Chapter 93: Mook Young, Recollects

“How did you come to serve the Lord?”

The eyes of the guards of the Guard Hall focused on Mook Young. It had been a long time since the guards had shared a drink together.

They had rented out an entire inn, and while drinking after a long while, one of the subordinates asked Mook Young about his connection with Lee Jaseung.

Mook Young’s loyalty toward Lee Jaseung was famous even within the Black Way Alliance, and the warriors of the Guard Hall sincerely respected him for it.

Mook Young emptied his cup.

Everyone looked at him with the determination to hear the story no matter what this time.

Setting his cup down, Mook Young began to speak.

“I was born into an extremely poor family. From the age of six, I had to help with farm work. Even so, I could not manage to eat one proper meal a day. Then, when I was eight, I think a passing martial artist said he wanted to buy me, and my parents sold me to them, telling me to at least eat properly from then on.”

Despite it being a sorrowful past, Mook Young spoke very calmly.

“But they were not ordinary martial artists. They were people from an assassin organization, out searching for children to raise as assassins.”

At the word assassin, everyone was startled. It was the first time Mook Young’s past had ever been revealed.

“From then on, I grew up being trained in that organization.”

Mook Young and assassins.

It was a combination that felt entirely mismatched.

Then came an even more surprising story.

“And on the day I went out for my first assassination, I met our Lord by fate.”

Mook Young’s eyes grew deeper. Memories from that long-ago past surfaced in his mind. Though it had happened long ago, it felt as vivid as if it had been yesterday.

In that memory, Lee Jaseung was a young man who had just emerged from boyhood, traveling to gather people for his dream.

— Your eyes are not suited for killing someone.

That was what Lee Jaseung had said to him back then.

Of course, Mook Young had attacked him without a word, just as he had been trained to do.

But he could not kill Lee Jaseung with his skill.

After being badly beaten and collapsing to the ground, Mook Young realized that his mission had failed.

When he was about to bite down on the poison pellet hidden in his molar to kill himself, Lee Jaseung looked down at him and spoke.

— Become my subordinate. At the very least, I can promise you one thing. I will never put that kind of poison pellet in my men’s mouths.

Then, with an intense gaze, he spoke again.

— Come with me.

Recalling that day, a faint smile appeared on Mook Young’s lips.

The sight surprised all the subordinates of the Guard Hall. They had truly never seen Mook Young smile before.

Mook Young said nothing more and drank his liquor.

The inn once again became lively and noisy.

At that moment, one subordinate rushed in urgently.

“There is big trouble.”

Before he could even explain, Mook Young’s figure disappeared. All the martial artists there leapt outside.

By the time Mook Young arrived, the situation was already over.

Bodies were strewn across the ground, and blood flowed like a river.

While Mook Young silently looked around, the subordinates who had followed him landed at the scene.

“Completely seal off this area and capture anyone who approaches. If you judge them to be enemies, you may kill them.”

“Yes.”

“Clean up the bodies and notify the Three-Eyed Pavilion.”

“Understood.”

After giving consecutive orders, Mook Young leapt away again.

Swiftly crossing the forest, he arrived at a small waterfall in a valley.

Crashing water roared down.

There, Lee Jaseung stood beneath the waterfall, letting the water strike him.

Mook Young had been able to find his location precisely because there was a follower’s scent on Lee Jaseung’s clothes that only he could detect. As long as the distance was not too great, Mook Young could always track him.

Seeing that Lee Jaseung was unharmed, Mook Young let out a sigh of relief.

The blood that had been on him had already been washed away, but Lee Jaseung stood under the pouring water with his eyes closed.

Because she had suddenly kissed him, he had lost the chance to reveal his identity.

That heated kiss.

Those impossibly soft lips.

And her warm tongue.

A mutual indulgence and desire to truly possess one another.

The desire to have her still had not faded. Even under the pounding waterfall, his whole body burned. He truly wanted her.

But he wasn’t able to bring himself to do it.

He remembered the blood that had been on her face, the blood that had gotten there because he had touched her.

Her, with blood on her face.

It felt so mismatched.

But on the path she would have to walk with him, there was no avoiding a rain of blood. Could he really force such a life upon her?

Deepening their relationship would have to wait until after he revealed his identity. If she still wanted him after knowing who he really was, then they could become one.

He had already deceived and misled her enough.

When he was young, his grandfather had told him this.

“If you gain something, you will also lose something.”

Back then, he had been too young to pay attention to those words. But now he understood what his grandfather had meant.

‘What would I lose if I gained her? Could I pass through this path without losing anything?’

That was something he could not yet know.

Lee Jaseung stepped out from the waterfall. When he reached out his hand, the clothes that had been washed and dried nearby flew through the air into his grasp.

Through this battle, Lee Jaseung had fully demonstrated the skill of someone who had risen to another stage.

A real battle with such powerful experts was not an opportunity that came often.

Thanks to the skill of the fourth stage, he was able to face them and clearly feel the difference that came with advancing in level.

As he finished dressing, Mook Young appeared.

“The bodies are being handled now.”

Lee Jaseung nodded. Even after experiencing such a major incident, his calm demeanor was unchanged. Mook Young bowed his head at his calm appearance.  

