The Former Supreme - Chapter 87

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS

Translator/Editor: Chen

◈ The Former Supreme ◈

Chapter 87: Please Kill Me (3)

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Cheon Geuk woke from sleep.

It had been a long time since she had slept so deeply. She had dreamed a pleasant dream, and her body felt light enough to fly.

She was bright and cheerful on the outside, but her soul was submerged in deep darkness.

She had felt a ray of light enter that darkness. Yet she would not try to possess it. Darkness was darkness, and light was simply light.

Far away, that light was practicing martial arts and creating another light of its own.

Baek Socheon was performing the Thousand-Hand Tathagata Asura Divine Sword.

Beginning with the first form, the Heavenly Pivot Form, he unleashed the second form, the Celestial Rotation Form.

The sword strikes that swept in every direction flowed into the third form, the Celestial Mechanism Form. After creating no fewer than fourteen sword lines, the fourth form, the Heavenly Authority Form, plunged straight down through the air before tracing a gentle curve to conclude with the fifth form, the Heavenly Circle Form.

It took a while to describe, but the entire sequence happened in an instant. In a flash, dozens of sword lines embroidered the air.

'What was that?'

She sprang up, then let out a short cry.

"Ah!"

She had risen too suddenly and jarred her wound.

Baek Socheon rushed over in alarm.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I just got up too quickly."

Baek Socheon quickly examined her wound.

"Thankfully, it hasn't opened."

"I saw something strange just now."

"Something strange?"

"You were performing a sword art, and the sword lines gathered together..."

"What did they look like?"

Baek Socheon was curious as well. What shape did the sword lines he created actually form?

Cheon Geuk tilted her head.

"I can't really describe it..."

It had felt terrifying, yet awe-inspiring. Unable to describe it in the end, she shook her head.

Baek Socheon said, "Whatever you saw, it isn't complete yet. Once it's finished, you'll be the first person I show it to."

"No, don't show me. Show Yeom Hwasin instead."

Baek Socheon gave a faint laugh.

"Let's head back. The kids must be worried about us."

"Before that, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Wind God Traverses the Sky."

Cheon Geuk's eyes widened.

"Wind God Traverses the Sky? The movement art called the Greatest Movement Art of All Time?"

"That's right. I originally intended to pass it on to you after killing Yeom Hwasin."

Baek Socheon explained how he had obtained it.

"My goodness. It's a martial art you got from Yeom Hwasin!"

"If he finds out you learned it, even by chance, he'll definitely try to kill you."

"Why me instead of you?"

"Because after killing you, he'll enjoy the satisfaction of punishing me for lying to him through you."

"I really can't understand that man."

"Neither can I."

Still, Baek Socheon was the only person who understood Yeom Hwasin.

"But why did you change your mind?"

"Your martial arts have advanced another level. You should be able to learn this art in secret now."

She would be able to sense anyone watching her far more reliably, and handle urgent situations better as well.

"Once you've mastered it to eighty percent, you'll be able to move faster than Yeom Hwasin."

"Eighty percent. That's a long road."

"It'll be useful in other situations, too. Learn it carefully."

"Thank you. Thanks to you, I get to learn the Greatest Movement Art of All Time."

"You helped me obtain this martial art, too. If I hadn't used you as an excuse back then, Yeom Hwasin would've remained suspicious to the end."

Baek Socheon taught her the martial formula. Cheon Geuk did not possess a memory as exceptional as Baek Socheon's, but she was an extraordinarily intelligent woman.

After he repeated the formula three or four times, Cheon Geuk had memorized it all.

Baek Socheon also told her what he had felt while learning it himself, and she absorbed everything about Wind God Traverses the Sky like cotton soaking up water.

* * *

After passing on Wind God Traverses the Sky, Baek Socheon and Cheon Geuk were returning to Daru.

They had walked through the market together like this before, but it felt entirely different now. A thrill on an entirely different level.

Baek Socheon casually took her hand.

"I knew you had a womanizing streak. How did you know I wanted to hold hands?"

"I used to be quite the catch."

"You're still as full of yourself as ever."

"Haha."

He still could not clearly picture a future with her. Nor did he know what she thought. What would happen between them?

