"Master! What has happened to Soye… ah."
A man appeared, calling out the name of the Heavenly Killing Star, but upon spotting us, he let out a sigh of lament.
He must have realized that since an outsider had discovered Heo Soye's identity, they could no longer keep it hidden as they had until now.
However, I was just as startled.
"…Brother Jang?"
"Do you know me?"
The man, still half-dazed, asked back in a weak voice.
"Aren't you Jang Inam, who grew up in Yangshu Village in Zhejiang Province?"
"That's right, but who on earth are you…?"
Jang Inam narrowed his eyes and scanned the air around him. He didn't recognize me, did he? Well, I suppose I have changed a lot since back then.
Even when we first reunited before the regression, he hadn't recognized me, so this was hardly surprising.
Jang Inam.
I met him when I was still a child, desperately doing all sorts of odd jobs under the Jeoksa Faction—my sworn enemies—just to survive.
True to his name, he was born the second son of the Jang family. Though he came from a barren, impoverished village, his ambitions were anything but small.
He was an unusual man who, hoping to one day become a Martial Artist and roam the Central Plains, had scrounged up money wherever he could to buy a Third-Rate martial art and painstakingly taught himself.
Naturally, the village treated him as an oddball, but the fact that he actually had a decent talent for fighting, combined with his uniquely kind nature, made most people fond of him.
…However, he was too kind, too full of dreams, and had too little compared to what he aspired to.
Around the time the Jeoksa Faction began to openly terrorize the village.
I was also desperately struggling under my sworn enemies just to survive, dragging myself through each day.
Jang Inam stepped forward alone to stand against them.
Of course, he was brutally beaten.
But because Jang Inam was so well-liked, and his father was also a man of some influence in the village, he managed to keep his life. Perhaps to make an example of him, though.
The Jeoksa Faction cut off his right arm. So that he could never hold a sword again.
If it had ended there, I would have been nothing more than a reckless youth sacrificed to the unorthodox. The reason I remembered Jang Inam for so long was simple.
He was my first martial arts teacher.
Naturally, the Jeoksa Faction never taught me proper martial arts.
When I was young, they put me to work doing menial chores, and as I grew older, when they needed me for dirtier tasks, they taught me half-complete martial arts so they could always keep me under their control.
Especially in the case of the Mental Cultivation Method, so much had been omitted that building internal energy was nearly impossible.
So I went to find Jang Inam, who by then must have lost an arm and become a cripple. I held the hope that they might toss him to me, since he was no longer of any use.
After all, if both of us were to learn mediocre martial arts, wouldn't it be better to learn the complete version?
That was how I came to Jang Inam's house. Surprisingly, he was there, swinging his remaining hand, devoting himself to a clumsy training routine.
I hadn't expected him to still be holding on.
I'd thought it wouldn't work, but… he readily handed over his Mental Cultivation Method.
Along with everything he had learned through his clumsy practice up to that point. Without asking for anything in return.
He was the first person to show me kindness, when all I knew was the Karmic Debt's debt.
However, what followed wasn't pleasant.
Not long after, Jang Inam lost his entire family to an epidemic. Falling into despair and giving up on himself, he once again charged at the Jeoksa Faction.
But there was no miracle. Though he was said to be at the level of a Second-Rate or even first-rate martial artist, how could he, who hadn't even reached Third-Rate against those who had properly learned martial arts, possibly win?
In the end, he was beaten as miserably as last time and chased out of the village with nothing but his bare body.
The only reason he hadn't died was because the Jeoksa Faction bastards feared the epidemic.
Since his family had died from the plague, they figured Jang Inam must be infected too, and claimed that getting his blood on them would spread the disease—so they just beat him with clubs and chased him out.
After that, I couldn't see Jang Inam for a while… but now I thought I understood why.
He must have managed to find a connection and join the Diancang Sect, which was good—but then he got caught up in the Heavenly Killing Star's rampage and lost his life.
It wasn't intentional, but this time I could repay the kindness I'd received back then.
If I took the Heavenly Killing Star away, Jang Inam wouldn't have to die either.
I let out a snicker and opened my mouth.
"It's Cheon Hwi. The kid who once learned martial arts from you, Brother Jang."
"Ah! Good heavens! Are you really that Cheon Hwi?"
"Yes."
"You've grown up safe and sound! What a relief. I'm truly relieved. But those clothes…"
"I'm a member of the Tang Clan now. I happened to find a good marriage partner."
At those words, Tang So-wol, as if she had been waiting for them, gave a fist-and-palm salute. Jang Inam, who returned the salute with a bewildered expression, suddenly widened his eyes.
Then, looking back and forth between me and Tang So-wol, he began to laugh loudly.
"The ways of the world truly are unpredictable. I became a disciple of the Diancang Sect, and you became the son-in-law of the Tang Clan."
Despite having lost an arm, and despite his illusions about the martial world having surely been shattered through various experiences over the years, Jang Inam wore the same kind smile as before.
However, that did not last long.
"…And I never expected that you, Cheon Hwi, would end up taking Soye with you."
"…"
His voice, which had been briefly light, sank heavily in an instant.
After a long silence, Jang Inam finally spoke with difficulty.
"Did the martial arts I taught you prove useful?"
"Yes. Thanks to them, I was able to build the strength to bring down the Jeoksa Faction."
"Then I have one request."
Jang Inam, having said that much, abruptly dropped to his knees. Then, using his one remaining left arm to support himself against the ground, he bowed his head deeply.
"Please, I beg you—pretend you never saw Soye."
