Ch. 70
After Yun Soso's story ended, a silence fell in the cave for a moment.
The only sound that could be heard was the sound of Madam Ma's retching, who was shocked by the terrible story.
As if to change the atmosphere, Jang Baekseo opened his mouth.
"Since Mrs. Yun has shown such courage and has told us her story, I will also tell you our story."
"B-brother!?"
"Hey, Jang Baekseo!!"
Leaving behind Hwa Mokyeon and Jang Yuran, who were trying to stop him, Jang Baekseo looked at Madam Ma.
"Are you okay?"
Madam Ma seemed to ponder for a moment at Jang Baekseo's question and then nodded her head.
"Then…"
Thus, Jang Baekseo began his story.
He told Yun Soso everything without omission: Madam Ma's identity, the fact that the man she had met in the Demonic Cult and had fallen in love with was actually a spy of the Hyeopui Alliance, that the two had loved each other sincerely and had soon had a child, that Madam Ma's husband, who had been digging into the unidentified group that had infiltrated the Demonic Cult, had eventually been killed, and the story of Madam Ma, who had no one to rely on in the Demonic Cult as she had a child with a spy, leaving the Demonic Cult and heading to the Central Plains to deliver the information her husband had left to the Chivalrous Alliance, and all the stories that had happened while crossing the Central Plains with Jang Baekseo, Hwa Mokyeon, and Jang Yuran.
Yun Soso listened with wide eyes to the story of the grand journey that surpassed her imagination.
When the story ended, Yun Soso had her eyes closed as if she were lost in thought.
Soon, Yun Soso, who had opened her eyes, opened her mouth.
"…I was wondering why the Righteous Heaven Alliance was sending pursuers, not the Signer Alliance. It was because of you, wasn't it?"
"Well, if you look at the results, that's right."
"Because of you guys, I was chased around for no reason!"
Yun Soso, who was pointing at Jang Baekseo with her finger as if she were dissatisfied, soon chuckled as if something were funny and said with a shrug.
"In the first place, the reason why I was holed up in this cave was because I had been hiding in Guizhou, and when the Righteous Heaven Alliance suddenly sent pursuers, I fled to Hunan and came over here."
In other words, if it weren't for Jang Baekseo's party, she would have had no reason to hide in the secret place of the Water Remnant Gang.
"This is a bit of a shame for the people of the Water Remnant Gang."
Looking at Jang Baekseo, who was saying something he didn't mean, Yun Soso said with a fierce smile as if she were going to eat him.
"If it were up to me, I would have beaten you guys to a pulp… but I'll let it go this time."
Saying so, Yun Soso glanced at Madam Ma.
And as if to retort, Jang Baekseo…
"That's what I should be saying~? If it weren't for Mrs. Yun, the Righteous Heaven Alliance wouldn't have been able to dispatch such a large force so openly~"
Saying that if it weren't for the excuse of the demonic head, Yun Soso, the Righteous Heaven Alliance would not have been able to send such a large force so openly, Jang Baekseo also showed a ferocious smile that was not inferior to Yun Soso's.
At the tension, as if a dragon and a tiger were facing each other, the people in the hall held their breath.
At that moment.
"Ah!"
Madam Ma let out a cry of admiration.
At Madam Ma's voice, which broke the silence, people's attention was focused, and Madam Ma said with wide eyes, as if she were so surprised.
"The baby! The baby kicked my belly!"
"No!? Really!?"
Jang Baekseo, who had run over to Madam Ma, asked for her permission and put his ear to her belly.
Then.
Thump!
"No, this brat!! He's so strong!! His kicks are so powerful, he's sure to become a master of foot techniques in the future!!"
"Brother! Me too, me too!"
"No, you're both being childish… me too!"
As Yun Soso was flustered by the atmosphere that had changed in an instant, Jang Baekseo, who had yielded his place to Hwa Mokyeon, said to Yun Soso.
"Mrs. Yun, come and listen too. I don't know if the child is a boy or a girl, but he's full of energy."
At those words, Yun Soso, who had been staring blankly at the scene, approached Madam Ma with slow, cautious steps.
But when she was in front of Madam Ma, she could not move, as if she were afraid of something.
"I guess not. It won't do the child any good if someone like me, who has abandoned both human and heavenly principles, touches him…"
Madam Ma grabbed the hand of Yun Soso, who was trying to refuse.
"…It's okay. Mrs. Yun."
Madam Ma showed a gentle smile to the cruel demonic head who had stained Guizhou and Hunan with blood.
Although Madam Ma had been afraid of Yun Soso until just a moment ago, there was no longer any fear or tension on her face.
Because they were facing each other not as a demonic head and a demonic person, but as a mother and a mother…
Yun Soso carefully brought her hand to Madam Ma's belly. Then…
Thump! Thump!
As if responding to Yun Soso's touch, the baby in her belly moved.
"…Haha, really… what an energetic baby…"
Thus, Yun Soso sat in front of Madam Ma for a long time… a long time, and caressed Madam Ma's swollen belly, the child inside.
"Certainly… you were right… just by talking, my heart has become lighter."
Yun Soso said so with a refreshed face, as if she had shed a heavy burden.
"Right?"
Jang Baekseo answered with a smiling face, as if he had expected it.
Although Yun Soso frowned for a moment, as if she didn't like Jang Baekseo's 'I told you so~?' attitude, she soon relaxed her expression and continued.
"As a reward, I'll show you something interesting too."
