SYM 115

“Eun-hyeon, it still rings in my ears. The words you spoke with that innocent face, your small lips pursing.”

Eun-hyeon also recalled that time at Jeong-hyeon’s words.

It was a time when only a few years had passed since he had possessed this body.

Just because the body became younger didn’t mean the mental age did, but at the time, he was adapting to a new world, so he wasn’t much different from a child.

That’s why he relied on Eldest Senior Brother so much.

He didn’t even want to talk to the other children because they were childish, but Eldest Senior Brother was different.

He scolded the childish children who teased him and took care of him separately, giving him snacks.

If he couldn’t keep up with the Martial Arts training, he would call him aside and slowly explain it again.

At that time, Eldest Senior Brother was a teacher, a trustworthy brother, and a friend to Eun-hyeon.

So, he ended up telling him his biggest concern, the fact that he wasn’t Seo Eun-hyeon but had possessed a character in a book.

“…Do you believe such absurd stories?”

Eun-hyeon didn’t admit that he was Seo Eun-hyeon and spoke as vaguely as possible.

Seeing how sure he was that he was Seo Eun-hyeon, it seemed pointless to do this.

“Absurd, you say. I thought so too at first. I thought a child with a rich imagination was lonely and trying to get attention.”

Eun-hyeon bit his lip tightly. He was sure he was doing that, but it was embarrassing to hear it through Eldest Senior Brother’s mouth.

“…So what do you want? Isn’t the lonely child who lied to get attention the dead Seo Eun-hyeon? He’s someone who has nothing to do with me.”

“Haa, you’re stubborn. Well, you’ve always been stubborn since you were young. I was going to tell you roughly because I don’t have much time, but you won’t tell me willingly until I tell you everything.”

Jeong-hyeon shook his head as he looked at Eun-hyeon, who wouldn’t admit that he was Seo Eun-hyeon until the end.

“Well, actually, I had forgotten that absurd story for a while. Until I discovered something special about my junior brother.”

“…Special?”

Jeong-hyeon smiled at Eun-hyeon as if he were looking at something cute.

“Yes, special. My junior brother Seo Eun-hyeon was a very special person. At the time, I was too young to realize how precious that specialness was. I only realized it belatedly after losing him.”

“…What was so special about him? Was he so special that you found your lost junior brother again and turned him into an Undead?”

Jeong-hyeon grinned at Eun-hyeon’s question.

Then, he turned around in the room once and looked at Eun-hyeon.

For someone who said he was busy because he didn’t have much time, his actions seemed relaxed and leisurely.

“There are many old books in Kunlun.”

Eun-hyeon frowned at the sudden story.

“It was a coincidence that I found a strange scripture in the library. Or, should I call it fate?”

Eun-hyeon swallowed hard at the word scripture.

Jeong-hyeon’s gaze was directed somewhere in the darkness, not at Eun-hyeon. Even in the dark room, Eun-hyeon could see Jeong-hyeon’s eyes flickering with a strange heat.

“Could that scripture be from the Hongbaek Sect…?”

Jeong-hyeon nodded.

“Yes, it was a scripture from the Hongbaek Sect. The Hongbaek Sect is a kind of Taoism when viewed broadly, so it’s not that strange for a Hongbaek Sect scripture to be in Kunlun. And I encountered a fragment of truth there.”

Jeong-hyeon’s eyes, saying the words fragment of truth, were like a cult leader himself, and Eun-hyeon unknowingly stepped back.

He got up from the bed and gradually distanced himself from Jeong-hyeon.

Jeong-hyeon just left him alone even after seeing Eun-hyeon like that. Perhaps it was because he was confident that he could catch him at any time, even if he was this far away.

Eun-hyeon also knew that, but he still wanted to get away as much as possible.

“That’s a very crude thing for the leader of Kunlun to say.”

“Hahaha, crude? Eun-hyeon. It’s cute how brazen you are, but you should still be careful with your words. It was after reading the scripture that I came to believe your ridiculous story. The scripture described another world.”

Eun-hyeon unknowingly raised his head and looked at Jeong-hyeon at those words.

Another world?

Is he talking about becoming a celestial being through training and ascending to the heavens?

In Taoism, ascending to the heavens was the top priority.

