By Zephyria Just Once (3)
He carefully watched his step, moving cautiously along the cliff face of the canyon.
‘Careful…!’
It was a dangerous path where a single misstep could send him plummeting down the sheer cliff. His legs trembled.
But Seong Mu-yeon gritted his teeth and continued forward.
Brushing aside the tangled roots, there was a space hidden within the winding rock wall, invisible unless viewed from the right angle.
‘Found it…!’
After searching for quite some time, Seong Mu-yeon finally found the place. He wore a satisfied smile.
‘…Supreme Elder’s Secret Cave!’
In the original story, Baek Ryeo-il was wandering around a rugged peak as if taking a stroll one day. Then, he twisted his ankle.
That was the kind of luck the protagonist had.
Twisting an ankle and falling into a cave, picking up spirit pills, secret manuals, and catching Mystical Creatures, that was how it usually went.
‘This opportunity is mine now.’
Filled with anticipation, Seong Mu-yeon stepped inside.
‘Spirit pills! Secret manuals! Mystical Creatures… maybe not.’
The path leading inside was endlessly dark, but Seong Mu-yeon’s eyes seemed to shine with light.
‘Spirit pill…?’
Sure enough, there really was light. A bright light leaked from the inside, gradually growing brighter.
Rustle.
He thought he sensed a presence…
Whoosh!
A black figure pounced on Seong Mu-yeon.
“Aaaagh!”
“Aaaagh!”
As Seong Mu-yeon screamed, the figure also screamed. Seong Mu-yeon slightly opened his tightly shut eyes.
“…Huh? Who are you?”
An old man was sitting there, collapsed. The old man shouted.
“Who are you! Who do you think you are, entering my Secret Cave without permission!”
…….
The Secret Cave that Seong Mu-yeon saw in the original story was uninhabited. He guessed that the owner had already died a long time ago.
‘….’
But now was long before that point in time.
Which meant…
‘He’s still alive?!’
Seong Mu-yeon let out a silent scream. He had suddenly become an intruder who had barged into a Secret Cave whose owner was very much alive.
“You rascal. Why can’t you answer me! Which generation disciple are you!”
The old man examined Seong Mu-yeon’s appearance and clicked his tongue.
“…Is Hwasan Sect so poor these days? They’re taking in guys like this as disciples? He looks so scrawny, like he couldn’t even catch a fly.”
“W-What are you doing!”
Eventually, the old man grabbed Seong Mu-yeon’s arm, poked his side, and thoroughly examined his back. Then…
“You don’t have much time left to live.”
“…How can you tell?”
The old man shook his head.
“I can tell just by looking. You’re about mid-twenties? Don’t tell me you didn’t know? You must have heard it so many times you’re sick of it?”
Nod, nod…
“See! Oh dear, what’s the world coming to? The kids these days are getting worse and worse… Tsk, tsk.”
“Elder! May I ask for your esteemed name?”
“Me?”
“Yes!”
Seong Mu-yeon’s eyes sparkled. The items found in this place were all extraordinary. Therefore, the owner of this Secret Cave must be a great figure who could collect such items.
But there was no information left to identify his name or background, so he couldn’t figure it out at all.
“Hey! When you see an Elder, you should state your name and lineage first!”
At the sharp rebuke, Seong Mu-yeon quickly bowed.
“Yes, Elder! My name is Seong Mu-yeon. But I am not a disciple of Hwasan Sect. I am merely a stranger staying in Hwasan Sect temporarily, thanks to the Sect leader’s consideration.”
“Is that so? Seong… You wouldn’t be related to Seong Hyeok-gwang, would you? Haha!”
“……”
Seong Mu-yeon was sweating profusely. The old man didn’t notice Seong Mu-yeon and laughed, clutching his stomach.
“Aigoo. My stomach. Just kidding! Don’t make such a scary face…”
Only then, after confirming Seong Mu-yeon’s face, did the old man’s smiling face crack.
“…Are you related to Seong Hyeok-gwang?”
“…Yes.”
“……”
The next moment.
“Get out of here!”
Seong Mu-yeon was kicked in the butt and chased out.
‘…How sad.’
Why did he have to be born as the Demonic Cult Leader’s son?
Seong Mu-yeon shed a few tears.
As Seong Mu-yeon sat crouched in front of the Secret Cave, reflecting on his life, the old man reappeared through the gap.
“Come in! I don’t want to hear you sniffling!”
“T-Thank you!”
Seong Mu-yeon quickly went inside, afraid that the old man would change his mind, and took a seat inside. He wanted to make it difficult to drag him out.
The old man looked at Seong Mu-yeon disapprovingly, then asked.
“So, you’re saying you’re Seong Hyeok-gwang’s son? How old are you?”
“Twenty-five.”
Seong Mu-yeon glanced around the Secret Cave, but the precious items he had found in the original story were nowhere to be seen. It seemed they hadn’t been brought here yet.
‘My heart aches… My spirit pills…’
“Hmm, I see. So that’s how it is. Is that why?”
