It was late at night.
Inside a room at a guest house…
So Yong-yong, who had been unconscious for a good few hours after receiving internal wounds from mental shock, opened her eyes.
Someone inside the room called to her as she opened her eyes with an expressionless face.
“Yong, have you come to your senses?”
“Unnie?”
The person who had called out to her was Namgung Gahui. The woman had a towel soaked with warm water in her hand, clearly having been looking after Yong-yong.
“Why… why am I here?”
Eon Young-in walked closer and replied.
“Are you alright, unnie? Your brother came, carrying you on his back, and brought you to this room.”
“My brother did?”
So Yong-yong then thought of him.
‘Yong-yong, you too have the Blood Demon’s blood in you.’
The thought of it sent a chill down her spine.
Surprised by this, Gahui grabbed her.
“Yong? Are you alright? Why are you trembling like this?”
Even breathing was difficult for her. Gahui tried to return her to bed since she was still in shock.
So Yong-yong waved her hand.
“I-I am fine.”
“Fine? You are breaking into a cold sweat! Look at this. Your lips are dry, with your skin peeling off. Would you like us to get you some hot tea, Young-in?”
“I’ll get it. Just a moment.”
Eon Young-in went out of the room to fetch some tea.
As Gahui said, Yong-yong broke out in cold sweat, and her lips were dry. It was as if her entire body had taken a blow.
Gahui held Yong-yong’s trembling hand.
“Calm down, Yong. Did you hear something bad?”
“Unnie…”
So Yong-yong’s eyes were red.
“Oh my, this child!”
Gahui hugged her tightly like a mother. She had no idea what was happening, but her young friend seemed mentally in pain.
A tear fell down So Yong-yong’s cheek as she felt this warmth.
‘I… I have the blood of Blood Demon.’
Her reality had been destroyed. Like her brother, So Wonwhi, she had a hard childhood.
The only thing that supported her was her life as a warrior.
Her dream was to overcome her unfortunate childhood and become a famous disciple in her sect.
Papat.
“Yong. I don’t know what is happening, but do not be so hard on yourself.”
Gahui comforted her by patting her on the back.
“Unnie?”
So Yong-yong burst out in more tears as Gahui hugged her tightly to her tear-soaked clothing.
It took some time for her to calm down. After enough crying, Yong-yong began to calm down.
Gahui playfully teased her friend as she wiped the tears away from her cheek.
“The rumors seem to be wrong.”
“Uh?”
“Look at how he made our kind and strong Yong cry. Your brother is a bad person. Should I run and scold him? I will spank him!”
Hearing this, So Yong-yong laughed softly.
“If someone cries and laughs at the same time, they’ll grow horns on their butt, you know?”
“Let them grow, so what?”
At So Yong-yong’s answer, Gahui smiled.
“Now that’s the Yong that I know.”
“… thank you.”
“Sometimes I wish I had a real sister like you.”
Seeing how cutely Yong-yong looked at her with wide, shining eyes, Gahui hugged her tightly.
“Kyaaa. Our Yong, I will live with you for the rest of my life. Do not get married, and let’s live as sisters.”
“Unnie… I… cannot… breathe.”
So Yong-yong’s face was pressed into Gahui’s ample bosom, and she had to wave her arms.
“Oh my!”
Gahui quickly released her grasp.
Yong-yong, whose face was red, then giggled. She then wiped her tears away and said.
“Unnie… can I ask you something?”
“Is there something that can’t be said between us?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
Yong-yong breathed in and cautiously asked.
“Unnie… unnie, what if everything you ever knew was a lie, and you can’t believe the reality is real? How would you accept that?”
“… huh?”
Gahui tilted her head at this question. Becoming self-conscious, Yong-yong corrected herself.
“No, no. I think I phrased it oddly. It is just something that went through my mind… I don’t think I am meant for the Justice Faction. I am sorry to the teacher too.”
“What do you mean you aren’t qualified to be in the faction?”
“… just, everything.”
Gahui grabbed her friend’s hand after hearing the lack of confidence.
“Yong. If a person as strong as you aren’t suited for the Justice Faction, then who will be?”
“It is just… I do not feel qualified for it.”
At her words, Gahui smiled and said,
“I don’t know why, but it seems you may want to move factions?”
“Move?”
“I, too, had a similar thought once.”
“What do you mean? Unnie, too thought the same?”
“Did you know my uncle once moved out and joined Evil Faction?”
“Ah!”
She had heard about the rumors of a deserter who left the Namgung family, which was called one of the Five Great Families.
