Chapter 79
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: The Clichéd Villain Trope
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The Dragon-Tiger Assembly, overflowing with one-sided scheming and intrigue, had finally wrapped up. Even after we swore revenge on those Wudang bastards, time slipped away like water.
And now... not Mount Hua, but Huayin County in Shaanxi Province.
“You little punks!”
At the thunderous shout, I hurriedly shoved the mooncakes and fruit skewers in my hands into my mouth. Uiyeong, his face twisted like a demon’s, strode toward us.
“Who gave you permission to sneak down to Huayin during free training time without a word? How many times has this happened now?”
“Supervisor Uiyeong, can’t you let it slide just this once? Today’s a day with a real reason for coming down.”
“What kind of day?”
“Great Senior Brother’s fifteenth birthday.”
“No way.”
“Biyeon, swallow what’s in your mouth before you talk.”
Truth be told, since we’d set the day I was picked up in front of the sect gates as my birthday, it didn’t hold much meaning for me. It was just a convenient excuse to slip out of the sect.
But the adults pitied me for being abandoned without even knowing my real birthday, so if I played it right, I could slide by without issue.
The problem was getting caught by Uiyeong, who was as strict as my martial sibling Biyeong.
Just like Biyeong, Uiyeong had no blood or tears in him. Birthday or not, he dragged us back up to the sect, and we young disciples who’d skipped training had to clasp our hands behind our backs and prostrate ourselves as punishment.
Still, claiming it was my birthday, I only banged my head. It was the perfect birthday gift.
After being cooped up in the sect our whole lives, more and more of us started sneaking out as we got older and bolder. I was one of them.
And why not? I’d grown up in the sect since infancy. Naturally, fifteen years of staring at the same old sect scenery was enough to bore anyone to death.
The seven of us who’d gone down to Huayin had to bang our heads in the training hall even during break time, all for skipping training.
Taking advantage of the break, Haeyoung—Bihwan’s twin younger brother, who’d come to hang out after ages—clicked his tongue and wagged his finger at us.
“Of course you got caught playing around in Huayin. How many senior disciples do you think patrol around there?”
Fair point. This was already the fifth time we’d been nabbed by the scruff of the neck or ear while slacking off in Huayin County. How did they always track us down so well, no matter how we ran?
*This is just like us back in the day, you kids.*
That’s what Uiseong said, laughing so hard he clutched his stomach when we asked him for tips. No matter how we ran, we were still in the palm of the adults who’d been through it all.
“So where do you play?”
Outer and Secular Disciples, with their looser schedules and training than Core Disciples, had more freedom to head out of the sect.
It was the Outer Disciples who first showed us the hole in the wall connecting to the stairs down to Huayin without passing the sect gates.
Ever since the early hierarchy skirmishes, the Outer Disciples had kept strict decorum. Plus, as the levels of techniques they mastered diverged, the skill gaps had widened considerably.
“Xi’an.”
“Xi’an? Isn’t that where Chungnam Sect is?”
“Mount Chungnam is south of Xi’an. Playing on the east side near Huayin means no risk of bumping into them. We’ve run into them a few times, but they seemed to hate the noise as much as we did and just passed by quietly.”
“Doesn’t it take four hours to get there?”
“Take a carriage and use lightfoot skill, and you’re there in just one.”
Part of me thought, *Do we really need to go all the way to Xi’an, two hours away, when Huayin’s right here?* But another part screamed, *I just want to play without worrying about getting caught!*
And the winner of that internal battle was...
“Oh, so this is Xi’an.”
“Man, big cities really are different. I thought Huayin was pretty developed.”
“Nah, Huayin only thrives because of Mount Hua.”
Of course ‘I want to play’ won!
After Haeyoung dangled that tempting option, we hatched a meticulous plan. We even scouted Supervisor Uijin’s schedule, pouring our hearts into it. In the end, we made it to Xi’an soil without getting caught or intercepted midway.
“You don’t look too impressed?”
I nudged Bidam’s side as he stared around with a bored expression. He replied,
“My house is in Xi’an.”
“Oh? Gonna drop by home?”
“Nah, not particularly close with my family or anything...”
Got it. Not one to pry into family matters, I just nodded.
Biyeong—who’d always shot down our Huayin trips with a flat ‘training first’—grabbed my shoulder today and gave me a stern warning.
“Don’t even think about causing trouble here. This isn’t Huayin County where you can easily clean up a mess. Got it? You too, Bihun—keep that in mind.”
Bihun nodded half-heartedly beside me.
Guess he was worried we’d stir up something in far-off Xi’an. It’s the same Shaanxi Province, but sure, worries abound.
With no Mount Hua adults around to keep us on edge, we roamed Xi’an like fish in water.
