Right after I finished talking with the Small Moon Unit Leader, I ca outside.
I didn’t push the conversation any deeper with him.
I already dragged the situation where I wanted it anyway.
Whether that beca his new perception of ,
whether it was the talk about Radiant Moon Annihilation-Overturn,
or whether both landed—
none of that mattered.
What mattered was—
the Small Moon Unit Leader wavered.
That stiff, stubborn-looking man wavered even a little at what I said.
That was all I needed.
Not bad.
The result wasn’t bad. Thinking that, I moved on to the next step.
One or two more tis should do it.
Once you shook soone like that, pulling them over to your side by ssing with their psychology wasn’t hard.
It was a thod I’d used plenty in my past life, too.
Then I got burned hard, so I don’t really want to do it....
Still, if you could use it, you should.
No—whether I wanted to or not, I had to use it right now.
This wasn’t the ti to be picky.
With that thought firm in my head, I kept walking when—
[The Sword Saint is a mountain you have to climb over.]
“......”
So bullshit drifted down from above.
[The Sword Saint’s na isn’t heavy to .]
“...Excuse ?”
[It’s a mountain you have to climb over anyway, so what’s heavy about it... heh heh heh heh.]
“...Old man?”
When I looked up at the nonsense he was spitting, he was grinning wide and mocking .
[That was an amaaaaaaazing line, no matter how you slice it.]
“...You bastard.”
I pinched my brow. Looking at that old man’s rotten personality, he was going to tease with this for days.
[Kid, I never would’ve dread you’d be thinking like that.]
“As if I was.”
Thinking, my ass.
The Sword Saint’s na is light? What the hell is light about it.
It was heavy enough to kill . If it had real weight, I’d have been crushed to death ages ago.
No—maybe I already am.
It wouldn’t be strange if I was already panting under the weight, pressed down and barely breathing.
The Sword Saint’s na is light? Not a chance.
How could it be light.
The strongest under heaven. The greatest in all ages.
It ant climbing to the peak over a mountain range of martial artists—how could I call that easy?
Yeah, I said it with my own mouth, but it was still insane.
Just one mountain along the road?
Even saying it, I’d been dumbfounded.
I’m the crazy one.
The fact I said it without shaking made feel impressively nuts.
At least it got out alive.
I forced myself to act bold and spit out words that didn’t fit my mouth, and I held on.
I made it back alive while crushing down the fear that ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ he might draw his sword any second.
So I wanted to think it was the right answer, but—
...Who knows.
Honestly, it was hard to say.
Tsk.
Swallowing a quiet groan, I kept walking.
And as I did, sothing I needed to ask Yoo Cheongil ca back to .
I need to ask about last night.
About what happened in the spar, and the dream I had—I needed to question Yoo Cheongil first.
I opened my mouth.
“Hey, old—”
[Quiet. Soone’s coming.]
“......”
At Yoo Cheongil’s words, I shut my mouth imdiately.
Soone was coming?
I stopped and looked straight ahead. Just like he said, soone was walking toward .
A light, swaying gait, hair fluttering in the wind.
A woman with strikingly pale skin that matched her features.
Murong Yeongsun.
“You were here.”
She found and smiled faintly.
...Oh, right.
I’d totally blanked on it, but she was here too.
I recognized again that Murong Yeongsun had co to the Blue Moon Sect with us.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“...?”
“Yes. Of course. Who else would I be looking for here besides you?”
“...Ah. Right.”
The way she talked was really sothing.
I let out a sigh, then asked while looking at her.
“Miss Murong.”
“Yes.”
“...Why are you here?”
“Why? Am I not allowed to be here?”
“Normally? No.”
This was the Blue Moon Sect. Not just any place. It wasn’t sowhere an outsider could hang around for no reason.
But Murong Yeongsun hadn’t just slipped into the Blue Moon Sect with —she’d been staying for days.
Normally, that wasn’t possible.
When I asked with that in mind, she lifted the corner of her mouth.
“Don’t worry. I’m not an idiot. I wouldn’t be here by force. The Sect Master wouldn’t allow that in the first place.”
“...Then?”
“If you’re misunderstanding and thinking I’m here because of you—don’t. That’s not it.”
Huh? It wasn’t?
I’d assud it was.
When I frowned and tilted my head, Yoo Cheongil snorted and spoke to .
[Kid. You’ve got a quiet case of Axe Disease. I respect your confidence, but the way you look being arrogant is rather ugly.]
“....”
I tried my best to ignore the old man scraping at .
No—I tried, but this ti it got under my skin.
“...Then what are you here for?”
If it wasn’t , what reason did Murong Yeongsun have to be in the Blue Moon Sect?
When I asked with suspicion, she made a strange expression and spoke.
“Do I have any reason to tell you that?”
“...Well... I guess not?”
If she ca for personal business, she had no reason to tell .
That made sense, so I nodded and tried to let it go.
“Are you curious?”
Murong Yeongsun asked.
“Not really.”
Honestly, I didn’t care much.
So I was about to say she didn’t need to tell —
“If I tell you, you have to do one favor.”
Murong Yeongsun started talking like she couldn’t hear .
“No, I said I’m not curious. You don’t have to tell . And if you have a favor, even more so—”
“I ca to the Blue Moon Sect as the Clan Head’s proxy. The Murong Clan had sothing to request.”
