-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: 38th Lower Five Gates Leader (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Wolhyang."
"Yeah? Did you call me, brother?"
Ever since that day we talked about my past life, Wolhyang and I had returned to our normal sibling routine. Even though she knew everything, she trusted me and never asked about it again.
"Wanna go visit Grandma for the first time in a while?"
At those words, Wolhyang broke into an even brighter smile than usual.
"Sure!"
We packed our things and headed into the mountains near the slums. It was the place where Wolhyang and I used to play when we were kids.
As we got a little older, it became the spot where we'd dig for herbs or pick fruit to fill our stomachs. It was also where the woman who had raised us like parents was buried.
On a small hill deep in the not-too-steep mountains, a wooden signboard bore the crooked letters spelling "Chohyang," written with all the care our illiterate child selves could muster from memory.
"Grandma Chohyang, it's been a long time."
Wolhyang spoke softly as she carefully cleared the weeds from the grave with tender hands.
Our orphan mother's stand-in father figure. To me now, she was a hazy memory from an unimaginably distant past.
Looking back, I couldn't even be sure if Chohyang was her real name.
We just called her that because she told us to, and since Grandma never talked much with others, the neighbors ended up calling her Old Lady Chohyang too, following our lead.
But we loved the name Chohyang—it suited her, filling the house with the scent of fresh grass every day after foraging for herbs.
"It's really, really been too long, Granny."
A face I thought I'd forgotten from the depths of memory suddenly flashed through my mind.
Yes, the first world I saw with my own eyes had Granny in it.
She used to say that newborn Wolhyang and three-year-old me had been clinging to each other's hands in an alley of the slums, abandoned.
She'd tried to walk past pretending not to see, but how could a three-year-old's eyes be so utterly empty? She couldn't just leave us.
If Granny hadn't taken us in, both Wolhyang and I would've ended our short lives right there.
"I'm back. If I'd died like before, I would've come to see your face. If you'd seen me back then, you'd have cursed me out good—maybe it's a blessing I didn't."
Wolhyang slipped her hand into mine.
"Grandma, I'm living happily with my brother. Just like you worried, we're not starving in the slums anymore. We eat delicious meals every day and sleep in warm beds."
Granny had doted on Wolhyang especially; she'd love seeing how beautiful she'd become.
As a kid, I used to butt heads with Granny over the pettiest things.
I could still clearly see her cursing me out daily in my immature days.
My temper came from her, unbowed against the world, so the Granny who raised me must've been incredibly strong too.
"This life, I'm gonna live it right. Even if I come to see you after I die someday, I'll be able to stand tall with my chest out."
Now, having lived longer than you, I'm standing before you once more.
I'm picking up the precious things I lost on my journey, coming back for them.
So when the moment comes to set out again, I won't lose a single one this time.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Young hero, I've found an inn that matches the conditions you mentioned before."
A month after putting him in charge of the branch, Haun finally brought some useful info.
"Where is it?"
"The rundown old inn right by Qinghai Lake, Moon Reflection Pavilion. They recently hired a young woman of exceptional beauty who's never been seen around these parts—an outsider."
It wasn't enough to be certain, but the moment I heard it, I had a gut feeling she was there. Qinghai Lake wasn't far from Xining either.
"And a bit of odd news: there are rumors of suspicious activity from the Demonic Cult. Their guards' numbers dropped overnight, replaced by unfamiliar faces."
"That seals it."
"Seals what?"
"Nothing. Never mind."
Troop reorganization. That was the signal of a new Demonic Cult Leader's birth—and the prelude to the war to come. And if it was the her I knew, she'd definitely be in Qinghai around this time.
It's been so long since I'll see your face.
"Prepare a carriage. I'm heading to Qinghai Lake first thing tomorrow."
"Understood."
He could've asked why, but Haun just nodded.
He thought I was some wandering hero, so he probably figured I was off to meet an old connection. Not wrong, really—she was an excessively old connection for me.
"Will you come back?"
"What, you hoping I never do?"
"Not at all. But if you don't, I'll tell your lover in Xining that the Azure Righteous Sword left to find some unknown woman."
"What? Lover?"
Did I have some lover I didn't know about? No way.
"You didn't know? Rumors are all over town that the famed Azure Righteous Sword struts around daily with two women."
"No, that's..."
I couldn't very well say the lone hero who'd come to Xining was actually living there with his little sister...
"They say the Azure Righteous Sword challenged Fallen Ghosts Pavilion for his ladies' revenge, that he has secret lovers everywhere—not just two—that he's the epitome of a heroic womanizer. That's the street gossip."
