WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Former Supreme ◈

Chapter 81: How the Black Heaven Alliance Gets a Woman Back (1)

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Cheon Geuk had been feeling low these past few days.

When Na Sarin heard about it, she came to keep her company. She told stories about assassins from the old days, always beginning with, "Back in our day..."

"I'm telling you, it's true. Back then, we sometimes stayed inside an outhouse for days at a time. We hid there with nothing but a tube to breathe through until the target of the assassination commission arrived. We took pride in it, so we really were stubborn fools. Tell young assassins these days to hide in an outhouse and they'd run away on the spot. Ah, you know Radiant Assassin, don't you? One day, that fellow..."

Cheon Geuk, who had been listening, suddenly spoke.

"Grandmother!"

Na Sarin froze at the word and stopped talking.

"Alliance Leader? What are you saying all of a sudden?"

Cheon Geuk had spent days in a foul mood because the Blood Cult Leader had sent a matchmaker.

She had once told Baek Socheon that people worried over useless things and failed to worry about what truly mattered. She had been exactly like that.

'Idiot. Just because I'm a woman!'

What she should have worried about was Na Sarin's health and their relationship.

"From now on, I'm going to call you Grandmother. So please be more at ease with me too."

"You mustn't, Alliance Leader."

"I should have done this long ago, but I'm already too late. From now on, I'll treat you as my own grandmother."

"Alliance Leader!"

"You know how stubborn I am, right? They say no parent can defeat their child. Give up, Grandmother."

Na Sarin sighed.

Why would she not want to treat Cheon Geuk with the familiarity of a real granddaughter?

Yet Na Sarin, who had spent her entire life devoted to one cause, cared more for the Alliance than for her personal feelings.

"I'm stubborn too. I can't, Alliance Leader."

"This isn't only for your sake, Grandmother. It's for mine too. My heart won't be at ease otherwise."

"Even so, I can't!"

Cheon Geuk tried to persuade her in every possible way, but she could not break Na Sarin's resolve.

Perhaps the feelings they held for one another mattered more than a form of address. Still, Cheon Geuk wanted to treat her like a real grandmother. It felt like the least she could do to repay even a fraction of Na Sarin's love for her.

"Alliance Leader, I like things as they are."

Na Sarin gently took Cheon Geuk's hand. She already thought of her as a real granddaughter. As long as she did not lose her loyalty to the Alliance and its leader, Na Sarin believed that would serve Cheon Geuk better.

Just then, Baek Socheon entered.

"Have you been well, Elder?"

"Come in."

"I came because there's something I'd like to ask you."

"Sit."

Na Sarin was well versed in the Blood Cult's sorcery. Baek Socheon thought she might know something about Myeol Jiryun.

"Should I leave?"

"No, you can stay."

Cheon Geuk, who had been about to rise, sat back down. Baek Socheon took the seat beside her and asked Na Sarin,

"Do you know anything about Myeol Jiryun, the daughter of Myeolsaeng, the Blood Cult Leader?"

"That's a name I haven't heard in a long time."

"Do you know what kind of person she is?"

"The Blood Cult Leader never had children his entire life, then suddenly brought home a daughter in his old age. That child was Myeol Jiryun."

"Have you ever seen her?"

"I saw her once, long ago. She was still a child then, and I remember her as quiet. But why do you ask about her?"

Cheon Geuk had not yet told Na Sarin about the matchmaker.

No matter how much she cared for Na Sarin, she believed personal matters and official matters had to be kept separate. Even if Na Sarin was to be told, Baek Socheon should be the one to tell her.

Baek Socheon honestly told her about the matchmaker's visit.

Only then did Na Sarin understand why Cheon Geuk had been so downcast these past few days.

"You'll have no choice but to become entangled with the Blood Cult."

"I think so too. Do you have any idea why they made such an offer?"

Na Sarin shook her head. Then Cheon Geuk cut in.

"The real one won't come."

Baek Socheon nodded. He thought the same, but that did not mean he could be certain a fake would come. Until they knew what lay behind this matter, they could not be certain of anything.

Then Na Sarin recalled something.

"I once heard a story from my master long ago. Myeolsaeng's bloodline is said to have gray eyes, like those of the dead. I also heard that their eyes gradually turn red when they become angry. Would that help?"

