Try Living Well Without Me

With a carefree swing of her sword, Jin Gayoung glanced sideways.

There, her idol was wreaking havoc, someone she had never forgotten for even a single moment.

Or could it even be called havoc?

With his left hand behind his back, not a single bead of sweat on his brow, he used only his right hand.

Amazingly, it was this composed movement alone that was driving back hundreds of bandits.

‘That’s right. You haven’t changed one bit.’

The twenty bodyguards were all engaged in one-on-one combat with their respective opponents.

Jin Gayoung clashed swords with Jang Pyeong, the master of Chilakchae.

Her idol was alone taking on all the other bandits.

Swoosh!

Renowned as “Sword Flower,” though she hadn’t yet entered the ranks of the Nine Dragons and Seven Flowers but was considered as a future candidate, Jin Gayoung faced Jang Pyeong.

A mere bandit leader like Jang Pyeong could never be a match for her.

“Kgh! Y-you witch is using sorcery…!”

“Listening to accusations of sorcery from the righteous is a new experience.”

“Ghh…!”

Thwack!

“Kukh!”

“Die already. Besides, uncle, I want to take a better look at you.”

Piercing through Jang Pyeong’s heart with her sharp sword blade, she gazed at her idol with shining eyes.

She had grown thinner, her hair color had changed, but he looked exactly the same as when she had seen him as a child.

Bandits who had been struck by his palm were sent flying in all directions.

Though it was just a single palm strike, the depth within was so profound that it was impossible to even begin to measure.

In the blink of an eye, he was delivering dozens of these strikes, protecting her and the rest of the escort.

Just like the time, ten years ago, when he had saved her from the twelve patriarchs of the Blood Cult.

‘Why don’t you change at all?’

Watching as her idol dispatched the bandits with each strike, Jin Gayoung superimposed memories of the past onto him.

Back then, it wasn’t such trifling third-rate bandits but the twelve patriarchs of the Blood Cult, comparable to the Twelve Patriarchs, who were the opponents.

She had been the sacrifice.

The regular sacrifice used by the Blood Cult members to offer to the Blood God.

‘There were hundreds of them back then.’

Engaged with twelve people.

Protecting hundreds of children.

It’s unimaginable how arduous the task must have been.

She, one of those children, had been tied up, powerless and naked, only able to watch as she does now.

For three whole days, he held back the Twelve Patriarchs until reinforcements arrived from Zhongyuan.

To be precise, the reinforcements were meaningless in the end.

After thirty-six full hours, he had defeated all twelve patriarchs alone.

Drenched in the blood of the patriarchs on his sword, and even more so with his own blood on his clothes, he freed her from her bindings and said something she would never forget.

“You’ve suffered enough. Rest easy. It’s all over now.”

And then, he took off the outer robe he was wearing and draped it over her.

‘That robe is still carefully kept in my room.’

Since that day, she had pushed herself to the brink of death every day, enduring rigorous training.

Someday, she vowed, she would save with her own hands the person who had saved hers.

Even if she couldn’t save him, at the very least, she wanted to follow in his footsteps of righteousness and justice.

But during that time, his reputation only grew higher as news of his deeds spread.

Stories like slaying the Blood Demon after a long war, or making a vast army of ten thousand horses retreat from Mount Shimwan with just a few words, halting the major confrontation between the righteous and evil factions.

Titles like ‘Sword Sage’, ‘One of the Five Greats of the World’, and ‘Master of the Great Southern Palace Family’ were thrown around.

Everyone looked up to and admired him.

She liked that.

She liked how the man who had saved her life, who she had never forgotten even for a moment, was spoken of by her friends.

She was pleased that her parents, relatives, teachers, and neighbors all praised and revered him.

But then…

‘Lustful Demon’, ‘Pedophile’, ‘Cannibal Demon’, ‘Demon Sect Member’.

Things about the man she had seen enduring tirelessly day and night, protecting children even as his body was torn to shreds, turned out to be absurdly false.

At first, she dismissed it as nonsense.

As malicious rumors spread by someone.

Her parents, friends, relatives, teachers, and neighbors all unanimously denounced him as a hypocrite with one voice.

Every time she opened her eyes, it was all she heard, and eventually, he fell from being a war hero, the Sword Sage, to someone despised by the world.

She didn’t want to believe it.

She didn’t want to believe those absurd, unfounded rumors.

But then ‘evidence’ appeared.

The investigating authorities had found evidence.

Of course, her faith and love weren’t shaken just because something considered irrefutable evidence came out.

Rather, it became a turning point where she decided if he had become a wicked man, then she would save him.

Not long after, she incurred the wrath of her uncle over illicit dealings and became a victim of similar false rumors.

Being called a courtesan who had sold herself to the elders of the Martial Arts Alliance to obtain kung fu skills.

