A Storm Brewing in Henan
We set off on the road from Sichuan back to Henan.
In the end, I didn't meet with the Poison King face-to-face before leaving.
Seeing how he only met with Do-hyeong separately despite everyone else leaving, it seemed like something had come up.
Even if that wasn't the case, the young family head had paid his respects on his behalf along with a letter, so I didn't feel particularly slighted.
'Besides, I got what I came for.'
I had already collected all the rewards from our previous deal.
And the same went for the Great Pill I had secretly pocketed here.
'Not bad.'
My hands were full. I was carrying a bounty of things I hadn't possessed when I first set out.
That fact alone made the trip a success in my book.
The problem was...
'...the trouble I ran into.'
The things that happened in Sichuan. The Heaven-Destroying Palace, and the matters regarding Yoo Chun-gil.
'Well, I did send a report ahead...'
I had immediately sent a carrier pigeon to Cheongwol Gate regarding these matters.
It would probably arrive at Cheongwol Gate today or in a few days.
'Hmm.'
What should I do once that happened?
'First, I need to start laying the groundwork.'
I needed to investigate what I could within Cheongwol Gate and start recruiting people to my side.
If I wanted to properly enter the battle for the position of Young Sect Leader, this was a necessary step.
'I really had nothing before.'
All I had was the reputation of being the Sword Saint's successor.
While that carried significant weight, it was also a bit ambiguous on its own.
But now...
'...things are a bit different.'
The situation had changed. Even if it was only for half a year, I now had the backing of the Tang Clan. And even without that...
'...I gained a massive amount from this request.'
Since this incident would bring immense benefits to Cheongwol Gate.
I was in a position to secure a solid foothold.
'If so...'
...it was truly time to start recruiting.
'People who will support me.'
Those who would push for me to become the Young Sect Leader of Cheongwol Gate.
Right now, I had no one, but from now on, it was time to find them.
'And the first person I need to recruit...'
I already had one person at the top of my list.
Now, the question was how to win him over.
'Well, that's fine.'
I had already figured out a way.
Even before I came to Sichuan.
So, just as I was about to fine-tune the details of my plan—
"What do you plan to do now?"
A refined voice shattered my train of thought.
I furrowed my brows at the interruption and looked ahead.
"...Now?"
"Yes. From here on out."
Sitting calmly across from me was a beautiful woman with a cold impression.
It was Moyong Yeong-sun, the daughter of the Moyong family and my ex-fiancée.
"What do you mean, 'now'? Obviously, I have to return to Cheongwol Gate first..."
I trailed off and stared at her.
"...But why are you following us, Lady Moyong?"
"We've been traveling for almost a month. Isn't it a bit late to ask that?"
Moyong Yeong-sun replied with a soft chuckle.
She was right. It had been a long time since we left Sichuan.
I remembered how shocked I was when I first opened the carriage door and saw her sitting there as if she owned the place.
When I gasped and asked why she was in here, Moyong Yeong-sun had answered with absolute confidence.
'Because I'm going with you.'
She was so brazen I couldn't even find the words to reply.
She claimed our paths aligned. Since they had to return to Henan anyway, she suggested we travel together.
When I asked why she couldn't just use a different carriage, she replied:
'This carriage belongs to us.'
Moyong Yeong-sun had shrugged.
Now that she mentioned it, the carriage we were riding in was indeed different.
It was much wider and far more luxurious.
Even the seats were incomparable to the stiff, bumpy ride we had endured on the way to Sichuan.
Just as I wondered what had happened to the carriage we brought from Cheongwol Gate, Yeong-sun spoke up.
'We'll bring that one along too. Why don't we just travel comfortably together? It's better for everyone, including you, Young Master.'
'...'
At those words, I had looked around. Do-hyeong and Cheon Ui-jin looked utterly blissed out, clearly shocked by the sheer comfort of the seats.
Would they ever be satisfied with our original carriage after riding in this?
'No. It's a long journey. I can't be stuck in a confined space with her.'
I had briefly thought that, but in the end, I chose comfort.
'...Damn it. Money is always the problem.'
No matter the world, materialism reigned supreme.
Expensive things were expensive for a reason.
And that was how I ended up traveling with Moyong Yeong-sun.
Sighing deeply at my own greedy choice, I reached out my hand.
"Water."
The moment I spoke, something was pressed into my palm. It was a cup.
Trickle, trickle! Water was poured into the cup.
The one pouring the water was none other than Dongnyong.
"More. More. More. Yeah, right there. Stop."
"..."
I took a large gulp of the water filling the cup.
My thirst was quenched, which made things a bit better.
"I knew it. Water poured by our Dongnyong is always the best."
"..."
At my praise, Dang Cheon-il looked as if he had just chewed on a piece of dung.
"Look at that face. Didn't I tell you not to glare at me like that?"
"...Ugh."
The moment I pointed it out, Dongnyong hung his head.
I had to hold back a laugh at his thoroughly defeated posture.
'At least having this guy around kept things lively.'