As a child, Gahui was said to have been close to her uncle.
“To be honest, I saw my uncle’s betrayal when I was young. Since he was someone who was close to me, I also entertained thoughts of changing sides.”
“Really?”
“Of course. The uncle I knew was a good man with strong morality. Can you imagine how betrayed I felt when someone like him left the family and went against his comrades?”
Although the situation was slightly different, So Yong-yong found this story that was similar to her situation appealing.
“Actually, the Namgung family also tried to catch my uncle for what he did.”’
“Did they catch him?”
She had never heard this part of the story. Gahui then replied.
“Yong… actually, my family doesn’t know this, but my father and I were the first to find my uncle.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then… Lord Namgung and unnie directly…”
“What are you saying? No matter that they became part of the Evil Faction, they were still family.”
“Ah…”
“At that time, I saw my uncle living alone in a remote place, laughing as he picked up his children.”
Gahui said this with a sad look.
There was no anger or disappointment in her expression. She then held Yong-yong’s hand and said.
“I just smiled as I saw my uncle smiling brightly at the children atop a hill with a setting sun. There were young children there. I thought he had changed but was still my uncle inside.”
It was as if they were sharing a moment. For some reason, Yong-yong felt touched.
It was as if a clumped feeling in her stomach had been released.
“… right.”
Gahui then winked.
“Don’t get too caught up with anything. Isn’t it more important to live a satisfying life instead of one where we have to constantly deal with the feelings of other people?”
“Right!”
Yong-yong nodded and replied strongly.
She could not speak the truth now, but hearing of Gahui’s experience, she thought she was too caught up in her own thoughts.
No matter who her ancestors were, no matter her mother’s past, no matter who her brother was, she was still herself.
Her brother would also still be her brother.
“I think I should head out early and talk to my brother. Would it be fine if I leave tomorrow afternoon?”
“Of course. That’s no big deal.”
“Thank you, unnie.”
“Nevermind, but why is she so late? I asked for some tea. Did she go to the plantation for it?”
“Puah! Unnie, don’t say that.”
“She is too late. Wait here. I will bring her.”
“Let us go together.”
“What? You still need to rest more.”
Gahui opened the door and went out of the room.
Following her suggestion, Yong-yong returned to her bed to rest before hearing a cracking sound.
Surprised at the sound, she jumped up and grabbed her sword as she ran out.
She couldn’t hide her shock when she looked at the first floor.
“Unnie!”
A large man held Gahui by the legs and lifted her upside down. Blood was dripping from her head as she was held.
‘Why is unnie in that state?’
The leader of their troop unit, she was strong enough to serve as their pillar. This was the first time she saw her in that helpless state.
‘Just who is that…’
Creepy!
The moment she saw the man’s face, she felt goosebumps all over her body. His odd appearance was marked by eyes and a mouth stitched together.
But there was no time to be afraid. She had to save Gahui.
Srng!
So Yong-yong pulled out her sword and tried to jump down, but Gahui then shouted.
“N… NO! Young… women disappearance!”
“Disappearance?”
Hearing this, Yong-yong was shocked.
A few months ago, there were multiple incidents of young women vanishing near the Pajung area of the Eastern Sichuan province.
The origin of the incident could not be traced since they had disappeared without a trace. These incidents did not receive much attention at first, but this changed when the daughter of a leader vanished.
There was no information on who had done it. Still, eyewitnesses said that one of the suspects had a horrifying face and called him the Evil Faced Man.
At first, the Murim Alliance branch in that region requested help from the central Alliance. In return, the Phoenix troops were dispatched.
This was done to use the female warriors as bait to lure out the culprit. Once the warriors were dispatched, the disappearances stopped as if they had noticed the trap.
However, it wasn’t like there were no results.
Six bodies were recovered.
They stayed for a month to look for the culprit, but it was difficult to get any results. The troops decided to withdraw, but now the Evil Faced Man stood right by Gahui.
‘Is he the one? But why did no one come into the inn despite there being so much noise?’
Such a strange thing.
Gahui then shouted.
“Run, Yong!”
No.
How could she leave her friends here? If she ran away, then Gahui would end up dead like the others. As she was thinking, a voice came.
“Who said you can go?”
Chak!
She heard the sound of the air being cut.
She wondered who had attacked her, but then saw a masked man.
Kiik!
‘…?!’
The doors to the guest rooms on her floor opened, and masked men came out. There were around ten or more.
In addition, she wasn’t sure, but there were at least twenty other people aside from the masked men.
