Chapter 2: Gilded Sky (2)

Soyak did not ask any further.

That was enough.

For himself, just as he had not asked further.

“A solid reason, indeed.”

“Something like that.”

Eunsong lightly waved his hand, gathering the energy he had spread out.

The sounds of the surroundings returned.

“So… what do you plan to do now, sir?”

“Well, first, I should have you fetch your belongings.”

“I have only one thing.”

“Then bring it.”

Soyak turned around and left the room.

Even when the other maids at the washing area asked why she was already removing her makeup, she didn’t bother to respond.

When she arrived at the small room she shared with others, she ignored the glances of the off-duty older maids.

Only what lay beneath her unfolded bedding mattered.

There, wrapped in cloth, was a sword.

Nak-hwa Jeonggeom.

Her father’s legacy and the sacred weapon of the Hwaeom Sect.

It was time to return to her true identity.

Her life as a young maid was over.

From now on, she would live as a warrior.

How many people were cut down by swords in the vast Central Plains every day?

Surely more than the number of maids.

Even if she calculated the difference in numbers…

A person who wields a sword dies sooner than one who wields a wooden bucket.

Yet, Cheon Soyak once again grasped her sword.

Through the thick cloth, she could feel the solid sheath.

Without hesitation, she left the room.

In the hallway stood Gwak Du-won, the head of the Gwak Clan.

“You’ve been working for less than two hours, and here you are? You even wiped off your makeup? And where is your hair ornament?”

“Ah.”

Instead of an explanation, she unraveled the cloth around her sword.

A sword as long and slender as her own height.

A famous sacred weapon, known for never having been drawn.

“A sword? Where did you get that?”

“I’ve always had it.”

“Bring it here!”

Greed flickered in Gwak Du-won’s eyes.

The Gwak Clan was merely a minor martial family in Sichuan, with shallow martial prowess.

There was no way his pathetic judgment could recognize this sword’s true value.

He must have estimated its worth simply by the glossy black sheath and the intricate silver inlay of barren tree branches.

Martial artists are obsessed with sacred weapons.

If a sword is old, rare, and adorned with expensive decorations…

It would fetch a high price anywhere.

“This is mine.”

“You are ours!”

“As of today, I am leaving.”

Gwak Du-won’s brow twisted unpleasantly.

“What? Do you have any idea how much money I spent feeding and housing you all this time?”

“In four years, I haven’t grown even a handspan, and I’ve spent more time holding a rag than sleeping. Just how much money could you have possibly spent on me?”

“Silence!”

“You are louder, Master Gwak.”

Cheon Soyak pulled her sword tightly against her chest.

A gesture of firm refusal.

But instead of deterring him, it only further provoked his greed.

A glint flashed in his eyes.

Gwak Du-won stepped forward, looming over her.

It was a clearly threatening stance.

“If you lay a hand on this sword, I will take your wrist in exchange.”

“What did you just say? Say that again!”

“I said, if you lay a hand on my father’s relic, I will take your wrist.”

Gwak Du-won remembered.

Cheon Soyak—this girl’s eyes had always been like that.

Dark.

Empty.

Unfathomable.

Her gaze was eerie yet strangely captivating.

The only reason he had taken her in was because he had expectations for when she turned nineteen.

Skin pale as the first snow at dawn.

Jet-black hair.

A naturally delicate and petite frame.

Once fully grown, she would become the most fragile beauty in the Central Plains.

“Do you have any idea how much I’ve anticipated your future?”

“I do not.”

He ground his teeth.

Then, grabbing a nearby mop handle, he pointed it at her.

“If you want to live in one piece, you’ll stay here quietly!”

“No. I am leaving.”

Just as their confrontation was about to reach its peak—

Clatter.

The sound of a sliding door interrupted them.

It was Eunsong.

“What is going on here? It’s awfully noisy.”

