WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Former Supreme ◈
Chapter 104: An Eye for an Eye (3)
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Five days later, in a field near Wuhan.
Baek Socheon stood alone in the wide-open expanse.
A breeze swept across the field, but it no longer carried winter's old bite. The season of unending turmoil was passing, and spring was approaching.
Baek Socheon looked up at the sky.
What would happen around this time next year? Would he be negotiating with Yeom Hwasin? Or would war break out after all, beyond his ability to prevent?
Would he still be alive? And if he survived...
In what season would he be able to leave the Alliance?
As he drifted from one thought to another, a man appeared in the distance and walked toward him.
It was Jeok Parap. Though Jeok Parap was entering enemy territory without knowing what awaited, Jeok Parap had come alone. It was a choice only someone with limitless confidence in their martial arts could make.
Jeok Parap approached slowly and stopped roughly ten paces from Baek Socheon.
At their level, it was close enough for either of them to tear the other apart in a single move.
It was the first time they had met face-to-face.
The Blood Cult had not joined the previous war. Near its end, however, they had plotted to plant the Heaven-Exiled Grudge Gu in both the Murim Alliance and the Black Heaven Alliance.
Baek Socheon had not expected Jeok Parap to look so young.
"I often hear that I look young for my age, but compared to you, I don't even qualify."
"Want me to teach you the secret to staying this young?"
Jeok Parap's voice could not be disguised. It was the phlegmy, hoarse voice of an old man.
"I'll pass."
"Why?"
"Could defying the natural order possibly be achieved by normal means?"
Jeok Parap's gaze turned fierce, but Baek Socheon warned Jeok Parap instead.
"Since we're on the subject, let me make this clear. Don't even think about using something like the Soul-Seizing Art on me. I came prepared to make sure it won't work. If you ignore my warning, you'll never see Miss Myeol again."
Jeok Parap smiled coldly.
"So you came well prepared."
From the moment Jeok Parap saw Baek Socheon, Jeok Parap could tell that Baek Socheon was under the Soul-Seizing Art.
It was an ability Baek Socheon had learned from Na Sarin. Just as he could tell whether someone had fallen under the Soul-Seizing Art or mastered it, Jeok Parap could naturally do the same.
"I've heard a great deal about you."
"What sort of rumors?"
"They say that, at your core, you're more orthodox than anyone, yet your personality is anything but orthodox."
"And what would the less flattering version be?"
"That you're foul-tempered, isn't it? Don't worry. I can't stand people who pretend to be kind."
Jeok Parap gave off demonic qi far more powerful than Pajeong's. If that overwhelming demonic qi were unleashed through Jeok Parap's secret wicked arts, it would be a nightmare beyond imagining.
"Is Jiryun well?"
"She's doing well. She's stronger than I expected."
Baek Socheon visited her every day to see how she was doing.
She was still his most important hostage. Fortunately, she was doing well. She was stronger than he had expected, and her will to live was strong as well.
She understood her situation perfectly. At the very least, she had realized that he had no intention of killing her.
"Release Jiryun. She is the Blood Cult's precious daughter."
"No."
Jeok Parap's expression darkened.
"Do you want to die?"
The blunt threat was little more than a formality. Jeok Parap knew Baek Socheon was not someone who would be shaken by such a threat. Jeok Parap was merely probing to gauge his reaction.
As expected, Baek Socheon did not even blink.
"The moment you kill me, Miss Myeol dies as well. Empty threats won't work on me, so don't waste your breath."
"If you don't want to release her, then marry her and keep her."
"I don't want that either."
"Then what do you intend to do?"
This time, Baek Socheon answered Jeok Parap's probe with a threat of his own.
"The penalty for attempting to use wicked arts on the Murim Alliance Leader is execution."
One corner of Jeok Parap's mouth curled upward.
It was obvious mockery, and Baek Socheon challenged Jeok Parap.
"What's so funny? Do you think I can't do it?"
"You can kill an innocent child?"
"Everything you just said was wrong. She is neither innocent nor a child."
"Jiryun knew nothing about this."
"So you only used a daughter who knew nothing?"
"Watch your words!"
