Chapter 233
Translator: uly
Chapter: 233
Chapter Title: A Compromise Forged in Sympathy
She felt ashamed for having jumped to such an embarrassing misunderstanding, but soon Baek Rihyang's expression soured.
She didn't doubt Wi Seongcheon's words. Absurd as they were, they weren't impossible to accept. Besides, even in Baek Rihyang's eyes, her father the Black Demon King wasn't the type to keep a useless disciple around out of mere sentiment.
She pitied the Black Heaven Young Master's plight, but her own longing burned just as fiercely. She yearned to earn her father's recognition as his disciple and didn't want his signature technique, the Divine Demon Annihilation Method, passed on to some outsider without a single drop of their blood.
Baek Rihyang gnawed at her lower lip. She lived in the unorthodox martial world, a savage thicket of cutthroat rivalry.
But Baek Rihyang wasn't accustomed to such brutality. She resented the Black Heaven Young Master for stealing what was hers, yet she couldn't bring herself to delight in his utter abandonment.
‘...I wish I hadn't heard it.’
Had she remained ignorant of the Black Heaven Young Master's story, her resolve wouldn't have wavered. She was that desperate. But now she knew. Wi Seongcheon's account stirred genuine sympathy in her.
Orphaned by his birth parents, taken in by Sama Iljon. The man showed him no affection, treating him solely as a tool. At just thirteen, he was shipped off to the Heavenly Flower Sect. There, he found familial warmth, but Sama Iljon forbade even that.
In the end, he turned his back on his surrogate family, hunted demonic beasts in the Demon Realm, and now served as the Black Demon King's disciple—all to avenge himself against Sama Iljon.
“......So you're saying you won't?”
“I can't.”
Wi Seongcheon let out a deep sigh. His shins, kicked dozens of times, were beginning to throb.
“Could you do it if you were me?”
“......I......don't have siblings, so I wouldn't know. Father's all I have.”
Baek Rihyang fell silent for a moment. What was the right choice? She couldn't decide easily.
Sympathy welled up for the Black Heaven Young Master, and she understood Wi Seongcheon's stance. She wanted to respect it...... The crease between her brows deepened.
‘No matter how I look at it, the Black Heaven Young Master can't kill Father.’
Exceptional as he might be, he couldn't take down the unorthodox world's supreme master, the Black Demon King. Not even with ambushes or poison—the Black Heaven Young Master simply couldn't do it.
The real threat wasn't some Black Heaven Young Master anyway. Hadn't a duel with the Heavenly Demon been set for five years from now? Could he grow enough in five years to slay the Black Demon King? Absolutely not.
‘......Five years......’
She didn't want to dwell on the clash with the Heavenly Demon. But with it looming inescapably, she had no choice.
Baek Rihyang exhaled a long sigh as she gazed at Wi Seongcheon.
“......You. Once you leave the Black Forest, you'll head back to the Heavenly Academy, right?”
“No.”
Wi Seongcheon replied without hesitation. Her eyes narrowed at his answer.
“......Then? Back to the Heavenly Flower Sect?”
“No. Yonyeong.”
He had already made up his mind about that. Five years left. He couldn't waste them laughing and attending classes at the Academy.
Everyone must have been thinking the same. Especially Wi Seongcheon—he had far more to accomplish than just Academy lessons.
Succeeding his father as Heavenly Flower Sect leader. It was his deepest wish, but he still hadn't grasped Spirit Ignition. True, he wielded innate qi through the Shangqing Secret, but that amounted to little more than accelerating wound recovery. It fell far short of what his father had described.
That was why he planned to keep training en route to Yonyeong. Sama Iljon might have already departed, but tracking him down started with inquiries there.
“Fine.”
Baek Rihyang nodded.
“Come with me. Then I'll forgive you.”
“......What?”
Wi Seongcheon's eyes widened at her brazen words. But Baek Rihyang stood tall, as if challenging him to find fault.
“If you come with me to Yonyeong—no, to find Sama Iljon—I'll forgive you.”
“What would you even do there?”
“Why ask something so obvious? You're going to Yonyeong to confront Sama Iljon, aren't you?”
“......Yeah.”
“Persuade him or...... kill him. Either way, freeing the Black Heaven Young Master from Sama Iljon's leash gives him his freedom. Right?”
“Yeah.”
[Tell the Black Heaven Young Master to flee.]
