Could she handle him?
Cha Iran silently stared at Geom Mugeuk.
This was a man who said that a life of fishing with his father was more difficult than unifying the Martial World.
This was a man who would create such an opportunity for a subordinate, and not even his own, but a mere assassin.
This was a man who would run off into the distance to buy wine, hoping the two of them would elope.
This was a man who extended a hand to someone who had tried to kill him.
And such a man's identity was the Young Cult Master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect.
Living as a martial artist, she had never seen anyone like this.
How could she possibly handle him?
“You don’t need an assassination unit, do you?”
It occurred to her that if the Young Cult Master before her was someone who truly desired that kind of life, he would not be fond of assassins.
Geom Mugeuk readily admitted to her speculation.
“That’s right. I don’t need an assassination unit. I need you.”
“Why me? You must have countless masters who can carry out your orders.”
“To be honest, at first, I was intrigued because you liked that man, Ak Gun-hak. Then, I admired your courage for boldly giving up the contract. And now, you’ve saved my life.”
In truth, that alone was enough explanation, but there was more.
“You’re beautiful enough to compete for the title of the Greatest Beauty Under Heaven, and your martial arts skills are excellent. And above all else, there is one reason why I like you.”
Cha Iran wondered what it could be.
It seemed like everything that could be said had been said.
No, so much had been said that it was embarrassing.
The decisive reason Geom Mugeuk mentioned was something she had never imagined.
“Because you are the kind of leader who tells her people to clench their teeth and try to live to the very end, even if all they have is the strength to bite down on a poison pill.”
“!”
“I want to make such a person one of my own.”
Cha Iran could now see with certainty.
Why Ak Gun-hak had not killed this man.
No, she even began to think that perhaps, as Ak Gun-hak had said, this man had been the one who chose not to kill him.
Of course, that didn't mean she could rashly accept his offer.
“In that ordinary life you pursue, will I truly be necessary?”
“Didn’t I say it earlier? That life feels more difficult than unifying the Martial World.”
Eliminating all the hidden forces behind the scenes was not the end of it.
The promise with his father.
If he failed to persuade his father, a war would break out.
Geom Mugeuk still considered preventing that to be a more difficult task than getting rid of the hidden forces.
“I’m not trying to deny the life you’ve lived as an assassin. If you come with me and feel that this is not the path for you, then I will truly let you go.”
The offer was made because he needed her, but it was also for her sake.
Since she had formed a bond with him, he hoped she would try living a life that wasn't that of an assassin.
In his life before regression, she had lived her entire life as a nameless assassin.
He believed that if she was someone who could live such a life with quiet fortitude, she could live any other life well too.
“If you are worried about your subordinates, give them a choice.”
It meant that those who had no intention of dedicating themselves to the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect should be allowed to leave freely.
“Please give me some time to think.”
“Take your time. We have to return to the Main Sect together for now anyway.”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned once more to the pavilion on the lake.
The Seventeenth Assassin and the Crescent Moon Faceless One were still there.
He thought they would part ways soon due to the awkwardness, but for some reason, the two were still there, deep in conversation.
When Geom Mugeuk activated his Divine Eye Technique, he saw the Seventeenth Assassin smiling.
What in the world could that stoic Faceless One be saying to make an assassin laugh!
“Ah! I’m dying of curiosity. I need to hear what those two are talking about! Is there really no secret assassin technique for eavesdropping from a distance?”
That night, Cha Iran couldn't sleep, her mind filled with various thoughts.
Eventually, she left her quarters to get some fresh air.
She wasn't the only one who couldn't fall asleep so late at night.
In the inner courtyard, Lee Ahn was looking up at the night sky.
As Cha Iran walked toward her, Lee Ahn greeted her first.
“You’re still awake?”
Lee Ahn’s gaze toward Cha Iran was exceptionally gentle.
There was a good reason for it.
“I didn’t realize it earlier. That you took such a risk for the Young Cult Master, Miss Cha.”
Lee Ahn bowed her head respectfully to Cha Iran.
“Thank you so much for saving the Young Cult Master.”
From the deeply respectful greeting, Cha Iran could tell.
She genuinely cared for the Young Cult Master.
Young Cult Master, you are a greedy one.
You already have someone like this, yet you try to take me as a subordinate as well.
“I did it for my own sake as well, so you don’t need to worry too much about it.”
Nevertheless, Lee Ahn’s eyes were full of gratitude, so Cha Iran looked up at the sky and changed the subject.
“What were you looking at so intently?”
“No matter how busy you are, look up at the sky at least once a day! That’s what the Young Cult Master always says. I forget all the time, so there are many days like this when I end up looking at the stars so late.”
After gazing at the stars for a moment, Cha Iran suddenly asked.
“What kind of person is the Young Cult Master?”
