Book 14 Chapter 10

Awakened Silver Lily

"…for example…is……."

"…Un…you!"

"…is…so…me!"

"…is…Sojae……!"

Eunsulan floated in a strange sense of floating. She couldn't tell if she was in a dream or in reality.

He heard voices calling to him from somewhere. Oddly enough, none of the voices were those of the people he had come from; they were the voices of the people he had traveled to as an investigator, people he would never have gotten to know. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

'Where am I…….'

His body was as heavy as lead, and he could barely lift a finger. All around her was a pitch-black darkness that made it impossible to discern the heavens and the earth. She was abandoned in a space where she doubted there was a heaven and earth in the first place, sinking into an endless abyss as if her body were an anchor for a ship.

"Am I never going to wake up?

Suddenly, Galhyo-bong's face flashed before my eyes, and I remembered the hopelessness and bitterness I felt when I lost him.

"Would I be happy if I never woke up?

If she wakes up here, she'll have to live without him again.

'Yeah, that might actually make me happier. I'll never have to taste the loss of absolute emptiness again.

It was an irresistible temptation.

'Yeah, that might be more comfortable…….'

It was then that she slowly closed her eyes, surrendering herself completely to the darkness.

"Silver…so…me!"

There was a voice shaking her awake through the mists of darkness, through the swamps of the abyss, and it was the voice that had called to her most desperately of all the voices that had called to her.

I had a picture in my mind of a man who was always neat, well-groomed, polite, and eager to do everything. It was a beautiful thing, the way he always pushed himself to be the best he could be. And then I remembered that there was another side of him that he showed me. What was it? Suddenly, my heart swells in my chest and tears well up in my eyes. He was desperate. A heart that must not be forgotten.

'…protects…keeps…her…life…….'

I couldn't remember exactly what it was. But I did know that whatever it was, I needed to remember it.

'…wh…….'

And she slowly opened her eyes.

The sky was high and clear as an autumn sky should be. The sun was scattering dazzling shards of light, enlivening the earth, and a breeze from the blue sky was dancing coolly, swaying the branches of the mysterious red plum tree, blooming out of season. It was an afternoon when everything seemed peaceful and relaxed.

"Huh?"

The first to recognize it was Bi Ryuyeon, who was strolling idly through the Hongmae Valley. The next to sense it was Na Yerin, who happened to be in his vicinity. Of course, neither of them had committed the immoral act of strolling together and turning men's clothes inside out; they just happened to be near each other. Besides, Bi Ryuyeon and Na Yerin had different companions.

The aura suddenly appeared as if it had fallen from the sky, and its location was the entrance to the Hongmae Valley.

Na Yerin couldn't help but be surprised. Her eyes recognized the aura of a person who had passed through the entrance of the Hongmae Valley and entered the Valley. It was inevitable that her gaze would shift.

"What is it, this sense?"

I couldn't believe it. To have such a commanding presence at such a young age…….

Creepy!

Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine. Her slender shoulders shuddered. Her complexion pale as someone about to collapse.

A chill ran down my spine, followed by an unbearable wave of nausea. Suddenly, darkness rushed before his retinas. Thousands of sagals, crawling out of a dark abyss of swirling chaos, darkened his mind.

An ominous black shadow that stirred deep in my chest. It was so deeply hidden in the darkness that it was impossible to determine its identity. But even without knowing it, he shuddered. Something, something unrecognizable on a conscious level, was constantly warning her.

Eek!

He stood directly in the path of a being who had entered the compound with an aura that stirred his nerves. He was surprised, but for different reasons than Na Yerin.

"This feeling is definitely in my memory!

Suddenly, the wound in my chest burned like a fire.

"Is that him?

I couldn't see the face directly, thanks to the bizarre metamorphosis, but sometimes what you see in your mind is more accurate than what you see with your eyes. But another question soon arises.

"But why is he here?

He may have been a dark horse, but he didn't have common sense buried in the back of his mind (whether others believed it or not). If you're an enemy and you think you're crazy, you're going to stick your head in a criminal's crotch and say, "I'm a jobber!" If he's right, you're in the middle of enemy territory.

'Is it my imagination? Or someone else?

He quickly denied this assumption. Even if they were the same, they couldn't possibly emit the same qi to this extent.

