CLS-Chapter 231

Chapter 231

“Are you saying that’s how Sword Immortal and Martial Lord first met?”

“That’s right.”

“How strange.”

“What is?”

Guangqushen picked at his nose.

“According to what’s passed down in history, Sword Immortal was said to be very close with Radiant Martial Lord, but based on later anecdotes, their relationship doesn’t seem to have been particularly good.”

“Hm? Is that how it’s told?”

“No.”

The historian waved his hand.

“What’s passed down says both of them had a good relationship. However, that’s just my interpretation.”

“Oh?”

Guangqushen looked at the historian with curious eyes while tearing off a duck leg.

‘This is an interesting fellow?’

The very fact that he had come seeking the truth was remarkable in itself. Humans usually focus only on the revealed facts and don’t try to see the world beneath the surface. Yet here he was, not satisfied with just hearing the facts, but reinterpreting history with his own historical materials.

“Hmm, how should I put this…”

Unable to find the right words, Guangqushen scratched his head vigorously. Seeing something falling rustle rustle from his head, the historian quietly stepped back a little.

“What you say is half right and half wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…”

Having organized his thoughts, Guangqushen began to speak.

“I don’t really know what kind of feelings Taiji Sword Immortal had toward Wei Yan-ho. You see, I was just a young beggar back then, while he was someone who commanded the world. I couldn’t have been close enough to know his inner thoughts.”

“I see.”

“On the surface, Taiji Sword Immortal maintained a relationship with Wei Yan-ho that wasn’t too bad. At least that’s how it appeared on the surface. But there wasn’t any sense of unease.”

“…Did you say unease?”

“How should I put it?”

Defining the relationship between those two seemed difficult even for Guangqushen, as his words kept breaking off.

“You know how it is. Taiji Sword Immortal was the great Dao of his time. Though Plum Blossom Sword Master existed, people perceived Plum Blossom Sword Master as one who had reached the end of the sword, while Taiji Sword Immortal was perceived as one who had reached the end of the Dao. One was a sword master, the other was an immortal.”

“I see.”

“So this is what’s strange. You see, that fellow Wei Yan-ho had quite a talent for shattering the Dao, didn’t he?”

“That’s right.”

Just from what he’d heard so far, he could guess Wei Yan-ho’s tendencies. No, it was overflowing.

Wei Yan-ho was fundamentally a person about thirty thousand years removed from basic common sense and propriety.

“Such a gentleman should have had his stomach turn when seeing Wei Yan-ho, but strangely their relationship didn’t seem bad, which was truly puzzling. Though who could know that person’s thoughts.”

“Hmm…”

“As I got older, I came to think this way. The laziness of Wei Yan-ho that we see is laziness, but to that elder, it might have seemed like the natural essence humans are born with. If someone born lazy lives lazily, trying to twist and flip that to make it proper would itself go against the Dao, wouldn’t it?”

The historian couldn’t help but tilt his head.

“Isn’t that a bit strange then?”

“What is?”

“You said that Sword Immortal was someone who would naturally accept even Martial Lord’s laziness, so wouldn’t there be no problems between the two? Then why do you say it’s half right and half wrong?”

“What on earth did you hear?”

“Pardon?”

Guangqushen clicked his tongue.

“Didn’t I say? Sword Immortal thought of Wei Yan-ho’s laziness as part of who he was and naturally accepted it.”

“That’s right.”

“That’s the problem. You see, he was someone who believed that if you just leave the world alone, it will flow toward good. He believed that all people naturally perform the roles given to them, and through that, the world draws closer to the Dao.”

“I don’t quite understand…”

Guangqushen grinned and said.

“The problem is simple. Sword Immortal thought Wei Yan-ho was a person sent by Heaven to resolve the calamities that would come later…”

“For Wei Yan-ho, it was like… someone he’d never faced before. A person who naturally pressured him with belief and trust in him?”

“…That would be scary.”

“Indeed. So that’s where problems arise.”

Guangqushen giggled.

***

How should I put it? For Wei Yan-ho, that must have been quite a shock, right?

Wei Yan-ho had never once experienced such one-sided goodwill and belief until then.

Wei San-ho did show him complete trust, but Wei San-ho’s belief was very different from that of Taiji Sword Immortal.

Because while Wei San-ho believed in Wei Yan-ho’s talent and was confident he would do great things, he understood that to achieve that, he somehow had to guide him down the right path.

You’d have to if you were watching from the side, right?

Even you, just from hearing about it, understand that. He’s the type who, if left alone, wouldn’t come out of bed for a thousand or ten thousand years.

From Wei Yan-ho’s perspective, that seemed to be quite a burden. That human was someone who found being expected to be extremely burdensome.

Well, that’s a story for later.

What’s important now is the martial arts tournament, isn’t it?

How did the tournament go?

Hmm…

I’m not sure how to explain this.

Hm? Was there something special that happened?

No, no, it’s not that…

Explaining the situation isn’t difficult, but explaining that feeling is extremely hard.

So…

Yes. To put it in one word… it was just chaos.

You’ll understand when you hear it.

***

“Brother! Come eat!”

“Not going.”

“You won’t even eat?”

“Too bothersome.”

Wei Su-ryeon’s cheeks puffed up.

‘Doesn’t that human even get heat rash on his back!’

Wei Yan-ho being lazy wasn’t exactly news. Wei Yan-ho was a human who could be lazy anytime, anywhere.

