Childhood Friend of the Zenith

༺ Marble of Celestial Captivation (1) ༻

Dust clung to the cloth covering his eyes and judging by how it was drenched in red, there seemed to be profuse bleeding.

As such, it was highly likely that he had lost sight completely.

“You are surprisingly composed for a girl, kekek.”

Gu Huibi frowned after hearing the old man.

Not only was she in a shitty situation, but she didn’t expect some random guy to appear right in front of her, so it was obvious that she was on guard.

“Who are you?”

“Would you know even if I told you?”

A skinny and worn body with a bunch of torture marks.

Despite having such a body, the unsettling chuckle emanating from him added to Gu Huibi’s unease.

Gu Huibi quickly observed her current state.

‘I’m constrained.’

Whether it was her legs or her arms, every part of her was suppressed.

Even the Qi inside her body didn’t show a single hint of moving.

‘Is this really acupuncture though?’

‘If it was acupuncture, then I would’ve at least been able to notice it.’

‘After all, it’s almost impossible not to notice such an uncomfortable sensation.’

‘But if it isn’t…’

Gu Huibi wondered what it was. Gu Huibi couldn’t understand why her Qi wasn’t listening to her command despite being perfectly fine.

Attempting to regain control, Gu Huibi concentrated on channeling her Qi.

Even if she wasn’t able to control her dantian, she knew that she would be fine if she at least gained a bit of hold over it.

But when she put all her focus and strength into her dantian…

“…!”

An excruciating pain made Gu Huibi’s body convulse.

“Ughh…!”

It wasn’t only pain either, it felt like something was eating her body from the inside.

She wanted to scream, but Gu Huibi forced her mouth shut.

“Impressive, that’s not something most people could endure.”

The old man only continued to chuckle in front of Gu Huibi.

“…You…”

Gu Huibi shot a glare at him, realizing he was aware of her condition.

Then, the old man continued to speak while staring at Gu Huibi.

“I’d rather you don’t look at me so fiercely, as I’m not the one responsible for that.”

“…Can you see?”

“Does it seem that way to you?”

“No… of course not.”

“Correct. I am completely blind.”

His words seemed contradictory.

Having spoken as though he could see everything, he then called himself blind.

The cloth covering his eyes seemed way too out of place in light of this revelation.

“Some things are visible only when one cannot see them.”

After hearing the old man, Gu Huibi let out a scoff.

He didn’t seem too normal either as he was in the same situation as her after all, but she couldn’t afford to care about such a thing.

“Do you have any idea what’s happening?”

The old man made a strange expression after hearing Gu Huibi.

It looked as if he was almost fascinated.

“What’s the matter?”

“You definitely are a special child. To ask me that question in this situation.”

“You are the only one here after all.”

“How could you ask a question when you don’t even know what I’ll do?”

Gu Huibi responded after hearing the old man.

“You said yourself that you aren’t responsible.”

Gu Huibi remained curled in discomfort from the earlier pain.

“Do you believe that?”

“Does it make a difference if I don’t?”

“Hoho.”

The old man emitted a hollow laugh as he sat before Gu Huibi.

Adjusting to the darkness, she discerned his features more clearly.

The shackles on his two feet were bigger than the one on her and looked more unique.

“I’ve heard rumors, but you are crazier than I thought.”

“You know me?”

“Of course I do. How could I not? When you are the almighty Sword Phoenix.”

The greatest young prodigy after Peng Woojin.

She was the treasure of the Gu Clan, the perfection created by the Tiger Warrior.

Her fire-like personality, reflected in her attire, couldn’t be overshadowed by her beauty.

But it was said that she had talent that would shut down all her flaws, which made her a beacon of hope for Shanxi.

That’s what Gu Huibi was currently known as.

“You’re truly as peculiar as I’ve heard.”

“It’s a little rude of you to say that right in front of said person.”

The old man stared at Gu Huibi.

To be more accurate, it was more right to say that he was feeling her because he was blind.

‘I don’t know whether to call her calm, or stubborn.’

A lady barely in her twenties shouldn’t exhibit such composure in a situation like this.

Even considering how she was a martial artist, Gu Huibi appeared remarkably composed.

‘Or perhaps, she’s merely putting on a façade.’

The old man kept this observation to himself.

After all, he felt that it wasn’t necessary for him to reveal it.

“This is the Black Palace.”

After hearing the old man, Gu Huibi flinched a little.

Then her eyes became sharper as she clenched her teeth.

“Seems like you already knew this.”

Gu Huibi started to bite her lips after hearing the old man.

As the old man said, she was already expecting this to be the case.

‘Then, that man really was…’

Her thoughts raced back to the final moments of the battle.

A mysterious crack formed right in front of her and the Second Elder jumped in to help her.

At that moment, Gu Huibi felt a nasty presence that pressured down the whole space.

