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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Cyno
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For a brief moment, Yoo So-eun was thrashing about in memories of Namgung Cheol-bin from her dreams.
“Mmm… Mom… Where did you go…?”
Hearing Namgung Soo-ah’s sleepy murmur as she groped for the empty space beside her, Yoo So-eun hurriedly lay back down in her place and drew Soo-ah into her arms.
Before she knew it, several days had passed since they had come to the Namgung clan after the Chilhwajeon.
Was it fortunate or unfortunate that nothing had happened during that time?
Yoo So-eun thought it was fortunate.
“It’s okay, my daughter. Mommy’s right here.”
“Mmm… Mommy…”
“That’s right. Mommy’s not going anywhere, so rest easy and sleep.”
Somehow sensing it even in her sleep, Namgung Soo-ah wriggled into Yoo So-eun’s arms, like a baby seeking its mother’s milk.
Before long, her chest began to grow damp, as it did without fail every day.
‘Crying again…’
Yoo So-eun gazed quietly at her pitiful daughter, then silently stroked her forehead.
Though it happened every night, she still couldn’t get used to seeing Soo-ah cry.
Or rather, she couldn’t accept it—it tore her heart to shreds every time.
“Uuuh…”
Namgung Soo-ah whimpered, and every time she did, Yoo So-eun felt as if a dagger were stabbing into her chest.
For a mother, seeing her child in pain was no different from being tortured with a knife.
“I… I can’t remember…”
‘That again.’
“The sight of Mommy and Daddy… happily smiling together…”
‘…’
“I don’t want to forget… but it’s been so long… it’s getting hazy…”
Listening to Soo-ah’s monologue was agonizing, but Yoo So-eun couldn’t turn her away. She couldn’t push her daughter from her arms.
Until Soo-ah fell into a deep sleep, she had no choice but to listen to that guilt-ridden monologue.
‘…But.’
Just then, a thought crossed Yoo So-eun’s mind.
‘It’s been thirteen… no, now fourteen years since Cheol-bin last smiled.’
It was really just a distraction, a thought summoned to keep her from dwelling on her own pain.
‘Back then, Soo-ah was only two… amazing that she remembers. Sharp little thing…’
“Daddy… Mommy… could be happy again, anytime…”
‘If only she didn’t remember…’
At that moment, a loud shout rang out from outside the room.
It wasn’t as intense as the one she had heard in her dream, but in reality, it was even clearer.
“Clan Leader! You’ve returned!”
The word Clan Leader made her flinch for an instant, but Yoo So-eun quickly realized the truth.
The “Clan Leader” they were shouting about wasn’t her husband.
It was Namgung Bin.
A man who treated her with suspiciously excessive kindness—so much so that it was off-putting rather than endearing.
And a man who bore an inexplicably deep grudge against her husband.
‘Didn’t even know he went out… guess Namgung Bin’s back.’
She still couldn’t bring herself to call him “young master.”
She simply couldn’t shake the strange conviction that he might not truly be her “young master” at all.
“Huuuh…”
Namgung Bin let out a long sigh.
As he began taking off his outdoor clothes, his plump body was revealed.
“No matter how long I look at it, still disgusting. Should I train my Blood Art more?”
Aside from having aged a bit more since fourteen years ago, his body hadn’t changed at all—something he still regarded with contempt.
They had lived together for fourteen years now, but he still hated what he saw.
So, he quickly changed into martial robes, picked up the torn piece of ear he had brought from Gwanzon, and descended into the basement.
The Namgung clan’s basement.
Ku-goo-goong—
The heavy iron door guarding the basement swung open helplessly at Namgung Bin’s hand.
It was pitch black inside, without a single ray of light.
When Namgung Bin lifted the oil lamp he had brought, it lit up instantly.
Hwaak—!
“…”
“…”
Namgung Bin stared into the basement.
And the “thing” inside stared right back at him.
Moments later, the “thing” burst into uncontrollable laughter, as though it could no longer hold it in.
“Puhahahahaha!”
It was an incredibly frivolous laugh—mocking him.
And indeed, it was mocking him.
“What’s with that ridiculous look! Puhahaha! I go to the trouble of teaching you the Blood Art, and you come crawling back after getting humiliated somewhere! Who’d you give your ears to, huh?!”
“I had my reasons. Even the Blood Art couldn’t match my opponent—what was I supposed to do?”
“Kyaahahaha! Just go die! I ruled the world with the Blood Art alone, and you’re utterly pathetic!”
“I’ve only been learning it for three… four years. What exactly do you expect of me?”
“When I’d trained in the Blood Art for four years, I toyed with my sect’s Four Demon Generals, you fool!”
“…”
Perhaps the constant ridicule got to him.
Namgung Bin’s face twisted in anger as he stepped toward the “thing.”
Then he threw a punch.
Bboeo-eok—!
His thick fist slammed into the thing’s abdomen.
U-dang-tang-tang!
Hwiririk—! Degeureu-reuk—.
Its body floated into the air, flew back about three jang, and its round head rolled off its neck onto the stone floor.
