If the Roaring Fury Swordsman and the Taeeul Merciless Sword had shown even a hint of displeasure at that moment—or if they’d been unable to keep their itching hands still and started fiddling with their sword hilts—something serious might have happened.
Me aside, Jeok Cheongang was not the sort of man to stand by and let that happen.
And the Zhongnan Sect Leader, the Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord Gong Pil—no, Gong Iljung—shared that concern.
—Tell me, Friend Jin. Are you just going to watch?
A low voice reached my ear through Sound Transmission.
Jeok Cheongang’s brow twitched as he sensed the sound waves. At that very moment, someone spoke.
“What must we do… to earn your forgiveness?”
Everyone’s eyes widened, mine included.
Why?
Simple.
Someone we never expected had said something we never expected to hear.
The Roaring Fury Swordsman, Song Il.
That old Daoist, whose pride bordered on arrogance, had opened his tightly sealed lips and asked for forgiveness.
And the “we” he’d used included someone else.
“I’ve thought about it countless times over the past few months. About the wrongs I committed, and what came of them.”
The Taeeul Merciless Sword, Hwangbo Eom.
He and the Roaring Fury Swordsman were the Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord’s only two Senior Brothers and the most senior members of the Zhongnan Sect. Hwangbo Eom looked at me as he continued.
“It was my fault. I can’t deny that.”
His gaze sank. His voice trembled.
I watched him in silence, then suddenly spoke.
“Did you mean what you just said?”
“Do you doubt my sincerity?”
“Of course not.”
I swallowed hard and added, “I believe you. At the same time, I’ll put the unpleasant memories of the past behind me. I can’t say I was blameless in the trouble that happened that day, either.”
Everyone’s eyes widened at my calm reply. Those who knew me well were probably the most surprised.
Even to me, the voice coming out of my mouth sounded like someone else’s.
But another voice slipped out at the same time, and that one was different.
It was what I truly thought, but couldn’t say aloud in front of everyone.
—I don’t believe you. No, I won’t believe you.
—…!
—If Great Hero Hwangbo truly regretted what he did, I can’t explain what we saw just a moment ago. I think you both know what I mean.
I sent the Sound Transmission and looked calmly at the Roaring Fury Swordsman and the Taeeul Merciless Sword.
Only moments had passed since they’d clenched their teeth and trembled with their fists balled tight. That wasn’t long enough to forget.
And yet it must have been a long, painful road for them to stand here on their own two feet.
There’s still resentment. Of course there is.
I wasn’t asking them to erase it completely.
People don’t change easily.
Not me. Not them.
But now was the time to set aside the bad blood between us and move forward. Everyone knew that.
—What answer do you want from us?
—The truth. What you genuinely think—not something meant to be shown or said for someone else’s benefit.
—…!
—You don’t have to understand each other. But you have to acknowledge your own feelings and accept the distance between you before you can join hands. I think you both know that already.
A silence that lasted too long would invite suspicion.
In the brief hush, the two old Daoists looked at each other, then clasped their hands toward us.
“I, Song Il, bow my head and apologize for the disrespect I showed the Jin Family of Taiyuan.”
“Please forgive me for forgetting my duty as a Daoist and putting the Yongbong Escort Bureau in danger. I promise to apologize again and do everything I can to compensate you.”
The Roaring Fury Swordsman bowed to me. The Taeeul Merciless Sword bowed to Ju Hwaran.
The Zhongnan Sect Disciples who witnessed it reacted in all sorts of ways.
Some bit their lips in frustration. Some wore faint smiles. Others couldn’t bear to watch their elders apologize to outsiders, so they closed their eyes as if they hadn’t seen it or looked away.
But most of them probably didn’t notice that those stiff bows, made by men who had gone so long without bending to anyone, hid the slight movement of their lips.
—Yes, you’re right. Bad blood doesn’t disappear so easily once it’s there. And I know that you, who say so, aren’t much different from us.
—But now is the time to gather our strength and face our great enemy. That is why we, as members of the great Zhongnan Sect and respected masters of the Murim, will fight for the world. Nothing more.
Their Sound Transmissions reached both my ears at once.
If those were their genuine feelings, I had no reason to refuse.
Step.
For the first time since we’d encountered the Zhongnan Sect, I dismounted. Ju Hwaran followed my cue and set her feet on the ground.
Then?
We clasped our hands toward the two old Daoists, so respectfully that no one could have found fault with it.
Jeok Cheongang watched me in silence with a curious smile, then shrugged at the Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord.
“Better to keep things friendly. Right, Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord Gong Iljung?”
The Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord had looked like he’d just aged ten years. Now, as the situation came to a gentle close, he let out a sigh.
“Piljung. I’ve told you several times already, it’s Gong Piljung…”
“Gong Piljung? Wasn’t it Gong Iljung?”
