Book 6 Chapter 34

Naye-rin's Bewitching Demeanor (姿態)

-And inside the cave…

Naye-rin, who had sat down close to the fire, was overwhelmingly bewitching.

Sensing Biryu-yeon's gaze, which was fixed on her, Naye-rin spoke.

"I won't be careless this time! It's a big mistake to think it will work again!"

"Do I not have that much credibility?

Biryu-yeon asked, pretending to be innocent.

"Aren't you underestimating me too much, asking me to believe the words of someone who stole kisses twice without permission?"

Her words were as cold as the north wind and snow.

"That can't be. There's no way I would harbor such delusions!"

Biryu-yeon said, in a tone of injustice. But whether to believe it or not was Naye-rin's prerogative.

"Well? We'll have to wait and see."

It seemed the mountain they had to climb was still higher than the great mountain. It seemed like a high mountain peak looking down on the great mountain. She was still not to be underestimated.

"Excellent defense. I can't find any loopholes."

This was Biryu-yeon's assessment.

"Two instances of carelessness are enough. I'll decline any more."

"Tsk! What a shame!"

Biryu-yeon immediately put on a dejected expression, but he failed to capture Naye-rin's attention.

"But if you don't trust me, we can't form a new relationship. In that case, am I the first?"

What was the first? It was a carefree remark from Biryu-yeon, the least trustworthy.

Suddenly feeling puzzled, she retorted.

"Then why am I having this conversation with you?"

Naye-rin felt like she was at a significant disadvantage. She herself couldn't understand why she felt this unfamiliar sensation. Why was she so casually conversing with this person?

"Well? I can't possibly know your thoughts, Miss Na. Isn't the question misplaced? Asking your own heart seems like the fastest way!"

Naye-rin was momentarily speechless and had no reply. She was angry because it felt like she was losing.

Biryu-yeon, watching Naye-rin display an unexpectedly diverse range of expressions, let out a suppressed laugh.

"Heehee!"

"Why are you laughing?"

Naye-rin asked with a look of incomprehension. Biryu-yeon shook his head.

"Hahaha! No! I find your face so cute with your lively expressions."

Biryu-yeon's words were a shock to Naye-rin.

She had heard praises of her beauty and nobility countless times, but "cute" was a word she had never heard before.

'Did my emotions unconsciously show on my face?'

Naye-rin, who always had trouble controlling her emotions in front of Biryu-yeon, couldn't pinpoint the reason.

'Am I getting entangled with this man?'

It was incomprehensible. Her expression began to harden again.

"Miss Na, you're not a doll. No one will criticize you for smiling. There's nothing worse than forcing yourself to hold back a smile."

Biryu-yeon's words pierced deep into her heart. It was true that a smile would only enhance her beauty.

Biryu-yeon wished he could see her smile.

To Biryu-yeon's eyes, Naye-rin was still maintaining a flawless defense. She was in a stance as if facing a life-or-death battle. He couldn't help but feel a bit of bitterness.

"Haha! This is something! You don't have to be so wary. It's not like I'm going to eat you alive…"

He had tried to be lighthearted, but the response was cold.

"My father and mother's first lesson from childhood was to never trust men. My senior sisters and master also always told me that men are like wolves, and no amount of caution is enough. And…"

For someone who had been involved in dozens of attempted kidnapping cases since childhood, asking her to trust a man's weak and flimsy reason was absurd. There were things to trust, but how could she dare to trust a man's self-control?

"And?"

"It's nothing. You don't need to know."

Naye-rin ultimately couldn't voice the words, "I am more wary because I don't know your heart." If she could see Biryu-yeon's feelings, whether good or bad, she wouldn't be this tense. The fact that it was shrouded in darkness fueled Naye-rin's vigilance.

"Oh dear, oh dear, I'm not being trusted at all,"

Biryu-yeon grumbled, shaking his head and complaining.

"There has never been an instance where men were worthy of trust. But there have been countless incidents that justify distrusting men!"

Naye-rin's words were extremely cold. And resolute.

Her words were true. Since childhood, countless people had tried to kidnap her, captivated by her beauty. Among them were even those related to her. Although she hadn't sought it, her beauty possessed a charm that captivated people. Ordinary men lost their reason in her presence.

If her father weren't the leader of the martial arts alliance, a disaster would have already occurred. Naye-rin had managed to maintain her purity precariously under her father's protection. Therefore, expecting the barrier of distrust towards men to be easily dismantled was unreasonable.

Men were beings who could never be let down. They were akin to wolves. Men deserved distrust.

"Was it that bad?"

When Biryu-yeon asked again, Naye-rin's face turned cold, and she spoke, her gaze fixed on the flickering flames. Was it because unpleasant past memories surfaced? Her eyes sank into the abyss.

"It's something you wouldn't understand. It's difficult for ordinary people to understand! My childhood was always surrounded by the malice of men."

She continued to speak. Without knowing why she was saying this to this man!

"There were 986 instances of nearly being kidnapped while walking on the street as a child, 758 instances of nearly being kidnapped in front of a jewelry store, 108 instances of nearly being kidnapped by a grotesque figure who climbed over the wall at night! And then, after I got a little older, there were 899 fights with hoodlums who approached me when I entered a restaurant! Including the members of the Hao Sect who would accost me every time I walked down the street, the total comes to 5,672 instances. I've been experiencing these things since I was ten years old. Even with all this, do you think men are worth trusting?"

