MTL NOVEL Chapter 14
So So Namgung could not comprehend the current situation at all.
The first time she heard the sound of a mask falling from above, she was purely delighted.
Even though she knew it was impossible, even though she felt it was utterly irrational at her very core, there was a futile hope that he was going to answer her plea. This hope was what made her lift her head.
But when she raised her head and saw Byul Rak’s face—
It was none other than Namgung Cheolbin, the person she loved most in the world, longed for, and had unresolved feelings for.
She blinked, thinking she might’ve seen wrong, but it remained the same.
Though his hair color had changed, the faintly nostalgic blue eyes, the cross-shaped scar on his jaw, and the large scar running from his right cheek to his neck were exactly the same.
As expected, she couldn’t utter a word.
Hadn’t she imagined reuniting with her older brother countless times?
She had imagined turning him away again. There had been fantasies too—on a handful of occasions—where she imagined him forgetting all his misfortunes and asking her to live together.
But when the moment arrived, unexpectedly, in a way she hadn’t anticipated—
“Ugh…”
She couldn’t speak a word.
After that, everything happened in a flash.
“…”
“…”
“…”
For a while, the suppressed righteous anger that Byul Rak, who had returned to being Namgung Cheolbin, endured, was matched by Namgung So So’s efforts to sort through her chaotic thoughts.
The mess of her mind only began to settle after Byul Rak had left.
Of course, it was only temporary.
“Was… Brother really Byul Rak all along…?”
When she thought about it, it wasn’t that strange.
If he and Byul Rak were the same person, it was natural that the madness that never appeared in anyone but him only happened to her with Namgung Cheolbin.
It made sense that Namgung Cheolbin came from the Taewon Jin Clan.
Sword Flower and her group had mentioned that they had passed through Anhui province.
It was plausible then that the Sword Flower’s entourage had taken in Namgung Cheolbin when he had been expelled from the Namgung family.
Even though his voice and hair color had changed, it was understandable if one thought of it as an effort to escape from “Namgung Cheolbin” and find a new life as “Byul Rak.”
Still, something nagged at her.
“…He said he’s changed.”
Namgung Cheolbin is trash.
That is an absolute truth agreed upon by everyone in the world.
There are theories that he was originally a man full of righteousness but underwent a transformation, and others that suggest he was a hypocrite from the start. But no one disputes that he is an evil person.
She was one of them and leaned toward the first theory.
Because the image of him she had seen up close during the war with the Blood Cult was definitely not fake.
Factually, despite his current fall from virtue, she believed he had gone mad after being stained too much by blood.
But…
“It was the same…”
His back when the Wang Sa faction attacked.
It was the same unyielding figure that had stood between her and the Wang Sa faction, wielding a broadsword to protect her, as if it were in the old days.
“It’s just like… the past…”
That back, so rare in this era, overflowed with righteousness and chivalry. It held no trace of corruption and was solely focused on “protection.”
“…They say he fell.”
She couldn’t understand it.
Protecting her? When his name had already fallen to the ground, why would he perform acts of righteousness?
At this point, there was no one who revered him anymore.
And it’s also not like she had any good feelings toward him. If anything, he brought up bad feelings.
No matter how much she thought about it, his actions that day couldn’t have been those of a “villain.”
Rather, his figure, who saved an entire sect without making a big fuss about it, resembled the old him who considered good deeds as a matter of course.
“Did the fallen person just get nostalgic for the past?”
Even without asking herself, she knew that wasn’t the case.
“Hah…”
Lately, she’d been out of her mind and hadn’t had the chance to think, but Namgung So So wasn’t someone who couldn’t distinguish right from wrong.
“It’s one of these two, isn’t it?”
The Namgung Cheolbin the world talks about as an evil person.
And the Namgung Cheolbin she saw today who was still good.
The answer was already there.
“Damn…!”
It was simply too sinful for her to admit it to herself.
If she admitted Namgung Cheolbin was actually a sage, she would be unable to breathe from guilt over what she said and did to him.
Yesterday’s memories had become clear again.
“Trash bastard, please cut that thing off. It’s dirty and disgusting.”
That was what she had said, what she spat out coldly at him when he had come looking to see his younger sister’s face, pale and chapped lips despite his swollen cheeks.
“Madwoman…”
Snap!
Namgung So So slapped herself.
Her head began to grow confused again.
An overwhelming sense of guilt raced around, setting her heart on fire.
To her older brother, the older brother who was unchanged by the world’s gossip.
To her older brother, who had endured unendurable loneliness and clung to a thin thread of hope to visit her.
And yet, she spat out such absurd words just for her convenience.
“Madwoman! Die! Please die!”
Snap!
“What am I going to do? Trash woman! How could you say those words?!”
Snap!
The impulse to stab her own heart and tear it apart immediately arose.
She wanted to unleash her self-disgust and disdain for herself without reservation.
