Chapter 76

Among the most heavily guarded places in the Cheonmu Academy,
if one were to count them on one's fingers,
there is a place that always falls within the five folded fingers,
and that place is the Baekhyang-gwan.
The sacred ground absolutely forbidden to men,
with thorough and strict security...

• The Gathering of the Ice Phoenix Flower Guard

Like stars densely studded on a pitch-black silk,
a cluster of stars scattered in the sky.
A night of the half-moon, where even the moon hanging in the sky
had hidden its shape halfway in the darkness.
There were groups of people moving,
relying on the starlight rather than the faint moonlight.

They were flocking to a building located in a corner of the Cheonmu Academy. It was clearly a late hour in the middle of the night, far past the bedtime specified in the school regulations, but white cloths were wrapped around the foreheads of all of them, who were flocking in, boldly and unhesitatingly breaking the school regulations. The white cloths, faintly shining in the light of the half-moon, allowed them to distinguish each other. Not limited to today's meeting, the white cloth wrapped around their foreheads was their own signal and promise in their events.

The building, located on the street where the clubs were concentrated, was quite spacious, but as about a hundred people filled the inner space, the limit of the area soon became apparent. The inside of the building was so crowded with people that it was cramped.

On the front stage inside the building, a portrait was attached without a single wrinkle, as if with great care, and everyone was staring at the portrait with eyes mixed with all their wishes, hopes, emotions, and desires. As if they were out of their minds...

The protagonist of the portrait, which was on a top-quality silk cloth without a single stain, flaw, or fine wrinkle, was a woman so beautiful that it was highly questionable whether she was a human with the same racial characteristics as them, or a fairy who had lost her way in the heavens and was wandering the earth, a being that could be defined as the crystallization of ultimate beauty.

If Bi Ryu-yeon had seen this painting (of course, he wasn't here), he would have exclaimed lightly, "Huh? That woman is!" and would not have been able to hold back his surprise.

She was the victim of theft whom the suspect, Bi Ryu-yeon, had met a week ago at a pavilion named Unhyangjeong, meaning 'the place where the fragrance of clouds stays', which he had accidentally reached while wandering the Cheonmu Academy aimlessly without a destination. That day, she had been robbed of one meaningful thing by Bi Ryu-yeon in a flash, although it was not a monetary or material tangible thing, which a shameless person with a face of triple or quadruple layers of iron plates might dare to claim, "It's not like it wears out." That incident had been so sudden that even she had not been able to prepare for it.

Finally, a young man with a handsome appearance, who seemed to be the leader of the gathered white-clothed people, stood on the stage with his back to the portrait. His originally handsome and splendid appearance had disappeared for some reason, and his face was so emaciated that it was pale. The young man's face was so handsome that it could shake the hearts of many women with a single smile, but due to a certain incident that had occurred suddenly a week ago and the enormous mental and physical pain he had had to suffer after that incident, his complexion had turned as pale as a sheet of paper.

His precious right hand, which should be holding a sword and swinging sword ki, was wrapped in a white bandage for some reason, and it still seemed inconvenient to move. If Bi Ryu-yeon had seen him, he would have asked, "You look familiar, who are you?" He was none other than the Swift Wind Sword Dragon, Wi Ji-cheon.

Originally, today's meeting was not a regular gathering. But due to the Unhyangjeong incident, which was more than enough to push the entire academy into a whirlpool of astonishment, a gathering had been urgently convened. The reality and truth of the Unhyangjeong incident that had occurred a week ago had been secretly entered into the ears of only a specific few and had not been widely known. The people gathered here today were those specific few (but isn't a number that can fill a building too many to be called a few?).

A week ago, immediately after the incident of Bi Ryu-yeon's theft of the girl's lips, a disciple who had heard the news had trembled with an anger that felt like his heart was being torn apart and had lamented as follows:

"My two ears have served their function as of today and are no longer useful. I have now heard what I should not have heard. Two ears that could not filter out such a fact are no longer useful to me."

He recalled that it was a terrible feeling where all the blood in his body was flowing backwards due to anger, and his heart was being squeezed as if it would burst.

Another disciple had shouted, "That's an absolute lie. Such a thing can't happen to our goddess!" and had mercilessly pricked his left hand with a needle and bitten his lips until they bled due to his anguish. He had pricked his left hand because he could not bear to harm his right hand, which held the sword.