Until we ran into a group of same-age teens in sect uniforms.
The opponents halted abruptly. Their wary glares made us slow our steps too.
Their unwavering stares locked us into a standoff. At least there weren’t many passersby around?
Those guarded looks and their uniforms gave away their affiliation pretty clearly.
Chungnam and Mount Hua.
Being in the same Shaanxi region meant the two sects weren’t exactly chummy.
Or more precisely, Mount Hua looked down on Chungnam, and Chungnam resented Mount Hua for it.
To Mount Hua, Wudang Sect was a fellow Nine Great Sect powerhouse, a rival vying for the title of the world’s top sword sect. Chungnam Sect, meanwhile, was just a third-rate sect barely clinging to its spot in the Nine Great Sects.
Through the prestigious Dragon-Tiger Assembly and its sparring matches, we’d learned respect and rivalry with Wudang. And from the casual remarks of our seniors, we’d absorbed their disdain for Chungnam.
Sure, some wuxia novel out there might portray Chungnam techniques as the root of countless supreme arts, but this was the *Sword God Returns* world—no way Chungnam was protagonist-tier.
“Why stop? Keep walking.”
Even at my words, the three Chungnam third-generation disciples didn’t budge from their spots.
They’d probably heard the tales of disdain from their seniors. Now they were on guard, wondering if it’d pass down to their generation.
I tapped the ground lightly with my toe a couple times and grinned amiably.
“We’re not here to cause a ruckus either, so relax.”
Despite my magnanimous words, the Chungnam trio stayed tense as ever. Our Mount Hua young disciples sauntered past them leisurely.
A stark contrast to the Chungnam guys hovering their hands near their sword hilts.
Bihun glanced back at them and smirked.
“Bunch of mangy mutts.”
His quiet mutter carried just far enough for the Chungnam third-gen disciples to hear.
*Congrats, idiot—you just locked in the clichéd villain arc.* Taunt them too hard, and you end up as the ass-kicking side character.
Not that it’d happen against *them*, of course...
“Martial brother!”
“Yeohyeon!”
A shout from the Chungnam side rang out, followed by a streak of silver flash shooting straight at our side.
Clang!
Bihun swiftly drew his sword to block the incoming blade aimed at him, but it wasn’t enough. His sword couldn’t withstand the force and flew from his hand to the ground.
Stunned by the instant defeat, Bihun’s face went blank before twisting in anger. Regardless, the opponent’s sword hovered right at his throat.
The blade tip halted just before his Adam’s apple, and in unison, the sound of swords being drawn from scabbards rang sharply through the air.
Mount Hua swords all aimed at one person. Chungnam swords aimed back at Mount Hua.
“How about you lower your sword now?”
Even with nine swords pointed at him and my icy warning, the Chungnam guy called Yeohyeon kept his blade steady and unwavering at Bihun’s throat.
His lips, sealed tight in a straight line, finally parted.
“Sooo, who’s the mangy mutt now?”
“Who’re you calling a mangy mutt...”
Bihun’s face flushed with fury at the words flung back at him. He glanced down at his sword on the ground, then glared daggers at the Chungnam punk with fierce eyes.
His expression screamed he wanted to snatch it up and tear the guy apart right then.
But picking up the sword meant bending over in front of the enemy, and prideful Bihun would never swallow that.
*Tsk tsk, what a dilemma.*
Yeah, that line was way too on-the-nose for a villain. Perfect cautionary tale from a third-rate Nine Great Sect side character.
“Why the long face? If you start a fight, you’ve gotta be ready to take one too, right?”
As the sarcasm poured out, Bihun gritted his teeth and raised his hand. Before he could grab the sword pointed at him barehanded, our hellhound’s owner—Biyeong—stepped up.
“Hmm, what, are your ears clogged? Didn’t hear our great senior brother tell you to sheathe it? Or is your brain too small to grasp a simple order?”
Yeohyeon’s eye twitched. But before he could speak, a preemptive callout rang out.
“Jui Ryeong?”
Biyeong’s name before taking her dharma title. A name unspoken for nine years echoed clearly in Xi’an, not Mount Hua.
From the Chungnam third-gen side, a bun-haired girl stepped forward, scrutinized Biyeong’s face, then pointed accusingly.
“Damn, it really is her! That stamina beggar passed the Mount Hua entrance exam finals?”
Biyeong’s brow furrowed nicely. Scanning the girl in return, she smoothed it out and sneered.
“What’re you yapping about, dropout for cheating? Jealous I’m standing here?”
The girl, repaid in kind with words, twisted her face in rage.
Bihwan’s expression shifted oddly too, as if recognizing her. Fair enough—he’d basically meddled in her fate back then.
Her childlike features still intact, I recalled the faintly remembered name from my memories.
“Seong Riri?”