The Invincible Commander – Chapter 2

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HwasanSect

[Translator: Chyluck]

[Proofreader: Chyluck]

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Chapter 2

Maybe it was the surreal experience, or maybe the flood of sudden memories, but I blacked out for a moment.

When I came to, Sohyang and the boy were gone, and only the doctor remained.

And then I understood.

I’d come back to life in someone else’s body.

“Hey, Doc.”

“What? Hey?”

The doctor shot me a look like I’d lost my mind.

Yeah, I stretched out the word a bit.

“What’s with this guy, begging for food? Still talking so casually?”

He had every right to be mad.

His glare was justified.

I’m just a young guy now.

Talking informally to someone twice my age? Of course he’d be pissed.

In the middle of it all, I’m lucky my mouth didn’t get torn open.

But right now, that wasn’t the point.

“How old was that kid from earlier?”

“Kid? You rotten punk! Even if her family’s fallen, who do you think the young master is to talk like that?!”

This old man’s got a fiery temper.

And a weird way of talking.

But his anger meant he cared about Sohyang and the boy.

My fondness for the doctor ticked up a notch. I could let his temper slide.

But… her family’s fallen?

Pushing my confusion aside, I asked what mattered most.

“Alright, how old is the young master this year?”

“What? Never seen such an uneducated fool. Asking about the young master’s age like that?”

The doctor, mid-rant, suddenly burst out laughing.

Huh, I thought that was polite speech. Guess not?

I wasn’t used to manners.

My life had been about matching respect with respect and disdain with disdain.

Never really lived a life where etiquette mattered.

But this doctor’s mental state seemed off—angry one second, laughing the next.

“Age is for addressing elders,” he corrected, teaching me.

Still, not important.

“So, how old is he?”

“Twelve this year.”

“And Sohyang… I mean, the lady?”

I tacked on the honorific, worried the moody doctor would flip out if I just used her name.

“How old? She’s thirty-seven this year.”

“Thirty-seven.”

My brow furrowed.

It added up.

The year I died, she was twenty-five.

I was a filthy thief back then.

The age gap between us was huge.

But love transcends life and death, so what’s a little age difference?

Anyway, if she’s thirty-seven now and the kid’s twelve, then that boy…

“She gave birth to him.”

Why, though?

Why would she bear her enemy’s child?

My chest tightened.

Confirming my suspicion hurt like hell.

“What?”

“Nothing, just talking to myself.”

I didn’t know if this feeling was sadness or pain, but it was hard to bear.

After collecting myself, I asked again.

“Doc… sir.”

“What?”

“Why does Lady Sohyang look like that?”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Look like what?”

“She’s so thin. Her clothes are ragged. Wasn’t she from a prominent noble family?”

“Haa…”

His answer was a sigh.

The doctor sat on the edge of the bed, looking glum.

“Guess you haven’t been here long, not knowing the Seoga family’s situation.”

“I’m a wanderer, you see.”

That’s what this body’s memories told me.

Abandoned by parents, drifting without a home or temple.

“Makes sense you wouldn’t know. It’s been years, and people are starting to forget.”

“…”

“Ever heard of the Seoga family from Jeongyang?”

Jeongyang?

What’s that?

I frowned, but a faint memory surfaced.

From this body’s original owner.

A small city about forty li (16 km) from Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi.

“Back then,” the doctor continued, “the Bald… huh? Why’s your face like that?”

“What?”

“Why’re you clenching your fists?”

“Oh.”

Instinct.

The word “Bald” made me react without thinking, nearly smashing the doctor’s head and tearing his mouth open.

Old habits die hard, I guess.

“Just feeling stiff.”

“Strange way to stretch. You startled me, punk. Thought you were gonna hit me.”

“No way, that’s ridiculous.”

I waved it off with a laugh, and the doctor resumed his story.

The Bald Blade Venerable.

A notorious villain who stirred up the martial world. When word spread that he was passing through Shanxi, the head of the Seoga family, driven by righteous zeal, joined the hunt to take him down.

The result was disastrous.

The family head, Seo Jinjung, and most of their key warriors died.

After that, the Bald Blade Venerable vanished one day, and people gradually forgot. But Seo Sohyang didn’t.

She sought out her sworn enemy and killed him… Wait, how did she find him?

The question cleared up quickly.

“She said she hired the Beggar’s Sect to track him down.”

“The Beggar’s Sect?”

“Yeah. The Beggar’s Sect, the Hao Clan, even the Demonic Cult’s intelligence network—they all hunted him. You think they didn’t know where he was hiding?”

They just left him alone.

No point stirring a quiet hornet’s nest.

They probably hoped he’d grow old and die in hiding.

Damn it, I thought I’d hidden perfectly.

“The lady did what no one else could. She killed that fearsome villain and got her revenge.”

“I see.”

“But what good did it do? By the time she returned, the Seoga family was in ruins.”

“What?”

“Those so-called retainers looted the family’s wealth and fled.”

“What? Those bastards!”

“Exactly. And that’s not all. The kind-hearted lady used what little land and wealth remained to care for the families of those who died.”

“Why the hell would she do that?”

Foolish.

Why give away what’s yours?

Mine’s mine, and sometimes yours is mine too.

That’s how I lived my whole life, so I couldn’t understand.

And for years after, she was under surveillance.

The Beggar’s Sect, the Hao Clan, the Demonic Cult’s spies.

She killed a villain—they should’ve praised her, helped her even.

Anger boiled inside me.

A woman who killed a villain, who bore his child.

That’s how her story ended, fading from people’s attention.

At least the watching eyes disappeared once she was no longer a threat.

But it seems she faced an even harsher world afterward.

“All that’s left is a crumbling manor. No one’s left to maintain it, so it’s falling apart… Ugh, it breaks my heart.”

