Chapter 173

“Then…?”

At Cheongpung’s astonished expression, the Fire King Jeok Cheongang gave him a faint smile.

“Have you heard of me?”

“My grandfather mentioned you sometimes.”

“Oh-ho. So that friend of mine hasn’t forgotten me. What did he say?”

“He said your martial arts were strong, but your personality was… well, pretty terrible.”

“…”

The truth was, Jeok Cheongang had never been particularly sociable. No, “not sociable” did not begin to cover it. He was downright awful.

He had suffered all manner of hardships as a child, leaving him with a deep-rooted distrust of people. After that, he had grown up under an eccentric Master.

So perhaps it was only natural.

“I heard you got into fights nearly every day during the Great Faction War. Apparently, you hit practically every young prodigy from the Nine Sects and One Gang at least once…”

“Ahem. Who says I hit all of them? And I was young back then. When you’re young and full of energy…”

“I heard you were sixty at the time.”

“Cough, cough!”

Unable to defend himself, Jeok Cheongang merely cleared his throat. Then Cheongpung added one more thing.

“But he said you were a good person once someone got to know you, so if I ever met you, I should treat you the way I treat him.”

The corner of Jeok Cheongang’s mouth twitched.

“Hmm. Mae Jonghak really does know me well.”

Jeok Cheongang had fought in the Great Faction War for a little over a year.

It was rare for two Supreme Peak masters to fight on the same battlefield, and he had met Mae Jonghak only about ten times. Even so, they had unquestionably been close enough to call each other kindred spirits.

He did a fine job raising his grandson.

Wait a moment. Had Mae Jonghak ever married?

Jeok Cheongang quietly examined Cheongpung’s face.

There was not a single feature that resembled the Mae Jonghak he remembered.

He doesn’t look like a biological grandson…

Well, it did not matter.

Whether they shared blood or not, the boy was clearly his successor.

Judging by his behavior and the way he spoke, it would not be an exaggeration to say that they shared a soul rather than blood.

With a pleased smile, Jeok Cheongang spoke to Cheongpung.

“I gained a dependable grandson today. Come, give this old grandfather a formal bow.”

“What?”

Cheongpung tilted his head.

“Why?”

“…What do you mean, why?”

Caught off guard, Jeok Cheongang began to stammer.

“Didn’t Mae Jonghak tell you to treat me the way you treat him?”

“Yes.”

“You little punk, if a grandson meets his grandfather, he should give him a formal bow.”

“My grandfather doesn’t care about things like that. He said only hidebound old men obsess over empty formalities.”

“…!”

Jeok Cheongang trembled, having suddenly become a hidebound old man.

“What was this called again? I learned it recently.”

Cheongpung thought hard for a moment, then slapped his forehead.

“Oh, right. A boomer!”

“A boo… what?”

“A boomer. They say ‘boomer-brain’ means something similar.”

A boomer? Boomer-brain? Neither the sound nor the feel of the words was particularly pleasant.

Jeok Cheongang did not know exactly what they meant, but he understood the context well enough.

Have I been hiding in the mountains for too long?

The new waves of the Yangtze were stronger than he had imagined. Even so, he could not beat up the only grandson of his one kindred spirit…

Jeok Cheongang felt his head begin to ache and opened his mouth.

“Is that something young people are saying these days?”

“I don’t know. I only heard it for the first time recently.”

“From whom?”

“My Benefactor.”

Jeok Cheongang followed the direction Cheongpung was pointing and turned his head.

His eyes met those of a young man squinting at him.

“Hey, come here.”

Did he see me? It felt like our eyes met for a moment…

No, he didn’t. Absolutely not. I closed my eyes right away. How could he have seen me?

I trembled with my eyes shut, as if I were struggling with all my might to treat an internal injury.

Just in case, I even added a groan.

“Uuugh!”

“Hey, I said come here.”

Stay calm.

He was just making a wild guess. If I fell for it immediately, I would be Third Rate.

At times like this, a Peak master had to clench his ass and keep acting his heart out.

“Uuugh!”

“Don’t force it. I’ve seen plenty of people shit themselves doing that.”

He had a point. I relaxed slightly at Jeok Cheongang’s helpful advice.

“Huuugh!”

