EP.45 Jianfeng. (5)
How long has it been?
Seeing as my drowsiness hasn't fully faded, it seems it hasn't been long.
"It doesn't make sense that you're skipping meals when you're supposed to be growing!"
At the ear-piercing voice, I rubbed my sleepy eyes and sat up.
Dumplings appear before my eyes.
....Why are there dumplings here?
Is this a dream? I've eaten so many dumplings lately that I'm even seeing them in my dreams.
"...Dumplings, meat dumplings?"
"Little brother, are you talking in your sleep?"
Red eyes that chased away my sleep came into view.
Only then did my brain, which had been running stupidly in my slumber, start to function properly.
The blurry figure before me gradually came into focus.
Striking facial features with a strong sense of self entered my sight.
Thanks to that, there was no need to ponder long about who was in front of me.
"Older Sister...?"
"That's right, your cool and beautiful older sister."
I didn't pay heed to her strange nonsense.
"Why are you here, Older Sister?"
"Am I not allowed to be here?"
"No, because this is my room."
"Then it's also my room."
"...What are you talking about? Did you drink, Older Sister?"
At my habitually blurted words, Gu Huibi flicked my forehead hard.
I swiftly moved my head aside to dodge it.
Seeing that, one of Gu Huibi's eyebrows raised.
"Oh ho... You dodged?"
"No, but why do you try to hit me the moment you see me?"
"Is that how you talk to your older sister who went out of her way to bring food because her little brother is skipping meals?"
"...Then just order a servant, why come all the way here yourself?"
I didn't say the following words about her being annoying.
Because if I said that much, I felt like I'd be burned alive.
Gu Huibi immediately raised her hand to hit me once more, but soon put it back down.
Perhaps her excitement cooled? She slowly offered me the bowl of dumplings.
"I picked it up on the way, so don't skip dinner and eat."
"Are dumplings something you can just pick up on the way...?"
"You talk too much. Want to burn to a crisp along with the dumplings?"
Before she could put her words into action, I quickly picked up a dumpling and ate it.
Perhaps because it was just steamed, it was still hot.
"...Thank you."
Even though I was hesitant, it was true that she brought them thinking of me, regardless.
Gu Huibi chuckled briefly, as if finding my greeting amusing.
"Thank you? The dumplings must be delicious. I don't know how many years it's been since you spoke nicely to me."
Was I like that?
Actually, it wouldn't be strange if something worse popped out.
Because by now, I would be hating not just my bloodline, but the entire Gu family.
"Either way, it's something to be thankful for. Why does it matter if I say thanks?"
"Your way of speaking is still just as insolent, but what happened for you to change like this...? Is it because of that Nangong girl?"
At Gu Huibi's words, I spat out the dumpling I was eating.
It was because I choked.
"Kuh... Keuheok..."
"You must like her to death, choking on your food like that."
I felt her glaring at me.
What kind of nonsense is this suddenly?
"Why did the Nangong talk suddenly pop up? I thought I was going to die."
"She's pretty, right?"
"...I'm going crazy."
Gu Huibi wasn't even listening properly.
She was originally someone who only heard what she wanted to hear.
She's pretty...?
Objectively speaking, Nangong Bia's appearance is on the pretty side.
Very much so.
If you were to search the entire Central Plains for someone to rival Nangong Bia in looks, you'd probably have to drag in someone like Wei Xue'a, who was standing there looking shabby earlier.
Even in my past life, the sight of her sweeping the battlefield with blood on her face was captivating enough to remain in my memory.
Though from my perspective, having been tormented sick of it, it's all futile talk now.
"That Lei Long guy did say she was pretty."
"...Are you acquainted with that guy?"
"I haven't seen him a few times, and we didn't talk much. He also looked a bit shady."
Indeed, how many people receive the aliases of Dragon and Phoenix? In this wide yet narrow world, they were bound to cross paths.
The strange thing is that Gu Huibi said he looked shady.
That Nangong guy seemed to at least put on a decent act, so does Gu Huibi just have good intuition?
As I was finishing the dumplings, Gu Huibi pulled something out of her robes.
I lost my words upon seeing the identity of the object she took out.
"...Older Sister."
"Why?"
"What is that."
"Can't you tell by looking?"
I do, that's exactly why I'm asking, you idiot.
What Gu Huibi took out was none other than baijiu sold at local taverns.
Why bring alcohol to someone else's quarters out of nowhere?
Seeing my expression, Gu Huibi giggled.
