Please Help Us.

One sip, two sips.

He glanced at Bong Seok again, then took another sip.

“This should be enough, right?”

What on earth was he trying to do?

At that moment, the scent flowing from the gourd bottle reached the others as well.

A sour smell.

“Poison?”

Jeon Hong spoke up with a startled expression.

He was a Taoist with a taciturn nature, unlike Jeon Pyeong and Jeon Gwang.

The others wore expressions no different from Jeon Hong’s.

Disciples of a prestigious sect also learned about poisons. They might not be able to distinguish specialized poisons, yet anyone could tell that what Gyo-ha had was poison.

Why did he take poison, all of a sudden?

And right before a spar?

It was not hard to grasp what that meant.

Bong Seok’s face twisted all at once.

“You arrogant brat. Fine, I will flatten that nose of yours today.”

There was no humiliation like this.

Bong Seok took his stance.

It was the Beggars’ Union’s pride, Jade Dragon Eight Palms.

The moment Bong Seok stepped forward, Gyo-ha laughed savagely.

Then his vision turned black.

---

“Nnng.”

Sniff sniff. The smell of delicious food made Bong Seok open his eyes.

“Are you awake?”

Jeon Gwang beside him greeted him, and Bong Seok shook his throbbing head.

More than that, the delicious smell made his stomach churn.

‘Damn it, did I pass out?’

Bong Seok frowned. His whole body ached.

Where exactly had he been hit? Had they beaten him while he was unconscious. When he looked to the side, he saw Gyo-ha sitting next to a boiling pot.

He did not spare so much as a glance at Bong Seok.

Drooling, he only stared at the pot.

At that stupid face, Bong Seok clicked his tongue.

‘I let my guard down.’

Maybe it was because he had been hungry.

At that moment, Seo Jong-dae, who was boiling the soup, turned to him.

“If you are hungry, eat what is next to you. This will take a while.”

Next to him?

When he turned his head, he saw a bundle filled with food.

Instinctively, he brought a piece of meat to his mouth. The food was already cold.

When had they cooked all this?

It seemed he had been unconscious for quite some time.

‘Even so, this is a lot.’

There was a wide variety as well.

‘This one is pig, is that wolf?’

It was as if the beasts had lined up to come out.

At that moment, Jeon Pyeong spoke with a regretful expression.

“If you are going to be sparring, stamina is important, so eat well.”

“What are you talking about? The spar ended earlier. It only finished quickly because I let my guard down, but a promise is a prom…”

Bong Seok’s mouth snapped shut.

The Mount Hua disciples all looked at him with the same pitying gaze.

Bong Seok quietly set down the meat he had been eating.

“That is two days’ worth of food.”

Seo Jong-dae spoke without even looking back.

“…Then?”

“You have been unconscious for two days. Young Master Gyo carried you the whole way.”

Bong Seok blinked. He could not quite grasp the situation.

Seo Jong-dae ladled a full bowl of finished soup and set it in front of him.

It was a simple dish of meat and grain boiled together.

The others also began to sip the broth carefully.

Gyo-ha ate spoonful after spoonful without a thought.

Grrrgle.

His stomach rumbled again, yet he could not easily bring the food to his lips.

However, time did not wait for Bong Seok.

Before he knew it, Gyo-ha had finished eating and pulled the familiar gourd bottle from his breast.

Then he smiled sweetly at Bong Seok.

Looking at the dazed Bong Seok, Gyo-ha spoke with a smile.

“You do not need to worry. I can adjust it properly this time.”

Adjust what?

Under all the eyes on him, Bong Seok forced himself to eat the soup.

Of course, he could not taste it.

When he set the bowl down, Gyo-ha raised the gourd and drank.

A full five times.

Two sips more than last time.

‘…Right, it is only because I let my guard down.’

Bong Seok tried hard to console himself.

Then he sprang up, full of bravado.

Thus the spar began. As expected, the first to move was Gyo-ha.

Bwooong.

His iron shackles cut through the air with a chilling sound.

At the sight of the shackles passing in front of his eyes, Bong Seok swallowed his breath.

Fast.

