Chapter 259

Sun Woo-jin sneered, provoking Jin Tae-do, then turned his gaze back toward Jin So-eun.

She was lying flat on her back, but sensing his eyes on her, she struggled to get up from the ground.

Having carried Mayu-gyeom and Myo Ah-ran across the bridge, her strength was completely drained.

The woman who had defeated an ultra-powerful master was now barely able to hold herself up.

‘Throwing that club at me must have taken everything she had left,’ he thought, feeling a sudden surge of gratitude toward her.

Despite her sweat-soaked, disheveled appearance, there was something endearing about her right now.

Sun Woo-jin gently stopped her as she tried to rise.

“Jin So-jeo, you can just lie down. I’m exhausted too—I plan to rest for a bit.”

“But Jin Tae-do…” she began.

“It’s fine. After they left Bong-am, it’ll take them quite some time to circle the mountain and catch up. They must be worn out as well.”

His warm words made Jin So-eun stop struggling and lie back down.

She didn’t want to show such weakness in front of Sun Woo-jin, but there was no other choice.

“Haah…”

She let out a deep sigh, as if exhaling her last breath, then closed her eyes, collapsing into unconsciousness.

Her tension melted away, and she quickly fell asleep.

“Snore…”

Sun Woo-jin chuckled softly at the sight of her already snoring.

But the amusement was brief; soon, his expression softened with concern as he looked at her.

He then glanced over at Mayu-gyeom and Myo Ah-ran, who lay collapsed beside her.

Their complexions were pale and grim.

Mayu-gyeom looked wan, and Myo Ah-ran’s face was so pale it seemed she could die at any moment.

Sun Woo-jin sighed quietly, his worry deepening.

‘This is serious. No matter how you look at it, they can’t keep up with this chase.’

Though they had managed to shake off Jin Tae-do this time, it was impossible to do so again.

If another pursuit like this happened, they might all die—carried on their backs—before they could escape.

Sun Woo-jin’s concern grew heavier as he watched them.

---

Crunch!

Jin Tae-do ground his teeth until they ached.

He had lost the target again, right before his eyes.

His anger surged uncontrollably, making it impossible to bear.

“Inparang, Inparang! Inparang!”

If mere thought could kill, Jin Tae-do would have torn that man to shreds thousands of times over.

His rage was fierce and overwhelming.

But Jin Tae-do was more than just a powerful martial artist.

He was Hyo-woong, the mastermind who had swallowed the Haenam faction through cunning and strategy.

Even in his fury, he carefully observed Jin So-eun and the other injured lying exhausted atop Hwang-am Mountain opposite him.

From what he saw, he concluded they wouldn’t be moving anytime soon.

Just then, a voice spoke cautiously behind him.

“Master Jin, what are your orders now?”

Jin Tae-do quickly wiped the anger from his face and smiled faintly as he turned to Ja-seong Jin-in.

“Orders? What else but to keep chasing? From what I see, their group isn’t in good shape either—worn out and injured. If we push hard, even if we missed them this time, we’ll catch them next.”

Ja-seong Jin-in admired Jin Tae-do’s calm confidence despite just losing their quarry.

To be so composed after such a close miss—he seemed even more capable than Wi Jeong-guk, the leader of the Hyeongsan faction.

Feeling the admiration, Jin Tae-do smiled again.

“Well then, shall we move out? We’ll need to hurry to close the distance.”

“Of course, we’re ready, but are you sure you’re okay, Master? You released so much energy earlier…”

“Hahaha! Don’t worry about me. Once we meet up with the others below, I can adjust my pace. I’ll replenish my energy then.”

“Understood, Master.”

As Ja-seong Jin-in and the Six Harmonies Sword Masters began descending from Bong-am, Jin Tae-do cast a sharp glance at Sun Woo-jin’s group on Hwang-am Mountain.

Then he followed his men down the mountain.

On the opposite peak, Sun Woo-jin watched their movements with equally sharp eyes.

---

Jin Tae-do managed to regroup with his trailing men as they descended Bong-am.

He urged them onward, chasing after Sun Woo-jin’s group.

“Hurry! They’re already exhausted! If we push a little harder, we’ll catch them for sure!”

In truth, his men were just as worn out.

But Jin Tae-do had no intention of easing up.

Despite what he told Ja-seong Jin-in, he felt no calm inside.

His mind was consumed by a single obsession: to catch Inparang and tear him apart.

‘They got away this time, but this is the end of the line. With two injured and one woman completely drained on your back, how far do you think you can run?’

Though blinded by rage, his reasoning was sound.

If not for the suspension bridge, they would have caught them already.

Now, if they met again on flat ground, there’d be no escape.

With that thought, Jin Tae-do pushed his men harder.

They had to catch them before they reached the sea and made contact with the Ma-gyeong.