That’s when she realized.

Evidence could be easily fabricated.

‘I see, you haven’t changed at all, sir.’

Only after going through a similar experience did she begin to see the truth behind the events.

The oddly meticulous uncovering of the Sword Sage’s evil deeds.

And his explanations, always filled with sincerity though lacking evidence.

Of course, understanding the truth didn’t mean there was anything she could do.

After all, someone like her, just a late-stage martial artist, had no position to help Sword Sage Namgung Cheolbin even after his downfall.

So, she waited for a later time.

When he finally retires or when he grows weary of the world and decides to leave it, she would ensure his safety.

Just as he had saved her.

She would save him.

Though she didn’t expect the opportunity to come so soon.

“Well, it’s taking a while, isn’t it?”

Watching the ongoing fight between the Sword Sage and the group of bandits, Jin Gayoung quietly murmured to herself.

Even if the Sword Sage were using only one arm, this fight shouldn’t have been dragging on so long. The bandits were holding out unusually well.

Focusing her inner energy, she examined the battlefield and understood why.

‘The numbers always seemed off, and I noticed something was amiss, but did they come prepared?’

The two auras she felt coming from deeper within the group.

At least first-class, perhaps even top-notch martial artists.

Ordinary bandits couldn’t emanate such a presence.

‘It’s the Green Forest gang.’

Still, even being the Green Forest, it wasn’t something she worried about too much.

After all, the man fighting before her eyes for her protection was the strongest she knew.

Look at them now—these two warriors are just barely breathing amidst a sea of bandits falling like autumn leaves.

They probably won’t last long and will soon throw their hands up in surrender.

Sure enough, unable to hold out any longer, they shouted.

“Silence!!”

It was a deafening cry loud enough to shake the forest.

Whistle! Thud!

Two figures leapt from amongst the bandits and landed before the mysterious swordsman known as ‘Byul Rak.’

The two men performed a formal bow and made their inquiries.

“I am Yang Gu of the Green Forest. This gentleman is Go Cheonseu. We might be embarrassingly known in the martial world as the Flying Wind Demon and the Blood Tooth Demon.”

“So, you were the famous Seven Demons.”

Tension surged due to Byul Rak’s harsh, metallic voice, causing them to sweat profusely.

“May we inquire about the honorable name of the departed?”

He gave a somewhat awkward smile and responded.

“Haha, I’m not old enough to be called ‘departed.'”

“And may we ask your name, sir?”

“The name… my name…”

After a brief moment of contemplation, he smiled and replied.

Pure, untainted, and yet tinged with an overall aura of gloom and weariness.

“I am known as Byul Rak. I’ve lost my surname.”

*

“What, exactly, are you trying to accomplish?”

Yoo Soeun’s sharp voice echoed through the hall.

At the sound of her voice, Namgung Bin, Cheolbin’s younger brother and the current acting head of the Namgung house, gave a sly smile.

A nasty, serpentine grin.

“What are you talking about, Brother-in-law?”

“Do you even know? Didn’t we agree? To drive him away, not to kill!”

“But I must ask, why didn’t you go ahead and kill when we had such a golden opportunity?!”

“Eeek…!”

They were conflicting over the ‘Decapitation of Namgung Cheolbin’ matter that had arisen during the morning’s Namgung Conference.

“Even if agreements are important… where in today’s Central Plains martial community is someone who can stop him? If Cheolbin were to rise in rebellion, who could possibly stop him? At the very least, it would result in the massacre of hundreds of thousands.”

“Stop spouting nonsense. That’s all speculative.”

“Would you ignore his track record until now?”

“Urk…!”

Yoo Soeun bit her lower lip.

A thin line of red blood trickled down from the corner of her mouth.

“Just admit it honestly. You still have feelings for him, don’t you?”

“…Preposterous. Who could ever like such a human filth.”

“Then why did you oppose his execution? You even shed tears while opposing it, causing the attending guests to look rather awkward.”

“No matter what, execution wasn’t necessary! Though he committed unspeakable horrors… because of him, tens of thousands of lives were saved! That fact remains unchanged! You and I are among those tens of thousands!”

“That’s all in the past. What matters is the present. No matter how great a hero Cheolbin was, he’s nothing more than a demon now. Are you going to let more victims emerge?”

“Don’t draw conclusions about things that haven’t even happened.”

“We have sufficient evidence. Murders of civilians, rapes, tax evasion, and national treasury invasion. Immediately, upon receiving your approval, the government will seize him and impose the dismemberment punishment.”

“Shut up! If it weren’t for him, none of these things would exist. And now, he’s lost everything he built as the Sword Sage. What else do you plan to take away from him after he saved the world?”

