novelraw Chapter 137 : Chapter 137
Chapter 137 : Chapter 137
Chapter 137 - You Were Like That Too
The place where Biyoung’s gaze was directed.
A tall, handsome man stood there.
Unlike Biyoung, who was often called a pretty boy, he had a thick jawline and strong features.
“Ah……!”
The crowd exclaimed in unison.
As Biyoung had said, when it came to protecting something, there was no one who could match this man.
“Absolute Protector!”
“Absolute Protector is finally going on an expedition to Jianghu?”
“This is a meaningful event in its own right……!”
Anticipation bloomed in the eyes of the Diancang Sect elders.
He had only focused on protecting the sect so far, but Absolute Protector’s skills were by no means below average.
Far from being below average, his swordsmanship was so outstanding that Eung Gajin, the eldest of the junior disciples, felt a sense of rivalry.
The person whom Biyoung, who was stingy with compliments, had dared to call a ‘prodigy.’
With his innate talent and a stubborn, single-minded personality, his martial arts skills were improving day by day.
“Yes…… If it’s Absolute Protector……”
He had only heard rumors of the exploits of the junior disciples who had been active outside, but he had not seen them with his own eyes.
But Absolute Protector, who had been guarding his post since entering the sect, had delighted the sect elders with just his practice sessions.
So much so that it was pitiful for others to see him cooped up in the main headquarters without going out to Jianghu.
So far, Biyoung had not taken Absolute Protector outside.
He thought he had to leave some fighting power at the main headquarters just in case, and Absolute Protector also thought that going outside and wielding a sword was not his job.
And that thought was the same this time.
“I have no interest in anything other than protecting this place.”
To the disappointment of the crowd’s interest and anticipation, Absolute Protector shook his head.
His tone was so stiff that it felt like a boiling pot had cooled down in an instant.
“Ahem. Junior Brother Mu. Does that mean you don’t acknowledge Junior Sister Hyeokri Hong as a member of the sect?”
“……That’s not it.”
“Think about it. Protecting the main headquarters is not the only way to protect the sect. No matter how many pavilions there are, if there are no people, who would acknowledge it as a sect? Going out of the sect gate and protecting the people of the sect also becomes a way of protecting the sect.”
“Eum.”
As if he thought it was a reasonable statement, Absolute Protector hummed for a moment.
The crowd watching this swallowed their saliva.
‘Look at that snake-like tongue!’
‘That stubborn Absolute Protector is hesitating!’
‘Well, he’s not wrong! The sect is the people after all……!’
‘His tongue is as excellent as his skill with a sword!’
After hesitating for a moment, Absolute Protector suddenly turned his head and looked at Jeokseo.
It was a silent signal that he found it difficult to choose, so he would leave it to the Sect Leader’s judgment.
“Holholhol. Then, should I take Absolute Protector and Hyeokri Hong with me?”
At Jeokseo’s words, Biyoung nodded his head vigorously.
“Yes. Those two are enough.”
“Holhol. This way, all the junior disciples will gain experience equally.”
At Jeokseo’s words, exclamations of ‘Ah!’ burst out from here and there again.
Indeed, it was so.
Excluding Biyoung, the number of promising disciples of the Diancang Sect was seven.
Among them, five, excluding Hyeokri Hong and Absolute Protector, had crossed over to Hunan and achieved brilliant military exploits.
Absolute Protector might not know, but Hyeokri Hong, who was also a junior disciple, had to stomp her feet in disappointment.
She had developed a strong desire to be active as a member of the sect as well.
Biyoung hoped that the junior disciples would grow up evenly if possible.
Because if he acted like the World's Fastest Sword of the past, as if he were the only one in the world, the sect would only be ruined.
Jeokseo’s statement was a de facto approval, and thus, Absolute Protector and Hyeokri Hong’s accompaniment was decided.
“He definitely said Hojubang… that bastard……”
Eung Gajin narrowed his eyes at Biyoung.
“Did you calculate all of this from the beginning?”
Uma, who heard his muttering, asked.
“Calculate what? You mean giving the junior disciples experience?”
“There’s one more thing besides that.”
