Chapter 45: Heartless (4)
Translator: hwarang
Editor: Klaurem
Surprised by the news that Song Hwa Rin visited their house, Im Ae Hwa rushed to the guest house.
At the guest house, Song Hwa Rin was there waiting.
“Rin-Ah! Why are you here?”
“Have you been well?”
“I am sorry, but Dan-ee is not home today.”
“I came to see you today, mother.”
“Me? Why me? Let’s sit down and talk.”
The two people sat across each other and the maids brought out some tea.
Im Ae Hwa stared at Song Hwa Rin’s face in silence. She still had signs of swelling.
“I am sorry.”
“No. Rather, I should be the one apologizing.”
“You?”
“I am sorry for making all of you worried because of our problems. I am truly sorry.”
Im Ae Hwa was a bit puzzled by this situation. Aside from liking Song Hwa Rin and wanting to make her their daughter-in-law, she knew that Song Hwa Rin had a feisty att.i.tude. For her to visit their house like this was a bit different than norm. Nonetheless Im Ae Hwe just wanted the two of them do be happy.
She thought there was might have been some sort of misunderstanding when Song Hwa Rin came over just to visit her.
“Did something happen?”
Song Hwa Rin smiled and answered, “Dan-ee said something like this. ‘I grew up after getting beaten up by you.’ Now, after getting beaten up by him I think I grew up a bit”
“Hahaha”
Im Ae Hwa was smiling happily. Im Ae Hwe was able to tell what kind of changes Song Hwa Rin was experiencing.
To be honest, Song Hwa Rin hesitated many times before coming here. She even thought about going back when she arrived at their door, but she didn’t. Aside from the divorce situation with Byuk Lee Dan, she wanted to tell Im Ae Hwe that she was doing fine. This was because she was worried her mother-in-law was worrying about her.
“Rin-Ah”
“Yes”
Im Ae Hwa said, “You can do things slowly. See everything that you want to see, do everything that you want to do. And there are bound to be times when you go down a wrong path. But it’s alright.”
Since that was a privilege only the youth have.
She was reminiscent of her youth; her youth that had flown past her as fast as a throwing knife. Back then, even when someone had given her advice such as to ‘slow down’, she’d still been in a hurry. She’d been in a hurry to get older. She wanted to know what awaited her as she got older.
Seeing the eyes of Im Ae Hwa grow brighter, Song Hwa Rin said calmly, “Can I visit you occasionally?”
Im Ae Hwa leaned into her ear and whispered, “You can live in our house starting today if you want.”
Im Ae Hwa laughed as Song Hwa Rin got quiet and her face grew brighter.
Song Hwa Rin thought it was a good day to visit. Even though she was thinking of Byuk Lee Dan, she quickly put that thought aside.
“Should we have another cup of tea?”
With a better mood Song Hwa Rin answered with a smile, “Yes!”
The next morning, Old Man Flower Fan walked into the forest.
It looked as though he was casually enjoying his morning walk but he arrived at the meeting point at the same time as yesterday.
The man who he usually met had his back turned looking into the forest.
Old Man Flower Fan approached him and asked, “What are you staring at?”
It was the moment when he took couple of more steps.
That moment the Old Man Flower Fan froze in place feeling threatened.
Swooosh!
The man who had his back turned threw couple of throwing knives.
Old Man Flower Fan tilted his body to dodge those attacks. But he had no room to breathe after dodging the throwing knives because I slashed my blade as fast as speed of light.
Shiiing!
The Heavenly Origin Sword cut through the air, aimed at his heart.
Clangg!
Old man Flower Fan quickly deflected my sword with his fan. The effectiveness of his fan that was enhanced with his ki was put on full display. His prowess showed with this single clash how, with his fan alone, he’d been able to withstand multiple a.s.sa.s.sination attempts.
Most people’s blades would’ve been broken by this, but if they were a bit stronger than average they would’ve let go of their blade, and if they were stronger than that they would’ve missed their mark completely.
But I, as well as my blade, shouldn’t be compared to others.
Even though my blade had missed its intended target, it still buried itself inside of his body.
Stab!
Old Man Flower Fans’s shoulder was split open and blood gushed out.
Step, Step, Step.
Without even checking the status of his shoulder, he swung his fan around and quickly retreated a couple of steps.
Others would have used this opportunity to pressure him but I didn’t.
He may have looked like he was just aimlessly retreating, but I’d seen his footwork clearly.
This was a trap.
By pretending that he was in danger, it was his ploy to bait his enemy.
