SYM 96

Jeong-hyeon, the Sect Leader.

The moment Eun-hyeon heard the voice and the name Jeong-hyeon, his chest tightened as if someone had blocked his breath.

Sect Leader.

When Eun-hyeon was in Kunlun, the Sect Leader’s health wasn’t very good, so he had expected Eldest Senior Brother to become the Sect Leader.

But even so, he deliberately didn’t ask about or look for news about Kunlun.

It was a strange feeling.

To Eun-hyeon, Kunlun was a ghost of the past, a dark history. But so much time had passed, and Seo Eun-hyeon’s life was over, so he thought he wouldn’t feel anything even if he met them again.

But as soon as he heard that name… Eun-hyeon couldn’t even dare to turn around.

The sound grew more distant. Even though he was sitting still in front of the table, he felt like the world was spinning, so he squeezed his eyes shut.

What if he made a fool of himself here?

He needed to relax and come to his senses.

But no matter how much he urged himself, the sound only echoed as if he were underwater, and he couldn’t hear properly.

His breathing grew rougher. He felt like the air was getting heavier and pressing down on him.

What should he do?

Just as his mind was growing increasingly blank, someone gripped Eun-hyeon’s hand tightly.

It was Cheong-un.

Cheong-un, as if he knew what Eun-hyeon was thinking and what situation he was in, didn’t say anything and quietly tapped his hand.

Gradually, his mind began to return.

The strange sounds he heard as if he were underwater returned to normal, and the pressing air disappeared.

Eun-hyeon realized how cold his hand had become from the warmth of Cheong-un’s hand.

“Hoo.”

“Please have a cup of warm tea.”

Cheong-un poured a cup of tea in front of Eun-hyeon. The warm, steaming tea was sweet chrysanthemum tea with sugar. Chrysanthemum tea was cheap, but Eun-hyeon occasionally enjoyed it because of its unique sweet scent and taste. It wasn’t the kind of tea that a high-class inn would prepare and serve, so it seemed that Cheong-un had ordered it for Eun-hyeon.

As he slowly sipped the tea, the unique sweet scent and taste of chrysanthemum tea spread through his mouth.

“Thank you.”

It was a small whisper that others couldn’t hear, but Cheong-un, who understood, slowly tapped the back of Eun-hyeon’s hand.

Eun-hyeon sighed.

He was ashamed of himself for being so surprised just by meeting Eldest Senior Brother.

“Sect Leader, you’re a stranger to Great Hero Ha, aren’t you? This is the famous White-Robed Divine Dragon Ha Yeo-un. He has made a great contribution to this matter. Great Hero Ha, this is Taoist Jeong-hyeon, the Sect Leader of Kunlun.”

Eun-hyeon watched with slightly dazed eyes as Ha Yeo-un and Eldest Senior Brother, no, Jeong-hyeon, who was now the Sect Leader, exchanged greetings.

He thought that Jeong-hyeon, the Sect Leader of Kunlun, and the Heavenly Demon Cheong-un would never meet unless it was on the battlefield, so he felt a little dizzy seeing them greeting each other so amicably.

“It is an honor to meet the Great Hero whose fame is widespread.”

“No, it is my great honor to meet the Sect Leader of Kunlun like this.”

Namgung Juwon, who was watching the two people greeting each other with a satisfied expression, introduced Eun-hyeon and Eung-wang this time.

“These two children are my sons. Eun-hyeon and Eung-wang.”

“Ah, I heard that Young master of the Namgung family Namgung Eung-wang became the Eldest Young Master. I was too busy to congratulate you separately. I will send a gift to the clan, so please accept it.”

“No. As you know, the Namgung Clan is currently closed, so everything was done quietly within the family.”

“I heard the story. I don’t know how to comfort you.”

Listening to Namgung Juwon and Jeong-hyeon talking to each other, Eun-hyeon felt somewhat empty.

Was he expecting Eldest Senior Brother to recognize him as soon as he saw him?

Even Cheong-un didn’t recognize him at first.

Eun-hyeon slowly turned his head and looked at Jeong-hyeon.

…Jeong-hyeon.

Jeong-hyeon, the Sect Leader of the Kunlun Sect, was quite different from the Eldest Senior Brother in his childhood memories.

In Eun-hyeon’s memory, Jeong-hyeon was a noble-looking person with unparalleled martial talent.

That was why he had willingly given his Qi to Eldest Senior Brother, even though he knew it would damage his body.

