A Tale Of A Scribe Who Retires To The Countryside [EN]: Chapter 275

Tension hung thick in the air among the mounted escort.

And for good reason. The Sword Empress had appeared suddenly, defeating Wi Gajin and Hang Ah with a single move. Unlike Son Bin, it was clear to everyone that she was an enemy.

The immediate situation called for evacuating the Gyeonggi Lord and charging at the Sword Empress. But the escort couldn’t move.

Swish.

The Gyeonggi Lord reached out, stopping the escort’s movements.

“My Lord!”

The escort leader tried to object, his expression grave. But the Gyeonggi Lord wouldn’t have it.

“Don’t interfere. That’s an order.”

The leader gritted his teeth.

The danger of the situation was obvious. Even now, the energy radiating from the woman in white made his skin prickle. But he couldn’t disobey his Lord’s command.

Step.

Confirming that the fallen Wi Gajin and Hang Ah were struggling to rise, the Gyeonggi Lord stepped forward.

“This is quite surprising,” the Gyeonggi Lord said with a faint smile.

“I thought you would walk the path of the Martial Emperor, but it seems you’re a little different from ‘him’,” she added, subtly pointing out that Son Bin had brought in the Sword Empress. Saja Hyuk wouldn’t have relied on someone else’s strength.

“Because I am not him.”

Son Bin replied, then chuckled softly. “If it were just clumsy imitation, I wouldn’t dare say I’ll walk his path.”

The answer was also a declaration that he wouldn’t simply repeat the Martial Emperor’s path. In a soft voice, Son Bin continued, “And ‘he’ once said, ‘The world isn’t just a place to live by force, nor is it a place to live alone.'”

As he spoke, Son Bin turned to look at the Sword Empress.

“Thank you, Miss. That’s enough.”

Without a word, the Sword Empress sheathed her sword, her face blank.

Clang.

Her half-sword disappeared into its scabbard. The Sword Empress carefully held the sword with both hands and stepped back behind Son Bin.

The Gyeonggi Lord stared at the Sword Empress as if glaring at her. But the Sword Empress didn’t even twitch an eyebrow, her expression uniquely cold.

“First, let me express my gratitude, for saving the lives of Lord Wi and Hang Ah.”

After glancing at Wi Gajin and Hang Ah, who were getting up, the Gyeonggi Lord smiled thinly at Son Bin. “But can I take this as you pointing a sword at me and the government?”

“Haha, what are you saying?”

Son Bin laughed as if he had heard a pleasant joke. “I simply responded to your Lordship’s wish to see proof. Besides, isn’t Cheongrang Sword [Blue Wave Sword] a master of the Beijing Jahe Mun [Beijing Jahe Clan]? Ah, I also heard that you officially hold the position of Murim Alliance Inspector.”

As a result of proving his ability at the Murim Alliance Supreme Council, Cheongrang Sword Wi Gajin officially took the position of Murim Alliance Inspector.

The Four Great Sects willingly agreed to establish him, and the Five Great Families, who needed a suitable justification to divert people’s attention, also agreed.

They decided to put Cheongrang Sword Wi Gajin forward as a new symbol of the Murim Alliance’s external activities.

Jahe Mun was also officially accepted as a member of the Murim Alliance, and the Gyeonggi Lord, the head of the sect, was given an advisory role, a kind of honorary position. This was also the result of the combined needs of the Four Great Sects and the Five Great Families.

Son Bin specifically mentioned the details to emphasize that this was close to a martial arts competition between Murim [martial arts world] people.

“And let me be clear, I have no intention of opposing you, my Lord.”

“But you have no intention of cooperating with me either?”

“No.”

Son Bin didn’t avoid the answer. And the Gyeonggi Lord’s reaction to that answer was also firm.

“If you don’t stand on my side, you are my enemy.”

“Of course, that’s right. But you can’t judge everything by what you see. It’s not uncommon in history for an annoying subject who opposes the Lord in everything to actually be a true loyalist, and for someone who seemed willing to give their life to be a traitor.”

The Gyeonggi Lord glared at Son Bin with cold eyes. But Son Bin’s gentle expression didn’t budge.

