Chapter 278: Listening to the Rain. (1)
The Defeated Venerable, Biju.
One of the absolutes of the Central Plains, called the Three Supremes of the World.
Though he had crossed the supreme frontier and touched transcendence,
he was a man who never cast aside the moniker of “Defeat.”
The pinnacle of combat martial artists.
A monster who, it was presumed, had reached the extreme of practical martial arts through countless real battles.
In truth,
on the day I had clashed with him in the past,
I had felt a gap so despairingly wide.
The gaze with which he looked.
The tips of his outstretched hands.
The tips of his advancing feet.
It all made me viscerally understand why the Defeated Venerable was called the pinnacle of combat martial artists.
He was truly a monster.
It was not faint praise one gave when seeing a genius who had merely surpassed ordinary folk.
The Defeated Venerable was a martial artist who showed the extreme of how far one could go with mere human flesh.
Had the Demonic Sword Empress joined even a moment later at that time,
I would surely have met my death on that spot.
The wounds I had sustained then were of a level that could not have regenerated without the Heavenly Demon’s touch.
Moreover,
when even that Heavenly Demon—a being on a level one could not think of as human—
did not withhold praise upon seeing the Defeated Venerable’s movements,
one could gauge his level.
With a single step, he could make the earth tremble.
With a single motion, he could shatter Mount Tai.
He did not refuse a contest.
He did not hesitate to suffer defeat.
Among the words the Defeated Venerable had spoken in his days as a rising prodigy, there were these:
“Even if I lose once,
so long as my head remains attached,
I will win someday.”
Words full of arrogance, yet also confidence.
And as if to prove those words,
a man born of the Bi Clan.
Over twenty years ago,
in the days when the man was called by the moniker “Defeated Iron Dog,”
after he alone killed three of the absolute experts of the Demonic Faction who were then called the Sima Eight Lords, changing them to the Sima Five Lords,
the man came to be called the Defeated Venerable.
Having ascended to the rank of Venerable in such a manner, the Defeated Venerable
stayed in the west, in his own lands, occasionally showing his face at the clan and spending his remaining years.
Then, one summer day over ten years ago,
he vanished without a trace.
I suspected it was likely around then—
the day he gave up everything and obtained a young body.
I swallowed a hollow breath with effort and looked at the youth before me.
The youth let his black hair fall long,
and had ink-colored eyes that held not a single hint of dawn light.
‘Truly, he is different from my past life.’
He looked far younger than he had then.
But.
Gulp.
Was it because I knew that youth was the Defeated Venerable?
Or because this precarious energy pricked at my back?
I had to keep swallowing the dry saliva that kept rising.
‘Biju…’
He was quite different from when I had faced the Sword Venerable.
The Sword Venerable was truly a powerless old man.
Even if you looked at him, or tried to sense his internals,
it was a level where you could feel nothing.
This meant the gap between me and the Sword Venerable had widened that much.
In this Central Plains, those who could gauge the Sword Venerable’s strength
could probably be counted on ten fingers, so it was only natural.
And that person
had been one of those fingers.
Though perhaps not now.
‘I can’t see it.’
At least the current me could not discern the Defeated Venerable’s present state.
Was it because our levels were simply different?
That was probably not the case.
He was simply hiding his internal energy well.
It meant his ability to conceal and control his internal energy was overwhelming.
Or perhaps, as a price for the Reversion to Youth, he might be stuck at an insignificant level.
‘That wasn’t the case when I saw him in my past life.’
Even accounting for the fact that he had undergone the Reversion to Youth,
he had not been at a level inferior to the other two Supremes.
With a deteriorated body and
his internal energy all scattered and vanished as it should have been,
how had he recovered it in merely a few decades?
It was something I could not dare imagine.
This meant that, one way or another, he must already be laying the foundation for it even now.
Along with training of that caliber,
he must have also had a fortuitous opportunity to recover his internal energy.
While I was busily recalling everything about the Defeated Venerable in my head.
Thud.
“…!”
