Book 13: Chapter 1: Signs of Recovery

Luoyang Sword Family.

Special Class Closed-door Training Ground.

Guard Pavilion Lord.

The elder sister of the Grand Patriarch and Yeon So-hyeon's aunt.

And a deep shadow hung around the eyes of the woman who was also the master of the Second Young Lady, Yeon Seo-rin.

The Eldest Young Master, Yeon So-hyeon, had returned triumphantly as the Eldest Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family in both name and reality.

The commotion within the Luoyang Sword Family was being transmitted even to this closed-door training ground, which was virtually isolated.

“…Any news from the blood relatives?”

Her subordinates, the heads of the Guard Pavilion, shook their heads.

“Among the blood relatives whose protection was handled by the agents of our Guard Pavilion. Many of them, during the past night…” the heads of the Guard Pavilion could not find the appropriate expression.

In their stead, the Guard Pavilion Lord spoke.

“Were they dragged away?”

At her words, the heads of the Guard Pavilion broke into a cold sweat.

“We tried to prevent the forced arrest somehow to protect the safety of the targets…!”

“But because the other side presented a warrant from the Supreme Executive Council, we had no choice…!”

Protecting the safety of the key Yeon family blood relatives was the duty of the Guard Pavilion.

That was why the heads were breaking into a cold sweat.

“I am not trying to reprimand you.”

She let out a sigh.

“They are far too rotten to the core.”

No matter if it was said that fish could not live in water that was too clear.

They had crossed the line by a wide margin.

Those who had covertly caused trouble even when her younger brother, the Grand Patriarch, was perfectly fine, had crossed the line of no return.

“There is no value in helping such bastards just because they share the Yeon surname.”

Besides such people were not particularly helpful to her goal of making Yeon Seo-rin the Patriarch.

“The core members of my faction must be fine, right…?”

The heads of the Guard Pavilion hurriedly nodded.

“Yes, yes. That is correct, Pavilion Lord.”

“They are currently waiting at their residences, keeping a close eye on the situation of the Main Family.”

Keeping a close eye, my foot.

They must be watching to see which way the wind blows.

Thinking so, she let out a sigh and waved her hand.

“…Then, that is fine. Withdraw.”

The heads of the Guard Pavilion, who had been suffering under the pressure of the Guard Pavilion Lord—a expert who had crossed the wall—hurriedly withdrew.

“……”

In the empty room, the Guard Pavilion Lord sighed once again.

In the past her younger brother, the Grand Patriarch, had blocked her dream of becoming the Patriarch.

Now, his eldest son had popped out to block the goal of making Yeon Seo-rin the Patriarch once again.

“…It cannot be. This time, absolutely not.”

As she muttered so, to her sharp Qi perception she felt someone exiting the gates of the closed-door training ground.

“……!”

The moment she identified the person, a loud voice immediately erupted from the Guard Pavilion Lord's mouth.

“Yeon Seo-rin!”

Normally, she would have at least pretended to flinch at her master's voice.

“…Master.”

For some reason Yeon Seo-rin merely looked back at her with calm eyes.

“Instead of practicing as you were told, where are you trying to go again?!”

Rumble.

Under the Guard Pavilion Lord's momentum, the cliffs on the left and right of the closed-door training ground shook, and small pebbles tumbled down.

Normally, Yeon Seo-rin would have given up and gone back inside at this point.

And the Guard Pavilion Lord would have left it at making her train severely.

“Master.”

However today's Yeon Seo-rin was different.

“Now, I will also freely go my own way.”

“…Freedom?”

The corners of the Guard Pavilion Lord's eyes trembled as if experiencing a spasm.

“Have you forgotten your 'responsibility'? Do I need to remind you of that responsibility once again?”

Even if the Guard Pavilion Lord did not speak there was no way Yeon Seo-rin could forget the talk of her responsibility, which she had already heard hundreds and thousands of times as if brainwashed.

“…The day Father collapsed. Already poisoned, he shielded me to protect me and was struck by a sneak attack.”

That was the story about that day, which became the reason the Grand Patriarch was still unable to wake up.

“Yes. You remember it well.”

The Guard Pavilion Lord spoke in a softened tone as if soothing her.

“You must also remember the last words your father left while holding you in his arms, right?”

“Are you talking about the words telling me to protect the family and lead the household in place of older sister, who would leave the family due to her engagement with the Hwangbo Clan?”

“Yes. That is exactly it.”