At least one thing was certain.

The moments he spent with her were more enjoyable than those he spent with anyone else.

Cheon Geuk slipped her hand from his. Wondering why, he looked ahead and saw Myeol Jiryun walking toward them from a distance.

"Hero Baek!"

"Miss Myeol."

Myeol Jiryun's gaze turned to Cheon Geuk at his side. Cheon Geuk had spotted her first, so Myeol Jiryun had not seen them holding hands.

Myeol Jiryun looked at Cheon Geuk.

"Who are you?"

It was proper to introduce herself before asking, but she was too impatient.

Before Baek Socheon could introduce her, Cheon Geuk spoke first.

"I'm the owner of that Daru."

Myeol Jiryun turned around and saw Daru behind her.

"A peerless beauty in a veil who owns Daru. There are many things in the Central Plains I never imagined."

"It's the Daru right in front of the Murim Alliance's main gate. All sorts of interesting things happen here. I'll head in first, then."

Cheon Geuk greeted them both and was about to leave when Myeol Jiryun spoke.

"I happened to have something to discuss with Hero Baek. How about having a cup of tea here?"

If he refused, she would clearly pry further into Cheon Geuk's identity, so Baek Socheon looked at Cheon Geuk.

She smiled. "I'd be happy to sell another cup. Let's go."

The three entered Cheon Geuk's Daru together. Rapsa and Pajeong, who had been following Myeol Jiryun from afar, waited near the entrance instead of coming inside.

Baek Socheon and Myeol Jiryun sat by a window with a clear view outside.

"Please wait a moment. I'll bring the tea."

"You don't ask your guests what tea they would like?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is there a tea you usually enjoy?"

An unidentifiable tension filled the space between the two women. Myeol Jiryun was displeased to see Baek Socheon with another beautiful woman.

"Bring us your best tea."

"All right."

Cheon Geuk went into the kitchen. She already knew very well who Myeol Jiryun was and why she had come here. Since she understood why Myeol Jiryun was acting so sharply, she did not pay it much mind.

Myeol Jiryun looked around the interior, then asked Baek Socheon, "Are you a regular here?"

"Yes."

"Ah, so you like tea. I'll make it for you often from now on."

She spoke as though they would soon be married, but Baek Socheon did not comment.

Cheon Geuk returned with the tea.

"Please enjoy."

"Have some with us."

"I'm fine."

"It's fate that we met like this. Please sit."

"All right. Then I'll stay for a little while."

The three sat at the same table.

"The tea is good."

"It's tea I treasure. I only serve it to special guests."

"Thanks to Hero Baek, I get to taste such fine tea."

Perhaps because she was conscious of Cheon Geuk, Myeol Jiryun brought up their marriage. It was not something she would normally discuss with someone else present, but she spoke as though she wanted Cheon Geuk to hear.

"Hero Baek, when you said we should postpone our marriage for a year, did you mean it? Or did you only say it to get through that moment?"

"I meant it."

If this had been yesterday's Cheon Geuk, those words would have upset her. But today, nothing Baek Socheon said could upset her.

If anything, his saying he meant it in front of her sounded like proof that he did not truly mean it.

"But there's a high chance the Black Heaven Alliance will not accept my proposal."

"What will you do if they refuse?"

"Then you and he will have to return."

"Me too?"

"Yes."

"Don't you like me?"

"I do like you, Miss. I simply do not like the circumstances."

Cheon Geuk glanced at Baek Socheon, then quietly drank her tea.

'He's saying he likes another woman right in front of me!'

She knew he did not mean it, of course, but this was a perfect chance to take a jab at Baek Socheon for being a womanizer. Cheon Geuk forced herself to keep quiet.

At that moment, someone unexpected entered Daru. It was Yeom Sawon.

"So you're all here."

He had seen the two guards at the entrance while passing by and come inside.

Outside, the martial artists guarding both sides stood some distance apart, merely bowing their heads to one another in greeting.

Yeom Sawon's expression stiffened slightly when he spotted Cheon Geuk.

"You were together before, and you're together now. Are you two dating?"

Cheon Geuk smiled.

"An important guest has arrived, so I'll take my leave."

