HDCLSSRS Ch 167

Chapter 167 The Badger (2)

“Why?”

His eyes resembled a deep, pitch-black abyss. Kang Ung instinctively averted his gaze.

“Why, you ask… It’s been far too long since we left Mount Hua. It’s already been almost two years. I thought that maybe we should return once in a while—at least to show our faces….”

Baek Ryeoil neither rebuked him nor mocked him. He simply stared at Kang Ung with eyes that betrayed no emotion, then let out a hollow laugh, like air leaking from a punctured bellows.

“If you truly want to go, then go back alone.”

“…….”

On the surface, Baek Ryeoil appeared perfectly fine. The reckless, emotion-driven outbursts that once made him charge ahead without regard were gone, leaving behind only a cold swordsman, honed like a finely sharpened blade.

At least, that was how people saw him.

But Kang Ung—his disciple who stayed closest to him, sharing his every movement and moment—found this change deeply unsettling. If only his master would grow angry, or reveal even a fragment of what lay within, he would not feel this constant unease.

Yet his master never revealed his inner thoughts. To Kang Ung, he felt like a time bomb that might explode at any moment.

All of these changes had begun three years ago—when the Demonic Cult swept through the Jegal Clan, and Seong Mueyon left.

Not long after the incident, the Mount Hua Sect gathered their wounded and returned to their main mountain. The bitterness of defeat cast a heavy gloom over the entire peak.

That very day, Baek Ryeoil entered closed-door cultivation, leaving behind his young disciple alone.

Left suddenly on his own, Kang Ung was taken in and cared for by Ma Jincheon, while Baek Ryeoil did not reemerge into the world until a full year had passed.

The master who returned was a different person.

His martial arts had advanced significantly—that went without saying. But Kang Ung and Ma Jincheon both quickly realized that the changes ran far deeper than mere strength.

One could never call his personality pleasant, but at the very least, he used to display his human joys and sorrows without reservation. After his seclusion, even that could no longer be found.

Whatever time he had spent in that dark cavern, it seemed the incident had profoundly altered his heart.

Upon emerging from seclusion, Baek Ryeoil reclaimed the disciple his own master had been caring for in his stead and immediately set out into the martial world. And for nearly two years now, he had not returned to Mount Hua even once.

During that time, the two of them had exterminated countless Demonic Cultists. Baek Ryeoil pursued them with an obsession bordering on madness, rushing without hesitation to any place where the Demonic Cult was said to be.

Following him, Kang Ung experienced countless hardships.

Chasing rumors drifting through the martial world often meant sleeping on the roadside, and even eating or washing on time felt like a luxury.

He fought battles that teetered constantly between life and death as if they were daily meals. Compared to his peers, his martial prowess had increased dramatically—but it was a horrific stretch of time he never wished to experience again.

This incident was no different. It had been a perilous battle in which dozens of Demonic Cultists attacked at once. Even Kang Ung, now skilled enough to at least protect himself, had felt his blood run cold more than once.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me—Honggae!”

When the door opened, a grimy man poked his face inside. Kang Ung greeted him naturally, as though accustomed to his presence. Honggae—the only person he had met with any regularity over the past few years—was a beggar affiliated with the Beggars’ Union. At first, Kang Ung had been horrified by his filthy appearance and stench, but with time, even that had become familiar.

“Is there any new information?”

“Ah… well….”

Unlike usual, Honggae hesitated and did not immediately enter. Anxiety was plain on the face he held between the doorframe.

“Is there a problem?”

Feeling uneasy, Kang Ung asked, then glanced back at his master. Baek Ryeoil was already sitting upright, arms firmly crossed before his chest—clear proof that something was going on that Kang Ung had not noticed.

Honggae rolled his eyes, then let out a heavy sigh.

“Don’t get angry. I had no choice.”

As he stepped slightly aside, a pale hand appeared, pushing the door wide open. The figure who had been hidden behind Honggae finally came into view.

Kang Ung’s eyes widened.

“It’s been a while.”

“G-Gr… Grandmaster….”

Ma Jincheon gave a faint smile to the stunned Kang Ung.

“That damned beggar Honggae….”

Baek Ryeoil muttered viciously through clenched teeth, making Honggae flinch.

