Childhood Friend of the Zenith

༺ Dragon Warrior ༻

The Xi’an Bi clan was the clan that represented the Xi’an region and despite being a noble clan of the Orthodox Faction, they weren’t a clan that showed that much prominence.

Not only did they not participate in the tournament that most young prodigies did, which was the Dragons and Phoenixes Tournament, but they also didn’t even show up to clan meetings.

And even if the Gate of Demons appeared, they were a clan that didn’t bother to show themselves unless the danger was severe.

That’s what the Xi’an Bi clan had been like in the past few decades.

However, this wasn’t due to a lack of talented individuals among their young prodigies.

The clan boasted many martial artists with significant accomplishments.

And since one of the greatest martial artists of the world, the Dishonored Venerable Bijuu of the Three Venerables, hailed from the Xi’an Bi clan, this was enough to bring the clan to the top.

Furthermore, the Dragon Warrior of the, not five, but Six Dragons was also from the Xi’an Bi Clan, so it wasn’t that the clan lacked power.

It’s just that the calm lake was so deep that the dragons that swam underneath weren’t visible.

This was probably the reason why many claimed that the Xi’an Bi clan’s actions could shake the world, which was just laughable.

‘…But even so, isn’t this a bit too much?’

It was raining in Xi’an, creating a tranquil atmosphere with only the sound of rainfall echoing through the quiet streets.

And the one who was walking underneath the rain with dirty smudges on his face, was Chuwong, going to the Beggar’s Sect from Hanam.

Chuwong had covered the distance from Hanam to Xi’an in the past few months by tirelessly running.

It was honestly a crazy thing to do.

Despite the option to send a letter, Chuwong chose to move his heavy body all the way here.

‘They say that one suffers if their head is empty, and they weren’t wrong.’

Having lived his whole life as a beggar, it was obvious he wasn’t too smart, but this was way too impulsive of him.

‘I don’t know what got into me that day, for fuck’s sake…’

Because he was charmed by the strange eyes and atmosphere that came from the True Dragon when he showed the true pass, he ended up coming all the way here.

At that moment, he seemed like a rope that was sent down from the heavens, but now that Chuwong thought about it, he began to question the thoughtlessness of his decision, contemplating whether the True Dragon had given due consideration to his presence.

‘Fuck…’

But it was too late to go back now.

Because not only was he already in Xi’an, but he was already collecting information with so much effort to the point his feet felt like it was burning in flames.

Chuwong was currently gathering information that the True Dragon wanted; knowledge regarding the Dragon Warrior of Xi’an.

And Chuwong honestly thought that reaching Xi’an would resolve everything.

It had already been four days since he arrived and Xi’an definitely had Beggar’s Sect in it somewhere as well, and because Chuwong had a pretty high position, it wouldn’t be too hard for him to gather information here, was his thought.

However…

‘What the hell is going on…?’

He couldn’t help but feel incredulous.

The information about the current Xi’an was almost no different from the information that the Beggar’s Sect wrote about them ten years ago.

And excluding the shops that the clan ran, there was not a single piece of information about whatever they were doing currently, nor how they were running their clan.

Chuwong almost felt as if they were purposely trying to prevent him from getting that information.

‘Is this really necessary?’

If he couldn’t get information at his position, that meant that the higher-ups were trying very hard to prevent information from leaking.

Moreover, that also meant that they, at the very least, had to hold the rank of Second Beggar in the Beggar’s Sect or higher.

‘It seems like something is happening…’

He came here, hoping to get on a good line for once, but now he felt like he involved himself with a very complicated situation.

‘Is it too late for me to run away at this point?’

This wasn’t a martial artist’s intuition, but more of survival instinct.

And Chuwong, who had a sharp sense, noticed that yesterday…

No, ever since the first day, he noticed that something was strange as he walked around to gather information.

‘The current Xi’an feels very strange. Especially the Bi Clan.’

He couldn’t really pinpoint a specific issue, but that’s what Chuwong’s feelings were telling him.

