Childhood Friend of the Zenith-Chapter 652: Back to the Central Plains (4)

A low groan echoed through the air—a sound from Woo Hyuk, who was hunched over in the unlit cell.

Though less than half an hour had passed since Gu Yangcheon began his "conversation" with Woo Hyuk, the events that unfolded during that time were beyond description.

“Hahh... huhh...”

One of the guards stationed outside the cell had collapsed to the ground, unable to stomach the brutal violence he had witnessed.

This wasn’t the kind of brawl one would expect between acquaintances. The room reeked of blood, and the sounds of bones breaking had filled the air.

The dim lantern that barely lit the space had gone out at some point, leaving only darkness. Yet even in the faint shadows, the guard could make out enough to shudder in fear.

Crack.

Amid the silence, a rough sound emerged—the sound of fractured bones realigning themselves.

Gu Yangcheon’s eyes glimmered with curiosity at the sight.

It was fascinating. Without him lifting a finger, Woo Hyuk’s bones were resetting themselves.

“I did break them in a way that would make it easier to heal, but still... impressive performance.”

External wounds, internal injuries—it didn’t matter. Everything healed quickly.

Regeneration. A truly fitting Authority.

“If I tore off his arm, would that regenerate too?”

He remembered that both Yuseon and Mang had such capabilities. He wondered if Woo Hyuk could manage the same.

“Tempting.”

Woo Hyuk flinched under Gu Yangcheon’s intrigued gaze, his body trembling as if sensing his thoughts.

“Hrk... cough!”

Woo Hyuk coughed up blood violently—not from a new injury, but as part of the healing process for his internal wounds.

“It’d be a problem if he didn’t recover properly, so I’ll skip that idea.”

Though he was tempted, Gu Yangcheon decided against it.

“If it were my body, I might’ve tried it, but since it’s Woo Hyuk’s, I’ll let it slide.”

Nodding to himself, Gu Yangcheon relented.

“...Huff... huff...”

Finally stabilizing his body, Woo Hyuk looked up at Gu Yangcheon with an exhausted expression.

“...I’m sorry.”

The first words out of Woo Hyuk’s mouth were an apology—hardly what one would expect from someone who had just been thoroughly beaten.

Gu Yangcheon let out a long sigh.

“I thought I’d feel better after hitting him, but...”

Instead, he felt more irritated and suffocated. Still, his emotions had calmed slightly, likely because he realized the futility of his actions.

He asked Woo Hyuk directly, “Why did you do it?”

“...”

“No matter how reckless you are, you wouldn’t do something like this without a reason. So explain. Make it something I can understand.”

It wasn’t so much that Gu Yangcheon believed Woo Hyuk had a reason—it was more that he wanted him to have one. Woo Hyuk needed to justify himself.

“A reason...”

Closing his eyes, Woo Hyuk seemed to delve into his past, trying to articulate the motivations behind his actions.

“Don’t start reminiscing.”

Gu Yangcheon’s sharp remark snapped Woo Hyuk out of his thoughts.

“Save the dramatics. Summarize it in three lines. I’m busy.”

“...”

Woo Hyuk stared at Gu Yangcheon in disbelief, who furrowed his brow.

“What?”

“Aren’t you supposed to give me time to explain at least?”

“Why would I care about your life story? Just tell me why you did it. Keep it short.”

“...”

Woo Hyuk felt oddly irked. He had no idea why Gu Yangcheon’s words grated on him, but they did. Yet, he had already resigned himself to the fact that trying to understand this man was a lost cause.

“Three lines might be hard,” Woo Hyuk said with a sheepish smile.

“Just keep it brief, then—”

“When I was young, my father tried to kill me.”

“...Great. Starting off strong. Keep going.”

Suppressing his annoyance, Gu Yangcheon shifted his posture and sat cross-legged on the bloodied floor, unfazed by the mess.

“My mother was secretly in love with another man, and my older brother was gay.”

“...”

Gu Yangcheon felt more uncomfortable with each word.

He let out an awkward cough. This was not what he had expected.

“And my father was a man who dreamed of rebellion. I was aware of all this.”

“Seems like you were pretty perceptive.”

