Book 18 Chapter 16

Crisis in the Southern Palace

-Flying rain

"Hey, palace!"

The voice calling out to him startled Namgungsang, and for a moment it struck his eardrums like a tune from hell. Just when he thought he could finally rest, he was caught. This was a nightmare. Namgungsang turned around reluctantly and stared at his caller with bloodshot eyes.

"大型……."

There was Bi Ryuyeon, smiling with the kind of smile you fear to see in your dreams. She wondered why, despite using all the eavesdropping skills she'd learned and being on edge like a herbivore on the lookout for a predator, she and the rest of the troupe had always been caught behind him, even when he was within a thirty-square-mile radius. Every time, he'd appeared behind them without warning.

Namgung Sang recalled his reflection in the mirror this morning. His face was so haggard one wondered if he was malnourished; his eyes were sunken with fatigue, and the dark circles under his eyes were as indelible as tattoos. His cheeks, once ruddy and vibrant, were hollowed out to expose his cheekbones, pale in color and lumpy in texture. His overworked shoulders were hunched as if he were carrying a heavy burden. He was a nobleman compared to his current self, and the one who had reduced him to the corpse he was now was right in front of him, brutally destroying the brief moment of bliss he'd had by pulling himself away from the slaughter in the name of discipline.

"Don't look so upset. You make it sound like I'm some kind of bad guy, like I'm going to eat you."

Namgungsang barely restrained himself from nodding. His lava-burning heart wanted to shout, "They've already been hunted down and eaten, and there's nothing left but a bunch of ugly bones," but he restrained himself. He was still too young and bright to be a martyr for the truth.

"Yeah, did you get that too?"

Bi Ryuyeon asked, noticing the golden armband on the right arm of the Namgung Sang.

"Huh? Speaking of which, Daehyung is also……?"

A golden armband like the one in the Southern Palace was also worn on Bi Ryuyeon's right arm. Inside the armband was the word "Tianmu" inscribed in black letters.

"Oh, it's not a very good sense, it's not very cool, but if you don't wear this, they won't give you this."

Bi Ryuyeon smiled and formed the shape of a seedling with her index finger and thumb.

"I decided to cut him some slack."

"I'm under the impression that anyone who is selected to be an entrance examiner always has to wear this 'armband', so I'll have to comply, what can I say, it's the rules."

"But what I'm wondering is, why did you come up with such a stupid rule? What's it for? Is it just to show off the kids who got picked as test subjects? I think you have something else up your sleeve?"

Something has been bothering me ever since I received it.

"I mean, what kind of shenanigans could they possibly be up to with a simple piece of cloth like that? They must have given it to me just to distinguish it."

"To distinguish it from what?"

"Well, that's……."

Namgungsang was at a loss for words.

Why do we need to check the examiners separately? For whom? For what?

The old man who said, "Please note that there will be some changes to the entry requirements this year" was also suspicious.

"There's definitely something there."

"So why are you still wearing it?"

Given her personality, it didn't seem strange at all to rip it off and throw it in the trash. No, it was more strange that she had kept it on all this time.

"Because it's a deal."

"Yes?"

"I took this job as an admissions examiner because it's a deal, so you can't break that deal on my end, it's against my ideas."

"Oh, I see."

The answer was yes, but it didn't make any sense.

"Oh, by the way, where is your big brother going?"

Namgungsang asked.

"Ah, the Zhongyang Mark Bureau, Nam Chang Jie Bureau."

"Why there?"

"Oh, I have to run some errands. I got a call yesterday that a package arrived."

"Did you ask for anything?"

"No. This time, I'm just making sure the package arrived safely."

"You're not even from the Middle Kingdom, are you?"

"I have some work to do. Do you want to come with me?"

I knew that if I went, I'd be a jerk. But if he didn't go, there was no telling what they would do to him later. He might not admit it right away, but he was the kind of person who never forgot the smallest thing. Perhaps his calling out to me was a paving stone of intent. He didn't want to gamble with his fate just yet.

