The image of a man collapsing while coughing up blood vividly resurfaces in my memory.
- Cough...
His entire body was covered in severe wounds, and there was a large hole in his chest.
Even the Great Immortal couldn't save him in that state.
Despite his condition, Guangma tried to stand again, using a broken sword as a crutch.
- It can't end like this...
Cough!
Blood erupted once more.
Seeing this, the Green Forest King approached and shouted angrily.
- Stay still, you brat! I'll stop the bleeding first!
Only then did Guangma look down at the hole in his chest and let out a bitter smile.
- ...
It's fine.
- Damn it! What's fine about this!
- Move aside.
Suddenly, Guangma threw the sword and knelt on the ground.
Startled, the Green Forest King stepped back.
With a choked and cracked voice, Guangma began to speak.
- Father.
Mother.
Brothers.
Sisters.
And my blood-shared family...
Guangma slowly began to bow.
The direction was probably towards where the Hyeonwon family was.
- ...
In this life, I don't think I can repay the kindness you all have shown me.
Raising his head, Guangma looked at the cloudy night sky and murmured.
Tears of blood flowed from his eyes.
- If I could be reborn...
I will repay the kindness I couldn't in this life.
- You bastard! Don't leave a will-like that! You're not dead yet!
- Hey, bandit.
- What, you crazy swordsman!
Guangma's bitterly smiling eyes turned to the Green Forest King, and then to me.
- Thank you for everything.
- This crazy guy...
Hey! Get a grip! Get a grip!
- ...
Guangma's eyes, which were slowly losing focus, completely lost their vitality, and thud.
His wounded body fell helplessly to the side.
- Aaaah! You bastards! I'll kill you all!!
And the scream of the Green Forest King, who lost his friend, shook the battlefield...
"... Brother. Brother?"
"..."
When I opened my eyes, three people were looking at me with worried faces.
Perhaps because I had been wandering in the past, the present suddenly felt unreal and blurry.
Akryeonho looked at my expression and asked.
"Are you okay?"
"... I'm fine. The drink isn't sitting well today."
That day, Master Guangma died.
Not only Master Guangma, but also Master Maeng, Master Geomjon, and Master Eun all died in front of my eyes.
And I was the only one in the world who knew they fought and died there.
The martial world would never know who played the biggest role in bringing down the Blood Sect, or how they died.
"... I'm sorry, but I need to go first. You guys keep drinking."
I asked for understanding from the three and got up from my seat.
"... Yes, go and rest."
"... It's your first day at work, so you must be very tired."
The two nodded tactfully and sat back down, but only Jegal Soyoung followed me outside the inn with a restless face.
"Did I say something unnecessary...?"
"No. I really just need to rest because I'm not feeling well."
"A-are you very unwell? Should I take you home?"
I gave her a bitter smile, not knowing what to do.
"I'm sorry. I need some time alone to think."
"I'm sorry! I was being insensitive again..."
"I'm the one who's sorry. Let's meet again next time."
Giving her a weak smile, I left the inn and started walking alone through the night streets.
"..."
As I walked, I slowly organized my thoughts.
The decades-old grudge between the Hyeonwon family and the Hebuk Peng family that began with Guangma.
Decades later, Guangma returned to the Hyeonwon family and nearly wiped them out alone, or rather, someone impersonating Guangma.
'Who could it be?'
Unless the dead could come back to life, it couldn't have been Guangma himself who caused the bloodshed.
No, even if he had come back to life, it couldn't have been Master Guangma.
But at the time, the head of the Hyeonwon family mistook that person for Master Guangma and gathered people for a banquet.
'After disappearing for decades, they could have disguised their appearance.'
But for a martial artist, there's something more important than appearance.
It's martial arts.
While appearance can be imitated with techniques like face masks or bone alteration, Guangma's high-level martial arts can't be easily mimicked by just anyone.
'In other words, the culprit must be someone with martial arts strong enough to imitate Master Guangma.
Moreover, they must know the martial arts of the Hyeonwon family...'
At that moment, a realization hit me like a hammer.
"Could it be..."
As far as I know, there's only one organization in this world capable of such a thing.
The ones who taught Cheongcheon the Blood Rain Demon Art and handed a fake Heavenly Sword to Weiji Cheon.
The ones who also knew Master Guangma's martial arts and had imprisoned him for over ten years to take everything from him.
"... The Blood Sect."
If the Blood Sect hadn't completely disappeared, or if they had been planning their revival for decades already?
'Was the bloodshed at the Hyeonwon family revenge for what happened to us that day?'
If my guess is correct, Master Guangma wouldn't be able to rest in peace even in death.
It would be as if the Hyeonwon family was destroyed because of him.
A sigh escaped me at his tragic fate.
"Haa..."
My guess could be wrong.
It might have been someone with a personal grudge against the Hyeonwon family who impersonated Guangma.
But even if that were the case, it wouldn't bring me peace of mind.
- If I could be reborn...
I will repay the kindness I couldn't in this life.
I walked, recalling Master Guangma's final moments.
- I do not regret my choice.
By the standards of the righteous sects, he was undoubtedly a villain.
He shed much blood to perfect his martial arts.
But does that mean he should bear the sins he didn't commit? Should he be recorded in history as a great villain forever? Even being trapped in a dark prison for decades, having nightmares, wasn't enough to atone for his sins?