The Bi Clan was strange right now.

He also felt this when he requested to get some information from the branch of the Beggar’s Sect in Xi’an, and they strangely looked like they didn’t want him there.

The current state of the Bi Clan in Xi’an was undeniably peculiar.

Chuwong regretted his decision.

He thought to himself that he should’ve run away when he noticed this for the first time.

“You are a new raccoon.”

Because he wouldn’t be getting humiliated right now if he did.

“I heard that there was someone who was curious about Xi’an in recent days, is that you?”

“…Ugh…”

Chuwong was crawling on the floor with his hand on his stomach.

He was not even able to feel how and when he got hit.

Along with a severe impact hitting him, he was knocked out at that spot and when he regained consciousness, he found himself vomiting on the ground.

‘When…? When did he approach me?’

He couldn’t even see him.

When he finally managed to lift up his head while panting, Chuwong finally saw the person who had attacked him.

It seemed like a young man who didn’t seem to have reached the age of twenty yet.

He looked around the same age as the Lightning Dragon.

He looked like he was a bit older than the True Dragon he met a few months ago, but lacked a certain maturity.

And Chuwong knew that boy. Despite slight changes to his face over the years, Chuwong recognized him as the boy he had seen a few years ago.

‘…Dragon Warrior.’

The Dragon Warrior, Bi Eejin.

Once before, he was a young prodigy who appeared just once in the Dragons and Phoenixes tournament, showed an astounding performance that caught the attention of many people, and then disappeared.

“Who are you?”

The Dragon Warrior calmly lowered his body to look into Chuwong’s eyes.

With tied brown hair and a black uniform, his eyes seemed more apathetic than ever, with heavy weights in them.

And Chuwong saw similar eyes as those recently.

‘It’s similar to the True Dragon’s.’

The True Dragon had a fierce wolf-like appearance, which was very different from the Dragon Warrior’s face, which looked soft and kind, but the eyes that the two possessed seemed so similar that it was strange.

Just by staring at those eyes, it felt like unknown weights were pressing down on Chuwong.

“Are you not going to respond?”

As Chuwong remained silent, the Dragon Warrior extended his hand and placed it on a part of Chuwong’s body.

As Chuwong wondered what the Dragon Warrior was trying to do…

“…!!”

Chuwong’s confusion turned to agonizing screams that echoed through his surroundings.

After all, an absurd excruciating pain was raining down upon his body.

He screamed for an extended period, but as soon as the Dragon Warrior let go of his hand, the pain went away.

“Huff… Huff…”

“Now do you want to talk?”

Chuwong realized that despite his loud screams, not even the tiniest bit of his scream leaked outside around him.

This meant that the Dragon Warrior put up a Qi barrier to prevent sound from spreading.

It was an ability that used an immense amount of Qi.

“Where did you come from?”

“W-Wait…”

“Hmm…”

When Chuwong failed to answer again, the Dragon Warrior began to reach his hand out once more.

After seeing that, Chuwong shouted right away.

“I-I am from Hanam.”

“Hanam?”

The Dragon Warrior put on a confused expression after hearing Chuwong shout.

“Y-Yes! Master Bi. I am a beggar named Chuwong who roams the land of Hanam.”

“I see. Hanam, huh?”

The Dragon Warrior, seemingly understanding, nodded.

But the Dragon Warrior’s hand naturally began to grab Chuwong’s neck.

“W-W-Wait…!”

“What’s the matter?”

“That’s what I want to ask…! Why are you grabbing my neck…?”

Even though the Dragon Warrior was grabbing his neck slowly, Chuwong couldn’t defend himself once.

It was because his body wasn’t moving because of the attack he suffered from earlier.

This meant that in just one attack, the Qi inside his body became unstable and paralyzed.

To Chuwong’s question, the Dragon Warrior responded.

“It’s because I still have more to ask.”

The Dragon Warrior spoke calmly.

However, to Chuwong, it felt like he was saying that he was going to kill him if he didn’t respond correctly.