I hadn't been bored for a single moment of the journey.
Indeed, I had spent the entire trip teasing and tormenting Dongnyong.
I felt like I would have died of boredom otherwise.
[...You relentless bastard. I thought you would at least rest for a single day.]
Yoo Chun-gil spoke to me with a look of sheer disgust.
Hey, that's unfair.
'I only did what the Poison King asked.'
Under the pretext of teaching him the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky as promised, I had conducted lessons.
I just played around a little bit under the guise of teaching.
'And I'm telling you, Dang Cheon-il enjoyed it too!'
He definitely wasn't bored spending time with me.
Look at him. He was having so much fun he couldn't even lift his head.
"Pfft. Ahem."
I forced down the chuckle that threatened to escape.
Just then.
"We will reach Henan shortly."
Cheon Ui-jin said, looking out the window. At his words, Do-hyeong also glanced outside.
'Indeed. A familiar neighborhood.'
Familiar scenery was slowly coming into view.
Looking at it, I steeled my resolve. Aside from the nostalgia of returning home...
'...it's time to start using my brain again.'
It meant the annoying time of plotting and scheming had returned.
I was scratching my head at the thought when—
"You're going to be very busy from now on."
Moyong Yeong-sun said to me. I flinched slightly.
'What?'
Does she know what I'm planning to do?
Is Moyong Yeong-sun really that sharp?
'No, that's not just being sharp. That's clairvoyance.'
Not just prediction, but foresight.
There was no other way to explain it. I stared at her with a slightly tense expression.
"Because everyone will be looking only at you, Young Master."
Moyong Yeong-sun said with a smile. Hearing that, I couldn't understand and wore a puzzled expression.
"...What do you mean by that?"
What kind of random nonsense was this? I asked with that nuance.
"Hmm? I meant that the rumors must have spread all the way to Henan by now, so you'll be bothered for a while. You even got a title, didn't you?"
"Ah."
So that was what she meant.
She wasn't talking about what I was going to do at Cheongwol Gate, but what I had done in Sichuan.
'That damn "Small Sword Saint."'
The title I had acquired after killing Ma Hyeok-chang in Sichuan.
At the time, it was a story only famous within the Tang Clan and a few counties in Sichuan.
"It's just a minor rumor, isn't it?"
We were already in Henan, so why worry about that?
I figured it was just a rumor that would die down quickly.
But at my words, Moyong Yeong-sun suddenly wore a strange expression.
"A minor rumor?"
"Yes."
"What in the world... Ah."
Moyong Yeong-sun started to say something, then suddenly stopped.
Then,
"I see."
She clapped her hands as if realizing something.
"It'll be better for you to just go and see for yourself."
"Pardon?"
"It's nothing."
She said with a bright smile.
What was that? Why was she reacting in such an unsettling way?
Anxiety involuntarily began to bloom within me at her attitude.
[...Sigh. Tsk, tsk, tsk.]
And it only amplified when I heard Yoo Chun-gil clicking his tongue in pity.
What on earth could it be?
Though my mind was filled with questions,
I found out the answer just a few days later.
And for good reason, because the moment we arrived in Henan...
"No, so about the Small Sword Saint..."
"I heard the Sword Saint's successor in Sichuan..."
"Does that mean the successor far surpasses the Seven Great Talents?"
"The Seven Great Talents? Don't make me laugh! They say he can't even be compared to them!"
"He cut down a resurrected absolute master with a single strike..."
"They say it was an entity that even the Poison King couldn't handle, right?"
"...Wait, what?"
Hearing the chatter coming from all directions, I couldn't react at all.
What the hell is this?
I stood there dazed by this absurd situation.
At that moment,
"A minor rumor?"
Moyong Yeong-sun approached my side and whispered.
"Yeah, right."
"..."
While I stood frozen, unable to respond, barely managing to breathe,
[Did I not tell you?]
Not only Moyong Yeong-sun, but Yoo Chun-gil, floating in the air, added his piece.
[Child. I told you that you need to clearly understand your own worth.]
I couldn't utter a single word in response to Yoo Chun-gil.
'This...'
It seemed like things had gone terribly, terribly wrong.
And in a very big way.
A region in the northwestern part of Guangdong Province.
This place was usually shrouded in thick fog and infested with wild beasts, making it a desolate area.
For safety reasons, locals were forbidden from approaching it.
Recently, sinister rumors of ghosts appearing deep inside had spread, ensuring that no one dared set foot near it anymore.
In such a place—
"Aaaaaaaagh!"
Rough screams echoed continuously.
"Argh... S-spare me...!"
Desperate screams rang out in rapid succession. It wasn't just one voice, but a tangled chorus of many, all of them shrieking in absolute agony.
"P-please...!"
"I'll talk...! I'll tell you everything...! Aaaaargh!"
How long had the screaming gone on?
It was happening so deep inside that the sounds couldn't possibly reach the nearby village.
If anyone had heard it, they would have naturally suspected that the rumors of ghosts were true.
