By Zephyria Il-gwang’s Conspiracy (6)
As Seong Mu-yeon pressed him again, Il-gwang hesitated before opening his mouth.
“…Actually, I received orders to bring Seventh Young Master here this time.”
Il-gwang explained the whole story, dejected and dispirited.
Seong Mu-ryong had ordered him to bring Seong Mu-yeon, and Il-gwang, who had been waiting for an opportunity, arbitrarily assumed that Baek Ryeo-il had killed Wi-rim and plotted to separate the two.
“It’s Second Brother again?!”
“…Yes.”
Seong Mu-yeon rubbed his forehead.
It was Seong Mu-ryong again.
At this point, it seemed like he was just trying to torment him.
Thanks to him, he missed the Poisonous Ghoul, and the Black Demon Squad harbored a grudge against him.
With a thud, Il-gwang bowed to Seong Mu-yeon and kowtowed, hitting his head on the floor.
“Please kill me, Seventh Young Master! This lowly one failed to repent for his past mistakes and once again interfered with Seventh Young Master’s affairs. I will repay it with my life!”
“…Why is he like this again.”
Seong Mu-yeon waved his hand dismissively.
“Enough, enough. Get up. I already have a headache because of my brother, don’t annoy me even more. Why aren’t you getting up quickly?!”
“I’m sorry.”
Il-gwang rose to his feet.
“I don’t want to see your face for a while, so get lost.”
“Seventh Young Master…”
Seong Mu-yeon stared at him silently, without saying a word. There wasn’t a single trace of emotion in his eyes. Only then did Il-gwang realize that he had never followed Seong Mu-yeon’s instructions without question.
Now that things had come to this, it would be safer for Seventh Young Master to stay on Mount Hua for the time being. The Black Demon Squad was rushing in without thinking because they were agitated right now, but after some time, they would realize that their opponent was a Young master to be revered and would be more cautious.
Until then…
Il-gwang quietly retreated. He blended into the shadows with the Black Shadow Unit and disappeared.
“Haa…”
“You’ve been through a lot too.”
Baek Ryeo-il patted his shoulder a couple of times as if to comfort him.
Seong Mu-yeon seemed to be in a bad mood the entire way back. Thanks to that, Baek Ryeo-il couldn’t say a word to him and returned to the Shaolin residence in silence.
“I’m going to rest for a bit.”
“Oh? Okay…”
Confined to his room, Seong Mu-yeon couldn’t sleep and paced around anxiously.
‘Is this really okay?’
Baek Ryeo-il failed to kill the Poisonous Ghoul…
‘How could this happen?’
He felt uneasy.
Baek Ryeo-il was the most important person in this world.
The next Cult Leader, Third Young Master Seong Mu-geuk, had almost taken over the Central Plains in the original story. When the world was on the verge of being dominated by the Demonic Path, Baek Ryeo-il emerged from his closed-door training and revealed himself to the world.
He gathered the scattered orthodox sects and formed a force, traversing the battlefields and leading the charge. It could be said that the tide of the war turned with his appearance.
People were naturally drawn to his valiant figure, who stood at the forefront and risked his life without hesitation.
What if that Baek Ryeo-il didn’t exist?
‘I don’t even want to imagine the nightmare that would unfold.’
He had to be a perfect hero…
Killing the Poisonous Ghoul, entering closed-door training, and receiving teachings from the Sword Emperor—what if all of that was the foundation for Baek Ryeo-il to become a hero?
That thought kept Seong Mu-yeon awake for a long time.
Baek Ryeo-il first checked on Ma Jin-cheon’s health. Being a martial artist, he was recovering quickly. He would be healthy enough to return to Mount Hua in a few days.
For some reason, Heo Saeng and the junior uncles took great care of Ma Jin-cheon. Baek Ryeo-il, unaware of their intentions to make up for their mistake against Senior Brother, didn’t think much of it and brushed it off.
He had something else on his mind.
‘…Seong Mu-yeon.’
Baek Ryeo-il stared at the tightly closed door.
Several hours had passed since they returned, but Seong Mu-yeon hadn’t stepped outside the door. It was already sunset, so he must be hungry.
Baek Ryeo-il felt very uneasy.
‘Should I… bring him something to eat?’
He even had such thoughts. That Il-gwang guy would bring food whenever Seong Mu-yeon was hungry.
But he had never taken care of someone else’s meal in his life. He often skipped meals when he was too lazy to even put food in his own mouth. It was the first time he had ever felt so uneasy about someone else’s meal.
Baek Ryeo-il, who had been nervously tapping his foot, finally made up his mind. Instead of serving him food like a servant, he would just ask. Whether he wanted to eat or not.
But he stopped again in front of Seong Mu-yeon’s door.
‘Should I knock?’
He was bothered by the fact that Seong Mu-yeon’s face looked so bad the last time he saw him. What if he opened the door as usual and got an earful…?
