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Chapter 81: A Cunning Fox

Once I finished my bath, Yeongpung was sitting quietly on the floor, looking far less anxious than earlier.

He seemed a bit stiff, but I figured it was just my tiredness after training.

“Master.”

As I called out to Yeongpung, his previously frozen expression brightened instantly.

It felt like I could sense a “I’m alive…!” kind of relief from his face.

“Gu So-hyeob!”

“I said I would come right away, did you wait long?”

“Yes! I waited for a really long time…!”

“…Huh?”

It was just a courtesy, but Yeongpung seemed to answer genuinely.

Had he really waited that long? It felt like I arrived pretty quickly.

Wi Seol-Ah, who had been sitting next to me, also rushed over when she saw me.

She was smiling brightly, looking pleased.

“Master, where are we going to eat?”

“Now, why are you surprised?”

Yeongpung looked shocked at my question.

Why’s he surprised?

It’s not like an outsider could use the dining hall that sect members use, and without permission from an elder, Yeongpung wouldn’t be able to step outside the sect.

Seeing that he came here, I thought he must have had some plan.

“Uh… did you come here just to find out?”

“…Hehe.”

Hehe, what a silly guy…

If it were a woman, I would have been annoyed, but since it’s this good-looking guy, I felt like bending over in half.

Well, maybe I could just eat somewhere appropriately in the residence.

Before that, I still had to ask Yeongpung.

“I heard that sect members gather to eat together. Is it okay for you to come out?”

Yeongpung made a somewhat awkward expression at my question.

I had noticed for a while that he looked uncomfortable, which bothered me a bit.

“I’m fine. They probably won’t mind much.”

“…Then let’s have a simple meal together in the residence.”

“Are we having dinner?”

“I wonder if there’s anything prepared?”

It was about time to eat, so I wondered if the attendants had prepared something.

As I searched for food, Wi Seol-Ah raised her hand enthusiastically.

“I can cook!”

“…Where’s Hongwa?”

Pretending not to hear her, I saw Wi Seol-Ah’s expression sour.

I hate to say it, but the food she made wasn’t ready to be served to anyone yet.

So I caught a passing attendant and asked them to prepare the meal.

The attendant seemed to have already done some preparations, saying it wouldn’t take long.

Wi Seol-Ah naturally got pulled away by the attendant to help with the meal.

Watching that, Yeongpung let out a big sigh.

A deep sigh that seemed to resonate with the world.

“…Hah, I’m still alive.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Yes…? Oh, it’s nothing.”

That’s not true; he definitely seems to have something on his mind…

Noticing my gaze, Yeongpung averted his eyes.

“Just wait a bit; the meal will be ready soon, so come inside.”

“Ah! Understood.”

At my invitation, Yeongpung’s expression turned cheerful again, and he followed me into the residence.

The meal ended lightly.

The food delivered from Hwasan mostly consisted of vegetable dishes, so it wasn’t exactly a delightful meal.

‘As long as I fill my stomach.’

To be honest, with all this training and intense movement lately, I was really craving some meat.

However, I couldn’t just grill meat at the sect right away, so I was holding back.

In this state of mind, Shin Noya spoke in a deep voice.

[What’s wrong with eating if you want to?]

‘…Noya?’

[It’s not like you can’t eat meat like those guys in Shaolin; there’s no reason to hold back.]

‘That may be true, but there’s such a thing as decorum.’

[You, of all people, lack that; to look for decorum in meat is just pathetic.]

‘…’

No matter how I thought about it, could this person truly be Hwasan’s Sect Leader?

With his constantly outrageous remarks, my trust level was fluctuating dramatically.

‘How could grilling meat at the sect not be crazy?’

Even after a hundred thoughts, it still felt a bit unreasonable.

Once we finished eating, the attendant came to clear the empty dishes.

“I hope you enjoyed your meal. Thank you, Gu So-hyeob.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Yeongpung, perhaps feeling that he had received a meal unexpectedly, seemed awkward in this situation.

“Really… next time, I’ll treat you to something delicious.”

“If you can step out of the sect…”

“…Yes.”

The more I observed Yeongpung, the more he seemed like an inexperienced bunch of quirks.

When I heard he was the Sect Leader, I expected a resolute sword master.

So why did he seem like a rustic village youth?

As I pondered while drinking water, Yeongpung opened his mouth as if he had something important to say.

“Um… So-hyeob.”

“Yes?”