Yet not so fast that he could not dodge.

Clenching his teeth, he thrust out both hands.

Jade Dragon Eight Palms.

Gyo-ha dodged Bong Seok’s attack with nothing more than a twist of his head.

As if he had anticipated this, Bong Seok slipped in close to Gyo-ha’s body.

His steps brought to mind a drunken man.

Drunken Eight Immortal Steps.

It was a secret art that Two-Knot Beggars could learn in the Beggars’ Union.

Soon Bong Seok’s palm slammed into Gyo-ha’s shackles.

Kwaang!

Bong Seok staggered.

He bit his lip against the shock surging up from his palm.

‘Insane.’

He was not simply fast.

Gyo-ha’s foot came down like lightning.

When he rolled across the ground to dodge, the foot slammed into the spot where he had been.

Kwaang!

The impact made the ground seem to shake.

Using that recoil, Gyo-ha’s body spun.

His knee followed, flying in.

Yet Bong Seok was not that easy. Stepping his footwork, he moved around behind Gyo-ha.

‘Good. Just like this…’

Puck.

“Huh?”

A blow to the head made Bong Seok collapse.

He did not even see where the attack had come from.

As expected.

The Mount Hua disciples who had been watching from a distance nodded.

Gyo-ha smacked his lips in regret.

Jeon Hong and Jeon Gwang looked at each other.

Jeon Gwang rose to his feet first.

At that moment, Jeon Pyeong spoke.

“Both of you go together.”

“Sahyung?”

Instead of answering, Jeon Pyeong jerked his chin toward Gyo-ha.

Gyo-ha swayed, perhaps dizzy from the poison. Yet his two eyes shone with a strange light.

He seemed more dangerous than when he was perfectly fine.

“Think of it as facing me.”

Jeon Hong and Jeon Gwang’s eyes changed.

The two looked at Gyo-ha as if seeking his permission.

Under their gaze, Gyo-ha instead smiled brightly and nodded.

It was exactly what he wanted.

Yesterday and the day before.

They too had fought spars with Gyo-ha, and the result had been no different from Bong Seok’s.

This level was not enough.

Sreureung.

Their swords slid from their scabbards. A chilly aura flowed from their bodies.

Jeon Hong and Jeon Gwang.

They had not been chosen as Plum Blossom Swordsmen, yet their skill was among the best of the disciples.

Yet they somehow felt they would not win.

‘From tomorrow on, I will have to step in myself.’

Jeon Pyeong fiddled with his sword. It was not because of any promise.

In truth, he had planned to step in personally today as well. He had only yielded to his juniors because Gyo-ha had drunk poison.

The title Plum Blossom Swordsman was never light. Even if he lost, he wanted to clash at full strength.

---

Changsha, Hunan Province.

That place was no different from the heart of the Orthodox Murim.

It was because the Murim Alliance was there.

Baek Gun-ak, the Murim Alliance Leader.

He was better known by the name Chivalrous Emperor than by the title Murim Alliance Leader.

At the newly arrived report, he stroked his beard.

“So a great tree does not fall easily.”

The letter contained matters concerning the Kunlun Sect.

“It is not entirely something to rejoice over.”

The strategist Jegal Tae spoke calmly.

“It is little different from declaring that they will no longer stand with our Alliance.”

“Considering Kunlun’s situation, it is only natural. Have we not used them as a breakwater all this time.”

Jegal Tae closed his mouth.

It was because Baek Gun-ak was not wrong.

“However, if you think of the Sword Freak’s nature, the Kunlun of now cannot be seen as the same Kunlun as before.”

“Hmm.”

Baek Gun-ak stroked his beard. He had never met the Sword Freak.

Yet he had long heard the rumors about him.

A man to whom the word eccentric fit well.

From the contents of the letter, he did not seem much different from the past.

“…He is not an evil man, is he?”

He may be eccentric and heavy-handed, yet he does not commit evil deeds.

Rather, he despises the wicked.

“A man like that makes the martial world more interesting.”

He let out a soft laugh.

At that sight, Jegal Tae quietly sighed to himself.

