Unable to Move
That was close!
Yeop Pung was smiling on the outside, but his back was soaked through with cold sweat. He looked down at Sa Cheonseong crawling at his feet and quickly withdrew the Black Frost Sword, his heart hammering with fear.
Lucky. I managed to break free of that madness at the last second. If I hadn't, I really would have run Sa Cheonseong through. That would have been a disaster.
Of course he was still grinding his teeth with hatred for the man. But unless Cheonun Sect was prepared to break completely with the Military Supply Bureau, Sa Cheonseong was someone he absolutely could not kill.
Hey, Golden Disc Bro! What the hell kind of Profound Qi was that? I almost killed someone!
Yeop Pung bellowed the words inwardly. The Golden Disc's reply came back, cold and unmoved.
Did anyone force you to use it? Once you've tasted the killing power of golden Profound Qi — far beyond ordinary Five-Element Profound Qi — you pay the price that comes with it…
Yeop Pung discreetly wiped the cold sweat from his brow. That was when Yeom Jin-ri came flying over from behind and gazed quietly into his eyes.
"Yeop Pung, are you all right?"
"……"
Asking him if he was all right… the Cheonbong Legion martial artists sprawled across the ground wanted to weep.
We're the ones who aren't all right…
Sa Cheonseong in particular, having suffered a humiliation a hundred times more wretched than anything at Taibai Peak, crawled another thirty feet or so before he could even drag himself upright. Paying no mind whatsoever to the rest of his men, he staggered off into the distance. He did not leave so much as a single venomous remark behind.
Damn it… I need to change my pants…
Once every last Cheonbong warrior had made their disgraceful exit, Hwa Cheonpung and the others rushed straight to Yeop Pung. Joy lit every face.
"You beat a monster like Sa Cheonseong! Yeop Pung, you're incredible!"
Hwa Cheonpung came up beaming and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Ugh— that hurts!"
Yeop Pung winced, his face gone pale.
"What are you doing! Senior Brother Hwa, be gentle! Can't you see Junior Brother Yeop is injured?"
So Un appeared in a flash, wrapping an arm around Yeop Pung's shoulder and glaring at Hwa Cheonpung.
"Eh…? Junior Sister So, isn't that a little too obvious…?"
"Haha, has our Junior Sister So got honey in her eyes?"
"What did you just say? Ma Ok, you bastard! Yeop Pung, are you badly hurt? I'll treat you right now!"
"Junior Sister, treatment should be done at Maun Peak. Don't go accidentally taking him to your room. Hahaha!"
Everyone burst into cheerful laughter.
The banquet, originally a gathering for fellow disciples to test their skills against one another, had ended with the complete humiliation of Sa Cheonseong, genius of the Cheonbong Legion. It was a victory a hundred times more satisfying than any match they could have fought.
Yeop Pung laughed along with the rest, but a deep unease lingered in his eyes.
This… doesn't feel like a simple matter.
How had the Cheonbong Legion been able to walk into the very heart of Mount Tianyun so easily?
Yi Hwawu, who had kept silent the entire time — and Han Buri, Peak Master of Nowoon Peak, to whom he belonged. What were those two plotting?
Yeom Jin-ri looked at Yi Hwawu as well, and spoke.
"Hwawu. What reason did the Cheonbong Legion have for coming to Mount Tianyun today? Han Buri… what is he trying to do?"
At her words, the cheerful atmosphere froze in an instant.
Only then did Yi Hwawu slowly rise. Expressionless, he looked around at everyone present.
"Time… is almost up."
Time was almost up? What kind of half-finished remark was that?
But Yi Hwawu left those words hanging, turned his back, and walked away without a glance at anyone. At his rude departure, Yeom Jin-ri's face went cold once more.
Something big was happening. There was no question about it.
"We'll end today's banquet here. Cheoncheon, escort Yeop Pung to Nagun Peak. Everyone else, disperse!"
Having spoken, Yeom Jin-ri became a streak of light and flew toward Cheonun Sect. The others no longer had any heart left for wine or celebration, and drifted away one by one.
But before they all departed, they cast meaningful looks at the two who remained until the end: the injured Yeop Pung, and the expressionless Un Cheoncheon.
A sudden chill ran through Yeop Pung's entire body.
Why is she looking at me like that? Why is she suddenly supposed to take me home?
He had sensed something off ever since Un Cheoncheon had invited him in the first place. And now that feeling was growing sharper by the moment.
Did Peak Master Yeom deliberately send her to get close to me? But why…?
Don't tell me I'm so handsome that the number-one goddess of Cheonun Sect is clinging to me? Hmm… thinking about it carefully… it's not entirely impossible.
Un Cheoncheon, who had been watching him from across the way, slowly stood and spoke.
"I'm a bit tired. Can you go on your own?"
……
Of course not. Damn it. A person can get tired while eating, he supposed. Couldn't this young lady come up with a more convincing excuse?
Then again, this Brother Yeop had his pride too. He had to save face in front of a woman somehow.
Yeop Pung forced a smile.
"Of course. Cheoncheon, if you'd like, I could escort you instead."
"Take care."
Un Cheoncheon turned and left.
"……"
Yeop Pung decided his personality had truly improved. Otherwise he would have gone back five years on the spot and slapped his past self across the face.
Rescue her? Rescue what? A girl like that wasn't even worth saving.