“Really, you’re a stubborn man.”

“Originally, scholars must have a firm side. Ah, excuse me. My expression was a bit rough.”

Seeing Son Bin not backing down, the Gyeonggi Lord chuckled.

“Okay. I’ll take the warning. You’ve proven your worth. But…”

Clench.

The Gyeonggi Lord said, gritting her teeth. “I promise. You will eventually kneel before me.”

Son Bin’s smile didn’t change. The Gyeonggi Lord turned around. No, she was about to turn around.

“You asked who to tell?”

The Gyeonggi Lord stopped and frowned. “Wasn’t that story over? I thought you mistook the target of the warning.”

“Is that so?”

The wind blew, shaking Son Bin’s clothes. Within them, Son Bin’s eyes were fixed on the Gyeonggi Lord.

“Absolute power can never be shared. Delegation is just an illusion; you either hold on to it or you don’t. So go and check. The person who allowed this knows far more than you think.”

The Gyeonggi Lord’s expression changed. Son Bin was now touching a place that should never be touched.

“You know who that person is, right?”

The Gyeonggi Lord asked with a stiff expression. Only one person could give permission to the Lord. But Son Bin was still smiling.

“I don’t know. I never tried to know, and I don’t want to know.”

That was the answer the Gyeonggi Lord had heard before. Saja Hyuk had also answered her the same way.

The difference was that Saja Hyuk’s expression was calm and indifferent, while Son Bin in front of her was shamelessly pretending not to know and smiling, to the point where she couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

‘But…’

However, Son Bin’s words could never be ignored.

If he was right, it meant that Son Bin knew the Emperor’s true intentions, which even she didn’t know.

And she was just a pawn being played by the Emperor, a disposable piece.

“I’ll think about it.”

The Gyeonggi Lord replied briefly and headed to the carriage.

Step, step.

Wi Gajin, who had already stood up, stared at the Sword Empress with a stiff expression, then followed the Lord, and Hang Ah also bit her lip and headed to the carriage. Soha looked at Son Bin with a surprised expression and hurriedly followed them.

“Let’s go,” the Gyeonggi Lord said, passing the escort leader.

“Yes.”

The leader, who answered almost reflexively, soon looked at Son Bin, unable to hide his wary eyes.

Son Bin stepped aside to the side of the road. The Sword Empress also moved with Son Bin, silently sliding without a sound.

“Departure!”

With the escort leader’s command, the carriage began to move again. The twenty or so cavalrymen didn’t let their guard down against Son Bin and the Sword Empress, but Son Bin didn’t move a step.

Clatter, clatter.

The Gyeonggi Lord’s carriage passed Son Bin. She could have seen Son Bin just by turning her head, but the Gyeonggi Lord didn’t turn her gaze.

Thus, the Gyeonggi Lord’s carriage moved away from Son Bin.

How long had it been? Inside the carriage, Soha said quietly, “Do you believe his words?”

The Gyeonggi Lord, who had been silent until then, didn’t loosen her stiff expression.

The Gyeonggi Lord had received the Emperor’s permission with the words ‘remove the dangerous elements of the Jianghu Murim and bring them under the control of the Imperial family’.

One of the dangerous elements that the Gyeonggi Lord mentioned was ‘Oesa’ [Extraterritoriality].

“The Emperor didn’t show much of a special reaction even when I told him about Oesa.”

The Emperor’s reaction was lukewarm. In the first place, the Imperial family’s view of the Jianghu Murim was only ‘uncontrolled reclusive warriors and some bandits’.

Moreover, the Imperial family had absolute power in the form of the Empire’s military power, represented by the Imperial Army. Unless they caused a big problem, there was no reason to cause internal strife within the country.

Rather, the most cautious thing to do was to avoid causing organized resistance through reckless oppression.

“He just said that if anything becomes a danger to the Imperial family, it should be removed.”

The Emperor’s reaction to ‘Murim’ and ‘Oesa’ didn’t deviate much from the existing perception.

Even if they talked about being the best in the world in Murim, they couldn’t match the power of hundreds of thousands of Imperial troops.

