Chapter 107: Chapter 107
The day after the Plum Blossom Swordsman examination ended.
“Sect Leader! That cannot be done.”
“What do you mean by that!”
Shouts were going back and forth in the Unjung Pavilion, where they had gathered to announce those who had passed the Plum Blossom Swordsman examination as in previous years.
“Does the Sect Leader intend to sully the noble position of Plum Blossom Swordsman with a struggle for power?”
“Such a decision has never once occurred within the history of the Mount Hua Sect.”
The elders fiercely opposed the Sect Leader’s words to change the long-standing tradition.
At that moment.
Srrk…
The Sect Leader, who was watching those who opposed his opinion, drew his sword.
“Th-That is!”
The elders looked at the sword in shock.
The blade that slipped out was unique.
The blade, engraved with a red wave, was blunt enough that it did not seem able to cut a single blade of grass, but it exuded a miraculous aura.
However, the most important thing rather than such things was the symbol the sword possessed.
The faces of the elders who recognized the sword’s identity were filled with astonishment.
“That sword is…….”
Everyone could not take their eyes off the sword.
Because that spiritual sword was a divine artifact that could exercise any single command with the authority of the Sect Leader.
“Are you trying to see the end now?”
“It is not the end, but the beginning.”
The Sect Leader, who dismissed the opposition with a single word, stabbed the drawn Sect Leader’s Command onto the table, and notified them.
“I shall activate the Sect Leader’s Command.”
* * *
The Mount Hua Sect began to seek change.
There were many trivial changes, but as expected, the most significant changes were a total of four things.
Firstly, the number of Plum Blossom Swordsmen was fixed precisely at the current number, and a scramble for positions would be held every year.
Secondly, the Ten Thousand Scenery Pavilion was opened to the unranked disciples and secular disciples as well.
Thirdly, Hyeon-cheong, who had taught the second-generation disciples, became the Pavilion Lord of the Flowerless Pavilion, leading the Flowerless Pavilion where the third-generation disciples stayed.
Lastly, it was the construction of the Plum Blossom Pavilion, a pavilion exclusively for them newly established for the increased Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
At first, the elders as well as the majority of the disciples opposed the Sect Leader’s decision, but as time passed, they were gradually assimilated by the persuasion of a few people.
Meanwhile, Cheon-hwi, who had helped the Sect Leader make this decision, was suffering from the four who visited since early morning.
“Senior Brother!”
“Young Hero!”
“I persuaded them according to Junior Brother’s words. So let us spar one more time.”
“What are you all? Hurry up and get lost. This guy decided to learn medical arts today.”
How annoying.
When Cheon-hwi was ignoring the words of those speaking to him by letting them flow out the other ear.
“P-Princess!”
Sim Wi Jin came running breathlessly.
Everyone who saw his appearance was flustered.
It was because Sim Wi Jin’s face, which always had a smiling complexion, was completely pale.
Princess So-hui frowned.
“What is wrong? Did something happen?”
“A-A letter arrived from the castle.”
Princess So-hui glared her eyes open.
And she snatched the scroll that Sim Wi Jin was holding.
And quickly unfolded the letter.
Princess So-hui’s expression, who was reading the letter while rolling her eyes, stiffened.
“This…… This!”
She, who clenched her teeth, gripped the letter to the point of crumpling it, and then violently tore it.
“What is it?”
“Why is she like that?”
“Huh?”
Everyone was flustered by the sudden action.
In particular, Danmok Rin and Cheon-hyang, who had been bickering and competing with Princess So-hui until just a moment ago, opened their two eyes round.
However, Princess So-hui ignored their reactions and shouted looking at Sim Wi Jin.
“Wi Jin! What happened with this?”
“I do not know the details.”
Sim Wi Jin bit his lip.
He too had almost felt his heart drop while checking the letter.
“Wi Jin! Bring So-ryeong.”
“Your command!”
Sim Wi Jin, who answered, disappeared.
Whip!
As Princess So-hui left the hut, the party in the hut stirred.
“Could something have happened?”
“It would be nice if nothing happened.”
“She should be okay.”
“Hmph, it will not be a big deal.”
Did they grow attached while spending a long time together?
They worried about Princess So-hui.
And among them, Cheon-hwi, who had faced Princess So-hui’s party for the longest time.
‘Now the people have decreased a bit.’
He was satisfied as soon as they disappeared.