It wasn’t so much perceptiveness as it was overhearing things he shouldn’t have. Woo Hyuk didn’t bother to clarify.

“As a child, I didn’t understand the significance of these secrets. I casually mentioned what I knew. That was the start of everything.”

His mother’s affair.

His brother’s secret.

And his father’s ambitious plans.

He blamed himself for speaking out, for not knowing to stay silent.

“My mother’s lover was killed by my father. My brother was confined to a place where no one could see him.”

It was an inevitable conclusion. Once the secrets reached his father, this outcome was unavoidable.

Woo Hyuk had watched as his brother, dragged away by soldiers, glared at him with resentment.

It might have been a secret his brother intended to take to the grave.

“That’s when I learned some things should never be spoken aloud. But by then, it was too late.”

As for Woo Hyuk himself—

“My father exiled me to a small, isolated place. Probably out of fear that I’d uncover more of his secrets.”

It marked the beginning of a lonely life. Days that were quiet yet deafeningly loud.

And yet, something had kept him going.

[“My name is Yuri.”]

If not for the faint lifeline he had clung to, Woo Hyuk’s life might have ended back then.

“But then, something happened.”

“What?”

“The last barrier keeping me afloat crumbled.”

“What the hell does that mean—”

“It means I wasn’t my father’s blood.”

“...Shit.”

Gu Yangcheon cursed without thinking.

So, his mother’s affair had led to this?

“When my father realized I wasn’t his, he tried to kill me.”

The last pretense of familial ties had been stripped away. With no reason to hold back, his father made his move.

It was a bitter, noisy night.

The sound of arrows and screams filled the air as Woo Hyuk fled.

But how far could a child’s legs carry him? Escaping trained soldiers was impossible without help.

With an arrow lodged in his shoulder, Woo Hyuk had collapsed, only to find—

[“Miss, is this the boy?”]

A white-haired man stood amidst the bodies of fallen soldiers.

The moonlight illuminated his pale blue hair and striking blue eyes.

“Wait... that guy, was he—”

“Yeah, it was my teacher.”

That was how Woo Hyuk first met Namgung Hyung, the Hermit of Wudang.

And beside Namgung Hyung stood—

[“Yes, that’s him.”]

A young girl with hair even whiter than his teacher’s.

“...I see.”

Gu Yangcheon nodded slightly, pieces of the story falling into place.

“No wonder a North Sea native ended up in Zhongyuan and joined Wudang.”

The Hermit must have brought him over.

“What was he doing in the North Sea, anyway?”

The answer came to him almost immediately.

“Ah, Thunder Fang.”

Namgung Hyung had once owned the Thunder Fang, a sword tied to Namgung Myung’s voice and origin in the North Sea.

“So that’s how Woo Hyuk survived.”

While the backstory was clearer now, something still didn’t add up.

“So you escaped and lived in Zhongyuan... then why did you do this?”

There was still one crucial piece missing.

“...Revenge.”

At those words, Gu Yangcheon swung his fist, striking Woo Hyuk hard.

BAM!

“Ugh!”

“Don’t start spewing nonsense. Do you want to die?”

He couldn’t hold back. Revenge? That was absurd. Gu Yangcheon knew Woo Hyuk better than that.

“If it were me, maybe. But not him.”

Woo Hyuk wasn’t the type to live consumed by vengeance.

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“You’re clearly leaving out something important. Do you want to keep playing dumb?”

Grinding his teeth, Gu Yangcheon stared Woo Hyuk down.

"Instead of pointless apologies, I need to hear why you had to do it. That’s what matters more to me."

“...At the time, I thought it was the only option.”

"And why was that?"

"My teacher confronted the first princess to stop her. He was overwhelmed by their combined attack, and the first princess approached me with a choice: my teacher’s life or Yuri’s."

At least Woo Hyuk wasn’t the one who struck down Namgung Hyung. That was a small relief.

"So, you had no choice but to save them?"

"...It’s just an excuse, really."

"Yeah, it is."

The same applied to what happened with Namgung Bi-ah. Hearing the explanation didn’t change anything; Gu Yangcheon already knew the gist of it.

Woo Hyuk had disrupted the escape route to make it easier for Namgung Bi-ah to flee. When it looked like she wouldn’t make it, Woo Hyuk had intervened, setting off the chain of events.

