By Zephyria Do you like me? (3)
“Why is Jongnam Sect here?”
Ma Jin-cheon was quite flustered when the Disciples guarding the Sect gates rushed in to inform him.
The Jongnam Sect was one of the Nine Great Sects located in the same Shaanxi province as Mount Hua, and they were a Sect that frequently interacted due to their close proximity. However, it was rare for them to barge in like this without prior notice.
“They say they need to discuss the recent incident in Henan with the Sect leader.”
“……I understand. I’ll go immediately.”
Ma Jin-cheon, along with Wang Ho-jun, who had come to report at that moment, headed to the reception room where they were waiting. He asked Wang Ho-jun in a low, quick voice.
“You’re sure Ryeo-il is with Junior Brother Heo right now?”
“Yes, Martial Uncle. I confirmed he went inside with my own eyes on the way here. Junior Brother Heo must be very angry, so he’ll be stuck there for a while.”
It was fortunate.
Baek Ryeo-il’s outrageous behavior didn’t discriminate between Mount Hua Disciples and outsiders.
The Mount Hua Disciples had already tacitly agreed to avoid provoking Baek Ryeo-il as much as possible. However, the senior members, who had experienced several incidents with outsiders who were unaware of this situation, made sure to hide Baek Ryeo-il in advance whenever this happened, using the excuse that he was busy with ‘water lily fragrance’ or ‘missions’ to prevent them from meeting.
As it became increasingly difficult to meet the Heartless Sword, the world praised him even more, saying, ‘As expected, a master of that caliber is hard to come by!’ which only made them more frustrated.
Ma Jin-cheon greeted the Jongnam Elder waiting in the reception room and didn’t forget to instruct Wang Ho-jun before leaving with him to the Sect Leader’s Hall.
“Make sure the Jongnam Disciples don’t run into Ryeo-il. I’m counting on you.”
The Jongnam Disciples had decided to stay in the reception room and wait until the Elder finished his business, rather than following him.
“Yes. Don’t worry!”
Wang Ho-jun nodded resolutely. Baek Ryeo-il wouldn’t show up anyway since he was being punished, so there was nothing to worry about. He served tea and refreshments to the guests who were killing time idly.
“Excuse me, Instructor Wang. What is the Heartless Sword doing? Will we be able to meet him today?”
As expected, a Jongnam Sect Disciple asked Wang Ho-jun. They had asked similar questions several times before. Any swordsman had the desire to prove their martial prowess through a duel with a strong opponent. They were eager to cross swords with Baek Ryeo-il, the most promising Heartless Sword in Mount Hua recently.
Wang Ho-jun smiled awkwardly.
“What a pity. Senior Brother Baek is busy with water lily fragrance today…….”
“Yes, of course. The great Heartless Sword is so busy that it’s hard to even catch a glimpse of his shadow.”
The Jongnam Disciple didn’t even try to hide his displeasure. If it were a Sect with a strong Taoist family leaning like Mount Hua or Wudang, they would have maintained etiquette out of consideration for appearances, but the Jongnam Sect had a more secular leaning, so they didn’t hesitate to reveal their desires.
“Could it be that he’s deliberately avoiding us?”
“N, no way! Senior Brother Baek is just usually like that. You know?”
“Even so, his reputation is only based on rumors, and few people have actually seen him, so it’s inevitable that we’re starting to have doubts. I heard there’s been a big gap between him and his Mount Hua peers recently.”
“Yes, yes. I understand. Haha…….”
Think whatever you want.
I’m doing this all for your sake.
Regardless of what they were saying, Wang Ho-jun wasn’t affected at all. They didn’t know what kind of person Baek Ryeo-il was. He couldn’t tell outsiders to keep their mouths shut, and if they accidentally provoked Baek Ryeo-il…….
‘Ugh.’
He didn’t even want to imagine it.
The Elder who had gone to have a private audience with the Sect leader didn’t return until almost lunchtime. When it was time for the meal, Wang Ho-jun led them to the dining hall. And he was so surprised that his eyes almost popped out.
‘W, w, w, why is that guy out here?!’
Baek Ryeo-il, who should have been holed up in Heo Saeng’s residence receiving punishment, was leisurely loitering in front of the dining hall.
Wang Ho-jun hurriedly turned around to block the guests’ view.
“Ahaha……! W, why don’t we eat a little later? There’s a great pond over there! And there are so many carp! Let’s go quickly.”
“Huh? We’re hungry, though? The smell of food is making us even hungrier.”
Despite his efforts, he couldn’t avoid the Jongnam Sect’s eyes.
“……Huh? Isn’t that the Heartless Sword?”
“What? The Heartless Sword? Where?”
At someone’s shout, they all flocked to confirm the Heartless Sword.
“Ugh!”
Wang Ho-jun tried his best to block them, but he couldn’t withstand the energetic martial artists and was pushed aside. While he was falling, the Jongnam Disciples quickly approached Baek Ryeo-il and spoke to him. Since Mount Hua and Jongnam had frequent exchanges, they knew each other’s faces to some extent.