If he was given the chance, he could have turned the situation around.
A dozen steps away, Old Man Flower Fan stopped his bleeding by pressing the pressure points around the wound.
“Who are you?”
“Have you forgotten already? We just met yesterday. Don’t we usually meet here?”
Although I was wearing the clothes of the man that I killed, I’d expected him to figure something out.
All I’d wanted was enough distance between us that I could surprise him. Luckily, I’d been successful with my attack and had managed to stab his shoulder.
I was confident enough to face him head on, but there was no need to do something so dangerous. He wasn’t someone worthy enough for me to fight head on. It would’ve been best if I had ended his life with my previous attack, but I couldn’t.
“He must have died.”
“So will you,”
I wanted to keep him alive a bit longer so that I could question him, but I pressed my attack.
In a battle between high-level experts, the most important things were gaining the advantage. If you lose the advantage you’ll be pressured and be on defense until you lose.
I started pressuring him; I wasn’t too quick nor too rash with my attacks. The best way to gain the advantage was to chain your attacks into a flawless set so that it will make force your enemy into blocking all of them and raise the pressure.
With every clash between us, sparks of ki flew out.
If it was an ordinary steel fan, even when infused with ki it still would have been ripped to shreds under the attack of the Heavenly Origin Sword. However, his fan wasn’t ordinary. The reason that Old Man Flower Fan had been able to survive for so long was because of his weapon as well as the amount of ki he’d acc.u.mulated during his life.
Old Man Flower Fan could be considered one level below Si Gon, but this was this was only taking into consideration head-to-head fights. In situations which called for surprise attacks, Old Man Flower Fan might be one step ahead of Si Gon. The reason why I hated old experts was because I knew fully well how dangerous they were.
If they showed even the slightest opening you must be prepared for death.
Why?
Because by them showing their opening, it was equivalent to you showing your opening.
No matter how much pressure he was put under, he was still a worthy opponent.
Flap!
The sound of him repeatedly opening and closing his fan was heard. Each time we clashed, Old Man Flower Fan revealed a fw of his techniques. However, after some time, his face darkened. He knew that he was losing this battle slowly.
Slash!
This time I was able to cut his arm and blood spilled everywhere. It might have looked like a deep wound, but I knew that it was a light wound.
But this injury shook Old Man Flower Fan’s concentration since he was injured while he was on the defense.
Flaapppp!!!
Through his fan, the Old Man Flower Fan released his killing intent. It was his hidden trump card.
From his fan, few throwing knives barely grazed my face. And the price for missing his target was severe.
Slash!!!
My sword cut off his hand.
“AHHHHH!!!”
This was the first time that he screamed.
He was now in a defenseless state since his fan was on the ground along with his hand.
Slash!!!
I cut into his side.
“Kuuaahhh!!!”
After crying out in pain, Old Man Flower Fan stumbled and fell down. This victor was decided.
“Please! Please Wait!”
He was grabbing onto his wrist. However blood was already flowing through his hand and his side, dying his clothes scarlet.
He should have waited for a better opportunity to use his trump card, but he chose to use it too soon. There was bound to be an opening after using a big attack. This was why I’d held back from using my Ashura Soul Chasing Sword Art.
“…Let me live. If you let me live I‘ll do anything. Who hired you? I’ll pay twice, no, five-times that. I will pay you five-times and if you kill the person who hired you I will give you ten-times the original amount. I can promise you this.”
Hearing his offers, I calmly replied.
“You have such a strong desire to live even though you are so old.”
“You can say anything you want. But I don’t want to die.”
“Have you even asked who hired me?”
“Who is it?”
“The person who hired me is already dead. You killed them already; back in Jae Nam.”
Old Man Flower Fan made a strange expression when he heard this.
Stab!
I stabbed him in the chest.
“This is revenge for the child that you killed.”
The moment I twisted my sword, Old Man Flower Fan cried in pain.
Then I quickly withdrew the weapon and stabbed him on the other side of his chest.
“And this is revenge for the parents.”
I twisted my blade, and he screamed for mercy.
But he still couldn’t let go of his desire to live.
“Please…. let me live.”
“Is your old life so valuable? To kill even little children, you wanted power that much?”
“…I will live a good life from now on. So please…”
I took out the blade from his chest.
I turned around and walked away.
After ten or so steps I turned around and looked at him.
He struggled to get up. He was bowing his head since he believed I was letting him live.
“…Thank you. I will... never forget… this grace that you have shown me.”
