Chapter 213
Wei Yan-ho, who had brought despair to Song Hyeon, returned to his lodging with a nonchalant air.
"Hmm."
Having arrived right in front of his lodging, Wei Yan-ho fell into contemplation as he looked up at the second-floor window.
In a straight line, jumping up to the window would be much closer, but to do that, he would have to leap all the way up there. On the other hand, if he went through the front door, the distance would be longer, but he would use much less energy.
Being a lazy person, Wei Yan-ho found himself pondering things that others wouldn't even think about.
"I guess going around would be better."
Walking a long way was less tiring than jumping right away. Wasn't Wei Yan-ho someone who had spent his entire life finding ways to conserve his energy as efficiently as possible? Jumping down didn't take much effort, but jumping up required several times more energy.
Wei Yan-ho went to the front door and opened it.
"Huh?"
And by unfortunate coincidence, he encountered Wei Jeong-han, who was just leaving the lodging.
Confirming that Wei Yan-ho, who should definitely have been in his room, was casually entering from outside, Wei Jeong-han's face began to cloud with unease.
"When did you go out and come back?"
"…Just now."
Wei Jeong-han didn't miss the way Wei Yan-ho slightly flinched. No matter how long they had been apart, he was still a father, and Wei Yan-ho was the child he had fathered.
He could detect his son's subtle changes even with his eyes closed.
Above all, wasn't Wei Yan-ho the damned brat who would brazenly act defiant when he thought he had done nothing wrong? That subtle flinching right now meant that Wei Yan-ho had something weighing on his conscience regarding Wei Jeong-han.
"…You, where have you been?"
"I, I went training?"
"Now you're even lying!"
When Wei Jeong-han's eyes blazed with fire, Wei Yan-ho cried out as if wronged.
"It's true!"
"You rascaaaal!"
When Wei Jeong-han suddenly shouted, Wei Yan-ho was startled and stepped back.
"Why are you acting like this?"
"No matter how much you slack off, the reason I haven't severely scolded you all this time is because you were at least honest!"
Wei Yan-ho's mouth fell wide open.
He hadn't severely scolded him?
How many times had Wei Jeong-han flipped over Wei Yan-ho's bed? He couldn't understand where such barefaced lies were coming from.
"But now you're lying to my face!"
However, Wei Jeong-han was so blatantly serious that he couldn't counterattack.
"No, I really went training!"
"You rascaaaal!"
Wei Yan-ho looked up at the distant sky.
This sad reality where no one believed him even when he told the truth was tormenting Wei Yan-ho.
"What's going on, Father?"
Wei San-ho came rushing out in surprise.
"Yan-ho, this brat has caused some kind of trouble and is now lying."
"Lying?"
"He says he went training."
Wei San-ho's face hardened.
Then he walked steadily toward Wei Yan-ho.
"…Yan-ho."
"Brother, stop there. I think I know what you're going to say."
"I don't know what you've been up to, but lies are not good. Especially when family members have to lie to each other…"
"Argh! I'm so frustrated I am really!"
Wei Yan-ho ground his teeth and shouted.
"People can train sometimes! Is it so unbelievable that I went training?"
"…Let's think about it from the opposite perspective."
"Huh?"
"Would you believe it if you were me?"
Wei Yan-ho placed his hand on his chest and fell into thought.
If he were in Wei San-ho's position?
"I went out to play."
Right, this was just easier.
It would be more believable to say that a turtle walking down the road saw a wolf chasing it and immediately flew away to the sky.
"That's more like it."
Seeing Wei Jeong-han sneer and Wei San-ho nod as if grateful that he finally said so, he even began to think about how wrong the life he had lived up until now had been.
It was enough to make even Wei Yan-ho, who usually wasn't hurt by such treatment, flinch.
"Didn't I tell you not to go out unless absolutely necessary? And if you do go out, let me know first!"
"How can I report every little walk?"
"Why can't you! Everyone else does it, so why can't you! And it's not like you go out as often as others anyway!"
"…I'll tell you next time."
"Good."
Wei Jeong-han patted Wei Yan-ho's shoulder a couple of times as if letting it slide this time.
"Then I'm going to discuss the tournament with Instructor Seok, so don't cause any trouble while I'm gone. And!"
Wei Jeong-han glared.
"Do some training, some training! How much time is left until the tournament, yet you're playing around every day like that! Please do some training and loosen up your body! Ugh!"
As Wei Jeong-han clicked his tongue repeatedly and walked outside, Wei Yan-ho muttered quietly while watching his retreating figure.
"I'm going to become twisted."
"Why don't you want to participate?"
Cheongheo-ja, an elder of Mount Hua and essentially the person in charge of this martial arts tournament, frowned as he looked at Song Hyeon, who had suddenly come to him saying he wanted to forfeit.
What kind of situation was this?
Who was Song Hyeon?
He was the eldest disciple among Wudang's three main disciples and a master swordsman acknowledged even by Mount Hua.
Considering that Mount Hua's Heo Ja-seong, Wudang's Song Hyeon, and Shaolin's Mujin and Musan were selected as the Four Seasons among the later generation masters, Song Hyeon's withdrawal was no ordinary matter.
'If it's for Ja-seong's sake, Song Hyeon stepping aside wouldn't be bad, but… '
If it were a competition between the Nine Sects, it would be welcome. However, this tournament, while outwardly accepting participation from various sects, was actually a contest between four forces.
