Things you might not understand in this Chapter or in the future Chapters: In the Mount Hua Sect, seniority is determined by the date one entered the sect, not by age or gender. A disciple who joined earlier is always the senior, regardless of how young they may be.
The term Sahyung is used by junior disciples to address any senior disciple of the same generation or senior generation—whether male or female. Think of it as a gender-neutral "Senior" rather than "Senior Brother/Sister."
Similarly, Samae is used by senior disciples to address junior female disciples, and Sajae for junior male disciples.
***
Night.
The mountain was dark. But the moon gave enough light to see the path. However, the colossal trees made it impossible for the moonlight to reach some areas.
“...”
“This is... your base?”
All of them now were in front of the bandits’ base.
With an awkward smile Cho Heon answered Wolryung.
“Haha. Yes, sir. This is our base.”
“...”
However, Wolryung was speechless for a moment and stared at Cho Heon blankly.
A shabby wooden hut with several small and medium-sized holes on it. And the roof looked so weak that even a small storm would probably blow it away, scattering the whole hut.
And this third class bandit leader was saying that this was their base? Are you guys that poor that you can’t even build a base for yourself properly?
Uh, right. They were third class bandits. So, it’s possible.
‘But... If that’s the case then how am I gonna get my compensations?’
Wolryung was really worried now. He came all the way here hoping he would bring some compensation with him. And now seeing the hut like this, all that hope shattered in an instant.
‘Let’s just hope the inside will be better.’
Yeah, a man should always be positive. No matter how third class they were, they wouldn’t be that poor, right? They were acting like the green mountain bandits after all. And their acting was so good that even Wolryung himself had been fooled by that.
“...”
‘Argh! Just thinking about it makes my blood boil! These bastards gave me a huge trauma. I want to beat him again. I want to beat these bastards until they die.’
But Wolryung maintained his calmness outside and looked toward Jin Ho who was behind him with the escort members.
“Jin Ho.”
“Yes, young master?” Jin Ho answered firmly at Wolryung’s call.
“Let’s enter. The two of us. And you guys wait here. We need to guard the carriage after all.”
“Hmm... As you wish.”
The escort team leader answered with respect.
“Good.”
With that, Wolryung and Jin Ho started entering the shabby hut with the bandits.
Step... step... step...
***
At the same time at a quiet part of the Qinlin Mountain...
The area was surrounded by trees on all the sides and in the middle of it, an empty field illuminated by the moonlight. And there...
Swoosh...
A girl at the age of 18... Her skin was smooth, her black pupils shone. And those long black hair of hers... They fluttered relentlessly, showing her true beauty.
Whoosh...
Her white robes embroidered with a plum blossom insignia, was fluttering continuously as she moved, swinging her sword. Her footwork technique...
It seemed like her footwork technique was precise and powerful enough to crack stones, yet light enough to leave no trace on the soft ground. And her sword... It moved with the same rhythm as her feet, making her body and sword equal. Beneath the moonlight, a beauty like her performing that sword... It was really an incredible sight that would leave any man stunned.
Sha... sha... sha...
Ma Soo Ah suddenly stopped and looked at her sword. It seemed something was missing.
“I still can’t do it. Manifesting Plum blossoms...”
It was said that if you are a disciple of Mount Hua Sect then your sword is bound to manifest plum blossoms whenever you perform your sword. Without manifesting plum blossoms and calling yourself a Mount Hua disciple... If you can’t manifest it then you aren’t worthy of being a true Mount Hua disciple. However, that was in the past. Today’s Mount Hua has long lost its plum blossoms. Since the sect lost its core members and disciples, they couldn’t restore anything they lost 50 years ago. And manifesting plum blossoms... It has now become a legend of the past. Today’s Mount Hua can’t manifest a single plum blossom from their sword.
Ma Soo Ah closed her eyes as she loosened her grip on her sword, taking a deep breath before letting it out.
“Huuuuuu...”
Then she opened her eyes slowly and took a stance, one of her hands holding the end of the sword and the other hand touching the tip of it.
‘Let’s try again.’
It was then...
“!!!”
Soo Ah suddenly felt a presence behind the trees and immediately pointed her sword there.
“Who are you?! Reveal yourself this instant!”
From behind the trees a boy almost the same age as her stepped out toward the field, wearing the same robe as her. A bit startled, the boy raised his arms.
“Uh! Sahyung, it’s me. Baek Dojin.”
His face blushed a little when his eyes met with her.
‘Urgh! So beautiful!’
“Hmm... What are you doing here, Sajae?”
Seeing that it was someone Soo Ah knew, she took her sword down, sheathing it.
“...”
“...”
“Oh! Right! The sect leader told us all to gather. So, we were searching for you, Sahyung.”
“...Is that so? Ok, then let’s go...”
“Huff! Huff! Dojin... Did you find her?”
“...”
“...”
The two of them looked toward the one who just came running, breathing unevenly.
“Samae? Did you also come to find me?”
Since Dojin said they were looking for Soo Ah, then it was the only reason she would come for, right? There was nothing else to think about or be surprised about by seeing her. Well, except for the fact that her breathing was too odd.
‘Looks like she ran almost everywhere she could.’
A faint smile formed on Soo Ah’s face upon imagining how this Samae of hers, Baek Hwarin, would’ve been running around all the mountains just to find her.
Having a fellow female disciple like her by your side was really good.
“Oh! Huff! Sahyung! So, you were here? Huff! Huff! I searched for you everywhere. Let’s go quickly. Huff! The sect leader told all of us to gather. He wants to talk about the upcoming tournament with us. Huff! Huff!”
“...”
“I understand. Let’s rest a bit here so you can at least breathe properly. Then we will go.”
“Uh! But...”
“Let’s just rest. Resting for a bit won’t kill all the time.”
“...”
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter