“No, you may not?”
A brief silence followed his short reply.
After a mont, there was a cough, and then the unknown man spoke.
“Then I’ll wait here. Co out when you’re ready.”
“Ah, okay.”
After answering, Seojun poked Chunbong’s cheeks as she snored softly.
“Hey, get up. We have a... guest?”
“Mm... What guest...”
“Well, I don’t know either?”
“Who could it be this early in the morning...”
Seojun glanced out the window. It definitely didn’t look like morning.
“It’s the middle of the day though?”
“Ugh...”
Chunbong finally got up.
Seojun also quickly checked his clothes.
He was still in the thin clothes he wore when they went for a walk yesterday.
“Chunbong, where did my clothes go?”
“Those...? They were in tatters so I threw them out.”
“What? Then what am I supposed to wear?”
“We bought other clothes, didn’t we?”
“Those are at the inn though.”
“Oh right...”
Seems she still wasn’t fully awake.
Seojun scratched his head and quickly gave up.
He went for a walk in these anyway, so whatever.
After helping Chunbong wipe the sleep from her eyes and putting on her outer clothes, he opened the door.
“Huh?”
“I’m glad to see you seem to be in good condition.”
“Oh, it’s this bastard.”
The voice had sounded familiar, and it was indeed the sa he had heard in his fragnted mories.
Jongin, was it?
That Transcendent Realm elder bastard from Mount Hua Sect.
As Seojun subtly placed his hand on his sword, a small laugh ca from behind Jongin.
“Don’t be so wary, Young Expert. The Elder didn’t co with ill intentions.”
“Oh... we et again?”
“Fufu, it’s nice to see you.”
The Three-Headed Witch waved her hand gently. Seojun nodded in greeting and glanced back into the room.
Chunbong was standing there, nodding off.
“Oh dear, Chunbong. You need to wake up.”
“Ugh...”
Chunbong rubbed her eyes and looked at the guests sleepily.
“Huh...?”
There was a few seconds of silence.
Her eyes suddenly widened and she touched her face, realizing it was too late, and sighed.
The Elder Jongin seed to know her identity anyway, and that woman knew her face.
Chunbong quickly switched to social mode and asked.
“Ahem! Um... What brings you here...?”
“I ntioned before, didn’t I? I ca to make ands for my mistake, and to offer so presumptuous advice since this friend seems to know too little about himself.”
Seojun scratched his head at Jongin’s words.
“Why... are you saying such presumptuous things?”
“...”
The conversation stalled again.
This wasn’t going anywhere.
Seojun shook his head once and gestured outside.
“Should we go out and talk?”
*Once outside, Seojun took a fresh look at the building he had been staying in.
It was quite an elegant building, with a signboard hanging that was too sloppily written to make out what it said.
Seojun stared blankly at the small plum tree planted next to it before speaking.
“So what’s this about?”
“First... I’d like to clear up so misunderstandings.”
Jongin began his long-winded explanation.
Basically, he said he was so shocked that he jumped into the arena without realizing it, and when Seojun approached with a fierce aura and grabbed his wrist, he instinctively released his qi.
“Ah, I see.”
Does that even make sense? To suddenly jump into the arena and try to remove soone’s face veil?
Sothing felt off about this.
“Please accept this first.”
Jongin held out a wooden box.
Seojun’s eyes widened at the strange sensation he felt from his qi detection.
“This is...”
He slightly opened the lid of the box and a fragrant scent wafted out. The scent of plum blossoms.
Looking at Jongin, he nodded.
“It’s a Plum Blossom Pill. I brought it to treat your internal injuries.”
“Oh my, you shouldn’t have.”
Seojun quickly tucked the Plum Blossom Pill into his clothes.
This was what he had entered the martial arts tournant for, so there was no need to refuse when it was being offered.
“But why did you co?”
He asked the Three-Headed Witch, who chuckled softly and removed her bamboo hat.
Black hair with a faint blue tint cascaded down.
His imdiate thought was that she was a beauty who would turn 9 out of 10 heads on the street.
However, her narrowly slit eyes looked quite suspicious, giving the impression that she might be good at stabbing people in the back.
Hmm?
His mind felt itchy, like he was forgetting sothing.
What was it? Was his condition off because he dug up old mories yesterday?
His instincts were telling him that the mories of that day weren’t everything.
Even when he tried to rember, parts of his mory were a blur.
That woman, was there sothing about her? Or is this just so kind of PTSD?
