I had no intention of choosing only the easy paths already.
There was no way such a path could be the correct answer either.
“So do not worry. I swear I will catch the culprit.”
“……”
I spoke my firm resolve.
“On my grandfather’s honor!”
Ak Byeong-bi gritted his teeth and whipped his head away.
“……”
Just as I was about to leave Ak Byeong-bi to collect his emotions, Dang Seo-hui, who had been quietly watching, tilted her head.
“Was Jin So-un’s grandfather a famous constable?”
“……No. He worked as an Escort in Anhui Province.”
Her head tilted even farther to the side.
“……Then why did you stake your grandfather’s honor?”
I gave a small shrug.
“Because he is the only person in my family who is even somewhat famous.”
“……”
Ak Byeong-bi, who had turned his head away, and Il-myeong looked at me with dumbfounded eyes.
Tsk.
Honestly, she had gone and ruined a perfectly good mood by asking about something that was not even important.