At the same time, I thought of Hyeonwon Kang.
- Guangma? Are you talking about me?
When I first saw him, I felt he was so similar that I wondered if Master Guangma had been reincarnated.
- Damn...
What nonsense are you spouting?
A talent not wasted by the word genius, but a raw gem that couldn't shine due to his environment.
- Leave me alone and get lost!
I walked for a long time, thinking about the two of them.
"Ugh. Water..."
Hyeonwon Kang woke up, clutching his head, which was throbbing from a hangover.
The alcohol he drank all night made his vision spin, and his limp body had no strength.
He could get rid of the hangover with a bit of meditation, but he didn't feel the need to.
Gulping down cold water from a jug, Hyeonwon Kang lay back down.
And for several hours, he stared blankly at the ceiling.
- You're a genius.
"Crazy bastard."
The pale face of a foppish man appeared in the middle of the ceiling.
The insane new instructor who suddenly appeared and called him a genius.
- I roughly know the story.
The relationship between your Hyeonwon family and the Hebuk Peng family.
"What do you know?"
If he really knew, he wouldn't speak so carelessly.
If he knew how much the current Hyeonwon family depended on the Peng family, how the elders of the family trembled at their every word, every cough...
- If you gave up on martial arts because you thought you'd end up as a servant of the Peng family, you're a fool.
"Shut up."
- Your talent is not just that.
"Shut up."
There were many teachers who tried to teach him martial arts.
He often heard he had talent since he was young.
Nothing special.
But no matter how much he learned martial arts, he'd end up as a sharp sword for the Peng family.
And he'd be wielded by someone like Peng Sahyeok.
- With the martial arts we have now... at best, the limit would be a peak master.
This time, his father's face appeared.
A face much older and more tired than his age.
Always struggling with their poor circumstances, even bowing his head to the head of the Peng family, the head of the Hyeonwon family.
- If only we could perfectly restore the Heaven-Splitting Sword, or at least the True Heaven Sword...
He saw his father sighing alone, drinking late at night.
His father looked back at him with an apologetic face.
- I'm sorry.
There's not much I can do for you...
"You don't need to do anything for me."
- How's life at the Blue Dragon Academy? Are you getting along with the young master of the Peng family?
"Yes. We're getting along just fine."
Hyeonwon Kang chuckled as he answered.
His father's worried face slowly faded away.
"Father. I have no intention of becoming the Peng family's loyal dog."
If that's the case, it's better to become a scoundrel they won't even look at.
Then the face of Baek Suryeong, which had disappeared, reappeared.
- If you keep living like this, watching Peng Sahyeok's every move, the Hyeonwon family will continue to live like a dog with a leash tied to the Peng family.
"Shut up! Just shut up!"
Hyeonwon Kang jumped up from his seat.
If he stayed in the room, that unlucky man's face would keep appearing at any moment.
'I should go out and have another drink.'
Hyeonwon Kang, roughly putting on his clothes, wrote a leave request and left the dormitory.
Today, he planned to go to a cheap tavern and drink until he couldn't think of anything.
As he left the dormitory and trudged across the grand martial arts field, something flew at him from behind.
Whoosh!
Dodging to the side, he saw a ball made from a pig's bladder filled with air hit the ground and roll away.
"Sorry!"
'Were they playing soccer or something?'
At that moment, Hyeonwon Kang's expression crumpled as he saw one of the students gathered.
"Hey. The scoundrel of the Hyeonwon family."
Peng Sahyeok called out to him with a smirk.
Hyeonwon Kang, as usual, tried to turn away without responding.
"Pick up the ball next to you."
"..."
"Are you ignoring me? The Hyeonwon family must be doing well these days?"
With a deep sigh, Hyeonwon Kang kicked the ball towards Peng Sahyeok.
Thud!
The ball landed precisely in front of Peng Sahyeok's feet.
However, Peng Sahyeok laughed as if he couldn't believe it.
"Ha. Is this guy joking?"
Then he kicked the ball in front of him with all his might.
Thud!
The ball flew dozens of feet, leaving the martial arts field and flying out of the academy.
"When the owner calls, you should bring it back politely with both hands. Go get it again."
"... Ha."
Normally, he would have ignored it and just left.
He might have cursed and left the scene.
After enduring for three years, it shouldn't be that difficult.
But for some reason...
"Ha, haha... Hahaha!"
"What's wrong with him?"
"He must still be drunk."
Hyeonwon Kang couldn't endure this moment any longer.
Just because he endured for three years doesn't mean he could keep enduring.
Because he endured for three years, he couldn't endure any longer.
Suddenly stopping his laughter, Hyeonwon Kang called out to Peng Sahyeok.
"Hey, Peng Sahyeok."
"... What?"
With a swish, Hyeonwon Kang drew his sword and began walking towards Peng Sahyeok.
"Let's have a fight for the first time in a while."
"... What?"
"We haven't had a proper fight since we were kids, have we?"
As Hyeonwon Kang grinned fiercely, Peng Sahyeok looked at him with a rare expression of surprise.
"Is he crazy..."
"What? Are you scared? Afraid you'll lose and cry like when we were kids?"
"... Bring it on, you bastard."
Moments later, the two students, swords drawn, clashed in the middle of the grand martial arts field.