It is said that a person's innate nature does not change easily.
The sa goes for Jin Sohyun.
Jin Sohyun, who was born a lazybones, had to spend the busiest ti of his life, which he would never experience again, due to the series of events that occurred at the Four Daoist Assembly and the shocking death of Bieunggaek.
And now.
He was paying the price for going against his nature.
“Ugh.”
Even though he had slept for six hours straight, Jin Sohyun found it too troubleso to get out of bed.
It was so bad that Jong Ryeo'ak had co to check if Jin Sohyun was dead or alive with an annoyed face.
“Are you alive?”
“Yeah.”
“Then that’s that. You lazy bastard.”
As Jong Ryeo'ak grumbled and left, Jin Sohyun stretched his two arms high and stretched.
“Ugh, I don’t want to do it.”
There was one more thing he had to do before Gu Yong arrived.
Jin Sohyun, who had gone down to the basent of the Cheonhwagak with slow steps, t Baekhwa there.
And Yuha, who had co at so unknown ti, was also with her.
“What are you doing here?”
“At the news that Baekhwa was captured…”
Yuha looked at Jin Sohyun with eyes that seed to ask why Baekhwa was captured.
“Baekhwa has committed a sin. At least to .”
“A… sin?”
“Isn’t that right?”
Jin Sohyun stood in front of the bound Baekhwa.
Baekhwa, who had discovered him, laughed in vain.
“You’re alive. How?”
“Did you want
to die?”
“A little. Because the day you ca back ant that my identity was discovered. Of course, I was already discovered and ended up in this state.”
Baekhwa asked with a face that didn't understand.
“How did you know?”
“Umi. You killed your fiancé and ran away from your hotown in Sichuan to beco the flower of the Cheonhwagak. The Hao Sect was behind all of this.”
“…”
“You were the one who killed your fiancé, Umi.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve heard that na. It was the na I hated the most.”
“So that’s why your expression was like that.”
When he had first called Baekhwa Umi.
What he had seen in her eyes was not surprise or fear, but hatred.
“I was sold for money. I was sixteen at the ti, and my fiancé was fifty-two. What woman would want to marry a man like that?”
“So you received help from the Hao Sect?”
“I didn’t know it was the Hao Sect at that ti. I just followed them because they said they would give
a new identity. And then I t him.”
“Ok Myeon.”
“Oh my, our handso young master knows everything, doesn’t he?”
“It’s over. Baekhwa. The branch that Ok Myeon had has collapsed, and the Hao Sect will soon collapse as well.”
“I know. Whatever happens to the Hao Sect, my life is over now that I’ve been captured like this. Do as you please… I have no intention of clinging to life pathetically.”
Baekhwa held out her neck as if telling him to cut it at any mont.
At that, Yuha, who was watching from a few steps behind, rushed over.
“W-wait a minute!”
“Miss Yu.”
“I grew up from a naive girl to a courtesan. I don’t understand the grudges of the martial world. All I know is what I’ve heard from the martial artists who ca to the brothel. But… the young master is my benefactor, but…”
Yuha rambled on, shedding tears.
At Yuha’s appearance, Baekhwa let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re foolish. If you’re doing this just to save , don’t do sothing useless and step back.”
“A chance… please give
a chance!”
“Step aside, Miss Yu.”
Jin Sohyun passed by Yuha and took out a flying sword that he had brought from his bedroom.
Baekhwa, who had sensed the end, closed her eyes gently, and Yuha turned her head as if she couldn't watch the tragedy that was about to unfold.
The next mont, the flying sword in Jin Sohyun’s hand was swung in an elegant curve.
Swish—!
Thud—
The thick rope was cut, and Baekhwa felt her body beco free.
“Haaah…!”
Baekhwa had a bewildered expression at the freedom that had co instead of death.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“What was the reason you followed Ok Myeon?”
“That’s… he helped , and he gave
a new identity…”
“Not that. The real reason.”
