CLS-Chapter 478

Chapter 478:

“Aaaaaaahhhhh!“

Wei Yan-ho screamed as he bolted upright.

“Are you alright?”

Wu-il, who had been hiding on the ceiling, quickly dropped down.

“W-water!”

“Yes!”

Wu-il quickly poured water into a cup and handed it to Wei Yan-ho. After gulping down the water in one go, Wei Yan-ho let out a deep sigh.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

“A nightmare…”

If it was a nightmare, then it was a nightmare.

His body had been split apart at least thirty more times.

‘There’s really no answer.’

He thought he had become stronger. The current Wei Yan-ho could be called a different person from when he first emerged from the cave. In just a few months, he had become several times stronger.

He could handle his former self without even drawing a sword.

And yet…

“How could I not land even one hit? Not even one!”

Wei Yan-ho writhed in anguish.

He had been beaten to death.

No, he was only alive because it was a dream—if it had been a real sparring match, he would have died about five hundred times. During all that dying and dying again, how could he not manage to land even a single blow?

Later, driven by desperation, he charged in with the mindset of ‘you die, I die,’ but still couldn’t manage to hit even once.

“This is just too much, really.”

He was on the verge of tears from the injustice of it all.

Others might feel infinite respect for their master’s strength, but Wei Yan-ho was different.

No, perhaps others would feel the same way if they became Baek Mu-han’s disciples. While Baek Mu-han was a master who commanded infinite respect for his martial arts, as a person, he only deserved curses.

“Aaaahhh! So frustrating!”

As Wei Yan-ho kicked off his blanket and thrashed about, Wu-il quietly shook her head.

‘He’s hopeless.’

Her benefactor was truly a great martial artist, but as a human being, he was quite hard to watch.

But what could she do?

The fact that Wei Yan-ho had saved her remained unchanged.

Even beasts know gratitude—how could she, a human, abandon such kindness? Even if the person she had to repay was a hopeless lazy bum, what she had to do remained the same.

But recently, WWu-il had begun to harbor a certain doubt.

People pointed fingers at Wei Yan-ho, calling him a lazy bum. They said if it weren’t for that laziness, he wouldn’t receive so much criticism.

‘But is that really true?’

Having quietly observed Wei Yan-ho’s lifestyle, Wu-il thought that judgment might be wrong.

Perhaps this person received less criticism because he was lazy.

Because he was lazy, he met fewer people, and because he was lazy, he appeared less in others’ sight, so people knew less about what kind of person he really was.

A diligent Wei Yan-ho?

‘That would be a disaster.’

Thinking about him bustling around everywhere with that personality—there would be no greater disaster. Perhaps heaven knew this in advance and bestowed laziness upon this person.

It was just her imagination, of course.

“Shall I prepare a meal?”

“Ah…”

Wei Yan-ho looked at her as if he had just noticed Wu-il’s presence.

“I’ve been curious about something for a while.”

“Yes?”

“What’s your name?”

“…”

Wu-il closed her mouth, but Wei Yan-ho didn’t stop.

“When I think about it, your younger sibling has a name, but it’s strange that only you are called by such an odd alias. And that alias was given by the Zhuge Family, so it’s also strange that you keep using it.”

“That’s… true.”

“If it at least sounded good, I might keep using it, but it’s no different from calling someone ‘Dog Shit.'”

Wu-il’s face trembled.

No matter what, calling her ‘Dog Shit’ was too much!

“Right? You have a separate name, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

Wu-il hesitated a bit.

She hadn’t used her name for so long that it felt foreign even to herself. Speaking it again felt awkward.

“So… I-ryeon.”

“So I-ryeon…”

Wei Yan-ho nodded.

“That name is much better. Use that name from now on. Wu-il is too strange.”

“If you command it, I will do so.”

“Yes. Let’s call it an order.”

Wei Yan-ho threw off his blanket and got up from his seat.

“What about the meal?”

“No. I have somewhere to go. I’ll wash up first.”

Wu-il—no, So I-ryeon—looked at Wei Yan-ho with puzzled eyes. This was the first time she had seen this person move his body so busily.

Well, it would be ordinary for other people.

“Where are you going?”

“Hmm…”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his head vigorously and said:

“I have something I need to resolve.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“You don’t need to follow me. Just take care of Ryeo-gun’s meals. The kid has no energy when he doesn’t eat.”

“…I apologize.”

“It’s fine. More than that…”

Wei Yan-ho turned his head to look out the window. Warm sunlight was streaming down.

“Things might get a bit busy.”

There was no longer any hesitation in Wei Yan-ho’s voice.

***

“Where are you going?”

“Oh, Inkwell?”

Coming out of the guest quarters, Wei Yan-ho spotted the people standing at the entrance.

Zhuge Mun-in stood at the front.

“Your face has cleared up?”

“Beggar?”

Zhang Yi was also waiting for him along with Zhuge Mun-in.

“Your expression definitely doesn’t look bad.”

“Why is Sword Ghost here too?”

“Amitabha.“

After confirming Peng Dao-ji and Mu San as well, Wei Yan-ho’s eyes widened.

“Were you all waiting here since morning because there’s something to mooch?”

“Morning? The sun is at its zenith, you bastard!”

“When a person wakes up, that’s morning.”

After spouting complete nonsense that wouldn’t fool anyone, Wei Yan-ho stretched broadly.

“You all seem awfully idle.”

“It’s an important day.”

“Important?”

“That’s right. The Head of the Zhuge Family told us not to let you slip away and to bring you along.”

“What’s happening today?”

“We need to decide who will take the Explosive Blood Pill, don’t we?”

“Ah, that?”

Wei Yan-ho chuckled.

“Forget it. I have something I need to do first.”

“…That won’t work. He specifically said to bring you no matter what.”

