Her disciple’s beloved. Kang Yun-ho had been taken by the Sichuan Tang Clan.

Red Rakshasa Dan Seowol could not hide her bewilderment at the news flown in from Yichang.

Salmak was not an information organization like the Beggars' Sect or the lowlife-assembled Hao Clan. Even though Kang Yun-ho was the beloved of Number 5, an elite assassin, and the man of the Heavenly Killing Star, they did not monitor him regularly.

Managing even the love lives of assassins would be a waste of manpower. Still, she had instructed the branch leader of Salmak in Yichang to contact her if anything important happened. That was all.

"He was taken away for writing a novel about the Sichuan Tang Clan? Why?"

Dan Seowol now knew the cause and effect behind her disciple’s beloved being taken, but the question—why?—would not leave her mind.

A writer, after all, was a man of letters. No matter the era, they were respected figures.

Since ancient times, when sword-wielding thugs acted violently toward learned men, neither commoners nor officials looked kindly upon it.

Even if it were a minor figure with little reputation, anyone would think twice before laying hands on such a person. And yet they had captured a well-known writer in Yichang?

No matter how great the power of the Sichuan Tang Clan, who claimed dominance over Sichuan Province, this was strange. No—because it was the Sichuan Tang Clan, it was even stranger.

The Tang Clan, counted among the pillars of orthodoxy along with the Nine Sects and One Gang, and known for their obsession with honor and reputation, had captured a writer?

Dan Seowol knew well how much the Sichuan Tang Clan feared being scorned, which only deepened her doubts.

"This means it’s serious."

It wasn’t written that he was invited—it was written that he was taken. That meant they were willing to risk the loss of their name and honor just to bring him in.

"My disciple won’t stay still once she knows."

Should she tell her? Dan Seowol thought about her disciple who had left the heart of Salmak as an assassin, but had returned as a woman.

There was no way she would stay still after hearing this.

"If it’s not handled well, she’ll truly become the Heavenly Killing Star."

She had always worried about her, that she would one day be consumed by the Killing Star fate and lose herself. And now this disciple had finally found a hope that might let her overcome her destiny.

The man she had come to love was a childhood friend who had known her from the village, an oppa who had played with her in her youth, and a Fate-Reverser who could change destinies. He was truly the one Heaven had destined for her.

But if her beloved died?

Dan Seowol briefly imagined her disciple, having lost her destined partner and all hope, being consumed by her fate and burning the world.

Should she burn the report?

If she burned the news and pretended not to know, even if her disciple blamed her later when she found out the truth, perhaps she could enjoy a brief peaceful life for now.

"This?"

Dan Seowol’s torment ended only when she saw the single line of a letter inside the report envelope.

It was a letter Kang Yun-ho had written to Cheon So-hee before leaving Yichang.

-----------

"Yukiko! I think I’ve found the true successor who can absorb all the seduction techniques I learned from Dongyeong!"

Yukiko smiled with satisfaction at Cheon So-hee, who had just finished training.

"I don’t think it helped much."

Cheon So-hee replied in a disgruntled voice. Yukiko’s seduction techniques weren’t as vulgar as she had imagined, but they also didn’t align with her idea of typical seduction.

She had gone along with it because of Yukiko’s insistence and the mood, but maybe it would have been better to receive proper training inside Salmak instead. Cheon So-hee thought this to herself.

"You can’t judge from just learning it once! Next time, no matter what kind of sly vixen appears, I’ll prepare the ultimate weapon to draw oppa’s eyes back to his childhood friend! I’ll get you the famous kunoichi outfit from Shiranui style in Dongyeong!"

Yukiko fussed excitedly over what outfit she should prepare next for the reluctant Heavenly Killing Star.

Cheon So-hee let Yukiko’s noise pass through one ear and headed toward the private training ground of her master, Dan Seowol.

"You’ve come?"

Dan Seowol looked at the two as they arrived at her private training ground.

"Dan Seowol-nim! Is something wrong?"

Yukiko asked with a puzzled expression, noticing Dan Seowol’s darkened face.

"A letter came from Yichang."

Dan Seowol spoke with a worried look as she stared at her disciple.

