Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Perhaps to Me Too?
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Bang Soso and Ha-eun's figures vanished beyond the corner of the Azure Dragon Squad barracks.
The boisterous chatter of the squad members lingering on the training ground, and the shouts of their drills, no longer reached my ears.
Master said nothing. She merely glanced back at me once before turning and starting to walk away.
I silently followed behind her.
One step. Two steps.
The hem of her pitch-black robes fluttered like a ghost in the windless air.
What on earth was she thinking?
Something disgraceful to the Healer Immortal Sect.
As my mind tangled into a chaotic knot,
Pop!
Master's figure blurred into a hazy afterimage right before my eyes.
Without any warning, she had suddenly shot forward. A silent, graceful motion so fluid that even the sound of her feet striking the ground was barely audible.
It was the lightness skill.
A realm one couldn't even attempt without cultivating internal energy to a certain level.
Her black shadow rapidly receded along the wide roads of the Murim Alliance.
'Damn!'
There was no time to hesitate. I immediately placed a suggestion on my own body.
In that instant, my muscles from thighs to calves swelled explosively, accompanied by a searing heat as if all the blood in my body surged toward my legs.
Bang!
I kicked off the ground as well and chased after her. The surrounding scenery smeared into a blur and streamed backward as I hurtled forward.
But even so, the distance between us refused to close.
As expected of Master. She was insanely fast.
Her lightness skill flowed as naturally and elegantly as water. It was like watching a single black butterfly glide effortlessly ahead. By contrast, I was nothing more than a beast brute-forcing my speed by pounding the ground with raw power.
Only the whistle of wind slicing past my ears filled the air.
She never once looked back. She seemed to take it for granted that I was following.
How long did we run like that?
Her afterimage suddenly sharpened back into a clear form before my eyes.
An abrupt stop.
"Uwah!"
Unable to brake in time, I nearly tumbled forward from sheer momentum. Desperately twisting my waist and planting my feet, I barely managed to regain my balance. I avoided an unsightly sprawl, but the few staggering steps I took must have looked utterly ridiculous.
Before I could even catch my breath, an icy voice lanced through the air.
"That too is part of your strange ability?"
Ah.
I'd kept pace with a lightness skill master using nothing but my bare body, without a shred of internal energy. Utterly incomprehensible from any normal martial artist's perspective. Feigning nonchalance, I gave a curt reply.
"Yes. Something like that."
As expected, she knew. She might not grasp the exact nature, but she'd suspected from the start that I was concealing some secret power.
She slowly turned to face me.
Her emotionless eyes raked over my face from top to bottom.
"With that ability... you won Bang Soso's heart too?"
"......Pardon?"
She simply stared at me in silence. An unwavering gaze. The moment I met those fathomless eyes, realization dawned.
She wasn't asking. She already knew everything and was utterly convinced. The true nature of my relationship with Bang Soso.
There was no point hiding it any longer. A feeble excuse would only provoke her further.
I let out a short breath and answered.
"For now... no."
It couldn't be anything else. Hypnosis didn't work on Bang Soso. The reason she followed me wasn't my ability. At least, not at the beginning.
Master's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly. She hadn't missed the subtle nuance in my "for now."
Her gaze drifted momentarily to empty space, as if lost in deep thought.
At last, her lips parted again. Far softer this time, almost a whisper.
"Perhaps... to me too......"
The words trailed off there.
Startled as if by some sudden shock, she whipped around.
She cleared her throat once, then spoke in a cold voice once more.
"Grandfather is waiting. Let's go."
No sooner had the words left her mouth than she unleashed her lightness skill again and sped forward.
I stood there in a daze for a moment before hurriedly giving chase.
The pursuit resumed. But now my mind was far more tangled than before.
'Perhaps to me too...?'
What had she meant to say next?
Was she asking if I'd ever tried using my ability on her? Or... something else entirely?
I had no idea.
Lost in thought, the scenery around us shifted dramatically. The training grounds and barracks where ordinary squad members drilled faded away, replaced by far grander, more imposing halls.
We had arrived at the heart of the Murim Alliance: the central main fortress.
Even the guards at the gate exuded an aura leagues beyond those in the outer sections. Their sharp eyes scanned us, but when Master produced a small wooden token from her bosom, they immediately stepped aside and bowed their heads.
Following her lead, I passed through the gate. Unlike the time I'd crossed the outer sections with Bang Soso, no one intercepted me. They must have taken me for part of her entourage.
