Seeing my alarm, Master calmly reassured me.
“No need to be alarmed. It won’t harm Escort Guard Jin Yu. When he wakes up, he’ll feel like a new man.”
Then Master turned to Palgap.
“Take him to his room and lay him down.”
When I nodded, Palgap walked over to Escort Guard Jin Yu and lifted him into his arms.
“I’ll leave him to you.”
“You don’t have to worry, Young Master.”
Soon, only Master and I remained, and I asked,
“Would you mind explaining what just happened?”
Master nodded.
“I removed the binding seal.”
“What? A binding seal…?”
“Someone placed a binding seal on Escort Guard Jin Yu. It was designed to keep him from disobeying that person’s orders.”
So that was why Master had been staring at him so openly.
“If my suspicions are correct, the Alliance Leader himself was most likely the one who placed it.”
The Alliance Leader?
Considering Escort Guard Jin Yu’s former identity, it was certainly possible. But as far as everyone knew, he was dead.
“Then doesn’t that mean the Alliance Leader probably knows Escort Guard Jin Yu is still alive?”
“Not necessarily. From what I could determine, the seal on Escort Guard Jin Yu did nothing more than prevent him from disobeying orders. It had no other functions… but if the Alliance Leader had ordered him to return, Escort Guard Jin Yu would’ve had no choice but to obey.”
“But he never showed any sign of receiving such an order.”
“That was because the Supreme Yin Ice Sea Divine Art’s Qi had been suppressing the binding seal’s Qi, Deputy Merchant Lord.”
“So that’s what happened!”
“Even so, the Alliance Leader might have noticed if Jin Yu had come close enough… but thankfully, it seems that never happened.”
Good thing I’d kept him inside the inn as much as possible while we were in Luoyang, just to be safe.
“The seal was buried so deeply that I hadn’t noticed it before. I was only able to detect it after Escort Guard Jin Yu’s realm rose.”
“What?”
“I could feel something blocking and suppressing the blood and Qi flowing through his acupoints.”
“So you removed the binding seal that was suppressing his blood and Qi.”
“That’s right. I used the Supreme Yin Ice Sea Divine Art’s Qi to extinguish the binding seal’s Qi.”
Master smiled.
“Escort Guard Jin Yu’s hard work finally paid off. Without his tireless effort, I never would’ve noticed the seal in the first place.”
Just imagining what could have happened made my blood run cold.
What if we had trusted the Disguise Art and continued operating in Luoyang without ever discovering the binding seal, only for the Alliance Leader to notice him…
“I owe you a tremendous debt, Master.”
“He also represents Snow Wind Palace’s future. Of course I should give him special attention.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Jin Yu was dreaming.
He was back in his childhood at Snow Wind Palace.
A martial artist from North Sea Ice Palace would often come to see him.
She always gathered him into her warm embrace, and he loved falling asleep in her arms.
She would speak to him in a tender voice.
“Your name, Jin Yu (進裕), takes one character from your father’s name and one from mine. More than anything, I hope you’ll live a happy life in this world.”
As time passed and he gradually came to understand the world, he realized the truth.
The martial artist who had visited him was his mother.
But by the time he understood, she had already stopped coming to see him.
He had always been mature for his age, so he vaguely understood what that meant.
His mother would never be able to visit him again.
Instead, he spent his days imagining the father he had never met.
Then came the day he turned seven.
People who said they were from his father’s clan came to take him away, and he went with them.
His heart raced at the thought that he might finally get to live with his father.
But the farther they traveled, the more something felt wrong. When they reached the clan, he learned his suspicions had been right.
His father had already passed away.
The clan members never even asked his name before sending him straight to a strange place.
That was when his winter began.
Every day was agony.
Again and again, he found himself wanting to give up on everything.
The other children enduring that brutal training died gruesome deaths one by one, but he still fought with everything he had to survive.
Perhaps it was because he still remembered his mother’s words.
“More than anything, I hope you’ll live a happy life in this world.”
He believed that as long as he stayed alive, someday he would have the chance to be happy.
After surviving that hellish training, he finally learned why he had been forced to endure it.
It was all because of the Murim Alliance Leader.
The Alliance Leader needed people willing to die for him.
On the day he officially became one of the Alliance Leader’s hidden blades, he was given the name Yeon Gye-seung.
