Chapter 74

Under the tranquil night sky with the moon rising, fluttering robes, an unexpected chase unfolds.

I remember when I first met Wang Miaoyang, asking if she was a fairy sent to fetch Jeoseokcheon.

Back then, it was just a distraction, but I never dreamed it would turn into a real-life drama with me being chased.

“Mas… Master, wait a moment!!”

“…….”

Fortunately, the nighttime game of tag didn’t last long for me, a cripple with a broken cane.

Because at my call, Wang Miaoyang suddenly stopped running.

Seeing she didn’t use her lightness skills to escape, it seems she never intended to shake me off.

Now, if I just say the right words here…

“Why did you come?”

“First, before clearing up the misunderstanding, I must say this. I was wrong. I’m sorry…”

“Sorry? For what?”

“…Huh?”

At Wang Miaoyang’s tone, mixed with low emotions, I completely revised my judgment.

What should I say? Something feels wrong from within. The cute back view of Wang Miaoyang now exudes tremendous pressure.

“What did you do wrong?”

Alarms ring in my head. The instincts of a man engraved in my body tell me I’m in deep trouble.

I never dreamed I’d hear words in the martial world that I hadn’t even heard in my past life.

Of course, given the master-disciple relationship, the meaning is quite different, but that only makes me more nervous.

If I were upright, it wouldn’t matter…

I look at Wang Miaoyang’s frail shoulders, slumped weakly.

If she doubted, she could have doubted enough.

She believed my words, a stranger, accepted me as a disciple, and taught me the Jeonjin Sect’s secret martial arts with all her heart. The fact that I hurt her heart pricks my conscience.

From within, the voices of good Mantian and bad Mantian criticize me.

‘Picking up a worthless rag, teaching martial arts, and then betraying the master-!!’

‘Ugh~ Ugh~ Spit out the ice block~ Spit it out~!!’

I knelt down and banged my head on the ground.

I hadn’t actually planned to switch masters, and if I had just been glib as usual, I might have gotten through this situation.

…But I didn’t want to.

I had already lied to Wang Miaoyang many times.

Even if it was a secret related to the master’s identity, I didn’t want to lie anymore to someone who treated me sincerely.

So, without any embellishments, I apologized to Wang Miaoyang and conveyed my true feelings.

“I never intended to disrespectfully switch masters. I just… wanted to become stronger.”

“Looking back at today’s fight, the more I think about it, the more pathetic and disgraceful I feel. I wanted to improve.”

“…So when I saw the high martial arts of the Martial Alliance leader, I unknowingly asked for guidance.”

I meant to be concise, but the words came out long. I didn’t want to lose Wang Miaoyang.

“As a disciple, I should have consulted you first. I’m sorry.”

After a brief period of silence.

The sound of footsteps approaching softly was heard.

“…Lift your head.”

Perhaps embarrassed for scolding her disciple in a manner unbecoming of her age, Wang Miaoyang, with a red face, turned her head slightly and continued.

“Sigh… If it’s about looking disgraceful, I’ve shown more of that.”

She sighed as if resigned and shyly extended a hand of reconciliation.

“So… don’t struggle alone. Let’s become stronger together.”

Sometimes, a master grows alongside her disciple.

‧

‧

‧

“Huh? Master, you’re thirty?”

“Yes, didn’t I mention it?”

After clearing up misunderstandings and realizing how little we knew about each other, we moved to the porch to share personal stories, and I learned an unexpected fact.

I thought she was much older, being a master of rejuvenation.

But she’s only twelve years older than me. We’re zodiac siblings.

“No, but why do you act so old?”

“Th… Thirty is old, isn’t it…?”

Given the era’s low average lifespan, thirty isn’t young, but it’s not old enough to be called a venerable master.

Looking at Wang Miaoyang, genuinely flustered and fidgeting, it seems she lacked basic common sense from living deep in the mountains with only her master—now my grandmaster—and Ma Yang, a traitor to the sect.

“Master, how did you become younger?”

As if expecting this question when age came up, Wang Miaoyang gently lowered her gaze and placed her pale hand on her chest.

“I was seriously injured once. I tried to recover through rejuvenation, but a side effect made me younger.”

I wanted to ask more, but judging by the atmosphere, it wasn’t an easy topic, so I didn’t press further.

Looking up at the Big Dipper, the symbol of the Jeonjin Sect, with its grand nickname ‘Star of Death.’

I’m not sure if it’s fortunate, but Ma Yang definitely remembered my name…

Essentially, a threat that she would kill me someday, but since Ma Yang would appear if I stayed with Wang Miaoyang, she decided to train me while following me.

Meaning, we still had plenty of time to get to know each other.

…And while Mantian and Wang Miaoyang enjoyed a friendly rendezvous under the night sky.

“…….”

It wasn’t exactly a rendezvous, but to Sososo’s cold, gray eyes, it seemed so.

“Heeing… So, So unnie… Oppa… Is the bathroom still far?”

Hearing Seol Wonhwa’s call, tugging at her sleeve from behind in a hesitant posture, Sososo steadied her breath and regained her composure.

‘Master Wang Miaoyang is Sima Gongzi’s master… What am I thinking…’

Sososo ignored the unpleasant sensation rising from the depths of her heart, similar to when Mantian mentioned the name ‘Yeonghwa,’ and walked forward.

