Reincarnation of the Cloud Dragon - Chapter 76

—————
This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
—————

Chapter 76.
The air within the Inn grew heavy.
Saengsa Jjon’s final words settled more heavily than any blade.
A fate to be hunted once more.
No one dared to speak first.
A diagnosis from the Demonic Cult’s greatest physician.
“…If you were born to such a fate.”
Yun Cheon broke the silence that followed.
“Then all the more reason—your path must be yours alone to choose.”
A faint smile graced Saengsa Jjon’s lips. He merely nodded softly in response.
Yun Cheon shifted his gaze.
A small shadow. Though his legs trembled, the light in Number Nineteen’s eyes remained unwavering.
Yun Cheon knelt to meet Number Nineteen at eye level.
“What do you wish to do?”
His voice was low and quiet.
“Do you wish to flee? Or do you wish to overcome this with your own strength?”
Every gaze in the Inn settled upon the child’s small shoulders.
“…Like you, brother.”
Number Nineteen met Yun Cheon’s eyes and spoke slowly.
“I want to become strong like you.”
The trembling in the child’s legs began to subside.
“Strong enough to protect myself….”
Drawing in a breath.
“And strong enough to protect other children.”
A brief silence.
An upright spirit and unwavering gaze.
Even the rituals and indoctrination of the Sura Blood Sect could not corrupt the child’s essence.
Yet Yun Cheon believed the child’s steadfast resolve stemmed from more than mere constitution alone.
Constitution was merely constitution. This was a child who had wished to save others, overcome fear, gritted their teeth, and fled alone.
Having successfully delivered the message, there was no need to return to this dreadful place.
And yet the child had come back to the blood-soaked Inn on their own feet, asking if it was not too late. And now, speaking their own fate with their own voice.
‘Had Kunlun not fallen, I would have accepted this child as a disciple of Kunlun….’
But Kunlun exists no longer.
This place is, after all, the Demonic Cult. I cannot openly teach the martial arts of Kunlun here.
Yet I can plant seeds for a distant future and ensure that spirit endures.
“…Very well. Then promise me one thing.”
Yun Cheon slowly raised his hand. Its rough yet warm weight settled upon the child’s head.
“When you grow strong.”
Yun Cheon’s voice sank low.
“Never forget that resolve to protect other children.”
The child’s eyes widened slightly.
Then — they nodded clearly.
“…Yes, brother.”
Yun Cheon gazed down at the child for a moment.
“What is your name?”
The child shook his head.
“They only called me Number Nineteen…”
A number.
Not a name bestowed upon a person, but a brand marked upon sacrificial offerings.
Yun Cheon’s straight brows furrowed deeply.
“That is not a name.”
Yun Cheon rose slowly.
“A name is a vessel that holds who that person truly is.”
The child lifted his gaze to look up at Yun Cheon.
Yun Cheon studied the child’s eyes intently.
A face marred by blood and ash.
Yet within it burned a small, inextinguishable light.
Eyes that had refused to surrender their clarity even in the Underground Chamber’s darkness, even amid the Sura Blood Sect’s solitude, until the very end.
Suddenly, the words his master from his past life had left behind echoed in his ears.
‘Yun Cheon, after your generation of the Cloud character, there shall come the generation of the Brightness character. The brilliance beyond the clouds… surely Kunlun’s future shall be luminous.’
His master had smiled thus long ago, foreseeing Kunlun’s next generation.
The day to teach that next generation — never came in his past life.
‘…Even in darkness, he did not lose true light.’
Two characters flowed from Yun Cheon’s lips.
“Myung Jin.”
The child’s eyes widened.
“Brightness and Truth.”
Yun Cheon’s voice was low and resolute.
“That is your name.”
Silence settled within the Inn.
Yu Ha glanced at Yun Cheon over the edge of his fan.
‘…Not a name befitting the Demonic Cult. It resembles a Daoist’s spiritual name. Yet… it suits that child remarkably well.’
