CLS-Chapter 145

Chapter 145

Gong Mu-jin had to feel a strange sense of unease.

Of course, the Ghost Blade Twin Demons were evil bastards who fully deserved to die. So Wei Yan-ho sending the Ghost Blade Twin Demons to the afterlife was nothing he could complain about.

But seeing a legend who had decorated an entire generation get his head lopped off in one strike by a young swordsman of the next generation wasn’t exactly something he, now approaching middle age, wanted to witness.

Even without bringing up trite sayings like “the Yangtze River’s rear waves push the front waves,” it was natural for the previous generation to be pushed aside by the next.

But this felt less like rear waves and more like a storm blowing in from behind.

‘To catch the Ghost Blade Twin Demons like they were children.’

He knew Wei Yan-ho was strong.

But that strength was something he had grasped through sparring. What Wei Yan-ho would show in actual combat had been an unknown quantity to him as well.

And his impression of seeing that actual combat was, in a word…

“A monster.”

Gong Mu-jin shook his head.

“Would people believe this?”

When Gong Mu-jin turned around, Eon-hyo shook his head with a face of great shock.

“Even though I saw it with my own eyes, I can’t believe it. No one will believe it.”

“…That’s probably right.”

In life, things like a leopard catching a tiger could happen. If someone said they saw such a thing with their own eyes, some might find it hard to believe, but there would be those who would accept it.

But if someone said a rabbit caught a tiger, they’d be perfectly positioned to be called crazy.

Gong Mu-jin looked at the rabbit that had just caught a tiger.

“Agh, it’s been a while since I moved my body a bit, so my back is…”

Wei Yan-ho, who had sheathed his sword with fumbling motions, wrapped the scabbard with cloth, then picked it up like a stick and started heading toward the carriage.

Creak.

Just then, the carriage door opened and Shangguan Hong poked his head out of the carriage.

“…What happened?”

Looking at Shangguan Hong, who appeared to have half his life force drained away, the Twin Dragons and Twin Phoenixes exchanged glances.

‘Where’s the part that’s still alive?’

‘It’s fortunate it ended at just that level.’

‘Friend, do not be angry about what you’ve lost. You’re still alive, aren’t you?’

“It’s nothing at all.”

Gong Mu-jin approached Shangguan Hong and patted his shoulder, then pushed him back into the carriage. His manner felt like he was clearing away something bothersome.

“Heave!”

When Wei Yan-ho climbed onto the carriage and lay down, Wei Su-ryeon also hopped up onto the carriage.

“Oh, big brother!”

“What.”

“Big brother, why are you so strong?”

“Your brother has always been strong.”

“Big brother, you were incredibly strong though?”

“Your brother has always been incredibly strong.”

Wei Yan-ho answered with a calm face, gilding his own image, but among those listening, no one could refute those words.

‘Catching the Ghost Blade Twin Demons like catching dogs…’

At this point, even if Wei Yan-ho had said “Actually, I’m not your brother but your grandfather who achieved rejuvenation,” they would have half-believed it.

The Twin Dragons and Twin Phoenixes and Gong Mu-jin had to struggle to regain their sense of reality while looking at the corpses of the Ghost Blade Twin Demons sprawled on the ground.

‘But why is he so irritating?’

He hadn’t particularly put on airs or bragged about anything, yet Wei Yan-ho had a talent for making people find him irritating.

“Aren’t we departing?”

“Wait just a moment.”

It was also problematic to leave corpses lying around on the public road like this. But it was also awkward to bury them, since it would mean carefully digging graves for the corpses of bandits.

“Let’s move them to a corner for now.”

Eon-hyo and Peng Do-hyeong stepped forward to move the corpses to a secluded spot.

“If we leave them roughly like this, wild animals will take care of eating them.”

Gong Mu-jin, thinking it was excessive to give graves to such people, ultimately came to that conclusion.

“…Sir Gong, but the thing is.”

“Mm?”

“We need to report to our superiors that we caught these Ghost Blade Twin Demons, but what exactly should we report…”

Gong Mu-jin’s face contorted.

How could he say ‘Some lazy bum we happened to travel with drew his sword and beat the Ghost Blade Twin Demons to death like dogs’?

If he reported it that way, the obvious response would be ‘These bastards, I gave them a mission and they went off slacking. Do they think Ghost Blade Twin Demons is the name of some neighborhood dog?’

“…For now, report that you and I fought and caught them.”

“But isn’t that a lie? The actual person who caught them will be angry too.”

Gong Mu-jin glanced at Wei Yan-ho, who was already lying sprawled on top of the carriage.

“The actual person doesn’t seem interested, so it’s fine, and I’ll speak to the higher-ups separately, so just report it that way.”

“Will that really be okay?”

“Mmm, what else can we do?”

Ever since meeting Wei Yan-ho, Gong Mu-jin felt like he kept becoming more of a liar.

‘Is this really okay?’

It was welcome that a junior who would shake the world had appeared. But when imagining that junior’s appearance, there was something typically imagined.

Like the appearance of an upright youth with a heroic bearing and a dignified face, or the appearance of a sharp man harboring a blade-like presence.

There were various appearances, but nowhere among them was the appearance of a young man with sleep in his eyes who lived sprawled about because he found even drawing his sword bothersome.

‘Is this really okay?!’

When he looked up again, he could see Wei Yan-ho sprawled out with even a blanket covering him.

Gong Mu-jin felt like crying.

It felt like watching dark clouds gathering over the future of the martial world.

“Please have some of this.”

And just then, Lee Seol-hwa offered Wei Yan-ho some snacks she had packed from somewhere.

“Oh!”