While there were some who had made a fuss, rolling their eyes back so that the whites were visible and saying they would cut off their two ears, there were also not a few radical elements who had tried to summarily execute the messenger who had come to inform them of the whole story of the incident for defamation or spreading false information.

Besides them, numerous others had repeatedly screamed and gone berserk with an uncontrollable anger. If they could, they would have wanted to block the hearing of the rumor even by cutting off their ears or tearing their eardrums to shreds. Fortunately, there were miraculously no casualties, but the impact of that incident was that enormous.

If the reaction of the ordinary members who had only heard it by word of mouth was like this, the anger of the Swift Wind Sword Dragon, Wi Ji-cheon, who was the one and only witness at that time and the leader of the Ice Phoenix Flower Guard, was easily imaginable. He had even harbored the wicked thought of pricking his two eyes and blinding himself with the immeasurable anger, astonishment, despair, and shame that had surged up from the bottomless abyss. Even by doing so, he had wanted to deny the fact that he had witnessed and suffered. His heart for her was that enormous. But the reason he could not carry out that act was because he still had one thing left to do. That was the thorough punishment, retribution, and revenge against the evil enemy. That desire for revenge became one of the causes of today's gathering.

The white-clothed people, who had not slept at this late hour today and had even unhesitatingly ignored the school regulations, were the members of her personal guard. They were ordinary model disciples who were no different from other students in their daily lives, but when it came to one problem, they were prepared to abandon everything. They who served a transcendent being that made them able to throw away everything they had without hesitation. A personal guard that existed only for her. A group of fanatics who would not hesitate to give their lives to get her smile even once. Madmen who would not care about water or fire to get her love. People called them, by themselves and by others, the Ice Phoenix Flower Guard. And the promoter of that fanatical group was none other than the Swift Wind Sword Dragon, Wi Ji-cheon.

The Swift Wind Sword Dragon, Wi Ji-cheon. Considering his outstanding martial prowess, intellect, talent, and qualifications, no one would deny that he had gone astray. His ability was that outstanding, to the point where it stood out in the academy. His life path had to be urgently corrected with the entrance of the Ice Soul Phoenix, Na Ye-rin, into the Cheonmu Academy. The cause was that he had been completely captivated by the beauty of Na Ye-rin, who had just entered the academy.

Her ultimate beauty was so outstanding as to praise the artistry of God, and she had created numerous patients of the fever of love. But the fervent and peerless courtship of numerous young heroes was not enough to move her heart, which was like ice. She had firmly closed her heart and had declared that she had no intention of having any exchange with anyone of the opposite sex. The colder her reaction was, like a ten-thousand-year-old ice crystal, the more her followers increased.

There were too many eyes on her. At this, Wi Ji-cheon decided to put up a protective barrier. That was the background of the creation of the personal guard organization, the Ice Phoenix Flower Guard. It is questionable why a person of Wi Ji-cheon's stature had to arbitrarily form and lead a group that the person in question, she, did not even want.

Until a week ago, the Swift Wind Sword Dragon, Wi Ji-cheon, who had been leading a line of fervent young talents behind him as the leader of the Ice Phoenix Flower Guard, abbreviated as the Ice Phoenix Guard, and had been carrying out a fervent front of love courtship, had suffered an indelible wound, both mentally and physically, from the incident a week ago. He could not escape from the self-blame that he had not been able to protect her.

For what purpose had he organized the personal guard? Wasn't it to protect and guard her? But to have suffered a miserable and humiliating defeat at the hands of a greenhorn new disciple whose identity and face he did not even know, he could not believe the reality and did not want to believe it. His sky-high pride could not accept that fact. But the snake-like scar that was still clearly on his right arm made him unable to deny that fact. A wound inflicted by none other than that punk... and while being thoroughly humiliated...

Wi Ji-cheon had not imagined that there would be a person who would look down on him, one of the Nine Dragons of the Nine Dragons and Seven Phoenixes, and face him. The blade of shame, humiliation, and anger had mercilessly torn his heart to shreds, and naturally, he had clutched his greatly wounded heart and had resolved to take revenge. That person was a piece of filth that should never be left alone, that must be eliminated.

