Chapter 60: The Brightest Night

Hwa Yeon-seol glanced around the inside of the inn with an awkward look.

Though it was quite an old inn in Deyang, this was her first time actually stepping inside.

“Food.”

Seo Yu-gyeom’s curt question.

Hwa Yeon-seol shook her head. She was hungry, but it was not a time to eat.

A strange feeling rose in her chest. It was odd enough that she had come of her own accord to meet the enemy she had wanted to kill for so long. Stranger still was how calm her heart felt now that they finally faced each other.

It must have been because she inwardly believed Seo Yu-gyeom’s words.

She too had known what kind of man her father was, and had long suspected that the Chief Steward’s actions were strange.

At this point, the only person in the world she could trust was Chief Steward Ho Yeon-baek.

The doubts she had tried so hard to ignore had been forced to the surface by Seo Yu-gyeom.

Seo Yu-gyeom also seemed to feel the awkwardness, for he gave a needless cough and gestured toward an empty chair.

The two sat across from each other at the table. Silence lingered for a while.

Jang Hong, who had been feigning death, quietly got up and slunk toward the corner when no one paid him any attention.

‘What’s with this mood?’

Jang Hong cast a curious look at Seo Yu-gyeom and Hwa Yeon-seol. Since they did not resemble each other, they didn’t seem to be siblings…

‘Former lovers, maybe? Damn, I’m jealous.’

As he thought such things—

“I always thought of you as a younger sister.”

At Hwa Yeon-seol’s words, Jang Hong’s eyes widened.

Seo Yu-gyeom remained silent for a moment. He too had regarded Hwa Yeon-seol as a sister, but now seemed to be the time to listen.

Her words continued.

After Seo Yu-gyeom killed the former Leader of the Hwa-un Trading Company, Hwa Yun-tak, and disappeared, she spoke of the life that had been forced upon her.

It had been mostly hardship. Emotionally and situationally, everything had weighed her down.

Seo Yu-gyeom listened quietly, without much reaction.

Around that time, Jin Seong-un, who had just finished circulating his Qi in his room, came into the inn.

Seeing him, Hwa Yeon-seol abruptly stopped talking and flinched. The image of Jin Seong-un she had seen earlier in the day still burned vividly in her mind.

The way he had silently observed the situation, the sudden manner in which he had hurled a stone like a dagger, and those emotionless, dry eyes…

To Hwa Yeon-seol, Jin Seong-un seemed a frightening man.

“……”

Jin Seong-un also quietly observed her.

His already detached gaze fixed on her for a time, making her shrink under the weight of it.

‘Is he angry because I came?’

Hwa Yeon-seol did not see Seo Yu-gyeom and Jin Seong-un as simple friends. She sensed a strange balance of dominance between them.

She had been born and raised in a merchant family.

And she felt certain that Jin Seong-un might cast her out at any moment. To a stranger’s eyes, his demeanor and expression suggested exactly that.

After a brief, awkward pause, Jin Seong-un turned and went upstairs.

When he came back down, he carried a thin blanket in his hand.

“Put this on.”

“Ah.”

Hwa Yeon-seol awkwardly took it and draped it over her shoulders. Her thin clothes had been soaked, leaving her embarrassed, and the chill had seeped into her bones.

Jin Seong-un nodded once, as if satisfied with accomplishing something, and then headed to the kitchen.

Moments later, he set two cups of warm tea on the table.

“…Thank you.”

When Hwa Yeon-seol expressed gratitude, Jin Seong-un nodded again, wearing the same look of having achieved something.

After that, he continued his tasks in silence.

He stoked the fire in the brazier, warming the inside of the inn, and lit the oil lamps, brightening the surroundings.

Then he took the bothersome Jang Hong from the corner and escorted him upstairs.

His manner was so natural and skilled—it was clear that Jin Seong-un was, after all, an inn waiter.

Watching all this, Hwa Yeon-seol asked Seo Yu-gyeom,

“Who on earth is he?”

