Chapter 141: Jaseung, Uses Against

Jang Wonso sat alone in a darkened room.

His eyes were half lowered, and there was no anger on his face.

He had already vented enough to take the edge off a fury that would not have cooled even if he raged for a full year.

‘What happened had already happened. Regret would be useless.’

What mattered was what came next.

The question of ‘who did it’ was unnecessary. It had to be the work of the faction behind the scenes.

At first he had suspected the Asura Demonic Cult of playing tricks, that they had joined hands with him in order to snatch the Myriad Yin Orb midway.

But he dismissed that possibility from the Elder Demon Lord’s reaction. Having witnessed what happened inside the temple hall, the man had truly been flustered and shocked.

Besides, the price they stood to take from this was by no means small compared to the Myriad Yin Orb. the Elder Demon Lord would not have done it.

It was certainly the work of the powers behind the scenes.

‘But they really had this much strength?’

The Elder Demon Lord had been clear.

Even he could not break the Eternal Life Buddha.

‘So there was someone who could break a Grand Method that even the Demonic Cult’s Vice Leader could not break.’

Unbelievable, but it was fact.

Then his eyes flashed. Someone came to him unbidden.

‘Could it be?’

The person he recalled was Yim Sayeon. When he had gone to the secret banquet with Seop Mu-pyeong, she had suddenly appeared. He had kept thinking how strange her sudden appearance had been.

‘I see. It was her.’

Within the limits of what he knew, she was the only master who could have pulled this off.

Jang Wonso’s eyes turned cold as he spoke under his breath. With his feelings laid bare, his words sounded like a great cat low and rumbling.

“This damn old woman showed up out of nowhere after so long and spat into my work huh?”

* * *

“Do you have something on your mind?”

Baek Seolyoung asked carefully after watching Lee Jaseung’s back as he stared out the window in silence for a long time. After the meeting ended and the subordinates withdrew, he stood alone, deep in thought.

He had definitely found a way to resolve the situation. He was the sort who set a plan and put it into action at once, yet now he hesitated.

“I was thinking. Whether the method I came up with was truly the best.”

Because it did not feel like him, Baek Seolyoung asked again.

“What is the worst case for that method?”

“We could lose someone.”

“Someone important, I assume?”

“Maybe. Or maybe not.”

He gave an ambiguous answer, then turned his head toward her.

“The elder from the One Fleeting Dream tavern.”

“Ah!”

At his answer, Baek Seolyoung was taken aback. She had not expected Yim Sayeon to be mentioned.

“I was thinking of using her son.”

She understood his concern now. Even if no direct harm was done, this was blood. If anything went slightly wrong, it would be impossible to take back.

In truth, he worried for Baek Seolyoung. If things tangled and the bond with Yim Sayeon were cut, what kind of wound would that leave in her.

Baek Seolyoung read that worry in his eyes.

“If you were hesitating because of me… Don’t worry about me.”

She quickly added more.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. I want to keep seeing Grandmother.”

“But?”

“But just as much, I trust you. I believe you aren’t someone who hurts others without cause. If you act on your conviction and the result still turns out that way… then there is nothing to be done.”

She meant every word.

She was his wife now. She loved him with all her heart.

She was grateful that he considered her feelings.

Yet one thing weighed on her. Even as something so important unfolded, all she could do was watch, feeling helpless.

If it involved Grandmother, she wanted to step forward and resolve it herself.

Her meridians had unblocked and her martial arts had risen, but she did not yet have the skill to handle something this big.

In the end, only one thing remained.

She had to become stronger.

Having chosen to walk with Lee Jaseung, if she could not solve this absolute proposition, she would face the same worries again and again.

Baek Seolyoung decided she would cut her sleep even more to train.

Then a subordinate’s voice came from outside.

“A warrior of the Murim Alliance has come.”

Lee Jaseung’s eyes gleamed. A message from the Murim Alliance at a time like this had to be noted.

“Have Strategist Dan come in as well.”

A little later, Dan Woobin entered the room with a warrior of the Murim Alliance.

The warrior bowed respectfully to Lee Jaseung and handed over an order.

“It was an emergency order from the Alliance Leader.”

After delivering it, he withdrew.

Lee Jaseung checked the contents and started in surprise.

Dan Woobin asked with a tense face.

“What did it say?”

“It ordered us to move in secret and arrest a certain person.”

“It said arrest, but it’s probably more like abduction. Who is it?”

He answered with a deep, quiet gaze.

“Cheon Myeongin. Son of the One Fleeting Dream tavern’s elder.”

At the unexpected name, Dan Woobin flinched in shock.

Lee Jaseung looked at Baek Seolyoung. She was staring at him with a startled face.

He had just been about to make use of that son, and now Jang Wonso meant to lay a hand on him.

Was fate beckoning them on? Or was it pushing them away?

It could be read either way.

