Chapter 81
How a Man of the Heaven Defying Alliance Takes Back His Woman (1)
Cheongeuk had been feeling down for the past few days.
When Nasarin heard about it, she came to visit and kept her company, telling stories about assassins from the old days that always began with, “Back in our day…”
“…I’m telling you, it’s true. Back then, we sometimes hid inside latrines for days at a time. We would stay there with nothing but a single tube to breathe through until the assassination target finally arrived. And we actually took pride in it. We were terribly old-fashioned. If you told young assassins these days to crawl into a latrine, they’d run away on the spot. Ah, you remember Gwangsal, don’t you? One day, that fellow…”
Cheongeuk, who had been listening quietly, suddenly interrupted.
“Grandmother!”
At the word “Grandmother,” Nasarin stopped speaking in surprise.
“Alliance Leader? Why would you suddenly call me that?”
Cheongeuk had spent several days in a bad mood simply because the Blood Cult Leader had sent a matchmaker.
Baek Socheon had once told her that people often worried about pointless things and failed to worry about what truly mattered.
That was exactly what she had been doing.
Idiot. So what if it’s another woman?
What she should have been worrying about right now was Nasarin’s health and the relationship between the two of them.
“From now on, I’m going to call you Grandmother. So you should treat me more casually too.”
“You mustn’t, Alliance Leader.”
“I should have done this much earlier. I’m already far too late. From now on, I’ll treat you like my real grandmother.”
“Alliance Leader!”
“You know how stubborn I am, right? They say no parent can win against their child. Give up, Grandmother.”
Nasarin sighed.
It was not as though she had no desire to treat Cheongeuk comfortably like her own granddaughter.
But Nasarin had spent her entire life devoting herself to a single cause, and her loyalty to the Alliance was stronger than her personal feelings.
“I’m quite stubborn myself. No, Alliance Leader.”
“This isn’t only for you. It’s for me too. I don’t feel at ease like this.”
“It still cannot be allowed.”
Cheongeuk tried every argument she could think of, but in the end, she failed to break Nasarin’s resolve.
Part of her wondered whether titles truly mattered as long as they cared for each other.
Even so, she wanted to treat Nasarin as her real grandmother.
She felt that doing so would be one small way of repaying the love Nasarin had shown her.
“Alliance Leader, I’m happy with things as they are.”
Nasarin gently took Cheongeuk’s hand.
She already thought of her as a real granddaughter anyway.
And if she could preserve her loyalty toward both the Assassin Alliance and its leader while doing so, Nasarin believed that was actually the better way to care for her.
At that moment, Baek Socheon entered.
“Have you been well, Elder?”
“Come in.”
“I stopped by because there’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“Sit.”
Nasarin was deeply knowledgeable about the Blood Cult’s sorcery.
Baek Socheon had come because he thought she might know something about Meol Jiryun.
“Should I leave?”
“No, you can stay.”
Cheongeuk, who had started to get up, sat back down.
Baek Socheon sat beside her and asked Nasarin,
“Do you happen to know anything about Meol Jiryun, the daughter of Blood Cult Leader Meolsaeng?”
“That’s a name I haven’t heard in quite some time.”
“Do you know what kind of person she is?”
“Meolsaeng went his whole life without children, and then when he was already old, he suddenly brought home a daughter. That child was Meol Jiryun.”
“Have you ever seen her?”
“I saw her once, long ago, when she was still a child. I remember her as a quiet girl. But why are you asking about her?”
Cheongeuk still had not told Nasarin about the matchmaker.
No matter how much she cared for Nasarin, she believed public and private matters had to remain separate.
If anyone was going to tell her, it should be Baek Socheon.
Baek Socheon honestly explained what had happened with the Blood Cult’s matchmaker.
Only then did Nasarin understand why Cheongeuk had been so gloomy for the past few days.
“It seems you’ll have no choice but to become entangled with the Blood Cult.”
“It appears so. Do you have any idea why they might have made this proposal?”
Nasarin shook her head.
At that moment, Cheongeuk cut in.
“There’s no way the real one will come.”
Baek Socheon nodded.
He had thought the same thing, but that did not mean they could be certain a fake would come either.
Until they understood the reason behind this entire affair, they could not afford to be certain of anything.
Then Nasarin remembered something.
“There is something my master told me a long time ago. I heard that Meolsaeng’s blood relatives have gray eyes, like those of a dead person. And when they become angry, their eyes gradually turn red. Would that help?”
