Book 10 Chapter 11

Sword Dance by Junho Yoon

"Liu Ye Er Er!"

"Hyo-ryo-oong!"

"Hooray!"

As he walked through the darkness, he kept calling out the names of his friends. He had a terrible feeling that if he didn't, he would be consumed by the darkness. He hadn't realized how terrifying it would be to be in the dark without a single ray of light.

The fear that particularly haunted him was that a mnemonic launcher could suddenly be activated from somewhere, sending arrows, poisonous needles, and other things flying at him. The problem was, he didn't have the ability to dodge a mnemonic that came out of nowhere. It didn't matter if it actually happened or not. In this darkness, the mere possibility was enough to make a man's blood run cold.

He had passed the third fork and was entering the fourth. He could not feel the slightest sign of life; he could only walk slowly forward, his hands on the walls, relying on his senses. The terrible thought that he might be trapped in this darkness forever nagged at him.

He called out the names of his friends, one after the other, but there was no answer, only a disorienting echo that bounced back to him, empty.

"Ouch!"

Junho Yun suddenly let out a scream and rolled once on the ground. His body ached all over as he rolled fearlessly on the uneven stone floor. He had been walking in the dark and carelessly tripped over a stone beak.

'Why am I always like this…….'

He hated himself for being so foolish. He wanted to live like everyone else, with his heart in his mouth and his chest out, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't put his resolutions into action so easily. It was frustrating beyond words.

Yun scrambled back to his feet, dusted himself off, and ruffled his disheveled hair. Then he stepped forward again. There was no turning back now. There was only forward movement.

But that was the moment.

But the moment he saw them, his heart sank: they were the executioners who had always tormented him on the volcano, and they all approached him with sinister laughter.

Yun Junho's body shook with fear.

"Ouch!"

A tearing scream echoed through the hall before fading into the darkness.

"Hahahahahaha! Hahahahahaha!"

"You idiot, you moron, you douchebag, you asshole!"

"People like you should die, you worthless piece of shit!"

Yun Junhao covered his ears and lay on the ground. The men who had always laughed at him in the volcano, the four brothers, the four sisters, and the four hundred, were laughing at him. Fingers were pointed and mocked, followed by furious punching and kicking.

Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

Yoon Jun-ho had to wriggle in agony.

"Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew!"

A scream burst from his mouth. Because even though it's an illusion, if you recognize it as real, it becomes real.

It was then.

"Stop!

A voice of salvation rang in his ears. For an instant, the taunts and inexplicable kicking stopped. A person walked toward him on the ground. Yun Junho's body shuddered. The person who had stopped their actions was none other than his esteemed Tasavu Plum Blade Sect master, Yu Huanquan.

"Tae… Master Tae!"

He called out to him, his face lighting up. Yu Hwan-kwon looked at him and smiled gently. And…….

Boom!

It was an eerie sound that rang in my ears, and even though it was local, it didn't feel real, like it was coming from somewhere far away.

"Why… why?"

Blood coursed through his heart.

"……."

No matter how desperately he called out, his venerable ostrich would not answer. It simply stared at him as if he were an inanimate object, with impassive eyes that were nothing like the affectionate eyes of the day before. As if looking at a cow chicken…….

Yun Junho's greatest fear is to be abandoned by the Tasavu, the Plum Blossom Godsword Yun Hwan-kwon.

"How did this happen… how did this happen… haha… haha… hahahaha!"

"Hahahahahaha! Hahahahahaha!"

Junho Yoon threw his head up and laughed maniacally. Tears streamed down his cheeks without stopping.

Wiggle! Wiggle!

Null! Null!

For a moment, his right hand on the hilt of his sword began to dance a wide, sweeping dance. His mind was so blank that he couldn't recognize what he was doing.

He realized that his sword was now drawing thousands of plum blossoms in thin air, and that the scent of plum blossoms was filling the air in this hall…….

"Hmm? Nice scent……."

Walking through the dark passageways of the Hwanmah Building, not far from Yoon Joon-ho, Lee Jin-sul caught a whiff of plum blossom that tickled her nose. It was the kind of scent that somehow made her heart ache.

"What happened to my sisters? Where the hell are they?"

She felt very uneasy being alone in the dark. Suddenly, the faces of Na Yerin and Dokgoryeong flashed through her mind, and the next thing she knew, it was Hyorong's face.

"Phew, someone like that… if I ever see him again, I'm going to stomp his feet!"

With a grimace, she began to pace again.

"Hahahahahaha! Hahahahahaha!"

His illusions were being erased by the deepening sword, but he was still completely unaware that he was surrendering his body and mind to the madness of the sword dance.

"Wake up. Hey, Confucius, Confucius, Confucius!"

