Before Baek Woo Jin left Suyang Village, the last thing he did was to ask a traveling escort agency, which happened to be staying in the village for a day, to deliver the secret ledger detailing the bribes the governor had received from the White Snake Bandits to the Inspection Bureau.
“No, you can’t do this!”
And he did this right in front of the governor.
The governor’s face was filled with despair as he watched the traveling escorts leave the village with the secret ledger that used to be in Baek Woo Jin’s grasp.
After wailing on the ground for a while, the enraged governor sprang up and grabbed Baek Woo Jin by the collar.
“You bastard! Didn’t you promise me? You said you would hand over the ledger if I helped the White Snake Bandits!”
Baek Woo Jin responded while picking his ear nonchalantly.
“Why would you believe what I said?”
“You even swore on your family’s name! Is the honor of the Baek clan so light to you?”
Martial artists who value honor consider swearing by their family name as an absolute obligation.
However, Baek Woo Jin was different.
“Then go to my clan and complain to them. Ah, soon you’ll be imprisoned and won’t have time to visit. Hahaha!”
At the sound of Baek Woo Jin’s infuriating laughter, the governor’s hand which had been shaking him by the collar naturally loosened.
“If you send a letter to the Jeongmu Academy later, I’ll send you a bottle of liquor to your prison cell.”
After patting the governor’s drooping shoulders, Baek Woo Jin and his companions also prepared to leave the village.
“Great hero, I will never forget this favor!”
“May only good things come your way in the future!”
Almost all the village residents came out to the entrance to see Baek Woo Jin off.
“Don’t get taken advantage of again. If someone tries to extort you, just ram into them. All fights depend on momentum.”
“Yes! We will never let ourselves be taken advantage of again!”
“We would rather die!”
Don’t actually die, you fellows ….
Baek Woo Jin used his movement technique to quickly distance himself from the village, considering that the villagers would probably wave at him until he was out of sight.
“Now it’s really all over.”
“Mhmm.”
“Yes.”
Now that he had sent off even the governor perfectly, Suyang Village was truly clean.
Depending on the character of the new governor to be appointed, things could change again, but that would be for another passing hero to handle when the time came.
Baek Woo Jin left Suyang Village with a light heart and made his way back to the Academy.
***
The private training room given only to top-ranking students was where Yoo Hwa Yeon had trained until late. When she left the training room, she noticed a familiar back ahead of her.
Three people were walking side by side.
“Hey, stop drinking already!”
“Ah, mind your own business and go to big brother!”
“What can I do if I can’t go!”
“Why can’t you go?!”
“Because I’m worried about you!”
“Are you my mother or something….”
As always, the two bickered. And as always, she used to mediate between them.
But now.
“Do-Don’t fight, please.”
Someone else was filling that role.
A restless face and fidgeting fingers. It was someone she knew well.
Jegal Yeon Ji….
A woman who was avoided by everyone due to her gloomy appearance and timid personality. But she had talked with her a few times before.
Though she had a narrow position within her family and was difficult to approach, Yoo Hwa Yeon thought that establishing a relationship with the daughter of the Jegal clan might be helpful for her someday, so she made the first move.
In her memory, the other party was a very difficult person to talk with. She couldn’t make proper eye contact, stammered, and repeatedly gave the shortest possible responses which made continuing the conversation hard.
“Do-Don’t worry about it, Miss Shin…. I-I’ll take care of Young Master Baek.”
Though she still stammered, she was at least making eye contact, even if just a glance, and was expressing her thoughts clearly.
“Hmph, might as well trust a cat with a fish.”
When Shin Ye Hwa made that snide remark, Baek Woo Jin flicked her on the head.
“Ouch!”
“Why are you always picking on Mis Jegal?”
“Ugh… you’re the one being deceived!”
“Deceived? Me?”
Baek Woo Jin laughed and continued.
“I was once called the human lie detector; some even went as far as to call me the truthseer.”
“When were you ever called that? I’ve never heard of it!”
“Well…, there are things you don’t know about my past.”
Just take it as it is, brat.
“Anyway, remember what I said. The Miss Jegal you know isn’t the real her.”
When Shin Ye Hwa spoke earnestly like that, Jegal Yeon Ji who was on the right sniffled and her shoulders trembled.
“Th-That’s too much.”
When tears welled up in her eyes, Baek Woo Jin reached out and wiped the moisture from her eyes with his sleeve, as if he was used to it.
At the same time, he turned his head and glared at Shin Ye Hwa.
“Stop making our Miss Jegal cry.”
