By Zephyria 
“Why?”
His eyes were like a deep, pitch-black abyss. Gang Woong subtly avoided his gaze.
“What do you mean, why…? It’s been too long since we left Mount Hua. It’s almost been two years. I thought we should go back and show our faces sometimes…”
Baek Ryeo-il neither rebuked nor ridiculed him. He simply stared at him with eyes devoid of emotion before letting out a sighing laugh.
“If you really want to go, you can go back alone.”
“……”
Outwardly, Baek Ryeo-il appeared perfectly fine. The way he used to be, driven by emotions and reckless, had disappeared, and only a ruthlessly honed Swordsman remained.
At least, that’s what people thought.
However, Gang Woong, his disciple who was closest to Baek Ryeo-il and shared his every move, was not happy with the change. He would rather his Senior Brother get angry and reveal even a little of his inner self, so he wouldn’t feel so uneasy.
But his Senior Brother never revealed his inner thoughts. It felt like a time bomb about to explode at any moment.
All these changes began three years ago, when the Demonic Cult swept through the Jegal Clan and Seong Mu-yeon left.
Not long after the incident, the Hwasan Sect gathered the wounded and returned to headquarters. The entire mountain was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere due to the bitterness of defeat.
Baek Ryeo-il immediately entered Seclusion Training that day, leaving his young Junior Brother alone…
Suddenly left alone, Gang Woong was taken care of by Ma Jin-cheon instead, and Baek Ryeo-il reappeared to the world only after a long year.
The Senior Brother who came out was a different person.
Not to mention his greatly improved martial arts. But Gang Woong and Ma Jin-cheon easily noticed that there was an even greater change.
Although he couldn’t be called good-natured even as a euphemism, at least he used to reveal his human emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure without reservation. However, even that could no longer be found after the Seclusion Training.
He didn’t know what kind of time he had spent in the dark cave, but the incident seemed to have brought a great change to his state of mind.
Baek Ryeo-il, who came out of Seclusion Training, took back the Junior Brother he had been taking care of and immediately set out on a journey through the Martial world. And until now, almost two years later, he had not returned to Mount Hua even once.
In the meantime, the two had executed countless demonic cultists. Baek Ryeo-il showed an almost insane obsession, rushing without hesitation to any place where the Demonic Cult was located.
Gang Woong followed him and experienced many things.
Chasing after rumors flowing into the Martial world, sleeping on the streets was commonplace, and even eating or washing on time was a luxury.
He experienced fierce battles that crossed the line between life and death as if eating a meal, and his martial arts greatly improved compared to his peers, but it was a terrible time he didn’t want to experience twice.
This time was not much different. It was a dangerous battle in which dozens of demonic cultists rushed in at once. Even Gang Woong, who had now reached the level where he could take care of himself, had several moments where his heart turned cold.
Knock, knock, knock!
Then someone knocked on the door.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Honggae!”
When the door opened, a scruffy man poked his face in. Gang Woong greeted him naturally as if he was used to it. Honggae, the only person he had met regularly in recent years, was a beggar belonging to the Beggar Clan. At first, he was horrified by his dirty appearance and the smell coming from his body, but he got used to it over time.
“Do you have any new information?”
“Ah, that’s…”
Unlike usual, Honggae hesitated without readily coming in. His face, which he stuck out through the crack in the door, was full of anxiety.
“Is there a problem?”
Feeling uneasy, Gang Woong asked Honggae and glanced back at his Senior Brother. Seeing Baek Ryeo-il standing up straight and firmly folding his arms in front of his chest, it seemed that there was something he hadn’t noticed.
Honggae rolled his eyes and sighed deeply.
“Don’t get angry. I couldn’t help it either.”
As he stepped aside, a white hand appeared next to him and opened the door wide. And the figure of another person, who had been hidden by Honggae, was revealed.
Gang Woong’s eyes widened.
“It’s been a while.”
“G, Grandmaster…”
Ma Jin-cheon gave a faint smile to Gang Woong, who was surprised and stiffened.
“That beggar Honggae…”
Baek Ryeo-il muttered fiercely between his teeth, and Honggae flinched.
“I couldn’t help it!”
“Don’t blame him. It’s my fault for following you recklessly.”