"Want a drink, little brother?"
"...Tell me honestly, didn't you already drink before coming?"
She's clearly not in her right mind...?
Whether I criticized her with words or not, Gu Huibi smoothly took out a drinking cup from her robes and started pouring and drinking alone.
"Are you going to drink that and leave?"
"No? I'm going to lie down and sleep here."
Oh...
That was the most uniquely crazy thing I'd heard recently.
"Then sleep here. I'll go sleep somewhere else."
"So heartless. How nice would it be for siblings to sleep closely after such a long time."
"Long time my ass. We've never even slept together in the first place."
We weren't that close of a family anyway.
Even after spitting out those words, I observed Gu Huibi's mood.
It was to dodge in case she tried to hit me again.
But strangely, Gu Huibi only smiled slightly as she looked at the moon, not saying much.
'What's with that...? Did we ever sleep together?'
I have no such memory throughout my past life, so what's with that subtle expression?
As if belatedly understanding my words, Gu Huibi, who took a sip of alcohol, burst into laughter.
"Right! We've never laid down and slept together. You're really heartless to the bone."
"When are you going to leave...?"
"Little brother, why do you keep trying to send me away?"
"Because this is my room?"
No matter how I look at it, isn't it a natural assertion of rights...?
Gu Huibi half-listened to my words and only continued to tilt her cup.
Drip, drip.
She was drinking so fast that the bottle of alcohol she brought was already empty.
A few drops quietly fell into the cup.
As if disappointed, Gu Huibi withdrew her cup and stood up.
Is she finally leaving?
"Little brother."
Gu Huibi calls me.
Perhaps because she drank hastily, she seemed slightly intoxicated.
'Intoxicated?'
I tilt my head at the strangeness.
If Gu Yanhua Wheel Art reached the 5th star, she would have far surpassed the level of a first-rate martial artist.
She wasn't at a level to be bothered by mere intoxication.
She must have intentionally allowed herself to get drunk.
They say it's something martial artists who enjoy liquor often do, but did Gu Huibi enjoy drinking?
It wasn't in my memory.
"Yes."
At my answer, Gu Huibi gestured.
As if telling me to come here.
At that moment, the hidden moon shone on Gu Huibi as she made the gesture.
Her hair, which had taken on a faint red tint due to the influence of her mental method, seemed to glow even more as it caught the moonlight.
"The moon is pretty too, so how about a bout with your sister after such a long time?"
"You really did drink three bottles before coming, right?"
Is she crazy...?
What does the moon have to do with it that she suddenly wants to spar out of nowhere?
At such an out-of-the-blue remark, I dropped the dumpling I was eating.
Gu Huibi only smiled at that sight.
It was an unpleasant sight to see her face slightly flushed because she didn't expel the intoxication with her inner qi.
"Little brother."
"Yes."
"Are you okay?"
"With what?"
Is she asking if it's okay even if I get hit?
I have absolutely no preference for getting hit.
Honestly, with how I feel right now, I'm still very tired and wanted to sleep a bit more.
Sleep just a little more, and wake up later to...
"Are you sure you don't have to resolve that?"
"....!"
At Gu Huibi's sudden words, I set down the dumpling.
I stared at Gu Huibi with renewed eyes.
Gu Huibi's fingertips were pointing toward my dantian.
....How did she know.
Over the past few days, I had gathered the qi obtained from the giant snake, but the qi that couldn't bring itself to mix still remained in my body.
Qi that fails to mix and wanders on the surface is poison to a martial artist.
Even so, I couldn't handle the unforeseen disaster that would occur if I tried to absorb it carelessly.
Qi deviation was terrifying no matter what.
To think that martial artists who have transcended ordinary humans always face the risk of qi deviation.
'Or is it that I go around doing a lot of things that could induce qi deviation?'
The reason I kept it inside instead of drawing it out was greed.
The greed that I might be able to absorb this qi as well.
Because of that, a body that should have been fine also felt fatigue.
The solution was simple.
Expelling the wandering qi inside the body to the outside.
Whether through training or sparring.
I said to Gu Huibi with an expression of disbelief.
"...You want to beat each other up in the moonlight because of that?"
"Not necessarily for that. I just want to educate my insolent little brother."
"What the..."
A strange thought suddenly crossed my mind.
I didn't think it was possible, but somehow a doubt arose.
"Older Sister, don't tell me the reason you picked a fight with me earlier for no valid reason was also because of this?"
The incident earlier today when Gu Huibi threatened me by radiating heat like crazy in my quarters.
