Chapter 219. Nine in the Fifth Place (15)
The Leebi Merchant Guild was doing rather well.
From what people were saying, several merchants affiliated with the Baek Family had come here to help Jo Mu-Jae after Si-Hyeon had disappeared.
“Please identify yourselves.”
The warrior guarding the main gate seemed to be someone hired after Si-Hyeon had left, as she didn’t recognize him.
“Please call Great Hero Jo. His runaway niece has returned.”
Si-Hyeon smiled as she finished speaking.
That smile was so beautiful that the warrior looked dazed for a moment before belatedly going inside with a blush on his face.
With her beauty, he couldn’t even entertain the thought that Si-Hyeon could be an enemy or a fraud.
One of the traps that men easily fell into was thinking that if a woman’s face was beautiful, her heart would be beautiful too.
Thankfully, Si-Hyeon’s personality really was just as lovely as her visage.
“How do you feel?” Woo-Moon asked.
As he stood next to her, reliable and strong, Si-Hyeon turned to look at him with her eyes as round as a lake.
“I don’t know. Everything just feels strange. I’m worried about how my uncle is doing, but I’m also looking forward to his face when he sees me. He’ll definitely be surprised, right?”
Most of the Justice Coalition members who had gone out to fight the Heavenly Demon Cult already knew that Si-Hyeon was the Heavenly Demon. However, that news hadn’t spread throughout the murim yet, which meant that Jo Mu-Jae most likely didn’t know about it.
“Of course. He’ll be very surprised and incredibly happy. He might even faint from the shock, so make sure to hold him tight.”
“Hehe. Understood.”
Si-Hyeon chuckled, but inside her, her heart pounded.
Her uncle Jo Mu-Jae had been by her side since she was a child. And now that her father was gone, he was her only family. Thinking about how sad he must have been when he heard the news of her death made her heart ache.
At this moment, the gate of the Leebi Guild opened, and a gray-haired man came out.
“I heard there was someone looking for me—”
Jo Mu-Jae couldn’t finish his sentence.
Looking at him, it seemed as if the time he had spent alone ran faster. He looked at least twenty years older than before.
He stood in place for a long time and just stared at Si-Hyeon. His mouth twitched, and tears welled up in his eyes.
Quivering, he looked Si-Hyeon up and down repeatedly.
Si-Hyeon was already shedding tears by this point.
“U-Uncle, I’m back.”
It was only then that Jo Mu-Jae’s emotions burst out.
“Si-Hyeon!”
He hugged Si-Hyeon tightly and began to sob. Tears flowed down his wrinkled face like a waterfall.
“This... This isn’t a dream, is it? Thank goodness. To think you would really come back alive. When I heard that you had died like that, I didn’t know how I would face my Hyungnim on the other side. I... I really...”
Jo Mu-Jae cared about her so much and worried about her more than anyone else. Si-Hyeon’s heart broke, and she felt so sorry that she had left him worrying about her for so long.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Uncle.”
Woo-Moon’s nose stung, and his eyes became teary. Then, he thought of his parents, who were no longer with him, and whose whereabouts he didn’t even know.
His father was exactly like a big ox—larger than life and truly powerful, but also gentle and kind. He always pretended to be strong, but in reality, he was more vulnerable than anyone else.
He was a loving fool who had never been able to win an argument with his wife and sons.
Woo-Moon wanted to see them.
He wanted to see his family so much it felt like he was going crazy.
He wanted to eat the food that his father made. He wanted to stand in front of his mother and throw a tantrum. He wanted to see her smile.
He missed everything about them.
After turning away from Si-Hyeon and Jo Mu-Jae, who were crying together, Woo-Moon looked up at the sky far above.
‘Mom. Dad. Are you doing well...? I miss you.’
***
Dae-Woong followed him.
While they were following Gun-Ha due to her sudden strange behavior, he and his wife were kidnapped by a group of people.
They were incredibly strong.
