HDCLSSRS Ch 16

Chapter 16 A Humble Man in a Noble Place (1)

“……Are you alright?”

“No, I’m dying.”

So he’s alive.

“You’re heavy.”

“Just shut up and stay still.”

Baek Ryeoil took a moment to catch his breath. Seong Muyeon thought that he must have really overexerted himself tonight. And rightly so.

How many members of the Black Shadow Group had he taken down? There were also the branch warriors, even the branch leader… and on top of that, he had a hole in his thigh.

Baek Ryeoil had gone through hardship he didn’t have to, all because of him. Offering a shoulder for a moment’s rest wasn’t such a difficult thing.

Baek Ryeoil breathed steadily. After a bit of strength returned, he asked,

“Seong Muyeon, just what the hell are you…?”

His breath brushed against his shoulder as he mumbled, and it tickled Seong Muyeon where it landed, but he endured it. Then he apologized.

“I’m truly sorry. I couldn’t think of anyone but you, Master Baek.”

“You used me to solve your own problem? I’m so dumbfounded I can’t even laugh.”

Baek Ryeoil must have roughly figured out the situation, given what he’d seen and heard. The captured Namgung Cheonchu. Seong Muyeon’s exaggerated behavior. He must have played along, assuming something unknown was going on…

“It feels like I’ve been dancing on your palm.”

Baek Ryeoil let out a sigh, long like a breath. Seong Muyeon had no excuse, bearing his guilt. He simply offered his shoulder.

“That’s why I ask…”

Seong Muyeon hesitated before speaking.

“Would you please hide me?”

“……What?”

Baek Ryeoil sat up. He stared hard at Seong Muyeon as if trying to figure out his true intentions, doubting his ears.

Seong Muyeon scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

How many things had happened in such a short time?

Seong Muyeon realized he couldn’t handle it if things kept going like this.

“I thought I’d be able to hide myself just fine. But it turns out I can’t. And then I thought, what if I end up in danger again and don’t even have a martial arts hall to turn to? So please, let me hide somewhere safe.”

He had decided it would be better to put a leash on himself and hand it over to someone else.

Baek Ryeoil let out a snort of disbelief.

“Now you want to openly use me?”

“Well… you always wanted to catch me anyway, didn’t you? What’s the difference? Just think of it like adopting a potted plant. I’ll live quietly without making a sound or smell, as if I’m dead.”

Seong Muyeon obediently offered his neck. But the response was not what he expected.

“No.”

Baek Ryeoil folded his arms and stepped a few paces away from Seong Muyeon. It was a clear expression of refusal.

“Huh? Why? You’re okay with me just wandering around the Central Plains however I please? I’m the son of the Demon Cult leader, you know?”

“There’s the Namgung Clan, the Beggars’ Sect, and even the Murim Alliance—if needed, they’d personally take you in. Why should I be the one watching over you? Besides.”

Baek Ryeoil, who had been speaking sternly, suddenly glared at him fiercely and continued.

“After this incident, I trust you even less. How do I know you won’t turn around and stab me in the back?”

“……Do I even have the ability to do that? I mean, anyway, the Beggars’ Sect is a bit…”

“You seemed to fit in just fine in that beggars’ den, too. Blended right in.”

“Please, don’t say that. Huh?”

“I said no!”

Baek Ryeoil coldly shook off Seong Muyeon, who was clinging to his arm.

“Why are you doing this to me? If you have any conscience at all, you should think about what you’ve done before asking me for something like this! Whether you meant it or not, I went through hell because of you. You think I’d want to go through that again?”

“Uh…”

Seong Muyeon was speechless. Even he had to admit he looked utterly shameless. If he’d known it would turn out like this, he would have obediently groveled from the beginning. He hadn’t thought it through back then.

“Right? You’ve got nothing to say, do you?”

“But… still…!”

“But what? Going to try and manipulate me again with that slick tongue of yours? Ah, forget it! I’m not listening.”

“But…!”

Seong Muyeon clenched his eyes shut and shouted.

“Because I trust you the most, Master Baek!”

“……”

“……”

Seong Muyeon’s face flushed bright red.

He wished for a hole to crawl into. But he had a reason he couldn’t back down.

Maybe he’d been overly wary and frightened from the start.

Baek Ryeoil had his reasons at the time. Seong Muyeon had read the original story and knew how righteous Baek Ryeoil was, but he had assumed he could never enter that circle. But now he knew.

He, too, could be inside Baek Ryeoil’s circle.

In a world where no one could be trusted, that kind of faith was more precious than any treasure. Where else in the world could one find a person with unwavering beliefs and the resolve to uphold his justice to the end?

Moreover, Seong Muyeon had turned a branch managed by the Third Young Master into rubble. He was now in greater danger than ever. That’s how desperate he was.

