Chapter 100 : Emerging Outline (1)

Chapter 100: Emerging Outline (1)

Yong Hwarin had found it strange.

Even though they possessed thievery skills capable of stealing artifacts from the Shaolin Temple and the Jeong Family Manor, he couldn't understand why they hadn't been able to steal artifacts from his own household.

But it was only natural that they couldn’t find his grandmother’s chamber pot, since they too assumed the Vermilion Bird Blood Chalice was only the size of a wine cup.

‘So that's why they tried to abduct Father and ended up assassinating him.’

They hadn’t intended to assassinate him, but during the fight, Father had been poisoned and died.

Yong Hwarin was convinced his reasoning was correct.

‘About ten assassins were mobilized to kill Father. If they only meant to assassinate him, just one or two would have sufficed. There was no need to send ten.’

Only now was the outline beginning to become clearer.

‘Is that enough now? With my spiritual power, I can’t remain in this man’s mind any longer.’

‘Please, just a little more.’

Yong Hwarin tried to extract a few more clues from the head of the Black Kill Sword. As the Demonic Master’s spiritual power rapidly waned, only a few images surfaced.

‘What is this? Wait, a large martial arts hall... and that? I see the signboard of the Great Dabie Sect. And... a shape like an eagle...’

There was no coherence among the images, and he couldn't deduce their meaning from the visions alone.

‘Revered Demonic Master, that’s enough.’

As the Demonic Master’s spiritual power faded, no further images or scenes emerged from the Black Kill Sword’s mind.

In that moment, Yong Hwarin sensed the Demonic Master’s spiritual power returning through the Laogong Point.

The Demonic Master’s spiritual energy had surged back into the Upper Dantian.

Perhaps due to the spell used to extract the Black Kill Sword’s memories, he had fallen into slumber.

Yong Hwarin withdrew the qi barrier that had surrounded the blood and energy of the Upper Dantian.

Then he was suddenly startled.

He had always questioned the reasons and motives behind the extermination of his clan.

The more he investigated in his previous life, the more the truth had eluded him.

It had been strange that the Great Dabie Sect attacked the Heavenly Central Sect without any grudge.

Even though the two were once equals, the Dabie Sect suddenly brought in masters, and it was those experts who ultimately destroyed the Heavenly Central Sect.

Though it was said they proposed a ceasefire before launching a surprise attack, it wasn’t a level of ambush that couldn't have been repelled.

‘Maybe, just maybe… the Dabie Sect was nothing more than a subordinate force. If they were able to mobilize the Middle-aged Demonic Master, Deung Hwaun, and the Self-Revolving Blood Demon, then the one pulling the strings must be someone tremendous.

That someone might have destroyed our clan just to acquire the artifact in our household.’

That thought gave Yong Hwarin newfound understanding of his family’s downfall in his past life.

It felt as though the puzzle pieces were finally coming together, one by one.

‘In the Murim, even a single secret manual can lead to the destruction of a clan—this isn’t far-fetched.’

Though he thought it might not be the case, remembering martial families destroyed over secret manuals in his past life meant it wasn’t wrong either.

‘This artifact must be that valuable. The Black Kill Sword doesn’t know the reason, but at the very least, the Middle-aged Demonic Master or Deung Hwaun would know.’

He had uncovered the outline of the incident, but it only made him feel as though he were sinking deeper into a quagmire.

Yong Hwarin stepped outside, realizing it was time to leave.

Moments later, Mae Yeongyeong, who had been strolling through the flower garden, approached.

“Are you leaving?”

When Mae Yeongyeong asked, he found it difficult to speak.

Though they were unrelated now, she had been someone he loved in his previous life, so his feelings toward her were not ordinary.

“Yes, thank you for your help, Miss Mae.”

For a moment, Mae Yeongyeong’s eyes twitched.

“Did I ever tell you my name?”

Yong Hwarin flinched, though he chuckled inwardly.

‘Sharp as ever, past or present.’

With a smile, Yong Hwarin replied.

“I know the surname of the newly appointed Virtuous Magistrate. How could I not know the surname of the young lady?”

“That’s true, I suppose.”