"Ooooh! Don’t tell me it’s from Number 5’s man!"

"Yes. It’s an urgent letter from your husband."

Dan Seowol, as if used to it, took a small letter from between her large breasts.

"Give it to me."

Cheon So-hee stepped forward and reached for the letter. Her speed was so fast that no expert could have noticed her approach.

It was enough that Dan Seowol had once failed to catch her disciple’s movement. She avoided Cheon So-hee’s hand and tucked the letter back into her cleavage.

"Why?"

Cheon So-hee asked with questioning eyes.

"If you promise not to act rashly after reading it, I’ll show you."

Dan Seowol’s serious gaze held deep concern.

After much deliberation, she had decided to tell her disciple the news. But the situation was too grave. Her disciple might be too shocked.

First, she needed to prepare her heart.

"Alright."

When her disciple gave a small nod, Dan Seowol handed over the letter.

Cheon So-hee, despite the storm of emotions inside, carefully opened oppa’s letter without showing any on the surface.

Due to a novel I wrote, I’ve been taken to the Sichuan Tang Clan. If you lose contact with me, find my whereabouts at the Tang Clan.

"According to the report, he was taken because he wrote a novel about the Sichuan Tang Clan."

Dan Seowol calmly relayed what she had heard.

"I’m going."

There wasn’t even a moment of hesitation. Cheon So-hee turned immediately.

"You can’t."

"You mustn’t!"

Yukiko blocked her path, and Dan Seowol grasped her shoulder with a solemn voice.

"Let go."

"You can’t! Do you think the Tang Clan is like Seong Family Manor?!"

It was the Sichuan Tang Clan. Even among the Nine Sects and One Gang, which were the pillars of the martial world, A-mi Sect and Cheongseong Sect would have to yield in influence within Sichuan.

The Lords of Sichuan. The Sichuan Tang Clan. Even if all of Salmak stood against them, people would call it foolish—and yet she wanted to go alone?

Yukiko spread her arms wide and blocked Cheon So-hee’s path.

"I’m not going to be poisoned by the Tang Clan’s toxins."

Cheon So-hee spoke with confidence.

She had a point. The Heavenly Killing Star, blessed with talent from Heaven.

She possessed innate poison resistance, resistance gained from assassin training, and even the ability to expel deadly toxins through Sura Phantom Flowing Art.

She hadn’t reached the level of immune to all poisons, but she was certainly a warrior more than capable of contending with the Tang Clan’s masters, more than anyone else in Salmak.

"What about throwing knives?! If they just throw a few at you, Number 5 will become a pincushion!"

"I’ll dodge them. Move. Or I’ll cut you."

"Ugh! Then cut me! Yukiko! I ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) don’t mind being a master who gets cut by her disciple!"

I knew this would happen. Dan Seowol stared at her disciple, who was determined to head to Yichang, and fell into thought.

Even she couldn’t stop her disciple. There was only one person who could.

Dan Seowol decided to say what she had prepared in advance.

"Your oppa could die."

"That’s why I’m going."

Cheon So-hee didn’t even turn her head.

"I mean, he could die because of you."

Only then did Cheon So-hee turn to face her master.

"If you go to him, your madness will flare up again. Even if you can save him, you’ll make an enemy of the Tang Clan, and then your beloved will live his life as a fugitive."

The Sichuan Tang Clan never forgets. Their grudge would follow Cheon So-hee and Kang Yun-ho wherever they fled.

"I can hide him in the inner quarters."

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

"Will you hide him in the inner quarters for the rest of his life? No, I suppose you won’t need to hide him forever. If your husband does nothing for just a few years, your fate will be as clear as day."

The Heavenly Killing Star had gained a reprieve from being consumed by her Killing Instinct thanks to the Fate-Reverser. But one day, that time would come.

To prevent that day from arriving, the Fate-Reverser must shine. If she went now, all hope could be lost.

Dan Seowol boldly struck at what her disciple feared most.

No matter how much her disciple wanted to go to Yichang, surely she wouldn’t so easily ignore what she had always feared. That’s what Dan Seowol believed.

But she—

Cheon So-hee—

was no longer the Heavenly Killing Star of the past.