“A-Ah, esteemed Taoist of Mount Hua, this is no concern of yours. Just a maid refusing to obey…”

“If it’s that child, I intend to take her with me.”

“What?”

Gwak Du-won’s eyes widened.

Eunsong smirked.

He untied a white poplar wood token from his waist—proof of his status as a disciple of Mount Hua—and casually tossed it to Cheon Soyak.

“Look here. She’s a disciple of Mount Hua now.”

“W-What nonsense is this…?”

Mount Hua was currently one of the Ten Thousand Mile Alliance’s leading sects.

With the leader of the Martial Alliance oppressing the entire Central Plains, Mount Hua, which had sacrificed the most during the Night of Ten Thousand Demons, had solidified its power.

Even someone as lowly ranked as him could leverage such an absurd excuse.

“I am already thirty. Too old to be one of the younger generation. Do you understand what that means?”

“…What?”

“It means I can personally choose my disciples. That girl is now my disciple. So, I must take her to the main sect.”

Gwak Du-won hesitated for a moment before making his decision.

The Gwak Clan was not a prosperous noble family.

Defying a disciple of the great Mount Hua Sect…

Would not be a wise choice.

“If that’s the case, will you compensate me for her?”

“What compensation?”

“The price of her body.”

Eunsong tilted his head.

Then, he pulled out two taels of silver from his sleeve and tossed them to him.

“Will this suffice?”

“Hah. Taoist sir, I hate to say this, but… listen to me.”

Gwak Du-won returned the silver and folded his arms.

“Have you considered what that girl will be like at nineteen?”

“How would I know?”

“If I presented her to the right person in power, I could make a hefty profit. I do have a keen eye for such things, you see. And now you’re asking me to just hand her over?”

Eunsong quietly turned to look at Cheon Soyak.

It wasn’t entirely wrong.

It wasn’t difficult to predict where that child would be in five years.

“Are you using that as a basis to persuade the Taoist now?”

“Hah… Didn’t I tell you that’s why I hesitated to bring it up? Do you really have to go this far?”

“Do you know why I am wandering as a mere guest now?”

“Why is that…?”

“To take in children with potential.”

However, the master’s eyes still gleamed with desperation.

The desperation of wanting power.

The gaze that looked past Eunsong to fixate on Cheon Soyak.

At his signal, the warriors guarding the Gwak family estate began to move.

“Don’t do something you’ll regret, Master Gwak.”

Eunsong warned quietly, but the man pretended not to hear.

Instead, he only threatened Eunsong.

“How could I possibly lay a hand on a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, Taoist Eunsong?”

“Then why are the men with swords slowly approaching?”

Gwak Dowon’s eyes narrowed.

“I just thought that insolent girl needed to be taught a lesson.”

At that moment, one of the warriors lunged toward Cheon Soyak, hand outstretched.

His movement was swift, displaying commendable lightness of step.

That warrior knew about the sword the girl held in her arms.

The Falling Blossom Sword.

Unlike those without an eye for blades, warriors recognized its name.

A sword spoken of in rumors, said never to be drawn.

Of course, no one particularly coveted it.

Because it could not be drawn.

And so, they let their guard down.

They assumed, without a doubt, that it would remain sheathed.

Swish—.

The sound of a blade slicing through flesh.

Without hesitation, Cheon Soyak slashed the man’s forearm vertically as he reached for her.

The Falling Blossom Sword, grasped in her small hand, revealed its pitch-black blade without any resistance.

A flawless upward cut.

It wasn’t any kind of martial technique, but it was impeccable.

Blood splattered onto Cheon Soyak’s clothes and face.

But even as the warrior clutched his wounded arm and collapsed, she did not so much as furrow her brows.

“I heard that Jianghu is a place where grudges are clear, my lord.”

“Indeed, it is.”

“If grudges have a price, would there be any issue if I took this man’s head?”

The scabbard, too long to be drawn easily, had been thrown aside and rolled across the ground.

She picked it up and secured it at her waist.

