Who the Hell Is Calling This a Duel? You’re Dead Now. (3)
"I’m your sago. You’re my sajil."
"So?"
"Show some respect to your sago."
Respect my ass. What is she, a ghost?
Chung Myung let out a long, irritated sigh.
He could let the lack of any detectable presence slide. In the vast world of the Central Plains, it wasn’t strange for there to be one freak of nature like her.
Truthfully, he was so absurdly good at sensing people through his intuition that if he deliberately relied on all five senses, it wasn’t impossible to miss someone’s presence entirely.
The real problem was something else.
"Why the hell do you keep following me?"
"Following?"
"……me."
Chung Myung was suddenly overcome with a very deep sense of sorrow.
If my sahyung saw me like this right now, they’d either spit blood… no, they’d be clutching their stomachs laughing until they choked to death.
They were exactly the kind of people who’d keep clapping until their hands broke. And then keep going anyway.
Having to speak so politely to a young descendant who was younger than a granddaughter made life feel meaningless in a single stroke. He felt as if he’d been smacked straight in the face by the emptiness of the world and was on the verge of enlightenment, ready to ascend into heaven.
Whether heaven would even take Chung Myung was another matter entirely.
- We’re not taking you, you little punk.
Ah, damn it.
Chung Myung let out another heavy sigh and looked at Yu I-seol.
"Seriously, why? Why do you keep following people around like this?"
"Following?"
"……me."
Yu I-seol raised her brows as if displeased.
She seemed to be trying to look a little angry to intimidate him, but it only made her look cute.
It’s not just because I’m old that I find her cute, is it?
As Jo Gul and the rest of the Cheong generation had all said in unison, she really was beautiful. If her expressions were a little more varied and her features a little softer, her face would draw people’s attention several times more than it did now.
Still, it was only a shell of skin.
But human beings were attached to that shell. Hadn’t Chung Myung benefited greatly from his own gorgeous looks in the past…?
Ah, fine! I know! I know!
"That sword."
Yu I-seol looked at Chung Myung and said,
"The sword that makes plum blossoms bloom."
"I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about."
Chung Myung put on a deadpan expression.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t explain if he tried, but there was no reason to bother. He hated troublesome things with a passion, so denying it was the best course.
"I don’t know what you think you saw, but I have no clue, so don’t waste your time and—"
"Teach me."
"Teach… huh?"
Chung Myung’s eyes widened slightly.
"What did you say?"
"Teach me."
Chung Myung furrowed his brow.
So that was why she’d been following me?
He’d assumed she was going to bother him by asking where he’d learned non-Mount Hua martial arts, or accusing him of practicing sorcery, or some other nonsense. He never expected this.
Which made him curious all the more.
"That thing you saw—"
No, wait. I really don’t know what you’re talking about.
Yu I-seol bit her lip slightly.
"I’ll tell the sahus."
"Go ahead. If they believe you."
"I’ll tell the sect leader too."
"Sure, sure. Do whatever you want. Knock yourself out."
Chung Myung snorted and waved a hand.
Believe what you want to believe.
A brash little brat who had been in Mount Hua for less than half a year had swung a sword and made plum blossoms bloom across Yeonhwabong?
At best, the sect leader would probably say,
"Heh heh. It seems our I-seol has been having a hard time with closed-door cultivation. She must be seeing things. Let me find you a good physician."
And then have her tied up and thrown into the clinic.
"I won’t tell, so teach me."
"I said go ahead. I don’t care."
Chung Myung chuckled.
"So stop bothering someone else’s cultivation and get lost already. I can’t even train properly because of you."
Go on, then?
Get lost! You clingy thing!
Just as Chung Myung was about to snap at her again, Yu I-seol stared at him for a moment and spoke.
"Won’t teach me?"
"Listen, sago—"
"Hmm?"
"You’re the sago and I’m the sajil, so what exactly am I supposed to teach you? If anything, I should be the one learning from you."
"……."
Yu I-seol flinched.
