Very arrogant words. Moreover, they were even less appropriate to say at the place where the current Alliance Leader of the Murim Alliance, the party who had sealed the gate, was personally lifting the seal. Hyeoncheon Jinin's white eyebrows twitched lightly once more. But soon that trembling disappeared.
Hyeoncheon Jinin raised his hand and gently stroked his white beard that hung down to his chest as he spoke.
"Then there would have been no reason for you to bother coming to the Murim Alliance, would there?"
"It was... a dying instruction. My master's...."
He came to the Murim Alliance to follow the Lone Sword's dying instruction.
And that was from the Lone Sword's disciple....
In truth, Hyeoncheon Jinin hadn't held much expectation when he sent the invitation card to the Lone Sword, that is, Zhongnan Lone Sword. He was already one who had forgotten the sword, one long forgotten by the Murim. And one whose all grievances were sealed.
Hyeoncheon Jinin put his lips to his teacup that now showed the bottom with nothing more to drink, and continued speaking.
"What do you intend to do from now on?"
He was asking what the Lone Sword's will was. The Lone Sword he knew wasn't someone who would end things by simply sending his disciple to the Murim Alliance.
Since he couldn't ask directly given the Alliance Leader's dignity, he was asking in a roundabout way like this.
"...."
In Jong Ji-hang's transparent eyes, a sharp light flashed for just a brief moment.
Had he been waiting for this question? Hyeoncheon Jinin felt that perhaps his question was included in the Lone Sword's dying instructions.
"...I will walk... again. The path... my master... walked...."
"...!"
Thud.
'Was that it...? The Lone Sword's dying instruction?'
It wasn't that he hadn't considered it while lifting Zhongnan's gate sealing. Nevertheless, the reason he made such a decision as the Murim Alliance Leader was because he judged that the Murim needed the appearance of one more absolute master.
Hyeoncheon Jinin set down his teacup audibly on the table and quietly looked into Jong Ji-hang's eyes. The sharp light had already disappeared from those eyes. They were simply too deep and clear.
Hyeoncheon Jinin soon gave up on reading his inner thoughts and sighed deeply.
"Hah.... Much resentment will accumulate. Just as your master did."
Jong Ji-hang stroked the Heavenly Rigid Sword once and said.
"My master... said... this...."
"...."
"That he carelessly... drew his sword.... That he couldn't even... handle it devastatingly.... And yet...."
Though the words were jumbled front to back, Hyeoncheon Jinin could fully understand the content. And he recalled words he had once heard from the Lone Sword.
[If you're not going to swing it, what's the point of painstakingly learning the sword? If you've learned it, you should use it devastatingly. Hahahaha!]
Into Hyeoncheon Jinin's ears, which had been immersed in reminiscence for just a brief moment, Jong Ji-hang's heavy voice continued to reach him.
"So... he became... the Lone Sword, the Poison Sword...."
"If you walk the same path, you'll only become a second Lone Sword."
"I will not... be so...."
"...."
"I will not carelessly... draw my sword.... But if drawn... I will swing it... devastatingly.... And then... mountains, streams, grass, and trees... will tremble, and all Murim people... will piss their pants...."
"...Is that the Lone Sword's dying instruction?"
At Hyeoncheon Jinin's heavy question, Jong Ji-hang shook his head. The real dying instruction was separate. Probably to say that, he had sent his disciple to the Murim Alliance even after his death. Hyeoncheon Jinin thought so.
Jong Ji-hang rose from his seat. The Heavenly Rigid Sword gripped in his left hand was shaking roughly. Just as the Lone Sword of old had done. No, even more crudely than that.
"He told me... to become... the New Sword , the Divine Sword...."
"...!"
Did he mean to newly write the history of the Martial World with a sword that reached divine skill? Probably so. The Lone Sword he knew was more than capable of leaving such a dying instruction.
And.
He was someone who never spoke nonsense.
'Does that mean this young man is worthy material for that?'
With those words, Jong Ji-hang turned his body and walked toward the door. Having finished all he had to say, he must be leaving.
At this moment, Hyeoncheon Jinin's voice caught Jong Ji-hang's feet.
"Is the collaboration with the Alliance still valid?"
Halt.
Jong Ji-hang stopped and lowered his head, lost in thought for a moment. From that appearance, Hyeoncheon Jinin could be certain that he knew about the alliance. Though whether to keep it or not was entirely up to him now that the Lone Sword was dead.
"That is... so...."
A gentle smile spread across Hyeoncheon Jinin's face.
Though he hadn't obtained the Lone Sword, he had obtained the New Sword. He hadn't yet seen how sharp it was, and it might become a double-edged sword in the future....
But wasn't that a problem for the person who wields it?
Thud.
Jong Ji-hang left and the room emptied again. Now only Hyeoncheon Jinin remained in the room, stroking an empty teacup.
***
Creak—
The next boat arrived in Zhengzhou.
Dong Bong-su and Eulji-tae waited until all the others had disembarked from the boat before finally setting their first steps on Zhengzhou soil.
Up ahead, the disciples of Kunlun Sect and Mount Hua Sect, defeated by Jong Ji-hang alone and still wearing gloomy expressions, were calmly moving their steps southward. The direction where the Murim Alliance is. Not only them, but most of the people who had been on this boat were heading toward the Murim Alliance as soon as they disembarked.
