Chapter 284

—...Our Plum Blossom Commander.

—Yes. I know it surprised you, but it’s true.

It surprised me.

A lot.

How did he figure it out?

Yeo Hyeok’s eyes—eyes that had judged the Plum Blossom Commander a spy—shocked me more than the fact itself.

I was shocked he knew.

How?

I could see it because my eyes were wrong in the head.

But Yeo Hyeok wasn’t me. His suspicion toward the Plum Blossom Commander came from an entirely different place.

Which meant—

—...Do you have circumstances to justify that suspicion?

Would something big enough even exist?

If it didn’t, this wouldn’t be possible.

At my question—

—I do.

—...!

Yeo Hyeok answered firmly.

Hearing that, I frowned.

He has circumstances?

What circumstances?

I was about to ask—

—However, could I speak of that later? I believe it is premature for now. For the moment... please just keep in mind that I do suspect him.

—Ah, yes. That’s fine.

Yeo Hyeok held back.

Just admitting he suspected his commander was already enough to seal a connection between us.

Pushing deeper than that would burden him.

Revealing every card—

We don’t have that kind of bond yet.

Our relationship wasn’t that deep.

So for now, it was right to respect the line Yeo Hyeok had drawn.

And what matters here is—

If Yeo Hyeok had shown me that much of his hand—

—Then.

I had to show at least one card of my own.

—Then I should tell you what I found as well.

—...Found?

—Yes.

I leaned closer as I spoke.

—After arriving at Mount Hua, I began an investigation under the orders of Blue Moon Sect and the Martial Alliance.

—...!

Yeo Hyeok’s eyes widened.

—You’ve already been investigating...?

—That’s right. And in the process, I found a few people who felt wrong.

—...Already...?

—Whether you believe me or not is your choice. I’m not claiming certainty, either.

—...In that short time, you caught circumstances?

Yeo Hyeok spoke like it was impossible.

It would’ve sounded impossible to me too, if I were in his place.

But—

—Yes. And whether you believe that is your choice.

I had no intention of explaining what circumstances.

For one thing, I didn’t have any.

What the hell would I “catch” in one day?

I wasn’t a detective.

There was nothing to catch in that kind of time.

I literally just saw it.

I only counted what was visible and remembered it.

I didn’t even have everyone’s names.

If anything, there were more people I didn’t know.

So.

From here on, I was only going to give him the names I did know.

—Like I said.

This, too, was a method.

—The judgment is yours.

A gale meant to blow through Yeo Hyeok.

And it would be the strongest one yet.

*****

After the meal and our talk ended—

“......”

Yeo Hyeok stood gripping his sword, his expression tightened.

SHRRRK—!

His blade flowed again and again, slicing through wind.

The connection of the moving edge was natural—beautiful.

The delicacy he produced looked like a dance.

Movement that claimed plum blossoms.

Expressing the sway of petals with a sword.

That was the sword Mount Hua pursued.

And Yeo Hyeok’s sword matched that process perfectly.

Mount Hua’s greatest work.

That’s what people used to call him—before Yuyeon appeared.

And as if proving it, Yeo Hyeok’s sword was breathtakingly beautiful, but—

KIIING—!

“......”

He paused mid-swing.

“......”

With hardened eyes, Yeo Hyeok examined the tip of his blade.

Hisss.

A sword that should have been steady, unshaking—

was trembling, just slightly.

SHRRK—!

Yeo Hyeok immediately withdrew the sword and slid it back into its scabbard.

There was no point continuing.

This wasn’t physical fatigue.

He shook.

His mental image wavered.

And it appeared as his sword.

“...Still far.”

To embody plum blossoms, but keep the firmness of the tree.

Even as you sway, your roots and trunk must be solid enough to support it.

But—

“Hah.”

He felt it.

The root itself had shaken.

He laughed, hollow.

No matter how long he’d swung his sword, it reminded him how lacking his realization still was.

“...Not easy.”

