Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: The Tiger's Gaze
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"Recommended by Abbot Won Gwang Bul! Lower division! Cheonhwa Gate!"
Yeong Sojin shouted, emphasizing each word with heavy drops.
Everyone turned to look at her. As all eyes focused, Yeong Sojin abruptly raised her hand and pointed at Wi Seongcheon.
"That's! My disciple!"
"Who's that?"
I remembered seeing her earlier. She hadn't left much of an impression. The star of that encounter on the training grounds had been Mu Yeonjun, and if you had to pick a supporting role, it was Bi Yeon Sangrin, who had persistently drawn his gaze alongside him.
"Yeong Sojin."
"Ah, Red-Eyed Langlang?"
Hearing the nickname jogged my memory. Red-Eyed Langlang Yeong Sojin. She wasn't from any prestigious sect or martial clan.
She was the disciple of the swashbuckling Wind-Cloud Kirin, who had made a name for himself, and she had entered Yicheon Academy on her master's recommendation.
"That guy's...?"
"Cheonhwa Gate..."
"But did Cheonhwa Gate have any other disciples?"
"The sect leader's name was something like Wi... Vice Hero Wi Ju-seok. Same surname, so..."
"He's Vice Hero Wi Ju-seok's son."
For the first time, he responded to the murmurs. Wi Seongcheon flashed a grin and waved to the students staring at him.
"I'd like to lead with a flashy nickname, but I don't have one yet. My name's written there."
Dang Heeran pushed through the crowd and stood in front of Wi Seongcheon. She shot a glance at his smirking face, then grabbed his wrist.
"Take care of me from now on..."
"No need for that."
Dang Heeran grumbled.
"They're not the type to listen anyway."
"What was that? Acting like you know me already and looking out for me?"
"What're you talking about?"
Dang Heeran sneered. She tugged at Wi Seongcheon's wrist. The students snickered at the sight. That laughter spurred Yeong Sojin on.
"They do make a good pair. The bat and the Tang Clan..."
The moment he heard "Tang Clan."
Dang Heeran decided she couldn't hold back any longer. Yeong Sojin had clearly crossed the line.
A line that must never be crossed, not in front of others, not even alone.
Her left hand, hidden in her wide sleeve, was already gripping a hidden weapon. Whether this was Yicheon Academy or other students were present no longer mattered to Dang Heeran.
She wanted to tear off Yeong Sojin's impudent mouth.
"Abandoned..."
"By who."
Yeong Sojin's voice was loud.
But Wi Seongcheon's was low. Yet that low voice completely drowned her out. Dang Heeran's body froze as she was pulling her hand with the hidden weapon out from her sleeve.
Wi Seongcheon's hand had already intercepted her left one.
"Did they teach you manners."
Yeong Sojin stopped mid-sentence.
Wi Seongcheon stared straight at her face. It was the same smiling face he had worn when she'd said "take care of me."
"Or not, I wouldn't know."
"...Me?"
Yeong Sojin gaped. Wi Seongcheon nodded with a smile. Her cheek twitched as she let out a hollow laugh.
"What did you just..."
"Here."
Tap.
Wi Seongcheon tapped his lips. Startled by the sudden gesture, Yeong Sojin halted and glared at him. Meeting her fierce gaze, he tapped his lips a few more times.
"Seems like this part could use some learning."
"...What?"
"Your master was the great hero Wind-Cloud Kirin, right?"
Yeong Sojin's eyebrows shot up. She took a bold step forward, her eyes faintly glowing red.
"...So what?"
"Just saying."
His hand tapping his lips lowered. He didn't finish the sentence, but everyone who heard could easily imagine what went unsaid.
"What the hell are you trying to do?"
"What about you? Why make things tense? You started with words, so end it with words. Right?"
"You started it first...!"
"Did I really?"
Wi Seongcheon's voice sank deeply. His face still smiled, but his eyes didn't.
Yeong Sojin's shoulders flinched. The one before her was just a disciple from some no-name Cheonhwa Gate. But...
"Whining like a brat won't change facts. So think it over carefully before you answer. Not driven by your current mood—think of the great hero Wind-Cloud Kirin who taught you. Who started this?"
"...Does that matter? You're insulting me..."
"Starting from there? You sure about that?"
The students buzzed. Before they knew it, Wi Seongcheon had seized control of the mood. Yeong Sojin's eyebrow twitched. Justification... For a martial artist rooted in righteousness, it was both a nuisance and crucial.
'It's only the first day.'
Just a petty squabble. Yicheon Academy didn't strictly mediate student fights. Still... Yeong Sojin bit her lower lip.
"Coward."
She whipped her head away.
"All talk in the end."
Wi Seongcheon smirked. One more word would do it. Just one. But he held back.
He stood blankly, then pulled along Dang Heeran's wrist as she stared at him. Red-Eyed Langlang Yeong Sojin wasn't worth his attention. It wasn't about ignoring or avoiding her.
It was just too trivial right now.
"...How long are you gonna hold on?"
How much time had passed?
Dang Heeran muttered. Wi Seongcheon stopped and turned to her. Surprisingly, her expression was calm. No other students in sight. They had somehow reached the back of the dormitory.
"Sorry."
"No need to apologize."