But she stopped at a little self-harm, ironically driven by anger.
“…But.”
Anger at the absurd false rumors spread about him.
“Which scum…?”
No, this wasn’t a simple rumor.
Evidence, witnesses, and a verdict from the magistrate’s office.
This was not a conclusion derived from mere hearsay.
Someone had organized this to thoroughly isolate Namgung Cheolbin.
“Which… bastard did this?”
Her grip on the sword tightened again.
She needed to apologize to Namgung Cheolbin.
She should apologize by bowing to the ground, kneeling in repentance, and soaking the floor with her blood.
When enough red blood to overflow a river had flowed, she would have to say “I’m sorry” hundreds of times.
But there was something she had to do beforehand.
“Is the magistrate also in on it? Or…”
Namgung So So began to think.
The mind obsessed with her older brother was now directed toward whoever had framed him.
It didn’t take long for her to figure out where she needed to go.
“The evidence probably won’t be left behind.”
It had all been confiscated by the magistrate or otherwise disappeared.
“But there are witnesses.”
Namgung So So recalled Gwon Hwa of the Huangbao family, who had confessed to being slapped by Namgung Cheolbin while serving him alcohol.
There were plenty of other witnesses too.
Nangong Yexi, the cousin-child from Shanxi, who claimed to have lost her innocence to Namgung Cheolbin and accused him of pedophilia.
And more…
“Damn bastards.”
There were far too many to count.
But Namgung So So didn’t lose heart.
In fact, it was as if she’d found her life’s purpose after a long time, and vitality filled with righteous intent and anger overflowed within her.
“Adding them all up… A little over a hundred?”
If there were more people to find, and it took some time, that was fine.
Though she felt guilty about leaving the Hangan Sword Sect, nothing was more important than her brother right now.
“I’ll find out exactly what the truth is.”
And…
“I’ll bring their heads, and the head of whoever’s behind all this, and apologize for my sins.”
She had no intention of believing she deserved forgiveness for saying such things to him.
But she had to apologize.
Because… this wasn’t atonement but sentencing.
Leaving the panicking Namgung So So behind, I returned to my room, where Jin Gayoung was still unconscious.
Although we somehow emerged victorious, it felt clear that Namgung So So was stronger than Jin Gayoung.
“Ugh…”
Jin Gayoung frowned and let out a groan.
The martial arts duel with Namgung So So must have been fierce.
I caught her wrist and channeled my vital energy into her through the inner meridians, and her complexion soon improved.
Whooom…
As I slowly infused her with life force,
“A… Uncle?”
Jin Gayoung opened her drowsy eyes at some point and called out to me.
“Did you awaken?”
“What are you doing now…?”
“I’m infusing you with energy.”
“…”piiii.”
Looking somewhat dissatisfied, she puffed her cheeks and turned her head away from me.
Regardless of how she felt, I remained focused on my task, and at some moment, Jin Gayoung was the first to speak.
“…If you were planning to leave me, why are you giving me this energy?”
“Are you angry?”
“Yes, I’m angry. What did you think? That I’d favor that Seven Flowers title over you?”
“Am I such a person to you?”
“That’s obvious…! No, never mind. Let’s stop talking.”
Jin Gayoung briefly spoke but then turned her entire body away from me, seemingly even angrier.
Even though one arm remained grasped in mine.
There was nothing I could appropriately say, so I kept quiet and continued to infuse her with energy.
It’s not like I had anything to say to her about her being angry at me.
In fact, through the flow of energy, I already knew she wasn’t truly angry.
Even though her energy wasn’t precisely stable.
“…Uncle.”
Jin Gayoung called out without looking at me.
Her voice trembled as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment.
“To me… You are more important than anything in the world.”
“Is that so?”
“I don’t want you to go anywhere. I don’t even want to imagine it…”
“I won’t go anywhere.”
“You were about to leave…”
“But now that you’ve told me how much you care… I will never leave.”
“…You’re bad.”
Jin Gayoung’s words wavered even more.
She was truly crying now.
The turmoil in her heart wasn’t from anger but from sadness and relief.
“People’s hearts… Huff… Why do you play with them like this… and huff… Why do you sound so trustworthy?”
“…”
“You deceived me… Huff! You said you wouldn’t go anywhere and yet… and made such promises with Be Hua!”
“I’ve told you, I will never leave again.”
Whirrr!
Jin Gayoung turned to face me.
Her face was soaked with tears.
I had long since stopped channeling energy.
“Don’t go, don’t leave me. If you must go somewhere, take me with you. It’s not difficult, right?”
“Understood.”
“…Please.”
“Yes.”
Did her plea sound more like an order?
Her face resembled Namgung So So’s, yet it was different.
I understood that her tears and pleas were genuine because she truly cherished me.
“Absolutely, I’ll never leave you, I swear by heaven and earth.”
“…Hehe.”
Even her foolish-looking tears and laughter warmed my heart.