HDCLSSRS Ch 53

Chapter 53 Expert in Disappearances and Abductions (8)

 

“You… you really have no idea what kind of heart I’ve lived with all this time.”

Seomun Yuha looked up at his mother with teary eyes.

“You don’t know how we had to grovel and hide in disgrace! You’ll never understand! You, who grew up warm, full, and rich, could never possibly know. There’s barely anyone left of our clan now—just you and me.”

“Mom… No, I mean, Mother.”

“Silence! Don’t you dare call me ‘Mother’! Who wouldn’t want revenge? I, too, am barely restraining myself from slaughtering all those bastards of the Central Plains!”

Seong Muyeon shut his eyes tightly.

‘Please… just spare me this…’

“I raised my child all wrong. I raised you too delicately, like something precious, and now you’ve turned into a complete fool. What…? You forgot because you lived too comfortably…? You wretched child—!”

“Eek!”

Startled by her fury, Seomun Yuha quickly raised his arms to shield himself. But the assault didn’t come. This time, Baek Ryeoil firmly grabbed the lady’s wrist.

“You and the young master… you’re of the Hwajeonggul bloodline, aren’t you?”

When Baek Ryeoil asked, Madam Seomun’s eyes widened.

“H-How did you know that?”

After saying all that, how could you not know?

Hwajeonggul was an ancient and prestigious lineage passed down from old times. All its members were beautiful and aged slowly. Their bones were fine and their builds slender. Many martial masters had been enchanted by their appearances and manipulated like puppets.

However, due to their constitution, it was extremely difficult for them to cultivate external martial arts, and thus none became renowned for their martial prowess.

Over time, their numbers dwindled, and the clan vanished into history.

‘Wait… Hwajeonggul?’

Seong Muyeon finally realized the source of the strange familiarity he’d been sensing.

Seomun Yuha was one of the major characters in “The Sword Overseer,” so it was impossible for Seong Muyeon not to recognize him. The reason he hadn’t noticed until now was simple.

‘In the original, his name was barely used…’

When the war between righteous and demonic forces broke out, he appeared like a comet and swept across the battlefield. To the demonic cult, he was second only to Baek Ryeoil in fear.

His nickname was the Flower Ghost.

But…

‘To think that Flower Ghost was once such a naïve brat.’

Seong Muyeon clicked his tongue.

‘Could something have happened here with the demonic cult?’

Something must have. The Seomun family, which was just now beginning to gain renown as an influential household, wasn’t even mentioned in the original.

People assumed the Flower Ghost had simply emerged from the shadows. No one knew what had happened to him.

He came to loathe the world and eventually died on the battlefield—that was the end.

Whatever the demonic cult had done to him, Seomun Yuha would go on to despise them with a burning hatred, dedicating his life to hunting them down.

The Seomun Yuha in the original certainly played a major role in the extermination of the demonic cult. However, he didn’t belong to the orthodox sects. He loathed the demonic cult, but he hated the orthodox just as much. He disliked the unorthodox sects too.

He hated everyone except himself and those who followed him.

Of course, he clashed frequently with Baek Ryeoil.

As a member of Hwajeonggul who had absorbed the energy of numerous powerful martial artists, his martial strength became formidable—even Baek Ryeoil had trouble facing him.

While Seong Muyeon was recalling the original story, Madam Seomun’s shouting brought him back to the present.

“Can’t you see that every single blood relative is precious now? You can’t take revenge if you’re dead!”

He looked at the beautiful youth, eyes brimming with tears, with a strange emotion.

‘…Could the Flower Ghost possibly become one of us?’

They were already short on strength in the war against the demonic cult. If they could avoid wasting energy in meaningless fights sparked by the Flower Ghost’s provocations, it would be a blessing.

“They’ve realized the young master is from Hwajeonggul too.”

When Seong Muyeon spoke calmly, both the lady and Seomun Yuha turned pale.

They knew all too well what it meant for people of the Central Plains to discover Hwajeonggul’s existence.

“To think I’d encounter the supposedly extinct Hwajeonggul after hundreds of years.”

Baek Ryeoil stroked his chin.

That’s right. The reason the Hwajeonggul clan had disappeared from the world was because consuming their flesh granted tremendous internal energy.

There were several ways to cultivate energy, but breathing techniques were the most common. Sitting in meditation, absorbing the essence of nature with every breath—this was a slow and steady method.

However, with just one finger of a Hwajeonggul person refined into a pill, one could gain years’ worth of internal energy in a single dose. Because of this, martial artists had once gone mad with greed and hunted them down. Most were killed, and the few survivors had hidden in places far from prying eyes.