Dang Heeran didn't shake off his hand first. She flexed and unflexed her fingers while staring at his face, and Wi Seongcheon gave an awkward smile as he released her wrist.
"No need for you to step in either."
"If you hadn't, you'd have caused trouble."
"Just the price for her running her mouth without knowing her place."
"You'd feel good now, but it'd bite you later."
"If I'd done it, I'd have been prepared for the consequences. But I didn't."
Dang Heeran glanced at the hidden weapon wedged between her fingers. If Wi Seongcheon hadn't stopped her. If Yeong Sojin had kept blabbering. Dang Heeran would have fired it right then.
"Should've ended it with words after all?"
"...After just lecturing me, you say that?"
Dang Heeran laughed in disbelief, and Wi Seongcheon shrugged.
"...Nothing you wanna ask me?"
"Like what?"
"Why I got mad."
Wi Seongcheon had stepped in to cut off Yeong Sojin's words. Dang Heeran glared at him sullenly.
Blinking under her gaze, Wi Seongcheon shook his head with a casual smile, as if it were no big deal.
"Wanna ask, but won't."
"Why?"
"Might pick at a scab."
"Good call."
Dang Heeran tucked away the hidden weapon still in her grip and let out a deep sigh.
"...So I won't ask either."
"What?"
"Why you ended up in the lower division."
"Not something I can't tell."
"Forget it. Not asking."
Dang Heeran spun around. She glared at the upper division dormitory with utter disgust.
Cramped place. She'd run into the same upper division Yeong Sojin if she went back. ...Didn't matter. The earlier tension had passed, and Dang Heeran wouldn't pick a fight with her over it.
Yeong Sojin wouldn't either. That was her personality.
'Damn bitch.'
Annoying, but unavoidable. Prepared for consequences. Preparation... She'd just said that herself moments ago.
But Dang Heeran knew she could never steel herself like that. Not with her surname Tang.
"Thanks."
So she expressed her gratitude. If Wi Seongcheon hadn't intervened... She didn't dwell on it. Didn't want to.
"No problem."
Dang Heeran headed back to the dormitory.
Wouldn't it be better to wait a bit? he asked, but she shook her head. Nothing would happen anyway, she said.
Didn't sound forced. Tang Clan's... Abandoned. He hadn't heard the end, but it was clear enough.
Still a bit puzzling. Dang Heeran was undoubtedly a direct descendant of the Tang Clan, the poison master patriarch's own daughter, and Dang Seona's sister. And that wasn't all—she'd come all the way to Samgok Mountain with Poison Toad Dang Jinhu.
Yet "abandoned child"?
Wi Seongcheon leaned back against the wall and sat. Everyone has things they don't want to talk about. Dang Heeran didn't.
Awkward, sure.
The shadow from the wall swallowed his body. He sat still, watching it lengthen.
His open ears caught the students' buzz by the wall up front. Cheonhwa Gate, Won Gwang Bul, bat... He heard the mutters but ignored them.
The buzz died down. Students checked their class schedules and headed to their dorms. Wi Seongcheon held his spot.
Come to think of it, he hadn't asked about Professor Seo Il, the Golden Capture Whip Flash assigned to their class.
'It was in the books.'
Not much there. Quiet... or something. Wi Seongcheon slowly stood. He left through the back yard.
In front of the wall with the class schedules.
Someone stood there blankly.
The moment he saw her, Wi Seongcheon's body halted.
Striking appearance.
One you'd never forget after a glance. Ten years ago, he'd thought her wondrous. Same now.
She was unique. Not ordinary human. Not about aura. Purely physical.
Human ears, yet beast ears too. A long tail humans lack. Her long hair streaked black and white.
Pumpkin-yellow base dotted with ink-black spots. The eyes he'd found "pretty" ten years ago now burned with feral savagery.
Like a beast.
Not just talk. She was a true beast. Half-human, half-beastkin. Human and predator blood mingled.
Tiger Fang Paeng Yeonhwa.
The sole survivor of the exterminated Paeng Clan, the girl Wi Seongcheon had met at the Murim Alliance ten years ago.
Should he speak first?
What to say?
Long time no see.
It had been. Ten years.
How've you been?
Absolutely not. Ten years ago, fine. Not now. Paeng Clan was wiped out.
As he walked toward Paeng Yeonhwa, Wi Seongcheon steadied himself. The memory from ten years ago was an unforgettable one for him.
Not anything grand, really. Just a chance meeting at the Murim Alliance. Same age, nothing better to do.
Unlike the timid Wi Seongcheon back then, Paeng Yeonhwa had been confident. At the time, North Hebei's Paeng Clan was hailed alongside Namgoong, Tang, and Hwangbo as one of the Four Great Clans.
Then, just two years later. Paeng Clan was annihilated.
Due to tiger calamity.
"Hello."
Paeng Yeonhwa still stared fixedly at the schedule. Even as Wi Seongcheon approached close, she never glanced his way. No stealth—she let her footsteps ring clear. Yet no turn.
Only after his greeting did Paeng Yeonhwa look at him.
Her eyes toward him brimmed with the beast blood in her veins.
The chilling tiger gaze dissected Wi Seongcheon's body.
Wi Seongcheon realized the smiling girl from ten years ago had died long ago.