Chapter 23: Under the Moonlit Sky

The dark night sky sparkles with countless stars.

Under the gently spreading moonlight, I slowly take in my surroundings.

Fortunately, there was no one in the training ground.

Though it’s been a while since I’ve used these techniques, the martial arts ingrained in my body make it manageable.

The Wind God Step, a subset of the Sun and Moon Step, incorporates principles from the Five Elements…

“Impressive.”

I haven’t even started yet, so what nonsense is this?

Turning my head toward the source of the voice, someone clears their throat and steps out of the shadows.

“Ahem.”

“Are you Cheon…?”

The person who emerged from the darkness was the girl who had been beaten by Namgungjin’s gang.

‘Damn it.’

I knew I’d run into her again while staying at the Jeongdo Martial Arts Hall, but this soon?

No, considering the Celestial Sword, avoiding her involvement was never an option.

It’s just a nuisance, not exactly a disadvantage.

She is one of the Four Flowers of Jianghu, Ju Yeon-hwa, the Celestial Sword Maiden.

Though she remains unknown for now, her skill is undeniable, given how she suppresses her energy even in my presence.

I recognized her at first glance.

She looks exactly like her depiction in illustrations.

A cute girl with green hair flowing down to her waist looked at me.

“Cheon?”

Her head tilted slightly as her emerald-green eyes, clear and deep as a lake, met mine.

“Do you know about the Celestial Demon?”

“The Celestial Demon?”

Under the moonlight, her hair sparkled with extraordinary brilliance.

It was a result of her mastering a unique martial art.

“Yes, the King of Demons who shattered the heavens. How much do you know about him?”

Ju Yeon-hwa, who had been staring blankly, covered her mouth and chuckled.

“Why the sudden question? Of course, I know. The Demonic Sect was the nemesis of the righteous martial arts world until a century ago… Now, it’s nothing noteworthy.”

“I’m not talking about the Demonic Sect; I’m referring to the Celestial Demon himself.”

Ju Yeon-hwa shrugged and gave a faint smile.

“Aren’t they the same? In the end, he’s just a loser who faded into the annals of history. He doesn’t even leave the Ten Thousand Great Mountains… No need to worry about him.”

Such thinking has been deeply rooted from long ago.

I recalled Ju Yeon-hwa’s final moments.

When the Demonic Sect rose again and the Celestial Demon appeared, she charged alongside her junior and senior disciples, only to be annihilated.

She had skill, but I always wondered what gave her the confidence to charge in.

With this mindset, it makes sense.

“Hehe… Not only do you have the demeanor of a true hero, but you also joke so well. I’m Ju Yeon-hwa. You’re Cheon Sojin, right?”

Her words made no effort to conceal that she knew who I was.

As the successor of the Stellar Sword Technique, she spoke with a confident voice.

I nodded in acknowledgment.

“That’s correct. Ju Sojeo, what brings you here?”

“Ah… Well… I just wanted to thank you. Is there anything you need?”

There is one thing I need.

The Yin-Yang Pill…

But knowing I couldn’t get it, I chose not to mention it.

“Sojeo, I only helped because you seemed to need assistance. Please, don’t let it weigh on you.”

There’s no way she came looking for me this late at night just to say thank you.

She stared at me with intense eyes.

“Ah… uh. Is that so…?”

Her shoulders slumped visibly as her energy seemed to drain away.

“……”

“…If you’re training, should I perhaps help you a bit?”

For those who knew Ju Yeon-hwa, it would have been shocking to see the faint aura of extraordinary internal energy beginning to emanate from her.

‘Is she at the pinnacle level?’

Perhaps you’ve heard stories like this before.

The kind about someone pretending to be a weakling to hide their true identity.

Ju Yeon-hwa is exactly that kind of person.

“It’s fine. Sojeo, your gratitude is enough. You should head back now. The night air is chilly—you might catch a cold.”

“Ah! Well… it might sound odd coming from someone who was helped, but I’m actually skilled in martial arts…! So, even though I was getting beaten by them earlier… I can definitely be of help to you. I swear… I really can. Please believe me.”

She waved her hands around, stumbling over her words in a fluster.