---

Jin Tae-do’s assessment was accurate.

Sun Woo-jin’s group no longer had the strength to flee on their own.

Jin So-eun was utterly exhausted, and it was clearly too much for Sun Woo-jin to carry her, Mayu-gyeom, and Myo Ah-ran all at once.

Sun Woo-jin understood this well.

No matter how far they’d put between themselves and Jin Tae-do, being caught again was only a matter of time.

So he made a decision.

To accept reality and let go of what couldn’t be helped.

‘I have no choice. I have to give up.’

What he surrendered was the idea of pushing himself further.

Piiiiiiik!

Sun Woo-jin whistled loudly toward the forest.

In his mind, he summoned the Six Harmonies Sword Masters.

These sword masters had swallowed young birds, and were spiritually linked to the ones who had swallowed their mothers.

Originally, the leader of the Pasan faction, Un-dang, who had swallowed the mother bird, could issue simple commands mentally.

But Un-dang was a selfish Taoist, and Sun Woo-jin’s abilities far surpassed his.

Having mastered the Mind’s Eye and now the Supreme Divine Eye, Sun Woo-jin could command the Six Harmonies Sword Masters at a much higher level.

No matter the distance, they moved like extensions of his own body.

Moments later, the sword masters, responding to his call, raced like the wind and appeared atop Hwang-am Mountain.

At the sound of the whistle, an ally also revealed itself.

“Grrrrrr!”

It was Black Tiger Sak-wol.

Sak-wol had been with them since the tormenting mountains of Yunnan.

Though separated when the group moved toward more populated areas, Sak-wol had never truly left—they knew through the Mind’s Eye that he lingered nearby.

Sun Woo-jin welcomed the massive beast warmly as it rubbed its face against him.

“Sak-wol! How have you been?!”

“Grrrrrr!”

Sak-wol responded happily, nuzzling him fiercely.

The two tumbled briefly on the ground, then Sun Woo-jin looked up at his companions.

They stared in stunned silence at the enormous black tiger that had suddenly appeared.

“This is Sak-wol,” he explained. “He may look dangerous, but he’s almost a spirit beast—intelligent and highly capable. No need to be afraid.”

Mayu-gyeom muttered dryly, “Now you’ve got spirit beasts too… You really are something.”

Sun Woo-jin smiled wryly and immediately ordered the sword masters to fashion two stretchers from branches and cloth.

They would carry Mayu-gyeom and Myo Ah-ran.

“Alright, disciples! Two of you hold each stretcher at front and back. These are patients, so be careful to keep them steady!”

He then instructed the female member, Un-yeong, to carry Jin So-eun on her back.

Jin So-eun, watching in a daze, suddenly snapped to attention and shook her head.

“No, no, I don’t want to be a burden…!”

“To fight properly later, you need to conserve your strength now. Don’t refuse—let yourself be carried, Jin So-jeo.”

“Well, if it’s for that reason… alright.”

Five sword masters took responsibility for the three injured.

Sun Woo-jin watched the scene with a satisfied smile, then leapt onto Sak-wol’s back.

He too decided to conserve his energy by riding the tiger like a horse.

“Alright, Sak-wol, let’s go!”

“Grrrrrr!”

The group set off, a strange sight to behold.

At the front, a massive black tiger led the way.

Behind, four men carried two stretchers, and a woman carried another on her back, all moving swiftly with their spiritual techniques.

It was a procession unlike any other in the world.

Jin So-eun suddenly murmured, dazed.

“This is strange. We were definitely running away before, so why does it feel like we’re on a leisurely stroll now? Is this really okay?”

Indeed, their escape had suddenly become far more comfortable than before.

The stretcher was comfortable, and since the Six Harmonies Swordmasters were paying close attention, there was hardly any jostling.

Moreover, their stamina was fully replenished, so the pace was quite swift.

As a result, Myaoran and Mayugyeom, lying comfortably on the stretcher, gradually began to recover.

It went without saying that Sun Woojin and Jin So-eun’s energy was also steadily returning.

After a while, Jin So-eun, who had some energy left from being carried by Woon, asked Sun Woojin about the Black Tiger Sakwol.

Sun Woojin, who had been riding Sakwol and was at ease, answered leisurely about his connection with the sword.

“I first met Sakwol when I was heading to a place called Dokrim near the Forty-Three Dragons…”

His story led to the old man Seok Gyeongdal they met in Dokrim, then to the secret histories of the Jeomchang Sect and the Blood Demons, and finally to the tale of how he destroyed the Wuhwang Tower on Mount Aenoe.

Jin So-eun’s mouth dropped open in amazement.

“That’s incredible! The secret histories of the Blood Sect and Jeomchang Sect, demons and spirit beasts, and even the Wuhwang Tower. It sounds like a legend straight out of a hero’s tale!”