"Fine. Let's say your version is true. Even then, she committed a grave crime that would keep her in the martial prison for years. She brought someone who sought the Alliance Leader's life into the Alliance."
"So you're going to deal with her according to your rigid Murim Alliance laws?"
"That's right."
"If you insist on that, we will have no choice but to help the Black Heaven Alliance destroy you."
"Have you not already joined hands with the Black Heaven Alliance?"
"You misunderstand. We were only forced into an alliance. This matter was also a choice made for survival, not because we wanted to harm you."
Jeok Parap never revealed the Blood Cult's true intentions.
"Fine. I'll believe you. But I cannot release her for nothing."
"State your condition."
"Yeom Hwasin promised not to start a war for one year. Did you know that?"
"I did."
"If war breaks out during that time, I will kill Miss Myeol first."
"What?"
"I mean every word, so listen carefully. If either the Blood Cult or the Black Heaven Alliance tries to start a war within one year, Miss Myeol will die. I will cut her down myself."
"Even if we keep our promise, how are we supposed to stop the Black Heaven Alliance from moving? You know better than anyone what kind of person Yeom Hwasin is."
"The way to stop Yeom Hwasin is simple. If Yeom Hwasin tries to start a war, declare that you will help us. Even Yeom Hwasin cannot face both us and you at once. Yeom Hwasin knows Miss Myeol is being held by us, so Yeom Hwasin will understand your position. I will release her after one year."
"How can I trust your promise?"
"You have no other choice."
Yet Jeok Parap did have another choice.
In the next moment, Jeok Parap used the Soul-Seizing Art on Baek Socheon. It was far stronger than the Soul-Seizing Art Pajeong had used before.
"Will you truly keep your promise?"
"Yes."
"Who told you that we intended to use the Eight-Direction Ghost Spirit Formation?"
"The Black Heaven Alliance Leader told me."
After asking those two crucial questions, Jeok Parap withdrew the Soul-Seizing Art. It had all happened in an instant, and Baek Socheon appeared not to have noticed that he had even fallen under its influence.
Yet sweat streamed down Jeok Parap's back. Forcing the Soul-Seizing Art through Baek Socheon's defenses had consumed an enormous amount of internal energy.
Still, Jeok Parap had learned an important truth.
'So Yeom Hwasin really was the one who told them! That bastard!'
Jeok Parap concealed boiling anger and asked calmly, "Will you let Jiryun live comfortably?"
"Don't worry. I'll make sure she lives more comfortably than she did in your cult."
"Fine. I promise you this. For one year, the Blood Cult will never provoke you. If the Black Heaven Alliance starts a war, we will declare that we will aid you."
"Good."
"Then I'll trust you and return."
A smile spread across Baek Socheon's lips as he watched Jeok Parap turn and walk away.
He had asked Na Sarin to use the Soul-Seizing Art on him.
But it was not, as he had told Jeok Parap earlier, a secret art meant to prevent him from falling under the Soul-Seizing Art.
He already knew the secret art that could resist another's Soul-Seizing Art, but there was a high chance it would not be enough to block Jeok Parap's version.
So Baek Socheon had made a different request of Na Sarin.
The Soul-Seizing Art she used on him would make him answer that the Black Heaven Alliance Leader had informed him of the matter whenever Jeok Parap used the Soul-Seizing Art on him.
Jeok Parap was immensely proud of Jeok Parap's own martial arts, so Jeok Parap would never suspect that the earlier answer had been manipulated.
An eye for an eye, Soul-Seizing Art for Soul-Seizing Art.
That was Baek Socheon's scheme against Jeok Parap.
Now that Jeok Parap believed the Black Heaven Alliance Leader had interfered with the Blood Cult's plans, a rift would form between the Black Heaven Alliance and the Blood Cult.
Baek Socheon had also gained what he wanted most.
One year.
* * *
After returning to the Alliance Leader's Hall, Baek Socheon gave his final report on the matter.
Ak Sogun and Zhuge Hyeon were delighted by the satisfactory outcome.
"You need not feel troubled about holding her hostage. Think of it not as hostage-taking, but as punishment for the crime she committed."
"I will."
The claim that Myeol Jiryun had known nothing of the plan was an excuse that made no sense.
