Chapter 198: Chaos Is a Swamp That Draws Everything In (2)

Sage Hyeon-so sat on a bench, staring blankly at the setting sun. The children watched him with puzzled expressions.

Ever since Cheon O-gyeong had departed that morning, Sage Hyeon-so had been like this—sitting in the same posture all day long, like a man whose soul had departed.

His body was here, but his spirit seemed to be elsewhere entirely.

Normally, the children would have swarmed around him and pestered him. But sensing something unusual in his demeanor, even they refrained from disturbing him, watching from a distance.

Within Sage Hyeon-so's mind, countless thoughts whirled. Even in stillness, they arose one after another, trailing one another like links in a chain.

The countless thoughts flickering and fading.

Sage Hyeon-so's eyes gazed into the distance.

When he had been at Mount Hua, he had vaguely believed that diligent cultivation would someday allow him to become an immortal. But the Dao he so fervently sought did not exist at Mount Hua.

'The Way of Humanity.'

That was the phrase that had filled his mind instead.

It had been several years since he had lost his disciple and descended from Mount Hua to wander the world. In that time, Sage Hyeon-so had encountered countless human spectacles.

Some had been blinded by greed for wealth; others had lost themselves to the thirst for power.

Some lived in misfortune, while others enjoyed happiness beyond measure.

'What is it that divides human beings so? Is it the desires they are born with, or the environment that surrounds them…?'

His contemplation continued without end.

His earnest inquiry carried his spirit to a distant, hazy place.

There, clouds floated, and the world spread out below. The world that had seemed so vast when he left Mount Hua now appeared as small as his palm.

Sage Hyeon-so looked higher still.

His spirit, knowing no satisfaction, reached further upward. He felt that if he could just stretch out his hand, the truth of the world he so desperately desired would be within his grasp.

At that moment—

"Junior Brother!"

A cold voice shattered Sage Hyeon-so's meditation entirely.

The world shifted.

When he opened his eyes, the world above the clouds had vanished without a trace. Before him stood a middle-aged man with a cold, severe countenance.

The man's features were as sharp as a honed sword, and the sight of him drew a sigh from Sage Hyeon-so's lips.

"Senior Brother Hyeon-geom."

"It has been a long time."

The man who spoke with a voice as cold as his appearance was none other than Sage Hyeon-geom, known as the Mount Hua's Greatest Sword. Behind him, Un-gyeong stood with a sheepish expression.

Sage Hyeon-so cast a wistful glance at his own hand.

Enlightenment was like sand—slipping unconsciously through his fingers. Had he been given a little more time, he felt he might have grasped something. But his hand was empty.

He did not know when such a moment might come again. Perhaps it would never come at all.

That knowledge filled him with regret.

Sage Hyeon-so released his regret with a gentle sigh and rose.

"Senior Brother, what brings you here?"

"I came to Shouzhou and heard you were here, so I stopped by."

"……"

"How long will you keep me standing?"

"Please, sit."

Sage Hyeon-so gestured to the seat across from him. It was where Cheon O-gyeong had sat the night before.

Cheon O-gyeong had departed as abruptly as he had appeared. But the resonance he had left behind was anything but small. Their conversation had given Sage Hyeon-so much to ponder.

He had been so delighted during their exchange, yet now, facing Sage Hyeon-geom, his chest felt tight.

'What, then, is the difference between a person of the Demonic Path and a person of the Orthodox Path?'

Cheon O-gyeong, a member of the Demonic Cult, had seemed more like a righteous martial artist, while Sage Hyeon-geom, the greatest swordsman of the prestigious Mount Hua Sect, exuded a demonic, tyrannical sharpness.

Sage Hyeon-geom swept his gaze over Sage Hyeon-so with eyes as sharp as his sword.

"So much time has passed, and yet you remain unchanged."

"How could a person not change? I too have changed a great deal."

"Judging by the look in your eyes, perhaps so."

"Senior Brother?"

"Do you still resent me?"

"……"

"So it seems."

Sage Hyeon-geom's eyes glinted coldly.

His gaze cut into Sage Hyeon-so's chest like a blade.

"I still do not regret what I did that day."

"Senior Brother!"

Sage Hyeon-so raised his voice. But Sage Hyeon-geom continued regardless.

