Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Something's Off
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It's strange.
Paeng Yeonhwa melted the halved Byokgok Pill in her mouth and sharpened her senses. The sun had already set, and night had fallen.
Today. Nothing had happened. Compared to the lessons from a few months ago... it was definitely strange.
Hwangbo Seongwoo.
If it were him, he would have scoured the forest for Paeng Yeonhwa right away, turning over every stone, and in the process, slammed every lower-class student he ran into by sheer bad luck face-first into the dirt.
But nothing had happened. No screams from other students, no sign of Hwangbo Seongwoo prowling around.
Paeng Yeonhwa didn't like Hwangbo Seongwoo.
She understood his hostility. She even thought it was natural for him to look down on her.
But that was separate from whether Hwangbo Seongwoo disliked Paeng Yeonhwa or Paeng Yeonhwa liked Hwangbo Seongwoo.
Most people would feel the same. If someone hates you, naturally you hate them back. However... in Paeng Yeonhwa's case, since she understood his hostility, she didn't show it openly like Hwangbo Seongwoo did.
She preferred not to run into Hwangbo Seongwoo if possible. Even in unavoidable lessons, she didn't want to get entangled with him.
But he always came hunting for Paeng Yeonhwa unilaterally during these classes. No matter how hard she hid or tried to evade, he always found her in the end.
And picked a fight.
Paeng Yeonhwa chewed her lower lip. Not yet... nothing had happened. But eventually, they would cross paths. Crouched down, Paeng Yeonhwa glanced at the sword cradled in her arms. The blade was sheathed, but its chill cooled her blood.
'No.'
It had been like this since yesterday.
Ever since entering the Sword Blade Forest and the lesson starting. She didn't want to acknowledge it, but her heart raced and her blood ran hotter than usual. Her heightened senses craved more, demanding everything was insufficient. Paeng Yeonhwa wet her parched mouth, thickened by the Byokgok Pill, with water. Thirst, hunger. The halved Byokgok Pill wasn't enough.
But Paeng Yeonhwa didn't hunt the nearby mountain beasts. The mountains teemed with game worth eating. Hunting... would be easy, but she wouldn't do it.
Because she didn't want to acknowledge it.
She knew that even stuffing herself with other food besides the Byokgok Pill wouldn't sate the hunger. When that time came, she didn't want to confront the 'true' reason for this hunger again.
She knew the reason for the thirst that never quenched no matter how much she drank, but she didn't want to know it for certain.
The blade slipped quietly from its sheath. Paeng Yeonhwa tilted it toward the faint glow of fireflies and stared blankly at it.
She didn't want to hear her heart pounding. She didn't want to feel the heat in her body from her heated blood.
Paeng Yeonhwa hated the blood flowing through her veins.
* * *
"......Damn it."
Hwangbo Seongwoo's face was twisted. No one was around him.
Dang Heeran, who had parted ways with Wi Seongcheon, hadn't joined up with Hwangbo Seongwoo. He wasn't curious about Dang Heeran. Well, she was probably preparing to hunt for evaluation points somewhere in this Sword Blade Forest.
Ha Jitae.
Same with him. Ha Jitae was a hunter by origin, and among the upper-class students, he was especially obsessed with his grades.
Especially in practical lessons like this one—it was practically his specialty.
For the next five days, he would chase down lower-class students—prey, in other words—to maximize his score.
Hwangbo Seongwoo.
Wasn't interested in grades. He was the successor to the Hwangbo Clan anyway. Regardless of his performance at the Heavenly Academy, his future was set.
Patriarch of the great Hwangbo Clan, one of the Three Great Clans. A shining future incomparable to those from minor martial houses or sects.
With that future guaranteed, lessons at the Heavenly Academy were just a hassle.
But there was one lesson where even Hwangbo Seongwoo went all out: the practical combined with the lower class.
If it were like before, even now with the sun down, he would have mobilized all his senses to hunt for Paeng Yeonhwa.
"......Bastard."
He couldn't. Hwangbo Seongwoo scowled at his right arm. The numbness... wouldn't fade. An unpleasant pain, unfamiliar in his innately superior martial bone body, clung stubbornly and irritated him.
"Are you alright?"
Hwangbo Seongwoo wasn't startled by the voice from behind.
Pae-am Hwangbo Gwang.