Once the simultaneous troubles caused by the Black Heaven Alliance and the Blood Cult had been resolved, Ak Sogun brought up a matter that had been delayed.
"It is time for you to take responsibility for the Secret Pavilion."
The timing was right. Baek Socheon had defeated the Black Heaven Alliance's heir before everyone. Beyond the justification, the strength he had displayed that day alone was enough to qualify him as Secret Pavilion Master.
"Pavilion Master On wants this as well."
Because of her relationship with Ak Sogun, On Byeokhwa wanted to step down as Secret Pavilion Master as soon as possible.
"I'm sorry to place such a heavy burden on you, but you're the only suitable person to take it on."
Baek Socheon considered it briefly, then readily accepted.
"All right. I will take it."
Managing the Secret Pavilion, the Alliance's foremost elite organization, was an important duty. He could no longer refuse.
He decided to think of it positively. Martial arts did not improve only through closed-door training. He hoped managing the Secret Pavilion would spur his training.
"Ha ha ha. A wise decision. Then what will you do with the Sage Heaven Corps?"
"I will place them under the Secret Pavilion and use them separately as a special detachment."
"Good. Do that."
The Sage Heaven Corps was equal to, if not stronger than, the Secret Pavilion's martial artists. Even if they received special treatment, no one would object.
"I will manage the Secret Pavilion while devoting myself to martial arts training."
"Please do, Pavilion Master Baek."
How long had it been since he had called someone Pavilion Master and been called Pavilion Master himself?
"I'm sorry to place such a heavy burden on you."
"Not at all. It is an honor that you have entrusted me with such an important duty."
Ak Sogun spoke to Zhuge Hyeon.
"Would you leave us for a moment?"
"Yes, Alliance Leader."
Zhuge Hyeon left the Alliance Leader's Hall, leaving only the two of them behind.
Only then did Ak Sogun reveal the feelings that had been kept inside lately.
"I feel as though I only show you my incompetence. I'm sorry."
"Please do not say that."
"I will be honest with you. After the gu parasite was removed, I would sometimes be overcome by a sense of helplessness I could not understand. While the gu parasite remained, my hatred for you controlled me. Once that emotion vanished, it often felt as if the space it had occupied had been dug out, leaving one corner of my heart empty."
"Ah."
"It has nothing to do with the joy of having found you again."
Baek Socheon thought he understood that kind of loss. It was not a natural change in emotion. Those emotions had been artificially manipulated.
Simply put, it was a side effect of removing the Heaven-Exiled Grudge Gu.
Would someone like Ak Sogun, an absolute master, easily overcome such a side effect?
Baek Socheon knew better than anyone that it was not so simple.
Though he had once stood as the strongest under heaven, he had suffered over whether Ak Sogun had truly abandoned him.
The stronger a person was, the more likely they were to carry a space within themselves that was deep, dark, and empty as an abyss. Yeom Hwasin's incomprehensible behavior, and Baek Socheon's own desire to leave...
That was why Baek Socheon could say this.
A street vendor running a street stall outside the Murim Alliance might have a steadier heart than the strongest martial master under heaven. The vendor's desire to protect their family might be stronger than Baek Socheon's desire to protect the Murim Alliance. Great martial skill did not make someone a greater person.
Baek Socheon took Ak Sogun's hand.
"Alliance Leader, you have done better than anyone. You fought a war, overcame the Heaven-Exiled Grudge Gu, and faced both the Black Heaven Alliance and the Blood Cult. No one in the world would be able to do as well. So please never call yourself incompetent again."
He was not saying it just to make Ak Sogun feel better.
Baek Socheon was certain that he himself would not be able to do as well.
Imagine serving as Alliance Leader or Grand Strategist for decades, doing the same work without end. Imagine making dozens of major and minor decisions every day, becoming entangled in countless relationships, and growing older through an endless routine. Then imagine young people like Baek Socheon rising while receiving everyone's cheers.
Even so, Ak Sogun showed him this sincerity instead of jealousy. The very thing that became harder and harder to show with age.
At last, Baek Socheon said what he had wanted to say for a long time.
"When I am older, I want to be like you, Alliance Leader."
He felt Ak Sogun's hand tighten around their joined hands.
Footnotes:
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