'Chet, if only Silver Sojae had a good memory…….'

But it was a false hope.

The black, dusky eyelashes of a beauty who could make your heart tremble just by looking at her fluttered in the breeze. At the same time, her picturesque eyebrows twitched, and finally, the black lake containing countless secrets gradually revealed itself. Silver Snow Lan, who had been losing her mind for an unknown reason, finally opened her eyes.

"Are you awake, Silver Sojae?"

"Where…, where are you?"

The princess, finally awake, looked around in bewilderment.

"Eunuch Sojae, this is Tianmu Peak Hongmae Valley, where the Volcano Covenant is being held, and this is the infirmary located within it. I'm glad you're awake."

Mo Yonghui, who had interrupted Bi Ryuyeon's turn, replied in a polite voice. Although she was trying to hide it, the traces of her anguish hadn't been completely washed away.

"Chunmubong……?"

And the fact that it was in Hongmae-gok, where the Hwasan Convention was being held? The causality of his situation was not easily understood. Was he possessed by a ghost? Or was he still wandering aimlessly in his dreams? Suddenly, everything became confusing. He realized that he was in Hwahumhyeon's…….

But her thoughts were interrupted.

"Oh, Mo Yong Confucius, what about that wound?"

Turning her gaze to Mo Yonghui, Eun Seolan asked in a surprised voice, the white bandages covering every inch of his body catching her eye.

"Oh, it's nothing, it's just a scar from overtraining. …a sign of inexperience."

Mo Yonghui stammered. But the last words were bitterly sincere.

"It is strange that Mo Yong Confucius should be injured while practicing."

He was so thorough in every aspect of his life that he was sometimes (?) called terrible, so he was always sure of his self-care. The idea of him getting injured while training……. It was unheard of for the man she knew.

The wound had been inflicted by a shadowy creature as she escaped, but in her daze, she couldn't tell.

Mo Yonghui was mentally agonizing over the fact that he had put her in danger because of his weakness and inexperience, and he was blaming himself for it. Compared to the pain of the wound, the wound on his flesh was nothing more than a tourniquet. Eunseulan sensed something untoward in his demeanor, but chose not to let it show.

"Are you sure you don't remember being kidnapped?"

Seeing that she was still dazed and confused, Bi Ryuyeon asked. Normally, she would have asked that as soon as she opened her eyes.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, she remembered what had happened to her.

"Did you remember?"

"Yes, I remember that now."

She replied as if it had happened a long time ago. But as I concentrated, I began to see yesterday's events more and more clearly in my mind.

"I can't help but say yes, I owe you a big favor. Thank you so much."

She bowed her head in sincere gratitude. What would have happened if they hadn't risked their lives to save her? I shudder to think about it. She knew how hard it must be to go to the rescue of someone from another organization without looking out for your own well-being.

"But why did you go to the feng shui yesterday?"

"Yes, where?"

She asked in a bewildered voice, probably just waking up and confused, and Bi Ryuyeon explained once again.

"Pung-hawk-customer-glasses!"

"Ah, yes, Fengmai Guest House, the place where Zhongyuan Peking is staying, I've definitely been there."

"Zhongwenpyo Station?"

Jang Hong suddenly pushed his way through the crowd. He was intrigued by the name that had suddenly popped up.

"I heard from Hanno that there are people from the Zhongyuan Bureau staying there."

"Hmmmm……."

Jang Hong crossed his arms in thought. Although there was still no connection, his intuition didn't want to trivialize the clue. The mere appearance of the Heaven and Earth Siblings told him that the Heavenly Shadow, which was supposedly behind them, was already sneaking its power right under their noses, and he couldn't take any of it for granted.

"Why did you go there?"

When asked, she shook her head.

"Well……. Apparently you see someone and step on his back…, yikes!"

As she fumbled for her memory, she suddenly screamed, clutching her head. A throbbing headache overwhelmed her.

"Bam! Sis!"

"Silver Sojae!"

"What's wrong?"

"What's going on?"

Worries were expressed here and there, especially by Mo Yonghui, whose heart was pounding and his complexion was as white as a sheet of paper.

"Mandibles, mandibles, mandibles……."

Only after a long pause did she manage to stretch her barely furrowed brow. "I'm sorry," she said with a puzzled expression.