And he probably meant that for real.

‘…Fuuuck…’

How did he know?

Chuwong didn’t do any direct approach to anyone just in case something could happen and he made sure to not get close to the Bi clan.

It might have been a quiet clan that hid themselves from the world, but being caught by a noble clan still posed a significant problem.

And with that, no matter how much Chuwong thought about it, he didn’t think he did anything that let him get caught.

Then suddenly, one thought passed his mind.

– You are a new raccoon.

The words that the Dragon Warrior said to him earlier.

The word ‘raccoon’ referred to the people of the Beggar’s Sect and the Dragon Warrior’s choice of words carried a peculiar nuance.

‘New raccoon… and the fact that the beggars of Xi’an seemed poor in spirit for some reason.’

And the strange atmosphere that Chuwong felt inside the Beggar’s Sect branch.

Chuwong began to think that all of this was related to the Xi’an Bi Clan.

Or perhaps, it was that Dragon Warrior, rather than the clan itself.

And if that was the case, it made sense why he was caught.

The fact that the Dragon Warrior heard about him was because Chuwong requested information from the Beggar’s Sect branch of Xi’an.

‘…These guys are full traitors!’

If that was really the case, this was a big problem.

Because it meant that a whole branch of his sect seemed to be under the influence of a mere young prodigy.

‘Though I’m not in a place to talk since I am a guy who came all the way here because of a kid’s request.’

He knew that he wasn’t any different from them, but that was beside the point, and this was problematic.

After staring at Chuwong for a bit, the Dragon Warrior began to talk.

“You are rather sharp.”

“…!”

The Dragon Warrior remarked, a smirk forming as he detected Chuwong’s realization.

And his demeanor suggested that he didn’t care if he found out about anything.

‘…Did it mean he didn’t care because he was going to kill me anyway?’

‘Or did it mean that now he will kill me because I learned information about this place?’

Whichever it was, Chuwong was in a desperately dangerous situation.

“You called yourself Chuwong?”

“…Y-Yes.”

“I see. Now that I think about it, you seem familiar…”

“…”

Chuwong turned his head after hearing the Dragon Warrior.

After all, like he said, Chuwong saw the Dragon Warrior before.

He didn’t meet him directly, but back when the Dragon Warrior made his first and last appearance in the Dragons and Phoenixes tournament, Chuwong watched him shooing away the young prodigies that kept bothering him.

‘…’

And Chuwong’s memory of him wasn’t the best.

Just by being reminded of how he dealt with the ones who bothered him, Chuwong’s back began to hurt.

“You seem to be curious about me. Can I ask why?”

It sounded like he was asking formally, but the current situation proved that it was far from it.

How could anyone call this a question when he was lifting him up by his neck?

This was more of a threat.

“…U-Uh.”

‘What can I respond with?’

‘Should I even respond?’

To say that the True Dragon was curious about him was way too strange of an answer.

After all, even Chuwong himself didn’t know why the True Dragon was curious about the Dragon Warrior when they’d never met before.

Chuwong chose silence in the end, but the Dragon Warrior didn’t press him any further.

He only tightened his grip on his neck.

‘I can’t breath, god dammit…!’

‘Kids these days really have no intention to show any respect to the elderly.’

After seeing the young man’s empty eyes that seemed to be saying that he wasn’t going to give a second chance,

“D-Dishonored Venerable!”

Chuwong, in the end, hurriedly shouted.

And because of what he shouted…

– Crack

The grip in Dragon Warrior’s hand started to loosen.

Right as Chuwong began to think that what he shouted helped his situation…

“What did you say?”

Chuwong had to endure the threatening Combat Qi that poured down on him.

The nasty amount of Combat Qi intensified, pressing down on Chuwong’s body like a heavy weight.

“A…Ah…!”

Was it problematic that he shouted the Dishonored Venerable’s name in front of the blood relative of the Xi’an Bi Clan?

