Chapter 302

Hu Gae was not exactly pleased to see Taoist Cheongmu, but some of the resentment he had been carrying faded when Cheongmu welcomed him without the slightest reserve.

Just as Hu Gae was about to return the greeting and say he was glad to see him as well—

“Huh? Big Beggar, you got taller.”

Cheongmu had noticed that Hu Gae’s posture had straightened as his bones settled into their proper alignment after his physical transformation.

Hu Gae was once again impressed by Cheongmu’s ability to spot such a subtle difference at a glance.

Huh. Kwak was right. When it comes to the five senses, no one under heaven can touch him.

“Oh? Your energy’s different too.”

“...!”

When Cheongmu even noticed that Hu Gae’s presence had grown stronger after gaining another half-cycle of inner power and true qi, Hu Gae’s amazement deepened.

He’s downright uncanny.

Then—

“Big Beggar, did you steal Little Martial Uncle’s wild ginseng and eat it?”

Hu Gae’s face twisted violently.

Damn it. They say a dog sees nothing but shit.

The moment he said that to himself, Hu Gae realized his mistake. That would make him the shit.

Damn it. They already mocked me for shitting myself.

Seeing Hu Gae’s troubled expression, Jin Cheongha quickly spoke up.

“Taoist Cheongmu, you were the one carrying the wild ginseng the entire time, remember?”

“Oh, right. I was.”

Thanks to Jin Cheongha’s intervention, Hu Gae escaped the wholly undeserved accusation—such as it was.

Afraid that lingering there might expose him to some other absurd humiliation, Hu Gae hurried to the bow of the swift boat.

Kwak Yeon stood there as still as a stone statue, staring toward Baotou City. He spoke when Hu Gae approached.

“Brother, you’ve been through a great deal.”

“What hardship? I did nothing and lived in luxury.”

“...”

“So that’s Baotou City.”

Amid the barren yellow landscape, a faint trace of green clung to the area surrounding the enormous fortified city.

“It is.”

“Then why do you look so grim?”

“I may be overly sensitive, but the journey has gone so smoothly that it’s making me uneasy.”

“Why?”

“It feels as though those people do not consider us worth their notice.”

“Isn’t that even better? We’ll get to blindside the bastards properly.”

A faint smile touched Kwak Yeon’s lips.

“That is true.”

He answered in agreement, but the thought still left a bitter taste.

No matter how secretly they had moved, there was no chance the hidden mastermind’s intelligence network had failed to detect them. That made this silence all the more suspicious.

When nothing happened after they left the Martial Alliance, Kwak Yeon had even made a point of openly walking through the markets of Chang’an with the others.

Yet there had still been no response whatsoever. His unease had only grown.

It’s too quiet.

Kwak Yeon could not shake the ominous feeling that this silence was the calm before a storm.

*****

When darkness settled over the manor, Taoist Hyeongong left his room, just as he did every night.

“Master, are you going out again tonight?”

Cheongsu, who had been training in the courtyard, cautiously asked when he saw Taoist Hyeongong emerge in plain clothes.

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

When Taoist Hyeongong frowned, Cheongsu flinched and drew his head back.

“Why are you suddenly asking me that tonight?”

“...Martial Uncle Uncheon ordered all the disciples to refrain from leaving the manor for the time being.”

Taoist Hyeongong’s brow furrowed even more deeply at his disciple’s answer.

“Cheongsu. Do you think Martial Uncle Uncheon has any reason to come looking for me?”

“...”

Cheongsu’s expression grew uncomfortable.

“Why can’t you answer?”

Pressed by Taoist Hyeongong, Cheongsu replied in a voice that was barely audible.

“...I don’t believe he does.”

Because of the incident at the guesthouse in Aju County City, Taoist Hyeongong had been stripped of every post he held within the expedition force.

In truth, he was fortunate that Uncheon Zhenren had not immediately sent him back to Mount Wudang to be brought before the Precepts Hall.

