WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Order
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◈ The Heaven-Slaying Sword ◈
Chapter 31: Chapter Five - Dragon-Phoenix Assembly (4)
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“Monk! Have you been well?”
“Welcome. Did anything happen on your way here?”
Il-un was flustered.
Dang Hwa-seo and Jegal San had welcomed him with such overwhelming enthusiasm that he could not understand why.
“Yes, yes... There was nothing worth mentioning in the city...”
He appreciated the warm welcome, but was this not a little excessive?
Even as that thought crossed his mind, Mok Ri-won beamed and brought over another chair.
“Monk! Please, sit here! Today, you can tell us the story you promised last time...!”
“Ah, of course.”
Il-un smiled gently and accepted Mok Ri-won’s hospitality.
Then he looked at Dang Hwa-seo and Jegal San.
For some reason, their gazes felt burdensome.
“Oh, now that Monk Il-un is here, shouldn’t we bring more food? Wait here, Brother Mok. I’ll be right back, so keep him company in the meantime.”
“Understood!”
Jegal San gave a thumbs-up.
“Monk, I’ll bring something suited to your tastes!”
Grab!
Il-un seized Jegal San’s wrist.
There was enough strength in his grip to crush Jegal San’s wrist at any moment.
“That won’t be necessary. I had a meal of greens before coming here.”
It was a desperate act of self-defense.
Worried that Jegal San might place a meat dish before him, Il-un made him sit back down.
“Ahem. So, have you spoken with the others?”
“Ah, everyone is gathered in their own groups, so I haven’t been able to approach anyone yet.”
Il-un gave a bitter smile and nodded at Mok Ri-won’s dejected reply.
‘I thought so.’
Come to think of it, there was no one at this banquet with whom they were acquainted.
If there was anyone, it was Jegal San, but there was hardly anyone bold enough to approach him first at a banquet.
Only then did Il-un understand why they had welcomed him so eagerly the moment they saw him.
‘They must have felt awkward.’
They had gone to the trouble of attending this banquet, only to remain tucked away in a corner. Of course they would feel uncomfortable.
“This works out well, then. Would you like to walk around with me? I need to greet the other benefactors anyway, so I can introduce Benefactor Mok to them while I do.”
“Really?!”
“Would I lie about something like this?”
As he spoke, Il-un’s gaze turned to Dang Hwa-seo.
“Please come with us as well. Is this not your first visit here in six years, Benefactor Dang?”
“Yes... I suppose.”
Dang Hwa-seo nodded and clenched her fist beneath the table.
‘This isn’t bad.’
It was a good opportunity.
If she deepened her friendship with him at today’s banquet, it would be helpful in the future as well.
“Then let’s go. Ah, may I greet the Emei Sect members first?”
Dang Hwa-seo stiffened at those words.
“Emei...?”
Why did it have to be Emei first?
The complaint rose within her, though it was only natural when she thought about it.
Shaolin and Emei were both Buddhist sects, and setting aside White Phoenix’s lascivious disposition, her depth in martial arts was something that had to be acknowledged.
Dang Hwa-seo suppressed her discomfort and nodded.
Mok Ri-won, too, felt something similar to Dang Hwa-seo’s discomfort at the rumors he had just heard about White Phoenix. No, his unease had a different flavor.
‘L-Lust Phoenix...’
As he worried that something might go wrong if he was not careful...
“Monk Il-un, it has been a year since we last met, has it not?”
“Ah, Monk Hye-un.”
Perhaps she had noticed them talking about her, or perhaps she had simply come after spotting Il-un. White Phoenix, Hye-un, approached with several Emei disciples in tow.
Il-un and Hye-un smiled as they pressed their palms together.
Then Mok Ri-won flinched.
‘W-why is she looking at me...?!’
Hye-un was staring at him through narrowed eyes.
For some reason, even the smile on her lips seemed wicked.
Trembling, Mok Ri-won instinctively hid behind Dang Hwa-seo.
Hye-un’s brow furrowed at the movement.
When she raised her head again, every trace of her earlier expression had vanished. She addressed Dang Hwa-seo.
“It has been a long time, Benefactor Dang.”
“...It has.”
A brief silence followed.
Jegal San whispered to Mok Ri-won.
“Brother Mok, this is what they call a battle of wills between women.”
“I-I see...!”
Mok Ri-won swallowed dryly and rooted for Dang Hwa-seo.
There was no particular reason. That woman in white simply felt far too frightening.
“Benefactor Dang...”
Hye-un dragged out the words as her eyes swept Dang Hwa-seo from head to toe.
Then she grinned.
“...Six years have passed, yet you do not seem to have changed much.”
At first glance, it might have sounded like praise.
For a martial artist, though, it was close to an insult.
She was pointing out that Dang Hwa-seo’s martial ability had not improved.
“Or perhaps you only wish to believe that nothing has changed.”
“Is that so?”
“You have not changed from the person I remember either, Monk.”
One of Hye-un’s eyebrows lifted slightly.
It soon lowered again, and a gentle smile spread over her face.
“Well, will we not find out if we meet on the martial stage?”
Dang Hwa-seo suppressed the irritation rising inside her.
She wanted to retort, but there was nothing she could say against Hye-un’s words.