“Now that we’ve finished eating, if it’s not too much trouble, could we spar…?”

“ spar?”

That was unexpected.

I had thought he would ask to train together, but sparring, huh?

Considering how I got beaten in the last spar, I thought he might be a little hesitant about it.

But he seemed completely unfazed.

Had he completely moved past it?

It didn’t seem like he had experienced any demons, nor did he show any signs of hesitation.

‘Sparring, huh.’

I glanced down at my still-bandaged knuckles.

Actually, I was perfectly fine now, so sparring wouldn’t be an issue.

I just couldn’t help but feel uneasy about Nangong Bia possibly hearing about me sparring with Yeongpung right after my knuckles healed.

“Why spar all of a sudden? Is something up?”

“…Well, the Jehwa Contest is coming up soon, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“I… I’ve arranged to do sparring as a disciple in the Jehwa Contest this time.”

“With the top disciples, right?”

Is that how they usually do it? Three great disciples spar against the top disciples or did Yeongpung change his status due to his position?

“How does that relate to sparring with me?”

“…During the preparation period, dueling among the disciples is prohibited.”

There was such a rule…?

Thinking back, I hadn’t seen any disciples sparring since I came to Hwasan.

“Uhm, so you want to spar with me…?”

Yeongpung quietly nodded.

While dueling among disciples was banned, it seemed it was permitted to spar with outsiders, which I found a bit perplexing.

‘…But it is indeed odd for an outsider to visit the sect during this period.’

From Hwasan’s perspective, Yeongpung was a top disciple, but he held the rank of Plum Blossom Sword Technique, so it made sense not to unleash a wild beast among the rabbits.

In my view, it would be equally problematic if Yeongpung was the top disciple.

I figured Hwasan would handle that part themselves.

“For now… I can spar.”

“Ah…! Then!”

“But, today might be a bit much.”

Yeongpung’s face went from bright to gloomy in an instant at my words.

“Let’s do it next time. Today, I have some business to attend to, so I won’t be able to.”

This wasn’t just an excuse; I actually had something to do.

Seeing Yeongpung looking disappointed, he promised to come back next time.

…This time, it seems like it might actually happen!

I found myself feeling slightly annoyed.

After sending Yeongpung off, I immediately took Wi Seol-Ah with me and headed down to Hyun.

Last time, I went alone due to a request from Maehwa Seon, but this time it was personal, so Muyeon came along too.

With the upcoming Jehwa Contest, preparations seemed to be in full swing even in Hwaeum-hyeon.

It was starting to resemble the Gathering of the Nine Dragons from the Gu Clan.

‘Should have checked it out before.’

I figured it would be a bit different, but it should be somewhat similar.

People getting excited over watching martial artists spar was a universal thing.

As I led Wi Seol-Ah, her eyes shining while glancing around amid the bustling crowd, Shin Noya suddenly spoke.

[It’s changed a lot since my time, huh.]

His voice seemed filled with nostalgia.

‘Noya, your era was quite a while ago.’

When Shin Noya was active, it was clearly a time of war.

Of course, that period didn’t last long due to their efforts, but the cities back then wouldn’t look the same as they do now.

[It’s nice.]

‘You seem to be in a good mood.’

[Of course, it’s the world we longed for…]

Shin Noya’s tone left me wondering what emotion he felt.

His position was contrary to mine.

After walking along for some time, I stopped as I found the place I was looking for.

“What is this place?”

Wi Seol-Ah, holding a chicken skewer, asked.

By the way, Muyeon bought that for her.

In the center of the building was the character “Man” (盟), which meant it was a store belonging to the Martial Alliance.

A place where the skins and bones of demon beasts were bought and sold.

I had business to attend to in this place.

“Welcome!”

Inside, various types of skins and bones were on display.

From what I could see, they seemed to be items from the green and blue grade demon beasts.

The upper grades would be managed directly by the alliance, so they wouldn’t be sold lightly.

“Goodness, what brings the illustrious prince to our humble establishment?”

Prince?…

This guy seems to have done some business before.

Lying without even softening it up first…

I asked the store owner without showing any signs of surprise.

“I came to buy something; first, I’d like to inquire.”

“Ah, please do ask. We are the largest establishment in the area! We have everything!”

“Do you have Demon Stones?”

“Demon Stones…?”

The store owner looked momentarily surprised at my question.

Unlike the by-products like skins and bones of demon beasts, Demon Stones didn’t tend to have a particular utility.

