Chapter 30 - Why the Blade Weeps

Seo Daeryong returned empty-handed after setting out with the enforcement martial artists.

“Yang Tae refused to submit to arrest. He claimed that the Saber Fiends were entitled to protect themselves within the Southern Saber Sect’s territory. I tried to bring him in by force, but his subordinates intervened, leaving us no choice but to withdraw.”

As a Hundred-Saber Fiend, he had a hundred direct subordinates alone. Arresting him would be no easy task if he refused to cooperate.

The investigators, their morale at its peak, grew agitated.

“He’s making a mockery of us.”

“We must arrest him by force, even if we have to take every enforcement martial artist we have.”

Gok Myeong urged caution, calming the younger investigators.

“We must handle this carefully. If we clash with the Saber Fiends, many of our enforcement martial artists will be injured.”

“But surely we can’t just let this go?”

As the investigators argued back and forth, I held out a sheet of paper.

“Here. Send him this.”

“What!”

It was a summons. What startled everyone was the charge I had written on it.

Rebellion.

“Can refusing arrest be treated as rebellion?”

Even a veteran like Gok Myeong had not known this.

“Yes. Our offices are appointed directly by the Cult Leader, while the Hundred-Saber Fiend is appointed by the Blood Heaven Saber Demon. Our orders and the Blood Heaven Saber Demon’s orders cannot conflict. Ultimately, his refusal amounts to defying the Cult Leader’s command. There’s no need to go ourselves. Send the summons by messenger, and he’ll come running on his own two feet.”

He would come. If one wrong move spread the charge of rebellion to all the Saber Fiends, they would kill him themselves.

“Yes, understood.”

Seo Daeryong took the summons and hurried straight out.

Sure enough, less than half a double-hour after the summons was delivered, Yang Tae appeared at Yellow Springs Pavilion in person.

“Rebellion” was a magic word that made even the most ill-tempered person obedient.

But while it could bring him here, it could not make him confess.

Even after a full double-hour of questioning, he refused to admit that he had threatened to kill Jong Hwa’s younger sister.

I had expected as much, so I entered the interrogation room myself.

Yang Tae sat in a chair with his internal energy suppressed. He flinched when I entered. However imposing a Hundred-Saber Fiend might be, he could not compare with the presence I now commanded after cutting down the Demon Army commander.

“Second Young Master.”

“You should address me as the Pavilion Master of Yellow Springs Pavilion, not the Second Young Master.”

“Forgive my discourtesy, Pavilion Master. The summons listed the charge as rebellion. What on earth does that mean?”

“I thought this might be the only way to see you, Warrior Yang.”

When I smiled and spoke gently, Yang Tae responded in kind.

“I apologize for refusing arrest. As you know, belonging to an organization means having to consider all sorts of things, doesn’t it? There’s my dignity in front of my subordinates, too.”

“I understand.”

“This never should have become such a serious affair in the first place. It all started with children playing around.”

“There is something to that.”

I readily went along with him to see what he would do. Apparently sensing an opportunity, Yang Tae began trying to win me over.

“I knew you would be a reasonable man. We should be able to settle this amicably.”

“How?”

“Isn’t this your first appointment to a position of such responsibility, Pavilion Master? As you run Yellow Springs Pavilion, you’ll need a great deal of outside assistance. It will cost plenty of money, too.”

He was speaking indirectly, but in the end, he was offering a bribe.

“And that’s not all. To formally become the successor someday, you’ll absolutely need our support. After all, everyone is aligning themselves with the First Young Master right now...”

“I would certainly welcome your assistance. Please help me all you can.”

Yang Tae’s face immediately brightened.

“You truly are a generous man. I will serve you well from now on. And soon, I’ll arrange a pleasant gathering for us.”

Watching my reaction, he quietly rose from his chair.

“Where are you going?”

“Haven’t we finished talking?”

“Didn’t you mean you would help me after you got out of prison?”

At the word “prison,” Yang Tae’s expression stiffened.

“Why would you make such an upsetting joke?”

I looked up at him, letting my cold qi presence show.

“Does this sound like a joke? We’re discussing your crime of threatening to kill a Yellow Springs Pavilion investigator’s family.”

“I clearly told you that I never made such a threat.”

“Your statement is irrelevant. The threatened investigator’s testimony has already been accepted.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Cult has a rule: the testimony of Yellow Springs Pavilion’s martial artists takes precedence over any contradictory testimony. That provision was created to uphold the authority of the pavilion’s investigators, who enforce the Cult’s rules. You probably didn’t know. I only discovered this law myself just recently. It’s all because of people like you. There are far too many who think they can get away with anything simply by insisting.”

Flustered, Yang Tae could not find a word to say. When he first arrived, he could never have imagined things taking this turn.

Then came another bolt from the blue.

“Confess willingly, and I’ll reduce your sentence to ten years. Deny it, and you’ll get twenty. There will be no further negotiation.”

“W-what? Ten years?”

Yang Tae was so shocked that he stammered.

“Make your choice.”

“Are you insane?”

His restrained nature finally showed itself, and his speech grew crude.

“If I have to be, gladly. Dealing with people like you does seem difficult while staying sane. Now, I’ll give you half a quarter-hour to think.”

At last, Yang Tae lost his composure. His eyes blazed as he spoke.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Forget ten years—I have no intention of spending even one day in prison.”

There was no point in talking further, so I stood.

“Your trial will be held within the next few days.”

“Who says?”

“I do. You live however you please, don’t you?”

His urgent words stopped me as I turned away.

“Wait! Second Young Master! Pavilion Master! Why are you doing this?”