Yeom Sawon shouted, "Sit down!"

Cheon Geuk obediently sat back down.

"All right."

Myeol Jiryun frowned.

"A man who yells at a woman isn't attractive."

Yeom Sawon smiled at Myeol Jiryun.

"It depends on the woman, does it not? I can't handle the Alliance Leader of the Assassin Alliance with gentle words."

Myeol Jiryun was startled.

"The Alliance Leader of the Assassin Alliance?"

Cheon Geuk said, "I'm Cheon Geuk. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"So you're someone frightening after all?"

Myeol Jiryun looked back and forth between Baek Socheon and Cheon Geuk.

"I don't understand. Is it all right for the two of you to be spending time together like this?"

Baek Socheon calmly asked, "Does it make sense for the two of you to be here together?"

"Well, I suppose it does."

Yeom Sawon held out his cup to Cheon Geuk.

"Pour me a cup."

Cheon Geuk smiled as she poured him tea.

"Please enjoy."

Yesterday, an awkward silence would certainly have filled the room. Yet Cheon Geuk was smiling, both because of the dreamlike time she had spent with Baek Socheon and because her martial arts had advanced another level.

She had always been capable of killing someone like Yeom Sawon whenever she wished. Now, he was almost laughable.

Yeom Sawon looked at Baek Socheon.

"Your woman is pouring a drink for another man, and you're just watching?"

"It isn't alcohol."

At Baek Socheon's calm reply, Myeol Jiryun interjected.

"Shouldn't you have said, 'She isn't my woman'?"

Baek Socheon started to rise.

"I'll be going now."

Then Yeom Sawon took a letter from his robe.

"Do you know what this is?"

"What?"

"A dispatch my father sent me."

Yeom Sawon looked at Baek Socheon and spoke loudly.

"It's a dispatch saying my father will accept your terms. He says that if you defeat me, he will publicly declare to the martial world that he will maintain peace for one year."

Surprisingly, Yeom Hwasin had accepted Baek Socheon's terms. Baek Socheon was deeply startled.

'He really accepted?'

It had been his own proposal, but this was an utterly unexpected outcome.

"But he added one condition."

"What is it?"

"He told me I must kill you."

When Yeom Sawon had read that message, he had been so delighted he felt he could fly into the sky.

Until now, he had believed his father liked Baek Socheon more than him.

But that was not true. This order made it clear.

'What an idiot I'd been! I'd misunderstood Father.'

Yeom Sawon was so pleased that he did not know what to do with himself.

"Now that he's accepted your terms, you can't change your tune. Let's set the date for the duel at once."

"Very well. I'll discuss it with the Alliance Leader and contact you soon."

Yeom Sawon rose from his seat.

Instead of saying goodbye, he warned Cheon Geuk.

"Be careful from now on. I'm not afraid of you."

"Yes, I'll be careful."

Cheon Geuk answered politely. Inside, she was laughing. It was obvious that he was deliberately revealing the fear buried deep in his heart.

Yeom Sawon greeted Myeol Jiryun with a triumphant expression.

"Until next time."

"All right."

As he was about to leave, he added one more thing.

"I'll forgive what happened before. So from now on, you'd do well not to associate with that man."

Myeol Jiryun's expression tightened slightly at the word forgive.

"I'll think about it."

Yeom Sawon left first.

Myeol Jiryun said to Baek Socheon, "This is truly unexpected. To decide to postpone the war."

Myeol Jiryun knew from her father that Yeom Hwasin intended to start a war in spring. She also knew it was a war he would never abandon. Yet he had accepted Baek Socheon's terms?

'Is he certain Yeom Sawon will win?'

Otherwise, he would not have accepted.

Baek Socheon wore a grave expression, lost in thought.

Feeling it was time to leave, Myeol Jiryun stood.

"I should go as well. Thank you for the tea."

Only after Myeol Jiryun left did Cheon Geuk finally say what she had been holding back.

"Ugh, it was exhausting having to humor those two."

She had expected Baek Socheon to play along, but his expression remained serious.

"What's wrong?"

At last, Baek Socheon spoke.

"I think I know Yeom Hwasin's intention."

His voice trembled slightly.