Childhood Friend of the Zenith - Chapter 64

༺ Immortal Healer (1) ༻

I just couldn’t believe my eyes.

I mean, it was understandable considering the fact that the first thing I saw when I woke up in the morning was an old man sitting in my room. Additionally, it wasn’t just any old man either.

The Celestial Plum Blossom, Dohwa.

He was the current Lord of the Mount Hua Sect as well as the most revered master among the Taoist clans.

He was a sword wielder so respected, he was often compared to the Sword Emperor, Wi Hyogun.

And such a master was sitting in my room.

– Sip.

He even had a cup of tea from who knows where.

Not only that but what is that...?

Is that a skewer?

“Uh.”

When I tried to talk to him, the Celestial Plum Blossom stopped me with a gesture of his hand.

I was confused by his action when, all of a sudden, he took a bite off the skewer.

“I’m sorry, I still haven’t had breakfast yet.”

“...Pardon?”

“It’s hard for me to move when I’m hungry, being old sucks.”

“...Oh, right.”

Huh?

What...

What is this guy?

「...What an eccentric maniac.]

I accidentally coughed at Elder Shin’s words.

How could you give such a harsh evaluation of your own kind?

「Own kind my ass... When that kid was born, I was already a corpse, you little brat.]

Kid...

I guess it was true that the Celestial Plum Blossom was a very young child from Elder Shin’s perspective,

But it still felt really weird.

After he had finished his tea and skewer, he wiped his mouth.

“I apologize, I was gonna come straight here but that skewer looked incredibly delicious, so I just had to buy it...”

“No... It’s not a problem at all.”

“Haha, you sure are a nice kid.”

After finishing his tea, the Celestial Plum Blossom started to speak.

“So you are Gu Ryoon’s grandson, correct?”

“...No, I’m not the grandson of the Second Elder.”

“Hmm? Are you not Gu Ryoon’s grandson?”

“No.”

We did share the same blood.

But I wasn’t his direct descendant.

“Weird, I thought you were since he told me he was sending one of his grandchildren.”

“The Second Elder didn’t get married.”

“I know that, but who knows, maybe he could’ve gotten a child from somewhere else.”

“Huh...?”

Was that even possible?

The more I spoke to him, the more extraordinary he looked.

「He’s probably not normal considering the fact that he bet a clan’s treasure on a drinking competition.]

I stopped myself from coughing out loud at Elder Shin’s comment.

Right.

Isn’t this the guy who lost a clan treasure over a simple bet?

He doesn’t really seem like the type of person who would do such a thing though...

He really did look like a Taoist.

“Since you knew that I would be arriving here, that means that you got the letter from the Second Elder, right?”

“Right, he told me to treat his grandson nicely since he was the one bringing me the stone.”

Grandson huh... It felt a bit strange being called that since I wasn’t used to it.

But it made sense that the Second Elder would write the letter in that way.

The Celestial Plum Blossom spoke as he looked at me.

“I apologize for coming here this early in the morning, but I couldn’t wait when I heard that you arrived here.”

Is that why you just barged into someone else’s room while they were still asleep...?

Now that I thought about it, it was only natural since this matter involved the treasure that symbolized their clan...

“...Phew, I still remember all the scoldings I got from the other elders when they heard about what I did with the stone.”

“...”

Hmm?

He does feel a sense of guilt and responsibility toward the treasure, right?

Isn’t that right, Elder Shin?

「...Don’t ask me.]

Elder Shin’s trembling voice definitely had a hint of embarrassment in it.

“However, something like this shouldn’t happen again... I would be a beast rather than a human if I drank with those guys again.”

When he’s referring to ‘those guys’, I assume it included the Second Elder as well.

What kind of meeting was it for it to have such grand figures?

Thanks to that, however, my expectations pertaining to the Celestial Plum Blossom’s elegance had been instantly shattered. Almost as badly as Elder Shin’s.

「Why am I suddenly included in this!]

Think about all the things you did up until now, how am I supposed to feel any respect toward you?

「For fuck’s sake... I’m not a person that should be getting this kind of treatment.]

Yeah, you aren’t a person, you’re a ghost.

The Celestial Plum Blossom let out a deep sigh of frustration and spoke to me.

“Right, so where is the treasure, kid?”

After speaking for a bit, he finally asked about the treasure.

“I am in possession of the treasure.”

“...That’s good to hear, then—”

“However, I can’t give it to you just yet.”

