CLS-Chapter 504

Chapter 504:

It was like a scene from mythology.

Even those who had witnessed countless battles could only be mesmerized by the current spectacle.

It seemed like witnessing the beginning of the world.

Light and darkness.

And yin and yang.

Just as light and darkness separated and intertwined at the beginning of creation, the sword energies unleashed by the two brothers entangled and split apart, screaming and wailing.

Then came the collapse that followed.

The Heaven-Splitting Sound erupted forth.

A tremendous explosion that seemed like it would deafen them.

Yet paradoxically, nothing could be heard. It wasn’t a sound that human ears could handle.

The end of the explosion was silence.

All sounds in the world disappeared.

The entire world was covered in light and darkness.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

The entire pavilion shattered and flew away. Those who couldn’t dodge in time were caught up in the explosion and sent flying. The green tiles that filled the roof symbolizing the Tang Family scattered in all directions like flying cherry blossoms.

It was a sight as if the world was collapsing.

While everyone couldn’t hide their shock and fear, there was someone who had to harbor inappropriate sorrow.

Facing the violent wind that seemed like it would tear his skin, Wei Jeong-han closed his eyes.

What kind of cruel joke of fate was this?

The older brother who cherished his younger brother more than anyone else in the world, and the younger brother who followed his older brother more than anyone else in the world, were unleashing deadly forces at each other.

And…

Kuuuung!

With a heavy explosion, something was flung toward Wei Jeong-han. Wei Jeong-han reflexively caught the person who flew toward him.

“Yan-ho!”

“Kkeueuk!“

The one who had been flung was Wei Yan-ho.

Wei Yan-ho, blood flowing continuously from his mouth and nose, glared ahead with bloodshot eyes.

As the dust cloud settled, Wei San-ho’s figure was also revealed.

The clothes on one arm had been completely torn away, and the exposed arm was split in various places, bleeding bright red blood.

‘A draw?’

Wei Jeong-han’s eyes shook.

It was a tie. It wasn’t even worth debating superiority.

But how?

What Wei Yan-ho had faced was Wei San-ho. Not the Demon Cult’s demon disciples. Wei Yan-ho, who had subdued even the Heavenly Flow Sword without a scratch, had achieved a draw in his exchange with Wei San-ho?

It was unbelievable.

Just how much stronger had Wei San-ho become in that time for such a thing to be possible?

Wei San-ho, who had been looking at his arm with indifferent eyes, opened his mouth.

“Is this still the extent of it?”

Wei San-ho, who clenched and unclenched his fist several times, looked at Wei Yan-ho with indifferent eyes.

“There’s no need to rush. As long as you stand in my way, the day when we settle our match will surely come.”

“You…”

Wei Yan-ho staggered as he stood up.

“Of course, I’d prefer it if you gave up everything and laid low, but knowing your personality, that won’t happen. You’re lazy, but when you think you shouldn’t back down, you’re the type who would die on the spot rather than retreat.”

“You know me well?”

At Wei Yan-ho’s blood-filled cry, Wei San-ho smiled.

“Yes, I know you well. Better than anyone else in the world. Because I’m your older brother.”

“Are you still talking about brotherhood with that mouth? After throwing yourself into the Demonic Cult?”

“Blood ties can never be severed. However, the bond of brothers who grew up together also cannot be abandoned. So today, I’ll spare your life.”

Wei San-ho reached out and slung the Heavenly Flow Sword over his shoulder.

With the Heavenly Flow Sword slung over his shoulder, Wei San-ho lightly looked around before fixing his gaze on Wei Yan-ho. His face was expressionless, but it wasn’t simply calm.

“Do you remember? The day when you and I first sparred with real swords.”

“…”

“Back then, I nearly died at your hands. Despite being the older brother, I couldn’t handle your sword and hovered between life and death. And you put down your sword after that day.”

“What are you talking about now?”

“Back then, you became lazy because I was weak. If I had shown you the image of an older brother you could never surpass, you would have grown more than you have now. Everything was my oversight. But there’s nothing to worry about now. I’ll become that for you. I’ll become an older brother you can never catch up to, no matter how much you struggle.”

Wei Yan-ho’s hands trembled.

It would have been better if…

It would have been better if he had lost his reason to anger…

Or if it had been the appearance of someone brainwashed by the Demonic Cult…

That would have been better.

That calm tone, and that slightly smiling face, the gentleness that seeped from his voice, and…

‘Don’t look at me with those eyes.’

Those warm eyes filled with affection.

The very same eyes that Wei San-ho had always shown him whenever he looked at him.

He couldn’t bear that Wei San-ho was looking at him with the same unchanged gaze as before. It was like having his heart carved up with a sharp blade.

“Why are you doing this, really?”

Wei Yan-ho’s voice sank.

“What does that even matter, the fact that a father you’ve never even seen is from the Demonic Cult? What does that even matter? You’re Wei San-ho of the Guangdong Wei Family.”

Wei San-ho quietly looked at Wei Yan-ho, then shook his head.

“It’s not such a simple problem. And it’s not merely that kind of problem either.”

“Brother…”

“I am Wei San-ho of the Guangdong Wei Family. Yes, I can’t deny that fact. But I also can’t deny the fact that I’m Red Mountain of the Demonic Cult. I will cut away all of this entanglement. Both ties of affection and ties of enmity. Once I purify everything, a new world will come.”

Wei San-ho turned his body.

“If you’re still alive by then, we’ll have another day to meet.”

Unhurried steps. Without even using lightness skills, Wei San-ho slowly left the Tang Family estate. But no one dared to try to block his path.