It wasn’t likely one would attend a celebratory banquet without knowing the name of the newly appointed Virtuous Magistrate.

“But you won’t know my given name.”

At her words, Yong Hwarin immediately performed the clasped hands greeting and asked.

“If I may be so bold, could I inquire about your esteemed name, Miss Mae?”

Mae Yeongyeong stared at Yong Hwarin for a moment before opening her mouth.

“It’s Yeongyeong.”

“Ah, so it was Miss Mae Yeongyeong. Meeting you has been the greatest honor of my life.”

Yong Hwarin truly meant those words.

“Hohoho, even though I know it's flattery, I can’t help but feel pleased.”

For the first time in a while, Mae Yeongyeong smiled brightly.

Her smile was more beautiful than the flowers blooming in her garden.

“Will we meet again?”

“Imyeong County and Hayun County are not so far apart. We’ll surely meet again.”

Yong Hwarin also answered with lingering regret.

“I suppose so.”

Mae Yeongyeong replied awkwardly and looked at Yong Hwarin.

“It was also an honor for me to meet the Heavenly Sword Hero.”

Mae Yeongyeong performed the clasped hands greeting like any martial artist of the Murim and bowed.

Yong Hwarin silently gazed at her, then turned away. He feared that if he stayed longer, he might embrace her.

Yong Hwarin left the government office and sounded the horn.

In less than a moment, Hoi Unkyung and the Three Chivalrous Sisters arrived.

“What? How did you catch the Black Kill Sword? We scoured the entire prefecture and couldn’t find him.”

Hoi Unkyung looked at Yong Hwarin in astonishment.

“I happened to find Miss Mae first. It turns out she was reading books in the archive. This scum had figured out in advance that Miss Mae loved books and snuck into the archive to defile her. That’s when I caught him.”

People nodded at Yong Hwarin’s words, murmuring that had they been late, they would have regretted it dearly.

Yong Hwarin released the pressure point of the Black Kill Sword.

“I’ve answered all your questions. Now release me.”

“I never made such a promise.”

“Besides, I’m going to hand you over to the three sisters of the Jeong Family Manor over there.”

“What?! You can’t do that!”

The Black Kill Sword shouted frantically.

“Why not?”

At Yong Hwarin’s question, the Black Kill Sword looked at the Three Chivalrous Sisters and cried out.

“You know their aliases! They’ll cut off my lower dantian!”

“That’s exactly why I’m handing you over to them!”

“Just kill me instead!”

“Don’t you think death would be too peaceful for you?”

Having already extracted all he needed, Yong Hwarin no longer cared what the Three Chivalrous Sisters of the Jeong Family Manor would do to the Black Kill Sword.

“I’ll hand him over to you.”

Then Jeong Suji drew her sword and stepped forward to face the Black Kill Sword.

“There are a few things I want to ask.”

The Black Kill Sword knew, if nothing else, that the second sister of the Jeong Family Manor, Jeong Suji, was a cold and ruthless person.

It was usually Jeong Suji who personally took charge of severing the lower dantian of the Withered Petal Sound Fiends.

“I’ve already told that Yong brat over there everything!”

Jeong Suji looked toward Yong Hwarin.

Yong Hwarin nodded.

“And how can I trust anything this scum says?”

“The only way is to verify it for yourself.”

Jeong Suji looked at the Black Kill Sword and, seeing no signs of torture, wondered if what he said could be trusted.

Yong Hwarin explained that he had considered handing the Black Kill Sword over to the inmates in the prison for serious criminals in order to make him talk.

Everyone was shocked, and even Jeong Suji was stunned.

No one had expected that Yong Hwarin, the Heavenly Sword Hero, could be so cold and calculating.

“What a pity. If this degenerate hadn’t talked, we could have handed him over to the criminals.”

Among them, only Jeong Suji looked genuinely regretful.

Jeong Suji approached the Black Kill Sword and whispered in his ear.

“Where is the Black Silk Celestial Silkworm you stole?”

The Black Kill Sword muttered this and that, trying to catch a whiff of Jeong Suji’s scent as she leaned in.

