Chapter 253 The True Identity of Baekrang Geomgae

Chapter 253: The True Identity of Baekrang Geomgae

Zhao Zhou, Guangdong Province.

Seon Woo-jin and Jin So-eun raced like the wind and arrived at Phoenix Mountain in Joju, located northeast of Sandu Port.

Jin So-eun had been glancing at Seon Woo-jin’s expression throughout the journey, sensing he seemed deep in thought. She finally spoke cautiously.

“Jin Tae-do can’t possibly be chasing us, right? And what are your plans from here on out?”

Seon Woo-jin gave her a faint smile and replied.

Realistically, pursuit is impossible. We fled before they even disembarked. We didn’t leave any traces either, so unless they buried a tracking scent, there’s no way they can follow us. And we’re heading toward Wenshao Port in Fujian Province. If we go there, then maybe…

Seon Woo-jin stopped speaking mid-sentence and suddenly looked toward the south.

It took Jin So-eun a moment to sense someone approaching from that direction.

Whoosh!

Moments later, someone dashed through the forest like the wind, closing in.

The man with an unkempt, bearded face of indeterminate age and ragged clothing held a pure white sword that seemed incongruous with his appearance—it was the White Wolf Sword.

He landed lightly before the two, carrying the limp Miao A-lan on his back.

Sunwoo Jin stared at him with a complex look in his eyes.

He avoided Seonwoo Jin’s gaze, set Miao A-lan down on the ground, and said,

“Fortunately, her heart wasn’t pierced, but it’s still a serious injury. She’s been wounded near her abdominal organs. She’ll need time and careful treatment.”

As he said, Miao A-lan didn’t look well. She didn’t seem unconscious, but her face was as pale as a sheet of paper, and she was covered in cold sweat.

But Seon Woo-jin glanced at her briefly before asking Baek Rang-geom-gae.

“What happened, Team Leader Mayu Gyeom?”

That’s right.

He was Ma Yu-gyeom.

Ma Yu-gyeom, son of Ma Won-ung, the former leader of the Jianchang Sect, and grandson of the Blood Demon, Jeon Mu-gwang.

Ma Yugyeom, the squad leader of the Fourth Squad who had cast a spell on Dang Yeo-eun, attempted to violate her, failed, and fled from the Dragon Thirteen.

He had appeared here, dressed like a beggar, wielding the Snow Wolf Sword.

Upon hearing those words, Mayu Gyeom smiled bitterly and replied.

“Team Leader… It’s been a while since I heard that title. Of all people, I never thought I’d meet you again, Seonwoo Jin, and hear that title once more.”

***

A short while later, the four entered a secluded shrine nestled halfway up Phoenix Mountain.

They needed a place to rest comfortably, especially given Miao A-lan’s condition.

Only after they had lit a small bonfire inside to raise the temperature and administered emergency treatment to Miao A-lan’s wounds could Seon Woo-jin hear the story of the past from Mayu Gyeom.

Mayu Gyeom began his story, staring blankly into the fire.

After running away from you and her, I suddenly realized I’d done something insane and was already out of my mind. Perhaps it was because of the secret techniques of the Blood Sect I’d mastered…

Seon Woo-jin listened silently to his story.

Even back then, he had suspected that Mayu-gyeom had lost his mind after mastering the Blood Sect’s techniques.

After all, before that, he had been an arrogant but competent leader of the Boryong Squad, one who knew his limits.

Perhaps he was so deeply shocked by the fact that Blood Demon was his maternal grandfather and by the evil deeds his sect, the Dotsword Sect, had committed against his mother that he too was utterly broken, unable to do anything about it.

“At that moment… I realized I could never go back to how things were before. Not as a member of the Flying Dragon Corps, nor as a disciple of the Pointed Spear Sect.”

After that, he said he wandered aimlessly eastward.

Because he wanted to go anywhere far from the front lines.

He said this with a hollow laugh.