Was it because of the sudden question? Lee Ahn could not answer easily.
“I asked too abruptly, didn’t I? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
That wasn’t why Lee Ahn didn't answer.
“No. It’s not that I don’t want to answer. It’s just that he’s someone who is hard to describe in a few words.”
Cha Iran understood Lee Ahn’s words.
Yes, Geom Mugeuk was not someone who could be easily explained, even if one had known him for a long time.
“The Young Cult Master made an offer. He wants me to become his subordinate.”
Lee Ahn nodded with an expression that said she had expected it.
“Did the Young Cult Master perhaps tell you, Miss Lee?”
“No.”
“And yet you’re not surprised.”
“Because if I were the Young Cult Master, I think I would have done the same.”
After looking at Lee Ahn for a moment, Cha Iran spoke.
“You’ve learned something bad from the Young Cult Master. Saying what the other person wants to hear.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
Lee Ahn said, staring at her intently.
“It means you’re making an effort, right? At least it shows you’ve thought about what the other person wants to hear. If you harm the other person with those words, then it would be a bad thing. But I don’t think becoming the Young Cult Master's subordinate is a bad thing.”
Cha Iran got a slightly different feeling from the Lee Ahn she had seen until now.
When talking about matters related to the Young Cult Master, Lee Ahn’s eyes shone.
“Are you perhaps afraid of your past life changing?”
At Lee Ahn’s question, Cha Iran gave no answer.
Yes, if she was hesitating, that would be the biggest reason.
After living the life of an assassin, to become the blade of the Demon Sect’s Young Cult Master? The words to agree readily did not come out.
No matter how special a feeling Geom Mugeuk gave her.
“I lived my entire life as the Young Cult Master’s bodyguard. It was a job I loved, and I had never even considered any other life.”
Perhaps having made up her mind today, Lee Ahn spoke more than usual.
At first, it was because if Geom Mugeuk wanted her, she wanted to help in any way she could.
But as they talked, her true feelings came out without her realizing.
“But the Young Cult Master changed that life for me. Now, I am not his bodyguard, but the Ghost Shadow Branch Master. Do you know what I felt in that process?”
“What did you feel?”
Lee Ahn’s gaze, once again directed at the stars in the night sky, deepened.
“A life doing what you love is not so much joyful as it is an arduous life.”
This was the very emotion she felt after she quit her bodyguard duties and became the Ghost Shadow Branch Master.
“Because it’s something you love, you want to do it well, and to do it well, you have to work very hard. You have to endure even the things you dislike. I thought that if you did what you loved, it would only be joyful, but this is truly a difficult thing. It is difficult precisely because it is something you love.”
Lee Ahn’s gaze, which had been on the stars, turned to her.
“Do you know what I think when I open my eyes in the morning these days? Ah! I don’t have to protect anyone. I just have to take good care of myself and live. You wouldn't know what a sense of relief this brings. It's a feeling I never knew when I was actually working as a bodyguard. I also learned this time that some emotions can only be felt when you quit that job."
Her words were contrary to the image of her so diligently protecting the Heavenly Flower Pavilion Mistress.
But that effort, and also the words she spoke now, were all sincere.
At Lee Ahn’s candid words, Cha Iran thought to herself.
What would a life without contracts be like for her? Would she really feel such a sense of relief like Lee Ahn?
“Experience it for yourself once, what that feeling is like. Even if you go back to living as an assassin, it will surely be helpful to you, Miss Cha.”
Cha Iran could feel that Lee Ahn sincerely wished for her to become Geom Mugeuk’s subordinate.
“Why are you telling me this? It's not like it will benefit you if I become the Young Cult Master’s subordinate, right?”
“If you’re talking about whether the Young Cult Master’s affection might be divided.”
Lee Ahn added with a smile.
“You still don’t know the size of our Young Cult Master’s heart. His heart could hold the entire world and still have room to spare.”
“Is it not that Miss Lee’s heart is large?”
“I am only pretending that it is.”
Lee Ahn bowed her head in greeting and walked away from there.
Having walked some distance, Lee Ahn turned around and said.
“Oh, and don’t worry about not being able to leave. The Young Cult Master is someone who tries his best to send the people around him away.”
In the beginning, he had also told Lee Ahn to leave for the happiness of her own life.
And that was something Cha Iran already knew.
For he was someone who strived to let Ak Gun-hak go.
Lee Ahn’s words today were ultimately to say this.
“So when he offers his hand, hold on tight.”
*
The next morning, the Divine Flower Sect was bustling with preparations for departure.
Geom Mugeuk’s party was preparing to return to the sect.
Several carriages were prepared.
Aside from the carriages for the leaders, the rest of the carriages carried the injured.