Five years had passed since she left her clan.
Dang Hwa-seo had been at the middle stage of first-rate back then, yet she still had not reached peak.
She had given up all the support and instruction of her clan, as well as the Poisonous Qi she could have absorbed there, and her progress had suffered because of it.
She did not regret that decision. Still, it was frustrating to have nothing to say to a rival looking down on her.
‘This is why I did not want to see her.’
There was something else unfortunate for Dang Hwa-seo.
Hye-un’s interest had shifted to Mok Ri-won.
“The benefactor standing behind you seems to be someone I have never met. May I have an introduction?”
In that instant, Dang Hwa-seo felt flames surge up within her.
Her eyes widened, and blood vessels began to stand out in them.
“Ah, this is Benefactor Mok. I do not know if Monk Hye-un has heard, but he has recently made a name for himself under the title Ink Sword.”
Whether Il-un understood Dang Hwa-seo’s feelings or not, he continued the introduction. A strange light flickered through Hye-un’s eyes.
“Ah, Ink Sword...!”
Mok Ri-won faltered and took a step back.
Her crescent-shaped eyes seemed too frightening.
His instincts were warning him.
‘N-no...!’
That woman was dangerous.
“Benefactor Mok? May I call you that?”
Hye-un’s smile deepened.
It was an utterly seductive smile.
‘How adorable.’
Perhaps she had found a rather appetizing new toy.
Hye-un felt delighted by the thrill rising within her.
“He is traveling with me.”
Dang Hwa-seo’s words brought Hye-un yet another kind of pleasure.
‘They are more than traveling companions, are they not?’
They looked quite devoted to each other.
Mok Ri-won had hidden behind Dang Hwa-seo the moment his eyes met Hye-un’s, and Dang Hwa-seo had flared up the moment Hye-un showed interest in him.
‘It will be fun to steal him away.’
A laugh slipped out.
Despite being a Buddhist nun, her strange proclivities were beginning to awaken.
“Traveling together... Could I hear more about that?”
Hye-un imagined it.
The expression Dang Hwa-seo, who had always seemed so aloof, would make after having a man taken from her.
The way she would fret over their growing distance, then collapse in an ugly mess.
‘How delightful...’
This was far better than being shut away in the mountains, offering Buddhist prayers.
“M-Miss...”
Mok Ri-won shrank back and sought Dang Hwa-seo’s help.
His voice brought her back to her senses.
That was fortunate. Dang Hwa-seo was so full of irritation that she might have thrown a punch if Hye-un had come any closer to him.
Feeling Mok Ri-won lightly clutch her sleeve, Dang Hwa-seo calmed herself and spoke.
“You seem very interested in other people’s affairs.”
“Other people? That is quite hurtful.”
“I did not know a monk could take such interest in worldly ties.”
“My spiritual practice is still lacking. But what can I do? If it is a desire I cannot immediately cast aside, perhaps facing it is one way to deal with it.”
“It only sounds like an excuse to me.”
The atmosphere between them grew sharp.
No, Dang Hwa-seo alone was reacting sharply.
Even Il-un, who had initially wondered what was happening, could feel the tension in the air.
Jegal San watched with an entertained expression.
Boom.
The great doors of the banquet hall opened.
* * *
The change happened in an instant.
The silence broke.
The sharp tension lost its edge.
Every gaze in the banquet hall gathered in one place.
“...He is here.”
Someone spoke with displeasure and jealousy.
Step.
A man entered the banquet hall.
“Brother Mok, can you not tell at a glance?”
At Jegal San’s words, Mok Ri-won wiped away all his earlier bewilderment and stared blankly at the entrance.
A dark blue silk robe fluttered behind him.
A handsome man with sharp features headed toward the center of the banquet hall, his face stern.
Yet one peculiar trait seized Mok Ri-won’s attention more strongly than anything else.
Jade-blue eyes, like a clear blue sky.
That was it.
“Namgung Jin-cheon...”
“Yes. That man is Brother Namgung.”
Namgung Jin-cheon’s arrival alone was shocking.
An impossible-to-ignore pressure accompanied every step he took, and everyone his gaze touched lowered their eyes as if by agreement.
‘At peak’s very limit.’
He was twenty-two this year.
He was said to be the same age as Dang Hwa-seo.
Yet he had already reached that realm.
This was what it meant for someone’s mere presence to command an entire space.
As Mok Ri-won stood frozen by this unfamiliar shock, Jegal San laughed and draped an arm over his shoulder.
“The leading figure of this generation. The king of the younger generation. Sword Dragon. Countless titles adorn Brother Namgung, but there is one that rises above them all.”
Then he said,
“The future number one under heaven.”
“The future number one under heaven...”
Jegal San continued to chuckle.
“Ah, is it not enviable? No one embodies the phrase ‘born different’ as perfectly as he does.”
“Born...?”
“Brother Namgung was born under a star.”
Mok Ri-won’s fingertips trembled slightly at those words.
His gaze returned to Namgung Jin-cheon’s blue eyes.
“Imperial Ruler Star. From the moment Brother Namgung was born into this world, he was promised the fate of one who would rule.”
At that moment, Namgung Jin-cheon looked at Mok Ri-won.
Footnotes:
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