The Guard Pavilion Lord raised her hand and pointed at the Grand Patriarch's sword that Yeon Seo-rin was wearing.

“Were those not the words your father left you as he handed over that sword to you?”

And that was the shackle and leash that had bound Yeon Seo-rin until now.

The Guard Pavilion Lord continued speaking as if coaxing Yeon Seo-rin, just as she had done until now.

“If he were a warrior of your father's caliber, had he not tried to shield you, he would have been more than capable of taking care of himself.”

“……”

Seeing Yeon Seo-rin bite her lip in guilt, the Guard Pavilion Lord hid a bleak smile.

“Yesterday, and today, the Main Family has been in absolute chaos lately. Countless people are shedding blood, and countless people are losing their lives in vain.”

Pointing out the chaotic state of the Luoyang Sword Family, the Guard Pavilion Lord asked.

“If your father had not collapsed that day, how do you think it would be?”

“……”

Had that been the case, the current Luoyang Sword Family would… everything would have been different.

“I, too, want to avoid reminding you of the heavy responsibility given to you in this manner. But you must become the Patriarch of this Luoyang Sword Family—” Yeon Seo-rin cut off her words.

“Master.”

“No, Aunt.”

Meeting the gaze of Yeon Seo-rin, who called her aunt instead of master, the Guard Pavilion Lord actually flinched.

For some reason Yeon Seo-rin's reaction was too different from usual.

“Did you hate Father that much?”

“…What on earth are you talking about?! You—” seeing the Guard Pavilion Lord try to show anger while hiding her panic, Yeon Seo-rin spoke without giving her a moment's pause.

“To me, who did not properly remember the situation back then, why on earth did you keep injecting such lies?”

The gaze of Yeon Seo-rin, looking at her master whose expression was starting to collapse, was even sad.

“Lies, what do you mean by that—?!”

“These documents are copies. So-hyeon sent them to me secretly at dawn.”

Seeing Yeon Seo-rin pull out documents from her bosom, the Guard Pavilion Lord frowned.

“What on earth did that fellow—?”

“See for yourself.”

Catching the documents thrown by Yeon Seo-rin with telekinesis, the Guard Pavilion Lord's gaze began to shake uncontrollably.

<Field Report on the Pre- and Post-Incident of the Patriarch's Sneak Attack> the Guard Pavilion Lord wanted to scream.

<The Situation at the Time Re-established Based on the Testimonies of the Agents Present at the Scene of the Sneak Attack and Unresolved Questions> Yeon Seo-rin said bitterly.

<In-Depth Psychological Evaluation Report on the Field Agents at the Time> it was none other than the documents Yeon So-hyeon had found in the Director of the Institution's private safe last night.

“Th-This…?!”

“As you can see, they are records of the scene at that time. They were kept in secret by the Director of the Institution who went missing last night.”

“According to the data, everything about the situation at the time was extremely ambiguous. No one remembered it properly, and no one understood the situation back then correctly.”

Furthermore, in the data there were even statements written that the on-duty workers had seen a six-legged beast or a bizarre figure with fifty wings crossing the sky.

“It is true that I was found nearby as a child holding Father's sword, but there is no report anywhere that Father was struck while shielding me. And decisively.”

Yeon Seo-rin's words continued.

“Aunt, you were not even present at that spot.”

The story that had brainwashed Yeon Seo-rin for a long time crumbled down.

“Se-Seo-rin. That is—” she tried to make some excuse, but the leash the Guard Pavilion Lord had placed was broken.

“No, it is not…!”

“Although there are so many stories I want to hear…” Yeon Seo-rin smiled sadly.

“In any case, Aunt, you would never tell me everything yourself.”

She knelt down on the bare floor and bowed.

“Thank you for raising and teaching me all this time.”

It was the final courtesy shown to the one who had been her master.

“I will now descend the mountain.”

The Guard Pavilion Lord tried to reach out her hand toward her departing disciple but Yeon Seo-rin merely left lightheartedly, as if she had regained her wings.

“Seo-rin…!”

Right now neither the internal energy that enabled telekinesis nor the realm that shook the cliffs was of any use whatsoever.

* * *

The place where the Eldest Young Master, Yeon So-hyeon, headed first after returning to the main residence of the Luoyang Sword Family was contrary to everyone's expectations neither his residence, Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment nor the Supreme Executive Council, nor the Elders' Hall.

Behind the main building of the Inner Courtyard.

The residence of the Grand Patriarch.