I wanted to die. But… oddly enough, I couldn’t bring myself to kill myself. So I just kept walking. After walking for a long time, I ended up in a small village by the sea in Guangxi Province.

And that village, like many coastal towns in the South Sea these days, was being pillaged by pirates from the Haenam faction.

The moment he saw that scene, Mayu Gyeom realized why he couldn’t kill himself…

“I… wanted to die as someone useful, at least in that final moment. At least in the moment of death. I suppose my life felt too unjust to end as such trash.”

Mayu Gyeom laughed hollowly once more.

At that time, Mayu-gyeom had fought desperately to protect the villagers.

The pirate fleet plundering the village at the time included many warriors, including a peak-level master. Meanwhile, Mayu-gyeom’s body was completely battered and bruised, yet he did not retreat even an inch.

Fighting like a mad demon, as if his life meant nothing, he ultimately defeated the pirates and saved the village.

Having spoken thus far, Mayu Gyeom suddenly gazed at the pure white Seolrang Sword and continued.

“At that time, I was able to receive this Seolrang Sword from one of the villagers. They said it was a sword salvaged from the sea several years ago and offered it as a token of gratitude for saving them.”

Upon hearing this, Seon Woo-jin could roughly piece together the situation.

The White Tiger Sword, which had disappeared over a decade ago when Jin Taedo attacked the head of the Haenam family, In Gye-un, had apparently been found by a fishing village resident in its original Seolrang Sword form, its white tiger decoration damaged for some reason.

And after being kept by him for so long, the Seolrang Sword had finally returned to Mayu Gyeom, the one who had saved him.

It was truly a strange twist of fate.

Mayu Gyeom stopped speaking after saying that much.

But Seon Woo-jin felt he could guess what happened next.

Seon Woo-jin asked him.

“Did you learn the Snow Wolf Sword Technique?”

Then Mayu Gyeom suddenly looked at the White Tiger Sword Seonwoo Jin was holding, then saw the long object protruding from the cloth bundle on his back and said.

“That must be the Moolang Sword, right? Wasn’t it said that the Moolang Heart Method was modeled after the Heavenly Demon Divine Art?”

It was a counterquestion that served as an answer.

Knowing of the existence of the Moolang Mind Technique meant he had broken the seal of the Seolrang Sword.

Seonwoojin felt he could infer what kind of life Mayugyeom had lived after obtaining the Seolrang Sword.

Hadn’t Seonwoo Jin himself risked his life three times for others before unlocking the secrets of the Moolang Sword?

The fact that he had already broken the seal and mastered the Seolrang Sword Technique and Seolrang Mind Technique, despite obtaining the Seolrang Sword later than Seonwoo Jin, could only mean he had risked his life countless times for others.

‘Perhaps his desire to die as a useful person made it possible for him to do so.’

The two remained silent for a long while.

Meanwhile, Jin So-eun, sitting beside Seon Woo-jin, was merely observing the heavy atmosphere between the two.

After a long silence, Seon Woo-jin suddenly asked Mayu Gyeom.

“What are we going to do now?”

At that question, Ma Yu-gyeom chuckled softly and muttered.

“Live… I suppose. That was the wrong question. Well, for now, I plan to fight the Haenam faction. And if, after killing Jin Tae-do, I’m still alive… then I’ll have to think about it again.”

Seon Woo-jin understood what he meant by the question being wrong.

Because his goal didn’t seem to be simply to live.

His goal seemed to be nothing more than dying as a useful person.

Understanding those words, Seonwoo Jin couldn’t think of what to say to him.

Then, for the first time, Mayu Gyeom asked Seonwoo Jin a question.

It was a question he hesitated over for a long time before finally managing to utter.

“Is she… Yeo Eun… doing well?”

From the moment he used the term ‘she’ without naming her, Seon Woo-jin could tell exactly who he was asking about.

And precisely for that reason, anger surged up inside him.

Seonwoo Jin looked at him with a sharp gaze and said.

“I never imagined you’d ask about her.”

Hearing this, Mayu Gyeom smiled bitterly and avoided Seon Woo-jin’s gaze.

