Chapter 47 The Dangga Sword Peak – 3

Chapter 47: The Dangga Sword Peak – 3

Though he resolved Lady Hae Cheong-yeon’s matter, he failed to prevent what he knew would inevitably happen.

Neither the death of Lady Mae Yeo-gyeong nor the death of Myeong Sa-hyeon…

I was so angry and disappointed.

I had thought I was doing well all this time, and so I had believed I could change the future.

These events felt like they were telling me that no matter what I did, it was all for naught.

So, even after the search ended, I was still alone, investigating the traces of the ghost.

Suddenly, Miss Cheongyeon approached me and said,

“Didn’t Squad Leader Mayu Gyeom take Lady Dang Yeo-eun into the forest?”

“Huh?”

“I wanted to tell you because those two seem to be the people Master Sunwoo was concerned about and watching over.”

I gave a bitter smile.

Truly, she was nothing short of a prodigy.

How on earth did she know about that? I never even mentioned it.

At this point, it felt almost frightening how well she knew me.

But I was actually a bit grateful.

To me, struggling alone to change the future, it felt like someone was saying, ‘I understand you.’

I smiled and replied.

“I see. Thank you.”

It seemed like two wounded people were finally finding their way to each other.

After all, in our past lives, we soon began dating, so it would likely happen again this time.

If things unfolded like in the past life, Lady Dang Yeo-eun’s life would likely become unhappy, but I didn’t see any justification for me to interfere in matters between a man and a woman.

Then, Lady Cheongyeon cautiously added one more thing.

“And this isn’t certain, but…”

“Yes?”

“I saw Ma Jozang take some kind of pill, and it looked similar to the poison pill Elder Seok gave him. Of course, I can’t be certain.”

“Oh, really?”

She nodded absentmindedly as she spoke.

And in that instant, something flashed through his mind like a bolt of lightning.

Blood Demon’s telepathy, Mayu Gyeom becoming strange afterward and eventually defecting to the Blood Sect, plus the Blood Sect’s poison pill and the missing Zhu Gui…

It all seemed to connect into one thread.

I urgently asked Miss Qingyan.

“Did you happen to see where those two went?”

“Yes, they were heading toward the eastern forest? Shall I go check?”

“Yes, I have something I need to check.”

Then I immediately dashed toward the eastern forest.

Hearing “the eastern forest,” I immediately understood.

That was the place where Lady Mae Ye-gyeong had been found.

And luckily, I arrived in time to watch their actions while hidden.

“Repeat after me. ‘Dang Ye-eun belongs to Mayu Gyeom.'”

The moment I heard those words, I understood immediately.

That what Mayu-gyeom was attempting was something akin to soul-binding magic, and also why, in her past life, Dang Yeo-eun had been so drawn to him.

It was urgent.

To launch a surprise attack, I shouldn’t make a sound, but stopping this from happening was more urgent now.

He shouted and hurled his dagger.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

But it was Mayu Gyeom, after all. He easily dodged my dagger with a leap.

Then, his face contorted like a madman as he recognized me, and he began radiating a murderous aura.

Clang!

He drew his sword, its blade rippling with a blue aura.

“Haah!”

Dodging his lunge, I leapt back and shouted.

“What the hell is this, Ma Squad Leader?! Is lechery not enough for you? Now you’re trying to commit murder?!”

He flinched for a moment.

I deliberately chose not to see if he was using some kind of soul-binding technique.

“Come to your senses, Ma Jo-jang! I know losing Lady Mae is hard, but if you ruin yourself like this, wouldn’t she be sad too?! Stop this madness before you cross the line!”

Ma Yu-gyeom looked at me with a complex expression.

He seemed hesitant.

At least my plea to snap out of it before crossing the line was sincere.

Of course, if he really had killed Lady Mae Ye-gyeong, he’d already crossed that line—but it wasn’t certain yet, was it?

