Chapter 195

Calling the banquet held on New Year’s Day a resounding success still felt like an understatement.

By embracing the Mount Heng Sword Sect, Jin Wikyung had made a bold move that won the loyalty of dozens of small and mid-sized sects. The Zhongnan Sect’s intervention and the appearance of Fire King Jeok Cheongang, whom everyone had believed dead, had left them all stunned.

And…

I was one of them.

I ate, drank, and moved from place to place. Wherever I went, people’s eyes followed my every move.

Half a day ago, those gazes had meant interest in the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi.

Not anymore.

The Fire King’s Disciple. The heir to the Fire Gate Clan.

I heard those words everywhere. People talked endlessly about what it meant that Jeok Cheongang, the current Sect Leader of the Fire Gate Clan, had entrusted me with the sect’s sacred treasure—and why he had protected the Jin Family of Taiyuan even at the cost of making an enemy of the Zhongnan Sect.

This already seems to be half-confirmed as fact.

To be honest, I didn’t understand Jeok Cheongang’s intentions either.

That was why I was here.

Everyone was still distracted, and I had managed to slip away unnoticed. This was my chance.

“Phew.”

I took a deep breath.

I stood before the pavilion where Jeok Cheongang had been given lodging. Someone must have ordered everyone to stay away, because there wasn’t so much as a mouse near the large building.

“Great Hero Jeok. Are you there?”

A reply came from beyond the door.

“I’m sleeping.”

“I came because there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“I said I’m sleeping.”

“…How are you answering me if you’re asleep?”

“I’m sleepwalking.”

Was that an answer or a whinny?

It made no sense, but if the Fire King said that was how it was, then that was how it was. I pulled myself together and tried again.

“Um, there’s something I can’t stop wondering about.”

“Is this old man responsible for satisfying your curiosity?”

“No, but…”

“If you know that, go wash your feet and get some sleep.”

Talk about an impenetrable defense.

But I couldn’t back down now.

I began creeping ever so carefully toward the firmly closed door.

“Take one more step, and you won’t live to see tomorrow’s sunrise.”

“…How did you know?”

“To this old man, your presence is no different from a clap of thunder.”

“Come on. Couldn’t you let me in now? It’s still winter, and it’s rather chilly out here.”

“Would you like this old man to warm you up with the Flame Divine Palm?”

“…”

Just hearing that made my insides feel warm.

When I shut my mouth, silence fell. After a while, Jeok Cheongang broke it with a single sentence.

“I went to Jeongyang.”

“Ah.”

Even an insignificant bead could hold special meaning for someone. Jeongyang was like that.

Jeongyang was merely one of the dozens of counties and towns in Shanxi Province, but Jeok Cheongang had a reason to visit a mountain path there.

Jopil.

On the day snow came pouring from the sky, a man who had lived as Jangcheon died under the name Jopil.

“I stayed for a long time at the place you told me about. Some passersby saw an old man wandering around the foot of the mountain and asked why I was there.”

His subdued voice continued.

“I told them that a blood relative had died right there. That I had come because I wanted to recover whatever remained of his body.”

“…”

“That was when I realized something. Even if I had met that boy before you did, I could never have killed him. I would have let him go again, only to regret it afterward.”

It was difficult to imagine what expression Jeok Cheongang wore on the other side of the door.

After hesitating, I asked, “Did you find his body?”

“Nothing was left.”

Several months had already passed.

Jopil had spent his entire life walking a path of blood. The subordinates who might have recovered his body had died alongside him, so whatever remained had likely been buried by the capricious weather or devoured by hungry beasts.

“It is nothing but an old man’s selfish desire. Ugly and futile.”

Glug.

The sound of liquor filling a cup seemed unusually loud.

“I thought you said you were drunk earlier.”

“You crafty brat. Why ask when you already know?”

The candlelight flooding the pavilion outlined his silhouette.

Jeok Cheongang let out a quiet laugh, then tossed back his drink.

“Ahh. Good.”

His voice sounded refreshed, as though that one cup had washed away his troubles.

