There was a crackling sound inside the White Plum Hall. Before long, someone’s thumbnail had slightly diminished.
But the person biting the nail didn’t seem to even know what he was doing.
“Uh... sasuk.”
“Uh?”
“... it will bleed to this extent.”
Clench.
Baek Cheon, who couldn’t bear it anymore and bit his fingernails again despite being told not to, raised his head and looked at Yoon Jong.
“Woah, shit!”
Only then did Yoon Jong, who saw Baek Cheon’s face properly, get startled and step back.
His face wasn’t near or pretty like usual. The skin looked rough, the darkness under his eyes was so visible that it reached his chin, and the facial features that made him stand out were nowhere to be found.
“D-did you end up eating something bad? Why is your face...?”
“Yoon Jong....”
“Uh?”
“... will it be alright?”
“...”
Baek Cheon’s face turned pale as if he had come across a ghost, as if just saying the words made him more anxious. Now, seeing even his lips tremble, Yoon Jong began to get anxious, too.
And Baek Cheon asked again,
“Will it be alright?”
It was a complicated question, but Yoon Jong understood what he was trying to ask.
“You worry about everything. No matter what... will he do it the same way he did to us? Chung Myung also has a head.”
“His head is different from us.”
Baek Cheon bit his nails again.
“... it’s because something is missing in his head.”
Uh... there was no thought to rebuke.
Baek Cheon helplessly mumbled as if he wasn’t fully sane.
“... what do we do now... right, because the body has already been thrown away.”
“Wait a minute, sasuk. You cannot freely dispose of other people’s bodies.”
“But sect leader... for the elders and all, this is the first time experiencing Chung Myung.”
Baek Cheon held his head high with trembling hands. His hair, which had always been neat and clean without a messy strand, had turned frazzled.
“No matter how much I think about this, I cannot get a clear picture. Wouldn’t it be better to just stop it now? Should I go stop him?”
“No... still, you cannot....”
Yoon Jong tried to comfort Baek Cheon but couldn’t finish the sentence in a reassuring tone. This was because he, too, felt anxious.
“... still, he’s up and down in the head... no, nothing, right? No, it... cannot be?”
Yoon Jong’s face was now filled with confusion.
Right... it’s like his head is up and down, and it’s also like it isn’t there.
“Anxious?”
“... yes.”
The more he thought about it, the more his stomach twisted.
As the two faces gradually became stained with anxiety, Jo Gul, who was resting next to them, chuckled.
“Anyway, you both worry a lot. So many worries.”
“Uh?”
“When it comes to training, it doesn’t always work out the way you want it to, no matter how hard you try. If it’s something like sword technique or footwork, you can beat people to death, but how can you beat people when it comes to cultivation? In the end, qi is what makes one move.”
“....”
“....”
The two faces turned blank at Jo Gul’s calm words. Jo Gul hesitated for a moment and tilted his head.
“Why do you look at me like that?”
“Nothing....”
When Baek Cheon hesitated, Yoon Jong spoke for him.
“I thought there were times when the right words came from your mouth.”
“Seriously, you people...”
Whether Jo Gul was upset or not, Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong looked at each other and nodded.
“That makes sense.”
“Right... that is true. No matter how much of a bastard Chung Myung is, he couldn’t possibly hit someone who is learning cultivation arts.”
Now, they finally felt relieved.
But it seemed that there was someone who had different thoughts from them.
“You think so?”
Everyone’s eyes focused on one place.
Yu Yiseol, who had been sitting silently, mumbled with a sullen look.
“Maybe?”
“...”
She could make people anxious by saying the fewest words.
“Sago has different thoughts?”
“Someone who will harass others no matter what.”
“... true.”
It was the moment when it became clear what Mount Hua’s disciples thought of Chung Myung.
“... should we sneak a peek then?”
“They told us that ordinary disciples should never approach them. And if we go and get caught, senior sasuk Un Am will not be pleased.”