The words that came out of Naye-rin's mouth were so varied and colorful that listeners couldn't help but gape. It was hard to believe. Even knowing who Naye-rin's father was, over a hundred people had attempted to scale her walls. So what more could be said?

In the midst of countless kidnapping threats, she had spent her most innocent childhood. The scars left on her heart were bound to be deep.

"Indeed, such things happened. It's understandable that you distrust them. So men are originally like that? It's a bit surprising."

Biryu-yeon nodded his head.

People with weak willpower, unable to control even a single desire, were concentrated around her. It was natural for her to feel disgust.

Biryu-yeon said resolutely.

"Don't trust them. If you don't trust them, that's fine. My master used to say that the only creature women should never trust in the world is man. Women, especially beautiful ones, should be extremely cautious when dealing with men, and it's safer to check again even after blowing out a fire, and to tap even a stone bridge before crossing."

He spoke as if talking about someone else. Even though saying so wouldn't absolve him of being a man.

Naye-rin looked at Biryu-yeon with a peculiar gaze.

"Your master was unusual."

"He was certainly unique!"

Of course, Biryu-yeon had no disagreement that in a way, he was extraordinary.

"He was a terrible drunkard who specialized in child abuse and extortion. You, without lifting a finger, made me, your weak disciple, toil until my bones rotted… Sob sob sob! My miserable past resurfaces, and I can't hide my grief. Indeed, there would be no such master in this world."

Naye-rin's eyes widened like pebbles at Biryu-yeon's sudden slander.

"Pfft! This is the first time I've seen someone badmouth their own master like that."

"Haha! I always speak only the truth!"

Biryu-yeon smiled back.

Naye-rin hadn't realized that she had smiled in front of Biryu-yeon for the second time.

The first time was out of carelessness. Then what was the second time?

The bonfire blazed, spitting flames. The shadows on the wall swayed violently in the flickering flames.

Biryu-yeon said.

"It's fine that you don't trust men. It's too much to ask for full trust now anyway. But running away doesn't solve everything. My master used to say, it's better to crush them thoroughly, whether into powder or annihilate them completely, rather than to run away from something you fear and then feel uneasy about it later. It gives a clear conscience and is good for mental health. I completely agree with my master's words. Running away alone won't solve the problem fundamentally!"

Naye-rin turned her head and looked at Biryu-yeon's face. His rain-soaked bangs completely covered his eyes, but a gentle and comfortable smile adorned his lips.

Naye-rin felt as if a tangled weft thread that had bound her heart was silently unraveling. She didn't know why. And she didn't really want to know.

It seemed she shouldn't know.

But what did it matter?

A magical smile bloomed on her red lips. It was as if a statue of jade had smiled.

"He must have been an extraordinary master."

Even for her, who had heard of countless unusual and extraordinary people, it was hard to believe.

"He was extraordinary. So much so that I never want to meet him again. I wonder how much of the money he saved by consuming his disciple's flesh and blood he is currently wasting on alcohol… I'm worried. If he runs out of that money, he might come chasing after me… That would be truly terrible."

"What?"

Naye-rin was astonished once again by Biryu-yeon's nonchalant delivery of such absurd words.

Naye-rin looked at Biryu-yeon with an expression of disbelief. She couldn't figure out how to deal with Biryu-yeon, who was systematically dismantling her definition of a man.

Just then.

"Ziiiiing!"

The Thunder Spirit array, set up as a barrier outside the cave, trembled faintly, issuing a warning. It meant an enemy had invaded the barrier.

Biryu-yeon's eyebrows twitched slightly.

An uninvited guest. He genuinely wished to decline such a disturbance to their intimate moment.

Adjusting the threads of fate (運絲 調律).

Biryu-yeon spread his five fingers wide and then closed them into a fist, as if tuning a string instrument. Naye-rin didn't notice his actions at all.

The Hidden Technique of the Flying Thunder Saber (飛雷刀 奧義 秘意)

Chapter of the Barrier (結界 章)

Desperate grasp (切縛).

The struggles of the prey caught in the tightening web of the Thunder Spirit array were clearly transmitted through the threads.

"Ziiiing! Ziiiing!"

The Thunder Spirit array began to shake violently. It was definitely caught. There was no escaping now.

End (終)!

The violently shaking Thunder Spirit array stopped trembling and then became as calm as the surface of a quiet lake.

Biryu-yeon opened his clenched hand again.

"What happened?"

Naye-rin, noticing Biryu-yeon's strange behavior as he had been focused on the Thunder Spirit array for a moment, asked with a puzzled expression.

"No! Nothing happened."

Biryu-yeon brushed it off with a smile.

The heavy rain gradually subsided, and the sound of raindrops bouncing off the ground grew fainter. Between the weakening rain and the brightening sky, faint sunlight pierced through the darkness.

The weather cleared.

Biryu-yeon felt good. He felt as if the clouds separating him and Naye-rin had also lifted a bit. The distance between the cliffs separating them felt slightly closer.

When would it be close enough to cross to the other side?

It was a question no one could answer.