And without even being able to pull her sword out, she was saved after getting pushed away by the Second Elder’s hand.

Just rethinking that moment brought humiliation to her.

While the Second Elder was fighting against that calamity of an individual all by himself, she felt way too incompetent.

Her recollections included the vivid memory of her own incompetence as if she were tethered to the ground and unable to flee.

She couldn’t count how many times she swung her sword so that she didn’t become someone incompetent.

With a long time passing, she might have reached the Peak Realm after overcoming her wall, but she still grappled with feelings of inadequacy.

The old man spoke to Gu Huibi who was silent.

“It seems like you’ve met the Palace Lord.”

Gu Huibi’s eyes widened at his statement.

“How I deduced it is simple. Only the Black Palace Lord could leave a martial artist in such a state.”

“…So it’s because of that man that I can’t use my Qi.”

The master that the Second Elder fought with full power.

The sight of him burning everything to ashes surrounding him while blocking all of the Second Elder’s heavy fists.

It really did make him look like a monster.

‘So that’s the power of the Black Palace Lord, one of the Four Emperors and Five Kings.’

“You can use your Qi. You tried to use it earlier.”

The old man remarked, prompting Gu Huibi to focus.

It sounded like he was talking about the pain she felt when she tried to force her Qi to flow.

“If you could endure that pain and recoil, you will be able to use it. Though I don’t know if a human can accomplish such a thing.”

“…”

In the end, he was saying that it wasn’t possible for her to use it.

“…I must find a different way.”

“Are you thinking of escaping?”

“I can’t just afford to sit here forever.”

“I praise your bravery, but it won’t be easy.”

Ignoring him, Gu Huibi surveyed her surroundings more attentively.

In the space that was surrounded by iron bars, a tiny hole in the wall allowed moonlight to filter in.

She knew it was currently nighttime after seeing that.

‘How much time has passed?’

‘Putting aside the time, are the Fifth Swordsmen and the Second Elder okay?’

Gu Huibi’s mind was filled with such thoughts.

She didn’t even know why she was brought to this place.

“…Sigh.”

Gu Huibi brushed her hair back, and tried her best to calm down.

Regardless of the circumstances, maintaining composure was crucial.

The words her father imparted upon her when she assumed the leadership of her army echoed in her mind.

He probably meant for her to be careful with her fiery personality, but those words made Gu Huibi think a lot.

‘What should I do… in this situation?’

She didn’t have her sword, and her Qi wouldn’t listen to her.

Inside the deep darkness, the only thing there were iron bars and an old man.

“I said this earlier, but how about you stay still? It’s quite bothersome.”

“…Are you really blind?”

“If you’ve lived as long as I have, you’d develop a keen sense like mine.”

Could he really call it a sharp sense if he knew what was going on despite being blind?

The old man only continued to chuckle.

“I was lonely, so I’m glad I have someone to talk to now.”

“I admire your ability to be so carefree in such a situation.”

“How could I not be happier when the situation became more hopeful for me?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Your presence here suggests a chance that the Tiger Warrior will move.”

After hearing her father’s title from the old man, Gu Huibi frowned.

“I don’t know why you are mentioning the title of my clan lord.”

“His own daughter is captured, so of course, the father would try to save her.”

Gu Huibi emitted a forced laugh at the absurdity of the notion.

“I don’t know what kind of fantasies you are thinking, but the clan lord isn’t the type of person to do that.”

He wasn’t a person to show favoritism to even his own children, nor did he try to offer more than necessary.

He not show any affection towards them; if he actually had love toward them to begin with…

Whether it was her own mother or her little brother’s mother, he wouldn’t have left them to end up like that.

“So you should throw that hope of yours away.”

“…”

The old man offered no response to Gu Huibi’s cold retort.

He only continued to stare at Gu Huibi with his blind eyes.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“For you to accuse me of staring when I’m a blind man, how rude of you.”

She wasn’t in the mood to joke around.

Gu Huibi was strangely bothered by that old man’s easygoing personality.

She didn’t have the time to joke around with him, so she ignored him and started to organize her thoughts.

Right then, the old man spoke to Gu Huibi.

“Child, it seems like you don’t know much about your father.”

Gu Huibi sighed at his words.

“If you’re going to tell me a story about not knowing a father’s love for his children-”

“You don’t seem to know what happens when a family member of the Tiger Warrior is harmed.”

His cryptic words prompted Gu Huibi to narrow her eyes.

“Old man, do you… know about my father?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure.”

Contradicting his words, the way he said those words made it sound like he knew.

The old man, having finished speaking, dragged his heavy shackle and sat against a wall.

“I’m going to close my eyes since I’m tired, so you do as you please.”

“What you said just now-“

“If you are worried about your body condition, there is no need. Others won’t be able to touch you for a while, which includes the Palace Lord. Oh, and also,”

The old man slowly lifted up his hand and pointed toward Gu Huibi’s waist.