As we entered, a middle-aged man who appeared to be one of the chief stewards approached to greet us. He offered Master a deferential bow before leading us confidently through the labyrinthine interior of the fortress.
How long did we walk?
The steward halted before a door, opened it, and quietly stepped aside.
Master entered first, and I followed.
The room was filled with the faint aroma of medicinal herbs.
An elderly man seated by the window, engrossed in a scroll, slowly raised his head toward us.
Snow-white hair and beard, wrinkles carved deep by the passage of time.
Yet his eyes gleamed with a clarity and sharpness that seemed to mock the years. His kindly crinkled eyes and gentle smile carried a soothing power that eased the hearts of all who beheld them.
This was my first time seeing him in person.
This was the Healer Immortal, Baek Muhyeon.
My master's master, and the lord of the Healer Immortal Sect.
He beamed radiantly, welcoming his granddaughter. His wrinkled eyes crinkled with affection.
"Oh, my dear granddaughter! You've come all this long way to see your old grandfather."
His enthusiasm suggested he might dash out barefoot to greet her. But despite the heartfelt welcome, Im Hyehyang's expression didn't so much as twitch. She merely dipped her head slightly and tossed out a single word.
"I'm here."
An icy reply. Yet not a trace of disappointment crossed Baek Muhyeon's face. If anything, her curt demeanor seemed endearing to him; a pleased smile lingered on his features. To him, everything about his granddaughter was simply precious.
At length, Baek Muhyeon's gaze shifted to me.
"Hm?"
Curious eyes scanned me from head to toe. After studying me for a moment, he let out a cheerful "Hoho!" as if he'd stumbled upon something amusing.
"This is the child... you've always been talking about?"
It happened in that instant.
"......Ugh."
Im Hyehyang's shoulder beside me twitched and stiffened. Her posture, rigid as a noble crane, wavered for the first time. I couldn't see it, but I could sense it—a faint red flush ghosting over her bloodless pale cheeks.
Her lips quivered before an even colder-than-ice voice erupted.
"Don't say another word."
Her tone carried a razor-sharp warning.
"I... don't want to have to suture Grandfather's mouth shut."
Baek Muhyeon clutched his chest in exaggerated shock, as if he'd been waiting for just this.
"Eek! Such frightening words! This old man merely said your disciple is impressive."
Masterful deadpan acting. Im Hyehyang's face flushed an even deeper crimson. Unable to contain herself, she whipped around to glare at me, her eyes brimming with the promise of icy shards.
"Don't get the wrong idea."
Her urgent words trembled.
"The only reason I spoke of you to Grandfather is because I'm your master and you're my disciple. There's absolutely no other meaning!"
Listening to her desperate justification, I nodded absently.
'I see. Well, masters do talk about their disciples sometimes.'
But was praising me really so embarrassing? ...No, it could be. "Impressive" might be her roundabout way of saying it. Or maybe she'd badmouthed me behind my back.
As I mulled it over and started to accept it,
A faint, low whisper echoed directly in my ear.
-Isn't it fun to watch?
It was voice transmission. Baek Muhyeon's voice.
I glanced at him. He still wore that kindly smile while regarding Im Hyehyang, but his eyes sparkled with pure mischief.
But I couldn't use voice transmission. No internal energy, naturally. Nor could I reply aloud. Instead, I gave the tiniest nod, imperceptible to anyone else.
That was my mistake.
Her eyes wouldn't miss my unnatural motion.
Im Hyehyang's chilling glare, fixed on me moments before, sharpened lethally toward Baek Muhyeon.
Baek Muhyeon merely shrugged innocently.
"I didn't say a thing."
In that instant, Im Hyehyang was speechless.
Her thin lips worked silently several times, but no sound emerged.
She who was hailed as the next Healer Immortal, whom none in the Healer Immortal Sect dared defy, was utterly powerless before this kindly elder.
Her master and maternal grandfather.
The slightest rudeness here would brand her unfilial, a grave sin of betraying master and ancestors.
The absolute barrier of status concealed behind that gentle smile.
Is this what ultimate incompatibility feels like—fatal at the slightest brush?
I'd never imagined she had a natural predator like this.
I stole a glance at her.
She still glared daggers at Baek Muhyeon but could do nothing more, reduced to clutching her skirt hem tightly.
White fingers gripping the pitch-black silk.
Those fingers trembled, unable to contain her fury.
...But.
I must be losing my mind.
Struggling desperately to regain her composure, yet inevitably betraying her embarrassment and frustration with that trembling...
...It looked cute.
I'm thoroughly insane. This is madness, no doubt about it.