“Beggar.”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s not waste our breath arguing over something with an obvious conclusion. When have you ever changed my mind?”

“Groan.“

Zhang Yi scratched his head vigorously.

“Ah! This damn itch!”

“Go scratch somewhere else, you beggar!”

Zhang Yi looked up at the distant sky.

‘At least in the past, these friends used to call me Little Beggar Dog…’

This is why you need to choose your friends carefully.

In the past, they were worthy of the name as heirs of prestigious families. Especially when Wei San-ho stood in the center, one would naturally think, ‘Ah, these are the ones who will lead the martial world in the future.’

Every time that happened, he felt proud to be friends with such people…

“What are you looking at, beggar?”

“Did you finish begging?”

“A beggar is living off handouts without even begging. Amitabha, the martial world is turning upside down.”

Even the monk…

Zhang Yi became even more dejected.

Wei San-ho had merely been replaced by Wei Yan-ho in that position, but why did it have such a transformative effect on people?

‘These guys might end up leading the martial world.’

That would be catastrophic.

Zhang Yi absolutely had to prevent that from happening.

“What scheme are you plotting now?”

At Wei Yan-ho’s words, Zhuge Mun-in chuckled.

“A beggar can’t accomplish much by scheming. Begging is fundamentally about running around on foot. Scheming is the role of someone like me.”

“That’s true.”

“You damn bastards!”

Zhang Yi ground his teeth, but Wei Yan-ho paid him no attention and walked off leisurely.

“Where are you going, man!”

“Beggar, you talk too much, too much.”

Everyone followed behind Wei Yan-ho.

“…Hmm?”

Wei Yan-ho, who had been heading toward the medical hall, tilted his head.

“What?”

“The eyes looking this way seem a bit strange.”

“Ah, that?”

Zhang Yi chuckled.

‘Only he doesn’t know.’

The sparring match Wei Yan-ho had with Cheok Su-gwang had completely turned the Tang Family upside down.

Of course, the Tang Family hadn’t ignored Wei Yan-ho before this. The fact that he had defeated the Dark King was common knowledge.

But sparring with Cheok Su-gwang had a different effect.

First, it directly showed Wei Yan-ho fighting against a top-level martial artist. There’s a huge difference between knowing intellectually that someone is strong and actually witnessing that strength.

What they knew in their heads but couldn’t feel viscerally became real to them, and they couldn’t react the same way as before.

Moreover, in this sparring match, Wei Yan-ho had demonstrated strength beyond what was previously known.

Even if he had defeated the Dark King, those who thought the Tang Family could handle this one person if they put their minds to it had alarm bells ringing in their heads.

If Wei Yan-ho seriously intended to fight the Tang Family, the Tang Family would also have to be prepared for annihilation. Having seen this fact with their own eyes, how could they act as they had before?

Everyone knew this fact.

But only Wei Yan-ho was unaware of it.

‘In any case, he’s hopeless.’

It wasn’t because Wei Yan-ho was stupid. Wei Yan-ho simply had no concept of needing to be careful around those stronger than himself. The strong were strong, and the weak were weak, that was all.

Wei Yan-ho had no respect for the strong.

‘That’s not necessarily bad.’

He also had no contempt for the weak.

Looking back, Wei Yan-ho was extremely generous toward the weak. But he was often arrogant toward the strong.

He took care of beggars’ meals and helped poor physician siblings, but he acted stubbornly before the Emperor and turned the Tang Family upside down.

He was typically someone who was strong toward the strong and gentle toward the weak.

“The problem is that it’s not because he’s kind.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing.”

Zhang Yi wore a bitter smile.

The reason Wei Yan-ho was strong toward the strong was that the stronger someone was, the more they tended to treat others carelessly. Of course, this applied to Wei Yan-ho as well.

If the strong people who met Wei Yan-ho hadn’t treated him carelessly, Wei Yan-ho wouldn’t have caused such chaos either. The weak naturally don’t treat others carelessly, which is why they could draw help from Wei Yan-ho.

This guy was like a rubber ball that bounced back harder when pressed.

“But why are you going to the medical hall?”

“How did you know I was going to the medical hall?”

“What else is there if you go this way besides the medical hall?”

“You’re quick-witted enough that you won’t starve to death. Why else would I go there but for treatment?”

“Huh? Did you just say treatment?”

“Yeah.”

“Treatment is possible?”

“I don’t know yet. But I’ve caught a clue.”

“Oh!”

Zhang Yi looked at Wei Yan-ho with surprised eyes.

Even the Tang Family’s medical arts couldn’t treat it, so just catching a clue was remarkable.

‘This is why you can’t ignore this guy.’

The events Wei Yan-ho had experienced so far were complex and difficult enough to be described as tumultuous.

It was true that things got tangled because Wei Yan-ho was there…

‘But without this guy, they would have been unsolvable problems in the first place.’

He did solve things, albeit by making them complicated first. That was Wei Yan-ho’s remarkable aspect.

Take the Imperial Palace incident.

At that time, without Wei Yan-ho, who could have resolved that matter? A great calamity would have struck while no one in the world knew about it.

Wei Yan-ho had simply solved it. That same Wei Yan-ho was now stepping forward to solve even this matter.

With anticipation, Zhang Yi asked:

“How! How are you planning to treat it?”

“Well, about that…”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his head vigorously and said:

“I don’t know either.”

“Huh?”

“But I’m going to try it once. Master is right. If the poison is broken, I should fix the poison first.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“But no matter how I think about it, this seems like a crazy thing to do.”

When the words ‘crazy thing’ flowed from Wei Yan-ho’s mouth, Zhang Yi’s face turned pale.

‘What exactly is he planning to do?’

Anxiety washed over him.

Tremendous anxiety, at that.