Chapter 57

## Chapter 57. The Raindrops Stopped

In his innocent childhood, Xuan Yuan Gang and Pang Si He had been close friends.

"Hello...?"

"Hello!"

The two boys were the same age, both sons of family heads, and they shared the common experience of playing with wooden swords since they started walking.

"Do you want to spar with me?"

"Sure! I'd love to!"

Back then, Xuan Yuan Gang's father often visited the Pang family, and the young Xuan Yuan Gang was delighted to meet a peer.

But he didn't realize it at the time.

He didn't know the relationship between the Xuan Yuan family and the Hebei Pang family.

He didn't understand why his father had to visit the Pang family so frequently and why he always sighed deeply when he returned.

"Si He! I'm here!"

"Jiang!"

The young Xuan Yuan Gang was happy just to be able to play with a peer and enjoyed rolling around while swinging their wooden swords.

"Ha ha! I won again!"

"Damn! I'll win next time!"

The sparring always ended with Xuan Yuan Gang's victory.

Pang Si He would grit his teeth each time he lost, vowing to win next time, but to Xuan Yuan Gang, Pang Si He's attacks were all too obvious.

'I won't lose!'

But Xuan Yuan Gang's talent was enough to make up for his inadequate technique.

After dodging a few dangerous attacks on the fly, he swung his sword forcefully at Pang Si He's exposed shoulder.

But this time, Pang Si He didn't back down easily.

Determined to finally beat Xuan Yuan Gang, he twisted his body to avoid the attack and attempted a counterattack.

With a shout, the two boys' attacks crossed.

"Ah!"

Xuan Yuan Gang's sword struck Pang Si He's head.

It was an accident that happened in an instant.

Pang Si He, who had lost consciousness, was bleeding from his head.

Hearing the scream, the retainers of the Pang family rushed over.

"Little Master!"

"Master!"

Both boys were still inexperienced in martial arts.

But the retainers of the Pang family didn't think about that when they saw the bleeding Little Master.

"How dare you use a killing move on Little Master!"

"Ungrateful brat!"

"If anything happens to Little Master, do you think your life will be enough to pay for it?"

"Xuan Yuan! These guys are...!"

"Quickly take Little Master to the doctor!"

Surrounded by the murderous aura of the experts, Xuan Yuan Gang couldn't even defend himself and trembled uncontrollably.

The unconscious Pang Si He was immediately taken to the doctor, and shortly after, the head of the Hebei Pang family and the head of the Xuan Yuan family appeared together.

"Did you use a killing move on my son?"

The head of the Pang family asked quietly, standing in front of Xuan Yuan Gang.

But Xuan Yuan Gang was even more terrified of him than the retainers.

"I, I..."

The young Xuan Yuan Gang trembled with overwhelming fear.

It felt like facing a tiger as big as a house.

One wrong word and he would be torn to pieces.

Then, his father, who had blocked his way, knelt down without hesitation in front of the head of the Hebei Pang family.

"I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry. Please forgive him just this once. My son didn't know what he was doing."

"..."

Thinking back now, the head of the Hebei Pang family seemed taken aback, not expecting his father to kneel.

His father was desperate to save his son.

"Master, you know the two boys have been good friends since they were young."

"Because he played with my son, you think my son is the same as yours?"

"No, no way. How could they be the same? It's all my son's fault."

The head of the Pang family clicked his tongue at his father's humble appearance, and news came that Pang Si He was safe after being taken to the doctor.

The head of the Pang family, looking at the two boys with disdain, ordered them to leave.

"Go back. I'll forgive you this time."

"Thank you very much. I'm truly grateful for the Pang family's mercy."

"Don't bring that boy here again."

"Yes. I'll make sure he never comes near Master again."

On the way home, Xuan Yuan Gang thought his father's side profile in the carriage looked ten years older.

"Father..."

"Don't say a word. I just want to rest today."

"..."

After that day, Xuan Yuan Gang never visited the Hebei Pang family again.

Pang Si He sent several letters, but Xuan Yuan Gang never replied, tearing them all up.

