Chapter 577:
Wei Yan-ho’s emotions surged.
How long had it been since he felt such passion?
Wei Yan-ho couldn’t contain his rising emotions and cried out.
“I want to become like you, Master!”
Baek Mu-han smiled gently and replied.
“Bullshit.”
“……”
“Let’s only speak what’s in our hearts, only what’s in our hearts.”
“I admit I got carried away for a moment.”
Wei Yan-ho, acknowledging his mistake, asked back.
“Are you saying I can’t do it all alone?”
“You could do it alone. Maybe that would even produce better results. But you wouldn’t gain anything from those results.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever really done anything alone.”
“You can’t trust those around you?”
Wei Yan-ho couldn’t answer.
If asked whether he couldn’t trust them, he would say no. He could trust them. But that wasn’t what his master was asking about.
“It’s not that I can’t trust them, but rather that they wouldn’t be helpful. At least when it comes to fighting.”
“Then who could you trust?”
“Well……”
Wei Yan-ho began to ponder.
Jang-il or Zhuge Mun-in were out of the question. At that level, it would be less nerve-wracking if they weren’t around at all.
Then what about Mu San?
No, Mu San would be too much as well. Even Wei Jeong-han wouldn’t seem particularly beneficial to fight alongside.
Going further, what about Poison King? Gwon Geuk?
Or maybe Sword Emperor or Sword Sage?
‘Sword Sage grandfather might be helpful.’
But would that be enough for Wei Yan-ho to entrust his duties to them with confidence?
That wasn’t the case either.
Wei Yan-ho scratched his head vigorously.
“Come to think of it……”
“There’s no one you can trust?”
“……That’s right.”
Wei Yan-ho’s face showed slight shock. For others, this process might be natural. But wasn’t Wei Yan-ho the world’s laziest person?
This was Wei Yan-ho who would be grateful if someone else fed him with a spoon. Yet there was no one he could trust.
This was a shocking revelation. Only then did Wei Yan-ho understand why Baek Mu-han had said such things to him. If things continued this way, he would end up unable to trust anyone in the world.
“When people stand in different places, what they see becomes different as well.”
“Ah……”
“They were once trustworthy comrades, and sometimes people you could rely on. But when the gap begins to widen, your evaluation changes. Even if you try not to let it happen, it’s useless. You’ve already felt it, haven’t you.”
He had no choice but to accept it.
“But Yan-ho.”
Baek Mu-han spoke firmly.
“If you continue like that, you’ll be no different from me. No, you’ll actually lose even more than I did.”
The era Baek Mu-han lived in was at least peaceful.
Though it might sound ridiculous to speak of peace in the martial world, at least in Baek Mu-han’s era, no great wars broke out. When Baek Mu-han was incomplete, luck followed him, and after Baek Mu-han perfected his martial arts, no one dared to stir before him.
But Wei Yan-ho was already experiencing turbulent times. Turbulent times are when you must lose things even when you’ve done nothing wrong.
If Wei Yan-ho continued to change as he was now, eventually no one would remain by his side. Even if he achieved victory, he would end up alone like Baek Mu-han, and if he were defeated, he would die in self-reproach.
‘That cannot happen.’
He couldn’t let his disciple follow the same path as his master.
“My disciple.”
“Yes, Master.”
“The world cannot be lived alone.”
“I know that, but……”
Wei Yan-ho had something to say as well.
“Still, I can’t let them fight those cardinals. They wouldn’t last long.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Master.”
Wei Yan-ho let out a deep sigh.
“Do you think I want to take everything upon myself? You know me, Master. I’m a lazy person. If I could play, I’d want to play even one more moment, and if I could sleep, I’d struggle to sleep even half a si-jin longer. That’s who I am. But…… I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
Wei Yan-ho’s mouth moved wordlessly.
It was a bit difficult to say in words. But he couldn’t hide it from his master either.
“Because they’re precious.”
Wei Yan-ho revealed his inner feelings that he rarely showed.
“They might seem a bit foolish and idiotic at times, no, actually they always seem that way, but they’re all good guys. The beggar acts like he doesn’t care, but he’s actually warm-hearted, and the sword maniac acts tough but is actually incredibly tender……”
Wei Yan-ho rambled on and on. Whether Baek Mu-han was listening or not didn’t matter.
“The monk sometimes makes me wonder if he’s really sane, but the kid has loyalty. The scholar acts sly, but he’s actually very caring.”
Wei Yan-ho, thinking about his companions, spoke in a slightly subdued voice.
“And they all care about me. Honestly, even I think I’m someone I wouldn’t want to associate with. I can’t just let guys who treat someone like me as a friend die.”
Baek Mu-han, who had been quietly listening to his disciple’s words, looked at Wei Yan-ho with slightly changed eyes.
‘He’s different from me.’
He had excluded others because he couldn’t trust them. But Wei Yan-ho was excluding others to protect them. The result might be the same, but the reason was different.
The world is all about results. But could he really tell such a disciple that he was wrong?
“That guy……”
Baek Mu-han, who had chuckled, opened his mouth with a stern expression.
“But carrying through with your current path won’t be easy.”
“I’m prepared for it.”
“You might have to give up many things.”
“……Actually, I’m already cutting back on sleep. I never thought I’d be like this.”
Wei Yan-ho smiled.
“But what can I do? It’s something that has to be done.”