But they don’t use the term another world…

“Another world doesn’t refer to the Immortal Realm that we go to when we ascend to the heavens. It’s a human realm like this one, in other words, like your hometown.”

Jeong-hyeon slowly approached Eun-hyeon. The distance he had subtly created was quickly closed.

“Eun-hyeon, I’m just trying to make you a good offer. The existence of another world holds a special energy, and when you share that energy, you can gain special power.”

Eun-hyeon frowned.

Special energy? You gain power if you share it?

He remembered when he was Seo Eun-hyeon in Kunlun, Eldest Senior Brother asked him to help with Qi Circulation and asked for his energy.

It was strange that he was asking him, who didn’t have much Inner energy and wasn’t particularly accomplished.

And in the Ten Crossings, they also asked him to transfer his energy…!

“…Was that why they asked me to transfer my energy in the Ten Crossings?”

Jeong-hyeon nodded and smiled.

His face, with a languid smile, felt crazy and eerie.

“Yes. I had an idea of who you were, but I wanted to confirm it for sure. Whether you were Seo Eun-hyeon, a special being from another world. Eun-hyeon, give me your energy. This is definitely not a bad story for you either.”

Eun-hyeon swallowed hard as he looked at Jeong-hyeon, whose eyes were gleaming.

Jeong-hyeon was now revealing his blatant greed without even trying to hide it.

“Beings from another world are beings who defy the order of the world in themselves. They have Reversing Heaven Energy from the beginning, which makes their bodies weak and short-lived. The scripture taught me how to use Reversing Heaven Energy and also taught me how to deceive the eyes of the world.”

“…How to deceive the eyes of the world?”

“Yes, Eun-hyeon. Are you satisfied with living with your weak body like this? You used to like learning Martial Arts, didn’t you? Now you can’t even learn Martial Arts, and you were born as the Eldest Young Master but you can’t even properly enjoy the status of the Eldest Young Master, can you? I’ll give you strength. I’ll give you a chance to become stronger. So that you won’t be swayed by your weak body and you can stand on your own.”

“…”

Eun-hyeon stared at Jeong-hyeon without saying a word.

Could he say that he didn’t want a healthy body?

He had given up thinking it was inevitable, but deep down, he was frustrated with this weak body.

He couldn’t do anything with this body that he could easily do with Seo Eun-hyeon’s body.

Seo Eun-hyeon wasn’t a Martial Arts prodigy with outstanding talent either. At best, he would be a first-class warrior, and if he had a chance, he might become a master.

It would be a lie to say that he didn’t dream of reaching a higher level by training in Martial Arts. But even if he didn’t have great ambitions, he wanted to be able to protect himself at least.

But with Namgung Eun-hyeon’s body, there was a clear congenital limitation.

Even if he worked hard to train his basic physical strength, including Qi Circulation, the best he could be was an ordinary person who hadn’t learned Martial Arts.

Even then, he would quickly return to his previous state if he didn’t always try.

After possessing this body of Namgung Eun-hyeon, Eun-hyeon thought he was trapped in his body. He felt suffocated and overwhelmed by his weak body that couldn’t do anything.

So, to be honest. He wanted to accept Jeong-hyeon’s offer right away.

He could get a healthy body and freedom of his body in exchange for helping Jeong-hyeon a little, what a sweet temptation this was.

But Eun-hyeon didn’t say the words he was about to say and glared at Jeong-hyeon. Jeong-hyeon’s offer couldn’t be just sweet.

“To look at me with such suspicious eyes, Eldest Senior Brother is really heartbroken. I’m just making an offer that won’t hurt you or me. You get a healthy body, and I just get the power to shake the world.”

“You’re planning to turn me into an Undead.”

Eun-hyeon spat out calmly.

Thinking about it in connection with the Undead, all the doubts he had had until now were understood in an instant.

Eun-hyeon thought that he was dissatisfied with his current body, but it wasn’t bad. He wasn’t as healthy as before, but wasn’t it thanks to that that he was able to meet Cheong-un?

If he was alone, he might have resented this glass-like body, but as long as Cheong-un was there, such things no longer mattered.

Eun-hyeon smiled faintly as he thought of his trustworthy disciple.