Childhood Friend of the Zenith-Chapter 576: The Miracle of Shaolin (2)

What is this situation?

I had to sort through countless thoughts as I observed the scene unfolding before me.

No, before thinking, I first needed to understand.

‘What is that?’

Why are these old men here?

Not only was the Divine Doctor, whom I was already planning to find, present, but even Paejon, who was supposed to be in Shanxi, was here. Why on earth was he here?

‘What’s going on?’

No matter how much I tried to wrap my head around it, it didn’t make sense.

When I arrived at the lodging the Baekhwa Trading Company had arranged for me, I found not only the Divine Doctor and Paejon but also this bizarre situation.

Caught off guard, I stood speechless for a moment.

At that moment, Paejon, who had been chuckling at the sight of the fainted Divine Doctor, turned his gaze toward me.

“Oh.”

Our eyes met. Paejon reacted to this by giving a slight smile.

“Good to see you. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“...?”

The unfamiliar tone threw me off for a moment, but I quickly realized why. Right behind me were Seong Yul and Tang So-yeol.

Since neither of them knew Paejon’s true identity, he must have been acting this way deliberately.

“...Yes. It’s been a long time.”

At my greeting, Paejon’s grin widened. Seeing that smile made cold sweat break out on my forehead.

‘This guy...’

He was absolutely furious.

If there was one thing I had learned after being beaten up by Paejon for several years, it was this: the angrier he got, the more he smiled.

There was a difference, albeit subtle, between his amused smile and his angry one.

It was a difference you could only notice after spending a lot of time around him.

Judging by that—

‘Damn it.’

There was no doubt. Paejon was mad.

“How many months has it been now? I heard you’d be back soon. Ha ha.”

“...”

From his words alone, I could already guess why he was angry.

I had told him I would wrap up my affairs quickly and return to the Gu family. But instead, I ignored that plan and came straight to Hanan.

‘Ah, crap.’

While it hadn’t taken me long to travel from Guangdong to here, it had been several months since I had left the Gu family.

There had been some matters to attend to before heading to Guangdong.

‘So that’s what this is about.’

The original plan had been to handle business in Guangdong, then demonify Seong Yul, and return to the Gu family.

With that plan in mind, I had even written in my letter that I’d be back soon.

‘But going to Wudang messed up the timeline.’

That detour had brought me directly to Hanan instead.

‘...But why is that old man here?’

As I tried to understand why not only the Divine Doctor but also Paejon were here, my brows furrowed.

[Isn’t it obvious?]

Paejon sent me a telepathic message.

[...What is obvious?]

[That you wouldn’t stick to the plan you mentioned. I knew you’d come straight here.]

[...]

His words implied... could it be?

[...So you came here directly because of that?]

He had anticipated I wouldn’t listen, so he came here himself?

I was at a loss for words.

[You told me to leave, didn’t you?]

He had nagged me daily about when I was going to leave when I was immersed in training. Now that I had actually left, why was he acting like this?

When I voiced my exasperation, Paejon gave his signature smile and replied.

[Indeed, I told you to leave.]

[Then why are you doing this?]

[Because the disciple who finally left—]

He clicked his tongue.

[—seems to be causing quite the trouble out there.]

[...!]

His words stopped my breath.

‘Could it be...’

Does Paejon know something?

His tone wasn’t just suggestive; it was filled with certainty.

Cold sweat ran down my back.

I hadn’t done anything that could have been discovered. If he had found out, how?

As I stared at Paejon with trembling eyes, he tilted his head slightly and continued.

[I made sure you wouldn’t get beaten up wherever you went.]

Paejon’s arrogant gaze swept over me from head to toe.

[And yet, your condition is abysmal. Tsk tsk.]

[How... did you figure that out?]

[How? Do you really need me to explain? If you’d just tidied up your qi flow properly, you wouldn’t look so ragged.]

That accusation was unfair.

I had been keeping my qi flow under control.

After hearing Ubong Chwigye’s advice, I had been extra careful with my movements. Yet Paejon seemed to have figured out my condition just by looking at me.

‘Does his mental eye have such power?’

Paejon had always claimed to live with his mental eye active. It seemed that ability held some hidden secrets.

But the real issue was—

‘How does he know I’ve been causing trouble?’

I stared at Paejon, struggling to hide my panic.

It was then that I noticed something off, something faintly different about him.

It was so subtle it was hard to pinpoint, but something had definitely changed.

As I focused on him, a suspicion crossed my mind.

[Sir...]

[What is it?]

[Did you...]

I hesitated for a moment before continuing.

[Did you break through?]