“What is it?”
“To deal with the Hojubang’s water attacks, a long-range attack is advantageous. If we swing our swords together in the water, we’ll only be at a disadvantage. In that sense, Hyeokri Hong, who has outstanding palm force, will be quite useful. And……”
Eung Gajin’s gaze turned to the tall, handsome man.
“If Absolute Protector protects her surroundings, the ‘glass cannon’ that is Hyeokri Hong will transform into a ‘steel cannon.’ Not only is he promoting the balanced growth of the junior disciples, but he has also placed individuals with suitable characteristics in the right places to deal with the Hojubang.”
“Hey. There’s no way. It’s just a blind cow stumbling upon a mouse.”
Uma waved his hands firmly from the side as if there was no way.
“No…… If the mouse keeps getting caught, it’s not a fluke, it’s skill.”
Eung Gajin turned his back after leaving a meaningful remark.
***
The next morning.
Hyeokri Hong appeared again at the training ground where the duel had taken place the day before.
The joy of finally going on an expedition to Jianghu was short-lived, as her beautiful eyebrows were raised to the sky.
“Why do you keep calling a busy junior sister here and there?”
“Because my junior sister is not grateful yet.”
Biyoung grinned and slung his scabbard over his shoulder.
Hyeokri Hong snorted again.
“Hmph! Now I see you have a tendency to obsess over taking credit. Did you want to hear me thank you for taking me to Jianghu?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“You become an adult when you realize that for yourself. Kid.”
“!”
At the blatant treatment as a child, Hyeokri Hong’s cheeks turned red like a carrot.
“Try to shoot the Wing Waving Palm like you did in the duel yesterday. Consecutively.”
It was what she wanted.
Hyeokri Hong shouted inwardly and gathered her internal energy.
Seeing his smug face as he rambled on with incomprehensible words, she wanted to punch him.
“Haat!”
With a firm kiai, the Wing Waving Palm was directed at Biyoung consecutively.
The internal energy consumed in yesterday’s duel had mostly recovered after a day.
Considering the spirit pills Hyeokri Chong had made and fed to his granddaughter all this time, it was not strange at all.
Kwaaaa!
It was just that there were no onlookers around, but a palm force that would make one sick just by looking at it poured out consecutively.
Biyoung looked at the palm force with indifferent eyes and then slowly swung his sword.
Seuk.
“!”
Hyeokri Hong’s pupils dilated greatly once.
‘It’s the same……!’
The peculiar sword line that Jeong-i had shown yesterday.
Biyoung was showing the same flow of the sword.
Kwang!
He deflected the first palm force,
Kwang!
and countered the second palm force.
Up to this point, the process was all the same.
But,
Spat!
Biyoung tilted the blade of his scabbard and let the third palm force flow away.
In the middle of shooting his body forward.
“Ah?!”
It was a development that the inexperienced Hyeokri Hong could not have anticipated at all.
Instead of colliding head-on with the palm force, he approached by deflecting it appropriately.
The distance between Hyeokri Hong, whose eyes had become like a rabbit’s, and Biyoung narrowed.
And…….
Cheok!
Before a new palm force could form in her hand, the tip of Biyoung’s scabbard was touching her slender neck.
“…………!”
Hyeokri Hong looked back and forth between Biyoung’s smug face and the tip of the scabbard.
Then she finally realized the reality.
“……This Junior Sister has lost.”
A complete defeat.
All the palm force she had unleashed was in vain, and the opponent’s single blow had completely neutralized her.
If this had been a real battle and not a duel, her neck would have been cut.
However,
“But!”
Hyeokri Hong’s temperament was too hot to be soaked in the feeling of defeat for long.
“Is there anyone who doesn’t know how good you are, Senior Brother? Do you feel relieved only after crushing this Junior Sister in a duel like this!”
“Heo. You still don’t realize it.”
Biyoung closed his eyes and shook his head as if in lamentation.
Ah.
This is so frustrating.
Right now, I want to use the Mad Dog's Barking Palm on that smooth face…….
“The palm technique has an advantage over swordsmanship in terms of range.”
