Chapter 199
Chapter 199
Eyes filled with unwavering conviction.
Youngho could read the resolve contained within them.
The resolve that even if the world turned against her master, she alone would still protect him.
How audacious. To vow to protect the Martial God.
There would likely be no disciple more audacious than this. And because of that, a faint chuckle escaped him without realizing it.
At the sound of laughter, Yoon Seojeong’s eyes widened into circles.
Seeing how Yoon Seojeong reacted as swiftly as a rabbit, Youngho gently stroked her head.
“Thank you.”
Truly.
“You save me again.”
Youngho remembered. The final moments of the disciple who had been torn to pieces by the Heavenly Demon. The end of the disciple who chose the agony of her bones and flesh being crushed in his place.
Before the regression and after the regression, you save me.
Thanks to the small guardian who had always protected him, Youngho was able to smile.
For the first time in a long while, without worrying about anything at all.
And he smiled with genuine joy.
“You were really smiling?”
At Namgung Cheon’s question, Youngho answered with a goofy grin still lingering on his face.
“My daughter-like child said she would protect me. Of course I’d feel good.”
As he said this, Youngho kept smiling brightly. Seeing such a rare foolish-looking side of him, Namgung Cheon let out a snicker.
‘Is this the first time?’
The friend before his eyes had truly smiled?
At least in front of him, he had no memory of Youngho ever smiling like that.
Even with comrades like Kang Chowon, who had shared life and death with him, Youngho had never laughed with such happiness.
Before killing the Heavenly Demon, Youngho had always lived as if being chased, in constant urgency. And after killing the Heavenly Demon, he had to purge all those who sought the hero’s head.
‘What a pitiful life.’
An orphan from birth, he had caught Cheonung’s eye and become his disciple. Yet even after becoming the disciple of the Lord of the Unorthodox Alliance, happiness had never come to Youngho.
‘He said he killed two Senior Brothers, didn’t he?’
The remaining one was still rotting in the Underground Prison.
A life entirely stained with misfortune.
If Namgung Cheon had to live Youngho’s life, he would bite off his own tongue and commit suicide on the spot.
That was how twisted Youngho’s life had been.
‘Still… it’s fortunate he can smile now.’
Namgung Cheon chuckled at the idle thought.
Hearing his laughter, Youngho thought:
‘Has this idiot finally gone mad?’
Well, the Murim Alliance must still have many unresolved matters after the former Murim Alliance Leader disappeared.
‘Hmm. No wonder he’d go insane.’
After all, the generation that followed always had to clean up the mess left by the previous one.
Concluding that Namgung Cheon had gone mad from work, Youngho nodded slightly in understanding.
“So, why did you interrupt my reunion with my disciple and call me here?”
“As a result of interrogating those you spared, it’s been concluded that there’s no mastermind behind them.”
“Bullshit.”
“I agree.”
Among those who had attacked Youngho, there were ten masters of the Transformation Realm alone. A formation that dulled the senses had been used, and the hidden weapons and arrowheads were coated with lethal poison.
In addition, traps prepared in advance and Lightning Bombs had all been mobilized. Every vicious method imaginable had been used to kill him.
It wasn’t something a mere hundred people could prepare.
There had to be someone backing them from behind.
“Because of those bastards, my favorite robe got torn.”
“I’m more surprised that it ended with just a robe. And if I remember correctly, that one was sold in the nearby marketplace.”
“I’d only treasured it for three days. Such a shame.”
Ignoring Namgung Cheon’s incredulous look, Youngho asked:
“How’s Tang Gunhyeon?”
“He’s still shut in at the clan. That day must have shocked him quite a bit.”
“Well, someone who’s truly reformed would be shocked by something like that.”
“But why bring him up all of a sudden?”
“The poison felt like something from the Tang Clan.”
“Ah…”
Cold sweat trickled down Namgung Cheon’s temple.
“And it seems like the same poison the Tang Clan used against Demonic Practitioners during the war with the Demonic Cult.”
Even Namgung Cheon, famed across the world, felt a chill run down his spine.
Cold sweat seeped from every pore of his body, and an eerie chill made his shoulders shrink.
In truth, the Tang Clan trying to kill Youngho was nothing new.
Tang Gunhyeon had gone into seclusion because he could no longer bear to watch the Tang Clan’s tyranny.
