Chapter 298

Though Hu Gae had been startled time and again, all his questions about how Taoist Cheongmu had come to be aboard the Cloud-Drifting Boat were now answered.

So that was why Taoist Cheongmu went back so quietly this morning instead of making a scene at the guest residence.

Hu Gae realized that although Taoist Cheongmu was extremely innocent, he was by no means stupid.

That only made him more curious about why Cheongmu had attacked him.

“Brother Kwak, what in the world is inside that cloth bundle?”

He could hardly help wondering. Taoist Cheongmu had carefully gathered up the bundle and was clutching it as though it contained the greatest treasure under heaven.

“...Wild ginseng. It was medicinally prepared and dried.”

“Wild ginseng?”

“It seems Taoist Cheongmu had been gathering it all this time to give to me.”

“You mean he drove me that far over nothing more than a bundle of wild ginseng? Good heavens...”

Hu Gae was dumbfounded.

“I apologize on Taoist Cheongmu’s behalf, Brother.”

When Kwak gave a clasped-hands bow, Hu Gae waved it away.

“Forget it. He only did it because he is so guileless. I’ll just consider myself unlucky enough to have stepped in dung.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“More importantly, what are you going to do about Taoist Cheongmu?”

Kwak answered at once.

“Hyeonmun Dojang must be worried, so naturally we have to send him back.”

“How?”

“I intend to find a way at the next docks where the Cloud-Drifting Boat stops. It would be much easier with your help, Brother.”

Hu Gae nodded.

“There is nowhere under heaven without members of the Beggar Clan, so that will not be a problem. And merely showing him the way hardly counts as helping. The real question is whether Taoist Cheongmu will agree to go back quietly.”

“...”

“He seems to have hidden aboard the Cloud-Drifting Boat with a great deal of determination.”

A troubled look crossed Kwak’s face.

“I will find some way to persuade Taoist Cheongmu to return to the Martial Alliance.”

When Kwak and Hu Gae returned to the bow, Taoist Cheongmu was talking with Jin Cheongha. The moment he saw them, Cheongmu pointed at Hu Gae and shouted,

“It’s all that big beggar’s fault! Sister Jin, that thieving big beggar was trying to steal the wild ginseng and eat it. I had no choice but to grab him by the neck.”

“...?”

Hu Gae was bewildered by the sudden accusation.

Taoist Cheongmu continued angrily,

“That’s why I had to come out. I was going to stay hidden for ten days. Anyway, if I hadn’t stopped him, that big beggar would have eaten every last piece of this wild ginseng.”

Abruptly branded a wild-ginseng thief, Hu Gae hurried to defend himself.

“Taoist Cheongmu, that is a misunderstanding. I had absolutely no intention of stealing the wild ginseng.”

“Don’t make me laugh. You were smacking your lips when you took this out earlier.”

Despite his mounting frustration, Hu Gae patiently maintained his courtesy.

“That was... because I was so hungry that I had begun thinking about eating my dry rations.”

“Then you should have taken out the dry rations. Why did you unwrap this?”

“I was curious about what was inside.”

“Don’t lie. Why would you be curious about something that belongs to someone else?”

“That is...”

Hu Gae could think of no real rebuttal. Just as Taoist Cheongmu said, the bundle unquestionably belonged to someone else.

When Hu Gae faltered, momentarily at a loss for words, Taoist Cheongmu turned triumphantly to Kwak.

“Little Martial Uncle, that big beggar is a wild-ginseng thief. So I’m never going back. I have to protect this from that big-beggar wild-ginseng thief.”

It was maddening enough that Hu Gae had suddenly been branded a thief who had tried to steal and eat the wild ginseng. Now Taoist Cheongmu was using him as an excuse to refuse to return.

Wait. How did Taoist Cheongmu know we were planning to send him back? Gah! The Heavenly Ear really was real.

Hu Gae realized that Taoist Cheongmu had overheard every word of their conversation.

Then our plan to send him back to the Martial Alliance is useless.

He quickly tilted his head and looked at Kwak from the corner of his eye.