He had tried to escape with his wife repeatedly, fighting those who tried to block his way. However, he never succeeded, and he was barely able to injure a few of them.
They were strong, so strong that it made him shiver.
I’m sure of it. These bastards are Martial Heaven.’
Although they had never revealed their true identities, Dae-Woong was certain of it.
The Martial Heaven bastards locked Dae-Woong and Jin-Jin in a room and that was that.
Every day was the same as the last.
However, today, Dae-Woong was brought somewhere alone. Something was happening.
‘What the hell could they be planning?’
After walking quite a distance, he arrived at a palace.
Dae-Woong had never been to the imperial palace in the capital, but from what he could imagine, even the Forbidden City had to concede to the palace in front of him.
Dae-Woong entered a large hall inside the palace. There, his breath got stuck in his throat.
There stood a beautiful and slender man, so beautiful he could be mistaken for a woman. He was trimming flowers. Yet when he saw this man, Dae-Woong’s instincts instantly screamed, warning him of mortal danger.
The person who had guided Dae-Woong here immediately disappeared, while the man who looked like a woman just kept trimming flowers for a while.
Then he sent Dae-Woong a voice transmission.
—Your son has been attracting my attention lately.
‘My son? Which one? Is it Woo-Moon or Woo-Gang?’
Dae-Woong considered for a moment before finally deciding that the man was probably referring to Woo-Moon.
Even while pressured by the aura of the beautiful man that seemed to envelop the entire space, he braced himself and shouted, “If you touch my son, I’ll kill you!”
It was a rebellion only possible thanks to his fatherly love. When he finished, Dae-Woong gasped as if this single shout had exhausted him.
Possibly because of his shout, the tip of the beautiful man’s finger, thinner and paler than that of a woman’s, was pricked by the garden shears, and blood flowed out.
He frowned.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
A strange sound rang through Dae-Woong’s ears, and the peaceful atmosphere suddenly changed. It was as if he had been dropped at the center of a battlefield, and fierce bloodlust overwhelmed him.
“Ugh...”
Blood flowed out from the corner of Dae-Woong’s mouth as if he had suffered an internal injury.
—Noisy. The thing I hate most in the world is when people are noisy. If everyone spoke quietly, the whole world would be quiet. Why don’t people understand that if everyone is quiet, anyone could have a nice conversation?
Snap.
The beautiful man snapped his fingers.
All sounds disappeared from the hall. And there was silence. A silence so quiet it screamed.
While Dae-Woong was flustered, the beautiful man covered his mouth and chuckled coquettishly.
—Hohoho! Parental love is truly amazing. Even someone as weak as you was able to make a sound in my domain. I want to meet this Song Woo-Moon even more.
As he spoke, the beautiful man licked the blood flowing from his fingers with his tongue as if it were nectar.
Dae-Woong was now more certain than ever.
‘This bastard is dangerous!’
The beautiful man was calling out Woo-Moon’s name, saying he wanted to meet him. If he really did meet his son... something terrible would happen.
His instinct as a father continued to warn him.
‘My son! If you touch Woo-Moon, I’ll kill you!’
Dae-Woong opened his mouth. He shouted, curses filling his throat.
Yet the next moment, he felt a chill run down his spine.
He couldn’t hear his voice at all.
Even the vibrations resonating in his own body disappeared. It was as if the whole world had lost its sound.
If this man could do something like this... then what would happen if he found Woo-Moon?
The Martial Heaven Emperor laughed heartily while enjoying the desperate expression on Dae-Woong’s face.
—I want to see for myself how great and noble filial love is. Let’s see if it’s as strong as fatherly love~
Dae-Woong screamed until his throat grew sore. He was going to kill the man if the man so much as laid a finger on his son.
All his screams amounted to nothing more than lip movement.
Martial Heaven Emperor thought to himself for a moment, then licked his lips and smiled wickedly.
—A good idea came to me. Do you think he could defeat a thousand people while suppressing his qi for his father?
Dae-Woong screamed in shock.