Unless they organized a rebellion, the affairs of Murim were never seriously dealt with in the court.

“Of course.”

Soha shrugged. “People who haven’t seen it directly will never realize the true danger of Oesa.”

If she hadn’t met Saja Hyuk, the Gyeonggi Lord wouldn’t have known either. That’s how much Saja Hyuk’s martial prowess transcended imagination.

“If it’s for the peace of the world, the current Oesa must disappear. But that’s not the only solution. If I can take control of Oesa…”

That was the most ideal ending in the Gyeonggi Lord’s view.

In any case, the Lord’s position in the Imperial family had limitations. If she could control Oesa and do as she pleased with the Jianghu Murim, she could build her own position outside the Imperial family. For example, independence.

“However, if all of this was already intended by the Emperor…”

If the Emperor already knew about Oesa and the power they possessed, and the potential danger, there was only one reason why he allowed the Gyeonggi Lord to do this.

It meant that the Gyeonggi Lord was used as bait to draw out the opponent or as a tool for deception.

Clatter, clatter.

Silence flowed in the carriage. The Gyeonggi Lord couldn’t finish her words.

“Prepare to return to the palace immediately.”

Soha already knew the Gyeonggi Lord’s intentions. She had to check as Son Bin said. More than anything else.

The Gyeonggi Lord didn’t say anything. That meant that everyone knew it was an acceptance of Soha’s words, and that a storm was raging in the Gyeonggi Lord’s heart right now.

∴

Son Bin didn’t take his eyes off the Gyeonggi Lord’s group until they disappeared. The Sword Empress had disappeared without a word, and Son Bin was standing alone on the desolate road.

Thud.

With a small sound, a person appeared next to Son Bin. The small figure with a white beard was none other than Namak Nogun.

“Is it true?” Nogun suddenly asked. Son Bin turned to look at Nogun. Only then did a smile appear on his face.

“Yes.”

Nogun frowned. His white eyebrows twitched and distorted.

“But I can’t believe it. No matter how I think about it, I don’t think the Emperor knows about Oesa, and even if he does, I don’t think he would take it that seriously.”

“If he didn’t take it seriously, he wouldn’t have allowed the Lord in the first place,” Son Bin continued quietly.

“Absolute power is never lenient to its enemies. If there is even a slight possibility, the nature of power is to be relieved only when the roots are completely eradicated. Before that, blood ties and morality are never considered.”

Son Bin said with a bitter expression. “Rather, the Murim people who live on the edge of a knife are too soft in my opinion. In the Jianghu Murim, the destruction of a family is really rare, but in politics, exterminating three generations is not even surprising.”

“Hmm. Well, that’s true.”

Nogun had nothing to say. Son Bin was the one who had properly learned politics and history.

“But you can’t necessarily see it that way, can you? Maybe the Lord just turned it around to the Emperor appropriately.”

“No. He must have known.”

Son Bin asserted without a moment’s hesitation. And Nogun realized that Son Bin had some other basis.

“Could it be, from the Martial Emperor…”

“It’s Okryong [Jade Dragon],” Son Bin corrected. Not the young Okryong he had seen before, but one of the Cheonoe Saseong [Four Heavenly Evil Saints] and the absolute of Oesa who stood side by side with the Martial Emperor.

“To be precise, I just heard what he said, but he clearly said this.”

The memory of that day that he could never forget. In the snowy mountains, Okryong said that to Saja Hyuk.

“We didn’t care about the great families that spread their names throughout the world, or even those belonging to the Imperial Palace.”

Son Bin, who spoke clearly, looked at Nogun. “The two have already clashed with the Imperial Palace. The Emperor must know.”

Nogun’s expression changed.

“Then…”

“Yes.”

Son Bin nodded. “The Imperial family has been preparing countermeasures against Oesa for a long time. The Emperor’s permission for the Lord to do this means that he is ready to face Oesa, just like Nangong Hyang said.”

“Hmm.”

