Chapter 288

Pyo Wol went to find the Jin family.

“Hyung-nim!”

As soon as he entered, Jin Si-woo was the first to greet him warmly.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.”

Jin Si-woo’s complexion was deathly pale.

He had suffered a great injury while blocking the Slayer of Ten Thousand. Fortunately, Han Yu-cheon had stepped in just in time to save his life, but he had to suffer for several days due to his internal injuries.

He wished he could have peacefully focused on healing his Qi Circulation Disruption, but unfortunately, he was not given such leisure time.

He had to negotiate with the trading companies that came day after day and take responsibility for treating the injured. He also had to restore the collapsed houses and reorganize the Jin family’s structure.

A mountain of tasks all fell to him.

Because of this, he was handling his work while enduring with only the bare minimum of Qi Circulation.

Jin Si-woo asked Pyo Wol.

“How have you been?”

He had no idea what Pyo Wol had been doing outside. He was so busy handling internal affairs that he had no time to pay attention to external matters.

“I’ve been well.”

“I’m sorry. For making you leave like that…”

“It’s fine. I wasn’t going to stay at the Jin family for long anyway.”

“Still…”

It was then.

“Why are you only coming now?”

A familiar voice was heard.

When he turned his head, a small-statured girl was glaring at Pyo Wol with her hands on her hips.

It was Jin Si-woo’s younger sister, Jin Seol-ah.

Her eyes, looking at Pyo Wol, were full of resentment.

“You’re safe.”

“Hmph! Where have you been staying?”

“Here and there…”

“You should have just closed your eyes and come back, why stay somewhere else?”

Jin Seol-ah knew that Pyo Wol had left because of the conflict with the Shaolin Temple. She knew it was unavoidable, but she couldn’t help feeling upset.

Jin Seol-ah was still too young to judge things only by reason.

She was at an age where she was more influenced by emotion than reason.

She asked again.

“Now that the fight is over, you’ll stay here again, right?”

“I came to get my horse.”

“You’re just leaving?”

“It’s time for me to go.”

“No.”

Suddenly, Jin Seol-ah ran over and hugged Pyo Wol’s waist.

Her eyes were brimming with tears.

A young girl’s heart was like a reed, reacting subtly to the smallest changes.

Pyo Wol offered no words of comfort to Jin Seol-ah.

He had to leave anyway, so there was no need to make her hold on to any lingering attachment.

Jin Si-woo looked at Pyo Wol and Jin Seol-ah with a troubled expression.

He had not expected his young sister to be so attached to Pyo Wol.

When the fierce battle with Snow Blade Sword Manor had occurred, Jin Seol-ah had to endure the long night alone without anyone’s protection.

The Jin family’s situation had been that dire, and Jin Si-woo himself was so severely injured that he couldn’t look after Jin Seol-ah.

Having survived after struggling so hard, Jin Seol-ah was utterly exhausted. That was why she was instinctively seeking and clinging to someone she could rely on.

Knowing these circumstances, Jin Si-woo could not blame Jin Seol-ah.

Pyo Wol said calmly.

“I have to go. You know that, don’t you?”

“Can’t you stay here?”

“This is not my home.”

“Even if it’s not your home, you can still stay for a long time, can’t you?”

“I’ve already stayed long enough.”

“But…”

“This is your home. If you don’t help your brother, who will?”

Uncharacteristically for Pyo Wol, he persuaded her calmly.

From Pyo Wol’s demeanor, Jin Seol-ah realized that he would never change his mind.

“You’ll still stop by if you pass through here, right?”

“I will.”

“Is that a promise?”

“I promise.”

“Okay. I’ll let you go.”

Jin Seol-ah stepped back with a disappointed expression.

Only then did Jin Si-woo step forward.

“Oh, my grandfather has woken up. You should see him before you go. He wants to see you, Hyung-nim.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! Fortunately, he took the Shaolin Temple’s Great Revival Pill and has regained some of his strength. It will take a long time to recover his original martial prowess, but it’s a miracle that he’s regained consciousness.”

Un-song had willingly given the Great Revival Pill for Jin Wolmyeong.

