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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Cyno
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Yoo So-eun stared blankly at the closed journal. The very journal that had just wrung her heart dry, its aftermath still lingering.
“Huuu…”
Her chest heaved. Her full breasts rose and fell visibly beneath her damp undergarments, soaked through from relentless tears.
“Hk—”
Clutching the journal like a lifeline, she hugged it to her chest, her ragged breaths uneven.
“Hahk—hk—haaahk…”
Even after crying her heart out, her breathing refused to steady. Once a peak master, a decade without martial practice had left her unable to control even her own breath.
Finally, drained of tears, she rose unsteadily. Cradling the journal, she staggered toward the wall cabinet.
“Ugh—!”
Another wave of nausea hit. Swallowing the bile, she forced open the cabinet door.
Inside lay a bottle of baijiu—a potent gift from the Cheolyang Merchant Guild. A woman who rarely drank, she had left it untouched all these years.
Now, it would serve its purpose.
Gulp, gulp—
Baijiu burned. This variety was especially harsh.
Each swallow seared her throat, but she squeezed her eyes shut and tipped the bottle back, gulping relentlessly.
Only after half the bottle was gone did she pull away, swaying violently.
“Haa… haaa…”
Yet, drunk or sober, the weight of her guilt remained unbearable.
Thud—
Her legs gave out. Clutching the bottle in one hand and the journal in the other, she crawled toward Namgung Su-ah’s bed.
Su-ah slept with a pillow in each arm—a sight that twisted So-eun’s heart.
“Aah…!”
“Mmm… Mom… Dad…”
“It’s… all my fault…! If only I hadn’t—!”
“…I want to remember… but it’s been too long…”
The scene mirrored happier times—when they had slept as a family, whispering sweet nothings with Su-ah between them.
But So-eun knew. Those days were gone forever.
“I’m sorry… Su-ah… It’s all because of me…”
Everything was her fault.
At Chilhwa Manor, she had regretted exiling Namgung Cheol-bin.
“Because I was stupid… Because I’m trash…”
If not for her, Su-ah wouldn’t have broken.
But now, she saw deeper.
“I should have protected him… He always protected us…”
Regret swallowed her whole.
During the war, she had resented him for his emotional distance—not realizing he had been loving her in his own way.
After the war, she had let awkwardness fester—when all he had ever done was yearn for her.
If only she had taken one step forward. If only she had asked him back to her bed.
Freed from his restraints, he would have gladly obliged.
And above all—
“I should have… trusted him…”
Her lack of faith.
An unforgivable mistake, with no excuse.
Because of it, Cheol-bin had shattered. The family had crumbled. Su-ah had broken.
He had never wanted wealth, fame, or power—just the small sanctuary of family.
Had she stood by him, even if the world reviled him, they could have lived out their days in quiet happiness.
“I… kicked away our happiness…”
But what could she do now? Spilled water couldn’t be gathered back.
Namgung Cheol-bin had been exiled.
From the family he had sacrificed everything—even his sanity—to protect.
The memory of her own words resurfaced, vile and irreversible:
“I’ve never seen a monster like you.”
“Just disappear. I regret marrying you. Living as a Namgung has driven me mad.”
“Aaaaah…!”
If only she hadn’t said those things.
If only she hadn’t spat such unforgivable venom.
She might have been preparing to beg for his forgiveness now.
“Aah… Aah, aaaaah…!”
Even if she had apologized at Chilhwa Manor, this was different.
Those words should never have been spoken.
And she no longer had the right to apologize.
What audacity would it take? What shamelessness?
“Uuuuh… uhh…”
She couldn’t apologize.
But sober, she couldn’t endure this either.
A few sips of liquor weren’t enough.
Gulp, gulp, gulp—!
She upended the bottle, draining it dry.
Born delicate, she had clung to life solely as Su-ah’s mother.
“Uuu…”
Now, even that resolve crumbled with the alcohol.
In the tidal wave of panic and shock—
Yoo So-eun collapsed, unconscious.
The last thought in her mind:
“I’m sorry… but I no longer hold you in my heart.”
“From now on, don’t harbor these feelings. It’s cruel to say, but… you make me uncomfortable.”
Namgung Cheol-bin’s final, icy words.
“Grrk—!”
A man sweated profusely, hauling a massive boulder.
Hellfire raged around him.
A man known by many names—Divine Sword, Sword Saint, Namgung Cheol-bin, Lightning.
Clank—
“Hah… hah…!”
With each step, the heavy iron chains around his ankles dragged, weighted by thousand-jin iron balls.
Yet he didn’t stop. Didn’t rest.
This was hell.
After moving one boulder, he hoisted another onto his back.
An unbearable pressure bore down on his skull.
Still, he endured.
This was hell.
And he was its prisoner.
“……”
Watching him expressionlessly was a girl—Namgung Su-ah.
As always, she dreamed.
Of Namgung Cheol-bin suffering eternally in hell.
Then—chaos erupted outside the dream.
“……!”
Hell collapsed. Su-ah’s dream shattered.
She awoke, dazed.
“……?”
Her bleary eyes scanned the room—overturned furniture, unidentifiable liquid on the floor, a rolling liquor bottle.
“What… Mom would never let it get this messy…”
She flopped back down.
“Just a dream… scared me for a second.”
“……Ah.”
Yoo So-eun woke shortly after.
Memories of last night flooded her groggy mind, mingling with the dizziness of lingering intoxication.
“…Haha.”
The guilt, sharp as a blade, forced her to face reality.
Grit—
Sigh—
Biting her lip, she rose silently. A nap had cleared her mind just enough.
Straightening her disheveled clothes, she draped an outer robe over her shoulders and stepped out, closing the bedroom door behind her.
The dim, pre-dawn halls of the Namgung estate greeted her.
“……”
No words. No moans. No soliloquies.
She was unworthy. A wife who betrayed her husband had no right to wallow in grief.
Click, click—
Hips swaying, she walked with pursed lips toward the estate’s underground chamber.
The guards were asleep. Her room wasn’t far. She arrived before fully sobering.
Tap, tap—
Strangely, the iron door was gone.
Had she not known it was there, she would have missed it entirely.
‘He… used to do this often.’
She recalled Cheol-bin during the war—vanishing into hidden passages.
Now, she replicated his actions, tapping specific points on the wall in sequence.
At the time, she hadn’t understood. Now, she knew.
It was how to open the hidden door.
Proof: the underground chamber now lay open before her.
“……”
Steeling herself, she strode inside.
Her eyes quickly found what she had glimpsed earlier.
The Blue Light Treasure Sword.
Once wielded by the Yellow Emperor, Xuanyuan—the legendary Xuanyuan Sword.
One of the Seven Great Swords of the Martial World, renowned for its loyalty, shining only for its true master.
Now, its blade lay sheathed, unseen.
“Aren’t you the Sword Saint’s wife? What brings you here?”
“…There’s much I want to ask you, but first—I have urgent business.”
“You didn’t even finish reading the journal— Wait! What are you—?!”
Hyeolma’s startled shout went ignored as Yoo So-eun reached out—
Toward the sword on the wall.
“Stop! If anyone but its master touches it, the Blue Light Sword will behead them instantly!”
She didn’t stop.
Even if it meant death, she was prepared.
A woman who had lived delicately—save for fleeing the Hua Mountain Sect with Cheol-bin—now stood firmer than ever.
The weight of her guilt demanded it.
“I need… to see him.”
“You madwoman—!”
“This sword is the only way. It will show him to me.”
At last—
Yoo So-eun’s slender fingers closed around the Blue Light Sword’s hilt.
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