She wasn’t the only one surprised.

Mayugyeom, who was being carried on the stretcher after being blood-sealed to prevent suicide, also looked at Sun Woojin with astonishment.

“You destroyed the demons’ production facilities?! Is that true?!”

“It is. Unless they rebuild those facilities, they won’t be able to create demons again.”

Mayugyeom was silent for a long moment after hearing that.

For over a decade on the front lines, those demons had cost him countless comrades.

At first, he couldn’t believe it; then a deep wave of emotion swept over him.

Faces of the squad members and comrades he had lost flashed through his mind like a slideshow.

He remained silent, his expression a tangle of emotions.

After a while, with a voice thick with moisture, he spoke to Sun Woojin.

“…Thank you.”

Sun Woojin simply smiled gently.

Though brief, he felt he could fully understand the depth of that gratitude.

After all, he himself had spent over ten years on the front lines in his past life.

Back then, he couldn’t protect Bisea Youngdo, Bae Jonggwan, or Naseoyu.

So there was no way he couldn’t understand the feelings Mayugyeom was experiencing now.

Lost in thought for a while, Mayugyeom suddenly spoke in a self-mocking tone.

“So, you’re the one who broke the seal of the Mukrang Sword, stormed the very lair of the Blood Sect, and wiped out the demons forever. Meanwhile, I, who broke the seal of the Seollang Sword, am stuck like this. Ha ha ha. Why on earth did the elder choose someone like me…?”

Muttering to himself, he then asked with hollow eyes.

“Sun Woojin, why on earth won’t you let such a useless man like me die? You’re the one who promised a future with her, so surely I must be hateful to you. Please, just let me go now.”

Sun Woojin looked silently into Mayugyeom’s eyes.

They were eyes that had lost all light—dead eyes.

Eyes that had lost the will and meaning to live.

Eyes filled with self-loathing.

Just by looking at them, he could tell.

Mayugyeom truly wanted to die.

If the blood seal were lifted, he would likely end his own life immediately.

But paradoxically, seeing him like this made Sun Woojin realize one thing.

He had truly changed.

He was definitely not the same Mayugyeom as before.

He thought to himself:

‘Mayugyeom, who was once so self-absorbed, now despises himself and wants to die. Anyone who knew the old him wouldn’t believe it if told.’

A bitter smile escaped him.

If Mayugyeom regretted his past like this, then he surely had a reason to keep living.

Besides, having risked his life to save others and passed the Seollang Sword’s trial, he was a truly remarkable person.

Yet, he still wanted to die.

Sun Woojin’s reason for acknowledging him was precisely because of this regret.

It was a contradiction, to say the least.

He made up his mind.

He would make him live.

To carry on the Sword God’s legacy, to keep the Seollang Sword technique alive in practice, Mayugyeom had to keep moving forward.

But… how could he rekindle his will to live? How?

Sun Woojin didn’t know what to say to him now.

No clumsy consolation or words of comfort seemed likely to work.

So, after a moment’s thought, he decided to try the opposite approach.

Instead of comforting him, he would provoke him.

With a cold gaze, he asked Mayugyeom:

“You want me to let you die? Planning to run away again, Captain Ma? Like you did at the Biryong Base? But if you do that, what happens to Elder Seollang, who’s been waiting a hundred years to meet you? Did he agree to that?”

Mayugyeom couldn’t answer.

He simply squeezed his eyes shut, unable to offer any excuse.

His face betrayed an undeniable, heavy guilt.

‘Just as I thought.’

Seeing his expression, Sun Woojin’s eyes gleamed.

His suspicion had been right.

Earlier, when Mayugyeom spoke of the elder with a guilty look, Sun Woojin had tried to stir that guilt.

It seemed Mayugyeom felt indebted to the Sword God sealed within the Seollang Sword.

Grasping this, Sun Woojin continued sharply:

“Did you think that if you died, Elder Seollang would find another successor? Well, maybe. Whether that happens in a hundred years or two hundred, who knows. What a remarkable sense of responsibility you have.”

His words were dripping with sarcasm.

Yet Mayugyeom didn’t respond, only biting his lip tightly.

Sun Woojin pressed on:

“You said you want to be useful, at least at the moment of death? Useful… What a laughable notion. I get it, though. No one can achieve all their goals. There are things you want to do but can’t. But at the very least, even if you can’t be useful, shouldn’t you avoid causing harm to others? Even until your last breath.”

There was no need to specify who he meant.

Eventually, Mayugyeom couldn’t hold back and let out a hollow, bitter laugh.

“You’re… really harsh. Too harsh. Ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha.”

Then, in a pained voice, he asked:

“What exactly do you want me to do? What more can I possibly do? What can I even do…?”

His face looked like a lost child, a stray with no direction or strength to go on.

