༺ Not Ugly ༻
｢Brother…!｣
I heard a sobbing voice coming out of my lips while basking under the warm sunlight, unlike the foggy mist that usually was the norm for cold seasons.
This was a mory from my childhood.
In the woods near our house,
I toddled my way forward.
I was the seeker in this ga of hide and seek.
I preferred being the seeker because it was scary to hide by myself.
Brother said that he was confident in hiding himself, so he told not to worry about only being the seeker in this little ga of ours.
｢Brother… where are you?｣
I continued to walk forward, shifting through the branches of the trees.
Brother wasn’t very good at hiding like he boasted himself to be.
He would always be found out by in the end without exception.
This ti too, I noticed a small part of his clothing poking out from behind a tree not far away.
My sobbing face soon turned bright and cheerful right away.
I found you!
I poked my head toward him quickly to give him a scare.
｢Huh…?｣
But unexpectedly, my brother wasn’t there.
There was only his clothing, the clothing of the Gu clan, stuck in that place.
｢Brother where are—｣
｢Boo—!｣
｢Kyaghhhh｣
I scread out loud and collapsed onto the ground after being surprised from behind.
I was so scared that even tears began coming out of my eyes.
When I turned around, I was greeted with the sight of my brother laughing at .
He had sharp and fierce eyes, but when he smiled, he looked very kind and warm.
｢Did I scare ya?｣
｢I… I was so scared…｣
｢I knew this would work.｣
I felt annoyed at how proud he looked for scaring like that.
Because of the annoyance I felt, I punched my brother’s shoulders a few tis with my small fists.
But my brother kept laughing as though my attacks were not able to hurt him at all.
After laughing for a while, he reached his hand out toward , telling to grab onto it.
I put a puzzled look on my face but grabbed his hand nonetheless.
｢Let’s go back, Mom is probably waiting for us.｣
｢Already…?｣
｢Yeah, we’ll get in trouble if we stay here longer, you know.｣
That was not possible.
None of us ever saw Mom getting angry.
However, I just nodded my head anyways as I liked listening to my brother.
The hand I grabbed, belonging to him, was filled with endless warmth.
The clothing he used to scare was put on before I could even notice.
He did it because it was rather cold today.
It was cold, but I was still able to handle it since there were two of us here.
｢…Sister Yeonseo bullied again earlier.｣
｢Sister did?｣
｢Yeah… She glared at saying that it was her mom, even though mom is ours…｣
｢I see.｣
Brother patted my head with those warm hand of his after hearing my words.
I felt like my heart was lting with pleasure when he patted like that.
｢Since sister is also one of us, she can also say that, right?｣
｢…Yeah, I guess.｣
The way brother looked at always felt so warm and comforting.
I liked that about him.
I didn’t like father’s cold sharp eyes, but brother’s and mom’s eyes always felt warm and I loved that about them.
That was all I needed in this life.
That was what Gu Ryunghwa thought back then.
｢What should we eat for today?｣
｢I want to eat fish today!｣
｢Fish? Okay, let’s go and ask.｣
｢Yeah!｣
After walking a bit together with my brother, we arrived at our ho.
Since it was almost nightti, the lights had already been turned on, and I could see mom waving her hand toward us from far away.
｢Mommm!｣
I powerfully waved my hand toward her.
I then quickly ran towards Mom and hugged her tightly.
Mom’s hands were cold because of waiting outside for us for so long…
But I still loved those cold hands of hers…
Soon, Mom patted my brother’s head who ca after .
It was the season of cold but I was still able to feel endless warmth due to the people I had with .
That was all I needed in this life.
I thought that I would be happy as long as I got to keep such a wonderful life.
That was the small dream that I had at that young age of mine.
However, the Heavens didn’t exactly want that to happen.
A week later,
Everything was ruined and Gu Ryunghwa’s life also hit rock bottom.
* * * * *
At every sumr, the Mount Hua Sect usually hosted a tournant for the students enrolled in it.
It was a simple tournant that consisted of the students of the Mount Hua Sect participating in it to decide a winner, however, it was also a process for the sect to choose new swordsn of Mount Hua.
The second-generation students of the Mount Hua Sect that hadn’t already beco the swordsn of Mount Hua were required to participate in the tournant, while it was optional for the third-generation students to participate.
Due to that rule, Gu Ryunghwa was technically required to participate in the tournant as she was a second-generation student of the sect, but she was given an exception by the elders and the first-generation students because of her circumstance and was thus allowed to fight the third-generation students instead.
But Gu Ryunghwa rejected that offer.
She didn’t want to fight the third-generation students and she felt that she couldn’t back down from the tournant for preserving the honor of her Master.
– Swish—! Swoosh—!
The wooden sword swung heavily by without stopping for a single instant…
I swung the sword countless tis ever since I had joined the Mount Hua Sect.
I couldn’t yet reach a level where I would be able to use the Plum Blossom Sword Arts and there were also other skills of Mount Hua that I needed to learn as well that I hadn’t been able to do yet.
I was getting desperate at this point.