"That's weird."

"What is it?"

"I don't remember," I said, "because he must have been someone important to me to follow in his footsteps."

Her memory of that part of her life was blank, as if she'd been robbed, and every time she tried to reconstruct it, she'd get a headache. It was as if some obstacle had blocked the memory pathway to that part of her life.

"Someone's been messing with her memory!"

Bi Ryuyeon said, his eyes searching hers with a strange glint. What was he looking at?

"No way……!"

Yi Yun and Mo Yonghui looked at each other, and then they both exclaimed at the same time.

"Psychic Prohibition!"

Bi Ryuyeon nodded.

"Exactly, that's it."

"Uh, what kind of person would do such a terrible thing……."

Psychic prohibition is an incredibly dangerous practice that can have devastating side effects on a person's psyche. Moreover, the probability of failure was so high that it was tacitly considered taboo in powerful circles. It was tacitly taboo in the strongholds, because if you got it wrong, you could become an idiot or go insane. To use such a dangerous and cruel technique on such a slender beauty was unthinkable……. It was something that deserved a thousand deaths.

"Well, there's one over there, and it's got to be that rip-roaring nemesis of yours. Didn't you meet him yesterday? This is the second time you've run into him."

Puddle!

Hyo-Ryong said, his voice filled with hatred as he gritted his molars to a pulp.

"Heaven and earth!"

The men exclaimed in unison. Certainly, it was possible for the supreme secret art of the Thousand Souls, the Supernatural Spirit Art, to work. It was a rare art that, when properly deployed, allowed the caster to manipulate the minds of its practitioners.

"He was followed by his brother… and then by Sojae……."

I've never had a bad relationship where both partners, male and female, were mentally pillaged by the same person.

"I should've gotten ochebunshi when I saw him yesterday……. If I'd had enough time……."

Hyorong gritted his teeth and said through clenched teeth. The reason he hadn't been able to kill them yesterday, even though they were right in front of him, was partly due to his unfavorable age, and partly due to the fact that he was in a hurry to make it to the sunrise inspection. He was obviously angry and resentful at the thought of not being able to chew them to bits.

"The next time I see you, I will give you the most gruesome death!"

Mo Yonghui swore in a hateful voice. It was very rare for this young man to burn with such hatred.

"Don't forget they have a contract first, my friend!"

Hyo-Ryong said in a voice full of coldness. He was looking at the once-broken green braid in his hand. It had been torn by a thunderbolt and mended by Yi Yun's careful hands. Even though her workmanship couldn't be said to be perfect, he could feel the sincerity in every stitch, even though she was a novice at sewing.

Even now, when he was sober, he still left his hair untied and disheveled, for it was easier to hide his face this way. He had reason to never show his face to the other side, and not only that, but he somehow felt that he shouldn't wear this green headband, his brother's memento, until he had defeated those cursed enemies.

"Cursed be the heavens and the earth!

My resentment and hatred for them was already etched in my bones. But I didn't let my hatred blind me and make me greedy enough to tear my friendship apart.

"But… I'll leave you your share too!"

"Thank you!"

Mo Yonghui was honestly grateful for his friend's thoughtfulness.

"That's weird……."

Bi Ryuyeon tilted his head. He had been thinking hard about something from earlier.

"What's wrong?"

Mo Yonghui asked.

"Why would they use this arcane and complicated method of psychic banning when there are much easier ways to do it?"

There was only one way to do this that was much easier.

Mo Yonghui shouted in exasperation.

"Are you saying, then, that Silver Sojae should have been the victim of a killing spree?"

Everyone in the room looked at him in astonishment. He had just lent his reason to someone for the evening and was uncharacteristically overly emotional.

"Excitement, of course I never thought of that; to lose such a beauty would be a cataclysmic loss!"

Apparently, being a martial artist isn't enough.

"I'm sorry, I guess I got too excited!"

After calming down, Mo Yonghui apologized. In a way, Bi Ryuyeon had saved his life and hers. He didn't disagree that his actions earlier had gone too far.

"Two hypotheses: either you have a reason not to kill her, or you're in love with her!"

"What?"

When I say crush, I don't mean the kind of crush you get in the middle of the night.