“I said I had no choice!”

“Don’t scold him. It’s my fault for following him so stubbornly.”

Ma Jincheon spoke calmly. After briefly surveying the room, his gaze finally settled on his disciple, Baek Ryeoil.

Baek Ryeoil stared back at his long-unseen master, his expression stiff and rigid.

A sharp tension filled the room.

Standing behind Ma Jincheon, Kang Ung could not see his expression, which only heightened his anxiety.

Just as the air grew so tight it felt hard to breathe, Baek Ryeoil spoke first.

“You’ve aged quite a bit.”

“And that’s the first thing you say?”

Ma Jincheon burst into hearty laughter, instantly dispersing the tension. Only then did Honggae quietly slip inside.

Indeed, the face of the Grandmaster he had not seen in two years bore more wrinkles than before.

“How did you know where we were?”

Baek Ryeoil asked, gesturing for him to sit.

“It wasn’t that difficult. You’ve been causing such a stir everywhere you go—it was bound to reach my ears. You’ve been up to some truly outrageous things, haven’t you?”

“Well….”

Baek Ryeoil merely shrugged. Ma Jincheon’s gaze shifted to the sword Baek Ryeoil was in the midst of maintaining.

“I’m glad to see you’re using that sword well.”

He carefully reached out, fingers brushing over the engraved characters etched into the blade.

“Nansaeng (難生). It was your father’s sword. I never thought I’d see it again—but seeing it returned to your hand like this moves me deeply.”

Murmuring with wistful nostalgia, he soon furrowed his brow.

“…Though I still don’t know how this sword found its way back.”

Kang Ung remembered that day as well.

Several months after Baek Ryeoil entered seclusion, the kitchen had erupted in chaos. Inside a supply crate of food delivered to Mount Hua, there had been a sword instead of ingredients.

It was during the time when the wounds left by the bloodshed at the Jegal Clan were slowly healing. With lingering fear that enemies might attack at any moment, someone tampering with the supplies had caused an uproar.

When it was revealed that the sword was the long-lost beloved weapon of their disciple, Mount Hua was thrown into turmoil once again.

Some shouted that it was a trap and that the sword must not be touched—it might be coated with poison. Others insisted it could be cursed and should be melted down entirely.

Even after extensive investigation over a long period proved that the sword was completely harmless, the Nansaeng Sword remained untouched, resting quietly in its box, waiting for its owner.

That sword eventually returned to Baek Ryeoil’s hand after he emerged from seclusion.

“It’s not bad. The weight is just right, and it fits my hand well. I especially like how it’s mixed with Hancheol—its durability is excellent. It won’t be easy to find an opponent capable of damaging this one.”

Baek Ryeoil stroked the hilt with clear satisfaction.

“Your senior brother said the same thing.”

“Did he?”

For a while, Kang Ung stared blankly at the two men chatting softly. Since leaving Mount Hua, he had lived every day amid tension and brutal combat. This kind of peaceful atmosphere felt unfamiliar—almost awkward. And yet, a warm smile slowly spread across his face.

“Ung-ah, come sit here as well.”

“Ah—yes! I’ll bring tea first!”

Startled from his daze, Kang Ung hurried to his feet. It had been so long since they had received a guest that he had forgotten even the most basic etiquette.

He quickly asked the kitchen to prepare hot water, tea ware, and tea leaves.

As he waited, Kang Ung’s cheeks flushed, and his heart thumped loudly.

There’s so much I want to say to Grandmaster… where should I even begin?

Ma Jincheon’s presence was overwhelming.

Baek Ryeoil and Kang Ung shared deep trust as master and disciple, but they were not particularly affectionate. Yet with Ma Jincheon—who shared profound ties with both of them—present, the previously stiff atmosphere softened instantly, and Kang Ung felt a powerful sense of belonging to Mount Hua and to these two men.

He missed Mount Hua painfully.

Once the tea was ready, Kang Ung roughly wiped at his stinging eyes and hurried back, his face flushed.

But then—

“How long are you going to keep acting on your own whims?!”

Ma Jincheon’s furious shout exploded from beyond the door.

In the brief time Kang Ung had been away, the atmosphere had changed drastically.