Perhaps she wasn’t even aware of what she was saying herself.

I could understand, though.

Her confident offer to help was likely due to her immense pride.

As a successor of a sect that had once assisted the leader of the martial world in defeating the Celestial Demon, she would naturally have a strong sense of pride.

However…

“Really, it’s fine. There’s no need for you to feel burdened, and you can forget about it entirely.”

Just go already.

I’m the one who’s supposed to teach you.

I made it clear that she wasn’t welcome.

“I care!”

Ju Yeon-hwa shouted loudly and reached out her hand.

“Pardon?”

Naturally, I had no intention of letting her grab me so easily.

I drew upon my Sun and Moon Qi to retreat a few steps.

But she grabbed my hand anyway.

“Gotcha…! Wait, what?”

It was just an afterimage.

“Ju Sojeo.”

This is troubling.

Does she have some kind of obsessive disorder?

There was never any mention of this in the novel.

If it’s some kind of hidden backstory, this could be a headache.

“Ah, no… it was just a joke… I’m sorry.”

I glanced at her with half-closed eyes, and she immediately lowered her head in apology.

Even while apologizing, she kept stealing glances at me.

She’s a dangerous woman.

“Raise your head.”

“The point is… I think I can be of help to you. Or, if not, can I at least watch quietly from the side?”

Ju Yeon-hwa clasped her hands tightly and looked at me with the eyes of a puppy waiting for its master’s approval.

Her pure, clear emerald-green eyes reflected my face.

Seeing such earnest eyes like that…

Shaking my head, I replied.

“No, I cannot. Asking someone to demonstrate their martial arts is considered highly disrespectful according to the ways of Jianghu. You know this, Sojeo.”

She didn’t seem fazed at all.

“Well, that may be true, but if we’re close, it shouldn’t matter… right?”

“We are not close, are we? We’ve only met twice.”

“Then we can become close starting today, can’t we?”

Wow.

That’s one way to think about it.

Why didn’t I come up with that?

“It’s okay, right? It works, doesn’t it? There’s no problem, is there?”

Of course, there’s a problem.

With Pang Gayun already around, adding Ju Yeon-hwa would make things even more troublesome than I can imagine.

“Sojeo, let me be clear. I understand your desire to repay a favor, but you’re interrupting my training. Please, stop this and head back.”

“…Ah! Even so…!”

I shook my head firmly and rejected her.

Ju Yeon-hwa’s eyes widened momentarily, and then she slumped her shoulders, looking as if she might break down entirely.

“Go. I won’t be seeing you off.”

She walked out of the training grounds with the defeated steps of a failed middle-aged worker.

Even as she left, she looked back every ten steps, her expression like that of a shivering matchstick girl braving the cold…

But still, no.

The nature of the Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Divine Technique made it unwise to be close to women before stabilizing one’s cultivation.

Both my grandmaster and my teacher had repeatedly warned me about this.

There’s no need to elaborate on why.

“Finally, it’s quiet.”

Only after she left could I resume practicing my footwork.

South of the Yangtze River,

The squad, having finished their preparations for camping, gathered around to watch him leave.

“Once again, everyone, you’ve worked hard over the past week. Without the Hwacheondae team, I wouldn’t have managed alone.”

“You’re too humble. It’s all thanks to you, Ujeong-nim.”

“That’s right! You truly are the next Plum Blossom Swordmaster of Mount Hua!”

Seon U-jeong smiled brightly, seemingly pleased with the flattery from the team members.

He handed the spirit turtle’s inner core, obtained from capturing a spirit beast, to the woman at the front.

“Take good care of this. I’ll be back soon, so don’t lose it.”

Clad in a crimson martial robe embroidered with golden thread, Seon U-jeong waved and walked away slowly.

“Don’t worry and have a safe trip, Ujeong-nim!”

“Safe travels.”

He exhaled a sigh internally.

Once Seon U-jeong was gone, it would begin.

He knew it.

As expected, Jo Mi-jeong was the first to sneer.

“I can’t stand women like you, who flit around so lightly.”

‘As if I like you either.’

Those words rose to the tip of my tongue but couldn’t be spoken.