Making the Great Revival Pill was extremely difficult, so only a few existed even in the Shaolin Temple.

Fortunately, Un-song had one of them.

The Sect Master of the Shaolin Temple, Great Master Woon-ji, had willingly given him the Great Revival Pill for his journey to a dangerous place.

Un-song had Jin Wolmyeong take the Great Revival Pill and helped him with his Qi Circulation.

It was commonly known that the Shaolin Temple’s Muscle-Tendon Change Classic hardened one’s bones and muscles and expanded the blood meridians to create the optimal body for learning martial arts, but it also had an outstanding effect on healing Qi Circulation Disruption.

Not just for oneself, but for others as well.

The harmony of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic’s internal power and the Great Revival Pill made Jin Wolmyeong recover in an instant. As a result, he was able to regain consciousness.

Pyo Wol headed to Jin Wolmyeong’s quarters with Jin Si-woo.

Inside Jin Wolmyeong’s room sat an old monk with a powerful impression. Pyo Wol instinctively sensed that the old monk’s position in Shaolin was anything but ordinary.

Next to Un-song, an old man with a full beard was barely sitting up, leaning his back against the wall. He was Jin Si-woo’s grandfather, Jin Wolmyeong.

Jin Si-woo introduced Pyo Wol to the two men.

“I have brought Pyo Wol Hyung-nim.”

“Have a seat.”

At Jin Wolmyeong’s words, Pyo Wol and Jin Si-woo sat down.

Although the signs of illness were apparent, Jin Wolmyeong’s eyes shone with a sharp light.

Jin Wolmyeong glared at Pyo Wol.

“You’re from Chengdu? I looked into it, and it seems you have quite the infamous reputation there.”

A subtle hostility was contained in Jin Wolmyeong’s voice. Jin Si-woo quickly cried out.

“Grandfather!”

“Be quiet. I am speaking with him, not you. Mind your manners.”

“He is the benefactor of our family.”

“What favor did he bestow upon our family to be called a benefactor?”

Flames seemed to erupt from Jin Wolmyeong’s eyes.

At that, Jin Si-woo wore a troubled expression.

Jin Wolmyeong had been in a coma for a long time, so he was ignorant of the outside situation. Above all, he had a stubborn streak and did not listen well to others. Making such a man understand was by no means an easy task.

Jin Wolmyeong asked Pyo Wol.

“Speak for yourself. Is your infamous reputation truly that great?”

“If it were me…”

“What?”

“If it were me, I’d stay quiet.”

“How dare you!”

In an instant, Jin Wolmyeong’s eyebrows shot up in an inverted V. But Pyo Wol paid him no mind and continued.

“So what are you going to do? Do you still think you’re in your prime? Do you think I’ll get scared if you get angry like that?”

“How dare you…”

Jin Wolmyeong’s shoulders trembled.

He was an absolute expert of the Jianghu.

The alias Setting Sun Divine Sword was not obtained for free.

He had earned it by staining his sword with the blood of countless people.

It wasn’t for nothing that he had risen to the Eight Constellations.

Until now, no one had ever dared to look him straight in the eye and say such things.

“You’re the one who’s mistaken. I helped the Jin family not because of you, but because of Jin Geum-woo. I thought he wouldn’t be lonely. He had a brother like Si-woo, and friends who believed in and followed him. But now I see he must have been truly lonely. Since his own flesh and blood is such a stubborn, self-centered, and selfish being. Geum-woo probably never confided in you either. Because even if he did, you wouldn’t have listened.”

“Stop it.”

“What good is it if a grandfather is a swordsman renowned throughout all under heaven? When he blocks his ears and doesn’t listen to a single word from others. It would have been useless no matter what he said. That’s why he shouldered every burden alone. There was no one to share it with.”

“Stop, stop it!”

Jin Wolmyeong shouted.

His complexion had become noticeably paler.

At that moment, Un-song placed his palm on Jin Wolmyeong’s Life Gate Point and said.

“Calm yourself, Benefactor Jin!”

The gentle Qi that arose from his palm soothed Jin Wolmyeong’s mind and body.

