The Terminally Ill Young Master of the Baek Clan

Yi-gang walked towards the Council of Elders with a stern expression.

Last night, the Red Dragon Corps returned to the main house. The clan regarded the attack on Yi-gang as an attack on the Baek Noble Clan. That’s why the Red Dragon Corps had been tracing the assassins.

However, so far, there had been no significant results. The assassins were extremely elusive.

In the midst of this frustration, the Red Dragon Corps had returned with some clues.

Immediately the next day, a meeting of the Council of Elders was called. This assembly, attended by the Clan Head and all the elders of the Council, was indeed the most authoritative decision-making body.

Even the Grand Elder, who held power equivalent to the Clan Head, would attend.

And Yi-gang, as the only survivor of the attack, had been summoned.

“Huuh.”

In front of the Council of Elders, Yi-gang took a deep breath. He needed to calm his mind. To be composed, and calm.

“Yi-gang.”

Someone called out to him. It was his father. It seemed he had been waiting for Yi-gang here.

“Clan Head.”

Instead of calling him ‘Father,’ he addressed him as ‘Clan Head.’

“You’ve heard the news.”

“Yes, I’ve heard most of it.”

Yi-gang’s expression was calm. The excitement he felt upon hearing that they had found a clue about the assassins had already been tucked away.

“Yes, umm… We will discuss that in a little while. There’s still time left.”

The Clan Head said so and dismissed his escort. It seemed he wanted to have a conversation with Yi-gang.

“I heard one of the Moyong kids has left.”

The Clan Head brought up a different topic momentarily.

“Yes, he said it was urgent and went home.”

“What I instructed you was to make friends with those kids.”

“I did make good relations. That’s why I asked you to entrust me with the Seven Star Link Sword.”

“Explain in detail. I want to hear it.”

There was neither a vassal nor a servant next to the Clan Head.

Yi-gang told the Clan Head about the Moyong Tak and Moyong Jin brothers. However, he omitted the story about the Low Down Sect.

“Ho-ho, so he initially planned the sword-seizing spar.”

“Yes. Audaciously, he even tried to involve other sect members to increase the stakes.”

“That sounds precisely like something Moyong would do.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, Moyong Jeong-cheon did the same thing in the past. The place where he applied for the sword-seizing spar was precisely the crowded headquarters of the Murim Alliance. He was practically digging his own grave.”

The corners of the Clan Head’s mouth rose slightly. Ha-jun’s emotionless demeanor resembled his father, making this rare smile all the more noticeable.

“Hmm, I see. That kid, Moyong Tak. He looks nothing like his father, but his personality is certainly similar. However…”

“Yes.”

“It seems you’re hiding something from me.”

“Hiding?”

The Clan Head stared piercingly at Yi-gang. Indeed, it was the sharp eye of someone in Jianghu who had been through countless battles.

“It must have been difficult for you to handle everything on your own.”

“…”

“You must have recruited some capable guys. It seems that kid Moyong Tak is vulnerable to you.”

He thought he had adapted quite convincingly, but his father was not to be underestimated. Yi-gang’s face stiffened with tension. Was it a mistake to use the Low Down Sect?

“It’s fortunate that what you said wasn’t all bluster.”

“Excuse me?”

“Didn’t you say that? You’ve grown up now and will handle things on your own.”

However, the Clan Head did not press Yi-gang further. On the contrary, he seemed somehow pleased.

“Right. Those who can’t think on their feet can’t survive. It’s even more critical for you since you have a weak constitution.”

“Father.”

The Clan Head turned swiftly, showing his back. Then, he murmured quietly.

“Don’t be overconfident. If it weren’t for the Seven Star Link Sword I gave you, you would have ultimately failed the task I assigned. I clearly told you to make friends.”

“…Yes.”

The Clan Head continued to stand with his back turned.

The Immortal Divine Sword murmured,

「He seems pleased.」

‘Does it seem so?’

He appeared reluctant to show Yi-gang his satisfaction.

Just as Yi-gang, who had figured out his feelings, was wondering how long he would have to wait — a familiar voice rang out.

“Brother! Yi-gang!”

Both the Clan Head and Yi-gang turned their heads. A middle-aged man was waving, his face full of smiles.

Fine laugh lines formed from frequent smiling, and a stylishly grown beard, but incongruously, a scar ran across his eyes.

A swordmaster whose name resounds not only in the Baek Clan but across Jianghu—

He was known by the nickname Smiling Soultaker for taking lives with a smile.

“Jin-tae.”

“Uhahahaha. It’s been a long time, brother.”

It was Baek Jin-tae, the Immortal Divine Sword’s nemesis.

“It’s been a long time, Yi-gang. How have you been?”

Being the younger brother of his father, he was Yi-gang’s uncle.

“Yes, Uncle, thanks to your concerns, I’ve improved a lot.”

“You’ve not only gotten healthier but also grown up a lot. You’re quite mature now. You’re just like me when I was young.”

His broad, beaming smile reminded him of Moyong Tak. But whereas Moyong Tak was nothing more than a brash young man pretending to be jovial, Baek Jin-tae was different.