Meanwhile, Princess So-hui, who exited the hut, went directly to find the Sect Leader of the Mount Hua Sect along with Sim Wi Jin and So-ryeong whom he brought.
“For what matter have you come?”
Despite the sudden visit, the Sect Leader calmly received the two.
“I need an escort right now.”
An out-of-the-blue request.
However, seeing Princess So-hui’s pupils, it seemed a serious matter had occurred, so the Sect Leader asked cautiously.
“May I know what the reason is?”
Princess So-hui slightly checked her surroundings.
She, who was checking her surroundings while being wary as if someone might hear, whispered softly.
“My father is critically ill.”
“……!”
The Sect Leader’s calm expression broke.
“I ask for those who will escort us to Qinghai Province.”
At Princess So-hui’s desperate request, the Sect Leader shut his two eyes tightly.
‘……The rise and fall of our sect depends on this decision.’
Would he hold hands with the Lord of Qinghai?
Or would he shake them off?
Currently, he, no, Mount Hua was standing at the crossroads of an alternative choice.
‘Ah. It is difficult, difficult.’
An escort was also not easy.
Because if things went even slightly wrong, it meant being exposed to an environment where the disciples raised with great difficulty could die.
‘What should I do.’
He, who pondered with closed eyes for a moment, soon opened his eyes as if he made a decision.
“Good. I shall attach our sect’s Plum Blossom Swordsmen as an escort.”
Princess So-hui conveyed her gratitude while sweeping her chest as if a burden was lifted.
“Thank you. I will never forget this favor.”
The Sect Leader nodded his head.
It was natural.
If there was nothing returning, he had no intention of attaching such an escort at all.
“When do you plan to depart?”
“That is…….”
Princess So-hui gave a look to Sim Wi Jin.
“We must depart as quickly as possible.”
Sim Wi Jin spoke in an urgent tone.
The Lord of Qinghai was in a critical condition.
Would every moment not be urgent!
“I will select those to escort and attach them as quickly as possible.”
When the Sect Leader was about to leave in a hurry.
“Wait a moment.”
Princess So-hui grabbed him.
“And I have a final request.”
* * *
“An escort?”
Cheon-hwi, who was asked by the Sect Leader for an escort, vividly showed his annoyance.
“Seeing the opponents that time, I think it would be sufficient even if you sent other Plum Blossom Swordsmen.”
Cheon-hwi recalled when he first met Princess So-hui’s party.
The assassins who suddenly attacked them.
Each of their martial might could sufficiently be called first-rate, but it was not to the extent of feeling that they were strong.
‘It is not like the Plum Blossom Swordsmen are weak either.’
And there was also that So-ryeong.
If she and the Plum Blossom Swordsmen cooperated, it was no different from gaining thousands of troops and horses.
However.
“No. Your strength is needed.”
The Sect Leader did not do so.
What strength of mine.
“Is it because of Elder Divine Physician?”
“That is right.”
The Sect Leader calmly admitted.
‘If it were not for the Sect Leader’s command.’
He wanted to refuse even right away.
But what could he do.
Because it was none other than the Sect Leader’s command.
“Sigh, I understand.”
Ultimately, he sighed and accepted.
“Hoho.”
The Sect Leader’s expression brightened.
“Thank you.”
“Can I take a few people with me instead?”
The Sect Leader spoke as if he had been waiting.
“I will separately tell Jeok-geom and Seol Ran.”
He is fast in sensing such things.
Cheon-hwi scratched his head and asked.
“Then when should we go?”
“The faster, the better it will be.”
“Then let us go right now.”
“You mean right now?”
“Did you not say the faster the better?”
For things that could not be delayed, it was better to rather deal with them quickly.
“Please call everyone who is going.”
“Wait at the mountain gate.”
A short while later, as Cheon-hwi was at the mountain gate.
“Martial Uncle!”
Just in time, Jeok-geom and Seol Ran carrying a full load of luggage arrived in turn.
“The luggage?”
“We packed and brought everything.”
“Then that is fine.”
Jeok-geom nodded his head and stepped back.
And then, he tilted his head finding Seol Ran fidgeting right next to him.
“Why is Junior Sister like that?”
“Are these clothes not strange?”
It was the first time seeing Seol Ran feeling awkward while examining her clothes, so Jeok-geom laughed softly.
Was it because it was a secret mission.
Seol Ran’s appearance was different from usual.