Oh, this works.
Even when they first met, Yu I-seol had emphasized that she was his sago. So this should have worked…
"There is no hierarchy in learning."
"……."
What the hell kind of heresy had these people been taught in Mount Hua? Had the entire Baek generation converted to Confucianism or something? What was this sacred Taoist temple bullshit? If Taishang Laojun knew, he’d probably foam at the mouth!
"So teach me."
"I’m telling you, I have nothing to teach you!"
Chung Myung cut her off sharply.
"I don’t know what you think you saw, but that was probably just a dream. Or an illusion. If not that, then maybe you were tired and saw things. I don’t even know what you’re talking about, so quit it and get going."
When Chung Myung drew the line so firmly, Yu I-seol narrowed her eyes.
"I couldn’t have seen it wrong."
"No, you just saw something—"
"I’ve seen it before."
"That was before—"
Chung Myung’s eyes flew wide open.
"What?"
His bearing changed in an instant, and he shot Yu I-seol a sharp glare.
The sword that made plum blossoms bloom.
The Plum Blossom Sword Art.
Mount Hua had countless sword forms that imitated plum blossoms.
But among them, only a handful could truly make plum blossoms bloom rather than merely copy their shape.
And with one exception, none of those were passed down to ordinary disciples. At the very least, one had to be an elder to learn them, and even then they were handed down only by oral formula—not from manuals.
That day, on the summit of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, every elder of Mount Hua had died. No one had imagined annihilation, so not even the oral formulas had been preserved.
Which meant—
If someone had made plum blossoms bloom with a sword, then it could only mean they had learned Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art.
And the place that sword art had been passed down to now was…
"What does that have to do with the Southern Edge Sect?"
When Chung Myung growled the words softly, Yu I-seol tilted her head.
"Southern Edge?"
"……."
"Why Southern Edge?"
Was he wrong?
Chung Myung stared at Yu I-seol’s face. No matter how hard he looked, all he could see was complete and utter confusion. If she was acting, she should quit swordsmanship and become a stage performer instead. At least then she’d be able to perform before the emperor.
But Yu I-seol, with that naturally dazed look of hers, didn’t seem capable of acting out an expression so perfectly.
Chung Myung’s momentum deflated helplessly.
Well, yeah.
Even if the Southern Edge Sect had seen the manuals, there was no way they could have mastered the Plum Blossom Sword Art properly. That sword art only had meaning when used together with Mount Hua’s internal energy.
……But wait, those bastards didn’t steal Mount Hua’s internal energy too, did they?
No way.
Chung Myung returned to his usual shameless grin, shrugged, and asked,
"You said you’ve seen it before. What do you mean?"
Yu I-seol’s face went a little blank.
"A very long time ago."
As if recalling a memory from long ago, Yu I-seol gazed at the dark sky before looking back at him with a firm expression.
"Teach me."
"I’m telling you, I really don’t know."
"Really?"
Yu I-seol nodded.
Did she finally give up?
Well, that was a relief…
"Then there’s no helping it."
"Yeah, now you’re finally understanding…"
Snikt.
A sword slid free from Yu I-seol’s waist.
Chung Myung stared at the sight in alarm.
"H-Hey, why are you drawing your sword all of a sudden?"
"So you’re not going to teach me?"
Was this woman insane?
She was drawing her sword because he wouldn’t teach her one sword technique? What in the world had her seniors been doing to take in a disciple like this and raise her?
"Why are you drawing a sword just because I won’t teach you?"
"Because you’re right."
"Huh?"
"I’m your sago, and you’re my sajil."
"……."
"Then I should teach you."
Yu I-seol raised her sword and pointed it at Chung Myung.
Watching that, Chung Myung smiled with clear delight.
No wonder the Baek generation never got along with her.
Of course they didn’t. She clearly wasn’t right in the head.
Maybe her obsession with the Plum Blossom Sword Art is just because she wants a flower.