"What's the big deal, with this? Just go if you have time, don't go if you don't, and if you have the energy to spend on this nonsense, save it for something more productive."

"Oh, no, no, no, I'll follow you, I'll come with you."

"Are you sure you want to go?"

Bi Ryuyeon asked, sounding dubious.

"No, yes, of course. It's not like I don't have a connection there, is it?"

Bi Ryuyeon looked at her as if she had just won the Southern Palace Award once again.

"Really? Let's go then."

"Yes!"

* * *

"Yoo So Hyeop!"

The woman beckoned to the young man with a slight wave of her hand.

"What's the matter, YuSojae?"

Yu Yunfei asked with a puzzled expression. Yulan raised his right hand and pointed to a spot.

"How about them, one of them doesn't even have a sword, and his whole body is covered in holes."

It was almost masculine. She was the kind of woman who, despite her beauty, preferred the gleam of her sword to her jewelry.

"Oh, you mean the black one and the white one?"

"Yes, those two."

"Looks good, not too old."

"How did someone so full of holes get that 'golden armband'?"

Yulan said in a pathetic tone.

"Could it be that you're not the one who writes the book?"

Yulan was quick to deny Yunbi's speculation.

"His sleeves are too loose for a kung fu practitioner, and he doesn't look like an angular practitioner. And I don't know if he's got a mind or not… I don't know what he's thinking when he's got bangs like that, and they're so long that they're covering his eyes, and he's shooting like that, and he's got to be weak."

Yulan concluded.

"You certainly look weak, and so does the white swordsman next to you."

"Judging by the doubles alone, he must be a disciple of a master, but I suspect he's not an open-minded person. His back is curved, and I don't sense any ambition in him. Do you know which school he belongs to?"

"From the way you walk, I'm guessing you're not from the Old Dynasty, but probably from the Eight Dynasties, judging by your doubles."

"Ho-ho-ho, that's even better, because it gives us a chance to show off our old school skills."

There was still a sense of rivalry between the old school and the new school. The antagonism that had built up over nearly a hundred years could not be resolved overnight. The ghosts of the past were still holding back the present, and although there were criticisms from the masters of the martial arts, there were still only criticisms, not actions. The mental level of humans was still too immature to shake off the past. It was especially sad that young people like Liu Lan and Liu Yunfei, who were supposed to carry the future, would be biased in their thinking by the ghosts of the past. But they didn't realize that the invisible karmic chains of the past were holding them back from the future. They did not know, nor did they care to know, that the unreasoning hatred that sometimes sprang up in their hearts was the dregs of karma accumulated in the distant past.

"Oops, I turned the corner!"

The target you were aiming for disappeared around the corner of the alley and out of sight.

"Let's go after him."

The two began to follow the prey they had marked.

What they didn't realize was that they had voluntarily dipped their toes into the maw of hell.

"Gung Sang, are they the ones you remember?"

Bi Ryuyeon asked, still looking ahead.

"Nope. I don't think so. Isn't it a metabolic type?"

Without breaking stride, Namgungsang replied.

"I don't remember either, and if I did, why would I ask you?"

"I see."

"Hmm, will it be the usual complainers?"

"Well, the big brother gets attacked on the street, isn't that common?"

Touro Namgungsang said. It's not easy to find wonder in everyday life. It was the same for Bi Ryuyeon.

"Well, yeah, but……."

There were still many people in the academy who emotionally felt that it was morally, ethically, and aesthetically unacceptable for Bi Ryuyeon and Na Yerin to stand together, and they would occasionally attack Bi Ryuyeon in groups once in a while if they could get away with it.

"But I haven't been chased by more than two people lately, have I?"

There were at least four or five of them. I couldn't recall being followed this closely before.

"Were there any kids left who were capable of such reckless abandon? Isn't there something to be said for you, too? You've been doing it a lot since you made a name for yourself."

