The Lazy Young Master of the Jin Clan

The night of the Blue Dragon Daoist Temple.

There was a person who could not sleep today either.

"It seems to be within reach, but it's not. What on earth was the problem?"

Above the training ground, where only the moonlight was the only light, Hyeok'ugun began to perform a sword dance.

Dozens of plum blossoms bloomed and faded repeatedly.

Even in the splendid sword dance filled with red plum blossoms, Hyeok'ugun's expression was not bright.

"Kkeuk!"

As the tip of his sword trembled, the plum blossoms that had bloomed around Hyeok'ugun scattered in an instant.

"Cough! Cough!"

As the sword could not go its own way, the internal energy that had lost its way flowed backward and caused an internal injury.

Hyeok'ugun's blood stained the training ground red.

"Hoo... hoo..."

Hyeok'ugun, who was gasping for breath, looked down at his right hand, which was holding the sword.

It had been four months since Kang Cheon had left.

And yet, still.

Hyeok'ugun could not escape from the short teaching he had left behind.

—The sword of Huashan is not made only with swordsmanship.

Hyeok'ugun, who had once again recalled Kang Cheon's teaching, began to swing his sword.

Red plum blossom petals were splendidly embroidered on the training ground.

Meanwhile, Jin Sohyun, who had come out of the guest house, braving the hassle, yawned and walked with a slouch.

"Ahuuu... what a hassle."

The reason the lazy bum had come out for a night walk, even cutting down on his sleep, was simple.

The realm of martial arts he was training in was too dangerous to unfold in a place with many people.

What if the power of the martial arts, which had lost its control, were to fly to the innocent officials by mistake?

At least several would lose their lives.

"I can't let our lacking third-rate friends die."

Jin Sohyun, who was still treating the officials of the Blue Dragon Daoist Temple as third-rate, felt his vision brighten.

It was a plum blossom.

A red plum blossom, close to purple, had bloomed on the training ground.

"It's cool."

At the splendid swordsmanship of the Huashan Sect, Jin Sohyun scratched under his chin.

"The flying sword is not cool."

Unlike the beautiful and splendid swordsmanship of Huashan, which anyone could see, Jin Sohyun's Flying Heaven Ten Swords was not cool or splendid.

This was because the flying sword technique was basically intended to fly through the air and kill the enemy.

So, on the contrary, splendor becomes a poison.

"Should I have learned swordsmanship too?"

Jin Sohyun, who had said something that would have made Kang Cheon faint, headed to the training ground.

And at the place he arrived at, Hyeok'ugun had stopped his sword dance and was gasping for breath.

‘Let’s not disturb him.’

Jin Sohyun walked through the edge of the training ground so as not to disturb Hyeok'ugun.

At that moment.

"Young Hero Jin?"

‘Oh no! His eyes are good too.’

Jin Sohyun, who had been trying to pass the training ground secretly, faced Hyeok'ugun with an awkward face.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm on a walk."

"A walk?"

"Yes."

Although Hyeok'ugun had a face as if he couldn't understand, he didn't ask any more.

He was just staring at Jin Sohyun with a complicated face.

"Is... something wrong?"

"...No, it's nothing."

Hyeok'ugun, who had been about to say something, shook his head.

"I disturbed you. Please have a pleasant walk."

Having finished speaking, Hyeok'ugun turned around and began to perform a sword dance again.

Jin Sohyun, who was looking at Hyeok'ugun, who was training his martial arts, sweating, with a pleased expression, nodded his head.

"Youth."

Jin Sohyun, who was cheering for Hyeok'ugun with a pleased expression, as if he were an old man of at least eighty, moved his steps.

Since that day, Jin Sohyun had often encountered Hyeok'ugun on the training ground.

The two, who had become accustomed to each other's presence, passed each other with a light nod.

That strange relationship faced a change after half a month had passed.

Today, as always.

Jin Sohyun, who was passing the training ground with a bored face, discovered a plum blossom petal that was falling powerlessly.

"Heok— Heok—!"

A gasping breath.

Finely trembling lips and eyebrows.

The fingertips holding the sword trembled.

‘What’s wrong?’

At Hyeok'ugun's unusual appearance, Jin Sohyun stopped his steps and walked onto the training ground.

"Young Hero Hyeok."

"Young Hero Jin... are you... on a walk again today?"

It seemed that Hyeok'ugun didn't even know that Jin Sohyun had come.

Jin Sohyun, who had walked right in front of Hyeok'ugun, realized that his condition was strange.

His eyes were sunken, and his face was gaunt.

A haggard appearance as if he had starved for several days.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm... alright."

Hyeok'ugun, who was waving his hand, saying he was alright, suddenly collapsed.

The surprised Jin Sohyun supported him.

"You don't look alright."

"Haha... this, I've shown you an unsightly appearance, Young Hero Jin."

