Chapter 13
"Stop!"
The instructors rushed into the dining hall. Eon Juhye and Dang Somun, who were about to strike, flinched and stopped their movements.
Head Instructor Go Sang looked around the scene. Namgung Seocheon, who had been hit squarely in the jaw, was slumped in a corner.
Go Sang's face contorted.
"You again?"
"What?"
"I'm asking if you did that?"
"Ah, that? He started a fight for no reason."
Go Sang's face contorted fiercely.
"You brat! Are you saying you can hit anyone just because a light fight breaks out? Should I try it? See if you can do it again?"
Moyong Gi chuckled.
"Go ahead."
"What did you say?"
"Go ahead. Try to start a fight. Can't you understand what I'm saying?"
Go Sang's face turned beet red.
So Moogyeol quickly snatched Moyong Gi's arm.
"Hey, you punk! Are you crazy? Are you in your right mind?"
Moyong Gi shook off So Moogyeol's hand.
"I'm in my right mind. Move."
Then, he gently pushed So Moogyeol away.
A rather advanced technique was mixed in. So Moogyeol was pushed back helplessly.
As So Moogyeol's eyes widened, Go Sang, who hadn't recognized it, gritted his teeth.
"Insolent brat! Do you think you're invincible just because you luckily beat Grandmaster Yoon?"
"Did that look like luck to you?"
"If not luck? Are you trying to say it was your skill, with your standing?"
Moyong Gi shook his head with a pathetic expression.
"Well... you're a lifelong instructor because you can't even recognize that much."
So Moogyeol was startled and reached out to cover Moyong Gi's mouth. Before that, a hot heat burst out from the side.
"You brat!"
The nearby instructors quickly clung to Go Sang.
"Head Instructor! Please calm down!"
"Instructor! You can't do this!"
"Let go of me!"
As Go Sang struggled to shake off the instructors who were clinging to him for dear life, Moyong Gi just stared with a sullen face.
At that moment, Namgung Seocheon, supported by Eon Juhye, approached.
Namgung Seocheon gritted his teeth and growled.
"Do you think you'll be safe after doing this?"
Eon Juhye looked at Moyong Gi with anxious eyes.
'Surely... it can't be?'
Moyong Gi grinned.
Thwack!
Seeing Namgung Seocheon flying away, Go Sang's eyes became bloodshot.
"You brat!"
***
"I couldn't even eat properly, what is this?"
So Moogyeol looked at Moyong Gi with a resentful expression.
Moyong Gi clicked his tongue.
"Who stopped you from eating? I told you to eat up, but you were just picking at your food."
"Hey, you bastard! Do you think I could eat in that situation? I would have gotten indigestion."
He had taken a bite since it was a waste to throw away what he had already scooped, but he couldn't eat properly because of the gazes fixed on him from all sides. It felt like chewing on sand on a bed of thorns.
Moyong Gi gestured to Myung Jin.
"He and I ate just fine."
So Moogyeol raised his voice.
"That's why you're crazy! How can you eat!"
"What's there not to eat? What's the use of a man being so timid? That's why you're number thirteen."
So Moogyeol was choked up.
"Why is that coming up!"
"Then am I wrong?"
"Aish, really..."
In the end, he let out a groan.
"Damn it. Who can I blame? Of all people, I had to meet guys like this..."
He shook his head and then looked at Moyong Gi again.
"By the way... are you going to be okay?"
"What?"
"Namgung Seocheon. Why did you mess with him again?"
As a familiar name was mentioned, Zhuge Yeon, who was following behind, her eyes sparkled.
"That bastard started it first. Should I just let it go?"
"Do you accept every fight that's started? You should have endured it moderately."
"I endured a lot. If it wasn't the Dragon and Phoenix Inn, I would have already cut his throat."
So Moogyeol looked at him with a look of disbelief.
"Can you handle that?"
"What's there not to handle? He's just a guy who comes at me without knowing his place."
"Hey, you punk, that's not what I'm talking about. Will the Namgung family stay still? He's a direct descendant."
Moyong Gi's lips twitched as if he was about to retort.
But at that moment, Zhuge Yeon grabbed Moyong Gi's arm.
Moyong Gi looked at Zhuge Yeon.
"Why?"
