The True Chasing Yahui Sword.
Among the different swordsmanship techniques I knew, it was the most powerful one.
It held explosive power, boosted by my rotational force.
“Kuak!”
So Ik-heon, swept away by my sword, tried to defend himself. However, So Ik-heon who couldn’t stop the storm-like power from my sword crashed into the wall of the training room, while his sword embedded itself into the ceiling.
Chang! Thud!
He couldn’t help but feel shocked. He should have noticed it while he blocked my sword.
That I had surpassed a limit that he couldn’t.
“How did you…?”
He couldn’t even finish his question. He had tried to deflect my sword as much as possible, but So Ik-heon’s body had spun around like a windmill due to the rotational force of my sword, and like a screw, he had pierced into the training room wall.
Kwang!
“Kuak”
He groaned, coughed out a handful of blood, and then looked at me with shell-shocked eyes.
“Phew.”
I took a deep breath as I stopped using the Xing Ming Cultivation.
I knew that the walls of the training room were made of hardened stones. The walls of such a room were now a mess, traces of sword techniques carved into the walls.
‘I didn’t think it would be this powerful.’
If I had hit his sword at the right angle, my father would have probably died. If he hadn’t been careful he probably wouldn’t have survived for more than a few seconds.
‘I could beat the Lord.’
It felt weird.
Before getting this second chance at life, he was a barrier I couldn’t even dream of approaching. I couldn’t even dare to hold a sword in front of him.
-You developed a lot. Wonhwi. At this rate, it seems that you have reached half of my former master’s strength.
Iron Sword was praising me.
My skill was still just half of his former master’s? That was such a huge difference!
Then how strong was Hae Ack-chun who surpassed even the Southern Heavenly Swordsman?
When I thought about it, my path looked long.
-Do not be in a rush. You are getting stronger faster than anyone else!
Thanks for saying that. Why do you two feel more like family to me?
-Uhm.
Iron Sword, who clearly enjoyed my comment coughed, and Short Sword said,
-You beat the person whose coattails you were chasing, yet you don’t look so happy.
Short Sword could read me like a book. Because she was attached to me, she was amazingly aware of my feelings just by looking at my face.
Right, I didn’t feel good. I didn’t expect much, but So Ik-heon didn’t feel like blood to me.
‘…’
I wanted to ask him with an honest heart.
Why do you hate me so much?
If you were going to be this harsh, why let me live?
“Haa…”
I leaned my back against the wall and sighed. This wasn’t like when I was in the Blood Sect.
I really wanted to ruin this family. But if that happens the life of my little sister would surely turn worse.
-You are holding back for your sister?
‘Why, do you think I will hurt that father of mine?’
-Well, you look so angry that this is my first time seeing that expression on your face.
‘If you get angry and get rid of everything, what will happen to the ones left behind?’
If I took the life of this man, swept up in my rage, my sister would suffer a lot. The title of being a traitor’s sister.
-Your sister is the key that holds you.
Could be.
If she wasn’t here, I wouldn’t even care what happened to this damned family.
But with Yong-yong here, I would not, could not, cross that final line. Now my fate was bound to the Blood Sect.
In a situation where I didn’t know what would happen to me, I could not put her life in danger.
‘What do I do?’
Everything was twisted now. First off this place was in the shits and we had fought so viciously.
As I was pondering what to do Short Sword asked,
-How about talking to him?
‘Him?’
-The one stuck in the wall. Well, just try talking.
Do you mean the Blue Decree Sword?
It was so quiet that I didn’t know. But each sword had its own voice.
‘Hmm.’
I jumped up, and pulled his sword from the ceiling.
The Blue Decree Sword was the treasured sword of the Ikyang So family, which only the family head could wield.
As Short Sword said, he should know the truth that no one else had, including the truth behind Asong.
‘Blue Decree Sword.’
-…
What?
I didn’t hear an answer, so I asked again,
‘Blue Decree Sword.’
-…
‘Can it not hear me?’
-Right, you are right
With the prodding from Short Sword, Blue Decree Sword was shocked,
-Oh my, this!
Now I’m used to it.
The swords mostly reacted to me the same way when I talked to them. The tone of it was very similar to that of an old scholar.
Like relaxed and classy?
-I didn’t expect an opportunity to talk to you like this. Child,
It even called me child.
When I asked him why he said that he had been part of the family for so long that he considered all of us his grandchildren.
-Elder. Elder then.
Short Sword clicked her tongue and Blue Decree Sword said,
-I have always been watching you with great sadness.
‘Watching me sadly?’
-Right. There has never been a child of this family who had to slog through such tough times
I had such a strange feeling when I heard his words.
How would I feel if I had a grandfather or mother alive?
The sword now was speaking to me in the same manner
-If Ik-heon had been kind and a bit open-minded, you wouldn’t have been this hurt.
