Chapter 156

Chapter 156: Every Meeting Must Come to an End (3)

The betrayal of Yun Chung, Deputy Leader of the Overlord Outfit, and Jo Yun-san, Leader of the Black Water Outfit, sent massive aftershocks through the green forest.

Betrayalty was not an unfamiliar concept in the green forest. It was a world where strength ruled all.

In fact, among the leaders of the eighteen Outfits of the green forest, there were many who had forcibly deposed their predecessors and seized their positions.

It was the nature of the green forest that the strong claimed everything, and the green forest bandits accepted this as a matter of course.

But when external forces were involved in a betrayal, the situation changed. And when those external forces were the Demonic Cult, there was no need for further discussion.

The Demonic Cult was a target of revulsion not only in the Central Plains Murim but also in the green forest. When the Demonic Cult had swept across the Central Plains, thousands of green forest warriors had perished.

Even now, there were many survivors of the fallen among the green forest, and many who vividly remembered that day.

When the truth emerged that Yun Chung was in fact a member of the Demonic Cult and had been nurturing the Demonic Cult's warriors within the green forest, the entire green forest rose up in outrage.

The first to suffer were the leaders who had signed the joint petition. They protested that they had signed without knowing Yun Chung was a member of the Demonic Cult, but no one believed them.

From the Green Water Outfit and over ten other strongholds, the leaders were all replaced. A transformation of unprecedented scale had occurred.

The world was changing.

The one who felt this change most keenly of all was Muk Il-gwang. He had thrown himself into the task of rebuilding the Overlord Outfit in place of Hwang Gyeong-mun, whose internal injuries had not yet healed.

The betrayal of Yun Chung and the Dark Ghosts, along with the Dragon Ascension Corps, had cost the Overlord Outfit half its fighting force. The command structure, once so solid, had crumbled, and the people were in disarray.

Had Hwang Gyeong-mun been in good health, rebuilding would have been far easier. But unfortunately, Hwang Gyeong-mun was still in no condition to move about freely.

In the end, Muk Il-gwang had no choice but to step to the forefront.

He devoted himself fully to rebuilding the Overlord Outfit. Though he had refused the position of Corps Leader of the Dragon Ascension Corps for Hwang Hye-ryeong's sake, his standing within the Overlord Outfit was exceptionally high.

Muk Il-gwang reorganized the Overlord Outfit with remarkable speed, and as a result, the chaos in the green forest gradually subsided.

Dam Ho stood atop Mount Hwang, gazing down at the Overlord Outfit.

If the Overlord Outfit of a few days ago had felt deeply unsettled, the one before him now had clearly regained a measure of stability.

Though their influence would contract for a time, if a few more years passed in this manner, they would surely recover their former glory.

It was at that moment.

"Brother."

A familiar voice echoed in his ear.

He turned to find Hwang Hye-ryeong standing there. Her complexion was still pale.

Since collapsing that day, Hwang Hye-ryeong had not left her room. This was the first time he had seen her face since then.

"Are you feeling well?"

"I am fine."

"That is good."

Dam Ho nodded. Hwang Hye-ryeong gazed at him intently.

"Brother."

"…"

"You knew, didn't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"From the very first time I saw you, something felt strange. You were a slaughterer called the Fist Demon, feared by all for your fierce and violent nature, yet somehow I felt no fear at all."

Hwang Hye-ryeong's voice was remarkably calm. She was neither agitated nor emotional. She seemed more clear-headed than ever before.

Dam Ho looked at her in silence.

"Your eyes were the same. Though I was seeing you for the first time, your gaze felt strangely familiar. Others say your eyes are so terrifying that no one dares meet them, but I never felt that way."

"…"

"Why is that? I have always wondered."

Hwang Hye-ryeong's eyes demanded the truth. But Dam Ho was not yet ready to answer. So he could only remain silent.

"After meeting you, I kept having dreams. In the dreams, I was a baby who had not yet learned to walk."

The dreams were always hazy.

