Oejunghyeop (The Outer Path Hero) (1)
Oejunghyeop (The Outer Path Hero) (1)
The Master did not speak of strange phenomena, physical exploits, disorder, or spiritual beings.
Confucius did not speak of those who used bizarre techniques to enhance their individual martial prowess, defied the principles of the world, or performed miracles like gods. However.
The Eumyeok Hyeolmang Samaoe (Shadowy, Defiant, Blood-stained, and Monstrous Evil and Unorthodox Paths).
Confucius spoke clearly regarding the evil and unorthodox paths.
As public enemies who harm the original energy of this land.
<Analects> Shu Er Chapter.
* * *
The elegant curves from the white ankles to the calves shimmered and blurred in the water's surface. Carp were bbogeul-bbogeul bubbling in groups of three or five around Dohwa.
Dang Gyeom observed the carp intently.
'They were definitely only a few finger-joints long before...... but they are different now.'
It was as if they had actually become spiritual beasts—
It was then.
Padeuk!
A single carp soared above the water's surface. Its back scales caught the sunlight and blazed in the shape of a flame, and the haze spreading in all directions took form like a campfire.
"A Fire Carp! How on earth......."
Dang Gyeom's cry of astonishment was loud.
Naturally, the gazes of Dohwa and So-young followed, and only then did Dang Gyeom gkuk- tightly shut his mouth, realizing his voice had been too loud.
"Gyeom-ah? Is there some kind of problem?"
"Daddy?"
"No, it is nothing, Taesang-gaju-nim. So-young-ah, it is nothing major for you either, so continue your practice."
His tone was calm, but his inner thoughts were not.
No, just a few days ago, these were clearly ordinary koi carp, but just because the Taesang-gaju-nim soaked her feet and splashed around, they entered the rank of spiritual beasts?
'Is such a thing even possible......?'
He didn't know anymore.
Dang Gyeom took a nut out from his robe and bit into it.
The mystical fruit called Purple Haze Peach filled the Taesang-gaju-nim's bundle, and since he was eating them as snacks for every meal.
'My internal energy has also increased tremendously.'
He was not far from the realm of crafting poison with pure energy. Considering that everything had happened in just a few days, he thought he wouldn't be surprised no matter what happened in the future, but.
"I was still lacking. Chief Manager."
"Yes."
"Send word to the Moyong Clan Leader."
"Understood."
It was an open secret that the precious daughter of the Moyong Clan was suffering from a strange disease called Extreme Yin Body.
A strange disease where the cold energy generated within the body freezes the bones and muscles from the inside. The only way to save that girl was the inner dan of a Fire Carp and the mystical spring water where they lived.
If the Tang Clan could save the Moyong Clan's daughter.
'The prestige of the Tang Clan, which has fallen to the ground, will be restored in an instant, and even Namgung or Huashan will not be able to treat us lightly.'
The communication network of the Murim had long since changed to the Formation Technique. It was a method of transmitting voices across space through energy, invented by the precious daughter of the Jegal Clan Leader.
It was another mystery of the Gangho.
Dozens of messages were exchanged afterward.
They said the condition of the Moyong Clan's daughter had worsened to the point where she couldn't even move. It was because her joints had frozen.
After discussions with the Moyong Clan, Dang Gyeom invited a suitable person to safely escort the spiritual beast and assist in the treatment on behalf of those who could not come directly for certain reasons.
One of the Wulin Five Flowers.
She was the genius girl of the Jegal Clan who had created the voice transmission Formation Technique.
It was a contract made within half a day.
One could sense the urgency of the Moyong Clan Leader.
-Then, I will send the Jegal Clan Leader's granddaughter by noon tomorrow. Since the warriors of my clan can only go as far as Mt. Daepa, I will withdraw them at the entrance. Once the Tang Clan crosses the mountain, please take over.-
-We shall do so.-
And so.
A day passed.
"......The promised time has passed by half a day."
Dang Gyeom muttered as he put down his dry brush. Outside, the evening glow was already deep.
The girl from the Jegal Clan was a peer of So-young and was renowned for her brilliance and excellent movement techniques. She was the precious treasure of the Jegal Clan. There was no way she would be this late without any contact.
'I must assume the worst.'
The warriors of the Tang Clan were supposed to go out to meet her as long as she reached Mt. Daepa, which was the border of the Tang Clan. Seeing as there was no word even from them.......
It was then.
"Father, it's me."
The door opened and So-young entered. Dohwa was by her side. The expressions of the two were dark.
"Dohwa Eon-...... the Taesang-gaju-nim said we must go to Mt. Daepa urgently right now. She said the passing wild birds told her like babbling, and she only knows that it's urgent."
"I hear the sound of the wind. It is as sorrowful as someone's crying. I must go."
"Let us go together."
* * *
Mt. Daepa.
The mountain, located at a strategic point connecting Shaanxi - Hubei - Sichuan, was bound to be crowded with people. Today was different. Not a single bird's song echoed through the mountain.
It was as if the wind were crawling and sliding along the mountain path as if dead.
It was a lonely mountain path. There were two reasons why the dark mountain path, hidden by the leaves of the lush Green Forest under the scorching sun, was quiet.
One was because it was filled with the momentum emitted by a certain man.
The other was because a Chieftain of the Green Forest was crossing the mountain.
The girl who came from Shandong, beyond Sichuan, did not know that fact.
'Namgung is a damn bastard after all, isn't he...... He said he ordered non-aggression. But he's lurking right on the border of Sichuan. I'm done for, I'm done for...... I'm fucked, aren't I?'