“…?”
“…?”
“Ah.”
“What’s the problem?”
Only then did the Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord realize something was off. He shook his head as if he’d been bewitched.
The tense atmosphere had lasted only a little while at the start.
Once things had settled, the Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord—briefly confused by Jeok Cheongang’s dazzling name-changing technique—was the first to speak.
“May I ask where you’re headed?”
Jeok Cheongang answered flatly.
“Of course not.”
“Pardon?”
“Ask someone else. I’m only here as a guest. Someone else is in the presiding chair.”
Who was Jeok Cheongang? The Fire King himself.
He was also the head of the Five Kings Hall, newly established alongside the Murim Alliance. The idea that he was merely a guest was ridiculous.
But the Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord nodded without argument and came over to me.
If Jeok Cheongang said so, then that was how it was. If he said otherwise, then it wasn’t.
As the leader of a great sect like the Zhongnan Sect, he took Jeok Cheongang’s answer to mean that his Master wanted to give his Disciple the authority to speak.
I saw it differently, of course.
“Great Hero Jeok cares for you a great deal.”
“He must have found you pretty annoying.”
“…?”
“He doesn’t like it when people he isn’t close to keep talking to him. Give him some space for the next half day or so.”
“…!”
“I’m telling you so you don’t misunderstand. I’m not joking.”
The Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord looked back and forth between me and Jeok Cheongang as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He gave an awkward reply.
“Thank you for the kind advice.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“And as Sect Leader, I can’t say this in public, but I’m grateful to you for the other matter, too.”
The other matter.
It was vague, but I had no trouble understanding him.
He was thanking me, in his own way, for settling things peacefully with his two Senior Brothers.
“You don’t have to thank me. Honestly… they were the ones who brought it up, and that helped resolve things.”
What would have happened if even the slightest killing intent had slipped from the Roaring Fury Swordsman or the Taeeul Merciless Sword?
Given the situation, it probably wouldn’t have turned into a massive bloodbath. But neither Jeok Cheongang nor I would have stood by and done nothing.
No matter how close Dark Heaven’s blade was to our throats, we couldn’t ignore a dagger coming at us from behind.
“Well, thanks to them, things are more or less settled for now. That’s a relief.”
“Mm. It surprised me, too. Though I doubt my Senior Brothers have entirely let go of their feelings.”
I looked at him in surprise. The Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord gave a faint, wry laugh.
“What, did you think I wouldn’t know?”
“No. I just…”
“I joined Zhongnan when I was twelve. We served the same Master, and we’ve spent well over fifty years together. I know my Senior Brothers better than anyone. But as their Junior Brother and as Sect Leader, I should say no more.”
From the sound of it, he’d cleaned up the messes his Senior Brothers made more than once.
I decided this was the time to ask him directly.
“Is that why the reinforcements never really came?”
“…That’s a sharp question.”
“I just want to know what happened. I’m not accusing you.”
The Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord let out a faint sigh under my unwavering gaze.
“It wasn’t any one person’s fault. Even I couldn’t bring myself to send a large portion of our sect’s main force.”
“Meaning?”
“I made that decision out of concern for Zhongnan’s safety. If it upset you and the Jin Family of Taiyuan, there was nothing to be done.”
Sometimes a direct, plain answer is the right one.
Like now.
I thought for a moment, then quietly nodded.
“What does that mean?”
“I mean I understand. Completely.”
“Then…”
“It would be ridiculous to tell people who are helping us exactly how they should help. We had enough reinforcements without Zhongnan. I only wanted to know why.”
“I see. Then is that enough?”
“Of course.”
I didn’t bother adding for now.
Nor did I bring up the bad blood between the Zhongnan Sect and the Nanman Beast Palace from the Great Faction War.
For the moment, this was the best we could do.
Now was the time to look at the forest, not the branches. There was nothing to gain from falling out with the Zhongnan Sect.
We need Zhongnan’s strength to face Dark Heaven’s army threatening the west.
There were three Supreme Peak masters here alone.
And even at a glance, the Zhongnan Sect Disciples they led were the elite of the main sect.
That meant they, too, intended to give their all in the great battle to come.
Remembering the bad blood of the past without dwelling on it was the right choice.
I hoped that choice would lead everyone in a better direction.
That was the only way we could send the Fire Dragon Pavilion members back home in one piece after a short rest—one they were getting up from now, after days of marching without respite.
Actually, two of them are already on their way home.
I was lost in thought, looking at Sama Pyo and Taishan, when the Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord spoke.
“So, where are you headed? Qinghai, like Huashan, who passed us earlier? Or…”
“Gansu. We’re going to Gansu.”
I’d been about to ask where the Zhongnan Sect was headed, but realized I didn’t need to.
The Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord’s face had brightened considerably. That told me they were going the same way we were.
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