Wings Are Not Heavy (4)
Ma Cheol-Gun sat alone in the darkness.
He sat in the place where the woman had vanished and stared at his own bed. She had sat here and told him about the Demonic Cult’s movements. In this place where her sweet fragrance still lingered.
His mind was far too complicated.
He had no idea what he should do. He had experienced many things while living until now, but he took pride in the fact that he had lived righteously in his own way.
Among the many criticisms toward the Heavenly Blade Sect, he had taken pride in the public evaluation that he was the only decent person in the Heavenly Blade Sect.
That had been him…… and yet temptation had happened in an instant. In the moment he thought, “Oh no,” one of his feet had already sunk into the swamp.
“I should have contacted Father immediately back then.”
That hesitation had seized his ankle and led him into the swamp.
“Should I tell Teacher Go even now?”
Teacher Go was in charge of giving various advice to Ma Cheol-Gun. Recently, matters related to the Demonic Cult had been handled independently without consulting him.
“Would telling him now only distance me from Teacher Go?”
But if he followed their will even in this matter, he would be placing both legs into the swamp, and he would never escape from it again. And what lived in swamps were not humans, but poisonous insects and venomous creatures.
Bang!
He struck the tea table beside him. The table shattered into pieces. Ma Cheol-Gun did not know. What had collapsed at this moment was not the table, but the wall that had been firmly supporting his heart.
There was someone watching that sight from afar.
It was the very woman who had met Ma Cheol-Gun a little while ago. She too was standing at the end of a tree branch, like the skill Byeok Ri-Dan and Whip Elder had shown before. The thin tree branch did not bend in the slightest.
With her body fully revealed under the moonlight, she was truly beautiful. With her slender and resilient figure, she was as beautiful as Song Hwa-Rin.
A woman who seemed to evoke a single snow blossom.
However, she gave off a feeling completely opposite to Song Hwa-Rin. If Song Hwa-Rin was light, this woman was darkness. If Song Hwa-Rin was good, this woman was evil.
She sneered with a cold gaze.
“The fact that you are agonizing over it at all means it is already too late.”
The moment her words ended, she was no longer there.
On the empty branch she had left behind, one night bird flew over and perched.
“The Small Sword Unit’s special training ends here!”
At Gwan Hui’s shout, the Small Sword Unit warriors all cheered at once and rejoiced at the end of the harsh training.
Among them was Song Hwa-Rin.
She had come to the Small Sword Unit four days ago. She had come to keep the promise she had made to Byeok Ri-Dan, who had asked her to look over the Small Sword Unit.
At the time, it happened to be when the Small Sword Unit was starting special training.
She could understand why the Small Sword Unit’s reputation was gradually rising in Shandong. Their training was no joke.
She expressed her intention to participate in the training as well.
At first, everyone thought she would only imitate them for one or two hours. She did not seem suited to such harsh training, and they thought she would not be able to endure it either.
But breaking their expectations, she participated in the training until the end. Rather, she did not cut corners more than anyone else. She finished the training more diligently than anyone. If this training had lasted only one day, they might have thought she had endured for one day just to make herself look good.
But this training was far too difficult for pretense to continue for four days.
Gwan Hui approached and said,
“I missed the chance to ask earlier, so I am asking now. Why exactly did you think of training together with us?”
At that, Song Hwa-Rin looked back at the warriors. Over the past four days of harsh training, they had grown as close as family.
“I wanted to become closer to all of you, but there had not been a chance until now, had there? At first, I began with that thought, but the training was so hard that I regretted it a lot. I kept wondering whether we really needed to be close.”
“Hahaha.”
Everyone burst into laughter. Since she was so beautiful, and above all, the only daughter of the Song Estate, everyone had found her difficult to approach. But throughout the training, Song Hwa-Rin had broken that prejudice by showing an easygoing and comfortable side.
Gwan Hui spoke on behalf of everyone.
“You are truly amazing.”
“That is too much praise.”
At that, the Small Sword Unit warriors behind him shouted one after another.
“No! You are amazing!”
“You are truly the best!”
Song Hwa-Rin smiled at them and said,
“It was truly wonderful training. If there is the same opportunity next time, let us do it together again.”
“Yes!”
It became an opportunity for everyone to see Song Hwa-Rin in a new light.
Song Hwa-Rin felt truly good. At first, she had hesitated a lot. Could she really do this? What would other people think? Would some accident happen because of her? All sorts of thoughts had occurred to her.
But once she actually did it, all the things she had worried about were nothing more than unfounded fears. She was proud of herself for safely completing the difficult training.
When she came out of the training ground, Gwangdu was waiting.