Yong Hwarin had intended to tell him to ask the rest to the one he'd already confessed to, but the scent of Jeong Suji made him babble on.

When she asked about the whereabouts of the Black Silk Celestial Silkworm, Jeong Suji coldly declared,

“If you are lying, you won’t leave here alive.”

The moment Jeong Suji’s breath touched his ear, the Black Kill Sword’s lust was aroused. Even while immobilized, his groin bulged, and the killing intent in Jeong Suji’s eyes exploded.

“You need to be disciplined before you come to your senses!”

The Black Kill Sword widened his eyes, not understanding her words, but Jeong Suji suddenly slashed her sword downward.

Shuk!

Jeong Suji’s sword struck near the lower dantian of the Black Kill Sword, causing a shift.

With a zigzag motion, the sword technique tore through him, and the Black Kill Sword screamed in agony as if he were being ripped apart.

“Aaaaaargh! You bitch!”

Blood flowed between the Black Kill Sword’s legs.

“Escort Oh, stop the bleeding.”

All the women turned their heads away.

At Hoi Unkyung’s command, one of the Sky Ocean Escort Agency's escorts applied acupoint sealing to the Black Kill Sword’s groin to stop the bleeding.

‘Indeed, they say among the Three Chivalrous Sisters there is a nakchal.’

To sever the lower dantian without blinking an eye showed nerves of steel.

“If you are lying, we won’t stop at your lower dantian—we’ll sever each of your limbs one by one.”

At Jeong Suji’s words, the Black Kill Sword’s eyes were drenched in despair.

At that moment, Hoi Unkyung had an escort retrieve the weapons deposited at the government office.

By the time the weapons were brought back, the emergency treatment of the Black Kill Sword had been completed.

“Let’s move.”

At Hoi Unkyung’s command, the Black Kill Sword was forcibly mounted on a horse.

With an escort seated behind him to drive the horse, the Black Kill Sword’s screams began anew.

“Aaaaaargh! You vicious monsters! How could you put someone on a horse right after slicing his lower dantian?! Do you call yourselves human?! Aaaaaargh!”

The screams came out uncontrollably. With only simple bleeding stopped, warm blood still slowly seeped from the wound. Every gallop of the horse sent waves of pain reverberating through his entire body.

‘This is worse than torture.’

Jeong Suji struck the Black Kill Sword’s acupoint with her scabbard while he continued to scream.

“Keuk!”

After that groan, no further screams were heard.

Instead, the Black Kill Sword began to weep, with tears and snot flowing freely.

His eyes, reddened and swollen from pain, made his suffering evident.

Seeing that, Jeong Suji made a remark, seemingly satisfied.

“The pain you're feeling now is the same pain as those women you raped and murdered!”

Yong Hwarin didn’t think Jeong Suji was cruel at all.

Rather, he found himself agreeing with her actions.

Perhaps that was why only Yong Hwarin stayed close to Jeong Suji while the other escorts kept their distance as they rode.

one hour later, Yong Hwarin and his group arrived at East Moon Pavilion.

He was told that the Black Silk Celestial Silkworm had been left with one of the courtesans there, so it would be retrieved from her.

However, Yong Hwarin knew East Moon Pavilion wasn’t an ordinary pleasure house—it was being used as a hideout for the Sagaram Shadow Unit, so he couldn’t just barge in.

“I have a special Stealth Technique, so I can sneak in without being noticed. I’ll scout out East Moon Pavilion first, so please wait for me at that teahouse over there.”

Pointing to the teahouse located opposite East Moon Pavilion, Yong Hwarin spoke.

The Three Chivalrous Sisters and Hoi Unkyung seemed to agree and nodded in understanding.

“Please be careful.”

The Black Kill Sword Wonho had become haggard within half a day. He looked practically like a walking corpse.

With a bamboo hat placed on his head and draped in a long robe, no one could recognize him as the Black Kill Sword.

Moreover, the Three Chivalrous Sisters flanked him on all sides, making escape impossible even if the acupoint sealing wore off.

“If I don’t return within one hour, please leave this place and devise another plan.”

Yong Hwarin gave instructions in case of emergency.