But the reality had nothing to do with ghosts.
Deep within the fog stood a hidden residence.
Though not particularly well-maintained, it was clearly not an abandoned ruin.
The screams were originating from inside.
"Gasp!"
"Argh... Uuugh..."
As the screams gradually subsided and eventually fell silent,
a scene of utter despair was left behind inside the residence.
The floor was littered with mangled corpses, and the blood flowing from them completely drenched the ground.
It seemed they were the ones who had been screaming just moments ago.
"H-heee... Ugh... P-please don't do this..."
The last survivor, a man with a face pale with terror, sobbed.
"P-please...! I'll talk...! I'll tell you everything...!"
He rubbed his hands together, begging desperately.
"You'll talk?"
The person listening to his pleas—
the one presumably responsible for this carnage—merely smirked.
At that moment,
"Please—!"
Slash!
With a chilling sound, the man's begging hands were cleanly severed.
Spurt!
Blood sprayed from the stumps, splashing onto the woman's pale cheek.
The woman lightly wiped the blood away with her hand and swung her sword.
The blood on the blade was swept away by the wind pressure, and the sword slid back into its scabbard in a smooth arc.
Click.
Sheathing the sword at her waist, the woman relaxed her posture.
Unlike the gruesome scene around her, a faint expression of refreshment washed over her face.
"Ah. Now I feel alive."
What exactly made her feel alive? Humming a tune, the woman walked forward.
Her footsteps made squelching sounds in the pooled blood.
Making those wet sounds with every step, the woman walked out of the building.
The outside was still filled with fog, and just like the interior, it was littered with corpses.
However, there was one difference: the state of the corpses outside was much cleaner.
While the bodies inside were hacked to pieces, the ones outside had all been decapitated, dying instantly.
Noticing this, the woman wore a slightly embarrassed expression.
"Oops, I let a few slip."
A voice replied to her disappointed remark.
"I have told you to always stay focused, yet you always let a few escape."
The one responding to the woman was a figure wearing a veil that concealed her face. Her voice revealed she was a woman, but it was difficult to guess her exact age or appearance.
"Hahaha. Sorry, Master."
"...Sigh."
The veiled figure was the woman's master.
She seemed displeased with the woman's attitude, but she didn't scold her further.
Years of experience had taught her.
This woman was not someone who would listen no matter how much she was scolded or nagged.
"Did you learn anything?"
"No."
The woman replied flatly.
"You know as well as I do, Master. There's nothing to gain from interrogating these pests."
Her master didn't deny it. It was true.
"Instead..."
The woman pulled something from her robes.
"...I found this."
It was a letter from inside. Her master took the letter.
She unfolded it and read the contents.
"..."
Her master's shoulders trembled slightly.
It seemed she had discovered something of great importance.
"Is something wrong?"
"Yes."
She folded the letter and tucked it into her robes. Then, she spoke to the woman.
"I wondered why the trash of the Heaven-Destroying Palace went out of their way to establish a base in Guangdong. It seems they had a purpose."
Shring.
As she spoke, the sound of a sword being drawn echoed from the master's side.
Strangely, however, the master was not holding a sword.
Where had the sound come from? Just as the question arose—
Rumble!
With a deafening roar, the residence the woman had just walked out of was engulfed in light and vanished.
"Oh my."
The woman's eyes widened slightly at the sight.
"You're always so extreme, Master. I worked so hard to keep it from collapsing."
"We got what we came for, so it is only right to erase it."
"Yes, yes. Of course."
"Now, let us head to Henan."
At her master's words, the woman smiled brightly.
"Are we finally going?"
"Yes. We can go now."
"I thought you said it would be awkward if we ran into the Alliance Leader?"
"It is something that must be faced eventually... And besides, I must see what is going on with your brother."
Her brother.
At that word, the corners of the woman's eyes curved gently.
"Perfect."
In truth, she had been incredibly curious.
'What has that cute little rascal been up to behind his big sister's back?'
The rumors that had reached her ears recently.
They said the successor of the deceased Sword Saint had appeared. He had reportedly defeated the Small Blue Sword of the Namgung Clan, Dongnyong of the Seven Great Talents, and even killed the unorthodox master Mountain-River Ghost and Ma Hyeok-chang.
For a young expert who hadn't even reached twenty, his record was extraordinarily illustrious.
It was a rumor no one would believe just by hearing it.
And that was especially true for her.
'What has my clever little brother been doing?'
Because the protagonist of those rumors was none other than her own brother.
What on earth had he been doing to suddenly become the successor of the Sword Saint?
She couldn't wrap her head around it, but...
"I'll know once I see him, right?"
...she didn't think too deeply about it. She would find out soon enough when they met.
With that thought, the woman—Bang Seo-jin, the eldest daughter of the Yo-ryeong Bang Family—smiled.
"..."
Her master watched her.
One of the Heavens Beyond Heaven.
The Sword Queen, Yeon Hui-seon, let out a soft sigh.