"It's no wonder anyone would fall in love with such a beautiful woman. After all, it would be a great loss to the universe to kill her. It would be against the will of the universe."

It was a good argument.

"One thing's for sure, though."

"What is that?"

"She's seen or found out something that shouldn't be known, and that they don't want her to know, and it's likely that it's someone she knows, because she said she went after someone-she can't remember now, of course, because she's under a memory ban-and was beaten to a pulp. He's probably famous enough to pique her curiosity, but not someone she's that close to-someone they know but keep their distance from!"

There was no wavering in her words.

"What makes you so sure, Ryuyeon?"

Jang Hong asked, and Bi Ryuyeon answered without hesitation.

"She didn't follow him in as soon as she saw him, but sneaked up on him in the dead of night, when no one was looking! Someone with her connections wouldn't do such a thing; she must be someone of considerable rank, and it's strange to see her in that street with all these martial artists!"

Bi Ryuyeon's reasoning was too good to be true, and the members of the group were astonished. That such a mindless incarnation could have a thinking mind was beyond wonder, a mystery of the universe, they all thought.

"Then I'll have to be careful in the future!"

After a moment of thought, Jang Hong spoke up.

"What?"

"Because if the enemy is the 'they' we assume it is, they surely won't give up this much!"

Everyone here had an inkling of who the "they" were that Jang Hong was referring to, even if he hadn't said so directly. The ominousness of the name kept them from saying it out loud, but they were persistent enough to do so. They were the dark spirits that had plagued the Murim for the past hundred years.

"Beware of the shadow of death!

His brother's last words echoed vividly in his mind. It was as if a snake of foreboding was coiled around the nape of his neck, its black tongue lolling.

"Even though we're inside the Martial Realm's secret sanctuary of the Volcano Covenant Conference, I think we shouldn't let our guard down."

"Um……."

Everyone nodded in affirmation as Jang Hong carefully expressed his opinion.

"This time I'm going to keep it!

No mistakes twice. I will be stronger and stronger. I will not suffer the same humiliation as yesterday. Mo Yonghui secretly swore an oath in his heart.

"Okay, I've been talking too long. She's still a patient. Trying to force her to remember while she's under the influence will only exacerbate the side effects. She must be tired, so let her rest for the day."

It was the first time in a long time that Yeomdo had shown any semblance of Nosa, and the Zhongzhi remembered that they had spent a long time holding onto a tired man.

"Let's go!"

The others rose from their seats as Yeomdo led the way out the door. As he walked out the door, Eunseulan bowed her head in greeting.

"Thank you for saving the day, Mr. Nosa!"

Yeomdo held up his right hand and said without looking back.

"It's no big deal. Besides, I was only the best man, and you could at least kiss that young fellow over there who tried to save your ass, especially since he's got bandages all over his body, and he's probably looking forward to getting his head cut off, hahahaha!"

"Boss!"

Mo Yonghui, whose face was as red as a ripe Hongshi's at the boss's crude joke, shouted out, but Yin Dao had already walked out the door.

"Mo Yong Confucius!"

Eunuch Snow Lan opened her eyes wide and looked at Mo Yonghui once more. She could clearly see the red blood oozing out of the white bandages that were wrapped around him. If that wound was…….

Suddenly, something hot bubbled up from deep in my chest.

"Me……."

Eunseolan tries to talk him out of it, but her intentions fail.

"Well, that's it for me!"

Mo Yong-hui didn't even bother to answer the question, instead scurrying away. The way he fled was truly unique. Apparently, he didn't have the courage to stay here any longer.

"Mo Yong Confucius!"

Later, she called out to him, but he couldn't hear her.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk! It seems that even Kang Ho, a renowned late-stage swordsman and heir to the Sword Castle, can't keep his cool in front of a beautiful woman. What a waste of the Seven Feast Divine Sword!"

Looking at the now empty seats, Jang Hong clicked his tongue in pity.

"Maybe the Seven Deadly Sins don't include women!"

"What a useless seder!"

How could he so easily pass up an opportunity to make a powerful statement……. It was clear that he was still very much out of practice.

"That's why he's a 'moyong innocent'!

After playing with Mo Yonghui for a long time with Jang Hong, Bi Ryuyeon gave the final sentence. This was the moment when Mo Yonghui, a young man of good behavior, was given one more nickname.