By Zephyria Exterminate the Clan (3)
Seong Mu-yeon trudged and opened Baek Ryeo-il’s door. He went in and out habitually, several times a day, to check on his condition.
Baek Ryeo-il was lying on the bed with a pale face. His bare upper body, with his broken arm firmly fixed in front of his chest, was tightly wrapped in bandages. He was no less injured than Je Cheon-deuk.
“…What are you doing all day?”
As he put charcoal in the dying brazier in the room to add heat, Baek Ryeo-il, who he thought was asleep, asked in a subdued voice. He raised his body slightly, then groaned and lay back down. His long, rich hair was spread out on the bed.
“Don’t get up. The wound will open.”
“…I’m dying. I have no energy at all.”
He was suffering from pain he had never experienced before. He was strong enough never to have had a cold, but the injury he sustained this time seemed to have temporarily weakened his immunity, and he complained of severe body aches and a mild concussion.
Baek Ryeo-il would wake up for a while, but simply eating a simple meal would drain his energy and he would fall asleep again.
“When will the support sent from Mount Hua arrive?”
He checked his forehead to see if he had a fever, then pulled the fallen blanket back up to his neck.
“It’s a bit far, so it should arrive today or tomorrow. Why?”
“I was just curious.”
Baek Ryeo-il stared at him with a suspicious look.
“I’m warning you, don’t go poking around unnecessarily. Do you think I wouldn’t take care of it without you wasting your energy? Don’t get caught by some weirdo and get hurt.”
Baek Ryeo-il said sullenly.
‘……It’s already too late.’
Seong Mu-yeon had already been caught by the weirdest guy in the world and suffered terribly. But he didn’t do anything stupid like saying that out loud.
“Okay. Get some sleep.”
“I’m not kidding, stay here until the support comes. If I wasn’t in this state…”
Seong Mu-yeon covered his eyes with his palm.
“Young master, just focus on recovering.”
Baek Ryeo-il struggled, asking what he was doing, but soon lost strength and became quiet. When he took his hand away, he was already fast asleep. Just saying a few words had exhausted him.
Baek Ryeo-il needed to focus on recovery. He didn’t want to upset him by telling him that Seong Mu-geuk was plotting something.
‘I have to solve it.’
Hadn’t he experienced worse than this? The glares of people he didn’t even know weren’t even ticklish.
That afternoon, Seong Mu-yeon met an unexpectedly welcome face. He was wandering around the yard, hoping to spot Yang Ha-gakju or someone suspicious, when he spotted two tall men wearing gat.
“Peng Young heroes! What brings you here?”
Seong Mu-yeon greeted the Peng brothers, known as the Habuk Twin Extremes. They were talking to the chief manager when they spotted Seong Mu-yeon and were delighted.
“Seventh Young master! Long time no see! Hahaha!”
His younger brother, Peng Do-hwan, patted him on the shoulder in a friendly manner. It still hurt. His older brother, Peng Yuan-jin, smiled gently and said.
“Have you forgotten? My brother and I are wandering around gaining experience. We happened to be nearby, and all the martial artists in the area were flocking here, so we were curious to see what was going on.”
“Young master is always at the center of the commotion!”
Seong Mu-yeon smiled awkwardly.
“I just heard the general manager give me a rough idea of what happened, and it sounds like you’ve been through a lot. Are you okay?”
“To think that the Heartless Sword is injured and lying in bed. I can’t miss such a rare sight!”
As the immature Peng Do-hwan was about to leave for Baek Ryeo-il’s residence as if he was really going to barge in, Peng Yuan-jin stared at his younger brother with stern eyes. Peng Do-hwan pouted, but obediently shut his mouth.
“You two seem to know this person well.”
Turning his head at the cold voice, Jegal Un was approaching with people in tow.
Peng Yuan-jin nodded with a smile.
“I met him in Henan before.”
“This person is not someone to be close to. Be careful.”
Jegal Un cast a cold gaze at Seong Mu-yeon. An awkward silence flowed at the chilly reaction.
“You little punk! You’ve grown up a lot, haven’t you?”
Peng Do-hwan wrapped his arms around Jegal Un’s neck without warning, breaking the silence in an instant.
“Second Brother! Please don’t do this. I’m now the young head of the family!”
“Oh, you’re talking back to your brother?”