[Hmm.]

Hearing my question, Paejon let out a low chuckle.

[It’s not so much that I broke through, but rather, I regained something.]

[...!]

I widened my eyes at his words, which all but confirmed my suspicion.

This meant—

‘Paejon has reached the Hwagyeong level.’

Paejon, who had previously been stuck at the pinnacle of perfection, had now achieved the Hwagyeong realm.

No, as he had put it—

‘He regained his former level.’

It would be more accurate to say he had reclaimed a part of the realm he had once lost.

[When...?]

[Hmm. It must have been shortly after you left.]

Hearing that, I swallowed dryly.

One might wonder why I reacted so strongly to Paejon’s advancement.

The reason was simple.

[Originally, I had planned to take it slow.]

Until now, I had just barely begun to hold my own against Paejon as my skills improved and my level increased.

But the fact that Paejon had now advanced further meant—

[But my disciple kept growing so quickly that I had no choice. Ha ha, he even started acting a bit cheeky.]

It meant I was about to start getting beaten up again, just when I thought I had escaped.

[When did I ever act cheeky?]

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[Right now. Instead of congratulating your master for advancing, your eyes are full of complaints.]

That’s only because his eyes were gleaming with the anticipation of beating me senseless.

...That was what I wanted to say, but I kept it to myself.

[Congratulations, Master.]

I belatedly offered my congratulations, but Paejon’s expression only soured further.

Sigh.

A short sigh escaped him.

[Well, since you still have some discernment left, I’ll let it slide this time.]

[Not just my eyes—everything else is still alive and—]

[Shall I kill them for you?]

[...It’s just a bit sore, that’s all.]

Just as I thought I’d caught a break, I found myself back in the same mess.

Suppressing my throbbing headache, I asked Paejon,

[...So what’s going on here with this person?]

I gestured toward the Divine Doctor, who had fainted in a fit of rage.

Honestly, he had really passed out. How angry did one have to be to faint?

‘He’s not young anymore.’

Yet Paejon didn’t even glance at the Divine Doctor, as if he couldn’t care less.

[Oh, I just happened to run into him when I arrived.]

How likely was it that I’d run into both Paejon and the Divine Doctor here in Hanan?

The odds seemed slim, but I decided not to question it.

[Penniless and without a place to go, the Divine Doctor asked the head of the Baekhwa Trading Company for help. That’s how this place was arranged.]

Hearing this, I was forced to entertain an endless series of thoughts.

‘So Madam Mi knew they were staying here.’

This meant she had deliberately sent me to this location despite knowing.

In other words...

...I would have to spend the next three months here.

While it was technically possible to find another place to stay if I didn’t like it,

‘...Would this guy let that slide?’

The real problem was Paejon.

Staying with the Divine Doctor wasn’t too bad; in fact, it was beneficial since it meant I could receive treatment.

But staying with Paejon came with an entirely different set of issues.

‘I was planning to take it easy for a while, but that’s out the window now.’

After spending the last few years secluded in the family estate focusing solely on training, I had planned to balance my schedule this time with some rest.

Even if that hadn’t been my intention, given my internal injuries, I had hoped to take a short break while undergoing treatment.

But with Paejon around, that wasn’t going to happen.

‘He’s not the kind to go easy just because I’m injured.’

Do you know what makes Paejon terrifying?

If you say you can’t train because you’re hurt,

he’ll come up with training that you can do while injured.

And if no such training exists?

‘He’ll invent it.’

He would create new training methods just to push me further.

‘Damn it.’

A sigh threatened to escape, but I held it in. I couldn’t risk sighing in front of him.

As I stood there facing Paejon, I could feel the gazes of Tang So-yeol and Seong Yul on my back.

It seemed like I needed to respond somehow to ease the tension.

“In any case, let’s save the greetings for later. You should unpack first,” Paejon said with a grin.

“In the meantime, Young Master Gu, why don’t you come with me for a while?”

“What? No, I don’t want to.”

The rejection slipped out instinctively. Paejon’s eyebrows twitched.

Ah. I’d done it now.

“...Well, I need to unpack too, don’t I?” I quickly added, trying to salvage the situation.

“You look like the one with the least to unpack.”

“...”

I couldn’t argue with that. Paejon was right.

What little luggage I had was being carried by Seong Yul.

‘Damn it.’

Who knew this would come back to bite me?

I was trying to think of a way out of this when—

[It’ll take some time before the Divine Doctor wakes up anyway. Be a good boy and come along.]

“...”

In the end, I had no choice but to nod in reluctant agreement under Paejon’s thinly veiled threat, delivered in a deceptively kind tone.