The people disembarking from other boats arriving from the opposite direction were also almost all moving in the same direction... it was no exaggeration to say that a human tide was surging into Zhengzhou.
"Why do you think they're flocking to this place like that?"
Eulji-tae gazed quietly at the pushing and pressing crowd and spoke.
Anyone who knew him would be surprised. Was the Breaking Heaven Hegemon Blade someone who opened his mouth first like this? And to someone he hadn't known for even a month.
Originally, he was famous for rarely opening his mouth unless someone spoke to him first. Dong Bong-su made him open his mouth first often. It was strange, but the feeling wasn't particularly bad.
Dong Bong-su, like Eulji-tae, stared blankly at the procession of people continuing to arrive, then said as if tossing out the words.
"Because it's not an age of great peace."
Unexpected. An answer far beyond expectation. Right. This is why he opens his mouth first. Eulji-tae wore an expression on his cold face that could be either a smile or doubt, and said.
"What do you mean by that?"
"You asked why they flock to this place like this."
"I did."
"They've gathered here to become heroes or great chivalrous warriors."
Yes. This answer was the standard and precisely the direct answer Eulji-tae wanted. But what does the age of great peace have to do with this? Isn't it completely off-topic?
Dong Bong-su's words continued.
"Heroes don't appear in an age of great peace. In an age of great peace, people don't need heroes or great chivalrous warriors, nor do they even know such things exist."
"...."
"Just as the common people in the age of Yao and Shun didn't even know who their ruler was."
Chaotic times. And the heroes of those turbulent times.
Dong Bong-su was speaking of heroes of chaotic times. He wasn't referring to simple chivalrous warriors of the Martial World that Eulji-tae had thought of. Did he mean there was that much of a gap between heroes and 'great' chivalrous warriors?
At Dong Bong-su's interesting answer, Eulji-tae became even more curious about this person.
"What about you? Are you the same as them?"
"...."
At Eulji-tae's question, Dong Bong-su paused his words for a moment and fell into thought.
A 'special prey' would have come here. And for the first time in his life, he also had a 'peculiar goal.' As special and peculiar as they were, both would be extremely difficult. Since it was a first, the word challenge would be fitting.
Challenge.
An unfamiliar but somehow attractive word. And he had already come to Zhengzhou.
Suddenly, a joke he heard often in that other world came to mind.
'Can't eat it but go anyway.'
A Hwatu game. Translating into terms from this place, a gambling game. Though it was a phrase that would only fit in such places... it fits perfectly.
That's right. He goes forward. As he always has.
"Waves are breaking."
Dong Bong-su said in a level tone.
When Eulji-tae looked, just as Dong Bong-su said, people's heads pushing and pressing here and there as they moved forward looked exactly like waves.
"When one has already thrown oneself into the sea, is there a way to avoid the waves?"
"...."
If it were the original Dong Bong-su, he wouldn't have made such pointless remarks so long and verbose.
However,
If he's already been violently swept up by the waves of chaotic times, wouldn't it be fine to try wearing the mask of a hero? And right now, the mask Eulji-tae wanted seemed like it would speak in this manner, just as he had. And in some ways, it was also what he truly wanted to say.
"If one has already been hit by the waves, one has no choice but to ride the current and swim safely all the way to land, wouldn't you say?"
Whether Eulji-tae quite liked Dong Bong-su's answer, he cleared his throat to hide an unfamiliar smile and said.
"Ahem. I see. Then let's go. If we're going anyway, it's better to go a little faster."
Dong Bong-su and Eulji-tae. The two finished their conversation and jumped into the human sea curtain, swept toward the Murim Alliance.
***
Just as Eulji-tae and Dong Bong-su had disappeared, the boat they came on soon departed as well.
Following that, another boat flowed in from the opposite direction and filled the spot that had just been vacated. On that boat was someone who, like the previous two, waited until all the other passengers had disembarked before setting foot on Zhengzhou soil.
Medium height. Black light armor. Short-cropped hair. A sword slung diagonally across his back. And an impressive scar slashing across his left cheek.
An appearance not much different from the other martial artists here. Except for the wound on his cheek.
Like any one of the martial artists, he mixed into the crowd, passed through the bustling main road, and walked southward for quite a while. The very path Dong Bong-su and the others had taken. The direction where the Murim Alliance is located.
Was he also one of the martial artists who came seeking the Murim Alliance?
After walking for a long time past Zhengzhou's prosperous district, a mansion as grand as a palace appeared. The Murim Alliance. Naturally, the area in front was bustling with people.
Those who had brought invitation cards were passing through Muhwa Gate and entering the Murim Alliance, while the rest were looking up at the great pillar of the Murim they were seeing for the first time.
The man mixed with the latter group and stood in one spot for just a moment. Then he quickly turned his body and left that place.
That was all. What he did after coming right in front of the Murim Alliance....
But at the spot where he had been standing, one very small mark had been stamped. At a glance, it looked no different from grains of sand rolling around nearby. However, looking closely, because it didn't move, it was clearly carved into the ground with some specific shape. Just as if someone had deliberately stamped a seal with that shape....