"Of course. I think it'll be a great help."

At the very least, it gave them a way to determine whether the Myeol Jiryun coming here was real.

"Then I'll be on my way. Thank you for telling me."

Then Na Sarin asked Baek Socheon a question.

"Do you have some time?"

"Yes."

"There's something I need to teach you."

"Please tell me."

"From now on, I'll teach you a secret art that will keep you from falling victim to the Soul-Seizing Art, as well as a method for removing gu parasites."

"Elder!"

She had already taught him a secret art for identifying people affected by the Soul-Seizing Art. What she now intended to teach him was far more important.

"Your realm is so high that most applications of the Soul-Seizing Art will not work on you, but you could still fall victim to the Soul-Seizing Art or gu parasites used by Myeolsaeng or his master, Jeok Parap. Myeol Jiryun must have learned martial arts from them as well, so she will use formidable sorcery. Still, if you learn my secret art, you can prevent yourself from falling victim to their techniques."

Cheon Geuk, seated beside him, was startled. This was Na Sarin's exclusive secret art, one she had not even taught Cheon Geuk.

"I'll wait outside."

"Please do, Alliance Leader."

Na Sarin had not passed this secret art on to the Alliance Leader. Even if she did not formally take Cheon Geuk as her disciple, teaching her exclusive secret art would make Na Sarin her master.

To serve the Alliance Leader until her final breath without ever becoming her master was Na Sarin's ironclad principle and wish. It might have been stubborn, but it was a conviction that had never once changed.

After they were alone, Baek Socheon asked apologetically,

"Is it truly all right to pass such a precious secret technique on to me?"

"I would never teach it to anyone else. But don't you and I share a special bond?"

Baek Socheon understood. Her kindness contained concern for both the Assassin Alliance and Cheon Geuk. He could now clearly see that Na Sarin's feelings for Cheon Geuk were those of a parent watching over a child.

"Thank you, Elder."

"Come now, I don't intend to take up a busy man's time for long. Listen carefully to what I tell you."

"Yes."

She taught him how to prepare medicine that removed gu parasites, which acupoints to insert needles into, which acupoints to press, and how much force to use.

"Fortunately, the treatment for removing a gu parasite can also be performed on yourself."

Taking the medicine that removed the gu parasite would put a person to sleep, but a master of Baek Socheon's level could resist sleep. Yeom Hwasin had not fallen asleep before because his realm was so high.

Baek Socheon learned not only how to remove gu parasites, but also a secret art for blocking the Soul-Seizing Art cast by another person.

A secret art for casting the Soul-Seizing Art would take a long time to pass down, but this was a martial formula that blocked another's Soul-Seizing Art.

Now that Baek Socheon had completely recovered his internal energy, he learned her teachings without much difficulty. He had already been strong enough that such arts rarely affected him, but now he no longer had to fear falling victim to the Soul-Seizing Art. Since the Soul-Seizing Art was a martial art based on sorcery, he had gained far stronger resistance not only to it, but to other forms of sorcery as well.

Once the instruction was complete, Na Sarin tested him.

"Now, block the Soul-Seizing Art I cast on you."

Na Sarin simply stared at Baek Socheon. Her eyes did not turn red or show any change. The Soul-Seizing Art she wielded at its highest level gave no outward sign at all.

Yet Baek Socheon was unaffected. He had now perfectly blocked even Na Sarin's Soul-Seizing Art.

Na Sarin smiled brightly.

"That will do. I guarantee that no one of this generation will be able to bewitch you."

Baek Socheon did not thank her again.

"I know what you truly wish for."

"You do?"

"Yes."

No more words were needed.

The person Na Sarin truly cared for had been waiting outside. Cheon Geuk asked,

"Did it go well?"

* * *

Yeom Sawon entered the Black Heaven Alliance's Alliance Leader's Hall.

Martial artists standing on both sides held out their swords, forming a passage. The statues here were not as large as the massive statue at the Black Heaven Alliance's entrance, but they were still several times the height of a person.

At the end of the passage stood a flight of stairs, and above it sat a massive grand armchair. Yeom Hwasin sat upon the chair, which was three times as large as an ordinary one.

