He Who Tied The Knot Must Untie It

“Yun-seon!”

She cried out his name and ran, but couldn’t even touch the hem of his robe. Ju-un collapsed onto the rock in despair.

“How can this be!”

The sect leaders of the Five Great Mountain Swords were just as shaken. Looking down the cliff, there was not even a strand of hair, let alone a corpse.

“Venerable Elder!”

Go Yu-saeng, unable to contain his rage, shook his white beard and pointed at Jo Yang.

“Why did you provoke the boy and ruin everything!”

Just moments ago he had rejoiced at Do-pyeong’s death, but now that things hadn’t gone his way, he placed blame on Jo Yang.

“Did I not even sacrifice my beloved disciple to give you this chance?”

Jo Yang barked angrily, not hiding his displeasure. He couldn’t help but see Yul-cheon’s face overlapping with Yun-seon’s mocking expression at the very end.

“Calm yourselves first, let’s carefully discuss our next step.”

The quick-witted So So-jeong stepped forward to ease the mood. Though she had fallen into despair when Yun-seon vanished, she saw another glimmer of hope in Jo Yang’s face.

‘If Jo Yang had discovered nothing, he wouldn’t look this calm. It means he either has another plan, or he’s already learned something.’

There was no reason to provoke him. Extracting even a small clue was the best option now.

So So-jeong tapped the shoulder of Go Geun-dong, who was restlessly shifting without choosing a side.

“Let’s secretly send men down the cliff. If nothing else, at least recover a body.”

Geun-dong nodded, impressed anew by her wisdom. For now, it seemed cooperating with her would be useful.

Go Yu-saeng too knew well that there was nothing to gain by fighting Jo Yang. With a sweep of his sleeve, he clasped his hands behind his back and left.

Once the sect leaders had dispersed, Jo Yang finally turned his gaze to Ju-un.

“Miss Ju! Do you still have reason to remain with this sect?”

At his sneer, Ju-un lifted her head. Her eyes were hollow, holding nothing.

“Were you not also keeping watch on Yun-seon? Isn’t it laughable that you now act as if you truly shared your heart with him?”

Jo Yang’s every word stabbed Ju-un’s heart. Not a word was wrong. In her unbearable grief, even she didn’t know how much of her feelings had truly been for Yun-seon.

‘Am I truly blameless?’

Ju-un had never felt regret in her life. She averted her gaze from Jo Yang, then suddenly gasped for breath and collapsed unconscious on the rock.

“Sajeo! Sajeo!”

Arriving late and panting, Hyeongjin climbed the slope. His eyes first fell on Ju-un, but naturally shifted to her side.

“Kwak… Do-pyeong?”

Seeing Do-pyeong’s corpse sprawled carelessly, Hyeongjin rubbed his eyes again and again in disbelief.

He staggered over, touched the back of his neck with trembling hands, and wanted to deny the reality before his eyes.

“Sect Head!”

Jo Yang’s cold, emotionless eyes now turned to his first disciple.

“Why did you kill Do-pyeong?”

He couldn’t mistake the long needle in his neck for anything but his master’s hidden weapon.

“A pity.”

Jo Yang didn’t deny it.

“If not for this boy, we’d never have found the cave’s entrance. To not even acknowledge that service, but instead…”

His feelings were closer to guilt than affection. Do-pyeong had spent over ten years trailing after him, desperate for approval. Perhaps not enough to nurture, but close enough to keep at his side.

“Life and death are in Heaven’s hands. Today was simply the day his life ended.”

Hyeongjin grabbed his left hand, which held Do-pyeong, with all his strength.

He knew this well: the master he respected most in the world was someone who could discard anything for his goal. Perhaps that was why he revered him more—because great causes required countless sacrifices. But in this moment, he hated his master endlessly.

“Now that Yun-seon is dead, what will you do?”

At Hyeongjin’s cold words, Jo Yang sneered. Hadn’t Baek Hyeongjin himself used Kwak Do-pyeong to the fullest? Seeing him clumsily reveal guilt he couldn’t bear, Jo Yang thought him small-hearted. Compared to—

‘Courage and wit, he lacked neither. What a waste.’

Jo Yang shook his head, trying to erase thoughts of Yun-seon.

“There’s an alternative.”

“What?”

At the words Jo Yang tossed out, Hyeongjin’s eyes widened.

“There is another who knows part of the scripture’s contents.”

Jo Yang shifted his gaze from Hyeongjin to the side.

“Don’t tell me…”

“Why do you think the Sword Immortal placed Ju-un beside Yun-seon? To learn the scripture? Hah, no. It was because she wasn’t sure of what she already knew. Over ten years ago, she heard exactly what I wanted. To me, the Taiyi Divine Art means nothing. What I need is the code that the Sword Immortal knows.”

Hyeongjin gazed down at unconscious Ju-un.

“I will make her tell me.”

“Well, perhaps you’re the way.”

Without even waiting for Hyeongjin’s reply, Jo Yang strode down the rocky slope.

When he regained consciousness, the first thing Yun-seon saw was the face of an old man nodding off. Unsure if it was dream or reality, the flood of pain told him he was alive. Rising, he looked around—it was the cave where he had once met Right Shadow.

“You’re awake?”

A cheerful voice spilled out behind him.

“No, then…”

Yun Seol smiled at him and then shook the dozing Seong Gon vigorously.

“Grandfather, brother Yun-seon is awake.”

“Mmm?”

Seong Gon stretched slowly, then peered at Yun-seon through half-lidded eyes.