“…Because I had to.”
She had to in order to live.
There weren't many life choices given to a murderer who had killed her fiancé and had run away.
To run away for the rest of her life.
To be caught and killed by the assassins sent by the bereaved family.
Or to go to the governnt office herself and live in prison.
To such a Baekhwa, Ok Myeon had given a chance.
A chance to live a new life.
And he had taken away her freedom.
By taking away the chance to live the life she wanted.
“I haven’t forgiven you. You will have to work for
here as the Cheonhwagak Master.”
“The Hao Sect…”
“Don’t worry about the Hao Sect. I will finish them with my own hands.”
If soone else had boasted that they would finish the Hao Sect, she would have spat and sneered.
Because the Hao Sect was not an easy organization.
But.
For so reason, she had faith in this man.
Along with a strength that could not be broken by anything.
“Then continue to work hard from now on.”
With these words, Jin Sohyun ca up from the basent of the Cheonhwagak.
Following that, Yuha ca out and asked Jin Sohyun.
“Are you… really going to let Baekhwa live?”
At her anxious voice, Jin Sohyun nodded his head.
“The na of the man who tried to make Baekhwa… no, Umi, his fiancée, was Gwang Ok. He was a trash-like bastard who used the imnse wealth inherited from his parents to take young won as concubines, play with them, and then abandon them when they got older.”
“Ah…”
“Of course, if you ask if he deserved to die, I can’t say for sure… but let’s just say he paid for his sins.”
“Then! Why didn’t you tell Baekhwa about that man?”
“That’s the price Baekhwa has to pay. Murder is a grave sin.”
“What if I tell her?”
“That’s now Miss Yu’s choice. Whichever you choose, you choose, Miss Yu. Of course, you will also have to take responsibility for the consequences. Then I’ll be on my way.”
As Jin Sohyun left, Yuha stood in her place for a long ti.
And then she said softly.
“It’s too difficult howork for .”
***
“Heok! Heok!!”
Gu Yong, who had to run without a break for three whole days, felt as if his lungs and heart would burst.
Still, Gu Yong, who had finally arrived at Honggang, went to the Cheonhwagak as he had heard beforehand.
“This is not a place for a beggar like .”
Gu Yong entered the Cheonhwagak, which had ceased its business.
As if it had already been arranged, no one stopped him.
Rather, familiar Blue Dragon Daoist Temple disciples were resting comfortably in the Cheonhwagak.
‘It’s more peaceful than I thought?’
They were the ones who should have been fighting a life-and-death battle with the Hao Sect’s Honggang branch.
But now, their appearance seed too peaceful.
Gu Yong, who felt a sense of incongruity, went up to the top floor of the Cheonhwagak, following the stairs, and there he was able to et Gwak Myeong.
“You’ve co.”
“It’s been a long ti, Great Master Gwak.”
“Co this way.”
“Ah, yes.”
There, Gu Yong surprisingly t one of the Seven Evils, Gu Jucheol, as well as Song U and Dang Hocheol.
‘The masters of the Blue Dragon Daoist Temple are gathered in one place. Well, it’s right to pour all their strength to attack the Honggang branch. This is where the branch manager is.’
Unlike the other small branches, Honggang was where the Hao Sect’s branch manager, the Red-Faced Lord, was.
Gu Yong, who had nodded his head and had entered, ca face to face with a man wearing a mask with a red spider drawn on it.
“Huh?”
“Hmm?”
The two, who had discovered each other, let out a short exclamation at the sa ti.
“Red-Faced Lord?”
“A Beggars' Sect mber?”
The two felt a sense of kinship, as if they had t their own kind, and at the sa ti, a sense of wariness toward a competitor.
“What’s going on?”
As Gu Yong asked, Gwak Myeong pointed behind him and said.
“That fellow will explain.”
At Gwak Myeong’s words, Gu Yong, who had turned around, discovered a handso man there.
“It’s been a long ti.”
