Chapter 73

## Chapter 73. Counseling Time

"…So you were wandering the streets after being fired from your guard duty?"

"Who said I was fired! It's a vacation, a vacation!"

Hei Ying glared at Bai Shulong, who was walking beside her.

He was carrying various bundles of luggage, but the number had been halved since they first met.

That was because Hei Ying was now carrying half of the luggage.

'Why am I doing this...'

Bai Shulong had asked her what she was doing there when they met on the street earlier, and since she wasn't doing anything in particular, she had no choice but to fumble for an answer.

Then Bai Shulong had suddenly offered her the luggage.

"If you have nothing to do, help me out a bit. I have a lot to do these days preparing for the new students' entrance exams."

"Huh?"

"I'll buy you a meal later. Just help me carry this for now."

"What's with this sudden...?"

"I'm going to take all this to Qinglong Academy. Are you busy?"

"Here, take it."

...And so, Hei Ying found herself following Bai Shulong, carrying half of the luggage he had been holding.

'If I do this, I can enter Qinglong Academy with my head held high.'

The two of them wandered around the city, looking like peddlers with their bundles and packs.

"When the entrance exams start, a lot of supplies are needed. The head teacher told me to buy them personally."

"I see."

"The problem is, why do I have to be the one to go shopping? I came here to teach martial arts, not to take care of the kids' chores."

"Hmm..."

"Even though they pay me a pittance, they make me do so much... Ah, let's go that way."

"...Do as you please."

Hei Ying nodded with a resigned sigh.

After all, to enter Qinglong Academy without any issues, she had to follow this man.

A short while later, the two entered a teahouse and put down their heavy luggage.

While ordering tea and looking out the window, they heard murmurs from around them.

Hei Ying's sensitive hearing didn't miss a single word.

"Oh my. Look over there..."

"Wow. They're a perfect match."

"If it weren't for the guy, I'd have tried to talk to her..."

"Ha. With your face, you think you stand a chance?"

"...But honestly, isn't the guy better-looking?"

"You, you... What kind of taste do you have?"

One good thing about walking around with Bai Shulong was that she no longer had to deal with annoying flies.

'It's a bit unpleasant to be compared by appearance, though.'

Hei Ying, who had been looking out the window, glanced at Bai Shulong, who was sipping his tea.

His skin was so pale it was hard to believe he practiced martial arts, his jawline sharp, and his eyes deep and captivating.

The fingers holding the teacup were delicate and long, even more so than most women's.

'He is good-looking.'

While she had never paid much attention to a man's appearance, Bai Shulong was undeniably handsome by any objective aesthetic standard.

'...Though he doesn't seem to be very aware of it.'

Indeed, over the past month, most of the people who had secretly approached Bai Long Hall were women.

Bai Shulong probably didn't know how many women Hei Ying had quietly chased away.

"Why? Is there something on my face?"

"...No."

In fact, Hei Ying had conducted background checks on Bai Shulong.

It was a natural precaution to ensure the safety of Gong Sun Shou.

'His past was indeed clean.'

Bai Shulong had lived in the countryside until he joined Qinglong Academy.

His father, who had never made a name for himself in the martial world, ran a martial arts school in the countryside, and his mother had died shortly after giving birth to him.

Bai Shulong had been frail since childhood, but after a near-death experience, he had transformed into a different person.

'And since coming to Qinglong Academy... he's done a lot of ridiculous things.'

Declaring that he would lead Qinglong Academy to victory in the Heavenly Martial Competition.

Betting with the one-time lecturer Nan Gong Shou on whose students would perform better in the entrance exams.

Hei Ying knew all of this.

Of course, she had reported everything to Gong Sun Shou.

-Phew! Is that so? I'll have to work harder for Mr. Bai!

Gong Sun Shou had just laughed it off when he heard about the bet.

Hei Ying couldn't quite understand that, but if the elder said it was fine, she didn't need to worry.

"Why don't you enjoy your first vacation? Don't look so grim."

Bai Shulong said this while sipping his tea with a relaxed expression.

Several women in the teahouse swooned at the gentle smile on his lips.

But Hei Ying answered more curtly than usual.

"My body doesn't feel the need to rest."

"...Hmm. It seems you need some counseling."

"Counseling?"

Bai Shulong let out a small sigh and looked at Hei Ying's stiff face.

"Usually, when I see you, you seem like the elder's shadow, just as your name suggests."

"That's my role."

Hei Ying answered with a proud expression.

However, what Bai Shulong wanted to say was different from what she thought.

Bai Shulong put down his teacup and said,

"So earlier, you were standing there like a shadow abandoned by its master?"

Hei Ying glared at Bai Shulong, setting her teacup down roughly.

"Don't overstep your bounds."

"You seem to have hit a nerve."

Hei Ying glared fiercely at Bai Shulong, but his easygoing smile didn't waver.

"If, hypothetically, the elder told you to die, would you?"

"Of course."

"And if the elder told me to die?"

"I wouldn't hesitate at all."

She answered with a deliberately cold laugh, but Bai Shulong's expression didn't change. Instead, he smiled as if he had expected this.

"Last question. What do you think would happen if the elder suddenly passed away one day?"

"...I don't know."

Hei Ying was speechless. She had never considered such a scenario.

Of course, she knew he would eventually pass away, and she was prepared for it... but...

Thinking about it now made her mind go blank.

Bai Shulong lowered his voice and asked seriously,

"Still don't get it? Why the elder gave you a vacation?"

"That's... because Qinglong Academy prohibits entry to anyone other than applicants... so I had no choice..."

Bai Shulong refuted her stammering answer point by point.

"If that were the case, he could have just told you to wait at the entrance. Why force you to take a vacation and wander around?"

Hei Ying couldn't answer.

