By Zephyria Just Once (4)
Suddenly, Sword Emperor shot up.
“But who are you to enter my Secret Cave!”
“E, Elder? What…….”
“Get out!”
Seong Mu-yeon was kicked out for the second time.
“…….”
“Plum Blossom Sword Sovereign? How do you know him?”
The next day, Seong Mu-yeon waited for a chance during breakfast and asked Baek Ryeo-il.
“W-Well, isn’t he very famous? I just suddenly thought of him.”
He vaguely excused himself, thinking it would be troublesome if he was caught sneaking out last night.
Baek Ryeo-il hummed and shook his head.
“It’s a pity. They say he’s losing his mind. I wonder where he is these days?”
‘As expected…….’
As expected, Sword Emperor was a senile old man. That’s why he might have piled up all the things he had collected throughout his life in a cave without any defenses.
“You really seem to be getting better?”
Baek Ryeo-il said as he stared at him eating. They had shown up at the dining hall for the first time in a while. From this morning, Seong Mu-yeon’s condition wasn’t bad.
Seong Mu-yeon nodded.
“Didn’t I tell you?”
“That’s amazing. It gets better like that?”
Baek Ryeo-il, who had been scanning Seong Mu-yeon here and there for a long time, licked his lips.
“What a shame.”
“Hey. You’re talking like you wanted me to be sick?”
“No, well……. Never mind.”
After leaving the dining hall, they slowly started walking towards Emerald Pavilion.
At that moment, there was a group of Disciples walking towards them. One of them spoke to Baek Ryeo-il.
“Senior Brother Baek, what are you doing here?”
His face was full of smiles, but his eyes weren’t smiling. His gaze soon reached Seong Mu-yeon.
“……With the Demonic Cult Young master as well.”
“Yeah.”
Baek Ryeo-il casually nodded and then spoke to their backs.
“Does it look fun?”
“What?”
“No, well……. Even so, you’re acting too friendly. There are other people watching…….”
He said bitterly and looked at his group as if asking for agreement, and a low, mocking laugh flowed out.
“Jang Han-soo.”
Baek Ryeo-il coldly called his name.
Even Seong Mu-yeon, who wasn’t the one being called, flinched at the coldness. The reason Seong Mu-yeon was surprised wasn’t because of that.
‘Jang Han-soo……? Jang Han-soo, the unparalleled warrior of his generation?’
He knew the name. The person who would later contribute to driving out the Demonic Cult with Baek Ryeo-il in the Orthodox-Demonic War.
‘They didn’t get along back then, so it was always like this.’
Jang Han-soo wasn’t at all intimidated by Baek Ryeo-il’s threat.
“At least Senior Brother shouldn’t be like that, right? You know what they did to us.”
Jang Han-soo swaggered closer.
“Think about who our parents both lost their lives to.”
‘Ah.’
Seong Mu-yeon tightly closed his eyes. He thought something like this would happen someday.
Not only Mount Hua but countless people had lost their lives to the Demonic Cult. There was a possibility of meeting victims or their bereaved families at any time while walking down the street.
Baek Ryeo-il also lost his family to the Demonic Cult. It was a fact he had tried to ignore. That’s why he had tried to avoid him as much as possible.
Seong Mu-yeon looked up at Baek Ryeo-il’s cold face as he glared at Jang Han-soo.
‘…….’
“Go your way. Don’t meddle in other people’s affairs.”
With those words, Baek Ryeo-il left the spot with Seong Mu-yeon.
He could feel an persistent gaze from behind.
Since Seong Mu-yeon had been allowed to roam freely, he had often felt unkind gazes from some Mount Hua Disciples. The Demonic Cult was the sworn enemy of the orthodox sect martial artists, and Seong Mu-yeon was the son of that Demonic Cult, whether he liked it or not.
He was a guest who had received official recognition from the Sect leader, so no one was particularly picking a fight. However, after the kidnapping incident, the uncomfortable gazes became even more intense.
‘He was already an eyesore, and now he’s brought in an enemy.’
It was fortunate that Young master Seong Mu-ryong had quietly turned back, otherwise, it would have been a dangerous incident that could have resulted in a large number of casualties.
And the reason why Young master Seong Mu-ryong had rushed here was because of Seong Mu-yeon.
“Hey, Taoist.”
“That Jang Han-soo has been trying to find fault with everything I do since a long time ago. Don’t worry about it.”
“But what he said isn’t wrong…….”
“I’d rather not talk about that.”
Seong Mu-yeon immediately shut his mouth.
‘Yeah. Let’s just shut up when he’s being nice.’
