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CLS-Chapter 267
by SaberToothChapter 267
‘Still, this isn’t too bad.’
Cheong Youngja let out a deep sigh of relief. How much had he anticipated today, and how much had his heart raced with worry?
Because of Wei Yan-ho’s reckless rampage, the heat of the finals—what should have been the festive highlight of the National Young Masters Friendship Martial Tournament—had completely deflated. So he’d been worried that perhaps the audience might have filtered out sparsely, but thankfully the seats were filled to a reasonable degree.
The scattered empty spaces dotting here and there like holes gnawed by mice pained Cheong Youngja’s heart, but still, this much could be considered a decent showing.
“Still, somehow we’ve managed to proceed to the finals.”
“Isn’t this all thanks to the hardships endured by Mount Hua’s Sect Leader?”
Cheong Youngja smiled broadly at the compliments pouring from those around him. But his inner thoughts were completely different.
‘Don’t talk as if it’s already over!’
The finals still remained, yet what was this atmosphere of already closing ceremonies? No matter how deflated these finals might be, finals were still finals.
“By the way, isn’t there anything to eat here?”
Crack.
Cheong Youngja found himself grinding his teeth without realizing it. Slowly turning his head, his eyes caught sight of the young man practically lying in his chair.
“Prepare some refreshments here.”
“……Yes.”
If it were any other bastard, he would have kicked their backside immediately, but right now Cheong Youngja wanted nothing from that young man. He just needed him to stay here doing absolutely nothing until the tournament ended.
Because that bastard had the talent to attract all the world’s trouble just by existing. Incidents and accidents never ceased around him, and he even created accidents where none existed.
‘And he’s the eye of the current martial world’s storm.’
Perhaps if judged by this moment alone, Wei Yan-ho would be more famous than all those seated at the head table combined. The audience seats that had been sparse during the semifinals were filled this much again precisely because quite a few people had climbed Mount Hua wanting to see Wei Yan-ho.
“Huuuuu.”
Cheong Youngja took a deep breath.
Until the moment these finals ended, he was determined never to take his eyes off Wei Yan-ho. Since that Wei Jeong-han bastard had escaped with the logic that ‘when Wei San-ho has reached the finals, how can I be monitoring my younger son,’ the only one who could handle Wei Yan-ho was himself.
Watching Wei Yan-ho receive the refreshment table that had been brought over, his blood pressure strangely rose. Seeing Wei Yan-ho contentedly munching on the jeonbyeong made his stomach turn.
‘Why do I find that fellow so disagreeable?’
Looking back, Wei Yan-ho hadn’t particularly caused any problems. Though he’d committed tremendous accidents, in truth all those accidents were caused by others who then pushed the blame onto Wei Yan-ho—they weren’t Wei Yan-ho’s doing.
The only accident Wei Yan-ho could be said to have committed was forfeiting in the tournament, but one couldn’t blame a younger brother who declared forfeit to avoid fighting his own elder brother.
‘When you think about it that way, he’s not a bad fellow.’
Chomp chomp chomp chomp.
Watching Wei Yan-ho chew and swallow jeonbyeong at a terrifying speed, sighs kept leaking out.
Let’s not think about it.
This was apparently a matter of instinct. Trying to rationally identify why that bastard was so disagreeable was a foolish endeavor. If you asked someone who hates bugs why they hate bugs, countless reasons would emerge, but in reality the biggest reason would be ‘just because.’
Cheong Youngja cleanly turned his head to look down at the martial stage. Just then, two people were climbing onto the stage.
‘The matchup really was arranged magnificently.’
Wei San-ho versus Baek Geomyeong.
When first hosting this tournament, he’d thought that if a Mount Hua disciple couldn’t reach the finals, he’d rather see those two face off in the finals.
They were the two who had divided the position of Greatest Young Master Under Heaven before Wei Yan-ho appeared.
Though recently Wei San-ho’s reputation was better, that was because Baek Geomyeong hadn’t shown himself for a while, and when Baek Geomyeong was active, his standing was higher than Wei San-ho’s.
Both were young masters, yet people evaluated them as having surpassed the martial prowess of young masters. So who was the true Greatest Young Master Under Heaven…
‘I’m not curious!’
Cheong Youngja’s body trembled.
That damned Greatest Young Master Under Heaven was currently behind him chewing jeonbyeong.
Finals to determine the Greatest Young Master Under Heaven, indeed.
Feeling frustrated, he turned around, but Wei Yan-ho looked at him with a truly innocent face that knew nothing and tilted his head.
“What’s wrong?”
“……Nothing.”
“No, you suddenly narrowed your eyes and glared at me, so I wondered if I’d done something wrong.”
“I said it’s nothing.”
“Should I stop eating?”
“Do, do I look like I’m acting this way because of that jeonbyeong?”
“Well, no…”
Wei Yan-ho shrugged and said:
“Since you folks living on the highest and most treacherous mountain peak even in this developed Shaanxi, I thought it might not be easy to obtain even a single jeonbyeong.”
“Are you saying Great Mount Hua can’t obtain a single jeonbyeong?”
“Of course we could obtain it. But the Sect Leader wouldn’t go personally, right? Thinking of the poor youngest disciples having to descend the mountain to buy jeonbyeong because I eat one more piece, tears blur my vision and the jeonbyeong won’t go down my throat properly.”
Then don’t eat it and just say the words.
While speaking, he was continuously stuffing his face, yet those words came out of his mouth!
“Keuuung.”
Cheong Youngja shook his head.
“Your brother is competing in the finals, aren’t you even nervous?”
“It’s not me competing, so why should I be nervous?”