‘No!’
The Martial Heaven Emperor had used voice transmissions from beginning to end. Apart from Dae-Woong’s first shout, not one sound had echoed in this hall.
***
Thud!
“Ugh...”
Woo-Moon clutched his chest at the sudden pain.
“S-Senior brother! Are you okay?”
The two were on their way back to the Baek Family estate.
Si-Hyeon was startled by Woo-Moon’s sudden movement and grabbed his arm to support him.
“Ha... ha... ha... I’m okay.”
While he responded, Woo-Moon, puzzled by the sudden pain, circulated his qi and checked his heart.
‘There’s nothing wrong, what’s going on?’
His heart was beating vigorously. There was nothing wrong with the nearby blood vessels, and there was nothing wrong with any other part of his body.
‘Something isn’t right.’
As his expression darkened, Si-Hyeon became worried.
“Are you really okay, senior brother? Do you have an internal injury?”
Although he had an ominous feeling about the sudden pain, Woo-Moon smiled to comfort Si-Hyeon, who was next to him.
“It’s okay. It’s really okay.”
Seeing Si-Hyeon genuinely worrying about him and feeling relieved when he said he was fine, he really did feel better.
‘It’s probably nothing. There’s nothing wrong with my body.’
After shaking off his anxious feelings, Woo-Moon and Si-Hyeon arrived at the main gate of Baek Estate.
The youngest of the Heavenly Demon Dark Soul Squadron, who had been guarding them, stepped forward and shouted.
“Open the gates! My Lord and Master Song have returned.”
The Dark Soul Squadron was the greatest of the Heavenly Demon Cult’s elites and, along with the Light and Darkness Battalion, was one of the Heavenly Demon’s direct subordinate units.
If the Dark Soul Squadron, which consisted of ten members, acted as the Heavenly Demon’s armor and always protected her from external threats, the Light and Darkness Battalion was the Heavenly Demon’s sword, and consisted of three hundred members.
True to its mission, the Dark Soul Squadron followed Si-Hyeon all the way here and protected her.
Whenever he saw their loyal gazes, Woo-Moon felt secure, thinking that they would be of great help to Si-Hyeon if she ever faced great danger.
When he looked up at the sky, it had already become red.
‘I guess I’ll have to solve Dok-Du’s problem tomorrow.’
The next day.
Woo-Moon found the servant Dok-Du had feelings for and carefully confirmed that said feelings were not one-sided.
He then asked her about her family. If her parents were still around, he was going to send a formal matchmaker and petition for marriage. However, as it turned out, her parents had actually sold her to the Baek Family at a young age and weren’t around anymore.
So, Woo-Moon personally chose an auspicious day and date and had the older servants prepare for the wedding. Moreover, he covered all expenses.
Thinking that there was no need to rush, he set Dok-Du’s wedding date for roughly three months later.
The Heavenly Demon Cult then announced the Marriage of the Heavenly Demon would happen in a month.
***
“Did you hear?”
Inside a dark, secret room.
At the words of the Azure Jade Buddha Sword Myriad Lives Monk[1] of the Shaolin Temple, the figures of each force sitting with him let out deep groans.
“We can’t just let this happen. How can we watch the hero of the Righteous Faction marry that witch?”
They were afraid.
Afraid that the marriage between Woo-Moon and Si-Hyeon would result in a true reconciliation between the Righteous Faction and their long-time enemy, the Heavenly Demon Cult.
The Wudang Sect’s Hae Cheong spoke.
“We only have one chance. We have no choice but to wait for the moment they leave the Baek Family and return to the Heavenly Demon Cult.”
He wasn’t wrong.
They wouldn’t even have the chance to get close while Woo-Moon and Si-Hyeon were in the Baek Family or the Heavenly Demon Cult.
The discussion between the elders of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Eight Great Ancient Families gradually got into more and more detail.
1. Azure Jade Buddha Sword is his jianghu title, and Myriad Lives is his Buddhist name. ☜