She had sharp eyes of her own. That was why she immediately realized Jin Seong-un was no ordinary man.

His bearing and aura were not those of a servant. Yet his actions were so practiced, so like those of a waiter.

That contradiction made him seem like a strange being.

Seo Yu-gyeom let out a small laugh.

“I told you—he’s a friend.”

He felt no need to explain in detail.

After a short silence, Hwa Yeon-seol finally spoke.

“Was what you said true? My father…”

She couldn’t finish and lowered her head. Seo Yu-gyeom, however, answered calmly.

“You mean, that he killed my parents?”

“……”

“It’s true. I confirmed it several times after. And for the record, I killed the fortune-teller who persuaded Hwa Yun-tak to murder my parents.”

Hwa Yeon-seol slowly closed her eyes.

Countless emotions and thoughts passed through her.

Her old resentment now felt hollow. Her father’s misdeeds left her heart unsettled. And finally, after everything, she reached this conclusion—

“…I’m sorry.”

She apologized.

It was not her fault. Yet Hwa Yeon-seol felt she had to apologize for her father’s sins, because she had lived in comfort under the wealth and power he had amassed.

Seo Yu-gyeom gave a calm nod. He did not say anything like, “You don’t need to apologize.”

He had longed for an apology from the Hwa-un Trading Company, and after long years, it had finally come.

“I’m not sorry. It was personal revenge.”

Hwa Yeon-seol’s heart clenched. Hearing those words from the very man who had killed her father unsettled her.

But she knew she had no right to rebuke him.

After another pause, Seo Yu-gyeom continued.

“Let’s leave the past behind. Since you’ve come here, that must mean trouble has broken out at the Hwa-un Trading Company, right?”

Hwa Yeon-seol nodded.

She explained about Sa Ryeong-geuk, the Master of Twilight Pavilion, the Master of Azure Wild Valley, Chief Steward Ho Yeon-baek, and the contract to transfer shares.

Seo Yu-gyeom listened carefully, then spoke with calm finality.

“They’ve screwed you over.”

“……”

Hwa Yeon-seol lowered her head in despair.

Seo Yu-gyeom went on.

“From the moment Hwa Yun-tak died—or maybe even earlier—the plan had already been underway. The Heavenly Poison Alliance and that Chief Steward must have been at the core. He probably stoked your anger deliberately, because if you judged things too clearly, you’d get in their way. He’s the one who incited you to request Deathshroud’s help, wasn’t he?”

Hwa Yeon-seol’s lips parted slightly.

Seo Yu-gyeom’s words were dead on. Looking back, she realized the Chief Steward had always manipulated her heart.

She now understood that Seo Yu-gyeom was not the man she once knew. Time had changed him, just as it had changed her.

At that moment, Hwa Yeon-seol raised a question.

“How did you know I requested Deathshroud?”

“Uh…”

Seo Yu-gyeom was uncharacteristically flustered.

Hwa Yeon-seol did not miss that look. Merchants were always sharp-eyed.

In that brief instant, countless thoughts connected, and she reached a conclusion.

Her eyes, nose, and mouth all widened.

“You, you! You were in Deathshroud!”

“……”

“So that’s it. That’s why Deathshroud…”

The pieces finally seemed to fall into place.

The reason why Deathshroud, the number one assassin group under heaven, had repeatedly failed her requests.

“So that’s why, even after I put in more than ten requests, they always failed.”

“Wait, ten?”

Seo Yu-gyeom was shocked for two reasons.

First, that this madwoman had tried to have him killed more than ten times. Second, that only two requests had actually reached Deathshroud.

Seo Yu-gyeom quickly pieced it together.

“The Chief Steward must have deliberately blinded you. There were only two actual requests that came into Deathshroud. The other eight—he pretended to submit them, but never did.”

“……”

Hwa Yeon-seol’s face was filled with shock and betrayal. Seo Yu-gyeom clicked his tongue at her expression. That bastard Chief Steward had to die.

