SYM 117

“…How did you get in here? Did you break through the defenses of the Prince’s residence and take care of all my Amhon?”

Eun-hyeon referred to his guards as Amhon.

Eun-hyeon guessed that Cheong-un was not here because he was somewhere else.

Even if Jeong-hyeon, the leader of the Hongbaek Sect, used some strange trick, it was hard to believe that he could have easily dealt with Cheonma Cheong-un.

But the Amhon were different. Even if Cheong-un was away, the Amhon would not be. Rather, if Cheong-un was away, there would be more people around him than usual.

And what about the Prince’s residence?

Didn’t Cheong-un say it was safe because it was the Prince’s residence?

Eun-hyeon didn’t know who was guarding the Third Prince’s residence, but it was clear that the defenses were strong enough for Cheong-un to say that.

But how did Jeong-hyeon get in and act so relaxed?

“No, you asked because you were curious, and that’s what you ask? I thought you were going to ask a great question, but you’re something else.”

Jeong-hyeon shook his head with a look that said he was asking about everything.

Eun-hyeon clenched his fist as he looked at Jeong-hyeon.

Did he kill all the Amhon?

Eun-hyeon bit his lower lip tightly. Although Yoon Ju-myeong was the only one he knew by name, he had grown quite fond of the Amhon.

“You don’t have to look so determined. None of them are dead yet. It’s not that hard to tell you. They’re all fast asleep right now.”

“Asleep?”

“They must have been very tired. When I came, they were all asleep without even realizing it. I guess being the leader of the Demonic Sect means you treat your subordinates carelessly.”

Jeong-hyeon chuckled and put his hand to his ear.

“Well, if you listen carefully, you’ll hear snoring.”

The people who were so tense, ready to go and strike the Hongbaek Sect tomorrow, suddenly fell asleep at the same time. It was a half-hearted and brazen lie.

But anyway, the fact that they weren’t dead was true. When he held his breath and pricked up his ears, he heard a snoring sound.

It seemed that someone was really asleep and snoring. Judging from the direction of the sound, which was above the ceiling, it was probably one of the Amhon.

Eun-hyeon had been expecting all the Amhon to be dead, but when he heard the sound of snoring so nonchalantly, he suddenly felt drained.

“…You used a drug.”

He hadn’t done anything, but the fact that the Amhon and the guards of the Prince’s residence were all asleep was to tease Eun-hyeon.

The Hongbaek Sect was particularly good at handling drugs, so they must have used drugs this time as well.

“Yes. I used a drug.”

Jeong-hyeon grabbed Eun-hyeon’s hand.

Eun-hyeon was surprised and tried to pull his hand away, but he couldn’t easily.

“It took a lot of time to play along with you. It’s time to make a decision. Stop making me worry. Let’s go home, Eun-hyeon.”

“……..”

Jeong-hyeon casually suggested going home as if he were guiding a runaway teenager. He smiled at Eun-hyeon.

“You’ve been away from home for too long. If you don’t like the Hongbaek Sect, you can just become a disciple of Kunlun again. This Eldest Senior Brother will take care of the rest.”

A trustworthy face that inspired confidence. An innocent atmosphere that seemed incapable of evil. For a moment, Eun-hyeon had the illusion that he had returned to being a troublemaker in Kunlun.

But he was no longer the young Seo Eun-hyeon who was swayed by such things. He had people who believed in him and followed him, and who he had to believe in.

Eun-hyeon looked at Jeong-hyeon and slowly pulled his hand away. This time, the hand that had been held slipped out easily.

Eun-hyeon sighed softly.

The situation was a mess.

Cheong-un was nowhere to be seen, and the Amhon were also drugged and wouldn’t come out. In the middle of the Prince’s residence, which he thought was safe, his Eldest Senior Brother, the leader of the Hongbaek Sect, was sitting and looking at him.

On top of that, he had heard the absurd story that his body would soon collapse, so he had to become an Undead himself to avoid dying.

The situation was the worst he could imagine, but that made it simpler.

“Stop it now, Eldest Senior Brother.”

Eun-hyeon looked at Jeong-hyeon and called him Eldest Senior Brother for the first time.

“Sometimes, the more complicated things seem, the simpler they are. This is one of those times. In the end, you need me to become an Undead to gain the power of Defying Heaven. But that’s not going to happen, so forget about it, Eldest Senior Brother.”