“Excuse me… Elder, please speak in a way that I can understand.”
The old man shot him a sharp glare. Seong Mu-yeon flinched.
“What’s your mother’s name?”
“…I don’t know her surname, but she was called ‘Mimi’.”
“Mimi…?”
“Could it be! Do you know my mother?”
The old man scratched his head.
“No? I don’t think so?”
‘…Why did you ask, then?’
The old man sat down on a stone chair and nodded towards Seong Mu-yeon.
“Sit.”
“There’s no chair?”
“Sit on the floor!”
“Yes, sir.”
Seong Mu-yeon knelt down. He had been abused by Baek Ryeo-il so much that this was nothing to him.
“But Elder… You still haven’t told me your name.”
“Ah, that’s right. This old man is Pung Un-yeop, the 22nd generation disciple of the Great Mount Hua Sect.”
‘Pung, Pung Un-yeop…!’
Seong Mu-yeon prostrated himself on the floor without realizing it.
Pung Un-yeop was a figure from generations before even the Grand Elder. Seong Mu-yeon had only heard of him in passing.
‘The Plum Blossom Sword Sovereign before Baek Ryeo-il.’
Baek Ryeo-il skipped several generations and inherited his title. That was how he became the Plum Blossom Sword Sovereign of later generations.
‘If it’s this person, perhaps?’
“Sword Emperor Elder! I dare to ask. You said I would die soon. Do you perhaps know a way to cure my body?”
After thinking for a moment, the Sword Emperor replied.
“I know a few.”
“W-What are they?”
“Rebirth Through Marrow Cleansing, reverting to childhood. Choose whichever you want.”
“……”
Seong Mu-yeon’s face turned sour.
“You rascal. You should have some conscience. The illness you have is different from ordinary Yin-Yang Severed Meridians, yet you tried to cure it with ordinary methods? You thieving bastard!”
“Y-You knew that much?”
As the Sword Emperor said, Seong Mu-yeon’s Severed Meridians were not ordinary. If Nine Yin Severed Meridians was just coffee, the illness Seong Mu-yeon had was T.O.P. Everything from the severity of the illness was much worse. So much so that doctors would run away as soon as they saw him.
“Hmm, there is one more method.”
The Sword Emperor said, stroking his rough beard. Seong Mu-yeon felt a strange sense of déjà vu. He felt like he knew what was going to be said next.
Haha.
No way.
“If you spend the night with a master of high martial arts…”
“That’s enough! I don’t need to hear any more! I’ll be going now!”
Seong Mu-yeon jumped up.
“Tsk, tsk. You’re so impatient, you rascal.”
In the blink of an eye, the Sword Emperor was right in front of him. He raised his fingers and struck Seong Mu-yeon’s Shangqu Blood Point, Yunmen Blood Point, Tianzong Blood Point, and others in quick succession.
Thud-!
A shock, as if a huge rock had slammed into his body, washed over him. His vision blurred, and things appeared to be multiplied.
“Huk…!”
Seong Mu-yeon’s knees buckled.
“Cough!”
He vomited a bucketful of black blood.
“Haa… haa… What did you do?”
Seong Mu-yeon asked, wiping the blood from his mouth. The Sword Emperor wordlessly turned back his eyelids and examined his ears before stepping back.
“This should keep you going for a while.”
Only then did Seong Mu-yeon realize, to his surprise, that his condition was much better.
The chilling cold that had been gnawing at his bones had disappeared, and a warm energy had settled inside his body. Color began to return to his face.
Seong Mu-yeon, who had been dazed, bowed deeply to the Sword Emperor.
“Elder! You are my savior!”
“Get up! I don’t want to receive bows from a sick man. It’ll bring bad luck.”
His way of speaking was a bit crude, but… Just the fact that his body was much better made him want to give the man a kiss.
“How can I repay this kindness?”
“You’re saying scary things. Do you know what happened to those who said they would ‘repay the kindness’ to your father, Seong Hyeok-gwang?”
They probably died.
Miserably.
The Demonic Cult Leader was that kind of person.
“You seem to know my father well.”
“Of course, I do. How could I not? I crossed swords with him several times, but decades have passed without a conclusion. He must be very old by now.”
“He’s bedridden. It seems he doesn’t have much time left.”
“That guy? Hmm… So even a guy like that dies.”
The Sword Emperor wore an expression that was hard to tell whether it was refreshing or regrettable.
“But Elder… Why did you help me? I am Seong Hyeok-gwang’s son. You said you crossed swords with him several times. The feelings between you two can’t be good.”
“Should I take it back?”
“No! That’s not what I meant.”
Seong Mu-yeon slammed his head to the ground. This damn mouth was the problem.
“It can’t even be called help. It’s just a temporary measure, so if you overexert yourself even a little, you’ll quickly become worse than before.”
After speaking, the Sword Emperor looked at him searchingly.
“You are the spitting image of your father. But if I’m not mistaken, your mother is…”
“Yes.”
Seong Mu-yeon swallowed hard. This old master clearly knew something about his mother.