The neck was covered by a cleanly cut surface.
“…”
“Huff… huff…”
Namgung Bin panted from the effort.
Meanwhile, the severed head lying in the far corner of the basement smiled broadly and spoke.
“Kyaahahaha! Punch me all you like! That won’t leave a scratch!”
“Damn it…”
“Your pathetic little fists couldn’t put a mark on my body even if you tried!”
“How the hell did Cheol-bin cut the neck of a monster like you?”
Namgung Bin stared at the headless body sitting upright like a roly-poly toy.
More precisely, at the flawlessly clean cut at its neck.
A wound befitting one inflicted by the Sword Saint.
“Come on, put it back already.”
“…Fine. But stop mocking me. I came because I need a favor.”
“Is that so? Not here to learn the Blood Heaven Divine Art?”
“Don’t you see the martial robes? But before that, there’s something I have to deal with.”
Namgung Bin approached the still-chattering head.
Confident for some reason, it kept running its mouth without pause.
Without restraining it in any way, Namgung Bin simply picked up the head.
Chak—.
Finally, he set the head back onto the body.
Some long, red hair got caught between the neck and the head, but when Namgung Bin brushed it aside with his fingers, it slid free.
“See, you should’ve just done this from the start. Why waste your time with useless punching?”
“I was just… a little mad. I’ve had a lot to be angry about lately.”
“Tsk, be careful. I poured an entire jar of gongcheongseok-yu to revive you—if you die by your own hand, you’re the only one losing out.”
“…Didn’t you just say a moment ago that no matter how much I hit you, I couldn’t even scratch you?”
“That’s true, but you never know. What if the link between soul and body just snaps one day?”
Namgung Bin looked up at the figure before him.
For some reason, she seemed to be in high spirits.
Her four limbs were missing, leaving her standing on her pelvis.
A neat, long scar encircled her neck.
Thick red hair cascaded down to cover her throat, and her eyes were as red as her hair.
…Such was the “woman” before him.
“Seeing you face to face again reminds me of that day.”
“Which day?”
“The day, four years ago, when you saved me.”
“…”
“I was shocked. I thought I was done for after the Sword Saint cut off my head—that I’d be dragged to the afterlife. But then, out of nowhere, some man comes in carrying a huge jar and dumps its contents over my corpse.”
“If you remember that, can’t you at least feel a little gratitude toward me?”
“I was grateful—that’s why I taught you the Blood Heaven Divine Art. Still, I was even more baffled when I realized the man was a soldier of Meng—the very one who hounded my sect and me throughout the War of Blood. Do you know how much blood my sect spilled thanks to your outrageous schemes?”
“The gongcheongseok-yu I poured on you back then was worth more than the Namgung clan is now.”
“Thanks to that, I could knock down the reaper and survive. Well… survive halfway, at least—I can’t even dream of using my internal energy now.”
As she spoke, the woman smiled faintly.
To Namgung Bin, it was an unsettling smile.
Even without any flowery description, the fact that she was the one smiling was enough to make it so.
She had once been hailed as the Supreme of the Martial World.
A woman who plunged the world into darkness and drowned the martial realm in blood.
Master of the unprecedentedly massive sect known as the Blood Sect, and a monstrous being likened to the incarnation of evil.
The Blood Demon.
Even if she had lost her limbs and could no longer wield internal energy, the weight of her name had not diminished.
“That’s not important right now—look at this. Can you reattach this ear?”
“What do you mean?”
“This, here. Take a good look.”
Namgung Bin brushed his hair aside, revealing the right ear that had been torn off by Gwanzon.
Now, there was nothing left but a wide, empty plain where his temple was.
“You’re asking if I can put your ear back on?”
“Yes. Missing one side wasn’t so bad, but now that both are gone, everyday life’s a hassle. My hearing’s all messed up…”
“The right one can be reattached. The left can’t. Whatever cut it off did a very clean job.”
Hearing the verdict that the left ear severed by the Death Star could not be restored, Namgung Bin didn’t look downcast.
In fact, he was pleased enough that at least the right could be reattached.
“Huu… finally, some good news.”
“You’ve had it rough. You’ve got the title of war hero, yet you’re wearing yourself out trying to bring down the Sword Saint—why bother?”
“That’s none of your concern. Just fix my ear.”
“If your Blood Heaven Divine Art surpasses Seven Stars, you could just press it on and it’d attach itself. For now, give up.”
“…I should’ve known things wouldn’t go smoothly.”
His expression turned bleak again at her next words.
“By the way, how did you even know this place existed? Even my sect’s network didn’t have any record of a Namgung clan basement.”
“Of course not. The Sword Saint built it himself. He needed a private space to prepare against the Blood Sect.”
“Doesn’t sound like something the Sword Saint would’ve told you.”
“Everyone has their secrets.”
“You’ve got an odd number of secrets yourself. Just like the Sword Saint—you’re full of mysteries.”
“…”
No matter what the Blood Demon said, Namgung Bin remained as stony-faced as ever.
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