Chapter 180

Midnight on the last night of the lunar month was so dark that even objects right in front of me were difficult to make out.

It would almost have been easier to close my eyes and rely on my senses.

I followed Jinseong without hesitation, wandering through the damp night mist for what felt like a long time before we finally stopped at the entrance to a ravine.

The flow of energy there felt peculiar.

There had to be a formation in place.

Jinseong turned to me and said calmly,

“My master has granted entry only to you, Miss Tang. I will wait outside.”

“Okay. I just keep going straight in?”

“Yes.”

Jinseong nodded.

I didn’t have particularly good memories of places protected by formations, so I was a little uneasy.

Still, Jinseong wasn’t the sort of person who would try anything underhanded.

He could barely manage a polite lie, let alone a scheme.

Looking at him standing there quietly, I smiled.

Then, on impulse, I spoke.

“Daoist Jinseong, did you know something?”

“Yes?”

“You’re the only person I’ve met since entering the martial world whom I can actually trust. At the very least, I don’t think you’d ever stab me in the back.”

Yeon Ryang didn’t count, obviously.

I had never met anyone else who kept every word he spoke exactly as he had said it.

Whatever else might be true, I knew for certain that Jinseong would never deliberately harm me.

He was a good person.

I smiled, pleased with that conclusion.

Then I caught the faint surprise on his face and hurriedly waved my hands.

“I’m just saying! I’m not trying to put pressure on you, so don’t make that face.”

“...”

“Um... Daoist Jinseong? Did I say something rude? If I did, forget it. I really didn’t mean anything by it.”

“No. It was not rude.”

Jinseong answered evenly.

His lips moved as though he wanted to say something, but his expression gave nothing away.

After a moment, he slowly bowed his head.

“...Go on. I will wait here.”

I bowed back, then turned around in a fluster and hurried into the ravine.

Damn it. I shouldn’t have said something pointless.

Now he was uncomfortable because I’d gone and assumed we were closer than we really were.

Clicking my tongue at myself, I stepped into the formation.

A strange flow of energy wrapped around my entire body.

It was so intense it made me dizzy, and my breath caught in my throat.

I exhaled roughly and forced my eyes open.

The unnaturally silent ravine vanished.

A completely different scene spread out before me.

I was now standing inside a cave, its walls brightly lit by torches on both sides.

I hesitated, about to look around, when a familiar voice came from behind me.

“You found your way in well enough.”

I turned.

The Taiji Sword Immortal stood there with a warm smile.

“Hello, Elder Sword Immortal. Have you been well—”

“No need for pleasantries. You must be impatient, and it would be cruel for this old Daoist to keep you here talking. Go see your brother. I will return in about an hour.”

The Taiji Sword Immortal cut me off and laughed heartily as he stroked his beard.

“Yes. Then please excuse me. Thank you, Elder.”

I bowed respectfully.

By the time I raised my head, I was alone.

I swallowed and started deeper into the cave.

One step.

Then another.

I moved cautiously until I finally sensed a familiar presence.

The moment I felt it, my pace quickened on its own.

“Oh? My little sister’s here?”

Yeon Ryang waved lazily at me, his expression full of ease.

A laugh escaped me.

I broke into a wide smile and ran straight into his arms.

“Brother!”

“Yes, yes. Your brother’s right here.”

Yeon Ryang lifted me effortlessly off the ground and patted my back.

I wrapped both arms tightly around his neck and buried my face against his shoulder.

His heartbeat thudded steadily against me.

For some reason, my nose stung.

He’s okay.

He’s alive.

He’s okay...

Yeon Ryang chuckled and teased,

“Sohae, anyone watching would think your brother had died and come back to life.”

“Why are you so thin? You’ve lost half your weight. Let me look at you.”

“I’ve only been eating fasting pills to reduce the impure energy. Nothing’s wrong with me.”

His casual answer did nothing to reassure me.

I pulled away and immediately checked his pulse.

As I examined his blood and energy, my expression gradually brightened.

Yeon Ryang smirked.

“I’m fine, right?”

“You really are?”

The tangled flow inside him was slowly returning to where it belonged.

The Taiji Sword Immortal’s method seemed to be working.

The energy moving through him was far more stable than before.

Relief washed over me.

I started turning Yeon Ryang this way and that as I checked the rest of his condition.

“You’ve still lost some muscle, Brother. Any numbness in your hands or feet? Are you sleeping properly?”

“Yeah. My body definitely feels lighter. Other than not being able to circulate inner force, I’m fine. The old man said if I try, my energy channels might tear apart.”

“Ugh. Don’t. Absolutely don’t, Brother.”

“Haha. It is a little frustrating. At this rate, I really will end up just like Beopgong said—a cripple without a scrap of inner force.”

His voice was half joking, half serious.

I shook my head firmly.

