Childhood Friend of the Zenith-Chapter 608: The Curse of the Ice Crystal (4)
What did I just hear?
My mind went blank, overwhelmed by the shock, leaving me unable to process anything clearly.
"Who did what?"
No, seriously, who did what?
The words I just heard made the world feel like it had stopped.
“What did you just say?”
I asked the Lord again.
I had to ask again.
I needed it to be a misunderstanding.
Surely, I misheard.
It had to be a mistake.
But no matter how much I hoped—
[I said that Dormant Dragon Woo Hyuk is the one who led the rebellion.]
To my frustration, it wasn’t a mistake.
“....”
Countless words surged through my mind, yet none of them made it to my lips.
I tried to sort through the chaos of my thoughts.
It was complicated, overwhelmingly so, but I had to sort it out.
Now was the time to make sense of it all.
‘What did Woo Hyuk do?’
I couldn’t.
The revelation was too shocking.
‘That bastard Woo Hyuk did what?’
What was it again?
Vioe-gun, was it?
I wasn’t sure if that was a name or a title.
Regardless, the Lord said that this “Vioe-gun” had led a rebellion with the backing of the Ice Palace’s bloodline.
And that—
‘It was Woo Hyuk?’
Not only that, but the claim that he was from a prominent family in the North Sea meant he wasn’t of Zhongyuan blood but a native of the North Sea.
A North Sea native who ended up joining Wudang in Zhongyuan.
How was that even possible?
No, that wasn’t the issue right now.
“Are you certain about this?”
I needed to know if the Lord’s statement was true.
[Why, does it seem false to you?]
“It’s not an easy thing to believe.”
[I see. That’s understandable.]
To me, it was utterly out of the blue.
The idea that Woo Hyuk was from the North Sea,
that he was of a prominent bloodline here,
and even more absurd, that a man who seemed to have no greed or ambition had led a rebellion.
None of it felt believable.
The Lord continued to speak as I stared at him in bewilderment.
[I understand why it might be hard to believe. It’s quite sudden, after all.]
But then,
Crunch, crack.
I heard a subtle noise around me.
“...?”
The cold air that surrounded us had thickened further.
The mist-like chill began to shift,
its soft, round edges gradually sharpening.
At the same time, the pressure on my shoulders grew heavier.
Feeling all of this, I couldn’t help but frown.
“What’s the meaning of this?”
I glared at the Lord and asked.
He met my gaze and replied,
[As you said, it’s sudden. But the situation is far from ideal.]
“Hah.”
I let out a bitter laugh.
As the atmosphere changed, I finally understood what was happening.
Locking eyes with the Lord,
I saw those unsettling pupils of his.
“So, you’re saying you’re suspicious of me too?”
[This is merely a confirmation.]
“Does this look simple to you? It’s like you’re ready to devour me alive.”
When I’d heard the Lord wanted to meet me immediately after I woke up, I thought it was because the situation was urgent.
‘Was it just an interrogation all along?’
My mood soured instantly.
It was far too hostile to be called a simple exchange,
yet there was too much decorum for it to feel like outright questioning.
Crunch.
The cold seemed to creep toward my feet, gradually freezing the ground beneath me.
Buzz...!
Within me, the rings of Guyeomhwaryungong began spinning on their own.
The heat they generated instinctively pushed back the cold.
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"As if things weren’t already fucked."
It was hard enough to keep my composure as it was,
and now this nonsense kept piling up.
“Lord.”
Ignoring the cold, I addressed him directly.
“Do you not know why I’m here right now?”
My voice carried the full weight of my frustration.
[I know.]
At his response, I let out another laugh.
“You know, huh?”
I had come all the way from Zhongyuan to save his life.
Calling myself a benefactor felt ridiculous,
but in the Lord’s eyes, that’s what I was.
And yet—
“Knowing that, you treat me like this?”
The suffocating pressure,
the razor-sharp cold circling my neck—
“This is how you treat a guest? Is this how the North Sea handles things?”
To treat someone who came to save his life this way...
It was no different from picking a fight.
[Young Master Gu.]
The Lord called out to me,
but I didn’t respond.
[Do you truly believe you can lift this curse?]
“I don’t know. We’ll see. How should I know?”
Healing Moyong Hee-ah was one thing,
but the Lord’s condition was on an entirely different level.
As I’d said before, I couldn’t be certain.
[Indeed, certainty is not the issue.]
“That’s not the problem?”
