Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Myriad Dragon Escort Agency (1)
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Cheongun opened his eyes to find it was night.
"How much time has passed?"
Cheongun blinked a few times before sitting up.
And then flopped right back down.
He closed his eyes.
Bedchamber Technique or whatever it was.
Honestly, he hadn't expected much success from it, but he couldn't just not try at all.
In any case, under the premise of it working, wasn't it the fastest and simplest method?
As long as he didn't give in to lust.
And conveniently, there was someone offering to help.
Though it seemed less like genuine help and more like satisfying her own desires while teasing him.
But there was no reason to refuse Ryeon's taunt of "Are you chickening out without even trying?", so he'd gone along with the mood on impulse.
His reason had snapped.
And the result?
"...Fuck."
Naturally, it had failed.
Far from peaceful, his mind was now filled with all sorts of vexations.
It was the expected outcome, so the shock was minimal.
That was when it happened.
An arm from behind pulled Cheongun close.
He let himself be drawn in and opened his eyes.
"Sect Leader, are you asleep?"
"I'm sleeping."
"Sleep well."
"Yeah."
He turned his back to her with a swish.
At that moment, Ryeon gently lifted the blanket and slipped into Cheongun's embrace.
"What are you doing?"
Cheongun asked, and Ryeon quickly replied.
"It's cold."
She made no effort to hide her stubborn intent to burrow into his arms.
Cheongun was baffled.
What are you doing? Sleep well?
As the familiar wriggling started from behind again, he considered pulling out the wooden fish mallet, but decided to let it be.
It was too much hassle to try breaking her stubbornness by force.
Besides, the night wind was indeed chilly.
Moreover, due to her demonic arts filling her body with yin energy, Ryeon felt the cold more intensely than an ordinary person.
Seeing Cheongun stay still, Ryeon took it as permission and freely dug under the blanket, pressing right up against him and meticulously tucking in the edges.
She was truly shivering, seeking his body heat and clinging even closer.
Now that the chill had somewhat subsided, Ryeon mumbled.
"Sect Leader, what about the Bedchamber Technique?"
"Can't you tell?"
"Pfft, it failed, right? I figured as much. What now?"
"What do you mean, what? I'll find another way."
Ryeon nodded as if convinced.
"Find some spirit medicine?"
Cheongun thought it over.
As Ryeon said, there were no methods besides spirit medicine.
"Sect Leader, you've got plenty of money. Can't you just buy some?"
"Spirit medicines available on the market are adulterated and useless."
"Then what?"
"I need to find natural ones like Ice Crystal or Snow Ginseng."
Of course, they had to be spirit items that had absorbed pure yin energy for thousands of years to be effective.
Naturally, such natural products weren't the common sort.
Fortuitous encounters—among them, heaven-sent opportunities of the ages.
But if it could raise his realm in the short term, it was an absolutely necessary item.
"Is it that urgent?"
"Extremely."
"But Sect Leader, at your age, who could even be your rival that you're in such a hurry?"
"What's the point if there are no rivals my age? I need no rivals under heaven."
At those words, Ryeon's eyes sparkled.
"That was kinda cool just now."
"Cut the nonsense and sleep."
"I can't sleep."
"Sleep anyway."
"Fine."
"And get out. It's uncomfortable."
"It's cold. I wanna sleep like this."
Ryeon yawned.
Then she twisted her body, burying her face in Cheongun's chest.
"Hehe."
Feeling pleased, Ryeon let out a small laugh.
And closed her eyes.
Cheongun clicked his tongue at the sight.
"Hah."
He considered saying something, but he was too sleepy even for that.
Only after the sun rose did he finally come to his senses.
"Sect Leader, wake up."
Ryeon brought a cup of tea to Cheongun, who sat there with a tousled face.
Cheongun blankly looked up at her.
"Why are you doing something you never do?"
"Don't like it?"
"Nice."
Cheongun reached out and took the teacup.
He'd just woken up, so his throat was parched—perfect timing.
He gulped down the steaming tea and fell deep into thought.
For now, the Bedchamber Technique was a failure.
He mentally crossed out the three words "Bedchamber Technique."
What Cheongun needed now was tempering of the mind.
The most orthodox method was reading sutras to cultivate discipline.
But Cheongun's patience would never accept such outdated drudgery.
That was why Jin Mu-seong had suggested the Bedchamber Technique, considering Cheongun's temperament, but even that had failed spectacularly.
So, all that remained were fortuitous encounters.
To absorb extreme yin energy, he needed a natural inner core.
Thanks to his knowledge of the original story, Cheongun knew about most existing fortuitous encounters.
Ten Thousand Year Ice Crystal.
It grew on the glacial Bingcheon Wall in the extreme northern snowfields.
The problem was, Cheongun only knew the location vaguely.
The continent was vast beyond ordinary measure, and pinpointing an exact spot from fragmentary game marker info was no easy task.
This was ancient China, after all.
In an era where even geography was treated as precious, haphazard and unreliable.
Thus, he needed information.
It would be good to join a merchant caravan heading there.
Or hitch onto an escort agency's procession.
Cheongun stood up and strode forward.
And got straight to the point.
"I'm heading out."
"Where to now?"
"Filth Gate."
His destination was the Filth Gate.