Wei Jeong-han and Wei Yan-ho watched his figure with bloodshot eyes.

The confrontation between the Heavenly Flow Sword and Wei Yan-ho that took place at the Tang Family had ended in a direction no one had expected.

And from this moment…

The wheel of fate began to turn vigorously in a strange direction.

***

Swaaaaaaah.

Rain was falling.

‘How ironic.’

Wei Jeong-han looked at the falling rain with somewhat dazed eyes.

Jjoreureureuk.

Sitting by the window filling his cup with alcohol, old memories kept surfacing.

‘My friend.’

Jeokan-u.

Whenever he met him, it always rained like this.

Whether he summoned the rain, or whether he came to find Wei Jeong-han whenever it rained, he didn’t know, but he was always someone who came to Wei Jeong-han like rain and left like rain.

“I thought he was my son, but he seems to be your son after all.”

Wei Jeong-han reached out and lifted the wine cup.

When Jeokan-u drank, he would hold up the cup like this and stare at his own face reflected in the cup for a long time.

Great Demon Emperor.

Yes, he was the one called the Great Demon Emperor.

But when he drank, he was just a man consumed by loneliness and crushed by fate.

The reason Wei Jeong-han couldn’t simply regard the Demonic Cult as merely a place where demons lived, despite fighting most fiercely against the Demonic Cult, was because he had seen that side of Jeokan-u.

Wei Jeong-han slowly drank his wine.

Yes.

That’s why he couldn’t stop it.

When his grown son said he would resolve his father’s resentment, what could he say?

If he was to resent anything, he should resent the twisted fate.

Perhaps this matter had been foreseen from the moment he took San-ho from Jeokan-u.

If he went back to that time?

‘There could be no other choice.’

In the pouring rain.

How could he turn away from that small child who was sleeping in Jeokan-u’s embrace?

A thousand times out of a thousand, ten thousand times out of ten thousand, he would make the same choice. Even if all those thousand times and ten thousand times led to tragedy, he wouldn’t hesitate.

However…

Wei Jeong-han turned his head to look down below.

Wei Yan-ho was in the guest hall visible ahead.

His pain was something he had to bear.

But what about Wei Yan-ho?

How would Wei Yan-ho accept the fact that the one he had believed to be his brother, knowing nothing, had pointed a sword at him?

He couldn’t even imagine.

The shock Wei Yan-ho must have received was something he couldn’t even imagine. Wei San-ho chose the Demonic Cult with his own feet and opposed him. To Wei Yan-ho, it would be a shock like the world collapsing.

That’s the kind of relationship they had.

Wei Yan-ho trusted and followed his brother more than his inadequate father. Nothing he said would stick, but he would at least try to listen to Wei San-ho’s words. To Wei Yan-ho, Wei San-ho might have been more like a father than he was.

“It’s a terrible thing to do.”

Jjoreureureuk.

He didn’t regret it.

But the fate they had to bear was too heavy. Wei Jeong-han filled his cup with wine and let out a deep sigh.

‘My friend.’

Why do you leave such a burden behind?

If you staked your life so resolutely, you should have resolved it. Why couldn’t you accomplish it and make even your child suffer?

Wei Jeong-han raised his hand to wipe his face.

That’s when it happened.

“Father.”

Someone’s voice came from outside the door. Wei Jeong-han slowly turned his head. There was only one person in this place who would call him father.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Wei Yan-ho entered.

When Wei Jeong-han saw Wei Yan-ho’s face, he slightly closed his eyes.

A calm face.

A calm face as if nothing had happened, but Wei Jeong-han didn’t miss the shadow cast over one corner of that face.

“What’s the matter?”

“I think I need to hear it.”

Wei Jeong-han quietly looked at Wei Yan-ho.

Father and son’s gazes met.

“…Yes, you should hear it.”

Wei Jeong-han raised his head.

Wei Yan-ho also needed to know. How harsh a fate he was placed in, and how harsh a fate Wei San-ho was placed in.

“I don’t know where to start the story. To tell all of this, I’d have to start from when San-ho was born. It seems like it will be a long story.”

“I don’t mind.”

“There’s something I want to ask before telling the story.”

“Yes.”

Wei Jeong-han slowly opened his mouth.

“After knowing everything, what will you do? If you can understand why San-ho is acting that way, will you let go of your brother?”

“I don’t know.”

“…You don’t know?”

“No. I don’t know.”

The air grew slightly heavy. Wei Yan-ho still couldn’t shake off his confusion.

“I can’t sort it out. It’s hard to understand why he has to go to such lengths. First, I’ll try to understand. Then I’ll reach a conclusion. If I still can’t understand even after hearing everything… then I don’t know what to do. In the end, I’ll have to do as my heart tells me.”

“I see.”

Wei Jeong-han lifted his wine cup.

Where should he start telling the story?

This twisted fate.

Would Wei Yan-ho be able to accept and truly understand this story?

‘He’s not such a weak guy.’

Now he could only trust Wei Yan-ho. His child who was no longer young.

Wei Jeong-han, who had downed another cup of wine, slowly opened his mouth.

Memory, and fate.

The long, long story that might now become reality.

Wei Yan-ho sometimes nodded, sometimes responded, sometimes stared blankly at the ceiling as he listened and listened again to the story Wei Jeong-han unfolded.

Late into the night.

The rain washed away the remnants of battle, and words washed away the human heart.

A night without even the moon rising.

It was a harsh night when everything had to be sorted out and started anew.