Yeom Sawon walked to the foot of the stairs, looked up at his father seated above him, and offered a respectful greeting.

"You summoned me?"

Yeom Sawon was afraid.

'He called me here to scold me because of that bitch.'

He knew he had become a laughingstock within the Black Heaven Alliance after the Assassin Alliance refused him.

"If this is about that matter, I'm sorry."

"What matter?"

Yeom Hwasin's voice was like the low growl of a tiger in the forest.

"The matter involving the Assassin Alliance."

"What matter involving the Assassin Alliance?"

Yeom Hwasin kept questioning him, as though telling him to be clear when he spoke.

"I mean the one-nyang assassination commission that was refused."

Yeom Hwasin asked,

"Why should you be sorry for that?"

"Pardon?"

"I asked why you should be sorry for it."

Yeom Sawon was flustered.

'Damn it!'

His father was always like this. He gave Yeom Sawon what seemed like limitless freedom, then cornered him like this. How much better would it be if he simply explained what to do and gently guided him?

"I damaged our alliance's honor with a one-nyang assassination commission."

Then Yeom Hwasin said something unexpected.

"Your commission was not pointless."

"Pardon?"

"At times, you must be willing to place even a one-nyang assassination commission. As my son, you should naturally be capable of that."

Yeom Sawon's expression brightened at once.

'As expected! Father does acknowledge me!'

But Yeom Hwasin coldly added,

"Your target was wrong."

"Are you referring to Baek Socheon?"

"Yes. He is not someone you can handle."

Yeom Sawon's expression twisted. It would have been one thing if his father had scolded him for doing something foolish. Instead, he had compared Yeom Sawon to Baek Socheon.

"Even though he doesn't have a handful of internal energy?"

Yeom Hwasin clearly understood his son's feelings, yet answered without mercy.

"Yes. Even without a handful of internal energy, you cannot handle him."

Yeom Sawon clenched his teeth.

Yeom Hwasin was clearly enjoying his son's anger. Otherwise, he would not have chosen this moment to deliver the news.

"I have new information for you."

"Please tell me."

"It's about Myeol Jiryun."

"I won't marry her!"

The Black Heaven Alliance had sent a matchmaker to the Blood Cult.

It was to firmly secure their alliance by marrying Yeom Sawon and Myeol Jiryun. Yeom Hwasin had proceeded without asking his son's opinion, and Yeom Sawon had angrily declared he would not marry her.

"It seems you won't have to marry her. The Blood Cult rejected our proposal and sent a matchmaker to Baek Socheon instead."

Yeom Sawon was stunned.

"What did you say?"

It was news he had never expected.

Baek Socheon again. Again, again, again!

Killing intent began to fill Yeom Sawon's eyes. Forgetting that he stood before his father, he began to release it.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!"

His roar shook the hall.

Yeom Hwasin watched with amusement, as though he were watching a troupe perform in the marketplace.

"You're noisy, so leave now."

At the cold dismissal, Yeom Sawon looked up at Yeom Hwasin and shouted,

"Father! That can't happen."

"What can't happen?"

"I can't let Baek Socheon take Myeol Jiryun from me."

"Didn't you say you did not want to marry her?"

"I've changed my mind. I'll marry her. No, I have to marry her."

This was not Yeom Sawon's usual cowed demeanor.

"I'll take my woman back."

"How?"

"I don't know. Please tell me how."

"There's only one way for a man of the Black Heaven Alliance to take back a woman."

Yeom Hwasin raised his fist.

"Good! Let me fight him."

"You cannot defeat Baek Socheon."

"I can!"

The veins stood out in Yeom Sawon's neck.

"That man drove a sword into my chest. That alone makes the question of whether he has internal energy irrelevant."

"That was in the past. I have strength too."

Yeom Sawon forcefully stamped his foot.

Boom!

Crack!

The floor began to split beneath his Stamping Step infused with internal energy. Spiderweb-like cracks spread outward from the indentation where his foot had sunk into the floor. It was a display worthy of the Black Heaven Alliance's heir.

"I'm confident I can take my woman back."

Yeom Hwasin smiled with an inscrutable look in his eyes. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"Fine. I'll arrange a splendid stage for you."

Footnotes:

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