Chapter 409: What Are You Doing? (2)

It was silent. Everyone watched the situation silently, trying hard to figure out what had just happened.

A few seconds passed by.

It only lasted seconds, but the silence felt unusually long, most likely because everyone had a lot on their minds.

The silence broke when someone started to speak.

“Unbelievable.”

As soon as one person spoke, everyone else started pouring words as well, as if they were holding them in.

“What was that just now? Did you see that…?”

“The White Ripple Sword was pushed back…!”

A fight between martial artists. It was a fierce battle with swords, and Qi clashed against each other.

It may have been a spar without any usage of killing intent, but no one dared to interrupt the fight.

Instead, they watched nervously, thinking that something bad might happen.

Not even one of them was able to stop the fight.

“No way…”

“I heard the rumors about him being great, and it really was true.”

Everyone opened their eyes widely in shock after seeing the young man run into blades clashing against each other as if it were nothing.

The young man looked around the surroundings while pinching his glabella. He was currently the most famous martial artist in the world.

“Lesser King of Hell…”

Gu Yangcheon, the Lesser King of Hell.

He was the martial artist responsible for defeating the prisoner currently being transported to Sichuan after he had ambushed the Heavenly Dragon Academy. He showed no mercy to the enemies of the Unorthodox Faction and became a hero of honor.

By this point, he was stepping into the realm of becoming a master, as he wasn’t a Young Prodigy anymore.

“…The rumors said that he has reached the Fusion Realm. Was that really true?”

“Nah, no way. Don’t you think that the rumor is exaggerated? It would be impossible for someone to reach the Fusion Realm before the age of twenty.”

“But then how can you explain what just happened…”

“…Well.”

The man, being jealous as a martial artist, shut his mouth after hearing the man next to him.

There was no way that he didn’t notice how impressive the Lesser King of Hell’s martial arts were just now, as he was a martial artist himself.

Not only that, but he even found it difficult to understand what fully happened in that short timeframe.

“But even so, Fusion Realm…?”

Reaching Peak Realm at his age was already an astounding achievement, but Fusion Realm?

The man wasn’t able to believe it. The reason for this was because of the humans’ natural tendency to be jealous.

There were many other people who were feeling the same emotion as this man.

This was proof of the Lesser King of Hell’s talent. He was so talented that even martial artists who had trained for a long time felt jealous of him.

However, there was something even more unbelievable.

He pushed back… the  White Ripple Sword.

Even if the Lesser King of Hell had outstanding talent, what he showed just now was a bit over the line.

He not only broke through the White Ripple Sword’s Sword Qi, but even pushed her back? Who was the White Ripple Sword?

She was one of the swordswomen who was talented enough to become a candidate for the next Sword Queen after the previous one had died. She was among the top five master swordswomen in the world.

Her name may have lost a bit of value as she was inactive for a long time, but no one was able to deny that she was one of the top master swordswomen.

That was the fact, yet…

That young man…

How could one explain that young man being able to stop the White Ripple Sword? The man watching wasn’t able to come up with an answer, and it was the same for everyone else.

Meanwhile, the Lesser King of Hell, who had all the gazes on him.

…I fucked up. I’m seriously a retard.

He was cursing at his impatient personality for causing trouble without being able to hold back.

I glanced at the surroundings. This was a big crowd. Dammit.

I lamented inside after seeing the crowd.

A bunch of different clans joined the trip to Sichuan, and there were a ton of people due to the main objective being transporting the prisoners, but it felt like most of them were gathered here.

This definitely wasn’t a good situation, judging by their shocked expressions and whispers at each other.

-That’s the Lesser King of Hell…

-The Lesser—

I only became more annoyed when I heard them repeat my title over and over again.

Not only that, but I was feeling regret as well. These emotions turned into resentment, shortly after, and aimed towards the ones responsible for causing this mess.

What are they doing so early in the morning?

I looked at the girls on the ground with a big frown. When my eyes met of the three girls standing up, I saw their shoulders flinch for a second.

To that, I spoke to them using the shape of my lips rather than my voice.

I’ll talk to you guys later.

When I made these words using my lips, it seemed like they all understood me, as they avoided eye contact.

I put the three troublemakers aside and looked at the lady who stood, dumbfoundedly, on the opposing side.

The lady looked in my direction, soullessly, as she sat on the ground.

It was the White Ripple Sword, Moyong Biyeon. I couldn’t help but frown after seeing her.

What’s wrong with this woman?

I couldn’t understand why someone with so much experience was causing trouble like this, especially at her age.

I wasn’t simply talking about the spar. It was understandable for martial artists to spar with each other, more so if they especially didn’t like each other.

I was fully able to understand a spar, as that helped martial artists learn and train.

Moreover, a master teaching a few things to their juniors? The juniors would gladly accept an opportunity like this, but it almost became dangerous.

There were many problems with what happened just now.

Her sword was a bit too fierce for a spar.

This much I was able to understand, but the Qi she gathered in her sword at the last moment was problematic.

Was she trying to kill them all?

