Chapter 140: The Eve (8)

Eun Jeong’s eyes gleamed.

Interesting.

She was going to use a form of the Ninefold Heaven Plum Sword from this locked clash?

And not even the orthodox form, but a variation?

It was something that could be called recklessness rather than courage.

Using such technique without even knowing how the opponent whose sword she had met would respond...

That was mockery one could only attempt against someone beneath them by a vast difference in realm.

...Or so he thought.

The girl whose sword was locked against his had an idea even bolder than he had expected.

Ninefold Heaven Plum Sword, First Form.

Spring’s Arrival, Blossoms Open.

It rose like flowers blooming in full at the coming of spring.

The first form, unleashed with their swords still crossed.

Vast internal energy gathered in the sword, and as power was added to its path...

It surged upward along that twisted trajectory and aimed for his chin.

“...Ha!”

It was a move that could be considered quite cunning.

No matter who saw it, that strike had clearly used the difference in height between the two of them.

In close combat, being smaller than one’s opponent was a fairly significant disadvantage.

But this child, precisely because she was shorter than her opponent...

Had shown that she could stab upward and aim for the head at any time.

Eun Jeong quickly twisted his body, and Soyak’s sword lightly grazed past his cheek.

A stinging pain.

The fact that she had left a wound on him from the very first form only made Eun Jeong satisfied.

Brother, did you truly take in a monster?

She was not seasoned.

At her age, she could not possibly possess seasoned skill as well.

But her very way of thinking was different from others.

A small stature, and a long sword.

The overwhelmingly low and wide attack range that came from those two things.

Every time Soyak’s sword swung, Eun Jeong had to block unfamiliar points of impact.

And Soyak knew that as well.

KAANG—!!

Deflecting the sharp blade that tried to stab and cut into the inside of his knee, Eun Jeong opened his mouth.

“Not bad?”

“It seems you still have room to talk.”

Sword Qi clashed against Sword Qi, releasing vast wind pressure in every direction.

Every collision produced a sound like boulders rolling down a cliff, and the ground began to be gouged apart.

And after they had exchanged about thirty moves—

“Enough!”

Eunsong’s voice rang thunderously across the training ground.

Soyak and Eun Jeong stopped their swords as though it were a lie, then each retreated three steps.

As if they had known this would happen.

“Eun Jeong. She is your disciple-niece. You have not forgotten, I hope?”

“As if I would forget.”

He smiled brightly and sheathed his sword.

Soyak did not look surprised, as if she had already noticed.

Both Eunsong and Eun Jeong watched her with considerable interest.

“You are not even surprised to hear that he is your Master’s fellow disciple. Did you already know?”

“To some extent... I had noticed.”

“Cheonjeong, was it the same for you?”

“Yes, Master. Otherwise, would she have had any reason not to use killing moves?”

What Cheonjeong said was true.

From beginning to end, Eun Jeong had not brought out a single killing move.

Even after seeing Soyak use her forms in unconventional ways, that had not changed.

If he truly were an enemy, he would have done everything in his power to kill Soyak, or at least break her.

“And Soyak.”

Eunsong called Soyak.

Soyak also sheathed Falling Blossom Tranquil Edge and answered.

“Yes, Master. I am listening.”

“There is something I must tell you. As your master.”

“...Yes?”

Soyak looked up at Eunsong with round eyes.

It was nothing major.

There was simply one thing in the way Soyak used the sword that he thought he should point out.

As for the overall skill and completion of her swordsmanship...

Honestly, that was no longer something Eunsong could teach.

That was why Eunsong had nodded when Elder Jeonggang said he would teach her.

However, Soyak still lacked experience.

For now, she was filling that lack of experience with ingenious ideas.

But that method would not work forever.

“You used many upward thrusts. Was that to take advantage of your short stature?”

“That is correct.”

“If you make that a habit, it will become unstable later. Do you know why?”

Soyak tilted her head.

She thought about it carefully, but no answer came, so she shook her head.

“I am not sure.”

“You are fourteen now, but will you remain fourteen forever?”

“...Ah.”

“You are not even five feet tall right now, but will you stay that way forever? You will easily grow to five and a half feet. If you try to keep piercing openings created by differences in height as you do now, your old methods may become useless later, and you may run into a wall.”

Soyak nodded.

At present, she was the smallest even among girls her age.

But there was no guarantee she would remain that way forever.

Even if she only grew to the average height of female martial artists, attacks using a height difference would lose much of their meaning.

“I will keep that in mind.”

“You have talent, so always walk the orthodox path. Only then can you aim for victory when you use variations.”

