Chapter 268 The Weight of a Borrowed Name-1

Chapter 268: The Weight of a Borrowed Name-1

A short while later, thanks to the Saintess clearing away all the debris, we finally discovered the Jin Taedo that had been buried at the bottom of the gorge.

And though we found him more easily than expected, seeing his condition left us all utterly shocked.

Before finding him, I had actually been thinking that just recognizing his face would be fortunate.

He had already sustained severe injuries before being buried, rendering him immobile, and had subsequently been crushed under immense weight of rocks. It seemed likely that by now, not even his form would remain.

But astonishingly, after clearing away all the debris and discovering him, his condition was far more intact than expected.

No, beyond intact—he was still alive.

I was so amazed I let out a hollow laugh and said to him.

“…That’s some incredible vitality. It’s almost admirable.”

He chuckled in response.

Hehehehe, I saw a crack under that big rock that fell in front of me. So I crawled under it. Hehehehe. What a stupid thing to do. If I’d known I’d end up like this, I wouldn’t have gone in…

I couldn’t bring myself to respond to his self-deprecating words.

The lower part of his thigh, visible to my eyes, was horribly crushed.

The crack in the rock he’d taken cover behind wasn’t large enough, leaving only his upper body exposed to falling rocks.

“And to think the last face I see alive is yours of all people… Truly, it must have been the worst choice of my life.”

He didn’t bother to respond to those words.

He just stared silently at his face, now as pale as a sheet of paper.

The blood flow from his crushed thigh and the shoulder Ma Gyeong had attacked him with had nearly stopped.

He had already lost too much blood.

He was dying.

Only because he was a master of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Arts had he not died yet; had it been anyone else, it wouldn’t have been strange if they had died several times over already.

He paused for a moment, then suddenly spoke up and asked me.

“Is that child… really alive?”

I knew immediately who he was referring to.

He must have been referring to the bloodline born from the woman of Mado Yunsak.

I nodded.

“He’s alive.”

Then the bastard gave a sickening laugh.

“…Stupid. To actually spare the son of your enemy.”

After saying that, the man smacked his lips several times.

He seemed to have something he wanted to say, but couldn’t quite bring himself to voice it.

I sighed and said to him.

“I’ll make sure that child inherits your True Dragon Sword Technique. If you have any final words for him, speak now. I’ll deliver them.”

Then, with eyes slightly clouded, he gave another faint, bitter smile.

“…You fool.”

Then, staring blankly at the sky for a moment, he opened his mouth again.

“I have no words to pass on. Just… raise him like you. Not like me, a failure… Inparang, like you.”

His voice grew weaker and fainter.

He spoke as he slowly closed his eyes.

“Do you know? More than half of the Haenam faction… were those who followed me. Scum who didn’t care what I did as long as their own interests were secured…. You… will have to rule over such men from now on….”

His voice strained as he spoke, and finally, he breathed his last.

He was finally dead.

It was the futile death of Hyo-ung, who had seized the position of leader of the Haenam faction through conspiracy and sought to dominate the South Sea.

I let out a deep sigh.

“Huuuuu.”

Even in death, he never knew I was not Inparang.

I considered telling him several times, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell the dying man that the person who killed him was actually a complete stranger.

He certainly deserved to die, but…

Somehow, that fact alone made me feel sorry.

He let out another deep sigh.

“Huuuuu.”

It seemed that living under another person’s name had to end with this Inparang.

Pretending to be someone else while killing people felt like shifting the weight of murder onto others.

If I had to take the other person’s life anyway, I wanted to do that much in Seon Woo-jin’s name.

To bear that responsibility, to shoulder the hatred and vengeance.

***

The Haenam faction arrived shortly after the Southern Sea Holy Maiden Shi Xiu and the Fujian Yong family members had departed.

The visitors were Jagae-chu, head of the Haenam Jaga clan, and Yoo Hae-eung, head of the Haenam Yuga clan, along with the warriors from the Haenam Ingwa and Haenam Sanga clans he had met previously.

Sun Woo-jin was frankly a little surprised.

Their arrival was much sooner than he had anticipated.

It seemed they had departed from Jintaedo barely a day or two after its departure.

