[{"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-55":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},1240031,1667,"Chapter 54: The Plum Blossom Dragon (4)","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-55",55,"\u003Cp>༺ The Plum Blossom Dragon (4) ༻\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I could feel their intense stares.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t know why, but the people of Mount Hua had suddenly begun staring at me intensely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why are they suddenly acting like this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I slowly scratched my cheek and Shinhyun and Yung Pung, who were next to me, flinched visibly at my movement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huh? Why are you all scared?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t understand what was going on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Ahem.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shinhyun let out a fake cough on noticing the weird gaze I was giving him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Why are you all suddenly acting like this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, it’s uh…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…How can I say this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huh? What was that reaction?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this point I realized that the people of Mount Hua who had been previously staring intensely at me could suddenly no longer look at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead they began whispering amongst themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…I knew he looked familiar.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But his eyes aren’t too similar?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s why it’s hard to make eye contact with him…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I could hear all of their murmurs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was obvious that they were speaking about me, but why all of sudden?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you all talking about?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I finally asked after holding it in for a while.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It didn’t feel too nice to see them whispering about me while standing right in front of me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shinhyun responded to the question I’d asked with an audibly irritated tone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Uh, everyone is just surprised that you are from the Gu Clan.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was suddenly talking to me more formally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What did me being a descendant of the Gu Clan have to do with any of this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your little sister is rather famous amongst our people…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My little sister?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I carefully mulled over Shinhyun’s response.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I was to be honest, I didn’t really know much about my little sister.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I just knew that ever since young, she had been away from the clan and had spent her life in Mount Hua.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So unlike my two older sisters that were in the clan, I didn’t really have the chance to interact much with my little sister.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that I thought about it, it was a strange thing for a descendant of a noble clan to be accepted into a taoist clan as one of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But back then, I hadn’t really thought much of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, in the later days, it was impossible not to know since my little sister gained so much fame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One thing that I did know about her, however, was that every once in a few years my little sister would come back to the clan for a few days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides that, I didn’t really have much information on her during this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…What about her?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I asked Shinhyun because I couldn’t figure it out no matter how much I thought about it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Ahem.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shinhyun kept opening and closing his mouth as though he couldn’t answer easily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What’s the big fuss about for him to hesitate that much?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sir, I would really like to ask you something.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yung Pung interrupted the conversation while Shinhyun was struggling to speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What is it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Young Master, was senior always like that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Senior?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shinhyun before me was a disciple of the second generation of Mount Hua, and since he was called master by Yung Pung, it meant that Yung Pung was a disciple of the third generation of the clan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Let alone me, my little sister was around two years younger than Yung Pung, so I expected them to be in the same generation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So… why were they referring to her as ‘Senior’?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…What do you mean by that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Um… It’s, uhh…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After struggling for a while, Yung Pung shut his eyes tightly and spat out his question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Was Senior Gu once a boy-”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t hear all of Yung Pung’s words,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Shinhyun immediately slapped Yung Pung’s lips with his hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oufghh!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yung Pung rolled backwards while holding his lips that got slapped, and was sent even further away after being kicked by Shinhyun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then in the back, the people from Mount Hua started to kick and beat up Yung Pung as if they had been waiting for it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yung Pung’s screams rang out as kicks rained on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“O-Ow! Master, please wait…!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is this guy crazy?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He was really about to say that out loud? Hey! Who is the direct master of this kid!? Who is responsible for this third-generation student!? Who taught him this way!?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s you, you idiot!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Owww!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The situation before me rendered me speechless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yung Pung who was getting beaten up to the point where dust spread everywhere… I could’ve sworn that he had been trying to ask me about some boy…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I tried to ask Shinhyun, but Shinhyun strictly refused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uh…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You do not need to worry about this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Um… I feel like I do have to.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, no, you really don’t need to. We felt that he needed more teaching anyway, and this is a good time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Teaching? That was teaching? Could they really treat the one being called the Sword Dragon like that…?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His appearance was completely polar opposite of what I was expecting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had expected that he would be the calm and mature type, but what in the world…?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>｢As expected, they taught him well. It is important for teachers to make bonds with their students like that.