Chapter 96

After that day, Jin Mu-seong started sticking to me in an annoying way.
Whenever it looked like Jeok-hyeon was going somewhere, he would come right up nearby.
He couldn’t bring himself to speak to me directly, and he would grumble as if he were talking to himself.

For example, it was like this.
When I lit a fire to camp out, he would loiter nearby.

“Ah, the fire’s going to go out. You can’t light it like that……. The life of camping is the fire…….”

I didn’t care and ignored him.

“Ah!”

At the sudden weird sound, I turned my head, and the blazing fire had gone out.
It was Jin Mu-seong’s doing.
He watched my reaction and muttered.

“S-see. I knew it would happen.”

He messed with a perfectly good fire, put it out, then blamed someone else.
It was ridiculous, but I didn’t play along.
Getting tangled up with a kid would only be a hassle, and he was Jeok-hyeon’s disciple.
He’d joined us to help, so I couldn’t go beating up his disciple.

But that thought of mine changed.
And the trigger was none other than Jeok-hyeon.

“Why in the world do you swing your sword like that? Without imbuing it with any will, it’s nothing but a toothpick!”

Jeok-hyeon disciplined his disciple every day.
The problem was, each time he always brought me up.

“S-sorry.”
“That kid doesn’t put even a shred of hesitation into his sword, yet your sword is so bad I can’t even watch it with my eyes open!”

I couldn’t help tilting my head.
I’d never held a sword in front of Jeok-hyeon, so what was he basing that on?
That wasn’t all.
Sometimes he would throw out random questions I couldn’t understand.

“Tell me, Young Master Baek. In your eyes, what is this brat like? Does he seem to have promise?”
“Hard to say.”
“You heard that? It seems you’re not even worth answering! Pathetic fool! Spend your whole life chasing Young Master Baek’s backside!”

It was a question I couldn’t answer easily, so I just said ‘hard to say,’ but it got twisted into “not even worth answering.”
There was only one reason for this.

‘Shock therapy.’

Jeok-hyeon was deliberately provoking Jin Mu-seong.
He meant to compare me to him and stir up a sense of rivalry.

-You seem like the kind who’d create the trigger that transforms this kid.

Jeok-hyeon’s words that I’d brushed off without thinking had carried meaning.
He meant to use me as Jin Mu-seong’s stimulant and teaching aid.
Maybe he was frustrated that his disciple wasn’t growing the way he wanted, but why drag someone else into it?
What a pain.

‘Not that someone who stuffs his disciple in a sack would consider that.’

Unfortunately, the annoyance grew by the day.
Because the intensity with which Jin Mu-seong paid attention to me kept rising.

“M-my master is way too impatient. Orthodox martial arts aren’t shallow like demonic arts, so a-achievement is slow.”

At this point, I started to feel a little sorry for him.
Because I knew his defenses were kicking in because of his master.

“Tsk, tsk.”

I clicked my tongue and shook my head.
What would a kid know?
His master was the one at fault.

‘Let’s be generous with adult magnanimity.’

“D-demonic arts are incomplete—”
“Shut up, you little bastard.”
“Huh? Uh, uh.”

Jin Mu-seong yelped and shut his mouth.
Not hitting him was me being lenient.

His muttering became more and more blatant.
The topics were mostly the same, but his self-defense grew stronger, and he started to look down on not just demonic arts, but also the Demon Cult and me.
He was really blazing away on the kindling Jeok-hyeon had tossed in.

Around then, I started thinking I needed to sort this situation out.
Jin Mu-seong was one thing, but I hated being used exactly the way Jeok-hyeon intended.
The night I made up my mind.
As always, Jeok-hyeon chewed out Jin Mu-seong and then left.
Maybe he was more worked up than usual, because Jin Mu-seong started muttering again in a not-so-small voice.
A sigh came out before I knew it.

‘Fine. So you’re going to do this to the end?’

Jin Mu-seong wasn’t exactly pleasant, but like I said, the real problem was Jeok-hyeon.
I could feel his gaze.
I couldn’t catch him with my senses, but it was an intuition close to certainty.
Jeok-hyeon was deliberately fanning all of this, and he was probably hiding nearby and watching.
If I knew all that and didn’t hit him back once, I wouldn’t be Baek Su-gyeong.

“Hey.”
“W-what is it?”
“Do you truly think demonic arts are inferior and Mount Hua’s martial arts are superior?”

Maybe he didn’t expect a blunt question, because Jin Mu-seong rolled his eyes around.
He clearly looked flustered, but he soon stammered out an answer.

“Y-yeah. I, I think that.”

I asked back with a smile.

“That’s weird. If your master teaches such great martial arts, why would he dump disciple training on someone like me, a lowly bastard who learned inferior demonic arts?”
“W-what?”
“Is that him admitting Mount Hua’s teachings aren’t enough on their own? So he’s using methods that only fit some third-rate unorthodox sect, poking at his disciple’s inferiority?”