“Heartless Sword Baek Ryeo-il Instructor? Is that right?”
Baek Ryeo-il rolled his eyes, checked their faces and attire, and casually nodded in response. The Jongnam Sect Disciples were briefly taken aback but didn’t back down and stood in front of him again.
“Nice to meet you. I am Jinseo, a Disciple of the Jongnam Sect. I’ve heard many tales of the Heartless Sword Instructor’s martial prowess. I’ve always wanted to meet you, so it’s an honor to finally greet you like this.”
“……Yeah, whatever.”
Unfortunately, Baek Ryeo-il wasn’t listening to what they were saying right now. It would have been the same no matter who the other party was.
‘Seong Mu-yeon, that bastard. Why isn’t he here yet? Making people wait.’
After leaving Heo Saeng’s residence in the morning, he didn’t go back right away and spent some time alone. He had been on edge for seven days due to the punishment, so he found the hidden alcohol, drank straight from the bottle, forgot the complexities of the world, and regained peace of mind.
By the time he was done, it was almost lunchtime. He was waiting for Seong Mu-yeon and Gang Woong to come to the dining hall, intending to surprise them.
That’s when Jinseo came and was hovering around.
“If it’s not too much trouble, may I ask for a lesson?”
Baek Ryeo-il didn’t even glance at him.
“……Instructor? Did you hear what I said?”
It wasn’t very common for Disciples from different Sects to spar with each other. It could potentially lead to a power struggle between the Sects, so it was difficult to get an opportunity unless it was an official competition. As such, Jinseo approached cautiously.
“…….”
Jinseo could have understood if he had refused, but he felt insulted that he didn’t even pretend to listen. The other Jongnam Disciples felt the same way.
“Senior Brother, let’s just go. Let’s just eat.”
They turned away, feeling thoroughly offended.
Wang Ho-jun, who had been observing the situation from a few steps away, relaxed his guard. It seemed like they were going to get through it without any major conflict.
As the Jongnam Disciples passed by Baek Ryeo-il and headed towards the dining hall, they muttered as if for him to hear.
“His personality is as bad as I’ve heard.”
“Reputation isn’t everything. It seems Mount Hua has a different way of teaching etiquette than us.”
No matter how famous the Heartless Sword was, this was too much. Of course, Jongnam Sect had to take a step back in terms of history and reputation compared to Mount Hua, but there was no need to openly ignore them like this, was there?
But what made them even more upset was Baek Ryeo-il’s attitude of not even paying attention to them even though they were expressing such unpleasant feelings.
“Does he think what we’re saying isn’t even worth listening to?”
“Hey, don’t worry about it, Senior Brother. Aren’t those kinds of guys all full of themselves? Thanks to him, Ma Instructor of the Flowing Cloud Sword is the only one benefiting. He’s riding high thanks to having such a great Disciple.”
Baek Ryeo-il, who had been acting as if he couldn’t hear anything until then, reacted for the first time. As soon as his teacher was mentioned, his attention immediately turned. The Jongnam Sect Disciples, noticing that Baek Ryeo-il was looking at them, sneered as if to show off.
“What are you looking at?”
The Jongnam Disciple, who was already in a bad mood, snapped back, but Baek Ryeo-il just stared at them silently. But that was only for a moment, and he turned his gaze away again.
“Ahaha, haha……. Shall we go eat?”
Wang Ho-jun soothed them gently, feeling like he was walking on thin ice. He begged them to stop and just go.
“Instructor Wang, is this Mount Hua’s stance towards Jongnam?”
This time, the arrow flew towards Wang Ho-jun. He was startled and waved his hands.
“W, what are you saying? No. There’s no way that’s true! Let me explain, so please go inside first…….”
“No! I can’t do that. I need to hear why the Heartless Sword is so great that he looks down on people!”
“P, please don’t do this. Please don’t say any more and just go inside, please?”
Wang Ho-jun wanted to get out of this place as quickly as possible. In fact, Baek Ryeo-il was generally lenient when it came to things about himself. He ignored them as if he didn’t care, whether someone was cursing or mocking him. Thanks to that, there was hope that they could get through this without an accident if he isolated Jongnam and Baek Ryeo-il now.
By this point, the Jongnam Disciples should have realized that there was something going on, but unfortunately, they were already too angry to make rational judgments.
“Are you saying we can’t even express our dissatisfaction? Instructor Wang, you’re obviously biased towards your own Sect. You’re not going to say you didn’t see the Heartless Sword looking down on us just now, are you?”
“Of course! I understand that you’re upset. So…….”
However, in the end, Jongnam touched Baek Ryeo-il’s reverse scale.
“The Flowing Cloud Sword Instructor may be overrated thanks to having that great Disciple.”
Baek Ryeo-il’s back stiffened.