Inside the thatched hut flickering with lamplight that illuminated the night, Hyeoncheong and Cheonhwi plopped down on the floor, keeping their distance.
Cheonhwi, who was looking at Hyeoncheong, clicked his tongue.
‘I guess eating meat today is out of the question.’
Jeokgeom and Seollan, having seen Hyeoncheong's sudden appearance, had already withdrawn tactfully.
The moment he was regretting it, recalling the steaming meat...
‘But why did he come here?’
He suddenly felt a sense of doubt.
The Hyeoncheong he had known so far lived in Mangyeonggak and hadn't taken a single step outside.
Yet, not only did he step out of Mangyeonggak, but he even made his way all the way here.
Around the time Cheonhwi was harboring doubts, Hyeoncheong, who had been pondering deeply, parted his lips.
“...Are you personally teaching Jeokgeom and Seollan?”
“It just ended up that way.”
Cheonhwi answered disinterestedly.
Making his long wait meaningless, his question wasn't the main point.
‘What does he want to ask that he's beating around the bush like that?’
Meanwhile, Hyeoncheong muttered quietly with an expression of absolute disbelief.
“Hah, so it just ended up that way, you say.”
Then, looking at Cheonhwi for a moment, he spoke.
“It is truly astonishing. You, who couldn't even properly stand on your own just a while ago, are now teaching the great disciples.”
Hyeoncheong's eyes, as he let out words of feigned admiration, grew endlessly deep.
He had heard that just four months ago, Cheonhwi was wandering between life and death.
So much so that he even considered teaching him martial arts when they first met...
‘It was an unnecessary meddling.’
As Hyeoncheong shook his head,
‘Just get to the point already.’
Cheonhwi revealed an annoyed expression.
Watching Hyeoncheong not only beat around the bush but also try to fall into deep thought was no different from torture.
Soon, staring at Hyeoncheong, he asked.
“So, what business brings you all the way here?”
Sensing Cheonhwi's tone urging him to speak quickly, Hyeoncheong's atmosphere changed.
His softly raised eyebrows and corners of his mouth gradually dropped, eventually forming a rigid horizontal line.
In the blink of an eye, Hyeoncheong showed a serious demeanor unlike his usual self and spoke.
“I heard a rumor about you circulating in the main sect.”
“A rumor?”
Instantly, Cheonhwi's eyebrows twitched.
A rumor? What rumor is he talking about?
Unlike his usual nonchalant self, he reacted sensitively to the word 'rumor'.
And for good reason, considering just how many annoying situations had arisen in the past because of strange rumors spread about him.
Because they kept annoying him with rumors, he had personally visited a few sects and turned them into a handful of dust.
‘What kind of nonsense rumor has spread?’
His face, which had never even considered rumors about himself since becoming Cheonhwi, crumpled slightly.
Flustered by Cheonhwi's rapidly changing expression, Hyeoncheong hastily added.
“Recently, the number of disciples in Mangyeonggak has increased, and while investigating that, I ended up hearing a rumor about you.”
Thinking Cheonhwi was offended, he quickly added a reason, but...
‘What is he talking about?’
Cheonhwi's deeply furrowed brow showed no signs of smoothing out.
It was only natural, as what he wanted to know was not the origin of the rumor, but what the rumor was.
Cheonhwi spat out his intention.
“So, what is the rumor?”
Realizing he had guessed wrong, Hyeoncheong smiled awkwardly and answered.
“I heard that you displayed outstanding martial prowess at this Oakjihoe.”
Cheonhwi's stiff brow relaxed.
What, it was just that?
Recalling the Oakjihoe, which was no different from child's play despite its grandiose name, Cheonhwi became disinterested.
But would Cheonhwi know?
That his current attitude made it seem to Hyeoncheong as if such a thing was only to be expected.
“...I suppose the rumor is true.”
“It is true.”
Cheonhwi affirmed flatly.
“Did you come all the way here just to confirm the truth of such a rumor?”
“Haha, that is also part of it.”
Hyeoncheong's expression, as he answered in a low voice, softened significantly.
‘Would there be anyone throughout history who has shown growth like Cheonhwi's?’
Hyeoncheong's gaze toward Cheonhwi, who had achieved remarkable growth that would only be seen in legends or myths, grew warmer than before.
‘This is a great blessing for our sect.’
Amidst his thoughts, he muttered.
“Hyeongang had great insight...”
Nodding his head up and down, Hyeoncheong murmured.
After a moment, he overlapped Cheonhwi with Hyeongang in his mind and smiled gently.
“Do you know why I have been staying in Mangyeonggak all this time?”
Cheonhwi sensed something unusual as soon as he heard Hyeoncheong's words.
‘That tone... it's the tone those sect leader bastards always use when they want to talk about their past to the kids...’
They say ominous premonitions are never wrong.
Staring into space, deep in thought, Hyeoncheong immediately began to lay out his story.
“Now I spend every day in Mangyeonggak, but in the past, I stayed far away from books. I preferred the sword to books, and I liked moving around.”
“...”
Cheonhwi narrowed his eyes.
‘Damn it, I can't even cut him off.’
In the past, he would have kicked him in the shin, telling him to stop his bullshit, and ignored the story.
But right now, he was in no position to do so.
Because the horse-faced Taoist spouting a whole lecture right in front of his nose was now his Fourth Uncle.
“...While I was training in martial arts with Hyeondo, the Sect Master brought a young child from somewhere and took him as a disciple.”
The wrinkles around Hyeoncheong's eyes deepened as he stopped mid-sentence.
With a gaze mixed with two contrasting emotions—joy and regret—he blinked once and stared at Cheonhwi.