“I was just curious.”

Seon Woo-jin spoke firmly to him.

“Ye-eun and I are betrothed.”

Thud!

Those words sent shockwaves through everyone seated there.

Mayu-gyeom, Jin So-eun, and even Mya-ran, who had been lying weakly, stared at him with wide, startled eyes.

But Seon Woo-jin, paying no heed whatsoever to the stares of others, continued speaking while glaring angrily straight at Ma Yu-gyeom.

“So no matter what kind of life you’ve lived all this time, Mayu-gyeom, no matter how much you’ve repented for your mistakes, I cannot forgive you. And above all, I absolutely cannot tolerate you uttering her name.”

Then Mayu-gyeom asked in a trembling voice.

“You… promised to marry her?”

His eyes, as he asked, swayed ceaselessly like a small boat caught in a typhoon.

***

Mayu Gyeom trudged aimlessly along the forest path.

His mind felt like it would burst from the chaos.

‘That bastard… promised marriage to Yeo-eun?’

Mayu-gyeom had lived a life akin to that of a monk enduring long periods of asceticism.

He constantly subjected his body to cold and hunger, never once seeking comfort.

It was difficult, but he could endure it.

Because living that way brought peace to his mind.

But the moment he heard those words from Seon Woo-jin, countless emotions filled his mind in a dizzying swirl for the first time since leaving Biryongdae.

Longing for her, regret and disgust for his own actions, and even murderous intent toward Seon Woo-jin…

Mayu Gyeom could no longer sit still in that place.

So I simply replied to Seon Woo-jin that I understood, then rushed out of the shrine.

But even though his face was no longer in sight, the turmoil in her mind did not subside.

‘She, Dang Yeo-eun, is promising marriage to someone? Is that even possible?’

It was utterly incomprehensible.

The woman he knew was the ice goddess, a proud flower atop a cliff who never allowed anyone into her heart.

Mayu Gyeom couldn’t imagine her whispering words of love to anyone.

Or perhaps he simply didn’t want to imagine it.

Suddenly, that thought occurred to him.

‘Could it be… because of me? Because I tried to hypnotize her back then?’

The suggestion technique had clearly worked back then.

It was only because Seonwoojin cut it short that she didn’t reach the end, but she was definitely under the spell.

‘Did that bastard Seonwoojin do something to her while she was under the spell? Something to trap her?’

Actually, that was what Mayu Kyum himself had intended to do to her back then.

But precisely because of that, he realized others might do the same.

Suddenly, rage and murderous intent surged up within him.

‘How dare you do that to her…. And now you’re with another woman?’

The faces of the short-haired woman who had been with Seon Woo-jin earlier and Miao A-lan, In-pa-rang’s betrothed, flashed through his mind.

Both were quite beautiful, though not quite as stunning as Dang Yeo-eun.

The bastard had dared to promise marriage to Dang Yeo-eun while fooling around with other women.

But Mayu Gyeom, who had thought that far, shook his head violently.

‘No, no. That bastard, Seonwoo Jin, is different from me. Didn’t he always risk his life fighting for others, even when his skills were lacking? He wouldn’t have done something like that.’

Mayu Gyeom struggled to control the uncontrollable surge of murderous intent and rage.

He stopped in his tracks and let out a deep sigh.

‘And… even if that bastard did such a thing, what right do I have to punish him? What right do I have…?’

A deep sense of futility washed over his body and mind once more.

Mayu Gyeom realized that this thought he’d just had was the truth.

He didn’t know what Seon Woo-jin had done to her, but whatever it was, he had no right to speak about it.

‘Heh heh heh.’

I suddenly let out a hollow laugh.

It had been an instinctive act, but leaving that creature behind seemed like the right thing to do.

After all, he was nothing more than a wild beast wandering in search of a place to die.

But even as he thought this, Mayu Gyeom could no longer move his feet.

Somehow, he couldn’t move a single step.

That was when it happened.

Whoosh! Thud!

