Chapter 307
Chapter 307
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 307
Chapter Title: Cheonhyang's Sudden Arrival
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It was the sudden appearance of Cheonhyang.
"Long time no see!"
The moment she spotted Cheonhwi, Cheonhyang spread her arms wide and charged at him like she was about to hug him.
It was a display of pure joy, but Cheonhwi sidestepped her with an impassive face.
"Huh?"
Evidently not expecting him to dodge, Cheonhyang's eyes went wide before she collided with the backrest with a thunk.
"Oof!"
Cheonhyang rubbed her forehead where a small bump was already forming.
As she massaged the lump, she turned to glare at Cheonhwi and pouted her lips in a sulky expression.
"That's too much, Junior Brother!"
Cheonhyang grumbled on.
"Dodging a hug from such a pretty senior sister you haven't seen in ages."
She huffed and puffed, but Cheonhwi, the person in question, showed no reaction whatsoever.
Something else had caught his attention.
"Why are you here?"
It was a blunt question.
She was supposed to be at Mount Hua Sect, so her presence at the Murim Alliance was downright bizarre.
And she wasn't alone, either.
Nineteen familiar presences outside.
The Plum Spirit Unit.
'Did something happen at Mount Hua?'
That was his first thought.
Most visits from Mount Hua Sect to the Alliance were for reasons like that.
As Cheonhwi stared at her with a slightly grave expression,
"Why do you think?"
Cheonhyang twisted her scarlet lips.
It was a grin full of mischief.
"Obviously, to join forces with you and help the Murim Alliance."
"What?"
Cheonhwi's ears twitched for a moment.
Then he furrowed his brow as if he'd heard something absurd.
Undeterred, Cheonhyang kept smiling.
She meant it.
"So you brought the Plum Spirit Unit to help the Murim Alliance?"
"How did you know they were here..."
"Yeah. Spot on."
"Shouldn't you be rebuilding Mount Hua Sect instead of..."
Cheonhwi muttered in disbelief as he looked at her.
The top priority for Mount Hua Sect right now was rebuilding.
The bandit raid had left it in ruins.
It was damage that would take years to repair.
And yet, here she was helping the Alliance. It was ridiculous.
"Don't do anything pointless. Go back to Mount Hua. I'll handle things here."
As Cheonhwi tried to shoo her away,
"Can't do that."
Cheonhyang refused outright.
Cheonhwi frowned,
but she cut him off with a single sentence.
"It's an order from the Sect Leader."
"The Sect Leader?"
Cheonhwi's eyes narrowed.
If it was the Sect Leader's command, he had nothing more to say.
He was a disciple of Mount Hua, after all.
Cheonhyang nodded confidently at the now-silent Cheonhwi and added,
"He told me to team up with you and aid the Murim Alliance in its time of peril."
Cheonhwi let out a small sigh.
It was a needless order.
"What a waste."
"A waste? He's worried about you and the Alliance."
"That's exactly what makes it a waste."
Cheonhwi stated flatly.
"There are other things worth worrying about. Worrying over me? Better to protect Mount Hua Sect..."
"Junior Brother."
Cheonhyang suddenly cut him off and thrust her face right up to his.
It was inches from his nose.
Her cheeks were slightly flushed with irritation.
"Of course everyone's impressed by you—the Sect Leader, me, every disciple in Mount Hua. But you're still one of us. What Sect Leader wouldn't worry for his disciple?"
She blurted it out rapidly.
"And don't worry about the sect. Most of the cleanup's done. Just accept our help."
She puffed out her chest proudly, exhaling through her nose.
Trust me, she seemed to say.
But.
"I doubt it'll help much."
Cheonhwi crushed her bravado with one sentence.
Cheonhyang pouted again.
"Can't you just pretend to believe in me for once?"
"It's the truth."
"...Tch."
As Cheonhyang smacked her lips and scratched her head, a low voice spoke up.
"What a sight."
Yukwon, who had watched the exchange from the start, gazed at Cheonhyang and spoke softly.
"A disciple of Mount Hua?"
"That's right."
Cheonhyang beamed.
It was the brightest, most welcoming smile imaginable.
She quickly cupped her fists toward Yukwon and the vice commander beside him.
"Boundless mercy. I'm Cheonhyang of Mount Hua."
She bowed her head in greeting.
"Sorry for the late introduction. I got so excited seeing my youngest junior brother after so long that I forgot."
Yukwon waved it off.
"No need. Anyone would be thrilled to see a junior like Cheonhwi. Isn't that right?"
He glanced slyly at the vice commander.
Chugeukwang chuckled dryly and nodded.
"Indeed. If I had a junior like Cheonhwi, no one else would catch my eye."
"Music to my ears."
Yukwon and the vice commander shared faint smiles as they returned Cheonhyang's courtesy.
Cheonhyang lifted her head and asked Yukwon,
"If it's not too rude, might I have your esteemed name?"
"Ah, my mistake as well."
Yukwon cupped his fists.
"I'm Yukwon."
"Heavenly Might Sword Hero?"
Cheonhyang's eyes sparkled the moment she heard his name, recognizing him instantly.
"Just an undeserved title."
"Not at all. I could tell from the moment I saw you—you're no ordinary man."
"Haha, I'm flattered."
Still smiling, Cheonhyang shifted her gaze to the vice commander.
"It's been a while."
"Indeed it has."
The two, already acquainted from Mount Hua, exchanged light greetings.
Cheonhyang then turned her head.
Sitting beside Cheonhwi was a woman who looked tense, her neck hunched in the current situation.
Im Hayul.
She startled slightly at meeting Cheonhyang's eyes but quickly cupped her fists.
"I'm Im Hayul."
"Nice to meet you."
Cheonhyang locked eyes with her and flashed a sly smile, whispering,
"So, what's your relationship with Junior Brother?"
