Volume 2 Chapter 16 – Heavenly Killing Star

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Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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[This child was born under the Heavenly Killing Star.]

It was a statement like a bolt from the blue.

[No matter who says what, his destiny is already decided.]

It was an inescapable verdict.

[This child’s life will surely be a path of piling up mountains of corpses and creating seas of blood.]

It was an all too horrific story.

The words spoken to the mother by the old woman who had acted as the midwife tore the mother’s heart apart.

[You must make a decision.]

In that old woman’s eyes, an unconcealable profound mystery was contained.

She was no ordinary person.

The old woman’s hands were filled with sorcery tattoos engraved in a foreign tongue.

‘It is not Sanskrit either, and that is a language even I do not know.’

Yeon So-hyeon thought.

[…Do you think this child must be killed?]

The mother was a beauty to the point of putting the moon to shame.

She was the possessor of such a fine, beautiful countenance that it was hard to believe she had just given birth to a child.

However, her complexion was exceedingly dark.

Right now, she was being urged to kill her own child.

[…He must be killed.]

The old woman, who was examining her expression, hesitated but eventually spoke in a firm tone.

[Even if it is for the sake of the world.]

It was not a matter where individual emotions could take precedence.

[My baby…]

The mother looked at the child.

Tears welled up in her beautiful eyes, which could be called phoenix eyes.

‘Must I die…?’

So-hyeon asked.

‘…Because I was born under the Heavenly Killing Star?’

However, it was not heard by them.

After pondering again and again, the mother opened her mouth.

Although tears were flowing down her cheeks, she overflowed with a majesty that no one would dare approach.

[It is an order.]

Her solemn gaze turned toward the old woman.

[Please find a way to save this child.]

The old woman bowed her head deeply and accepted the command.

As long as it was what her master wished, she had to accomplish it no matter what.

The sorceries she had learned over a period of more than a hundred years flashed through her mind.

[This child… I will surely raise him with my own hands to be an upright and good child.]

‘My mother, who spoke like that, left my side far too early.’

So-hyeon said.

However, they still could not hear his voice.

Because this was a dream.

A dream that had slept inside his subconscious for a long time.

A memory he had forgotten until now.

* * *

Before he knew it, the background changed, and the scene flowed on.

[Young Master, no matter what happens, you must not commit murder.]

The old woman spoke in an earnest tone.

[If that happens, all the sorceries I have placed will be broken and scattered, and the Young Master’s destiny will once again be placed under the Heavenly Killing Star.]

The old woman, whose face was already covered in wrinkles, seemed to have aged by several more decades in those few years.

It was a look that directly showed how much sorcerous power was required for a spell capable of deceiving the Heavenly Killing Star.

[You do not need to worry.]

Yeon So-hyeon’s mother smiled brightly.

[This child will become a scholar. He is only two years old, yet he already holds books in his hands and will not let them go. He is an astoundingly brilliant child.]

Through the gap in the door, the figure of the young Yeon So-hyeon lying down and reading a book could be seen.

The old woman looked at him with gentle eyes for a moment.

However, she could not help but soon look at her master with a pitying gaze.

[Miss… I am an old woman who has dedicated everything to you, so it is fine if I die at any time. If I die for the sake of your will, that is a great blessing. Even if I die hundreds of times, I would simply die gladly.]

The old woman’s voice trembled.

[But Miss…]

So-hyeon’s mother smiled gently.

Yet, for some reason, not much vitality could be felt in her face.

[How much of my lifespan is left?]

Dew formed around the old woman’s heavily wrinkled eyes.

The scrawny, bent body of the old woman trembled uncontrollably.

[There was no need to use even the Miss’s life as the price for the grand ritual.]

A trace of anger lingered in the old woman’s voice.

[Those unworthy of living. If we had only used the lives of the trash who do nothing but eat away at the world instead, the Miss would have…!]

Yeon So-hyeon’s mother firmly shook her head.

[In order to save my child, we cannot make another’s life the price.]

[However, if we had taken the lives of those who treat others’ lives lightly, even heaven would not have dared to blame us!]

[Even if heaven forgives, I cannot tolerate it. That is a shameful thing.]

The old woman lamented and fell prostrate on the floor to show her respect.

The old woman’s master was firmer than anyone else and was the possessor of an endless goodwill.

That was why the old woman, who had feared no one in her life, had dedicated all of her remaining life to serving her.

[…So, how much of my lifespan is left?]

The old woman did not raise her head.

The old woman’s tears fell onto the marble floor, leaving stains.

[…It will be difficult to exceed two years from now.]

So-hyeon’s mother slowly approached and held the old woman in her arms.

[That child will absolutely never harm a person. Our So-hyeon’s destiny will be protected at the cost of my life. A mere star cannot govern So-hyeon’s destiny.]

The old woman sobbed.

[The Young Master will grow into a truly great person. Surely, he will surely become a great scholar.]

* * *

The child grew rapidly.

He grew into a child who respected life, cherished people, and loved nature.

