Bachelor Swordsmanship Remastered [EN]: Chapter 292

292. Yeom Jung-bu’s Intentions

Tszzzzzz.

White frost spread from beneath Yunhyun’s feet.

Taking a breath, Yunhyun slowly sheathed his sword.

Sreung.

The sword, which had been radiating brilliant light, disappeared into its scabbard.

‘……As I thought.’

Yunhyun sighed quietly as he looked at the result created by the Heavy Sword.

‘It’s changed.’

This was clearly the Third Form of the White Tiger Swordplay.

The sword technique he had used against the ice and snow of the Northern Sea in the past at Seohogwan.

However, its power was vastly different from back then.

The only thing that remained the same was the outcome of the battle.

Step.

Yunhyun walked slowly.

And stopped.

“Ugh…….”

Yeom Jung-bu was sprawled pathetically in the dirt and dust.

With a distorted face, he groaned.

“Wh, what on earth was that…….”

He had never seen such a level of swordsmanship even from Sword Saint Yi Geom-hak. [A legendary figure known for his unparalleled swordsmanship.]

No, he doubted whether even the Sword Saint could have withstood that single strike.

Gritting his teeth.

Yeom Jung-bu looked up at Yunhyun.

“……Why did you stop your sword?”

Yunhyun looked down at Yeom Jung-bu and said in a calm voice.

“You were wrong.”

The look in Yunhyun’s eyes as he looked down was as cold as ice.

“That’s all I wanted.”

Yeom Jung-bu gnashed his teeth.

How could he suffer such humiliation?

If it had been the old him, he would have tried to end Yunhyun’s life immediately, even if it meant his own death.

But having experienced Yunhyun’s sword, it was all meaningless.

No, everything in the world felt futile.

It was a strange sensation that felt beyond emptiness, almost like acceptance.

“Heo.”

A hollow laugh escaped Yeom Jung-bu’s lips.

‘So that’s how it was.’

Yeom Jung-bu finally realized.

He had reacted so sharply to Yunhyun’s seemingly powerless words.

He would have brushed them off without a second thought in the past.

That was because he was subconsciously aware that Yunhyun was looking down on him.

From that high place he could never reach.

Swish.

Yeom Jung-bu stood up.

After straightening his disheveled clothes and sweeping back his messy hair, Yeom Jung-bu looked at Yunhyun.

Yunhyun quietly watched all of his actions.

“Come to the Heroic Alliance tomorrow and find me.”

Yeom Jung-bu said.

His voice contained none of his usual mockery or belittlement.

“Then I will give you what you want.”

Thud.

With those words, Yeom Jung-bu leaped away.

He immediately disappeared into the bushes, but something eerie rushed towards Yunhyun from the direction he had vanished.

Whoosh.

“Lord, danger……!”

Thwack.

Before Hang Jang-ik could finish speaking, something long and slender plunged into the ground at Yunhyun’s feet.

“Take it.”

Yeom Jung-bu’s voice was heard from afar.

“It was originally yours anyway.”

The voice soon faded away.

Yunhyun quietly looked down at the object stuck in the ground before him.

Swish.

Reaching out, Yunhyun grabbed it and pulled it out.

Sreung.

The sharp blade glinted in Yunhyun’s hand.

It was the Sword of the Northern Sea, Myeong, the Illumination.

The sword he had lost with Dokgo-rang had finally returned to Yunhyun’s hand.

Yunhyun looked down at the Sword of the Northern Sea, Myeong, lost in reminiscence.

Watching him, Inspector General Jo Gwan quietly opened his mouth.

“Lord, that man just now…….”

Step.

“The only one who can stand against the Heroic Alliance is the Azure Dragon Sword Lord.”

Jin Ye-rim’s clear voice cut off Jo Gwan’s words.

“Jin Mae!”

“Sister!”

Step, step.

Hang Jang-ik and Dam So-ha tried to dissuade her, but Jin Ye-rim walked towards Yunhyun.

Looking directly at Yunhyun, Jin Ye-rim asked.

“The rumors along the Jang River. Are you the Azure Dragon Sword Lord?”

It was a question with an already determined answer.

The man just now was clearly Iron-Blooded Death King Yeom Jung-bu, one of the former Five Venerables of Illusionary World and the leader of the Heroic Alliance.

The only one who could defeat him with a sword, aside from the Sword Saint and the Divine Monk, was just one person.

The Azure Dragon Sword Lord, who else could it be?

“That’s right.”

“Then…….”

Jin Ye-rim bit her lip.

She asked in a trembling voice.

“The corpse you spoke of, is it Great Hero Dokgo?”

Yunhyun gritted his teeth.

And barely managed to answer.

“……Yes.”

Jin Ye-rim’s body swayed.

“Jin Mae!”

Hang Jang-ik quickly tried to support her.

But Jin Ye-rim soon straightened herself.

“I am.”

Looking at Yunhyun, she said.

“Jin Ye-rim, the daughter of the Jin family of Hangzhou. And…….”

With tears welling up in her eyes, she continued.

“I was one of the thirty elites who defended the front lines with Great Hero Dokgo.”

Tears streamed down Jin Ye-rim’s face.

“……Great Hero Dokgo, so he really did pass away.”

Her shoulders trembled as she lowered her head.

“Ji, Jin Mae.”

“Sister.”

Hang Jang-ik and Dam So-ha tried to comfort her.

But Jin Ye-rim couldn’t stop crying.

Yunhyun couldn’t bear to watch and turned his head.

Otherwise, he felt like he would burst into tears himself.

‘Good for you, Dokgo Je.’

Yunhyun said inwardly as he looked at the distant sky.

‘There was someone besides me to cry for you.’

The sky was heartlessly blue.

Feeling his vision blurring, Yunhyun quietly closed his eyes.

