SYM 114

Cheong-un moved towards the Reversing Heaven Energy.

In the maze-like underground, the path no longer mattered. He simply walked, aligning his direction with the Reversing Heaven Energy as the center.

Traps and Undead were lurking around the altar, but they were meaningless to Cheong-un.

Each time he destroyed a statue, the Reversing Heaven Energy scattered.

“This is the last one.”

Cheong-un looked at the last remaining altar and grabbed the statue on it.

He suspected it was a trap to lure him in, but there was something ominous about the statue that he couldn’t simply ignore.

“If a little more time had passed…”

Even a mere trifle, if it endures for a long time, can absorb spiritual energy and become a spirit. There was no need to mention what would happen to such an ominous object if time passed.

If he had tried to get rid of the statue after it had absorbed enough of the blood that permeated this land, it would have been much more difficult.

Cheong-un ignited the Samadhi Fire over the strangely shaped statue.

“Kkyaaaaaaak.”

Even though he was just burning a statue, a bizarre scream echoed.

Cheong-un frowned at the unpleasant sensation and waited for the statue to burn completely.

The reason he bothered to burn the statue, instead of just breaking it, was to ensure that not even a trace of energy remained.

Jeong-hyeon did not reveal himself until the last statue had burned.

Cheong-un looked around the last altar he had found. It was a shabby place in many ways to have hidden something great. The traps were crude, and the Undead were of low quality. Occasionally, Undead made from the corpses of martial artists popped out, but even the Eastern Depot and Brocade Guard who came with Cheong-un could handle them.

“Ha, Jeong-hyeon, you son of a bitch…”

Cheong-un gritted his teeth and looked around.

The cave was intricately dug like a maze.

Digging a cave of this size underground was not possible in a short period of time. So it was probably true that the Hongbaek Sect had nested in Onghwagung Palace.

Like the case of Godeok Temple last time, the Hongbaek Sect seemed to prefer keeping their hideouts with temples.

This was probably to hide this musical instrument, the Reversing Heaven Energy, with the Pure Qi of the temple.

In addition, Onghwagung Palace was a large temple with many resident monks, so even if many people came and went, it would not be suspicious.

But why is the underground so empty now?

…As if someone was waiting for him to come here.

No matter how he looked at it, this was clearly a trap.

Did they find out in advance that he was coming?

And if this is a trap, then surely…

“…Eun-ah.”

Cheong-un sighed quietly as he looked at Seo Eun-hyeon, who had a pale complexion.

* * *

“…Who are you?”

Eun-hyeon’s voice, asking who he was, was terribly hoarse. In fact, it wasn’t that he didn’t know who the person in front of him was.

He asked because he couldn’t believe it.

Why is this person here now? Is he still dreaming?

The man in the dim darkness slowly walked forward. Then, under the moonlight, the man’s face became clear.

…Eldest Senior Brother.

Eun-hyeon’s face hardened as he looked at the face of Jeong-hyeon, who was now the Head of Kunlun.

“Have you already forgotten Eldest Senior Brother’s voice?”

Eun-hyeon flinched and trembled at the playful, gentle tone.

Jeong-hyeon’s nonchalant attitude made him wonder where he was.

“…Eldest Senior Brother?”

“Yes. I am your Eldest Senior Brother, Eun-hyeon.”

Eun-hyeon felt a moment of dizziness when he called himself Eldest Senior Brother, not the Head of Kunlun.

If he introduced himself as the Head, it would be referring to his relationship with Namgung Eun-hyeon, but if he said Eldest Senior Brother, it would be referring to his past relationship in Kunlun.

That meant he knew who he was.

“…I, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Eun-hyeon hid his trembling hand.

Could all of this be a dream?

The desire to think of everything as a dream and escape as it is soared.

“You’re too much, Eun-hyeon-ah. I missed you, but it seems you’ve completely forgotten this Eldest Senior Brother.”

Jeong-hyeon’s tone was not testing to see who he was, but completely certain.

How could this be?

Even Cheong-un was not sure until he confirmed it. But how could Jeong-hyeon be so sure?

As his reason slowly returned, he realized that there were more than one or two strange things.

How did Jeong-hyeon get here? Where is Cheong-un? And Amhon?

Amhon always guarded him from unseen places. But he couldn’t understand why Amhon was silent when Jeong-hyeon approached like this.

No matter how tired he was and fell asleep, he would have woken up if there was a sound of fighting. But he didn’t feel that kind of commotion at all.

It was impossible unless Jeong-hyeon had overwhelmed the entire Amhon with his skills and defeated them in an instant.

Besides, where is Cheong-un?

If something happened to him, there was no way Cheong-un would be so quiet.

“If you’re thinking about your unruly disciple, I want to tell you that he’s not here.”

“…Yes?”

Jeong-hyeon smiled and said, as if he had read Eun-hyeon’s mind in search of Cheong-un.

“…Head Jeong-hyeon. I don’t know what you’re talking about, but how about you come back when it’s bright?”

Eun-hyeon decided to play dumb for now.

He didn’t understand Jeong-hyeon’s intentions, and he didn’t know why Amhon or Cheong-un were quiet.

Even if he had defeated all of Amhon, wasn’t this the Prince Residence, the residence of the Third Prince?

There were quite a few people guarding this place alone. It was very strange that everyone was so quiet.

“Haa, my junior is good at everything, but the problem is that he is too timid and cautious. You’re still the same.”

Eun-hyeon’s head became increasingly dizzy at the familiar tone, as if he had met his junior Seo Eun-hyeon a while ago and was seeing him again now.

“If I can ease your worries a little, Cheong-un won’t be able to come back easily. I set a trap.”

“What do you mean.”

Eun-hyeon stopped as if he had broken down. He couldn’t pretend not to know anymore at the words that Cheong-un had fallen into a trap.

“Did you think I didn’t know that the Third Prince was a spy? We were just exchanging information appropriately. Onghwagung Palace was where we used to be, but everyone was sent out before the Third Prince attacked the place. Your arrogant disciple probably went there in a hurry without knowing that.”

“……….”

The plan was to attack Onghwagung Palace tomorrow, but Cheong-un left while he was sleeping?

If Cheong-un had left for Onghwagung Palace and was away, it made sense that Cheong-un was not appearing now. And it was something Cheong-un would do to leave tonight without telling him.

“Your disciple is really obsessed with his master. Even though he’s so old, he’s still looking for his master like an infant. Tsk. You taught your disciple wrong. So I put the master your disciple was looking for as a gift in Onghwagung Palace.”

“What, what does that mean…”

Eun-hyeon felt dizzy at Jeong-hyeon’s words.

He put the master the disciple was looking for?

“Why are you pretending not to know? I’m talking about your disciple’s precious master. Who is also my precious junior.”

“…Isn’t that person already dead? How can you try to disgrace the dead?”

Jeong-hyeon burst into laughter as if he had heard a funny story at Eun-hyeon’s words.

“Dead? He’s alive and moving, and he’s talking, so I can’t say he’s dead.”

“…Are you saying you made a Undead out of your junior’s corpse? You’re shameless.”

“I feel a little embarrassed when you say that. But that’s not your body, is it?”

“…Yes?”

Jeong-hyeon smiled.

“Didn’t you say it? That you came into a character in a book. Then that body isn’t yours either. I just swept, polished, and utilized the shell you left behind, so don’t be so stingy. This Eldest Senior Brother has been waiting for a long time for you to come back, in what form you will come back.”

Eun-hyeon lost his words and stared at Jeong-hyeon with a blank expression.