Even I knew that I was running out of ti.
On the contrary, my Master told to relax and take my ti…
Saying that I had lots of opportunities awaiting since I was still young…
However.
Even if I do beco an exemplary person in the future.
Did that accomplishnt have any aning without my Master by my side?
Gu Ryunghwa bit her lips at that thought.
The end of her Master’s lifespan, the end of this year, that the Immortal Healer ntioned was slowly creeping nearer and nearer.
There was still so much I had to accomplish before I could even start making my sword blossom with plum blossoms.
Even so, I wanted to show my Master the sight of my sword blossoming with those ethereal plum flowers.
‘If I had talent like… that person.’
The person that was essentially the youngest among the third-generation students,
And the person that was being hailed as the future of the Mount Hua Sect.
The Sword Dragon, Yung Pung.
If I had his talents, then maybe I wouldn’t have been feeling so desperate right now.
And just like that, before I could even notice it, I had started feeling jealous of Yung Pung.
And I knew for a fact that there was no way for to be like him… which didn’t help in calming either…
Because of that,
I had the feeling that I wasn’t able to swing the sword in the correct way.
“…Sigh.”
My hand was stinging due to swinging the sword for so long.
Even so, only the thought of proceeding with my training ca to mind.
My Master wasn’t in a state to teach anything right now.
So I had to teach myself everything.
“…Ugh.”
As I was slowly becoming more and more desperate, nothing seed to be going well for .
And today felt especially worse due to the scene I had encountered in the morning.
The scene of Gu Yangcheon and those girls frolicking around him.
The family mber I’d seen for the first ti in a while looked to be in an even sadder state than before.
The brother in my mories had already died.
He died on the sa day as my mother left this world.
At least, that was what I felt.
The kind boy who had infinite warmth in his heart was burnt alive by the smoldering flas of the Gu Clan.
And the only thing that was left in its stead was an evil, vengeful spirit of abomination.
“I… I still had a little bit of hope left.”
The Gu Yangcheon that I had seen for the first ti in a long while felt different than before.
He wasn’t necessarily the warm brother from her mories, but he was still different from the repulsive person that he had been the last ti I saw him.
He at least looked like he had thrown away all those disgusting desires of his that he used to have in those sharp eyes of his.
Which is why I still had so hope left in .
That he would return to the brother I once used to know and cherish.
But that was a pointless thought.
“That’s impossible.”
I still wasn’t able to throw away my past even though I thought I had given up on it when I run away from everything in fear.
As I had been distracted by these useless thoughts, I decided to just swing my sword so more to drive them away from my mind.
Today was a day when no students of the Mount Hua Sect ca to the mountain to train.
It was most likely because of the tournant.
I honestly preferred this environnt.
Since it wasn’t easy to train in that uncomfortable atmosphere filled with people.
So, as I started to train once more…
– Swoosh
I stopped myself after hearing so distinct sounds.
– Swoosh—! Swish swoosh—!
The sounds of soone swinging a sword.
However, sothing was different about it.
Unlike the sound that the Mount Hua Sect’s sword arts usually make, this sound was distinctly different from that…
Furthermore, just what was this sharp sensation that I was constantly feeling?
I moved my steps toward the direction that the sound ca from. But I still wondered, what if it was one of the martial artists of the Mount Hua Sect?
Even though that thought ca to my mind, I wasn’t able to stop my steps.
When I finally arrived at the destination,
– Swoosh—!
My hair started blowing due to the fierce wind generated after each sword strike…
‘…Huh?’
The first thing that entered my eyes was her enchanting beauty…
White hair that flowed along with her beautiful sword art and those alluring blue eyes of hers that only focused on her sword was a truly enchanting sight… and equally annoying for my mind…
Every one of her steps, incorporated into her sword arts, was light and swift, however, I was 100% sure that each of those strikes of her sword was nowhere near light as her footsteps.
Elegance.
How co I was able to see elegance blended in between her fierce movents?
I couldn’t understand.
Was I not even capable of understanding it? Does that an that she was just that much more skilled in the sword arts than I was?
Many thoughts lingered in my head, but my eyes never left the display of her sword art. They were unable to.
How can she have such fluid movents?
What does she feel when she swings her sword?
I wondered in my mind,
If I could ever beco skilled enough to swing a sword like that one day…
At that thought, I could even hear the excited beating of my heart…
I knew I was distracting myself from training with these thoughts and watching her, however, I had a feeling that I would be able to gain sothing from the showcase of this phenonal sword art if I could just finish watching it.
As the woman was about to swing her sword, cutting the air once again using her ethereal sword arts…
“…Whew.”
She suddenly stopped her movents altogether, not even finishing the last swing…
Seeing her stop, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed and unsatisfied in my heart.
I felt like I could’ve gained sothing if I could’ve watched it in full.
However, there was a bigger problem at hand that I had to face other than my disappointnt.
It was the fact that I had secretly watched her train.
Furthermore, I even tried to gain sothing from soone else’s training.
I had watched her training as if possessed, but I still had no excuses for doing sothing like that.