The Defeated Venerable—no, the youth now called Biuijin—took a step toward me from the front.
Thud.
He moved slowly,
but the gaze and direction in which he looked were toward me.
‘What the hell?’
My breath hitched in my throat.
My mind was already a mess because this guy had appeared out of nowhere,
and now he had business with me…?
—I’ll come see your face once.
‘Ah.’
Only then did I remember the letter the Defeated Venerable had sent me.
‘…Surely he didn’t come to see me, did he?’
No way. What would the Defeated Venerable under Heaven lack for
that he’d come all the way here to see me?
‘Did the Head Dragon come out of the Divine Dragon Inn in my past life?’
I couldn’t quite remember.
Head Dragon this, Head Dragon that.
Ta-da!
Until I heard someone say, “The Defeated Venerable was actually the Head Dragon!”, I hadn’t cared at all.
How was I supposed to know that?
‘Maybe he doesn’t know who I am?’
I had harbored such a hope for a moment.
He probably doesn’t even recognize my face, so maybe I could just brush past it…
“Ah, Young Master Bi! Over here! This is the young master I told you about!”
Crud,,
I had been formulating an escape plan,
but it crumbled instantly at the words of Tang Xiaoyue, who was sitting beside me and speaking with excitement.
Tang Xiaoyue, oblivious to my inner thoughts, continued with a broad grin.
She even whispered into my ear as if proud.
“I bragged so much about you, young master.”
“…What did you say?”
“How cool you were at the Dragon-Phoenix Conference, and how incredibly handsome you are… and how incredibly strong you are?”
“…What do I do.
I think I’m screwed.
Wouldn’t it be fine if I just ran away right now?
I had already checked the escape route the moment Biuijin entered, but.
Tap.
By the time the thought crossed my mind, Biuijin was already standing before me.
Too late.
At this distance, even if I gathered my internal energy, I couldn’t run.
Should I charge at him?
That might actually be better.
“ ”
Heavy eyes.
Empty and dark.
Eyes from which one could not properly tell what he was thinking.
Those were the eyes.
I faced Biuijin with all my senses raised to the utmost,
so that I could react immediately no matter what happened.
Then.
Swoosh.
As if he had been waiting, Biuijin moved.
Bibi, the youngest of the Bi Clan,
who was the youngest sister among three siblings,
was watching her second brother with a strange thought furrowing her brow.
‘How fascinating. To think my brother would take an interest in someone.’
My brother, who had seemed interested in nothing worldly at all,
who had seemed to care only for resting within the clan or taking strolls,
was for some reason showing interest in another person.
Of course, it wasn’t that he had no interest in anyone at all.
Occasionally he seemed to go meet someone he called a friend, but…
In truth, Bibi had never seen this, so she thought her second brother was lying.
With that bizarre personality, there was no way he had any friends.
Her second brother, three years her senior,
was truly a strange person even in the eyes of his younger sister.
While others were fighting tooth and nail over who would become the clan head,
the fact that he had casually yielded the position of young clan head to the first brother was one thing.
And the fact that he had no interest in external matters was another.
‘The second brother is definitely much stronger, though…’
He seemed to be keeping it a secret from her,
but Bibi had seen it.
A few years ago, how the first brother had been beaten black and blue late at night by the second brother.
She didn’t know the reason,
but the first brother must have gotten caught acting out again.
Bibi simply thought so.
She had also known that the first brother had been gloomy for a while after that day.
To think that the first brother was listed among the rising talents called the Six Dragons Three Peaks despite not even being worthy of it.
Bibi had felt quite proud of that.
After all, she was the one who had cajoled her second brother, who had said he would rather die than go to the Dragon-Phoenix Conference, into going.
She had hoped the world would come to recognize her brother’s strength,
and as planned, he had gained the moniker Head Dragon and received the world’s attention, but.
That man had shown no intention of going out into the world ever since.
‘Father is strange too.’
Her father, the head of the Bi Clan, was also somewhat odd.
It wasn’t that there was no discrimination—rather, there was none at all.