"I wouldn't call it a raid, it was more of a duel request."

"Did you win?"

"Sure."

"All?"

"Of course, we've never lost a game, and if we had, word would have spread all over the academy by now, because there's nothing like a good story, and everyone would have chewed the fat in their own time, and the higher the reputation of the Jujakdan goes, the more of them there are, and the more of them……."

"What else?"

"We're still alive."

He added

"If word had gotten out that we had lost, my godfather would have been furious, and we wouldn't have survived."

"Oh, I see."

She readily admits it.

"What do you want me to do, big brother?"

It was either run over or run with it.

"I don't like flies on the back of my head. It makes me itch."

"Then it's a done deal."

"Yes," said Bi Ryuyeon, nodding her head once.

"Let's finish before this alley ends."

"Yes!"

"Huh?"

"Ouch!"

Liu Lan and Liu Yunfei simultaneously exclaimed in horror. The targets they were secretly - or so they thought - following had suddenly disappeared before their eyes. As soon as they stepped into the slightly wider space between the alley and the alleyway, the targets instantly disappeared from their sight.

"Oh no, they're after me!"

"Oh, yeah!"

Yulan shouted in urgency and leaped into action. Yu Unbi followed suit. They came to a slightly wider clearing. Yulan quickly looked around, but found nothing.

"Are you looking for me?"

At the sound of a voice behind them, Yu Lan and Yu Yunfei whirled around to see a man with bangs covering his eyes, sitting calmly on a stone.

'Boo, there was obviously nothing there…….'

She had just looked everywhere. If her memory was correct, he was definitely not there. She couldn't detect any sign of it. Did that mean it had appeared as soon as she turned her head forward?

"No way!

It's tempting to dismiss it as impossible, but the problem is that it happened right in front of her eyes. Her reasoning was troubled.

"Why were you following us?"

The gaunt white swordsman, who had suddenly appeared, stood in the middle of the alley they had come from, blocking their way.

"What do you want?"

Bi Ryuyeon said in a relaxed voice.

Liu Lan and Liu Yunfei looked at each other, then back at the road ahead, and then wrapped their left hands around the right hand holding the sword in a respectful bowing gesture.

"Excuse me, senior, I'm Yulan, Amipa's disciple."

"It's the leakage rate of the storefront."

When she introduced herself as a disciple of the Amida and Zhu Chang Sect, Bi Ryuyeon and Nan Gongsheng's eyes lit up.

"At least it's not an early riser."

Namgungsang said. It seemed that Bi Ryuyeon's casual tone had rubbed off on him.

"Joe, Joe, Joe……."

Liu Lan was dumbfounded, when would she ever get the chance to be treated like this, but Bi Ryuyeon hadn't even opened her mouth yet.

"No, I think he's just a kid."

"Hey, kid……."

Liu Lan and Liu Yunbi had to force down the feeling that they were about to bleed. They made an unbreakable vow to themselves that they would pay back this disgrace in due time.

"So, what do you want?"

Yulan stepped forward at Bi Ryuyeon's question.

"I, Yulan of Ami, and Yu Yunbi of Jiaqiang, hereby apply for bimu in the capacity of an applicant for admission to the Heavenly Martial Academy."

"Gentlemen, the Ascension Festival hasn't even begun yet. Shouldn't you wait until then if you want to join?"

Namgungsang asked with a puzzled expression.

"No, the test has already started."

Yulan protested, her voice rising.

"That's a new one."

Namgungsang said.

"And what is that golden armband on your right arm?"

"This is……."

"Isn't that a sign of qualification as an examiner for the Ascension Martial Arts Academy's entrance exam?"

"Right."

Namgungsang replied.

"Then you'll have to work with us."

"Why should I go through all that hassle?"

"Because that's the rule."

Liu Lan replied firmly, but Bi Ryuyeon raised her hand to stop the argument.

"Wait, rules? What rules?"

"It's a new entry level position."