In truth, Yun Cheon had just bestowed upon the child a spiritual name as a disciple of Kunlun’s Brightness generation. Yu Ha’s observation was precise.
‘Someday, so that you may introduce yourself as Myung Jin of Kunlun… I shall open that path for you.’
Such was Yun Cheon’s resolve.
Number Nineteen’s lips trembled softly.
“Myung… Jin.”
His own name, spoken aloud for the first time. The two characters, clumsily rolled across his tongue, felt strangely familiar.
“Myung Jin…”
Once more.
This time, the memory came through far more clearly.
The child’s eyes reddened. Yet no tears fell. Instead, I clenched my fists tightly and bowed my head deeply.
“…Thank you. Brother.”
Yun Cheon simply stroked the child’s head once more with a gentle hand.
Fwoosh—
At that moment, Yu Ha folded his fan and pointed toward the ceiling.
“Well, let’s save the touching moment for later.”
The lingering traces of crimson smoke still hung across the night sky.
“That smoke—we can’t be the only ones who saw it, can we?”
Yun Cheon rose slowly to his feet.
“…True.”
“Even if Tianshan is some distance away, we shouldn’t let our guard down. There could be other forces mobilizing.”
Yu Ha snapped his fan open with a sharp crack and swept his gaze across the surroundings.
“So first priority—the children.”
Before he’d even finished speaking, Saengsa Jjon was already moving.
“Right. Lead the way.”
At Saengsa Jjon’s terse command, the child’s head snapped up.
“…Yes! This way!”
The child took the lead. Small feet carefully picked their way across the bloodstained floorboards.
Saengsa Jjon and several warriors from the Ilwol Trading Company followed in his wake.
“Yu Ha, the cleanup here…”
Yun Cheon began to press for assurances about the children’s safety, but Yu Ha waved his hand dismissively before he could finish, as if he’d already anticipated the concern.
“Don’t worry—leave it to me. I’ve already prepared a Safe House in advance. Il No, extract the children first and move them there.”
“Understood, Master. Preparations are already complete.”
“Wol No. Follow behind and be ready for any movements from the Sura Blood Sect’s main forces. Leave no trace of our presence.”
“Understood, Master. Within half an hour, even if the Sura Blood Sect arrives, they won’t find a shred of evidence that we were ever here.”
* * *
The night wind swept desolately across the mountainside.
More than half an hour later.
A throng of crimson-robed warriors burst swiftly through the trees.
At their head strode a middle-aged man.
A thick beard. A long, ancient scar etched across his cheek. The shimmering aura of Sura Blood Qi rising from his entire body like heat haze.
When Han Gyul, the Pursuit Blood Squad Leader commanding the Sura Blood Sect’s outer tracking unit, raised one hand, the warriors trailing behind him came to an abrupt halt in unison.
His gaze swept rapidly across the surroundings.
In the distance, the roof of the Inn came into view. The faint traces of the blood signal still hung thinly above it.
“…There it is.”
Han Gyul’s voice dropped low.
The group cautiously approached the Inn.
The door hung half-open. No sound emanated from within.
Han Gyul, stepping inside first, let out a sigh.
“…Have I arrived too late?”
The Inn bore the unmistakable scars of a blood-soaked battle.
Shattered staircase, broken wine vessels, bloodstains streaking the floor.
The pulverized tables and tangled chairs bore witness to this place having been a battlefield.
“Him—!”
At the center of the Inn.
A corpse with its head severed clean from its body.
The face rolling across the floor was unmistakably Gwak Tu’s.
Surrounding him lay a dozen or more bodies—blood-robed warriors and members of the Jinguan Pavilion escort, tangled together in death.
“Escort Commander Gwak Tu has fallen.”
Yet that was all the evidence that remained.
There were no traces of the one who had come and gone.
No sign of who had entered after the battle, who had departed—no footprints trampled across the corpses, no handprints left upon the doors, no wheel ruts where the carriage had stood.
Every trace—had been erased.
