The Legend of Red Cloud - Chapter 47

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 47. Being Used
While one side of the room carried on with eating and drinking, a grave conversation unfolded on the other.
“Well? What is his condition?”
An Elder posed the question, and Hyun-un, the True Immortal, answered.
“I’ve had him taken to a room to rest. It appears he still cannot recall the exact details of what transpired.”
“He cannot remember?”
“It was Demonic Possession. For now, we can only be grateful to the Divine Immortal that he has overcome it.”
“That much is true, but……”
As the Elder who had asked nodded, another Elder spoke up.
“His Cultivation Realm—have you confirmed his current stage?”
This was undoubtedly what everyone in the room most wished to know.
All eyes in the assembly turned toward Hyun-un’s mouth.
Under their collective gaze, the True Immortal offered his answer.
“That too I could not confirm. After completing his Cloud Energy Circulation, his vital force seemed sound, but his mind appeared deeply troubled……”
According to accounts left by those rare few who had fallen into Demonic Possession and awakened, it took considerable time to gather one’s wits again.
As fragmented memories, like scattered shards, slowly fell back into place, confusion reached its peak during that period.
The Taigeum Geomwang’s present state would likely be no different.
Both Hyun-un and the Elders could only make such an assumption.
As the immediate questions concerning the Taigeum Geomwang faded, another pressing matter came to mind.
“How do you propose we manage this situation going forward?”
The question came from Jinmu Gwanju, the most likely candidate for the next Sect Leader.
Hyun-un answered his question, posed by one of Elder rank.
“Since we have already sought help from many quarters and the matter is spread far and wide, it hardly seems we have much choice in the manner of resolution.”
“The situation may be as you say, but the process of management differs. The involvement of outsiders, for instance……”
There is a saying: one’s heart changes from the moment one enters the privy to the moment one leaves it.
Those who once spoke of gratitude for any help now feared that very aid from outsiders would become a liability.
Observing Jinmu Gwanju carefully, Hyun-un spoke.
“Then what is it you wish? Do you want us of the Mudan to conceal the aid we received, hide our benefactors, and tell lies?”
His voice was gentle, yet the words carried a rebuke sharper than any blade.
Jinmu Gwanju’s face flushed crimson at once.
“That is not at all what I meant……”
“People say the next Sect Leader of the Mudan will be you, Jinmu Gwanju. If such a person’s thoughts amount to nothing but ingratitude, I shall be deeply disappointed.”
The voice remained soft, yet the content was a rebuke far sharper than shouting or scolding.
Jinmu Gwanju immediately rose from his seat, his back bending in contrition.
“Forgive me, Sect Leader. My thoughts were shortsighted.”
Though of Elder rank, Jinmu Gwanju, the foremost disciple among the first generation, occupied by Mudan tradition a position one tier below the Sect Leader and the Elders.
Therefore, Jinmu Gwanju was among Hyun-un’s direct disciples.
In other words, one of the multiple disciples of the Sect Leader.
By the traditions of the Mudan, it should have been Hyun-un’s own foremost disciple who inherited the position of Jinmu Gwanju—but that disciple had fallen during a clash with the Hyeol-gwi-dae while serving with the Maengui-dan.
There were other disciples, yet Hyun-un had boldly chosen Jinmu Gwanju over them, declaring him superior.
It was a decision that prioritized practical ability over rank and tradition.
Since then, the Martial World had spoken of Hyun-un, not Jinmu Gwanju’s own master, as his greatest patron—such was the regard in which he was held.
For all that esteem, Hyun-un’s reproach did not cease.
“That is not shortcoming but insufficiency. You must fill the gap, and fill it again.”
“I shall take it to heart.”
As Jinmu Gwanju offered a deep Respectful Bow, his face was awash with shock and dismay.
Hyun-un had always been gentle toward his disciples; never before had he rebuked anyone with such sharpness.
Hyun-un spoke to Jinmu Gwanju thus.
“If you take offense at this, that too would be insufficiency.”