To endure it, I had to semi-forcibly draw out and use my qi.
At my words, Gu Huibi flinched for a moment, but soon regained her expression.
"Little brother, don't you have too much self-love? Why would I do such a bothersome thing?"
"Are you really sure it's not?"
"Why are your words getting longer? Maybe I should burn all your hair off so you'll shut your mouth."
Burn all my hair off... What a cruel thing to say.
At some point, a wooden sword was in Gu Huibi's hand.
When did she even bring that?
Did she come looking for me with this purpose from the very beginning?
"Is it because you haven't seen me in a few months that I look like an easy target? You haven't grown in height at all, but your audacity sure has."
Gu Huibi spat out curses with a comical smile, but I didn't take it to heart.
The meeting during the day, which was a few months for Gu Huibi but several years for me, was like that, and so was now.
I swallowed the dumpling I was eating, stood up, and walked toward Gu Huibi.
Gu Huibi looks at me with a surprised expression.
She called me over, so why is she making that face?
"...Oh, little brother, you're not running away this time?"
"You don't even have the intention to beat me up anyway, so please don't do that needlessly."
I moved my steps and passed by Gu Huibi. My steps were heading toward the training grounds.
I slightly turned my head and said to Gu Huibi.
"If we fight here, the building will all be ruined."
"A guy who would drop from one hit is worrying about the building."
Saying so, she giggled.
Ignoring such Gu Huibi, I slowly took steps toward the training grounds.
Normally, I would have talked back and acted up, but no matter how much I lived like shit,
I couldn't easily hurl harsh words at someone who had died for me.
******************
What do you think bloodline is?
The past me thought it contained no meaning whatsoever.
That was the case with my immediate father, and likewise with my other sisters.
It was just bad luck that we had the same father.
Let alone being born from the same womb.
Meaning, the mothers who gave birth to us were different.
Gu Huibi and I were in that kind of relationship.
Even in that gap, it wasn't very good.
The most talented swordswoman in the Gu family's history.
And the most unsightly young master in the Gu family's history.
This immense difference crushed me.
I couldn't place the reason for all my sins here.
But at the very least, I couldn't say this wasn't among the reasons I went astray.
An inferiority complex is originally something so terrifying, selfish, and unsightly.
Looking at Gu Huibi, when I was young, I thought of her as a monster-like bitch who tried to catch me as if she'd kill me.
Why was she so anxious to devour me?
At that time, I thought it was because I easily took the position of young master that she couldn't get in her hands.
Disgusting.
What did I think this position was for Gu Huibi to covet it?
Not realizing that she might be crawling into a living hell herself.
Gu Huibi and I stood facing each other in the silent training grounds.
The tip of Gu Huibi's wooden sword pointed at me.
The training grounds were dark as night fell, but it wasn't a problem for the Gu family's bloodline.
Fwoosh!
Red inner qi slowly wrapped around Gu Huibi's body.
This was the insight one could gain only when Gu Yanhua Wheel Art fully reached the 5th star.
It didn't end with containing heat and radiating heat.
The mental method and inner qi completely fused and changed form.
It was akin to a blazing flame.
Though the night was dark, the Gu family's martial artists embraced their own light, so they would not fear.
Words left by the ancestors of the Gu family.
As if proving that, the flame that seemed to burn and swallow Gu Huibi reached even her wooden sword.
Her inner qi was so strong and abundant that the dark training grounds brightened with Gu Huibi's inner qi.
My clumsy eyes slowly and distinctly captured her like this.
Her appearance wasn't much different from her past life.
A body that finished growing ages slowly along with the level of martial prowess.
Because of that, in Gu Huibi's appearance, I had no choice but to face the tragic past.
One arm crushed and unable to function.
Me, watching her two eyes lose their vitality.
Did it rain back then too?
The weather probably wasn't very good.
"Little brother."
[Little brother.]
Gu Huibi's voice overlapped and rang in my ears.
Is it because I'm tired?
Probably not.
It's because I still can't forget that moment.
As time flows and passes, if someday I die and am able to meet Gu Huibi again.
There is one thing I wanted to ask Gu Huibi.
The words she smiled and said to me while she was dying.
I wanted to ask.
Why did you say those things to me?
Why did you go that far for me?
Even though I will never hear the answer for the rest of eternity.
"Are you not coming?"
[You must, be happy.]
I just wanted to ask.
"No, I am coming."
I took a step toward Gu Huibi.