Until then, he had only been called by a number. At last, he had been given a real name.
Then he drank a mysterious crimson liquor and lost consciousness.
When he woke several days later, he felt an inexplicable pressure constricting him.
From that day onward, he could no longer disobey the Alliance Leader. Whenever the man gave an order, he had to kill, whether the target was a man or woman, young or old.
It didn’t matter whether they were guilty or innocent.
Unable to bear living that way, he tried to take his own life, but his body refused to obey.
Because the Alliance Leader had not permitted him to die.
Then one day, the Alliance Leader gave him an order.
“Go to the Hyeongmun Sect and kill a man named Ji Un.”
“As you command.”
That was the day his life changed.
Thanks to the Hyeongmun Sect Leader’s consideration, he became Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho’s Escort Guard.
At first, he hadn’t dared to want anything more.
But once he realized this was the happy life his mother had wished for him, he couldn’t help wanting to hold on to it.
That was why he never told Eun Seo-ho about his condition.
He was terrified that if Eun Seo-ho found out, this life would be taken from him.
He also hated the thought of making Eun Seo-ho worry because of him.
Besides, much of that suffocating pressure had faded whenever he was by Eun Seo-ho’s side.
Lately, however, the constriction had begun to worsen. At times, it felt as if an invisible hand were tightening around his throat.
He had already made up his mind.
If his condition ever caused a problem, he would take his own life without hesitation.
That would be the only way to repay Eun Seo-ho and his companions for accepting him without conditions or expecting anything in return, as well as Snow Wind Palace for taking care of him.
And yet…
Jin Yu looked down at his hands.
The thing that had bound him was gone.
His body felt light.
He had never felt anything like it. His body was so light that he felt as though he could go anywhere in the world.
So he ran. He ran as far and as freely as he pleased.
As he reveled in the freedom to move, he heard someone calling his name.
“Jin Yu.”
He turned around.
A brilliant light blazed before him, and within it stood a man and a woman.
He couldn’t see their faces, yet somehow, he knew who they were.
His father and mother.
“You’ve finally found true freedom!”
“All that’s left is for you to live happily.”
Escort Guard Jin Yu reached toward them. The moment his hand touched theirs, he somehow knew his parents were smiling.
“…!”
He awoke from the dream.
The first person he saw was Eun Seo-ho.
“M–My lord!”
“How do you feel?”
“Uh…”
Now that he thought about it, something felt different.
The pressure that had tormented him lately was gone, and his entire body overflowed with strength.
Had that been more than a dream?
The headaches were gone. So was the suffocating sensation that had constricted him.
He answered Eun Seo-ho’s question.
“I feel wonderful. My head is clear, and my whole body feels refreshed.”
“That’s a relief. Congratulations on your breakthrough.”
“What?”
“You’ve entered the Profound Realm.”
I looked at Escort Guard Jin Yu, who sat on the bed wearing a thoroughly bewildered expression.
He really seemed shaken.
“Me? Profound Realm?”
“Master told me someone had placed a binding seal on you.”
“…”
His expression hardened without the slightest trace of surprise. He clearly had some idea what I meant.
I didn’t press him. I simply waited for him to speak.
“My lord.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve been deceiving you all this time.”
He bit his lip.
“After everything you’ve done for me, I should’ve told you something was wrong… but I kept it from you.”
“It’s all right.”
“I’m not all right with it. What I did was no different from betraying you.”
His face twisted with anguish.
But that expression didn’t suit Escort Guard Jin Yu.
“Were you planning to kill me?”
“No! Never!”
Escort Guard Jin Yu nearly leaped out of bed.
I smiled and motioned for him to calm down.
“Then how could that possibly be a betrayal? If anything, I’m grateful. Even under those circumstances, you still fought so hard to protect me. It must have been incredibly difficult.”
“My lord…”
“Ah, if you want to thank someone, thank Master. Master was the one who removed the binding seal.”
I rose from my seat.
“Let yourself be happy about reaching the Profound Realm. You earned that realm entirely through your own effort.”
.
.
.
News that Escort Guard Jin Yu had reached the Profound Realm soon spread to my other Escort Guards.
“Is that so?”
“That certainly calls for a celebration.”
“I’m truly envious.”
The Escort Guards sincerely congratulated him.
But their eyes practically blazed with competitive fire.