“I shall reflect deeply upon it.”
With another Respectful Bow held before him, bending deeply, Jinmu Gwanju received Hyun-un’s words.
“Be seated.”
“Th-thank you, sir.”
Turning his gaze from Jinmu Gwanju, the Sect Leader surveyed the Elders.
“Is there anyone else among you who holds the same thoughts as Jinmu Gwanju?”
At Hyun-un’s question, no Elder stepped forward.
Even if such thoughts existed, none wished to speak the same words and fall from the Sect Leader’s favor after witnessing Jinmu Gwanju’s thorough dismantling before their eyes.
Glancing over the assembled Elders, Hyun-un spoke.
“Then the final decision shall be made only after the Taigeum Geomwang, Sbaek, has recovered his mind—we shall seek his counsel at that time. Until then, all must exercise restraint.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
Relief settled into the eyes of Hyun-un as he confirmed the synchronized bow of every Elder.
As they left the Elder conference, Ha-un tossed a remark to Jinmu Gwanju almost carelessly.
“You’d have made a decent Peking Opera actor.”
“Pardon?”
Ha-un smiled faintly at the stunned expression on Jinmu Gwanju’s face and moved away, whereupon Hyun-un approached.
“It seems the master caught on after all.”
“Was I really that clumsy?”
“Hard to say. From where I stood, it looked flawless—but apparently not enough to slip past Ha-un’s eye.”
Jinmu Gwanju’s head lowered at Hyun-un’s gentle words.
“I apologize. My abilities fell short…”
“What are you saying? I’m the one grateful that you didn’t refuse this inadequate Taigeum Geomwang’s request.”
It was true.
What Jinmu Gwanju had said in that conference room had been arranged beforehand with Hyun-un, the Sect Leader.
By doing so, he had preempted the Elders’ arguments.
Had he not, one of the Elders would surely have voiced the same concern, and its weight would have carried far differently than Jinmu Gwanju’s words.
The impact of words spoken by someone of Elder rank differed vastly from those of an actual Elder.
Moreover, if even one Elder had voiced agreement, the situation might have escalated into a clash between the Sect Leader and the Elders themselves.
Hyun-un had asked Jinmu Gwanju for this help to prevent exactly that.
The relationship between Hyun-un and Jinmu Gwanju, as they reassured each other, seemed so deep that one could believe them not merely senior and junior, but true master and disciple.
***
As Ryu walked through the courtyard of Mudan’s Juksan compound at Bunta, the eyes of Mudan disciples stationed throughout turned to follow.
Officially they had no grounds to confine him to his quarters by force.
Naturally, they could not prevent him from walking within Bunta.
But such freedom hardly felt comfortable.
Though they did not actively obstruct him, the weight of constant surveillance hung heavy, souring his mood.
Eventually, Ryu abandoned his walk and withdrew into his room, closing the door behind him.
Only then did the eyes of the Mudan disciples turn away from the building where Jeoksajo lodged.
But none among those disciples knew.
The moment the door closed, Ryu’s figure had vanished.
And that same Ryu who had disappeared had already scaled Bunta’s walls and slipped into the outskirts of Juksan.
The countryside sprawled thick with forest and mountain ridges after only a short distance.
Ryu’s expression, as he walked freely and unhurried through that wild expanse, appeared far more at ease than it had within Bunta’s confines.
Yet he harbored no thought of escape.
He simply had something to think through, uninterrupted and unmolested.
In truth, Ryu’s mind was wholly consumed with replaying his battle against Taigeum Geomwang.
Since learning the Liuyun Ghost Sword from Yaryul Gyeok, who had been the master of the Maengui-dan in his youth, this was his fiercest duel yet.
There had been battles before where his life hung by a thread, but this one felt different.
It was as though something trapped within him had detonated, and he had wielded Ryu’s Sword wildly, without presence of mind.
The aftertaste sat wrong.
Ever since the fight ended, a nagging sensation persisted—as though some unfinished element remained suspended.