“You are truly amazing.”
“Thank you.”
“Young Master will be pleased when he hears the news.”
“I wonder if he even remembers me.”
Gwangdu played along with her joke.
“If he has forgotten you, Young Lady, I may mistake him for an enemy.”
“Then Martial Artist Gwang would even fight him. How nice.”
“Hahaha.”
Gwangdu laughed loudly. To think Song Hwa-Rin could make such self-deprecating jokes.
“Young Lady, I think you have changed a lot as well.”
“Yes, I admit it.”
Having such a conversation with Gwangdu would have been unimaginable in the past. The same was true of confidently acknowledging her own change.
“There has been no news from him, has there?”
“No.”
After a brief pause, Gwangdu said,
“When Young Master goes unseen for a while and then appears again, he often shows a completely changed side. That makes me want to show a changed side of myself as well.”
“I think I understand what that is like too.”
“In any case, he is a tiring Young Master who does not let people rest.”
“Hahaha.”
This time, Song Hwa-Rin laughed loudly.
“Then I will see you next time.”
“Yes, please take care on your way.”
After walking a few steps, she turned back and said,
“Let us have a spar sometime.”
At the unexpected words, Gwangdu was startled.
“You mean with me?”
“Yes. I want to spar with Martial Artist Gwang.”
She had noticed that the momentum she felt from Gwangdu was the strongest among the Small Sword Unit warriors. Her own skill, having recently succeeded in releasing sword energy, was also improving day by day.
“Yes! Understood!”
In Gwangdu’s eyes, there was a determination not to lose when it came to Martial Arts.
Song Hwa-Rin left the Byeok Sword Clan.
They say that when you do not see someone, your heart also grows distant. Yes, that was true.
But at times, she was also feeling that longing could grow even greater because she could not see him.
She stopped walking for a moment and looked west, toward distant Wuhan.
She looked around and confirmed that no one was there. Then she spoke loudly.
“Are you doing well?”
I was forcing myself to hold back the laughter that kept trying to come out.
Including Gal Sa-Ryang, there were seven strategists stationed in the emergency operations room.
I was sitting in the seat closest to Gal Sa-Ryang, and it was a seat where our faces could be seen by each other.
Just looking at Gal Sa-Ryang made me feel good. I was so happy that I had made him my person again.
“Strategist Byeok.”
“Yes.”
“Handle this.”
“Understood.”
Having received work, I called over the ordinary strategists and began handling the matter.
We were trying hard to detect new movements throughout the Central Plains. We were trying to find the movements of the Demonic Cult.
Though we knew the force behind the scenes was involved, innocent people were dying in any case. We had to stop it somehow.
But it was not an easy matter. This Demonic Cult was truly a force that had appeared out of nowhere. We could not know where or how it would appear.
Gal Sa-Ryang attached spies to Ma Cheol-Gun. However, because Ma Cheol-Gun was such an expert and the security around him was as firm as an iron wall, approaching him closely was not easy. They only managed to grasp his movements.
The decisive problem was that even if they watched Ma Cheol-Gun, they could not stop the demonic practitioners’ slaughter. Ma Cheol-Gun, after all, was only playing the role of a cleaner.
After quickly finishing the work Gal Sa-Ryang had assigned me, I brought it to him.
“It is finished.”
“You have worked hard.”
We were thoroughly and faithfully playing the roles of Chief Strategist and responsible strategist. This too was very natural. In this changed relationship, we were proving that the heart was more important than position.
Starting with Gwangdu, I had gained many people. I was happy when my Martial Arts rose, and I was happy when I earned money. But those things could not compare to the joy of gaining people.
Though the me of my previous life had not obtained the Heart Sword, I had almost reached the extreme of Martial Arts, possessed the military force called the Grand Martial Alliance, and if I had tried to possess money, I would have accumulated enormous wealth.
But I had not felt the happiness I felt now.
It was the same Baek Pyo, and the same Gal Sa-Ryang, but the me of that time had not been this happy.
Only now did I finally feel what a true relationship was, and what kind of happiness it gave.
Once, the divine physician of the alliance had said something like this.
He had seen countless moments when people died, and among them, no one regretted having gathered too little money, or having weak authority or Martial Arts. Most of those regrets were about relationships between people.
Because they had not treated someone better, because they had not met someone, because they had not said the words they should have said to someone……
At the time, I had let it pass by, but now I think I understand.
The reason I still cultivate my Martial Arts without rest, build forces, and gather money is to protect people.
The person behind the scenes is probably the opposite. He is probably using people for money and power.
That is the difference between our fights.
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News arrived that Hwasu Manor in Shangzhou had been massacred.