“Then who besides you would know that I went out?”

“...No one.”

Taoist Hyeongong nodded.

“Should anyone come looking for me, tell them I am circulating my qi and cannot receive visitors.”

“Understood.”

Taoist Hyeongong regarded the bowing Cheongsu with displeasure, clicked his tongue, and turned away.

Every time he looked at that disciple, he remembered the humiliation at the guesthouse in Aju County City.

Hu Gae may have threatened him viciously, but he still pissed himself standing up.

In truth, Taoist Hyeongong had chosen him more for the Seok family behind him than for his talent. He had never expected much, but he had not imagined that the boy would be quite so fainthearted.

Damn it. I have no luck with disciples either.

Taoist Hyeongong left the Wudang Sect’s Grand Envoy manor through the side gate used by the workers and trudged toward the Outer Fortress gate.

Before long, he entered a wine house beside the main road beyond the Outer Fortress.

After climbing to the second floor, Taoist Hyeongong stopped before a private chamber. He hesitated briefly, then opened the door.

“Welcome, nephew.”

A pasty-faced old man dressed as a merchant, Ga Deukhyeon, greeted Taoist Hyeongong.

“Uncle, I apologize for being late.”

“Well, official duties can cause a man to run late.”

Ga Deukhyeon spoke with an easy chuckle, then continued with a composed expression.

“Of course, being late is no great matter. A promise, however, must always be kept.”

Taoist Hyeongong’s brow tightened slightly at the barb in his clan uncle’s words.

“I am certainly aware of our family maxim. But even after a man does everything in his power, there are times when fortune simply does not favor him.”

Ga Deukhyeon’s gaze turned cold.

“Nephew, how can you say something so alarming? I trusted your bold assurances and staked the fate of our family’s Cheongo Merchant Guild on them.”

“...”

When Taoist Hyeongong’s expression hardened, Ga Deukhyeon smiled faintly.

“I understand that unexpected difficulties can arise in any human undertaking.”

CLANK!

Ga Deukhyeon tossed a heavy money pouch onto the table in front of Taoist Hyeongong.

“As we have done until now, we will provide as much money as necessary. Just make certain, by whatever means it takes, that our Cheongo Merchant Guild secures the supply contract for the campaign against the Demonic Eight Divisions.”

“...”

“Well? Why aren’t you taking it?”

Taoist Hyeongong answered stiffly.

“Uncle, money cannot resolve the situation this time. There are a number of complicated circumstances...”

BANG!

Ga Deukhyeon struck the table.

“You are favored by a Grand Elder of Wudang. What possible reason could there be for you to fail at securing one paltry supply contract?”

“Uncle...”

Taoist Hyeongong could not bring himself to admit that he had fallen out of Uncheon Zhenren’s favor and lost all actual authority.

“Listen, nephew. Have you forgotten how much support our Cheongo Merchant Guild provided to raise you to your present position?”

Taoist Hyeongong squeezed his eyes shut before answering.

“...I have not forgotten.”

And haven’t I worked myself to death repaying you all these years?

He wanted to shout the words aloud.

But Taoist Hyeongong forced them down because he could not bear the consequences that would follow.

“Your family once served as stewards to mine. The reason they now operate a respectable merchant guild of their own is your talent for martial arts. It was also an excellent decision on my part to recognize that talent and arrange your entrance into Wudang.”

“...”

“You have faced several crises, but you have managed well enough until now. Keep your family’s future in mind, and you will manage this affair as well. Surely you would not make your aged father spend the rest of his life opening and closing gates again?”

Taoist Hyeongong’s fist clenched before he realized it. Ga Deukhyeon gave him a cold smile and continued.

“That is, assuming there is still a steward’s position left for him.”

The warning was unmistakable: if he acted out of turn, his entire family would be ruined. Taoist Hyeongong slowly relaxed his fist.

“Uncle, I will find a way somehow.”

A satisfied smile appeared on Ga Deukhyeon’s face.