“You idiot who only knows greed! The guy who needs to get rid of the brain and fix the hair! Let me break you....”
“Ugh, seriously!”
Puaj!
The shoe that Chung Myung had taken off struck Baek Cheon in the face. Baek Cheon finally fell silent and collapsed to the side.
Thud.
“... look at you, so excited, so excited. Tsk tsk.”
Seeing him collapse, Chung Myung clicked his tongue. Baek Cheon had been alright in the past; he didn’t know what had happened, but he was getting worse the longer they continued.
At that moment, Yu Yiseol quickly approached Hyun Jong. Yoon Jong suddenly came to his senses and shouted.
“Sect leader, are you alright? Help them quickly!”
“Yes!”
Yu Yiseol, Tang Soso, and Jo Gul quickly assisted the sect leader and the elders. Yoon Jong turned to Chung Myung.
“Weren’t you teaching martial arts today?”
“Yes.”
“Well, why is it like this? Even if you are the devil...?”
“I will freeze to death, I am telling you. That also requires some learning. If coins are melted in a day, they will not be remembered in history.”
“T-then why?”
“Sigh.”
Chung Myung shrugged his shoulders.
“It isn’t that big of a deal. It’s just their first time doing it, and they don’t seem to understand.”
“Because it is the same?”
“I thought about giving them time... but I thought it was a waste too. So I put a bit of qi into the body and forced it back?”
“... You infused qi into someone else’s body and forced it back?”
“Yes.”
“Uh... that is the problem? You are a Taoist with righteous qi. No, that was before....”
“No.”
“Uh?”
Chung Myung smiled.
“The righteous qi sends the qi to a place where it needs to flow. Forcibly twisting it to a place it wasn’t supposed to go.”
Twist? Twist what?
“Through qi and blood?”
Pushing it?
“Scraping, breaking, crushing, and tearing it up!”
Jo Gul, who was listening and supporting the elder, began to break into a cold sweat.
“W-well then, what happened?”
“Hmm. Uh... well, it isn’t a big problem. Anyway, I succeeded in doing it. Now, all that is left is for them to get better.”
Yoon Jong tilted his head.
“Then why is the sect leader’s condition like this...?”
“It is nothing, and in the end, it is a good thing. When the flow is changed from one place you always directed it to, to another... um, I mean, it hurts a little bit.”
“... How much?”
“Um. How do I compare it?”
Chung Myung, who had been thinking for a moment, smiled like he remembered something.
“Would you be able to understand if I told you that it feels like a hole the size of a finger being dug inside the body from head to toe? Wrongly following the qi?”
“Eikkkkk.”
Yoon Jong turned thoughtful and stepped back. Sweat was coming down his face.
“You... you insane bastard, how can someone in their right mind endure it!”
“Hold on, hold on. They can do it. Look there. They did great jobs at this.”
That? Their soul... their soul was gone, you bastard!
“Are you alright, sect leader?”
Yoon Jong approached the sect leader and checked his condition. There was a low light in Hyun Jong’s eyes, which couldn’t focus on him.
“Yoon Jong...”
“Yes, sect leader! It is me! Yoon Jong! Are you alright?”
“... pull back.”
“Uh?”
“... clear his name and kick that bastard out.”
“....”
“... rotten bastard.”
Hyun Jong’s body moved and fell to the side.
“Ughhhhh! Sect leader!”
“Elder! Elder, come to your senses!”
“This insane bastard, what did you do to make someone faint from learning a cultivation skill!”
“Medicine! Take him to the Hall! Quickly!”
Chung Myung, who was looking at the noisy scene, clicked his tongue.
“Tsk tsk, it is because they are weak.”
Well, it was alright because they wouldn’t be weak for much longer.
Chung Myung stretched out his body.
But at this moment, he didn’t even know.
What kind of storm this thing he committed to would bring upon Mount Hua.