"P-Pardon?"
"Sitting so close... must be pretty serious..."
"Gasp! N-No way!"
Im Hayul frantically waved her hands.
Thoroughly flustered, her voice cracked and rose in pitch.
"The vice commander and I are just commander and subordinate!"
"Hmm, is Junior Brother not charming enough?"
"N-No, that's not it."
Im Hayul stammered, her cheeks flushing red.
How could he not be charming?
He was a Mount Hua disciple, hailed as the world's greatest prodigy, the divine star who had just felled the Immortal Heaven Cult Leader.
Charming? He overflowed with it.
Cheonhyang grinned at the sight.
'My junior sister would throw a fit if she saw this.'
She thought of Danmokin, who went berserk like a fanatic at anything Cheonhwi-related, and glanced at Im Hayul.
Danmokin would have caused a huge scene seeing them together now.
Im Hayul's lips moved.
"Besides... isn't the vice commander a Daoist?"
She stated the obvious.
Cheonhwi was indeed a Daoist of Mount Hua Sect.
But that was a misconception born of her ignorance of the sect.
"Huh? That doesn't matter much. As long as he doesn't become Sect Leader, he can become a lay disciple and marry anytime... Most of our lay branches started that way."
Cheonhyang said it casually.
Mount Hua was freer than most Daoist sects.
No issue with lay status and marriage, so long as one didn't aim for Sect Leader.
As Im Hayul reeled from that,
"Um... Vice Commander. Can we depart now?"
A very cautious voice came from the driver's seat up front.
A member of the carriage escort, frozen in indecision since Cheonhyang barged in, finally mustered the courage to speak.
"Ah! Sorry! Let's go!"
Cheonhyang hurriedly sat down—right next to Cheonhwi—and shouted.
The escort member sighed in relief at the prompt reply and murmured,
"Then we're off."
The carriage set out again.
Of course, Cheonhyang stuck right to Cheonhwi's side, chattering nonstop.
"Hey, Junior Brother. I heard you pulled off something huge this time. Word about you has already spread to Mount Hua. The Ami Fortress battle..."
As Cheonhyang's lively chatter filled the air, Yukwon and the vice commander chimed in, and the conversation flowed.
Mostly about Cheonhwi.
"It was astonishing news."
"More than that, back when Cheonhwi was..."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Fine tea."
A middle-aged man with gentle eyes savored his cup.
After a few sips, he set the teacup down on the table.
He then fixed his gaze straight ahead.
Sitting opposite was Zhuge Gong, holder of the greatest authority in the current Murim Alliance.
Zhuge Gong met the middle-aged man's eyes.
The Murim Alliance Leader, Justice Sword Sage.
That was his identity.
After staring at the Alliance Leader for a long moment, Zhuge Gong carefully parted his lips.
"The Immortal Heaven Cult's headquarters fell to the Plum Blossom Divine Hero's hand, and the Immortal Heaven Cult Leader met his end."
The Leader's movements froze.
"That old monster is dead? By the hand of some kid called the Plum Blossom Divine Hero?"
"Yes."
"Hah."
The Leader burst into hearty laughter.
"Impressive. Barely into his twenties, and he's taken down the Great Bandit Emperor, the Poison Fiend, and now that old monster. No one saw it coming."
Uncharacteristically, the Leader praised him.
It was that astonishing.
"And thanks to that, we weeded out a few spies hiding in the Alliance."
Zhuge Gong's eyes gleamed as he spoke.
Cheonhwi's exploits had greatly aided his spy hunt.
'We caught three or four.'
As Zhuge Gong recalled the spies uncovered by the Alliance's secret Black Crow Squad, his eyes turned icy,
the Leader suddenly asked,
"What did you make of this Plum Blossom Divine Hero?"
"The greatest prodigy of all time. His talent surpasses anyone I've seen in my life..."
"Strategist."
The Leader's eyebrow twitched.
He stroked his long, beautiful hair and half-closed his eyes.
"You know that's not what I'm asking, yet you dodge anyway?"
The Leader stared intently at Zhuge Gong.
His gaze was indifferent, chilling.
The warm atmosphere of moments ago vanished, replaced by icy air enveloping the table.
And in that instant,
the tea in the two cups on the table rippled faintly.
The space bent to his will.
It was as if the table they sat at was severed from the world in some bizarre scene—
"I don't know."
Zhuge Gong said quietly.
"You don't know?"
The Leader's eyes narrowed.
An unexpected assessment.
"You couldn't gauge him?"
Zhuge Gong nodded.
At first, he'd seemed arrogant due to his skill, perhaps immature.
But not anymore.
His handling of Absolute Severance and his mission performance were anything but immature.
They were flawless.
"Oh ho. Interesting."
The Leader's lips curved slightly.
A smile brimming with intrigue.
"A man even you can't read..."
The tension dissolved in an instant.
In less than a breath, he reined in his internal energy—a display of astonishing control—and lifted his teacup for another sip.
"Then I suppose I'll have to meet him myself and judge."
He murmured lowly after draining the cup.
For the first time, Zhuge Gong's expression changed.
Clear surprise.
"You're going out in person?"
"Haha. Yes."
"But..."
"Isn't it reaching the limit for you to manage the Alliance alone?"
"..."
Zhuge Gong fell silent.
He was right.
As the war with the Evil-Black Alliance intensified, the Leader's absence caused growing issues.
Some Alliance warriors grew anxious without him, and even the Nine Great Sects pressured for his appearance.
Seeing Zhuge Gong silent, the Leader spoke lowly.
"A bit earlier than planned, but..."
He trailed off and lifted his chin.
His eyes curved sharply as he stared at the distant blue sky.
A cold smile.
"It's time I step in myself."