The two met again when they were fifteen, after Xuan Yuan Gang entered the Azure Dragon Academy.

...

"Is that all you can do?"

Pang Si He looked at Xuan Yuan Gang with a disappointed expression.

In front of him, Xuan Yuan Gang was kneeling, covered in blood.

His clothes were torn in several places, his lips were split and bleeding, and his face was pale, indicating internal injuries.

In contrast, Pang Si He only had a bit of his sleeve torn, and he wasn't even breathing heavily.

The onlookers held their breath at this overwhelming result.

"Xuan Yuan Gang couldn't even move...?"

"Is Pang Si He that strong?"

"Of course. He's the Little Master of one of the Five Great Families. Our worlds are different from the start."

"But why doesn't he participate in the Heavenly Martial Competition...?"

"Shut up, all of you!"

Pang Si He's roar silenced the murmuring students.

Pang Si He was in a very foul mood.

He had finally beaten Xuan Yuan Gang, but he felt no joy.

Grinding his teeth, Pang Si He glared at Xuan Yuan Gang.

"Did you think we'd be the same as when we were kids?"

"..."

"I trained day and night in martial arts while you were drinking and wandering around. When you were drowning in inferiority and running away, I was working hard to become stronger."

"Ha ha... Of course you did."

Xuan Yuan Gang laughed weakly, then opened his eyes fiercely.

"With the expensive elixirs given by the family, the best masters teaching you, and the great martial arts passed down only to the family head, if you're still weaker than me, aren't you a cripple?"

Each word dripped with venom.

His eyes, glaring fiercely, were filled with pent-up anger.

But Pang Si He sneered at the sight.

"Did you only practice your tongue while others were training in martial arts?"

"Yeah. You don't need elixirs, secret manuals, or a prestigious family to be good at talking."

"So what?"

Pang Si He looked at Xuan Yuan Gang with disdain.

"What does it have to do with you that I was born into a prestigious family?"

"You don't get it...!"

Xuan Yuan Gang tried to stand up, but at that moment, Pang Si He kicked him in the stomach.

"Ugh! You bastard!"

Xuan Yuan Gang, clutching his stomach, turned red with anger and groaned.

Pang Si He, standing in front of him, asked in a low voice.

"I have one question."

"Go to hell, you... "

"If you become stronger than me, do you think I'll oppress the Xuan Yuan family using my family's power?"

"..."

Xuan Yuan Gang couldn't answer.

He felt a great anger and disappointment in Pang Si He's eyes at that moment.

"Did you see me as that kind of person?"

"..."

They had never talked about it directly.

But the humiliation and sorrow his father had endured at the Pang family that day.

The way the retainers and the head of the Hebei Pang family looked at him as if he were trash.

He thought this guy would eventually become just like them over the years.

"Answer me. You can't run away anymore."

Pang Si He reached out and grabbed Xuan Yuan Gang's disheveled hair tightly.

So close that his breath could be felt.

Pang Si He glared at him with fiery eyes and asked.

"Do you really see me as that kind of person? You damn brat!"

"..."

"Ugh!"

Xuan Yuan Gang's body fell to the side after being hit in the face.

"Listen well, Xuan Yuan Gang. This is the last advice I'll give you as an old friend."

Pang Si He's eyes seemed to be on fire.

At first, he thought Xuan Yuan Gang had changed when he approached him for the first time.

But he was wrong.

This guy was still the most hopeless inferiority complex-ridden person in the Azure Dragon Academy, filled with inferiority.

"Never show your face in front of me again. If I see you from a hundred paces away, you better get out of my sight. If I see your face again..."

Pang Si He, clearing the last of his feelings for his old friend, said coldly.

"I'll really want to stomp on you like a bug."

"..."

"Pitiful brat."

Pang Si He turned and left the grand training hall.

The students who followed him and the onlookers gradually dispersed.

Alone, Xuan Yuan Gang lay sprawled in the center of the grand training hall.

"Damn..."

He lost.

He had expected to lose.

