Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Pavilion Lord's Visit
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In the thatched hut where the lantern light flickered, illuminating the late night, Hyeoncheong and Cheonhwi plopped down on the floor, keeping some distance between them.
Cheonhwi looked at Hyeoncheong and smacked his lips.
'Looks like no meat for today.'
Jeokgeom and Seollan had tactfully withdrawn upon seeing Hyeoncheong's sudden appearance.
As he recalled the steaming meat with regret...
'But why did he come here?'
A sudden doubt crossed his mind.
The Hyeoncheong he knew had lived in the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pavilion and never stepped foot outside, not even once.
Yet not only had he left the pavilion, he'd come all the way here.
As Cheonhwi pondered this, Hyeoncheong, who had been deep in thought, finally parted his lips.
"......Are you personally teaching Jeokgeom and Seollan?"
"It just sort of ended up that way."
Cheonhwi replied indifferently.
His question wasn't the main point he'd been waiting for after all this time.
'What is he beating around the bush for?'
Meanwhile, Hyeoncheong muttered quietly, his face full of disbelief.
"Heh, it just sort of ended up that way."
After a moment of staring at Cheonhwi, he spoke.
"It's truly astonishing. Just a few months ago, you could barely stand on your own, and now you're teaching the second-generation disciples."
As he spoke with feigned admiration, Hyeoncheong's eyes deepened endlessly.
Just four months ago, he'd heard Cheonhwi had been hovering between life and death.
That's why, at their first meeting, he'd even considered teaching him martial arts...
'That was unnecessary meddling.'
As Hyeoncheong shook his head...
'Just get to the point already.'
Cheonhwi's face showed clear annoyance.
Watching Hyeoncheong beat around the bush and sink into thought was torture.
He stared at Hyeoncheong and asked.
"So, what brings you all the way here?"
Sensing the urging tone, Hyeoncheong's demeanor shifted.
His softly raised eyebrows and lips gradually lowered, eventually hardening into straight lines.
In the blink of an eye, he revealed a serious expression unlike his usual self.
"I've heard the rumors about you circulating around the sect."
"Rumors?"
Cheonhwi's eyebrow twitched at that moment.
Rumors? What rumors?
Unlike his usual composed self, he reacted sensitively to the word 'rumors'.
And for good reason—strange rumors about him in the past had caused endless annoyances.
Some sects had pestered him relentlessly with those rumors, forcing him to visit them personally and reduce them to dust.
'What nonsense rumor is spreading now?'
His face crumpled slightly. Since becoming Cheonhwi, he'd never even thought about rumors regarding himself.
Flustered by Cheonhwi's rapidly changing expression, Hyeoncheong hurriedly added.
"With more disciples coming to the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pavilion lately, I looked into it and heard rumors about you."
Thinking Cheonhwi was offended, he quickly explained the reason.
'What are you talking about?'
Cheonhwi's furrowed brow showed no sign of relaxing.
What he wanted to know wasn't the background of the rumors, but what they were.
Cheonhwi voiced his intent.
"So, what are the rumors?"
Realizing he'd misread the situation, Hyeoncheong smiled awkwardly and answered.
"They say you displayed remarkable martial prowess at the recent Five Mountains Gathering."
Cheonhwi's furrowed brow relaxed.
What, that?
Recalling the Five Mountains Gathering—which sounded grand but was little more than child's play—Cheonhwi felt indifferent.
But did Cheonhwi realize how his attitude made it seem like such a feat was only natural to Hyeoncheong?
"......So the rumors are true."
"They are."
Cheonhwi affirmed flatly.
"You came all the way here just to verify something like that?"
"Heh heh, that's part of it."
Hyeoncheong's expression softened as he replied in a low voice.
'Has there ever been anyone in history who grew like Cheonhwi?'
Hyeoncheong's gaze toward Cheonhwi, who had achieved growth worthy of legends or myths, grew warmer.
'A great blessing for our sect.'
As he thought this, he muttered.
"Hyeon-gang had excellent judgment..."
Nodding up and down, Hyeoncheong murmured.
After a moment, he overlapped Cheonhwi's image with Hyeon-gang's and smiled softly.
"Do you know why I've stayed in the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pavilion all these years?"
Cheonhwi sensed something ominous from Hyeoncheong's tone.
'That's the tone sect leaders use when they want to talk about their past to the kids...'
They say premonitions of doom are never wrong.
Hyeoncheong, lost in reminiscence while staring into space, began his tale.
"I live in the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pavilion every day now, but I used to avoid books. I preferred the sword over books and loved to move around."
"......"
Cheonhwi narrowed his eyes.
'Damn, can't even interrupt.'
In the past, he would've kicked him and told him to cut the crap, then ignored him.
But not now.
The long-winded fool giving a speech right in front of him was now his martial uncle.
