Chapter 62: Chapter 62
‘What? You want to have a drink?’
Cheon-hwi looked at Cheon Yu, who was sitting on the windowsill and shaking a liquor bottle.
It was quite a foreign sight.
To think that the person called the First Senior Martial Brother of the Mount Hua Sect was offering alcohol to his junior martial brother.
However, the person in question, Cheon Yu, was carefree.
“If not now, when would I ever share a drink with my junior martial brother? Of course, it would be dangerous if we were caught drinking, but…”
As he spoke, Cheon Yu’s lips twisted.
“If you keep your mouth shut and I also keep my mouth shut, wouldn’t no one know?”
Cheon-hwi’s eyebrows curved like half-moons.
‘I thought all Taoists were inflexible, but there’s quite a decent guy?’
He developed an interest in Cheon Yu.
In particular, he felt a great favorability towards him spitting out words that matched his own thoughts.
“That works out perfectly. I actually had some things I was curious about.”
As if waiting for that answer, Cheon Yu lightly jumped down from the windowsill.
Then, he sat at the table and opened his mouth.
“You quickly sit down too, Junior Brother.”
Cheon-hwi sat opposite Cheon Yu.
“I should have packed it here…”
Watching him sit down, Cheon Yu suddenly rummaged through his embrace.
After rummaging around for a long while like that, he took something out.
It was exactly a liquor cup.
“Here, this one is yours, Junior Brother.”
Placing a crude liquor cup in front of Cheon-hwi, he tilted the liquor bottle and poured the alcohol.
Pour…
“It’s not that great of a liquor, but you’ll be able to enjoy it if we drink together.”
Cheon-hwi picked up the liquor cup in front of him.
The night sky’s moon was deeply submerged in the alcohol sloshing within the small cup.
‘Is it unrefined wine?’
The pungent smell, rather than a fragrant one, and the floating dregs made it hard to call it a fine liquor even at a glance.
‘This is good too.’
As he tossed the liquor cup in his hand into his mouth, the unique fiery energy of the cheap unrefined wine fiercely heated his insides and warmed his body.
The unique taste of unrefined wine, different from fine liquor, had enough of a distinct mood.
Around the time he was savoring it like that, Cheon Yu, who was sitting opposite him, opened his eyes wide.
“You drink quite skillfully, Junior Brother.”
“The same goes for you, Senior Brother.”
Cheon Yu clicked his tongue in awe at the calm reply.
From the moment he accepted the offer, he had thought Cheon-hwi had changed from before, but he had changed much more than he had thought.
‘I’ve changed too, so is it natural?’
Cheon Yu scratched the bridge of his nose.
He had also changed from before.
To the point of drinking alcohol, which he hadn’t laid a hand on, every single day.
Meanwhile, Cheon-hwi continued to drink the alcohol.
Fortunately, he didn’t get drunk right away this time.
‘Seeing as I don’t get drunk immediately, has my body gotten a bit used to alcohol now?’
Unlike the first time he drank, the moderate intoxication made him feel good.
“Oops. At this rate, there won’t be any share for me.”
Did he feel thirsty watching Cheon-hwi drink? Cheon Yu also made a fuss as he drained his cup in one gulp.
“Kuh, this is it.”
Seeming to be in a very good mood, Cheon Yu nodded his head while drawing a large arc with his mouth.
“As expected, you have to drink alcohol after work is over.”
The smiling Cheon Yu put down his liquor cup.
“But you’ve changed quite a bit, Junior Brother. In the past, if I had offered you a drink, you would have waved your hands saying what kind of nonsense is that, yet you readily drank.”
Had he perhaps gotten drunk from just one cup?
Cheon Yu gazed at Cheon-hwi with faint eyes and then let out a smirk.
Cheon-hwi brushed off his gazing gaze and sipped his liquor cup.
‘Of course I would have changed. The Cheon-hwi you remember would already be a dead person.’
This was his first meeting with him.
For the five years since he became Cheon-hwi, Cheon Yu had never returned to the Mount Hua Sect even once.
It was a cold truth, but it was a fact.
The Cheon-hwi he knew no longer existed in this world.
“But the present you looks better than the old you, Junior Brother. Back then, you seemed to be reading others’ moods.”
Along with his words, Cheon Yu rested his chin on his hand.
Gazing at Cheon-hwi with slightly unfocused eyes, perhaps because he drank quickly, he spoke with a thoroughly relaxed face.
“Ah right, you said you had something you wanted to ask this Senior Brother? Come on, ask anything.”
“How is the Mount Hua Sect’s standing in the Murim Alliance right now?”
“…What?”
As if he hadn’t expected him to ask such a thing, Cheon Yu slightly parted his lips with a blank face before regaining his senses.
“Why are you asking that?”
“I am also a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, shouldn’t I know at least that much?”
In that instant, a crack formed in Cheon Yu’s smile.
“That is true, but…”
Trailing off, Cheon Yu shook his head vigorously and completely erased his smile.
“Then how does it look to you, Junior Brother? How do you think our sect’s standing is?”
“I get the thought that they look down on us.”
Cheon-hwi calmly continued his words.