“Absolutely. That could be very useful.”
At the very least, it gave them a way to determine whether the Meol Jiryun coming here was genuine.
“Then I’ll be going. Thank you for telling me.”
At that moment, Nasarin stopped him.
“Do you have some time?”
“Yes.”
“There is something I want to teach you.”
“Please tell me.”
“Starting now, I’m going to teach you a secret art that will prevent you from being affected by Soul Enchantment, as well as a method for removing Gu.”
“Elder!”
She had previously taught Baek Socheon a secret method for identifying someone who had fallen under Soul Enchantment.
But what she was offering to teach him now was far more valuable.
“Your realm is already so high that ordinary Soul Enchantment Arts would have little effect on you. But you could still fall victim to the techniques or Gu of Meolsaeng or his master, Jeokparap. Meol Jiryun was likely trained by them as well, so her sorcery will not be simple. However, if you learn my secret technique, you should at least be able to prevent yourself from falling victim to them in the first place.”
Even Cheongeuk, who was sitting beside them, was startled.
This was Nasarin’s personal secret art.
She had never taught it even to Cheongeuk.
“I’ll wait outside.”
“Please do, Alliance Leader.”
Nasarin would not pass her personal secret art to the Alliance Leader.
Even if she did not formally take Cheongeuk as a disciple, teaching her that secret art would still make Nasarin her master in practice.
Nasarin’s unwavering principle and wish was to serve Cheongeuk as Alliance Leader until the very moment of her death.
It was stubborn and old-fashioned, perhaps, but it was a conviction she had never once abandoned.
Once the two of them were alone, Baek Socheon asked apologetically,
“Is it truly all right for you to teach me such a precious secret art?”
“I would never teach it to anyone else. But you and I share a special connection, don’t we?”
Baek Socheon understood.
Her kindness came from her concern for both the Assassin Alliance and Cheongeuk.
He now fully understood that Nasarin cared for Cheongeuk with the heart of a parent watching over their child.
“Thank you, Elder.”
“Now, I don’t intend to keep a busy man here all day. Listen carefully to what I’m about to teach you.”
“Yes.”
She taught him how to prepare medicine capable of removing Gu, which acupoints required needles, and which points had to be pressed and with precisely how much force.
“Fortunately, the procedure for removing Gu can even be performed on oneself.”
Taking the medicine used to remove Gu would normally cause a person to fall asleep, but a master of Baek Socheon’s level could remain conscious.
The reason Yeomhwasin had not fallen asleep during the earlier treatment was likewise because his cultivation realm was so high.
Nasarin did not merely teach Baek Socheon how to remove Gu.
She also passed down a secret method for blocking an opponent’s Soul Enchantment Art.
Teaching someone how to perform Soul Enchantment itself would have taken a long time, but this method was simply a mnemonic formula used to shut down another person’s technique.
Now that Baek Socheon had completely recovered his internal energy, he had little difficulty comprehending her teachings.
Even before this, he had possessed enough skill that Soul Enchantment would rarely have worked on him.
Now he no longer needed to worry about falling victim to it at all.
Because Soul Enchantment was a martial art based on sorcery, his resistance to other kinds of sorcery had also increased considerably.
Once the transmission was complete, Nasarin tested him.
“Now, try blocking my Soul Enchantment.”
Nasarin merely looked at Baek Socheon.
Her eyes did not turn red, nor did any visible change occur.
The highest realm of her Soul Enchantment Art left absolutely no outward sign.
But Baek Socheon remained unaffected.
He could now completely block even Nasarin’s Soul Enchantment.
Nasarin smiled broadly.
“That’s enough. I guarantee you, there is no one alive in this age who can bewitch you now.”
Baek Socheon did not offer another word of thanks.
“I understand very well what it is you truly wish for, Elder.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
No more words were necessary.
The person Nasarin truly cared about was waiting outside the door.
“Did everything go well?”
***
Yeom Sawon entered the Alliance Leader’s Hall of the Heaven Defying Alliance.
Warriors stood in rows on either side, extending their swords to form a passageway.
The statues inside were not as enormous as the colossal stone statue standing at the entrance of the Heaven Defying Alliance, but they were still several times taller than a man.
At the far end stood a staircase, and above it rested a gigantic grand chair.
The chair was roughly three times larger than an ordinary one.
Yeomhwasin sat upon it.
