[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith":3,"chapter-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-28":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Childhood Friend of the Zenith",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1239954,1667,"Chapter 27: The Demon Sword (4)","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-28",28,"\u003Cp>༺ The Demon Sword (4) ༻\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had been two days since Namgung Bi-ah joined our ‘caravan.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was finally about to reach my destination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And once I did, I would probably have to go to the Tang Clan first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In all honesty, I had expected the trip to Sichuan to be a bit more dangerous than it was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, after we met Namgun Bi-ah, we encountered a very small number of demons and didn’t really come across any real threat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The trip to Sichuan took close to 10 days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While it was undeniably boring because of how long it was, I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that we didn’t run into any real problems along the way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, aside from the one that was now a part of our group.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sigh…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I kept rubbing my face at the sight that made me sigh just by looking at it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Look over there! It’s a squirrel!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Yes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Have you ever eaten a squirrel before?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes… Huh? Oh, no.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wi Seol-Ah had gotten off the carriage and was having a chat with Namgung Bi-ah, who was slowly following us from behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was mostly Wi Seol-Ah starting the conversation first and then Namgunng Bi-ah replying briefly, but the fact that she kept responding while walking at the same speed as Wi Seol-Ah showed that she didn’t mind talking to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wi Seol-Ah would also grab Namgung Bi-ah’s clothes every now and then when she was about to go off in the wrong direction with a dumb face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Why are they friendly towards each other?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I kept telling her not to go near strangers, but she kept saying she felt bad for Namgung Bi-ah and constantly approached her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why does she feel bad for her?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Do I have to yell at her?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sigh…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I never would have thought I would see the day when those two would act friendly towards each other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Muyeon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Young Master.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How long till we… Are you tired? What’s up with your face?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It-it’s nothing, I’m fine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>..Fine my ass, you look like you’re about to die from fatigue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason why Muyeon was so tired was because of none other than Namgung Bi-ah.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the first day of Namgung Bi-ah’s following us, she randomly challenged Muyeon to a duel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Muyeon, without hesitation, denied her challenge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I am the escort of the Young Master. I cannot afford to put my attention into something else, as I have to do my job as an escort. I apologize.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-ah who was rejected, nodded her head, but she kept looking at Muyeon as if she had found something in him that made her obsessed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, to put it more precisely, she was looking at his sword rather than Muyeon himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regardless, due to her constant staring, Muyeon had been losing sleep, hence his current situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then again, First-rate martial artists wouldn’t have been this tired even with some lack of sleep, so… was he tired mentally?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘That crazy psychopath had this personality ever since she was this young.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A lunatic who drew her sword first if she found a martial artist who wielded a sword that amused her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It made sense that all she did was look for the Sword Emperor and other sword wielders in my previous life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wasn’t as crazy now as she had been in my previous life, but she was definitely still a lunatic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was a bit better right now because Wi Seol-Ah was chirping all around her like a baby bird, but I could see that she would still occasionally glance at Muyeon’s sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…Maybe Wi Seol-Ah is talking to her because she noticed that?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Nah, no way.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There’s no way Wi Seol-Ah could have noticed that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, I couldn’t find any bad things that could originate from them being together at the moment, so I just let them be.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We were going to arrive soon either way, and then we would part ways. And after that, I just needed to never run into her again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It sounded simple enough to pull off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that thought, I closed my eyes, thinking about taking a nap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was it because of the constant training I did? I was able to fall asleep pretty quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How long has it been since…?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I heard the voice of Muyeon from outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Young Master, I can see our destination.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We finally arrived in Sichuan, after a week of travel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>* * * *\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stretched my stiff body and got off the carriage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It would take around a day to reach the Tang Clan from here, so we had to take a rest in order to regain our energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You would think that it was better to reach the destination first and then rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The issue was that once we arrived at the Tang Clan, they would be prepared to greet us then and there, and so we wouldn’t have any time to rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was one of the hassles that came with being a member of a noble clan; you wouldn’t be able to go anywhere without people greeting you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I wonder if they’ll have rooms.