While stabilizing Jin Wolmyeong, Un-song did not take his eyes off Pyo Wol.

“You have a silver tongue. To think you could stir up Benefactor Jin’s inner fire with just a few words, even though his mind and body have been weakened by a long illness.”

“And who is this damn monk?”

“Damn monk?”

“Am I wrong? If you’re meeting someone for the first time, isn’t it right to introduce yourself first?”

“Truly arrogant. Now that you’ve earned the alias Reaper, do you see nothing in your way?”

“It seems you learned nothing at the Shaolin Temple except how to beat people up.”

“What?”

“Isn’t it true? You and I are meeting here for the first time today. So on what grounds do you speak of arrogance?”

“Hah!”

Un-song wore an expression of disbelief. But since not a single one of Pyo Wol’s words was wrong, he was at a loss for a reply.

It was true that Un-song was a high-ranking monk of the Shaolin Temple, but that did not give him a license to treat Pyo Wol disrespectfully.

‘Amitabha! Amitabha!’

Un-song gently closed his eyes and suppressed his inner fire. However, like the highly respected high monk he was, he soon recovered his composure.

“I was overcome with emotion and made a mistake. I am Un-song of the Shaolin Temple. Have you perhaps heard my name?”

“No!”

“Haha! You’ve never heard of me?”

“Sorry, but I’m not particularly interested in the Shaolin Temple.”

“Not interested? Haha!”

“I’m too busy dealing with the matters right in front of me to have the energy to care about the unrelated Shaolin Temple.”

“What keeps you so busy?”

“Even if I told you, would you understand?”

“What?”

“Don’t act like you can understand if I tell you. Because even if I did, you people wouldn’t be able to understand or accept it.”

At Pyo Wol’s scathing words, Un-song’s face, which had painstakingly regained its composure, turned red.

‘His tongue is armed with a knife. Just a few words, and he stabs so painfully into one’s core.’

This was not his original plan.

His plan was to first show his authority and make Pyo Wol bow his head on his own. But the more they spoke, the more the situation became twisted, and it was he who was left speechless.

Un-song stared intently at Pyo Wol.

Unlike his face, which was more beautiful than a woman’s, his guts and spirit were beyond ordinary. It seemed that nothing he or Jin Wolmyeong said could shake Pyo Wol’s composure.

Un-song realized he had made a mistake.

Approaching a man like this with such an intimidating attitude was a mistake in itself.

In that moment, countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

He suddenly felt a sense of self-loathing.

Pyo Wol, whom he had looked down on as a mere assassin, was so dignified, while he himself was so pathetically thinking of excuses, which tormented him.

“Hoo!”

He let out a sigh.

Countless emotions were mixed in that short sigh.

After sighing like that, his heart felt a little more at ease.

He spoke politely to Pyo Wol.

“I’m sorry. I apologize.”

“What are you apologizing for?”

“I apologize for all the mistakes Shaolin has made. For Woon-hae and Seong-am misjudging and driving you out of the Jin family, and for my own misguided words and actions. I apologize for everything.”

Jin Si-woo blinked, thinking he had misheard.

In his common sense, it was an impossible event.

He knew better than anyone how immense the pride of Shaolin was.

Moreover, Un-song was practically the Second-in-Command of the Shaolin Temple. For such a man to apologize to Pyo Wol, who was much younger than him, came as a shock to Jin Si-woo.

Jin Wolmyeong, who was receiving internal power from Un-song, was just as surprised.

‘What is that murderous demon that the great Un-song of all under heaven is apologizing to him?’

Having been in a coma for a long time, Jin Wolmyeong only knew Pyo Wol as a murderous demon. That was why he could not understand Un-song’s polite apology.

Even at that moment, Un-song’s words continued.

“Honestly, this incident was clearly our temple’s mistake. We should have intervened at the right time, but we watched and missed the opportunity. That’s why the matter grew so large. If we prided ourselves on being the Mount Tai and Big Dipper of the Jianghu, we should have acted accordingly, but we failed to do so. I am sorry to you, and I am sorry to the Jin family. I know this won’t ease your heart, but doing this will at least ease my own heart a little.”