“That child was your master, Hyeongang.”
“I see.”
Cheonhwi answered reflexively.
Not only did he not listen properly, but he also had no curiosity about it whatsoever.
However, not knowing of Cheonhwi's reaction, Hyeoncheong continued speaking.
“...Eight years ago, Hyeongang led the Plum Blossom Swordsmen on his debut and met with a great disaster. He clashed with the Extinction Demonic Sword and his Extinction Squad.”
Hyeoncheong ground his lips.
Recalling a painful past, his face contorted as his chest ached.
Unlike him, Cheonhwi only then showed interest and opened his previously closed ears.
‘My master, you say?’
He felt a slight hint of interest.
“Even now, I still don't know why the two clashed. But they eventually collided, and perished together. Not a single person survived.”
Hyeoncheong shook his head.
It was a mystery even to this day.
Why the Plum Blossom Swordsmen and the Extinction Squad clashed, and why they fought to the point of being ready to perish together.
He didn't know the cause or the process.
Only the result was clear.
The Huashan Sect lost its future, Hyeongang, and the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, while the Baekgwiseong lost the Extinction Demonic Sword and the Extinction Squad.
And as a result, the power of both sects weakened significantly compared to before.
The Huashan Sect, which was at the top of the Nine Sects and One Faction, was pushed back, and the Baekgwiseong, which was evaluated as being close to the top seat among the Six Emperor Gates, was chased down to the lowest seat.
“Our sect tried to take revenge on the Baekgwiseong. But reality was harsh. We naturally thought the Murim Alliance would help, but... the Murim Alliance made an agreement that they could not go to war with the Black Death Lotus as long as the Bitianhui was still intact.”
Listening to this, the corners of Cheonhwi's mouth twisted.
‘They kept shouting about being "Righteous", and for what.’
Recalling how the orthodox sects cried out about justice while persecuting the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult in the past, a sneer naturally escaped him.
‘They're no different from our Cult.’
No, they were even more despicable than the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Even the Cult, whom they accused of wearing human masks to hide their demonic nature, would move to take revenge if one of its affiliated sects was attacked.
No matter how dire the Cult's situation, no matter how powerful the enemy, they never tucked their tails like those hypocrites.
“Most rebelled against that decision, but we had no choice but to accept it. They said it was a choice for the greater good, after all.”
Hyeoncheong gritted his teeth.
Along with that, perhaps the blood vessels in his eyes burst, but bloodshot lines gradually entangled in his pupils.
‘So this is his true nature.’
As he looked at Hyeoncheong, who exuded a completely different, sharp aura from his usual self.
“But do you think that makes any sense? If a rising star of Shaolin or a rising star of Wudang had died, do you think the Murim Alliance would have remained silent? They just buried it and moved on because it was our sect!”
He poured out the anger inside him.
Opening his bloodshot red eyes sharply, he looked at Cheonhwi.
“That's right.”
Cheonhwi chimed in disinterestedly.
Seeing that, Hyeoncheong came to his senses.
If even he, as a martial uncle, felt such heartache, what would be the feelings of Cheonhwi, who regarded Hyeongang as both his master and father?
‘He must have been even more heartbroken than I.’
The moment his eyes met with Cheonhwi, who seemed to be silently staring on purpose, Hyeoncheong was deeply empathizing.
But would he know?
That Cheonhwi had answered not out of sorrow or empathy, but simply to end the story.
That he was suppressing annoyance, not sadness.
‘So when does this story end?’
Just as he was getting tired of waiting for it to end, Hyeoncheong parted his lips.
“After that decision was made that day, I entered Mangyeonggak. To restore the lost or scattered martial arts of the Huashan Sect, and then... No. To raise absolute masters that Shaolin and Wudang... no, that the Murim Alliance could not look down upon.”
Hyeoncheong spat out the words as if chewing on them.
For eight years, to restore the martial arts, it wasn't enough for him to grapple with the books he so hated; he even locked himself up in Mangyeonggak every single day.
But he had only managed to restore a few dozen martial arts manuals so far.
At this rate, it was unclear whether he could restore even a tenth of Mangyeonggak even if he dedicated his life to it.
Then, a rumor reached him.
And to verify the truth of that rumor, he visited his fellow disciples, only to learn things beyond the rumor.
Hyeoncheong, who had been thinking, stared at Cheonhwi.
“I heard from my fellow disciples that you re-created the Plum Blossom Sword Art. Is that true?”
“I did.”
“...!”
Hyeoncheong clenched his fists tightly.
The Plum Blossom Sword Art was a supreme sword art, and to re-create it...
And into an even more supreme sword art at that.
Even if it was the word of the Sect Leader and his fellow disciple Hyeondo, it was a story too difficult to believe.
However, from the moment he arrived at Nakbong Peak and witnessed him teaching Jeokgeom and Seollan, he cast aside his doubts and acknowledged everything.
It was that much of an astonishing display of martial prowess.
Enough to believe not only the rumors he had thought were absurd, but also the grandiose words of his fellow disciples.
Hyeoncheong looked at Cheonhwi and opened his mouth.
“Then, would it be possible to restore the other martial arts manuals in Mangyeonggak like the Plum Blossom Sword Art?”
As Hyeoncheong swallowed his breath and waited for an answer, Cheonhwi's lips moved.
“Restore?”
“Yes.”
When Hyeoncheong looked at Cheonhwi with expectant eyes and nodded.
“If it's that, I've already restored most of them.”
“...W-what!”
At an answer far beyond his expectations, Hyeoncheong's eyes grew as wide as if they would pop out.