Childhood Friend of the Zenith

༺ Heavenly Eye (2) ༻

‘He’s not really hiding it.’

The fact that I knew this much showed that the Shaolin’s Chief Abbot wasn’t really keeping much from me.

The Chief Abbot said that Meteor was formed in order to prepare for the upcoming disaster and that he wanted talented youths like us to join.

And Jang Seonyeon was in that group as well.

‘Jang Seonyeon.’

Thinking about him immediately reminded me of the Blood Demon.

The Chief Abbot spoke.

He said if I joined Meteor, then I would be able to gain many more things.

‘And that I would see a bigger world?’

Considering how the Blood Demon transferred energy through Jang Seonyeon, I couldn’t help but wonder.

How did Jang Seonyeon obtain this energy?

And why did Namgung Cheonjun have the same energy as Jang Seonyeon?

‘Is Namgung Cheonjun also…’

If the Pissing Dragon was part of Meteor, then it started to make sense why the two possessed a similar energy.

‘Though I’m not certain yet.’

And if the two really were in Meteor…

‘Then did they get the Blood Demon’s energy there?’

It was just a thought, but I, for some reason, couldn’t throw that suspicion away.

“You seem like you need time to think.”

Setting aside the whirlwind of thoughts in my head, I first responded to the Chief Abbot.

“…Yes, I apologize.”

“No, I called you here abruptly, so it’s understandable.”

I looked into the Chief Abbot’s eyes as he spoke with generosity.

‘Does the Heavenly Eye also know about the Blood Demon?’

If the Blood Demon was indeed linked to Meteor, then the Chief Abbot likely had connections to it as well.

‘If only that wasn’t the case.’

That would be better.

I understood that the Murim Alliance got involved in shady stuff, but it was hard to accept that Shaolin, especially being the brains and eyes of the Orthodox Faction, also joined the corrupted.

That’s what I was thinking, even though I knew it was too late.

[You call it a guess, but you sound pretty sure already.]

‘…’

[The Heavenly Eye, was it? That old man’s title.]

I responded yes to Elder Shin in my mind.

[The Heavenly Eye…]

He had a curious tone.

‘Is there something wrong?’

[Hmm… nothing. Let’s discuss this later privately.]

He sounded a bit concerned.

If I could see Elder Shin’s face in real life, I believed that he would have the same expression as me right now.

I took another sip of tea while pretending to think.

‘It’s risky to ask the Chief Abbot about the Blood Demon directly,’

And I couldn’t let on that I knew anything.

“Like you said… I’d like some time to think.”

“I see, I’ll send a letter to your parents.”

He mentioned sending a letter to Father, so I guessed the Chief Abbot didn’t mind Father knowing that we talked about this.

‘I didn’t know what’s going on in his head, but the Heavenly Eye gave me a reason to join the group for the upcoming disaster.’

And considering what the Chief Abbot said, it made me wonder if Father also knew about Meteor.

‘I should ask him when I get back.’

Though I was not too sure if Father would answer.

“Are you planning to do the same?”

The Chief Abbot’s question was directed at Namgung Bi-ah. And Namgung Bi-ah, who had been quiet throughout our conversation, looked at me and asked.

“…Are you going to?”

I had to fake a cough after hearing Namgung Bi-ah.

I didn’t expect her to ask me.

“I said that I’ll think about it. Why are you asking me that?”

“…Then I’ll also…”

Namgung Bi-ah seemed uninterested in this talk from the start.

Rather than talking about the Meteor or whatever, she probably wanted to go back as soon as she could to train with her sword.

She was always like that, and ever since she got that enlightenment from her fight, she had been busy swinging her sword all day, every day.

To think that she went back to doing that right after recovering from her injury, I couldn’t help but be impressed.

“Hehe.”

The Chief Abbot chuckled after hearing Namgung Bi-ah.

In a way, what she did could be seen as disrespectful, so I had to think of a way to remedy this situation.

“I understand, do take your time thinking about it.”

Luckily, the Chief Abbot didn’t seem bothered by her.

“You must be busy, so I apologize for taking your time.”

“Not at all, Chief Abbot. I also apologize for not giving you a better response.”

It was a short conversation, but the Chief Abbot didn’t speak any further as he said everything he needed to.

When he signaled for us to comfortably get up and leave, I pulled Namgung Bi-ah away, respectfully bowed to the Chief Abbot, then headed for the door.

“I hope that we can work together. For the future.”

I was about to leave through the door when the Chief Abbot’s words stopped me.

‘Together.’

I felt like I might express my aversion, so I had to be careful.

Namgung Bi-ah noticed my expression and she gently wrapped her arm around mine.

It was as if she was telling me to calm down.

And thanks to that, my voice, which might have sounded shaky, was steadied.