“You’re the one who shouldn’t be doing this to me!”
“What did I do?”
“You’ve been treating me coldly lately, and pushing me away!”
As Shin Ye Hwa looked at him with eyes full of sorrow, Baek Woo Jin scratched his ear and replied.
“Then why don’t you go and get some comfort from big brother?”
His reaction was oddly cold, just as she had said.
“You, just wait and see!”
Shin Ye Hwa ran off with a sulking face.
Baek Woo Jin watched her go for a moment, then shook his head.
“Even if I set the table for her, she can’t eat.”
It’s frustrating, really frustrating.
When he pounded his chest with his fist, Jegal Yeon Ji grabbed his arm tightly.
“I, I’m sorry. Because of me….”
“It’s fine, it’s not your fault.”
There was a subtle sense of care in his gruff tone.
Jegal Yeon Ji quickly regained her smile.
She chatted clumsily, and Baek Woo Jin smiled.
“…….”
For Yoo Hwa Yeon who was watching all of this,
Her heart pounded loudly.
Unconsciously, she forced her feet to turn and started to run away.
“Huff, huff…!”
Yoo Hwa Yeon who had run back to her dormitory in one breath leaned against the door she had roughly opened and panted heavily.
In her mind, she pictured the scene of the three people from a moment ago. Jegal Yeon Ji who had been standing on his right side gradually faded away, and soon, she found herself in that place instead.
They bickered over trivial matters, then smiled at each other as if nothing had happened, chatted away without noticing the passing of time, and looked as happy as people who owned the whole world.
Her imagination ended there.
The time that had seemed eternal came to an end. Like a stage after the play had ended, a dark curtain fell and the surrounding scenery, characters, and main actors that made up the stage gradually disappeared.
“Ah….”
Yoo Hwa Yeon unknowingly clutched her heart with both hands.
In the space where everything had vanished and only darkness remained, she felt an intense sense of nostalgia.
She stood there for a long time. She was still longing for something lost, something that had disappeared into the darkness.
***
The Evil Black Lotus.
An alliance formed when the unorthodox faction that was one of the two major forces in the martial arts world decided to unite their strength.
To make a decision, the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans dispatched their elders to the Moorim Alliance to gather opinions from key figures in the martial arts world. However, unlike the Moorim Alliance Leader who needed these opinions, the Leader of the Black Lotus made all decisions solely based on his own judgment.
The strong took everything.
Under the simple yet brutal law of the strong, he had defeated all the prominent masters of the unorthodox faction and claimed the leader’s position. It was a privilege granted to him.
However, who lives without a story?
Even the Black Lotus Leader who was racing towards the pinnacle of tyranny had his own troubles.
“The young master has run away again.”
The person who could voice objections to the leader’s thoughts within the Black Lotus was Sa Noe. He came to the leader’s office and delivered the news.
“Here is the letter he left behind.”
“…….”
When he handed over the letter with his head bowed, the Black Lotus Leader didn’t make a single gesture and just used telekinesis to pull the letter into his hand.
The contents of the letter were very brief but extremely shocking.
“I am entering the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering to become a divine dragon, so don’t look for me…?”
His head started to spin.
The Black Lotus Leader was struggling to contain his boiling anger and he asked Sa Noe.
“Was the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering tournament something that anyone could participate in?”
Did it change while I wasn’t paying attention?
Sa Noe shook his head.
“While anyone can attend if they can get a ticket, only the students of the Jeongmu Academy can actually participate in the martial arts competition.”
…
A major incident seemed to be brewing.
The Black Lotus Leader let out a small sigh.
Having indulged his only child whom he had in his later years had resulted in such a big problem.
“Summon the Dark Sky Brigade. Bring him back before he causes any trouble. Also, be sure to tell them that breaking a leg or two is acceptable.”
“Yes, I will relay the message.”
Sa Noe left the leader’s office and immediately assembled the Dark Sky Brigade and gave the order.
“Find the runaway young master.”
“Understood.”
“Oh, of course, not a hair on his head should be harmed.”
This was entirely different from the leader’s orders.
The young master was the only child the Black Lotus Leader had in his later years.
The leader said it was acceptable to break a leg or two, but the consequences that would follow were beyond anyone’s control, so it was to prevent such outcomes in advance.
“The Dragon and Phoenix Gathering ….”
An inexplicable sense of unease seemed to press against his mind. It screamed that something ominous was coming.
“Is it just a groundless fear, or is it a sign?”
It felt as though the precarious peace that had been maintained in the martial arts world was about to be engulfed in chaos.
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