He was the type to pester and nag the first brother and herself somehow,
yet with the second brother, he seemed to have given up and hardly paid attention.
No, wait.
Occasionally, asking her if she was doing well,
if he looked to be in good spirits—seeing that, he did seem to care.
Why he wouldn’t ask the person himself
but asked her instead, she had no idea.
Anyway.
Father did not seek out the second brother.
Rather, when there was business, it was usually the brother who sought out the father.
Each time, she had seen her father’s face turn deathly pale.
‘…Is he getting scolded?’
She had once entertained such a ridiculous thought. The idea that her brother was scolding her father.
But thinking, surely not, she had immediately erased the thought.
Moreover, this journey to Hannam had similar intentions to the Dragon-Phoenix Conference.
Bibi had wanted to drag her second brother out of the clan by any means necessary.
She had exploited his unusual weakness toward her as a flaw,
and laid out all sorts of plans, but…
Strangely enough,
when she said, “Let’s go,”
this time he followed without much resistance.
Precisely because he did so, she had been suspicious instead.
So much so that she had tied their arms together with rope, afraid he would run after saying he would go.
‘How fascinating.’
For a man who hated going anywhere so much he’d rather die,
to say he would follow along to the Divine Dragon Inn without a word of complaint,
Bibi found it fascinating.
She had even been prepared to starve for a week.
‘Meeting Lady Tang in the middle was lucky too.’
To think they had met by chance during the journey… and that she was the famous Solitary Peak. Wasn’t it a fascinating coincidence?
Bibi’s gaze fixed on Tang Xiaoyue.
‘She’s pretty…’
Her hair was a pretty shade,
her eyes round and large.
And even that charming beauty mark beneath her eye.
On top of that, her martial arts were outstanding enough to be called the Solitary Peak.
To Bibi, Tang Xiaoyue was an amazing person.
Traveling with a female martial artist she almost looked up to was quite a novel experience.
What was slightly regrettable was,
‘Wasn’t she supposed to have a different personality?’
Quiet and cold.
Saying everything she had to say while not losing courtesy.
Tang Xiaoyue had been the very image of a noblewoman from a prestigious family clan that Bibi had dreamed of,
but now, for some reason…
“Young master, you know, on the way here I ran into a demonic beast, and…”
The sight of her sticking close to some man and prattling on was completely different.
It wasn’t that this was disappointing, but it was certainly an unfamiliar sight.
Bibi, who had been looking at Tang Xiaoyue, turned her head.
The person Tang Xiaoyue was acting coquettish toward.
‘That man is…’
The martial artist my brother seemed interested in.
The sole topic of conversation Tang Xiaoyue had brought up throughout the journey.
The True Dragon, Ouyang Tian.
The martial artist who had last entered the Six Dragons Three Peaks, she had said.
‘He really looks ferocious.’
That was her first impression.
His face shape was straight and fine, but the corners of his eyes were sharply slanted,
..
..
….
..
and his expression was furrowed as if something displeased him.
It was a face that made it difficult to strike up a conversation.
‘Even my second brother isn’t that bad.’
Even Biuijin, who was said to look cold because he was expressionless,
was not on that level.
Because Tang Xiaoyue had endlessly repeated that he was handsome and cool throughout the journey,
Bibi had wondered how outstanding he could be.
‘…?’
Only questions arose in Bibi’s head.
He wasn’t ugly, but neither was his face particularly outstanding.
On top of that.
‘…!’
Bibi, turning her head, unknowingly swallowed a hollow breath.
Because the other companions sitting beside Ouyang Tian were no ordinary people.
‘What the heck, how can a person look like that…?’
A cold beauty with white-azure hair sat there, looking curt.
Though her gaze was solely fixed on Ouyang Tian, she also seemed to subtly keep watch on their surroundings.
Tip-tap.
The moment Ouyang Tian’s teacup emptied, she refilled it.
She glanced sidelong at Tang Xiaoyue, who was chattering away beside him.