He would’ve never expected my next response.
“Didn’t I tell you that if you live like that it will not end well? I warned you to live your life in silence.”
He looked befuddled. Was it because it was his last moment? Or was it because he took my last response to heart?
He remembered when, and who said this before. He remembered hearing it a long time ago, from the Mengju, when he’d been denied a position as a physician for the Murim Alliance.
“That’s something that Chun Ha Jin said to me. But how do you know that?”
When he had this, his eyes were wide open. However, my sword raced towards him.
Shiinnng!!!
Booooomm!!!
After the usage of my sword stance, the area around Old Man Flower Fan exploded
This was the third technique of Asura Soul Chasing Sword Art, the Nothingness Sword Stance.
Old Ma Flower Fan was blown into pieces and scattered everywhere.
Drop! Drop! Drop!
Pieces of distorted flesh fell down, along with dirt and rocks.
The area itself had been blown away.
Drop!
A piece of shattered metal fell below my foot. This was Old Man Flower Fan’s fan. It disappeared from the world along with its master.
“Rest in h.e.l.l.”
After coldly saying these words, I turned around. Through the giant pine trees, the clear sky could be seen.
Somewhere far up there a child must be sleeping peacefully in her grandmother’s arms.
‘Child, I wish you happiness In your next life.’
“Old Man Flower Fan, who left yesterday, still hasn’t come back.”
Ma Jung Soo was surprised at this unexpected news from Si Gon. This had never happened before. He knew well that Old Man Flower Fan was person who followed a routine. He usually never deviated from his routine.
“Have you looked around?”
“We sent some men to find him…but he couldn’t be found.”
“He must’ve had some sudden appointments.”
Ma Jung Soo paused for a moment.
“Could he have...?”
Si Gon who was thinking the same thing with a strange look on his face.
Ma Jung Soo quickly got out of his seat.
“Let’s go to his room.”
The two people quickly entered the Old Man Flower Fan’s room.
They searched his closet and wardrobe. However, all of Old Man Flower Fan’s belongings were gone.
After receiving the order from Byuk Lee Dan, Jung Yeo had taken care of it.
“He already left!”
After staring blankly for a while Ma Jung Soo screamed, “That son of a! The one who stole from the vault was that old weasel!”
“That’s what it looks like.”
Si Gon didn’t say any alternative possibility, as he’d been humiliated by Old Man Flower Fan. Since the evidence was clear, why would he risk his life defending the old traitor? Instead, he started looking for evidence to prove it.
In contrast, Ma Jung So was in a state of doubt. He didn’t believe that someone like Old Man
Flower Fan would risk his life for a couple of Nyangs.
Si Gon suddenly yelled, “Look here!”
He moved one of the tables to reveal something dropped beneath it.
“These are?”
“The decorations that were placed on the Heavenly Origin Sword. It seems like some of them broke off after hitting the table since he left in such a hurry.”
These were the decorations that Byuk Lee Dan had collected while he was disguising the Heavenly Origin Sword.
Jung Yeo had spilled it in secret while cleaning up the belongings of Old Man Flower Fan.
Rather than providing concrete evidence, it was better to leave little crumbs here and there to feed their doubts.
If they weren’t discovered now, I could’ve ordered Jung Yeo to give it to them later, saying that one of the maids had found it while cleaning.
Ma Jung Soo didn’t make a rash decision. He wanted to find more concrete evidence to determine whether or not Old man Flower Fan was the true culprit or if he was framed..
“First find this old fox first! Hurry!”
“Yes!”
“And make sure none of this gets out!”
“Of course.”
Si Gon quickly left the room. Since he was someone who usually kept quiet, Ma Jung Soo didn’t worry about him.
If Old Man Flower Fan did betray them, and if his father found out, then this would become a major problem.
If it was stolen from someone else, it might’ve been different, but he would be humiliated because he’d have been backstabbed by his own men. No matter who caused this mess, he was going to take care of this silently.
When Ma Jung Soo turned his head towards the window he was deeply surprised.
“Aigooo!”
The mysterious woman was looking into the room. He was more surprised because this was after telling Si Gon to keep it silent.
‘F*cking B*tch! You f*cking scared me!’
He wanted to say these words, but he held them down since she was someone his father had sent.
Without a word the woman disappeared like a ghost.
“No one knows anything! Don’t you dare open your mouth!”
Whether she heard what he’d said or not, she was gone.
Boom!
Ma Jung s...o...b..oke the table
“Sh*t! Son of a!”
Nothing was going his way.