"Though Cheon-gyeong's special qualities may stand out now, at the time, that child was of no benefit to Mount Hua. Anyone other than I would have reached the same conclusion."

"Ho's fame now shakes the world, and yet Senior Brother still refuses to acknowledge that child."

"I believe only what I have seen with my own eyes."

"Ahh…"

Sage Hyeon-so sighed once more at the sheer obstinacy of his senior brother.

His senior brother remained as stubborn as ever, unable to acknowledge others. That stubbornness weighed heavily upon Sage Hyeon-so's heart.

A brief silence fell between them.

Sage Hyeon-geom was the first to break it. His eyes had fallen upon the children huddled together, watching them with frightened expressions.

"Is it these children this time?"

"……"

"Cheon-gyeong was the same… You truly are consistent, Junior Brother."

"They are merely children with nowhere else to go."

"Hmph!"

"Is that all you came to say?"

"I came to bring you back."

"I told Un-gyeong clearly. I will not be returning for some time."

"That is why I have come."

"Senior Brother!"

"I take no pleasure in this, but the Grandmaster has instructed me to bring you back. I have no choice."

"I see…"

"No matter how much you deny it, you are an elder of the Mount Hua Sect. Never forget that."

"I have never once forgotten it. However…"

Sage Hyeon-so's gaze turned to the children. They stared back with fear clearly etched on their faces.

The raw terror of being abandoned was palpable.

Sage Hyeon-so's gaze hardened.

"I cannot leave these children behind."

"You always choose the harder path when the easier one is before you."

Sage Hyeon-geom's eyes grew colder still. An ordinary person would have been unable to meet that gaze, yet Sage Hyeon-so, who knew no martial arts, bore it.

His resolve was palpable.

Sage Hyeon-geom took a step back.

"Very well. I will take the children as well. But they will not be accepted as disciples of the Mount Hua Sect."

"It matters not. If the children do not wish it, I will not raise them under Mount Hua's wing either."

"Hmph!"

Sage Hyeon-geom snorted and turned away.

He noticed Un-gyeong, who had been standing by, watching.

"Take Hyeon-so and the children to the Shouzhou branch."

"But that place is far too dangerous."

"We will depart for Mount Hua directly from there. There is no danger whatsoever. With me present, what danger could there possibly be?"

"I… understand, Martial Uncle."

Un-gyeong answered with a helpless expression.

It was the decision of Sage Hyeon-geom, the Mount Hua's Greatest Sword. He could not presume to object.

His eyes fell upon Sage Hyeon-so, who was comforting the frightened children.

"Ahh…"

A sigh escaped him involuntarily.

***

Mount Heng was also known as the Northern Peak.

It was one of the Five Sacred Peaks of the Central Plains, long renowned as a strategic military location. The mountain range, stretching more than four hundred li from east to west, served as a bulwark against the incursions of northern tribes.

Since ancient times, the Mount Heng Sect had been highly famous. At its height, it had rivaled the Nine Great Sects, but now it had fallen and barely maintained its lineage.

The glory of the past had long since faded, yet the massive hall complexes remained as testimony to their former grandeur.

The prestigious Mount Heng Sect, which had endured for centuries—until just recently, more than three hundred disciples had lived here, driven by the ambition to restore its former glory.

The training ground where Mount Heng Sect's martial artists would normally have been practicing was now occupied by strangers. Numerous martial artists, all radiating unusual auras, filled the space.

They were the martial artists of the Demonic Cult, as the world commonly called them.

At dawn some days ago, the Demonic Cult's forces had assaulted the Mount Heng Sect. Sect Leader Jwa Gyeong-hak had led his disciples in a valiant defense, but they could not withstand the Demonic Cult.

In the end, Jwa Gyeong-hak and more than three hundred disciples perished heroically, and the Demonic Cult claimed their place.

Even now, the Demonic Cult's forces continued to converge upon Mount Heng. The once-vast halls of the Mount Heng Sect were filled to capacity with Demonic Cult martial artists. One might reasonably call it a miniature Demonic Cult.

Among the many, one woman stood out in particular. A beauty as conspicuous as a flower blooming alone in a swamp—Eum Yu-gyeong.

As she walked, her hem brushed softly against the ground. Many eyes followed her, but Eum Yu-gyeong paid no heed to any of them, moving with serene aloofness.