With beauty that made even such a gaze look graceful, she was like a painting come to life.
The woman beside her was also impossibly beautiful, but the feeling was different…
‘Wait, isn’t that person Xuefeng?’
Bibi unconsciously furrowed her eyes and examined the woman.
Sky-blue clothes and black, glossy straight hair.
Her captivating appearance aside,
even eyes that seemed to hold the color of the sky.
Those clothes were definitely those of the Murong family.
And she had heard that the only one there with such characteristics was Xuefeng.
‘…Solitary Peak and Snow Phoenix… What in the world?’
How could such women be filling the surroundings of the True Dragon?
Bibi felt her head grow somewhat complicated at this incomprehensible situation.
In an inn with so few people,
it meant four dragons and phoenixes were gathered here.
It wasn’t even a Dragon-Phoenix Conference…
Bibi was about to grow flustered by the increasingly burdensome situation when.
‘This might not be so bad either?’
It felt somewhat fine, like a romantic situation.
When would she ever find herself in such a situation again?
‘People should be positive.’
Bibi inwardly nodded her head.
For now, she had to watch how her brother would act.
‘What is he trying to do?’
Biuijin walked slowly and stopped before the True Dragon.
Watching it made her subtly nervous.
When that man was usually like that,
he was either beating someone to a pulp,
or fixing up the one he had beaten to a pulp—there was rarely any other reason.
‘…Surely he isn’t going to hit him?’
No matter how crazy her brother was,
he wouldn’t throw the first punch at another Dragon…
‘Would he?’
If she recalled the time she had followed her brother to watch him participate in a martial arts tournament,
and how he had thrashed every Dragon and whatnot with an expressionless face,
the thought fleetingly crossed her mind that he might indeed do so.
Then, Bibi saw Biuijin’s hand move in her eyes.
Ah, I’m doomed. This is the real thing?
It seemed he was thinking of starting with a slap.
Bibi quickly moved.
She intended to grab him from behind and drag Biuijin away, but.
“Broth…!”
But Biuijin was faster.
Biuijin’s hand quickly reached out toward Ouyang Tian.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“Huh?,,"
He offered a handshake to Ouyang Tian.
Seeing that, Bibi had to stop her movement.
“I am Biuijin of the Bi Clan.”
“Oh?”
To think that stone-like human
would greet someone first?
As if that were indeed the case,
Biuijin continued speaking while looking at Ouyang Tian.
“Are you the young hero Ouyang Tian, known as the True Dragon?”
It wasn’t only Bibi who was surprised; Ouyang Tian also looked at Biuijin with a somewhat blank face.
As if this were an unexpected situation.
However, the silence lasted only a moment.
At Biuijin’s words, Ouyang Tian gave a slight nod, indicating affirmation.
“I see.”
Upon hearing the answer, Biuijin broke into a grin.
Bibi broke into a cold sweat at that moment.
Whenever her brother smiled like that, it was usually
“Pleased to meet you. I have heard much about you from my master.”
right before he caused some huge disaster.
What was strange was,
upon hearing Biuijin’s words, Ouyang Tian’s expression also changed to an unreadable one.
What would one even call that?
‘…It feels like something’s gone wrong?’
That was roughly the feeling.
It was just a greeting, so why make such an expression…?
But such questions were only momentary.
‘But, did my brother have a master?’
Bibi had to harbor doubts at Biuijin’s words.
Because she had never seen her brother learn martial arts from anyone.
Father had not assigned any other teacher to the second brother either.
Even without that, Biuijin had grown strong on his own.
But.
‘Master?’
Who was he talking about?
Bibi could not understand.
As the situation slowly flowed along,
pitter-patter.
An unexpected sound came from outside the window.
Bibi turned her gaze slightly and looked out the window.
There,
“Rain?”
It was raining.
It was not particularly heavy rain.
A phenomenon rather unsuited for winter weather like this.
Considering the cold, snow would have been more appropriate than rain,
but as if such things were of no importance,
winter rain began to fall slowly from the sky outside the inn.