The Former Supreme - Chapter 80

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS

Translator/Editor: Chen

◈ The Former Supreme ◈

Chapter 80: The Matchmaker Comes (2)

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"She wants to marry me?"

Baek Socheon was so shocked that he stuttered. News that war had broken out would have been less startling. Even when Yeom Hwasin had suddenly appeared before headquarters, he had not been this shocked.

"Yes. They sent a matchmaker because she wishes to marry you."

Baek Socheon looked back and forth between Ak Sogun and Zhuge Hyeon. Their expressions showed the same astonishment and disbelief.

"What could they possibly be planning?"

Neither man could answer. In fact, they had been waiting to ask Baek Socheon the same question.

"Have you ever met Myeolsaeng's daughter?"

Baek Socheon shook his head at Zhuge Hyeon's question.

"No."

"I thought as much."

Baek Socheon had never once mentioned Myeolsaeng's daughter.

"Could their alliance with the Black Heaven Alliance have broken down?"

Zhuge Hyeon answered Baek Socheon's question.

"We have received no such reports from the agents stationed in the Black Heaven Alliance and Blood Cult, but it is certainly possible. This alliance was handled with such secrecy that it has not been easy to uncover."

Even if that were true, there was still one thing they could not understand.

"The Blood Cult must know that you lost your internal energy."

At that, Baek Socheon asked Ak Sogun to dismiss everyone nearby. Ak Sogun sent away all the guards inside and outside Cloud Dragon Hall.

"It's time to tell the strategist."

"What is it?"

"I recovered my internal energy."

"What?"

Before Baek Socheon could explain, Zhuge Hyeon clasped both of Baek Socheon's hands.

"That's wonderful. It truly is!"

Like Ak Sogun, Zhuge Hyeon was delighted as though it were his own good fortune.

"Thank you."

"How did this happen?"

Baek Socheon told him everything related to Ban Yunsaeng. He explained how he had learned Ban Yunsaeng's location through Gwoe Yeo in the Murim Alliance's martial prison, met him, and underwent the Complete Transformation Method.

"I told the Alliance Leader first."

"Of course. Of course you did."

Zhuge Hyeon smiled brightly at Ak Sogun. At last, it felt as though he had set down the boulder weighing on his chest. As Grand Strategist, how could he claim to bear no responsibility for Baek Socheon losing his internal energy?

"It is Unit Commander Baek's good fortune, but it is also a great blessing for our Alliance. This is all thanks to the Alliance Leader's great virtue."

"How could it be thanks to this old man? Heaven simply has not abandoned the orthodox martial world."

"Ah, what a joyous day. This is the second happiest day of my life, after the day the war ended."

A trace of bitterness entered Baek Socheon's faint smile. He realized that Zhuge Hyeon had lived much the same kind of life as he had. Zhuge Hyeon, too, had lived a life in which the Murim Alliance was everything.

He could understand the happiest day being the day the war ended, but the second happiest day of Zhuge Hyeon's life was someone else recovering their internal energy?

It made him realize anew just how completely both their lives had been confined within the framework of the Murim Alliance.

That did not mean the framework was insignificant or wrong. Without it, the orthodox martial world of today would not even exist.

It was not a framework to destroy, spit upon, and leave behind. It was one they should build firmly, tend with care, and only then depart from.

"Could they have discovered that you recovered your internal energy?"

Baek Socheon shook his head.

"No. There are now only four people in the world who know I recovered my internal energy. They are people I trust completely. There is no chance they know."

If Baek Socheon was this certain, the Black Heaven Alliance could not know he had recovered his martial arts. If Yeom Hwasin had known, Baek Socheon would have been dragged to the Black Heaven Alliance headquarters before and never returned.

"Do you think the Blood Cult sent a matchmaker because they truly expect this marriage arrangement to proceed normally? I don't."

Baek Socheon himself had no intention of marrying. Naturally, the Blood Cult must know he would refuse.

Zhuge Hyeon nodded and spoke to Ak Sogun.

"They may have sent the matchmaker as a display for the Black Heaven Alliance."

"The Black Heaven Alliance?"

"With the Heaven-Exiled Grudge Gu removed from Yeom Hwasin and his son, tensions between the two sides may have risen. Perhaps this is a warning to the Black Heaven Alliance. In other words, the Blood Cult could join hands with the Murim Alliance instead of them."

Zhuge Hyeon's opinion sounded plausible.

"If that is the case, we must refuse. We cannot let them manipulate us as they please."

"That is correct."

Then Baek Socheon spoke.

"Before rejecting the marriage proposal, please arrange a meeting with Myeol Jiryun. It would be unreasonable to marry someone I have never even seen, so ask them to let the two parties meet first."

"You wish to see her?"

"I think we need to find out why they are doing this. The heart of this conflict is dividing the Black Heaven Alliance and the Blood Cult. If a rift has formed between them, it will certainly be worth exploiting."

"Wouldn't that be dangerous?"

"It is more dangerous to know nothing. The Heaven-Exiled Grudge Gu and this matchmaker matter both show that the relationship between the Black Heaven Alliance and the Blood Cult defies common sense."

They had formed an alliance even after implanting the Heaven-Exiled Grudge Gu, and despite being allies, the Blood Cult had sent a matchmaker to the Murim Alliance.

"If we do not actively investigate their relationship, we will have no way of knowing what may happen next."

Ak Sogun looked at Zhuge Hyeon.

After considering it for a moment, Zhuge Hyeon replied.

"Instead, propose that Baek Socheon meet her in person at the Murim Alliance. If you meet at a place they choose, Unit Commander Baek could be in danger."

"Will they accept?"

"They were the ones who proposed the marriage first. They must accept our conditions. Even if they refuse, we have nothing to lose."

"A good idea."