But even so, she never imagined he’d be lazy even after coming all this way for the martial arts tournament.

‘Why is Father just leaving Brother alone?’

What was strange was Wei Jeong-han’s attitude.

Normally, Wei Jeong-han would have been jumping up and down saying that damn kid was being lazy even after coming this far, but he wasn’t particularly stopping Wei Yan-ho.

“Today’s the day Brother competes! How can you have strength without eating?”

“Strength?”

A grinning face slowly emerged from outside the blanket.

The moment she saw that face, Wei Su-ryeon couldn’t help but have one thought.

She really did like Wei Yan-ho.

As a human, she might not know, but as a brother, Wei Su-ryeon was someone who had considerable affection for Wei Yan-ho. But even to Wei Su-ryeon, how should she describe Wei Yan-ho’s current expression…

‘Annoying.’

Adding confidence to that grinning face was creating the most annoying face in the world.

“What, what’s with that face?”

“Little sister.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t you trust your brother?”

“Nope.”

Wei Su-ryeon’s words came out without a moment’s hesitation, making Wei Yan-ho flinch.

“…Normally at times like this, you should say you trust me, shouldn’t you?”

“No.”

Wei Su-ryeon was firm.

“We’re family.”

“Goodwill and evaluation are separate things. I like Brother very, very much, but that doesn’t mean I trust you.”

“…”

“It’s not that I trust you because we’re family, but because we’re family, I like you despite you being that kind of brother. Isn’t that true family love?”

“…I’m touched to tears.”

Wei Yan-ho, who had turned over while yawning, made a request to Wei Su-ryeon.

“I’m fine with food, so just come wake me up at the right time. I absolutely have to compete today.”

“Really?”

“That’s right.”

Wei Su-ryeon looked at Wei Yan-ho with a question of ‘What on earth did this human eat wrong?’ If it was the Wei Yan-ho she knew, he would have been worrying about how to get out of the tournament even until this very moment. But now he was saying he’d compete on his own.

Father was like that, and Wei Yan-ho was like that too… something was strange.

‘Isn’t he planning some scheme again?’

Wei Yan-ho wasn’t trusted even by his own family.

“How’s your body?”

“Good.”

“You don’t look good.”

“This much is fine.”

“This is practically your first formal tournament. Aren’t you nervous?”

“As if.”

Wei San-ho still didn’t seem reassured.

“This is different from just sparring. These are people who’ve staked their lives on this. They’ll come at you more viciously than you think. If you get flustered by that, you’ll get swept up in it. Never lose your composure.”

“Actually…”

Wei Jeong-han also chimed in.

“San-ho is right. You may have skill, but you’re severely lacking in real combat experience. If possible, I’d want you to start with ordinary tournaments and work your way up gradually, but given the circumstances, you have to start with tournaments close to real combat… I’m worried sick.”

“The thing is…”

“Never get flustered. If you calmly display your real skills, victory shouldn’t be difficult. What you need to be careful of is…”

Gong Mu-jin watched Wei Yan-ho, who had given up on everything and was listening to Wei Jeong-han’s words in a daze, and just laughed.

‘Poor guy.’

Usually, when Wei Jeong-han and Wei Yan-ho got tangled up, Gong Mu-jin would support Wei Jeong-han without question, but this time Wei Yan-ho seemed pitiful.

‘Lacking real combat experience, he says.’

What rookie lacking real combat experience beats down Ghost Twin Demons?

‘That’s what family is like.’

While it makes sense to trust because you’re family, it’s also understandable in this world to say you can’t trust because you’re family.

Gong Mu-jin, who had only seen Wei Yan-ho’s active moments, would think ‘He’ll handle it well on his own,’ but for those who had seen Wei Yan-ho’s unreliable side their whole lives, it was natural to worry.

But how should this scene be described?

“Never! Never be careless. You’re good at everything… no, you’re not good at everything, but really the only thing to trust is your strength, and everything else is quite poor…”

“…Are you badmouthing me?”

“It’s not badmouthing, it’s just the facts…”

“I’m grateful.”

Wei Yan-ho shook his head.

Then he looked up at the tournament stage.

“I feel strangely nervous.”

“See! Aren’t you nervous! Take some deep breaths!”

“Argh! Really!”

Wei Yan-ho got angry.

“I’m not nervous because of the tournament, but because Father is making me worry about things I didn’t need to worry about! What’s so great about this that you’re so frantic!”

“Hey, you brat! I wouldn’t worry about anyone else! I wouldn’t worry about San-ho! Even if it were just Su-ryeon, I wouldn’t worry! Think about whether you’ve ever given trust to another person in your life!”

“Should I just lose spectacularly! Let all that damn trust crumble!”

“This kid, really!”

Just as Wei Jeong-han, who had been worrying about his son before the tournament and was now considering beating him up, heard a loud voice.

“Righteous Alliance! Wei Yan-ho!”

“They’re, they’re calling!”

“Huh?”

Wei Yan-ho turned his head to look at the tournament stage. The previous match had already ended.

“Hmm.”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his face vigorously, then began walking shuffle shuffle toward the tournament stage.

“I’ll be back.”

“Yan-ho, relax!”

“Yes…”

Wei Yan-ho shook his head. Seeing that trustworthy father become so worried, he must really be getting old.

‘Then shall I blow away those worries?‘

Father suited being angry better than being worried. So it was time to blow those worries far away to another world.

Wei Yan-ho looked at his opponent waiting for him on the tournament stage.