“……”

He, the master of the Medicine Fairy Yak So-yu, who was Yeon So-hyeon's mother, trembled with tension in his hands.

The Medicine King.

“……”

Even Yeon So-hyeon, who would normally throw jokes for no reason, was merely watching that sight quietly with a serious attitude.

Drip.

As a drop of blood fell onto a small piece of dark, half-rotted flesh black smoke billowed from the flesh, and it began to ripple as if it were alive.

“……!”

The Medicine King, who had flinched and turned his face away at the sight, asked Yeon So-hyeon.

“…Whose flesh did you say this is?”

“Geum-jil. It belongs to a person of the Demonic Cult.”

The owner of the blood dropped on Geum-jil's flesh was none other than Yeon So-hyeon's father.

It belonged to the Grand Patriarch.

“Then…” Yeon So-hyeon nodded.

“Just as I suspected, Father's poisoning and unconsciousness were symptoms related to the Demonic Cult.”

That suspicion had neared certainty after looking at the records of the time that the Director of the Institution had hidden.

Conflicting testimonies.

A situation of pure chaos.

It was too similar to the reality distortion caused by demonic energy that he had seen so often.

“So that was it, that was it.”

It was neither a normal illness nor a normal poison.

In the first place it was neither the domain of a physician nor the domain of the Medicine King as an immortal Daoist cultivator.

The Medicine King lamented.

“No wonder all ten thousand herbs and ten thousand treatments were of no use all this time…!”

During that long time the reason why the Medicine King, who could be called the best physician in Zhongyuan, and Yeon So-hyeon could not cure the Grand Patriarch, was finally revealed.

“How many more samples are left?”

Yeon So-hyeon nodded to the excited Medicine King.

“There are enough.”

Then, with a smile on his lips, he continued.

“Besides, since the Demonic Cult bastards will become even more rampant in the future, it will not be difficult to obtain various samples.”

Regardless of how it started the current Demonic Cult is evil, they were evildoers, and their actions were evil deeds.

Yeon So-hyeon had no intention of standing by and watching them.

“……”

The Medicine King looked at Yeon So-hyeon, who was like a grandson to him, with worried eyes for a moment before shaking his head.

“…Yes.”

From what he had observed so far Yeon So-hyeon was a person whom he did not need to worry about in the slightest.

So there was no need to drag out the conversation miserably.

“Now that we have a clue.”

The Medicine King returned to the eyes of a physician.

“Leave the research to me. I will surely find a cure.”

Where else in all of Zhongyuan would there be a physician whom Yeon So-hyeon could trust more than the Medicine King?

Yeon So-hyeon looked straight into the Medicine King's eyes and nodded.

“I leave it to you.”

At Yeon So-hyeon's extremely honest attitude, which was unlike his usual self, the Medicine King quickly stood up, turning his gaze away out of embarrassment.

“Ahem.”

“Then, I will leave so as not to disturb you.”

“Most likely,” at Yeon So-hyeon's voice coming from behind, the Medicine King's body froze as he grabbed the doorknob.

“this is merely a guess, but Father was probably not the first to fall victim to this method at that time.”

“…Could it be?”

The Medicine King realized without difficulty what Yeon So-hyeon's guess implied.

“Are you saying that the late Emperor was also attacked and passed away by the same method?”

“As I said, it is merely a guess. We must investigate deeper in the future. However…” with his back turned, Yeon So-hyeon spoke calmly.

“If there is a most efficient way to begin the work of collapsing the entire State of Zhongyuan,” the conversation ended there.

“…it would have been targeting the Emperor and the Patriarch of the Sword Family.”

Once the Medicine King closed the door and left only two remained in that place: Yeon So-hyeon and the Grand Patriarch.

“…Father.”

Yeon So-hyeon reached out his hand and held his father's hand.

The Grand Patriarch's skin-and-bones body did not show any response even to the demonic energy of the Scripture of Controlling Darkness and Shaking the Heavens.

At this point, even the demonic energy of the Demonic Cult could not be found.

Although it might have been demonic energy that took away the Grand Patriarch's consciousness back then the current state of unconsciousness was merely the product of that distorted reality.

“Somehow, I will find a cure so that you can stand up again.”

His father's hand was only gaunt and the shape of the large, reassuringly warm hand in his childhood memories could not be found.

Only the calluses formed from holding a sword all his life remained as a trace.

“And when you wake up, Father,” hot tears dripped onto the hand whose skeletal frame was clearly visible.

“I will surely make you proud of me.”