“The location where this pavilion is situated, and how shabby it is, aren’t they completely ignoring us?”
“Groan, it looks like that even to you, Junior Brother?”
Cheon Yu scratched his head, seeming embarrassed.
After a moment, he put down his liquor cup and let out a complaint.
“That’s right. Just as you said, the alliance is completely underestimating us right now. Orthodox Faction or the same Nine Great Sects and One Gang. They chatter like that, but in the end, the Jianghu respects the strong.”
Cheon Yu swept his gaze across the room.
“Did you know, Junior Brother? The building our sect used to stay in wasn’t here, but the pavilion the Zhongnan Sect uses now. However, because Martial Uncle Hyeon-gang was at the White Ghost Castle…”
While speaking, Cheon Yu flinched as he recalled the relationship between Hyeon-gang and Cheon-hwi.
“…I heard we were moved here as if chased away because various things happened. It’s only at this level because the junior brothers and I cleaned it. When we first entered the alliance, it was even more serious. Hahaha.”
Unlike the smile hanging on his mouth, Cheon Yu’s eyes weren’t smiling at all.
“You say we were moved, but we were eventually chased out by the Zhongnan Sect, right?”
“Right.”
Along with his words, Cheon Yu sipped his alcohol.
The alcohol swallowed down his throat was truly bitter.
“Well, that’s that.”
Tossing back a cup of alcohol refreshingly, he smiled beamingly again and changed the topic.
“How is it? Is your body okay now?”
“My body? I’m perfectly fine.”
As he answered the question as if it was no big deal, Cheon Yu burst into a bright smile.
“Hahaha. That’s a relief. I was informed through Master’s letter that you had recovered, but it was hard to believe. But seeing your appearance now, it seems those words were all true.”
Cheon Yu spoke in a bitter tone.
Like the unrefined wine he was drinking now, his voice was bitterly bitter and deeply sunken.
“I should go back to our sect to see Master sometime, though…”
Cheon-hwi watched him drink, burying his face in the liquor cup as he trailed off.
Then he said, throwing his words lightly.
“Can’t you just come back together with Martial Uncle Hyeon-jin?”
“Hahaha.”
Cheon Yu let out an awkward laugh.
“To do that, as I said earlier, we haven’t established our place in the alliance yet.”
“Right! Come to think of it, you’re learning martial arts from Martial Uncle Hyeon-do, Junior Brother?”
“‘Learning,’ huh. It’s a bit different, but it’s similar.”
Cheon Yu said with interesting eyes.
“I really want to see what kind of martial arts you’ve learned. Of course, not right now, but later.”
Even after that, the two continued to sip their cups while exchanging trivial stories.
Just how much time had passed like that?
Pour…
Alcohol continued to be poured into their cups like a never-drying spring, and perhaps because of that, it ran out in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
“Tsk. Have we already drunk it all.”
Cheon Yu stood up from his seat, putting the empty liquor bottle and two cups into his sleeve.
With his face flushed from intoxication, he looked down at Cheon-hwi with a relieved expression.
“It’s a relief that you like alcohol, Junior Brother.”
“It seems the other senior brothers refused.”
“Actually, aren’t you and I the unusual ones?”
“That’s true as well.”
“Actually, my purpose for seeking you out today is something else. Probably starting tomorrow and for a few days, you won’t be able to see my face, let alone the other junior brothers’ faces.”
“Where are you going?”
“A few days ago, a mission came down from the alliance to deal with a previous generation demon head. You’ll probably be bored, but just spend a few days alone.”
With those words, Cheon Yu disappeared.
‘Still, as the First Senior Martial Brother, his footwork is decent.’
Cheon-hwi chased after the traces of the disappeared Cheon Yu and then raised his inner ki.
Hiss…
After blowing away the intoxication in a single breath, he immediately sprawled out on his bed.
Doing so, he recalled the last words Cheon Yu had said.
‘A mission to catch a previous generation demon head? I wonder how they’ll do it.’
His curiosity was stirred.
Who the previous generation demon head was.
And how they would catch him.
‘I’m also really curious about how weak he must be to suffer this kind of fate.’
* * *
The next day, the pavilion was chaotic.
In the wide courtyard, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, including Hyeon-jin, were preparing to leave.
Hyeon-jin met eyes with each of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, who exuded an atmosphere as sharp as a forged sword, and then parted his lips.
“Have you all prepared?”
“We have finished.”
“We have completed the preparations.”
The Plum Blossom Swordsmen answered in unison.
Hyeon-jin faintly nodded his head, perhaps satisfied with their appearances and actions.
“Everyone, keep the mission in mind.”
“Understood.”
“Then let’s g…”
At that moment.
Clack…
Suddenly, the door opened without warning.
At the sudden situation, the gazes of Hyeon-jin and the Plum Blossom Swordsmen turned toward the door.
Then, the moment they saw the person coming out after opening the door, perplexity dwelled on their faces.
“Cheon-hwi?”
“Junior Brother?”
Cheon-hwi, who came out after opening the door, swept his gaze over the Plum Blossom Swordsmen before approaching Hyeon-jin and speaking.
“Let’s go together.”
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