He wanted Eldest Senior Brother, who had outstanding talent unlike himself, to not be ignored by others and to be able to bloom his talent.

At the time, Kunlun was another family and himself to Eun-hyeon, so serving Eldest Senior Brother, who would bring glory to Kunlun’s name, was a natural thing.

Eun-hyeon glanced at Cheong-un without realizing it. Eldest Senior Brother, who used to look so radiant, looked ordinary next to Cheong-un.

“…Well, I guess it’s natural.”

Eun-hyeon muttered to himself without realizing it.

When he thought about it, it was natural.

Cheong-un was the protagonist of the story. It was natural that his face and talent could not be compared to others.

On the other hand, Jeong-hyeon was just an extra like himself. If he were an outstanding person, he would have been in charge of some kind of opportunity or played a major role in the novel.

Was it because he was the only person he confessed to about being possessed that he secretly expected him to recognize him even if his appearance changed?

“…Hyeon-ah, Eun-hyeon!”

“Ah, yes?”

Eun-hyeon was startled by Namgung Juwon’s voice calling him and raised his head.

Namgung Juwon and Jeong-hyeon were looking at him.

“What were you thinking so deeply about that you didn’t hear me calling you and were just talking to yourself? This is Taoist Jeong-hyeon, the Sect Leader of the Kunlun Sect. Greet him.”

Eun-hyeon finally understood the situation and took a fist salute.

“I am Namgung Eun-hyeon, an unworthy son. I was born as the eldest son of the Namgung Clan because of my weak body, but I have not learned Martial Arts.”

“Young master Eun-hyeon. How can a person’s role be determined only by Martial Arts? If it weren’t for Young master Eun-hyeon, a big problem would have occurred this time. The entire Martial World owes Young master Eun-hyeon a debt for this matter.”

Jeong-hyeon looked like the kind of person people think of when they say Taoist.

A soft and kind face, an atmosphere that seemed somehow different from secular people. If you only looked at that appearance, people would think that Kunlun was like the Shaolin Sect, which preached non-killing.

But Kunlun was completely different. Even though it was also a mountain, the Kunlun Mountains where Kunlun was located were connected to the Demonic Sect, so Martial Arts had developed aggressively and was always filled with killing intent.

It felt very strange that someone who practiced such Martial Arts took on the appearance of a kind monk.

“No. All I did was write a few letters to my father. It was Great Hero Ha’s decision to find out how to make the antidote this time, and to decide to generously reveal it.”

Eun-hyeon subtly praised Ha Yeo-un and stepped back.

Facing Jeong-hyeon was much more tiring than he thought. Every time he saw Jeong-hyeon, the past kept coming to mind, no matter how hard he tried not to.

Eldest Senior Brother, who casually asked him to help with Qi Circulation.

Why didn’t he stop even though he knew that he was not simply helping with Qi Circulation, but taking his Qi?

Taking someone else’s Qi while doing Qi Circulation was not normal. It was strange even now to think that he took the Inner energy of a young junior brother who was weaker than him, even though it was not an emergency.

“Great Hero Ha also helped a lot in defeating the Hongbaek Sect at Godeok Temple, didn’t he? You’re really amazing. With such a young rising star, the future of the Martial World is bright. Hahaha.”

Even with Jeong-hyeon’s flattery, Cheong-un simply gave a faint smile without saying anything.

After that, Jeong-hyeon praised Ha Yeo-un several times and talked to him, but Cheong-un only gave simple answers and did not show any particular reaction.

“But did only Sect Leader Jeong-hyeon come from the Martial Arts Alliance? What about the others…?”

Namgung Juwon opened his mouth cautiously.

The current leader of the Martial Arts Alliance was the abbot of Shaolin. He guessed that the Shaolin abbot, who was heavy on his feet, would not come here in person, but it was very surprising that the Sect Leader of Kunlun came alone.

“Since we are gathering near Beijing, we decided that it would be difficult if too many people gathered, so only one person each from Jeomchang, Mount Hua, and Shaolin decided to come. And the Beggars’ Sect decided to secretly support us.”

“More than a thousand people have disappeared in this incident. Is it possible to handle it with that many people? Don’t you need more people?”

Jeong-hyeon smiled awkwardly at Eun-hyeon’s words and shook his head.

“If more Martial artists than this gather in Beijing, the government will not stand still. And the Tang Clan will probably take a few days, but they said they would send people as soon as the antidote is made.”

There was nothing wrong with Jeong-hyeon’s words, but Eun-hyeon felt somehow uneasy.