Early in the morning, between silence and light, a white hand appeared holding a red ribbon. He tied his white hair—like silk threads the color of snow—with that ribbon. Then he picked up the sword that was on the table: a long sword whose scabbard was light blue, painted with cloud-like patterns. The last thing he took was a small cloth bag. As soon as he opened it, silver and copper coins appeared. Byul's eyes shone when he saw this for the first time when his father gave it to him, and his eyes still gleam whenever he opens the bag.
It was around six in the morning. Four handsome young men were standing there—no one else but Shin, Kyun, Byul, and finally Zin. They were all waiting for Muyon, who was late for the agreed time. Of course, Byul did not stay silent.
"What made him so late?!"
The carriage driver was waiting as well and asked them to get into the carriage to rest, but they refused—except for Byul, who did not refuse. He went to the carriage and sat down.
"...."
Well, this was expected from Lang Byul. Cho Zin went with him and sat down too. Kyun and Shin stood for a bit until Kyun decided to go as well. Shin thought that Master Parki Wang's words were true: if one disciple does something, the rest will do it too—whether good or bad. But the person who made them get into the carriage did not stop there and stuck his head out.
"Shin, are you going to wait? Come in, he might be even later!"
Ryeong Shin tried to ignore him and thought he was not like them. Even though he said that, he thought that maybe Muyon did not want to go with them because of the responsibility—since he was the team leader. Maybe it would be better to go and reassure him. But before he moved, he found Muyon in front of him. Shin was surprised and asked,
"What happened to your face? And what is all this?!"
Muyon's face showed extreme exhaustion, and he was carrying two bags—not big, not small.
"You didn't need to take all these bags. The place isn't that far from here."
Muyon looked at the bags and smiled.
"Oh, these things are very important. Who knows what might happen."
Shin understood that he was nervous because it was the first time he had become a leader, and he felt sorry for him—but not to that extent.
The two went and got into the carriage. Byul and Cho Zin were sitting next to each other, looking at the manuscript and talking, but Kyun did not sit with them; he sat alone. Shin sat next to Byul and Zin, and Muyon sat next to Kyun.
"What are you talking about?" Shin asked, looking curiously at the manuscript.
Byul looked at him and answered, "We were talking about the inn we're going to."
Kyun looked at him with an annoyed expression. Byul laughed at Muyon, who had brought two bags.
"Heh, why did you bring all this?"
Muyon replied that he didn't know what would happen, so he brought two bags.
"Brother, don't worry, everything is fine."
Cho Zin looked at him with a mocking smile.
"Of course, everything is fine."
Muyon grew tense from Byul's not-so-reassuring tone and Cho Zin's mockery of Byul's words. Cho Zin and Lang Byul were arguing, with Ryeong Shin joining them, while Kyun remained silent with Muyon. Muyon was thinking, then raised his head and asked,
"But why did the Black Blood Emperor destroy the Sun Sect?"
Lang Byul and Cho Zin, who had been arguing, looked at him. Cho Zin adjusted his sitting posture and spoke calmly, as if he were an expert.
"Well, it's very simple. The Black Blood Emperor was enjoying his day while walking, when a man fell in front of him. When that happened, he calmly asked him which sect he was from. When the man told him he was from the Sun Sect, he destroyed the sect and killed the man."
Muyon: "...What?!"
Byul repeated Cho Zin's words in his own way:
"What, didn't you understand? He fell in front of the strongest man in the world, who can destroy an empire in half a day. He was kind enough to only destroy the sect, even though he could destroy the entire empire with it!"
Muyon: "..."
This time, Muyon never asked about the Black Blood Emperor again. Byul thought that this emperor possessed powers beyond all of their understanding. No one knew what he thought or what he wanted, but someone like him—even the true emperor of the land feared him and trembled when he heard his voice. This was not just a description: five years ago, one of the emperor's secretaries spoke about the Black Blood Emperor, and everyone saw the emperor tremble just upon hearing his name. That situation was extremely amusing.
They talked about many things, including swords. When swords were mentioned, Muyon asked Lang Byul about his sword. Byul smiled proudly and said,
"My brother Leo gave me this sword."
No one would have believed him if the sword had not been right in front of them. Byul remembered what happened.
At night, he went to his brother's room and, very quietly, asked him for his sword. Leo was sitting on the bed reading a book; he was shocked and asked for the reason. Byul already had three reasons and told Leo:
"First, I don't have a sword. Second, I'm going on an exploration mission with my team. Third, Master Leong Hyun asked me to bring a sword, and if I don't bring it, I won't go."
Leo was silent for a moment. Byul felt he would not agree, so he used the same method he used with Leong Hyun.
"What if a ghost or demon appears and I die, while the rest of the team is fine—but I'm dead? Do you know why? Because I asked my brother for a sword and he refused, and—"
Before Byul could finish his words, Leo quickly handed him the sword and told him to get out. Byul was kicked out of the room, but at least he had the sword.
After remembering what happened, he smiled again. Even though he doesn't like me and killed me, he is now a seventeen-year-old teenager who is jealous of his brother—but not to the extent of killing him. I don't know what happened to him to make him kill me, but in this life, I will never let him do that. I will make him the kind brother who cares for and loves his brother.
Finally, they arrived at the inn.
The driver told them he would leave and return after two days, then left. They entered the inn and found a woman who looked to be in her thirties and another elderly woman. The woman smiled kindly at them.
"Welcome. So, how many rooms do you want, and for how many days?"
Byul looked at her with an expressionless gaze. Muyon was about to speak, but Lang Byul interrupted him.
"Madam, we are five people—it's obvious. And I also saw that you were close to the carriage and heard the driver say he would come back after two days."
"...."
Everyone fell silent. Muyon tried to speak to the woman again, and the woman's face even turned pink from embarrassment.
Kyun looked at Byul, wondering how he could sense that woman, even though he could not reach the 'Emergence' stage because his core was weak. Yet he was able to sense her looking at them—even Ryeong Shin did not notice, nor anyone else on the team. Kyun looked at Byul again and felt that something was off. But the matter was simple: although Lang Byul's body was weak, he was not the old Lang Byul. For him, noticing someone looking at him was as easy as cutting an apple—no need for extremely refined senses.
While Ning Muyon and the woman were agreeing on the rooms, something small bumped into Byul. It wasn't strong enough to make him fall. When Byul felt that the person who bumped into him was about to fall, he grabbed his arm. It was a small child. When the woman saw the child, her eyes widened.
"Shang, why are you running so fast? What if you fall on your face?!"
Lang Byul was nervous too, and when he felt that the child could stand, he released his arm. The child looked at him innocently and said in a soft voice,
"Sorry."
His mother forgave him on the condition that he would not do it again. He nodded quickly, and before leaving, he looked at Byul. After he ran off, Byul looked at his hand that had grabbed the child's arm. His arm was very weak and small… and cute as well. Byul had a younger brother too—perhaps the same age as this child now. He had never spoken to him before and knew nothing about him; he had never even touched him—maybe only when he was an infant.
Muyon interrupted his thoughts about his younger brother as he spoke to him:
"So, Lang Byul and Cho Zin in the same room; I and Ryeong Shin in the same room; and Ming Kyun will be in a room by himself."
Byul looked at him with annoyance and asked,
"Wait—why does Kyun get a room by himself?"
Kyun did not look at him and said,
"If you want it, I don't mind."
Shin whispered to him that the room was very small, so Kyun took it because he didn't mind. Byul fell silent and said,
"I didn't want the room. I was just asking."