"Oh my, what guests are these?"
It was when Hong Yungae and Hyejin were at a loss for words at Biyeon's astonishing strike.
Creak, the old sliding door opened, and an old man poked his head out.
"Don't just stand there in the yard, come on in. The cold wind is strong."
At that rustic voice, like that of an ordinary country old man, the two quickly came to their senses.
They forcibly tore their gazes away from Biyeon in the yard and moved their feet to where the old man was guiding them.
And so, they faced the main hall of the Biyeolmun.
Although it was called the main hall, in reality, it was a very small room that was about to collapse and seemed difficult for even about five people to enter.
However, to Hong Yungae and Hyejin, even that place seemed to have something.
'Oh, like the story of the hidden master in the market, has he abandoned everything for the sake of training...?'
'Isn't this small space a training ground for polishing the mind?'
While Hong Yungae and Hyejin were admiring with an absurd misunderstanding, Biyeol scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly.
"Aigoo, what should I do, it's so shabby. Just sit anywhere. The cushions are all torn, so I have nothing to offer."
An unadorned attitude that could be seen from a village elder.
He even offered the unconventional treatment of telling his guests to sit 'just anywhere'.
But.
'There is no... pretense!'
Hong Yungae's and Hyejin's eyes widened again.
Usually, a martial artist, even the head of a mere neighborhood martial arts school, would save face.
But this old master had transcended even that sense of authority.
In fact, Biyeol was not an old master, and since there were so few people in the martial arts school, he had forgotten such formalities, but to Hong Yungae and Hyejin, who were already wearing rose-tinted glasses, it just seemed to have something.
"As expected... it is a true freedom that is not bound by formalities."
"This humble monk is just grateful to even put my bottom on the bare floor."
The two, with moved expressions, plopped down on the dusty floor.
On the contrary, it felt as if that dust were washing away their worldly filth.
"Hong Yungae, the leader of the Beggars' Sect, greets the sect leader."
"I am Hyejin of Shaolin. It is an honor to meet you, senior."
The following introductions of the two.
Their weight was truly enormous.
The Beggars' Sect and Shaolin.
Shaolin was a temple and a sect whose name even a neighborhood kid would know if they heard it.
Wasn't the Beggars' Sect a new force that was growing with the most frightening momentum in the recent martial world?
Moreover, a frightening word that Biyeol could never ignore was mixed in.
"...What? L-leader?"
Biyeol's eyes turned round.
He barely managed to hold onto the teacup he was holding, which he had almost dropped.
'Leader? The famous leader of the Beggars' Sect in the current Central Plains? Why is he here?'
The Biyeolmun, as its name suggested, was a despicable... no, it was a neighborhood martial arts school of a scale that could not even be called a sect.
As for its members, there was only his own son, and Baek Yoonjun, a disciple with great talent who had rolled in a while ago and seemed to have something.
But for members of two groups that were famous throughout the world, and on top of that, one of them was the leader of that group, to come and bow their heads.
From Biyeol's point of view, it felt as if a hornet had entered a peaceful swarm of bees and was politely greeting them.
Biyeol's gaze hastily turned to Baek Yoonjun outside.
A silent rebuke, asking what kind of trouble he had been causing outside to have brought such big shots.
But Baek Yoonjun was just teaching martial arts while tormenting Biyeon.
In fact, although Baek Yoonjun seemed not to care, he was stealthily observing the situation.
And at the same time, he periodically sent a gaze to Hong Yungae that said 'don't say anything useless'.
Whether that silent gaze had worked, Hong Yungae did not reveal the fact that he was Baek Yoonjun's disciple.
"It is a place that seems to have a truly dignified atmosphere. My mind naturally calms down."
Nevertheless, Hong Yungae tried to show respect to his master's master, that is, his grandmaster.
However, from Biyeol's point of view, it was just frightening.
But in the eyes of the two, who were wearing rose-tinted glasses, even that flustered appearance looked extraordinary.
'As expected...'
Hong Yungae swallowed his admiration inside.
Although the Beggars' Sect was a new force, since its name was quite well-known, it was a name that could never be ignored.
However, what was the appearance of the sect leader of the Biyeolmun?
It was just peace itself.
It was just that he was so surprised that he could not even react, but it looked like that in Hong Yungae's eyes.