It was really surprising that Baek Ryeo-il wasn’t holding him accountable.
Seong Mu-yeon glanced at Jang Han-soo and his group, who were moving away. He was standing crookedly, staring at them.
‘I should be more careful in the future.’
Because of his background, there was no good in attracting people’s attention.
But the incident happened a few days later.
“A sparring match?”
“Yes. Your Martial Uncle asked me to arrange a sparring match between his disciple and you.”
Ma Jin-cheon said.
Seong Mu-yeon was standing in the corner, listening to the conversation between the two Senior Brother.
‘Why am I here…….’
Baek Ryeo-il had been taking Seong Mu-yeon with him wherever he went since that day.
〈You said you’d protect me thoroughly.〉
He was about to follow him to the bathroom.
When his master called, Baek Ryeo-il took Seong Mu-yeon with him. Seong Mu-yeon, who had unwillingly been caught between the Senior Brother, quietly curled up in the corner.
“Who’s the opponent?”
“It’s Jang Han-soo.”
Baek Ryeo-il’s eyes turned cold.
“I don’t want to.”
Baek Ryeo-il turned his head sharply. A vein popped out on Ma Jin-cheon’s forehead.
“The result is obvious anyway, so why do it again?”
From what he heard, Baek Ryeo-il and Jang Han-soo had often crossed swords.
“You never know the result.”
There was a voice suddenly cutting in. A middle-aged Taoist was leading his Disciples into Ma Jin-cheon’s residence. Jang Han-soo was with them.
“Senior Brother Sang.”
The middle-aged man was Sang-geol, Ma Jin-cheon’s Junior Brother.
“Our Han-soo has made great progress in his cultivation after much effort. He seems to want to clear the past humiliation. He pleaded with me so earnestly to arrange a sparring match with Ryeo-il.”
Sang-geol patted his disciple Jang Han-soo’s shoulder. Then he made eye contact with Seong Mu-yeon, who was standing in the corner.
“Hmm?”
Seong Mu-yeon bowed his head in greeting. But Sang-geol didn’t return the greeting and openly frowned.
“Why is that guy here? Get him out.”
‘……Seriously. Let me out…….’
Seong Mu-yeon vehemently agreed. But Baek Ryeo-il ignored him, as if he had no tact, and said to Jang Han-soo.
“Jang Han-soo. Do you want to be embarrassed again? I’m getting tired of it.”
Jang Han-soo’s lips twitched.
“You won’t know who’s better until you try, right?”
“That’s only when the lengths seem similar.”
Baek Ryeo-il strode towards Jang Han-soo.
“If there’s a clear difference, there’s no need to try.”
“…….”
In fact, Jang Han-soo even looked two inches shorter than him.
Jang Han-soo trembled, unable to contain his anger.
“Baek Ryeo-il! You’re having a war of nerves in front of your Martial Uncle! How rude! Martial Uncle Ma, please arrange the sparring match. I won’t be helplessly defeated like last time.”
Ma Jin-cheon looked tired. Having a talented disciple was also tiring.
“Ryeo-il, will you do it?”
“No.”
“This guy, really!”
Baek Ryeo-il didn’t care about his Martial Uncle’s scolding.
‘Why am I here…….’
Meanwhile, Seong Mu-yeon was as uncomfortable as if he was sitting on thorns. He didn’t know where to put his eyes. Why were these people acting like he was there and not there at the same time?
But there was one person who was looking at him. It was Jang Han-soo.
“Young master, please say something too. Please tell him to have a sparring match. You seem to be close to Senior Brother.”
“Yes?”
Jang Han-soo continued with a bitter smile.
“Or, how about Young master become my opponent instead?”
Everyone in that space turned their gaze to Seong Mu-yeon.
“Yes……?”
“Haha, Han-soo, you’re funny. Just kidding. Didn’t they say that he hasn’t even learned martial arts?”
Sang-geol waved his hand. But Jang Han-soo took a step towards Seong Mu-yeon.
“No, I’m not kidding. Wasn’t that when we were checking if it was Demonic Art or not? Who knows? He’s the son of the Demonic Cult Leader, so how could he not have learned a single sword technique?”
It seemed that Jang Han-soo was also there on the day Seong Mu-yeon first entered Mount Hua.
At those words, Sang-geol also seemed to be curious.
“Hmm, Young master. Tell me honestly. Have you really never learned the sword?”
Seong Mu-yeon was flustered. Why were the arrows flying this way? It was like a shrimp getting crushed in a whale fight.
One by one, they started turning towards him as if waiting for an answer.
“W-Well, I…….”
It was then, when Seong Mu-yeon was hesitating.