“Your family member is facing a great event and you’re not nervous! Are you saying you have no affection for your family?”
To Cheong Youngja’s crooked reaction, Wei Yan-ho responded with a sneer.
“Hey, adults are always teaching that one shouldn’t be nervous in real combat, but when you actually don’t get nervous, they scold you for not being nervous.”
“……This, this is about family matters.”
“Yes yes, I’m feeling my family’s affairs as if they were my own. So I’m not getting nervous as I was taught. Is that somehow wrong?”
One shouldn’t engage in conversation with that bastard.
Having reached the ordinary truth that all who know Wei Yan-ho eventually realize, Cheong Youngja looked down at the martial stage with an enlightened face.
‘This place is hopeless.’
Then at least that place should do well.
Cheong Youngja looked with desperate eyes at the two people who would be standing at the edge of the martial stage, conversing with their companions.
‘Please!’
“Think you can do well?”
At Wei Jeong-han’s words, Wei San-ho lightly pulled his sword toward his chest.
“I’ll simply do my best.”
“Good. I believe in you.”
“Yes!”
“Don’t misunderstand. I don’t mean I believe you’ll win.”
Wei San-ho raised his head to look at Wei Jeong-han. Wei Jeong-han opened his mouth with an utterly serious expression.
“Winning and losing aren’t important. So what if you lose? You can win next time. I don’t get elated or dejected over a single defeat either, so there’s no need for you to fear defeat from such a young age. Don’t fear losing.”
Wei San-ho’s eyes widened greatly.
“However!”
Wei Jeong-han spoke resolutely.
“What you must not leave behind is regret. Never leave behind the lingering attachment of ‘If I could have done my best, I wouldn’t have lost.’ It’s better to clash with full strength and be defeated with full strength. I hope you become someone who can always do their best anywhere, anytime.”
A smile formed at the corners of Wei San-ho’s mouth.
“I’m also trying to become such a person.”
“Good. You’re my son, so naturally you should!”
Wei San-ho felt his heart warming.
Sometimes he felt he received excessive affection. Though it seemed he’d never properly shown filial piety as a son, his parents always believed in him and sent him complete trust. Not because he was outstanding. Even if he were a dullard, the way Wei Jeong-han and Han Sang-ah looked at him wouldn’t change.
In a way, it could be somewhat burdensome, but rather than feeling burdened, Wei San-ho felt energized instead.
“Then I’ll go and return.”
“Go on!”
Wei San-ho bowed his head slightly to Wei Jeong-han, who was looking at him with a stern expression, then turned around. Baek Geomyeong was waiting for him in the center of the martial stage.
Wei San-ho walked with steady steps and stood opposite Baek Geomyeong.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“No.”
Baek Geomyeong shook his head.
“Nothing to be sorry about. Rather, I’m the one who’s sorry.”
“You said you’re sorry?”
“That’s right.”
A smile bloomed at the corners of Baek Geomyeong’s mouth.
“I’ll have to put down the proud title of Greatest Young Master Under Heaven today, so how could I not be sorry?”
Wei San-ho’s eyes grew heavy.
“It won’t be easy.”
“Hmm, thinking about it, this statement is also strange. It seems the title of Greatest Young Master Under Heaven was already stolen? And by your younger brother, no less.”
“……”
“How does it feel to lose without even getting to fight?”
Though Baek Geomyeong was openly provoking him, Wei San-ho wasn’t shaken. There was no reason to be shaken.
“First.”
Wei San-ho opened his mouth.
“I’ve never once thought of myself as the Greatest Young Master Under Heaven. So there’s nothing to regret about an ill-fitting title disappearing.”
Baek Geomyeong’s eyes showed interest.
“And second, that title went where it rightfully belongs, so there’s no reason to feel bad. Lastly…”
Wei San-ho took a slight deep breath and continued speaking.
“My inability to settle the match with that fellow is due to my own inadequacy. If I could have fought and defeated that fellow as a proper elder brother, he would never have given up the match in such a manner. So it’s not something to feel bad about, but something to be ashamed of.”
“Hmm.”
Baek Geomyeong tilted his head slightly.
“For brothers, you seem to have quite different personalities.”
“……I tend to hear that.”
“I’ll apologize for the misunderstanding first. I thought you too wouldn’t be much different from Wei Yan-ho, but I can definitely see that your outward appearance isn’t hypocrisy.”
This time, Wei San-ho’s expression changed subtly.
‘Not much different from Yan-ho?’
This wasn’t something someone who had merely heard rumors about Wei Yan-ho and watched his actions from the sidelines could say. This person was speaking as if he knew Wei Yan-ho extremely well.
Baek Geomyeong smiled coldly.
“You’re a gentleman, it seems. But unfortunately, I’m not a gentleman. So though it’s somewhat petty, I’ll have to repay what I received from your younger brother to you instead.”
“You’ve met my younger brother?”
“No, I haven’t.”
After that, Baek Geomyeong seemed to mutter something, but it didn’t reach Wei San-ho’s ears.
“That’s not what’s important. What’s important is that you’ll be defeated by me here today.”
Wei San-ho raised his sword.
“That may be so. But it won’t be easy.”
“Not easy?”
Baek Geomyeong burst into low laughter.
“A frog in a well doesn’t know how wide the world is. Having gained empty fame, you don’t know your own level.”
“……”
Wei San-ho put strength into the hand gripping his sword without answering.
“I’ll show you. Why your sword cannot match my sword.”
Baek Geomyeong slowly drew his sword.
The air above the martial stage grew coldly still. On the martial stage that had become as cold as an ice cave, the two people aimed their swords at each other.
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