Brother Kwak, do something.

Just as Kwak was about to respond to Hu Gae’s urgent gaze, Taoist Cheongmu spoke.

“Little Martial Uncle, you don’t have to worry about Martial Uncle Hyeonmun.”

“...?”

“I wrote a letter before I came here. I told him not to look for me because I was going with Little Martial Uncle.”

“Brother Cheongmu, but...”

“Little Martial Uncle, Grand-Master Uncle Unseon really, really does have miraculous powers. He granted my second wish too, just like this.”

Kwak gazed at Taoist Cheongmu’s innocent smile, then turned to Hu Gae.

“Brother, I know it will be troublesome, but please find out whether any of the passengers have spare clothes.”

“What? Why do we need spare clothes?”

“We cannot ask him to accompany us while dressed in Taoist robes, can we?”

*****

Two old men stood on a cliff atop Shanyang Peak, on the western bank of the upper reaches of the Han River, looking down at the water below.

One of them was entirely white. His hair and beard were white, as were his clothes and even his shoes.

The sight of him was enough to make one wonder whether an immortal had only just descended from the celestial realm.

The other old man was his complete opposite, dressed in black from head to toe. He resembled an incarnation of a deathly envoy who had emerged from the underworld.

A figure appeared behind the two strangely dressed old men like a ghost and dropped to one knee.

“Greetings, honored elders.”

The figure’s empty left sleeve fluttered in the river wind.

Without taking his eyes from the river below the mountain, the white-clad old man spoke.

“Hidden Shadow, I heard you had offered one arm to the Fire God. So it was true.”

“I am ashamed that I was careless enough to leave it behind.”

“For you to have surrendered an arm, your opponent must have been remarkable.”

“It may sound like an excuse, but losing the arm was entirely my own mistake. Still, I cannot deny the skill of that person’s concealment art.”

“A concealment art impressive enough to earn your praise? Remarkable indeed. To think there was someone in the Central Plains capable of deceiving your eyes.”

The black-clad old man abruptly cut through the other’s admiration.

“Who was it?”

“The Young Castle Lord of Ghost Night Castle.”

“That is even more surprising.”

The white-clad old man let out another soft exclamation before continuing.

“To think the Young Castle Lord of Ghost Night Castle dared infiltrate the Martial Alliance.”

“She had disguised herself as a member of the Cave Hermit Taoist’s party.”

“Then you need not concern yourself with avenging the grievance. Before long, the two of us will erase both the Cave Hermit Taoist and this Young Castle Lord from the world.”

Hidden Shadow bowed their head.

“Forgive me, but I do not believe the two honored elders will need to trouble themselves.”

The unexpected response made the two old men slowly turn around.

“Hidden Shadow, what do you mean?”

At the white-clad old man’s question, Hidden Shadow took a red calling card from inside their robes.

“This is an urgent dispatch from my lord to the two honored elders.”

The white-clad old man extended a hand toward Hidden Shadow.

WHOOSH!

The red calling card floated out of Hidden Shadow’s palm and flew into the old man’s waiting hand.

After displaying that extraordinary feat, the white-clad old man opened the calling card and read it.

“...!”

His brow furrowed slightly, and he handed the red calling card to the black-clad old man.

When the black-clad old man also frowned after reading it, Hidden Shadow hurried to explain.

“My lord asks that the two honored elders understand. An unforeseen situation arose at Martial Alliance headquarters, leaving no choice but to alter the operation.”

The white-clad old man looked displeased.

“This undertaking is under the Grand Lord’s direction, so the two of us are naturally in a position where we must comply. Still, such an abrupt change to the operation is rather bewildering.”

“My lord instructed me to say that the decision was made according to priority.”

“Priority?”

“Is the Great Demon Prison not protected by a barrier that no one can approach? The Cave Hermit Taoist’s party will therefore accomplish nothing but exhaust themselves before returning. My lord judged that there was no reason to rush their matter. By contrast, this opportunity to catch a tiger that has left its mountain must never be allowed to escape.”