His sword.

The road ahead.

Even Mount Hua itself—the place he stood—

“...Sect Master....”

What am I supposed to do?

When he thought of Mount Hua’s greatest tree, Yeo Hyeok’s expression darkened completely.

A massive tree that should shine and shelter everyone.

Lately, he felt it withering.

Maybe that was why.

As the shade weakened, rotten things seemed to creep in.

Yeo Hyeok felt it.

And he felt it too.

He recalled the blue eyes that had watched him.

Just remembering them made his back turn cold.

Definitely...

He’d heard Moon Knight wasn’t even of age yet.

At first glance, the boy looked too young, so Yeo Hyeok had assumed the rumors spreading through the Central Plains were bullshit.

No.

Yeo Hyeok became certain.

Moon Knight, Bang Sungyeon.

Right now, he was the most famous martial artist in Henan.

The Main Alliance Headquarters in Henan had been assaulted.

An incident where a nameless force called HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE appeared, and the DEMON CULT—thought to have vanished—returned.

In the process, countless junior martial artists died, and people said trust in the Martial Alliance itself was collapsing.

A crack had formed.

After Yoo Cheongil saved the world, they said peace had come.

And now, for the first time since then—

danger had arrived.

And in that danger, people said—

When danger comes, a hero appears to match it.

Just as the Sword Saint once saved the world.

This time, his successor stepped forward.

The Sword Demon—an absolute master of the prior DEMON CULT, once said to be comparable to the Heaven-Beyond-Heaven.

The moment the Sword Demon appeared and everyone panicked—

the blue-eyed hero lifted his sword alone, proud and unmoved.

With a young body, he decapitated the Sword Demon—

and went on to save the Martial Alliance from crisis.

When Yeo Hyeok heard that, he didn’t believe it.

Bullshit.

A junior martial artist who hadn’t even come of age killed the Sword Demon?

And he’d even been called a hero for saving Sichuan this time—fine, maybe he could swallow that.

But killing the Sword Demon was something a martial artist couldn’t accept.

How do you kill the Sword Demon?

Something must’ve been misunderstood.

Yeo Hyeok didn’t believe it in his heart, but—

...Maybe it wasn’t bullshit.

Maybe the rumor inside that man wasn’t a rumor at all.

Meeting him directly, talking to him, Yeo Hyeok understood.

Maybe he couldn’t read martial comprehension—but—

I almost got crushed.

Yeo Hyeok sensed it.

He had almost been crushed by Bang Sungyeon’s sheer presence.

Bang Sungyeon was definitely much younger.

They were almost a full generation apart.

But when Yeo Hyeok talked with him, it felt like he might get pulled in.

Maybe those eyes were the problem.

Those blue eyes.

Blue eyes shining like stars.

Beautiful more than anything—

and yet somehow darker than anything.

Bright on the surface, but the shadow around him was unmistakable.

Yeo Hyeok felt it even just by talking.

Is he really a kid?

Was that really a young man?

Why did it feel like talking to an elder at the level of a senior master?

Eyes that looked like they knew everything.

And an attitude that was far too relaxed.

What is he?

Moon Knight, Bang Sungyeon.

What was he?

And... really—

Is he that strong?

Strong enough to kill the Sword Demon?

Normally, Yeo Hyeok would never have thought that.

But—

The more we talked, the more I started thinking it might be true.

The more words they exchanged, the more a recognition formed:

This young man... might actually be capable of it.

That was why.

“...I said everything, like I was possessed.”

He’d ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) spoken about the thing that had been tormenting him for months.

How could he spill a secret like this without knowing how Bang Sungyeon would react?

He regretted it for a moment.

But—

“Hisss....”

For some reason, his chest also felt lighter.

Maybe because he’d finally said what he’d never been able to say.

Or—

...Maybe because it felt like kinship.

Maybe because he believed he could solve Mount Hua’s problem with someone.

Of course—

Even so, I can’t deny the shaking.