As the spreading white frost gradually disappeared, Yunhyun’s heart was slowly warming.

***

After returning to the inn, Yunhyun immediately discussed countermeasures with Jo Gwan.

The person who had cut off the Eunuch Moon’s limbs, as Yeom Jung-bu had said, was, as expected, Eunuch Park.

Yunhyun informed Eunuch Park of this fact through Inspector General Jo Gwan and asked him to be even more careful about his safety.

The fact that Eunuch Moon’s henchmen were in the court meant that they were interfering in the power struggles surrounding the throne.

Of course, he also wrote of his joy and gratitude at the prospect of their reunion.

Otherwise, the delicate and sensitive Eunuch Park might become sulky.

After sending a letter to Eunuch Park, he also wrote a letter to the Yun family merchant guild.

He conveyed his well-being to his uncle and aunt, and also sent the sword he had received to General Manager Kang, asking him to keep it until he came to retrieve it.

He also didn’t forget to express his gratitude to his cousin Yun Hee-yeon, who had bought him the clothes he was currently wearing.

A room in the inn.

Clack.

Yunhyun put down his teacup and looked at Jin Ye-rim.

“So, Miss, you haven’t been with the Inspector General for very long.”

“Yes. Inspecting Gwangju was practically my first assignment.”

“Was there a particular reason you entered government service?”

Jin Ye-rim bit her lip slightly.

“After that day, all the sects in Hangzhou had no choice but to cooperate with the Heroic Alliance. I hated that, so I ran away. To the government, where the Heroic Alliance couldn’t dare to reach.”

“I see.”

Yunhyun was lost in thought for a moment.

“Do you happen to be in contact with the others?”

By ‘the others,’ he meant the thirty elites who had been with Dokgo-rang.

“I can be. If you wish.”

Jin Ye-rim’s eyes sparkled.

“Do you have something in mind?”

“Yes.”

Yunhyun nodded.

“I don’t know if they will accept my intentions…….”

“The day of the bloody battle.”

Jin Ye-rim said with a determined look.

“We had already made up our minds. We decided to abandon everything and follow Great Hero Dokgo if he called us. You are the Great Hero’s sworn brother and teacher, so if you command us, everyone will gladly respond.”

Those words filled Yunhyun’s heart with emotion.

Dokgo-rang was gone, but the traces he had left behind were so clearly present.

“……I see.”

Yunhyun, calming his heart while fiddling with his teacup for a moment, spoke.

Jin Ye-rim smiled faintly.

“I suppose I should give up my duties as a government official now.”

That meant that she would now follow Yunhyun’s will.

However, Yunhyun said.

“Ah, that can be decided slowly.”

“Pardon?”

Yunhyun smiled at Jin Ye-rim’s question.

“I have some idea of what will happen next.”

Jin Ye-rim couldn’t understand what that meant.

“Shall we get up now? There are things I need to ask the Inspector General…….”

“I’ll tell him to come.”

Clunk.

Jin Ye-rim said as she got up from her seat.

Yunhyun stopped her.

“No, I can just go. There’s no need to trouble you, Miss…….”

“It’s okay.”

Jin Ye-rim said with a faint smile.

“Unless I’m a good-for-nothing who’s just lucky enough to be treated like a VIP, I can certainly do that much of an errand.”

Yunhyun gave a wry smile.

He could understand why she had kept her distance until now.

Perhaps that’s how Yunhyun looked to Jin Ye-rim.

Considering what had happened in Gwangju, it was no wonder she saw him that way.

He had only shown her images of being a wreck, getting beaten up, or causing trouble due to romantic entanglements.

“Then.”

Jin Ye-rim bowed politely and left the room.

And a moment later, Inspector General Jo Gwan entered.

“Did you call for me?”

“I’m sorry to have you come like this…….”

“It’s alright, Lord.”

Yunhyun offered Jo Gwan a seat.

As Jo Gwan sat down, Yunhyun poured him tea.

Pour.

“I heard you had something to ask.”

Jo Gwan asked, placing the teacup in front of him.

Yunhyun thought for a moment before opening his mouth.

“As you already know, I will be meeting the leader of the Heroic Alliance.”

Jo Gwan nodded.

“But I don’t know why he wants to meet me. Or why he’s trying to return my sworn brother’s body.”

“Isn’t it because he wants something from you, Lord?”

“If that’s the case, there’s even less reason for it to be now. The trump card he holds is something I can never refuse. It would be more effective to reveal it at a crucial moment.”

Yunhyun frowned as he spoke.

“Why is he trying to meet me now, before the situation even unfolds? What is he thinking, and what does he really want from me?”

Was Yeom Jung-bu the kind of person who would give up everything just because he had been defeated once by Yunhyun?

Was he the kind of person who would simply give away a decisive trump card just to gain favor?

Absolutely not.

So Yunhyun was convinced.

Yeom Jung-bu wanted something very important from Yunhyun.

“I don’t know if this is the right analogy, but in the case of inspection duties, there is one possible situation.”

Jo Gwan said after thinking for a moment.

“That is when they want to be excluded from the inspection plan altogether.”

Yunhyun’s eyes lit up.

“……What do you mean?”

Jo Gwan slowly began to explain.

“When suspicions of corruption among local officials are detected, the Inspector General determines the approximate scope and scale of the investigation before beginning the inspection. In other words, they decide in advance who to inspect and to what extent, and whether to go as far as dismissal in some cases.”

Clearing his throat, Jo Gwan continued.

“There is some room for misunderstanding, but without such a plan, the inspection could easily drift. Sometimes, instead of addressing the real corruption that needs to be eradicated, it ends up only touching on irrelevant issues.”

Yunhyun understood Jo Gwan’s words.

In short, it meant outlining a rough framework to avoid getting lost.