The reason they had gathered, all wearing a white cloth on their foreheads that would have been perfect if the character 'Love' had been written in the middle, was to impeach and discipline one person. The person in question, who had committed a great sin of disrespect to their goddess and had incurred the public wrath of all of them, was not present at that place. If he were to be seen, they would immediately break his arms and legs, take out his intestines and make a soup, then skin him and make jerky, and cut his body into thirty-six pieces, and everyone was regretful. Their anger was that intense. As the portrait of the Ice Soul Phoenix, Na Ye-rin, which was hanging behind the stage, was removed by Wi Ji-cheon's instruction, a look of regret appeared in everyone's eyes.

And as a new portrait, reminiscent of a wanted poster, was hung, an uncontrollable anger and hatred once again emanated from everyone's two eyes. The protagonist of the wanted portrait was none other than Bi Ryu-yeon.

As Bi Ryu-yeon's damn face appeared, the brush of emotion, dipped in the ink of anger, hatred, and killing intent, engraved that face in everyone's eyes and hearts with a single stroke. Like an eternal, indelible carving.

As the process of recognizing the object of hatred was over, everyone who had gathered drew their respective weapons as if by promise. The momentum was quite ferocious. Finally, the sword ki, which was a bundle of anger, hatred, and killing intent, emitted from their swords, tore Bi Ryu-yeon's portrait into a thousand, ten thousand pieces. Their hatred and anger were contained in every line of the sword ki drawn, in every piece of the torn portrait. Their common goal was to make the real person of the portrait the same as this.

"Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death!"

Everyone shouted in a frenzy, raising their right arms. Killing intent overflowed from their roaring voices. It was something that those with an ordinary, normal, and healthy way of thinking would not even think of in their dreams, but their reason had already been paralyzed. Bi Ryu-yeon, from the moment he had caused an accident without thinking a week ago, had become their biggest public enemy. And that fact would not change until Bi Ryu-yeon's existence was annihilated from this world.

Amidst the pieces of the portrait being torn and fluttering like snow due to their hatred, Wi Ji-cheon stood and shouted. It was a voice of incitement.

"Who is our main enemy that deserves our hatred?"

"Bi Ryu-yeon! Bi Ryu-yeon!"

The crowd shouted like fanatics, raising the weapons in their hands in unison.

"Who is the evil enemy whose existence will not be recognized in this world?"

"Bi Ryu-yeon! Bi Ryu-yeon!"

"Who is our number one enemy?"

The words 'Heavenly Calamity Spirit' did not come out of their mouths, where it should have naturally come out. The Heavenly Calamity Spirit, which was pointed out as the number one public enemy regardless of the black and white paths, that name was being ignored at this moment.

"Bi Ryu-yeon! Bi Ryu-yeon!"

For them, the existence that would not be satisfying even if they chopped him up and swallowed him was none other than Bi Ryu-yeon.

"That's right, comrades! Let's make him personally feel how scary the price of touching our sacred goddess is. A punk who wouldn't be satisfying even if he were thrown into the black den of the Heavenly Calamity Spirit... How dare he... to our Miss Na... with those dirty lips... sob!"

Wi Ji-cheon was overwhelmed with emotion and could not finish his words. That incident was that much of a super-strong shock to him and the fifty members of the Ice Phoenix Flower Guard. The fact that he had not been able to stop that evil act even though he was by her side was still engraved in Wi Ji-cheon's heart as an eternal regret.

Today's meeting was a place to annihilate the existence of the evil enemy, Bi Ryu-yeon, the perpetrator and root cause of that incident, from this world. Their killing intent, smeared with their common anger and hatred, was focused only on Bi Ryu-yeon. This gathered huge dark thought (evil thought or wish) spewed out huge and various murder and execution plans in units of seconds. Each and every one was an attractive proposal that caught their hearts. Because they were so diverse, it was difficult to choose one readily. Everyone came to mistake the execution of Bi Ryu-yeon as the will of heaven.

Hundreds of murder plans for one human being plastered their minds, and they were spewed out of their mouths in a concrete form. But there was no one there who could boldly realize the conceived plan. They were now losing their reason and only raising their voices. As the night deepened, the heat of killing intent grew even hotter.

"Phew, this is getting difficult..."

There was one person who was sighing while maintaining his composure among them. His body was three times larger and seemed four times heavier than the others, but no one paid attention to his existence.