She had crossed the line, if she did that to scare the girls.

If I didn’t stop her, the Qi inside would’ve, most likely, been unleashed from the sword. If that happened…

I don’t think they would’ve died.

But it was more than enough to make this into a bloody mess.

Ugh.

The thought of it gave me a strange, aching sensation in my arm.

It seemed like I took some damage from what happened just now. Thankfully, it wasn’t a deep injury, nor did it come from a blade.

I was able to let out a breath of relief, afterwards.

It was close.

In other people’s eyes, it might have looked like I blew everyone away after running in the center, but it wasn’t actually that cool in reality.

I knew all of them would stop if I intervened, so I took advantage of that moment to return their momentum to send them flying in opposite directions.

It may sound impressive, but I was the only one who took damage from this, as I acted like a shield.

“Sigh.”

I was already exhausted, and I had to deal with that.

I hid my right arm that was aching, set up a sound barrier around us, and spoke to the White Ripple Sword.

“…Care to explain what just happened?”

Only after the White Ripple Sword heard me speak, she came back to her senses, and her eyes went back to normal.

She looked like she was out of it for a moment there.

“Oh…”

After realizing the situation late, the White Ripple Sword stood up after a small reaction. I continued to speak to her with my gaze locked onto her.

“Senior.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m curious if this was included in your job of being my escort.”

The White Ripple Sword’s eyebrows flinched after I mockingly spoke to her. I wondered if she had become angry, but that didn’t stop me from speaking.

“Uh… about this…”

“You should be protecting me if you are my escort. I just don’t understand why you are exchanging blades with my people.”

“…”

“Or perhaps you wanted to hurt them?”

I knew I was being disrespectful, talking to her like this, especially with our age gap, but I couldn’t stop my nasty personality, and had to say what was on my mind.

The White Ripple Sword bit her lips and frowned after hearing my harsh words.

I was a bit worried that her sword from earlier would aim at me now, but I had to tell her the truth.

“What were you thinking? Was there a reason why you did such a thing in front of all these people?”

The White Ripple Sword hesitated for a moment, then responded. Her response was rather shocking.

“…I happened to run into these girls, and I thought about playing with them a little…”

When I saw the White Ripple Sword respond in an embarrassed tone while avoiding eye contact, I couldn’t help but become speechless.

I might’ve given her a pass if she said she did this to teach them a little through a spar, but she instead responded honestly, saying that she did this for fun.

“Aren’t you a bit over the age of playing with children?”

“…Ugfh.”

The White Ripple Sword flinched, as if I had hit her weak spot.

Even if she looked young, she was the same age as my father. She wasn’t at an age to be clashing swords with girls near the age of twenty, just because she was bored.

Another thing I was surprised about was the fact that the White Ripple Sword seemed more embarrassed than angry despite my mockery towards her.

Though that much should be obvious.

It was obvious in a way, but people at her age were only filled with pride, so they would all become angry at me if I spoke to them like this, but the White Ripple Sword only seemed to be embarrassed.

It’s understandable, though.

She should’ve been embarrassed, since she had almost caused a problem during a spar.

I would’ve kept my head low for at least a few days if I had done what the White Ripple Sword did.

The White Ripple Sword’s reaction may have been unexpected, but that wasn’t what was important here.

I didn’t care about the White Ripple Sword’s intentions, and what kind of person she was.

The important part was the fact that she had almost ended up injuring the three girls. With that thought in mind, I spoke to her in a cold tone.

“Even if it was Lady Mi who gave you the approval to become my escort, I’d like you to stop being my escort if you are going to continue doing things like this on your own.”

“What…?”

The White Ripple Sword’s expression changed immediately after she heard my words.

Was it really that hard to understand?

To simply put it, I told her to stop being my escort, and screw off, if she planned to do things her way.

I didn’t need it, nor did I want her as my escort in the first place. She was already in the way, so this was good.

“I’ll be contacting Lady Mi soon. I, at least, hope that you enjoy the trip.”

“W-Wait, hold on…!”

I turned away from the White Ripple Sword after I finished talking.

I didn’t want to drag a conversation with her since I didn’t know what was on her mind.

The White Ripple Sword seemed like she was panicking, but I unleashed the sound barrier around us, and started to walk away.

I didn’t want to be here for a long time with all these people staring at me. Oh, I also spoke to the girls, who each let out a sigh of relief, as if they thought I had forgotten about them.

“I’ll see you guys later.”

“…”

I quickly left the scene after seeing the girls make sobbing expressions. I didn’t necessarily plan to scold them.

I just wanted to ask why this situation even occurred in the first place.

Though, of course, I couldn’t promise not to become angry at them.

After leaving behind the events in the morning, I was lifting a heavy boulder to train a little, in the afternoon.

I heard that we were going to leave in the afternoon, so I planned to repeat this training until then. Of course, I wasn’t able to put all my focus into it, so I was doing light physical training.

“Phew…”

I took a breath and lifted up a boulder that was much bigger than my body.