Ak Sogun spoke to Baek Socheon.

"We cannot compromise any further. What do you say?"

Baek Socheon knew that neither the Alliance Leader nor Zhuge Hyeon would ever allow him to go to the Blood Cult.

He nodded.

"I agree."

Would the Blood Cult Leader really send their only daughter to the Murim Alliance? Baek Socheon did not think so.

* * *

Baek Socheon went to see Cheon Geuk again.

"Why are you back?"

She could tell from his expression alone that something had happened. It was likely related to Sima Iljung coming to Daru earlier and urgently taking him away.

"Something serious happened."

"Why? Did war break out?"

"It's more serious than that."

"What could possibly be more serious?"

She grew tense. Something worse than war?

"I'm getting married."

"......!"

She froze where she stood. It was far more shocking than hearing that war had broken out.

Under normal circumstances, she would have realized it was a joke, smiled sweetly, and prepared a counterattack. This time, though, she was too shocked.

Cheon Geuk swallowed and asked.

"To whom?"

"The Blood Cult Leader's daughter."

"Really?"

Seeing how deeply shocked she was, Baek Socheon could not continue the joke.

"No, I was joking."

Cheon Geuk stood blankly for a moment, then suddenly shouted.

"Do you want to die?"

Knowing she was truly angry, Baek Socheon hurriedly apologized.

"I'm sorry."

Cheon Geuk sat down.

"The Alliance's finances are poor these days, so I can't afford a wedding gift. Don't get married for a while."

"All right."

Overwhelmed by her forcefulness, Baek Socheon could not say anything.

The next moment, she burst into laughter.

"You were startled, weren't you?"

Baek Socheon was startled by her suddenly cheerful expression. More precisely, he pretended to be. She had clearly been genuinely flustered moments ago. Now she was trying to recover from how shocked she had been.

"I was. I thought you were really angry."

"Ha ha ha. I knew it was a joke."

"You knew from the start?"

"Of course. And why would I be angry that you're getting married?"

She said that, but honestly, she had been truly startled earlier. She had not known she could be so shocked. Her vision had gone white, and she had not known what to say.

"Then why did you suddenly make that joke?"

Baek Socheon told her that the Blood Cult had sent a matchmaker.

Cheon Geuk was startled.

"The Blood Cult sent a matchmaker? They want to make you their son-in-law?"

"Yes."

"Then it wasn't a joke."

Cheon Geuk became serious again.

"Would the Blood Cult Leader really make me their son-in-law?"

"You never know."

"It's obvious. Anyway, I came because I thought you should know."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why?"

"I mean, why did you think I should know?"

She pressed him persistently. Feeling guilty for teasing her earlier, Baek Socheon went along with it.

"Because I shouldn't keep secrets from the Assassin King?"

Cheon Geuk responded to his playful words.

"Were you worried I might find out later and kill that woman?"

"No. If I worried about that, I would be underestimating you."

"So you do know."

"Anyway, I will meet her in person at the Murim Alliance. The Blood Cult Leader will never send their daughter here."

"What if they do? They might really send her."

"I don't think they will, but if they do...... I haven't thought that far ahead."

"Think about it. You'll panic if it happens."

"There's nothing to panic over. I have no intention of marrying, and even if I did, there is no chance the other person would be the Blood Cult Leader's daughter."

"What if she is truly beautiful?"

Sensing her unease, Baek Socheon displayed the instincts of a considerate flirt.

"I see you so often that I don't think it would be easy to find another woman beautiful."

After Baek Socheon left, Cheon Geuk felt unsettled for no reason and drank alone.

When she had nearly finished a bottle, Western Star appeared. Western Star was the only woman among the Guardian Assassin Stars.

"May I have a drink as well?"

"Of course. Sit down."

They had drunk together many times, but Western Star had never been the one to suggest drinking first.

Cheon Geuk poured her a drink.

"It's been a long time since it was just the two of us."

"Yes."

"Work has been difficult lately, hasn't it?"

"I would be lying if I said it wasn't difficult, but I am enjoying it."

"It would be easier if there were four women among the Guardian Assassin Stars. Instead, there are three men and one woman."

"Wouldn't it be more comfortable this way than having four women?"

"Ha ha ha. You're right."

Cheon Geuk laughed happily. Western Star deliberately did not bring up Baek Socheon. Since she did not know the Blood Cult's intentions, discussing it would only make Cheon Geuk's thoughts more complicated. At a time like this, silently keeping her company over drinks was surely the best thing she could do.

Western Star silently cheered Cheon Geuk on.

'Have confidence, Alliance Leader. You are more wonderful than any woman in the world.'

* * *

A few days later, Baek Socheon entered Cloud Dragon Hall.

Ak Sogun and Zhuge Hyeon were waiting for him with expressions even more tense than when they had first told him about the matchmaker.

"What happened?"

"A dispatch arrived from the Blood Cult."

They had conveyed their wish to meet the Blood Cult Leader's daughter at the Murim Alliance, and a reply had come.

"What did it say?"

"They accepted our proposal."

"What?"

Baek Socheon was startled. He had thought the Blood Cult Leader would never send their daughter into orthodox faction territory, much less the Murim Alliance headquarters.

Even more surprising words came from Ak Sogun.

"The Blood Cult Leader's daughter has already departed for the Murim Alliance."

Fear came before curiosity for Baek Socheon.

Myeol Jiryun was Myeolsaeng's only daughter.

What kind of person could send their only daughter to what could be called enemy territory?

"They may send an impostor posing as Myeol Jiryun."

Zhuge Hyeon nodded in agreement.

"That is entirely possible. No one has seen her in person."

"No one?"

"Not among the Murim Alliance's martial artists, as far as I know."

Then someone who might know about her came to Baek Socheon's mind.

If even that person did not know, then no one would.