Those were the words of someone who had never met the Sword Freak in person.

Jegal Tae recalled his youth and shook his head.

Even after all these years, he could not forget it.

The memories from that time were little different from a nightmare.

Jegal Tae forced the memory away. That was not what mattered now.

“The abbot of Shaolin and the Sect Leader of Wudang have requested a meeting regarding the Kunlun Sect.”

“Both together?”

“Yes.”

“Huh.”

Baek Gun-ak stroked his beard.

Revere Shaolin in the north, esteem Wudang in the south.

They were the two pillars that supported the Orthodox sects.

Wudang had been actively taking part in the Murim Alliance’s affairs, but it was unusual for Shaolin to step forward.

“Is an age of chaos about to begin?”

Baek Gun-ak looked at the blade hanging on the wall.

It was his treasured weapon, the Heaven-Thunder Sabre.

---

The spars with Bong Seok did not continue for long.

One day, after finishing his meal, Bong Seok rose with a displeased look.

However, Gyo-ha waved his hand.

“…You do not want to. Why?”

By then, the interval at which he collapsed had shortened from two days to one, then again to half a day.

At Bong Seok’s question, Gyo-ha hummed, thought for a moment, then spoke.

“…I used up all the poison, and it is not fun anymore.”

“What?”

“I will still make sure you get food though.”

“W, wait a moment.”

In truth, Bong Seok disliked the spars.

There was no way he could like it when it ended with him being beaten one-sidedly.

On top of that, the pouches prepared by that Noh-sam person or whoever he was had already run out.

It did not taste as good as before either.

He was full of complaints. Naturally, he was not enthusiastic about the spars.

And he knew why Gyo-ha was saying that.

‘They are the strange ones.’

When Gyo-ha turned his body, the Mount Hua disciples took their stances.

Jeon Pyeong was among them.

Jeon Pyeong had also already lost several times.

At first, they had fought on equal footing. They had exchanged more than a hundred moves.

Yet in the second spar he lost after only eighty moves.

Then it became fifty moves, and a few days ago he had not even lasted thirty.

After that, his juniors rejoined the spars.

At first, it was one person.

They needed that much just to keep the spar somewhat even.

And starting yesterday, both juniors had stepped in.

Only once all three joined could Mount Hua gain the upper hand.

Of course, the result would have been different if they had used internal energy.

Since it was a spar, they banned the use of internal energy.

Even so.

‘Are they not ashamed.’

No matter if it was a spar, to send three people at a peer.

Bong Seok shook his head.

Unlike him, the eyes of the Mount Hua disciples burned with fighting spirit.

The spars continued day after day.

In this situation, it was only natural that Gyo-ha’s interest faded.

Soon the four figures tangled together.

Even for Gyo-ha, it was hard to avoid the attacks of three people.

His shoulder was cut and blood fell to the ground.

Yet Gyo-ha’s eyes trembled with joy.

‘Why go that far?’

From Bong Seok’s point of view, it was incomprehensible.

The spars only grew fiercer as time went on.

By now, it was hard to tell whether it was a spar or a real fight.

They might not be using internal energy, yet the sharpness of their swords was the same.

In the middle of the spar, Gyo-ha suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Jeon Gwang’s sword brushed dangerously past the tip of his forehead.

If Jeon Pyeong had not grabbed Jeon Gwang, his forehead would have been pierced right through.

“Young Master?”

Gyo-ha turned his head and fixed his gaze somewhere.

Then Seo Jong-dae and Jeon Pyeong also turned their eyes in that direction.

Only then did Bong Seok and the Mount Hua disciples sense the presence.

Someone was approaching.

Soon the brush shook and a figure burst out.

Those who had already noticed did not startle. In contrast, the newcomer stiffened when he saw the group.

A strange man.

His breathing was rough, as if he had come in haste.

He had a newborn baby strapped to his back.

That was not all. The group realized there was something behind him.

A young boy was clutching tightly at his hand.

The flustered man saw the Mount Hua disciples and let out a breath of relief.

“T, Taoist sirs. Please help us.”

As the man dropped to his knees with a thud, this time the group was the one taken aback.