His entire mental image had wavered.

...Moon Knight.

That talk had hit him harder than he expected.

“...Not easy.”

It’ll take a long time to shake it off.

As that thought rose—

“Senior Brother.”

“......!”

Someone came up to Yeo Hyeok and spoke.

A person wearing the same clothes—meaning one of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.

“...Yeo Jin.”

Yeo Hyeok called the man’s name.

At the call, Yeo Jin smiled.

“Were you training? I looked for you for quite a while.”

“What is it?”

“Ah, the Plum Blossom Commander is looking for you. I think it’s because of the mission.”

Yeo Hyeok nodded.

“Tell him I’ll come shortly.”

“Yes.”

Yeo Jin left with a light smile.

Watching his junior’s back, Yeo Hyeok had to force his expression hard.

—Second disciple, Yeo Jin. He also seems to be a HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE spy.

“......”

One of the names Bang Sungyeon had given him.

Yeo Jin was on that list.

...Is it true?

Yeo Jin was someone who’d lived in Mount Hua working harder than anyone.

Talented enough to rise and become a Plum Blossom Swordsman.

...Yeo Jin?

Was that Yeo Jin really one of HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE?

Yeo Hyeok couldn’t accept it easily.

It was insane to believe the words of Bang Sungyeon—someone he’d known only days—over the brothers he’d seen for decades.

Yeo Hyeok knew that.

But—

“......Haa.”

Even so.

The anxiety already filling the way he looked at Yeo Jin—

Yeo Hyeok knew that too.

*****

“About now, right?”

I walked, thinking.

By now—

Yeo Hyeok’s heart should have a spark.

A spark of suspicion.

This was probably when it would start to burn.

It needs to go well.

This was the foundation.

By luck, I’d gotten a link to Yeo Hyeok and used it.

I don’t know how far I can push it.

The pieces I was tangling weren’t easy targets.

And I couldn’t let it show.

Too many eyes.

Someone had already seen me stuck to Yeo Hyeok.

No matter how good their information network was, they probably knew the rough outline.

So I have to hide it as much as possible.

That I can identify HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE bastards—

I couldn’t let anyone catch that.

Then—

“We’ve arrived.”

Taeyong’s voice pulled me back.

In front of me was a familiar set of quarters.

“I will inform the Sect Master.”

“Yes. Please.”

I’d come to the Sect Master’s quarters.

Because I had something to say to him.

“He says you may enter.”

At Taeyong’s words, I went inside.

“Excuse me.”

“Come in.”

As always, the Sect Master sat in front of his desk.

And this time, Yuyeon stood at his side.

“You wanted to see me?”

“Yes. I came because I have something to say.”

“To say...? Do we need more conversation?”

As if we hadn’t already said everything.

The Sect Master spoke like that, but—

“Ah, it isn’t about that. This is something I’m saying personally.”

This wasn’t about the Medical Immortal.

And it wasn’t about the Divine Spear.

“Personally?”

Only then did the Sect Master look interested.

“Well.”

I scratched my cheek and spoke.

“That sacred item my teacher swapped out and took... I was hoping we could exchange it back.”

“Oh?”

Sacred item.

The moment I said it, the Sect Master’s eyes widened slightly.

“So. You knew as well, kid.”

“...Yes.”

I didn’t want to know, but the old man who swapped the item wouldn’t shut up about it.

Since I was here anyway, I’d bring it up.

That was the intent.

But—

“Fine. I’ll return it. Yuyeon.”

The Sect Master called Yuyeon.

She rose immediately.

Huh?

Is it really going to be this easy?

I almost felt relieved—

Then Yuyeon’s hand moved.

“Hm?”

I narrowed my eyes.

[Oh.]

The moment I did, Yoo Cheongil spoke.

[Move.]

WHOOOSH—!!

“......!!”

A sword grazed my cheek.

Yuyeon drew her blade and swung at me.

It happened in an instant.