Guest
At that moment, my eldest brother lifted his remaining eye and looked at me.
“It is already over. So let go of your hatred...”
Of course, I could not accept those words.
“For me, this is only the beginning. So tell me everything—every last detail.”
In the end, my eldest brother let out a long sigh and continued.
“Hoo... Then promise me one thing. Even after you hear my story, you will never do anything reckless.”
In truth, there were not many things I would have considered reckless anymore. Granting my elder brother’s request was no hardship at all.
“I promise.”
At last, truth began to flow from my eldest brother’s mouth.
“You already know that the Baekri family hurried the marriage alliance with our clan. They even brought precious elixirs that were rare even within their own family, hoping to join hands with us. But you probably didn’t know the reason. It was not something that could ever be made known to outsiders.”
The Great Ultimate Yang Brightness Pill, which not only increased one’s internal energy but also raised one’s spiritual energy.
The Great Ultimate Yang Brightness Pill, which might be called the beginning of my own immortal cultivation, was not as extraordinary an elixir as the Clear Harmony Pill of Hyeondo Sect, a sect devoted to cultivation, but it was still an object of considerable value.
The fact that the Baekri family had offered such a precious thing as a betrothal gift in order to secure the marriage proved just how strong their resolve had been, just as my elder brother said.
As I nodded, another astonishing story spilled from my eldest brother’s lips.
“The Baekri family became estranged from the Yeoncheon Sect over something rather minor. Once they could no longer remain where they had lived, they sought to join hands with our clan and come here. But Yeoncheon Sect, having caught wind of it, did not simply stand by and watch the Baekri family move. They attacked us on the very day I was to wed Lady Baekri... and everyone present at the wedding died that day. After Father and the Baekri family head fell, even the innocent servants were slaughtered to the last. But that heartless Yeoncheon Sect Master spared only the two of us who were standing at the altar. As the price, he gouged out my eyes while I was still in my wedding clothes... and cut out Lady Baekri’s tongue.”
In the martial world, grudges and vengeance usually unfolded in exactly this way. Once the wheel of resentment began to turn, it would not stop until it was soaked in blood.
And now, it was Yeoncheon Sect’s blood that that wheel must drink.
“So all I need to do is bring back Yeoncheon Sect Master’s head—eyes gouged out and tongue cut out.”
“Neung So! You mustn’t act rashly. Yeoncheon Sect is not only a great sect with many peak experts, it’s also tied to the Cheon clan, the rulers of Yeongju City. Those bastards are connected to a family of immortals. Didn’t you just promise me a moment ago? You said you would never do anything reckless.”
The Cheon clan, a family of immortals.
In truth, I knew very little about them.
But I did know what Yeongju City was famous for. It was the very place where Cheonmulhoe, the cultivators’ marketplace visited by San Su Jinmyeong, had been located.
A family that operated a marketplace frequented by greedy cultivators naturally implied that their power was far from insignificant.
And yet, I still did not think it reckless to confront them. Strong as they might be, I had grown much stronger myself in the meantime.
So I decided to show my elder brother a small portion of my strength.
Whoosh.
“Huh—!”
I had not even lifted a finger, yet my eldest brother, caught in the hold of eomulsul, slowly rose into the air.
Startled, he gasped and flailed his arms, trying to regain his balance.
“You said Yeoncheon Sect was tied to a family of cultivators, didn’t you? Our Neung family has cultivators too. Eldest Brother Neung Jeon and I are both cultivators of Hyeondo Sect.”
When my eldest brother heard that, he landed lightly back on the ground, yet his face remained stiff as he continued.
“I know Neung Jeon entered Hyeondo Sect. I didn’t know you had gone there as well, but... Even so, even if the two of you have become immortals, it would still be impossible to stand against the Cheon clan head-on. There are said to be dozens of immortals affiliated with the Cheon clan. In Yeongju City, people openly say that the Cheon clan head’s command carries more weight than the emperor’s.”
In truth, the wheel of resentment now grinding forward was not aimed at the endlessly bragging Cheon clan, but at Yeoncheon Sect.
But if the Cheon clan stood behind them, then the problem was that the wheel which had crushed Yeoncheon Sect might be turned upon us once more by the Cheon clan. My elder brother feared that I and my second brother might be hurt.
And yet, I was not afraid of the formidable Cheon clan either.
“Didn’t I promise that I wouldn’t do anything reckless to settle a grudge? I’ll keep that promise.”
Of course, my eldest brother chose to take my words exactly as he wished, and he soon nodded.
“Good. My home is your home as well. Stay here a few days, eat well, rest properly, and your thoughts will settle.”
The home I had longed to return to, because of the lingering ache of memory that stayed in the heart like a faint aftertaste. It was not merely the old Neung estate in some abstract sense; even in a place as unfamiliar as this, it was still the place where my family lived.
So I gave my eldest brother a small smile.
“Yes. Only now does it feel as though I’ve come home.”
My eldest brother’s one eye glistened too, and he smiled back at me.
Perhaps because our brothers’ reunion was so pleasing to see, the grass upon Father’s grave rustled as the wind passed over it, making a soft sound as the blades struck one another.
Whoosh, rustle...
At that sound, like Father’s laugh itself, I quietly lifted my gaze to the sky.
The sky had the yellowed cast of old paper... As I briefly imagined Father’s face upon that now-familiar sky, I broke into a full smile. Without doubt, this was the smile he would want to see.