“Tsk tsk, no matter how deep the wounds, how do you faint for three days straight? You’re weak, utterly weak.”

“Elder…”

Yun-seon’s eyes darted back and forth as he wondered at their identities. From Jo Sang-won’s words, they had to be Taiyi Divine Sect members, but he couldn’t guess. Seeing his bewildered face, Yun Seol burst into laughter.

“Oh dear, at least eat something. We worked hard to save you—it’d be ridiculous if you starved.”

She held out a fish porridge she had simmered all night. The savory smell hit his nose, and hunger gripped him.

“Hmph! What’s so good about this brat that you waste such effort on him?”

Seong Gon kept grumbling discontentedly. The death of his old friend Jo Sang-won had torn his heart apart. If only he had decided sooner—perhaps he could have saved him. That regret gnawed at him.

Sensing the mood, Yun-seon couldn’t bring himself to eat and only held the bowl blankly. As his memory slowly returned, pain throbbed in his chest.

“Please understand grandfather. He’s not scolding you, so don’t shrink back.”

Yun Seol took the porridge bowl back from Yun-seon and lifted spoonfuls to his lips.

Grateful for her care, Yun-seon gulped down the porridge.

As warmth spread in his stomach, his mind began to clear little by little.

“By chance… are you my martial uncle?”

After finishing the porridge, Yun-seon straightened his clothes and sat properly.

Though his body was broken and he could not kneel, he wanted to show as much respect as he could.

“Martial uncle? Hmph. I have no martial brothers.”

Seong Gon lowered his eyes and answered curtly, making Yun Seol click her tongue in disbelief.

“Can you cover the sky with your palm? Is the Sword God Kang Yul-cheon not clearly your martial brother? Pretending it never happened changes nothing.”

Seong Gon knew Yun Seol was right and grew irritated, but not wanting to show it, he shut his eyes.

He was famed as the most cantankerous man under heaven, yet to his granddaughter he was endlessly soft.

“I pay my respects to Sabaek (Martial Uncle).”

Yun-seon bowed twice, his forehead hitting the ground before Seong Gon.

Whether this man was destined as a blessing or a curse to him, right now he was the one Yun-seon needed most.

He was the only one who could answer the countless questions weighing on his heart.

“Sabaek, please tell me why I must live. What must I do now?”

Yun-seon collapsed flat to the ground and burst into tears.

All the grief and loneliness he had endured surged up at once.

“What did you say?”

Seong Gon’s eyes snapped open, his face twisting ferociously.

“What am I, that Master, my Sahyung, even Sect Lord Jo… all… I’d rather die…”

Seong Gon leapt to his feet and strode toward Yun-seon.

He grabbed Yun-seon by the collar and hauled him up, slapping his left cheek hard.

“You dare wag that torn mouth so carelessly! What are you, that Sang-won would throw away his precious life for you? It’s outrageous!”

Had Yun Seol not rushed over to stop him, Yun-seon’s cheeks would have been ruined.

“Brother, get a grip on yourself. Don’t let Uncle Jo’s death be in vain.”

Seeing the tears in Yun Seol’s eyes, Yun-seon felt a heavy stone deep in his chest.

‘From now on, I must bear the weight of their lives. Mine is not a life I can throw away.’

Seong Gon finally calmed himself and leaned against the cave wall, deep in thought.

He too pitied Yun-seon, who had suffered so much at such a young age.

Perhaps the anger surging now was directed at himself.

How many things had he ruined, shackled stupidly by the past?

“Jo Sang-won’s family for generations guarded the royal family of Ryeo. His father, and his grandfather as well.”

Seong Gon began to mutter as if speaking to himself.

As far as Yun Seol knew, it was the first time he ever spoke so long about another person.

“When Ryeo’s royal family collapsed completely, we prepared for a long war.”

They all knew it would not be a war of one or two years.

Thus they desperately needed spies who would infiltrate deep into Gyeong Nation and report its affairs.

Jo Sang-won’s father realized that this role was most fitting for his son.

“It was a kind of stratagem of suffering. He bore the disgrace of selling out his country and was beheaded. Using his father’s death as pretext, Sang-won naturalized into his mother’s country and, through many twists of fate, became head of the Dragon Gate Sect his family once protected.”

The people of Gyeong Nation deliberately gave him important posts and tested his loyalty in countless ways.

In that process, his maternal grandfather died tragically, and his mother contracted a terrible illness.

To the people of Gyeong, Jo Sang-won was endlessly suspected; to the people of Ryeo, he was forever a traitor.

“But never once did he forget he was of Ryeo.”

Finishing there, Seong Gon stared at Yun-seon for a long time.

In his eyes were both hatred and pity.

“Yun-seon, you’ve surely realized by now—you are of Ryeo. I know you cannot force patriotism upon the people of a fallen nation. But—”

Seong Gon’s eyes grew red.

He had sworn never again to ask one bearing that face, yet here he was breaking that vow once more.

“You alone must not abandon Ryeo.”

Yun-seon felt he had finally found the reason for his vengeance.

His master’s will that he survive, and Jo Sang-won’s sacrifice of his life in his stead, all pointed to the same answer.

His face was already soaked with tears.

“You are the last bloodline of Ryeo’s royal family, the one that betrayed its people and surrendered to Gyeong. You must not betray their hope as well.”

Yun-seon no longer knew if the water from his eyes was tears or pus.

결자해지 (結者解之), He Who Tied the Knot Must Untie It:

The one who caused a problem must be the one to resolve it.