“I see.”
Baek Mu-han looked at his disciple with somewhat pleased eyes.
‘He’s different.’
Different from him.
And different from when he left the cave.
This appearance couldn’t unconditionally be called positive change. In living through the harsh martial world, thinking of others could become a great weakness.
But Baek Mu-han didn’t want to scold Wei Yan-ho.
Flawlessness, perfection.
Such modifiers exist for those who observe. They provide no help whatsoever to one’s own life.
It was Baek Mu-han’s wish for his disciple to surpass him. But if he had to choose between his disciple becoming happy and becoming strong, Baek Mu-han would choose happiness without hesitation.
“It will be a harsh path.”
“I told you I’m prepared.”
“Preparation alone won’t be enough.”
“……”
“You’ve returned to the beginning.”
Baek Mu-han slowly drew his sword.
Wei Yan-ho’s face became serious.
The atmosphere or momentum didn’t change at all. But just from Baek Mu-han drawing his sword, Wei Yan-ho felt pressure as if his entire body was being torn apart.
A martial god descended before him.
‘No, it’s different.’
Wei Yan-ho bit his lips tightly.
Certainly his master was strong. So incredibly powerful that just looking at him seemed like it would make him lose consciousness.
But he could see it.
It was visible.
How strong his master was.
His master’s strength, which like a divine dragon hidden in clouds could only be guessed at, was now reaching Wei Yan-ho’s skin.
Was his master revealing it?
No.
Wei Yan-ho had become stronger.
Now he could see and feel it. How strong his master was.
“In the end, you’re stubborn.”
The master’s sword moved slowly.
“You can neither let go nor hold on. Yet you can’t turn away either. You want to protect them, but you lack the power to protect them. Then the method is obvious.”
A gentle arc.
But it wasn’t an arc. The master’s sword flowed like water yet was intense like lightning, fast like light yet leisurely like wind.
Yes.
Everything was there.
Universe.
If everything in the world could be called universe, then that sword was indeed the universe.
The universe of swords.
Every sword that existed in the world was there. And every sword that existed in the world was being contained in a single sword strike.
What realm could this be called?
Even Wei Yan-ho, who had achieved unity with the sword and stepped into the realm of heart-sword, could not define his master’s sword.
He could only feel awe.
“Behold.”
The world was contained in the sword.
The universe was contained in the sword.
The master drew the world with his sword and spoke calmly.
“Can you contain the world at your sword’s tip?”
“I……”
Wei Yan-ho shook his head.
“I can’t do it.”
It was a realm Wei Yan-ho could not reach.
He didn’t even think he could reach it. It was just like a dream.
No matter how hard a person tries, they cannot fly through the sky. They might be able to float in the sky briefly using all sorts of means, they might be able to leap through the sky, but they cannot fly through the sky like a bird.
That was fate determined from birth.
Just because his master could do it didn’t mean Wei Yan-ho could too. There were things that could be overcome with effort and heavenly fortune, and things that could not be overcome.
“You cannot do it?”
The master’s sword became a little faster.
The master’s sword, which had been drawing the world with gentle arcs, suddenly stopped.
The world, Wei Yan-ho, everything stopped together.
And then…….
Severance.
The master’s sword, slashing downward, split apart the world he had drawn.
“Ah……”
Wei Yan-ho received a shock as if the world was truly collapsing while watching that scene.
“Then just destroy it.”
Baek Mu-han, who had split the perfectly drawn world with a single sword strike, walked toward Wei Yan-ho step by step as if he had no lingering attachment.
“Yan-ho.”
“……”
“Yan-ho.”
“Yes…… Yes, Master.”
“You don’t need to contain the world in your sword.”
Wei Yan-ho’s eyes filled with questions.
“That is my sword. That is the path I tried to take. You don’t need to do that. I drew the world in my sword because I couldn’t obtain the world. Though I shouted with my mouth that it wasn’t necessary, inside I longed for a world I could harmonize with more than anyone, so I tried to see the world through my sword at least.”
He spoke calmly of things that shouldn’t be spoken calmly.
Baek Mu-han’s expression was more relaxed and warm than ever before.
“You don’t need to do that. You’re already together with the world. So don’t be obsessed.”
“Master.”
“Yes.”
“What should I do?”
“Didn’t I already tell you?”
Baek Mu-han reached out and patted Wei Yan-ho’s head.
“Do as you wish.”
“……”
“Do as you want, do as you wish. That’s enough. You’re good with that. You are this Baek Mu-han’s proud disciple.”
It was warm.
So very warm.
So…….
So warm that it seemed like tears would come.
“Master.”
Wei Yan-ho’s voice trembled as it came out.
He knew.
He had known from the beginning.
“……This is the last time, isn’t it?”
Baek Mu-han smiled brightly.
“I know, I knew. That this was the last time. That today…… today was the last moment I could see you like this, Master.”
Bloodshot eyes could no longer hold back and let transparent moisture flow down his cheeks.
“So I wanted to fool around a bit more.”
“You rascal.”
Baek Mu-han gently stroked Wei Yan-ho’s head.
“I am not Baek Mu-han. I’m merely an illusion.”
“No. You’re still my master. Even if you’re just an illusion.”
Wei Yan-ho opened his mouth with his jaw trembling.
“Master, I……”
Words he couldn’t contain burst forth like a dam breaking.