But—

"You know as well as I do that no matter how good your reasons sound, they don’t mean much."

"..."

"And that’s what pisses me off even more. What? You’re just going to stay here? Refusing to return to Zhongyuan so you can pay for your sins?"

Gu Yangcheon grabbed Woo Hyuk by the collar and yanked him close.

"What sins, huh? Are you haunted by the faces of the dead from the North Sea?"

"...Yangcheon."

"Don’t give me that crap, Woo Hyuk. Rotting in this cell for the rest of your life isn’t penance—it’s running away, you idiot."

Gu Yangcheon’s eyes blazed as he glared at Woo Hyuk.

"If you’re so eager to repent, why not just slit your throat here and now? Isn’t that more fitting?"

"..."

"What’s stopping you? Regret? Guilt? Or maybe... it’s Yuri?"

At the mention of Yuri, Woo Hyuk’s eyes hardened.

"Then what if I killed her? Would that end your hesitation?"

"You—!"

Woo Hyuk’s energy flared, but Gu Yangcheon shut it down with a swift punch to the stomach.

Thud!

"Ugh—!"

"So, women are precious to you, huh? Precious enough to forget your guilt and just get angry?"

Gu Yangcheon’s face twisted in disdain as he looked down at Woo Hyuk.

"I was the same way, you idiot."

He threw Woo Hyuk against the wall, and his body slid to the floor with a dull thud.

Crash!

"Do you even realize who you’ve messed with?"

He tried to suppress his emotions, but they seeped out nonetheless.

"Of course you don’t. You still don’t understand. I didn’t either back then. I want to make you understand, but I can’t, so I’m holding back."

The heat emanating from Gu Yangcheon began to fill the cell. He clenched his ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) heart, trying to keep his energy from spiraling out.

"I’m holding back, damn it. The only reason I’m not killing you right now is because you’re my friend. That’s the one stupid reason keeping you alive."

He pressed his killing intent down, suppressing it until it wouldn’t leak.

"So if you want to repent, apologize, or seek forgiveness, do it to me—not to some nameless people of the North Sea."

"..."

"What’s that? You still can’t do it? Of course you can’t. You’re not like me; you’re not as screwed up as I am."

Gu Yangcheon knew this better than anyone. Woo Hyuk wasn’t like him.

And that’s why this had to be handled decisively.

"Then just live with it. I’ll make sure you do."

"...What are you—"

"If I planned on leaving you behind just because you didn’t want to come, I wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of putting on a show with the Palace Lord."

Step.

Gu Yangcheon took a deliberate step toward Woo Hyuk.

"Your opinion doesn’t matter to me, Woo Hyuk. I’m not wasting energy trying to convince you. I’m taking the easy route."

He crouched down to meet Woo Hyuk’s gaze, his expression unyielding.

"You’re going to live and help me. Just follow me quietly."

"Yangcheon... I told you, I don’t want to leave—"

"If you don’t, I’ll kill Yuri."

"What?"

Woo Hyuk’s voice dropped to an icy chill, his gaze razor-sharp, but Gu Yangcheon didn’t flinch.

"There was a condition attached to me taking you from the Palace Lord. Want to know what it was?"

It wasn’t part of some grand plan; the circumstances had simply aligned.

"I have to bring Yuri to Zhongyuan."

"...!"

"And believe me, I fully intend to take her there."

Gu Yangcheon had no intention of indulging in sentimental displays of friendship or sharing Woo Hyuk’s guilt. He preferred to handle things his way.

"If you still want to stay here, fine. But think carefully about what I might do to Yuri once I take her to Zhongyuan."

Or worse—he might kill her outright.

Even as he spoke, a wave of self-loathing surged within him.

He was doing to Woo Hyuk exactly what Cheonma had done to him in his past life.

But he endured it. There was no lower point for him to fall to.

After delivering his ultimatum, Gu Yangcheon stood up.

"You have until tomorrow to decide. Do whatever you want."

With that, he turned his back on Woo Hyuk and walked out of the cell.

As he left, Gu Yangcheon thought to himself:

"Nothing is ever easy."

No matter what it was, nothing in life ever came easily.