"I need to talk to you."
"What about? Go ahead."
Zhuge Yeon frowned.
Moyong Gi smiled playfully.
"Why? Are you going to confess? Should I get rid of them?"
"I'm not joking."
Zhuge Yeon became serious.
Moyong Gi, who was staring at the serious Zhuge Yeon, gestured to So Moogyeol and Myung Jin.
"You guys go ahead. I'll talk to her and then go."
Myung Jin walked away first without a reply.
So Moogyeol looked back and forth between Zhuge Yeon and Moyong Gi and then eventually nodded.
"Alright. Come quickly."
Then, he quickly followed Myung Jin.
"Hey! Let's go together."
Even after they had disappeared, Zhuge Yeon was still full of hesitation. Then, after a long time, she opened her mouth.
"I have something to ask."
"Go ahead."
"Can I become like you, Young Master?"
"Like me?"
Zhuge Yeon's pupils, as she nodded, shook 불안하게. She had no confidence in herself. Moyong Gi also understood her feelings.
'I also wanted to be like Myung Jin or Namgung Seocheon. I thought it was impossible...'
It's sad to be powerless. That's why you admire those who have power.
But becoming like them was close to impossible.
What they had was different. If Moyong Gi had one, they had a hundred. It was a gap that couldn't be closed by normal methods. So he had been frustrated.
'If it were before my return, I don't know, but now they have to follow me.'
Moyong Gi looked down at Zhuge Yeon and grinned.
"That would be difficult..."
It was the expected answer. It was because she knew better than anyone that her own talent was inferior to the rising generation martial artists of the prestigious great sects. Still, she was disappointed. Her strength drained away in dejection. She unknowingly lowered her head, but Moyong Gi continued.
"But participating in the Pure Martial Grand Tournament should be possible, right?"
Zhuge Yeon's head shot up. Her already large eyes were now so wide they looked like they would spill out. Zhuge Yeon, with a look of disbelief, opened her mouth.
"Really?"
"What?"
"The Pure Martial Grand Tournament! Really?"
Zhuge Yeon's voice became sharp and she spoke quickly as if urging him. Her flushed face showed how excited she was.
"Of course, it's true. If you can't even do that much, what's the use of it?"
"But you said it would be difficult to become like you, Young Master..."
"Ah... that?"
Zhuge Yeon nodded.
Moyong Gi was 괜히 embarrassed. So he scratched his cheek and said.
"That's because I've become much stronger than I thought... it's not impossible for you either, but it will take some time. About ten years?"
Zhuge Yeon frowned.
"Huh? Why are you looking at me like that? It's true."
He had roughly estimated that he would be about as strong as when he left the Demon Sealing Valley, just by looking at his internal energy level, but it was a big mistake.
The experience after that remained intact. His understanding of martial arts was incomparably higher than back then. He had become unbelievably strong. He only realized that after fighting with Yoon Choong.
'I didn't know it would be that easy either.'
Even if Yoon Choong had come at him with determination from the beginning, the result would have been the same. It would have been a little tricky, but he didn't think it would be difficult. It would have been the same even if it was a life-and-death battle, not a duel.
'If this goes well, I might be able to take on that old man.'
Jinsan's slick face came to mind. He narrowed his eyes and tried to gauge if he could take him on, but in the end, he shook his head.
'Aish. Not yet.'
Still, as the Orthodox Justice Alliance Leader, he had a hidden card.
It was quite scary, and even if he knew about it, it wasn't easy to block.
Moyong Gi frowned.
Zhuge Yeon looked at Moyong Gi with a reluctant expression.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. It's nothing."
"Anyway, you can do it, right?"
"That's what I'm saying."
Zhuge Yeon rolled her eyes as if she was thinking about something. And then she bit her lip.
"Then I'll block the Five Great Families."
Moyong Gi's eyes widened.
"You?"
"Yes."
Seeing the determined Zhuge Yeon, he was about to ask again, but he shut his mouth at a thought that suddenly occurred to him.
'Come to think of it, her uncle is the strategist of the Orthodox Justice Alliance, right? Will that be enough?'
It was a position with not much real power. That much influence was not enough. Moyong Gi shook his head.
"Forget it. I'll take care of it myself."
"I said I'll do it."