“You don’t need it. So what if you don’t have inner force? It’s not like you’ll die without it. As long as you’re healthy, that’s enough. I’ll protect you, Brother.”

“Well, look at my little sister. All grown up and already thinking about protecting her brother.”

Yeon Ryang patted my head approvingly.

One of his eyes was red.

He had improved, but apparently not enough to control his demonic energy the way he once had.

I tried not to let my worry show and scolded him instead.

“More importantly, what is this beard? Are you trying to become some hairy mountain bandit? Trim it.”

“At my age, growing one is perfectly normal. You really hate beards, don’t you? Does it look that bad?”

“It does. You look like an old man. Shave it.”

“I am an old man. If I’d married at the usual age, I could’ve had a daughter about your age by now.”

Yeon Ryang shrugged as though it were nothing.

I swallowed a sigh and grabbed his beard, pulling it straight down.

“Ow, ow. I’ll shave it. I said I’ll shave it.”

“Do it now. Want to borrow one of my throwing knives?”

“That’d help. The old man confiscated every sharp thing I had, so I’m completely empty-handed.”

I put a throwing knife into his hand.

Chuckling, Yeon Ryang somehow produced a bowl of water, crouched down, and began shaving.

I stood quietly and looked around the cave.

Aside from a little straw laid out for sleeping and a jar filled with fasting pills, there was almost no sign that anyone lived here.

“Have you been in the secluded cave this whole time? You must’ve been bored out of your mind.”

“I’m used to caves, so it’s fine. I’m more curious about you. Did the people at Wudang treat you well?”

“Yeah. They did.”

“Then why does my little sister look so gloomy? Doesn’t seem like you’ve been sleeping well either. Did something happen?”

Yeon Ryang paused midway through shaving and looked back at me, his voice gentle.

The sight of him with only half his beard left was so ridiculous that I burst out laughing.

“Pfft. Finish shaving first, Brother. Nothing happened.”

“That’s not the face of someone nothing happened to.”

“It’s just... I think I understand a little better now why you can’t sleep without a sword.”

The corners of Yeon Ryang’s mouth stiffened.

He rubbed around his eyes, as though he couldn’t find the words, then quietly finished shaving.

“Look. Clean now, right?”

“Yeah. Much better. You actually look handsome when you don’t have that beard.”

Yeon Ryang laughed at my shameless flattery, stepped over, and suddenly lifted me into his arms.

Before I could process what was happening, he laid me down on the soft straw.

I blinked up at him in confusion.

He settled down beside my head and let me rest it on his lap.

Then he poked my cheek and gently stroked my hair.

“Lie down. You’re too tense.”

“Hm? No, I’m fine, Brother.”

“Stay down. Even a martial artist with a strong physical foundation will get sick if she never rests properly. Surely our little physician knows that.”

“...”

“Too much of anything is bad for you, my lady. Staying alert is a good habit, but if you overdo it, you’ll wear yourself out. You can let go a little.”

His soothing voice seemed to see straight through me.

The tension slowly drained from my body.

When I finally relaxed, Yeon Ryang stroked my forehead as though calming a child.

“Why has my little sister gotten so sensitive? Were you anxious because you were alone?”

“Yeah. I guess I was.”

“Well. That’s my fault.”

Yeon Ryang clicked his tongue and gave a bitter smile.

He looked like he was blaming himself.

I quickly changed the subject.

“Oh, right. Brother. I’ve been sparring with Daoist Jinseong every day lately. At first, I couldn’t even last fifty exchanges, but now I can go more than three hundred.”

“Sparring?”

“Yeah. I was the one who picked a fight with him first, and—”

Yeon Ryang grabbed my cheek and stretched it out.

“Ow—”

“What was that? A young lady shouldn’t talk like that. Speak properly. You’ve picked up Beopgong’s way of talking.”

“You talk like that too!”

“Sohae, you’re not supposed to sound like a bunch of old men.”

Yeon Ryang glared at me sternly.

I slowly averted my eyes.

Then he smirked, propped his chin on one hand, and muttered,

“My little sister must’ve gotten pretty close to that young Daoist while I was away. Your brother’s feeling a little left out.”

“What? It’s not like that.”

“What relationship could be closer between martial artists than testing each other every day? So? Does the young Daoist treat you well?”

“I said it’s not like that. What are you saying about a Daoist?”

I shot upright to protest.

Yeon Ryang narrowed his eyes mischievously and poked my forehead.

“My little sister really doesn’t understand men at all, does she?”

“Stop saying weird things. You’re being rude to Daoist Jinseong.”

“I don’t know about that. It’s always the stone-faced ones like him who get scariest once they finally lose their heads.”

I frowned and shook my head.

Yeon Ryang grinned as though he understood perfectly, then changed the subject.

“Since you’re already spending so much time with him, why don’t you learn how to use a sword from the young Daoist?”