“……”

He expected criticism, but no response came. Seong Muyeon slowly raised his gaze, wanting to check Baek Ryeoil’s expression.

Baek Ryeoil stood with his back to the moon, so his face was hard to see.

“…Master?”

“Ahem. I see…”

“So you’ll do it?”

“I’ll think about it.”

Baek Ryeoil and Seong Muyeon began walking slowly toward the hideout.

“Don’t be stingy! There’s no one but you, Master Baek. I can’t trust anyone else. Do you expect me to live forever in a beggars’ den? I don’t even trust beggars.”

“Geez…”

Baek Ryeoil rubbed his bare face and gave Seong Muyeon a sharp glance.

“Fine. But on one condition.”

He held up three fingers.

“Three conditions.”

Seong Muyeon swallowed dryly, tense.

“What are they?”

“First!”

“Yes.”

“……”

“……”

Baek Ryeoil just held up his fingers without saying anything. A long silence followed, as if he were about to pass out waiting.

“…Master? What’s the first condition?”

“That… I’ll decide that later!”

“Ah… yes.”

It seemed he hadn’t thought of any conditions to demand just yet.

As they approached the hideout, lights began to appear. Torches burned here and there, and the entrance bustled like a marketplace.

“Looks like the Beggars’ Sect and Namgung Clan have arrived. Thank goodness.”

The situation had already been resolved. The remaining demon warriors had all been subdued, and the Namgung Clan was busy tending to the rescued civilians.

From afar, they could also see Namgung Cheonchu receiving treatment. He noticed Baek Ryeoil and Seong Muyeon standing in the distance and tried to get up.

“Let’s just go.”

“Without saying goodbye?”

“What for? He’ll just spout flattery. Thanks to the Unfeeling Sword this, grateful to Mount Hua that.”

“So where are we going? Back to the village? Or maybe to one of the sect’s local branches…?”

“You’re coming back to Mount Hua with me.”

Seong Muyeon’s jaw dropped.

“Mount Hua? You mean the Mount Hua, where the main sect is located?”

“Is there another Mount Hua?”

Baek Ryeoil approached to sling Seong Muyeon over his shoulder. Seong Muyeon quickly dodged his hand.

“W-wait a second. Me? Mount Hua? Why?”

Baek Ryeoil narrowed his eyes.

“You asked for protection.”

“But I didn’t mean the main sect! I thought you’d stash me somewhere in a small affiliated clan or something. How could I possibly go there?”

“Then what? You thought I’d vouch for the son of the Demon Cult leader without any kind of verification?”

He wasn’t wrong.

“I’m going to hand you over to the Sect Leader. I can’t relax until you’re thoroughly examined.”

“S-Sect Leader? Me?”

“I’ve thought of a condition. First, you’re not allowed to talk back.”

“……Tch.”

Baek Ryeoil slung him over his shoulder with a swoop.

“Then let’s go.”

“What? Now? All of a suddeeeeeeeen!”

Seong Muyeon let out a shrill scream.

Everything in sight flashed past, leaving only afterimages. Namgung Cheonchu and the hideout disappeared in an instant. Seong Muyeon’s limbs and hair flapped wildly.

“Aaaaaargh!”

“Shut up!”

Mount Hua, known for its steep terrain in all of the Central Plains.

At its peak stood the grand sect named after the mountain—Mount Hua Sect. Mornings began exceptionally early here, in reverence of Taoism.

The youngest disciples rubbed sleepy eyes as they swept the temple grounds before dawn. As a place of Taoist cultivation, cleanliness had to be maintained at all times.

Swish, swish.

Other than the sound of brooms brushing the ground, silence prevailed. The refined atmosphere was Mount Hua’s pride…

“Don’t you hear something weird?”

One boy rubbed his ear. Another, who was also sweeping, tilted his head.

“What sound? I didn’t hear anything.”

“That! Can’t you hear it?”

The boys leaned over the cliff and listened. Indeed, there was an unusual noise in the mix.

“…A bird?”

It was getting closer. Soon, the boys could identify the sound.

“Aaaaaaargh!”

It was a scream.

Then Baek Ryeoil dropped from the sky.

“F-Fourth Elder!”

The boys bowed to the elder who had returned from a journey.

“Yes, good morning.”

Baek Ryeoil ruffled their hair roughly and walked inside. Strangely, the screaming stopped with his arrival.

But soon, the boys noticed a man slumped over Baek Ryeoil’s shoulder, folded in half.

“Just… kill… me…”

“Don’t exaggerate.”

“Y-you bastard…”

The man’s head flopped down. He seemed to have fainted.

With each of Baek Ryeoil’s cheerful steps, the man’s limbs swung back and forth in rhythm.