Chapter 114

Chapter 114

“Keuk keuk!”

“Kik kik!”

“Kkeulkeulkeulkeulkeul.”

“Ah! Stop laughing already!”

At the laughter coming from beside him, Kang Hosan’s face flushed red.

“Well, that’s because your expression was…….”

“Ah, seriously!”

In the end, Kang Hosan threw his blanket at those mocking him.

“Ik!”

Hyeon-gang dodged the blanket and snickered.

“How could you fall for that? The Divine Physician clearly said that if there was no pain, then the surgery had been successful.”

“That same Divine Physician said, with such a grave expression, that even if she had ten mouths, she’d have nothing to say!”

“To be precise, when I said the surgery had failed, your expression was…….”

“Ah, seriously!”

Just as Kang Hosan could no longer endure it and tried to sit up—

“Oppa?”

At the chilly voice coming from behind, Kang Hosan flinched.

When he turned his stiff neck with difficulty to look back, Kang Chowon stood there, smiling.

She was clearly smiling, yet surely he was not the only one feeling such a spine-chilling sensation.

“Oho, then I’ll be off…….”

As proof, Hyeon-gang, unable to withstand the shiver running down his spine, quickly retreated outside.

Kang Chowon smiled sweetly as she spoke.

“Lie back down.”

“……Yes.”

Though the surgery had succeeded, Kang Hosan was still in need of recuperation.

Ordinarily, sitting up would have been fine, but it seemed Kang Chowon did not see it that way.

“Lie still. I’ll go see the Young Master.”

“Yes, yes.”

Kang Chowon stared at Kang Hosan with a dissatisfied expression before stepping out of the room.

“Are you ready?”

As soon as she came outside, Youngho and Seonpung greeted her.

Until just a few days ago, the White Tiger, which had been tearing out people’s throats, now sat on Youngho’s shoulder, making soft feline sounds.

Cradling Seonpung in her arms, Kang Chowon said,

“Yes, we can go now.”

“Are you truly alright? As I told you yesterday, I’ll be speaking with the Sect Leader of the Mount Hua Sect.”

“I’m fine. The Young Master will protect me, won’t you?”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“I know.”

Her voice was firm, yet it trembled faintly.

Kang Chowon met Youngho’s gaze with eyes filled with resolute determination.

“If Mount Hua had helped us back then, my brother wouldn’t have needed surgery.”

At her killing-intent-laced words, Youngho nodded.

“I understand your feelings. Then let’s go.”

Judging that further argument would be unwise, Youngho immediately moved.

After summoning Horyeung, Youngho headed to the reception room of the Medical Pavilion of Hwa Ryeong.

Originally, it was a room for Hwa Ryeong to receive guests, but strangely, it was not Hwa Ryeong who was hosting them now—it was Youngho.

Youngho slowly took his seat and spoke.

“It is an honor to meet you. I hardly know where to place myself, having the Sect Leader of the great Mount Hua Sect and the Plum Blossom Sword Queen grant me an audience.”

Seeing Youngho act far more gentle than expected, Myeongjeong cast him a curious look before replying,

“The pleasure is mine, meeting the Mad Black Sword Ghost. I never imagined that the junior disciple from the Dragon–Phoenix Gathering would grow this strong.”

Myeonghye said nothing and merely raised her teacup to her lips.

Youngho smiled faintly.

“Please forgive this uncultured member of the Unorthodox Faction for getting straight to the point.”

“What do you mean by that……?”

“Why are you here?”

In an instant, the expressions of Myeongjeong and Myeonghye stiffened.

This was not something a mere junior disciple should say to a Sect Leader. Yet Youngho did not stop there.

“You did not come to help us, nor were your disciples injured and brought here.”

“…….”

Myeongjeong glared at Youngho without a word. Youngho gave a faint scoff, as if looking at something trivial.

“You even summoned Zhongnan to guard this Medical Pavilion of Hwa Ryeong. How exactly should I interpret that?”

The moment she heard his words, Myeonghye automatically translated their meaning in her mind.