“Baek In-rok [White Hidden Records] and Cheonsugeom Neung Cheon-hwa [Heavenly Sword Cloud Blossom] are just tools. That’s why I couldn’t move recklessly. However, it was unexpected that even the Gyeonggi Lord didn’t know that.”

Son Bin sighed quietly and turned his gaze to the road where the Gyeonggi Lord’s carriage had disappeared.

“I sent a warning, but I don’t know if I’m doing well.”

The appearance of the carriage and escort was no longer visible. But in Son Bin’s eyes, there was perhaps something like pity.

“It’s okay.”

Son Bin turned his head at Nogun’s sudden voice. Nogun, full of white beard, smiled and said, “You do what you want to do. This old man will take responsibility for the rest.”

Son Bin smiled at the natural expression. The complicated feelings from before had disappeared.

“Yes. I only trust you, Elder.”

Son Bin answered with a bright face.

*

*

*

The news of the Murim Alliance Supreme Council and Cheongrang Sword Wi Gajin shook the Jianghu Murim.

It wasn’t just because of the emergence of a new master called Cheongrang Sword, or the changes in the Murim Alliance.

It was because the contents of Baek In-rok, which had been half-doubted until now, were revealed as clear facts due to Cheongrang Sword’s words.

As the credibility of Baek In-rok increased, the conflict between the sects grew even more. Taking advantage of the conflict, the Demonic Sect, bandits, and pirates also became rampant.

But what was hotter than that was the interest in the erased names recorded in Baek In-rok, especially the Cheonoe Saseong, who were said to be the strongest in the world.

The revealed name was only one, ‘The Martial Emperor of Hyeoncheon [Profound Heaven]’.

The dreamlike story that you could become the best in the world if you obtained his Hyeoncheon Sword Technique stimulated the greed of the Jianghu warriors.

Due to the name Hyeoncheon, Taoist sects or secular families of the Taoist lineage suddenly became the object of attention. Some were even plagued by false rumors.

The ominous and chaotic atmosphere of the Jianghu Murim was like a prelude to the bloody storm that would soon blow through the Jianghu.

∴

Deep inside the Imperial Palace.

In a huge hall submerged in darkness, a single lamp was burning lonely.

Step, step.

The Gyeonggi Lord walked towards the light. The hall, completely submerged in darkness, gave the illusion of being in an empty space.

“Oh, come in.”

The elderly Emperor, wearing a splendid golden dragon robe, said in a welcoming voice, sitting on a chair. Behind him, a eunuch holding a lamp alone illuminates the hall in the darkness.

“I greet the Emperor.”

Rustle.

The Gyeonggi Lord knelt on one knee and paid her respects. The Emperor, who was reading a thin book, received her respects with a pleased expression.

It was the same reaction as always, but the Gyeonggi Lord could see that this was a very exceptional situation. The fact that she was allowed an audience in such a place was something that had never happened before.

“Get up.”

At the Emperor’s words, the Gyeonggi Lord rose. Even in the dim light, her beauty shone even more.

The Emperor, who was looking at the Gyeonggi Lord with a satisfied expression, leaned back in his large frame.

“I heard that ‘the one who walks the path of the Martial Emperor’ sent me a warning?”

The Gyeonggi Lord’s eyes shook slightly. But soon she smiled and said, “It’s just the foolishness of an ignorant person who didn’t know you were the Emperor. I humbly request that you do not listen to the worthless words of such an ignorant person.”

The Gyeonggi Lord’s voice, as smooth as jade beads, echoed through the hall.

“Hoo hoo hoo.”

The Emperor laughed. He was already fat in his old age, so when he laughed, his eyes couldn’t even be seen properly.

“Your words make me very happy. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if you were a man.”

“If that were the case, I wouldn’t be able to wear these pretty clothes or beautiful accessories. I don’t really like it.”

“Hoo hoo hoo.”

The Emperor laughed again. The Gyeonggi Lord knew how to hide herself in the Imperial Palace, a den of demons. Even now, the Lord was hiding herself in the form of a mere ordinary woman.

The Emperor liked her behavior. So he gave her a favor.

“Don’t trust anyone.”

The old Emperor said in a relaxed voice. “There is no such thing as ‘your people’ in the world. There are only ‘people you can use’.”

