〈 Chapter 553 〉 Wudang.
I couldn't help but frown at Yeongpung's words.
"Who…?"
It was because I couldn't understand what he'd just said.
That he became whose successor?
'Did I hear that correctly just now?'
No matter how much I thought about it, it seemed I had misheard.
Then Yeongpung spoke to me with a slightly flustered expression.
"Could it be that you do not know who the Huashan Sword Immortal is?"
"No… W-well, explain it to me for now."
It seemed I had indeed heard the nickname correctly.
At the very least, I had to ascertain if the Huashan Sword Immortal Yeongpung spoke of was the same Huashan Sword Immortal I knew.
"The Huashan Sword Immortal was the eighth-generation sect leader of the Huashan Sect."
…Goodness.
"He is also one of the five heroes who stopped the Blood Demon's Blood Tribulation during the Great Blood Demon War in the past."
Goodness gracious…
"Even to this day, if one were to select the greatest swordsman of all time, he is a revered figure of the Huashan Sect who would be included without fail… Young Hero?"
"…"
Yeongpung looked at my face and called out to me cautiously.
Because the more I listened to the explanation, the more my face contorted.
'It seems they are indeed the same person.'
No matter how much I listened, it seemed the Huashan Sword Immortal Yeongpung knew and the senile old man I knew were the same person.
If so.
'But what did those words mean?'
Then what was the meaning of the words Yeongpung had just uttered?
'Successor?'
Yeongpung had suddenly called himself the successor of the Huashan Sword Immortal.
I was in a state where I couldn't properly understand Yeongpung's words as I listened.
Why was he calling himself the successor?
'No, it's not that…'
If you thought about it, it wasn't that strange.
He was indeed more suited for it than I was.
Rather than me, who had no proper roots to begin with, Yeongpung—who was renowned as the greatest talent of Huashan—was indeed the rightful successor.
He used the same sword techniques and the same internal energy.
The only difference was that the old man had a vile, scoundrel-like temper, whereas Yeongpung did not.
However.
'The successor is me.'
I could assert it with certainty.
That I was that old man's successor.
If not me, then who?
The karma of Old Man Shin that I had so desperately wanted to escape in the past had now become the very path I wished to walk.
I had inherited the old man's will.
And for that path, I would stop the Blood Demon as well.
Precisely because I was thinking this, I had to grasp the true meaning behind Yeongpung's current words.
"…May I ask what reason made you suddenly think that?"
When I cautiously asked, Yeongpung cleared his throat a few times before continuing.
"There was a fated encounter."
"Yes."
I know that.
Anyone who saw Yeongpung now would think that. What mattered was what sort of connection that fated encounter had.
"Young Hero Gu, do you know of the rumors that have been spreading recently?"
"Recently?"
"I mean the news that accidents have been occurring at Murim Alliance branches in various regions. I heard an incident broke out in Guangdong just a few days ago."
"…Ah, um. Yes."
It was something I knew well.
There was no way I couldn't know.
"It is news from roughly half a year ago… Around the time that rumor spread, there was movement in Shaanxi as well."
"Movement?"
"Yes. The Alliance had requested support."
Originally, since the Huashan Sect was in Shaanxi, a Murim Alliance branch wasn't strictly necessary, but because of the matters with the Black Night Palace in the past, and because the Wudang Sword Immortal became the Alliance Leader and changed the system so that Alliance branches had to be stationed in each region, this was the time when a Murim Alliance branch was newly established in Shaanxi.
"…So they put in a request for support there?"
"That's right. It was a request to help with reconnaissance and patrols in case something might happen."
"And so?"
"Since it was a request from the Alliance, several Plum Blossom Swordsmen were dispatched at the time."
Although the Huashan Sect was not close to the Murim Alliance, it was still a righteous sect. There were aspects in which they had to heed the Alliance's requests.
Therefore, several Plum Blossom Swordsmen had been dispatched for reconnaissance.
"Then… could it be, at that time?"
"…That's correct."
As I spoke my guess, Yeongpung nodded.
"…At the time, I was circling outside the Huashan Sect for reconnaissance. During the patrol, I happened to discover a cave."
"A cave?"
"Yes, as it was a place I had never seen before. I entered to assess the situation… and discovered something there."
"What?"
"That person's traces."
Clearly, the "that person" Yeongpung referred to here meant traces of the Huashan Sword Immortal, Sincheol.
In other words.
Did this mean Yeongpung had found something akin to Old Man Shin's hidden grotto during his reconnaissance?
'A hidden grotto.'
It sounded like that for now.
But I had to raise a question about that.
"Are you saying the hidden grotto hadn't been discovered until now?"
If it was a grotto discoverable during a patrol, it should have been found long ago and protected by the Huashan Sect.