“So?”
“If you’re not confident in close combat, you shouldn’t allow the distance to be closed.”
“I know that too.”
“The first and second palm techniques were to prove that I could receive them, and the last third was to prove that I could approach at any time. If I had wanted to, I could have closed the distance from the first palm technique.”
“Ah, really. This person is so arrogant……”
Seeing him act all high and mighty and lecture her, she felt like her chest would burst.
Just as Hyeokri Hong couldn’t stand it and was about to scream,
“Senior Sister Jeong could have done it too.”
At Biyoung’s last words, Hyeokri Hong’s mouth gaped like a goldfish.
“Eh……?”
“Most of Senior Sister’s swordsmanship starts with a sword dance. But just because the sword dance is slow doesn’t mean that one sword strike is slow. Our Diancang Sect emphasizes the quick sword, and Senior Sister is also a person of the Diancang Sect.”
“S-So……”
It meant that if she had wanted to, she could have neutralized her in one blow just like Biyoung had a moment ago.
But Jeong-i, instead of counterattacking, had focused only on silently receiving the palm force she had unleashed.
But why?
Why did she only defend when she could have won?
“Only silently defending……?”
To play with her?
Absolutely not.
Although Hyeokri Hong had a strange sense of rivalry with Jeong-i, she knew well enough that she was a warm person to everyone.
“Ah!”
Sparks momentarily flew in Hyeokri Hong’s round eyes.
“For this Junior Sister’s sake?!”
Biyoung, who had been silently watching Hyeokri Hong, finally grinned.
“You’ve grown up a little now.”
Normally, she would have glared and retorted.
But Hyeokri Hong’s ears couldn’t quite hear Biyoung’s words.
‘Yes…… for sure…….’
Silently receiving the incoming palm force was no different from torture.
It was a good thing that Jeong-i was the first among the junior disciples to learn the Profound Heaven's True Energy Unification Art; if it had been someone with weak internal energy, they would have coughed up blood and collapsed right away.
A situation where a counterattack was possible at any moment if she had wanted to.
But Jeong-i had not taken the offensive even once.
Why?
To show Hyeokri Hong’s skills.
No matter how powerful a palm force was, if there was no one to receive it, there would be no reason to use it.
From the beginning, Jeong-i had not intended to defeat Hyeokri Hong, but to show her specialty to the crowd.
In fact, after the duel, none of the Diancang Sect martial artists doubted Hyeokri Hong’s skills.
“Heo……”
Was it because she had lived with her grandfather?
A sigh unbefitting her age escaped Hyeokri Hong’s lips.
Then she suddenly straightened her clothes.
“What are you doing now?”
“T-This is not the time for this.”
“Then what time is it?”
“I have to go and greet Senior Sister. What should I do, I was running around like a tomboy without even knowing that there was such a deep meaning to the duel.”
Last night.
Even though Jeong-i had been extremely considerate of her, she had not shown it even once.
That seemed to touch Hyeokri Hong’s heart even more.
“Then I’ll go first since I don’t have time. See you later, Senior Brother!”
“Hey…… hey……!”
Biyoung tried to say something, but Hyeokri Hong had already used the Flying Eagle Steps and run off like a flying squirrel.
Wheeeing.
As if to mock the fact that they had just exchanged blows, a chilly wind blew through the deserted training ground.
“Aren’t you going to thank me……?”
Biyoung muttered as he looked at the empty space where Hyeokri Hong had left.
Kindly and gently.
He had reviewed yesterday’s duel for her and even gave her clues, but she had left in a huff without a second thought for him.
This ungrateful……?
“Sect Leader. The young ones are so ungrateful.”
Biyoung looked up at the sky and chuckled.
The ‘Sect Leader’ he was talking to could never be seen again, but still, there were times when he wanted to talk to him like this.
And then.
Sometimes, he would hear an auditory hallucination like this.
-You were like that too.
“Well, I’ll be.”
Biyoung, who was looking up at the sky with a sentimental expression, suddenly burst into laughter.
Standing there blankly for a long time.
Biyoung drew many a nostalgic face on the canvas that was the sky.