Chapter 27 The Black Chamber Raid Incident-1

Chapter 27: The Black Chamber Raid Incident-1

It was the afternoon after lunch, when I had finished my external cultivation training with Biseaeng and Bae Jong-gwan, as always.

As I stood there, shirtless, splashing water over my body, a young lady suddenly approached me.

She was quite cute, her face flushed red.

“Um…”

Huh, again?

I grinned and asked her.

“Do you have some business with me, young lady?”

Then, her face turning even redder, she handed me a handkerchief.

“Please use this to wipe your sweat…”

It was a pretty handkerchief embroidered with the name ‘Song Yeong-yeong’.

Behind us, Bisea-yeong, who had been watching with a displeased look, muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

“But it’s this servant who’s been sweating buckets here.”

But she didn’t seem to hear him.

Or perhaps she didn’t want to hear it.

Her trembling hand kept offering the handkerchief.

Unable to bring myself to ignore her hand, I reluctantly accepted her handkerchief.

“I’ll use it gratefully, Youngyoung.”

At that, her expression brightened instantly, and she screamed, “Kyaa! He called my name!” before running off.

Watching her retreating figure for a moment, I wiped my sweat with the handkerchief and muttered to myself.

“What a sinful man I am. It’s just a pity I can’t accept her feelings, heh.”

Just then, Bise-yeong delivered a satisfying smack to the back of my head.

Smack!

“Stop laughing and say that, you bastard!”

Perhaps because I’d trained in external martial arts, it didn’t hurt much.

I grinned and teased him back.

“Jealous again? You should be used to it by now, right?”

“Hmph! I’m used to this situation now. It’s just you, who got used to it too quickly, who can’t get used to it!”

Smiling at the guy who seemed to be spewing pent-up anger, I handed him the handkerchief I’d just received.

“Hey, chill out and wipe your sweat with this.”

“You little brat! I’m done with this!”

At that moment, Bae Jong-gwan, who was standing nearby, remarked with a look of amazement.

“Come to think of it, it’s strange. It’s already been four days, right? And they were all different young ladies, too. Jin lost weight and became so handsome he was unrecognizable long ago. Why are they all acting like this now?”

Bisea-yeong replied in an annoyed tone.

“Well, obviously it’s because of his duel with Ju Taekyung. Before, he was handsome, but he was just some weirdo who only practiced external martial arts. After defeating Ju Taekyung, he became the perfect example of a handsome young master with both looks and skill. No matter how good-looking you are, if your martial arts are weak, you’re just a fool here, right? This battlefield.”

Hearing that, Bae Jong-gwan replied with a hurt expression.

“‘Just external skills’? Sa-yeong, you actually thought that?”

“No, not me! The other young ladies thought that!”

“Ahhh, the other young ladies.”

Bae Jong-gwan nodded as if suddenly understanding, then asked again.

“Then if I become stronger in martial arts, will I become popular like Jin?”

Faced with Bae Jong-gwan’s childlike, innocent question, Bi Sa-young glanced back and forth between my face and Bae Jong-gwan’s, unable to bring herself to answer.

Then, as if scolding him, she said.

“Jong-gwan, you! Don’t tell me you actually want to be popular with other young ladies besides Young Lady Cheon?! If Young Lady Cheon found out, she’d be terribly disappointed?!”

Startled, Bae Jong-gwan hastily shook his head.

“No, no. Of course not! That’s absolutely not what I meant! I was just asking!”

“Right? I didn’t think you would either.”

Watching the two of them, I smiled faintly.

The ‘beautiful young master’…

Honestly, it couldn’t help but be an awkward term.

In my past life, I had never once received attention from women or formed any deep relationships.

When I, Sojeo, was alive, I was nothing more than a pig too busy surviving. After I, Sojeo, died, I was entirely consumed by training myself, and the situation on the front lines became too urgent to have any leisure for such relationships.

And now, I was gaining popularity with women?

A hollow laugh escaped me.

It felt incredibly awkward and embarrassing.

But somehow, it didn’t feel bad.

“Is your training finished?!”

A bright, clear voice suddenly reached my ears.