｣\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh… right.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this old man had really been the Divine Sword, then I could guess from where it all started to go wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I felt like I could understand the situation better with that way of thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the people of Mount Hua were done with their beating, they stepped away from him, leaving Yung Pung who was lying on the floor as if he was dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It looked like he’d lost consciousness, was he really alright…?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone then lifted Yung Pung onto his shoulders and disappeared to the back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry about it. He’ll wake up soon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before I could ask anything, Shinhyun initiated the conversation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I felt like I could no longer ask anything…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yeah, um, anyways…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So you are on your way to Mount Hua then?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s the plan, I do have a task to complete after all.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You have more things to do in Mount Hua besides from returning the treasure?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s nothing big, I just have to bring back my little sister to our clan.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pardon…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Did I say something weird again?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like before, the people of Mount Hua began staring at me once again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, it wasn’t like before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their stares were more intense now than earlier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…Was Mount Hua always known for having these lunatics?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>｢What did you just say!?｣\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jeez, please be a little quiet… My head is aching.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>｢You little brat, you talk shit about other people’s clan since you got nothing better to do!｣\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter what he said, my opinion didn’t change.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I felt that, considering the situation before me, it was completely fair for me to call them as such.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shinhyun suddenly and firmly grabbed my shoulders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you doin-”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let us go, Young Master.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pardon?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was now being even more formal to me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The people of Mount Hua that were behind Shinhyun also gathered up in front of me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We shall guide you to Mount Hua with utmost safety.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You must be tired from all the walking, right? Do you want me to carry you there? I am pretty fast.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shall I fan you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey! Get rid of that horse, I can run faster than that horse.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Two horses are better than one, I’ll also become a horse.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Woah.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What should I do? These guys really ARE crazy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I responded while also forcing a smile onto my face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thankfully, my voice didn’t quiver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, I think it’s better for us to travel separately.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was my plea, but my words were completely ignored and we ended up traveling along with the people of Mount Hua.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>｢Haha, all these cheerful appearances are quite wholesome.｣\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…Life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mount Hua was located near Huayin city of Shaanxi Province.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The season whence plums bloomed had already passed, but in Mount Hua, plums bloomed through all four seasons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The constant bloom was caused and maintained by the Qi of martial artists of Mount Hua.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We were currently in the middle of a flaming summer, but at Mount Hua it looked like it was winter due to the flowers falling down like snowflakes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After walking through the mountain path, there was a small hut after reaching the closest point to the peak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forget the third-generation, even the second-generation disciples weren’t allowed to enter here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only the Lord and the elders of the clan and a select few of the first-generation disciples could enter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But a small girl carefully opened the door of the hut after climbing the mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Creeeaak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She opened it as carefully as possible, but the old door refused to follow her intentions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of that, the person that was inside was woken up from his slumber. She then said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come in.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her voice gave away her old age, but even then, a certain elegance and softness remained in her voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The small girl carefully appeared before while looking guilty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the woman asked,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ryunghwa, why are you making such a face?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…I’m sorry, I just wanted to see your face but I woke you up.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The master smiled back upon hearing her disciple’s words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how many years had passed, her disciple remained as adorable as ever, so she had no other choice but to return her feelings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She carefully opened her arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The disciple then ran towards her master and hugged her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The master spoke to her disciple while patting her head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How come you keep coming here every day even though it is scary at night, you make me feel bad…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s because I want to… Don’t feel that way.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To arrive here, the disciple had to go through rough mountain roads and run for a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a painful and tiring ordeal for a small kid to do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the disciple came to see her master every day regardless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The disciple asked carefully while being in her master’s embrace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you feeling alright…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I am feeling fine since today’s weather is good.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Really!?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you want to go on a walk with me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yeah!