"......While training martial arts with Hyeondo, our master brought a child from somewhere and took him as a disciple."
Hyeoncheong paused midway, his wrinkles deepening around his eyes.
His eyes mixed joy and sorrow as he blinked once and fixed his gaze on Cheonhwi.
"That child was your master, Hyeon-gang."
"I see."
Cheonhwi responded reflexively.
He hadn't really listened and had no interest anyway.
Unaware of this, Hyeoncheong continued.
"......Eight years ago, Hyeon-gang led the Plum Blossom Sword Guards on an excursion and met with a great calamity. They clashed with the Extermination Sword Leader of White Ghost Castle and his Extermination Brigade."
Hyeoncheong bit his lip.
Recalling the painful past twisted his face in agony.
Unlike him, Cheonhwi finally showed interest and perked up his ears.
'This body's master, huh?'
He felt a spark of curiosity.
"We still don't know why they collided. But they did clash, and it ended in mutual destruction. Not a single survivor."
Hyeoncheong shook his head.
It remained a mystery even now.
Why the Plum Blossom Sword Guards and Extermination Brigade clashed, why they fought to the death.
He knew neither cause nor process.
Only the result was clear.
Mount Hua Sect lost its future in Hyeon-gang and the Plum Blossom Sword Guards, while White Ghost Castle lost its Extermination Sword Leader and Extermination Brigade.
Both sects' powers weakened significantly from before.
Mount Hua Sect, once top of the Nine Great Sects, fell behind, and White Ghost Castle, nearly at the top among the Six Evil Sects, was pushed to the bottom.
"Our sect wanted revenge on White Ghost Castle. But reality was harsh. We thought the Murim Alliance would help, but... with the Demonic Heaven Society still active, they signed a truce, saying they couldn't risk war with the Evil-Black Alliance."
Cheonhwi's lip curled in a sneer.
'Screaming about righteousness, huh.'
Remembering how the righteous sects persecuted the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult while claiming justice, a scoff escaped him.
'No different from my cult.'
No, they were more petty than the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Even they, branded as demonic with inverted masks, moved for revenge if one affiliate sect was attacked.
No matter how bad their situation or how strong the enemy, they never tucked tail like these hypocrites.
"Most opposed the decision, but we had no choice. They called it a choice for the greater good."
Hyeoncheong ground his teeth.
Blood vessels burst in his eyes, red streaks forming.
'So this is his true face.'
As he observed Hyeoncheong's sharp, uncharacteristic aura...
"But does that make sense? If Shaolin's or Wudang's young disciples died, do you think the Murim Alliance would stay silent? They'd bury it because it's our sect!"
He vented his pent-up rage.
His bloodshot eyes glared sharply at Cheonhwi.
"You're right."
Cheonhwi agreed flatly.
Hyeoncheong snapped back to his senses at the sight.
If even he, a senior brother, felt this pain, how must Cheonhwi feel, who saw Hyeon-gang as master and father?
'It must hurt him more than me.'
As their eyes met—Cheonhwi seemingly staring silently—Hyeoncheong felt deep empathy.
But did he know?
Cheonhwi felt no pathos or empathy; he'd only responded to end the story.
Not suppressing sorrow, but impatience.
'So when will this end?'
As even waiting for the conclusion grew tiring, Hyeoncheong spoke again.
"After that decision, I entered the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pavilion. To restore lost or scattered Mount Hua Sect martial arts, so that Shaolin and Wudang... no, the Murim Alliance couldn't look down on us, to raise absolute masters."
Hyeoncheong spat the words bitterly.
For eight years, he'd buried himself with books he hated daily in the pavilion to restore martial arts.
Yet only dozens of manuals restored so far.
Even devoting his life, it was uncertain if he could restore even a tenth.
Then came the rumors.
To verify them, he visited his juniors and learned even more astonishing things.
Hyeoncheong stared at Cheonhwi.
"I heard from the juniors you recreated the Plum Blossom Sword Art. Is that true?"
"It is."
"......!"
Hyeoncheong clenched his fists.
The Plum Blossom Sword Art was a transcendent technique, and he'd recreated it—even improving it.
Unbelievable, even from the sect leader and Hyeondo.
But seeing him teach Jeokgeom and Seollan upon arriving at Falling Goose Peak dispelled all doubts.
It was that astonishing.
Enough to believe even the outlandish rumors and juniors' praises.
Hyeoncheong opened his mouth toward Cheonhwi.
"Then, can you restore the other martial arts manuals in the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pavilion like the Plum Blossom Sword Art?"
As Hyeoncheong swallowed and awaited the answer, Cheonhwi's lips moved.
"Restore?"
"Yes."
As Hyeoncheong nodded at Cheonhwi with eyes full of expectation...
"I've already restored most of them."
"......W-what?!"
Hyeoncheong's eyes widened as if they would pop out at the completely unexpected reply.