A long sword ill-matched to her small frame.

Cheon Soyak swung the sword, shaking off the blood running down its edge.

Eunsong glanced at the wounded warrior.

His index and middle fingers had been precisely split apart.

With that arm, he would never wield a weapon again.

As a warrior, he would likely be forced to retire.

That was enough.

“If you take his head, his comrades and family will chase you.”

“That would be troublesome.”

“Then leave him be. He can no longer harm you anyway.”

“Understood.”

It was Eunsong’s first lesson as a teacher.

“Well, shall we continue?”

With that single strike, Eunsong had gauged Cheon Soyak’s ability.

At the very least, she was at the threshold of the peak realm.

At only fourteen.

A girl who had trained for no more than four years, if that.

And she had displayed such skill with a sword unsuited to her size.

A true gem had been discovered.

She was more than worthy of being counted among his ‘disciples.’

Gwak Dowon had clearly not expected bloodshed here. His face remained frozen.

His eyes flickered as if calculating his next move.

But it didn’t last long.

Because his gaze met Cheon Soyak’s.

“Master Gwak.”

A cold, distinct voice.

The long sword in her hand.

The blood dripping from its tip.

Instinctively, he took a step back.

“Whether you let me go or not, I am already a person of Jianghu.”

And—

“I have heard that Jianghu is a place where grudges are clear.”

The energy coursing through her small body was not entirely her own.

But at this moment, she needed to amplify her presence.

Cheon Soyak unleashed all the internal energy coiled in her lower abdomen.

In that instant.

All the various scents that had filled the Gwak family estate vanished.

A sweet yet thick fragrance of plum blossoms filled the courtyard, a scent even the depths of Mount Hua could not replicate.

Cheon Soyak’s long black hair swayed.

The force and energy emanating from her body made it so.

“If you wish to make an enemy of me, then go ahead.”

The sword in the girl’s hand pointed directly at Gwak Dowon’s chin.

A killing intent, innate to those born with the fate of an assassin, coalesced at the tip.

Enough to make his skin prickle.

He realized, instinctively.

With just a single strike—

With a single technique, that child could take his head.

“Le… leave. I- I will let you go…!”

Only then did Cheon Soyak sheath her sword.

She tossed the Falling Blossom Sword toward Eunsong as if it were a mere object.

And then, unable to endure the surging energy within her, she coughed up blood and collapsed.

“Tsk.”

Eunsong swiftly caught her frail body.

Her breathing was unstable, her complexion pale—her meridians had been damaged.

‘I did think it strange for someone so young to have such powerful internal energy… This is…’

This was what happened when one consumed elixirs but failed to properly guide the energy, or when one absorbed external force without sufficient training to make it their own.

The energy that accumulated within her body was not hers.

She could use it if she wished—

But she had lost control, and it had rampaged.

‘So this is why she never thought to escape until now.’

Eunsong sighed.

He should have stepped in sooner.

He had trusted her flawless swordsmanship and merely watched as she unleashed her energy.

He hadn’t realized that her internal strength had not kept up with her blade.

“Is there a physician here?”

“There’s one beyond that alley… Wait, are you truly taking her with you?”

“Master Gwak, did you not promise the child? That you would let her go.”

“That… is…”

It must have been frustrating.

He had welcomed a Mount Hua disciple as a guest, only to have him take away a mere servant girl.

And not just any girl, but the daughter of Hwaeom Sect—someone he had secretly set his sights on.

To ask who had truly acted out of bounds here…

The answer was clear.

Yet, it was Eunsong who pressed him.

It was Eunsong who frowned.

“Are you, a man, going to go back on your word in front of a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect?”

His face paled again.

The name of the Mount Hua Sect was doing its job.

“Ah… Just… just take her. But, at least… two taels of silver… Ah, no, never mind…”

Leaving the dumbfounded Gwak Dowon behind, Eunsong stepped out of the courtyard.