Tou Lo Yulan said it was obvious, but for Bi Ryuyeon and Nan Gongsang, it was anything but obvious.

"Changed? What? How?"

This time, it was Bi Ryuyeon.

"You really don't know?"

"I don't know!"

Bi Ryuyeon replied bluntly.

"How can that happen……. Okay, you can't, so I'll teach you."

Yulan pulled a scroll from her bosom and read the rightmost paragraph.

"Syllabus for the Entrance Examination of the First Hundredth Heavenly Martial Academy."

"That's a lot of money," came out of someone's mouth, and then it was gone.

"One. Anyone wishing to be admitted to the Academy of Tianmu may apply for a bimu when he sees an entrance examiner wearing a golden armband with the word Tianmu inscribed on his right arm, and the examiner must accept this bimu."

Liu Lan glanced at Bi Ryuyeon and Nan Gongsang as if to ask how they were doing. The latter still looked as if he didn't quite understand the situation.

"Do you want me to read you one more?"

Her gaze shifted slightly to the left.

"One. Bimu must be fought one-on-one. However, with the examiner's consent, many-versus-one fights are allowed. However, only one of the challengers may keep the golden armband."

"What am I going to do with this?"

Bi Ryuyeon asked, flicking her fingers across her armband, and her gaze shifted to the near end of the search.

"One. A candidate in possession of a golden armband is exempt from the first and second examinations."

The golden armband was a shortcut to the main exam without having to take the qualifying exam. It was safe to say that it took over the role of the Ascension Plaque. It's just that the method of obtaining it has changed.

"No way, I haven't heard or seen anything like that!"

Namgung Sang exclaimed. No such announcement had ever been made anywhere in the academy. How could such a great event be accomplished without any announcement? It was impossible.

"For this examination, the policy of giving special preference to disciples of prestigious schools in the past has been eliminated, and a golden armband has taken its place. Now, check it out. Whether my words are real or fake."

He held out the scroll he was holding. Namgungsang quickly approached and snatched the scroll. Then he flipped through it.

"What do you think?"

"It must be the seal of the Heavenly Academy."

After checking the seals at the end of the inspection, Namgungsang replied.

"You've been caught."

"Yes?"

"The inspirationalists got us, and they didn't teach us how to do it. We got our asses handed to us."

"Why did you do that?"

"I don't know. Maybe they wanted to test the freshmen as well as the examiners. They're a bunch of wingnuts."

After speaking, Bi Ryuyeon walked to the side of the clearing and sat down on a boulder. She looked at the statue of Namgung and gestured to it.

"This is annoying. Get it over with."

"Yes."

Namgungsang replied impatiently.

"Think of it as warming up."

Bi Ryuyeon crossed her legs and set her jaw, adding.

"Don't ignore me, seniors!"

Yulan's anger rose to the top of her head at the continued disregard. She was determined to flatten the nostrils of that weak-looking subject, that flawed subject, that asshole. But apparently her fiery spirit had not reached Bi Ryuyeon. Or she was ignored again.

"Ha? If I don't ignore a brat who doesn't have the discernment to pick his opponents, who do I ignore?"

Bi Ryuyeon smirked. Still, his judgment was unrelenting, and the tongue that had caused so many to be caught in the crossfire was sour.

"Well, it's a different story if you've found the best opponent."

With that, she twirled her index fingers and pointed to the statue of the Southern Palace.

"You didn't really pick me to win, did you? A 'couple' of brats like you are more than enough for me."

Their gazes followed his finger to the South Palace statue. He scratched his head and said.

"No, I don't think you need to be that harsh, you're still young, no matter how true that is……."

Namgungsang seemed to agree with the content, though he had a problem with the way it was presented.

No one was going to feel good about being ignored by an opponent they'd picked as weak.

"I will not submit!"

Yulan exclaimed.

"Me too!"

Yuunbi shouted after him.

