Chapter 65 Bang Woo, who had risen quickly without panic, recognized Yeo Il and immediately lowered his guard.
"…Senior Sister?"
There was no hostility in his clear eyes—only relief.
As their gazes met, the brief yet not-so-brief bond they had shared flashed past like lantern images.
[Ptui! Bang Woo, you unlucky bastard… You think you're so great? Once you step into Jianghu, you're just an ordinary man like anyone else! Stop showing off!]
[…That one seems noisy every time.]
[Ah. Junior Brother Bang Woo? Mm, yes. He doesn't get along well with the other junior brothers. I suppose you could say he lacks flexibility.]
[His face shows stubbornness.]
[Right? He doesn't say anything wrong or act improperly. But when someone only speaks the truth, people end up disliking them without realizing it. And it doesn't help that he's the most talented among us, so there's jealousy…]
Their first meeting. And Seonhye's awkward smile.
[Bang Woo. Stop following me.]
[I simply cannot understand it no matter how I think about it, Senior Sister Yeonwu. How is such a realm possible at that age? Just how must one cultivate to—]
[Mental cultivation.]
[Face-the-wall meditation?]
[No. Overcome a past where you lost your parents and friends in a village reduced to ashes.]
[…]
[I'm joking.]
The first time that dry boy—who rarely showed emotion beyond swordsmanship—had looked utterly at a loss.
[Stop staring.]
[…Yes. My apologies, Senior Sister Yeonwu.]
[What is there to see that you keep looking at my face? Do you like it that much?]
[Pardon? N-no, that is not— I mean, Senior Sister's scar… I do not like it, I mean, not like that— I mean the scar on your face—]
[You find my scar unpleasant? Should I cover it?]
[No, absolutely not! Absolutely, absolutely do not.]
[Then what is it?]
[…Senior Sister Seonhye admires that scar of yours. That simply came to mind.]
The day Seonhye stuck her tongue out while standing close beside Bang Woo.
[Idiot. When did I ever say that? I only agreed because you kept saying it.]
[…I never said such a thing.]
[You did. You did say it. Senior Sister Yeonwu! Do you know how much Bang Woo likes your face? Once in summer, Senior Brother Pung-un mentioned your scar, and Bang Woo flew at him like a tiger—]
[Silence. I request a spar, Senior Sister Seonhye.]
[What? No thanks!]
Those days when he circled around her like a fledgling bird, chirping endlessly.
[Bang Woo.]
[…]
[Just listen. As you likely expected, you are currently suffering from qi deviation. My voice will soon cut off as well.]
[…]
[I will help regulate your qi and blood. Focus as much as you can.]
Even that night when, while clearing his tangled meridians, she touched upon his inner demon and glimpsed the darkness that tormented him.
"Senior Sister Yeonwu. I'm glad… you are safe…"
Yeo Il had never once thought such words suited her.
"Bang Woo, you must not come here! Quickly… run at once!"
"…Sect Leader?"
"Cough, foolish boy! I told you not to approach…"
"Sect Leader! Please open your eyes, Sect Leader!"
Yeo Il looked down at Bang Woo, who was shaking the cooling body in desperation, and swallowed the words that nearly slipped from her lips—
That he was not someone worthy of mourning.
"Damn it, what is this… Senior Sister Seonhye? No… Senior Sister Seonhye!"
She wanted to tell him that beneath those wrinkled hands, more than a dozen disciples and innocent lives had been lost.
That the truth had been tightly concealed beneath the name of Mount Hua.
But that day would never come.
"Senior Sister Yeonwu."
Yeo Il tightened her grip on the Moon Sword as she met the darkest despair she had ever seen in his eyes.
"Why… Why is that disgusting mark branded upon your back…?"
One chance to flee was enough.
When Yeo Il swung her sword, Bang Woo reflexively drew his blade and defended.
Each step she took caused the cloth at her back—mercilessly torn by Baek Chung's strikes—to flutter, blood spraying.
Upon her bare skin was the brand that had plunged Jianghu into chaos.
The clear image of a black dragon.
"…Why."
Grinding his teeth until blood flowed, Bang Woo rose.
His trembling legs stood only upon betrayal.
"Why! Why do you possess the Moon Sword!"
His attacks aimed at her shoulder, chest, waist.
The blade was sharp, yet lacked precision.
The tip wavered endlessly, crude and unstable.
"…Say it's a lie."
At some point, the glow of the Moon Sword illuminated Bang Woo.
His rain-soaked eyes pleaded.
"Say it's all a lie… say it's a misunderstanding, damn it—!"
Is there a weaker warrior than a swordsman who has lost his composure?
Tap.
With a light strike, Bang Woo's eyes closed weakly and his body collapsed.
The black-clad figure who subdued him—Red Dragon Black Blade—stood silently, a jar held in one hand, meeting Yeo Il's gaze.
After staring at her for a long moment, he spoke quietly.
"As always, witnesses must be left alive."
"..."
"If you are not going to kill him, I will leave. I confirmed the contents inside. It is genuine."
Red Dragon's figure vanished soundlessly into the snowstorm raging like a typhoon.
From not far away, the approach of others could be sensed.
They were likely coming to check on the unusually silent situation of the Sect Leader.
The light of the Moon Sword faded.
Yeo Il looked at Bang Woo and Seonhye in turn, then slowly stepped away.
From the land called Mount Hua—
A place she would never return to.
Fortunately, the rain stopped before dawn.
After leaving the inn, Yeo Il and Jin Cheong-ak waited for the current to weaken before crossing the river.
Beneath the collapsed bridge, sturdy ropes had been secured across the gorge for emergencies.
Carrying Seol Seorin in her arms, Yeo Il was able to cross the waters relatively easily.
As the faint light of dawn began to rise beyond the mountain ridge, they decided to rest briefly inside a cave.
Moon Sword One Kill.
Who had taken up the name she had long ago discarded?
Within the damp cave, Yeo Il and Jin Cheong-ak stared at each other as if by prior agreement.
"Jin Cheong-ak."
Perhaps not expecting her to speak first, he frowned slightly and nodded.
Yeo Il spoke while recalling her memory with Bang Woo.
"When I fell into qi deviation."
"..."
"You said that while opening my meridians with your own hands, you glimpsed my past. Could you not refuse it?"
Jin Cheong-ak tilted his head, looking surprised.
"What is this? Asking about that day of all days. Normally you would not even part your lips about it. Curious what it felt like?"
"I'm not."
"I suppose not. You experienced it once yourself."
He saw even that far? Jin Cheong-ak was troublesome.
Gazing at the rain that had entered a lull, he answered quietly.
"I don't know about you, but I could not refuse. My collar was seized, and I was dragged endlessly downward. Like sinking into a swamp…."
A swamp.
It differed greatly from Yeo Il's own recollection.
The reason Yeo Il had cut away Bang Woo's memories without hesitation was simple.
They obstructed the clearing of his meridians.
A single misstep could have endangered her as well.
Yet Jin Cheong-ak not only absorbed all my memories, he ultimately succeeded in opening my meridians.
He was not unworthy of the title benefactor.
Though she would never use it.
"So, Yeo Il, do not blame everything you know about yourself on me. You know I risked my life as well."
For a fleeting moment, a shadowed smile curved upon Jin Cheong-ak's lips.
"Or is it that you despise this Jin Cheong-ak so much that you would rather blame it all on me? Is that it?"
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