In the meantime, Baek Yoonjun, who had diligently rolled Biyeon, entered the main hall.
Baek Yoonjun stealthily glanced at Hong Yungae and Hyejin.
'Why did these brats come here? Could it be that they have noticed my ambition?'
Although Baek Yoonjun suspected the two for a moment, he soon shook his head.
'I haven't done anything properly yet, and I haven't told anyone, so unless these brats have awakened some kind of superpower, they wouldn't know.'
If so, there was only one possibility.
Coincidence.
Although he wondered if the kids could have come to this place where Baek Yoonjun was, since it was a village not so far from Mount Song, there was a possibility.
Baek Yoonjun, who had judged that their coming here was a coincidence, now pondered what to do.
'For now, I have to talk to them. I also have to make an excuse for why I'm up and about.'
Although Baek Yoonjun had a headache, since he could not lose the Biyeolmun, which would become his backing in the future, he steeled his heart and opened his mouth.
"Master. May I have a word with these people for a moment?"
"Hmm? Oh, go ahead."
Having obtained the consent of his master, Biyeol, Baek Yoonjun beckoned to the two and led them to a suitably quiet, empty room.
The two hesitated and then followed Baek Yoonjun's beckoning into the corner room.
Baek Yoonjun, having confirmed that the two had entered the room, quickly scanned the surroundings with his qi sense, and after confirming that there was no one, he carefully opened his mouth.
"What brings you here?"
Although he spoke informally to Hong Yungae, since he had not completely dropped his honorifics with Hyejin, Baek Yoonjun chose a suitable 'hao' form and asked.
"Uh, that is..."
"It's a coincidence, right?"
As expected by Baek Yoonjun, the two seemed to have arrived at this village by coincidence.
"Then did anyone else come with you?"
"It's just the two of us."
"That's right. I just happened to follow Benefactor Hong."
Fortunately, it seemed that no one else knew of the existence of this village.
'If so, I just have to shut the mouths of these two.'
It was still too early to reveal the Biyeolmun and pass on the responsibility.
Baek Yoonjun decided to shut the mouths of the two.
"For now, keep it a secret that I'm here."
"I understand."
Although Hong Yungae had many things he wanted to ask, thinking that Baek Yoonjun must have some thought, he immediately nodded his head at his words.
"I would also appreciate it if Monk Hyejin would keep quiet about this place for a while."
"I will do so."
Since Hyejin's thoughts were not very different from Hong Yungae's, he immediately gave a definite answer.
Baek Yoonjun was satisfied to hear the definite answers of the two.
And so, as Baek Yoonjun became silent, Hong Yungae carefully observed his face and opened his mouth.
"But how are you walking around fine? Junior Sister Yuhwa definitely said you were in a coma..."
"Well, I just happened to get better and am walking around. Keep this quiet too."
"...I understand."
Although Hong Yungae still had many things to say, thinking that Baek Yoonjun must have some thought, he just agreed.
'Is that really it? Master seems to be doing that for a very trivial reason...'
The talent of Hong Yungae, who was surprisingly good at seeing through the essence, unconsciously saw through the essence at this moment.
At that moment, a slight doubt bloomed in his heart.
'No! What an outrageous thought! Of course, my master is a noble person of a different dimension from me, so he must have a deep meaning!!'
But that thought was soon buried.
Although he still had a talent for seeing through the essence of a person, his low self-esteem from his long life as a beggar prevented that talent from being revealed.
On the other hand, from Baek Yoonjun's point of view, the question that Hong Yungae had brought up did not feel light.
'Could it be that this brat Yungae suspects me? I need to make it clear.'
Therefore, it seemed he needed to talk to Hong Yungae alone.
"Monk Hyejin. I think I need to talk to Yungae about the affairs of the sect for a moment, so could you please leave us for a moment?"
"I understand. Then this humble monk will withdraw."
And so, as Hyejin withdrew.
Baek Yoonjun, after a moment's pause, applied the mystery he had realized while pretending to be a corpse to his own body.
In an instant, his complexion turned pale.
"Cough!"
He coughed up blood from his mouth.
The blood was something he had made by lightly biting the inside of his mouth to make a wound and then quickly circulating his blood flow to make a lot of blood come out.
In modern Earth, it would have been an excellent means of self-harm and extortion.
"M-master?!"
Hong Yungae was startled at that sight.