Huljjeok.
Her bundle was completely plundered, even the Analects she enjoyed reading was taken away, and she was captured by the Samaoe. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't envision a good future.
Chalssak, chalssak!
The man who took the Analects repeatedly hit the girl's head with the book.
"Ouch, ouch...... it hurts, doesn't it......."
"Hey, you dumbass. How long has it been since Confucius died, and you're carrying this around? And your way of speaking...... are you lacking somewhere? Seriously. I can't even sell you off."
He was a man holding a massive broadsword and draped in a tiger skin. His gruff voice was as loud as thunder. His stature was as large as a giant tree, and his grip was so violent it seemed he could easily crush a skull.
He was from the Samaoe Green Forest Seventeen Strongholds.
Specifically, the 6th Chieftain. The absolute peak of the peak within the realm of Jeolhwa Hyeonseon. A super expert of the Samaoe who was evaluated to be able to enter the Hwagyeong and look toward becoming a Martial God in ten years.
"You're going to let me live, aren't you? I'm weak, aren't I...... if you hit me, my bones will break, won't they? But there's no way you'll let me live, is there?"
"Are you really hurting......?"
"Confucius said it, didn't he? Because they are shadowy, evil, and full of trickery, they are the Eumsa Gwedo (Shadowy Evil and Deceptive Path); because they defy heaven and abandon human ethics, they are the Yeokcheon Paeryun (Defiers of Heaven and Ethics)......"
What else was it.......
The girl scratched her head and said.
"Ah! Because it is a demonic realm stained with blood, it is the Hyeol-yeom Magyeong (Blood-Stained Demonic Realm); because they run wild like goblins and monsters, they are the Mangnyang Bun-jun (Rampaging Goblins and Monsters). That's why they are the Eumyeok Hyeolmang Samaoe...... I'm in big trouble, aren't I...... I'm going to die, aren't I?"
"Do you have medicine or something? I told you this Chieftain was coming, but the fact that you came anyway, and the way you talk, it's all strange, isn't it?"
Hikkeuk, hikkeuk.......
It was quite strange how she spoke so clearly until the end while sobbing. Wi Ja-heon, the 6th Chieftain of the Green Forest, looked at the girl with pitying eyes. Suddenly, his own daughter overlapped in his vision.
He also had a daughter about this age. A lovely daughter who suffered from a strange disease, couldn't speak well, and couldn't even walk properly.
His heart weakened as he thought of his daughter for no reason.
-Daddy, you're not hitting people and things like that again, are you......? If it's because of my medicine money, it's okay! The doctor said if I'm lucky, I can get all better. I'm lucky. I even find lots of four-leaf clovers.-
"Dammit......."
Why on earth did the girl in front of him have to overlap with his daughter right now?
Wi Ja-heon brushed off his hands and returned the bundle.
"I'm sorry for hitting you. I won't ask for forgiveness. Just take this and go immediately."
"R-Really, isn't it?"
"......Yeah."
"Huaaaaing— I'm so grateful, aren't I! You returned my book and gave me my bundle, aren't you? You're not a bandit, you're a true hero, aren't you! The difference between you and that Namgung trash is clear, you're a Great Hero, aren't you?"
The girl burst into tears, grabbed Wi Ja-heon's pant leg, and wailed.
"Keung—"
She even blew her nose. Wi Ja-heon looked at his damp pant leg and thought. I'll have to throw these away. Even so, the girl before him felt more and more like his daughter, and he couldn't help but feel pity.
If it weren't for that strange disease, his daughter would have grown up like this by now and been running around.
'If only I had the Seolhwadan.......'
The doctor's words that her life could not be sustained without the Divine Physician's Seolhwadan or a medicinal pill imbued with immortal energy. The old memory of entering the path of a non-human for that medicine money.
He wondered what he was doing now.
Thinking about catching this little thing and selling her off.
Suddenly, he felt truly pathetic.
Why did the memory of entering the path of the Samaoe come to mind now? Why, of all things, did the girl in front of him have to overlap with his daughter?
Normally, he would have taken everything and sent her back barely alive in rags, but.......
With such bitterness, he gave her head a gentle tuk- tap with his violent hand and stood up from his spot.
"Don't forgive me. I did it because I have a sick daughter. Go quickly before I change my mind."
In addition, he threw out a word as if making an excuse for his karma to his daughter.
"The 'Outer' in Samaoe's 'Outer Path' simply means the path on the outside. It is not the path of a non-human. Forget today's events, and don't travel mountain paths alone from now on. This is an era overflowing with bastards like me."
"You're an Oejunghyeop (The Outer Path Hero), aren't you? Even among those who walk the outer path, there are heroes, aren't there?"
Though most are not—
"......What?"
Wi Ja-heon stared blankly at the girl. Intelligence gathered transparently in her previously hazy eyes.
"She's sick, isn't she? Your daughter?"
"You! How did you—"
"The hero of the outer path just listens quietly, doesn't he? My mind has changed, hasn't it? I have to go to the Tang Clan, but I'll go later, won't I? The heavens are saying so, aren't they?"
Tianji-zi Jegal Yuryeon.
The precious treasure of the Jegal Clan whose mind had gone astray because she caught a glimpse of the heavenly secrets.
The Cheonmun Susu, which reads the will of heaven through the clusters of stars.
Starlight shimmered in the radiance of her eyes. The will of heaven, which drew a smooth hyperbola, was hammered into her mind like a principle. She finished her sentence infinitely slowly.
"If I go to the house of the Oejunghyeop, they will come, won't they?"
The one who talks with the heavens.