—You summoned Zhongnan to imprison us, didn’t you?

That was likely what he truly wished to say.

Myeongjeong stared coldly at Youngho and said,

“So the rumors that the Mad Black Sword Ghost is gentle must have been false.”

“Well. I have no intention of showing mercy to those who press a blade to my throat.”

“You insolent brat!”

At the slight surge of a shockwave of Qi, Kang Chowon’s body flinched. Seonpung bared its teeth and growled low.

This time, Youngho did not bother shielding Kang Chowon from Myeongjeong’s martial presence.

There was no need to protect her from such a feeble shockwave of Qi.

Even at Myeongjeong’s outburst, Youngho did not so much as blink.

“I’ll speak plainly. Take your disciples and return to your sect. There is no particular reason for Mount Hua to remain here.”

“And what of Zhongnan?”

“Was Mount Hua ever great enough to move Zhongnan at its command?”

“…….”

It was not. Unless it were the will of the Murim Alliance, Mount Hua alone did not possess the authority to command another of the Nine Sects and One Gang.

“I intend to say the same to the Sect Leader of Zhongnan. Unlike certain others, I do not discriminate in treatment based on sect.”

“……There is a barb in your words. Are you saying we discriminated against you?”

“Did you not?”

“Ah?”

Perhaps she had not expected such bluntness. Myeonghye’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.

“We were under attack by the Demonic Cult. And Mount Hua hesitated to draw their swords against them simply because we belong to the Unorthodox Faction.”

“…….”

On this matter, they had no defense—not with ten mouths, nor a hundred. It was true they had not helped.

“Well, that much I can accept. Helping is a choice, not an obligation. But.”

Youngho looked at Myeongjeong with darkened eyes as he spoke.

“I cannot forgive you for monitoring us.”

Tremble.

His arm trembled. Was it because he had heard such words from a mere Junior Disciple? Or because he had heard them from someone of the Unorthodox Faction?

Perhaps it was both. And at the words that followed from Youngho, Myeongjeong released killing intent.

“So this is what the Mount Hua Sect that produced such an outstanding talent as the Plum Blossom Sword Queen amounts to. Then there is no need to look at the other Orthodox Sects.”

Kuuuung—!

As killing intent poured from Myeongjeong’s entire body, Horyeung hurriedly used his own energy to shield Kang Chowon.

Even so, Kang Chowon felt her breath catch in her throat. Just how could a person emit such overwhelming martial presence?

‘This is the Transformation Realm!’

It was martial might worthy of being called divine.

“Can you take responsibility for those words?”

Under normal circumstances, Youngho would have offered a perfunctory apology for such a slip of the tongue. No—he would not have uttered such words at all.

For an instant, an abyss settled in Youngho’s eyes. That bottomless abyss alone was enough to awaken a person’s survival instinct.

When Myeongjeong unconsciously placed his hand upon his sword hilt, Horyeung also gripped his own hilt tightly.

The intent was clear—he would block Myeongjeong before the man could even lay a hand on Youngho.

At that moment, Youngho let out a faint scoff.

“Responsibility, you say?”

Yet his eyes were not smiling in the slightest.

“Of course I can take responsibility. Then let me ask you one thing.”

Fixing Myeongjeong with deeply sunken eyes, Youngho spoke.

“Can you take responsibility for those words?”

Youngho had done nothing in Shaanxi. No—rather, he had achieved the tremendous feat of dealing a blow to the Demonic Cult.

The Demonic Cult was an organization the Imperial Family itself had declared an enemy of the Martial World.

And the one who had inflicted damage upon them was a member of the Unorthodox Faction. How would the Common People interpret that?

Simply put, Youngho would at least fall within the bounds of a chivalrous hero.

No—if anything, they might think the Orthodox Sect members were worse than those of the Unorthodox Faction.

It might seem unbelievable, but this was reality. For hundreds of years, the Demonic Cult had shattered the peace of the Central Plains, and the Common People had always suffered because of them.