This time, Eun-hyeon smiled brightly instead of Jeong-hyeon.

Then, Jeong-hyeon’s face, which had been wearing a picture-perfect smile, contorted for the first time.

* * *

“I expected this, but you’re really being petty to the end. I’m glad Master cut ties with Kunlun a long time ago, or else someone like that would have become my uncle.”

Cheong-un muttered as he glared at the Undead that was blocking his way, the one who had once been his Master.

For some reason, he only seemed to encounter it at night.

On the altar he found in the basement, there was always a small hole leading to the surface. It seemed that the hole was made to allow light and air to pass through.

The hole itself was not very big, but on a bright moonlit night like tonight, light spread through the small hole into the dark basement.

Cheong-un lightly kicked his foot and approached the altar.

The Undead was a little slow to react, perhaps because it didn’t know what Cheong-un was trying to do.

In the meantime, Cheong-un stretched out his body toward the hole where the moonlight was coming in. The hole was far too small for Cheong-un to pass through, but Cheong-un raised his sword high in its scabbard and stepped forward without hesitation.

Pooh-hat.

The first thing to touch the hole in the ceiling was, of course, the scabbard. Cheong-un covered the scabbard with strong energy and shook it in a circle.

Pussshhh.

Dirt and stones fell, and the hole quickly widened enough for an adult man to escape through.

As he kicked off, Cheong-un’s Divine Shadow soared upward.

All of this happened in almost a single breath.

The stuffy and humid air of the basement disappeared.

Through the thick dust, he could vaguely see the golden roof tiles of the Yonghwa Palace.

It was much further away from the Yonghwa Palace than he had thought. The underground labyrinth seemed to be a little wider than the Yonghwa Palace.

The reason Cheong-un didn’t just break through anywhere and used the hole that was already there was because of the risk of collapse. He wasn’t the only one in the basement, so it would be a problem if the whole basement collapsed.

Cheong-un lightly brushed off the dirt on his body and was about to use his light body skill when the hole he had broken through shook and something shot up.

Cheong-un frowned and glared at it, but it didn’t disappear. Rather, it was even clearer in the bright moonlight.

It shook its body as if animals like dogs and cats shake their bodies to dry themselves when they get wet.

Cheong-un frowned.

“…Cheong-un, we haven’t seen each other in a while, and you’re running away without even saying hello.”

A familiar voice and a familiar face. It spoke kindly.

Cheong-un’s face contorted.

“Don’t you dare imitate my Master. You filthy Undead.”

“Yes. This body is an Undead. You see, your Master died and became an Undead. That’s because you didn’t help Master. You heartless disciple.”

Cheong-un’s eyebrows twitched at the words “heartless disciple.”

Calling someone a heartless disciple was an old habit of Eun-hyeon’s.

Whenever Cheong-un nagged the clumsy Eun-hyeon or acted in a way he didn’t like, Eun-hyeon would call him a heartless disciple.

“Oh, dear. Cheong-un. Don’t frown like that. This Master is weak now, and even seeing your face scares me.”

“Ha.”

Cheong-un was speechless and glared at Seo Eun-hyeon.

He had only heard reports of Seo Eun-hyeon’s Undead, but he saw it with his own eyes for the first time at the Seoan Night Market. Even though he knew that corpses were meaningless, he couldn’t take his eyes off Seo Eun-hyeon moving as he had in life.

He kept telling himself that the real Master was by his side, so that was nothing, but his mind was so troubled that he couldn’t bring himself to face Namgung Eun-hyeon.

Clinging to what you can see was something only amateurs did. From the perspective of a first-class expert, you focus on what you can’t see, and from the stage of a top expert, you begin to explore the essence of what you can’t see.

But he had already gone far beyond that stage, and yet his heart was so shaken just because the other person was Eun-hyeon.

While he was sorting out his feelings while coming to Beijing with Eun-hyeon, he felt pathetic that he had been shaken by something like that.

And now he was trying to shake him with the same trick?

It seemed that Jeong-hyeon had taken him lightly.

“Isn’t that the Master you said you loved? Has that love all gone cold now? You can’t even recognize him just because Master’s appearance has changed a little. You’re a truly heartless disciple.”

Cheong-un’s face twisted like a demon.