"If I have to watch oppa die, I’d rather lose my mind."

Her voice was firm.

A heavy silence fell over the training ground at her shocking declaration. Especially Dan Seowol, who couldn’t easily open her mouth from the unexpected blow.

Just what kind of man was Kang Yun-ho, for him to change the Heavenly Killing Star’s priorities like this? She wanted to see his face at least once.

The same thought crossed both stunned minds.

"I’m going."

Dan Seowol could only recover from her shock when her disciple moved to leave.

She was her last disciple. She couldn’t let her go like this.

"Then are you planning to betray your oppa?"

Dan Seowol decided once again to use her disciple’s beloved.

"Betray?"

"Read the letter again. Did your oppa ask for help? No. He only left it because he didn’t want you to worry if you lost contact with him."

It was true.

Kang Yun-ho hadn’t wished for Cheon So-hee to come save him. He had sent the letter only to spare her from anxiety if something happened.

"......."

Cheon So-hee couldn’t deny her master’s words.

"Your beloved said he’d do everything he could to keep his promise to you. He even left you this letter so you wouldn’t worry. And yet you can’t trust him, so you’re going to run to him? Even if it means undoing everything he’s worked so hard to build?"

"Oppa could die."

"My disciple. A promise... doesn’t end with one side keeping it. It requires one side to trust the other. Do you not trust your oppa?"

"I trust him. But—"

"Then trust him until the end."

Cheon So-hee looked into her master’s eyes, firm in stopping her.

It wasn’t the gaze of a master who had always driven her relentlessly, but the gaze of a parent looking at a still-immature daughter.

Dan Seowol saw her disciple’s hesitation and continued in a gentle voice.

"A good wife’s virtue is to support her husband to the very end."

She never thought she’d say such words, even in her dreams. Dan Seowol held her tongue inside.

Cheon So-hee’s eyes wavered.

‘I want to go to oppa. But I can’t.’

Oppa might die.

She wanted to save him. But would going there really solve everything? Would she only make things worse?

She didn’t know which was the right choice. But if oppa died, she would blame herself forever.

If she appeared now, oppa would look at her kindly. He wouldn’t scold her and would embrace her. But their fate would end there.

Yun-ho oppa would never become famous again, and she would head straight toward the catastrophe awaiting her.

"You may have more than enough skill to kill, but you’re still lacking when it comes to protecting someone. That’s why now is the time to trust your beloved."

Her master’s gentle advice struck her ears, and Cheon So-hee lowered her head.

Weak and lacking.

Yun-ho oppa was in danger, and yet she couldn’t go. Even though she had received so much from him, she had nothing to give in return.

All she could do was believe.

She wasn’t strong enough to protect oppa, nor to control the Killing Instinct of the Heavenly Killing Star.

"...I’ll enter the training hall and go into closed-door cultivation for a while."

Cheon So-hee turned toward the training hall and spoke to her master.

Closed-door cultivation. Locking herself away, cutting off all contact with the outside, and focusing solely on training—it meant she wouldn’t leave.

"You’ve made the right decision, Number 5!"

Yukiko cried out with a bright face.

"If... if I come out of closed-door cultivation and still hear nothing about oppa—"

"Then we’ll go to Sichuan together."

"...I’m going to the training hall now."

If she delayed even a little, she might head straight to Yichang.

Cheon So-hee made her way toward the training hall.

-----------

"I’ll be waiting."

"Stay strong!"

Cheon So-hee watched the two close the doors to the training hall.

Through the crack in the door, starlight shone. But instead of looking at the sky, Cheon So-hee looked at her hands.

Fate is not in the heavens, but in your hands.

Oppa, even at this moment, was moving forward to save both his fate and hers.

What she could do now was trust him and raise her level to keep from being consumed by the Killing Instinct.

"Yun-ho oppa. Stay strong."

The Heavenly Killing Star whispered softly, hoping her voice would reach her distant oppa.

She would give it her all.

To believe in oppa. To train in seclusion.

And if the doors opened, and news came that something had happened to oppa...

Then the Sichuan Tang Clan would face the Heavenly Killing Star.