Yeom Sawon walked to the bottom of the stairs and respectfully greeted his father.
“You summoned me?”
Yeom Sawon was frightened.
He must have called me here to scold me because of that woman.
He already knew that the Assassin Alliance’s rejection had made him something of a laughingstock within the Heaven Defying Alliance.
“If this is about what happened before, I apologize.”
“What happened before?”
Yeomhwasin’s voice resembled the low growl of a tiger deep in the forest.
“The matter involving the Assassin Alliance.”
“What matter involving the Assassin Alliance?”
Yeomhwasin continued questioning him with a look that clearly demanded he speak properly and explain himself.
“I mean the incident where I submitted a one-nyang assassination request and was rejected.”
Yeomhwasin asked,
“Why are you apologizing for that?”
“What?”
“I asked why you should apologize.”
Yeom Sawon became flustered.
Damn it.
His father was always like this.
He acted as though he gave Yeom Sawon limitless freedom, then suddenly cornered him like this.
Would it really be so difficult to simply explain what he had done wrong and gently tell him how to fix it?
“I damaged the honor of our Alliance by placing an assassination request worth only one nyang.”
Then Yeomhwasin said something unexpected.
“Your request was not meaningless.”
“What?”
“Sometimes, a man needs to be able to submit an assassination request for a single nyang. If you are my son, then of course you should be capable of something like that.”
Yeom Sawon’s face instantly brightened.
As expected! Father does acknowledge me!
Then Yeomhwasin added coldly,
“But you chose the wrong target.”
“You mean Baek Socheon?”
“Yes. He is not someone you can handle.”
Yeom Sawon’s expression twisted immediately.
He would rather have been scolded for doing something stupid.
Instead, he was being compared to Baek Socheon.
“Even though that bastard doesn’t have a shred of internal energy?”
Yeomhwasin clearly understood his son’s feelings, but answered without hesitation.
“Yes. Even without a shred of internal energy, you still cannot handle him.”
Yeom Sawon clenched his molars.
Yeomhwasin was clearly enjoying his son’s anger.
Otherwise, there would have been no reason for him to share the next piece of news at this exact moment.
“I have something new to tell you.”
“Please speak.”
“It concerns Meol Jiryun.”
“I’m not marrying her!”
The Heaven Defying Alliance had previously sent a matchmaker to the Blood Cult.
The goal had been to solidify their alliance by arranging a marriage between Yeom Sawon and Meol Jiryun.
Yeomhwasin had moved forward without even asking his son’s opinion, and Yeom Sawon had angrily declared that he would never marry her.
“It seems you won’t have to. The Blood Cult rejected our proposal and sent a matchmaker to Baek Socheon instead.”
Yeom Sawon was stunned.
“What did you say?”
It was completely unexpected.
Baek Socheon again.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Killing intent began to fill Yeom Sawon’s eyes.
He even forgot that he was standing before his father and began releasing murderous aura openly.
“AAAAAAARGH!”
His roar shook the entire hall.
Yeomhwasin watched him with amusement.
He looked as though he were enjoying a troupe of street performers putting on a show in the marketplace.
“You’re noisy. Get out.”
At the cold dismissal, Yeom Sawon looked up at Yeomhwasin and shouted,
“Father! I can’t accept that.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I can’t let Baek Socheon steal Meol Jiryun from me.”
“Didn’t you say you had no intention of marrying her?”
“I changed my mind. I’ll marry her. No, I absolutely have to marry her.”
Yeom Sawon no longer looked timid or cowed as he usually did.
“I’m going to take my woman back.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. Tell me what to do.”
“There is only one way a man of the Heaven Defying Alliance takes back his woman.”
Yeomhwasin raised his fist high.
“Good! Let me fight him.”
“You won’t beat Baek Socheon.”
“I can!”
Veins bulged along Yeom Sawon’s neck.
“He’s the man who once drove a sword into my chest. That alone is enough to make whether he has internal energy or not irrelevant.”
“That was long ago. I have strength now too.”
Yeom Sawon stomped his foot hard.
BOOM!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Internal energy surged through his Jingak, and the floor began to split apart.
Spiderweb-like cracks spread in all directions from the deep footprint beneath him.
It was a display worthy of the successor of the Heaven Defying Alliance.
“I’m confident I can take my woman back.”
Yeomhwasin smiled with an unreadable look in his eyes.
It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
“Fine. I’ll arrange a magnificent stage for you.”