Maybe I can use the fact that an outsider was training in the mountains of Mount Hua as an excuse?
While I was trapped in my thoughts, the woman’s eyes t with my own.
“…Huh?”
Now that I took a better look, her face seed familiar.
She had pale white skin, mirroring her equally white hair, and enchanting blue eyes.
And even though she was covered in sweat right now, that only made her look more seductive rather than just dirty.
It was breathtaking for even a person of the sa gender as to look at her beauty… and…
It was definitely one of the girls that were with Gu Yangcheon.
‘…She was a martial artist?’
I didn’t have the chance to find out before due to the scene I saw in the morning, but I only thought of her as just so beautiful girl following my brother, but to find out that she was a martial artist…
When our gaze t, I began sweating profusely…
Her apathetic face made it impossible for to know what she was thinking.
She just tilted her head once after looking at and then nodded once she looked at the wooden sword in my hand.
What does that an?
I was worried that I would get into trouble for secretly watching her train,
But the words that ca out of the woman’s mouth were… unexpected, to say the least.
“…Want to…”
“Pardon?”
“…Duel?”
I frowned thinking that I had misheard her.
* * * * *
And now here I was at the present.
Thankfully, she didn’t seem to have gotten mad at for secretly watching her train.
She didn’t even seem to have cared about that matter, in fact.
Which only made wonder as a martial artist myself.
How can she be like that…?
Furthermore, I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded after I had been challenged to a duel by her.
I was wondering in my mind if she was just perhaps trying to teach a lesson for secretly watching her training, but I soon dismissed that thought.
I accepted the duel though as I felt that chances like these didn’t really co often in a martial artist’s life.
So the duel between us began in earnest.
I repeatedly charged at her for a long, long ti, but I was not even able to manage to brush her clothes with my wooden sword.
My uniform had already beco stained with dirt as I had to constantly roll around everywhere while attacking her, while my body started trembling nonstop as I was out of energy due to moving around without rest.
I looked up at Namgung Bi-ah with tired eyes and thought,
‘…How can I not even touch her even once?’
It was only by a hair’s breadth every ti, which only made think that Namgung Bi-ah was purposely letting almost hit her.
‘…But why?’
Is she trying to teach ?
But then why…?
After breathing heavily for a while, I finally stood up once again to face her.
Namgung Bi-ah who was waiting for wasn’t even breathing heavily like she did when she was training by herself.
In fact, she even looked quite bored.
At her level, I felt like she would have no problem facing any of the second-generation students.
I didn’t know her age, but she looked to be around 20 years of age or maybe a bit older.
She wasn’t much older than Yung Pung too. There really were so many talented geniuses out there in the world.
I felt like my pride was getting hurt at that thought.
Soon, I spoke out to her after rembering the events of the morning.
“…We saw each other in the morning, right?”
“…?”
“What’s your relationship with that boy?”
Unexpectedly, my question had hit her hard for so reason. I could tell that since her emotionless face had broken ever so slightly after I had asked her that question.
Her eyes seed to have gotten a bit bigger while a side of her eyebrows seed to be contorted into a imperceptible frown.
Namgung Bi-ah spoke after thinking for so ti about what to reply…
“Fiancée…”
“…He’s not soone that you should be with.”
“…Hmm?”
“I don’t know what happened for you to be with him, but it’s such a waste for you to be with him… For you to be around that disgusting and ugly guy who never puts effort into anything is just… wasteful.”
“…”
“So it’s not too late to—”
I couldn’t finish my words…
As I felt the atmosphere had suddenly shifted drastically…
The woman in front of still had that apathetic look on her face, but sothing was different about her.
– Thump
I held my sword up instantly when I saw her taking a step forward in my direction.
‘…What the?’
Sothing had changed about her, but I was unaware as to what.
The person standing across reminded of soone at that instant…
The Sword Master.
My very own Master…
Not too long ago, Master had shown her overpowering presence when she was still in sowhat of a healthty shape.
I was able to slightly feel the sa pressure coming from the woman that was walking towards .
Alarm bells went off in my head and I had no choice but to put the little bit of Qi left in into my sword to defend myself from the incoming danger…
The woman then spoke out.
“…Not ugly.”
“Pardon…?”
“He’s not ugly.”
Is she angry?
Earlier, the way she spoke sounded so weak and faint, but her voice now felt a bit stronger than before…
Judging by the overpowering energy, I now knew.
That she had gone easy on before, I knew that already but I still didn’t expect her to be so… so powerful…
I tried to look for a solution because there seed to be a misunderstanding between us, but my body had already frozen on spot due to her overwhelming presence and pressure.
I was scared out of my mind.
“If you say sothing like that…”
The woman’s footsteps beca faster. At the sa ti, her figure instantly disappeared from my eyes.
“You deserve to be punished…”
With a flash of blue light, a wooden sword appeared right in front of my eyes.
I instantly closed my eyes shut.
Was it my mistake?
Since just before I closed them… I felt like I had seen flas surrounding from all sides…
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