Coming to Hwacheondae with great expectations, only to find someone as difficult as Jo Mi-jeong was a cruel twist of fate.

Sigh…

I let out a heavy sigh inwardly.

The Jo Clan and my family have had a feud spanning generations—simply put, we are enemies.

“Mi-jeong-nim is right. I also hate people like that the most…”

There is no ally for me in Hwacheondae.

Even the girl who used to be bullied before I arrived…

“Yeah, she just follows around like a puppy… so annoying.”

…is saying things like that.

“Hey, mute girl, say something.”

“…I’m not mute, though.”

“What? I can’t hear you. Is it because you’re from the Shin Clan? I heard your merchant group went under recently too. Guess you’re all going to end up beggars. Do I smell urine?”

She wrinkled her nose and held it with a disgusted expression.

That… that is the one thing I hate the most.

My fists clenched involuntarily.

‘No, I need to endure this.’

It’s painful, but there’s no other way.

If I can just endure it, everything will be fine.

Without Seon U-jeong here, Jo Mi-jeong might as well be the leader of Hwacheondae.

If I go against her, the situation will only worsen.

…Even so, I can’t stop my eyes from narrowing in anger.

“What are you going to do by glaring? Why are you even here? Hoping to scrape some scraps, are you? Wake up from your dream.”

Jo Mi-jeong growled and scanned me up and down with a mocking smirk.

“Well, our U-jeong-nim is way better than that idiot. Didn’t he even change his name recently? To Cheon Sojin?”

“Hahahaha! What’s the point of changing your surname if your skills stay the same?”

“Pathetic… No wonder he was exiled from his family.”

Many martial artists of Hwacheondae laughed at Cheon Sojin in unison.

‘Why are they insulting Sojin?’

They don’t even know him.

He’s such a kind person…

Perhaps that’s why I blurted out words without realizing it.

“…Don’t insult Sojin. He’s not someone you have the right to mock.”

As soon as I spoke, Jo Mi-jeong and the others frowned and glared at me.

“This is hilarious. What did you just say?”

“Didn’t you betray Cheon Sojin and join Hwacheondae? You can betray him, but we can’t insult him?”

“At least we didn’t betray anyone.”

I was at a loss for words and couldn’t argue back.

Still… I couldn’t just stand by and watch them mock someone I respect.

For a long moment, Jo Mi-jeong and I locked eyes, silently staring each other down.

“You’re not going to lower your eyes? How arrogant…”

In the end, I was the first to avert my gaze.

“Pfft! Absolutely useless. You still don’t understand your place, do you? Anyone in need of a Shin Clan servant?”

Jo Mi-jeong waved her hand at the nine other members.

“Ugh… I don’t want to.”

“What would I even do with it?”

“No thanks. I prefer men.”

Hearing the members’ comments, she smirked and turned to look at me.

Her repulsive expression reminded me of a rat discovering a piece of cheese.

“You heard them, right? Leave Hwacheondae while I’m still speaking nicely. We did all the work capturing that turtle this time.”

“That’s right!”

I tried to ignore them, turning my head away and pulling a cloth over myself.

But the mocking laughter didn’t stop.

It continued until the moment I finally drifted off to sleep.

‘Just ignore it and sleep.’

Smack!

“You crazy wench!”

A sharp pain jolted me awake.

‘What’s happening?’

As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw ten members surrounding me.

“What’s this? What are you all doing?”

I rubbed my stinging cheek and glared at them.

“What’s this? Are you seriously asking that?”

“Wow, the audacity…”

Their gazes, always unpleasant, now burned with intense contempt.

“What’s that in your hand?”

Jo Mi-jeong pointed at my hand.

What? How did this happen?

“I… I didn’t steal it! …And I can just return it, right?”

Why is the turtle’s inner core in my hand…?

Hurriedly, I threw the core to Jo Mi-jeong.

I couldn’t understand it.

How did it end up in my possession?

‘Well, at least it’s not lost…’

But the anger of the members didn’t subside.

“Are you kidding me? You filthy thief!”

Jo Mi-jeong threw the core I had tossed her onto the ground.

“What?”

Then, she roared furiously.

“You drained all the internal energy from it!”