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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: cyno
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“Ah, that person? About two months ago? He was crushed to death when a wall collapsed on him.”
“That lady? She’s currently away on a trip, so she’s not here.”
“Ah, that girl from the back village? The wheel of the carriage she was riding came off, and she died. Haven’t you heard? It was quite a famous incident around here.”
“That… I heard the dog he was raising one day broke its leash and attacked him. He was always so cautious, but that one incident finished him off.”
“He ran into bandits on a night road, just bad luck. The spot he was hit happened to be the back of his head.”
Namgung Soso was bewildered.
It had already been several months since she started traveling to uncover the mastermind behind the frame-up of Namgung Cheolbin.
During that time, she moved from one city to another, searching for self-proclaimed victims and witnesses.
‘They’re gone.’
All of them were dead.
The causes of death varied, but the outcome was the same—they were all dead.
The few who weren’t dead were all absent.
‘What kind of person is behind this…!’
This kind of systematic elimination meant one thing.
It was a blatant message to those who suspected: ‘Yes, there is a mastermind.’
But it also ensured that there was no way to find out who that mastermind was.
It was like cutting the thread of a tracking network.
‘What should I do now?’
Her older brother was still trapped in false accusations, and Namgung Soso felt pathetic for being manipulated by the mastermind’s schemes.
She thought meeting all the victims and witnesses would lead her somewhere, but now she was told that every single one of them was dead.
‘Not yet… There’s still one person left!’
Hwangbo Ji-yak, the golden branch of the Hwangbo family, one of the Seven Flowers.
He was a decent martial artist who had even crossed paths with her.
No matter how powerful the mastermind was, they couldn’t have assassinated one of the Seven Flowers.
‘…But will Hwangbo Ji-yak tell me the truth?’
Even if he did, he was someone who had been swayed by the mastermind to frame Namgung Cheolbin.
‘What does it matter?’
If he doesn’t cooperate, I’ll just have to torture him.
Back when her brother was captured by the Blood Cult, she had tortured the Blood Cult elders to extract information.
‘Torture never fails.’
With that hopeful plan in mind, she was about to order some food from the innkeeper when…
“Hey, have you heard the news about the Sword Saint and the Three Venerables?”
“That the mad Sword Saint killed the Dao Venerable and the Water Venerable? Yeah, I heard. The Hebei Peng family and the Shuilong Zhangjiang Sect have declared the Sword Saint an enemy of their sects.”
The conversation of the men at the next table caught her attention.
Having been so busy lately, she had been completely out of touch with the world, so this was all news to her.
“Wait, what did you just say?”
“Hmm, you want to hear about the Sword Saint? Well, for a price… *cough cough*…”
The man glanced at Namgung Soso and made a gesture with his fingers, mimicking coins.
‘He’s a broker.’
“Miss! I’ll tell you for free, come over here! These guys are trying to charge you for news that’s months old… tsk tsk!”
“Hey, buddy! Why are you ruining my business?”
“What did you say? You think you can just charge people for worthless information?”
“You wanna fight? Let’s see whose mouth gets shut!”
“You think I’m scared? Get up, you bastard!”
As the atmosphere quickly turned into a brawl, Namgung Soso, already on edge, took out some coins and threw them to the man who had asked for money.
“Stop this nonsense and continue with what you were saying. What did the Sword Saint do…?”
The storyteller, as if waiting for this, quickly took the money and sat down.
“You’re a generous one, aren’t you? Let me begin. About four months ago, the Sword Venerable appeared at the Martial Alliance, badly injured. He started spreading shocking news.”
“What was it?”
“He said that while passing through Anhui with the Dao Venerable, the head of the Hebei Peng family, and the Water Venerable, the head of the Shuilong Zhangjiang Sect, they were attacked. And not by anyone else, but by the Sword Saint! At first, no one believed it, but when the bodies of the Dao Venerable and the Water Venerable were found at the location the Sword Venerable mentioned, things started to get strange!”
“…The Sword Saint? Four months ago?”
Four months ago was around the time she was with him at the Hengshan Sword Sect.
Her mind was in chaos, but Namgung Soso quickly pieced things together.
The ‘frame-up’ wasn’t over yet.
“Of course, the martial world was turned upside down! There were calls to immediately track down and capture the Sword Saint, but… well, you know how it is. No one was willing to take the lead.”
“Right.”
“If the Divine Monk were to step forward, maybe something could be done, but he’s been in seclusion since the Golden Years, raising disciples, so no one dares to take the initiative. Even the Hebei Peng family and the Shuilong Zhangjiang Sect have only declared the Sword Saint an enemy but haven’t taken any action.”
“Wait, what did you say earlier? Anhui?”
“Yes! They were passing through Anhui, where the Namgung family resides, when they were killed.”
‘Is the mastermind in Anhui?’
Perhaps the Sword Venerable is the mastermind, she thought, as she tossed another coin to the storyteller.
The storyteller, having received his payment, quickly disappeared, and Namgung Soso ordered a couple more bottles of wine, continuing to think deeply.
*****
“I am Namgung Soso. I’ve come to meet Hwangbo Ji-yak.”
“Y-you mean Lady Ji-yak…?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Well… it’s just that…”
The peculiar reaction of the Hwangbo family gatekeeper filled Namgung Soso with a sense of foreboding.
Don’t tell me, again?
“Actually… Lady Ji-yak passed away a week ago…”
Damn it.
“Oh no… What was the reason this time?”
“Huh? What do you mean ‘this time’?”
“Ah, never mind. So, why did Hwangbo Ji-yak pass away? She was perfectly healthy.”
“While practicing her breathing techniques, a sudden thunderbolt struck… Her internal energy was disrupted, and she fell into Qi Deviation…”
“Ha.”