Of course, for the sake of this body’s father, I intended to smile brightly once more in the future. I would do so after cutting off my enemy’s head and offering it before his grave.
“I rushed to prepare it, so there isn’t much, but this should at least keep your hunger at bay. Tomorrow I’ll go to the market first thing in the morning, so for now just eat what you can. And please, everyone in your party, help yourselves! Tomorrow I’ll be sure to treat you to something delicious!”
The meal consisted of rice piled high until it nearly overflowed from the bowl, along with a single simple stir-fry. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to be a household worried about its next meal, but the food nevertheless revealed just how modest my elder brother’s circumstances were.
Even the Baekri young lady, whose tongue had been cut out, kept her head lowered, apparently too embarrassed to meet anyone’s eyes after serving such a plain meal.
But for cultivators, who mostly did not live on ordinary food, this was already more than enough.
“This is excellent. When I first entered Hyeondo Sect, the food Eldest Brother Neung Jeon gave me was a dried sweet potato. But I was so hungry then that even that tasted wonderful.”
At my words, the Baekri young lady seemed to gain a little courage and slowly lifted her head.
Then, this time, Senior Sister Jeong spoke.
“I can’t even remember the last time I ate a proper meal like this instead of a Bigu Pill.”
She promptly shoveled a bite of rice and a bite of stir-fry into her mouth, then continued.
“I’d forgotten that food could be this delicious, this comforting. From now on, I should make sure to eat properly once in a while.”
The Baekri young lady’s expression brightened a little more at those unmistakably complimentary words, and the eldest brother, seeming to share in that good feeling, now offered the food to the puppet dressed as a bodyguard.
“You should try some as well.”
At that, Seop Myeong-gyeol responded at once.
“I’d love to eat too~ but I can’t.”
Of course, her words were audible only to me, so I translated for my eldest brother instead.
“This is a puppet made of wood that I control. Since it isn’t human, it can’t eat food, of course.”
My eldest brother’s mouth fell open in astonishment, and after a moment he spoke again.
“Impossible... It was moving exactly like a person just now. You’re saying this is really a wooden puppet?”
At that, I casually rolled up the puppet’s sleeve to reveal the wooden body beneath.
“Cultivators possess rather interesting abilities. Now then, tell me about the Gold Family people in our estate. What sort of people are they?”
After that, I brought the food to my mouth with an unfamiliar motion of the chopsticks. It had been so long since I’d eaten a proper meal that the flavor felt unusually rich.
Thanks to that, my mood lifted a little.
But the moment I heard my eldest brother continue speaking, that slight improvement vanished again.
“I heard the lord of that place used to be an elder of Yeoncheon Sect. Apparently he inherited the estate in recognition of the merits he’d accumulated over the years.”
So the mustached man I had spared was, in the end, connected to Yeoncheon Sect, enemy of the Neung family.
I decided where I would go after finishing this meal. The man had answered my question properly, but now I could no longer leave him alive.
Yet just as I was about to take another bite after settling on my next destination, I suddenly sensed killing intent approaching rapidly from some distance away.
Judging by the direction from which he was coming, I could roughly guess where he had set out from.
Yeongju City. The base of the martial sect Yeoncheon Sect, which was tied to the Cheon clan, the cultivator family. It seemed the Gold Family lord I had beaten had sent word to Yeongju City by carrier pigeon or some other means.
But I merely ate as if nothing at all had happened. My cultivation had increased so much that I had only just now detected the person approaching this place; in truth, the distance between us was still nowhere near close.
Moreover, the cultivation I sensed from him was roughly at the late Foundation Establishment stage, which held no particular threat to me now that I had already achieved Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, equal to Golden Core cultivation.
Then, just as I had calmly eaten about half of my allotted rice, Senior Sister Jeong suddenly set down her chopsticks. She looked straight at me and said,
“It seems I have a guest who has come to see me.”
Of course, I did not take her words at face value.
“He’s probably not here to see you, Senior Sister. He must have heard that something happened to the Gold Family lord.”
But Senior Sister Jeong immediately shook her head and continued.
“Not many cultivators care about the life and death of insignificant commoners. That one has definitely come to see me.”
“Then I should meet this guest of yours as well. Judging by his presence, he certainly didn’t come for anything pleasant.”
But when she heard that, Senior Sister Jeong suddenly wore a sorrowful expression and continued.
“I’ll explain everything to you later. So for now, just trust me and step aside.”
At that moment, I thought of the lie Senior Sister Jeong had told me in Peach Blossom Grotto. That unwelcome guest was undoubtedly someone connected to that incident.
“Very well. I’ll give you the space. But afterward, you must explain everything—why you had to lie to me back then.”
Senior Sister Jeong nodded, her face rigid and frozen.
Seeing that, I rose at once, and with eomulsul I lifted the eldest brother and his wife, who were awkwardly trying to stand, into the air before kicking off the ground. Since Senior Sister did not want to show us this meeting with the uninvited guest, I would honor her will as well.
In no time at all, I had returned to the front of the Gold Family estate. When I set my pale-faced eldest brother and sister-in-law back on the ground, the eldest brother, whose legs were trembling, barely managed to steady himself and catch the Baekri young lady as she was about to collapse beside him.
“Truly amazing. Is this the power of immortals? It is faster than any light-footwork technique I know.”
To that, I told my eldest brother the truth.
“This wasn’t the power of a cultivator. It was martial arts. The kind you will learn in the future.”