Though from the same Hwangbo Clan, he wasn't close kin to Hwangbo Seongwoo—practically a stranger. Still, Hwangbo Gwang looked at his collapsed relative with concern.
"......I'm fine."
Hwangbo Seongwoo answered as he lowered the rolled-up sleeve of his right arm. Hwangbo Gwang hesitated a moment before stepping in front of him.
"Show me your arm."
"Why are you here?"
Irritation laced Hwangbo Seongwoo's voice.
"I said I'm fine. Instructor. I'm not hurt enough to need your help."
"......Show me your arm. If it's a wound you can't tend alone, we need to call a physician."
"For this? Instructor, please stop with the pointless worrying. I get that you want to act special because we're from the same clan, but here, you're just the instructor and I'm the student."
"What's wrong with an instructor worrying about a student?"
"Wouldn't it be more proper to worry about Wi Seongcheon, the one you slammed into the dirt?"
"......That kid was fine."
Hwangbo Gwang muttered, averting his gaze. He worried this might bruise Hwangbo Seongwoo's pride. But Hwangbo Seongwoo just twitched his brow once. Then.
"As expected."
He smirked as if he'd known all along. The unease he'd felt when slamming him down... he'd dismissed it as imagination at the time. But the unease hadn't faded with time.
Every throb of pain in his arm brought that unease surging back.
"You knew."
"I didn't want to think so. But it turned out that way. Why resort to such petty tricks?"
"......Because I was afraid of you. I thought there was no way I could beat you with my own skill. Why else would I play dirty and fake a fall?"
"You're saying all the right things. Eyeing an elder seat?"
Hwangbo Seongwoo sneered. Hwangbo Gwang cleared his throat awkwardly. Someday, Hwangbo Seongwoo would become patriarch.
It wouldn't take more than twenty years, however long. By then, Hwangbo Gwang would be an old man.
Humans weaken with age. The stronger one's inner arts and martial prowess, the slower or halted the aging.
Hwangbo Gwang knew his place. For him, slowing aging was the best he could hope for—rejuvenation was a pipe dream.
For a non-direct lineage like Hwangbo Gwang, currying favor with the future patriarch Hwangbo Seongwoo was insurance for his later years.
If he pleased him, even in old age with wasted muscles, he could live out his days honored as a clan elder.
"I don't mind the obvious. I prefer quick wits, though."
Hwangbo Seongwoo scoffed as he rolled up his right sleeve again. Hwangbo Gwang hesitated. He regretted speaking up.
If he'd just left him alone... No, too late now. And what was wrong with an instructor worrying about a student?
"......Hm."
Hwangbo Seongwoo's right arm.
His wrist was swollen, and his forearm was bruised dark. The mark was stamped in the center of his forearm like a brand, the shape of a 'hand' so clear even the finger joints were visible.
'In that brief moment...'
Muscles and joints damaged. Not a big wound. A normal person would need a splint, but with Hwangbo Seongwoo's martial bone recovery, it'd heal in two days.
"......This is impossible."
"What's impossible?"
"How could the Heavenly Flower Sect's young leader do this? Something's wrong."
"Your words sound more absurd to me, Instructor. Sure, martial prowess matters, but more important is how you use what you've learned."
"......True... but this is impossible. Maybe Wi Seongcheon practices demonic arts..."
"Cut the nonsense."
Hwangbo Seongwoo brushed off Hwangbo Gwang's hand probing the wound. He scowled and pulled his sleeve back down.
"A little arm injury means demonic arts? Please, don't spout that seriously anywhere else. It's embarrassing we're from the same clan."
"But..."
"If he really practiced demonic arts, it'd be even funnier. A demonic arts user enrolled openly at the Heavenly Academy. With a recommendation from Grandmaster Wonkwangbul to boot."
Hwangbo Gwang was speechless. He just didn't want to admit it. That the Hwangbo Clan's successor was injured like this by the Heavenly Flower Sect's young leader.
"I just underestimated him too much."
Hwangbo Gwang muttered as he clenched his right fist.
"That's all. It won't happen next time."
* * *
Bang Jun didn't hide his uneasy expression. He glanced at the roasting mountain bird over the campfire, then at Wi Seongcheon.