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

The streets at night.

As the sun set, the streets lit up even brighter with lanterns filling the darkness. No matter how late it got, the number of people crowding the streets only seemed to grow.

Truly, it was a bustling and chaotic scene.

Amid this commotion, I walked down the street holding a skewer in my hand.

“How have you been?”

Paejon, who was walking beside me with food of his own, asked casually.

“Well enough, I guess...”

I answered his question with a brief response, prompting a chuckle from him.

“Anyone could see you’ve been anything but fine, yet you answer so lightly.”

“...”

“Did you get into some fight and take a beating after leaving?”

“...Not exactly,” I replied, sounding defensive.

Paejon immediately followed up.

“So, it’s more like you were too dumb to control your strength properly?”

“...”

“You overused it, didn’t you?”

Without even looking at me, he asked the question. There was no way for me to deny it.

“...Yes.”

The technique Tua Pacheonmu.

He was asking if I had used it, and I admitted as much. Hearing this, Paejon nodded.

“Impressive that you refrained from using the next step after that.”

The next step—did he realize I hadn’t gone beyond the initial form?

“...There wasn’t really a situation where I needed to use it,” I explained.

“Hmm.”

Paejon turned his head toward me.

“So, you ended up in this state despite that?”

“...”

Even though I hadn’t used the advanced techniques, I had sustained internal injuries.

Hearing this, Paejon clicked his tongue.

“I told you before, didn’t I? Once you learn my martial art, I won’t interfere with how you use it.”

“I remember.”

He had said as much: mastering Tua Pacheonmu meant it was up to me to decide how to wield it.

“As the words imply, I won’t meddle in whatever you do from now on.”

“...”

There were layers to his statement that made me uneasy. Just how much had Paejon figured out? That uncertainty was deeply uncomfortable.

“Judging by your condition, it seems you haven’t used that yet,” Paejon remarked.

I hesitated before responding.

“...No, I haven’t.”

“Well done. Let me remind you again—don’t use it unless you’re absolutely sure.”

His warning came with a tone of stern finality, and I nodded. I understood why he was so insistent.

“That technique is beyond physical strength; it requires a connection to the mental realm. I understand your ambitions, but you can’t afford to be hasty.”

“Yes, I’m well aware of that too.”

Even Paejon, who had created the reckless martial art Tua Pacheonmu, had warned me to be cautious of this specific power. That alone spoke volumes about its danger.

In fact, the one time I had tried to use it in his presence, my internal organs had ruptured completely.

But even so—

‘Someday, I’ll have to use it.’

No matter how dangerous it was, I had to prepare myself to control it. At this point, I couldn’t afford to leave any weapon unused.

Pushing aside my lingering frustrations, I decided to ask him a question this time.

“Elder.”

“Yes?”

“So, what is it you really wanted to talk about?”

Hearing this, Paejon narrowed his eyes and spoke.

“You’re not bad at reading the room.”

The compliment didn’t make me feel particularly good.

It was obvious.

The fact that he had brought me out here for this walk—it had to mean there was something he wanted to discuss.

And given my internal injuries, I assumed he was being considerate by sparing me from having to use telepathic communication.

I had even sensed him quietly setting up a sound barrier as soon as we left the lodging.

It was likely an effort to shield our conversation from prying ears.

‘Even though we’ve been talking about various things up until now...’

We hadn’t gotten to the main topic.

Not yet.

So what was it he wanted to bring up?

‘If Paejon is going to this extent, it must be something important.’

Could it be that he was going to confront me about the trouble I had caused?

If that were the case, should I try to explain myself? Or would honesty serve me better? He had said he wouldn’t interfere with what I did, after all.

Would he really care if his disciple happened to mess up a faction or two?

Or would he, on the contrary...

‘...Tie my joints in knots and scold me for being an idiot?’

Knowing this old man, it wouldn’t be out of the question.

My mind raced with all kinds of possibilities in those fleeting moments.

Just in case, I had already scoped out escape routes.

If things took a turn, I was ready to bolt.

As I braced myself, Paejon finally broke the silence.

“Oh, it’s nothing serious.”

His tone was unusually hesitant, a stark contrast to his usual demeanor.

The mismatch only heightened my focus.

And then—

“That martial arts competition the Alliance plans to host...”

Before he could finish, both of us instinctively turned to look in the same direction.

Something had triggered our senses.

I hoped it was nothing, but since Paejon reacted as well, it clearly wasn’t just my imagination.

And, as if to confirm our suspicions, moments later—

“Kyahhhhh!”

A shrill scream echoed from the distance.