“This is the scariest time.”
“Actually, I’m scared too.”
“Should we just kill ourselves? It seems like it would be more comfortable to just kill ourselves.”
“We can’t do that. If we kill ourselves, it will look like there’s something going on.”
“If they come here, they’ll already know something, won’t they?”
“That’s why we have to do better. We have to act as if nothing happened, and when the martial artists come, we have to tremble like ignorant peasants, beg for our lives, and then die by the sword.”
“If they’re going to kill us, I wish they’d just come quickly. Waiting is scarier. They won’t take us away and torture us, will they?”
“I don’t know.”
“If it looks like we’re going to be taken away, can you kill me?”
“Haha!”
“Pretend it was a mistake and kill me. I don’t want to endure for a long time, suffering and eventually dying anyway.”
“Where is there a farmer who kills his wife by mistake? We have to beg for our lives, and if they take us, we go, and if they kill us, we die.”
The farming couple exchanged words while pulling out cabbages buried in the snow.
Their hands were pulling out cabbages, but their eyes were watching all around. They exchanged words, but they whispered so softly that only the two of them could hear.
“Did you get rid of all of Heun’s things?”
The farmer asked with a look of concern.
The child’s name was Heun. It was a single character name. Originally, his name should have been Heo Munheun, following the family naming convention. But because all traces of his connection to the Sacred Sword Sect had to be erased, he was given a single character name.
It was a name that the Sect Master, Heo Dogang, had personally chosen and sent.
Heo Heun.
The character for ‘dawn’ was rarely used in names, but because it was the name the Sect Master had chosen and sent, they called him that.
“You checked, didn’t you?”
“I checked, but I’m just asking in case. I was wondering if we missed anything and didn’t get rid of it.”
“I even made cobwebs in the room, so they won’t suspect anything.”
“But… I keep seeing Heun’s face. I tried not to get attached, but I think I did without realizing it.”
“You should be grateful that you raised the master’s child by calling him this and that.”
“Anyway, it was fun, wasn’t it?”
“We lived a fun life. Happily. I don’t regret the years I lived forgetting what blood was. No, rather, I’m grateful to the Sect Master. He even connected us with Heun.”
“Shh!”
The farmer quickly warned her. But there was no need to warn her. The woman had already closed her mouth.
Crunch! Crunch!
A person walked, stepping on the snow.
He walked leisurely along the narrow path with his hands behind his back, as if taking a stroll.
To get to the farmhouse from the main road, one had to follow a winding narrow path. It took two or three times longer than walking in a straight line.
Most importantly, if you walked along the narrow path, you could not escape surveillance.
From the farmhouse, you could see everyone walking along the narrow path. You could even assess their martial arts skills.
If you didn’t want to walk along the narrow path, you had to cross the fields.
But because there were ditches dug all over the fields, it took longer than coming by the narrow path.
He had deliberately made the path that way.
The one approaching the farmhouse was not in a hurry. He didn’t look rushed even when seen from a distance. He walked leisurely, looking around as if enjoying the snow.
The farmer stood up from the snowfield.
The woman also stood up with a basket of frozen cabbages.
The two of them looked at the approaching person. They saw a very strong martial artist, a supreme master that they could not hope to match.
The middle aged martial artist approached the couple and smiled.
“I didn’t expect to see traces of the Black Gang here. Are you two assassins from the Black Gang?”
The farmer’s face turned pale.
The middle aged martial artist was right. The terrain features they had created around them were based on the ambush techniques of the Black Gang.
The fields were littered with countless hidden weapons that operated by mechanism. If you entered the fields recklessly, your ankle could be cut off. Because a cutting blade would strike your ankle.
Do not attack a Black Gang assassin carelessly, even if they are sleeping in the open. If you really want to attack, do your best with the mindset of catching a fierce beast hidden deep in the rugged mountains.
The Black Gang was more famous for its ambush techniques than its martial arts.
That was how skilled they were at using the terrain. They could block five parts of martial arts with one part of strength.
The middle aged martial artist had read the Black Gang’s ambush techniques in an instant.
With a glance as he walked along the narrow path as if taking a stroll, he had read not only the mechanisms but also the Black Gang.