“Just give up now if you don’t want to get hurt.”
The masked man approached while aiming their swords.
Yong-yong looked between the masked men and Gahui and decided to jump down the stairs.
‘I need to save unnie and run.’
It was impossible for her to defeat them on her own. Jumping down, she used her sword technique at the monster, who she thought was the Evil Faced man.
It was all just to make him let go of Gahui.
But the monster suddenly raised his hand and swung Gahui as if she was a weapon.
“Ah!”
Flustered by this, Yong-yong stopped and moved her sword as she twisted her body in the air.
She didn’t expect them to be this cowardly. The masked men then moved down to surround her.
One of them mumbled
“Like they said, the highest grade is the highest for a reason.”
‘They said?’
Yong-yong frowned.
“Who are you, people?”
“Since you interfered with our work, you women should fill the quota for us.”
‘Damn it.’
She realized two things from this.
It seemed that the Evil Faced Man wasn’t an individual but a group that engaged in kidnapping for nefarious reasons.
The masked man then said to the monster.
“Leave that woman and subdue this one.”
Hearing this, the monster threw Gahui to the other men like a package.
“Unnie!”
Yong-yong tried to dash in to save her, but the monster blocked her path. Since he no longer had a hostage, there was no reason to hesitate.
Yong-yong performed her sect’s sword technique.
Chachachak!
Her sword moved lightly and dashed toward the monster. The monster didn’t avoid it but instead crossed his arms in defense.
“What?”
Yong-yong hacked at the monster, but instead of cutting skin, her sword simply bounced back.
‘His body is strong!’
At that moment of panic, the monster kicked her in the stomach.
Puak!
“Ah!”
So Yong-yong felt the blow in her stomach and bounced back through the force, her body twisting.
She broke through two tables and coughed up blood, annoying the masked man.
“You fool! Who told you to kick her that hard!”
“Uhhh.”
The monster, whose eyes and mouth were stitched together, groaned as the masked man shook his head and gestured to the others.
The masked man approached the wounded Yong-yong to capture her.
Seeing this, she swung her sword and shouted.
“As if I would! Cough.”
“If you don’t want to spill more blood, just follow us quietly, girl.”
“Shut up!”
Yong-yong gritted her teeth and stood up. Her determined look caught the eyes of the masked man.
“You are quite something for a girl.”
So Yong-yong held her sword as she said,
“You people made a mistake.”
“Mistake?”
Yong-yong glared at the leader of the masked people and said,
“Don’t you know who I am?
Hearing this, the masked people burst into laughter.
“Hahaha. This woman doesn’t understand the situation.”
“You are the ones who don’t understand it.”
Yong-yong laughed, took a deep breath, and then shouted.
“Brotherrrrrrr!”
At her cry, the masked men laughed again.
“Kuahahah! Stupid girl. Do you think we would allow the sound to leak? And calling for your brother? Puahaha.”
Yong-yong’s face went stiff upon hearing his words. This meant they were skilled enough to hide their traces.
‘Brother…’
Yong-yong bit her lip. She then tore the hem of her dress and wrapped it around her hand and sword.
‘Brother, too…. Said he did everything to live.’
Even if she had to die here, she would rather die instead of being captured.
The masked men snorted at that.
“You are a girl who doesn’t know when to give up.”
At the masked man’s words, the other men narrowed their distance as she gritted her teeth and raised her sword.
Something then caught her eye.
‘…?!’
A small dagger floated in front of her eyes. Now this was something familiar.
But she wasn’t the only one who saw it.
The masked people looked shocked as they saw this dagger that hovered around the girl.
“The dagger is floating.”
“This this, no…”
As they stood in shock, Yong-tong smiled and said,
“You people are done.”
“What?”
At that moment.
Sososos.
Everyone looked up, and the ceiling collapsed.
Something fell through and landed in the center.
Kwaang!
Something unexpected happened.
Everything on the guest house floor flew up from the force of the fall.
Tables, chairs, and broken beards.
Even the masked men around her were thrown upwards.
‘….!!’
It was as if everything on the ground was controlled by something else. This happened in just mere moments.
‘T-this, just how…’
The masked men’s leader then spotted someone through the dust.
A tall young man held So Yong-yong, who was in shock. A sword then came out from his sheath.
And flew through the air, piercing through the people around him.
Puapuapuak!
As the sword flew, countless drops of blood splattered the land. Seeing this, a name came to the masked man’s head.
‘L-Little Immortal Swordsman!’