"Well, a hundred words can't replace one experience. You'll know it when you see it. If you can beat him, do it. If you can beat his brother, I'll give you my armband. Is that clear?"

"Are you sure?"

Yulan's eyes widened at this unexpected proposal, which was unconventional in its own way.

"So, you think I'm too lazy to crack jokes with a bunch of kids?"

But it was Namgung-sang who was in trouble.

"Big brother, that's……."

Namgungsang sent a telegram in a panicked voice.

"Why are you insecure?"

"Not really, but……."

I was just afraid of the price I would have to pay if things went wrong.

"So what, let's just get this over with and go run some errands."

"What would you do, sir? You're not afraid of losing, are you?"

"Losing? Who are you losing to?"

A terrifying momentum of never-losing began to emanate from the entirety of the Southern Palace. Liu Lan and Liu Yunfei cowered for a moment as the enormous aura blew away the faint impression they had maintained earlier. The frail and weak-looking figures they had seen earlier were already gone.

"Come. I'll teach you how big the world is."

In this case, I could never lose. In the future, when you enter the academy, you'll have to deal with monsters like Bi Ryuyeon who are beyond human imagination and common sense. If you don't have the right way to deal with them, you'll be in trouble. In fact, it's already too late.

"Then I'll do you a favor, sir!"

Yulan's black eyes blazed with determination.

"Wait!"

It was Bi Ryuyeon who interrupted the rising tide. Namgung and the others stared at him in disbelief.

"Do you want to go with three or five?"

Stretching out three and five fingers repeatedly, Bi Ryuyeon asked Namgungsang.

"Let's do it."

Namgung replied, extending five fingers.

"Okay, let's go with three."

Bi Ryuyeon replied, dismissing Namgung's comments lightly.

"There are two of us, so why don't we just go to O? Three is a bit……."

Namgungsang refused to back down.

"You like it that way?"

Namgungsang nodded.

"Okay. Let's go to O together, then, no complaints?"

"That's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's ……."

"So let's make it two, then three? I don't mind! What do you think?"

Bi Ryuyeon asked in a subtle tone.

"No, let's just go to Oro."

Finally, Namgungsang gave in. He was not yet a worthy opponent of Bi Ryuyeon.

"You know there's a fine if you fail, right?"

"How could you forget that?"

"If you fail this time, it's double!"

"No, why?"

"That's……."

But Bi Ryuyeon was interrupted by Yulan.

"What are you talking about?"

She had a right to know what he was doing, not try to fight him.

"Oh, it's nothing."

Namgungsang tries to turn away, but his efforts are thwarted by Bi Ryuyeon.

"Oh, it's no big deal, I was just calculating how many seconds it would take to take down two kids, never mind."

It bothered me a lot.

"Is that what you're saying, that five seconds is enough to take down two of us?"

"Well, I think three seconds is more than enough, but if I still fail, shouldn't there be a penalty?"

Yulan's patience was now at its limit. It was as if he had received a lifetime of humiliation in one day.

"What are you going to do if you can't take us down in five seconds?"

Gritting her teeth, Yulan asked.

"You can call it a loss then, and if you don't take him down in five seconds, I'll give you both of these ugly armbands."

Bi Ryuyeon's cool answer came as a surprise to both of them, and to Nan Gongsheng it was crystal clear. How could she make the situation more and more unfavorable instead of more and more favorable? Nan Gongsheng wanted to cry.

"Are you sure?"

"Really!"

Bi Ryuyeon replied briefly, and Nan Gongsang let out a long sigh.

"Ehhhhh."

It was a mistake to have met him at all. He was a genius, true to his word. An incomparable genius. Heavenly Calamity [天災]…….

"Come at me at the same time. I'll deal with them."

Quick to give up, Namgungsang stretched out his left arm and folded his left hand in half.

"Come."

His sword hadn't even been drawn from its scabbard yet, and Bi Ryuyeon, who sat beside him, had long since slipped into a state of indifference.