“Young… Master Jin.”
“Is there sothing wrong? You don’t look well.”
“I didn’t expect to see you here, Young Master Jin.”
“I know. I just happened to have sothing I wanted to ask you, Mr. Gu Yong.”
Before Jin Sohyun could continue, Gu Yong raised his hand and stopped him.
“Before that… I have sothing to tell you, Young Master.”
“To ?”
Gu Yong, who had nodded his head, opened his mouth with a shaded face.
“…I’m sorry.”
***
“Don’t bla yourself too much. You did your best for the righteous martial world, and there’s no one who doesn’t know that.”
“I know. But, it’s still not easy.”
“I wonder if Young Master Jin is okay.”
In Gu Yong’s confession, which followed his apology, the deal between Bieunggaek and the Beggars' Sect and the reason why Bieunggaek had to die were revealed.
And Jin Sohyun, who had heard this, asked for so ti and then left the Cheonru and disappeared.
“It must be hard. But it’s sothing he has to overco. The martial world is not a fairy tale written for children.”
The other martial artists quietly sympathized with Gu Jucheol’s words, which were in a way extrely cold.
The death of a master.
The death of a friend.
The death of a lover.
The death of a family mber.
“It’s a pain that any martial artist who has experienced the Righteous-Heretic Great War has gone through.”
As if recalling the past, Gu Jucheol had to make a painful expression.
He was closer to a perpetrator than a victim, and he was a person who created death rather than watching it.
That’s why the karma of the unforgivable sin always followed Gu Jucheol and tornted him.
Gwak Myeong stared at the window where Jin Sohyun had left and nodded his head once.
“It’s… our role to make sure that such pain is not experienced again.”
***
The place where Jin Sohyun, who had left the Cheonru, arrived was a small mountain located a short distance from Honggang.
He entered a deserted forest, leaned against a large tree, and drooped.
“Ah… I don’t want to do anything.”
He closed his eyes quietly.
At that, old things that had now beco the past ca to mind.
His first eting with Bieunggaek.
When he had beco Jin Sohyun’s second master.
When he had kidnapped Oh Yoran in a large sack.
When they had laughed and laughed together for several years.
Nurous mories rushed in like a tidal wave and made Jin Sohyun’s head dizzy.
—You will one day beco the number one in the world.
—Do I not have an opinion?
—Haha! Whether you want to be or not! You will beco the number one in the world and prove that this Bieunggaek’s Heavenly Wind Shadowless Step is the best footwork in the world. Then I will beco the master of the number one in the world! Hahaha!
“At that ti, you told
to beco the number one in the world, and now you’re telling
to stop. If you were going to do that, you shouldn’t have overdone it.”
Jin Sohyun slowly stood up and quickly swung the flying sword he had taken out from his bosom.
The dazzling fast sword cut, sliced, and carved the tree.
Jin Sohyun, who had created a forearm-sized wooden tablet in an instant, wrote on it like this.
[The World’s Greatest Divine Thief, Bieunggaek]
And.
[The Master of the World’s Greatest]
Jin Sohyun, who had completed the wooden tablet, picked it up and opened his eyes wide.
“Please forgive
for not being able to co and see you right now. Master. To co and see you now… I am still too shabby.”
He had never been greedy for strength even once in his life.
He just wanted to live comfortably and lazily as soon as possible.
But.
The world was not so easy on the Lazy Young Master.
“Alright, so this is how you’re going to be?”
Jin Sohyun looked up at the sky and clenched his fists.
“Even now, I’m so annoyed that I want to quit everything and go ho and sleep! I’ll endure it just once! Just once!”
For the last ti, just once.
Jin Sohyun was planning to endure the annoyance and fight.
And for the sake of Bieunggaek, who had sacrificed himself for him.
“Because I will beco the number one in the world and destroy everything.”
It was the mont when Jin Sohyun, for the first ti in his life.
Was greedy for being the number one in the world.
(End of Chapter)
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