Lee Jin-sul anxiously called out to Hyo-ryong. But Hyo-ryong was still slumped in his lap, unwilling to wake up.

It was through a series of coincidences that Jin-sul found Hyo-ryong lying on the ground. It was Hyo-ryong who stumbled upon him while walking along, drawn by the strange scent of plum blossoms. At first, he thought it was a stone because it was too dark, but the sound of a thud and the sensation of water seemed to indicate that it was not a stone.

She looked down and saw a faint outline. She was horrified: it was a person she had stepped on. She had a very expensive necklace from her father, and it had an unusual gemstone, a noctilucent, that glowed in the dark. She held her necklace up to the man's face. To see his face.

"Huh!"

She almost dropped the necklace. It was Hyo-ryong. From then on, she kept calling his name, trying to wake him up, but he didn't wake up. Moreover, his breathing was very long and his pulse was very faint. It felt like he might just stop breathing at any moment. Tears welled up in her big eyes.

"Hyo Confucius, Hyo Long, Hyo Long, please wake up, I'm sorry I've been neglecting you, I'll forgive you all, please wake up."

The tears flowing from her eyes fell on his face.

"Where am I?

Hyorong looked around. His consciousness was not clear. It was dark. No matter how much he looked around, there was nothing but pitch blackness. It was as if he was at the bottom of an abyss.

"What am I doing?

I didn't hear any sounds. I couldn't see any light, and I couldn't feel anything. An alien sensation, as if the body itself did not exist. It was as if my mind was the only thing floating in this dark space, alone and disoriented.

"Why am I here?

Suddenly, the image of his brother Hyo-feng's face came back to him. That terrible nightmare, the one he was afraid to even think about, was back in front of him. It was such a terrible memory that he was afraid to even replay it! Inside the unraveled front cloth of Hyo-fong's robe was hell.

Yes, it was hell for Hyo-Ryong, a clear imprint of his sins that clearly indicated his guilt!

On his upper body, the freed Hao Feng had long, diagonal sword wounds, with a steady stream of red blood flowing through them. The wounds were as horrifying as the valleys of hell. The blood that flowed from the wound soon fell to the floor, turning the floor into a sea of blood. The river of blood grew and grew, until it reached his feet. Huo Feng stood on top of the sea of blood and laughed so wickedly that he could be heard cackling. The sea of blood, dyed red as far as the eye could see, rose higher and higher, slowly engulfing his body. He screamed as hard as he could, but it was impossible to expect any help. His body sank deeper and deeper into the sea of blood. It was like a swamp, and the more he struggled, the deeper he sank. His face filled with blood, and suddenly darkness fell upon him.

It was dark.

When he regained consciousness from his daze, he found himself existing in darkness and deprived of his senses. Even then, he was not in a state of perfect rationality. He felt as if he were in a dream.

He wanted to flail, but he doubted he had the brains to do it.

"I lost!

He muttered in a self-pitying voice, but it was true. He hadn't yet shaken off his brother's shadow.

'Was it this, that I might see the most terrible and frightening things in this world…….'

Indeed, it was the most terrible thing in the world.

"I might die as I am. No, I'm better off dead!

As he thought this, his body began to sink deeper and deeper into the dark swamp. His body was sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss. His vision grew darker and darker.

"Am I comfortable now?

Suddenly, I felt a chill on my face. Even though it wasn't raining. It was the first sensation his deprived senses had ever felt.

"Hyo-ryong! Hyo-ryong! Hyo-ryong!"

The moment he heard that voice, it was like a ray of light piercing through the darkness. It sounded so sweet and mellow that it came to him and hugged his wounds.

His vision filled with light.

"Are you okay? Hyorong! Hyorong!"

Lee Jin-sul's face lit up like a flower in full bloom. Hyo-ryong had finally opened his eyes. However, he still didn't seem to realize what state he was in.

"ughhhh……."

Hyorong blinked a few more times, and the blurry image on his retina sharpened and took shape. His lips twitched.

"This… this Sojae?"

When he opened his eyes, he realized that he was lying across her lap.

"Ugh!"

Suddenly, as he tried to sit up, an excruciating pain shot through him. Though he was clearly fighting an illusion, the pain he felt now was not an illusion.

"Confucius, you're awake."

Her large eyes were welling up with tears, as if she were about to burst into tears at any moment.

"Are you okay? Your complexion is so pale, I thought you were going to die because you weren't breathing for a minute."

She had apparently survived the ordeal. Hyo-ryong was afraid that the tears would fall at any moment; he had never been good at making a woman stop crying.

"Am I really okay right now?

Hyorong bent her knees and inspected her body. He could see her cute face clearly in his eyes, hear her voice clearly in his ears, and feel the softness of her thighs through the back of his head.

