Chapter 110
Chapter 110. Great Journey of Avici Screams (9)
Everyone’s gaze focused on me.
I did not take my eyes off Il-myeong.
“Is the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly here?”
For some reason, Il-myeong glanced briefly at Namgung Seon-hwa, then looked back at me.
“……Well, not all of them, but it is true that the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly has moved.”
“And the person who says he wants to see me is ‘Yong So-ah’?”
“That is correct.”
The Nine Sects and One Gang were showing movements that seemed unrelated to the exam, and the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly was here for reasons I could not understand.
Because of the chaotic information, my thoughts tangled.
I was too drained to make a cool-headed judgment.
An analytical decision was impossible.
I decided to make an instinctive choice based purely on insight.
“No need. If this is a place for reconciliation, any other time would likely be better than now.”
When I spoke of the matter at the Demon Spirit Plateau, Il-myeong chuckled.
“He will probably not apologize.”
He said it as though speaking an unchanging truth.
I knew that as well, so I nodded.
“In that case, it seems there is even less reason to meet him.”
Il-myeong looked around. Even though the darkness should have made it difficult to see people clearly, Il-myeong examined everyone in every corner without missing a single person.
“At this rate, failing the exam will not be the problem. Benefactor, can you shoulder all that karma?”
“These two might not have been able to take the exam in the first place because of that person.”
When I spoke while pointing at Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran, Il-myeong nodded again.
In my previous life, I had held quite a bit of goodwill toward Il-myeong, but for some reason, that current appearance of his irritated me. Would he keep smiling like the Small Buddha even if I smacked him on the head?
“Young Master Jin.”
Seong Mo-ran joined the conversation.
“We are fine.”
When Seong Mo-ran looked at Namgung Seon-hwa, she also nodded.
“I am not fine.”
“……What matters right now is not what happened at the Demon Spirit Plateau. It is the Murim Regular Exam.”
Everyone nodded without realizing it.
They wanted to escape this situation by any means.
My intuition was telling me something completely different, but since everyone had spoken like this, hesitating would not do either.
I rose from my seat.
“Where is he?”
I moved together with Namgung Seon-hwa and Murong Jae-hwa. I had selected only those who could at least have some influence over the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.
Il-myeong slowed the speed of the Diamond Immovable Movement Art, which moved like a ghost, and matched our pace.
Because Namgung Seon-hwa and Murong Jae-hwa were already in no normal condition, simply using Movement Art consumed a great deal of Mental Strength.
After following him for about thirty minutes, light began shining from afar.
Torches were lit here and there, and a large bonfire in the middle illuminated the area.
Above the bonfire, a fat pig was turning while releasing a savory smell.
It was clearly different from us, who were being chased by thousands.
Feeling needlessly offended, I said,
“Do they have no consideration for Senior Small Buddha, who keeps his distance from cooked food?”
He spoke with a Buddha-like smile.
“This is not for us. It is for all of you.”
“…….”
“If you rest right away, it seems nutritional replenishment will be needed first.”
The unpleasant feeling from my previous life came back to me.
It felt as though this was clearly a matter concerning us, yet no one was telling us anything as I watched the environment around us change.
I closed my mouth and followed the Small Buddha.
After passing the bonfire, there was a small bonfire burning inside.
Around it stood seven men and women on both sides.
There were faces I had seen at Taeul Sect, and faces I had seen in my previous life.
And at the center stood that man.
“It has been a while.”
“…….”
Namgung Seon-hwa and Murong Jae-hwa started to clasp their hands in greeting, but after looking at me, they lowered their hands again.
At my rudeness toward a senior, some of the men and women standing on both sides frowned. However, Yong So-ah himself seemed not to care, and not even his expression changed.
“I hear you are going through hardship.”
His calm tone grated on my nerves.
“Before that…….”
Everyone’s gazes gathered on me.
“Apologize first.”
“……!”
“……!”
“……!”
