Cheon Seong was lying on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
His left leg, which was fixed with a bandage wrapped around it.
Cheon Seong was currently lying in a hospital room inside the Demonic Medical Hall, receiving treatment.
"..."
Lying still like this, it was hard to believe that such a thing had happened last night.
So many things had happened in one night.
If one were to look at each one individually, they were all things that Cheon Seong had never experienced before, but among them, if he were to pick the most surprising thing, it was the sword technique that Cheon Myeong had shown him.
'That was the real Mad Dragon Demon Blade...'
Cheon Myeong's movement was as if a real dragon was opening its mouth wide and rushing at its opponent.
On the other hand, his own sword technique was at a level that was embarrassing to even compare with Cheon Myeong's sword technique.
Even if Cheon Myeong were to tease him, saying that he was like a crawling earthworm, Cheon Seong would have nothing to say.
'I also... want to perform a sword technique like that.'
It was a different story from Cheon Jin performing the same sword technique.
Since he had thought from the beginning that Cheon Jin was a wall that he could never overcome, even if he saw the sword technique in front of his eyes, he had no choice but to think that he was an existence that he could never catch up to.
On the other hand, Cheon Myeong's sword technique had created a sense of admiration in Cheon Seong.
Cheon Myeong, who had been at a similar level to him, had come to perform such a sword technique. And that too, after having lost all his internal energy due to Qi Deviation.
So couldn't he also become like Cheon Myeong?
In one corner of Cheon Seong's heart, such a thought was now quietly taking root.
"Can I also... become like that?"
"What?"
"A sword technique like the one you performed, hyung-nim..."
Cheon Seong, who had been muttering to himself, slowly turned his head to the side.
Then, there, Cheon Myeong, who had entered the hospital room at some point, was standing still and looking at him, and as his eyes met Cheon Seong's, Cheon Myeong tilted his head.
"Why? Keep talking."
"H-hyung-nim!"
As Cheon Myeong suddenly appeared, Cheon Seong was startled and moved his body.
Because of that, his left leg, which had been fixed, also moved, and Cheon Seong had no choice but to let out a silent scream.
"Are you okay?"
"Aah..."
"So you should have been more careful."
Peep-.
Baekjo, who was sitting on his shoulder, also chimed in with Cheon Myeong's words.
In the meantime, Cheon Seong, who had barely endured the pain and was looking at Cheon Myeong.
Cheon Seong said with a slightly trembling voice, as if he were still in a little pain.
"W-when did you come in?"
"I just came in."
"Isn't it basic to give a signal from outside when you enter someone else's room?"
"What? Do I have to do that even when I'm visiting my sick younger brother?"
"That's the most basic of basics. Even if we're brothers, we should keep the basics with each other."
Cheon Seong said that, feeling even more annoyed because it seemed that Cheon Myeong had heard his muttering.
And hearing those words, Cheon Myeong clicked his tongue and said.
"You're not a cute younger brother."
"Peep, peep-"
"You think so too?"
"Peep-"
"What? But isn't it a bit too much to say that he's unlucky?"
"..."
What on earth was Cheon Myeong doing now?
At a glance, it seemed that he was talking to that bird... but surely not.
He had never heard of a person who could talk to a bird until now.
Cheon Seong thought that Cheon Myeong was now teasing him.
"Hyung-nim, please stop teasing me like that."
"What?"
"Aren't you teasing me by pretending to talk to that bird? It's not like you're doing a puppet show, what is a grown adult doing now?"
"A puppet show? What are you talking about?"
"...?"
"Baekjo is not a puppet. Right?"
Peep-.
As Cheon Myeong asked, Baekjo chimed in.
Cheon Seong, who was looking at him with a dumbfounded look. And he said to Cheon Myeong with a face that couldn't believe it.
"Could it be... are you saying that you can understand everything that bird is saying, hyung-nim?"
"Then did you think that I was crazy and was talking to it even though I couldn't understand it?"
"..."
Cheon Seong, who did not say anything.