As Pang Si He said, while he had been wasting time and living like a rogue, the guy had been training like a successor of one of the Five Great Families.

'Why did that guy enter the Azure Dragon Academy?'

The successors of the other Five Great Families were all learning martial arts at the Heavenly Martial Academy.

But only Pang Si He entered the Azure Dragon Academy.

At the time, this was a big topic, and no one paid attention to the successor of the fallen Xuan Yuan family entering the academy.

"Xuan Yuan Gang! Long time no see!"

Suddenly, he remembered the day of the entrance ceremony three years ago.

Before the ceremony began, Pang Si He, spotting him from a distance, walked over.

"What have you been doing for the past few years? Didn't you get my letters? I wanted to visit your house, but my father wouldn't let me..."

"..."

"Go away."

"..."

"Hey. Is that how you talk to an old friend you haven't seen in a long time? Hey! Where are you going?"

Xuan Yuan Gang turned and quickly left. Despite Pang Si He calling out to him, he ignored him.

For three years, he avoided him.

At first, Pang Si He, who used to approach him, gradually became cold as Xuan Yuan Gang kept ignoring and avoiding him.

"Hey, Xuan Yuan's rogue. Where did you go drinking today? The smell of alcohol is overwhelming."

"..."

"Pitiful brat. Are you going to live like this forever?"

As Xuan Yuan Gang became more and more of a rogue, Pang Si He took control of the student union and held power.

Pang Si He was one of the top young talents in the Azure Dragon Academy, alongside the student council president, Dugu Jun.

The only difference was that while Dugu Jun participated in the Heavenly Martial Competition every year, Pang Si He had never participated even once.

'Why wouldn't he participate? Because he lacks confidence, right?'

'If he participated in the Heavenly Martial Competition, his true strength would be revealed.'

'He's only a king here. If he went to the Heavenly Martial Competition, he wouldn't even make it to the Dragon's Nest.'

The students gossiped about Pang Si He behind his back.

A petty person who chose to be a snake's head rather than a dragon's tail.

They thought he entered the Azure Dragon Academy to be a king among followers rather than face fierce competition at the Heavenly Martial Academy.

But Xuan Yuan Gang didn't think so.

'Nonsense. That guy wouldn't enter the Azure Dragon Academy out of fear of competition.'

Even as a child, he was the one who always lost to him but kept challenging, vowing to win someday.

A guy with such a competitive spirit wouldn't choose the Azure Dragon Academy over the Heavenly Martial Academy out of fear.

'But why...'

He was back to square one.

Then why did Pang Si He enter the Azure Dragon Academy?

Suddenly, a thought came to him.

"Did you see me as that kind of person?"

'Could it be because of me?'

No way.

Could he have entered the Azure Dragon Academy just because they were briefly friends as children?

"Did you really see me as that kind of person? You damn brat!"

No way.

Could he have asked that just to...

"Ha. There's no way..."

Xuan Yuan Gang, lying in the grand training hall, looked up at the cloudy sky with a blank expression.

Drip, drip...

Suddenly, raindrops started falling one by one.

The rain gradually intensified, turning into a downpour.

Rushing down...

"Really, what a day."

The saying that you get beaten in the rain must be for moments like this. A hollow laugh escaped his lips.

"Ha ha..."

It was really a dog's day.

Xuan Yuan Gang covered his face with his arm to block the rain.

The rainwater seeped into his wounds, making his whole body ache, but he didn't want to move from his spot.

"Hello?"

"Do you want to spar with me?"

"Damn! I'll win next time!"

"Come quickly!"

"Ah!"

Childhood memories surfaced unbidden.

If only these memories could be washed away by the rain.

And if only he could dissolve in the rain and disappear.

Just as Xuan Yuan Gang was thinking this while being drenched in the rain,

Suddenly, the raindrops on his face stopped.

Rushing down...

The sound of the rain was still audible, but the raindrops on his face had stopped.

And then...

"What are you doing here?"

Hearing the familiar voice from above, Xuan Yuan Gang lowered his arm covering his face.

A man stood above him, holding an umbrella, staring at him intently.