“...Thank you.”

The lights in Flower-Haze Hall also began going out one by one.

Since Eunsong had arrived, everyone assumed the matter had been resolved, whatever it was.

The fact that the fight had stopped was another reason.

And Eunsong... stared steadily at Eun Jeong through narrowed eyes.

“...Were you not finished scolding people, Brother?”

“Of course not. Thanks to you, all the third-generation disciples woke up. Who told you to draw out streams of Sword Qi like that?”

“T-that is because the child used Sword Qi too....”

“You call that an excuse?”

Eun Jeong shut his mouth tightly.

In any case, Soyak was his disciple-niece.

And one more than half his age.

It was not something he could boast about, drawing out stream after stream of Sword Qi against a child like that.

“So, before that... what were you two doing out here in the middle of the night?”

Eunsong’s gaze turned to Cheonjeong this time.

One might call him the original cause of all this.

Cheonjeong quietly lowered his eyes, then honestly confessed everything.

“...I heard everything from Soyak. And because an uneasy thought came to me, I called her out and was speaking with her.”

“What sort of conversation required you to leave out your other fellow disciples and speak secretly with only her in the middle of the night?”

“It is just... an ominous thought came to me....”

Cheonjeong slowly raised his head.

Eunsong’s eyes met Cheonjeong’s.

It was not as though he could not understand Cheonjeong at all.

Children who were needlessly adult often made secrets from other children their age.

“Can you tell me?”

Cheonjeong nodded without hesitation.

“Yes. I can tell you, Master.”

“Then speak.”

“You must have heard the news from the Shandong Ak Family. About how the Demonic Cult had hidden inside, rose all at once... and the Ak Family branch estate was destroyed.”

“...Yes, I heard.”

Cheonjeong smiled bitterly and lowered his head.

Then, in a voice not particularly loud, he murmured,

“...That thought came to me.”

“What thought?”

“The Ak Family may not reach the Five Great Households, but they are a prestigious family just below them, are they not?”

Eunsong narrowed his eyes.

Because he was already thinking one step ahead, wondering why Cheonjeong was saying this.

“...They are.”

“If the remnants of the Demonic Cult could secretly plant agents in the Shandong Ak Family for fifty years... why would we be an exception? That was the thought that came to me.”

“I see. It is only natural to think that. It is also natural to feel uneasy.”

Eunsong nodded.

But his face, too, was hardening.

It was not that Eunsong had failed to consider that possibility.

He had chosen not to consider it.

Because...

It was already something they could not respond to.

What if they had begun planting agents in the Nine Great Sects and prestigious families before he was even born, from over fifty years ago?

The Demonic Cult had collapsed and the Heavenly Demon had died, yet their remnants were all still alive, like scattered cells.

Without even exchanging letters, they could act independently toward a common purpose as much as they liked.

The Demonic Cult’s revival.

The downfall of the righteous factions and the Martial Alliance.

And the chaos of the martial world.

Eun Jeong, who stood beside him, looked at Cheonjeong with intrigued eyes.

That child’s martial strength was nothing special.

His physical conditions and talent for martial arts were the same.

But when it came to using his head, he was different from the rest.

So much so that Eun Jeong felt as though he were looking at himself and his Brother Eunsong.

Eunsong was thinking the same thing.

“So what is it that makes you uneasy?”

“...Have I not told you until now?”

“Do you think I, Master Myeonggon, and Great Grand Master Jeonggang have not thought of such things?”

“You must have... but I am still uneasy.”

Eunsong narrowed his eyes.

Not because he was displeased.

Because he wanted to hear the reason.

“Can you answer why you are uneasy?”

“...My thoughts have not reached that far yet. It is only, only a feeling I have....”

Understanding one’s own thoughts was difficult.

Few people could clearly analyze why, how, and for what reason they had come to think a certain thought, or had come to feel a certain feeling.

Cheonjeong, too, needed time.

But at that moment, Soyak beside him casually gave the answer.

“...Would the Shandong Ak Family not have thought of it as well?”

“Oh?”

“They likely did not fail to prepare either. Only....”

The Family Head’s daughter had become the Demonic Cult’s pawn, and then a Demonic Beast.

It was not that they had not prepared.

They had merely believed the Demonic Cult had fallen, and so prepared somewhat “innocently.”

“They prepared for a Demonic Cult that had declined, collapsed, broken apart, and scattered... but what tore into them in the end were the Demonic Humans of the Demonic Cult. Broken and scattered, yes, but still bearing the fangs of that day.”