Looking at that face, it seemed that he had thought of Cheon Myeong as a crazy person who would talk to a bird.
And as if that thought was still the same, Cheon Seong said to Cheon Myeong as if it were absurd.
"I have never heard of a person who can communicate with a bird!"
"Why?"
"Why do you ask? What kind of person on earth can talk to a bird!"
"Why is there no one? Besides me..."
Cheon Myeong stopped talking in the middle.
Come to think of it, there was no one else who could talk to Baekjo besides him.
Although it seemed that Mihwa and Soyeon Sang understood Baekjo's words with their intuition, it seemed that they could not understand them properly like him.
'Come to think of it, why can I understand what this guy is saying?'
Was his ancestor a bird in the distant past?
Although it was an absurd statement, if he didn't think so, he couldn't explain how he could understand all of Baekjo's words.
Although he had never thought about it seriously until now, Cheon Myeong came to think about it for the first time because of what Cheon Seong had said.
"Baekjo, come to think of it, why can I understand what you're saying?"
"Peep-?"
"Why are you asking me that? Then who should I ask?"
"Peep, peep-"
"What? You're telling me to ask my younger brother instead of you?"
Suddenly, Cheon Myeong's and Baekjo's gazes simultaneously went to Cheon Seong.
As the gazes of one person and one animal were focused on him, Cheon Seong, who was tensing up for some unknown reason. And Cheon Myeong asked such a Cheon Seong.
"Seong-ah, why can I understand Baekjo's words?"
"Why are you asking me that... in the first place, was there no one who had a question about that besides me?"
"There wasn't anyone in particular."
"...What kind of people are around you, hyung-nim?"
Cheon Seong said with a dumbfounded face.
Is this person in front of me really the person who showed me that sword technique last night?
I'll have to think again about what I said about wanting to be like Cheon Myeong earlier.
Swish-.
At that moment, Cheon Myeong held out his right hand to Cheon Seong.
Baekjo was on top of the right hand that Cheon Myeong had held out, and Cheon Seong looked at Baekjo and Cheon Myeong alternately with a bewildered face.
"Hyung-nim...? What are you doing now?"
"I was wondering if there was anyone else who could talk to Baekjo besides me."
"..."
"It seems that the people at the Little Heaven Pavilion can't talk to it."
"Isn't that normal? It's the same for me."
"You never know, right? Try talking to it one-on-one."
Was Cheon Myeong really saying that to him seriously?
Cheon Seong could only think that Cheon Myeong was teasing him again.
"Peep-"
However, at that moment, Baekjo, which was making a crying sound towards Cheon Seong.
As Baekjo suddenly made a crying sound, Cheon Seong's gaze went to Baekjo.
"Peep, peep-"
"..."
As he was facing it and listening to its cry, it really seemed as if it were talking to him.
Yes, should I at least try to talk to it, as if I were being deceived?
The more he looked at it, the cuter it seemed.
"Uh... did you say Baekjo?"
"Peep, peep-"
"Uh... what's your hobby?"
"...Peep."
Uh... what is it?
Although he couldn't understand the words, he felt very bad from that cry just now.
"Hyung-nim, what did this bird just say to me?"
"It said you're a guy with no talent for speaking."
"...What?"
"It said, with that kind of speaking talent, would you be able to say even a single word properly in front of a woman?"
"..."
I take back what I said about it being cute.
Although he couldn't tell whether what Cheon Myeong was saying was true or not, he had a strong feeling that it was probably true.
"Peep-"
"...You arrogant bird!"
Cheon Seong said that and stretched out his hand towards Baekjo.
However, Baekjo, which lightly flew up from its spot and landed on Cheon Myeong's shoulder.
Since his leg was in this state, Cheon Seong could do nothing, just like a dog looking at a chicken that had gone up on the roof.
"Hyung-nim! Give me that bird right now!"
"What for?"
"The Boknal is approaching, so it's a good thing. For dinner tonight, I'll boil that arrogant bird and make it into a young chicken soup..."