Turning my head, I saw the three women from our group finishing their own training and walking towards us.

My gaze naturally focused on Lady Na Se-yu, who stood in the middle of the three.

My heart suddenly began to race.

In my past life, while Miss Na was alive, I was merely someone who received care.

I was someone who struggled to even take care of myself, someone who could never even dream of boldly expressing my feelings to her.

But after she died, I changed.

I had become a completely different person.

Of course, she couldn’t see it…

And finally, the person I am now has managed to gain a little bit of confidence in myself.

Perhaps because of that, I sometimes found myself asking:

‘Would things be different now compared to back then?’

That kind of question.

Not long ago, after much deliberation, I gave her one of the elixirs I had originally intended to take myself.

My internal energy was now nearly at the level of a full cycle.

I was in a position where just a few more years’ worth of cultivation would completely fill the cycle.

So, before reaching the peak, it felt a bit wasteful to consume the elixir right away.

Of course, saving it for later wasn’t a bad choice either, but then I’d feel guilty towards Biseaeng, who had given me half of her elixir.

After much deliberation, I decided to offer one of the two pills Father had given me to Young-yu Sojeo.

Naturally, the kind-hearted young lady was startled and refused.

But to her insistence that she absolutely couldn’t accept it, I said this:

‘Young Lady, naturally, we could give this to Jong-gwan or Young Lady Cheon to raise our team’s average combat power. But through this incident, I realized our team absolutely needs more peak masters besides the team leader. As you heard, the team leader faced truly perilous situations this time. Therefore, I judged that either Miss Qingyan or I, Miss Na, must quickly reach the peak to assist the team leader. That is why I am offering this to you, Miss Na. Please do not refuse.”

After hearing my words, Na Sojeo hesitated for a moment, but eventually took the elixir, expressing her gratitude several times.

Watching her take the elixir I gave her, I felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

It was as if she had accepted my heart.

Of course, I wasn’t so foolish as to not understand that it didn’t carry that kind of meaning, despite my lack of experience with women.

Still, I harbored a slight hope.

A faint hope that perhaps, just a little, my feelings had been conveyed…

Na Sojeo, approaching with a bright face, suddenly noticed the handkerchief in my hand and asked with a smile.

“Did you get another handkerchief? Who was it this time?”

“Ah, this, this one…”

I was startled.

You idiot, showing this in front of her.

As I flustered to make excuses, Biseaeng beat me to it with a sullen tone.

“Today it was Miss Song Yeongyeong from the Third Division.”

At that, Miss Na looked startled and retorted.

“Miss Song Yeong-yeong? Oh my, I thought she was quite popular with the men?”

Hearing her say that, I suddenly felt a flicker of hope.

The kind of hope that she might feel a little jealous.

But she soon beamed and congratulated me.

“Wow, Youngwoo, you’ve really become quite the popular guy? I’m so proud of you. Is this how a mother feels watching her successful son? You’re truly admirable!”

…She was like a mother.

Then the elixir I gave her…

Did I become a filial son?

Suddenly, Lady Cheongyeon tapped my shoulder, which was slumping slightly in frustration.

I wondered what she knew, but it was comforting nonetheless.

Completely oblivious to my mood, Young Master Na suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke again in a bright voice.

“Ah, it’s been decided for sure that our new members will be accepted after the Blood Purification Summit. They said accepting newcomers before the summit would be too much of a burden, so in just three weeks, we’ll be able to welcome new family members.”

At her words, everyone nodded with bright faces.

“Oh, that’s great!”

“Good news? It’ll only be good news if the right kind of people join.”

“Come on, it’s not like someone like Joo Tae-kyung will join again, right? Good people will definitely come in.”

Listening to her, I rummaged through my past life’s memories.

Hmm, if it’s the guy joining after the Jeonghyeol talks, could it be him? I don’t know him well since he was in another group, but I vaguely remember him being very bright and energetic.

If it was as I remembered from my past life, it was definitely not someone like Joo Tae-kyung.

Joo Tae-kyung, who had to acknowledge me as his senior after losing the duel, once again showed behavior worthy of a sword-wielding beauty.