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We should be able to find some quickly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was always difficult to find rooms at times like this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We had a good number of people in our caravan, and we wouldn’t get any special treatment for being a noble clan in this area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wi Seol-Ah, who had been looking around and feeding her eyes, found something and immediately pulled on Namgung Bi-ah’s clothes, while Namgung Bi-ah stood still with a dumb look on her face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey! She’s wearing the same clothing as you!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Ah.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Wi Seol-Ah’s words, Namgung Bi-ah’s and my eyes immediately turned in the direction she was pointing out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clean blue clothing, unlike the dusty, dirty clothing of Namgung Bi-ah, and the word Namgung sewn into the bottom of the clothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were Anhui’s rulers, representatives of the Namgung Clan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And they were definitely martial artists.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as we had found them, it appeared that they had also found us, as surprise could be seen on the faces of those who turned towards us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then someone from the group ran towards Namgung Bi-ah.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sis!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a boy who seemed to be around the same age as me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides her dumb look, Namgung Bi-ah had a cold appearance that made it hard for people to reach out to her,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that boy was basically the male version of her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-ah slowly raised her hand as she looked at the boy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hi… Cheonjun.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Where did you disappear off to, sister!? Do you know how many people from the clan were looking for you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sorry… I got lost.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Cheonjun massaged his temple upon hearing Namgung Bi-ah’s response.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s why I told you to travel with us with ropes tied to you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…Ropes?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What is she, some sort of dog…?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Then again, with the number of times she gets lost, maybe…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ignorant of my thoughts, Namgung Bi-ah responded to her brother’s words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Still, that’s a bit embarrassing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Right, is that why you disappeared after only one day of traveling? You were the one that told us not to be worried about you getting lost this time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Sorry.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-ah lowered her tail upon hearing Namgung Cheonjun’s strict words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Cheonjun, who seemed to only now notice us, quickly showed his respect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I am Namgung Cheonjun from the Namgung Clan.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I knew it—this boy was the Lightning Sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This boy was the future representative of the Orthodox Faction and would also become one of the five sword masters of Murim. So right about now, he should be…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I am Gu Ya-, Gu Jeolyub from the Gu Clan… Are you perhaps the one called the Lightning Dragon?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I quickly corrected myself as I remembered the name I had given Namgung Bi-ah.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At my question, Namgung Cheonjun’s face blushed slightly. It was kind of annoying, seeing such a handsome guy blush.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…It’s a bit embarrassing and undeserved, but I am indeed called that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was embarrassed, but he was still showing pride and confidence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s what the eight greatest martial artists were called during this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This group included my eldest sister, Gu Huibi, the Sword Phoenix.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Lightning Dragon, Namgung Cheonjun, I think he was two years older than me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t remember exactly, but I’m pretty sure that it was two years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I felt someone staring at me weirdly, so I turned around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wi Seol-Ah was looking at me with weird eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It probably was because of how I’d given them a wrong name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It looked like there were question marks floating above her head, so I quietly signaled to her to be quiet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She, thankfully, seemed to notice and remained silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Cheonjun then asked me a question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, a martial artist from the Gu Clan. If it doesn’t cause you any trouble, may I ask how my sister came to join your caravan?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That lunatic randomly appeared with a bunch of demons and then followed us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We met her by coincidence when she got lost, so we decided to travel with her.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t say what I really thought, so I had to put it in a nice way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then I felt Namgung Bi-ah staring at me weirdly just like Wi Seol-Ah before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I mentally prayed to all of the Gods that she would keep her mouth shut since she had eaten so many of our dumplings along the way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed that I underestimated what a combination of accursed luck and a dumb girl could bring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No…? He said we-“\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, Young Lady of Namgung, it was fun traveling with you. Please be careful not to get lost next time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, I wasn’t just going to stand there and let her finish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Cheonjun, on the other hand, smiled and spoke after watching this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you for taking care of my sister… Are you perhaps coming to see the Military Exhibition of Tang Clan?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uh, well… Yes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-ah flinched at my response.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was it because I’d lied to her, saying that I wasn’t going to Sichuan?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I mean, what are you going to do about it? I don’t like you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then did you already find a place to stay? We don’t have anything to offer you at this moment, but we can offer you rooms. Let us go together since we have the same destination.