The sound of footsteps echoing in the cave grew louder.
Thud—
The footsteps stopped only after reaching the inside of the cave.
A person stood at the exit leading outside, looking inside.
Cha Yul-ryeong was looking around the interior with a cold gaze.
“……”
The appearance of the cave's interior seed no different from before Cha Yul-ryeong had co out.
However, even if his eyes could be deceived, there was one thing he couldn't hide.
It was the bitter sll lingering in the interior.
Cha Yul-ryeong stared at the side where the coffin was placed and said in a cold voice.
"How long do you plan to keep hiding like a rat?"
“……”
"I already knew you were here. Namgung Il."
At that mont, a strange silence flowed.
Swoosh—
Just then, a figure appeared from behind the coffin.
Namgung Il stood with his appearance fully revealed, looking at Cha Yul-ryeong.
"...Since when did you know I was here?"
"Since you were hiding behind the tree."
“……”
"It was faint, but I sensed your energy."
Although he had cut off the flow in the middle, it seed he hadn't been able to completely hide his energy.
As expected of the head instructor of the Azure Dragon Class.
Only a little bit of energy would have flowed out, to the extent that it would normally be unnoticeable... but Cha Yul-ryeong had noticed even that faint change.
"Why did you let go outside?"
Namgung Il was puzzled by that fact.
If he had noticed his presence before, wouldn't he have caught him then?
Namgung Il couldn't understand why Cha Yul-ryeong had deliberately shown him this place.
"Because I might not have been able to catch you for sure there."
“……”
"You survived against Gok I-hyeon. No matter how much of a problem child you are, I'll acknowledge that much."
In other words, Cha Yul-ryeong had driven him into this cave.
Just like cornering a wild animal when hunting, Cha Yul-ryeong had created a definite environnt where he could catch him.
“……”
Namgung Il glanced at the exit behind Cha Yul-ryeong.
The only exit to get out of this cave was that place.
Since Cha Yul-ryeong was blocking the exit, it seed impossible to just ignore him and get out of the cave.
"...It's a great honor that you acknowledge , teacher."
“……”
"So what are you going to do with now?"
Although Namgung Il maintained a calm expression, a faint tension was mixed in his voice.
This was no longer a matter that would end with just being caught by a teacher for entering a forbidden area.
The secret Cha Yul-ryeong had been hiding in this cave all this ti.
Since he had seen it, he had no idea what would happen now.
Swoosh—
He had closed the coffin lid before Cha Yul-ryeong ca in, but he wouldn't be able to get through this situation with just that.
Cha Yul-ryeong would probably think that he had seen inside.
Since it was a situation that could well lead to a battle, Namgung Il had already placed his hand slightly up so that he could draw his sword at any ti.
“……”
Cha Yul-ryeong watched him silently.
And glancing at the coffin nearby, he imdiately looked back at Namgung Il and asked.
"You saw inside, didn't you?"
“……”
He had no intention of denying that question.
Namgung Il answered by lightly nodding his head, and Cha Yul-ryeong, still maintaining a calm appearance, continued to speak.
"I am a very cautious person. I never show my weaknesses to others."
“……”
"But you kept digging into . When that place in my office was discovered, and now when this place was discovered..."
Just then, a strange light appeared in Cha Yul-ryeong's eyes.
Namgung Il thought it was an attack signal, but contrary to his expectations, Cha Yul-ryeong continued to speak from his spot.
"Namgung Il, I think you and I have a tough fate."
“……”
"That's why I showed you my secret."
Namgung Il couldn't understand those words.
He showed his secret because he thought we had a tough fate… Normally, it should be the opposite.
"That's surprising. To think you and I think the sa, teacher."
“……”
"I also think we have a tough fate. So, to put an end to that tough fate, I will ask you for sure."
There was no need to drag this out any longer.
Namgung Il was about to decide his relationship with Cha Yul-ryeong with the answer to this question.
"Are you from the Blood Dragon Cult, teacher?"
“……”
That was the sa thing he had asked Gok I-hyeon in the past.
And now again.
Namgung Il felt the sa current he had felt then in this situation as well.
Swoosh—.
At that mont, Namgung Il's left hand moved closer to his sword.
He had already lit the fuse himself.
Since it was now a touch-and-go situation where he didn't know when it would explode, Namgung Il was preparing to draw his sword at any ti.
However.
"I am not."
"...?"
"I don't understand why you're asking that question, but to be honest, it's unpleasant."
With that answer from Cha Yul-ryeong, the tense atmosphere subsided a little.
However, his left hand was still on his waist.
Gok I-hyeon had also initially denied that he was from the Blood Dragon Cult.
"Then I'll change the question."
“……”
"What on earth is the corpse in that coffin?"
Namgung Il's tone was still aggressive.
As if to tear off the mask Cha Yul-ryeong was wearing.
Just as Gok I-hyeon had taken off his mask and revealed his true nature, if he was provoked a little, Cha Yul-ryeong would surely show his true nature.
"The corpse..."
“……”
"...That child is my student."
"...?"
At the unexpected answer, Namgung Il's eyes couldn't help but widen.
The identity of the corpse in the coffin is a student?
At that mont, Namgung Il glared at Cha Yul-ryeong with even sharper eyes.
"A student of the Flying Dragon Academy... Then you must have killed this student, teacher?"
"...Yes, I must have killed him."
It was a sowhat ambiguous answer.
An answer that neither clearly admitted to killing him nor denied it.