His mind went blank, not knowing what on earth had happened, for Baek Yoonjun's complexion, which had looked healthy until just before, had turned pale in an instant, and he had even coughed up blood.
Baek Yoonjun, raising his hand to stop Hong Yungae, who was rushing at him in surprise, slowly opened his mouth.
"Phew... the aftereffects of the poison have not yet subsided..."
"Master... your body is still..."
A single tear flowed from the eyes of Hong Yungae, who was looking at Baek Yoonjun's sickly appearance.
"Ah..."
Hong Yungae blamed himself.
'What was I thinking!!'
Blaming himself, he hit his own head with his hand.
"Master! In fact, I had a slight doubt in my heart! To dare to have a question about my master! I have committed a mortal sin!!"
"It's... alright..."
"Ugh!! Master!"
"Calm down... can you keep the things I mentioned earlier?"
"Of course! This secret! I will take it to my grave!!"
Baek Yoonjun, looking at Hong Yungae, who was repeatedly hitting his own head.
'This bastard, as expected, he was suspicious!'
He decided that he had done well to perform an act close to self-harm and extortion.
And so, as a farce was unfolding in the room.
In the front yard of the Biyeolmun, Hyejin and Biyeon were facing each other.
Hyejin broke out in a cold sweat, looking at the flaw-ridden Biyeon, whose eyes were particularly sparkling.
'There are too many flaws! However, if all of that is intentional!!'
In Hyejin's mind, the sight of Biyeon hitting the back of Baek Yoonjun's head came to him vividly.
Since that sight was engraved in his mind, Biyeon's clumsy appearance, on the contrary, just looked like an intentional gap to induce the opponent's carelessness.
'What an amazing master! Is this the sect of Great Hero Baek!'
And so, as Hyejin was making an absurd misunderstanding, Biyeon.
'If I show my back, the back of my head. If I show my back, the back of my head.'
Baek Yoonjun's teachings were penetrating to his marrow.
An excessive respect had caused a phenomenon like brainwashing, and he felt an urge to hit the back of the head of anyone who showed their back.
And so, after a useless, suffocating silence flowed for a moment.
In that silence, Hyejin was the first to carefully open his mouth.
"Did you say you are the junior brother of Great Hero Baek?"
"The back of the head... that's right."
Biyeon, who had almost shouted 'the back of the head' without realizing it, hastily corrected himself and observed the opponent.
No matter how he looked at him, he was a being with a nasty impression, as if he had rolled around in a ruffian group dozens of times.
Since such a being was wearing a monk's robe and was acting like a monk, he could not even guess his identity.
At Biyeon's sparkling yet wary gaze, Hyejin scratched his head for a moment and then decided to introduce himself first.
"I am called Hyejin, from Shaolin."
"Shaolin?"
The word 'Shaolin' flashed through Biyeon's mind.
In fact, Biyeon had been to Shaolin before.
And on top of that, recently.
He had heard about the tragedy of Shaolin and had heard stories about the heroes who had stopped it.
Having heard that news, Biyeon could not control the boiling blood in his inner self and had visited Shaolin.
It was a situation where the heroes who had stopped the tragedy of Shaolin were forming an alliance and were gathering the members of the alliance.
In that situation, Biyeon had been about to proudly declare his joining the alliance.
"Biyeolmun? What kind of sect is this?"
"I've never heard of it."
He had come to his senses at the cold gazes of the surroundings.
Since the Biyeolmun was something that was embarrassing to even call a martial arts school, let alone a sect, which had started from his father's generation.
Only then having come to his senses, Biyeon had covered his flushed face, had come down from Mount Song, and had returned home.
Having returned home, Biyeon had become dissolute.
He had gotten close to alcohol and gambling and had wasted his days.
At that moment, a guy who called himself 'Great Senior Brother' had appeared...
'Hmm, hmm. Great Senior Brother is a great person.'
Biyeon, thinking of Baek Yoonjun, nodded his head with satisfaction and then looked at the one who called himself a Shaolin monk in front of him.
'What's so special about Shaolin? I will definitely hit the back of his head with the martial arts I have been taught by my great senior brother!'
In Biyeon's inner self, his blood began to boil again, no, it began to run wild.
In the Central Plains, that was called 'Black Flame Dragon' in a vulgar term.
(End of Chapter)