Thanks to the deep exchanges between the families belonging to the Five Great Families, they seemed to be as close as real brothers.
“Big Brother! Please stop Second Brother! What about my reputation?”
Jegal Un desperately asked Peng Yuan-jin for help, but he smiled gently.
“Seong Mu-yeon, who is here, is a hero who risked his life to save the Flowing Cloud Sword in Henan, so he should be treated accordingly.”
“But…!”
“No ‘buts’. Now that these brothers are here, you can rest easy, Young master Jegal.”
“Eek!”
Seong Mu-yeon couldn’t help but laugh at Jegal Un, who was at the mercy of the Peng brothers, feeling as if all the grievances he had suffered had been swept away at once. But when Jegal Un glared at him with narrowed eyes, he flinched and suppressed his laughter.
“I know how you feel. Now that I’m here, we can investigate together. Prematurely suspecting people is bound to ruin things.”
“…Yes, Brother.”
Seong Mu-yeon’s eyes widened. To turn that rude and disrespectful Jegal Un into a docile sheep in an instant!
Peng Yuan-jin was indeed a great man.
Peng Yuan-jin gave him a gentle smile as if to tell him to trust him.
‘Young hero Peng…!’
He was so glad to see him appear like a savior now that Baek Ryeo-il, the only one who took his side here, was absent. His heart was touched.
The Peng brothers had to go greet the family head, so they left with regret, saying they would come back later.
In the original story, Peng Yuan-jin was a man of great eloquence and trust, enough to take on the role of martial alliance lord and stabilize the collapsed Central Plains. Now that he had appeared, stability would come between the two forces that clashed like jagged stones, combining the strength of Je Cheon-deuk.
Seong Mu-yeon returned with such expectations.
And the next day, his expectations were shattered.
Before the sun had even risen, Seong Mu-yeon was awakened by a commotion outside. Wondering what was going on, he opened the door and Gang Woong, who had also woken up, was coming out of his room with a bewildered look on his face.
“I’ll go see what’s going on.”
Gang Woong returned shortly after with a pale face. Seong Mu-yeon’s heart tightened with foreboding at his unusual expression.
“What’s wrong?”
Gang Woong hesitated for a long time before finally opening his mouth with difficulty.
“Je, Jecheondeuk Dojo…”
Someone pushed Gang Woong inside and shoved himself through the open door. Then, he grabbed Seong Mu-yeon by the collar and threw him outside.
It all happened in an instant.
Seong Mu-yeon, who had been thrown defenselessly into the yard without any preparation, groaned in pain as if he was suffocating.
What’s going on?
When he gasped and raised his head slightly, he saw a dense sight of countless black boots standing there.
“Young master!”
Gang Woong screamed and ran over, but a burly martial artist stopped him. And another martial artist dragged Bang Gyeom out of the corner of the room and threw him down in a similar manner to Seong Mu-yeon. They were all Wudang martial artists.
“You killed my Senior Brother!”
“I will avenge my Senior Brother!”
A Wudang disciple shouted fiercely, drawing his sword. The end of his voice trembled slightly, mixed with sadness and anger.
Seong Mu-yeon raised his upper body blankly. His mind was in complete confusion and he couldn’t sort things out. Who died? Who are they avenging?
“So, something must be wrong. Why would someone who was fine just yesterday…”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know! Thanks to you, my Senior Brother barely got out of bed yesterday! The doctor said he would recover without any aftereffects. But when we found him this morning, he was already…”
The Wudang disciple swallowed his words as if he was overwhelmed with emotion. Then, he pointed the tip of his sword at Seong Mu-yeon.
“Who else but you would harm my Senior Brother! I’ve endured as much as I can. I’ll take your life for his!”
He swung his sword in one swift motion. Seong Mu-yeon, whose mind was blank from the shocking news, couldn’t dodge or block in time and closed his eyes tightly.
But he didn’t feel the expected pain. When he opened his eyes, Bang Gyeom was holding the blade with his bare hands.
“…Please calm down. Seventh Young master did not harm the Wudang disciple.”
“Why would I listen to what a Demonic Cult says! You must be an accomplice too, right? I’ll kill you together!”
The Wudang disciple put strength into his hand, but the tightly held sword didn’t move at all. Red blood dripped down from Bang Gyeom’s clenched fist, his knuckles bulging.