He'd had business there anyway, so the timing was perfect.
Using lightfoot skill casually, he soon arrived at the city gate.
After quite some time of it, he felt a slight hunger.
Cheongun glanced at the sword sheaths on his waist.
Crimson Night Sword on the left.
Final Boss Demonic Sword on the right.
It was a truly ridiculous sight.
If not for his master's near-blackmail insistence, he never would have done it.
A swordsman naturally wielded a one-handed sword as the basics.
There was no formal rule, of course, but public perception held it so.
Dual blades existed, but dual swords? Not really.
If any, it was some bizarre style from a hipster sect.
Thus, Cheongun walking around with one sword on each side was shocking to Central Plains warriors in every way.
It was like a monk gnawing on pork ribs and chugging rice wine in broad daylight.
And when two such figures met in one place...
"Vast Emptiness?"
"Young Hero Cheong!"
Cheongun entered and gave a nod to Vast Emptiness, who sat in the corner of the inn with a full table spread.
Pork ribs, lamb hotpot, pork steamed buns, sliced pork, dongpo pork...
What, did he order all this?
Seeing Cheongun's expression, Vast Emptiness smiled kindly.
"All this is thanks to Young Hero."
"My doing?"
"Yes. Thanks to your victory at the Tang Clan branch tournament, I made a killing on the betting odds."
"Ah."
Cheongun inwardly admired.
A monk splurging on meat and booze from gambling wins.
Vast Emptiness indeed.
A monk he'd personally trained.
Cheongun's expression softened.
And he performed a perfect clasp of hands.
"Namu Amida Butsu."
"Namu Amida Butsu."
Exchanging clasped hands instead of fist salutes, Vast Emptiness asked.
"What brings Young Hero here?"
"Business at the Filth Gate."
"Filth Gate?"
Then the waiter approached.
And asked the idly standing Cheongun.
"Sir, shall I show you to a seat?"
At the waiter's question, Vast Emptiness seated Cheongun.
"Young Hero, this is fate too—sit and eat with me."
"Free?"
"Haha, of course."
"Then I won't hold back."
A moment later, the two quietly ate the bountiful spread.
Vast Emptiness kept glancing at Cheongun's face while eating.
It was his usual look, but somehow full of worries.
Above all, what were those two swords on his waist?
What warrior in the world carried two swords so brazenly on both sides?
It was quite comical, but Vast Emptiness refrained from asking.
When had Cheongun ever acted predictably for just a day or two?
He was just being himself.
However, Vast Emptiness wasn't the only one who found it odd.
The Four Corner Tower gathered various ronin types.
The Tang Clan's city always bustled with warriors due to the high-quality weapons.
Especially many unaffiliated ronin and escort agency's guards.
Nam Hyuk, sitting across, was one such man.
He kept sneaking glances at Cheongun's waist swords and whispered to his companion beside him.
"Brother Ju, did you see those?"
At Nam Hyuk's words, Ju Seoljin casually glanced over.
He'd already found it strange that some prayer-bead-wearing monk had come in and ordered a feast of meat and booze.
Then shortly after, a boy who seemed an acquaintance joined him.
But the boy's state was abnormal too.
Two sword sheaths?
Truly comical.
And irritating at the same time.
A milk-scented brat who didn't even look twenty, swaggering around with two swords left and right out of vanity, without shame. Absurd.
His aura at a glance wasn't ordinary, so not a novice.
Could be a peak Return to Truth Realm master, but even such a master wouldn't carry two swords so ridiculously.
Nam Hyuk's lip curled slyly.
"Brother Ju, see that? Some monk's gone mad, boozing and tearing into meat in an inn in broad daylight!"
Nam Hyuk suddenly bellowed, drawing all eyes.
At his glance, his companion Ju Seoljin cackled loudly in agreement.
"Total mess. No wonder Buddha'd freak if he saw that monk. How much has he stuffed himself for his bald head to gleam with pork grease like that?"
The surroundings fell quiet.
Soon, a few at nearby tables chuckled in agreement.
They were guards from the same escort agency.
Meanwhile, Vast Emptiness, enjoying his drinks, just sat chuckling dryly.
His eyes laughed, but his face flushed red.
The hand gripping his beads tensed, suggesting great anger.
Cheongun, on the other hand, ignored it all, focusing solely on eating.
Then, Nam Hyuk, who'd been needling Vast Emptiness hard, spoke up.
"Look at that. Some drifter carrying two whole swords. Skill's crap so he's compensating with numbers? Or one for show, one for real? Seeing that pathetic sight, I can't even lift my head in shame... Ack!"
Nam Hyuk screamed mid-sentence, clutching his mouth.
A massive impact had hit suddenly.
When he peeled back his hand, pork rib fragments and broken teeth plopped from his mouth.
"Fucking hell! Which son of a bitch dares... Ack!"
His companion Ju Seoljin shot up, but before finishing, clutched his mouth the same way.
Likewise, pork rib bits and broken teeth fell to the floor.
Nam Hyuk and Ju Seoljin bled profusely from their mouths, glaring at Cheongun.
Cheongun, with a distant expression, gnawed on a pork rib and said.
"Insulting my companion is fine."
"What?"
"But insulting me is unforgivable."
"......"