His brow furrowed involuntarily at the nauseating feeling.
It doesn’t seem like it was anything special though.
Seojun rubbed his face with his hand.
“My... I didn’t expect this kind of reaction.”
“No, I just felt dizzy for a mont. More importantly, I still don’t know who you are even with that off?”
“I suppose that’s to be expected? I haven’t been very active outside.”
He probably wouldn’t have recognized her even if she had been, but he nodded anyway.
“Right, right.”
“I am Namgung Suah.”
“Oh, okay.”
Namgung Suah tilted her head curiously.
Instead, there was a reaction from beside Seojun.
“Namgung? What business does the Namgung Clan have here?”
It was polite mode Geum Chunbong.
Jongin chuckled at her words and responded.
“This child ca after you headed to the hospital. She said she had a small connection with you two and wished to help. But since the matter was already well resolved, there was no need for her help, so we ended up coming together.”
“I see...”
Chunbong nodded with a dubious expression.
Ignoring her reaction, Namgung Suah asked.
“May I ask your na?”
“Yes.”
“Pardon?”
“I said you may.”
Chunbong’s response was curt.
Seojun chuckled and patted her head.
“This is Chunbong, and I’m Lee Seojun.”
“So you’re Young Expert Lee? Did you know that Huayin has been buzzing with talk about you these days?”
“Not really?”
“Oh...”
Namgung Suah looked embarrassed at the abrupt conversation.
Jongin chuckled softly and stepped forward.
“I have so things I’d like to discuss with these children alone. Could you wait for a mont?”
“I only ca to check on his condition out of worry, so there’s no need for that. I’ll be going now, so please talk comfortably.”
“I see. Take care.”
Namgung Suah bowed slightly, put her bamboo hat back on, and left.
I don’t understand why she ca if she was just going to do that.
“Let’s go inside for a mont. I have sothing important to say.”
I also don’t really understand why we ca out if we’re just going back in.
“Oh, I almost forgot.”
Just then, Namgung Suah, who they thought had left, returned.
She took sothing out from her clothes, approached Seojun closely, and held out her hand.
“This is the Namgung Clan’s secret Weapon Wound dicine. I’m quite proud of its effectiveness, so I’ll give it to you as a gift.”
Seojun held out his hand with an uncertain expression.
“Ah, thank you.”
“Fufu, it’s nothing.”
A thin, faint stream of inner qi escaped from between her lips as she smiled demurely.
Seojun instinctively tried to dodge, but realizing it was in the form of sound, he let it brush past his ear.
[Be careful of Elder Jongin, he has a black heart.]
It was a sound transmission, secretly conveying her voice.
When Seojun stared at Namgung Suah, she waved her hand slightly.
“Well then, see you next ti?”
*After Namgung Suah had truly left, they returned to the room and sat down. Then Jongin began to speak.
“Your family na is Lee?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm...”
Jongin stroked his beard while observing Chunbong’s expression.
After hesitating for a mont, he finally spoke with difficulty.
“First, please do not misunderstand. I am not saying this with any other intentions.”
“Sure, whatever.”
“It’s shaful to ntion this after saying I wouldn’t bring up your identity, but I already know this child is from the Divine Sword Geum Clan.”
Click—
As Seojun grabbed his sword, Jongin quickly waved his hands.
“I have no other intentions! When you reach the Transcendent Realm, you co to see many things, that is how I knew! It seed strange to keep pretending not to know sothing we both already know!”
“And?”
Ngh... Jongin’s eyebrows twitched.
“How did I end up...”
I understand.
At that realm and age, it’s unavoidable becoming an old fogey.
With such power and status, what couldn’t he do if he wanted to?
As one aged and gained authority, their thinking naturally beca rigid. It was unavoidable that they’d turn into another stubborn elder.
This man was already quite reasonable being a Daoist. One could only imagine what other old n might be like.
No, that’s not it.
Didn’t she say he had a black heart?
He couldn’t blindly believe Namgung Suah’s words, but it might be hasty to take this man as representative of all Daoists.
Who knows?
There might be well-aged Transcendent Realm grandpa Daoists in Mount Hua Sect laughing and playing chess.
Well, whatever the case, it was true that he needed to be careful.
It would be dangerous if this man got angry and suddenly drew his sword, no matter what.
Let’s restrain myself a bit until I can beat him up later.
“I will ask directly. With the family na Lee, you are probably not a direct descendant of the Divine Sword Geum Clan, but have you ever considered joining Mount Hua Sect?”
