Chapter 123

"Miss Na~!"

On the duel stage, Bi Ryu-yeon smiled brightly and waved his hand towards one side of the spectator seats as if he were happy to see her.

It was an attitude that he didn't care whether Wi Ji-cheon was emitting a sword aura or not. Because Bi Ryu-yeon had suddenly called Na Ye-rin, Wi Ji-cheon had missed the opportunity to cut in at the start.

In the direction that Bi Ryu-yeon had waved his hand, Na Ye-rin, with a very rare awkward expression for her, was sitting with Dokgo-ryeong and Lee Jin-seol.

"Wow! Sister! That person managed to guess where you are! You should wave your hand once too!"

And so, Jin-seol first waved her hand towards Bi Ryu-yeon. Bi Ryu-yeon, as if in response, was waving his hand back even more excitedly.

"Jin-seol! Do not act rashly!"

The one who had warned Lee Jin-seol was Dokgo-ryeong. At Lee Jin-seol's unexpected action, Na Ye-rin's face showed a slight agitation.

'This child, without any shame...'

Although she had hardly come to see Bi Ryu-yeon's matches after the first match, she could not help but come today. Because today was the day of the final, no matter what anyone said.

To be honest, she had never imagined that Bi Ryu-yeon would make it this far. On that day, she had just said it carelessly because of a strange feeling. She had thought it was absolutely impossible. She had just tried to awaken his vigilance because he seemed to be looking down on the sword technique of her sect, and she had no other intention. She had thought that if she said so, he would naturally apologize. But that side had said that he would do so. To look forward to it...

'And he has come this far. And without a single scratch!'

She could not help but acknowledge it. What on earth was latent within him?

'Can he win this time too?'

Even in Na Ye-rin's eyes, Wi Ji-cheon looked like a different person from before. He was showing a martial prowess that was hard to believe was from the person who had been following them around and bothering them all this time. He was clearly showing how much stronger he had become.

And about Bi Ryu-yeon, she still, still, could not read anything. That's why she might be flustered in front of that man. But she could know one thing. It was not something that required the ability of the Dragon's Eye.

'That he is pure!'

That was the only thing she could know. Although she did not want to admit it very much...

"How rude! How dare you act familiar?"

Wi Ji-cheon shouted. His face changed from red to blue, ever-changing. Looking at Bi Ryu-yeon, who was waving his hand back as if he had hit it off with Lee Jin-seol, Wi Ji-cheon could not help but feel his stomach twist. He himself still could not even speak properly in front of Na Ye-rin because his breath was taken away, but wasn't this punk in front of his eyes unhesitatingly calling his idol and goddess?

Besides, since one of her two closest friends was even waving her hand, it felt as if she were waving her hand, and he burned with even more jealousy. The killing intent seemed to have become at least twice as thick as a moment ago. Bi Ryu-yeon, who had been waving his hand hard, stopped his hand and turned to look at Wi Ji-cheon, smiling brightly.

"Since you are not a low-class ruffian, senior, you would have the leisure to listen to one of my performances, right?"

It was Bi Ryu-yeon, who was saying with a bright smile that if he interrupted his performance, he would be no different from a low-class ruffian. It could not be anything but a sound that turned Wi Ji-cheon's stomach upside down. His five viscera and six bowels were about to change their positions.

"Hmph! I'm not so free as to listen to such a cheap performance!"

"Oh! You mean my zither sound is scary. What a misfortune...!"

Bi Ryu-yeon said in a regretful tone.

"Who said it's scary?"

Wi Ji-cheon shouted.

"If not, couldn't you show the leisure to listen to one song? I was a little disappointed that I haven't been able to play properly even once. There are people watching over there, shouldn't you show that much generosity?"

In fact, during this Three Sages Festival, his ink zither had not yet been able to properly perform its role as an instrument even once. Bi Ryu-yeon did not wait for an answer and sat down on the floor, placing the ink zither on his lap.

'Then shall we start in earnest.'

Bi Ryu-yeon's two hands stayed on the zither strings. And then, he began to play the ink zither, moving as if flying over the strings. Wi Ji-cheon, who had decided to see what that punk was up to, was startled by Bi Ryu-yeon's zither sound. He did not feel the sign of a sound art yet. But Wi Ji-cheon's shock was incomparable to being hit by a sound art.

"Th..., this song is...?"

His hand was trembling without him knowing.

"No! This song! No way..."

It was not only Wi Ji-cheon who was surprised. Even Na Ye-rin, who was rarely surprised, made a surprised expression after hearing this song from Bi Ryu-yeon. Seeing that, Lee Jin-seol did not wait and said a word.

"Wow! Sister, you're also surprised! Sister, that person's performance skills are better than he looks. Isn't it a wonderful melody?"

Of course, it was an outstanding skill. To be able to play the zither to this extent was telling that it was not an ordinary skill. Wasn't Hong Ran in the judges' seat over there also astonished at the fact that Bi Ryu-yeon could perform such a wonderful and beautiful performance now! Pinching her own cheek hard...