If I could, I wanted to turn him back.

“Release Lady Tang and apologize, and I’ll pretend I never saw any of this! Quickly, release Lady Tang first!”

At that, Ma Yugyeom suddenly looked toward Lady Tang.

She was still lying on the ground, tears streaming down her face. Perhaps because of what had just happened, she seemed unable to regain her composure.

Mayu Gyeom sighed wearily.

Then, releasing the energy from his sword, he spoke to me.

“Yes, I made a fool of myself. I’m utterly ashamed. After the female officer died, I simply couldn’t bear it. I’ll apologize to Miss Tang. But I’m quite drunk now. Could you help me move her?”

His expression was utterly heartbreaking.

It seemed as though he had been pushed to the absolute limit, with no other choice.

But he didn’t know.

That the reason he was broken wasn’t because of Lady Ma, and that I knew Lady Dang wasn’t acting like this because she was drunk.

He had already reached a point of no return.

Realizing this, I leapt forward and shouted.

Bang!

“Master Ma has mastered the Blood Sect’s martial arts! Master Ma has defected to the Blood Sect!”

Startled, Ma Yugyeom immediately leapt after me.

“You bastard!”

His face, glimpsed as he turned back, was twisted like a demon’s.

But I only sneered and increased my speed.

Even Sak Muheun, with over seventy years of cultivation, couldn’t catch me. There was no way he could follow.

“Mayu-gyeom betrayed us! He’s mastered the Blood Sect’s martial arts!”

Shouting this as I flew away, I vanished from his sight as soon as the distance stretched between us, immediately hiding my body in the shade of a tree.

Moments later, Mayu Gyeom roared in fury as he flew past me.

“You bastard!”

Escaping to the Thirteenth Division would be no trouble at all, but I couldn’t leave Lady Tang behind.

After all, wild beasts, bandits, or even Mayu Gyeom, now changed, might return and carry her off.

The moment he vanished ahead, I immediately leapt back toward Lady Tang.

She was still crying and muttering incoherently, unable to regain her senses.

“Tang Ye-eun belongs to Mayu Gyeom. Tang Ye-eun…”

His heart sank.

It seemed as though she had already fallen victim to the Soul-Capturing Technique.

He urgently addressed her.

“That’s not true! Dang Ye-eun belongs to Dang Ye-eun herself!”

She paused, then echoed my words.

“Dang Yeo-eun… belongs to Dang Yeo-eun?”

It worked.

It seemed it wasn’t completely over yet.

I hurriedly added.

“That’s right! Young Master Dang belongs to Young Master Dang himself! He belongs to no one else!”

She repeated blankly.

“I am mine…”

But then she burst into tears and said.

“That can’t be. I shouldn’t have been born. I don’t deserve it. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being born, I’m sorry for living, Mother.”

What on earth….

Her sudden rambling left me utterly bewildered.

That was when it happened.

I sensed movement in the woods behind us.

Mayu Gyeom was returning.

“Damn it!”

As expected, having lost my trail, he seemed to have come back for her.

I quickly scooped her up and leapt away.

Mayu Gyeom, who had just burst out of the woods, spotted me and shouted.

“You bastard! Stop! Give her back!”

“Handing her back is exactly what I’m going to do!”

I shouted inwardly as I flew through the air.

It seemed the chase was starting all over again.

And this time, I was carrying her, unable to hide.

This chase was disadvantageous from the start.

If only she had the sense to climb uphill, it would have been better, but running while carrying her was just too awkward.

He simply couldn’t pick up speed.

On top of that, she kept crying and muttering in my arms.

“I shouldn’t have been born. I don’t deserve to live.”

Whether this was because of Mayugyeom or something else, I couldn’t tell, but I knew for certain that I couldn’t just leave her like this.

So, even though it was already difficult, I had to keep whispering to her.

“No. You were born with worth. You are worthy of love. You are a person who deserves to live.”

