WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Former Supreme ◈

Chapter 63: Heavenly Dragon Secret Directive (1)

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Beon Saeng's days were busy.

As soon as he woke up, he completed his dawn training, then went straight to the Sage Heaven Corps to clean Baek Socheon's office and the office where they worked.

In the morning, he helped Im Chung with his duties. Whenever he had spare time, he devoted himself to martial arts training.

By now, he could perform the forms Baek Socheon had taught him fairly smoothly. He simply trusted Baek Socheon and practiced them again and again.

Beon Saeng threw himself into one thing or another all day long. This was the first time in his life he had ever worked so hard.

As merchants said, earning money could be more enjoyable than spending it. Sometimes, working was more enjoyable than playing. That was exactly how Beon Saeng felt these days.

That day, after finishing his duties with the Sage Heaven Corps, he was heading outside to spend a little time training in martial arts when he ran into an old man in the corridor.

As always, he bowed politely.

"Welcome."

"Good to see you. Where is Unit Commander Baek's office?"

"On the top floor. I'll show you the way."

"It's fine. I'll go myself."

"Yes, sir."

Im Chung was upstairs, so Beon Saeng simply headed outside.

Then his steps came to a halt at the end of the corridor.

An ominous sensation crept up his spine. The moment he stepped through the entrance, he realized what it was.

Martial artists from the Secret Guard were guarding the area around the entrance.

'Gasp!'

The old man he had just greeted was the Murim Alliance Leader himself.

'Aaargh!'

He screamed inwardly.

'Why do only such important people keep coming here?'

Beon Saeng was suffering every side effect of serving Baek Socheon at close range.

Ak Sogun entered Baek Socheon's office.

"Alliance Leader."

Baek Socheon rose from his seat.

Ak Sogun stood at the entrance and looked at him without a word.

After regaining consciousness that morning, he had heard everything that had happened from On Byeokhwa. He remembered nothing after leaving the bedroom where he had been with her.

A Heaven-Exiled Grudge Gu had been planted in both his and Baek Socheon's bodies, and that was why he had hated Baek Socheon so fiercely.

The moment Ak Sogun saw Baek Socheon, his heart swelled. Before him stood not the Baek Socheon whose very sight had once caused him painful hatred, but the Baek Socheon he had cherished as though he were his own child. Could a person's heart change so completely?

He called out to Baek Socheon in a trembling voice.

"Socheon."

"Alliance Leader."

Baek Socheon's voice trembled as much as his gaze.

"Are you all right?"

Rather than answering, Ak Sogun strode forward and pulled Baek Socheon into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry."

Ak Sogun felt terribly sorry for Baek Socheon. No matter how much the gu parasite had affected him, he could not forgive himself for failing to overcome it when he was the Murim Alliance Leader.

"No, Alliance Leader. I misunderstood you. I'm the one who should be sorry."

"No. This is all my fault."

Something hot fell onto Baek Socheon's neck. It was the Alliance Leader's tears.

Baek Socheon's eyes reddened as emotion surged within him. He tried not to cry, but he could not resist that hot contagion dripping onto his neck.

All the emotions he had felt over the past three years rose to the surface, and tears streamed down Baek Socheon's face as well.

Once they began, they would not stop. The more he tried to hold them back, the more tears came. Baek Socheon clenched his teeth to keep from making a sound. The Alliance Leader had apologized, but he was the one who truly felt sorry.

"Let me see your face."

Ak Sogun studied Baek Socheon's face carefully.

"Just seeing your face makes me this happy..."

Ak Sogun wiped Baek Socheon's tears with his sleeve. Yet more tears ran through the deep wrinkles on Ak Sogun's face.

"Socheon, welcome back."

Baek Socheon hugged Ak Sogun tightly once more. This time, his hot tears soaked Ak Sogun's shoulder.

"Alliance Leader, welcome back."

Once their emotions had settled, they sat facing each other, and Ak Sogun spoke about what had happened.

"When you were lying in the clinic, I went to see you several times. Yet the closer I got to the clinic, the more dizzy and nauseated I became. Strangely, whenever I tried to see you, I felt ill. It became easy to tell myself I could visit later, and the moment I decided not to see you, I felt at ease. When I finally did see you, you smelled terrible. It was a smell I never wanted to breathe in again. Looking back, the gu parasite must have deceived my senses."