“Since Jin Taedo took all the naval battle members away, there weren’t many of the bastard’s followers left in the Haenam faction. Even those followers gave up resisting immediately upon hearing the evidence materials from the Hapsan faction and Baekgyobang that His Excellency provided, along with tales of the bastard’s past misdeeds. For now, they are under custody, and Lord Oh Ikdeok of the Haenam Five Families is keeping watch over them.”

These were the tearful words of Hyun Cheong-gun, the leader of the Haenam warriors.

Having already demonstrated his deep loyalty to Inparang before, he was overcome with emotion at the sight of Seonwoo Jin unharmed, looking as if he might burst into tears at any moment.

Seon Woo-jin could only smile bitterly at the sight of his face.

The time had come to reveal the truth.

He felt terribly sorry that he had to disappoint Inpa and the other warriors, even if others didn’t understand.

But he couldn’t delay any longer.

They, too, needed to know the truth now.

Seon Woo-jin unpacked his backpack in front of the four gathered—Yoo Hae-eung, Jagae-chu, Hyeoncheongun, and Myaoran, who had somewhat recovered from her injuries—and pulled out the logbook left behind by Inparang.

He then handed it to them and said.

“This is the journal left behind by In Parang, the Young Master, and the secret manual of the Southern Cross Sword.”

“…Huh?”

“……?”

At Seonwoo Jin’s sudden words, all except Myaoran stared blankly for a moment, unable to grasp its meaning.

Miao A-lan sighed deeply beside them.

Seon Woo-jin bowed deeply toward them and said.

“I sincerely apologize for deceiving you all this time. I am not Inparang. I am Seon Woo-jin, who was impersonating him to fulfill the final wish of Master Inparang.”

“…What?!”

“Wh-what does that mean?!”

They stared at Seonwoo Jin with expressions of utter shock.

Seonwoo Jin began explaining in detail his encounter with Inparang and the events that followed.

The members of the Haenam Sect listened to his story in stunned silence, unable to utter a word.

“…That is how it came to be. Though I did it to fulfill Confucius’s dying wish, I know full well that deceiving you or recklessly mastering the Namhaengpa’s Southern Cross Sword cannot be justified. I apologize.”

After finishing his words, Sun Woo-jin bowed deeply once more, then raised his head to look at their expressions.

Everyone was frozen in shock, their expressions blank.

And among them, the one who appeared most deeply shaken was, naturally, Hyun Cheong-gun, the leader of the Haenam warriors.

He muttered, his face blank and bewildered.

“Then… then, Young Master Soju, the… the young master…”

Hot tears finally gushed from his eyes.

The realization that the owner he thought he had finally found was actually a fake, and that the real owner was already dead, seemed to have dealt him a tremendous blow.

“Soju, Soju! Ugh-huh-huh!”

Everyone watched him with somber expressions as he collapsed to the ground, sobbing.

Seon Woo-jin’s expression had also grown very dark.

He felt both pity and guilt.

After that, for a while, no sound could be heard among the five except Hyuncheongun’s sobs.

Because no one could bring themselves to speak.

After a long while, the head of the Jaga clan, Jagae-chuga, sighed deeply and spoke.

“Huuuuu. Seonwoo… you said you were the Master? First, I must express my gratitude. Thanks to you, I learned the truth about what happened ten years ago, and I was also able to punish the villain Jin Taedo who committed that crime. It is also thanks to you that I recovered the Nam Sipja Sword and the Baekho Sword, which I thought were lost forever. So, saying you’re sorry is out of the question. Rather, how can I ever repay this debt…?”

It was while he was saying this.

Suddenly, Yoo Hae-eung, the head of the Haenam Confucian family and the Dragon King’s Palace, interrupted him and spoke.

“It doesn’t seem like something that can be resolved so simply.”

“Hm?”

Upon hearing this, Jagae-chu looked at Yoo Hae-eung with a puzzled expression.

Then, Yu Hae-eung fixed a sharp gaze on Seon Woo-jin and said.

Regardless of the circumstances, an outsider has recklessly mastered the martial arts of the Haenam Sect. And that includes the Southern Cross Sword left behind by the late Sword King. Furthermore, if he is not Inparang, then the killing of Jin Taedo also becomes an issue. Regardless of who Jin Taedo was, it still amounts to an outsider killing the head of the Haenam Sect. Therefore, no matter what favors we may have received, we cannot simply overlook such matters.