How to describe it? Like catching at something that slips through your fingers?
Someone might call it grasping at clouds, but that was precisely the feeling that haunted him now.
Not knowing what that elusive thing was, yet sensing it might be caught with just a little more effort.
The uncertainty made him restless, desperate.
Chase it frantically enough and it vanishes suddenly, tail and all.
‘Damn!’
When he tried to dismiss it in anger, the feeling would creep back without fail, pressing against his consciousness.
Perversely, the repetition meant he could not let it go.
That strange discomfort—the kind you feel when bone-tired yet unable to sleep—tormented him relentlessly.
So when he reached for the feeling again, it hid its tail once more and dissolved away.
Ryu’s expression hardened after repeating this cycle for what felt like the hundredth time.
Without even needing to survey his surroundings, he sensed a dreadful aura approaching.
Yet it carried a strangely familiar resonance.
Ryu positioned himself to draw Ryu’s Sword at a moment’s notice and turned to face the direction from which the aura advanced, his eyes sharpening.
The figure that abruptly emerged was none other than Taigeum Geomwang.
But he felt entirely different from when they had last met inside Gwangsan.
Perhaps it was because that encounter had been in the aftermath of fierce combat; Ryu had barely noticed his appearance.
Here, outside, facing Taigeum Geomwang once more…
Frankly, had Ryu not known him to be Taigeum Geomwang, he would have mistaken him for an aged beggar.
He wore what might charitably be called a half-sleeved undershirt or outer garment—so threadbare and stretched that his gaunt ribs showed through almost entirely.
On top of that, the Daoist Robe he wore—crooked and hastily fastened—hung in tatters.
It was Taigeum Geomwang who spoke first.
“Kekeke! So it really is you. That fierce, sharp aura—exactly like the one I faced in the cave.”
His manner of speech was unbecoming of a Daoist.
For someone claiming to be a cultivator of Mudan, his words were crude and flippant.
Ryu watched him with suspicious eyes, wondering if he had truly escaped the Demonic Possession entirely, and Taigeum Geomwang grumbled at him.
“The way a young pup looks at his elders. My mind’s intact enough—there’s nothing to worry about on that front.”
Yet as suspicion lingered in Ryu’s gaze, Taigeum Geomwang complained once more.
“Why does a youngster like you harbor so much doubt?”
“Your aura is unstable, sir.”
“Ah! The aura! A good many of those grown beasts won’t obey.”
Internal Energy refusing to respond—that meant…….
“Demonic Possession!”
“Tch! That’s not it, I’m telling you.”
Ryu asked the clicking-tongued Taigeum Geomwang.
“Then why……?”
“My mind went away for a spell and came back, and my Internal Energy swelled up so much these beasts think I’ve grown feeble and won’t move as I command.”
“Is that not concerning?”
“How could it not be concerning? I can’t remember anything, my Internal Energy’s a mess—if that weren’t concerning, that’d be the real problem.”
Before Taigeum Geomwang’s answer could finish, Ryu drew Ryu’s Sword.
“What are you doing?”
Taigeum Geomwang’s eyes narrowed as Ryu spoke.
“Since you say your mind isn’t sound…….”
“Ah! When you thrust that blade, it reacts right away—how convenient.”
At those cryptic words, a sword appeared in Taigeum Geomwang’s hand as well.
Ryu’s eyes gleamed with the unspoken thought: ‘I knew it.’
In the next instant, Taigeum Geomwang’s blade became a flash of light, hurtling toward Ryu.
Against that assault, Ryu’s Sword flowed gently in parry.
***
The moonlight that had pierced the darkness with brilliance faded, and a pale dawn glow began to illuminate the surroundings.
“Haah, haah, haah.”
Ryu’s entire body, exhaling ragged breaths, was drenched in blood.
Fresh wounds gaped across him, their raw edges split open, and atop the Cloth Bandages that Hee-jun had carefully wrapped, crimson blood was seeping through in abundance.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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