Chapter 215
“You want to spar? Here?”
At Xuanwu’s words, the other three Guardians looked at him as though dumbfounded.
What was he talking about all of a sudden?
But then,
“Should we? Sounds fun.”
At that, Azure Dragon flashed a grin and nodded.
“No, seriously, what got into all of you?”
Zhuque let out a hollow laugh.
Besides, Xuanwu was especially thoughtful and not prone to misspeaking.
For someone like him to make such an impromptu suggestion…
“What’s gotten into all of you? It’s not like this is Bai Hu’s doing.”
“Hey. Why me?”
“What do you mean, why you? Are you asking because you don’t know? You’re the only one among us who starts things on impulse. What did you do to rub off on everyone while I was away?”
“Geez, I didn’t do anything!”
“That’s not it. It just reminded me of when we were young. We don’t really need to anymore, but back then, we trained and sparred like mad every single day. Seeing them over there suddenly brought those days to mind.”
“Even so…”
Zhuque let her voice trail off and discreetly glanced at Yeo Un-hwi.
“Then at least move somewhere else. This place is a bit…”
“No, it’s fine.”
Just then, Yeo Un-hwi joined the Four Guardians’ conversation.
“Don’t worry about that. Do as you please. It’s hardly a big deal.”
“Are you sure that’s all right?”
“Of course.”
Yeo Un-hwi readily nodded.
If anything, it might be valuable experience for the White Wolf Unit, so he had no particular reason to object.
Once Yeo Un-hwi gave permission,
“Well, since our lord says so. All right, then. Let’s see…”
The Four Guardians quickly paired off and moved well apart as they prepared to spar.
At that, some of the White Wolf members stopped training and began looking over.
“Look over there. Looks like they’re going to spar.”
“Sure looks that way.”
“Wow. Sparring while others are training? They must be confident.”
“Exactly. Shall we see what they can do?”
At Gi-su and Gi-sang’s words, O Chae-mu clicked his tongue.
“What’s got you two so twisted?”
“Leave them be. It’s not the first time they’ve acted like that. Besides, it seems they were planning to challenge Miss Hongyeon’s acquaintances after training today to make up for their crushing defeat last time. They must be feeling especially fired up.”
Dogyung’s words made Gi-su and Gi-sang’s eyes widen.
“Whoa. Noona, how did you know that?”
“It’s written all over your faces. It’s not like I haven’t seen simpletons like you thinking about things like this before.”
“Ahem.”
The White Wolf members’ chatter brought training to an inadvertent halt, but Yeo Un-hwi did not bother scolding them.
For now, watching this spar closely might be more useful.
“Even so, given the location, let’s start lightly.”
“Sure.”
Soon, Zhuque and Bai Hu, and Xuanwu and Azure Dragon, began sparring.
Yet despite saying they would start lightly,
Swish.
In an instant, their figures vanished from sight.
“……”
“Where did they go?”
The entire White Wolf Unit stared around wide-eyed in shock.
No one had been able to follow their movements.
Just then,
“Up there!”
Peng Do-hwan noticed that Yeo Un-hwi’s gaze was directed upward and immediately looked up as well.
And there he spotted the Four Guardians exchanging fierce attacks.
Swoooosh!
Taahhh!
Boom! Bang! Boom!
Each attack was too fast for the eyes to follow.
Yet they dodged one another’s attacks and countered with astonishing ease.
The exchange looked immensely fierce and intense, but they handled one another with such ease, as though they had agreed on every move beforehand.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
Their exchange high in the sky continued without pause until just before they descended to the ground.
And when their final techniques clashed,
KABOOM!
With an enormous reverberation, they knocked each other’s swords aside and landed lightly back in place.
Silence fell.
Was the spar over?
No, it wasn’t.
Soon, they looked at each other and grinned.
As though it were only just beginning.
Ruuuuumble.
The air around them changed completely.
The space began to ripple from the energy pouring out of the Four Guardians.
“Haaaaah!”
At the overwhelming sight, the mouths of every member of the White Wolf Unit fell open.
Naturally, this was a realm they could not even dream of reaching in their current state.