Even his embarrassed appearance felt weak.

What on earth had happened to Hyeok'ugun?

Jin Sohyun, who was feeling concerned for some reason, discovered that blood was flowing from the palm of his hand, which was holding the sword.

The palm of a swordsman, which had been trained as much as it could be and had calluses firmly embedded.

Hyeok'ugun had swung his sword without rest, to the point where even those hard calluses were torn.

‘Why is he overdoing it like this?’

Jin Sohyun, who still did not understand the desire for strength, could not understand Hyeok'ugun, who was trying to become stronger by overworking his body.

"How about taking it easy? You'll hurt your body at this rate."

"I want to do that too, but the words that Elder Kang left behind won't leave my head. That's why I can't even eat properly... and I can't let go of my sword."

‘He’s fallen into a heart demon.’

Jin Sohyun felt that Hyeok'ugun had fallen into a heart demon.

Then, a conversation he had had with Kang Cheon in the past suddenly came to mind.

—Sohyun, do you know what is the most dangerous thing for a martial artist?

—No.

—It is the heart demon.

—A heart demon? What is that?

—A heart demon is a kind of disease of the heart. All martial artists who stand in front of a wall will experience a heart demon. If there are martial artists who overcome this and leap to a higher level, there are also martial artists who cannot overcome it and collapse. If you're not careful, there are also those who fall into qi deviation.

—Ah! I see. But since I'm not a martial artist, it won't matter!

—You damn disciple! If you're not a martial artist, who is a martial artist! And even those who are not martial artists experience heart demons!

—Tsk… then how can I overcome a heart demon?

—There is no way. The only one who can overcome a heart demon is oneself.

The only one who can overcome a heart demon is oneself.

‘What should I do?’

But if he left him like this, it seemed that Hyeok'ugun would be eaten by his heart demon and would become a cripple.

"Hmm... how about resting for a bit?"

"I can't do that. I can't rest yet... ugh!" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Hyeok'ugun had no choice but to rest.

It was because Jin Sohyun had struck the back of his neck with the side of his hand.

Jin Sohyun, who had carried the fainted Hyeok'ugun like a piece of luggage, returned to the guest house.

But there was one problem.

"Where is Young Hero Hyeok's room?"

There were too many rooms.

Jin Sohyun, who did not know which of them was Hyeok'ugun's room, had no choice but to enter any room and open the door.

Coincidentally, the owner of that room was Jong Ryeo'ak.

"Wh-What."

At the appearance of the unexpected guest, the sleeping Jong Ryeo'ak opened his eyes.

Jin Sohyun, who was not yet aware of the situation, approached Jong Ryeo'ak and said.

"I'll leave Young Hero Hyeok here."

"What...?"

"You two are friends. Please take care of him!"

Jin Sohyun, who had finished speaking unilaterally, left before Jong Ryeo'ak could say anything.

Jong Ryeo'ak, who had been left with the fainted Hyeok'ugun in a daze, scratched his head.

"Is this a dream?"

It must be a dream.

Otherwise, there was no reason for Jin Sohyun to throw the fainted Hyeok'ugun at him and leave.

"It's a dream."

Jong Ryeo'ak lay down on the bed again and went to sleep.

***

The next evening.

Jin Sohyun met Hyeok'ugun at the training ground.

"That person is really persistent."

Jin Sohyun looked at Hyeok'ugun as if he were looking at a child who had been left by the water.

This time too, the plum blossom petals that had bloomed on the training ground fell powerlessly.

"Hoo... hoo..."

Hyeok'ugun, who was sweating after finishing his sword dance, also discovered Jin Sohyun.

"Young Hero Jin... thanks to you, I slept well. If you can call fainting sleeping."

"That's a relief."

"So. Can I ask you for a favor, Young Hero?"

"What favor?"

"I would like you to watch my sword once."

Since it wasn't difficult to watch, Jin Sohyun readily accepted.

Jin Sohyun sat on one side of the training ground and waited for Hyeok'ugun's sword dance.

Soon.

Hyeok'ugun's sword began to move slowly.

The tip of his sword moved and began to make plum blossoms bloom.

At first one, and then several plum blossoms.

Every time the body of the sword crossed the empty air, dozens of plum blossoms bloomed.

Jin Sohyun clapped his hands as he watched the plum blossoms that had filled the training ground in an instant.

And in the next moment.

The tip of Hyeok'ugun's sword began to tremble.

‘What does this mean? If I get the pulse right like last time, they’re just fallen petals anyway.’

A doubt about himself and his swordsmanship.

The doubt became a heart demon and consumed Hyeok'ugun, and as his heart trembled, his body also trembled.

The plum blossoms fall.

The petals that had bloomed beautifully fall.

‘Can my plum blossoms never bloom?’