Thump, thump, thump, thump!

My heartbeat was unaffected, except for a slight increase in heart rate. I looked around, but my brother was nowhere to be seen.

'Just a few moments ago, I was trapped in the darkness with nothing but blackness all around me……. Do you think I could have gotten out of that darkness without her?'

He wasn't sure. Just moments ago, he had taken a devastating blow to his mental state and tried to close all doors to the outside world. If it weren't for Lee Jin-sul's voice, he would have exiled himself to the prison of his mind forever.

"Sounds like you're fine. I was a nuisance. You saved my life."

He was grateful to her. If it hadn't been for the binary, he might have ended up with autism, which was the least of his problems, and he might have ended up with an idiot or a madman. She had been a lifesaver. Suddenly, her face was dazzling.

After pausing for a moment at Hyo-ryong's words, Lee Jin-sul spoke cautiously.

"Well… then……."

"Yes! Whatever it is, don't hesitate to tell me."

Suddenly, her cheeks burned.

'……?'

"So… can I… can you get up now?"

Lee Jin-sul barely managed to say what he meant, and at that moment Hyo-ryong was angered to realize that his sober subject was the unscrupulous one who was lying shamelessly on his back, using her bony knees as a pillow. He sprang to his feet, bouncing in his seat.

"Bam!"

I got up so quickly that I almost bumped into her face.

"Sin… I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

Hyorong bowed his head and apologized again and again. His face was just as red as hers, but an apology was an apology and an emotion was an emotion. He felt very, very, very sorry for something at this moment.

'What an asshole I've been…….'

He seemed to have discovered a new side of himself, but he wasn't happy at all.

"But what were you dreaming about that made you look so sad, with all those tears in your eyes?"

When he touched his face, he could feel the traces of dried tears leading from the corners of his eyes. Hyorong's face darkened again. He could have said that he didn't want to answer because it was an unpleasant thing to say, but somehow he didn't want to hide it from Lee Jin-sul.

"…I have seen the irreparable sin I have committed, and the blood on my hands will never be erased."

A look of regret crossed Hyo-Ryong's face as he looked at his hands.

"Woohoohoohoohoo!"

The sudden crying startled Hyo-Ryong.

Huh? Huh? Huh?

"No, hey Sojae, what's wrong with you all of a sudden?"

What man wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly sat down and started sobbing profusely? Hyo-ryong was in a state of near-confusion.

"But… but… but… I'm making Confucius sad, bringing back memories he'd rather forget. Wu Ai Ai Ai!"

Lee Jin-sul said in a sobbing voice. She looked like she was choking up and couldn't get the words out, but Hyo-ryong found it very cute.

"Poohahahahaha, but that doesn't mean this Sojae has to cry, now stop crying, you're ruining your pretty face, right?"

Suddenly, her sobbing ceased. Hyo-ryong's words had worked.

"Really?"

"Yes? What?"

"Do you really think my face is pretty?"

She stared at him, her lake-like eyes still filled with tears. It seemed to matter to her. Hyo-ryong was at a loss for an answer. But what could he do?

"Yes, this Sojae is beautiful, I swear! I could swear on my honor!"

"Really? Really? Really? Really? Not fake?"

"Oh, sure."

"Really, really, really?"

"Well, I guess so."

Cold sweat had begun to trickle down Hyo-Ryong's spine, but she had no intention of stopping just yet.

Hyo-ryong had to work very hard to calm Lee Jin-sul down.

"ughhh……."

It was a long time before Yun Junho woke up. He looked around and saw no one, so he thought the nightmare was over, but it wasn't. There was still one more.

"Black black black! Black black black!"

There was a child crouched on the ground, shivering pitifully in front of him, and he knew who he was: the child who had been bullied and ignored.

'Is that……. Does that mean that pathetic human being is me?

At that moment, an unknown emotion welled up inside him.

'The terror that makes your heart freeze, the terror that grips your body, is you. You have your terror inside of you, and you must always remember that!

It was something she always said to him.

The horror he was now gazing upon had a very pathetic appearance. His eyes suddenly became hot; his heart had always been wounded by his weakness and timidity. Always in a state of nervousness and anxiety, trembling with fear…….

"It was all my fault!

Junho Yun took a step forward, reaching out to his fear. Then he made a decision in his heart.

"I will never turn away from the truth again, no matter what nasty things come my way.

Fear does not visit those who have eyes to see the truth. Such people can embrace even their own fears. Those who turn away from fear are truly the weakest, and the most pitiful. Yun Jun-ho smiled broadly and held out his hand to his inner self, the one who had imprisoned himself in fear.

The child took his hand.

The child laughed at that moment, he thought, and before he knew it, she was gone and he was standing alone. A tear rolled down his cheek.