Haun smirked at me as he continued.
"How's it feel holding two flowers in one hand?"
"Shut it."
Haun's chuckling echoed in the room.
"I'll be waiting for your return."
Whatever, he was probably just worried I wouldn't come back.
Damn, can't even leave with peace of mind.
"Yeah, I'll be back."
Still, having people waiting wasn't half bad.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The very next morning, I boarded the carriage Haun prepared and set off for Qinghai Lake.
Xining to Qinghai Lake took at least two days, even at best speed.
I'd left Wolhyang with Taeu, so no worries about her getting hurt.
A month-plus after starting martial arts training, Taeu could already manifest sword ki. Eight parts of the elixirs from Fallen Ghosts Pavilion had gone straight to her, so no surprise.
Her sword ki was still crude and immature, far from peak realm, but no one in Xining could stand against it. She could even hold her own against Haun right now.
If she kept growing like this, reaching the ranks of the Hundred Great Experts wasn't impossible. Mastering the Shadow Severing Art to become one would be good for the her I'd meet soon too.
The road from Xining to Qinghai Lake was utterly deserted.
Bandits needed travelers to survive, but this remote stretch had none— not a soul in sight, a quiet journey through.
I passed the time amid untouched nature, birds my only companions. When the carriage's rattling faded from my ears, two days had passed.
After climbing and descending mountains a few times, beyond a ridge blooming with rapeseed flowers, a vast lake unfolded.
Mountains encircled the enormous lake like the earth cradling the sky, the pristine nature without a human trace evoking awe.
Before that overwhelming vista stood a single inn—shabby exterior but oddly oversized—the only human mark in the wilderness.
Its sign read Moon Reflection Pavilion.
She's there.
Calming my impatience, I pushed open the inn door. A plain-looking girl, like any from a rural village, greeted me with a blank expression.
"Welcome."
"It's been a while."
I recognized her instantly.
"Pardon me, but have we met somewhere?"
"Doesn't your father run a martial arts school in a small village in Hubei?"
A girl whose father ran a martial school in a small Hubei village—that was her go-to cover for undercover approaches.
"I think you've got the wrong person."
As I spoke like I knew her identity, she grew warier.
"Continuing here would be awkward for both of us. Shall we move somewhere else?"
"...Follow me."
I followed her up the creaking stairs. Before reaching the floor above, she fiddled with the wall, and with a click, a hidden door appeared.
Beyond lay a long dark passage. As the end revealed a secret chamber, someone pressed a blade to my back.
"I mean no threat to the Lower Five Gates, so could you lower your sword, Escort Unit Leader?"
"How did you know who I am without turning?"
"You're the only master always shadowing the Leader, so it's obvious."
As the Escort Unit Leader's wariness peaked toward me, the Leader raised a hand in a silent signal to stand down.
"You seem to know who I am, but who the hell are you?"
"I'm the Azure Righteous Sword of Xining."
"I've known that since I first saw you. That's not what I'm asking."
As expected, obvious lies don't work on you.
"We should be strangers, yet you act like we're not."
She had an innate ability to read hearts—deeper and more precise than any mind-reading technique.
She already knew I'd seen her before.
"Anyway, nice to meet you."
She removed her wig and human-skin mask. Turning to face me directly, she continued.
"As you likely know, I'm Baek Eunhwa, 37th Leader of the Lower Five Gates."
Her hidden white hair and skin, those clear blue eyes that suited "pure and crystalline" perfectly—they matched the you from my old memories.
Had her position not required concealment, she'd surely be called Central Plains' Greatest Beauty—beautiful and strikingly unique.
Your reason for the wig and mask made sense: your bare face drew too much attention.
"Nice to meet you too. And it's been ages."
Her eyebrow twitched at the bizarre intro—first meeting laced with "ages." Baffling, of course. And yet, you know there's no lie in it.
You've never once misread a heart.
Sometimes it was hard to read certain minds, but you'd told me yourself you'd never been wrong once you had.
But now, I spoke pure truth that somehow rang false.
"Just who the hell are you?"
Confusing, right?
But you'd have sensed my goodwill early on.
That's why you're wary but not hostile.
So, where to start?
Lies hold no meaning before you, so I'll hide nothing.
I took a breath, then slowly opened my mouth.
"In my past life, I was the man called Blood Demon. And the Black Moon Unit Leader of the Lower Five Gates—the last Leader. Pleased to meet you. I'm Yi Sowol, 38th Leader of the Lower Five Gates."