“He should have had at least one leg broken to make him a cripple. Or marked on his forehead.”

“That’s enough. It’s been decided here. The connection between that trash and the Great Namgong Family ends here. Stop speaking any further.”

“So…”

Namgong Bin’s thick hand moved like a snake and landed atop Yoo Soeun’s shoulder.

Startled, she struck his hand away, prompting a sly smile to creep onto his face.

“Now, let’s talk about marrying you after the brother’s death, shall we?”

“…!”

Swoosh!

In the blink of an eye, Yoo Soeun’s sword was at Namgong Bin’s neck.

The icy blade against his throat made him instinctively gulp down his saliva.

His foot stepped back one pace.

“Don’t misunderstand. Even if you dispose of the garbage head, that doesn’t mean you can take his position.”

“And if you dare to lay a hand on me again… just imagine what I’ll do. I’ll separate your pig-like head from your body.”

“Ah, understood. But your swordplay is getting excessively aggressive. You might really end up killing someone.”

“More like killing pigs.”

“God, you’re too intense.”

“…What did you just say…?”

“Nothing. I’m done here, so I’ll leave. Have some control.”

Namgong Bin then left the scene, licking his lips subtly.

Yoo Soeun, standing there rigidly like a statue for quite a while, eventually left for Namgung Su-a’s room, her daughter being the first person she thought of.

The door was slightly ajar.

Peering inside, she could see Namgung Su-a sobbing while hugging a blanket in the dark.

“Uh… uh… snif…”

Perhaps she’s grieving for her father who she had to distance herself from?

“Huh… Why is this happening…?”

Yoo Soeun couldn’t see Su-a’s face, but she could tell how long Su-a had been crying from the moisture filling the room.

“Why did he have to meet other women? If only he didn’t, we could have lived together… We wouldn’t have had to separate…”

The pillow was buried inside the blanket, suggesting she was clinging to it as she cried.

Just like when Su-a was little and used to imagine the blanket as her far-off father in the battlefield, hugging it to sleep.

“Even so… going forward, you have to live properly… uh…”

“Still… when he dies, he shouldn’t go to hell, right?… He must repent while alive, so that after death, he can rest peacefully…”

“…”

“Uh… uh… snif…”

Yoo Soeun quietly closed Su-a’s door without making a sound and stepped out.

Not going to hell after death…

Those words lingered strangely in her heart.

Was it because she’d been through too many tiring events since morning that she felt dizzy?

Yoo Soeun wobbled and entered her bedroom, a place she hadn’t been in for several months, treating it almost like forbidden territory.

“Mm…”

Clutching her head and collapsing onto the bed, she instinctively leaned on her other hand toward the bedside—where her husband had frequently sat.

“I wonder if he’s okay…”

During the Namgung Conference this morning,

She feared that Namgung Cheolbin would be lynched by all the members of the Namgung family if he stayed, so she deliberately hurled harsh words at him.

Deeply cutting words, which were part of the plan, causing others to ostracize him before the plan came into fruition.

Because, despite her hatred for him to the point she wanted to kill him, she didn’t want him to be hurt too much in the end.

“I didn’t go too far with my words, did I…”

Trying not to worry, but given that she passed on the tender gene to Su-a, it was inevitable for her to worry.

“No, why am I worried about that waste who’s cozying up to other women? About the madman who ruined countless young lives with his cannibalistic behavior…”

Despite trying to look away,

“But… he was a fundamentally good person.”

Once the thoughts began, they continued unbroken.

“Always selflessly giving, and though he outwardly seemed gruff, he was really kind and gentle…”

That’s what she liked about him.

Because of those steadfast qualities, she had once wished to cradle his child in her arms.

People change, they say. He changed.

From a loving husband to a philandering one.

At first, she didn’t believe it.

After all, rumors usually contain falsehoods.

Even when the evidence came out and his crimes were confirmed, she didn’t believe it.

Because she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes.

When everyone cursed him and turned their backs on him,

She firmly believed in him.

Because the Namgung Cheolbin she knew was absolutely incapable of such actions, she trusted his explanations.

She believed his reasons for staying indoors so often—secret charity or eradicating remnants of the Blood Cult—even though there was no evidence for these acts, simply because he said so.

However, on a night when he returned very late with his younger brother, drunk and boisterous, her trust began to crack.

Chomp-.

Just thinking about that moment still made her furious.

More blood trickled from her mouth.

The hurt wasn’t just slight anymore; it was deeply painful.

“Ah… Damn it. I have no right to lecture Su-a.”

To be concerned for the man who proudly called her his wife with the red lipstick marks on his cheek…

Her feelings of revulsion towards her morning self, who had still harbored lingering feelings for him, were soaring.

“…Damn woman.”

“Maybe I should have given him even harsher scolding.”

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