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Cheonjun offered with a smile, and looking at that smile made me feel like he might have actually rented an entire building.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…No, I don’t want to be involved with you lunatics any longer.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had no intention of accepting the offer. This much was already enough, and I didn’t want any more involvement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I expected that Namgung Bi-ah would attend the Military Exhibition of Tang Clan since she said she was going to Sichuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But why bring two direct descendants of the clan?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether it was the Lightning Dragon or Namgung Bi-ah, they were both direct blood descendants of their clan, so what made them both come?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Well, that doesn’t matter to me. This ends here.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I already had a different goal in mind while coming here in the first place, and I had to cut off my involvement with Namgung Bi-ah. I would, for sure, be able to find a place to stay if I looked hard enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Muyeon, who seemed to have just found a place to stay, came over to me right on time. With this reassurance in mind, I immediately spoke to Namgung Cheonjun with the intention of denying his offer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you for the offer, but we seem to have found a different-“\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Young Master… There were no rooms nearby. Should we just camp again in the lake area…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Was what I was going to say, but since you have offered so sincerely, I can’t reject, can I? We are in your debt, Young Master Namgung.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fuck my life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>* * * *\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I thought that it would have been better to just sleep in the carriage if we failed to find a place to stay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it would have been problematic for the escorts to camp out at night again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fine, that was just an excuse. I myself had grown tired of camping outside at night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Cheonjun, after finishing guiding us to the place to stay, pulled Namgung Bi-ah away and disappeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I kind of felt bad for Namgung Bi-ah, as she had displayed a rare emotion of fear upon seeing Namgung Cheonjun’s angry face. It seemed like she was going to get an earful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was karma for her, so I didn’t really care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was weird, however, was their relationship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They looked to me like siblings who had no problems with each other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Demon Sword I remembered from my previous life made me think…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first thing that the Demonic Sword had done after she became a demonic human, was to bring an army of demonic humans and erase the Namgung Clan from the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She made a name for herself in the demonic realm by killing the Lord, Elders, and even servants of the clan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So what was that sense of togetherness that I got from both of them?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I never had a proper conversation with Namgung Bi-ah in my previous life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The same could be said for the other demonic humans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone had their own goals and desires, which was why they turned themselves to the Heavenly Demon, so they didn’t have any intention of being friends with one another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of that, I don’t really know about the background of the Namgung Bi-ah who became the Demon Sword… not that I want to know anyways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was tired, so I stood up to go to my room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My room was upstairs, so I was climbing up the stairs when I saw Namgung Bi-ah coming down from the stairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Ah.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-ah, who made eye contact with me, seemed to be showing me respect, and I was startled by that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘What the…?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-ah spoke, regardless of my shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you for guiding me here, Young Master Gu.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…You did follow us here without our approval.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, let’s meet again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, let’s not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-ah, who looked better than usual, probably because of the scolding she got, passed by me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I started to go up again, Namgung Cheonjun was looking at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was thankful for his offer, so I tried to thank him again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, Young Master Namgung-“\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Namgung Cheonjun just passed by me while hitting my shoulder, as if my words were being thrown into the night’s air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then I heard a voice from one step below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Know your place.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Cheonjun’s voice was quite different from his warm voice from before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was much colder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I was going to let you go the first time, but you truly don’t know your place. How dare you talk to my sister?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I could feel his killing intent as our eyes met.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll let it pass this time, but if I see such a thing happen again, then I’ll cut through your neck.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After speaking, Namgung Cheonjun left to go after Namgung Bi-ah.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To that, I nodded my head rather than being angry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was honestly better this way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…I knew they were all lunatics.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had never seen anyone normal from the Namgung Clan, even with both my current and previous lives combined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That guy, Namgung Cheojun, was just another one of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And our brief chat confirmed my thoughts about never involving myself with that clan of lunatics.\u003C\u002Fp>",2625,"2026-06-05T15:09:39.031Z",1,"novelbin.me","27a38a3d85ab44786fd52d52f4f792d6a6535f1c2f246847fa2e4a56f4a88c76","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-29","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-27",974,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fchildhood-friend-of-the-zenith-cover.jpg"]