I didn’t use Qi and only used my physical strength for this training, so I felt myself being gradually covered in sweat as time passed by, which made me satisfied.

I’m feeling satisfied because I’m sweating… what in the world?

I might’ve called myself crazy if it were me in the past.

I remembered cursing a ton at Yung Pung for his crazy training, but here I was, now, doing the same thing, like it was nothing.

As I continued to lift the boulder around,

Slam-!

Woo Hyuk, who was training next to me, threw his boulder to the ground and spoke to me.

“I heard something big happened in the morning. What happened?”

Woo Hyuk asked, as he wiped sweat off his forehead.

Oh, was this bastard not there at the time?

“…All martial artists were there to watch, but why weren’t you?”

“I don’t like noisy places.”

He doesn’t like noisy places, huh. He definitely acted like that in my past life, too.

I thought about giving him a short explanation, but I decided not to, as I didn’t want to remember what happened.

“It wasn’t anything special.”

I gave him a short response and went back to training.

Woo Hyuk seemed like he wanted to ask more, but he, too, went back to lifting his boulder, with his lip poked out, after he had noticed that I had no intention of telling him.

Why is this bastard poking his lip out like that? Does he want me to shove it back in with my fist?

Right as I was about to curse at Woo Hyuk, Pe Woocheol spoke to me.

“You say it wasn’t anything special, but you were extremely cool back there.”

“You were watching…?”

“Wherever you go, I shall follow.”

“…”

What a creepy guy this was.

I couldn’t understand why all the guys around me were acting so strangely like this.

…Well, I guess it’s not exclusive to guys.

I became certain once again after the thought. Yeah, I’m the most normal one here. Mhm. Indeed, I am.

As I repeatedly nodded to myself,

“…I-I can’t go on longer…”

Cheol Jiseon, who was training with us, shakingly, collapsed to the ground. After seeing the sight, Pe Woocheol spoke to him.

“Brother Jiseon… I know you can do two more sets.”

“That’s not possible…! Two times!? I can’t do that!”

When Cheol Jiseon responded loudly, in a shocking tone, Pe Woocheol made a big smile on his face.

“I see. It seems that I was mistaken.”

“Right? What’s impossible is impos—“

“You had the energy to yell that loudly. It seems like you are capable of doing three sets. Let’s do it.”

“Aghhh!”

Just what were they doing? I didn’t know what it was, but I knew I didn’t want to involve myself in it.

Right as I was about to go back to training after looking away, I felt a presence approaching from far away.

I immediately turned my head towards where the presence came from.

“This is…”

Woo Hyuk turned towards the presence shortly after as well.

In that moment, we were able to see a lady with black hair land softly.

I, naturally, cringed when I saw her.

“…White Ripple Sword.”

It was none other than the White Ripple Sword who appeared, all of a sudden. Judging by that…

Does she have something to say to me?

It seemed most probable that she came to me about what happened in the morning.

Was it because my disrespect towards her made her angry?

That would be a problem if that’s the case.

To be fair, it was strange that she didn’t become angry at me then.

Even if I was right or wrong, there was a bullshit rule in the Central Plains, where people were allowed to become angry after being mocked at.

I began to think after letting out a sigh.

Maybe she’ll let me go if I apologize.

I was angry at the time.

I’m sorry for acting so disrespectfully. I had no other choice at the time.

I thought about saying something like this while lowering my head. Right as I was about to execute my plan, I noticed a strange expression on the White Ripple Sword.

She seemed angry, but in a hurry at the same time.

I thought to myself after seeing her expression. Wait. Was she trying to swing her sword at me, like she did at the girls in the morning?

Uh oh, that might be a problem.

I nervously gulped and looked at the White Ripple Sword, hoping such a thing wouldn’t happen.

I felt more tense as she came closer. I didn’t know the White Ripple Sword very much, but I, at least, knew that she was very unpredictable.

Right as I was about to greet her respectfully with worrying thoughts in my mind, her body lowered itself faster than I could when she got close enough.

Shit!

Was it an ambush?

I immediately charged my Qi to defend myself from her ambush, but something unexpected happened.

The White Ripple Sword suddenly held onto my pants.

“What…!”

I quickly looked down at her, wondering what the hell was happening, and the White Ripple Sword shouted as she looked into my eyes.

“I’m sorryyyyy! Forgive meeee…!”

“…Wait…!”

The White Ripple Sword started howling while grabbing my pants.

Woo Hyuk, Pe Woocheol, and Cheol Jiseon, who were watching, all stared at me with a strange look in their eyes.

During this, Cheol Jiseon quietly whispered.

“…Now the White Ripple Sword… wait, but isn’t there a bit of an age gap though…?”

That damned phrase especially sounded clear in my ears.

What was more annoying was the fact that other bastards around Cheol Jiseon nodded their heads after hearing him.

It seemed like there was a big misunderstanding.

“Hey! It’s not like that…! Can you please let me go!? What’s wrong with this woman!?”

“I’m sorryyyyyy!”

I shouted out, but there wasn’t anyone who believed me.