Chapter 161 : Three Months Later
Chapter 161: Three Months Later
Huayoung stared blankly at the man lying on her bed.
She had brought him in saying she would try to save him, but she had no idea what she should actually do.
She didn’t know medicine, and it wasn’t as if she had cultivated Energy Arts to the point where she could circulate energy through him and treat his injuries.
All she could do was wipe away his sweat.
While Huayoung was tending to him like that, a woman’s name slipped from the man’s lips.
“Hee-yeon……”
It was faint and quiet, but it was clearly a woman’s name.
And after that repeatedly spoken name, other words followed.
“I will definitely take revenge……”
From the fact that the man had come here asking for a martial artist of the Demonic Cult, Huayoung could easily guess who the target of his revenge might be.
It was obvious that either the Poison Demon or another martial artist of the Demonic Cult was his target.
And the woman whose name he kept murmuring was very likely the victim.
Whether in the Jianghu or among common folk, when a woman became the victim, the possibilities weren’t many.
Either she had suffered some vile act, or she had been killed.
Whatever the case, for a man who appeared to have loved that woman, it must have been a wound that could never be undone.
“He was a better person than I expected. To risk his life for the revenge of his lover.”
Whether he heard Huayoung’s muttering as she spun her own imagination or not, Namgung Chang-yeon, still unconscious, kept calling Hee-yeon’s name.
The sun set, and then rose again.
Namgung Chang-yeon still did not regain consciousness.
Because of the alcohol he had been pouring down his throat every single day, alcohol poison had accumulated in his body, and during the process of being subdued, the Poison Demon’s poisonous aura had also infiltrated his body.
Those two poisons had created a synergistic reaction, driving him into a state of severe poisoning.
But Huayoung had no way of knowing such things, so there was nothing she could do other than wipe away his sweat.
However, as daylight came, his fever rose greatly and he began sweating cold sweat even more heavily, allowing her to realize that something had gone terribly wrong.
In a situation like this, even though she guessed there was trouble between the man and the Demonic Cult, there was only one person Huayoung could seek out.
Yeluhan, who had spent the night leisurely lying atop the roof watching the stars, saw Huayoung entering the Poison Demon’s residence early in the morning.
A woman who liked him.
Once he realized that, she somehow looked a little different to him.
How should he put it… she felt a bit more familiar?
The simple fact that someone liked him had changed the way he perceived a person, and as he let out a bitter smile at that thought, he saw Huayoung leaving the residence together with the Poison Demon.
However, their movements were not calm. They seemed hurried.
—What is the matter?
At Yeluhan’s transmitted voice, the Poison Demon replied.
—It seems something has happened to that Namgung fellow.
The moment the Poison Demon finished speaking, Yeluhan descended beside him.
Since he knew Namgung Chang-yeon’s identity, he could not simply ignore it.
Thus, Huayoung’s eyes widened in shock when Yeluhan suddenly appeared.
“V-Vice Cult Leader!”
“It has been a while, Miss. Let us resolve the problem first.”
Realizing what problem Yeluhan meant, Huayoung nodded.
The three of them entered the separate residence together, where Namgung Chang-yeon lay with his face turned pitch black.
Upon seeing him like that, the Poison Demon hurriedly pressed several acupoints and inserted needles. Soon black blood flowed from the corner of Namgung Chang-yeon’s mouth.
Huayoung was startled at the sight, but the Poison Demon explained.
“It is merely poison being expelled, so there is no need to be overly surprised.”
“P-Poison?”
“It seems he has been drinking an absurd amount of alcohol recently. Just look at the level of alcohol poison accumulated in his body.”
Of course, if his own poisonous aura had not infiltrated the man’s body, things would not have turned out like this.
Even so, the Poison Demon said nothing about that.
There was no need to mention it and create problems later.
Once the Poison Demon took action, Namgung Chang-yeon’s fever subsided and his cold sweat decreased.
After confirming that his breathing had become steady again, the Poison Demon turned to Huayoung.
“For now, he has passed the critical point. I will provide some medicinal ingredients. Feed them to him for about a day. Then he should wake without issue.”
“Thank you, Elder.”
The Poison Demon simply smiled at Huayoung’s gratitude and left the room. As Yeluhan followed him out, Huayoung’s voice stopped him.
“Vice Cult Leader.”
Yeluhan turned back, and Huayoung spoke.
“Could you spare me a little time?”
Yeluhan roughly guessed what she was about to say and hesitated briefly before nodding.
“Please speak.”
“I assume you are not unaware of why I came here.”
“Yes. I know. But……”
“I know. Just from your expression I could already guess what you were going to say. Still, don’t answer now. One month—no, two months—no, no, three months later. Please give me your answer then. If you still feel the same at that time, I won’t cling to you anymore.”
Seeing Huayoung’s earnest expression, Yeluhan hesitated for a moment before nodding.
“Understood.”
He did not say that he was sorry, nor that he would try.
He knew that the bond between a man and a woman was not always formed purely by love.
Even so…
Yeluhan had no intention of taking as his spouse a woman he did not truly care for merely for his own benefit.
What saddened him, however, was that because of his decision, a good woman would end up with a wounded heart.
Leaving Huayoung forcing a smile behind him, Yeluhan left the separate residence.
In truth, the reason Yeluhan had spent the night here was because he intended to meet the true culprit behind this incident—Mahwa—and make sure she never caused such trouble again.
However, as if she had already known he would come running, she had vanished without a trace.
Eventually, Yeluhan withdrew from the separate residence. After casting a regretful glance around the area, he disappeared.