At his words, Jagae-chwa replied with a flustered expression.

“Ah, well, that’s true, but Master Yu… interpreting that incident that way…”

Yoo Hae-eung looked at Seon Woo-jin with a grave expression and asked.

“I believe Confucius apologized to us earlier because he was thinking of that very thing. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Seon Woo-jin did not answer immediately, silently staring at Yoo Hae-eung.

His face, which had seemed as solid as a rock from the moment they first met, was now truly hardened like stone.

Seon Woo-jin understood what he meant.

He was genuinely worried about that very point.

Yoo Hae-eung was a man who could confront even Jin Tae-do, the former leader of his own faction, if he deemed something unjust.

Therefore, he wouldn’t simply let things slide just because he owed a debt of gratitude.

Moreover, on the surface, his words were undeniably true.

After all, an outsider recklessly learning another sect’s martial arts, or harming their sect leader, were acts that warranted a death warrant from that sect.

It was then.

Miao A-lan interjected.

Master Yuga’s words may sound plausible on the surface, but upon examining the sequence of events, they make no sense whatsoever. The Southern Cross Sword was a martial art that Jin Taedo could never have mastered had it not been for Master Sunwoo, and had Jin Taedo’s misdeeds been exposed, he would never have become the sect leader. If Master Sunwoo hadn’t intervened, allowing Jin Taedo to act as he pleased, what might have transpired by now? I believe Lord Yuga’s words are forced.”

At Miao A-lan’s words, Yu Hae-eung let out a heavy sigh with a grim expression.

“Hmm.”

Then, Jagae-chu also nodded in agreement with Myaoran’s words.

“I too concur with Lady Miao’s words. Indeed, the Divine Mystic Sword Peak—you’ve summarized the core points well.”

Seon Woo-jin sent Miao A-lan a grateful look.

He too was well aware of the truth she had spoken, but he himself could not voice it.

There was a significant difference between the words of the person involved and those relayed by someone from the Haenam Sect.

Then, Yoo Hae-eung sighed and spoke.

“My Lady Miao’s words are certainly correct. I too am deeply grateful to Master Sunwu. But the fact that an outsider has mastered the Southern Cross Sword—arguably the Haenam Sect’s greatest martial art—remains a grave concern. Moreover, isn’t it true that not a single descendant of the Haenam family, who alone could inherit it, remains?”

At his words, Jagae-chu’s face darkened once more.

Yoo Hae-eung’s words were undeniably true.

The Southern Cross Sword, considered the pinnacle martial art of the Haenam Sect, was being mastered by an outsider, Seon Woo-jin. Yet within the Haenam Sect itself, there was now no one truly worthy to inherit it properly.

That wasn’t all.

Exposing Jin Taedo’s evil deeds and executing him was certainly a good outcome, but the damage inflicted upon the Haenam Sect by this incident was too great.

The Haenam Sect was now in a state where not only the Haenam family and the Haenam Sect, but even the bloodline of the Haenam clan had been severed.

This was because there was no other heir besides Jin Taedo.

Furthermore, if the other clan heads who had sided with Jin Taedo were also held accountable, the future of their families too was uncertain.

In the worst-case scenario, once this matter was settled, only five of the twelve Haenam clans might remain.

Therefore, for Jagae-chu, who had raised a banner against Jin Tae-do for the sake of the Haenam faction, the feeling could only be one of utter despair.

He sighed and thought to himself.

‘Of course, I had considered that such a situation might arise if we fought Jin Taedo…’

Until recently, he had thought it didn’t matter.

Even if such damage occurred, he believed the gains outweighed the losses, for he had found the true successor of the Haenam faction.

But at this very moment, he realized that thought had been nothing but a delusion.

It was nothing short of a profound disappointment.

It was then.

Myo-a-ran spoke again.

“I have one solution I’ve thought of for that matter. Would you care to hear it?”

The others looked at her with puzzled expressions.

They couldn’t imagine what kind of solution could possibly exist in this situation.

Then, Mya-ran looked at Seonwoo-jin with sparkling eyes and began to speak.

Seon Woo-jin felt that look of hers was somehow deeply meaningful.