Chapter 409

Lack.

It was a word that seemed familiar yet was difficult to pinpoint exactly.

“I grew up without want. As a member of the Tang bloodline, I could obtain most things I desired. But until I met you, there was one thing I couldn’t achieve.”

Tang Ha-ran said in a low voice.

“Making the Tang noble family the greatest in the world through my own power. Raising up the Tang Clan. That was my lifelong wish. But as I grew up, I came to realize it. That I didn’t have the ability to do so.”

Though it was a story Jin Ja-gang had heard long ago, he listened quietly.

Tang Ha-ran sighed slightly and raised her head to look at the ceiling.

“So I gave up. No, I thought I had given up. But the dream I couldn’t achieve still remained in one corner of my heart, becoming an unhealed scar. I was wandering around as just a shell, ‘lacking’ the biggest thing in my life.”

Tang Ha-ran looked at Jin Ja-gang. Without making a sound, she conveyed words through lip movements while making eye contact.

Then I met you…

Jin Ja-gang gazed into Tang Ha-ran’s eyes.

“What was lacking… was it filled?”

Tang Ha-ran smiled awkwardly.

“No. But I guess I could forget the pain. When I looked into your passionate eyes, I could forget as if the wounds inside me had disappeared.”

Tang Ha-ran asked.

“How was it for you?”

“I…”

Jin Ja-gang fell into thought while looking into Tang Ha-ran’s eyes.

“What aspect of mine attracted you?”

Somehow Jin Ja-gang found it difficult to look into Tang Ha-ran’s eyes.

“I… don’t really know.”

Tang Ha-ran firmly held Jin Ja-gang’s cheek as he tried to turn his head, forcing him to look into her eyes.

“You have a unique charm. A charm that attracts people who are lacking. That’s probably because you’re also lacking. Think about it. And also think about the hearts of other women looking at you.”

Tang Ha-ran laughed with moisture in her voice.

“When you realize that, you can go save Sword Empress.”

Jin Ja-gang’s pupils trembled.

* * *

Jin Ja-gang walked alone through the Tang Family Main House garden, lost in thought.

Though he had tried to pretend not to know and brush it aside, he actually knew.

Unbelievably… Jin Ja-gang had completely fallen asleep on Yeong-gwi’s back several times while coming to Sichuan. On the back of someone who had tried to kill him.

For Jin Ja-gang, who usually lived with nerves constantly on edge, something truly absurd had happened.

Why was that?

Though he hadn’t shown it outwardly, it was certainly strange.

Jin Ja-gang closed his eyes.

He recalled his emotions when he met Tang Ha-ran.

At first it was just a relationship of kill or be killed. But the moment Tang Ha-ran laid everything bare, Jin Ja-gang’s heart was also released.

Compassion?

Compassion?

Jin Ja-gang found it amusing even as he thought it himself.

If Jin Ja-gang were someone who felt compassion so well, he wouldn’t have killed countless people until now without any guilt.

Compassion seemed distant from Jin Ja-gang.

“Lack…”

Jin Ja-gang repeated what Tang Ha-ran had said.

Could it be that because he himself was lacking, he could attract the hearts of other lacking women?

“Then what I lack is…”

Throb!

Jin Ja-gang felt a shock like his heart being squeezed. He realized it so immediately it was chilling.

“Childhood…!”

Eight years in the mine tunnels.

Eight years trapped in mine tunnels after age ten.

Jin Ja-gang had no idea what he looked like at twelve, how tall he was at fifteen, when hair started growing on his body and when puberty began.

That was time Jin Ja-gang could never find again no matter what he did in the future.

Completely consumed by rage, he had lost eight entire years in a space where all time stopped.

But that itself wasn’t lack. It was merely loss.

What Jin Ja-gang truly lacked was…

Throb…

Jin Ja-gang clutched his chest.

An ordinary family.

Normal daily life.

Waking up on peaceful mornings, feeding cattle, fetching water, eating meals, daily life spent with family.

During the lost eight years, Jin Ja-gang lost normalcy.

The lack of everyday life.

Jin Ja-gang let out a heavy, frustrated breath.

They were all the same.

Tang Ha-ran couldn’t achieve her dreams and lacked belief in herself.

Yeong-gwi lost part of her appearance due to leprosy and was driven from her original village. She lived hiding her beauty with an ordinary human skin mask.

An Ryeong… lost pride in her family and lacked identity. She was constantly confused.

And Ice Phoenix Son Bi lost speech and laughter… She was forever lacking the joyful emotions people can express through words and expressions.

Jin Ja-gang finally understood.

When those who were lacking revealed themselves, when they showed their most painful and ugly sides without pretense, Jin Ja-gang finally opened his heart.

At the same time, he unconsciously tried to fill their lacking parts while seeking from them the normalcy he couldn’t have.

Just as when Son Bi, who lacked emotions, revealed the few remaining emotions she had – sorrow and desperation – he couldn’t ignore her request.

* * *

“Are you out of your mind! Where are you going at such an important time?”

Bian Bu shouted.

Jin Ja-gang answered obediently.

“I’m going to save Sword Empress.”

Taoist Master Bok-cheon seemed to find it somewhat unexpected as he glanced at Jin Ja-gang.

“It’s difficult to understand.”

“It’s my fault that Northern Heaven entered by eliminating Guizhou’s martial alliance. I must take responsibility.”