Han Gyul’s eyes narrowed with grave intensity.
“…From the moment the blood resonance bloomed until half a shichen passed. In merely that span of time, someone has meticulously cleansed this place.”
The moment his words fell, the subordinates following behind began surveying their surroundings.
“The enemy is not an individual, but a faction. Which one, exactly? How dare they lay hands upon our sect’s escort…”
Han Gyul said nothing more, stepping over the corpses toward the center of the Inn.
His footsteps halted before Gwak Tu’s remains.
The body lay on its side, one knee bent beneath it.
A single deep sword wound across the chest.
A throat laceration carved with deliberate precision.
Han Gyul slowly knelt down.
“The blade mark is far too clean. An ordinary sword could never produce such a pristine cut. Moreover… the pattern of the blood spray differs from what a conventional blade would leave.”
His fingers traced the wound. The fingertips brushing the congealed blood’s edge paused briefly.
It was not merely blood cooled and hardened. A faint chill lingered upon his fingertips.
‘This is—!’
He brushed the blood clot from his fingers.
“Once, I had the opportunity to examine the scars left by a master of ice cultivation… At this level, one could say they have reached the pinnacle of ice cultivation. No—they have transcended into the realm of the Frozen Blade itself.”
One of his subordinates’ eyes widened.
The blood-tracking pursuit unit.
Among them, the current Sect Master Han Gyul’s discernment was renowned even within the Sura Blood Sect for its precision.
“A Frozen Blade!”
“Is that truly the case, sir?”
The subordinates standing behind widened their eyes in shock.
“It is premature to conclude. Whether leaving such a vivid Frozen Blade mark is confidence or… a warning—either way, this is no trivial opponent.”
Han Gyul slowly rose to his feet.
“Gwak Tu was a master at his peak. That such a man was pierced through the lungs and heart in a single strike is remarkable enough—but that the wound bears the mark of a Frozen Blade is far more remarkable. Few masters of that caliber exist even within our sect.”
His eyes deepened with thought.
One of his subordinates carefully opened his mouth.
“…The Northern Sea Ice Pearl Sect?”
“That’s the first name that comes to mind.”
“Or perhaps it could be the remnants of the Snow Mountain Sect, which we destroyed not long ago…?”
“Hmm… it doesn’t quite feel like revenge… it’s far too clean.”
Han Gyul’s eyes narrowed.
“…First, check if the children who were imprisoned are safe, and especially whether the sacrificial offering remains!”
He pointed to the carpet concealing the staircase that led down to the Underground Chamber beneath the Inn.
Several subordinates hurriedly lifted the carpet and descended into the darkness below.
A moment later.
The faces of the subordinates who returned from the Underground Chamber were rigid with shock.
“…Master. There are no children below. No ledgers, no records. Someone took everything.”
Han Gyul’s lips twisted coldly.
“…I see.”
He gazed down at Gwak Tu’s corpse once more.
“They left traces of the Inn itself, yet removed the imprisoned children. The ledgers and records as well. But they left the body untouched, allowing us to see only the aftermath of the battle?”
“….”
“They saw the records, so they must have learned that the Sura Blood Sect stands behind Jinguan Pavilion. And yet they dared….”
His gaze grew deathly cold.
“…Report this to headquarters immediately. That Gwak Tu has fallen. And that the opponent is a master of the ice blade, identity unknown. Alert level: Special Grade.”
“S… Special Grade! That… surely not to that extent….”
“Fool! Can’t you read the scene before your eyes? This isn’t a simple raid. The opponent possesses not only martial prowess, but considerable organizational strength.”
Han Gyul fell silent for a moment, surveying the Inn once more.
Erased traces. Vanished children. The ledgers, gone without a trace.
And the cold, pristine blade marks that had claimed Gwak Tu’s life.
His gaze gradually sank into shadow.
“This won’t end with Jinguan Pavilion. They’ve already begun tracing the bloodline.”
Han Gyul’s voice trailed off as he slowly turned away.