She hadn't questioned Gong Sun Shou's order at all.

Bai Shulong clicked his tongue at her reaction.

'As expected.'

Over the past month, Bai Shulong had observed that their relationship was not a typical one between a bodyguard and their charge.

Not that it was inappropriate or anything.

"You might think you're protecting the elder, but from what I see, the one who depends more is you."

"What...!"

Hei Ying flared up, unable to accept this.

But she couldn't help but fall silent at Bai Shulong's next words.

"The elder thinks of you like a daughter."

"!!"

-Whether you know it or not, I consider you like a daughter.

She couldn't forget those words.

She had heard them just a few hours ago.

But how did this man know about something she had only just learned herself?

"Of course, you also think of the elder like a father."

"How... how did you...?"

Hei Ying stammered, flustered. Bai Shulong chuckled, lifting his teacup.

"I'm pretty perceptive. And you're not. Otherwise, why would you think he's abandoned you just because he gave you a vacation and be so down?"

"Such... a thing..."

If she had a father, she would want him to be someone like this.

Hei Ying, who had grown up as an orphan, often thought this while serving Gong Sun Shou.

Bai Shulong noticed that Hei Ying's fingers, holding the teacup, were trembling slightly.

'Should I attribute this to the side effects of her assassin's martial arts?'

Hei Ying had long known that she practiced assassin's martial arts.

And she had reached a fairly high level in it.

"It must be strange to feel such emotions for someone else."

"..."

Assassins are trained to suppress their emotions from a very young age.

Hei Ying had undoubtedly undergone such training.

But training is just training, and human instincts inevitably return over time.

'Hei Ying has been exclusively guarding Gong Sun Shou for several years now.'

During those years, the human emotions she had suppressed as an assassin gradually came back to life.

Little by little, very little by little.

Only recently had Hei Ying realized that she was different from before.

But in terms of emotional maturity, Hei Ying was like a child.

Her body was that of an adult, but her mind was that of a child who blindly depended on her father.

"I... I..."

Hei Ying looked confused.

She glanced at Bai Shulong, then at her own reflection in the teacup, and finally looked up at Bai Shulong again.

"Is there something I'm doing wrong...?"

"You're not doing anything wrong."

Bai Shulong said firmly.

An assassin having human emotions.

In the past, he might have said it disqualified her as an assassin, but he didn't want to say that now.

Firstly, this girl wasn't an assassin anymore.

"The elder doesn't want you to go back to the way you were. If he did, he would have dismissed you long ago."

"..."

"Think about why the elder gave you this free time, why he let you walk around on your own instead of being his shadow."

Bai Shulong finished his tea and stood up.

He had given enough counseling.

The rest was up to her to think and decide.

"Let's go. If we return too late, the head teacher will scold us."

"...Yes."

The two left the teahouse and walked together.

Bai Shulong walked a bit ahead, and Hei Ying followed a step behind.

There was no conversation.

'This is so awkward.'

He wondered if he had overstepped by offering advice.

But when he saw Hei Ying looking lost and unsure of what to do, he couldn't help it.

-You'll often encounter lost and wandering students. As a teacher, you must never turn your back on them.

He also remembered something Mei Jie Yan had said recently...

'Come to think of it, she's not even a student.'

Since she was receiving a lot of money from Gong Sun Shou, he considered this extra effort as part of the deal.

"You."

Hei Ying, who had been following a step behind in silence, suddenly spoke.

"Do you know about the elder and my true identity?"

"...I have my suspicions. I'm not an idiot."

Over the past month, he had heard words like 'emperor' and 'palace' not infrequently.

If he hadn't noticed, that would have been strange.

Gong Sun Shou was likely one of the powerful figures in the palace, beyond his imagination.

"I can't talk about the elder, but... I'm from the Jin Yi Wei."

"..."

The Jin Yi Wei was the emperor's personal guard and secret police.

Even powerful figures feared the Jin Yi Wei, and their strength and authority were formidable.

Moreover, the current head of the Jin Yi Wei was considered one of the ten greatest martial artists in the world.

"I was taken in as a war orphan when I was young and trained in martial arts. I've carried out many missions, including infiltration, assassination, and covert operations."

Hei Ying spoke about herself in a matter-of-fact tone.

It was a story she would never tell anyone, but now she just wanted to talk.

"During that time, I carried out countless missions. A few years ago, the emperor assigned me to the elder."

"Assigned?"

When Bai Shulong turned his head to ask, Hei Ying, whose eyes met his, nodded.

"Since then, I've been the elder's personal bodyguard, no longer part of the Jin Yi Wei. If the elder were to pass away... I would be a free person. The elder had all my records in the Jin Yi Wei destroyed and gave me a new identity."

"...You're telling me this incredible story so casually."

"You're also listening to it so casually. I thought you'd be shocked."

"You're really bad at jokes."

Bai Shulong chuckled and shrugged.

The sign of Qinglong Academy was already visible in the distance.

The two entered the academy, carrying their heavy luggage.

Wow!

There seemed to be something happening, as cheers were erupting from the direction of the training ground.

Hei Ying suddenly asked,

"But is it okay?"

"What is?"

"Once the elder enters Qinglong Academy. If other students pick on him because of his age..."

"Pick on him? What does it matter?"

Bai Shulong laughed confidently. His gaze was directed toward the source of the cheers.

"I've trained him well enough."

He had a strong feeling that his students were there.

* * *

Boom!

A young student, hit in the abdomen by a palm strike, bent over like a shrimp. For a moment, his breath was cut off, and the world turned black.

"Ugh...!"

The young student, lifting his head, looked at his opponent with disbelief.

"Oops. Sorry. I didn't expect you couldn't block that..."

Gong Sun Shou looked down at the young student, his expression not at all apologetic.