But now, it seemed my words no longer reached her. She wept, her mind lost, repeating the same words over and over.

“I’m sorry for being born, I’m sorry for living, Mother. Please forgive me.”

Moreover, Mayu Gyeom was chasing after me, his face like it was about to shoot fire from his eyes.

“Seon-woo! Stop right there!”

I was flustered and disoriented.

Most of my recent memories seemed to be of running away from someone.

Running from the Black Chamber, running from the assassins of the Martial Alliance, and now even from Mayu Gyeom.

I wondered why things had been like this lately.

But even so, it wasn’t hopeless enough to despair.

At least not as hopeless as my past life.

The distance between me and Mayu Gyeom wasn’t closing right now. Of course, given the gap in our martial prowess and my heavier weight, it was likely to close soon, but at least not yet.

So now was the time to focus on Lady Dao.

I thought desperately as I ran.

What should I say?

What could I say to win back Lady Tang?

Only one thing came to mind.

Ming Shixian.

The very man who loved Lady Tang more than his own life.

Hearing Myeong Sahyeon’s story had deeply shocked me.

Even when I retraced every memory from my past life, there had never been a single instance where someone possessed by the Blood Cult stopped acting of their own volition or committed suicide.

Not even lovers, masters and disciples, or family members.

It was utterly unimaginable.

Just how strong-willed must a person be? Just how deep must their love be to achieve that?

Therefore, if Lady Tang’s heart was like his, I felt certain she could return.

“Lady Tang! Think of Ming Shaoxian, the former deputy squad leader! Think of what kind of man he was, how deeply he loved you!”

Then, there was a real reaction.

She stopped muttering and called his name.

“Sihyeon…”

“Yes, do you remember? Ming Shixian, Deputy Chief Ming, was a man so admirable even I, a man, admired him. And Lady Tang, you were the one he loved. He loved you so much he would have given his life for you. You are that valuable. If you cannot trust yourself, trust him. Trust the self he loved so deeply.”

It worked.

She stopped self-harming and began sobbing while calling his name. It wasn’t the forced sobbing from earlier, as if held back by something; it was natural sobbing.

“Sahyeon, Sahyeon…”

I kept whispering into her ear as she wept.

“It’s okay. Everything will be alright. You are a valuable person. You are more precious and wonderful than anyone else.”

After whispering like that for quite a while, she finally stopped muttering and seemed to fall into a peaceful sleep.

It seemed one problem was finally solved.

So now, only the next problem remained to be solved.

“I’ll kill you, Seonwoo!”

It was the problem of Mayu Gyeom, the ultimate master relentlessly pursuing me, and my steadily declining stamina.

I wasn’t sure if they could be considered separate problems, but the more serious one was definitely my stamina issue.

I’d exhausted myself running while constantly talking to Lady Dang.

Originally, I planned to lure him toward the Poison Forest.

I’d benefited greatly from poison during my last battle with Saek Muhun, and since I always carried the Poison-Repelling Fragrance, I figured entering the Poison Forest would allow me to shake him off.

But at this pace, reaching the Poison Forest would require at least an hour of running.

And I absolutely did not have the stamina left to do that.

I had no choice.

I had to make a choice before my strength faded further.

Either abandon her and flee, or face him, a peak-level master, in combat.

Suddenly, I wished I had recreated the trap I used against Sakmuhun.

But regretting it now was useless.

He whispered one last thing into Dang Ye-eun’s ear, then fled, setting her down on a flat rock he spotted.

Turning back, I saw Mayu Gyeom flying toward me with a face twisted like a demon, his sword streaking toward me.

A blue sword aura flickered like hellfire upon the blade.

I licked my lips and caught Mokrang’s sword wave.

“Alright, let’s see what you’ve got!”

Then, leaping toward him, I drew my sword like a bolt of lightning.

Shwaaah!

A violet blade aura rippled over the sword blade that burst from its scabbard.