The threatening Combat Qi that came from the Dragon Warrior was way too brutal.

But Chuwong couldn’t stop here.

Since he had already said his name, he had to continue for him to live.

“T-The disciple of the Dishonored Venerable… Wanted some information about Master Bi…!”

To be more accurate, he was only assumed to be his disciple, but Chuwong said those words out loud anyway, just so he could live.

Then, the Combat Qi that pressured him down disappeared as if it was never there, to begin with,

And the Dragon Warrior let go of Chuwong’s neck and retrieved his hand back.

Shortly after…

Ha-!

The Dragon Warrior began to burst out into laughter.

‘What the… what’s wrong with him?’

Chuwong couldn’t help but be a little scared when he saw him laugh hysterically like that.

The Dragon Warrior who laughed for a while with his hands on his stomach, finally managed to regain his composure, and asked Chuwong.

“Dishonored Venerable… so, his disciple is curious about me?”

“Yes…Master Bi.”

The True Dragon himself denied being his disciple, but because of how he had the Dishonored Venerable’s letter, his martial art style, and the fact that he showed himself to be far superior to other young prodigies his age…

People really began to think that he was trained by the Dishonored Venerable.

Of course, the True Dragon was practically begging him to get rid of such a rumor though.

‘I’m sorry… True Dragon.’

But Chuwong had to do this in order to live.

“Ah, I see. The Dishonored Venerable’s disciple, huh?”

After chuckling, the Dragon Warrior rose to his feet.

Then he asked Chuwong.

“Who is it.?

“Pardon?”

“The disciple of the Dishonored Venerable who’s curious about me.”

‘I was wondering what to do with this guy because I thought an annoying fly was flying toward me again, but it seems like a fun scene is unfolding.’

‘I wonder who it is.’

The Dragon Warrior began to think while staring down at Chuwong.

He was curious.

The bastard that dared to impersonate the Dishonored Venerable’s disciple.

‘I want to see the guy’s face.’

It seemed like such a rumor was spreading because he disappeared from the world.

‘If something like this happened back when I was still active, I would’ve crushed him with my own two hands.’

‘He said that he’ll take care of it nicely, fucking Gu Ryoon.’

‘It was my fault for trusting him.’

‘Take care of it, my ass, a dogshit rumor such as this was spreading, so yeah I’m sure you did a good job in taking care of it.’

The Dragon Warrior, while still amused, addressed Chuwong.

“Let me hear one thing.”

“Huh? What is it that you want to…”

The Dragon Warrior effortlessly lifted Chuwong and put him on his shoulder.

Chuwong felt humiliated because it felt like he was getting treated like a big sack of rice, but he couldn’t afford to fight back.

“We’ll talk about it once we get there.”

With that sentence, the Dragon Warrior began to move with Chuwong on his back.

So that he could hear about ‘his own’ disciple.

******************

While Chuwong grappled with his challenging circumstances in Xi’an, Gu Yangcheon arrived back at his clan.

Since everyone had their guard up the whole time after the ambush, the way back to the clan had proven more draining than expected.

And as everyone was exhausted from the long trip…

“…What did you say?”

Gu Yangcheon asked with shocked eyes.

“Brother…”

And the one who was speaking to Gu Yangcheon with a sobbing face was…

Gu Ryunghwa, who should’ve already returned to Mount Hua at this time.

“…The Second Elder …”

“Tell me clearly without crying.”

Gu Ryungha then began to cry after seeing Gu Yangcheon’s fierce eyes.

Wi Seol-Ah and Namgung Bi-ah hurriedly ran toward her to hug her when Gu Ryunghwa began to cry, but Gu Yangcheon couldn’t fix his expression despite seeing Gu Ryunghwa like that.

He was praying in his mind that he just misheard what she said.

After all, it didn’t make any sense.

Gu Ryunghwa spoke to Gu Yangcheon with tears running down her face.

“T-The Second Elder … might die.”

Unfortunately, it seemed like Gu Yangcheon heard it right the first time.

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