That was not all. As the days passed, negative thoughts about Baek Socheon continued to fill his mind. For some reason, he simply disliked and hated him. That led to all kinds of thoughts. Eventually, he even heard a voice in his head slandering Baek Socheon.

"I kept imagining you going around badmouthing me. I often dreamed of you betraying me and joining the Black Heaven Alliance. No matter how hard I tried to stop those thoughts, I couldn't."

"You held back well. If it had been anyone else, I would have died many times over."

That was true. If Ak Sogun had been anyone else, Baek Socheon would not have endured for three years.

"The gu parasite did not affect me at all times. There were days when I met you and felt nothing. But on those days, I would be consumed by such intense rage that I could not sleep until dawn."

Baek Socheon could not even imagine how difficult that must have been for him.

"This was the Blood Cult Leader's doing?"

"Yes. Apparently, Jeok Parap, the Blood Cult Leader's master, was the only one who could handle the Heaven-Exiled Grudge Gu."

"Then he either acted personally, or it was the Blood Cult Leader's work."

"Yes."

Baek Socheon vowed inwardly that he would never let those who planted the Heaven-Exiled Grudge Gu live.

"Could the Black Heaven Alliance Leader be involved as well?"

"He may be, or he may not be. The Black Heaven Alliance and the Blood Cult are allied now, but the Heaven-Exiled Grudge Gu was planted three or four years ago. At the time, relations between them were poor."

Ak Sogun nodded.

The Blood Cult had not participated in the Orthodox-Demonic War at the time. Blood Cult Leader Myeolsaeng was said to be in secluded training, and the Blood Cult had closed its gates.

"So they kept their gates closed while moving in secret behind the scenes."

"Yes."

Baek Socheon carefully asked to confirm one thing.

"Did you commission the Spirit Snake Sect incident, Alliance Leader?"

That morning, Zhuge Hyeon had brought the banknote Baek Socheon had entrusted him to investigate. Surprisingly, the banknote found on the Three Bloodfang Wolves, who had carried out the hostage situation, had come from the Alliance Leader's Hall.

Ak Sogun let out a sigh and nodded.

"I somehow endured it... but after seeing the words Slay Heaven written in blood at my residence, I think the last of my willpower collapsed."

When he came to his senses, he had shaken off all his subordinates and was standing alone on the roof of his residence, looking down at those blood-written words.

Slay Heaven.

The Heaven in those words did not refer to the Alliance Leader. It referred to the cheon in Baek Socheon's name.

Ak Sogun had held out for too long, so the Blood Cult Leader had infused malicious energy into the Blood Heaven Art, which had reached full mastery, and shattered Ak Sogun's will.

This made it clear that the incident had been the work of Blood Cult Leader Myeolsaeng.

"At first, I thought it had all been a dream. I couldn't believe that after shaking off all my guards, I would meet such trash and personally arrange an assassination commission. I do remember telling them that they must never kill the hostages. I committed an irreversible sin."

"It can be undone. No one died."

The only people who had died in that incident were the Three Bloodfang Wolves, who had committed all manner of evil.

"You nearly died because of me."

"It was not because of you, Alliance Leader, but because of the Heaven-Exiled Grudge Gu. And you had not completely broken. If you had truly wanted to kill me, you would have hired masters far stronger than the Three Bloodfang Wolves."

The Alliance Leader's final unconscious desire not to kill Baek Socheon had come into play.

Even to the end, the Alliance Leader still wished to prevent innocent casualties.

Only now did Baek Socheon understand why they had not killed even a single hostage. The Alliance Leader had said he would not pay them if the hostages died.

He had wondered why there had not been a single casualty during the hostage situation, but that too had been because of the Alliance Leader. Baek Socheon had assumed they would use the hostages to escape, but they must have prepared another way out.

"Alliance Leader, I believe what we need is not self-reproach, but a plan. We must stop them somehow and punish them for this."

Ak Sogun nodded and rose.

"There is somewhere we need to go. Come with me."

Ak Sogun led Baek Socheon out of the Sage Heaven Corps building.

Passing martial artists were startled to see the two walking side by side. It was a sight they had not seen once in the past three years.

Choong Yang, the Iron Sword Corps Commander, and Hwang Ilbi happened to see them as they passed by.

"Gasp!"

At the sight of the two walking so warmly together, Choong Yang wore a blank expression, as though he had been shocked.

Hwang Ilbi, on the other hand, was deeply moved.