It occurred to me that Jeok Cheongang had gone to the place where Jopil died to free himself from the regret and lingering attachment that still held him.

I deliberately brightened my voice.

“I was taught that good things should be shared.”

“I was taught from a young age that anyone who coveted what belonged to others should be burned with the Flame Divine Palm.”

“What terrifying person taught you that?”

“My Master.”

That was the Volcano Gate Clan for you. Ruthless.

They burned everyone with the Flame Divine Palm, no matter who it was.

I didn’t know the history of the Fire Gate Clan or the names of its past Sect Leaders, but looking at Jeok Cheongang, I could make a rough guess.

An old sect of thugs.

They said beans grew where beans were planted and red beans where red beans were planted.

Like master, like disciple. Jopil was the exception, of course.

Anyway, this isn’t what I came here to talk about.

I was watching the silhouette inside the pavilion while trying to read the situation when Jeok Cheongang suddenly spoke.

“From now on, the Fire Heaven Sword is yours.”

“Fire… what?”

“The Fire Heaven Sword. The sword I entrusted to you.”

I had just learned the Unnamed Sword’s true name, but that wasn’t the issue right now. I was so shocked that I stammered.

“B-but that’s the Fire Gate Clan’s sacred treasure.”

“Ah, the sacred treasure.”

Jeok Cheongang tipped back yet another cup of liquor before continuing.

“That was a lie.”

“What?”

“It isn’t a sacred treasure. One of our sect’s Sect Leaders used it about a hundred years ago, and later generations inherited it from him. It’s old, but it was already renowned as a divine weapon back then, so it should still be useful.”

“…!”

What the hell was he talking about?

I stood there with my mouth hanging open at this shocking truth I had never expected.

“That was all a lie? You’re messing with me, right?”

“Messing with you? Why would I bother with a little pup like you?”

“You said it in front of everyone! ‘I entrusted that boy with the Fire Gate Clan’s sacred treasure!’”

“I did. Because we were in front of everyone.”

Jeok Cheongang continued in an indifferent voice.

“I had to go that far to get people talking. ‘That boy must have a deep connection to the Fire King. Perhaps he is the Fire King’s Disciple, since he was entrusted with the sacred treasure. If anyone touches the Jin Family of Taiyuan, that terrifying Fire King will step in.’ Rumors like that will spread far and wide.”

“…”

“Do you really think this old man would entrust our sect’s sacred treasure to a young brat like you? Our arts are passed down to only one successor per generation, so no one else knows the truth. If I say it is a sacred treasure, then it is a sacred treasure.”

“…”

“So keep the sword. That way, those Zhongnan bastards won’t dare make a move.”

Is this a dream?

As I stood there in shock, a System notification rang in my ears, delivering the final blow.

Ding.

System

Information regarding the Unnamed Sword has been updated.

Item Window

Fire Heaven Sword

Type: Sword
Grade: Peak
Restriction: One who has inherited the Fire Gate Clan’s legacy
Description: The beloved sword once used by the Fire Gate Clan’s tenth Sect Leader. Forged from Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, it is exceptionally sharp and durable. After passing through the hands of countless owners over many years, it changed of its own accord. Only one who has inherited the Fire Gate Clan’s legacy can draw out its true power.

Effect: Unknown

The updated information was exactly as Jeok Cheongang had said.

It was the beloved sword of the tenth Sect Leader. No matter how hard I looked, there wasn’t a single mention of it being the Fire Gate Clan’s sacred treasure.

Even the “true power” hidden within the sword could only be drawn out by someone who had inherited the Fire Gate Clan’s legacy.

In other words, other than the fact that it was made of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, the sword was a corpse.

I really thought it was a sacred treasure. I spent so much time worrying about what I’d do if he said he wanted to make me his Disciple…

As I stared blankly at the holographic window, Jeok Cheongang added as though he were doing me a great favor.

“Think of it as a long-term loan. If this old man forgets about it and dies, you may keep it. Ah, and hand over the Flame Divine Palm manual right now.”

“Damn old man… Gasp.”