In any case, the fact that he knew of Cheon Myeongin at all meant Jang Wonso knew more than they had thought.

With a slight tightness in her chest, Baek Seolyoung waited for Lee Jaseung’s decision.

“They sent everything, from the location to the details. Lure Yim Sayeon away, then seize the chance and abduct Cheon Myeongin.”

Dan Woobin finished reading the order.

“They want to use my familiarity with the Elder.”

At Lee Jaseung’s words, Baek Seolyoung grimaced and shook her head.

“It’s disgusting. Truly.”

Dan Woobin glanced between them and spoke with care.

“Even so, this is not something to resolve with emotion.”

In other words, because it involved Yim Sayeon, they could not simply ignore the order.

He was right. As the head of the Virtuous Heroes, Lee Jaseung could not refuse Jang Wonso’s order. If he refused, he needed a proper reason.

Dan Woobin guessed at Jang Wonso’s aim.

“He means to use the Elder by holding Cheon Myeongin hostage. The very fact he chose such an extreme method shows how angry he was. Otherwise he might need the power to be made by the Grand Method of the Myriad Yin Orb right away.”

It was a method he would never have chosen if the Grand Method had not failed. To touch Yim Sayeon was far too dangerous.

“Why leave something this important to me?”

“At present, the powers behind the scenes are watching him closely. Unable to move himself, the only person who could carry this out is you, my Lord.”

Lee Jaseung’s eyes started to deepen like an abyss.

If Jang Wonso meant to use him, there was only one thing to do.

He would use that order against him.

* * *

An hour later, Lee Jaseung and Baek Seolyoung entered the manor.

It was the place where he had come with Yim Sayeon before to meet her son.

As expected, Yim Sayeon was there. If she was here, then Cheon Myeongin was still here as well.

“You came?”

“Yes.”

Ever since she had stopped him from killing Jang Wonso, a strange distance had lain between them.

He had brought Baek Seolyoung along because of that awkwardness.

Baek Seolyoung treated her like family, and Yim Sayeon was her grandfather’s master.

Even so, no one could say how their relationship would unwind. He desperately hoped they would not become enemies, but that too was unknowable.

Before they set out, he had asked her.

“Come with me.”

“Me too?”

“Just act like you always do.”

“Are you trying to fool Grandmother?”

“She’s not someone that can be fooled.”

“Then?”

“We just have to avoid a tense atmosphere between us. That alone would help a great deal with what I intend.”

“I’m already feeling nervous. Can I really do this?”

“You got this.”

“It feels like I’m committing a sin for nothing.”

“Your fault for living with a bad guy.”

And Baek Seolyoung was doing her part even better than he had hoped.

“Grandma!”

She ran into Yim Sayeon’s arms.

Yim Sayeon patted her back and asked.

“You seem to hug me more recently, you know?”

“Maybe I finally grew up.”

“Do not do that. A beauty should always grow up late.”

“Haha.”

At her words, Baek Seolyoung smiled brightly.

She decided to keep it simple.

She would trust Lee Jaseung and Yim Sayeon.

If it was the two of them, whatever conflict arose, they would resolve it wisely.

She would simply be true to her own feelings.

Hugging Yim Sayeon came from the heart.

Even if her son belonged to a secret faction, she did not think that meant her feelings for Yim Sayeon had to change.

Everyone lived with their own story.

Yim Sayeon had lived a hundred years. How could her story not be deep?

“What brought you here?”

“I wanted to see you of course.”

That was from Baek Seolyoung’s heart. Lee Jaseung had another reason.

“I want to see your son.”

For a moment, Yim Sayeon glared at him.

He received her gaze calmly. Her eyes made it plain she did not like it.

She was the one who had once brought him and asked him to kill her son.

But he could feel that she was not the same as then. The way she had spared Jang Wonso the other day probably had to do with her son.

Yes, blood ties were not so easily cast away. Not in a hundred years, not even in a thousand.

Then Yim Sayeon slid closer to him and reached out a hand.

He stepped back a pace and avoided her touch.

She approached, he withdrew. It was as natural as could be.

Yet there had been a profound exchange of masters in that simple motion. The touch she had just extended carried a subtle method that ordinary masters could never evade.

But he avoided it as if it were nothing.

A flash crossed her eyes.

“You had results I see.”

She had sensed the rise in his skill. It was a moment that confirmed once more that her own realm was beyond imagination.

“Yes. I had a small realization lately, with a bit of luck.”

He did not bother to hide it. She was not someone he could deceive even if he wanted to.

A competitive spark rose in his chest.

What would happen if he fought Yim Sayeon?

Honestly, until now he could not be sure. Even five hundred forty years worth of Qi, he wasn’t confident. He had not felt certain that amount could overcome the experience of a woman who had lived a hundred years.

But what about now?

Perhaps they could cross blades at least once?

As the thought came, this time he stepped toward her.

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