Chapter v20c24

## The Departing Youths

– Swallow Flight

“They’re finally leaving.”

The Sword Empress stood atop a tall watchtower, watching as Na Ye-Rin, astride her horse, disappeared over the horizon with the rest of the envoy. She acknowledged her disciple’s skill, but her troubled heart still worried her.

“Will she be alright without *him*?”

The Sword Empress made a silent vow to hold someone accountable if anything happened to Na Ye-Rin.

“I hope everything goes well.”

The Sword Saint stroked his white beard, his voice heavy with concern.

“I wouldn’t be worried under normal circumstances, but these are troubled times.”

The Sword Star added.

“Speaking of which, your granddaughter is part of the envoy as well. What was Branch Manager Ma’s daughter’s name again…?”

The Sword Saint’s memory failed him.

“Tsk, tsk, you’re getting senile. It’s Ha-Ryeong, Ma Ha-Ryeong! You’ll forget again soon anyway, but try to remember it for now.”

*Slap!*

“Ah, right! Ma Ha-Ryeong! The girl you spent all winter teaching. I’ve seen her a few times when I came to visit you, but I couldn’t remember her name.”

“Even if your mouth is crooked, your words should be straight. It wasn’t me who held her captive. It was my adorable granddaughter who wouldn’t let me go. I just played along, as a doting grandfather. I’ve never seen such a determined look in my life.”

“Really?”

“Of course! It was a look filled with determination and a fierce will. I can still remember it vividly. She looked like she would commit suicide if I didn’t teach her properly or tried to back out. I was sweating bullets.”

The Sword Saint chuckled at his exaggeration.

“Hahaha! Even the mighty Sword Star is weak to his granddaughter.”

The Sword Star smiled wryly.

“Of course I adore my only granddaughter. But that doesn’t mean I’ll spoil her or teach her without discipline. I didn’t!”

“Spoiling your children will only ruin them.”

“Who doesn’t know that!”

If you loved your children, you had to give them wings to fly.

“Even the best mother bird can’t fly for her chicks.”

A bird that didn’t practice flying would only fall.

“Did she make any progress?”

The Sword Star asked, and the Sword Star nodded vigorously, as if he had been waiting for that question.

“Of course! She’s my granddaughter! A determined person with a clear goal never gives up. And they always achieve results.”

He couldn’t forget the look on his granddaughter’s face when she had barged into his room, her eyes filled with determination.

* * *

“I’m ready to start from scratch, Grandpa! Please train me. I have to become stronger. I have to live up to the name of the Sword Star’s granddaughter.”

* * *

He had only one answer for her. And so he had spent the entire winter at Cheonmu Academy, by her side. She had been a diligent student, never complaining about the harsh training schedule.

“It was a joy to teach her.”

He smiled, remembering those days.

“It seems like she learned something from that Red Plum Blossom Valley incident. My grandson told me that although Cheonmu Peak was burned down, it left something behind in the hearts of the children.”

The Sword Saint nodded, his arms crossed.

“They’re heading into a new battlefield now. I hope they’ll be safe.”

The Sword Empress said, her voice quiet. She knew that Machun Pavilion was a dangerous place.

“We can’t follow them and hold their hands, can we? The future belongs to the young. They have to forge their own path. We’ve done everything we can. Our role was to pass on the past to the present. Now it’s their turn to create the future.”

The Sword Star said.

“Let’s wish them luck.”

They were sending their children – their grandson, their granddaughter, their successor – into the unknown. They couldn’t help but feel anxious.

“Hmm… but we have to hold down the fort, don’t we?”

The Sword Saint said, stretching.

“I should go back and finish my ‘Parting the Sea’ technique.”

His casual remark, implying that he was close to completing his ultimate technique, irritated the Sword Star.

“Hmph, you still haven’t given up on that pipe dream?”

He retorted.

“We’ll see if it’s a pipe dream or a good omen.”

The Sword Saint replied nonchalantly. The Sword Empress, not wanting to be left out, said,

“I should find a way to increase my flock to two thousand.”

Her words were enough to send the birds of the South Sea into a panic.

“I’ll show you something impressive next time. Just you wait.”

The Sword Star felt left out. These two were his only true friends, and he didn’t like feeling excluded.

“We’re still active.”

The Sword Saint grinned. It was a childlike grin, despite his age.

“Of course! We can’t let them treat us like old geezers.”

The Sword Star said, pounding his chest.

