Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 373 (Part 2)



373 (Part 2)

The meaning of “You too?” implied that the Master was also heading to Sichuan.

“Are you saying you are going as well?”

“I have matters to attend to on my side.”

To be precise it was Gu Yang-cheon’s matters but the Master thought it was all the same.

“Will the Clan Head of the Bi family allow this?”

“What if he doesn’t allow it?”

“That’s true.”

The Master’s words made the Dark King nod in agreement. It was indeed a valid point.

Although he was nominally the father of Bi Yu-jin and the Clan Head of the Bi family Bi Yu-jin’s will was ultimately more dominant.

‘The Dark King is going to Sichuan.’

I didn’t know if this guy would accompany me but if he did it wouldn’t be bad.

‘Just in time I had something to ask him to do.’

I had something to inform Gu Yang-cheon as well.

This part seemed like something I could ask the Dark King for.

Of course I didn’t think Gu Yang-cheon would be pleased about it.

And then.

Gu Ryun who had been watching took a bite of the remaining food and said

“Everything is good but…”

At those words the gazes of the Master and the Dark King shifted.

“…Why are you talking about things only you guys know after calling people over?”

His voice was quite sulky.

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

As I entered the interior of the Meng I headed towards the President and many people had already gathered.

Seeing that Cheol Ji-seon began to tremble as if an earthquake had struck.

It was understandable. The people inside were filled with real heavyweights.

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‘Where should I sit?’

I was looking around for a place to sit.

There were several seats for the Captains as well as seats for the Clan Heads and those from various sects.

I needed to find a place to sit among them.

‘Should I just sit anywhere?’

I didn’t want to go too deep and I thought I could just pull a chair from around and sit down when suddenly—

-Third.

A familiar voice pierced my ear.

Startled I turned my head towards the direction of the telepathy and saw a pair of bright red eyes in the distance.

It was my father.

-Come here.

“…”

I was flustered.

Of all places it was a seat in the front row.

How did my father end up sitting there?

He usually wouldn’t sit in such a place.

“Yang-cheon?”

As I seemed flustered and my gaze wavered Cheol Ji-seon called out to me.

After pondering what to do I eventually moved towards my father dragging Cheol Ji-seon along.

In the seat not only my father but also several familiar faces were present.

One was Namgung Clan’s Clan Head Namgung Jin.

“It’s been a while… seeing you.”

“…I hope you have been well.”

“Well you know how it is. It seems my son-in-law has been doing well. The praises are quite abundant.”

“…Yes.”

I was surprised to hear the word “son-in-law” come out of Namgung Jin’s mouth.

My ears were quite itchy but I had to endure it since I couldn’t scratch them.

The problem was that several people reacted to the word “son-in-law.”

One was…

‘Oh no.’

I recognized him as Baek Cheon-gyeom.

His gaze on me was still sharp. It seemed he hadn’t let go of his feelings yet.

After all it wasn’t an emotion that could be easily resolved.

Another was the Poison King I had seen during the day.

He had an expression full of discomfort.

Did I do something wrong? I didn’t think I had done anything wrong to this man.

‘No even if I didn’t do anything I live a life of being scolded.’

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Having been through so much I didn’t think too much about it.

Lastly…

‘…That guy is here too.’

The father of Peng Wu-jin and Peng Ah-hee. The Poison King Peng Zhou.

While Baek Cheon-gyeom could be like that I wondered why that man was looking at me with such eyes.

Of course considering my relationship with him it wasn’t strange for him not to like me.

After all he had verbally abused his daughter and even called off the engagement so it would be crazy for him to like me.

Besides them there were several Clan Heads from unnamed families.

Among them were also some I recognized.

Almost all the heads of families regarded as prestigious in the Central Plains had gathered.

Seeing them I cautiously bowed.

“…The bloodline of the Gu family greets the Clan Heads.”

“The the bloodline of Cheolga greets the Clan Heads…”

Following my greeting Cheol Ji-seon also bowed.

After that I carefully pulled out a chair and sat down.

Normally as soon as I sat down the surrounding Clan Heads would greet me and start a conversation but for some reason everyone was tightly shut like they had eaten honey.

Why is that?

Could it be because the meeting was about to start?

That could be but it felt like something else…

‘They seem to be intimidated?’

I had a strange feeling about that.