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The disciple smiled brightly as if she’d been waiting for this and then grabbed her master’s hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a cold, wrinkled hand, but the disciple was satisfied with it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They got out of the hut and went for a walk together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t completely dark thanks to the moon that shined brightly at night, and the plum blossoms became even more beautiful when the moonlight shone upon them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Walking through the mountain filled with plum blossoms alongside her master was something that the disciple loved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hand that she held was cold, but she was definitely able to feel the warmth in it. The disciple took this as a sign of love.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She walked at the same pace as her master so that she wouldn’t fall behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She kicked away the stones that could trip her as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dust slowly gathered on her pretty clothes, but she didn’t care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The master calmly patted her disciple’s head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ryunghwa.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, master.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The master was hesitant to speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had something to say, but it was something that her disciple disliked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s around that time when you return to Shanxi for a little.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As expected, the disciple became quiet after hearing her teacher’s words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The master noticed the slight frown on her face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The master lightly smiled upon seeing that appearance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You are going there to see your family, do you hate it that much?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ryunghwa.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…-family.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The disciple whispered quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The master moved her ears closer to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was then able to hear her disciple’s voice a little more clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…They are not my family.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She sounded like she was about to cry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The master slowly lifted her head and hugged her student.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…I’m sorry.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The master couldn’t do anything but apologize.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was not her business to talk about such a topic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was a disciple she had been asked to teach her, but she had no regrets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because she realized not long after, that the happiness she got was from none other than her disciple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only disappointment was that her body wasn’t in its healthiest state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they had met a bit earlier, she would have taught her more things and hugged her more frequently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She felt a heavy grudge against time because of that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The master wanted her disciple to only find happiness in this forsaken world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the moonlight that shone on Mount Hua,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Plum Blossom Sword patted her student’s head bitterly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>* * * *\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Roooaaar-!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The birds that hid in the forest quickly fled following the roar of a bear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The area was filled with the corpses of demons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a puddle of blue demon blood, Namgung Bi-Ah calmly withdrew her Qi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How many times had she come across demons?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She counted up until her finger’s limits, but she couldn’t remember any more after that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had run restlessly from Shanxi, but after running for a long time, she started feeling doubts about what she was trying to do…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she didn’t want to go back home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she’d found a place that was more comforting than home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-ah was someone who found her way with her senses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be precise, she moved in the direction where the stench was least present.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But because of that, she would often get lost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now, she was already running out of Qi,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sudden rain had drenched her, alongside the equally sudden appearance of demons in her path,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And because she kept running through the mountain roads, her neat clothes had now turned dirty and ragged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, she was familiar with all of those things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And thankfully, she had come across a lake, so it wasn’t all bad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Just a little more.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-ah whispered to herself in the forest where only trees and grass were visible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was determined to follow through with her quest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you asked how she was so sure about her whisper, not even she would be able to answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She just felt that way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That if she went this way, he would be there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only cozy and warm place that existed in this forsaken world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She cleaned her sword and started to move again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was definitely this way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She just felt that this way was the right direction for some reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I want to see him alr-”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-ah’s eyes widened and she covered her mouth after speaking without thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…I want to see him?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is it because he doesn’t smell? Is that why?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She started to slow down her steps and eventually came to a halt. She then began organizing her thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stood still for a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After thinking for a while, she finally spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I want to see him…? I want to see him.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-ah nodded her head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She didn’t know why, but she felt that she wanted to see him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that much was enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no need to think about it further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Only a little more.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She could feel him from far away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was an uncertain certainty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She still felt like she had some ways to go, but it wouldn’t take that long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-ah, after finishing organizing her thoughts, started to move again.\u003C\u002Fp>",2597,"2026-06-05T15:09:38.751Z",1,"novelbin.me","523fb99b0c39a97ee93ac9de3b62b905cd05368b8460a70cf4732d6c60debe20","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-56","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-54",974,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fchildhood-friend-of-the-zenith-cover.jpg"]