“Oh, we’re just getting started. We haven’t even been to half the places we want to go. We have at least three hundred years left to live.”

The Sword Empress said, her youthful appearance belying her age. They had no intention of slowing down, despite being over a hundred years old. They would probably keep training until the day they died. The Sword Star couldn’t resist adding,

“You’re finally embracing your inner demon, I see.”

The Sword Empress’s ears, honed by her super senses, were sharp.

“What? What did you just say?”

“N-nothing. It was just nonsense! Ahahaha!”

He backpedaled, his face pale. They had to be the wall that the younger generation had to overcome. The Three Heavenly Swords would remain a formidable obstacle, a shining beacon for all to see. But even they had their own walls to overcome.

“Speaking of which, I haven’t seen the Master since this morning. Where did he go?”

The Sword Empress asked.

“I think he followed the children.”

“Really? Is it because he found a worthy disciple? How do you feel about your grandson being chosen, Sword Saint?”

She knew what had happened. The Sword Saint smiled wryly.

“I’m not sure if it’s a good thing. I feel guilty for making him think that my martial arts aren’t enough. The Master has hidden his sword even deeper.”

He said, impressed.

“Or maybe he’s abandoned it.”

“You mean the state of ‘No Sword in Hand, No Sword in Heart’?”

The Sword Saint exclaimed.

“It’s ‘No Sword in Heart.’ That’s why swordsmen are so hopeless.”

The Sword Star corrected him. The Sword Saint, used to his pedantry, didn’t bother arguing. Instead, he tapped his wooden staff, Eunha (Galaxy).

“I thought I could finally challenge him after I got this… It’s a shame.”

The wall had moved further away.

“You haven’t given up yet?”

“Have you, Sword Empress?”

She asked, her eyes wide.

“Of course not. We made a promise to surpass them, remember? But I thought I was the only one who remembered. It was a hundred years ago, after all.”

They had been young once. They had made that promise in a distant past.

“A true promise doesn’t fade with time.”

The Sword Saint said firmly.

“Then you must remember that promise too. The promise that the winner of the duel would marry the Master’s daughter. That promise is still valid, right?”

The Sword Star said, his voice insistent.

“You old fool. That was a joke, not a promise. Don’t confuse the two, you senile old man!”

The Sword Empress retorted.

“Ugh~”

He was speechless.

“Anyway, I’m glad to see that the Master is still in good shape. It wouldn’t be satisfying to defeat a frail old man. A victory against someone in their prime is the only victory worth having.”

“I agree.”

“Well, I think he has at least another hundred years left in him.”

“His ‘Parting the Sea’ technique might actually work.”

The reason the Sword Saint was researching the “Parting the Sea” technique was because he couldn’t defeat the Master with his “Parting the River” technique. The Sword Empress and the Sword Star were still training and researching because they had a clear goal in mind. It was both a curse and a blessing. It was a curse because it reminded them of their weakness, but it was also a blessing because it gave them a goal, a motivation to push their limits.

“I’m still in good shape, so I should go back to training. I’ll be the first one to defeat the Master.”

“No, it’ll be me!”

“No, it’ll be me!”

“No, I mean…”

They bickered like children.

“Wait! This is going nowhere.”

The Sword Saint stopped them.

“Let’s just wait and see. Let’s call it a day.”

“That’s a good idea.”

They would continue to hone their skills, determined to overcome their wall.

“Those children are leaving the light to see the darkness.”

The Sword Empress said, watching the departing envoy with a thoughtful gaze.

“Where there’s light, there’s shadow. Good and evil, light and darkness, the surface and the hidden side. They’ll become true martial artists when they understand both sides and embrace them as one.”

“You can’t achieve true mastery with a narrow perspective! Only those who can break free from their preconceptions can achieve true enlightenment. And to do that, they have to realize that the world is too complex to be divided into two simple categories.”

This journey was a journey of self-discovery. It was dangerous, but it was also rewarding. It would be foolish to expect rewards without taking risks.

“All we can do now is watch over them.”

It seemed too dangerous for the Three Heavenly Swords to leave Cheonmu Academy now. So they decided to stay a little longer.

* * *

Na Ye-Rin was like an island. Everyone wanted to be near her, but they were too afraid to approach her. They were afraid of becoming a target of envy and criticism. The only person who had been able to approach her without hesitation was Bi Ryu-Yeon. But he had been disqualified from the envoy due to his recent incident.

What was unusual about this envoy was that new disciples were given a chance to participate. But it wasn’t open to everyone. There was a condition.