Saying so, Yun Soso guided Jang Baekseo's party to the depths of the cave.
When they reached the dead end of the cave, Yun Soso, who was holding a torch, put her hand on one side of the wall and did some kind of operation.
Then.
Wooooooooong!
One side of the cave opened like a door, revealing a huge space.
"This is…"
"What do you think? Surprised? I found out while staying here that one side of the cave seemed to be empty. I thought there might be some secret space, so I looked for it, and there was a space like this."
Jang Baekseo looked around the inside of the huge cavern.
An altar and extinguished torches. Although it had a cultural style completely different from that of the Central Plains, if his guess was correct, this place seemed to be an altar for some kind of ritual or ancestral rite.
But what had surprised Jang Baekseo was something else.
That was…
"…Why is this here…"
Jang Baekseo was astonished, looking at the mural that filled one side of the wall.
No, to be precise, he was flustered, looking at the writing engraved on the mural.
The traitor of Qingcheng, Myeonggwang, whom he had met at the Qingcheng branch meeting before!
And the book he had obtained after defeating that Myeonggwang, the Blood Flower Sutra!
The unidentified language that was written in that Blood Flower Sutra was unexpectedly engraved on the mural here.
'Is it perhaps the language of Vietnam!?'
Although Jang Baekseo was racking his brain, there was a limit to what he could know here. Nevertheless, Jang Baekseo was convinced that this writing was not simply the language of Vietnam.
A mural that seemed to express some evil existence, a demon, or a monster, and the unidentified language engraved on it, the same as the one in the Blood Flower Sutra…
Jang Baekseo felt his head becoming complicated.
Yun Soso approached Jang Baekseo, who was racking his brain.
Thanks to Hwa Mokyeon, Jang Yuran, and Madam Ma looking around this mysterious cavern, only Jang Baekseo and Yun Soso were left in front of the mural.
"For someone who professes chivalry and righteousness, you're quite a sinister fellow, aren't you?"
At Yun Soso's words, Jang Baekseo just smiled without a word.
The reason why Jang Baekseo had listened to Yun Soso's story and had told her their story in a situation where every minute and every second was precious was by no means an act of goodwill alone.
Jang Baekseo, who had grasped her situation through the Black Dot in advance, had intended to make Yun Soso feel sympathy and a sense of responsibility by telling her Madam Ma's story.
Of course, she had not directly committed a crime against Jang Baekseo's party, but it was true that her existence had become a justification for the pursuers to act openly.
Although it was not a very effective plan, since Yun Soso's situation, the position of a woman who had lost her husband and child, had a side that overlapped with Madam Ma's, Jang Baekseo had thought that this was a rather promising plan.
Of course, since Yun Soso was not a fool, she had noticed Jang Baekseo's intention at once.
"Isn't it better to live as a person than to die as a monster?"
To such a Yun Soso, Jang Baekseo said so without even blinking an eye.
The Blood Head Ghost Art. The reason why this martial art was a forbidden art was by no means only because of the cruelty of its training method.
Of course, the condition of the training, which was anti-human and went against the heavenly principles, of having to use the blood of a relative, was also extremely terrible. But what was more terrible was that once one learned the Blood Head Ghost Art, the practitioner would become a monster that could not endure without drinking blood periodically.
Among the information obtained through the Black Dot, there was at least no story that she had drunk blood.
When she had chased away the people who had come from the Water Remnant Gang before, Yun Soso had used violence, but she had not killed them or taken their blood.
"It's a great patience… but that must have already reached its limit, right?"
"…"
The hair of a person who had learned the Blood Path Ghost Art would turn a vivid red.
But that vivid red hair would gradually turn a turbid blood color as time passed. And the more it did, the thirst and obsession for blood would become more severe.
Even if one endured such a thirst for blood, what awaited the one who had learned the Blood Head Ghost Art was only a miserable end.
"In other words, if you're going to die anyway, die for us… is that what you're saying?"
At Yun Soso's words, Jang Baekseo did not bother to answer.
Looking at such a Jang Baekseo, Yun Soso laughed as if it were funny.
And soon.
"If I, who have lost a child, can die for a child who is newly born, that would be fine too…"
Jang Baekseo did not, no, could not look at Yun Soso's eyes as she said that.
"A child who has lost his parents is called an orphan, and a wife who has lost her husband is called a widow. Then what do you call a mother who has lost her child?"
"…Well? Is it so terrible that there is no word for it… is that it?"
To Jang Baekseo, who was still not making eye contact with Yun Soso and was just looking up at the mural, Yun Soso answered with a smile.
"Wrong. There's no way I would ask a question without an answer, right?"
"Well, that's true too…"
"The answer is 'aksang'."
"Aksang…"
"Aksang, meaning to hate the loss… yes, it's a perfectly fitting word…"
When a child loses his parents and a wife loses her husband, they grieve for that loss and miss the one they have lost.
But a parent who has lost a child goes beyond just grieving and missing and hates and gets angry at that loss.
That's why if a young child dies before his parents, it is called 'aksang'.
"Well, actually, this word is used for the deceased person, not the one who is left behind. You know, like 'hosang' or 'sunsang'?"
Although Yun Soso said so and laughed, Jang Baekseo could not.
Yun Soso, who was looking at such a Jang Baekseo without a word, continued.
"Don't make that face. Child. I was looking for a place to die anyway."
Saying so, Yun Soso looked up at the ceiling of the cavern, whose end could not be seen.
(End of Chapter)