Watching Wei Yan-ho happily munching on the snacks his disciple offered, Gong Mu-jin felt a surge of emotion and kicked the innocent ground.

Dark clouds were covering not only the martial world but also his disciple’s future.

***

“Is this the right way?”

“I’m telling you it is.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m Jang-il! I’m the sucker Jang-il! Can’t you trust what I say?”

“Actually, what good has ever come from listening to you until now?”

“…”

Jang-il, who had nothing to say even with ten mouths, flapped his mouth like a carp before getting angry.

“Gah! This time it’s certain! This way!”

“Then why isn’t there a single ant visible on the roadside?”

“That’s because the civilians saw the gathering martial artists and hid in their homes, and the martial artists are all following the Sword Emperor’s legacy right now.”

“Hmm, then let’s hurry a bit.”

“Don’t just think about yourself. The mother and Miss Jin Ye-ran riding in the carriage can’t endure it if the carriage shakes any more.”

“I see. I hadn’t thought of that.”

Jang-il clicked his tongue looking at Wei San-ho, who was anxiously gripping his thigh.

‘What’s he so urgent about?’

Frankly speaking, with Wei Yan-ho’s skills, even if the Demonic Cult invaded, there wouldn’t be much difficulty in preserving his own life.

No matter how much Jang-il explained this and had Ghost Lady confirm it, Wei San-ho stubbornly refused to believe their words, insisting ‘there’s no way my younger brother is such a master.’

‘I can’t say I don’t understand though…’

Looking at what Wei Yan-ho did, even Jang-il couldn’t understand how that guy had built up such skills, so it wasn’t unreasonable that Wei San-ho, who had always watched over Wei Yan-ho, couldn’t believe it.

“Mmm, I wonder if that guy might really get involved in this incident.”

“No matter how much they went in a similar direction, it’s not easy to encounter each other in these vast Central Plains.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“Huh?”

“My younger brother has a talent for attracting misfortune.”

“…Huh?”

“From long ago, whenever that guy committed some crime or caused trouble, somehow either I or father would find out about it. At first I thought this guy kept getting caught because he was naive, but that wasn’t it.”

“Wait. I don’t quite understand…”

Wei San-ho sighed.

“To put it simply, it’s like that guy has a magnet attached to his body or something – he has this strange power that attracts all the incidents happening around him.”

At the same time, Wi Jeong-han suddenly stuck his head out of the carriage window and agreed with Wei San-ho’s words.

“That’s right. He definitely had that aspect.”

When even Wi Jeong-han chimed in, Jang-il spoke with a serious face.

“How can a person be like that?”

“My younger brother is like that.”

“My son is like that.”

Then a clear voice flowed out from inside the carriage.

“Then we need to hurry. Can’t we go faster?”

“It’s possible, but would you be alright with that?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine.”

“Then I’ll increase the speed a bit more. Please be careful.”

Jang-il was about to grip the reins and urge the horses forward when he tilted his head.

“Huh?”

He had naturally thought he was talking with Han Sang-ah, Wei Yan-ho’s mother, but the voice was thinner than Han Sang-ah’s.

‘Is it Miss Jin?’

But didn’t that young lady say she was going to see a patient collapsed on the roadside?

Why would such a young lady react to Wei Yan-ho being in danger?

“What are you doing?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

At Wei San-ho’s urging, Jang-il struck the horses’ rumps.

“Run! You bastards!”

---

“So naturally he got involved in an incident, right?”

“Well, do I need to spell that out for you?”

When Divine Beggar answered while picking his nose, the Historian agreed with a tone that suggested this was no longer surprising.

“…I’m scared that I’m starting to find this natural.”

“Everyone’s like that.”

“Then there must have been a tremendous storm of blood.”

“Why?”

“Since those targeting the Sword Emperor’s legacy met with Young Master Wei Yan-ho, disaster must have struck. Either way, when trouble breaks out, it breaks out. Because the true heir of the Sword Emperor is none other than Radiant Martial Lord Wei Yan-ho.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Divine Beggar grinned, showing his yellow teeth.

“But that’s not quite how it went.”

“What?”

the Historian smiled as if he didn’t understand.

“Are you saying that Wei Yan-ho isn’t the Sword Emperor’s heir?”

“No, that’s not what I mean…”

“Yes.”

“It seemed like disaster would strike, but that guy brilliantly resolved the situation again.”

“…What does that mean?”

“This is actually a very absurd matter – how much did you know about this bloodbath?”

“I’m ashamed to say I didn’t know the details.”

“Right. Isn’t it strange? This bloodbath has been blowing such a storm from the beginning. Then things should get bigger as it goes on, but right now you only know of this bloodbath’s existence. If it were a struggle for the Sword Emperor’s legacy, it wouldn’t be strange for the roadsides to be wallpapered with corpses.”

“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”

“That’s all because of that guy.”

“…Did he cause trouble again?”

“That’s the subtle part.”

the Historian spoke as if frustrated.

“Don’t do that and just tell me clearly.”

“Mmm…”

Divine Beggar scratched his cheek.

“First, looking only at the revealed facts, it’s true that Wei Yan-ho resolved this matter in a truly mysterious way.”

“Then isn’t that good?”

“But that’s not quite how it goes either – that’s the interesting point of worldly affairs.”

the Historian tilted his head.

What on earth does this mean?

“Well, I’ve built up enough suspense, so now I’ll tell you the story. As you thought, the Sword Emperor’s legacy ended up in Wei Yan-ho’s hands.”

“So it turned out that way in the end.”

“But it didn’t?”

“What?”

Divine Beggar giggled.

“That’s why I told you not to make assumptions. That guy is someone you never know what he’ll do. How he handled that secret manual was…”

Divine Beggar continued his explanation with a mischievous expression.