CLS-Chapter 513

Chapter 513:

“You’re in quite a state.”

“I apologize. I was foolish…”

“Was that child strong?”

Cheon Ryu-geom raised his head and quietly looked at the old man.

He had lost.

He had lost so miserably that there was no room for excuses. The fact that the renowned Cheon Ryu-geom had returned defeated by a mere greenhorn would be shocking to anyone.

However, the old man remained as calm as if he had anticipated all of this.

‘He won’t be shaken.’

Even if the world turned upside down and heaven and earth switched places, the old man would not be surprised. He would remain composed as if he had known it all along.

Cheon Ryu-geom found this fact irritating.

He was someone he could never hope to catch up to.

Someone he could only admire from afar.

Ever since learning of the existence of his elder brother, for the first time, Cheon Ryu-geom felt resistance to this fact. Like staring at an endlessly calm lake for too long and wanting to throw a pebble to create ripples, a somewhat malicious desire crept up within him—the urge to disturb this person’s composure.

“He was strong.”

“Strong enough that you couldn’t even fight back?”

“Yes. Strong enough that I couldn’t even attempt a counterattack. It wasn’t a mistake. I lost due to skill.”

“That child is that powerful…”

Slightly.

Just slightly, the old man’s composure wavered.

“Family Head.”

“Speak.”

“I have something I wish to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Are we being used by the Demonic Cult?”

The old man’s gentle gaze quietly observed Cheon Ryu-geom. Eyes that felt infinitely warm.

But Cheon Ryu-geom could no longer feel that warmth from those eyes.

‘Why couldn’t I see it before?’

That warmth was not respect for him. It was the gaze of an owner looking at his possession, the possessive stare sent to a faithful pet dog.

“Does it matter?”

“How could it not matter?”

Anger boiled up in Cheon Ryu-geom’s voice.

“Wasn’t all of this for the Ten Thousand Swords Family? What meaning is there in regaining the family’s reputation while being subordinate to the Demonic Cult? It only has meaning when everything is achieved by our own hands. It’s not a reputation that can be regained by becoming the Demonic Cult’s dogs!”

“Reputation…”

The old man quietly smiled and gently pushed a teacup toward Cheon Ryu-geom.

“You’re excited. Enjoying the tea’s fragrance will calm your mind a bit.”

“Family Head!”

“Am I not telling you that you’re excited?”

“…”

A low but stern rebuke.

Faced with that rebuke, Cheon Ryu-geom clamped his mouth shut.

‘Does he still see me as a child?’

He acknowledged that this was an elder brother he could respect above all. But his age was not insignificant either. His reputation was not small either. Then shouldn’t he be treated somewhat as an equal?

Cheon Ryu-geom silently lifted the teacup and downed the hot tea in one gulp.

Clank!

The teacup roughly settled on the floor.

“Is that sufficient?”

The old man looked at Cheon Ryu-geom without changing his expression in the slightest. Seeing the hostility filling Cheon Ryu-geom’s eyes, the old man let out a low sigh.

“Gong-ui.”

“Yes, elder brother.”

The title of Family Head had changed to elder brother.

It was a will to have a proper conversation as brothers, setting aside official hierarchy. Understanding that will, the old man shook his head.

“You still know nothing.”

“It’s not just me—no one else knows either. Only elder brother knows everything. You don’t tell us anything, so how could we possibly guess elder brother’s intentions?”

“…”

“Elder brother may think you’re bearing the burden alone. But is that the right direction? We are not mere beings who simply follow elder brother’s plans. We are not hunting dogs who bite when you say bite and bark when you say bark. Then why! Why do you try to hide everything from us?”

The old man quietly closed his eyes.

“Even if we achieve everything this way, what meaning does it have? What we want to restore is the glory of the Ten Thousand Swords. And judgment upon those shameless ones. We don’t want to establish a demonic world. I thought they were simply tools. Didn’t elder brother say so as well? But… but when did the roles of host and guest become reversed? When exactly!”

“Why do you think the roles have been reversed?”

“Haven’t they?”

The old man’s gentle gaze and Cheon Ryu-geom’s blade-like stare intertwined in the air. The old man was gently deflecting Cheon Ryu-geom’s anger-filled gaze.

“Gong-ui.”

“…Yes.”

The old man maintained his unwavering gaze despite Cheon Ryu-geom’s rudeness.

“Nothing has changed, nothing. From the beginning until now, nothing has changed.”

“But…”

The old man’s words cut off Cheon Ryu-geom’s rebellion.

“Did you say it was for the family’s glory?”

“That’s correct.”

“Then nothing has changed. Everything is for the Ten Thousand Swords. I swear on everything I have. It’s not what you think. I have never bowed my head to the Demonic Cult. I have never followed their words. I have only pursued the glory of the Ten Thousand Swords.”

“Elder brother!”

“Do you doubt me?”

Cheon Ryu-geom pressed his lips tightly shut.

He knew it too.

That the old man had devoted his entire life to the revival of the Ten Thousand Swords Family, that he had refused all the happiness an ordinary human could enjoy and clung only to that one thing.

Starting from the bottom, he built up the White Sword Castle and finally grasped the opportunity to restore everything to its rightful place.

He knew. He knew it all.

‘But why must this happen at this very moment?’

“I’ll ask just one thing.”

“Ask.”

Cheon Ryu-geom hesitated several times before opening his mouth.

“Wei Yan-ho used the Ten Thousand Swords technique.”