And their eyes grew startled. Some even opened their mouths as wide as bowls, as if they could not believe it.
Yong So-ah stared straight at me.
In my previous life, I had not even been able to carelessly meet those eyes of his, which seemed to see through everything.
“My actions were natural. There is nothing for me to apologize for.”
“Do you know how many people almost died because of you?”
“At that time, the best choice was for me to go out and call people. The fact that you were able to come out of that place by dissolving the formation is merely a result-oriented argument.”
“Have you not considered that the formation became entangled because of you, making the rescue even harder?”
“In the end, you deciphered the formation, and I did the best I could. Everyone chose their own best course, so there is no need to apologize to anyone.”
“You are quite good at stringing together sophistry.”
“I heard your companions are very exhausted. Will you continue dragging out meaningless time like this?”
At Yong So-ah’s words as he looked at Namgung Seon-hwa and Murong Jae-hwa, I readily nodded.
“Why did you call me?”
“To help you.”
“Ha!”
The one who could not control his emotions at Yong So-ah’s words was me.
To think the day would come when I would hear that man say he would help me instead of saying he would kill me.
“Why?”
“Because that is my best course.”
That attitude of his, as though he did not care about our past at all.
The fact that I knew that attitude was sincere grated on my nerves even more.
“More detail.”
Yong So-ah tilted his head as if he did not understand.
“Does the reason matter?”
“Justification is the greatest driving force that moves the Orthodox Path. Would Yong So-ah, the hero of the Orthodox Path, have moved all the way here without justification?”
Yong So-ah stared straight at me with his distinctive, alien gaze.
“The Righteous Path Association, formed around the Nine Sects and One Gang, is calling all their disciples here except for the core disciples of their own sects.”
Namgung Seon-hwa’s hand trembled.
She looked as though even imagining it was painful. I quietly held her hand.
“Just to catch us?”
“Not you. You.”
“That is what I am curious about. Why exactly are they coming to catch ‘me’? Simply because I am expected to enter as the top student?”
“To the current Righteous Path Association, that is important enough.”
“And you are saying you will help me to correct that wrong?”
A man standing beside him stepped forward.
“I have been holding back and watching, but you were like this at Taeul Sect as well. Your arrogance knows no bounds.”
So Je-ho of Qingcheng.
He was someone who had been at Taeul Sect.
I looked at him once, then ignored him and continued looking at Yong So-ah.
So Je-ho’s face flushed red, but I did not care.
“Fine. How are you saying you will help? I assume you are not saying you will escort us to Murim Academy.”
“That is what we will do.”
“What?”
“Do you think we cannot?”
The Dragon and Phoenix Assembly was a gathering of those with the most outstanding results among that generation’s graduates of Murim Academy. Moreover, Yong So-ah and Il-myeong were both present here.
“Is that not a problem of whether you should or should not, rather than whether you can or cannot?”
It was something they should not do.
“The exam regulations state that anyone who receives help from their sect, alliance, or those connected to them will be disqualified from the exam.”
“Do you think everyone follows the exam regulations?”
“…….”
“You only have to decide. Will you do it, or will you not?”
“Fine. In this situation, I cannot refuse. I want to hear the condition.”
“Condition?”
“There must be a price.”
“There is none.”
At Yong So-ah’s words, not only I, but Namgung Seon-hwa and Murong Jae-hwa also widened our eyes.
“You only need to enter Murim Academy with the best results and become the top entrant.”
Yong So-ah’s hand slowly rose. Then he pointed to the two people beside me.
“However, not only those two, but no one else in your party may come with you.”
A strange silence settled around us.
“…….”
“…….”
Namgung Seon-hwa and Murong Jae-hwa wore empty expressions, like people watching the sand they held in their hands scatter away.
“Hehehehe.”
By contrast, because I had expected it, laughter slipped out of me.
“As expected, that narrow-mindedness of yours never changes.”
“You bastard! Your words go too far.”
So Je-ho’s rebuke did not even enter my ears.