But the reason she was surprised was not that. This song was the very song she had played on that day, at that place, the Unhyangjeong, when she had had her first kiss stolen.

"Uuuuuuugh!"

Wi Ji-cheon was biting his lips until they bled. He had almost lost his mind for a moment. At some point, internal energy had been imbued in Bi Ryu-yeon's performance, and it was stirring up his mind. Bi Ryu-yeon's melody had instantly dug into the gap that had formed in his heart.

At some point, without his knowing, his whole body was being influenced by Bi Ryu-yeon's melody. His head was dizzy, and his mind was confused. His heart was beating like crazy. It was a wonder it did not burst right away. The hand that was holding the sword was trembling. The killing intent was soaring as if to pierce the sky.

But he could not move his feet. He could not swing his sword. His feet were not leaving the ground, and his shoulders were not moving as if they had turned to stone. Listening to Bi Ryu-yeon's zither sound that was flowing through the air, it seemed as if the nightmare of that day was vividly reviving in front of his eyes. The humiliation of that day, the shame of that day!

The man who was approaching, the lips that were meeting, she who was not resisting. An infinite jealousy was exploding in his heart like crazy and was running through his whole body. His eyes were full of bloodshot veins. His eyes began to shine red. But his body was still unable to move, as if caught in a net.

"Excellent! To have such a skill while he has been tarnishing the name of the sound gate all by himself..."

It was Hong Ran's evaluation after seeing Bi Ryu-yeon's performance. She was also dazed.

"That's right. It's a very excellent performance!"

Mun Il-gi also chimed in with Hong Ran's admiration. His appearance now was hard to believe was the person who had been tormenting Hong Ran all this time, Bi Ryu-yeon.

"No! What I'm saying is excellent is that his performance has completely dug into the opponent's gap and has begun to affect his spirit. Look!"

The tip of Hong Ran's slender, jade-like hand pointed at Wi Ji-cheon.

"What I'm telling you to look at is not my finger, but that child named Wi Ji-cheon!"

As Mun Il-gi was absent-mindedly looking at the tip of her finger, the red-faced Hong Ran shouted.

"Ahem! It's a pretty finger! Ahem..."

Mun Il-gi, letting out a series of coughs, folded his disappointed heart and sent his gaze to Wi Ji-cheon.

"Now his whole body is trembling like an aspen tree, and his eyes are bloodshot, but his body can't move! That's proof that the melody has completely entered the domain of the spirit! That's why he can't move even if he wants to now."

"Oh? Indeed! Hearing it, that's right."

Mun Il-gi looked at Wi Ji-cheon as if it were strange. Indeed, the killing intent was soaring, and the fighting spirit was enormous, but the two energies were mixing on their own, and his whole body was trembling like an aspen tree.

"But there's something strange!"

"What is it?"

Although he had already achieved a family in the sword, he was a layman when it came to sound arts.

"He was defeated too easily. That child named Wi Ji-cheon, even though he is one of the Nine Dragons and has the skill to even use a sword aura, he was defeated by the melody too easily and too quickly. If it were a child of that level of skill, he would have been able to resist enough..."

"Then there is only one thing to think of. Bi Ryu-yeon inflicted a considerable mental shock on that Wi Ji-cheon, and then he perfectly pierced the gap in his heart that had occurred as a result. That's why Wi Ji-cheon was defeated at once."

"Umm... I thought that punk was just a delinquent with bad hair, but it seems he had a knack for something!"

Mun Il-gi, who had heard the explanation, could not help but be inwardly impressed.

"I knew he had some knowledge of melody, but to be honest, I didn't think it would be at that level... Besides, that child has only been learning sound arts for half a year."

"What? Hong-mae! Is that true?"

This time, Mun Il-gi was really surprised. No matter how much of a layman he was when it came to sound arts, he knew well that half a year was not nearly enough for sound arts to enter a proper realm.

"Hmph! Who is your Hong-mae?"

Hong Ran, who had managed to not miss the words that had been casually slipped in in the midst of the chaos, shouted.

"Oh? You noticed? You have no gaps, Hong-mae!"

It was Mun Il-gi, who was now openly demonstrating. As if Bi Ryu-yeon was not enough of a headache, there was no way Mun Il-gi, who was adding another headache, would look good.

"I told you I'm not Hong-mae! An old man who has eaten his age, he really has no shame..."

Hong Ran, who did not want to waste any more mental energy on a verbal argument, quickly changed the subject.

"There are only two conclusions! He's a master who has hidden his skills... or, although the probability is low, he's a genius. Both don't make sense, huu."

As the actions that Bi Ryu-yeon had committed in class flashed by like a revolving lantern, a sigh came out on its own.

"Since the fact that he's a master is almost impossible, then... I don't want to admit it, but you mean he's a genius?"

Mun Il-gi's impression immediately frowned.

"I don't want to admit it..."

"I agree!"

It was the two who had agreed on an opinion after a long time. It was a tone that they admitted the skill in front of their eyes, being pushed by reality, but they would never admit to any other assumption. Even while the two were bickering under the pretext of expressing their opinions, Bi Ryu-yeon's performance was continuing.