Suddenly, six sword-wielding figures landed before him.

Their movements were unified, as if they were one person.

“!”

Mayu Gyeom was startled and belatedly assumed a defensive stance.

No matter how dizzy his head felt, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed a single one of them until all six had come right up to him.

Mayu Gyeom quickly scanned the figures who had descended before him.

They were all six elderly martial artists who appeared to be middle-aged or older.

Each one was a formidable master, seemingly at least at the peak of their powers. Mayu Gyeom also noticed their uniforms were uniformly white robes with blue hero’s sashes.

‘Hyeongsan Sect?!’

Indeed.

The martial artists of the Hyeongsan Sect. While Mayu Gyeom couldn’t identify them beyond that, they were none other than the Six Harmonies Sword Masters, the Pacheonjo, the strongest force within the Hyeongsan Sect.

The Six Harmonies Sword Masters sent by Wei Zhengguo, the head of the Hyeongsan Sect and the finest swordsman in Honam, to capture In Parang—it was the Pacheon Sect that had arrived here first.

The leader of the Pacheon Trio, Master Jaseong, gazed briefly at Mayu Gyeom’s White Wolf Sword before speaking.

“A wolf ornament. They said he carried a white sword adorned with a white tiger. Must have been mistaken.”

He asked Mayu Gyeom with an arrogant expression.

“Have you seen anyone named In Parang around here? They said he carries a pure white sword adorned with a white tiger and moves with a woman who has short hair like a man.”

“…Inparang?”

Mayu Gyeom instinctively realized that the person they were searching for was Seon Woo-jin.

He had already heard the rumors that he was hostile toward the Hyeongsan Sect.

Mayu Gyeom scanned the six cultivators.

Each appeared to be a master of the highest caliber. Seeing the expressions of the others, except for the one who had spoken to him, frozen stiff like dolls, he instinctively sensed they possessed something beyond mere skill.

‘So these are the ones targeting Seonwoojin?’

A faint, bitter smile suddenly appeared on Mayu Gyeom’s face.

***

At the same time.

The leader of the Haenam faction, Haenam’s Demon Sword Jin Taedo, was pursuing Seonwoo Jin with only twenty of the strongest warriors from the naval fleet.

“This way, Grandmaster!”

They were now racing along a mountain path, following a single white, shaggy-haired cat.

The cat, whose fur was so thick it looked like nothing more than a furry ball from the outside, paused briefly to sniff, then dashed off without hesitation.

Jin Tae-do frowned briefly and asked his subordinate.

“Can’t we go a little faster?”

His subordinate replied with an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry. This is the limit at Baek-ah’s speed. I just love eating so much…”

Jin Taedo sighed at his answer and nodded.

“Understood. Just make sure to minimize your noise as much as possible.”

Though it was nowhere near the speed he desired, Jin Taedo resolved to be satisfied with the certainty that he would never lose track of them.

The cat named Baek-a, currently tracking the scent ahead, was a spirit cat named Unmyo, residing on Haenam Island.

The people of Haenam Soolga knew how to capture and tame Yunmyo, whose mind was as sharp as a human’s and whose nose never missed a scent once detected.

Moreover, the scent Yunmiao was currently tracking was the Thousand-Mile Tracking Fragrance administered to Miao A-lan.

Anticipating the possibility that she might need to be handed over to Inparang, Jin Taedo had already secretly laced her food with the Thousand-Mile Tracking Scent.

‘I never imagined it would actually come in handy.’

When Baekranggeomgae tried to rescue Miao A-lan, Jin Taedo’s subordinate failing to kill her was no accident.

Originally, it had been agreed that if circumstances arose to send her away, she would be injured.

The plan was to slow down Inparang’s speed by taking her away while she was injured.

Jin Taedo gritted his teeth, picturing the bastard’s face.

‘Inparang, this time I’ll finish you off.’

Unbeknownst to Seon Woo-jin, Jin Tae-do, the Haenam Demon Sword, and his men were closing in on him moment by moment.