Ma Jin-cheon said. His gaze, which lightly scanned the inside of the room, finally reached his disciple Baek Ryeo-il.
Baek Ryeo-il stared at his Senior Brother, whom he was meeting after a long time, with a stiff face.
A sharp tension filled the room.
Gang Woong was only anxious because he was standing behind Ma Jin-cheon and couldn’t see what kind of expression he had.
Just as his breath was about to be cut off, Baek Ryeo-il opened his mouth first.
“You’ve gotten a lot older in the meantime, haven’t you?”
“Is that all you have to say?”
Ma Jin-cheon countered with a hearty laugh, and the tension was instantly relieved. Only then did Honggae cautiously enter.
Certainly, the Grandmaster’s face, which he was seeing after two years, had more wrinkles than before.
“How did you know to come here?”
Baek Ryeo-il asked, inviting him to sit down.
“It wasn’t that difficult. You cause such a commotion wherever you go, so it naturally came to my ears. You’ve been up to some tremendous things in the meantime, haven’t you?”
“Well…”
Baek Ryeo-il shrugged his shoulders and said nothing. Ma Jin-cheon’s gaze reached Baek Ryeo-il’s sword, which he was busy maintaining.
“I’m glad you seem to be using that sword well.”
He carefully reached out and stroked the letters engraved on the sword’s blade.
“Nansaeng (Difficult Birth). It’s the sword your father used to use. I never thought I’d see it again, but it’s a new feeling to see it back and held in your hand like this.”
He muttered with a faint longing, then soon narrowed his brows.
“…I don’t know how this sword came back.”
Gang Woong also remembered that day.
A few months after Baek Ryeo-il entered Seclusion Training, the kitchen was in an uproar. A sword was found in one of the boxes of food supplies coming into Mount Hua instead of food.
It was a time when the wounds of blood and flowers experienced in the Jegal Clan were healing. Still, on one hand, they were caught up in the anxiety that the enemy could invade at any time, and someone had tampered with the food supplies.
When it was revealed that the sword was the beloved sword of a disciple who had been lost a long time ago, Mount Hua was once again turned upside down.
Some shouted that it was a trap and that they should not touch the sword. There were claims that it might be coated with poison. Others argued that the sword itself should be melted down because it might be cursed.
After a long period of thorough investigation in various fields, even after it was revealed that there was nothing wrong with the sword, the Nansaeng Sword quietly waited for its owner in the box without anyone touching it.
The sword was returned to Baek Ryeo-il’s hand after he finished his Seclusion Training.
“It’s not bad. The weight is just right and it fits well in my hand. I especially like the fact that it has steel mixed in, so it’s very strong. It’ll be hard to find an opponent who can damage this guy.”
Baek Ryeo-il stroked the hilt of the sword as if he was satisfied.
“Senior Brother also said the same thing as you.”
“Is that so?”
For a while, Gang Woong blankly watched the two people chatting. Having spent every day in tension and fierce battles since leaving Mount Hua, he found this comfortable atmosphere unfamiliar and awkward. But soon he smiled warmly without realizing it.
“Woong, you come and sit here too.”
“Ah, yes…! I’ll bring some tea before that!”
Gang Woong, who had been standing blankly, suddenly came to his senses. He had forgotten even the basic etiquette since it had been so long since a guest had visited.
Gang Woong hurriedly asked the kitchen for hot water, tea sets, and tea leaves.
While waiting, Gang Woong’s cheeks turned red and his heart pounded.
‘I have so much to tell Grandmaster, but what should I talk about first?’
Ma Jin-cheon’s presence was great.
Baek Ryeo-il and Gang Woong recognized and deeply trusted each other as Senior and Junior Brothers, but they were not close. However, when Ma Jin-cheon, who had deep ties with each of them, appeared, the somewhat stiff atmosphere softened in an instant, and Gang Woong felt a strong sense of belonging to Mount Hua and the two of them.
He missed Mount Hua so much.
When the tea was ready, Gang Woong roughly wiped his teary eyes and hurried back with an excited face.
However…
“How long are you going to do whatever you want!”
Ma Jin-cheon’s angry shout erupted from beyond the door. The atmosphere had changed quite a bit in the short time he had been away.