For more than ten years, despite not being the Clan Head, the one who had effectively ruled the clan had been Tang Gunhyeon.
And yet they had targeted Youngho behind Tang Gunhyeon’s back—and even used the poison from the time when the war with the Demonic Cult broke out.
It was truly the worst.
“What was the name of that poison again?”
“…Ghost Spirit Poison.”
“Was an antidote for Ghost Spirit Poison ever developed?”
“……”
From Namgung Cheon’s silence, Youngho found his answer and let out a long sigh.
“Don’t tell Tang Gunhyeon about this for now.”
‘He used to be an idiot before the regression, but not now…’
Perhaps because he had once associated with Namgung Cheon, Youngho occasionally glimpsed the bearing of a righteous hero in Tang Gunhyeon.
Embarrassed yet grateful for Youngho’s consideration, Namgung Cheon lowered his head deeply.
“Thank you.”
“Forget it. It’s not the first time something like this has happened. But there’s one thing you should keep in mind.”
Though spoken lightly, Namgung Cheon’s body trembled.
He knew.
Youngho’s warnings had to be obeyed unconditionally.
“If anything happens to my disciple, the Murim Alliance will disappear into history.”
Though the tone was calm as always, Namgung Cheon froze at the unmistakable warning.
His face stiffened and his heart tightened.
“It may be shameless to say this, but…”
“If you think that, then don’t say it.”
“……”
Under Youngho’s icy gaze, Namgung Cheon immediately shut his mouth. He realized that speaking further would only lead to worse consequences.
Satisfied that his will had been conveyed, Youngho continued.
“I can roughly guess what you wanted to say. You were going to ask me to leave for the Immortal Realm if Seojeong dies, weren’t you?”
Namgung Cheon tried to speak but only clenched his fist tightly.
Even he felt it was too much.
Enduring everything until now was already miraculous—and yet asking Youngho to endure even after losing the one thing that meant everything to him.
Namgung Cheon laughed bitterly.
Youngho waited silently for his thoughts to settle.
After a while, Namgung Cheon spoke.
“…I’m sorry. I almost said something I shouldn’t have.”
“I can’t just laugh that one off.”
“I figured…”
“In the first place, if my disciple dies, I’ll have no choice but to walk the path of revenge.”
“I see…”
If Namgung In and Kang Chowon died, Namgung Cheon himself would surely walk the same path.
How many people could keep their sanity after losing their spouse and children?
Even he would think of the aftermath only after finishing his revenge.
But Youngho’s next words left Namgung Cheon completely stunned.
“I can’t go to the Immortal Realm right now. If I want to go, I’ll need about two hundred years of training.”
“What?”
“When I killed the Heavenly Demon, I almost died too, you know? At best it would’ve been mutual destruction. But I paid a price and gained power.”
Youngho’s casual tone made that desperate battle sound like children’s play.
Putting aside how lightly he described the fight with the Heavenly Demon—
What?
He couldn’t go to the Immortal Realm?
Namgung Cheon’s heart pounded anxiously.
“That price… surely it isn’t…?”
“I can’t go to the Immortal Realm. That was the price.”
“AAAAAAAH!!”
At Youngho’s confirmation, Namgung Cheon burst into tears.
“Immortals! Please take this bastard away! Heavenly spirits, Buddha, whoever—please take him!”
“That’s harsh. Do you hate the sight of me that much?”
At words that sounded like both a curse and a blessing, Youngho looked slightly hurt.
“If you’re still alive a hundred years from now, there’ll be no one who can stop you!”
“Ah…”
Faced with a reasonable argument, Youngho sighed.
“So if I get angry then, the world will really end?”
“Don’t make it sound definite!”
Namgung Cheon grabbed a nearby flower vase and hurled it. Catching it mid-air with Object Grasping Through the Void, Youngho calmly returned the vase to its place.
“Then pray that I stay happy.”
“I pray every day that you stay happy, you bastard! Can’t you just die from happiness already?!”
“Anyway, since I can’t go to the Immortal Realm for the time being, behave yourself.”
With the conversation seemingly concluded, Youngho stepped out of the room.
Watching his leisurely retreating back, Namgung Cheon came down with a severe fever the next day and lay groaning in bed.
Three days had already passed since Youngho was attacked.
“Jeong-ah, aren’t you packing too many things?”