“Thank you for your words.”

I said it with a smile, thankfully hiding my true emotions.

Click-

After closing the door and stepping outside, the same beautiful sky greeted me.

‘Phew…’

I let out the sigh I’d been holding in.

The meeting with the Shaolin’s Chief Abbot was so sudden and unexpected.

As I was feeling the breeze, a soft sleeve appeared and wiped my forehead.

“Sweat…”

“What do you mean, sweat?”

Because of the Fire Qi inside my body, I didn’t typically sweat unless I engaged in extremely intense activities.

‘…Wait, did I sweat?’

If I did, it must be because I’ve been working my brain too hard lately, even though I wasn’t very good at using it.

“I can’t believe you zoned out during such a meeting.”

When I spoke to Namgung Bi-ah in a joking tone, she tilted her head.

Her expression told me she hadn’t spaced out.

“Did you hear what we were talking about back there?”

“Huh?”

“…Never mind.”

I wondered when she began spacing out.

From what I could tell, it probably happened as soon as we entered the Chief Abbot’s room.

Putting Namgung Bi-ah, who looked tired and yawned, aside, I started to walk between Shaolin’s trees.

‘I didn’t expect to see the Chief Abbot.’

Despite the short conversation, I gleaned some useful information.

Although most of it was just my presumption.

‘The Blood Demon is tied to the Murim Alliance.’

And that connection was much deeper than I initially thought.

As I walked around slowly, Elder Shin asked me.

[The Heavenly Eye was his title, correct?]

‘Yes.’

It was the same question Elder Shin asked me during my conversation with the Chief Abbot.

[And you said it was a title only given to Shaolin’s Chief Abbots?]

‘Correct.’

I then asked Elder Shin after answering his question.

After all, something seemed strange.

‘Elder Shin, the reason you are asking that…’

[It’s the first time I’ve heard of such a thing.]

His response made me recall that Cheolyoung’s title wasn’t the Heavenly Eye, but the Light of Might instead.

‘Did the Heavenly Eye not exist back then?’

I never delved too deeply into this.

Mostly because it never seemed necessary.

The Chief Abbots of Shaolin were called the Heavenly Eye, and I never really questioned why they had that title.

It just seemed natural to me.

[And you presume that the Blood Demon is involved behind the scenes with the Murim Alliance.]

‘It’s just a presumption.’

[Ha, you call it a presumption, but you sound pretty certain.]

‘But, it’s possible that that isn’t the case, right?’

Elder Shin scoffed at my words.

[Yeah, right.]

‘…’

[I’m just worried.]

‘About what?’

[The fact that there is an eye that could truly see into the future, and such a thing had been handed down to the Chief Abbots of Shaolin.]

I felt like I understood what Elder Shin was concerned about.

‘…Do you think that is related to the Blood Demon somehow?’

There had been enough time for Shaolin’s Chief Abbots to change a few times.

And those with the Heavenly Eye had contributed to bringing peace to the Alliance. So wasn’t it a bit far-fetched for Elder Shin to think that the Blood Demon had a part in that all along?

Elder Shin seemed to know that as well, so he responded.

[It’s just a presumption of mine.]

‘The Heavenly Eye and the Blood Demon, huh…?’

What Elder Shin said basically suggested that the Blood Demon gave the Heavenly Eye to the Shaolin’s Chief Abbot, or that the Blood Demon had full control over the Chief Abbot’s eyes.

And if that was the case, it was possible that the entire Murim Alliance was under the influence of the Blood Demon, not just Shaolin.

And thinking about the Alliance Leader’s son, Jang Seonyeon, that seemed even more likely.

‘That makes it way too complicated.’

The Heavenly Demon was already a formidable foe, so if the Murim Alliance, which I believed would resist the Heavenly Demon, was actually under the control of the Blood Demon…

It meant that I was surrounded by enemies.

‘At this rate, it actually might be better to ally myself with the Unorthodox Faction.’

I never harbored the unrealistic notion of defeating the Heavenly Demon alone.

Having witnessed the Heavenly Demon’s power firsthand, I knew it was an impossible feat.

[That’s why I asked, what are you going to do about it?]

I began pondering after hearing Elder Shin.

It wasn’t something that I could decide quickly,

But there was one option that didn’t seem too bad. I was still contemplating it, but their side opened the path first, so it wasn’t a bad idea for me to step through.

I responded to Elder Shin.

‘I’ll go since they called me.’

[Hmm?]

Elder Shin couldn’t grasp what I meant.

[…Kid, are you perhaps?]

But it seemed like he read my mind right away.

‘They are calling me from everywhere, so I might as well.’

There was one fastest way to learn about the enemies if I didn’t know much about them.

And that was joining Meteor of my own volition.

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