CLS-Chapter 215

Chapter 215

Deep sleep was like honey.

Although it was Peng Daoji who had first requested the conversation, through that dialogue Wei Yan-ho felt his heart ease a little.

When has Wei Yan-ho become so obsessed with getting stronger?

When he thought about it, it was strange.

Wei Yan-ho was someone who could give up everything if it meant he could rest for just one day, one shijin, no, even one moment longer. And yet he had gone out to train on his own two feet.

‘I must be crazy.’

They say when a person does things they’ve never done before, it means their time has come to die. He was so scared he wondered if he might have caught some serious illness.

‘That wasn’t like me.’

Good heavens, training to break through the realm of martial arts mastery.

If his master in the afterlife had seen this spectacle, he would have shed tears. Though whether they would be tears of emotion or of injustice was anyone’s guess.

In that sense, Wei Yan-ho was stretching out to his heart’s content after a long time.

So what if he was lazy? He was living just fine.

He’d earned enough money, the world was peaceful—there was no need to struggle desperately to become stronger. Having let go of everything, Wei Yan-ho had become one with his bed.

The feeling of his body gradually sinking into the bed.

The rolled-up blanket was warm.

Was there heaven anywhere else? This was heaven.

With his back warm and belly full, Wei Yan-ho had nothing to regret in the world.

But the world was never easy, and whenever he felt comfortable, someone always appeared to ruin it.

He heard the sound of the door bursting open.

Wei Yan-ho, who had been burrowed under the blanket, perked up his ears.

Thud, thud.

The footsteps were heavy and determined.

‘He’s not going to let this slide.’

The footsteps carried unwavering resolve. An intense determination to drag Wei Yan-ho out no matter what!

Creak.

As soon as he heard the sound of someone grabbing the foot of the bed, Wei Yan-ho poked his head out slightly.

“I’m awake! I’m awake, I tell you! Put the bed down!”

Wei Jeong-han, who had been about to flip the bed over, made eye contact with Wei Yan-ho and smiled lightly.

“So you were awake.”

“Yes! I’m awake. So please put the bed down. This isn’t even our house.”

“You’ve actually learned to think about such things.”

Wei Jeong-han spoke as if he were proud.

“But if you knew your father was coming in and were clearly awake, why didn’t you even poke your head out?”

“Heh heh heh.”

Wei Yan-ho tried to brush it off with laughter, but Wei Jeong-han didn’t budge. Seeing his father’s glaring eyes, Wei Yan-ho answered with an awkward expression.

“Because that way I could rest even a little bit longer.”

“You rascal! You worthless brat!”

And so Wei Jeong-han flipped over the bed even at Mount Hua.

“…This is seriously annoying to death.”

Wei Yan-ho sighed deeply as he looked at the bustling crowd of people.

Those who supposedly lived in the martial world were clearly all out of their minds.

“Unless they’re crazy about fighting.”

Mount Hua was a place you could only reach after crossing several cliffs that would make even Wei Yan-ho’s liver turn cold. And yet all these people had gathered here to watch fights. Did that make any sense?

‘Just how much do they love watching fights?’

At this point, he was starting to have doubts about this place called the martial world.

“The preliminaries begin today.”

“Preliminaries?”

“Yes. Since there are a hundred participants, they thought they needed to filter out some people. I suggested we just organize the tournament brackets directly, but… I was rejected.”

“Hmm.”

Wei Yan-ho nodded as if he understood. With over a hundred participants, they would need to hold more than fifty duels initially. Fifty duels might sound manageable, but considering that some duels could last nearly a shijin, even three days and nights of continuous dueling wouldn’t be enough.

“Can’t they just fight wherever at various training grounds and just come report the results?”

“That would be a very good method, but if someone gets seriously injured, what was supposed to be a tournament might turn into revenge disguised as competition.”

“That’s complicated.”

Wei Yan-ho shrugged and looked at the large training ground.

‘They even laid blue stone.’

Whether it had been there originally or was newly laid for this tournament, there was a huge platform made of blue stone in the center of the training ground.

That was probably where the duels would take place.

“If you have any questions…”

“Haven’t all our people arrived yet?”

“Ask later if you have questions.”

“Aw.”

Wei Jeong-han smiled bitterly and answered.

“They said they’d arrive by this morning, but something must have happened—they seem to be running late.”

“People who don’t keep appointments aren’t worth looking at anyway.”

“Right, exactly.”

Wei Jeong-han clicked his tongue lightly.

‘Not worth looking at, that’s true.’

In the end, what the Orthodox Alliance had prepared for this tournament wasn’t them, but Wei San-ho and Wei Yan-ho. As long as those two didn’t cause trouble and participated in the tournament properly, there was nothing to fear.

“How about it? Isn’t your heart racing?”

“Not at all.”

“Haha, how bold of you.”

“…”

Wei Yan-ho looked at Wei Jeong-han with vacant eyes. His father seemed to believe without a doubt that Wei Yan-ho would soar through this tournament.

“Um… Father.”

“Yes, Yan-ho.”

Look at that.

Wasn’t his tone affectionate?

When he thought about it, normally his father wouldn’t have just drawn his sword when Wei Yan-ho was lying in bed sleeping until broad daylight on the day of the tournament—flipping over the bed would have been merciful.

“You haven’t forgotten that there are some people in this world you shouldn’t have expectations for, have you?”

“Of course I know that.”

“That’s a relief.”

“That’s why I had no expectations.”

“Yes.”

“But no matter how I think about it logically, I can’t imagine how you could lose if you just stepped onto the dueling platform.”

“…”

“I don’t have even a speck of expectation. I don’t tell a snail to fly. You just need to crawl. If you just crawl…”

Wei Yan-ho opened his mouth and went “Huh?”

