Chapter 101

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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: The Namgung Sega Granddaughter's Return
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Yugang, who had handed Hwarin over to Namgung Cheongsan, turned to look at Ma Jongui.

He stuck out his tongue at Ma Jongui, whose face was visibly flushed with anger from a distance.

"Idiot."

"You... you...! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

Yugang shrugged and took his place within the Namgung formation.

Maeng Deungho also looked at Yugang with a bewildered expression.

"Maeng Deungho."

Maeng Deungho's gaze turned towards Seolhwa.

Seizing the chaotic moment, Seolhwa sent him a telepathic message.

"If you drop your weapons and stop fighting, I'll tell you how to save your son."

Maeng Deungho's brow twitched.

When he had desperately searched, no one had even properly known Soyak's illness, but now, everyone seemed to be using his son's condition as leverage.

He disliked being threatened by having something precious to him used as a weakness.

"You. Do you even know my son's illness before you speak?"

"Eumyangdaejeolmaek."

"!"

"I'm probably the only one who knows the symptoms of Eumyangdaejeolmaek and its complete cure."

Because the cure for Eumyangdaejeolmaek would only be established ten years from now.

"Did the Hyeolsachaeju say he'd tell you the cure?"

Maeng Deungho's face was struck with even greater shock.

He had never mentioned that the Hyeolsachaeju was involved in this matter. The only way she could know was if she had figured out that Ma Jongui was the Hyeolsachaeju's man.

"You. You're not an ordinary child."

How could a child who looked to be barely ten years old understand the affairs of the Surochae?

"Alright. Are you finally willing to talk now?"

"..."

"You'd better choose quickly. Soyak has been shaking violently for a while now."

With a clang, Maeng Deungho's spear fell to the ground.

Maeng Deungho, his gaze fixed on Seolhwa, shouted to his subordinates.

"Everyone, drop your weapons and retreat! We surrender!"

Soon, the sound of weapons clattering to the ground echoed throughout the Surochae.

* * *

The situation quickly resolved itself.

Since the Chaeju had declared surrender, his subordinates couldn't recklessly brandish their swords.

After Jin Soyak safely returned to his father's arms, some secretly hoped that fighting might resume, but it didn't happen.

Maeng Deungho kept his promise and ceased hostilities, guiding the Namgung people to the barracks.

Ma Jongui, who had watched the situation unfold, transforming enemies into honored guests visiting the Surochae in an instant, quietly turned and walked away.

Taking advantage of the broken fence and the confusion, he slipped out of the Surochae and entered the forest where people's gazes couldn't reach.

'Damn it. Because of that strange guy...'

It was his own scheme to tell the Hyeolsachaeju to kidnap the Namgung young lady.

He had proposed it to the Hyeolsachaeju as soon as he heard rumors that the Soruju of Hwaoru had betrayed the organization and returned to Namgung.

'If we get the Soruju in our hands, won't we be able to gain something from the Hwaoruju? At the very least, we'll earn the Ru-ju's trust.'

It didn't matter if the kidnapped child wasn't the runaway Soruju.

He could kidnap any child from Namgung, then threaten Namgung to hand over the Soruju.

However, there was one problem.

Kidnapping a Namgung child would inevitably make Namgung an enemy.

Namgung was a martial arts clan that dominated the Anhui Province.

And not just Anhui Province? There was no place in the entire Jungwon where they hadn't extended their influence – transportation, commerce, and military power.

An influential clan that, relying on the existence of the Sword Emperor, controlled the entire Jungwon through its main family in Hefei and its scattered branch families.

Making such a clan an enemy was a burden.

'What if Namgung attacks?'

To the Hyeolsachaeju, who worried about this, Ma Jongui offered another solution.

'Let's shift the responsibility to the Gwiyoungchae. Isn't the Gwiyoungchae's leader's son sick? We can tell them we'll reveal the cure for the illness in exchange for bringing the Namgung child.'

'Oh?'

'Then, if Namgung and Gwiyoungchae clash, Gwiyoungchae won't win, but even if they do, they'll be decimated. At that point, Chaeju-nim, you can absorb Gwiyoungchae. Haven't you always coveted Gwiyoungchae's forces?'

He thought it was a perfect plan.

Capture the Soruju who fled to Namgung, win the Hwaoruju's favor, and strengthen influence within the Surochae by absorbing Gwiyoungchae.

If the Hyeolsachae in Jiangsu Province, which controlled the waterways to the outside world, combined with Gwiyoungchae of Wuhu, said to have the strongest military might among the eighteen Surochae…

'The next overall leader could have been the Hyeolsachae's!'

That perfect plan had completely failed.

'To think the Soruju was there!'

When on earth had she infiltrated the Surochae? What an idiot Maeng Deungho was!