‘So what if I do?!’
Baek Ryeo-il sternly scolded himself.
Caring about what others think? Baek Ryeo-il, of all people? Scold? Go ahead!
“Seong Mu-yeon!”
He threw the door open with a bang.
The room was dark, with not a single candle lit. Darkness was no problem for Baek Ryeo-il, so he immediately spotted the man curled up on the bed and felt relieved.
Seong Mu-yeon was asleep.
Without realizing it, he quietly closed the door and approached the bed, even muffling his footsteps.
In the darkness, Baek Ryeo-il rested his chin on the bed and gazed at Seong Mu-yeon to his heart’s content. The soft, even breathing soothed his mind. Perhaps because he had been through a lot yesterday and today, his face was slightly gaunt, and his hair was a little disheveled.
‘I should probably bring him something to eat.’
Thinking that, he stealthily reached out his hand. To tidy up his disheveled hair.
At that moment, Seong Mu-yeon suddenly opened his eyes.
“…Dojang?”
As expected, this little beast had a light sleep.
Baek Ryeo-il naturally got up as if nothing had happened, and retorted with a sullen voice, feeling a little guilty for no reason.
“I came to wake you up because you were just sleeping without eating, why!”
“Is that so. I am a bit hungry.”
Seong Mu-yeon sluggishly got up.
“Please turn on the light.”
He was going to turn it on even if he didn’t ask.
Baek Ryeo-il didn’t even need to pull out a fire starter to light the candle. A small flame bloomed from his fingertip and transferred to the candle.
The room was soon brightly lit.
“What do you want to eat? According to Master, Shaolin food isn’t very good. I’ll have to go out and buy something…”
When Baek Ryeo-il turned around, Seong Mu-yeon was still sitting crookedly on the bed. Feeling a strange sense of incongruity from that sight, Baek Ryeo-il furrowed his brow.
“…Right. Seong Mu-yeon?”
“I’ll eat anything. By the way, please turn on the light. It’s too dark.”
“…What are you talking about? I lit the candle.”
It wasn’t dark. The candle that Baek Ryeo-il lit was illuminating the room with an orange glow.
“Don’t joke around. Ugh, I’ll do it myself.”
When Baek Ryeo-il didn’t answer, Seong Mu-yeon, feeling frustrated, reached out into the air to find the candlestick. As he groped his way off the bed and toward the desk, he was soon caught by a strong grip.
“Seong Mu-yeon. Look at me.”
“Why don’t you turn on the light and then talk.”
Baek Ryeo-il’s voice was seriously low.
“No. The light isn’t off.”
“Yes?”
“Your eyes can’t see.”
His heart sank.
“W-What are you talking about?”
Seong Mu-yeon was suddenly seized by a sense of unease, as if the ground beneath his feet was collapsing. Even though he knew there were no dangerous objects in this room, he gripped Baek Ryeo-il’s arm tightly. If he took even one step, a bottomless abyss that shouldn’t exist would appear somewhere on the floor and he would fall endlessly.
“Why… why.”
His mind went completely blank. He couldn’t think of anything. As Seong Mu-yeon swayed greatly, a firm arm wrapped around his waist.
“Sit down first.”
He led Seong Mu-yeon to the bed. Suddenly unable to see, Seong Mu-yeon clung to him as if he were a lifeline. He couldn’t even walk on his own and was dragged along, clinging to Baek Ryeo-il.
Seong Mu-yeon felt a little relieved only after he sat down on the firm bed.
“Let me see.”
Baek Ryeo-il took his wrist. Seong Mu-yeon was startled by that simple action.
“…This isn’t good.”
He could feel Seong Mu-yeon’s inner force fluctuating wildly.
“Surely I won’t lose my sight forever, will I?”
“I don’t know.”
Baek Ryeo-il couldn’t say for sure either. He wasn’t a doctor, but judging from his experience, it seemed like he had suffered a minor Qi deviation. It was something that all martial artists feared the most, but fortunately, Seong Mu-yeon wasn’t at the level of losing his life or becoming crippled.
In fact, Seong Mu-yeon had been deeply troubled before falling asleep. Moreover, he had used his inner force again to use Wi-rim’s whip. That was why this had happened. No matter how much Qi deviation was a threat that anyone who cultivated Qi lived with, Seong Mu-yeon had never dreamed that it would happen to him.
“I overdid it. It’ll be okay, it’ll be okay.”
He spoke as if he were calm, but Seong Mu-yeon’s voice trembled violently. He reached out his hand to find Baek Ryeo-il. But he didn’t know where he was and only groped in the air.
Soon, a warm hand grabbed his hand. Seong Mu-yeon felt relieved by the warmth.
He pushed Baek Ryeo-il’s shoulder and laid him down on the bed.
“Take off your clothes. Doing it once… doing it once will make it better.”