Instead of acknowledging me as his elder, he begged the fourth squad leader, Mayu Gyeom, to transfer him to the fourth squad.

Rumor had it he even begged with tears in his eyes.

Thanks to that, we got to witness the rare sight of the prideful Ma Yu-gyeom making a reluctant request to Squad Leader Seolpung.

And to Mayugyeom, who had originally only asked us to send Joo Taekyung, we sent the rest of the gang along as well.

It was because of my argument that it was better to have no squad members whose trust had been broken anyway.

Anyway, that’s why our Seventh Squad was now severely understaffed.

Compared to other groups averaging ten members, ours only had seven.

But I didn’t feel disappointed at all.

‘Because even with seven members, we’re stronger than before!’

It went without saying that seven tightly united members were superior to ten scattered ones.

Moreover, after I, Na Sojeo, consumed the elixir and advanced a level, we now had three martial artists above the top-tier upper level, excluding the team leader.

So in terms of combat strength, we were only better off than before, not lacking in any way.

This part was a bit disappointing.

If only there had been more elixirs here, the levels of the remaining squad members could have been raised further.

It was a moment when the knowledge of the late Seok Gyeong-dal, who had used poison to create the elixir, felt particularly regrettable.

‘Even if it wasn’t specifically elixirs, he was someone whose passing felt such a waste, given how valuable his information could have been for confronting the Blood Sect…’

On the day we killed Ji Gwang-ok, we were unable to meet Dakam again.

As per Old Man Seok Gyeong-dal’s request, Dakam and his brothers had completely vanished without a trace. As for the brother named Rakun, who had been possessed by a spirit, Jikwang-ok had already killed him.

No trace remained inside the Mo-ok. It seemed Dakam had taken all of Old Man Seok Gyeong-dal’s materials with him.

Of course, it was fortunate that we had learned some knowledge about poisonous herbs and antidotes, but it was still true that much remained regrettable.

That was when it happened.

Suddenly, someone flew in like a bird and landed beside us.

It was Squad Leader Seolpung, who had attended the cadre meeting.

“Team Leader!”

“Did it go well?”

“Was there anything special?”

Then, Sergeant Seolpung gave a bitter smile and said to us with an apologetic look.

“I have one piece of good news and one piece of bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”

Young Lady Cheon Ju-eun raised her hand cutely first and said.

“The bad news! We should hear the good news later—that way, we’ll be twice as happy!”

Then Squad Leader Seolpung chuckled and told us.

“We’ve been assigned another cleaning zone by the unit commander. They want us to tidy up the approach road.”

At that, everyone frowned and shouted in unison.

“What?! We just did that area a few days ago!”

“We even trimmed the trees to the last blade!”

“Yeah. I told him that too, but the unit commander said that tidying and cleaning are things that should be done every single day.”

Hearing that, we all couldn’t help but let out hollow laughter.

Cleaning must be done every single day?

Bisea-yeong exploded in anger.

“What the hell?! Why did they never do something so important for over a decade, only to start doing it daily now?! Telling us to clean when the Blood War might break out again—are they out of their minds?!”

It was a bit extreme, but everyone nodded in agreement with his fury.

It seemed Commander Heonyeongbo had truly staked his fate on this summit between the Martial Alliance and the Blood Sect.

But recalling the summit from my past life, I clicked my tongue and shook my head.

Because even in that past life, Heon Yeong-bo had desperately prepared for the Blood Pledge Summit, yet ultimately gained nothing.

After that, he remained as the thirteenth leader of the Blood Sect.

It was both pathetic and, in a way, pitiful.

The Blood Pact Summit, where the Martial Alliance leader and the Blood Demon met to talk, had everyone tense, wondering if it would lead to the Second Blood Pact War. Yet, it ended limply after only meaningless conversations, making all that tension seem pointless.

‘Honestly, it was so pointless, I couldn’t even tell why they met in the first place.’

Thanks to that, my past self, who had been holding his breath in anxiety, breathed a sigh of relief, thankful nothing had happened. Yet, the truly important events began unfolding after that.

Recalling those events, I found myself swallowing hard.