At first glance, his smiling face might seem frivolous. However, it was said he was as emotionless as his brother Baek Ryu-san when he was young.

During the heyday of the Baek Clan’s rivalry with the rising unorthodox faction in Xi’an, the two brothers had jointly launched a surprise attack on the Demonic Spire Pavilion of the Unorthodox Union.

“Are you feeling a bit better, brother? Hahaha.”

“Well, same as always. I’ve found a good doctor recently, so it’s a bit better.”

Baek Ryu-san and Baek Jin-tae, the two had defeated nearly a hundred warriors.

However, when they were fending off the hook-wielding disciples of the Demonic Spire Pavilion, one of those hooks lodged in Baek Jin-tae’s head.

The hook that pierced his skull was said to have been as thick as a stout fishing hook, and the faint scars visible on the side of the uncle’s head were likely from that incident.

“Uhuhu, you’ll get even better.”

Having a hook embedded in his head should have been a fatal wound. The elders of the clan, Baek Ryu-san, and even the doctor performing the surgery to remove the hook thought so.

But it was said that Baek Jin-tae survived after a three-day-long surgery. However, there was a problem.

“Heh, nosebleed again.”

“Are you alright?”

“It’s just a nosebleed, I’ve always had them, you know.”

Baek Jin-tae smiled even as he dabbed at his nosebleed with a handkerchief.

The hook that was barely removed from his head was said to have had a broken tip. A piece of metal the length of a fingernail has remained in his head from that time until now.

After that, Baek Jin-tae, who had been emotionless, became a person who could not stop laughing.

He was laughing when his parents died, and also when he became a widower.

“I heard you had a tough time with the Red Dragon Corps.”

“It’s someone who dared to harm our Yi-gang; I must catch them.”

Yet, despite this, Baek Jin-tae was a martial artist second in rank after the Clan Head. He, leading the Red Dragon Corps, had come to deliver the news that Yi-gang had been waiting for.

“I’ll explain in front of the elders, let’s go inside.”

“Let’s do that.”

The Clan Head and Baek Jin-tae walked toward the Council of Elders together.

Yi-gang followed them. The father and uncle walking together seemed to be on quite good terms.

Did he guess Yi-gang’s thoughts? The Immortal Divine Sword murmured,

「Does the brotherhood between them seem deep?」

‘Isn’t it? It would have been difficult to acquire the Ten Thousand Year Snow Ginseng if not for my uncle. It was for curing my father’s chronic illness, after all.’

「He who laughs foolishly seems quite ominous.」

Yi-gang did not necessarily deny that statement.

「Didn’t I tell you? Brotherhood in the martial world is ultimately destined to draw swords against each other.」

‘Even me and Ha-jun?’

「That is an exceptional case. Those two seem to be on good terms on the surface, but…」

The Immortal Divine Sword also had an elder brother.

That brother sent assassins for his talented younger sibling, and in return, the Immortal Divine Sword destroyed his brother’s dantian and cut off the vessels in his hands and feet.

「One never knows what kind of hatred may lie beneath that smiling face.」

Yi-gang just closed his mouth.

---

“We’ve focused on eliminating sects affiliated with the Unorthodox Union,”

Baek Jin-tae said with a slight smile.

Elderly men of advanced years were sitting on the floor, which was painted as black as ebony.

They were all elders, and in Yi-gang’s position, they were the venerable members of the clan. All of them looked at Baek Jin-tae with stern expressions.

“We naturally investigated the Hidden Hand Gang, and even resorted to oppressive measures against several suspect sects. Heh heh. But there was no gain.

“I personally inspected the wounds on the children who faced their swords! The methods were definitely of the unorthodox faction! There’s no doubt about it.”

The one speaking angrily with wide-open eyes was Yi-gang’s great-uncle, a martial master of previous generations. He had personally checked the sword wounds on the servants killed by the assassins.

“That’s true. But still, you don’t know what kind of martial arts it was, do you, great-uncle? Hehe.”

“Well, that’s… cough!”

Of course, they still had not figured out the martial arts of the assassins despite that.

Yi-gang, who had been listening quietly, asked the Immortal Divine Sword,

‘Last time, when we fought them, you said their sword technique had certain characteristics, right?’

The Immortal Divine Sword was inside the Shooting Star Fang. Despite that, it used to be possible to communicate, but for some reason, it was silent now.

‘Ancestor?’

Was it suddenly asleep when he had so much to ask? Yi-gang was puzzled.

The elders seemed to have a lot to say, increasingly grilling Baek Jin-tae.

“It’s a total of twenty. Twenty assassins were mobilized, and yet you haven’t caught a single clue. It’s nothing short of a disgrace!”

“The disgrace was accepted long ago. Hahaha.”

“Don’t laugh, Jin-tae, you jerk!”

“Oh my, you are too harsh on a nephew who has worked hard.”

“Hold on, Red Dragon Corps Commander. Such a number of people couldn’t move without a trace. If they aren’t forces from within Xi’an but from outside, wouldn’t investigating the stables or places like the merchant groups yield something? Shouldn’t we have captured and questioned the Low Down Sect in places like Shenyang, Zhangyang, or Yecheon?”