It was despair. He thought he had disguised it perfectly… Then it was wrong to continue to disguise himself as a farmer. Since he had been found out to be a Black Gang assassin, it was better to reveal a certain extent.
“I am an assassin who has been in seclusion for a long time. I have even forgotten the name Black Gang. Please understand.”
The farmer said, cupping his fists.
“How many years have you been in seclusion?”
“Seven years.”
“Almost ten years. Wait… wasn’t seven years ago when the Black Gang was annihilated? You managed to escape at that time.”
“Rather than escaping… we went into seclusion before the Black Gang was annihilated. After we went into seclusion, we heard a rumor that the Black Gang had been annihilated not long after.”
“Really? It’s not easy for an assassin to leave the organization, but you managed to get out.”
“Actually, at that time, this person was pregnant. So even when we heard the news that our sect had been annihilated, we did not take up the sword. That was already seven years ago, it’s all a forgotten old story now.”
The farmer brought up the topic of the child first.
Seven years had passed. But he still remembered the Black Gang. There were probably many people who knew of the Black Gang, but to think that there was someone who could identify a Black Gang assassin at a glance.
As expected, the Sacred Sword Sect had been keeping a close eye on the remnants of the Black Gang.
They had monitored every single assassin who had survived the annihilation of the Black Gang. If they had taken up the sword again, they would have been killed without mercy. If they had turned over a new leaf like the farming couple, they would have just watched silently.
Then the Sacred Sword Sect also knew that the farming couple had a child.
It wouldn’t be a big problem. They had taken in and started raising a newborn fetus, so they couldn’t be suspected.
The middle aged martial artist glanced around the farmhouse.
“I don’t see the child?”
“He caught a plague a while ago…”
The farmer looked at the snow covered field.
A slightly raised mound could be seen in a corner of the field.
Originally, a grave was not made for a child, so the earth was piled up to a slightly thick extent.
“Tsk…!”
The middle aged martial artist clicked his tongue.
If you dug up the mound, a child’s body would come out. A month ago, it would have been considerably decomposed.
“We are living quietly in seclusion. Please pass by with your generous heart.”
The farmer bowed deeply.
“I can’t do that. This place… is suspicious. My kids seem to be thinking of taking you and making you talk, but that’s because they don’t know the Black Gang assassins well.”
The middle aged martial artist turned his back.
“This place will be cleaned up today.”
“Please spare us. We haven’t done anything.”
The farmer begged with his hands together.
“No, it will be more comfortable for you to die now.”
“Please spare us. Please!”
“The child is dead, so there’s no joy in living. Actually, I was wondering if there was anything to gain by coming here. But it’s suspicious. I had to come and see for myself.”
The martial artist looked around.
“If there is anything left, it must be fate. Hahaha!”
The middle aged martial artist grabbed his sword.
* * *
Seven years ago, the wife of the Sacred Sword Sect Master, Hyeonjeong, entered the Gateless Gate of Cheonil Temple.
Although Hyeonjeong was a devout Buddhist, she was not to the extent of seeking enlightenment in the Gateless Gate for several months. Was it that she had only borrowed the place of the Gateless Gate, and was actually doing closed door training?
Hyeonjeong came out after two hundred days, not even completing a year. Exactly seven months.
It was unreasonable to connect that incident with the incident of the two farmers going into seclusion and raising a child. Although they happened at about the same time, no connection could be found between Hyeonjeong and the Black Gang.
There was another reason why the middle aged martial artist had turned away indifferently.
The Sacred Sword Sect had carefully observed the farmer’s child. They had watched him grow up all along.
The farming couple had not taught the child any studies. They had not even trained him in the basic studies to build up his physical strength. They had lived with a complete wall between them and martial arts.
The fact that the child was not of special talent also had a great influence.
‘Thank goodness. A million… thanks…’
Tears rolled down the woman’s eyes.
She had to thoroughly hide the fact that Heun was alive, and it seemed she had succeeded to some extent.
The middle aged martial artist had turned away without suspicion.
The farmer was lying face down in the snow. He had been killed in one strike.
The woman was not hit by the sword.