“I am sorry.”

“There is nothing to be sorry about. Do not worry about it. I had a good experience because of it.”

His effort not to get blood on her had truly been a new attempt, and he had gained much from it. Moreover, even if Mook Young and the Guard Hall warriors were there, it had been difficult to reveal themselves easily because of Baek Seolyoung’s presence.

“Was this Ban Yeo’s doing?”

Lee Jaseung did not answer and simply gazed at Mook Young.

A bodyguard did not need to know who the attacker was. Revenge was not the duty of a bodyguard. The fact that he asked who it was meant he had lost his composure.

“Do not be angry. There is nothing to be angry about.”

He spoke calmly, but Mook Young realized there was rebuke in those words.

Mook Young bowed his head and replied.  

“I am sorry.”

“Do not worry. Everything is proceeding according to plan.”

At that moment, someone approached and spoke.

“The one who should be sorry is here.”

It was Dan Woobin, who had rushed over after receiving the report. He had not anticipated that Ban Yeo would move so quickly.

“The ones who attacked you were those called the first, second, and third units my Lord. If the Virtuous Heroes were the light, they were the darkness.”

“That was his main force?”

“Yes. They have been responsible for high-difficulty assassinations. Of course, while they were his main force, there may still be other hidden forces besides them.”

Neither Ban Yeo nor the Leader of the Murim Alliance was easy to deal with after all.  

“Do you think Ban Yeo got the Alliance Leader’s permission for this?”

“Just before the ambush, Ban Yeo met with the Alliance Leader. I am sure he hinted at it in some way.”

“And the Leader turned a blind eye to it?”

“That is what I believe.”

“I thought the two of them did not get along?”

“Precisely because of that, he would not have done it in secret. If I were Ban Yeo, I would have done the same.”

The corner of Lee Jaseung’s mouth curled coldly into the same mocking smile he wore when ridiculing an opponent.

“What a mess.”

The Murim Alliance was the symbol and pillar of the Orthodox Faction. If its second-in-command carried out an ambush, and the Alliance Leader closed his eyes to it, then it had already reached the point of no return.

It almost felt as if heaven itself was lending strength to his grand ambition.

Dan Woobin spoke calmly.

“In any case, Ban Yeo will not think that Seop Mu-pyeong killed them. The first, second, and third units were the elite of the elite assassins, and Ban Yeo will think Seop Mu-pyeong’s skill is nowhere near enough.”

“He will think a third party or the Alliance Leader intervened.”

“Yes, I am sure of it.”

Since this operation was based on creating division between Jang Wonso and Ban Yeo, things were proceeding well enough.

“But there is one thing I’m curious about. Why did Ban Yeo move so hastily?”

He had even abandoned his strength in political maneuvering to resort to force. The very fact suggested to Dan Woobin that something was going on.

“There must have been a reason he had to deal with it urgently.”

“You’re saying he is under some kind of pressure?”

“Yes. We must find out what it is. It could become the biggest obstacle to our future path.”

After hearing his words, Lee Jaseung remembered something he had forgotten.

“Could it be related to the ambush back then?”

On the way to the Murim Alliance, they had been ambushed by the Undying Ghouls and Water Ghosts. If such powerful fighters existed, it was possible they were connected to Ban Yeo’s affairs.

Inspired, Dan Woobin’s eyes gleamed.

“What you say makes perfect sense.”

* * *

At that same time, Baek Seolyoung was soaking in a wooden tub.

Her snow-white hand parted the water in the tub. Following her touch, the water split and then came together again. Her beautiful bare body was reflected beneath the rippling surface.

Her heart raced as she kept recalling her kiss with Lee Jaseung.

If she had to put it into one phrase, it was this.

Surge of emotion.

She wanted to kiss him again. It was not just about physical pleasure. The mental pleasure of kissing Lee Jaseung was even greater.

She was able to feel that he wanted her.

But that desire had not led to a physical relationship. The situation and the mood had not allowed it. It was not possible in a place full of corpses, and they could not just run off somewhere like fugitives.

He had stayed there while she hid in a nearby village house. Lee Jaseung had opposed returning to the Murim Alliance immediately. He had said they should confirm whether the attackers were truly the Undying Ghouls first.

She had obediently followed his words, deciding to wait here until he came back. Thanks to that, she had escaped this crisis.

At the very least, he was better than she was. In matters as dangerous as this, she judged it wise to trust his judgment.

But one question lingered.

When she thanked him, Lee Jaseung had said he was sorry.

Why did he say he was sorry?

In truth, she was the one who should be sorry.

Ever since marrying him, danger had continued to follow them. She believed all of these crises stemmed from her. She thought someone was plotting to destroy the Northern Sky Clan.

She remembered another side of Lee Jaseung.

When blood smeared on her face, he flinched and stepped back.

She felt grateful, but also burdened.

‘I am not such a noble woman.’

‘Blood could be on me as much as it wanted. No, I could even walk into a place overflowing with blood. Even this very tub if it were filled with blood.’

Splash.

Baek Seolyoung submerged herself deep into the water.

‘This is my resolve, and this is who I am.’

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