Baek Rihyang sent him a sound transmission.
[I figure he can't just up and run, obviously. Still, it's the best option for now. If you're not helping me catch him right this instant.]
[......You're serious?]
[Dead serious! For the moment......I can't take him down without your help.]
It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment whim. Baek Rihyang had done the math.
Thanks to the Oh Haeyoung Method, her innate talents had awakened. With each passing day, she felt her skills sharpening. It might be impossible now, but a few years of dedicated training? She could challenge the Black Heaven Young Master solo.
Could a liberated Black Heaven Young Master slip the Black Demon King's clutches? As she'd said before, she deemed it utterly impossible.
But what could be done? Her current sympathy and consideration for Wi Seongcheon—granting the young master freedom—sufficed. To her, this compromise felt like the perfect resolution.
Wi Seongcheon felt much the same. The guilt of failing his promise to Baek Rihyang. If she forgave him on the condition of accompanying her to Yonyeong, he'd owe her big.
He could deliberate the Black Heaven Young Master's fate later. For now, he'd bought himself time—and that was what mattered.
[One more thing.]
[What now?]
[Next time you head into the forest, take me along.]
[Why?]
[......I want to show Father how much stronger I've gotten.]
In the past, her mediocre talent had barred her from the Black Demon King's tutelage. Things were different now.
She still didn't grasp the Divine Demon Annihilation Method's formulas he'd once recited, but starting fresh? Who knew. If she could fell a Black Overlord or Dragon-Phoenix on her own......
‘......That would settle everything neatly.’
As Baek Rihyang mulled this over, Wi Seongcheon weighed her demand. Truth be told, he desperately needed allies. He had people he could ask.
The reason he hadn't? He didn't want to drag his acquaintances into this personal mess.
Jin-u had called chivalry meddlesome at heart, true chivalry arising unbidden from the soul regardless of pleas. But as Jin-u said, Wi Seongcheon still couldn't relate much to the martial world or such notions of righteousness.
“......What if I say no?”
“I won't forgive you.”
“And if you don't?”
No sooner had he asked than Baek Rihyang fixed him with a fierce glare, eyes sharp as axes. Wi Seongcheon coughed awkwardly and averted his gaze.
“Fine, no need to glare. But you promise this too: no reckless heroics to help me. You stick by my side.”
“......You think I'm your girlfriend or something?”
“Refuse that, and I won't accept your forgiveness either.”
That was his line in the sand. Had she not pushed like this, he'd have shot her down without a second thought.
Baek Rihyang shot him a sullen look before finally nodding.
“No more problems now, right?”
“......Wait, though?”
“What about Lord Yeomyeong?”
“......Why bring up Granduncle? Still sore about the arm?”
“That's part of it, but I have something to ask him.”
“No clue where Granduncle is. He vanishes the instant training wraps up, pops back out of nowhere......”
“Then we're good.”
Wi Seongcheon spun on his heel. Baek Rihyang gawked at his retreating back through the open gate, then hurried after him.
“Where to?”
“Talk's done—no need to stick around the Blood Palace.”
Were it not for his injury. And had he not been worried about her. He never would have returned to the Blood Palace.
Other Black Overlords might swarm the forest after the Black Heaven Young Master while he was there. That was why he'd planned to camp out in the woods for five straight days, lying in wait for Black Overlords or Dragon-Phoenixes.
But with his wounds healed and Baek Rihyang no longer a concern, there was no reason to linger. Her brows twitched faintly as she ventured slyly,
“......You came all the way back because of me?”
“What do you take me for? I take promises seriously. Sure, circumstances kept me from upholding it, but I'm not so thick-skinned as to clam up and call it quits.”
“You're surprisingly orthodox about that stuff.”
“Surprisingly? What's that supposed to mean about my usual conduct?”
“Surprisingly brazen otherwise. Come on, be real—your vibe's nothing like some stuffy orthodox scholar. Annoying speech, quick to snark, flip attitudes and lunge at the drop of a hat.”
“Believe what you want.”
Arguing back felt like too much effort, so Wi Seongcheon clammed up. Baek Rihyang wore a smug grin at his silence, pressing close as they walked.
“What about the others, though?”
“Huh?”
“You know—the beggar...... and...... Heavenly Killer Lord's disciple, the Peng Clan's Tiger. ......And Sword Peak.”
“Why track them down?”