Even this sword understood my situation well… but,
I had given up on this life a long time back. If my father had truly been kind, I wouldn’t have ever ended up in the Blood Sect.
-Still, don’t think too harshly of Ik-heon.
‘That isn’t something you can tell me now.’
-…now, a few words will not change the emotions you have. But Ik-heon has his responsibilities.
‘Responsibilities?’
Funny.
Does a person with a sense of responsibility abandon their child?
And at the moment when he suspects the child to be a member of the Blood Sect, would he force him away?
-If Ik-heon was going to treat you as a Blood Cult member, why would he bring you to a training room where no one is around? Rather, he would put up a public discussion in the presence of the Mount Hyeong sect and others.
‘For the sake of the family name.’
In front of the guests, would he really accuse the third son of his family of being a member of the Blood Sect?
How would the province and people react?
The man was someone who took the honor of the Ikyang So family very seriously.
-I can see that it might look like this to you.
‘Do you know the suffering of living here?’
When I was young I wanted to die every day. When my mother died, there were times I wanted to throw my life away, but Yong-yong was there.
Of course, as I went through hard things my heart became stiff.
‘I have no resentment against you, but I have to make you tell me what you know. If not, I don’t know what to do with him.’
I pointed to So Ik-heon who was unconscious.
Swords do not like their masters being harmed. It was a way of intimidating them.
I thought it would work on an old sword like this one.
However, the reaction of this sword was different,
-… I think it would be better for you if you knew the truth.
‘Truth?’
What was the truth?
I was puzzled as he readily decided to speak
-You are not the child of Ik-heon,
‘…?!’
My mind went blank.
I even wondered if I had heard wrong, and I leaned my back against the wall looking at Ik-heon.
I am not his child?
-About 20 years ago, my master, Ik-gyeom, Ik-heon’s father.
So Ik-gyeom. The name of my grandfather who had died.
A man who was known to have made remarkable contributions to the heavenly war, and he was killed in the final moments of the war.
-From then on, I was with Ik-heon.
So Ik-gyeom, who was the head of the house was killed, so it was naturally passed down to So Ik-heon.
-Ik-heon was young and disappointed by his father’s death. He was lost. He lived as if he was addicted to alcohol when his mother died,
That cold-blooded idiot was depressed?
-He would disappear outside every day and then come back home drunk. Then one day that guy brought back a wounded woman.
Wounded woman? No…
-Right. It was your mother.
I didn’t know. Wasn’t my mom actually a servant here?
-Ik-heon took care of your mother with sincerity and I could tell by looking that this was the love that humans speak of.
This man loved my mother?
-Right. At least until then, his love seemed pure. Ik-heon had fallen into despair and soon began to regain his color and even took your mother as a servant to keep her by his side.
‘He fell in love, but placed her as a servant…’
-It couldn’t be helped. Your mother wanted to hide her past, but he couldn’t simply take a woman whose identity was unknown as his wife.
‘Ha…’
-Actually, your mother wanted to leave right after her injury had healed. But your mother had a secret she couldn’t hide anymore and it was out in the open.
‘… Me.’
-Right. Your wounded mother was pregnant when she was found. She is a strong woman. Despite her wounds, she didn’t lose you.
My legs felt weak, I had sunk to the ground.
Then, I was not an illegitimate child of the Ikyang So family head?
-This is the truth
-Wonhwi…
Short Sword looked at me with a worried face.
Then Blue Decree Sword continued to talk,
-Your mother tried to leave, but Ik-heon couldn’t bear to see her leave and he persuaded her.
‘… what?’
-He told your mother that you would live a hard life if your mother decided to move out, and you would be a baby without anyone to protect you. Perhaps because of maternal love, your mother accepted his request.
‘….’
-But, strange rumors had begun to go around the family. As your mother’s stomach began to swell up, it reached the ears of the madame.
‘So?’
-Using that rumor as a pretext, Ik-heon accepted your mother as the Second Madame. When the head of the family said that the child in her stomach was his own, no one could even say anything.
‘And mother accepted it?’
-Why wouldn’t she? It was to protect you,
To protect me, she turned into the wife of an unrelated man.
My eyes stung as I thought of my mother. It was so hard to believe that she went through this for me.
-I understand. Anyone would find it hard to believe.
How can one believe things unless they witnessed them?
-If I could, I would show you everything I saw,
It was just then–
[The Sword Heart and Human Heart must work together, the Ursa Major has been opened.]
A voice echoed in my head.
And a blue flame flashed from my right hand!
Chik!
A change occurred and with a burning sound, dots were formed.
‘Ahh!’
Three of seven stars formed the shape of the Big Dipper and turned blue, and as the dot at the position of Ursa Major turned blue, the flames subsided.
‘Ursa Major has opened’
It had been a long time since I saw this.
And when I opened my eyes, everything had changed.
Scenes unfolded in front of my eyes as if I was looking through the eyes of someone else.