A strange man and a boy appeared, as did a middle-aged woman with a warm expression. But their faces were never clear, and they never appeared together. So she had never thought they were connected.

"When I was very young, my mother died. My father told me that the shock had erased my memories of childhood. And so I believed it… but then…"

Hwang Hye-ryeong's voice trailed off.

Even then, Dam Ho maintained his silence.

"That day… when the rebellion broke out at the Overlord Outfit. I saw that same scene again. A man holding a bow… and beside him, a small boy. That boy's face…"

Hwang Hye-ryeong reached out toward Dam Ho's face. Dam Ho did not avoid her touch.

Hwang Hye-ryeong caressed Dam Ho's face.

Starting from his forehead, she traced down to his nose, and stopped at his firmly sealed lips.

"It was your face. You looked twenty years younger than now, but it was unmistakably you. What happened? Why does my younger self appear in my dreams in the form of you? Is it really just a dream?"

Dam Ho closed his eyes.

"Please, answer me. Is it really a dream?"

"Your name…"

This time, it was Hwang Hye-ryeong who fell silent.

Her wavering pupils were fixed upon Dam Ho's lips. She waited for his words to continue.

"Your name is Dam Ga-ryeong. Your home was a small village in the foothills of Taebaek Mountain."

In that instant, Hwang Hye-ryeong recalled the words Dam Ho had once spoken in passing.

–It was just an ordinary village. Nothing special, nothing different. Just a simple rural village where the men farmed rice paddies and the women tended vegetable gardens, living out their days.

Hwang Hye-ryeong's pupils trembled.

Words she had heard without care at the time now pierced her heart.

"Then my dream was real? You truly are my brother?"

"Yes."

"How can that be!"

In that instant, Hwang Hye-ryeong's legs buckled.

Dam Ho caught her hand. The warmth transmitted through their clasped hands.

That warmth was not unfamiliar.

"Ah!"

"I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner."

"How… how? Sob!"

Hwang Hye-ryeong wept.

In her heart, she had perhaps suspected as much. But to have it confirmed directly from another's lips was a shock of an entirely different magnitude.

"How did it happen? How did I come to be Hwang Hye-ryeong?"

"You were…"

Dam Ho calmly related everything he knew.

His story went on for a very long time, but Hwang Hye-ryeong listened with patience.

From the Black Tiger Unit's attack on the village, to entering Mount Hua, and to the reason she had to become Hwang Gyeong-mun's daughter, he recounted it all without omission.

Tears streamed ceaselessly down Hwang Hye-ryeong's cheeks. And when at last Dam Ho's long, long story reached its end, her legs gave way and she sank to the ground.

Her small shoulders shook. Dam Ho held her wordlessly and gently patted her back for a time.

After a long while, Hwang Hye-ryeong wiped her tears and drew away from Dam Ho's embrace.

"Brother."

"Yes."

"Thank you. For remembering me and coming to find me."

"I'm sorry. That it took me until now to come."

"No. I at least lived comfortably as Hwang Hye-ryeong, while you endured all that suffering. Just the fact that you came is enough for me to be grateful."

"Thank you. For understanding."

"What will you do now? Can you not just stay here with me?"

"I'm sorry. This is not a place where I belong."

If he remained at the Overlord Outfit, life might have been comfortable. He was a great benefactor to the Overlord Outfit, quite apart from his blood tie with Hwang Hye-ryeong.

But the Overlord Outfit did not suit Dam Ho.

Dam Ho was not a man of the green forest, and he had no interest in a life of plundering the wealth of others.

His life had been forged in struggle.

The rough and untamed Murim was where he belonged.

Hwang Hye-ryeong looked up at Dam Ho's face.

Dam Ho's face, which instilled fear not only in enemies but also in allies, seemed somehow pitiable.

"Brother."

"Live your life as Hwang Hye-ryeong. You may forget the name Dam Ga-ryeong."

"I cannot do that. I will live as Hwang Hye-ryeong… and as Dam Ga-ryeong. As the daughter of the Overlord Grandmaster Hwang Gyeong-mun, and as the sister of the Fist Demon."