A play on words in a situation like this… As expected, it seed certain that Cha Yul-ryeong had killed this corpse.
"...?"
It was then.
Namgung Il noticed that Cha Yul-ryeong's lips were now trembling slightly.
'That Cha Yul-ryeong... his lips are trembling?'
Recalling his usual appearance, it was truly unbelievable.
What was a person who seed like he wouldn't shed a single drop of blood even if stabbed with a knife so afraid of that he was trembling like that?
Namgung Il could only stare at that sight with blank eyes for a mont.
'No... it was the sa with Gok I-hyeon.'
When Gok I-hyeon had revealed his identity, he had shown a completely different side from the one he usually knew.
So even if Cha Yul-ryeong was showing a different side from usual now, it wasn't particularly strange.
This appearance now was also just a part of the mask.
Thinking so, Namgung Il imdiately regained his composure.
"Answer clearly. So did you kill him, teacher, or not?"
"..."
A brief silence followed.
Cha Yul-ryeong barely stopped the trembling of his lips and opened his mouth.
"That child was my first disciple."
"..."
"Among the disciples I taught, he graduated from the Flying Dragon Academy with very excellent grades."
A slight tremor still remained in his voice.
It seed very difficult for Cha Yul-ryeong to recall the past, but he still forced himself to continue speaking.
"About ten years ago, a village was completely taken over by bandits."
"...?"
"It is rembered by the world as the Dugangchon Incident."
The Dugangchon Incident?
Namgung Il naturally didn't know about it.
"...What does that have to do with this corpse?"
"That child died there."
"...?"
"He was killed by the bandits while trying to save the kidnapped people of Dugangchon."
Does that an this corpse has been preserved in this state for ten years?
The preservation state of the corpse was so clean that Namgung Il hadn't thought it would be that old.
"...Then the one who killed this student was not you, teacher, but the bandits."
"..."
"Then why did you speak in such a way, teacher?"
Just from what he had heard so far, it seed Cha Yul-ryeong had no connection to the death of this corpse.
Then when he had asked earlier, wouldn't it have been fine to just answer that he hadn't killed him for sure?
The answer to that ambiguous answer had not yet co out.
"Isn't it ridiculous?"
"...?"
"He studied at the Flying Dragon Academy for four years. And he was a student with very excellent grades."
"..."
"For such a student to be killed by re bandits... Then what on earth did I teach that child for four years?"
Unlike his words, no smile was felt on Cha Yul-ryeong's face.
What was felt was only misery.
Namgung Il now understood why Cha Yul-ryeong had spoken in such a way.
"It was then that I realized. What I had been teaching the students all this ti were things that were useless in the martial world."
"..."
"So after that, I taught practical martial arts. Knowledge that could be used in actual combat even after graduating and going out into the martial world... Yes, so that the students would not et a futile death like that child."
Hearing those words, Namgung Il was reminded of what Cha Yul-ryeong had said to him in the past.
"I just cared more about the students' well-being."
"..."
"Yes, even if it's the life of a problem child like you."
Namgung Il now knew that what Cha Yul-ryeong had said to him during the surprise attack by the mysterious person was sincere.
'...He's a teacher.'
No matter how much he picked on him for trivial things, no matter how little recognition he felt throughout the class, Cha Yul-ryeong was a teacher.
Rather, wasn't the way he had treated the students like that to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past?
Hearing such circumstances, Namgung Il couldn't help but think of the person nad Cha Yul-ryeong differently.
"..."
Of course, this appearance now could also be a part of the mask Cha Yul-ryeong was wearing.
However.
Namgung Il's heart was now saying that this was Cha Yul-ryeong's true self.
"...So you've been preserving this corpse all this ti?"
"..."
"To revive your disciple using the Blood Spot Grass?"
"...Yes."
It was then that Cha Yul-ryeong had begun to research the Blood Spot Grass in earnest.
The existence of the Blood Spot Grass, which he had only known as a legend.
Cha Yul-ryeong was a person who didn't believe in such superstitions at all, but he wanted to save his disciple no matter what, to the point of relying on such things.
"Saving that child is the only way I can wash away my mistake."
"..."
"That's why I've been researching the Blood Spot Grass like crazy until now. Of course, I've researched every possible thod of reviving the dead!"
Cha Yul-ryeong's words sounded like a scream.
Namgung Il watched him silently, then quietly opened his mouth.
"...The world will not tolerate this."
"..."
"On top of that, to preserve a corpse using a thod that would be used by the Blood Dragon Cult... Do you know that this is wrong?"
"...It doesn't matter."
Cha Yul-ryeong's eyes had cald down.
"If I can save that child, I'll even offer my own life."
"..."
"I've already been prepared for that for ten years."
Cha Yul-ryeong said and stepped aside.
"That's all I have to say."
"..."
"I don't know what you'll think after hearing this. But... if you interfere with from now on, I will never forgive you."
He could tell right away that that was sincere.
Namgung Il watched Cha Yul-ryeong silently for a while, then walked towards the exit.
"..."
Cha Yul-ryeong did nothing until Namgung Il passed.
He just sent a silent glance as if to say, get out of here.
In the end, Namgung Il passed Cha Yul-ryeong and walked out of the cave.
"..."
When he ca out, the sky was already dark.
Namgung Il looked at the sky and let out a deep sigh.
"...It would have been better if I hadn't known."
He felt that his mind would be complicated every ti he attended Cha Yul-ryeong's class from now on.
(End of Chapter)
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