‘Back then, it felt like I’d been cursed or something.’

It all started when Ma Ye-gyeong, the deputy leader of the Fourth Division, was found murdered, her blood drained by a blood demon.

And that was near the Thirteenth Division headquarters.

Shocked, we issued an emergency alert and searched for the bloodsucker, but in the end, we found no trace of the creature.

It was around that time that Ma Yu-gyeom, the squad leader of Squad Four who had been dating Lady Mae Yeo-gyeong, began to unravel.

Though arrogant by nature, he had been an outstanding warrior and capable squad leader. That was when he began to completely unravel.

Even those who disliked him lamented, wondering if it wasn’t all because of Lady Mae Yeokyeong’s death.

Furthermore, the incident where Ming Shaxian, the deputy squad leader of the Third Squad who had spoken with us earlier, was possessed by the Blood Cult, forcing Third Squad Leader Dang Yueyun to kill him, also occurred then.

With such events unfolding in succession, the atmosphere within the Thirteenth Division had sunk to its lowest point.

Thinking back, it seemed other events that happened later might have also originated from this period.

Like the day Tang Yue’en suddenly became Ma Yugyeom’s woman, or later, when the front collapsed, Ma Yugyeom—who had claimed to be the true heir of the Zhanchang lineage—switched to the Blood Sect, shocking everyone.

‘Hmm, so that’s it?’

A chill suddenly ran down my spine.

Somehow, I had this strange feeling that there must be some connection I didn’t know about linking all these events.

But this was one thing he had no idea how to prepare for.

Even if I wanted to prepare, the Seven Sects were on leave at the time, so I knew nothing about them. I had no connection to them whatsoever, leaving me with absolutely no way to prepare.

It was while I was agonizing over this.

Lady Cheon Ju-eun shouted again.

“Captain! So what’s the good news?!”

Then, with a faint smile, Squad Leader Seolpung answered.

“Our vacation got moved up to next week. So we can get out right next week.”

At that unexpected news, everyone’s eyes widened in surprise before they started cheering.

“Waaah! Vacation?! Really?!”

“Woo-hoo! Awesome?!”

“Wahahaha! That’s fantastic news, Sergeant!”

But I just stood there, stunned, my mind blank.

My vacation was moved up to next week?

That never happened in my past life?

Flustered, I asked the team leader.

“Ah, no, how did that happen?”

Then the team leader smiled faintly and explained.

“Section Leader Mayu-gyeom from Section 4 gave up his time. He said Section 7 is short-staffed, so it’d be better to take the vacation before the new recruits arrive. Seems he feels indebted to you somehow because of the Joo Tae-kyung incident.”

“Ah, so that’s why…”

Wow, a future I didn’t know about.

I felt flustered and even a little uneasy.

But after a moment’s thought, I realized this wasn’t bad at all.

In my past life, when all those things happened, I was on vacation and couldn’t do anything about it.

Of course, back then I didn’t have the ability or even the thought to respond.

But now it’s different.

If it were me now, I could have watched from the sidelines and created some other variable.

No, I should have.

Moreover, another memory suddenly surfaced.

Wait a minute.

Around this time, didn’t something interesting happen in Guizhou Province?

In my past life, I only found out about it after everything was over and I went on vacation, but this time, if things go well…

The corners of my mouth were curving upward on their own.

I immediately asked the squad leader.

“Squad Leader! What are you planning to do during this leave?!”

“Huh? I don’t really have anywhere to go, so I was thinking of just staying behind and training.”

Yeah, that sounded about right.

I jumped up and protested the squad leader’s words.

“No way! Squad Leader!”

My extreme reaction made him look flustered.

“Uh, huh? Why not?”

“Didn’t you clearly say it yourself, Team Leader?! That rest is part of training!”

“Ah, well, that’s true, but I don’t really have anywhere to go….”

“Let’s go to Gui Zhou City!”

“Huh?”

“Let’s go to Guizhou Province, and I’ll properly serve you there!”

Watching Team Leader Seolpung blink in surprise, I smiled contentedly.

If I could just take the squad leader with me, this vacation could turn into some truly rewarding days.