It must be a misunderstanding. Who would these people be intimidated by?

“…!”

Right after I sat down I was startled without realizing it.

My father was staring at me intently.

‘What is it? Did I do something wrong?’

I immediately thought about what trouble I might have caused from my father’s gaze.

‘I’ve done so much that I don’t even know what I did wrong.’

I had done so many things that I was at a loss.

As I was about to say something to avoid choking on the situation my father spoke.

“Clan Head…”

“Well done.”

“Yes?”

My father said that to me and then turned his head away.

I thought I had misheard and looked at my father but his gaze never returned to me.

With my father’s sudden praise the thought that crossed my mind was

‘…Is he sick?’

I wondered if my father had fallen seriously ill.

That couldn’t be the case.

I had never seen him sick in my past life.

Of course I had no way to ask him why he said I did well.

Even if it felt somewhat unnatural it was best for me to avoid his gaze.

In the meantime amusingly enough.

‘…This is annoying.’

It was quite annoying that I felt strangely good.

It was a compliment I didn’t even understand yet here I was feeling elated.

I calmed my racing heart and took a deep breath.

I was old enough not to be happy over a single compliment.

“Yang-cheon what’s wrong?”

“What.”

“No… just. You suddenly looked happy…”

“Be quiet.”

“Okay.”

After silencing the oblivious Cheol Ji-seon I waited quietly.

I could feel that it was about to start soon.

Not just me.

The meeting hall which had been somewhat buzzing had now turned eerily quiet.

Thud.

Footsteps echoed.

A figure that had been waiting stepped onto the platform.

There was no need to see who it was. The person who stepped up was the one who organized the meeting.

The current Alliance Leader of the Murim Alliance Nak Gyeom Jang Cheon.

The person who stepped onto the platform took a moment to catch his breath and then slowly began to speak.

-First.

His voice resonated loudly. He must have amplified it using qi.

-Because this meeting was convened due to the incident in Henan as the Alliance Leader I would like to first express my apologies.

As Jang Cheon spoke he bowed his head.

Just looking at the letter in his hand it seemed he had a lot to say.

I calmly observed the process.

Although it was quiet now it would probably turn into chaos soon.

People would bring up grievances argue about who was wrong and who was right… and so on.

Those gathered here would bring forth the words they had been holding back and engage in a debate.

I had wanted to avoid such a complicated situation which is why I had tried not to come.

‘Why did they call me?’

What purpose did they have in inviting me to the meeting with the Alliance Leader’s seal?

I still didn’t know.

As I felt such questions arise…

‘…What is this?’

I sensed a gaze from somewhere.

It was so blatant that I couldn’t miss it.

I could clearly feel that someone was watching me.

Finding out where the gaze was coming from wasn’t difficult.

It was strange not to feel such an intense gaze.

The direction was behind the Alliance Leader.

It was felt among the figures that seemed to be the swordsmen of the Murim Alliance.

I wondered who it was and slightly heightened my senses.

“…!”

I could find it almost immediately.

And.

Upon confirming the owner of this gaze I felt a sinking sensation in my stomach.

‘That guy…’

The one staring at me intently.

‘Jang Seon-yeon…?’

It was definitely Jang Seon-yeon. The one I had chased all over after burning him in the Demon Realm trying to find traces of him after coming to the current realm.

Since there were no traces left I had thought something else had happened.

Jang Seon-yeon was standing behind the Alliance Leader looking at me with a grin.

Seeing that smile I felt a subtle difference.

I felt like something was different about him compared to the Jang Seon-yeon I knew.

As soon as I felt that sense of alienation I infused my energy into my senses.

I knew about those who lived wearing the skins of others so I wondered if it was the same this time.

‘…No it’s not.’

Surprisingly I didn’t feel anything strange from him.

Then what was this strange sensation?

At that moment.

Chiiiii-!

“…Ugh…?”

My right arm felt intensely hot.

The pain was coming from the area where the skin had changed.

Suddenly feeling the pain I clutched my arm.

‘What is this? Why is this happening?’

Struggling to endure the pain I looked back at Jang Seon-yeon.

The moment I sent my gaze again I was startled once more.

Jang Seon-yeon upon seeing my face twisted in pain had an expression as if he had seen something amazing.

His eyes seemed to have turned a strange shade of red.