Rustle.
A branch snapped in the bushes.
It was such a faint sound I would have missed it if my senses hadn’t sharpened after the Nine Heavens Demon-Ascension Art reached its fourth stage.

‘Looks like he’s flustered.’

Otherwise, a master like Jeok-hyeon wouldn’t have stepped on a branch and snapped it.

“W-what are you even saying……?”
“You don’t need to understand. The one who needed to hear it did.”

Everything I said was meant for Jeok-hyeon, not Jin Mu-seong.
He would have understood it was an indirect warning.

‘There’s a limit to letting it slide nicely.’

If he kept coming at me like this, I’d have no choice but to demand proper compensation for this “training.”
And I happened to want something from him too.

“……?”

Jin Mu-seong’s eyes were full of questions.
He didn’t understand a single word I’d said.
But maybe he felt ignored, because he quickly twisted his face and shouted.

“I-I heard Demon Cult people drink blood! Y-you and your master too?”

What was this childish accusation with no basis?
It was so ridiculous I let out a hollow laugh.

‘This kid needs a lesson too.’

Jin Mu-seong was a childish kid, but he was also a person of Murim. That meant he had to take responsibility for what he said.
Before he made a bigger mistake, I decided to carve a lesson into his bones that he couldn’t just run his mouth.

“D-don’t act all high and mighty. You’re nothing. O-orthodox martial arts have the advantage over demonic arts!”
“Advantage, my ass.”

I stood up.

“Follow me.”
“W-why……?”
“To give you a chance to prove whether what you said is right.”

It probably wasn’t what Jeok-hyeon wanted, but I needed to plant fear in Jin Mu-seong.
So he couldn’t even think about feeling rivalry toward me.

‘Let’s beat him senseless.’

I moved with him to an open clearing about fifty meters away from camp.
Moonlight shone down, making it a perfect place to fight.

He came out, but maybe once it was time to actually fight, fear hit him.
Jin Mu-seong was completely cowed.

“You’re not scared, right?”
“W-who says I’m scared?”

His voice shook, but his grip on the wooden sword was so tight his veins stood out.
He didn’t seem like the aggressive type at all, but it looked like his hatred toward me had piled up.
I crooked a finger at him.

“Come at me.”
“Y-your weapon?”
“I’m more comfortable barehanded.”
“If you get hurt, I d-don’t care.”
“I won’t ask you to treat me, so just come at me.”

Jin Mu-seong swallowed his dry saliva.
Then, as if he’d made up his mind, he raised the wooden sword and aimed it at me.
Unlike how cowed he’d been, his stance was unexpectedly stable.
Like his fundamentals were well built.

‘Mount Hua isn’t called a great sect for nothing.’

And his master was Jeok-hyeon.
What he did was petty, but he must have cared a lot about training his disciple if he went this far.

‘Still, he’s just a greenhorn.’

“I-iiyaaah!”

I tilted my head.
What kind of guy is he that he even stammers his battle cry?

Hwi-ik, Jin Mu-seong swung his wooden sword.
I couldn’t call his swordplay excellent. He was putting too much force into it.
But like I said, it was a strike with good fundamentals.

‘Is that the Scattered Blossom Sword Art?’

The Scattered Blossom Sword Art sat just one stage above the Six Harmonies Sword Art you learned when you entered.
It wasn’t flashy, but it pressed the opponent steadily.

I twisted my waist and avoided the first attack.
Strikes followed, aiming for me, but I avoided them all with minimal movement.
Unlike Jin Mu-seong, who had sweat beading on his forehead, I was relaxed.

“W-why won’t it hit?”

Jin Mu-seong’s pupils wavered.
No matter how much he swung, he couldn’t even graze me, so he had to be confused.

“What’s going on? Weren’t you running your mouth about demonic arts and compatibility?”
“Gh, ghk.”

Jin Mu-seong’s momentum changed.
The steady sword path he’d used so far vanished, and a form unfolded that was sharper and carried far more changes.

‘This time, it’s the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art.’

It was one of the martial arts that came to mind first when you thought of Mount Hua.
They said if you mastered the Plum Blossom Style sword arts to their peak, the sword’s trajectory created an illusion like plum blossoms blooming, and it even gave off a faint plum fragrance.
I didn’t know if it was true.
In my past life, I’d never met a master like that.
The forms Jin Mu-seong unfolded were far, far from that level.

‘I need to fix his habit of running his mouth.’

To do that, I had to discipline him harshly.
So he could feel what he lacks deep in his bones.
Shyook.
Maybe he’d drawn up a lot of internal energy, because the wooden sword made a decent sound cutting the wind.
I murmured toward him.