The Orthodox Alliance, the Celestial Alliance, and the Nine Sects.
Various other sects that were too weak to be called a force formed something like an alliance to constitute another axis, but that didn't need to be calculated.
'I must dissuade him.'
What was the reason they had deliberately accepted this tournament where the Celestial Alliance's intentions were so transparent? It was because they were confident they could swallow the board those people had laid out. If the Nine Sects won the martial arts tournament that they had organized and funded, they calculated that they could regain the reputation they had lost in the past.
Many people predicted that the martial world would have no major conflicts for the next ten years. Then the outcome would be decided in the next generation.
'That's why we must show a good performance in this tournament.'
Rumors that a world martial arts tournament would be held at Mount Hua had already spread widely. Below Mount Hua, it was packed with people who had come to watch the tournament.
Though it hadn't been opened yet, once they opened the main mountain, these would be people who would risk their lives to climb this steep mountain. Having climbed the treacherous path to watch, the prowess of those who performed well in the tournament would surely spread from their mouths in exaggerated form.
"Think about it once more."
"My resolve is firm."
"Why? Why, I ask?"
Cheongheo-ja beat his chest.
It was utterly frustrating. In his view, Song Hyeon was not much inferior to Mount Hua's successor Heo Ja-seong. No, if he looked at it truly objectively, he was a swordsman who could be said to be a step ahead of Heo Ja-seong.
But such a Song Hyeon was saying he wouldn't participate in the tournament.
"…The reason is difficult to explain."
Song Hyeon clamped his mouth shut like a clam.
'If I keep winning until the finals, I'll have to meet Wei Yan-ho at some point anyway.'
Then he'd have to roll around on the ground like a frog again, and rather than show such a spectacle, it was better to forfeit in advance.
"Do the elders of Wudang know about this?"
"…They don't."
"You are participating in this tournament representing Wudang. How can you throw away such a weighty responsibility for personal reasons?"
'I'm throwing it away because of Wudang's honor.'
The disgrace of tucking your tail and running away?
Thinking about the shameful defeats that would happen on the tournament stage, it was better to bear the disgrace instead.
'I'd be lucky if only disgrace remained.'
Thinking about the shocking results that would unfold on the tournament stage, it would be fortunate if people just remembered that he had forfeited. Song Hyeon would probably be forgotten in this tournament under complete indifference.
"I cannot accept this."
"Elder."
"If you really won't participate in the tournament, then at least send out your junior disciples. If you can't even do that, I will formally protest to Wudang."
"Hmm…"
Song Hyeon's face contorted.
'Just let me drop out.'
It probably wasn't his intention, but in Song Hyeon's eyes, Cheongheo-ja looked like a water ghost. He felt the will to die together and live together.
"If you insist, I have one condition."
"Condition?"
"…Please don't ask for reasons even if I forfeit at some point."
"What on earth are you…"
Cheongheo-ja was about to shout in frustration but squeezed his eyes shut instead.
Song Hyeon's eyes were absolutely resolute. If he pressured him any further, he might just leave Mount Hua altogether.
"Fine. I'll do as you say."
"Thank you."
"But!"
Cheongheo-ja's eyes blazed.
"I will definitely protest to Wudang about your attitude."
"Yes. I'll accept it."
Song Hyeon was confident.
By the time this martial arts tournament ended, his sect's elders would be praising Song Hyeon's foresight.
'You don't face a typhoon head-on.'
Song Hyeon, who had dug a cave to avoid the typhoon, sighed quietly. They would probably learn soon enough. About the existence of the typhoon named Wei Yan-ho approaching them.
* * *
Whoooosh!
A blade cuts through the air.
Whoooosh!
Once more.
Whoooosh!
Yet again.
Though night had deepened into dawn, the sound of the blade cutting through air never stopped.
Whoooosh!
Peng Daoji, who had once more brought his blade down from top to bottom, stopped his blade.
This was because sweat flowing down from his forehead kept getting in his eyes and stinging.
"Whew."
Peng Daoji, who had wiped his face, looked up at the sky.
'Is it a full moon…?'
Looking at the bright full moon, he somehow felt suffocated. Having stared at the full moon for a while, Peng Daoji grabbed his blade again and began striking down through the air.
Whoooosh! Whoooosh!
The regularly echoing sound spread through the training ground like music.
"Just a thousand more times!"
No one would look unfavorably upon a young man training in the training ground until late dawn.
If Wei Jeong-han had seen this, he would have smiled contentedly, saying he'd want him as his son, and if Seok Muncho had witnessed this scene, he would have laughed heartily, saying his graduates were maintaining excellent form.
If his peers had seen it, they would have been motivated, and if his juniors had seen it, they would have tried to emulate his determined attitude.
But unfortunately, there was someone with a twisted nature here who didn't belong to any of those categories and looked unfavorably upon the sight of blade-swinging.
Whoooooosh!
"Huh?"
The sound of a blade cutting through air rang out.
But Peng Daoji could only tilt his head in puzzlement. He wasn't swinging his blade right now. The blade was in place, but there was a wind-cutting sound?
Peng Daoji, who had turned his head in bewilderment, saw something white enter his vision. That white something flew right up to Peng Daoji's face in an instant.
Thunk!
At the same time he realized the white object was a pillow, Peng Daoji, who had been hit in the face with the pillow, collapsed to the ground with a thud.
"Let's get some sleep! You water ghost!"
At the same time, a demon stuck his head out of the window.