Just when had his father started having such expectations of him?

When was it that he used to jump up and down calling him a turtle-like fool?

Wei Yan-ho couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.

‘The world isn’t that easy, Father.’

He suspected his father would only remember what kind of person Wei Yan-ho really was after shedding bitter tears.

“Nothing to worry about.”

“Huh?”

Wei Yan-ho tilted his head as he looked at Wei San-ho, who had approached from behind and was patting his shoulder.

“What are you talking about?”

“No need to be nervous. You don’t need to display all your usual abilities either. The opponent will be just as nervous.”

“Heh heh heh heh.”

Wei Yan-ho realized that some serious misunderstanding was taking place.

Being expected was certainly a good thing.

Since Wei Yan-ho had rarely been the object of anyone’s expectations in his life, having his family’s expectations weighing on both shoulders was a very novel experience.

But the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment.

‘So this is the side effect.’

It was a moment when he realized that their long separation had led to this result.

‘Well, there’s nothing to worry about.’

Wei Yan-ho shrugged.

Soon they would learn again what kind of person Wei Yan-ho really was.

“Looks like it’s starting?”

“I told you our people haven’t all arrived yet?”

“Today is just preliminaries, so it’s fine. They just need to arrive by today. Of course, they’ll have to be punished for not keeping to the schedule.”

Wei Yan-ho puffed out his lips.

‘How generous, how generous.’

If he’d been that generous normally, Wei Yan-ho wouldn’t have turned out so crooked.

Soon the venue became quiet, and a man stepped up onto the platform.

“Isn’t that Master Gong behind there too?”

“Be quiet.”

“Why can’t I say anything…”

“Hey!”

Wei Yan-ho’s lips protruded even further.

The man who had stepped onto the platform quietly looked around. Though it was nothing special, the surroundings became silent.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all like this. I am Cheong-yeong, who holds the position of sect leader of Mount Hua.”

Those who had been quiet began murmuring again.

“To think the sect leader would appear in person.”

“That shows how much importance they place on this tournament, doesn’t it?”

“So that person is the True Master Cheong-yeong, who is said to have seen the pinnacle of Plum Blossom Sword Technique.”

Wei Yan-ho’s ears perked up.

“That person is the sect leader?”

“Didn’t I tell you to be quiet!”

“Everyone else is talking though?”

“Hey!”

Wei Yan-ho pressed his lips firmly shut with his hands. He felt a sense of crisis that if his lips protruded any further, they might not return to their original position.

“I would like to express my gratitude once more to all those who have visited to grace this occasion. As you all surely know, this tournament is not merely a place to show off one’s martial arts to each other. It will be a gathering where those who once fought back-to-back against the rampage of the Demonic Cult can come together once more to strengthen their bonds of friendship.”

Wei Yan-ho smiled contentedly and said,

“Even Taoists lie well.”

“Kaaak!“

Unable to bear it any longer, Wei Jeong-han grabbed Wei Yan-ho’s head and shook it vigorously.

“If you’re human, you should understand when someone’s talking to you!”

“Uh uh uh uh.”

Wei Yan-ho, who had been swaying helplessly as he was shaken, opened his mouth.

“Father.”

“What!”

“Everyone in the neighborhood is watching. I think even the Mount Hua sect leader is looking this way.”

“Hiieek!“

Realizing that he had drawn the attention of the crowd, Wei Jeong-han removed his hands from Wei Yan-ho’s head and awkwardly smiled while clasping his hands behind his back.

“Kuhum hum.“

“I don’t think that’s going to solve the problem at this point…”

“Let’s talk when we get back to the lodging.”

“As expected, people who speak the truth never come to a good end. I should keep that in mind.”

“Grr.“

Wei Jeong-han glared at Wei Yan-ho.

“Normally, fathers don’t look at their children with such expressions, do they?”

“Normally, there aren’t children like you either.”

“Ah, I hadn’t thought of that.”

“You blockhead!”

Wei Jeong-han fumed and then firmly grasped Wei Yan-ho’s shoulder.

“Listen carefully, Yan-ho.”

“Yes.”

“Today we hold the preliminaries. Since it would take too much time for participants to duel each other, it was decided that you pass the preliminaries by lasting three seconds against the Mount Hua elders’ attacks.”

“That’s really not an efficient method for organizing people either. But didn’t you say our people haven’t all arrived?”

“Don’t worry about it. They don’t need to take the preliminaries.”

“What?”

“Those taking the preliminaries are people like you. Those without fame and whose abilities haven’t been proven.”

“Hul.“

Wei Yan-ho spoke as if wronged.

“To think discrimination exists from the preliminaries—even if this world pretends to be fair while being unfair, I didn’t know that even the people leading this martial world would engage in such discrimination.”

“If you feel wronged, just pass.”

“Easier said than done.”

Wei Yan-ho shuddered.

“To block attacks from Mount Hua elders for three whole seconds! Is that something to make late-stage practitioners do? I already feel like my body is trembling.”

“…Cut the crap.”

“Hul.“

“Anyway, I’ve told you everything. Now it depends on you.”

“Yes. I’ll do my best.”

Wei Yan-ho nodded with a determined expression.

He would do his best, his very best.

It’s just that the direction of that best effort might be a little different from what Wei Jeong-han was thinking.

Wei Yan-ho snickered as he looked at the dueling platform.

‘Making people fight by force—if Confucius knew about this, he would have thrown a fit saying it was the end times.’

A pacifist like Wei Yan-ho couldn’t just stand by and watch such a spectacle, could he?

But Wei Yan-ho didn’t know.

His life had always been accompanied by misfortune, and that misfortune wasn’t over yet.

Soon he would feel it to the bone, very soon.