He thought of right things with his head and spoke good words with his mouth.

He was so clever that he even helped his mother save the lives of countless people.

However, in the end, that day came.

[So-hyeon. Our So-hyeon. Will you grant just one last request for your mother…?]

The young So-hyeon held back his tears while lying down beside his mother.

[…Of course, Mother.]

Although she was not supposed to exceed two years since the will of heaven was solemn, Yeon So-hyeon’s mother exerted a willpower to live like a superhuman.

It was all for the sake of her child.

It was to ensure the child grew up properly, even if only a little.

However, even that had a clear limit.

Now she was preparing to meet her deathbed.

[In the future, you…]

Could she, as a mother, dare to tell a child who must succeed the line of a Sword Family that he must never hold a sword?

Or should she tell him that he must never kill people and should continue to live only as his mother taught him?

Was that good as a last will?

She closed her mouth.

Instead, she looked at her one and only lovely child.

Her gaze, looking at the young Yeon So-hyeon holding his mother’s hand tightly with his small hand, was full of affection.

The shape of Yeon So-hyeon’s eyes that she saw closely resembled her own.

Inside those large and sparkling eyes, only a gentle and warm energy was filled.

What request would this child need?

Her son was growing up exactly as she had so wished.

He was a child as clean and clear as the dew on the grass at dawn.

So-hyeon, just as his name suggested, was a bright and wise child.

Feeling her heart ache, she smiled as brightly as possible.

[…Never mind. Mother just wants to say this to you.]

Squeezing out her final breath, she tightly embraced So-hyeon.

[Mother really loves our So-hyeon.]

She soon breathed her last.

Tears burst out from the young So-hyeon’s eyes.

Wailing of those who mourned her death filled the family.

Every single person in the land of Luoyang wailed.

Among those living in Luoyang, there was no one who had not received her grace.

Everyone who had ever heard her name even once while living in the land of the Central Plains grieved.

Even if they did not know her name, those who had received the grace of having their lives saved by her were countless, and there was no one among them who did not know her moniker.

Yak So-yu (Pan So-yu)

At the age of twenty-seven, she revealed herself to the world as the descendant of the Medicine Immortal.

She created a highly effective remedy for the three most terrible plagues that were prevalent at the time, and she published the preparation method without hiding it.

That preparation method was composed entirely of common medicinal herbs that could be obtained from the fields and mountains, allowing even the poorest to obtain the medicine.

The medical books she compiled and published during her lifetime alone amounted to over twenty-five sets and a hundred volumes.

Regardless of wealth, status, or high and low position, she accepted only those with talent and resolve as disciples.

Thus, she taught numerous disciples and sent them out into the world to look after the naked and starving people.

Her name reached high into the imperial palace, and she repeatedly rejected the imperial family’s requests to enter as an imperial physician, remaining by the side of the common people.

The number of people she relieved during her lifetime could not even be counted one by one.

Thus, the people praised and worshipped her, calling her Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and some even called her the manifestation of Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Buddha).

The good person, the likes of whom would never be seen again in the world, left the mortal world in that manner.

Everyone said that heaven had taken her early because it needed her.

The imperial family had shrines built across the entire land of the Central Plains to honor her, so that no matter where one went, a shrine dedicated to her could be seen.

Every year on New Year’s Day, the people lined up in front of the shrines to pray for the health of their families.

* * *

Yeon So-hyeon, who was watching that sight from afar, began to walk the rest of his way again.

Suddenly, feeling something catching on his foot, he looked down.

The thing that broke with a crunching sound was none other than a human bone.

And the bones buried in the ground were not just that.

The entire path he was walking was composed of white bones.

He raised his head and looked around.

Corpses that had not even decayed yet formed mountains, and in the distance, blood was flowing, forming a river.

The sky was dyed red, but the sun was nowhere to be seen, and only a wind like a blade was blowing fiercely.

He looked down at his own hands.

They were hands dyed with blood.

It was not the blood of one or two people.

The blood flowed and flowed, soaking the ground.

Perhaps the river of blood flowing in the distance originated from his own hands.

He began to walk again.

Now there was no longer any path of return.

There was only continuing to walk the path he had started to walk.

That path was a path that no one walked.

It was a path that no one dared to walk.

[This child… I will surely raise him with my own hands to be an upright and good child.]

He had already died once.

And he was brought back to life by the Scripture of Controlling Darkness and Shaking the Heavens.

The grand ritual his mother had performed by putting her own life on the line was already vainly broken.

[Mother…]

The end of that path was not in sight.

And his steps did not stop either.

Now, no one would be able to stop his footsteps.

[Mother, I am sorry.]

He advanced, piercing through the flesh-searing wind.

The sound of the wind sounded like the wailing of ghosts.

Swept away by the terribly cold north wind, that whisper of apology soon disappeared without a trace.

Chapter 02.

The Swordless ,

Opening

In order for the light to shine so brightly the darkness must be present.

“In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.”

– Francis Bacon [Francis

Bacon, 1561.1.22–1626.4.9]