“I refuse.”
“Why?”
Yong So-ah looked utterly unable to understand.
I gave the best answer I could.
“Because that is not the right thing to do.”
For the first time, Yong So-ah’s expression cracked faintly.
“More detail.”
“More detail, is it…….”
He probably disliked the current forces of the Murim Alliance.
After all, a few years later, Yong So-ah would create his own force and encroach upon the Murim Alliance.
Shaking the existing forces and reminding people of their incompetence was something rising powers had to do.
The appearance of a new hero could also become a justification to replace the people in the Elder Hall, including the Righteous Path Association.
Moreover, if that hero had been created by his own hand and could be cooked however he liked by that same hand, it would be even better.
A person from a lowly sect who could be thrown away later when he was no longer useful without causing trouble.
Many things surfaced in my mind, but I did not bother saying them.
Instead, I tried to rack my brain as much as possible in a direction that would irritate him.
“Because I cannot agree with the justice you speak of.”
His justice ultimately maintained the lineage of the Orthodox Path.
But in the end, his justice abandoned all of my comrades.
“We wasted time. It is not quite compensation, but you people should buy us about a day. If it is the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, you can at least do that much, can you not?”
As I was about to turn around, So Je-ho stepped forward again.
“I have not told you to leave yet.”
I ignored his words and took a step.
“You bastard!”
So Je-ho of Qingcheng released strong killing intent.
The killing intent that would normally have done nothing to me rushed over my entire body and felt as though it was hacking my nerves apart.
Namgung Seon-hwa and Murong Jae-hwa, who had been standing beside me, let out groans and collapsed to the ground.
The killing intent he had released without thinking had struck them internally.
“Uwek.”
When Namgung Seon-hwa spat out a mouthful of black blood, So Je-ho’s complexion finally turned pale.
He looked as if he had not known this would happen either.
White-Hand Divine Maiden Dang Seo-hui quickly shot forward and took Namgung Seon-hwa’s pulse. Then she took out one pill from within her robe and placed it in Namgung Seon-hwa’s mouth.
When Namgung Seon-hwa’s complexion improved, Dang Seo-hui checked Murong Jae-hwa next. She was about to return to her place, then stared intently at me.
“You, how much have you slept?”
“Since when are you asking?”
“…….”
Dang Seo-hui, with her cold expression, reached out to take my pulse, but I quickly pulled my hand away.
“…….”
Dang Seo-hui looked at me again with a sullen face.
“You need to give me your hand.”
“I refuse.”
“Is it because of So Je-ho?”
“It is.”
“If So Je-ho dies, will you give me your hand?”
“Can you do that?”
So Je-ho’s face turned white.
“I can make him shit blood for about a month. In exchange, give me your hand.”
“You promised.”
After taking my pulse, Dang Seo-hui opened her eyes wide, though they were usually half-lidded.
“Do you want to die?”
“Do I have a fatal illness?”
“You are the most serious among everyone here. It would not be strange if you died right now.”
Namgung Seon-hwa and Murong Jae-hwa, whose complexions had recovered, looked at me without being able to continue speaking.
“Please shake off the pursuers so I can sleep a little.”
“If you keep going like this, you will die.”
“Even so, I have no intention of giving up on the Murim Regular Exam.”
“Then you need to follow Yong So-ah.”
“Senior Seo-hui.”
“Why are you calling me?”
“Do the people here not seem somewhat strange to you?”
“?”
“They are all people of the Nine Sects and One Gang. Senior Seo-hui is the only person from the Five Great Clans.”
“…….”
“The justice Yong So-ah speaks of is ultimately nothing but dividing people into his side and others.”
Dang Seo-hui looked at Yong So-ah with her half-lidded eyes.
Yong So-ah still showed no change in expression.
“I don't know what words Yong So-ah used to coax you, Senior Seo-hui, but Yong So-ah is no different from the entrenched evils of the current Murim Alliance that he despises.”
“……!”
“……!”
“……!”