To have discovered it only now? It was rather strange.
To this, Yeongpung said:
"It was in Shaanxi, but a rather distant region."
"…He built a hidden grotto in a distant region?"
Not near the Huashan Sect, but in a region far even within Shaanxi.
When I spoke with doubt, Yeongpung tilted his head and said:
"Is that so strange?"
"No, it is, but…"
There was no need to build a hidden grotto inside the Huashan Sect, so as Yeongpung said, it wasn't necessarily related.
But.
'Given that old man's personality, it doesn't seem like he would leave something behind.'
Based on Old Man Shin's usual words and demeanor.
It didn't seem like he would leave something for the future, and even if he had, it didn't seem like he would leave it far from the Huashan Sect.
Of course, that was my perspective, not Yeongpung's.
Regarding this matter, Yeongpung said:
"The former sect leader must have been a wise man; surely he had his reasons."
"…"
At Yeongpung's words spoken with shining eyes, I couldn't bring myself to say anything.
How could I tell him to his face that his ancestor wasn't such a wise man?
I forcibly swallowed my words and asked something else.
"…S-so, anyway. So what? Are you saying the state of your body right now is related to the hidden grotto?"
"Ah."
As if he had forgotten, Yeongpung spoke.
"When I entered, along with the elixirs left behind by the former sect leader, there was a letter…"
"A letter?"
"Yes? Ah, yes."
Interjecting like that, Yeongpung looked flustered.
"What was written on it?"
"…That."
At my question, Yeongpung made a troubled expression.
Seeing that, I had to keep my mouth shut as well.
'So this far is impossible.'
It was nothing less than a letter left by the Huashan Sword Immortal.
It was unthinkable to rashly reveal the writings left by the Huashan Sect's great hero to an outsider.
"I'm sorry. I overstepped."
Knowing this, I spat out an apology.
"It's alright. You must be curious."
Yeongpung let it pass as if it were fine.
As expected. He was a different person from that foul-tempered old man.
"Then, are you saying the energy you have now is something you obtained inside the cave?"
As I spoke, I recalled what had just happened in my mind.
'So that's why the energy felt somehow familiar.'
I had wondered why Yeongpung kept giving me a familiar feeling.
That energy felt similar to the Taoist energy inside my body, which had come from the Huashan Sect's treasure.
It was ambiguous to say it was exactly the same, but there was definitely a similar feeling.
'Seeing that, does this mean he indeed obtained the old man's energy?'
He had clearly obtained something.
But.
Obtaining a fated encounter was one thing, but him calling himself the successor was a subtle matter.
Obtaining a fated encounter and changing in energy and physique was one thing, but Yeongpung saying on his own that he had become the Huashan Sword Immortal's successor was another matter altogether.
In other words.
'Something had happened.'
It meant there was something that made Yeongpung think that way.
There were many other doubts as well.
I didn't know Yeongpung's disposition well, but if I had to guess, if he had discovered a fated encounter in the cave, he would have taken it to the Huashan Sect first.
The fact that he hadn't, and that he hadn't returned to the Huashan Sect after that.
Looking at Yeongpung's current state, it was clear he hadn't gone to the Huashan Sect immediately after obtaining the fated encounter.
What did that mean?
As I harbored these doubts.
"I sent a separate letter to the sect leader."
Yeongpung said he had written a letter about his situation and sent it to the Huashan Sect.
"And the one who brought the reply. Was you?"
I looked at Gu Ryeonghwa and asked. She nodded upon hearing this.
"Our paths happened to align, so the sect leader asked me to take care of this matter."
"Why are you going to Wudang?"
Gu Ryeonghwa hesitated slightly at the question, then answered again.
"…I'm on my way to see my master."
If it was Gu Ryeonghwa's master.
"The Sword Queen?"
It meant the woman currently holding the title of Sword Queen, the Sword Queen Soi.
'Does this mean the Sword Queen is currently at Wudang?'
Leaving aside why the Sword Queen was there.
I had to think a lot after hearing this story.
'There are too many strange things.'
Within a story that seemed roughly correct, there were full of jarring points.
If I had to nitpick, Old Man Shin's hidden grotto was the most jarring part, but I lacked the standing to question it.
'It's too much to suddenly blurt out that I am the true successor of the Huashan Sword Immortal and you are the fake….'
Then what should I do?
'The easiest thing would actually be to ask directly.'
But that Huashan devil of a man to whom I would ask was currently in a state where I couldn't question him.
Then what?
What method should I choose?
A worry flashed through my mind.
Originally, since this was a matter related to Gu Ryeonghwa, I had planned to simply grasp the problem and move on, but if it's related to Old Man Shin, that's different.