The uninjured Faceless Ones and assassins of the Cult of Beauties all rode horses, escorting the carriages.
They all wore bamboo hats and veils.
Before Geom Mugeuk left, Bi Sa-in came to see him.
It was to say his farewells and also to express his gratitude.
Thanks to this, the assassins of the Cult of Beauties were able to witness the rare sight of the successor of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect and the successor of the Unorthodox Alliance standing side by side, conversing.
Bi Sa-in expressed his gratitude.
“I was grateful this time as well.”
If he had not been informed of this matter in advance, there was no telling what might have happened to the Unorthodox Alliance Leader.
“This time, I should be the one to express gratitude. Thanks to the Alliance Leader entrusting this matter to you, I have gained a lot.”
Bi Sa-in really liked this frankness of Geom Mugeuk.
As you live in the martial world, you realize it.
People try to take credit in any way they can, and they try to make others indebted to them and owe them favors.
But Geom Mugeuk was different.
There was no distortion in his accounting of favors and grudges.
“I believe the conspiracy targeting the Alliance Leader is still ongoing. So please be very careful.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Bi Sa-in nodded his head.
Until the full story of this incident was revealed, he planned to escort Baek Ja-gang along with the Thirteen Wolves of the Unorthodox Path.
“The Heaven-Reaching Pavilion will also send any information related to the Alliance Leader right away.”
“Thank you. We will cooperate as well.”
The two men faced each other, exchanging reassuring glances.
At the mischievous glint that appeared in Geom Mugeuk’s eyes, Bi Sa-in spoke first.
“Don’t do it and just go!”
Of course, Geom Mugeuk was not one to just leave.
“You have to be this quick-witted to be able to love in secret.”
After successfully teasing Bi Sa-in, Geom Mugeuk boarded the carriage.
Geom Mugeuk stuck his head out of the carriage window and said loudly to everyone.
“Alright, let’s go home now!”
*
The ceiling was high.
Large stone pillars supported the vaulted ceiling.
Painted on the walls and ceiling were constellations.
Just as if the night sky had been moved here, countless stars were drawn, with a focus on those that had special meaning in martial arts.
And here, there were two things that Geom Mugeuk would have recognized immediately had he come.
First, a large Secret Vessel was placed in a corner of the space.
The one that Ak Gun-hak had taken back was being stored right here.
The second was a symbol painted on one of the walls of the space.
It was the very symbol that Geom Mugeuk had seen in the basement of the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall.
Six round circles surrounding the Secret Vessel in the center.
A faint light was emanating from four of those circles.
Black, blue, white, and yellow—surprisingly, those were the colors of the orbs that Geom Mugeuk had absorbed.
A middle-aged woman was sitting in front of it.
Filled with a calm yet sacred energy, she was none other than Ga Ye, a descendant of the Divine Maiden Palace and its current Master.
A large bowl was placed before her, filled to the brim with blood.
An old man sat in the darkness in front of Ga Ye.
The old man’s back was straight, and his two hands were calmly gathered in front of his energy core.
Even in the darkness, his two eyes shone, and his black pupils were a darkness that pressed down on the darkness.
Just then, the Secret Vessel painted on the mural behind Ga Ye seemed to light up.
Fwoosh.
The fifth circle began to glow with a red color.
Ga Ye spoke in a calm voice.
“The energy of the Red Essence has appeared in the world.”
Surprisingly, this mural was indicating that the energy within the orbs was being released to the outside.
Then, the old man in the darkness spoke softly.
“Now the Young Cult Master will absorb the energy of the Red Essence as well.”
His voice had a deep resonance, like an ancient bell.
“The Flying Blood Snake must have entered the Young Cult Master’s body through the energy of the Red Essence.”
At Ga Ye’s words, the old man in the darkness nodded his head.
For this task, they had used the Flying Blood Snake, which could only be used once in a generation.
If this task succeeded, all past failures and sacrifices could be redeemed.
How much time had passed like that?
Ssssssssss.
The bowl of blood placed before Ga Ye began to turn black.
Looking down at it, Ga Ye’s eyes widened in shock.
“The Flying Blood Snake is dead.”
At her report, the old man in the darkness’s gaze shone intensely.
Unable to withstand the energy being shot out, Ga Ye closed her eyes and bowed her head.
“If the Flying Blood Snake is dead, it means this task has also failed.”
At the old man’s words, Ga Ye could only look down at the blackened water with trembling eyes.
She still couldn’t believe it.
Then, a low deliberation flowed from the old man in the darkness.
“In the end, must I awaken him?”
At that, Ga Ye prostrated herself before the old man.
“You must not. Without the Primal Energy of the Six Paths, we cannot control him. If you release him just like that…”
Of all things, she was certain of this one thing, so Ga Ye added firmly.
“This martial world will become a sea of blood.”