"I said forget it."
"I said I'll do it!"
Zhuge Yeon raised her voice. Stubbornness could be seen in her sharply raised eyes. He knew from experience that it was not good to provoke her at times like this.
Moyong Gi quickly backed down.
"Alright. Alright, you do it. But let me hear the reason. Why are you so stubborn? I said I'll take care of it myself."
Zhuge Yeon replied with a determined face.
"A relationship where one side unilaterally receives is not long-lasting."
Moyong Gi let out a groan. He was disappointed by her, who was still drawing a line.
'No. It's only been a day, so it was unreasonable to get close.'
It was a matter that needed more time.
'Then do I not have to meet the beggar leader?'
Since he was the strategist of the Orthodox Justice Alliance, famous for his intelligence, he would come up with some way even if his influence was not enough. But he quickly shook his head.
'No. They say you should look before you leap...'
It didn't cost money anyway, and the more options, the better. And there was also Diancang.
Moyong Gi looked at Zhuge Yeon.
"You have to be sure. So that I don't have to worry about my family."
"Of course."
***
Namgung Jinsaeng frowned at the sight of Namgung Seocheon, whose eyes were bruised black and blue.
If it were just some nobody, it would be different, but Namgung Seocheon was a direct descendant of the Namgung family. It was not a sight that a direct descendant should show. He was displeased. Naturally, displeasure was mixed in his voice.
"Why did you do it?"
Even though he was displeased, he did not scold him rashly. It was because he knew that he was a person with a deep mind.
Namgung Seocheon soon fulfilled Namgung Jinsaeng's expectations.
"I had to confirm the difference between me and that guy."
At the satisfactory answer, Namgung Jinsaeng nodded.
"Was yesterday's clash not enough?"
"It was not enough."
"So did you confirm it?"
"Yes."
Now, curiosity was mixed in Namgung Jinsaeng's face.
"So how much was it?"
Namgung Seocheon bit his lip.
"The difference was as big as between you and me, Elder."
It was not an exaggeration. He hadn't even seen how he had hit him. Let alone seeing, there was not even a presence.
Namgung Jinsaeng's eyes shot open.
"I can't believe it!"
Namgung Seocheon did not back down.
"It's true. I couldn't even gauge his realm."
Namgung Jinsaeng, who had narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow at Namgung Seocheon's determined face, tapped the table with his finger.
'I thought Yoon Choong was careless... so that was his skill?'
Namgung Seocheon did not lie. Moyong Gi had also shown something.
He wasn't a wolf cub, but a tiger cub. He had to completely revise his evaluation of Moyong Gi.
"I'll have to nip the bud."
Moyong Gi himself was not a big threat. It was the same principle as Jinsan, who was also strong but was ultimately acting as a scarecrow.
But if these things started to gather one by one, they would become a force that could not be ignored.
He had to allow only as much as was necessary, just like with Jinsan. Anything more than that had to be cut off before it grew bigger.
But Namgung Seocheon had a different thought.
"Please don't do that."
"What do you mean?"
Namgung Jinsaeng glared at Namgung Seocheon with sharp eyes.
Namgung Seocheon clenched his jaw.
"I have to catch him with my own hands. I will grit my teeth every day with him in front of me. I will hone my sword with the feeling of vomiting blood. I will use him as a stepping stone and surely rise."
He had to catch him with his own hands. He couldn't leave the guy who had given him humiliation twice, no, three times, to someone else's hands.
He had to step on him and rise himself. Only then could he move forward.
"Lying on firewood and tasting gall..."
He liked it. A direct descendant of the Namgung family should have that much venom. But he had to confirm.
"According to you, the difference between you and that guy is big. Are you confident?"
Namgung Seocheon was silent for a moment. But he soon shook his head.
"I'm not confident. But I also have no choice. I must do it. That is the duty of one who has inherited the blood of Namgung."
Namgung Seocheon replied determinedly with his eyes shining. And that was the correct answer.
Namgung Jinsaeng was pleased with Namgung Seocheon's answer. He unknowingly raised the corners of his mouth.
"Good. I'll leave it to you. Make sure you don't disappoint me."
"I will definitely do so."
His jet-black pupils gleamed dangerously.
(End of Chapter)