Her mind was deeply troubled, leaving no room to notice others' gazes.

People commonly held the prejudice that those of the Demonic Cult must be dripping with demonic energy. But save for the deity they served, most were ordinary human beings. It was simply that the martial artists among them were so powerful that the others were overshadowed.

They had been driven to the margins of the world for decades. Their resentment was so vast that it showed no signs of subsiding.

It felt like witnessing a volcano on the verge of eruption.

Eum Yu-gyeong bit her crimson lip and murmured.

"This will not do."

"What will not do, Saintess?"

At that moment, a strange voice cut into her words.

Eum Yu-gyeong turned to see a familiar face.

A middle-aged man dressed in blood-red martial robes. His cheekbones jutted prominently, and above his hawkish nose, bloodshot eyes glowed with a sinister light.

Behind him, a long object wrapped in cloth was visible.

Though the Demonic Cult boasted numerous martial artists, there was only one with such distinctive features.

'Blood Abyss Judge, Deung Cheon-so.'

One of the Seven Great Demons, a lunatic obsessed with blood. For this reason, even within the Demonic Cult, many feared Deung Cheon-so.

Deung Cheon-so spoke.

"I did not ask. What will not do, Saintess?"

"It was merely a soliloquy."

"Is that so?"

Deung Cheon-so fixed Eum Yu-gyeong with his red eyes. She met his gaze without flinching. He bared his yellowed teeth in a grin.

"Come to think of it, it has been quite some time since you returned. Yet for someone of the Saintess's standing, have you not been rather… lax?"

"Being the Saintess does not mean I must remain constantly at the Holy Sect."

"That is true, but I am asking you to show a bit more concern. Do not wander the world searching for the Holy Artifact without purpose."

"The Holy Artifact is a sacred relic that symbolizes our Holy Sect. How can you call the search for such an object pointless?"

"I did not say it was pointless. I am merely saying that you appear to be working too hard."

"I am not working hard at all."

Eum Yu-gyeong replied bluntly.

Though the remark might have been awkward for another, Deung Cheon-so simply laughed.

"As expected of the young—full of energy. Very well! Since the Saintess says she is fine, I will say no more. I only hope you will conduct yourself wisely."

"And I hope the Blood Abyss Judge will restrain his distasteful habits. The killing karma you accumulate for amusement will inevitably return upon you one day."

With those final words, Eum Yu-gyeong walked away.

Deung Cheon-so watched her retreating form. A faint anger smoldered in his red eyes.

'Insolent!'

His shoulders trembled.

Only when Eum Yu-gyeong had completely disappeared did Deung Cheon-so call for someone.

"Hyeol-u."

"Yes!"

A man in red martial robes materialized behind him—his trusted confidant.

"Keep an eye on her. It would be troublesome if she actually finds the Holy Artifact."

"Understood."

"And find out who she meets."

"Yes!"

With that, Hyeol-u vanished.

Alone, Deung Cheon-so smiled a cold smile.

"The Saintess, indeed. Ridiculous. An artifact of a bygone era presumes to obstruct the Cult Leader's designs…"

Then someone approached him.

"What are you muttering about?"

The young man appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties. Deung Cheon-so did not dare treat him lightly.

"Leader of the Cheoncheon Group."

"It has been some time."

The man who cupped his fists in greeting was Jo Ja-gyeong, leader of the Cheoncheon Group.

"What brings you here?"

"I have a debt to repay."

Jo Ja-gyeong's gaze turned toward Shouzhou. A chill glinted in his eyes.

'Cho Yeon-woon.'

Deung Cheon-so smiled broadly at the sight.

"You have come at the perfect time. I was just thinking of paying my respects over there."

"Respects?"

"Have you not heard? So Cheonsan—our friend—has also arrived."

"You don't mean the Ten-Li Reaper?"

Jo Ja-gyeong's pupils trembled as though struck by an earthquake.

Tang Ha-ran was in a state of tremendous shock.

She had never dreamed that what was sent to her was not an antidote.

Why hadn’t she checked the antidote on the spot?

Why couldn’t she confirm it and confront him right there?

It was because she had been too swayed by emotions.

Because of that, she had foolishly fallen for Mang Ryo’s scheme…

“How pathetic.”