It looked like they would be pushing themselves even harder from now on.
I warned them,
“This may be unnecessary advice, but don’t push yourselves too hard. It’ll be a disaster if one of you collapses or falls into Qi Deviation.”
“Understood.”
“We’ll keep that in mind.”
Come to think of it, now that Escort Guard Jin Yu had reached the Profound Realm, would he be able to properly use the Disguise Art Master was going to teach us?
That was excellent news.
I had certainly felt his absence while we were in Luoyang.
The next day.
Master began teaching us the Disguise Art in earnest.
“The Disguise Art I’m going to teach you is called the Novel Disguise Art.”
The Novel Disguise Art (新異變容術).
The name referred to a Disguise Art capable of creating an entirely new appearance.
“The Novel Disguise Art has six levels. Once mastered, it can even alter your Qi, allowing you to become a completely different person.”
Master looked at Lady Seohyang.
“With your current realm, Seohyang, you should be able to reach the first level, perhaps the beginning of the second. Even that will let you change the impression you give off, so it should still prove useful.”
“I’ll do my best to learn it.”
Master nodded and continued.
“Because the Novel Disguise Art requires Internal Power to maintain your altered appearance, it has one major drawback. You become weaker while using it.”
“How much weaker?”
“In my experience, it feels roughly equivalent to dropping one realm.”
Then Escort Guard Jin Yu and I would only be able to wield strength at around the Peak Realm while using it.
At that moment, Escort Guard Jin Yu spoke.
“I don’t mind becoming a little weaker if it means I can remain at my lord’s side as his guard.”
I nodded in agreement.
I had no intention of keeping the Novel Disguise Art active all the time. I would only use it briefly when needed.
For an art this extraordinary, that drawback was more than acceptable.
Several days passed after the incident with Escort Guard Jin Yu.
Even while learning the Novel Disguise Art, I kept up with my work instead of letting it pile up.
At the moment, I was dealing with the supply issue surrounding the Windcraft Fans.
“Deputy Merchant Lord, please take a look at this.”
“All right.”
I took the document Lady Seohyang held out. As I began reviewing it, Palgap’s voice rang from outside.
“Young Master! You have a visitor!”
“A visitor?”
Ah! Come to think of it, I could sense a familiar Qi.
I rose from my seat.
“I’ll be right out.”
It was Warrior Jin Yeong’s Qi.
But why had he come all the way to my office instead of waiting in the Reception Room?
Was it really that urgent?
I opened the door and stepped outside.
“Warrior Jin Yeong, you don’t need to go this far. I’m not going to run away.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Put your hand over your heart and say that again.”
“…Please give me a moment. I’ll get ready to go out.”
Fifteen minutes later.
I headed to the Imperial Palace with Warrior Jin Yeong.
On the way, I asked him,
“What exactly is this about?”
“I don’t know the details myself. His Majesty urgently summoned you, so I came to bring you to the palace.”
One look at Warrior Jin Yeong’s expression told me he knew something and was deliberately pretending otherwise.
What in the world was going on?
After arriving at the Imperial Palace, I went straight to His Majesty’s office.
The eunuch announced my arrival, and the door opened.
I bowed with the utmost formality, and the Emperor said,
“Raise your head.”
“I am overwhelmed by Your Majesty’s boundless grace.”
“So, I hear you recently ran an errand for the Murim Alliance Leader.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Why ask when you already know everything?
“I went through quite a bit of trouble because of it.”
“You remember the letter I sent you, I presume?”
“Of course. I’m not going anywhere, so you don’t need to worry.”
I continued,
“Where could I possibly go when the empire’s most exalted man is here? Leaving would be the worst bargain I could ever make.”
“That sounds like you.”
The Emperor laughed.
“I summoned you because there is something I wish to ask.”
“Ask whatever you wish, Your Majesty.”
“Do you know a man named Gwak Myeong-hyeon, the Changin Escort Bureau’s Escort Chief in Hubei?”
“…!”
The name caught me completely off guard.
I had never imagined Master’s name would come from the Emperor’s mouth.
He likely knew not only about our relationship, but also that Master was currently staying at the Beijing Branch.
I needed to choose my words carefully.
Feeling as though I were walking a tightrope, I answered,
“He is my master. May I dare ask why Your Majesty is asking about him?”
–TL Notes–
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