And a few days later, news arrived again that the demonic practitioners who had committed the brutal slaughter and were heading south had been killed in Shanyang by Ma Cheol-Gun and the warriors of the Heavenly Blade Sect. Ma Cheol-Gun’s popularity rose even higher, and relatively, criticism of the Grand Martial Alliance’s incompetence poured down.
The day after that news arrived, Zuo Tie-Long came to the emergency operations room.
He sent out all the strategists of the Justice Pavilion and met Gal Sa-Ryang alone.
“Because of the Demonic Cult, the Jianghu is in chaos. Since the situation is urgent, should we not hurry and decide the next Alliance Lord?”
This was exactly why he had come. Gal Sa-Ryang could feel that their movements were faster than he had expected.
“Do you have someone in mind?”
“Even if we do not think of someone in particular, is there not someone who has risen up on his own?”
“Are you talking about the Heavenly Blade Sect Leader?”
Zuo Tie-Long nodded and asked back,
“A son avenging his father. Is that not good?”
“Good for whom, exactly?”
“I believe it is a choice for the Jianghu.”
At times like this, he was even brazen. In any case, the fortunate point was that since they both knew what there was to know anyway, there was no need to engage in pointless psychological warfare.
“What if I refuse?”
“You refused before as well, did you not? And you saw the result clearly enough. This time, let us proceed pleasantly.”
Gal Sa-Ryang stared at Zuo Tie-Long as if glaring at him, then soon let out a light sigh.
“Give me time to think.”
“Of course I should.”
When Zuo Tie-Long was about to leave the room, Gal Sa-Ryang asked from behind him.
“Do you not think of the previous Alliance Lord?”
Zuo Tie-Long flinched and stopped at the door.
“Why suddenly talk about a dead man?”
“I think of him. When I see things that absolutely would not have happened if he were here, I think of him even more desperately these days.”
“It is all meaningless.”
Zuo Tie-Long closed the door and left.
Looking at the closed door, Gal Sa-Ryang quietly said,
“If all of that is meaningless…… would our lives not be too pitiful?”
Gal Sa-Ryang called me and told me about his earlier meeting with Zuo Tie-Long.
“Their movements are extremely fast. And given that they have no openings while moving, this is something planned in advance. There is someone behind them drawing the big picture.”
That was something I had felt before as well. That those bastards also had a proper strategist like Gal Sa-Ryang.
“Do you perhaps have any thoughts about this matter?”
Gal Sa-Ryang asked for my opinion.
“First, I will tell you one thing. Even now, and from now on as well, I intend to fully follow your opinion, Strategist Gal. If you tell me to spare someone, I will spare them. If you tell me to kill someone, I will kill them. If you tell me to stand, I will stand, and if you tell me to run, I will run.”
My words were sincere. I believed Gal Sa-Ryang would also understand my heart. Indeed, I felt some intense emotion pass across his face.
“Because of that, I will say freely what I think. Because I trust that you are not someone who decides your opinion by watching my mood anyway. I thought there might be something useful among the words I throw out.”
It had been that way in my previous life as well. He was someone who had confidently presented opinions that opposed mine.
“To answer what you asked earlier, I think it may be all right to accept their will.”
Gal Sa-Ryang, who had quietly listened to me, asked in a calm tone,
“May I ask the reason?”
“If we block their will and make someone else the Alliance Lord, those bastards will not leave the new Alliance Lord alone. In the end, that person will be sacrificed.”
Gal Sa-Ryang nodded. They were more than capable of doing that.
“In my opinion, Ma Cheol-Gun has already joined hands with those bastards.”
Judging by how things were going, there was no doubt. If that was so, it would actually be easier for us to face him. Because we would be facing a villain, not a great hero.
Only then did Gal Sa-Ryang reveal his own intention.
“My thoughts are similar. This time, we will move according to their will. Instead, I will have to pretend to oppose it a little. If I follow their will too easily, they may instead become wary.”
“I will leave that matter entirely to you, Strategist Gal.”
“Thank you.”
“Ah, and can you get me into the Heavenly Dragon Library?”
The Heavenly Dragon Library was a library that only the Murim Alliance Lord could enter. It was a place excellent in quality rather than quantity of books.
Gal Sa-Ryang answered without asking the reason.
“Yes, it is possible.”
“Thank you.”
There was something I had to look for there.
From now on, I had to move busily. Their plan had gone greatly awry because of this incident. They would probably think it was because of Strategist Gal.
They would send people to dig out the force behind us. Since several of their experts died this time, they would try to find the expert behind our side and kill him.
I intend to move before they do.
Because I absolutely hate being hunted.
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