Gu Huibi checked her waist as he pointed.

“…!”

Then she realized what the old man was referring to right away.

The item on her waist was like the charm she had given to Gu Yangcheon right before she departed from him.

“Let’s talk about the thing that’s inside that and the things you are curious about tomorrow. Tsk tsk, an old man like me should just die, I’m so easily tired due to my age.”

“…Old Man, what is your identity?”

“How weird of you to ask that when you can see, unlike me. Can’t you tell just by looking? I’m a person.”

“That’s not what I’m asking.”

“I’m tired, so stop asking. I don’t have a name, so just call me Old Man Mook from now on, but stop talking to me for today.”

With those words, the old man fell asleep, snoring loudly as if he wanted Gu Huibi to hear it.

Left alone, Gu Huibi removed the charm from her waist with shaky hands, stashing it in her pocket.

No one seemed to have noticed it when she was brought here which was a fortunate thing in a way.

But the marble that was inside the charm…

What this was and what usage this marble had…

Gu Huibi prayed that her little brother never found out about it.

Because this was one of a pair of treasures that told the location of the one possessing the other pair.

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

As Gu Huibi was nervously putting her charm away into her pocket, Gu Yangcheon was meeting with the Second Elder.

The Second Elder, who was on the ground with bandages all over him, spoke to Gu Yangcheon in front of him.

“What a sorry sight I’m showing.”

After hearing him speak as if he felt absurd, Gu Yangcheon responded calmly.

“You should’ve just stayed in your bed if you woke up. So why did you bother coming here?”

Thankfully, the Second Elder regained consciousness.

The Immortal Healer said that he would wake up right away, but Gu Yangcheon didn’t expect that he would wake up this fast.

Even if the surgery went perfectly, this was only possible due to the Second Elder’s absurdly quick regeneration.

After hearing Gu Yangcheon, the Second Elder spoke, kicking his tongue.

“This old man kindly came to you because you can’t.”

As the Second Elder said, even if he regained consciousness, Gu Yangcheon wasn’t in a situation where he could visit him right now.

Obviously.

Since Gu Yangcheon was currently in prison.

More specifically, the prison of the Gu Clan.

“Jeez, I would be allowed to leave soon, how impatient you are.”

“Leave soon, my ass. Do you think you get to leave that fast after causing such trouble?”

“It won’t take too long.”

Gu Yangcheon responded unamused to the Second Elder’s scolding.

“The Third Elder and the Fourth Elder said that they would fix that attitude of yours because of this incident.”

“Ha, who’s gonna fix who? When they are not even active right now.”

Unlike the First and the Second Elder who actively contributed to the clan, the other two were just old men who didn’t really participate in clan work anymore.

‘And those two old men are now gonna call me out?’

‘Those senile fucked up old men.’

“That’s why, you brat! Why did you cause such big trouble during the time this old man can’t help you!”

In response to the Second Elder’s scolding, Gu Yangcheon merely pouted.

He killed the First Elder because he had a good reason to, but only he knew of that reason.

And even if he got the approval from the Steward, in the end, he still killed an Elder within the clan, so punishment awaited him despite being a blood relative of the clan.

‘It’d be fine if the First Elder’s basement is found out.’

‘Though I’m here like this because I don’t know what to do, since Father isn’t here in the clan right now.’

“How are you feeling?”

“Perfectly fine.”

“I heard that there is a hole in your chest, so there’s no way that you are.”

“You punk? Why bother asking if you weren’t going to believe me?”

After talking with Gu Yangcheon, the Second Elder let out a light laughter.

“Are you planning to stay still like that?”

“What can I do? Father’s not even here.”

“Do you want me to use my strength?”

“I feel like you will use your actual strength for real, so I’ll pass.”

“…”

‘Judging by his reaction, it seems like he really was going to use his sheer strength to get me out of here.’

‘Why is he like that when he isn’t even in a good condition right now?’

Unable to persuade Gu Yangcheon, the Second Elder shifted to a different topic.

“Your girls are very worried about you.”

“…”

“Especially that servant of yours. She’s crying every day.”

‘Seems like he’s talking about Wi Seol-Ah.’

“…I’ll deal with that on my own.”

‘After all, I’ll certainly have no choice but to.’

Gu Yangcheon set that aside and asked the Second Elder.

“How about you start telling me now?”

“About what?”

“About my sister, Gu Huibi.”

“…”

“I know you came here to tell me about that. What happened?”

“You weren’t like this before, but you developed quite the keen sense.”

Gu Huibi’s abduction and the Second Elder’s loss of consciousness.

Considering the urgency with which he sought Gu Yangcheon after awakening, it was likely for that reason.

The Second Elder hesitated for a moment, then looked at Gu Yangcheon and began to speak.

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