“Good grief, what a brat. This is the last time I’m asking. Are you coming, or should this old man come to you?”

The last time.

I could not fall for a phrase like that.

I had to hold out until the very last last.

“This old man will go, then. You’re dead today.”

“…I’ll come.”

With tears in my eyes, I opened them.

Jeok Cheongang was glaring at me, his eyes blazing like fire.

He truly looked worthy of the title Fire King.

Fuck. The Fire King.

What are you doing here, hyung…?

No matter how many times I thought it over, the situation was utterly unbelievable.

But reality did not change. That short, squat old man was the Fire King, a Supreme Peak master counted among the twenty strongest under heaven.

I had a feeling from the start.

I might have been the first person here to realize his true identity.

The moment Jeok Cheongang’s internal energy surged into me, the System had delivered a telling message.

Ding.

System

• Your Scorching Yang Qi is responding intensely.
• It is assimilating the internal energy that has entered your body.
• Your internal energy has risen slightly.

It had happened in the blink of an eye. At first, I thought I was about to be roasted alive. But soon my stomach grew warm, as if I had just eaten a bowl of gukbap,¹ and my internal energy even increased.

What the hell is this?

At first, I was bewildered, but I figured something good was something good. The more I thought about it, though, the less I could afford to be so relaxed.

Wait. My Scorching Yang Qi came from eating the Blazing Flame Divine Pill.

Just because it was the same kind of Scorching Yang Qi, why would that make me immune to harm? I had even absorbed his internal energy.

After a brief but intense deliberation, I eventually reached a conclusion.

It was because they were of the same kind, both born from the same root.

That meant the old man belonged to the Fire Gate Clan, which passed its legacy down to a single successor in each generation. As far as I knew, the current Sect Leader was probably…

The Fire King… No way. Why would a man who had been off the radar for nearly forty years come here?

That was what I thought at the time.

They say the first of the five psychological stages cancer patients go through is denial. I was no different.

The only difference was that I reached the final stage—acceptance—in less than five minutes.

He was close friends with the Sword Saint, lived on Mount Jiuhua during the Great Faction War, and wiped out all the Demonic Cultists after they set fire to the mountain…

Fuck. He really is the Fire King.

The more I listened to Jeok Cheongang and Cheongpung’s conversation, the more certain his identity became.

He had not explicitly declared that he was the Fire King, but anyone who had not figured it out by this point would have to be an idiot.

Once I finally reached the acceptance stage, a chill ran down my spine.

I’m fucked.

I pictured Jopil, dead with half his body blown away by my One Annihilation. I also thought of the Nameless Sword and the Flame Divine Palm martial arts manual sitting in my Inventory.

I had already gulped down the Blazing Flame Divine Pill, and it was safely stored in my dantian.

God, my stomach hurts.

Whether Jopil was that old man’s disciple or not, I had a problem either way.

My thoughts in chaos, I trudged forward like an ox being led to slaughter. Jeok Cheongang raised a finger.

“I’ll count to three. One.”

Whoosh!

I charged forward with every ounce of strength I possessed. The Fire King looked at me as though I were the craziest bastard he had ever seen and opened his mouth.

“Hey.”

“Yes!”

“You startled me! I’m not deaf, so speak softly!”

Smack!

A crisp impact left the back of my head throbbing. It was the first time I had ever been hit like that in the Murim.

Of course, I had no intention of protesting. My opponent was an irritable Supreme Peak master.

Jeok Cheongang narrowed his eyes as I kept my mouth shut.

“Well, look at you. You’re much quieter than before.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Don’t lie to this old man. You’d have better luck deceiving a ghost. Even the way you opened your eyes was different.”

Cheongpung approached with a worried expression.

“Benefactor, are you all right?”

My body is fine. My soul is dying.

I answered in a half-dead voice.

“Yes. More or less…”

“More or less?”

Without so much as a turn signal, Jeok Cheongang stuck his head in and looked me up and down.

“Hmm. Now that I think about it, why are you so fine? You should have been unable to move and forced to circulate your energy for at least half an hour.”

Why am I fine? Because I absorbed the Blazing Flame Divine Pill.

But I could not say that. Under his suspicious gaze, my mouth went dry.