People really shouldn't get angry. Yeop Pung especially — injured on top of everything else — found that the anger only made his chest seize up. As he laboriously took a step, the wounds he had barely kept suppressed flared back to life. The qi and blood in his body refused to obey and churned in wild disorder. His legs gave out, his vision went black, and he coughed up blood as he collapsed toward the ground.
This is bad!
Yeop Pung groaned inwardly. As he was now, he was no match for a 6th Meridian Mysterious Realm expert. Even if he borrowed the power of the Black Frost Sword to cut one down, he himself would be left half a cripple.
If I could just reach the 4th Meridian Mysterious Realm, I'd be so much stronger than I am now…
I have to resolve the fusion problem between my constitution and the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture somehow, and break through to the next stage as soon as I can.
But just as he was about to hit the ground completely, a white figure flashed in from the side like lightning. Something cold and soft caught his body and held it safely.
Huh?
Yeop Pung felt as if he were sinking deep into the clouds of the sky. That soft sensation was as intoxicating as the ecstasy of breaking through to the Profound Realm. It was so comfortable he didn't want to get up.
This… this feels amazing…?
The next instant he snapped awake. He opened his eyes, and just as he should have expected, Un Cheoncheon's clear, transparent pale-green pupils were looking down at him with a cold gaze.
What? She didn't leave?
Yeop Pung's face flushed with embarrassment. He knew perfectly well how absurd his current posture was, and exactly what he was leaning against. But he was so drained of strength he couldn't move.
I have to move… I have to move…!
He genuinely wanted to. He poured every ounce of remaining strength into trying to rise. His body shifted — a little — and only ended up nestling even deeper into Un Cheoncheon's embrace.
Damn it. The atmosphere grew even more awkward.
Yeop Pung's face went stiff; he had no idea what to say. Un Cheoncheon, on the other hand, seemed to have no regard whatsoever for the old precept that men and women past the age of seven should not sit together, and simply looked at him as if nothing were amiss. A subtle, complicated emotion lingered in her eyes.
After a long moment, she spoke.
"Don't push yourself."
"Ah… yeah…"
Yeop Pung couldn't find a single word. She wasn't saying anything even in a posture like this — what would be the point of him fussing around? He wasn't an idiot.
"Eat this. I'll take you back."
Un Cheoncheon took a healing spirit pill from her other hand and stuffed it into Yeop Pung's mouth. Then she hoisted him onto her back. Her manner was utterly natural and deadpan, as if she were hauling a sack of rice.
Yeop Pung, for his part, went stiff as a board.
Just as the two of them were about to head back to Nagun Peak, an enormously loud and majestic bell peal shook the heavens from the direction of Wangcheon Hall on Cheonun Peak.
"That's… the Heaven-Gate Bell?"
As a disciple of Cheonun Sect, Yeop Pung knew all too well what that sound meant. It was the emergency bell that rang only when something of grave importance had occurred within the sect. The heaven-shaking peal seemed to make the whole of Mount Tianyun tremble.
Before they knew it, pitch-black storm clouds had gathered across the sky, blotting out the round moon completely. A long, heavy shadow of darkness was settling over Cheonun Sect.
It took Un Cheoncheon a full hour to escort Yeop Pung back to Nagun Peak. She walked with very slow, heavy steps — weighed down by the tidings coming out of Wangcheon Hall.
Cheonun Peak is in turmoil. The Sect Master has been imprisoned.
Han Buri assumes the seat of Acting Sect Master. Cheonun Sect shall submit in full to the Military Supply Bureau.
The Military Supply Bureau will select one thousand third-generation disciples to form the Cheonun Army. After three months of training, they will be sent to campaign in Manhwang.
Nearly every Cheonun disciple who had taken part in the Autumn Hunt, Yeop Pung included, was on that list. Worse still, not a single one of the third-generation prodigies — Un Cheoncheon, Hwa Cheonpung, and all the rest — had been spared. This was a scheme to tear Cheonun Sect's younger generation out by the roots.
Even with his eyes closed, Yeop Pung could see what the Military Supply Bureau intended to do. Those three months of training would be a process of brainwashing and conquest, and after those three months, probably only those who submitted to the Bureau would come back alive from Manhwang. The Military Supply Bureau… what a brilliant move.
Thanks to the pill Un Cheoncheon had given him, Yeop Pung recovered quickly enough to walk on his own. But his heart felt as if it were being crushed beneath a mountain.
It had only ever been a matter of time before the Military Supply Bureau reached for Cheonun Sect, and the traitor Han Buri's coveting of the Sect Master's seat was nothing new. Even so, he could not shake the thought that all of this had ultimately come to pass because of his and Maeng Chang-haeng's impulsive championship victory.
Old Man Maeng and Sect Master Lee Sujol were still standing behind him, but Yeop Pung's heart was unbearably heavy. At the same time, something about it struck him as strange.
How had Old Man Maeng — careless on the outside, sharper than anyone underneath — and a Sect Master renowned for his wisdom had their power snatched away so easily?
Burdened with enormous guilt and doubt, Yeop Pung could say nothing more to Un Cheoncheon.
After they arrived at Nagun Peak, Yeop Pung returned alone to his little house.
The moment he stepped into the courtyard, he froze in shock. Atop the stone table in the yard, a lavish drinking spread was laid out as usual, and Old Man Maeng and Bone were eating with gusto as if nothing in the world were wrong.
But there was one more figure sitting beside them — a man whose appearance nearly made Yeop Pung reopen every wound he had.
"S-Sect Master, how are you here…?"