“Is it simply for that reason?”

“I’ve encountered Northern Heaven before in Gubuk Village in Yunnan. They were collecting all evidence from Yunnan’s poison sects. They’re definitely related to this matter somehow.”

Tang Gwi-ok said.

“Northern Heaven being related to this matter and the problem of going to save Sword Empress are different. We don’t know if Northern Heaven will still be there, or if Sword Empress is still alive there.”

“Anyway, my lightness skill is still insufficient, so I’m not much use in finding salt. It won’t take long to get to Guizhou. I’ll hurry back.”

Jin Ja-gang’s will was firm.

Tang Gwi-ok asked casually.

“You talked to Ha-ran about it, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

Tang Gwi-ok thought briefly then nodded.

“Then go and come back. But if Sword Empress was defeated without being able to resist, they won’t be mediocre opponents. I’ll attach someone useful from our side.”

Tang Gwi-ok gestured.

A young woman in her mid-thirties with sharp eyes stepped forward.

“Deputy Master of Soul Seizing Hall, Tang Yak. She’ll soon become the master, so it would be good to coordinate in advance.”

Tang Yak looked at Jin Ja-gang and cupped her hands with an expressionless face.

“I served the previous master, but I have no feelings toward you. I’ll do my best so you can complete your mission safely.”

Tang Yak selected two more Soul Seizing Hall warriors as companions on the spot.

“I’ll go too.”

Taoist Master Bok-cheon also decided to attach two more Qingcheng Sect Taoists to go together.

Woon-jeong didn’t step forward. He knew this wasn’t an easy matter.

And finally, Yeong-gwi and Son Bi also joined.

* * *

Jin Ja-gang and Son Bi, who hadn’t yet recovered, got into a carriage. And somehow Yeong-gwi, disguised as a pretty female warrior, rode in the same carriage.

Son Bi asked for Jin Ja-gang’s hand and held it, then wrote on his palm.

“Thank you.”

As Jin Ja-gang hesitated, thinking what to answer, the atmosphere in the carriage was chilly.

Yeong-gwi was glaring at Son Bi. Son Bi glared back at Yeong-gwi, then shook her head and turned her gaze outside the carriage.

From the Tang Family Main House to Inhoe County where Sword Empress Im Yi-yeon was last seen was seven hundred li. If they traveled by carriage then borrowed a fast boat at a river, they could arrive within two days.

However, the atmosphere during those two days seemed like it wouldn’t be comfortable.

* * *

While going to Inhoe County, Jin Ja-gang could hear Son Bi’s story through written communication.

Sword Empress Im Yi-yeon and Son Bi said they were originally coming to the Tang Family Main House to see Jin Ja-gang.

“Me?”

Nod nod.

Son Bi nodded but lowered her eyes slightly and blushed. Even when asked why, she wouldn’t answer that much.

Anyway, the two had met suspicious people just before entering Sichuan. They looked like merchants but their atmosphere wasn’t at all like Central Plains merchants.

Im Yi-yeon was surprisingly meddlesome and had been watching them for a while when there was a face she recognized among them.

“Who was it?”

Son Bi wrote on Jin Ja-gang’s palm again.

“Su Su-jin. She was a Northern Heaven unorthodox sect female master over fifty.”

The moment Im Yi-yeon recognized Su Su-jin, a fight breaking out was natural.

But it wasn’t just one person.

“There was someone with her. An old, cunning master called Go Lu-bon, also an unorthodox sect villain who dominated the martial world long ago.”

Im Yi-yeon hadn’t completely recovered since her fight with Demon Exterminating Monk Mu-gak. Moreover, facing two who had been renowned masters in the past simultaneously was too much.

Fortunately, Qingcheng Sect Taoists joined the battle and Son Bi was barely able to escape then. After that, Son Bi had nowhere to ask for help and came to find Jin Ja-gang.

“Su Su-jin and Go Lu-bon…”

At Jin Ja-gang’s muttering, Yeong-gwi beside him said.

“Su Su-jin learned Bare Hand Demon Arts. She enjoys using simple moves but her hand strength matches a treasured sword.”

Son Bi nodded.

“Right. When she raises her internal energy, her hands turn white.”

Yeong-gwi nodded and again looked with sharp eyes at Son Bi writing on Jin Ja-gang’s palm.

“Go Lu-bon has a skeletal, gaunt body but unlike his appearance, his bones are hard as steel and his skin tough as a lizard’s so blades can’t penetrate. I heard even sword energy can barely leave traces.”

“Master was also flustered when sword energy didn’t work.”

Yeong-gwi’s gaze became even sharper.

Since whatever was said connected to writing on Jin Ja-gang’s palm, she seemed displeased.

But Son Bi was also one of the Three Dragons Four Phoenixes and wasn’t someone to be intimidated by ordinary pressure.

Rather, she held Jin Ja-gang’s hand more and wrote defiantly.

“The warrior beside you keeps getting prettier.”

A day had passed and Yeong-gwi’s face had become more beautiful than yesterday. Considering she usually disguised herself with ordinary looks deliberately, there was definitely a change.

Jin Ja-gang laughed awkwardly.

“Haha…”

But at Son Bi’s next written message, Jin Ja-gang could no longer laugh.

Son Bi looked at Jin Ja-gang with a blushing face and slowly wrote on his palm.

“She likes you too.”