She had only come out for a walk, accompanying her cousin who was scared to go to the bathroom alone at night, but her heart was in turmoil.

She hadn’t realized it yet, but…

‘Nan Gong’s daughter becomes king.’

Because of this absurd prophecy, she had to live as a man.

Unlike herself, who couldn’t approach as a woman, she envied the women who naturally grew closer to Mantian.

Her small sprout of possessiveness only grew larger.

***

In the war-torn flames that consumed the Song dynasty, a new hegemon emerged in the Central Plains.

In the capital of Deng, Luoyang.

A man with snow-white hair tied neatly, mistaken for a woman due to his delicate features.

The Langzhong Ling, responsible for the palace’s middle gate, and the Wei General, in charge of the palace’s defense and the emperor’s protection, also a trusted minister appointed by the late emperor to care for the young emperor.

Not stopping there, bestowed with numerous privileges and positions.

The eunuch who rose to become the emperor’s master, the Grand Preceptor, the most powerful figure in the current Deng regime.

“Ah… That guy… That guy is coming! Invincible! That monster-!! Ahhh-!?”

Baekho, watching his lord wake from a nightmare in a fit, spoke to the maids standing anxiously nearby.

“His Majesty’s health is of concern. Go and prepare some medicinal soup.”

The medicinal soup was just an excuse; it was a subtle order for the maids to leave so they wouldn’t see the emperor trembling in fear.

And in the room, only the monarch and his minister remained.

“Your Majesty, the invincible rebel has been driven away by the punitive force. So, don’t worry…”

Baekho’s words to calm the emperor, who was breathing heavily, didn’t reach the end.

“Don’t spout such nonsense!”

The emperor’s bloodshot eyes scolded the incompetent minister.

“If the punitive force couldn’t punish, isn’t that a failure! Speak, Grand Preceptor!!”

“…….”

Baekho couldn’t say anything.

Because he knew his words were just sophistry to reassure the emperor.

Why is it called a punitive force? Because it punishes the guilty.

But where is the head of the invincible now?

Still firmly attached.

…That’s why it’s imprinted in the emperor’s memory, tormenting and gnawing at his spirit.

“Ah… I still remember how my brother died. It’s etched in my eyes and won’t disappear.”

How could he forget?

The most disgraceful event in Deng’s history, where the invincible killed the emperor’s brother, the crown prince Huofeng, who should have been emperor.

The emperor, abandoning his royal dignity, crawled and clung to his master as a mere human, ‘Huoxian.’

“…Your Majesty.”

“Master… That day was an ordinary day. Following our father’s command, my brother and I went out to inspect the people’s lives.”

“My brother… was a lively person, so he took the guards and went hunting secretly. Heh heh… And after hunting, he would boast about the game he caught that day.”

“It was a usual occurrence. But… but… he appeared.”

Like a person hanging off a cliff, Huoxian’s hands tightly gripped Baekho’s robes.

“Invincible… that monster! Suddenly appeared, killing everyone in his way… and my brother… my brother… he caught… and with his thumb and index finger… little by little… pinched him to death!”

Baekho, looking at the emperor clinging to him, sighed sadly inside.

He wasn’t there, but he saw Huofeng’s corpse afterward and knew well.

Pinching to death might sound trivial, but in reality, it was a cruel method of slowly twisting and tearing off living flesh with pincers.

“My brave brother… I had never seen him scream like that before. My brother… begged for his life… said he’d pay double whatever was asked… heh heh.”

Huoxian’s mouth twitched, making it unclear whether he was laughing or crying.

“…But do you know what he said?”

[Then it’s two bowls of chicken porridge. But I’m not hungry now, so it’s okay.]

“That guy… that guy… killed my brother… a person… over just a bowl of chicken porridge.”

To an extent unbelievable for someone of divine lineage, unimaginable for an empire’s emperor, Huoxian broke down and cried.

“Ah… Master… I’m scared. The martial world that produces such a monster… I’m so scared I might go mad.”

Baekho, knowing it was impolite, couldn’t bear to see his disciple, whom he had taught since childhood, suffer any longer, and gently patted the emperor’s back.

“Your Majesty, it’s okay. As long as I’m here, no rebel will come near your precious body.”

It was embarrassing to flaunt his title at his age, but to calm the fearful emperor, he brought out his reputation.

“Don’t fear the martial world either. You know my title.”

“One of the Ten Great Masters of the World… the Heavenly Strategy General…”

‘Heavenly Strategy General – a general bestowed by heaven.’

Man proposes, heaven disposes. In other words, the Heavenly Strategy General is a general chosen by heaven, always victorious, a title meaning an undefeated warrior.

“Yes, heaven’s will is with Your Majesty. So, don’t be afraid.”

Baekho, smiling reassuringly at his young disciple looking up at him, firmly said.

“No matter what villain appears, I will protect you.”

***

“The genius who deceives even heaven, Sima Mantian! Finally arrives at the Martial Alliance!!”

Mantian got off the carriage, took a deep breath, and looked at the grand symbol of the righteous martial world, the Martial Alliance.

After a journey that was short yet felt endlessly long, he had finally reached his destination.