He had returned to the main stronghold.
As soon as Yeluhan’s figure completely vanished, the tears Huayoung had been holding back burst forth.
Namgung Chang-yeon, who had woken up at some point, watched Huayoung’s sobbing back with a troubled expression.
When Yeluhan arrived at the main stronghold, he discovered Mahwa in an unexpected place.
She was speaking with the Cult Leader.
With a cold expression settling over his eyes, Yeluhan entered the Cult Leader’s residence, and Mahwa’s passionate voice reached his ears.
“…so the Golden Flower Merchant Guild will all become ours. You know, right? The Golden Flower Merchant Guild is one of the Five Great Merchant Houses of the Central Plains?”
The Cult Leader said nothing to Mahwa’s words.
He had already sensed Yeluhan’s arrival through his perception.
Thus, he was not surprised when Yeluhan’s voice suddenly cut in.
“That will not happen.”
Mahwa, who knew nothing, jumped in surprise at Yeluhan’s chilling voice.
“V-Vice Cult Leader!”
“I understand why you carried out such a thing, but do not ever do it again. I may tolerate it once, but I will not permit it a second time.”
“But Vice Cult Leader……”
“That is enough! I have no intention of discussing my marriage any further. This is an order as Vice Cult Leader.”
At Yeluhan’s voice, colder than ice, Mahwa hesitated and eventually shut her mouth.
Because she believed that if she pushed any further, the Vice Cult Leader would draw his sword without hesitation.
After Mahwa left in disappointment, the Cult Leader asked,
“Why so serious? It’s actually not a bad condition. Is it because of your sister-in-law?”
At the Cult Leader’s question, Yeluhan answered with a dumbfounded expression.
“Senior Brother, do you want me to marry someone I don’t even care about just for money?”
“That’s not what I mean, but the conditions aren’t bad.”
“If we’re talking about conditions, Miss Namgung is the worst possible match, isn’t she? The Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult and the daughter of the Orthodox Faction. So Senior Brother, please stop calling her sister-in-law as well.”
“So it does bother you.”
“Senior Brother!”
“Temper, temper. So you really have no thoughts about marriage?”
“I will marry someday. But not now.”
“What’s wrong with now?”
“Because the cult is changing. At times like this, someone needs to hold the center—”
“I’ll hold the center. So you just live freely and do whatever you want.”
Yeluhan looked at him for a moment, and his gaze softened.
Because he could feel that those words were not spoken out of fear that his own power would be threatened, but from a sincere wish for his junior brother to live freely.
No matter how sharp one’s perception was, it would have been impossible to read such thoughts from the Cult Leader’s barren expression like now.
Nevertheless, Yeluhan realized the Cult Leader’s sincerity thanks to his glowing Ghost Eyes.
Feeling grateful for it, Yeluhan said,
“How can I place the burden of the changes caused by me solely on you, Senior Brother?”
“It started because of you, but I allowed it. So I’ll take responsibility. You just live without worrying about that nonsense.”
At the repeated words of the Cult Leader, Yeluhan smiled.
It was nothing more than the corner of one side of his mouth twisting upward, but the Cult Leader recognized it as the Vice Cult Leader’s smile of gratitude.
“If you’re grateful, then choose Seogak.”
“What? Just earlier weren’t you pushing for the Golden Flower Merchant Guild?”
“I was just saying it. Pushing what? I like that girl staying in Seogak.”
“Why? Honestly, I found it strange. Senior Brother never liked the Orthodox Faction much.”
The Cult Leader answered Yeluhan’s question.
“For one thing, that girl showed guts. Even knowing it was a scheme of her clan, and knowing she might die, she came to us to save her brother. If a girl like that likes you, what do you think will happen?”
“That……”
“She’ll probably rush in without caring about life or death, right? That’s the kind of woman you should choose. For people like us—who carry swords and can only prove our worth by killing someone—we need that kind of woman by our side.”
“I thought you were captivated by her face.”
“Of course beauty is good. I’m a man—why wouldn’t I like it? But that’s momentary. Time flows equally for everyone, and external beauty is temporary. A woman chosen for that reason alone won’t last long. There aren’t many women who can endure a man returning home covered in blood from fighting someone and then embracing her.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to just not do such things?”
At Yeluhan’s words, the Cult Leader smiled faintly.
“I can roughly guess what you’re thinking from the things you’ve been doing. But even the Orthodox Faction, who constantly talk about justification, reason, and justice, still see blood. It’s the fate of those who carry swords. That cannot be avoided.”
Yeluhan had many things he wanted to say, but he chose to remain silent.
Because he too agreed with the part about it being the fate of those who carried swords.
Even he himself had ultimately resolved matters with the sword when words failed.
As long as the Martial World existed, he acknowledged that this could not change.
The Cult Leader gently patted Yeluhan’s shoulder with a soft gaze and said,
“So marry Seogak.”
Returning to the main point once again, the Cult Leader’s words made Yeluhan shake his head with an exasperated expression.
“Senior Brother!”
* * *
The chivalrous warriors, including the First-Flowing Sword, called themselves the Honor Corps.
It meant that they were those who had stepped forward to restore the honor of the Orthodox Faction.
The first target chosen by the Honor Corps was a guesthouse in Qinghai.
It was the place where the first sign of the Demonic Cult’s change had become known to the world, and where the Poison Demon, one of the Demonic Cult’s Elders, was staying.
It was a decision accepted because the First-Flowing Sword believed there could be no better place for the Honor Corps’ first strike to begin.