“Hey.”
Was she not hearing ? I blurted out, flustered.
Was she insane?
Clan Head’s proxy?
If Murong Yeongsun ca as the Clan Head’s proxy, that ant this was big.
A direct-bloodline mber coming under the Clan Head’s na, for clan business?
That ant—
It’s a situation where the Clan Head should’ve co in person, but couldn’t.
Which also ant the Murong Clan Head—the Silk King—wasn’t in a position to move freely.
Putting it together—
The Murong Clan had a major request to make of the Blue Moon Sect.
And on top of that—
sothing happened to the Clan Head, or there’s a problem, and he can’t move.
So Murong Yeongsun had co herself to ask the Blue Moon Sect—
Which, in plain terms, ant—
I’m not supposed to hear this. It’s classified.
There was nothing good that ca from hearing it.
When I understood that far and frowned, Murong Yeongsun smiled.
“Got it?”
“......”
You fox.
I could tell from her expression. She’d said that knowing I’d infer all of this from just those words.
“What are you doing...?”
“Well, I didn’t co looking for you because sothing happened today. I originally ca before I went to Sichuan to make the request.”
“...What?”
“When I stopped by to look for you last ti, I also ca and made the request.”
FLUTTER.
As she spoke, Murong Yeongsun flicked a letter in her hand and showed it to .
“......”
On the letter, there was a seal stamped in blue lines.
The Sect Master’s direct seal.
“Thankfully, they handled my request well. I’m on my way back from seeing him.”
“......”
“Oh. So I have to return to the clan tomorrow.”
“Oh.”
That was the best thing I’d heard all day.
When I reacted like I was genuinely happy, her pretty brow twisted.
“What’s with that reaction?”
“Oops. That was an honest gasp without thinking—”
“...You’re unbelievable.”
Tsk—! Murong Yeongsun clicked her tongue. Then—
“Anyway, since that’s the situation, do my favor.”
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
“What is?”
“...Why are we suddenly over there? Why do I have to do you a favor?”
“You said if I satisfied your curiosity, you’d do a favor.”
“...I told you I’m not curious, and you’re the one who talked anyway.”
“Why are you being so petty...?”
“...Are you crazy.”
How was she this shaless?
Her brazen confidence made a dry laugh leak out.
“Anyway. I have sowhere to go, so co with . It’s a favor. Do it. I’m returning tomorrow—surely you can do that much.”
“No... I an, that’s—”
“If you don’t, I’ll go back and tell the Clan Head. I’ll say you heard everything.”
“You’re out of your mind.”
If she said that, my situation would get weird. The Murong Clan Head—given his personality—he probably wouldn’t go out of his way to co after .
But—
There’s a risk it becos a hassle.
A massive hassle.
“If you say that, you’ll be in trouble too.”
If it got out that she’d been exposed, it was her problem too.
I pointed that out—
“I’ll just get scolded a little. You know that.”
“......”
I had nothing to say to that shaless, confident answer.
And it pissed off even more because she was right.
That man would never get angry at her even if he died.
He doted on his only daughter to an absurd degree. Him getting mad at Murong Yeongsun was hard to imagine.
If anything, he’d take whatever anger he could’ve directed at her and aim it at .
Fuck.
A sigh tried to crawl up. Why was she pulling this now? I was already busy. With the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering and all that disaster, it felt like my feet were on fire.
And on top of that, the weather’s nice and she’s doing this for no reason—I didn’t get—
...? Wait.
A thought rose up, and I narrowed my eyes.
Co to think of it, today was...?
“...Ah.”
I rembered what I’d forgotten.
“Can’t you just co with ? It’ll only take a mont—”
“Let’s go.”
“I’m not going to say it twice—huh?”
Murong Yeongsun blanked at my answer.
“Really...?”
“Why. I said let’s go. Let’s go.”
“Even though you don’t know where?”
“...If it’s sowhere weird, I’m running.”
“Now? We go now?”
“Yes.”
Because I suddenly allowed it, Murong Yeongsun bead.
I’d felt it for a long ti, but for a face that looked cold, she had a surprisingly bright smile.
“Wait there. I’ll get ready.”
“Ready for what. We can just go right—”
“Wait. If you run, I’ll rip your kneecaps out next ti.”
“...I’ll be right here.”
Leaving behind that murderous threat, Murong Yeongsun ran off.
When she vanished, Yoo Cheongil—floating up in the sky and watching—asked .
[Unexpected.]
“What is?”
[I thought you’d rather die than get tangled up with that girl. Yet you’re playing along with her forcing it.]
“......”
He wasn’t wrong.
I hadn’t planned to play along.
But—
“...Sothing I’d forgotten ca back to .”
[Sothing you forgot?]
“Yes. She isn’t the type to push this hard, in the first place.”
Normally, she’d threaten a bit and give up.
But she was acting strange today, and I’d been wondering why.
It was because it’s today.
The problem was the “today.”
Today was—
Lady Jin’s death anniversary.
Murong Yeongsun’s mother. The Silk King’s wife.
The day Lady Jin died.
And—
It’s also Murong Yeongsun’s birthday.
The sa day was Murong Yeongsun’s birthday.
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