‘That must be why the Flower Ghost hated the righteous sects so much.’

“You understand now, don’t you? Abandon any foolish hopes and leave this place before they arrive.”

Seong Muyeon held out his hand. Seomun Yuha’s eyes were still brimming with tears. His cheek, struck by his mother, was flushed red—but his Hwajeonggul beauty only made the sight more pitiable.

“…Yes.”

Seomun Yuha no longer resisted and quietly took his hand and stood up.

Thus, the case of the missing heir of the Seomun family was safely resolved.

A faint sense of hope bloomed in Seong Muyeon’s heart. If the anti-hero Flower Ghost could truly stand on the side of justice, there could be no better outcome.

‘Hmm?’

On their way out, Seong Muyeon noticed a letter slip from Seomun Yuha’s hand. He picked it up and read it without much thought—and suddenly froze.

“…”

“Seong Muyeon? What is it?”

Baek Ryeoil asked in confusion. Seong Muyeon shook his head.

“It’s nothing.”

He folded the letter and tucked it into his sleeve. Then they all left the place together.

“Yuha! My son!”

“Father!”

The emotional reunion between father and son unfolded. Seomun Hak checked to see if his son was hurt, then narrowed his eyes.

“From today onward, you’re grounded!”

Seomun Yuha was immediately confined to his room.

“Young master… Master Dojang… please keep this matter quiet. If word gets out, it will ruin the reputation of the Seomun family.”

At the earnest request of the family head and his wife, Seong Muyeon and Baek Ryeoil nodded.

Seong Muyeon was oddly subdued. He barely touched his food, and when spoken to, he only responded with faint smiles, remaining uncharacteristically silent.

The family head and his wife, grateful for their efforts in rescuing their son, gave the two of them space to rest, promising a grand banquet the next day in thanks.

Seong Muyeon received a pouch full of gold, and Baek Ryeoil was gifted several bottles of rare liquor—not quite Baekhwa spirits, but still precious.

As night deepened, the Seomun estate became deathly quiet. Only one person remained awake.

Seong Muyeon waited for the silence to settle before quietly stepping outside.

By now, the air had grown so cold that you could see your breath once the sun set. He took a deep breath and rummaged through his sleeve.

Rustle.

What he pulled out was the letter Seomun Yuha had received from the demonic cult. The content was simple: “We’ll come to get you. Wait.” But what caught his attention was the seal at the end.

“…”

He knew very well who had written those words. He never imagined they would meet again like this.

‘Teacher Wi.’

His name was Wi Rim. Everyone called him Teacher Wi. He had once been an instructor for the cult’s young disciples. It seemed he had moved on to other tasks now…

At one time, he had been Seong Muyeon’s teacher.

As Seong Muyeon clenched his fist, the paper crumpled into a mess.

“Seong Muyeon.”

Baek Ryeoil appeared behind him without a sound. He leaned lazily against a pillar in the corridor, gazing steadily at Seong Muyeon.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Seong Muyeon offered a bitter smile.

“I see now. Leaving without the Master’s notice is impossible.”

“I asked where you’re going.”

Baek Ryeoil’s voice dropped. He was wary of Seong Muyeon. Tension crackled between them.

“If I tell you honestly… will you let me go?”

“That depends on what I hear.”

“…”

Seong Muyeon hesitated. He had hoped to come and go unnoticed…

“There’s someone I must kill.”

“…!”

Baek Ryeoil was visibly shaken by the unexpected reply.

“A personal grudge?”

“…Yes.”

In the martial world, debts of gratitude and revenge were sacred. One repaid kindness and avenged wrongs. It was an unchanging law.

“I won’t be long. So… please wait for me.”

After a deep bow, Seong Muyeon turned to leave. Baek Ryeoil did not stop him.

Seong Muyeon closed his eyes, feeling the chill wind rushing past him. His steps retraced the path he had taken during the day, now without hesitation.

‘Wi Rim…’

Every member of the demonic cult was subjected to rigorous training from a young age. Before learning demonic arts, they had to undergo trials to prove themselves worthy of being the Cult Leader’s hands and feet, both physically and mentally.

Even the leader’s own son was not exempt. When a cult child turned ten, they trained alongside other disciples. All six of Seong Muyeon’s brothers had passed this phase.

During the three-year program, each child was paired with a fellow disciple. After completing the course, there was a final task: to kill the partner with whom they had lived and trained.

At that final test, Seong Muyeon had…

When he opened his eyes again, no emotion remained on Seong Muyeon’s face.