Although Cheon Seong was speaking with a rather threatening tone, Baekjo snorted as if it didn't even care.
Seeing this, Cheon Seong's face turned red as if it would burst, as if he were even more angry.
If he were to be left as he was, something would really happen.
Since he was the one who had started the fire, Cheon Myeong thought that he should intervene at this point.
"Whoa, whoa, calm down. Who are you going to feed by boiling this little guy?"
"Peep-"
"See, Baekjo is also sorry. So. Huh?"
In fact, it was a remark closer to a provocation than an apology, but anyway, if he didn't interpret it, Cheon Seong would not be able to understand it properly.
"...Did it really apologize to me?"
"I'm telling you."
"For that, its gaze is not to my liking... but I'll let it go for your sake, hyung-nim."
"..."
A guy with a good sense.
It seemed that he would have to be careful when he spoke in front of Cheon Seong from now on.
"By the way, did anyone ask you about what happened last night?"
At that moment, Cheon Myeong said to Cheon Seong.
Although he was also trying to change the topic of the current conversation, this was also something that Cheon Myeong had been planning to ask Cheon Seong from the beginning.
"The Guardian Hall came to see me."
"..."
"You also know the Head of the Guardian Hall, Bang Gitae, right, hyung-nim? That person asked me what had happened."
Although the Guardian Hall also had the role of escorting him or Cheon Seong, its original main role was the investigation of all crimes that occurred within the main headquarters.
So it was natural for the Guardian Hall to investigate Cheon Seong.
And that too, since it was a crime planned by Hwang Dongyeong, who had been a member of the Guardian Hall, it seemed that the Head, Bang Gitae, was investigating it himself.
"Did you talk as we had discussed in advance?"
"Yes, I didn't say anything about you to Bang Gitae, hyung-nim."
"Hmm... yes."
"...Is there something you're not satisfied with?"
He had surely done as Cheon Myeong had told him.
Since he felt that Cheon Myeong's face was somewhat displeased, Cheon Seong had asked.
"It's nothing."
Although he said that, something was bothering Cheon Myeong.
But it couldn't be helped.
Since he had thought that that was the best in that situation, he thought that Cheon Seong had done his best accordingly.
"...Uh, hyung-nim."
Cheon Seong carefully called Cheon Myeong.
However, at that moment, a man who suddenly burst into the hospital room where the two were. Because of that, Cheon Seong could no longer speak.
"You were here."
"...?"
The person who had entered the hospital room was Bang Gitae. And Cheon Myeong's and Cheon Seong's gazes were simultaneously directed at Bang Gitae.
'Why is Bang Gitae here?'
Cheon Seong was puzzled inwardly, discovering Bang Gitae.
Bang Gitae had already interrogated him. But to think that he had come to see him again less than a day later, Cheon Seong couldn't help but be puzzled.
"What brings you here again, Head?"
"This time, I did not come to see you, Young Master Cheon Seong."
"You're not here to see me?"
As Cheon Seong asked, Bang Gitae's gaze went to Cheon Myeong.
"Young Master Cheon Myeong."
"..."
"You'll have to come with me to the leader's palace."
To the leader's palace...?
There would be only one reason to go there.
As Cheon Seong realized that fact, he looked at Cheon Myeong with a surprised face.
However, unlike Cheon Seong, Cheon Myeong said with a rather calm face, as if he had already known that he would hear those words.
"Do I have to go right now?"
"Yes, that's right."
"..."
A part that had been bothering Cheon Myeong's mind until now.
Although he had been prepared to some extent, he had not thought that he would be found so quickly. And that too, that Cheon Jin would find him.
'I didn't think we would meet again in this way.'
Is this the second time since he had returned to the main headquarters?
Although he was not a person he wanted to meet again, he would not be able to not go.
If he were to refuse the meeting, he would become a felon just with that.
'If he tells me to do it, I have to do it.'
Since he had also been in that position in the past, he could not complain now.
Cheon Myeong thought so inwardly and said to Bang Gitae.
"Let's go."
To where the madman is.
(End of Chapter)