The doctor chugged a cup of water nearby.

Good guy.

His genuine concern for them made my fondness for him grow a bit more.

“So how’s she living now?”

“I hear she does sewing for hire and works as a laborer.”

“What? She’s struggling that much, and the people she helped just stood by?”

“Does a crow ever match a phoenix? They took her help and ran.”

“Those damn…”

Rage surged.

Sohyang, once so radiant, now so haggard, and that boy—clearly my son.

“I can tell you’ve noticed, but she’s still helping people in need. Like you.”

“What? She’s helping others while working herself to the bone?”

“That’s what parents do, kid.”

“Huh?”

“The young master is the son of the villain she killed. People have mostly forgotten by now, but not her.”

“…”

“Good deeds are quickly forgotten, but evil lingers for generations, they say.”

The doctor sighed heavily, his face full of pity.

“She helps others for the young master’s sake. So his father’s sins don’t come back to haunt him.”

“I… didn’t think of that.”

I’d asked her once, long ago.

Why live so kindly?

She said it was goodness.

Seems she still hasn’t changed her mind.

But why should she bear the karma I was supposed to carry?

In the end, the woman I loved and the fruit of our love were suffering because of me.

“Go on, get out. I can’t keep you here long—my situation’s not great either. But I won’t charge you for treatment, for the lady’s sake. Just thank her later. Don’t forget. A life saved is a debt you must repay.”

“…Alright.”

I was practically chased out of the clinic.

What kind of twisted fate is this?

I looked up at the sky.

The sun blazed brightly.

Uncaring of human hearts.

What am Swalow this nonsense?

What am I supposed to do now?

If this is how it’s gonna be, why didn’t the heavens save me instead?

The sky was infuriatingly clear.

Then I remembered what I’d said to her as I lay dying.

“If there’s a next life, if we’re bound by good fate, I’ll live for you.”

“Damn it, I thought getting my hair back would fix everything.”

My hand brushed through thick hair.

What I’d once treasured so much now felt so trivial.

As I looked away from the sky, I made my decision.

Just like that day I died.

The next day.

Sohyang stood in the courtyard, jaw dropped, speechless at the scene.

“Good morning, my lady.”

I bowed, and she recognized me.

The stabbed wanderer.

But my hair was a mess, my clothes torn like I’d rolled down a mountain, with countless scratches and a face black with soot.

“Just a moment, it’s almost ready.”

She looked at the huge boar roasting over a blazing fire.

What the…

“Meat’s the best for building strength. I’m pretty good at this, so it’ll taste amazing. Breakfast is set, so come out when you’re ready.”

Sohyang just stared, bewildered.

Even in a rundown manor, I hadn’t been invited in.

And now a boar?

Was I not a wanderer… but a hunter?

She finally spoke, still dazed.

“Hey.”

“Call me Cheon Sinwoo.”

“What?”

My new name.

Reborn, so the name should change too.

Divine intervention.

A term for being miraculously saved by the heavens and gods.

Mix up the characters, drop the last one, and it’s a damn good name.

Couldn’t be more fitting for my situation.

I’m Cheon Sinwoo from now on.

I’ll live for Sohyang and her son, like the heavens and gods.

My last life was about hair; this one’s about them.

“Young Master Cheon.”

“Yes?”

“What’s all this? I know you’re grateful for saving your life, but how dare you barge into someone’s home without permission?”

“Uh, well…”

I hadn’t thought of an excuse.

That’s how I always was.

Charge in, fight, kill.

As a strongman, I lived simply, without overthinking.

She’s hungry, so feed her.

No money, so hunt.

That’s all I thought about.

Her frown left me tongue-tied.

Gonna need better excuses in the future.

Then—

“Huh? Meat?”

The boy named Chang woke up.

Despite just waking, he sniffed the savory aroma of roasting boar, his eyes sparkling as he swallowed hard.

“Are we eating that?”

“Chang, it’s…”

“Wow! It looks so good!”

His stomach growled honestly.

A mother’s heart is much the same.

She couldn’t feed her son well.

With their family fallen, a bowl of noodles on his birthday was all they could afford.

How could she not feel guilty?

Even if he was the son of a villain, how could her own flesh and blood not be precious?

Despite her frown, she couldn’t say anything to her salivating son.

“You’re the guy from the clinic, right?”

“Yes, young master.”

“No way! You brought this for us?”

“Exactly.”

“To repay the debt of saving your life?”

“Yep.”

“Wow!”

The boy grinned with surprising brightness.

He must’ve learned to read, despite their hardship.

That made my heart ache more.

I’d heard from the doctor.

She barely survived on sewing and labor jobs.

No one to maintain the manor, so it’s falling apart.

Yet she still taught her son to read.

Chang’s smile hurt me more.

How hard must it have been?

How hungry must he have been to get that thin?

I felt so sorry.

But hiding my feelings, I smiled brightly.

“Pretty big, huh? I caught this fresh for you to eat, young master.”

“Wow! That’s amazing! I heard boar hunting’s really tough.”

Chang’s interest shifted from the boar to my hunting skills, his eyes gleaming.

“Chang!”

“Sorry, Mother. I’m just excited.”

Sohyang scolded him lightly, but the hungry gremlins in his stomach had woken up.

Grrrr.

With a slight smile, I tore off a piece of perfectly cooked meat with a rip and handed it to Chang.

“Eat up. It’s at its tastiest now, young master.”

“Is it… okay?”

Chang glanced at Sohyang.

She sighed but nodded.

My precious boy.

I can’t tell you the truth.

But this was enough.

Watching him eat filled me up, proving that saying wasn’t a lie.

You’ll live as my lady and young master forever.

My life’s goal is now you two.