Hwang Hye-ryeong's voice was filled with unwavering conviction and resolve.

Just as Dam Ho, once he had made a decision, would never reverse it, so too would Hwang Hye-ryeong, once she had set her mind to something, never go back on her word.

Dam Ho reached out and stroked Hwang Hye-ryeong's head.

"Yes! Living that way would not be so bad. Live as you wish."

"Brother."

"But I have one favor to ask."

"What is it?"

"For the time being, I ask you to look after Jin-bo."

"What?"

"I would like to travel with you to the end, but I fear it would be too dangerous to take Jin-bo any further."

Setting aside the fact that he had become the enemy of the Murim Alliance, he had also forged a bond of enmity with the Demonic Cult. He had become the enemy of the two most powerful organizations in the Murim.

A harsh wind of blades was about to blow. In that biting gale, it would be impossible to protect Bang Jin-bo perfectly.

"All right. I will take full responsibility for Jin-bo's safety."

"Thank you."

"You are his brother. That makes him like a younger brother to me as well."

"Yes!"

Dam Ho nodded.

If it was Hwang Hye-ryeong, she would take good care of Bang Jin-bo.

"When will you be leaving?"

"Now!"

"What? Already?"

"The longer I stay, the harder the parting will be. If we must part anyway, it is better to do it quickly."

"Where will you go?"

"Mount Hua."

Dam Ho looked toward the northern sky.

An age of chaos was opening.

In an era of war, a martial artist was like a mayfly, unable to guarantee even a single day of life.

Dam Ho was no exception.

Though he had navigated it well thus far, should he encounter a stronger martial artist, he could lose his life in an instant. That was the world of the Murim.

Before such a thing could happen, he wished to see his Master.

If he could see Sage Hyeon-so, he felt he would have no regrets left.

No matter how the world might turn, no matter what his own fate might be.

"Brother."

"Take care."

Dam Ho bade farewell to Hwang Hye-ryeong.

Hwang Hye-ryeong watched as Dam Ho descended the mountain, his figure growing smaller with each step. Several times she reached out, wanting to hold him back. But in the end, she could not.

Twenty years was by no means a short time.

Now that they had finally reunited, they had walked too far along different paths to come together again.

She could not hold Dam Ho back. All she could do was pray for his safe journey.

Dam Ho disappeared from Hwang Hye-ryeong's sight.

In the distance, the Dark Horse came galloping, kicking up a cloud of dust. It ran along the steep slopes of Mount Hwang as though they were flat ground.

Dam Ho mounted the Dark Horse.

"Let's go."

The Dark Horse surged forward as though it had been waiting.

The sight of it leaping between the massive boulders was reminiscent of a mountain goat that grew only in the high peaks.

"Brother."

Hwang Hye-ryeong's shoulders trembled intermittently.

She fought to hold back her tears.

Though the parting was painful, she comforted herself with the thought that they would someday meet again.

It was at that moment.

"Brother!"

A familiar voice called from behind.

He turned to see Bang Jin-bo running toward him in a panic.

He had been tending to the Dark Horse and his own white horse in the stables when the Dark Horse had suddenly bolted.

Following the Dark Horse's trail, Bang Jin-bo had reached the summit, and there he saw Dam Ho and the Dark Horse receding into the distance.

"B-Brother?"

Bang Jin-bo's eyes wavered.

"Don't tell me…"

A foreboding feeling seized him, and Bang Jin-bo tried to chase after Dam Ho.

"Jin-bo."

Hwang Hye-ryeong caught his shoulder.

"Sister?"

"Brother does not want you to put yourself in any more danger."

"But…"

"It is time to let Brother go, Jin-bo. Brother wants you to stand on your own."

"Brother is…"

"Yes! It will be hard, but let's send him off with a smile."

Bang Jin-bo stood rooted to the spot like a stone statue, gazing in the direction Dam Ho had vanished.

"Is that truly what Brother wants?"

"Yes."

"If it is what Brother wants…"

Bang Jin-bo clenched his chubby fists tightly.