“If orthodox martial arts are superior.”

Jjak!
I slipped aside like flowing water and slapped his right cheek.
Jin Mu-seong clenched his teeth and unfurled even more dazzling forms.
But.

“Then the strongest under heaven.”

Jjak!
This time, I moved a few steps, lightly brushing aside the illusion, then slapped his left cheek.
Jin Mu-seong’s forms grew fiercer.
But to me, all the feints and real strikes were clear.

“Would have been one from the orthodox faction.”

Jjak! Jjak!
I slapped both cheeks in succession.
His sword stopped.

“Ughk…….”

Jin Mu-seong slumped down right there.
Moisture rose at the corners of his eyes as his lips trembled.

‘……Is he about to cry?’

My mind went blank.
He was tearing up just because he got slapped a few times?
A Mount Hua swordsman?

“Wow. That’s truly pathetic.”
“S-shut up! If you hadn’t shown up, nothing would’ve happened!”
“Even your excuse is pathetic.”
“Y-you……!”

Jin Mu-seong couldn’t continue speaking and bowed his head.
His grip on the wooden sword loosened too. It looked like his will to fight had vanished altogether.
In the place where his will to fight had been, only resentment remained.

‘This should be enough, right.’

My original plan was to beat him senseless, but I changed my mind.
It wasn’t worth it.
Beyond this, it would just be bullying the weak.
I’d shown an overwhelming difference, so he probably wouldn’t bother me anymore.
And it would have been a warning to Jeok-hyeon that I wouldn’t play along with his antics anymore.
But then.

“Y-yes? Yes?”

Jin Mu-seong trembled as if he’d been struck by lightning.
Then he started babbling nonsense into the air.

“N-no! Yess!”

It wasn’t self-talk.
He was answering someone.

‘Is it Jeok-hyeon?’

Fear spread all over Jin Mu-seong’s face.
He was probably raging through voice transmission, asking if this was all he could do.
Sure enough, he forced strength into his legs and stood up.
Even as his arms trembled, he aimed the wooden sword at me again.

“What are you doing? You’re going to come at me again?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Haah.”

A sigh came out on its own.
He saw Jin Mu-seong get crushed like that and still wanted him to fight again?
I felt my patience hit its limit.
Ignoring Jin Mu-seong as he took a fighting stance, I spoke toward the darkness where the branch had snapped earlier.

“Cut it out already.”

No presence could be felt in the forest. Only silence flowed.
Staring straight that way, I said it again.

“I know everything, so come out.”
“Ahem.”

Only then did Jeok-hyeon appear with an awkward cough.
With a calm expression like he’d just returned from a stroll, he asked.

“What’s all this commotion? Mu-seong, why do you look like that again?”

For a moment, I almost went speechless.

“……You know everything, so why are you acting like that?”
“What are you talking about?”

Jeok-hyeon even blinked like he truly didn’t know anything.
It was acting so good you’d mistake him for a Marauding Demon Gang member instead of a Taoist.

‘So you’re going to play dumb to the end, are you?’

But I had no intention of joking around anymore.
Thanks to Jeok-hyeon, I could return to the Demon Cult with peace of mind, but that gratitude had already been cancelled out.
Because I’d put up with Jin Mu-seong’s picking fights more than once or twice.

“If you need my help, ask properly like a Mount Hua Taoist. Even if we walk different paths, what is this, coming from an elder?”
“I really don’t know what you mean……”
“So Mount Hua’s Dao is to deny it to the end?”

Jeok-hyeon stared straight at me.
I thought as we faced each other.
Would he admit it, or deny it to the end?
Maybe he’d even get angry and scold my language.

“Hahahaha!”

Jeok-hyeon burst into loud laughter.

“This old man has properly learned a lesson. I surrender, I surrender!”

After laughing like he was pleased, Jeok-hyeon clicked his tongue in admiration.

“As expected, you’re not ordinary. Your wisdom and insight are astonishing. My thinking was short. Everything you said was right.”
“You’re apologizing, right?”
“Of course. Does a Taoist speak two words with one mouth?”
“I’ll accept that apology. So, you need my help?”
“That’s right. After seeing that spar, I’m sure of it. That you can become that boy’s benefactor.”
“Fine. I’ll help.”

I answered readily.
Maybe my answer surprised him, because Jeok-hyeon let out a hearty laugh.

“Hahaha. You’re generous. Will you truly help me?”
“Yes. If you pay the price.”
“…….”

In an instant, Jeok-hyeon’s laughter cut off. His eyes went wide.
What was so surprising. He was old enough to know there was no such thing as free.

‘Don’t worry. I won’t ask for something you can’t pay.’

Fortunately, Jeok-hyeon had what I wanted.
I looked at Jeok-hyeon and smiled brightly.