I thought the question of whether I could heal him or not was the issue, but—
[No, that’s of little importance.]
With his words, the chilling air grew even more intense.
[Whether or not you can actually heal me, that’s not what matters.]
“What do you mean?”
[I would never entrust my body to someone I found suspicious.]
The Lord’s pale blue, slit pupils glowed faintly.
[And, to be frank, I have no intention of being healed in the first place.]
“What?”
I reflexively questioned him.
What the hell did he just say?
"No intention of being healed?"
What kind of absurd nonsense was this?
I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
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If the Lord of the Ice Palace truly had no intention of being healed,
“Then why did you summon me here?”
What was the point of my presence here at all?
“Did you bring me here just to interrogate me?”
Was it simply because I had some connection to Woo Hyuk?
As these thoughts swirled in my mind,
[At first, it was curiosity.]
The Lord’s voice broke through my thoughts.
[I was curious about you, the one the princess spoke of. I was also intrigued by the familiar energy I sensed from long ago.]
Familiar energy?
"Is he talking about Guyeomhwaryungong?"
He did say he had met my father.
That must have been why.
[The second reason was the claim that you were a close friend of Vioe-gun.]
“So, it really was an interrogation, then?”
[I had to confirm it, didn’t I?]
The Lord didn’t deny my words.
This was, indeed, an interrogation.
[So, I hope you’ll answer truthfully.]*
By now, the cold had thickened to the point where I could feel frost forming on my skin.
Crunch, crack.
Frost coated my body.
It was an unpleasant, sickening sensation,
like insects crawling across my skin.
How could something as simple as cold feel so repulsive?
[I have no desire to harm the child of an old friend.]*
“...”
It was a thinly veiled threat, if not outright.
The sharp, oppressive energy emanating from the Lord was directed entirely at me, making it abundantly clear this wasn’t just a warning.
I glared at him and asked,
“You call yourself my father’s friend, and yet this is how you treat me?”
[Even if I am his friend, you are not my friend, Young Master Gu.]*
“That’s an exceptionally cold response.”
A friend was a friend, and a son was just a son.
He drew the line without hesitation.
If anyone doubted he was the Lord of Ice, this frigid attitude left no room for debate.
[Let me ask you this.]
[Are you truly a close friend of Vioe-gun?]
At that, I tilted my head slightly.
The question felt oddly phrased.
If Vioe-gun and Woo Hyuk were indeed the same person, the Lord already knew I was his friend.
In that case, the real question should have been whether I had aided Vioe-gun’s rebellion.
But that wasn’t what he asked.
"Interesting."
I narrowed my eyes at the Lord, studying him.
Why frame the question like that?
The answer came to me quickly.
This wasn’t about whether we had been friends.
"He’s asking if we still are."
Even knowing that Woo Hyuk had committed treason,
did I still consider him a friend?
That was the essence of the Lord’s question.
In more detail, it was this:
Would I sever ties with Woo Hyuk and align myself with the Ice Palace?
Or would I remain loyal to my friend, regardless of his actions?
It was clear now.
I turned the question back on him.
“If I were to say I am still his friend, what would you do?”
[Hmm...]
Crunch, crack!
The frost creeping up my feet grew even thicker and harder.
[I would advise you not to wonder about that.]*
“Hah.”
I laughed bitterly.
He didn’t need to say it. I already knew.
If I admitted to it, there was no way he would let me walk out of here unscathed.
I nodded, accepting the tension in the air for what it was.
That much, I could deal with.
But then,
“Lord,”
[Speak.]*
“Did you summon my companions into your chamber and interrogate them in the same way?”
At my question, his expression shifted ever so slightly.
It seemed he hadn’t expected me to ask that.
A brief silence fell between us.
I kept my gaze fixed on him, refusing to back down.
After a few seconds, he seemed to deliberate, his face showing faint traces of thought.
Eventually, he spoke.
[If I did, what would you—]
Before he could finish his sentence,
“Then you can die here and now.”
The heat within me erupted violently.
Whoosh!
The ring of Guyeomhwaryungong spun rapidly inside my heart, expanding outward.
Blue flames surged across my shoulders.
Flare!
The azure fire spread outward, devouring the cold that had been pressing against me.
Crunch!
The ice shackling my feet shattered as I took a step forward.
I strode toward the Lord with heavy, deliberate steps and spoke through clenched teeth.
“Answer me properly. Or I’ll kill you for real.”
I couldn’t hold back anymore.