At Youngho’s question, Yoon Seojeong answered brightly.
“It’s fine! It’s my first trip with Master that really counts!”
Hearing the joy in his disciple’s voice, Youngho laughed heartily.
“Was Anhui not enough?”
“Xinjiang isn’t part of the Central Plains to begin with.”
Seeing the warm exchange between master and disciple, Namgung Cheon and Kang Chowon smiled softly.
“She’s extremely happy.”
“That’s only natural. A worry she carried for nearly ten years has finally been resolved.”
Namgung Cheon and Kang Chowon smiled as well.
Seeing someone precious to them happy made the couple happy too.
“Shall we have a drink together today?”
“I didn’t expect my wife to suggest that…”
Seeing Namgung Cheon’s rabbit-like startled expression, Kang Chowon chuckled.
“On a day like this, it’s fine. And…”
She whispered into Namgung Cheon’s ear like a breath of air.
“I’ll bring out the liquor made from the bokbunja the Alliance Lord gave us last time.”
Shiver—!
Namgung Cheon’s pupils trembled violently.
Having overheard the chilling conversation between the couple, Youngho looked at Namgung Cheon with pity.
“You’re completely henpecked.”
Of course, the one responsible was Youngho himself…
‘Not my problem. I helped their married life rather than harming it.’
Ignoring Namgung Cheon’s murderous glare, Youngho said:
“Have everything dealt with by the time I return. Otherwise I’ll have to move personally.”
“I won’t forgive you.”
“The Murim Alliance needs to stabilize the Orthodox Sect. Anyway, good luck. We’ll be off.”
“I’ll curse you.”
Having received Namgung Cheon’s “positive” reply, Youngho nodded in satisfaction.
Soon, Yoon Seojeong approached with all the luggage packed, and Youngho called to Jongpal nearby.
“Jongpal, bring a cart.”
The moment the words left his mouth, Jongpal hurriedly dragged a cart over.
“I picked the shabbiest one I could!”
The cart Jongpal brought was extremely shabby. Though not dusty, it was damaged in many places.
After carefully inspecting the heap of scrap that barely deserved to be called a cart, Youngho frowned deeply.
“This one rolls too well!”
‘A cart is supposed to roll well. If it doesn’t roll, how is it a cart?’
Jongpal barely suppressed that complaint and said something else.
“I picked the shabbiest one, but since this is the Namgung Clan, even the carts are top quality.”
“It’d be better if it had a few more cracks…”
Youngho smacked his lips in disappointment.
Soon he sat on the cart and pointed to the empty space beside him.
Seeing the signal, Yoon Seojeong sat beside him at lightning speed.
Watching this, Jongpal laughed helplessly.
“Don’t tell me I’m the one who has to pull it?”
In the thirty years he had lived with Youngho, he had never once undergone such an eccentric form of training.
With a despairing face, Jongpal looked at Youngho.
Youngho handed him a wine bottle as if to reassure him.
“I’ll need your help, but pulling the cart isn’t your role.”
“Then whose role is it? Are you planning to pull it yourself, Alliance Lord?”
Youngho smiled brightly and turned his gaze to Yoon Seojeong.
When she looked at him as if to say surely not, Youngho nodded kindly.
“Jeong-ah, you’ll pull the cart. If you break it, you’ll have to pull the cart I personally fetched.”
At those cruel words, Yoon Seojeong’s face turned pale.
Meanwhile, Jongpal cheered loudly.
BANG!
At that moment, Namgung Seojong burst through the main gate and shouted while looking around.
“Miss Yoon! Where are you?! Why are you leaving without even telling me—!”
“Seojeong, let’s depart.”
“Um, Namgung—”
“Stop worrying about Namgung and start pulling the cart.”
Youngho cut her off firmly.
Realizing there was no room for negotiation, Yoon Seojeong pouted and silently began pulling the cart.
Namgung Seojong tried to grab her.
Tap!
But Yoon Seojeong’s body form blurred like a butterfly, and in an instant the distance between them widened to more than twenty zhang.
Staring blankly at her back as she ran swiftly while carrying the weight of two grown men, Namgung Seojong muttered:
“…I will become someone worthy of you.”
Flames burned in his eyes.
Namgung Yuseul and Namgung Seongun clicked their tongues at the sight of their brother being completely smitten with Yoon Seojeong.