“You’re a strange one, the more I look at you. Which sect are you from?”

“I’m from the Jin Family of Taiyuan.”

“The Jin Family of Taiyuan… I’m sure I’ve heard of it somewhere.”

Jeok Cheongang furrowed his brow for a moment, then exclaimed, “Ah!”

“Was it the Blade of Flowers? That’s right. That fellow Jin Baekyang was from the Jin Family of Taiyuan.”

Blade of Flowers Jin Baekyang.

He was the Head Elder.

I never expected that name to come up here.

Under Jeok Cheongang’s demanding gaze, I licked my lips.

“That’s right.”

“I ran into him a few times in my travels. He was a decent fellow. He had a somewhat gloomy side, but everyone was like that back then. He was also unfailingly courteous.”

All that remained to a person were their memories, especially for an old man like Jeok Cheongang, who did not have many years left to live.

But why did that memory have to be of the Head Elder?

Apparently, he remembered him quite fondly.

Then again, until recently, no one would have expected the Head Elder to do what he had done.

During the Great Faction War, his martial arts had been formidable enough to make him a leading candidate for Family Head, and he had been widely respected.

“Judging by your attainment, you carry the Jin Family of Taiyuan’s blood. What is your relationship with the Blade of Flowers?”

“He’s my great-uncle.”

In reality, we had been locked in a relationship of killing or being killed. But I was not technically lying.

At the mention of shared blood, Jeok Cheongang’s eyes softened.

“Oh-ho. Is that so?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty this year. I’ve just come of age.”

“You seem to have learned Scorching Yang Qi. Did the Blade of Flowers teach you?”

“…Yes.”

He had given me some instruction about two months ago at Eight Spring Gorge.

He had been so enthusiastic about it that Sword Energy had nearly split my head open.

“Your achievements are remarkable for your age. You’re far more advanced than the Blade of Flowers was in his day.”

Jeok Cheongang was even offering me compliments now.

The atmosphere had become warm and friendly overall.

Then he opened his mouth again.

“So, is he doing well?”

“Uh…”

Well, he’s doing fine in his grave, I suppose.

“His martial arts must have improved considerably by now. Should I stop by and see him while I’m here?”

“About that…”

You can visit, but you won’t be seeing his face.

The Head Elder’s grave was in one corner of the Jin Family of Taiyuan’s cemetery—in other words, the family cemetery.

The family elders had vehemently opposed it, but Jin Wikyung had pushed it through. He had felt guilty about the mistake made by his grandfather, the former Family Head.

“I suppose I should have a drink with him. It’s been a long time since we last met. Surely he won’t treat me coldly.”

I imagined Jeok Cheongang pouring liquor beside the Head Elder’s grave.

Damn it. I can’t keep this up.

I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.

“Um, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it? Go ahead.”

“He passed away.”

“…What?”

“Just a couple of months ago, unfortunately.”

Jeok Cheongang was silent for a moment before muttering, “Already? He was still going strong.”

“…”

Going strong? He was over eighty.

Of course, he had possessed powerful internal energy. If he had stayed out of trouble, he might have lived another twenty years.

“What happened?”

“He fell in battle.”

“He fell in battle?”

A trace of anger appeared in Jeok Cheongang’s eyes.

“Was it the Demonic Cult bastards?”

“No. The circumstances were complicated and sensitive, so it’s difficult to explain.”

“Do you know who killed him?”

“…”

“Did you avenge him? From the Jin Family of Taiyuan’s perspective, he was the kind of bastard they could grind up and eat, bones and all, and still not be satisfied.”

Listening to him made me feel as if my bones were turning to jelly.

I lowered my head silently with a sorrowful expression. Sensing the subdued atmosphere, Jeok Cheongang stopped speaking.

Good. Perfect. Hyuk Mujin being unconscious was a stroke of genius.

If he had been awake, he would have been shooting me sidelong glances and practically shouting, This is the culprit. He killed him.

All right. As soon as I get out of here, I’m getting the hell away. Maybe I should just use Logout altogether.

Then, in the next moment, I realized something.

“Huh? Blade of Flowers Jin Baekyang—isn’t he the person you killed, Benefactor? Right?”

I had forgotten about that bastard.