It was clearly no weaker than the aura of Martial Alliance Leader Song Il-do or Jang Cheong, who had killed him with demonic arts, whom they had seen at the Martial Alliance. If anything, it was even more immense.
What in the world were their identities?
And how did Commander know people like them?
The White Wolf members could only marvel at how amazing and astonishing all of this was.
Yet among them were some who were utterly horrified by the situation.
“Good heavens… Wh-what is that… Hic! Hic!”
“W-we were actually going to… Hic! Ch-challenge people like that? Hic!”
Gi-su and Gi-sang stammered, their faces so shocked that it looked as though their hearts might leap out.
They were so startled that their hiccups simply would not stop.
At that moment, the twin brothers finally learned the painfully obvious lesson that one must not pointlessly challenge—or rather, pick a fight with—someone one knew nothing about.
Meanwhile,
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
The Four Guardians had initially held back somewhat as they traded blows, but soon they became immersed in the spar and their momentum changed.
The heavy qi flowing from them surged explosively, and the tips of their swords grew sharper.
And then,
Ping!
“…Ha!”
Eventually, thin red lines began to appear in various places across their bodies.
The Four Guardians, who had looked impeccably dignified when greeting the White Wolf Unit, now wore eerie smiles.
And at some point,
“…Huh?”
“D-did my eyes deceive me?”
“No, what in the world is that……”
“N-no way. We must have seen it wrong.”
That thing beginning to seep from the Four Guardians absorbed in their spar was definitely… demonic qi?
“It definitely looks like demonic qi, doesn’t it? Look closely over there.”
“H-hey. What do you mean, look closely? Turn your head right now! Pretend you didn’t see anything!”
“……”
Sweeek!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Boom! KABOOOOOM!
KRAAAAAAAH!
As the spar grew even more heated, the White Wolf members desperately averted their eyes.
They had the strong feeling that they had seen something but had to pretend they had not.
And in the distance.
One more person. No, two.
There were those who gazed at the scene with dazed eyes and let out hollow laughs.
“Heh, heheheh, hehehehehe……”
They were Peng Mugang and Peng Seo-jin, who had come to see what was happening after sensing powerful energy within the Peng Clan.
Their admiration at the magnificent spar they encountered soon turned into hollow laughter.
“A prestigious orthodox clan like ours, and it has demonic qi? Haha! Our clan’s really doing a fine job of keeping up appearances.”
For a moment, it felt as though this were not the Hebei Peng Clan but the headquarters of the Demonic Cult.
Peng Mugang let out a hollow laugh as though he had given up on everything.
Then Peng Seo-jin also gave the same laugh and asked Peng Mugang,
“Should we go stop them?”
“No. Leave them be. What does it matter? This is an age when those calling themselves orthodox are worse than demons. It’s not as if anyone’s going to die.”
Whatever! I give up!
Soon, Peng Mugang’s deflated-sounding laughter echoed weakly across the Peng Clan’s sky.
And so, the Hebei Peng Clan was very peaceful today, too.
Believe it or not.
***
A few days passed after the ruckus caused by the Four Guardians.
“Haha! Have you all been well?”
The heads of the Five Great Families gathered again at the Hebei Peng Clan.
“Good grief. Why are you acting as though you haven’t seen us in ages?”
“Sometimes that affability of his is a bit much.”
“Hey now, haven’t we been unable to see one another ever since we all fought off those Demonic Cult bastards who attacked the Peng Clan? I’m only acting this way because I’m glad to see you. Honestly, you people are so emotionally parched.”
As always, Huangbo Gyun grinned affably, and the other heads smiled warmly despite their grumbling words.
To prepare for the Taechon Alliance, the heads of the Five Great Families had temporarily gone their separate ways, and today, too, they began bickering as soon as they met.
In truth, there was nothing grand about the preparations. The heads, who had been away from their clans for a long time, had each returned to rest, reorganize their forces, and then gather again.
It had been a reunion that was both long and short.
“I missed you all. Do you know how quickly I hurried here because I was so eager to see you?”
Everyone snorted at Huangbo Gyun’s words.
“You didn’t really come because you missed us, did you?”
“Of course not. There’s no way. He’s got some ulterior motive. That man has a subtly devious side.”
“I feel the same way. Clan Head Huangbo does have that side to him.”