“Hmm...?”

The Celestial Plum Blossom became dumbfounded at my words as I fixed my posture.

“I apologize. Not only did I come here early in the morning, but I even roughed you up a bit.”

I let out a cough to fix my voice after hearing him.

“...I know I’m lacking a lot right now, so I couldn’t understand why you chose to do this, but you must have a good reason.”

「Did you coat your tongue with sugar or something, you really know how to use your mouth...]

I had to do something since the guy in front of me was a superhuman who could easily erase a mountain if he so wanted to.

“Gu Ryoon, that guy never listened when I begged him for the past few years to give the treasure back, so do you know what deal we made for him to give it back?”

“I do not know.”

“He told me to guide you.”

“...Huh?”

I was dumbfounded.

The Second Elder said what? I thought that he just gave me the treasure because he was too lazy to go himself.

...It was also scary to hear that he didn’t give back the treasure he won from a drinking bet for a few years.

The Celestial Plum Blossom kept speaking while laughing as if to neglect my thoughts

“...It doesn’t seem like you need it in my eyes though.”

“Not at all, how can I—”

“Child, too much humbleness can be poison, I was also certain that the Dragon Sword of Mount Hua was going to be the greatest prodigy of this generation, but after seeing you, I have changed my mind.”

I didn’t have anything to say to that.

I wouldn’t dare to hear such a thing as this in my past life, so it was completely new to me,

But I also felt slightly guilty because I was now able to hear this only after my regression.

What can I do about it though...

I basically gave up.

Since I decided to just receive all these compliments shamelessly.

“Then, what should I do.”

“...What do you mean?”

“No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like you need any guidance... but a marble of Qi wouldn’t be enough.”

“No, I think a marble of Qi would be en—”

“Oh! Yes, we can do that.”

“Huh?”

“Right, we can talk about it after we go up.”

What is it for god’s sake...!

Why decide for yourself while not even telling me what it is...?

“Right... I’ll see you later.”

「You aren’t even talking back to him though.]

...Ahem.

“Right, come find me when you come up, as it seems like both of us have much to talk about. For example, a reward.” After saying that, the Celestial Plum Blossom pointed toward my lower abdomen.

“And that Qi you are harboring inside your body.”

“...!”

I couldn’t help but tremble at the words that the Celestial Plum Blossom said while smiling.

Perhaps, he noticed?

“Yes, Lord.”

“Right, come see me after you eat breakfast. Starving won’t do you any good.”

After saying that, the Celestial Plum Blossom went out the window-

Wait, why go out the window and not the door...?

「...What a maniac... Truly.]

...

...I had to agree with Elder Shin this time.

* * * *

After the storm, I went outside with a hollow face.

Muyeon was waiting for me with a frozen look on his face.

“What’s up?”

“No... thing.”

It looked like he had seen a ghost or something.

I ignored Muyeon for now and looked for Wi Seol-Ah.

Usually, that girl would knock on my door first thing in the morning, but she didn’t today.

“Where is she?”

“Are... you talking about Wi Seol-Ah?”

“Yeah, and why are you so stiff?”

“...I was able to shake hands with Lord Celestial Plum Blossom.”

“...Huh?”

“I can die happy now.”

“...Uh, right.”

I shook my head as I saw my escort zoning out.

What kind of face would he make if he found out that he had shared many conversations and meals with the Sword Emperor who was known to be the greatest swordsman in the world?

The thought intrigued me.

“Anyways, where did she go?”

“I heard that she went somewhere as she had something to do with Elder Wi.”

“Elder Wi?”

She went somewhere with the Sword Emperor? In Shaanxi?

“Where can it be?’

Muyeon handed me something.

“It’s the seal of approval of the clan.”

Since it had the symbol of the Gu clan on the paper, it clearly wasn’t fake.

And I don’t think the Sword Emperor would lie about something like this.

‘She’ll be fine since she’s with the Sword Emperor.’

When I was about to go to the dining room for breakfast after having thought that, someone walked out of the room nearby.

The person who came out while rubbing her sleepy eyes was Namgung Bi-ah

“...Oh.”

Namgung Bi-ah slowly waved her hand when she found me.

Is that her way of greeting me in the morning...?

She appeared to be very peaceful, it seems like she didn’t know what happened this morning.

After I had stared at her for a bit, I spoke to her.

“Want to have breakfast?”

Namgung Bi-ah slightly nodded her head upon hearing my question.