One of the elders made a sharp point.

But Baek Jin-tae shook his head again. He too had tried that approach.

As the elders began to voice their opinions one after another, the Council of Elders quickly became noisy.

Was this market-like chaos really the esteemed gathering of the Council of Elders?

Just as Yi-gang was frowning, a particularly aged voice rang out.

“Silence.”

It was from the highest seat in the Council of Elders. The voice belonged to a woman who covered her face with a bamboo hat, sitting next to the Clan Head.

“Red Dragon Corps Commander.”

“Yes, Grand Elder.”

The noisy elders closed their mouths in unison. Even Baek Jin-tae, known for his light-hearted behavior, bowed his head.

“Please tell us about the clue you found.”

She was Yi-gang’s great-great-grandmother, no less. With an age far exceeding that, she had long surpassed 100 years, a living history herself.

“I have, in fact, brought a clue with me.”

There was a particularly heavy hint of amusement in the words that came from Baek Jin-tae’s mouth. He summoned someone who had been waiting outside the council.

“Bring it in.”

The way he said it made it sound like he was referring to an object. However, the members of the Red Dragon Corps instead brought in a person. The man, his face hooded, was not bound but stumbled as he was dragged in.

Yi-gang’s eyes widened slightly.

It was not because of the man’s disheveled appearance. Rather, he recognized one of the Red Dragon Corps members.

She was a woman who seemed to be in her late teens at most. She was somewhat young to be a part of the prestigious Red Dragon Corps of the Baek Clan.

That fact alone spoke volumes about her capabilities.

‘She’s back, then.’

She and Yi-gang locked eyes for a brief moment.

However, they did not show any sign of acknowledgment. Yi-gang returned his gaze to his uncle.

“We conducted investigations in all directions. The clue was found from an unexpected source. It’s the carpenters who designed and built that manor.”

Grand Elder asked, her voice a bit slow due to her age, yet still clear,

“The Divine Sword Manor is where the Immortal Divine Sword resided during his later years. Were those carpenters still around?”

The place where Yi-gang nearly died, and where he clenched the Shooting Star Fang to meet the Immortal Divine Sword. The Divine Sword Manor was originally the manor where the Immortal Divine Sword resided.

“They continue under the name Big Tree House. A few months ago, they were visited by a suspicious individual. Hehe.”

Baek Jin-tae chuckled for a moment, then caught his breath.

“They demanded the blueprints of the Divine Sword Manor.”

“Blueprints?”

“Yes.”

The elders were abuzz. It seemed they were finally onto something. Some were already furious.

“So they handed them over?”

“They offered a thousand silver nyang.”

“Just for that paltry sum! They’ve sold their faith!”

It was a considerable amount of money, not something to be scoffed at, but the elders were outraged nonetheless.

“Ask him yourself.”

With those words and a gesture from Baek Jin-tae, the Red Dragon Corps member removed the hood from the man’s face.

“His speech might be unclear because we had to pull out his teeth. Hehe, but he eventually confessed.”

“Uh, guh, I, I conf… confess…”

The man’s face was a mess. Between his swollen lips, there were hardly any front teeth left.

The man’s face was swollen and bruised, with blood and pus stuck to it. Looking closely at his tightly clenched hands, all his fingernails were gone.

“At first, he was quite stubborn, haha. We had no choice but to draw blood.”

He was a sight of sheer torture.

However, there was no one in this gathering who felt sympathy for the carpenter who sold the blueprints.

“How dare he betray the Baek Clan for mere pocket change!”

“Big Tree House, was it? They’re nothing but trash.”

The elders spat out curses at the chief of Big Tree House, spewing saliva in their rage. Amidst the pouring anger, the tortured head trembled uncontrollably.

And Yi-gang thought quietly.

He, who should have been the angriest, paid no attention to the so-called chief of Big Tree House.

He did not sympathize with him, but he was not as enraged as the elders either. Rather, his mind had gone cold.

‘Blueprints.’

Blueprints. From an assassin’s perspective, knowing information about the place to be raided might be important.

‘Something’s strange.’

But that would only be critical when a handful of assassins had to break through stringent security and infiltrate. The twenty assassins had easily slaughtered Yi-gang and the guards of the Divine Sword Manor.

Did those who had never revealed their true identities until now really need the manor’s blueprints?

‘Isn’t this a bit odd?’

He inadvertently asked the Immortal Divine Sword, but again, no answer came.

Yi-gang sighed and lifted his head.

In the noisy hall, his uncle Baek Jin-tae was looking at him.

Upon eye contact, Baek Jin-tae slightly curled his lips.

-Yi-gang.

He heard his uncle’s voice in his ear.

Voice transmission.

It was a technique that used internal energy to transmit one’s voice solely to a distant party.

-Listen quietly. I have something hidden.

Yi-gang’s expression did not change at all.

-I want to tell you, and only you, the real truth.

He did not know exactly why.

His uncle conveyed this and then flashed a faint smile.

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