The reason was simple. Was it because he had tormented her? Or because he spread chaos with his vile schemes? No.

‘He made me out to be the worst bastard alive?’

Seo Yu-gyeom was angry purely for himself.

His fury surged to the very top of his head.

Then it happened.

His gaze grew low and sharp.

When Hwa Yeon-seol tried to say something, Seo Yu-gyeom put a finger to his lips.

“They’re here.”

Rising from his seat, he drew the Heaven-Slaying Dagger from his chest. Since he already intended to kill the Chief Steward, he would slaughter these Unorthodox bastards too.

“W-we should go.”

Hwa Yeon-seol grabbed his sleeve.

The reason she had come to Deyang Inn was not only to seek peace of mind.

“If you live, the Hwa-un Trading Company lives.”

That was the condition of the contract with the Heavenly Poison Alliance.

Before absorbing the shares of the Hwa-un Trading Company, the Heavenly Poison Alliance had to kill Seo Yu-gyeom.

Therefore, Hwa Yeon-seol believed that if she could help Seo Yu-gyeom escape, he might someday rise in power and prepare for the future.

But Seo Yu-gyeom thought otherwise.

“Nonsense. Once you give ground, it’s over. Do you really think the Heavenly Poison Alliance leaves loose ends?”

Her way of thinking was that of a merchant.

But Seo Yu-gyeom knew the ways of the Unorthodox Path. For them, a contract was just pretext.

“The one who leaves Deyang first loses. When swords are drawn, it ends with either death in battle or fleeing in shame. That’s it.”

That was the law of Murim. A law wholly unlike that of merchants.

Just as Seo Yu-gyeom secretly began to draw up his Qi—

At that moment, his and Hwa Yeon-seol’s eyes simultaneously turned toward the stairs.

Jin Seong-un was descending with the calmest expression, a sword in hand.

“Continue your conversation.”

When trouble came to an inn, what did the inn waiter do?

If the enemy was stronger, he bowed low, persuaded, begged, and reasoned. If weaker, he beat them to a pulp and sent them away.

It was the inn waiter’s duty to ensure no one’s meal or conversation was disturbed.

“No, you two seem to be mistaken. The enemy isn’t some back-alley gang.”

Seo Yu-gyeom let out a dry chuckle and said quietly,

“Do you think Deathshroud is some neighborhood assassins?”

“……”

Hwa Yeon-seol was struck speechless.

Seo Yu-gyeom’s words were true. But even so, how could anyone—no matter how skilled—stand against the Heavenly Poison Alliance and all those other Unorthodox forces?

Regardless, Seo Yu-gyeom continued.

“Since leaving Deathshroud, I’ve lived my life being hunted. The elite assassins they trained with endless gold constantly came after me, day and night. I never once slept in peace.”

Hwa Yeon-seol closed her mouth. She realized there were still stories of his life she had never heard.

Seo Yu-gyeom went on.

“But when I was with him, I never once feared an assassin’s ambush. Not even when the pursuers were Deathshroud.”

Her eyes turned to Jin Seong-un, who was now standing by the inn’s entrance.

His back was calm, steady, and unshaken.

Jin Seong-un unlatched the inn’s door. The sound of rain grew louder, and a gust of wind rushed inside.

With a tense face, Hwa Yeon-seol looked out. She could see dozens of martial artists holding oil-soaked torches, glaring this way.

They chuckled darkly, baring hostility as though mocking cornered prey.

It felt as though they were surrounded by a pack of wolves.

Though she had lived close to Unorthodox martial artists her whole life, Hwa Yeon-seol had never seen such a sight. Her heart pounded wildly with fear.

“Still, this is…”

Then it happened.

Jin Seong-un, who had been silently watching the outside, moved.

With a gesture as if brushing away an insect, he swung his sword horizontally.

And in that instant, Hwa Yeon-seol witnessed the brightest night of her twenty-some years of life.

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