If he stuck a plum blossom on her head, she’d be easier to identify, so everyone would win. It’d be best to avoid the crazy woman, that was all. Absolutely.
"I’m coming."
"Coming my ass! Don’t come!"
But a madwoman wasn’t going to listen to Chung Myung. With her sword leveled straight ahead, Yu I-seol shot toward him at tremendous speed.
"Damn it!"
Chung Myung quickly deflected the sword with his wooden sword and leaped backward.
"What kind of sago swings a real sword at her sajil like this?"
"Because you’re stronger than me."
Huh? That was true, but…
Why the hell did she think that way?
Her logic was obviously wrong, yet because she’d somehow landed on the right answer, he couldn’t even yell at her properly. It was a bizarre situation.
Fshh! Fwah! Slash!
Just as he had seen a little while ago, Yu I-seol’s sword was light. And unbelievably graceful.
It stabbed in sharply, then curved smoothly away. It flickered like an illusion before darting in again with a feather-light thrust.
The sword of Mount Hua.
Ever since returning to Mount Hua, Chung Myung had seen countless swords. He had seen the swords of the Cheong generation, the swords of the Un generation, and on occasion he’d even had the chance to observe the elders’ swords.
And yet the sword unfolding before him now was closer to Mount Hua’s very origin than any other sword he had ever seen.
It was enough to make him feel a little wistful just looking at it.
Why was that?
Because her nature resembled Mount Hua’s own? Or because…
"An opening!"
At that moment, Yu I-seol’s sword shot toward Chung Myung’s face with blinding speed.
Chung Myung jerked his head aside and avoided the strike.
Swish.
Several strands of his bangs were cut away.
"Eeeek!"
No, this crazy woman was actually trying to stab him?
"Are you nuts? If I hadn’t dodged, I’d be dead!"
"There’s no way you wouldn’t have dodged."
"Why the hell are you so confident in me?"
Had her brain really gone bad? Why wasn’t her thought process even remotely normal?
Her face is pretty, but no wonder she has no friends.
Still, he didn’t have the luxury of arguing about it.
Yu I-seol’s sword, aimed squarely at Chung Myung, grew sharper with every exchange. Well, he should be able to handle her easily enough.
Uh… if he was allowed to attack, that is.
One wrong swing of the sword and he’d become a filial piety-defying bastard who beat up his sago. So he had to restrain her without hurting her.
Whoosh!
"I told you not to use killing moves, you woman!"
"You’re the sago!"
"What kind of sago uses killing moves on her sajil? Has your head really gone that bad?"
Oh, heavens. Ancestors, look what Mount Hua has come to!
As he muttered inwardly, Chung Myung’s brow twitched slightly.
Probably because she could attack as hard as she wanted, Yu I-seol looked as if she was gradually becoming entranced by the sword itself. Her eyes grew a little hazy, and her sword began to stray from its intended path.
Oh?
She was reaching enlightenment in the middle of a duel?
Jo Gul wouldn’t even get the chance to sniff this.
If one judged by talent for the sword alone, she might actually be Mount Hua’s number one.
No.
Chung Myung lightly extended his wooden sword and nudged her wandering blade back onto the right path.
The stage of entering a trance and finding one’s own sword path. For ordinary people, it was a realm they wouldn’t dare interfere with; they’d be too busy retreating. If they carelessly touched it the wrong way, the enlightenment could vanish in an instant, and if things went badly, it could even end in qi deviation—a worst-case scenario.
At Chung Myung’s level, though, he could anticipate and read every one of those sword paths and guide them back to the correct route.
Not there. Right, here. No, no. Here, I said.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Chung Myung used his sword to lightly tap Yu I-seol’s blade and lead it along the proper path. The only reason he could do this while kill moves were flying at him in every instant was Chung Myung…
"What the hell do you think you’re doing, you bastard!"
At the sudden interruption, Chung Myung whipped his head around.
Baek Cheon, looking as if he’d lost all reason to fury, was charging toward him at insane speed.
Ah… why the hell are you here, of all people, you idiot!