The Gyeonggi Lord quietly listened to the Emperor’s words, slightly bowing her head.

Even before she reported, the Emperor already knew about her meeting with Son Bin. That alone made the Emperor’s advice valuable.

“By the way, it’s quite an interesting book.”

The Emperor’s gaze turned to the thin book he was holding. The book, which was already familiar to the Gyeonggi Lord, was ‘Baek In-rok’.

“I especially like the point of erasing the names. Mystery is more beautiful when it is covered.”

Flip, flip.

The Emperor slowly turned the pages, and soon he reached the last chapter. The old Emperor’s finger slowly touched a part of Baek In-rok.

“In fact, what do I care about the absurd things of ignorant barbarians? But these two are different. Very… different.”

The finger pointed to ‘The Martial Emperor of Hyeoncheon’ and the erased name ‘Okryong’.

“Answer.”

The Emperor’s thin eyes were shining fiercely. The one who held the world in his hands, the one who had nothing he couldn’t achieve in this world, was revealing blatant hostility and fear.

“Are they still alive?”

Rustle.

The Gyeonggi Lord knelt down and bowed her head.

“All I can say about that is only one thing.”

The Gyeonggi Lord said quietly and slowly. Perhaps the fate of the Jianghu Murim and her own was at stake in this answer.

“‘The one who walks the path of the Martial Emperor’ said that all we can do is wait.”

The Emperor’s white eyebrows trembled. It was not the answer he wanted.

“However.”

The Gyeonggi Lord’s words were not over yet.

“If the foundation collapses, nothing can stand. Even if it is a tower that reaches the sky, it is nothing on the sand.”

The Gyeonggi Lord, looking up at the Emperor, had burning eyes.

“The Martial Emperor does not move. No, he cannot move. Then now is the time given by the heavens (天時) [Cheonsi],” she stated, using the term for the opportune moment.

“Hmph.”

The Emperor looked at the Gyeonggi Lord with a sneer.

The Gyeonggi Lord knew that she had been used as a tool of deception, yet now she was acting like a devoted loyalist who didn’t care about such things for the sake of the world’s peace.

The Emperor was the same.

He already knew that she had the intention of taking control of Oesa. Perhaps it was an unforgivable crime.

Nevertheless, at this moment, the Emperor was testing her, gauging the usefulness of the Gyeonggi Lord.

“You are now forcing me to make a decision.”

“How dare I do such a presumptuous thing?”

The Gyeonggi Lord said in a voice as clear as jade beads.

“But the one who can decide the fate of the world is none other than the Emperor.”

A smile deepened on the Emperor’s face, but it was no longer a sneer.

“Your words still make me very happy,” the Emperor said with a thin smile. The Gyeonggi Lord bowed her head and accepted the Emperor’s praise.

“I will give you the authority to command the Hocheon Three Divine Guards (護天三神衛) [Three Divine Guardian Units].”

The eunuch holding the lamp flinched, and the Gyeonggi Lord’s eyes lit up at the word she was hearing for the first time.

“If necessary, you can mobilize Dongchang [Eastern Depot, a secret agency]. Your plan to overturn the sky of Murim (飜天之計) [a plan to shake the martial world]…”

Thud.

The Emperor covered Baek In-rok with a sound.

“Try to unfold it to your heart’s content.”

Dongchang, although not a military group, was an organization with absolute power. Even the Do Jihwisa [Military Governors], who were in charge of the local military power, could not easily refuse Dongchang’s request.

Of course, the Emperor did not bestow upon the Gyeonggi Lord the position of Jedok Dongchang [Director of the Eastern Depot].

However, at least in this matter, it was no different from entrusting the Gyeonggi Lord with virtually full power, excluding all-out war.

At the Emperor’s words, the Gyeonggi Lord slowly bowed her head.

Thump.

The Gyeonggi Lord’s white forehead touched the floor of the hall. The Gyeonggi Lord said in a whisper.

“This girl will dedicate her life to fulfilling the Emperor’s will.”

The old Emperor was satisfied with the sight.