At the despairing Hyeok'ugun's ear, Jin Sohyun's voice was heard.

"It's static."

Hyeok'ugun lowered his sword and looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"The sword is free and irregular, but Young Hero Hyeok himself is too static. Like a tree."

"..."

"So it looks awkward."

Jin Sohyun got up from his seat and took out a flying sword.

It was a flying sword he had brought to train the realm of martial arts.

Soon, Jin Sohyun began to swing his sword.

It was surprisingly a part of the plum blossom sword that Hyeok'ugun had shown.

Although it was a clumsy swordsmanship that was not perfect because the subtlety was missing, the form was the same.

‘It can’t be exactly the same, but this should be enough.’

Jin Sohyun's flying sword embroidered plum blossoms in the empty air.

But something was awkward.

Hyeok'ugun could soon realize what part was awkward.

"Static... was this what it meant?"

The sword was free, but the body was not free.

Because he was engrossed in making plum blossoms bloom with his sword, his stiff body could not move properly.

At that, Hyeok'ugun could see.

"I can see the flow... I think I know where to cut it off."

Since the body holding the sword was stiff, the flow of the sword could be seen with the eyes.

And he could also know where to cut it off.

In the next moment.

Jin Sohyun began to move his body.

Due to Jin Sohyun's increasingly free movements, the clumsy plum blossoms that had bloomed from his sword began to hold life.

The flow of the swordsmanship also became free.

At this moment, a thunderbolt struck Hyeok'ugun's head.

"What I learned was the plum blossom sword, not the plum blossom wooden sword. I've been trying to become a tree all this time."

Hyeok'ugun's mouth slowly opened.

Only then did he seem to understand what Kang Cheon's words meant.

He had given advice for enlightenment to Hyeok'ugun, who had been trying to unfold his swordsmanship only with his sword.

‘The swordsmanship of Huashan is not made only with the sword.’

The martial arts of the Huashan Sect flashed through Hyeok'ugun's head.

From swordsmanship to fist and foot techniques, movement techniques, and lightness skills.

The martial arts that had been scattered one by one began to connect with each other like a spider's web.

The moment he gained enlightenment.

Hyeok'ugun's body moved on its own.

His sword, which had lost its way, made plum blossoms bloom.

At the same time, Hyeok'ugun's feet moved and led his body.

Hyeok'ugun, who had been concentrating on making plum blossoms bloom like a tree, was no longer there.

Jin Sohyun, who was watching the plum blossom swordsman who had become a plum blossom himself and was blooming freely, retrieved his flying sword.

"Is this enough?"

Jin Sohyun, who was looking at Hyeok'ugun with a pleased face, quietly turned his back.

"By the way... when will I awaken to the realm of martial arts?"

Jin Sohyun's own situation was urgent.

***

"Why do I feel like there are more people?"

"Now Young Hero Hyeok'ugun is also over there."

"Why?"

Hyeok'ugun, who had been keeping his distance from Jin Sohyun because he had no connection with him, was now staying by his side.

That was not all.

"Young Hero Jin! How long are you going to push me away?"

Jin Sohyun looked at Hyeok'ugun with a fed-up face.

To think that Hyeok'ugun, who had been a quiet model student of the Blue Dragon Daoist Temple, was such an obsessive man.

"I told you I don't want to."

"Why? You have nothing to lose either, do you?"

"It's a hassle."

"Think about it again!"

"Ugh!"

Jin Sohyun, who was getting tired of the officials surrounding him, unfolded his Shadowless Divine Steps and left the place.

"Where did he go?"

Hyeok'ugun's eyes moved busily, looking for Jin Sohyun.

In the meantime, Jin Sohyun, who had left the training ground, leaned against a wall and gasped for breath.

"Ugh! I should have just let him fall into a heart demon! I was being nosy for no reason."

"Hey."

Jong Ryeo'ak approached Jin Sohyun, who was grumbling.

"I'm busy."

"I haven't said anything yet."

"But I think I'll be busy."

"Let's fight."

"I told you, I'm busy."

"If you refuse, I have no choice. I'll have to tell your followers where you are. Especially these days, Hyeok'ugun seems to be obsessed with you."

‘This brat, since when…!’

Jong Ryeo'ak had learned how to handle Jin Sohyun.

Jong Ryeo'ak, who had realized that he feared hassle the most, smiled slyly.

"If you don't like that, let's fight. I know you don't like to show your strength, so let's fight alone where no one is."

"Sigh... alright. Just this once."

"Good. But there's a condition."

"I'm fighting for you, and you're setting a condition? You ungrateful brat."

Jong Ryeo'ak barely held back the urge to punch Jin Sohyun in the face and said.

"The one who wins this fight..."

At Jong Ryeo'ak's next words, Jin Sohyun's face hardened.

"Becomes the older brother."

(End of Chapter)