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Translator: uly
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Betrayal and Rebirth
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It was a day of an unusually heavy downpour.
In the gloomy atmosphere, two men sat facing each other in a pavilion, tilting their wine cups.
"White Moon Division Leader, how many years has it been since you married into our family?"
"Ten years."
"I'm truly grateful to you."
Yuk Ju-jin, the head of the Zhejiang Yuk Clan, picked up the wine jug after opening with those meaningful words.
Jang Un silently held out his cup. Though he feigned composure on the outside, he was inwardly on high alert. He knew the temperament of this family's people all too well.
Naturally, his appetite had vanished. The lavish spread no longer caught his eye.
"You must have wanted to roam the world as a great man, yet here you are, tethered to our family, cleaning up after immature fools."
"Not at all."
Jang Un accepted the wine poured by the clan head and downed it in one gulp. Despite its fine aroma, a bitter smile formed involuntarily.
Once, Jang Un had harbored grand ambitions. Dreams of making a name as a peerless master and traversing the world.
But reality soon dawned on him. He had realized his critical flaw.
It wasn't a matter of his background.
What kind of world was the martial realm? A place where even a single sword could lead to fame and fortune.
Besides, Jang Un possessed brilliant martial talent.
He could instantly devise counters upon seeing an opponent's techniques or partially restore long-lost ultimate arts that had faded with time.
Not even the famed young experts of the Nine Great Sects or prestigious clans could match him in this regard.
The problem lay in his body.
Jang Un had been born from a difficult labor. Both mother and child had teetered on the brink of death.
The physician assisting the birth had resorted to an extreme measure to save at least one.
That had gone awry, tangling his qi and blood. As the price for barely clinging to life, his middle and upper dantians could never be opened.
His path to becoming a peerless master was utterly blocked.
With only the lower dantian, no matter how brilliant his aptitude, the limits were clear, no matter how he struggled.
Naturally, his spirit broke. While wasting away as a mere wanderer in despair, a marriage proposal came from the Yuk Clan.
He couldn't become a peerless master. But his genius for deciphering any martial art held immense value. Any martial force in the world would covet it.
It wasn't a bad offer for Jang Un either.
Even the dog of a high official lived better than most commoners.
He might not roam the world, but he could live a comfortable life.
Thanks to that marriage alliance, he even received a position handed down like charity.
That was the White Moon Division. The Zhejiang Yuk Clan's private force, made up solely of distant collateral kin with thin blood ties and guest retainers.
"Jang Un, there's one thing I want from you."
"Please command me."
"I need your head."
It was delivered in a casual tone, as if reclaiming a deposited item.
"What do you mean by that?"
Jang Un forced a smile as he asked back. Praying it was a joke. But such hopes were cruelly shattered.
"The court's suspicions run deep. They say I've colluded with the Demonic Heretics."
"Who dares spread such nonsense? If you're uneasy, I'll take care of it."
"Why pretend when you already know?"
Yuk Ju-jin drawled in response. At that brazen attitude, Jang Un felt his heart sink.
The clan head had indeed colluded with a cult of evil sorcerers who practiced wicked arts. For immortality.
He had even dabbled in human sacrifices, forbidden by imperial law. If exposed, not just him but everyone around would face treason charges, leading to the annihilation of the clan.
Jang Un was deeply involved in the aftermath. He had even acted as the liaison, meeting the cultists in the clan head's stead. Perfect as a scapegoat.
"A long tail gets stepped on. That's why I need a sacrifice. One to take the fall for the master."
Jang Un knocked over the table and shot to his feet. A sense of doom flashed through his mind.
His sword at his waist had been left behind upon arrival. Completely unarmed. And the gap in their realms was vast.
Still, he had no intention of dying meekly.
Yet for some reason, his body wouldn't move. Dizziness set in. Jang Un staggered and finally collapsed to the floor.
"Poison...?"
"What a pity."
Yuk Ju-jin's expression was heavy with concern. His voice carried genuine regret. That made it all the more chilling.
"Scars would make the cause of death too obvious. You needed to appear as a suicide to the world. I had no choice but to use this method."
"H-how...?"
"Even sharing wine offers many ways to poison. Coating the cup, for instance. You were never meant to leave here alive."
Jang Un glared at Yuk Ju-jin in shock. The clan head continued.
"You're too valuable to waste like this. Unable to open your middle dantian, you couldn't become a peerless master, but your other talents were of great help."
"Then why...!"
"That's precisely why you're perfect to prove our innocence."
The future unfolded clearly in Jang Un's mind.
The clan head would pin everything on him. And there was a plausible excuse.
It was well-known in the martial world that White Moon Division Leader Jang Un of the Zhejiang Yuk Clan was desperate to fix his constitution. To that end, he was fanatical.
Paradoxically, that was the issue. To an outsider, Jang Un had ample motive to secretly contact the cult on his own.
And the cause of death: poison. The clan could claim the cult used him as a sacrifice. Or that, cornered, he took his own life with poison.
"White Moon Division Leader Jang Un crossed the line to cure his constitution. He recklessly mobilized subordinates to contact the cult. But when his actions were questioned, he chose suicide. A perfectly reasonable explanation, no?"
"Urk!"
As Jang Un tried to speak, blood gushed from his mouth. Yuk Ju-jin rose and looked down at him writhing in agony as if his organs were tearing apart.
"Don't take it too hard. By dying alone, you've saved us all. That's true good karma, isn't it? You'll be reborn with a fine body next time."
With mockery, the footsteps gradually faded.
Excruciating pain and profound betrayal bound Jang Un's mind. He clawed at the floor. His nails broke and bled, but he didn't stop.
Ten years. The years he had served the Zhejiang Yuk Clan as their hunting dog.
And this was his reward: to be discarded like trash!
Was even this karmic retribution?
No way.
If retribution existed in this world, if it was truly heaven's will, then why did the Yuk family enjoy such nobility?
Why give him such a body from birth!
It didn't make sense.
Jang Un spat out his rage in desperation.
"Heavens! Supreme Deity who looks upon humanity!"
His cry, drawn from his dantian, soared high.
Jang Un glared at the drifting clouds and the moon beyond. He resented that indifferent sky as much as Yuk Ju-jin, who had driven him to death.
"You gave me talent, yet denied me the body to wield it!"
Blood streamed from his wide eyes.
"If the impartial Heavenly Dao exists, why inflict such a cruel fate on me!"
Despite pouring out his deep grudge, no answer came.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
It was a chilly dawn after the rain the night before.
"Hoo."
The boy stopped his training and lay flat on the ground. His training robes were already soaked in sweat, so he didn't care about the dirt.
He drew in a deep breath of cold air. The chill seeping into his lungs awakened his dazed mind. He looked up at the sky.
The dawn sky was exceedingly pale. Thin darkness flowed toward the horizon like gentle waves.
"I still can't get used to this face."
Suddenly turning his head, the boy grumbled. His delicate features reflected in a puddle from the night's rain.
Small, frail, and somehow unfamiliar.
It was strange. It had been a month since he gained this new life, yet it still felt unreal.
Once, the boy had been called Jang Un.
The Zhejiang Yuk Clan's hunting dog, White Moon Division Leader Jang Un.
He had thought he met a miserable end after being thoroughly used by his master.
But when he came to, he had gone back decades, reborn as an entirely different being.
Yuk Jin-yang. That was his new name.
The former hunting dog had been reborn into the same clan as his discarded master, even in the same generation.