“Are you asking because you truly don’t know? Your son assaulted a friend and nearly killed him. This wasn’t an injury from a single fight. He tormented that boy every day for years. Then his parent threatened to kill an investigator’s family to bury the case. And you ask why I’m doing this?”

“Are we the same as some warehouse guard? You should at least treat us as his superiors! You’ve always turned a blind eye to this much before!”

Those words were sorrowful and frightening at once. They also gave me the drive to keep moving forward.

“Not anymore.”

“If you touch me, the Demon Supreme won’t stand idly by.”

“Yes, he will. He stood by when I cut down the Demon Army commander. Who do you think you are?”

At last, Yang Tae exploded. He had reached the mistaken conclusion that he was being treated this way because he had been agreeable.

BANG!

Yang Tae slammed the desk and spoke through clenched teeth.

“Listen here, Pavilion Master! I have many friends who have risked their lives alongside me!”

“I guarantee that not one of them will step forward for you. Who would genuinely like someone like you enough to risk their life?”

I tossed one more remark at him as he trembled.

“Well? Why don’t you threaten to kill my family, too?”

Though he was worked up, Yang Tae did not dare say a word.

Watching him grit his teeth and swallow his rage, a thought suddenly came to me.

Perhaps Hwa Mugi was not the reason we had fallen.

Discipline had deteriorated so badly that a mere Hundred-Saber Fiend could threaten a Yellow Springs Pavilion investigator and even make veiled threats against me.

“Confess willingly.”

I spoke calmly and left. Once the door closed, all I heard was him taking his anger out on the innocent desk.

* * *

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon came to see me that very day.

He had planted his great saber in the ground in the front courtyard of my residence and was sitting in front of it, drinking.

“Welcome, Second Young Master. Or should I call you Pavilion Master now?”

“Call me whatever you find comfortable.”

“Second Young Master is more comfortable for me, so that’s what I’ll call you.”

“Of course.”

“Come sit here and have a drink.”

I readily sat down opposite him. Despite inviting me to drink with him, he poured me nothing.

“I believe I warned you. Seeing me often will do you no good.”

“You are always the one who comes to see me, sir.”

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon watched me for a moment, then abruptly brought up the past.

“There was a moment recently when I saw you in a new light. When you won the duel and asked the Cult Leader for your wish, I shouted inwardly: Yes, that’s it. That’s the sort of wish a clever fellow should make.”

“I thought it was quite a good wish myself.”

“Yes. That day was the beginning.”

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon emptied his cup and refilled it. He still had not offered me a cup. Once again, he poured only for himself.

He sat leaning against the Heaven-Destroying Great Saber planted behind him as though it were a wall. Beside his gaunt frame, the great saber’s overwhelming size inspired admiration.

“It truly is a magnificent blade.”

“Does that blade not frighten you?”

“Why should I be frightened?”

“Because you make my blade weep.”

I did not avert my eyes from his piercing stare.

“How could I be the reason it weeps?”

“Then why does it weep?”

“It weeps in lament.”

“Over what?”

“One of your disciples gave me energy-dispersing poison during the tournament. Another came to see me and humiliated my subordinate. Your younger brother used the Demon Army for his own selfish gain, and your subordinate threatened to kill a Yellow Springs Pavilion investigator. Your blade weeps in lament because it sees that those around its master fall short of his character.”

The corners of the Blood Heaven Saber Demon’s mouth curled upward.

“You certainly have a glib tongue.”

“All I did was recite the facts, and now I’m an eloquent speaker.”

“You are wrong.”

“Please enlighten me.”

“First, you said those around me fall short of my character. They do not. They suit my character perfectly. That is all the man I am.”

As expected, this old man was no easy opponent. People with great pride or a hunger for honor were easier to deal with.

“And strictly speaking, those people are not at fault. You are.”

“I am?”

“When a dragon ascends to heaven, it brings wind and rain.”

“Who is the dragon?”

“Who else? You. Aren’t my people being swept away by that storm?”

“What ascent to heaven? I’m merely a loach stirring up trouble in muddy water.”

“A loach becomes a snake, and a snake becomes a dragon.”

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon emptied his cup again. He was still drinking alone.

“Damn it! That’s all well and good, but why must it be my people who get swept away?”

With that lament, he set down his cup and stated his purpose plainly.

“Release the Hundred-Saber Fiend you have locked up. Thanks to you, morale in our Southern Saber Sect has hit rock bottom lately.”

“If the investigation finds him innocent, he will be released.”

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon began emitting demonic qi. Just as I had felt its intensity before, I could understand why Father had said I was not yet capable of handling him. A Demon Supreme’s martial arts were truly on another level.

“Let me give you a word of advice.”

“Please don’t.”

“What?”

His expression twisted for an instant, but I continued calmly.

“If you’ve come to ask a favor, just ask the favor. Asking favors and giving advice at the same time—please don’t do that. Young people these days find that sort of person unlikable.”

He had every reason to erupt in anger, but old ginger truly was pungent. Instead, he withdrew the demonic qi he had been pouring out.

“You’re right. Few people speak so frankly to me anymore.”

“You must be wary of that. Stagnant water inevitably rots.”

“Who stagnates because they want to? When you spend long enough immersed in it, you grow attached, and sometimes you miss the chance to let it flow away.”

“But we don’t immerse ourselves in rotten water, do we? Take this opportunity to let the rotten water drain away. He is not worth protecting.”

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon drained the cup in his hand. After emptying it in one satisfying swallow, he held it out to me.

“Will you accept a drink from me?”

It was the first drink he had offered since we sat down together. I readily accepted the cup.

As he poured, he said, “Very well. I’ll let the rotten water flow away.”

“A wise decision indeed.”

Just as I was about to empty the cup, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon made a pointed remark.

“In return, Second Young Master, you must become my water from now on.”