Wi Seongcheon had been sitting cross-legged since earlier. Over half a day now. He looked as relaxed as if this forest were his own home.
His nerves were too thick. In this situation, enemies could be Hwangbo Seongwoo or Ha Jitae.
Dang Heeran probably wouldn't attack. But Hwangbo Seongwoo could return anytime for a sneak attack, or Ha Jitae might show up.
'Does he trust me or something?'
The situation suggested as much. Normally, deep meditation required a safe spot.
In fact, Bang Jun had built the fire for Wi Seongcheon, caught the mountain bird for dinner with stone-throwing, and was sharpening his senses to guard against possible ambushes.
It felt... weird. How long had they known each other? And that fight between Wi Seongcheon and Hwangbo Seongwoo. Short as it was, the shock lingered.
Hwangbo Seongwoo, the Fist Bone of the Hwangbo Clan, hailed as their masterpiece. Who'd believe he nearly lost to the Heavenly Flower Sect's young leader?
Even Bang Jun, who'd seen it with his own eyes, could hardly believe it fully.
Maybe.
Maybe for real...
What if he actually did it?
'I should... report it?'
He should.
The Heavenly Flower Sect, tucked in a corner of Shandong. Sect leader a fourth-rate. Mocked as 'bats' for the whole sect. Never garnered attention beyond contempt.
If their young leader took down the Hwangbo Clan's young leader... it'd be a hot topic for gossip-hungry tale-spinners in the martial world. If Wi Seongcheon really beat Hwangbo Seongwoo, even the Beggars' Sect's eyes would turn to Heavenly Flower Sect.
Heavenly Flower Chain Technique.
Wi Seongcheon sat with eyes closed, immersed in the Heavenly Flower Chain Technique. At the same time, his mind replayed the fight with Hwangbo Seongwoo. He knew the guy hadn't gone all out.
The second grab hadn't fully broken the right arm, but he'd put force into it.
No matter how sturdy, it wouldn't be unscathed. Indeed, when he grabbed the second time, Hwangbo Seongwoo's reaction was a bit slower than the first.
'Tomorrow.'
He'd seek out Hwangbo Seongwoo again. Wi Seongcheon's eyes opened. Night had deepened. Bang Jun was curled up near the fire asleep, and outside that, mountain birds skewered on sticks stood ready.
"Thanks."
Wi Seongcheon smirked and took a skewer. Bang Jun waved a hand instead of answering.
'It worked.'
Wi Seongcheon thought as he chewed the meat bit by bit.
Hwangbo Seongwoo's shocked face.
Not just him—everyone watching was shocked.
And Wi Seongcheon himself too.
What he'd learned was all Heavenly Flower Sect martial arts. Based on Heavenly Flower Chain Technique, the body technique Heavy Hand Four Positions. Taught by his father, Sect Leader Wi Juseok, since childhood.
When his brother Wi Seongyeol was around, they sparred daily, and with Captain Wu too.
A thrill he'd never felt back then. In the narrow world of Heavenly Flower Sect, he hadn't realized.
Heavenly Flower Sect's martial arts were strong.
No doubt. Just Heavy Hand Four Positions alone startled Hwangbo Seongwoo, one of the Dragon-Phoenixes, and shocked Dang Heeran and Bang Jun. Dang Heeran, raised in the Tang Clan with the Ten Heroes' Poison Martial Queen, wouldn't have low discernment.
Likewise, the Beggars' Sect had the Ten Heroes' Eccentric Beggar. Even Bang Jun... was shocked by Wi Seongcheon's skills.
'I didn't know I was this strong.'
Wi Seongcheon glanced down at his hand.
A hand thick with calluses at every joint.
His father's hand was even thicker and harder.
* * *
Wi Seongcheon sought out Hwangbo Seongwoo before the morning dew had even dried.
Hwangbo Seongwoo sat cross-legged waiting, as if he'd expected it. Wi Seongcheon glanced at the remains of last night's fire.
"Didn't eat breakfast?"
"Yeah."
Hwangbo Seongwoo replied. Wi Seongcheon grinned.
"Me neither."
He'd eaten dinner late last night, but skipped breakfast. At Wi Seongcheon's quip, Hwangbo Seongwoo just lifted the corner of his mouth in a smile. He rose, clenching his right fist tight.
Throb.
The lingering pain was still unpleasant.