“Yes. That is the proper attitude. So long as you make an effort as the Grand Elder’s beloved disciple, who would dare disregard you?”

Taoist Hyeongong left the private chamber without bothering to tell his distantly related clan uncle that the Sword of Wudang was as remote as someone from another world.

He feared the immediate disaster that confession would bring. He also harbored the faint hope that some solution might present itself if he delayed long enough.

Yet that vague hope scattered and vanished as he walked through the marketplace.

Uncheon Zhenren, the Sword of Wudang, was nothing less than a living symbol of Wudang.

Rather than hope Uncheon Zhenren would forgive him and restore him to his position, he might as well wait for the sky to split in two.

Damn it!

All of this was because of that Cave Hermit Taoist.

As he walked along cursing the Cave Hermit Taoist, he felt a cool breeze blowing off the river.

There was a place he had been visiting every night because he could no longer bear lying awake over worries that had no answer.

Taoist Hyeongong had not forgotten the request from the owner of the Black Ship, who had urged him to come without fail because the largest game yet would be held that night.

Feeling the weight of the heavy money pouch inside his robes, Taoist Hyeongong quickened his steps.

A temporary dock soon appeared along a secluded stretch of riverbank. At its far end loomed an enormous black mass.

It was the Black Ship, a vessel operated by a gambling syndicate for the purpose of holding illicit games.

No light was permitted to escape, making the ship invisible in the darkness. Once inside, however, its dazzling splendor rivaled the Epang Palace of the First Emperor of Qin.

As Taoist Hyeongong stepped onto the dock, a figure abruptly emerged from the darkness.

“You arrived in time.”

Taoist Hyeongong nodded.

“I heard the greatest game yet was being held tonight. How could I refuse?”

“Indeed.”

The figure, dressed entirely in black, held out a hood toward him.

“...”

When Taoist Hyeongong stared at it without moving, the black-clad figure spoke.

“You know that no one may enter without wearing a hood. It is also a courtesy owed to the others sharing the same table.”

“Very well.”

Once Taoist Hyeongong put on the hood, which exposed only his eyes, the black-clad figure stepped aside.

“May you enjoy yourself in peace tonight.”

After Taoist Hyeongong disappeared into the Black Ship, the black-clad figure untied the mooring line from the dock and struck a flint to give the signal.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

A moment later, the Black Ship began gliding over the water.

*****

“Jangsan, you have a visitor.”

Ho Cheoljung suddenly appeared before Seokjangsan, who was in the middle of his morning training.

“A visitor? This early in the morning...?”

Assuming the mischievous Ho Cheoljung was playing another prank, Seokjangsan said,

“Ho Cheoljung, at least make your jokes believable.”

“I knew you’d say that, you martial-arts fiend.”

Ho Cheoljung grinned and continued.

“I don’t have time for this kind of joke either. The sword art Master Kwak taught us is so marvelous that every moment spent away from training feels wasted.”

“So someone really came to see me?”

“Yes!”

Seokjangsan tilted his head.

“There is no one who would come looking for me...”

If Kwak Yeon had come, Ho Cheoljung would never have called him a visitor.

“Anyway, the person is waiting outside the moon gate. I noticed someone hovering in front of the entrance this early in the morning, and when I took a look, the face was familiar.”

“Then it’s someone you know. Who is it?”

Ho Cheoljung smiled slyly.

“You don’t expect me to tell you that easily, do you?”

Seokjangsan realized that Ho Cheoljung’s mischievous streak had taken over and shook his head.

“I’m not particularly curious.”

“Oh, you’ll be very curious. It’s a visitor you’ll be glad to see—and perhaps not so glad.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

“Go see for yourself. Then you’ll understand.”

Refusing to reveal the visitor’s identity to the very end, Ho Cheoljung fled as though making his escape. Left with no choice, Seokjangsan sheathed his sword and headed toward the moon gate.

The moment he stepped through it, Seokjangsan’s eyes widened.

“...Cheongsu.”