Tang Ha-ran muttered to herself.

It was self-reproach.

How could someone who couldn’t even handle such matters properly become a great figure of the family?

She was on the verge of letting out a hollow laugh.

If this was Tang Qing’s test, then Tang Ha-ran had failed spectacularly.

Confronting Mang Ryo belatedly would only reveal her own stupidity. He would surely brush it off saying “Oh my, did I make a mistake?”

Of course, it couldn’t be a mistake. How could someone like Mang Ryo make such an error?

Tang Ha-ran shook her head to dispel her agonizing thoughts.

Now she had to think of how to remedy the situation going forward.

As Tang Ha-ran was suffering while looking at the dark moon from atop the slope, Jin Ja-gang approached.

Jin Ja-gang saw Tang Ha-ran’s attitude and realized that she too had been used by Mang Ryo.

Jin Ja-gang held out a rice ball wrapped in bamboo leaves to Tang Ha-ran.

“You haven’t eaten anything since evening.”

Tang Ha-ran looked at Jin Ja-gang. Jin Ja-gang didn’t avoid her gaze and met it calmly.

Tang Ha-ran asked.

“Are you… pitying me?”

To Tang Ha-ran’s question, Jin Ja-gang answered without particular emotion.

“How many times have I seen you that I would pity you?”

Tang Ha-ran accepted the rice ball. But she didn’t eat it right away.

“Actually, I’ve seen Young Hero Jin four times now.”

“I only remember twice, including today.”

“That would be so. The first time I saw you, you were dying covered in poison powder at Poison Valley. I wanted you to be cleanly disposed of, but that fellow Mang Ryo insisted on saving you. The result is what we have now.”

Jin Ja-gang’s eyebrows twitched.

In the martial world, it was known that the massacre at Poison Valley was Jin Ja-gang’s doing.

However, what Tang Ha-ran just said…

She had confessed that she was there at the time. And with Mang Ryo too!

Was the Tang family behind that massacre?

Jin Ja-gang’s emotions wavered and he was slightly shaken.

Tang Ha-ran felt this too. Tang Ha-ran gestured to the seat beside her.

“Sit down. It seems like this will be a long conversation.”

Jin Ja-gang sat beside her as Tang Ha-ran suggested.

Tang Ha-ran asked.

“What exactly is your relationship with that fellow Mang Ryo?”

This was what Tang Ha-ran wanted to ask Jin Ja-gang. Paradoxically, it was the same thing Jin Ja-gang wanted to ask Tang Ha-ran.

“Someone who must be killed. The enemy of the Medicine Sect lineage.”

Tang Ha-ran flinched. When the Medicine Sect story came up, Tang Ha-ran too couldn’t escape from original sin.

“I see. I had forgotten for a moment. Young Hero Jin was from Yunnan’s Medicine Sect. Yet for someone from the Tang family like me to propose to such a person.”

Tang Ha-ran laughed weakly with a powerless laugh. Then she looked at Jin Ja-gang, but his eyes were cold.

Tang Ha-ran stopped laughing. Her heart felt cold. Of all the many people, the one she had given her heart to was from an enemy relationship. She had fallen for this person’s burning eyes, but the target of that gaze’s killing intent was herself and her family.

Tang Ha-ran tried to hide her emotions and asked.

“Let me change the question. What meaning do you have for that fellow Mang Ryo? What meaning that makes him so obsessed with you?”

“I didn’t know he was alive until last year. Not even at Poison Valley. I killed him with my own hands nine years ago.”

Jin Ja-gang looked at Tang Ha-ran and said.

“Perhaps he resents that I took away everything from him.”

But Tang Ha-ran’s doubts still weren’t resolved.

“That fellow has his hands not only in our family but also in the Martial Arts Alliance… precisely with Baek Li-jung, and even in Shandong’s evil faction. No one knows why he’s acting that way.”

In the past, Jin Ja-gang would have immediately answered that it didn’t matter since he was going to kill him anyway. However, after experiencing a series of events, he realized that it wasn’t as simple as Bian Bu’s words suggested.

Of course, no matter how complex the process, the conclusion would be the same anyway.

“In the end, he’s someone who must die.”

“Then you’ll be considered an enemy of our family.”

Jin Ja-gang stared at Tang Ha-ran for quite a while.