'Ah! They finally reconciled!'

The Alliance Leader and Baek Socheon walked along, smiling brightly at each other. It was something Hwang Ilbi had not seen even once over the past three years.

He was so happy that he wanted to shout.

'As expected, our Corps Commander is the best! Long live the Alliance Leader! Long live, long live, long live!'

After pouring out all his feelings toward Baek Socheon, Hwang Ilbi turned his attention to Choong Yang beside him.

"Are you all right?"

Choong Yang answered his question.

"What if I'm not? Should I run over and demand answers from the Alliance Leader? You were shouting long live in your head just now, weren't you?"

His words were prickly, but neither his expression nor tone suggested that he was particularly angry.

'Our Corps Commander really is incredible. He even changed Corps Commander Choong's heart.'

As though he had read that thought, Choong Yang shouted.

"Don't you dare think about going to Unit Commander Baek, not even in your dreams!"

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll plant myself in the Iron Sword Corps until I become Corps Commander, then leave. Since you kept me here, you must make me Corps Commander someday!"

"That depends on whether you perform well from now on."

"Ha ha. Isn't that the classic line of a corrupt leader? 'First, pledge your loyalty, and then there will be a reward.' Leaders like that usually say later, 'Circumstances have changed. Who but you could understand me?'"

"Have you ever pledged your loyalty?"

"I'm always loyal!"

"Then give more."

"Yes, sir!"

Looking at Choong Yang, Hwang Ilbi found himself thinking.

'Even affection for someone you hate can be frightening.'

The more he saw Choong Yang, the more even this side of him sometimes seemed endearing.

By then, Baek Socheon and Ak Sogun had disappeared in the direction of the Alliance Leader's Hall. They were gone, but the lingering feeling remained.

"If we end up fighting the Black Heaven Alliance, I think we can win now."

Normally, Choong Yang would have remarked that making such a fuss merely because the two were walking together was ridiculous.

Yet he said something completely different.

"If you're collecting a monthly salary and all that love, you should earn your keep."

It seemed he had felt something similar. Then again, who could look at that sight without feeling relieved?

Hwang Ilbi looked toward where Baek Socheon and the Alliance Leader had disappeared.

'Stay strong, both of you!'

Ak Sogun led Baek Socheon into the Alliance Leader's Hall.

They crossed the hall and headed into the rear garden. As expected of the Alliance Leader's Hall, concealed guards and ambush positions could be sensed throughout the rear garden.

They passed through the garden and opened a door in the rear wall. Beyond it stood a dense bamboo forest. This was a place Baek Socheon had never visited before.

The two stopped in front of it. The mysterious energy emanating from the bamboo forest made it clear that a formation had been laid there. Moreover, its powerful and profound energy, unlike anything Baek Socheon had sensed from any formation before, hinted at just how extraordinary it was.

"It is the Seven Stars Nine Palaces Formation."

Known as one of the most difficult formations in existence to break, it was a terrifying labyrinth formation. One wrong step, and a person would lose their way forever, unable to escape.

"Now, walk exactly where I step. Memorize the life gate precisely."

"Understood."

Ak Sogun walked ahead, and Baek Socheon followed behind him. This was no ordinary walk through a bamboo forest. Baek Socheon stepped only where Ak Sogun had stepped.

Memorizing the life gate was not particularly difficult. Under ordinary circumstances, memorizing someone's footsteps would be exceedingly difficult.

Yet Baek Socheon had always been strangely good at remembering anything related to martial arts or the martial world.

After they passed through the Seven Stars Nine Palaces Formation, a stone wall appeared ahead.

Words had been carved into it to reveal what this place was.

Hidden Land of the Heavenly Dragon.

Located in the Murim Alliance's most secret place, it was a hidden domain that only the Murim Alliance Leader could enter.

Even Pung Geukan, his most trusted guard, had never entered it.

Ak Sogun placed his palm against the palm-shaped stone slab beside the wall and infused it with internal energy. The stone wall would open only if internal energy was poured in using a particular method. The method of circulating that internal energy was passed down solely to the Murim Alliance Leader.

If anyone tried to force it open, they would lose their life to the Murim Alliance's most dangerous concealed mechanisms.

Once the infusion of internal energy ended, the stone wall began to move.

Rumble.

For the first time in a long while, the doors to the Hidden Land of the Heavenly Dragon opened wide.

Footnotes:

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