“You didn't ask them for backup?”
“Are you nuts? Ask help for something like this?”
‘Asking only me, huh?’
Baek Rihyang schooled her features at his stern expression. She'd basically bullied her way into tagging along, but for some reason, her lips twitched upward in satisfaction.
“......Hmph. Guess I'll have to step up then. Need a hand, just say the word. Oh, right—want to drill some joint techniques? I know a few formation arrays.”
Her voice brimmed with excitement, but Wi Seongcheon shook his head.
“Sloppy coordination could snag midway—total disaster.”
“Still better than skipping it entirely......”
Baek Rihyang trailed off, staring at his face. It hadn't been long, yet his eyes were already half-lidded.
“What's wrong with you?”
“Tension just snapped. Haven't slept properly in days.”
“Why not?”
“Sleep wouldn't come, too much on my mind.”
He'd pushed himself lately. Just today: scrap with Yang Jeon, then Hwangbo Seongwoo. Yang Jeon hadn't been tough, but Hwangbo had worn him down more than expected.
That all? He'd pondered the Black Heaven Young Master and Sama Iljon endlessly, trained the Shangqing Secret and Heavenly Flower Sect arts without respite. Plus, staying vigilant for Black Overlord movements had kept his nerves on edge nonstop.
Now the tension ebbed, drowsiness crashing in. He'd been driven to the brink.
Easy foes he could handle. But with Yang Jeon eliminated, none of the remaining Black Overlords were pushovers. Ha Ji-eun, allied with Woo Ha-yeon. Jeon Gal Yi-hyeon, paired with Dang Seona. Either duo could go after the Black Heaven Young Master.
Mu Yeon-jun's odd behavior had cornered him worst of all. If the man stayed put with sound mind guarding the young master, fine. But now that he knew about Yi-ryeon, who could predict where he'd bolt?
He could ditch the Black Heaven Young Master and come gunning for Wi Seongcheon any moment—not unlikely at all. Ha Ji-eun might fumble the opening, but Jeon Gal Yi-hyeon wouldn't.
“Gotta catch some sleep.”
Wi Seongcheon shook off the sinking haze clouding his mind. He pressed his temples, but the fatigue headache lingered. He could force it, but against what lay ahead, rest was smarter.
“If you're resting, better do it at the Blood Palace......”
“Easier to move from here than there.”
He approached a tree he'd scouted earlier. Perfect vantage: height overlooked the whole city, Black Heaven Young Master's cabin in clear view.
Wi Seongcheon climbed to the top and plopped onto a stout branch. He leaned against the trunk, crossed his arms, and shut his eyes.
“You're not beat?”
“......Not enough to need sleep.”
“Then keep watch below for me. Wake me if Jeon Gal Yi-hyeon or Ha Ji-eun show. Actually, no need—I'll sense anyone emerging from the city.”
His voice faded softer. Light doze, senses wide open.
Baek Rihyang blinked as she watched him drift off. No time passed before he started snoring softly.
‘This wiped, why not call in favors from others? He's got friends galore, unlike me—why slog solo?’
She couldn't fathom it. But knowing he relied on no one else in his pinch? Felt pretty good. Baek Rihyang beamed and settled opposite him.
His sleeping face stirred all sorts of feelings. They'd spent months together, but she'd never seen it up close like this. Hugging her knees, she studied his features intently.
Thick, lengthy brows. Straight high nose, skin clear as a girl's for a guy.
‘Doesn't suit him.’
Bone cleansing and Shangqing Secret perks, sure—but she brushed her own cheek, comparing. Looks had limits, though. She hesitated, then extended a hand toward his face.
Her fingertips hovered inches from his cheek. If she touched...... Would he wake? Then what? Bug on his face?
‘No, why do I even want to?’
Vague, fuzzy warmth—not unpleasant. Heart raced inexplicably, mood soaring.
She held her hand outstretched a beat longer, then withdrew without contact. Instead, her gaze locked on his lips.
She noticed anew: he slept with mouth shut. Slow nasal breaths, no snores. Staring at those faintly closed lips, Baek Rihyang idly caressed her own.
Abruptly, her face heated crimson. She whipped around, scanning lest anyone see. Clear coast. Relieved, she sneaked another glance at his face.
On and on, till night yielded to the rising morning sun.
Baek Rihyang kept stealing peeks at his face, flushing solo, toying with her lips over and over.