They had to be among the top four in the entrance exam.

The reason there were four spots was because the list of successful candidates was posted in a circular shape, and the top four occupied the four cardinal directions. They were ranked from north to east to south to west, and they were called North Origin, East Origin, South Origin, and West Origin, respectively.

The official reason for including new disciples was to give promising talents more experience.

No one objected too strongly, happy to have new recruits to boss around. What was surprising was that two of the four were women. One of them was Ryu-Ran, the disciple of the Emei Goddess, Jin So-Ryeong. Fortunately, Yoo Un-Bi had also managed to pass the exam, barely making it into the top four. The other male disciple was Gongson Jeol-Hwi. His various misconducts had been swept under the rug through high-level political negotiations, allowing him to participate in the exam. But Namgung-Sang believed that his future was bleak, now that he was under Bi Ryu-Yeon’s thumb.

A black horse, its coat as glossy as black silk, its mane flowing, approached Na Ye-Rin’s white horse.

“That woman is…”

Namgung-Sang’s eyes widened.

The rider was the mysterious woman in black robes he had encountered during the exam. She was still wearing the same robes. She sat gracefully on her horse, her legs together, her back straight.

“What is it, Sang? Do you know her?”

He had been so distracted that he had missed Jin-Ryeong’s question.

“Wow… I didn’t know she was that beautiful…”

“Sang, did you hear what I said?”

He missed her words again, lost in thought, his karma accumulating. She had been wearing a veiled umbrella during the exam, so he hadn’t been able to see her face clearly. The umbrella was black, embroidered with plum blossoms in silver and gold thread. She was still using it to shield herself from the sun, but the veil was gone.

‘Who is she?’

‘She’s stunning.’

It was no wonder that all the men were staring at her. Even with the umbrella shading her face, her eyes and features were enough to tell that she was a beauty. She was tall and slender, with a narrow waist, her every movement as graceful as a dancer’s.

He tilted his head.

“That’s strange… I feel like I’ve met her somewhere before…”

But his thoughts were interrupted.

“Nam-gung-Sang!”

He turned around, startled by the furious voice, and gasped in horror.

“Eeeeeeek!”

A wrathful Asura, engulfed in flames, stood before him.

“Where do you think you’re looking?!”

*Wham!*

Her elbow, fueled by righteous anger, slammed into his side.

“Aaaaaargh!”

He screamed in agony.

‘H-how did she hit the exact same spot…?’

Her elbow had struck the same spot that the mysterious woman had hit during the exam. He blacked out.

* * *

“Hello.”

The woman in black approached Na Ye-Rin and greeted her with a smile.

“Who are you?”

Na Ye-Rin had never seen her before.

‘Those eyes… like an abyss…’

The woman brushed back her silky hair, revealing her left eye. Her right eye was partially hidden behind a veil of hair, but her left eye was as beautiful as a jewel. It was a deep, rich brown, like a polished agate, its depths drawing you in.

But…

‘T-this is impossible!’

Na Ye-Rin’s eyes widened.

‘Who is she? I can’t read her mind!’

The woman smiled faintly, covering her mouth with her sleeve.

“Long time no see, Rin.”

Na Ye-Rin’s fingers stiffened at the nickname “Rin.”

The woman slowly lowered her black umbrella. The sunlight illuminated her face, and Na Ye-Rin gasped. Her deep brown eyes, like polished agates, were slowly turning gold in the sunlight. She had seen a similar gemstone before. A beautiful and majestic stone that shifted from brown to gold, depending on the angle of the light. It was…

‘Like tiger’s eye!’

She was startled again. She had said the same thing before.

“C-could it be…?”

A distant memory, buried deep within her mind, flashed before her eyes. Silence.

The woman with tiger’s eyes smiled again. It was as if she was asking, “Do you remember me now?”

“This is so disappointing.”

She said, her voice filled with mock sadness.

“You forgot about me, Rin?”

She didn’t hide her disappointment.

“O-of course not… how could I forget my savior…?”

Of course she remembered. How could she forget the person who had saved her life, both physically and emotionally?

Her voice trembling, she uttered the name she had kept hidden for over a decade.

“Y-Yeon-Bi (Swallow Flight)!”

The woman smiled brightly and raised her hand, revealing a familiar hair ornament. It shimmered, its long, slender tassels trembling silently, as if rejoicing at the end of a long wait.

“It’s been a while, Rin! Ten years, to be exact.”