‘Someone of Hwangbo Ji-yak’s caliber wouldn’t die from something like a carriage accident, so they resorted to this? How absurd.’
With Hwangbo Ji-yak also gone, Namgung Soso turned her steps toward the last witness, the Sword Venerable.
“Would you like to visit her grave? She’s buried on the back mountain.”
The gatekeeper stopped her.
“…If it’s not too much trouble, please show me the way.”
At first, she had planned to leave, but a strange intuition told her there might be a clue there, so Namgung Soso followed the gatekeeper’s directions.
As night fell, she had to rely on a torch to navigate the treacherous mountain, but after the hardships of the past four months, such things no longer mattered to her.
“Is this it?”
Finally arriving at Hwangbo Ji-yak’s grave, Namgung Soso felt an eerie chill, whether from the night air or the presence of the grave.
Rustle—
Stepping on the damp grass, she stood before the grave and drew her sword.
The blade shimmered faintly under the moonlight.
‘Two Venerables dead in Anhui, and now thunder…’
The ominous thoughts wouldn’t leave her mind.
To confirm the truth, to verify whether Hwangbo Ji-yak truly died from Qi Deviation caused by thunder, Namgung Soso began to channel her sword energy.
Of course, her weakened body, exhausted from overuse, resisted the use of sword energy.
Hum—
As she summoned her innate energy once more, her sword began to gather a explosive lightning energy.
“Cough, cough.”
Blood spilled from her mouth, and her head spun, but Namgung Soso, driven by sheer will, swung her sword.
The Namgung family’s sword technique, infused with lightning energy, struck the grave.
Boom—!
A thunderous roar echoed, and the grave was split open, revealing the coffin.
“Gasp, gasp…!”
Breathing heavily, Namgung Soso collapsed onto the coffin.
“I heard an explosion over there!”
“Damn it! That’s where Lady Ji-yak’s grave is!”
“It could be grave robbers! Everyone, arm yourselves!”
The voices of the Hwangbo family members echoed from the foot of the mountain.
“…Spit.”
After spitting out a mouthful of thick blood, Namgung Soso hurriedly opened the coffin lid.
The body of Hwangbo Ji-yak slowly came into view.
Since she hadn’t been buried long, the body was relatively well-preserved.
Screech—
Using her now energy-depleted sword, Namgung Soso began to cut open Hwangbo Ji-yak’s abdomen.
The foul stench of decay assaulted her nostrils, but her determination to clear Namgung Cheolbin’s name was stronger.
Screech, screech—
After completely cutting open the abdomen and revealing the internal organs, the state of the organs was a mess, contrary to the body’s outward appearance.
Anyone could tell it was Qi Deviation.
But that wasn’t what Namgung Soso was looking for.
Screech, screech, screech…!
She cut through the ruined meridians and dug deeper.
If she didn’t find what she wanted, she would cut open other organs.
The emotionless Hwangbo Ji-yak seemed to scream at her to stop, but Namgung Soso gritted her teeth and continued to dig.
How long did she keep at it?
Finally, when she reached Hwangbo Ji-yak’s lower abdomen, the Dantian…
“This is…!”
Namgung Soso realized her ominous thoughts had become reality.
“Dark Thunder Poison…?”
Hwangbo Ji-yak’s Dantian was blackened.
It was poison, and not just any poison—Dark Thunder Poison, something only the direct descendants of the Namgung family would know about.
Hwangbo Ji-yak didn’t die from Qi Deviation caused by thunder.
The thunder was just a cover to mask the screams of agony from being poisoned.
The real cause of her death was this blackened Dantian.
“Kuh…!”
So, is the mastermind someone from the Namgung family?
No, only direct descendants like herself would know about Dark Thunder Poison.
Could it be that Namgung Cheolbin took revenge?
The Namgung Cheolbin she knew was certainly capable of that.
‘But that’s not it.’
Namgung Soso had gathered every piece of information about the ‘White Blade Guest.’
He had been following Jin Ga-young of the Jianhua Sect and was in the Taiyuan Jin family.
‘Then… ugh!’
As she tried to piece things together, her head throbbed again.
Whether it was from the prolonged exposure to the decaying body or the strain on her mind, it was hard to keep her thoughts straight.
‘I need to get out of here.’
If I die here, it’s all over.
Thinking that, she hurriedly closed the coffin lid and tried to cover it with dirt when…
“Ugh…!”
The side effects of overusing her life force began to show.
Her vision blurred, and her knees buckled.
Meanwhile, the voices around her were getting closer.
“There’s a light over there!”
“That’s Lady Ji-yak’s grave! Surround it!”
“Damn it…”
It seemed inevitable that she would be caught. Could she explain herself?
No, more importantly, could she clear her brother’s name?
She had to get up, but her legs wouldn’t move.
Her eyelids wouldn’t open.
If she was caught like this, everything would be for nothing. She wouldn’t be able to clear her brother’s name.
“Ugh…”
The nausea stopped.
Namgung Soso stopped too.
*****
A woman wearing a bamboo hat stepped forward, her foot touching Namgung Soso’s body.
The woman, with pink hair peeking out from under the hat, had been searching for the source of the commotion at the Hwangbo family.
“Hey, sword-wielding girl, what are you doing lying there covered in blood? You’ll get caught if you stay like that.”
The woman nudged Namgung Soso with her foot.
Namgung Soso, unconscious, didn’t wake from the light prodding.
“Tsk, I should just leave her…”
Swish—
With a light kick from the woman, Namgung Soso’s body flipped over.
As her face slowly came into view, the woman’s eyes widened in shock.
“What… what is this…?”
She looked incredulous.
“You… you’re my sister-in-law!”
At the same time, she also looked delighted.
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