SYM 28

“W-who’s there!”

At someone’s shout, Yeo Sosan’s guards drew their swords and stepped forward.

Yeo Sosan, whose face flushed red, grabbed  Eun-hyeon by the arm, pulling him back. Even as he stumbled, Eun-hyeon’s gaze went to where the flying dagger had come from.

He had a feeling he knew who had come.

“My lord! Don’t worry. We’ll handle this.”

One of Yeo Sosan’s guards shouted as they watched a figure descending from the sky with flowing robes.

Yeo Sosan nodded and pulled Eun-hyeon closer with one arm.

“I don’t know which bastard caught the scent and came, but you’ve found your death place. Don’t think about leaving alive!”

The person who had displayed amazing lightness skills to arrive in the blink of an eye from far away descended slowly without saying a word. Their clothes billowing in the wind created an illusion of an immortal descending to the mortal world.

“Y-you, who are you!”

Since they were in the middle of the forest with many obstructions to visibility, they couldn’t be certain, but the man appeared to be stepping on thin air.

Even among lightness techniques, there was a complete difference between jumping off objects and stepping on empty air.

Yuk-gwang, who was responsible for Yeo Sosan’s security, gulped nervously.

…Surely it couldn’t be walking on air.

Yuk-gwang quickly shook his head after having such an ominous thought.

The man who landed was young. Walking on air? That was absurd. Lightness techniques and walking on air were completely different things. Even supreme masters would find it difficult to walk on air.

“You seem to have interfered out of misplaced righteousness, but don’t think about leaving alive.”

“Hmm. For a bug, you sure are noisy with that mouth of yours.”

“W-what?”

Yuk-gwang’s expression turned ugly. At his chin gesture, his subordinates charged forward with shouts.

Yuk-gwang was a first-class master from the Moyong family. Though he had been expelled from the family after causing several incidents and took refuge with Yeo Sosan, he was confident in his abilities.

The opponent before him clearly seemed like someone who couldn’t suppress their hot blood and interfered out of cheap righteousness. Probably some fool from a renowned righteous sect who thought too highly of themselves after being coddled.

He knew such fools well. Idiots who prattled about chivalry and propriety while fighting. There was no way such a young master could match his subordinates who had been through countless battles.

Just as Yuk-gwang was thinking this and trying to approach Yeo Sosan…

Slash—!

Bright red blood scattered in the air. In Yuk-gwang’s vision, he saw his subordinates’ dismembered bodies flying through the sky.

It happened in the blink of an eye. He couldn’t even guess when the sword had been wielded.

In an instant, it became a sea of blood. Blood from the torn bodies sprayed everywhere, covering trees and ground alike.

“What did you say earlier? Say it again.”

“Uh…”

Just as Yuk-gwang opened his mouth with a blank expression, something seemed to flash near his neck.

Thud.

Yuk-gwang’s head slowly moved and dropped to the ground.

“Ah, can’t speak because your head fell off? That’s fine then.”

The man slightly moved his head, and this time looked at Yeo Sosan.

Eun-hyeon, still in Yeo Sosan’s embrace, met eyes with the man. The one with the frighteningly beautiful face wearing an expression as cold as a blade was…

Cheong-un.

…Un-ah.

Behind Cheong-un’s cold expression, Eun-hyeon could see glimpses of his childhood, when he would call out “Master, Master.” Complex emotions mixed together – longing, joy, and a brief resentment.

Eun-hyeon turned his head away, afraid of meeting Cheong-un’s eyes.

“I-I was wrong. Wh-what do you want? If it’s m-money, I’ll give you plenty!”

Yeo Sosan spoke with his thick chin trembling.

Yuk-gwang was a guard he had hired for a large sum. Though his temperament was unpleasant, his skills were reliable—or so Yeososan had believed. Yet, he had been disposed of so effortlessly.

Like the merchant he was, he had incredibly quick wit. He quickly pushed Namgung Eun-hyeon toward the man.

“I-I’ll give him to you! Though I’ve waited a long time for him, how can it compare to my life!”

Though it left a bitter taste to give up Namgung Eun-hyeon, he had no choice.

Years ago, when Yeo Sosan visited the Namgung family, he had happened to see Eun-hyeon and had been looking for an opportunity to kidnap him ever since. It infuriated him to think years of waiting would end like this, but survival came first. There would be another chance someday.

When the man before him said nothing, Yeo Sosan roughly pushed Eun-hyeon toward him.

…To lose such a delicate beauty without even tasting it once. He hadn’t even had the chance to dress him in the lavish clothes he prepared……

This Yeo Sosan would never forget today’s humiliation…!

“No one else knows he’s here! Do as you please. If-if you grow tired of him, bring him to me! I’ll pay whatever you ask. What do you say? All you have to do is enjoy him to your heart’s content…”

“Ha. I can’t stand how noisy you are.”

“Wh-what…?”

Yeo Seosan wore a dumbfounded expression for only a moment before his head tumbled to the ground with a dull thud.

Just before blood could spurt from the severed neck, the man pulled Eun-hyeon close.

Pop.

The gag blocking Eun-hyeon’s mouth popped off.

Eun-hyeon looked around while massaging his numb body.

Corpses were everywhere. Even the cross-eyed man who had kidnapped him lay on the ground with his head separated, though he hadn’t seen when it happened.

He couldn’t hear even the sound of blades clashing, let alone see his movement. Eun-hyeon couldn’t understand how Cheong-un had killed so many people.

Cheong-un walked around slowly as if out on a leisure walk. But strange winds blew around him, cutting down those hiding nearby.

The sword wasn’t even visible, and he couldn’t even feel killing intent as blood sprayed and people fell whenever Cheong-un moved. It felt less like Cheong-un killing people and more like a massive natural disaster.

Is this the true power of a Heavenly Demon?

Eun-hyeon swallowed as he observed Cheong-un.

He saw his straight nose bridge over his snow-white complexion, deep eyes that somehow felt cold, and stubborn-looking lips.

Since returning to this world, it was the first time he was seeing Cheong-un’s real face, not Heo-un’s disguised one.

Eun-hyeon bit his lip hard.

Though he didn’t know what made him come help him like this, he needed to thank him for the help he received.

And since this was the first time seeing him without the disguise, he should pretend not to know him, right…?

“…Hero, thank you for helping me.”

Eun-hyeon extended his hands in the martial arts world’s greeting style and slightly bowed his head.

“I am Namgung Eun-hyeon, the eldest young master of the Namgung family. May I know who you are, the Hero who helped me? If you tell me your name, I will surely repay this debt when I return to my family.”

When he raised his head again, his eyes met Cheong-un’s pitch-black gaze.