The black-clad old man nodded.

“In that case, the decision is reasonable.”

Once the black-clad old man had accepted the explanation, the white-clad old man reluctantly nodded as well.

“Tell the Grand Lord that the two of us will do as instructed.”

“I shall convey your answer.”

“Still, this must be disappointing for you, Hidden Shadow.”

Hidden Shadow lowered their head at the white-clad old man’s words.

“On the contrary. This is precisely what I wanted.”

“...?”

“Does it not mean that I now have the opportunity to deal with the Young Castle Lord myself?”

The white-clad old man glanced at Hidden Shadow’s fluttering empty sleeve and readily nodded.

“That is also true.”

“Then I shall take my leave.”

Hidden Shadow gave the two old men a silent bow and vanished like a ghost.

SHHHHH!

The sound of rushing wind receded into the distance before disappearing completely. The white-clad old man spoke.

“I still cannot understand the Grand Lord’s decision.”

“...?”

When the black-clad old man looked over, his companion continued.

“The Grand Lord has never changed an operation this abruptly before, has he?”

“That is true.”

The black-clad old man nodded and asked,

“Do you have any idea why?”

“None.”

“Then nothing can be done. It is a shame that our journey here has gone to waste, but the one we serve ordered us to obey the Grand Lord without question.”

The white-clad old man nodded. The black-clad old man continued.

“I rather like the Grand Lord’s decision.”

“Why?”

“Plucking a ripe persimmon is far more entertaining than plucking an unripe one.”

The white-clad old man nodded.

“If we judge it solely by entertainment, that is certainly true.”

The black-clad old man smiled.

“Think of it as waiting for the unripe persimmon to ripen a little more. Still, it would be a shame to have come all this way and leave empty-handed.”

“...?”

When the white-clad old man looked at him, the black-clad old man turned his gaze toward the foot of the cliff.

“I am saying we should clean up the vermin below before we leave. We intended to dispose of them once the work was finished anyway.”

The white-clad old man nodded.

“Let us do that.”

FLAP!

The instant the white-clad old man finished answering, the black-clad old man launched himself from the cliff.

After one final glance at the Han River, the white-clad old man also threw himself over the edge.

When the two old men in black and white entered the Black Dragon Stockade’s river stronghold in the reed marsh below Shanyang Peak, Stockade Master Shin Mocheol hurried out to welcome them.

“Welcome. I was just about to send one of my men up to escort the two honored masters down.”

The two old men stared at him in silence. Shin Mocheol hurriedly continued.

“A carrier pigeon just arrived with word that the Cloud-Drifting Boat you mentioned has departed the Hanseo County docks. It will enter Black Dragon Stockade territory in another double-hour, so I have assembled every member of the stronghold here.”

The black-clad old man looked at the thirty or so river pirates lined up in the courtyard.

“Is this everyone in the stronghold?”

“Yes. As you commanded, I summoned them all.”

The white-clad old man asked,

“What of the other tasks we gave you?”

Shin Mocheol answered as though he had been waiting for the question.

“I sent away all the women and laborers who were staying inside the stronghold. Naturally, I also paid each of them generous compensation, exactly as you instructed.”

“That must have been a great disappointment to you, Stockade Master.”

“Not at all. Thanks to the guidance of the two honored masters, I realized that anyone who violates the most fundamental bonds of human morality is worse than a beast.”

“It is fortunate that you realized it, even this late.”

“Though I may continue living as an outlaw, I have resolved never again to commit such beastly acts against human decency.”

“You need not make such a resolution.”

“Sir...?”

“Even if you wished to [N O V E L I G H T] do so, you will never be able to do it again.”

“What do you mean by—”

Stockade Master Shin Mocheol never finished his question.

A blade suddenly flew through the air and severed his head from his body.

The river pirates lined up in the courtyard stared wide-eyed at the death of their leader.

SWISH!

The black-clad old man flicked the blood from his blade and addressed the river pirates.

“Every one of you will have to die here today. Consider it the washing away of your past transgressions, and you will have no cause to feel wronged.”