She had taken off her Daoist robe and wore ordinary clothes that could be easily obtained on any street, and the sword strapped to her side did not even have a plum blossom tassel.
“What do you mean strange. It suits you well.”
“Is that so?”
Seol Ran spoke in slight relief.
“It suits Senior Brother well, too.”
“Haha, right?”
Jeok-geom puffed out his chest.
He was also similar to Seol Ran.
He wore high-quality clothing, and only danglingly wore a sword without a plum blossom tassel.
To those who did not know Jeok-geom, it was an appearance that they would mistake for a child of a prestigious family.
“By the way……”
Jeok-geom subtly looked at Cheon-hwi.
“Does it not suit Martial Uncle more?”
Seol Ran nodded her head and affirmed.
Actually, Cheon-hwi had not changed significantly.
He merely wore pitch-black martial arts clothing and strapped a black scabbard to his waist.
Even so, it was attractive when his reddish-tinted pupils and distinct facial features were added.
A fatal charm that anyone could fall for.
“As expected, looks are everything for a man.”
When Jeok-geom smiled bitterly.
“Did you wait?”
The protagonist of this journey.
Princess So-hui’s party arrived along with the carriage they rode when coming to the Mount Hua Sect.
‘Still, there is a carriage.’
Cheon-hwi’s expression loosened slightly.
He already did not want to go, so it would have been an annoying matter if he even had to walk.
Princess So-hui approached.
“It has been a long time since I saw an appearance that is not a Daoist robe.”
“You are the one I am seeing wear such clothes for the first time.”
“Is that so?”
Princess So-hui, who burst into a small laugh, covered her mouth with her sleeve.
“How is it? Does it suit me?”
She spun around once with her words.
Instead of the resplendent clothing she wore every day, the monochromatic clothing suited her as if perfectly tailored to her pure white skin.
“It certainly does suit you.”
“Thank you.”
As she was smiling with her eyes looking at Cheon-hwi.
“Tch, why are you trying to go to Qinghai Province.”
Lastly, the Divine Physician, wearing his usual clothing, arrived grumbling.
“You have come.”
“We were waiting.”
At his appearance, Princess So-hui and Sim Wi Jin affectionately welcomed him.
“Tsk, it is not because of you lot.”
“We know.”
Princess So-hui, who knew better than anyone about him, nodded her head.
While the two were conversing.
Cheon-hwi scanned the faces of the gathered personnel, squinted his eyes, and whispered.
“They are people I see every day.”
The party going to Qinghai Province was composed of the personnel who usually gathered at the thatched hut.
“……Ah, except for one.”
The one person Cheon-hwi spoke of.
Danmok Rin bit her fingernail while watching the party gathered at the mountain gate from afar.
“Senior Brother.”
Currently, her heart was anxious.
Cheon-hwi leaving was one thing, but anxiety surged at the fact that he was accompanying a woman who constantly threw flirtatious glances.
‘I should go together as well…….’
Originally, she had secretly heard that Cheon-hwi was leaving for Qinghai and tried to follow him.
However, the Sect Leader stopped her.
‘Even the martial nieces and nephews are going, so why can I not?’
So she argued item by item as to why accompanying them was not allowed, but.
‘With your current skills, you will only be a burden. Even if you cannot be of help to Cheon-hwi, do you intend to cause a nuisance?’
At the Sect Leader’s perfect supplementary explanation that followed, she had to shut her mouth.
As the Sect Leader said, she had currently lost all her martial arts and was in the middle of learning the Mount Hua Sect’s martial arts from the beginning.
Rather than doing the share of one person, it was obvious that she would hold him back.
Ultimately, she had to step back.
“……Senior Brother.”
Danmok Rin looked at the backs of the party with a depressed expression.
After doing so for a moment, she shook her head.
‘No.’
She missed it now, but Cheon-hwi was a Daoist of the Mount Hua Sect anyway. He was bound to return again.
“And next time…….”
For a moment, a smile bloomed brightly like a flower on her depressed face.
Before the Sect Leader left.
It was because the words he said to comfort her continued to linger in her ears.
‘Later, if you become a Plum Blossom Swordsman, I will consider a journey into the martial arts world with Cheon-hwi.’
Her two pupils, containing Cheon-hwi who had grown as small as a dot, emitted a wicked light.
“If I become a Plum Blossom Swordsman, just the two of us…….”
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