“…”

A tremor.

Cheon Ryu-geom didn’t miss the old man’s tremor.

Ripples were forming on the calm lake.

“Perfect. Well, there’s no such thing as perfection in the Ten Thousand Swords technique. But it was approaching perfection. I have never seen swordsmanship of such caliber anywhere except in elder brother’s sword. It would require countless years to reach full maturity, but it was at least a sword that had grasped the edge of the Ten Thousand Swords. I ask you: Are there others in the world besides us who carry on the Ten Thousand Swords?”

The old man shook his head.

“I do not know.”

“Is there something even elder brother doesn’t know?”

“It’s no matter for mockery.”

The old man’s voice was firm.

“Even I cannot know all the affairs of the world. Even if someone other than us is carrying on a fragment of the Ten Thousand Swords, I cannot know of it.”

“…”

“If the Ten Thousand Swords is being continued elsewhere besides us, that would be something to rejoice over.”

“It resembled yours terribly.”

“Resembled?”

“Yes. It resembled elder brother’s sword terribly. Even if you told me that boy was elder brother’s disciple, I would believe it. The sword that neither I nor Hoe-myeong could follow—elder brother’s sword—was there.”

“Hmm…”

The corner of the old man’s eye trembled.

This was certainly strange.

The Ten Thousand Swords.

Though simply called the Ten Thousand Swords, it encompassed all swords under heaven. Accordingly, there were tens of thousands of paths to reach the Ten Thousand Swords. Even if the result was the same, all the processes were different. But was he saying that even the path being walked was similar?

‘It’s impossible.’

It would be impossible unless one inherited the orthodox lineage of the Ten Thousand Swords Family and embodied the essence of the Ten Thousand Swords in their very being. But… but all the orthodox inheritors of the Ten Thousand Swords were dead except for them. That was a certain fact.

Then where did Wei Yan-ho learn that sword?

Cheon Ryu-geom couldn’t have been mistaken. He experienced it firsthand with his own body. Then…

“I don’t know what happened either.”

“Yes, you wouldn’t know. Then let me ask one more thing.”

Cheon Ryu-geom’s voice became resolute.

“Did you know of the Heavenly Demon’s existence?”

“…”

The old man did not answer.

But that became a better answer than anything else.

“You knew.”

Cheon Ryu-geom bit his lip firmly.

“Why, when you knew, did you never mention it to us?”

The old man shook his head.

“What would change if you knew?”

“…Nothing would change?”

“It only avoided needless confusion. If you had known…”

“Elder brother!”

Cheon Ryu-geom cut off the old man’s words with an angry voice.

“We are not three-year-old children, nor are we elder brother’s tools. I wanted to become a comrade who would establish the will of the Ten Thousand Swords together. I didn’t want to live as a tool to fulfill elder brother’s will.”

“Did you say my will?”

“…”

“My will? My will?”

The old man began to laugh.

‘What is this?’

Cheon Ryu-geom’s eyes widened greatly.

Laughter.

It was the smile that never left the old man’s lips. But the laughter he was seeing now was different from all the laughter he had seen until now.

It wasn’t a smile full of composure and gentleness. It was twisted and warped laughter, mad laughter that even felt insane.

“Hahahahahaha! My will? My will? Did you say my will?”

“El-elder brother…”

“You fools who know nothing.”

A terrifying aura rose from the old man’s body.

“You fools who have lived peacefully behind the name of the Ten Thousand Swords! You fools who know nothing about the truth speak so well. Did you say my will? My will?”

The old man shouted.

For Cheon Ryu-geom, who had never imagined he would see such a side of the old man, it was a shocking sight.

“Was re-establishing the Ten Thousand Swords my will? Was that really my will? Nonsense. Nonsense, you fool! You blame me now after I’ve reined in the twisted madness! Me!”

Cheon Ryu-geom’s face trembled.

“Yes, you may think so. You might resent us. But it was elder brother who took on all of this himself. Don’t think that we should be grateful just because only elder brother knows everything and suffers alone. We weren’t even given the chance to suffer together.”

“…”

“I will carry out the Family Head’s orders with my life on the line. Walk the path of glory. As you always have.”

Cheon Ryu-geom abruptly rose from his seat and turned around. Then he left the garden without a word.

The wind blows.

Left alone, the old man faced the incoming wind and blankly looked up at the sky.

“The Heavenly Demon…”

Laughter bursts forth.

The Heavenly Demon, the Heavenly Demon…

“Something like the Heavenly Demon…”

The old man ground his teeth.

The truth is too heavy.

So heavy that his body, which feared nothing in the world, might burst under its weight.

You want to know?

You want to bear it together?

“Nonsense, you fools.”

You don’t know how terrifying this position is. And…

‘You will know soon.’

Because now it cannot be avoided.

When the world becomes filled with the name of the Ten Thousand Swords, they too will see the truth. And then they will understand why he had to be this way.

“Is anyone there?”

“Sir!”

“Bring Hoe-myeong.”

“Sir!”

As the shadow hidden in the pavilion disappeared, the old man quietly turned his head to look at the blooming flowers.

“When flowers bloom, they must eventually wither.”

When the blooming flowers fall, it becomes visible. The pitch-black ground that was hidden by the flowers.

Now the people of the martial world will know. How black and ugly the ground they stood on was. The old man will thrust dirt full of manure into their faces.

And then he will laugh heartily.

However…

All that glory was never prepared for him.