“Ahem. What are you all saying? It’s hurtful that none of you recognize my sincerity. I feel like I’m going to cry.”
“Please don’t. I could do without watching an old man put on a pitiable crying act.”
But Huangbo Gyun remained undaunted despite the cold treatment from the other heads.
“No, I’m serious! It’s not as though I have some ulterior mot—”
Then it happened.
Suddenly, the door to the Clan Head’s Hall flew open and someone appeared.
There was only one person in the Peng Clan who could burst into the Clan Head’s Hall like that.
“Grandpa!”
Yul-i appeared in the Clan Head’s Hall at the usual time for her martial arts lesson from her grandfather. Peng Mugang wore a look of dismay, while Huangbo Gyun’s eyes lit up with triumph.
“Oh my! Yul-i!”
Huangbo Gyun lifted Yul-i with a broad grin.
Peng Mugang’s face twisted at once.
“H-how dare you take those, those, those, those, those wicked hands off my granddaughter! How dare you…!”
Peng Mugang shouted furiously, but
“Huh? It’s Great-Uncle!”
“That’s right! I’m your great-uncle. Have you been well?”
“Yes! How about you, Grandpa?”
“I haven’t been well because I missed my Yul-i so much. Heheh. Yul-i, your great-uncle brought you lots of presents!”
He had started gathering them the day he arrived at the Huangbo Family. No—from the moment he left the Peng Clan and set out for the Huangbo Family, he had been collecting them in anticipation of seeing Yul-i again.
But her response was completely unexpected.
“Really?! Ah… But I can’t accept them. Mommy told me not to accept presents. She said that would make me spoiled.”
It was unclear whose behavior she thought would worsen.
Huangbo Gyun’s eyes wavered.
But he soon steeled himself. If something this small shook him, he could not call himself the head of the Huangbo Family.
“Really? Then it can’t be helped. I brought armfuls of deer, bear, and even squirrel dolls for Yul-i.”
“Deer… dolls?”
This time, Yul-i’s eyes wavered.
“Yes. A deer doll. And I have bear and squirrel dolls, as well as a pretty bird doll, too.”
“Bear and squirrel… bird doll. Nghhhhh.”
Thus, for the first time, Yul-i began to agonize over the conflict between her beloved mother’s teachings and her desire for the dolls.
Her stubby little hands trembled as she clutched her head.
She had to obey Mommy, but she wanted the dolls. Even so, listening to Mommy was the right thing to do—but deer, bear, and bird dolls? She did want to see them at least once.
“Darn it!”
Unable to bear watching, Peng Mugang kicked Huangbo Gyun hard in the butt.
“That hurt!”
“Maybe I should kick you harder! You fiendish old man, how dare you drive my granddaughter into qi deviation!”
“Why are you bringing qi deviation into this?”
“Because you tried to plunge my granddaughter, who has only just begun learning martial arts, into heart demons! You Huangbo bastard!”
“No, that wasn’t what I meant…”
All the effort Huangbo Gyun had put into collecting dolls had come to nothing, and before he knew it, he had been reduced to a rotten old man who had tried to plunge someone else’s granddaughter into heart demons. He made a sorrowful face.
“I’m sorry, Yul-i. Let’s pretend this never happ—”
“Ah! Grandpa, don’t give them to me. Give them to our grandpa as a present!”
“Huh?”
“Then I can play with them whenever I come visit! Since they’ll be our grandpa’s dolls, Mommy will say it’s okay.”
“Heh, heheheh. Y-yes, let’s do that.”
Was that wisdom, or cunning?
And so, Huangbo Gyun ended up giving deer, bear, and bird dolls to his rugged old friend.
Peng Mugang grabbed his stomach and laughed at Huangbo Gyun’s ridiculous predicament.
But then,
“Oh-ho. What an adorable child.”
“I heard she’s his granddaughter. I saw her in passing last time, but she truly is lovely.”
Suddenly, the other heads of the Five Great Families began taking an interest in Yul-i.
Peng Mugang’s face, which had been laughing uproariously, twisted all over again.
Why did these damned old men keep doting on someone else’s granddaughter?
She’s my granddaughter, you bastards!