I had only meant to think it, but the words slipped out of my mouth.

I clapped my mouth shut in alarm. At that very moment, the firmly closed pavilion door burst outward.

Crack!

A pair of eyes blazing with fire glared at me.

“You little pup. What did you just say?”

“I-I-I misspoke.”

“Misspoke? Then this old man will make a little mistake with his hand, too.”

Whoosh!

A palm glowed red-hot, radiating overwhelming heat.

I spun around without looking back. In the same instant, I pulled the Flame Divine Palm manual from my Inventory and threw it.

“Gasp! The manual! The Flame Divine Palm manual!”

If he reached out now, the manual would turn to ash.

Jeok Cheongang, startled, hastily pulled back his fist. I took advantage of the opening and ran with all my might.

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry! Please spare me!”

“You damned bastard! Stop right there!”

His roar thundered behind me.

Jeok Cheongang watched Jin Taekyung flee as though his tail were on fire and let out a quiet laugh.

The anger that had filled his face only moments ago had vanished without a trace.

“You little fool. No matter how far you run, you are still in the palm of this old man’s hand.”

He could catch Taekyung whenever he wished.

But Jeok Cheongang merely clasped his hands behind his back and turned away.

Jin Taekyung had killed Jangcheon, the Disciple Jeok Cheongang had cherished like a son.

Yet Jeok Cheongang bore him no hatred.

If anything, Taekyung was one of the people to whom Jeok Cheongang owed a sincere apology.

Everything had begun with the wrong choice Jeok Cheongang had made ten years ago.

“He called me a damn old man.”

Despite being cursed by a little pup, Jeok Cheongang wasn’t offended.

No, if anything, he felt relieved.

“That’s right. I am a damn old man. A senile old man, too. Heh heh. Heh heh heh.”

After his Master died, no one had dared criticize or curse Jeok Cheongang to his face.

He was the Fire King, a great martial artist who had single-handedly written himself into legend.

And yet, hearing that one remark from Jin Taekyung made him feel as though something that had been blocked for a long time had suddenly burst open.

“How refreshing. Truly refreshing.”

As people grow older, they become lonelier day by day. Not because they have no one with whom to share their warmth, but because they have no one to lean on.

Jeok Cheongang could serve as someone else’s support, but he had grown too old to lean on anyone himself.

“To be someone’s support…”

Jeok Cheongang was a rough, sharp thorn tree. He had lived a long life and crossed paths with countless people, but he had never allowed anyone to lean on him.

There had been only one exception.

Jangcheon.

“What about you? Did you ever feel, even for a moment, that this Master was a dependable support?”

As Jeok Cheongang thought of him, his gaze clouded over. But his chest no longer hurt as much as it once had, nor did his eyes grow hot.

The dead had already returned to a handful of earth.

At the place where his Disciple had fallen in a spray of blood, Jeok Cheongang had drunk a bottle of liquor and poured out an entire crockful.

He had wept freely, shedding the tears he had been unable to shed for the past ten years and letting the grief in his heart flow out with them.

“I’m sorry. Today will be the last time I think of you.”

If there was to be a next time, it would be in the next life.

He might still think of his dead Disciple from time to time. But those thoughts would no longer be regrets about the past.

They would be memories.

“This is enough. This is how it should be.”

After pacing around the courtyard for a long while, Jeok Cheongang suddenly stopped.

The image of Jangcheon that had been flickering before his eyes vanished, replaced by someone he had never expected to think of.

Why him?

Open, well-defined features. A confident smile that somehow managed to be irritating.

The way he cautiously gauged Jeok Cheongang’s mood, yet still took every cutting remark in stride.

Did I get angry without realizing it because he called me a damn old man?

Jeok Cheongang was frowning when—

Sizzle.

The sound of something burning filled the air, followed by a thin trail of smoke.

Realizing where the sound had come from, his eyes flew open.

“Th-the manual!”

The cover of the Flame Divine Palm manual was already half-burned.

Jeok Cheongang let out a furious roar.

“Jin Taekyung! You damned bastard!”