“If they’ve taken the ledgers, their next target is likely….”
* * *
As Han Gyul’s murmur faded into the walls of the Inn.
At the Safe House of the Ilwol Trading Company.
It was, surprisingly, not far from the disguised Inn of Jinguan Pavilion.
Though close in a straight line, it could not be reached without passing through several pavilions and buildings owned by the Ilwol Trading Company.
An ordinary-looking Tavern and Inn, a cloth merchant’s shop, and even a blacksmith’s forge.
‘…In a place like this, one could never find the Safe House without knowing its exact location.’
I leaned against the wall, clutching something tightly to my chest as I slept.
Two worn books. The Kunlun Sect’s Heavenly and Earthly Circulation Scripture and the Limitless Preservation Technique that Yun Cheon had given me.
‘Though these are not the Kunlun Sect’s martial arts… if I master these techniques and cultivate the foundation, I can always bloom the Kunlun Sect’s martial arts upon that soil.’
My small face still bore the exhaustion of a long day, yet a faint smile lingered at the corners of my lips.
I gazed at his figure with warm eyes before turning my gaze away.
“Have you reviewed all the ledgers?”
Yu Ha approached quietly and asked.
Before me lay several open ledgers.
“The essentials, yes.”
The Jinguan Pavilion’s logistics records. A classification table of sacrificial offerings that had flowed into various regions. And—at the very bottom, a map of the Qinghai area.
“So what’s your plan now? Those ledgers… there won’t be just one or two factions wanting them.”
“I apologize, but I cannot give you the ledgers. However, if it’s merely the contents of the ledgers you wish to see, that should be acceptable. Is that compensation enough?”
The tip of Yu Ha’s fan paused briefly.
‘…Tch, this bastard. He calculates like a merchant—never giving anything away freely.’
Strictly speaking, the actual profit would be substantial for the Ilwol Trading Company.
With the Jinguan Pavilion’s collapse, they could seize all the routes it had controlled.
“More than enough. So… will you stop here?”
“There’s no way. I haven’t captured the true owner of these ledgers yet.”
The owner of these ledgers was the one who orchestrated every step—the abduction of children, their classification, their transformation into sacrificial offerings.
“Hmm… come to think of it. You said the one you dealt with was the escort commander. If we’re talking about the ledger’s owner… the Qinghai branch director of the Jinguan Pavilion’s name was surely… Jeon Man Ho?”
“Yes… cunning as he was, he moved separately from the ledgers and the offerings. He must have believed that once the ledgers were obtained, he could sever all ties.”
My fingertip stopped at one particular location on the map.
West of Qinghai Province, at the gateway leading to Tianshan.
“…This place seems suspicious.”
“I share the same thought.”
Yu Ha nodded in agreement.
“All of the Jinguan Pavilion’s vital arteries converge here.”
“Surely you’re not thinking of striking there now?”
“No, we won’t strike there.”
I shook my head.
“From my investigation, I’ve come to understand. Jeon Man Ho is like a raccoon—he digs multiple burrows and never reveals himself. All the information in these ledgers points to this location. It’s clearly a vital junction. But Jeon Man Ho will be elsewhere.”
My fingertip pressed against another point on the map.
East of Qinghai Province. The opposite direction from Tianshan.
“…I suspect it might be here.”
Yu Ha’s eyes wavered for a moment.
“There… could it be the Iron Shark Gang?”
Yu Ha folded his fan.
“Yes. Just before we struck the Jinguan Pavilion’s disguised inn, I sent Jin So Wol there.”
“You… surely you knew from the start that the place the ledgers pointed to was a decoy?”
“Not from the start. Sending Jin So Wol there was simply to filter out the Iron Shark Gang’s machinations.”
“…Ha. So you didn’t know Jeon Man Ho would head there.”
I rose from my seat and spoke.
“That’s right… if Jeon Man Ho truly has headed there… it will be difficult for Jin So Wol to handle alone. Let’s hurry.”

—————
This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
—————