Who, then, could possibly view a figure of the Demonic Cult with favor?

Yet the hero who had repelled the Demonic Cult was now surrounded by the Orthodox Sect and treated like a Lightning Bomb that could explode at any moment.

Had Cheonung learned of this, he would not have endured it this time. Not even if his close friend Han Yonghu tried to restrain him.

“We have caused no harm to the Common People, nor to the other sects of Shaanxi. The only ones here are my subordinates, lying injured in sickbeds.”

“…….”

“We are certainly of the Unorthodox Faction. But at the very least, we do not deserve this kind of treatment. This is something only back-alley thugs would do.”

At some point, Mount Hua and Zhongnan had been reduced to thugs.

Youngho spoke in a toneless voice.

“There are always people like that. Those who believe what they are doing is righteous, yet commit absurd acts.”

“What are you trying to say?”

There were no longer any barbs in Myeongjeong’s voice. It was simply unbearably heavy.

“This place could practically be considered Orthodox territory.”

“And your point?”

“Reverse the situation. Imagine you were resting after killing Demonic Practitioners within the territory of the Unorthodox Alliance, and your disciples were surrounded by the Unorthodox Alliance. Let’s say the reason was that you might harm other Unorthodox members.”

“That is nonsense.”

“That is precisely what you are doing right now.”

“…….”

There was nothing to say.

Youngho’s words were not wrong. Thinking of it in reverse, he could begin to understand. If Mount Hua’s current conduct were to be summarized in one phrase…

“It’s abuse of power.”

“……!”

“There is a limit to how far you can push things just because it is your territory. You are doing something even the Unorthodox Faction does not do.”

The faces of Myeongjeong and Myeonghye stiffened greatly. Their statue-like expressions seemed to be deep in thought—or perhaps simply struck with shock.

“I believe I’ve given you ample time to think. If you do not withdraw your disciples……”

As Youngho trailed off, Myeongjeong’s face hardened even more visibly.

“Are you threatening—!”

“It cannot be helped.”

“……?”

What exactly had this man just said? For a moment, countless thoughts tangled within Myeongjeong’s mind.

“What choice do I have? If the noble Orthodox gentlemen insist on monitoring us. It’s not as though I’ve only seen Orthodox hypocrisy once or twice.”

Nothing came to mind to refute him. In truth, even Myeongjeong himself was shocked to realize how narrow-minded he had been.

But there was someone even more shaken.

Though she likely believed she was hiding it well, Kang Chowon’s lips trembled faintly.

It could not quite be called anger—it was closer to bewilderment. Yet it was too fierce to merely be bewilderment.

During the Dragon–Phoenix Gathering, Kang Chowon had witnessed just how coarse the tongues of the Orthodox Sect’s Junior Disciples could be.

Still, that had been tolerable. After all, Junior Disciples did not represent their sects.

It was something to dismiss as mere immaturity.

But the man before her was the Sect Leader of the Mount Hua Sect.

One of the most important sects among the Nine Sects and One Gang, currently said to be at the height of its prosperity.

Looking at Myeonghye, who seemed at a loss for words, Youngho spoke.

“What do you think, Sword Queen?”

It was a warm voice—hard to believe it was the same one that had spoken so coldly and informally to Myeongjeong just moments before.

Rather than answer him immediately, Myeonghye chose first to address her confusion.

“Why are you speaking respectfully to me…?”

“Shall I say it is my way of showing respect to the Sword Queen?”

That meant he did not respect her senior brother.

Just as Myeonghye’s expression began to twist—

Youngho let out a faint chuckle.

“There’s no need to repeat myself. I’ll make it clear. I am looking down on the Sect Leader of Mount Hua.”

The air in the room grew heavy. The one who felt it most acutely was Kang Chowon.

Her breathing grew ragged. Even when she tried to steady it, she found herself unable to draw proper breath.

It was a martial presence unworthy of the title Plum Blossom Sword Queen. Myeonghye revealed a fierce, ghostly gaze as she spoke.

“You would do well to retract those words.”