Though there had been attempts to use their beautiful outer appearance like gemstones, they would lose their color quickly over time and just become common stones.

“If you have any that haven’t been gathered for a day after the demon beasts were captured, that would be ideal.”

For that, I had to find items that hadn’t lost their color.

Losing color meant that the Demon Energy had dissipated, which was another way to say it was useless.

The store owner’s expression momentarily faltered but quickly regained its composure.

It seemed he thought I was some kind of unimportant customer.

“Uhm… Prince.”

“Don’t tell me, you don’t have any?”

“Yes… It seems we don’t have any Demon Stones.”

“Demon beasts have become less abundant lately?”

“This year, it’s been oddly low.”

Not having any Demon Stones was one thing; however, the information about demon beasts becoming scarce was concerning.

‘I haven’t heard anything about this in Mount Shan.’

Fewer demon beasts being around was great news for the local area, but if there had been a sudden drop, it wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

“So there are no Demon Stones, then?”

“Yes… We do have some collected, but if you’re looking for colored ones, we don’t have any at the moment.”

“Understood.”

“Prince, how about skins or bones? Just in case, we have some fine goods…”

“No, thank you.”

I firmly refused any attempts to sell other items, and I could hear the owner muttering behind me.

Given the nature of the item I was looking for, I hadn’t expected to find it immediately.

‘Guess I’ll have to go catch them myself?’

When he didn’t show up softly, he only appeared when it wasn’t needed.

[Demon Stones, what are you getting them for?]

‘I need to check on something.’

[What is it?]

That ominous energy inside me and the unknown thing that seemed to suppress it.

Moreover, it rampaged when I tried to exert my control even slightly.

Because of that, I was treated like a ticking time bomb.

I had no idea when the energy could explode within me.

Since I had given up on Shin Yi, I wasn’t sure how much help I could expect from the medical side.

Struggling with it or accepting it seemed impossible at my current level.

Given that, I would need to find a solution.

When I thought of Shin Noya, I had an idea, not a certainty, but an assumption.

Demonic Energy.

With the regression came the absorption technique.

Could this annoying Demonic Power be what was suppressing my energy?

Finding a cause that could intertwine two opposing forces felt like a headache.

It was hard to find another reason besides the power of the Heavenly Demon.

Or perhaps… it might be something that devoured the Demonic Energy.

Things like the Technique of the Flame Wheel that purifies by absorbing the Demon Energy.

I’d never heard of anything like that regarding the Gu Clan’s martial arts.

If there had been, I would have known about it in my previous life.

In the end… it implies that something else exists within my body.

‘It’s not like my body is some monster den; why are there so many weird things mingling in here?’

Could this also be a backlash from the regression?

Or is there still a trace of the Heavenly Demon left here?

The more I thought about it, the more nauseous I felt.

“Master! Master!”

As I was lost in these complicated thoughts, Wi Seol-Ah grabbed my sleeve to call me.

“Hmm?”

“Oh~!”

The skewer I had eaten earlier was still in Wi Seol-Ah’s hand.

Surprisingly, it was in untouched condition.

What about her?

“What’s going on?”

“The first bite is yours, Master!”

“Just eat it, why not?”

“You were making an ugly face again.”

Wi Seol-Ah’s words reminded me of what Shin Noya said about my face earlier.

Am I really that obvious?

With my energy seemingly drained, it somehow felt like Wi Seol-Ah offered her food first.

Have I worried her this much?

I took a huge bite of the chicken skewer.

As I stuffed my mouth, Wi Seol-Ah’s expression turned funny.

“…I didn’t mean for you to eat that much!”

“Oops.”

With so much in my mouth, I couldn’t pronounce it well.

With only one or two pieces left, Wi Seol-Ah sadly finished the remaining skewer.

Her eyes were filled with longing.

“…It was so delicious…but now it’s gone.”

Witnessing Wi Seol-Ah’s sad expression made me want to smile.

I held it back because if I laughed out loud, everything I had in my mouth would fly out.

Surprisingly, it lifted my spirits quite a bit.

Was it thanks to Wi Seol-Ah, or perhaps something changed after my regression?

“Shall I buy you another one?”

“Really?”

“Sure, let’s get another.”

Saying that, I led Wi Seol-Ah back to the skewer stall.

I bought two skewers.

I wanted one too, since it had turned out to be tastier than I expected.

I asked Muyeon if he wanted one, but he declined, saying it wouldn’t be appropriate while guarding.

 

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