“Is there a reason that shouldn’t be the case?”

Tang Ha-ran’s heart pounded as she received Jin Ja-gang’s gaze. Even knowing that his eyes didn’t mean what she was thinking.

Tang Ha-ran forced herself to speak.

“You’ll receive our family’s terrible revenge. Kindness repaid tenfold, grudges a hundredfold. That’s our family’s policy.”

“So?”

Jin Ja-gang’s expression didn’t change at all. Tang Ha-ran was rather left speechless.

But when she realized the life Jin Ja-gang had lived, her strength completely drained.

‘That’s right.’

This man had crawled out of hell and was in the middle of seeking revenge. He had even received the Zhuge family’s death warrant. He lived with death as his constant companion. He lived a life where death could come at any time.

Torture before death? Pain? What meaning could that have for this man?

How great a threat could the Tang family’s revenge be to such a person?

“He… has grandfather’s full support. He wields the King of Hell Plaque and shakes all authority. Sending me here was also his doing.”

“Why did he send you here?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know that either. I simply thought he had ill feelings toward me. I never imagined he would tell me to propose to… to his own enemy…”

Tang Ha-ran’s face grew hot, but she turned her head and continued speaking.

“I didn’t know he would tell me to propose and bring you back.”

“Then… let me ask just one last thing.”

With the words “one last thing,” killing intent could be felt from Jin Ja-gang. Tang Ha-ran felt a surge of sadness. Jin Ja-gang’s eyes were revealing killing intent without a trace of compassion.

“The Tang family…”

Jin Ja-gang’s lips twitched. Jin Ja-gang too seemed to find it very difficult to say those words. Thanks to this, Tang Ha-ran could understand what he was trying to ask.

“Was the Tang family involved in the massacre of Yunnan’s Medicine Sects?”

Tang Ha-ran had received the most difficult question to answer, the one she had hoped Jin Ja-gang wouldn’t ask.

She felt as if her heart had stopped.

Tang Ha-ran couldn’t directly answer her thoughts.

Instead, she recited an old passage from the Five Classics:

“Father’s enemy – cannot live under the same sky,

Brother’s enemy – must be struck down immediately upon meeting,

Friend’s enemy – cannot live in the same country.”

Tang Ha-ran finished speaking and quietly looked at Jin Ja-gang.

The passage Tang Ha-ran recited spoke of irreconcilable enemies.

It meant that the relationship between Jin Ja-gang and the Tang family, or between Jin Ja-gang and Tang Ha-ran, was already that of irreconcilable enemies.

Blue flames slowly began to rise in Jin Ja-gang’s eyes.

Tang Ha-ran felt suffocated. So she wanted to say something, anything.

Without realizing it, an excuse came out.

“I was assigned certain duties in our family and was active. Even if I wasn’t directly involved, I’m not entirely without responsibility for what happened to Yunnan’s Medicine Sects.”

“Speak.”

Grind.

The sound of Jin Ja-gang grinding his teeth could be heard.

“What you did.”

“Our family’s secrets cannot be revealed to outsiders. I can only protect them with death.”

Jin Ja-gang’s killing intent grew thicker.

Jin Ja-gang’s killing intent had surpassed visual and auditory killing intent to reach observational killing intent. Even Myowol had once gotten goosebumps from Jin Ja-gang’s killing intent.

Tang Ha-ran, receiving Jin Ja-gang’s killing intent from close range, became short of breath.

“Huk.”

However, she didn’t respond. She could have drawn up her internal energy to respond, but she just left it alone.

“I was testing… one type of poison… A poison that could be toxic to all people… Especially one that martial artists would find difficult to endure… That was my mission…”

Poison doesn’t affect everyone equally.

When attacking Iron Umbrella Sect, someone called Wang Yi-saeng was fine even after being hit by Wishful Fairy Maiden’s technique. Jin Ja-gang could only barely kill him by attacking with Serpent Swaying Divine Water and Joint Breaking Needle.

As is well known, the deeper a master’s internal energy, the more they can endure ordinary poisons. While it’s possible to restrict movement through poisoning, it’s difficult to immediately bring about death.

Jin Ja-gang obtaining Kunlun Sulfur poison at Mixed Spring Ground at a young age was truly heavenly fortune. Without that, he could never have survived against all those martial artists of Extreme Poison Sect at the time.