Both the Soruju and that crazy guy who had the Namgung child. Why had he kept such people around?

Because of them, the situation had become strange. Namgung and Gwiyoungchae, who should have been fighting each other, were attempting negotiations?

'This can't stand. I must quickly summon the Chaeju-nim...'

Ma Jongui, who had walked some distance into the forest from the Surochae, looked around and pulled something from his pocket.

What emerged from his pocket was a Baekrihyangsin-tan, an incense-based signal flare said to be able to send a signal over a distance of a hundred li.

As he aimed the signal flare at the sky and reached to pull its string,

*Whoosh—* *Snip.*

"!"

The signal flare was cut in half before it could be shot into the sky. The object that had pierced it flew past Ma Jongui and embedded itself in a tree beside him.

Startled, Ma Jongui's eyes darted to the object stuck in the tree.

It was a small throwing knife, the length of a palm.

"Who are you trying to contact?"

At the chilling voice, Ma Jongui tried hard to turn his stiff neck.

Perched on a tree, obscured by leaves, a young girl, who seemed to have been there for who knew how long, looked down at him with an emotionless gaze.

'So-Soruju...'

It was Namgung Seolhwa, who had betrayed the organization and fled.

"W-what are you talking about? Contact...?"

Ma Jongui decided to feign ignorance for now.

"I was just taking a stroll to catch my breath."

"Then what's that?"

Seolhwa pointed a finger at the halved signal flare rolling on the ground.

"T-this... a fi-firecracker! Yes! It's a firecracker! *Pop!* The kind that bursts beautifully! You know...? A firecracker. Huh?"

"Hmm, I see."

Ma Jongui's lips curled into a smile at the child's sweet smile.

"I know you're trying to treat me like an idiot, Ma Jongui."

"!"

Ma Jongui's eyes widened like saucers.

'She, she knows me?!'

Ma Jongui had already known the Soruju.

About three years ago, Hyeolma had gathered the Hyeolju and introduced a child as the Soruju, and Ma Jongui, a confidant of the Yuk Hyeolju, had seen the child then.

But he hadn't thought the child would remember him!

'I only saw her briefly from a distance! Why does she remember me?!?'

She was even younger then than she was now!

"Ma Jongui. Is Jeokgwaesu doing well?"

"!"

Jeokgwaesu was the name of the current Hyeolsachaeju and the Yuk Hyeolju of the Hyeolgyo.

Ma Jongui's gaze wavered as he watched Seolhwa call the Yuk Hyeolju's name as if he were a friend.

He couldn't grasp the Soruju's intention at all.

*Thud.*

Seolhwa lightly leaped down from the tree.

"You're the one who ordered the kidnapping of the Namgung child, aren't you?"

"Y-yes...? W-what are you talking about...?"

"Do I need to hit you to make you tell the truth?"

*Crack.*

She had only moved her fingers slightly, but it sounded like something had broken.

At the same time, a thick killing intent emanating from Seolhwa coiled around Ma Jongui's body like a snake.

"H-huh..."

Ma Jongui was instantly engulfed by the fear of death. It was natural that he, who was only clever and weak in martial arts, couldn't endure Seolhwa's killing intent.

"Did you target the Namgung child because of me? To gain something from the Hwaoruju by using me as leverage?"

"!"

"Answer."

"Th-that..."

Seolhwa took one step, then another, towards Ma Jongui.

As the distance to Ma Jongui shortened, the killing intent grew thicker, tightening its grip on Ma Jongui's throat.

"Answer."

"Hah... hah..."

One step.

"Answer."

"Sa-save me..."

Ma Jongui never answered, even as Seolhwa approached close enough to touch him. Yet, he couldn't deny it either.

That was a sufficient answer.

Seolhwa chuckled and withdrew her killing intent.

She poked Ma Jongui's back, and he jumped in surprise, trembling.

"Whatever the reason, you were wrong this time."

"?"

"You judged based on a rumor, right? That you'd capture me and win the Ru-ju's favor. But that's a false rumor."

"Y-yes...?"

Seolhwa pulled the throwing knife from the tree and wiped its blade.

"Me betraying them, that was a rumor the Ru-ju spread on purpose."

Ma Jongui swallowed dryly, his eyes darting as he tried to grasp the meaning of Seolhwa's words.

'A false rumor? That the Soruju betrayed the organization and ran away?'

"Th-then why would such a rumor be spread...?"

"Because I had to infiltrate Namgung perfectly."

"?"

"There's something I need to find out in Namgung. What that is... do I really need to tell someone like you?"

The tip of the throwing knife pointed at Ma Jongui. Her arrogant tone and condescending gaze were those of a complete ruler.

Ma Jongui felt a chilling thrill.

'So that's what it was!'