The martial artist had looked at the woman, and the woman had taken out a dagger from her bosom and stabbed her chest. He had given her a chance to kill herself, and the woman had gladly taken that chance.
It was fine to die by her own hand.
She did not want to be killed by others.
So she held on to her life for a little longer. To the extent that she could watch her dead husband’s form…
‘Thank goodness. Thank goodness…’
The woman slowly closed her eyes.
* * *
Hyeonjeong guarded her husband in the Hidden House.
The undertaker would be here soon. A jade coffin would be prepared, befitting the funeral of a Sect Master, and the Sect Master’s emaciated body would be washed with clean purified water and then dressed in the last clothes he would wear in this life.
Hyeonjeong intended to stay by the Sect Master’s side until the last moment the coffin lid was closed.
“The Second Master has arrived.”
A servant said in a calm voice from outside the room.
Hyeonjeong’s mind snapped to attention.
‘The… Second Master!’
It referred to the Sect Master’s younger brother, Heo Dogi. Heo Dogi had no position in the Sacred Sword Sect. He had no rank. Because he had completely retired from martial world activities, he had also thrown away his title.
So he was called the Second Master.
The Sect Master, Heo Dogang, was called the Great Master, and he was called the Second Master.
Of course, this title was only used between the two of them. It was a limited title used only when the people of the Sacred Sword Sect called Heo Dogi, or when the people of his residence called the Sect Master.
The Second Master was not qualified to come to the Hidden House.
The Hidden House was a place where only a very small number of people from the Sacred Sword Sect could come. So even if he was his own younger brother, if the Sacred Sword Sect prepared a funeral hall, he had to come there.
But he had come to the Hidden House without hesitation.
‘Brother-in-law. You finally did it!’
Hyeonjeong’s eyes trembled.
If the Second Master had ignored the rules of the Sacred Sword Sect and come to the Hidden House without hesitation, he had already drawn his sword.
If Heo Dogi drew his sword, her three sons would die. She had researched ways to avoid death countless times, but it was useless. Any measure was useless.
Heo Dogi had prepared perfectly.
Because he had failed once, he had perfectly plugged the loopholes so as not to repeat the same mistake.
The Sacred Sword Sect when the Sect Master was ruling and the Sacred Sword Sect after he had collapsed from stomach cancer were completely different.
Six months ago, everyone was a loyal subordinate. But the situation had changed over the past six months. It seemed that more than seventy percent had sworn allegiance to the Second Master.
It was too late. No, Heo Dogi’s movements were too fast. The situation judgment of someone who had failed in a power struggle and someone who had never fought at all was completely different.
So the answer that came out as a last resort was to hand over the position of Sect Master.
Give the Sect Master and save their lives. Or everyone dies.
In a situation where she had to choose one of the two, she had decided to choose the former.
Of course, she had not discussed it with the sick Sect Master.
The Sect Master could not be of any help. He could not lift a sword, nor could he give orders. The moment he was bedridden with stomach cancer, the Sacred Sword Sect became a vacant mountain.
Her sons were dead.
“Hoo!”
A deep breath burst out. No, rather, she felt relieved, as if it was for the better.
The wife held the Sect Master’s hand, which was already beginning to lose its warmth, tightly.
“Somehow, I felt like I would follow you today. My dear, it seems we are destined to be together. Don’t go too far and wait for a moment. Hmph!”
Clatter!
The door opened and Heo Dogi entered.
He saw his brother lying as if asleep. And next to him, he saw Hyeonjeong sleeping with a very peaceful face.
‘Poison!’
Heo Dogi found a red thread like line on Hyeonjeong’s glabella.
It was the extreme poison, Blood Eyebrow Poison, for which there was no antidote.
Did his sister-in-law also predict a situation like today? So she had prepared an extreme poison like the Blood Eyebrow Poison?
A situation where she could neither do this nor that, a situation where she couldn’t even move.
That was his sister-in-law’s situation now.
“Take good care of her. My sister-in-law was assassinated by the Blood Eyebrow Poison. I command all the martial artists of the Sacred Sword Sect. Go out. Exterminate all the demons within a two hundred li radius. Never again should demons invade the Sacred Sword Sect and harm people!”
Heo Dogi let out a thunderous roar.
(End of Chapter)