“The Tang family has countless poisons. Why was such a thing still necessary?”

“For mass… production of poison possible with ordinary materials in large quantities… to manufacture, huk!”

Tang Ha-ran felt the pain of her heart being squeezed and clutched her chest. Her face was already drenched in sweat.

But Jin Ja-gang’s curiosity still wasn’t satisfied.

“What does that have to do with the Medicine Sects? For what reason did Poison Sect attack not only Yunnan but all Medicine Sects throughout the martial world!”

“That’s…”

Tang Ha-ran’s face turned pale from the extreme killing intent. Tang Ha-ran looked at Jin Ja-gang with a pitiful expression.

“You… haven’t answered my question yet. Will you…”

The answer to the question of whether he would take her in.

Tang Ha-ran wanted to hear that answer.

But suddenly Jin Ja-gang pounced on Tang Ha-ran. Emitting killing intent from his eyes, he strangled Tang Ha-ran’s neck.

Tang Ha-ran struggled. Jin Ja-gang gritted his teeth and strangled her neck. Tears flowed from Tang Ha-ran’s eyes.

“Kuk, keuk!”

Crack, crack.

Sounds like neck bones being displaced could be heard, then Tang Ha-ran let out a big breath.

“Kek!”

A pill flew out of Tang Ha-ran’s mouth.

Jin Ja-gang immediately removed his hands from Tang Ha-ran’s delicate neck. Bluish handprints remained on Tang Ha-ran’s neck.

Jin Ja-gang snapped.

“You said you’d die if you revealed secrets, yet you spilled everything. Did you think I wouldn’t know you were trying to die? Or did you want me to notice?”

“Kek kek!”

Tang Ha-ran clutched her neck and kept coughing.

Jin Ja-gang picked up the pill Tang Ha-ran had spat out, crushed it with his hand, and tasted it on his tongue tip. Sizzle, his finger and tongue tip corroded and melted, with skin slightly peeling off.

“As expected. The assassin who harmed Miss Zhuge was sent by the Tang family.”

Tang Ha-ran looked at Jin Ja-gang resentfully with a face covered in tears and saliva.

“Why did you save me?”

However, Jin Ja-gang’s expression was also very complex. The killing intent still hadn’t subsided, but his face was troubled.

“Didn’t you say with your own mouth earlier? That you weren’t directly involved.”

“I’m a dead person anyway if I return to our family. No, I’ll suffer something more terrible than death. Rather… rather, it would have been better if you had just let me die now!”

Jin Ja-gang ground his teeth and shouted.

“How should I know such circumstances! I don’t know what to do with you either, so don’t force me!”

Jin Ja-gang abruptly stood up and turned around.

Supporting herself with both hands on the ground, Tang Ha-ran looked at Jin Ja-gang’s back and spoke.

“Five Fall Death Pill.”

Jin Ja-gang paused.

“That’s the name of the poison.”

“I understand.”

“And…”

Tang Ha-ran looked up at the sky and briefly stopped her tears.

“If you truly seek out your real enemy, it will probably be… my grandfather… Tang Qing. King of Hell Tang Qing.”

“King of Hell Tang Qing!”

The real enemy!

It was a name that came from a part Jin Ja-gang had never thought of.

“The attack on the Medicine Sects was all planned by grandfather’s hand.”

Jin Ja-gang stood still with his back turned. He seemed to be pondering Tang Qing’s name again.

“What grandfather was thinking when he incited Poison Sect to attack the Medicine Sects…”

“Don’t say any more. I’ll ask directly.”

“…What?”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t even turn his head and just walked away.

Tang Ha-ran picked up the dirt-covered rice ball rolling in front of her. She wasn’t hungry, but she peeled off the bamboo leaves and took a bite.

Chew chew.

Her throat was choked. It was gritty and tasteless because of the dirt. Her throat felt so choked she thought she might die.

But she could feel warm warmth from the rice ball…

Tang Ha-ran wept silently.

Having revealed the Tang family’s secrets, Tang Ha-ran could no longer return to the Tang family.

But when Tang Ha-ran suddenly felt a presence and raised her head, she saw someone standing by the grass.

Soso was looking at Tang Ha-ran with a complex expression.