Seeing that, Sun Woojin felt certain he had chosen the right approach.

At least the will to die seemed to have vanished from Mayugyeom’s eyes.

Now it was time to show him a new path.

He spoke firmly:

“You really don’t know what to do? Of course, you have to atone.”

“…Atone?”

“Yes. Atonement. Don’t talk about atoning with death. You dying won’t be atonement for the elder’s martial arts legacy. Captain Ma, you have to live to atone. Survive to the end and carry on the will of the greatest swordsman the world has ever known.”

Mayugyeom closed his eyes and was silent for a moment.

Then, slowly opening them, he asked:

“Why are you so determined to save me? Is it because of the elder?”

Sun Woojin felt a slight sting.

He’d been found out—his words were meant to save Mayugyeom.

Still, despite his recent struggles, he was a sharp man.

After a brief hesitation, Sun Woojin decided to be honest.

Since Mayugyeom seemed to have abandoned the will to die, it was time for sincerity.

“Well, that’s part of it. But the bigger reason is that I understand you.”

“…You understand me? You?”

Mayugyeom gave a bitter laugh.

As if to say it was impossible, absurd.

Sun Woojin went on:

“Captain Ma, I don’t know much about you, but honestly, I disliked you even before all this happened. I hated your arrogance, your self-absorption. Above all, I thought your jealousy toward Brother Seolpung was pathetic.”

Mayugyeom smiled bitterly.

“Is that so? I was such trash even before all this? That’s quite a shock.”

“Exactly. You were trash even then.”

Mayugyeom’s eyes darkened to their deepest shade.

His self-esteem had hit rock bottom, and he couldn’t even view his past objectively.

Sun Woojin sighed and continued:

“At least, that’s how you looked to me. Maybe not to your squad members.”

Mayugyeom’s eyes brightened slightly.

He looked at Sun Woojin and asked:

“My squad members?”

“Yes. Right now, the Fourth Squad is led by Brother Je Won-young of the Jeomchang Sword Tiger. He said the squad still can’t forget you and it’s a headache. Even after what you did, they still think about you.”

“They…?”

Tears welled up in Mayugyeom’s eyes.

Even after everything he had done, hearing that his team members still couldn’t forget him made his heart ache.

He missed them.

Sun Woo-jin sighed deeply and spoke.

“To be honest, it’s a bit late to say this now, but you were a pretty good team leader. At least to your team members. And…”

He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

It was time to speak his true feelings.

“After that incident, I thought about it a lot. If I were in your shoes… if the enemy I’d hated my whole life turned out to be my own flesh and blood, and the person my mother despised was actually my father… could I have stayed intact? That’s the question I asked myself.”

“……”

“The conclusion I came to was no. I couldn’t have. That’s why I said what I did. I told you I could understand you. At least when it comes to that matter, I truly do. Ma Jang, anyone in your position would have been broken.”

Hearing this, Ma Yu-gyeom looked at Sun Woo-jin with reddened eyes.

His gaze trembled violently, like a storm-tossed sea.

Since that day, Ma Yu-gyeom had constantly berated and belittled himself.

He believed what he’d done was unforgivable—that he was nothing but trash.

For someone like him, the idea that someone could say they understood him was unimaginable.

And yet, here he was, hearing those words from none other than Sun Woo-jin.

A sudden warmth welled up in his chest.

And he realized something.

He had wanted to hear those words all along.

Just once, he wanted someone to say they understood him.

His eyes grew moist.

Sun Woo-jin looked at him earnestly and continued.

“And I don’t fully trust you yet. But… I do trust the elder completely. And because the elder chose you, I intend to trust you as well. So I hope you can trust him too. Trust the elder who chose you. And trust yourself—who risked your life for others and finally passed the elder’s test.”

Tears welled up in Ma Yu-gyeom’s eyes, threatening to spill over.

His voice trembled as he asked Sun Woo-jin in a choked tone.

“Do you really, truly think that? That you can understand me? That I have a reason to live?”

Sun Woo-jin smiled warmly at him and nodded.

“Someone once said that even the stones and blades of grass we pass by on the street hurt each other as they live. So what people can do isn’t to avoid causing wounds, but to make sincere efforts to heal them. Back then, I couldn’t forgive you, but I could understand.”

He stopped there, then hesitated before speaking again.

“And now, I see that you genuinely regret what happened and are trying to atone for it. So I’m willing to try forgiving you too. I don’t know what Ye-eun will think, but at least as her fiancé, I’m telling you—I forgive you. So I hope you’ll keep trying to live. And maybe someday, you’ll be able to earn her forgiveness as well.”

Ma Yu-gyeom squeezed his eyes shut.

At last, hot tears streamed down his face.

These were the tears of a man granted life by a single act of understanding and forgiveness.