"…"
None of us had imagined he would kneel so readily and perform the Oche Tuji, so I and the others were all taken aback.
Only Seomgeomja, the Sect Leader of the Diancang Sect, flew into a rage.
"What is the meaning of this! Now that we've been found out, do you not realize how difficult this makes things for both sides! Get up at once!"
"But Sect Leader—no, Father-in-law! Surely there might still be a way!"
"I thought so too! I still want to believe that! But while you were away for a moment, Soye went berserk again. And this time, even the elders' Acupoint Sealing was of no use at all."
"That is…"
"Even though you've neglected your martial arts training for some time, you're already on the verge of surpassing the Peak Realm. At this point, only I can stop her—and even that may soon become impossible."
"…"
Seomgeomja helped Jang Inam, who was still kneeling, to his feet. He said nothing, but Jang Inam likewise offered no resistance and quietly rose.
In the silence that followed, where no one dared to make the first move, a faint rustling sound was heard.
"Ugh…"
Heavenly Killing Star Heo Soye, who had been lying unconscious all this while, stirred and sat up.
"Father? And Head of the Jang family? I see. I've done it again, haven't I."
Heo Soye, who had spoken in that self-deprecating tone, spotted us and began glancing around as if trying to figure out what was going on, so I downed the rest of my tea and rose from my seat.
"For now, the three of you should talk among yourselves."
"Ah, understood. It may be a bit dusty since it hasn't been used in a while, but there's a guest room available—make yourselves comfortable."
At Seomgeomja's words, I bowed my head and led my companions out of the office.
It seemed we had some things to discuss on our end as well.
***
The room provided by the Diancang Sect. It was spacious enough for one person, but with four of us crammed in, it was rather tight. I spoke up.
"How about we try kidnapping them first?"
"Who are you referring to?"
"Again? …Wait, but how did you figure out it was the Heavenly Killing Star?!"
"You there, do you have some kind of plan?"
Tang So-wol agreed to the kidnapping in principle, but asked who exactly we were going to kidnap.
Seol Ri-hyang shook her head as if she was fed up, then blinked her eyes as she asked.
Seomun Hwa-rin, too, set the matter aside for now and demanded a detailed explanation.
Seeing that no one was objecting to the fact that I was going to kidnap someone, my shoulders puffed up on their own, and my heart felt warm.
But this was not the time to be feeling so proud of myself.
"Of course, I'm talking about Heo Soye. Depending on the situation, Brother Jang might come along too. As for the Heavenly Killing Star, I'm naturally sensitive to killing intent, so it's easy for me to notice foreign killing intent. As for the plan… I don't actually have one."
As I answered each question one by one, the group began tilting their heads at my last words.
"Actually, that was a joke. Since I don't have any particular plan, let's think about it from now on."
"Hey! Isn't this a really important matter right now? Is this the time for jokes?!"
"My friend…"
Seol Ri-hyang, who was tapping the floor and feigning anger, and Seomun Hwa-rin, who was shaking her head with a gaze of pure pity.
At that, Tang So-wol smiled gently and patted both of their shoulders.
"Now, now. Everyone, don't be so upset. You all know well that young hero Cheon's attitude was firm from the start, don't you?"
"That's true. At first, I said she should be sent somewhere that could properly manage the Heavenly Killing Star."
"But what started this deliberation… is that disciple who was an acquaintance from your hometown, isn't it?"
"That's right. No matter how one looks at it, I did receive help from Brother Jang, so I wanted to repay at least a little. …And I also had a somewhat different thought."
"What different thought might that be?"
"Great Master Gakjeong. When I visited the Shaolin Temple, he said something to me. I cannot reveal it to others without his permission, but… seeing how she tried to do something about it even knowing that her daughter, her lover, was born with the Heavenly Killing Star, it reminded me of Great Master Gakjeong's matter."
Because Great Master Gakjeong had hastily concluded that there was no turning back, he killed his own disciple with his own hands—a disciple who had half returned to their senses.
Unable to forget the disciple who had released killing intent in their final moment, and his own appearance cloaked in murderous aura as if on a battlefield, he abandoned his martial art and has continued researching the Heavenly Killing Star to this day.
And he actually succeeded in predicting the appearance of the Heavenly Killing Star.
Until now, the established theory was that the Heavenly Killing Star appears in unexpected places and cannot be corrected by any means.
But Great Master Gakjeong made the first of those impossibilities possible. I have no idea how he managed it, though…
As for the other—if it is not an established fact that the Heavenly Killing Star cannot be controlled.
If it simply means that no one has yet discovered a way to control it, then it will surely prove to be of great help later.
"Of course, this is all speculation. In the end, if taking him to Great Master Gakjeong yields no viable solution, I intend to head to the Murim Alliance as originally planned."
I can say this because I know that at least a year remains before the Heavenly Killing Star fully awakens.
Hearing this, Tang So-wol pondered for a moment before speaking.
"I understand what young hero Cheon is saying. If doing so can relieve young hero Cheon of two burdens at once, I believe it is right to proceed as you wish. However."
"But?"
"If that's the reason, rather than kidnapping Lady Heo, wouldn't it be simpler to just send word to the Shaolin Temple and invite the Great Master Gakjeong here?"
"Ah."
Was it because I had grown too accustomed to extreme methods lately? I hadn't considered that at all.
"So… we don't necessarily have to kidnap anyone."
"Why are you saying that as if you've just realized something so obvious?"
Seol Ri-hyang's exasperated voice went in one ear and out the other.