With matters having turned out this way, I needed to dig a little deeper.
'Wudang.'
That wasn't the next step in my plans yet.
Going to Wudang was in my plans.
I had scheduled it for after my trip to Henan.
At the latest, I had planned to go around autumn, after summer passed.
But with things as they were, I had to change that slightly.
'Changing the order isn't a problem.'
It would just be a bit troublesome, nothing more.
If so.
"You said you were going to Wudang, right?"
"Yes? Ah, that's right."
After organizing my thoughts, I said to Yeongpung.
"May I go with you?"
"Yes?"
Yeongpung's eyes widened at my question.
"Young Hero Gu, you wish to come with me?"
"Yes, I happen to have business in Wudang as well. Since it's come to this, let us go together."
It wasn't a lie. I did have business in Wudang.
It just wasn't right now, but I could simply change that.
"Oppa, don't you need to go back?"
When I said I would go to Wudang, Gu Ryeonghwa asked with a worried gaze.
"Won't the Family Head… be angry?"
She seemed worried that my father would be angry.
I chuckled seeing Gu Ryeonghwa like that.
"It'll be fine. I don't think Father will scold me either."
Gu Ryeonghwa's eyes widened like lanterns upon hearing my words.
It was likely because of the way I had referred to him.
Seeing that face, I stroked Gu Ryeonghwa's hair.
"Ugh! Where do you think you're touching!"
Gu Ryeonghwa shouted as if annoyed, but amusingly, she didn't actually swat my hand away.
Roughly messing with Gu Ryeonghwa like that, I asked Yeongpung again.
"Is that alright with you?"
"If we're traveling together, I'd welcome it."
Yeongpung reacted as if he would rather welcome it.
I nodded at that.
Thus, as I was about to change course from the Shaanxi journey to the Wudang journey, a question I hadn't asked suddenly came to mind.
"Ah, right. But why are you ultimately going to Wudang?"
Putting aside Yeongpung's fated encounter, the reason he was heading to Wudang because of it.
I hadn't heard that yet.
"Ah, that is."
Yeongpung made an awkward expression upon hearing the question and spoke.
"To retrieve the treasure."
"The treasure?"
"To retrieve the treasure?"
I looked at Yeongpung, wondering what this meant.
"Wudang is currently holding one of Huashan's treasures."
"Wudang?"
"Yes, there was an affair with a predecessor in the past… but now things have come to a point where it must be returned…"
"Things have come to a point where it must be returned?"
"It seems like an important matter, so even if the Dao Master went alone…"
Speaking thus, the words Gu Ryeonghwa had said earlier suddenly came to mind.
I had thought it strange that they were only sending a second-generation disciple and a third-generation disciple to retrieve the treasure.
'She said the Sword Queen was at Wudang.'
Since an esteemed elder of the sect was there, that condition was met.
Though I clamped my mouth shut at the thought that came to mind, Yeongpung seemed to have heard and answered my words.
"This is a matter I must go to personally."
Yeongpung spoke with a grave gaze.
'He must go personally?'
There was something peculiar about the emotion in his voice.
It wasn't something I would normally bother asking about, but somehow I felt I had to ask, so I asked Yeongpung with doubt.
"What are you going to receive that makes it so?"
What exactly did Wudang possess that Yeongpung set out on the road without even stopping by Huashan?
Yeongpung spoke to me upon hearing the question filled with such doubt.
"The treasure Wudang holds is… the cherished sword that the Huashan Sword Immortal possessed."
…Huh?
Listening to his words, I felt something strange.
'If it's that old man's cherished sword…'
Uh… that's definitely…
"Young Hero Gu likely does not know of it. It isn't a treasure that is widely known."
Yeongpung looked at my expression and seemed to think I didn't know, reassuring me that it was fine, but from my perspective, I was thinking something entirely different.
I asked Yeongpung in a slightly trembling voice.
"Dao Master… what is the name of that treasure?"
Yeongpung tilted his head at the question asking for the name.
He seemed to wonder why I would ask such a thing, but told me as if there was no problem.
"It is called Guizheng."
"…"
"Do you happen to know of this treasure, Young Hero Gu?"
I couldn't say a word upon hearing it.
Do I know it?
…All too well, which was the problem.
Upon hearing this, I had to subtly hide my left arm.
It was the arm wrapped in bandages that had turned blue from my energy seeping into it.
'…What kind of situation is this again?'
I didn't know where it started, but what was certain was that something was terribly, terribly wrong.
And.
When I thought that, I should have run away quickly.
I had briefly forgotten because things seemed to be going well.
"Subdue them immediately!"
"Haha, what a fucking mess."
That I, of all people, was fundamentally a human utterly devoid of luck.