Of course, given his position as an elder, he probably couldn’t just draw his sword over nothing, so a little prodding should be fine.
“Not a fucking chance.”
“...I see.”
“Is that the important thing you had to say?”
“It’s along similar lines. I am also saying this because your talent is desirable.”
“Oh...”
What’s this? Is this gonna turn into so kinda obsession novel?
Like, ‘The Murim Sects beca obsessed with .’
“Anyway, to continue our conversation, do you know that you are a Killing Star?”
“Killing Star... Like the Heaven Slaying Star?”
“Heaven Slaying Star!”
When Chunbong suddenly stood up, Jongin cald her down.
“It’s not the Heaven Slaying Star, so there’s no need to be so alard. I haven’t heard of such a malevolent star rising in the past few decades.”
“Haah... That’s a relief.”
“Is it even a big deal if it’s the Heaven Slaying Star?”
She shook her head when he asked that.
“It is a big deal. Whenever there’s bloodshed in the martial world, if you guess it’s the Heaven Slaying Star, you’d be right about half the ti.”
“What?”
Seojun feigned surprise and rolled his eyes.
But I ca from another world, does this even apply to ?
From what he’d heard, when a Heaven Slaying Star is born, a star appears in the sky, but in his case, if a star had appeared, it would have been in Earth’s sky, not the sky of this martial world.
Well whatever, I’ll just go along with it for now.
Jongin continued his explanation.
“The Heaven Slaying Star becos a madman obsessed with blood due to the curse of the calamitous star, but a Killing Star is a bit different. It can be innate or acquired.”
To summarize the following explanation, a Killing Star basically ant a lunatic whose killing intent had reached their head, making their eyes roll around crazily.
So you’re calling a crazy person, is that it?
“So what does being a Killing Star have to do with joining Mount Hua Sect?”
“In a way, a Killing Star can be seen as a form of qi deviation. Since you can’t control it yourself, wouldn’t it be easier with the help of a sect?”
“Hmm.”
“Above all, when transcending realms like before, your inner demon may overflow and cause disaster. It would be wise to prepare in advance in many ways.”
“Mhm.”
After pondering for a mont, Seojun shook his head.
“I’ll think about it a bit more for now.”
“...I see. I understand.”
Jongin stood up and then looked at Chunbong and said calmly.
“As I said before, if you need help, co anyti. I will help as much as I can within my power.”
“Yes...”
With those final words, Jongin left after a brief farewell.
After waiting until he disappeared, Seojun spoke.
“You know that person?”
“Nope.”
“Then why’s he acting like that?”
“Dunno?”
“Hey, what the hell do you even know?!”
“I don’t know, you bastard!”
Chunbong charged at Seojun and unleashed a flurry of punches on his stomach.
“You should have told the elder was coming!”
“But I didn’t know either!”
“Ugh...!”
After swinging her arms for a while, an exhausted Chunbong collapsed into Seojun’s arms, panting.
“Anyways... hurry up and eat that.”
“This?”
Seojun took out the wooden box from his clothes.
“Yeah. You need to treat your internal injuries.”
“I’m all healed though?”
“Even if you’re healed, eat it.”
“You want to feed it to you?”
Chunbong’s eyebrows shot up.
“If you do that again this ti, I’ll really get angry. It’s a spirit pill given to you to heal your injuries. I can eat one when I win, so you eat this one.”
“Hmm...”
As Seojun hesitated, Chunbong quickly backed away, covered her mouth, and retreated to a corner of the room, glaring at him.
“I said I’d really get angry, didn’t I? Hurry up and eat it!”
“Okay~”
No choice then.
If I force-feed Chunbong now, she looks like she’ll really throw it up this ti.
And thinking about it, this might actually be better.
How could I feed Chunbong sothing given by that guy without any assurance?
Of course, killing with poison would cause a lot of trouble, and the Namgung Clan person saw Jongin hand over the spirit pill with her own eyes, so the chances of it being poisoned were low.
If he wanted to kill , he would have cut deeper when he slashed with his sword.
Even if it’s poisoned, I can just detoxify it to the best of my ability.
And if I can’t?
Well... that would be unfortunate.
Click—
When he opened the wooden box, a fragrant flower scent spread out.
Co to think of it, this was the first ti he was directly eating a spirit pill. Apart from the uneasiness, maybe it could beco so kind of insight trigger?
Seojun picked up the pale purple pill and popped it into his mouth.
Gulp—
It tasted purple.
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