Chapter 442
Chapter 442
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 442
Chapter Title: Lingering Attachment (1)
When I asked Jang Cheol-han to introduce me to the hidden hermits, he hesitated without answering right away.
I wondered if it was because of the memories from the Heavenly Martial Grand Assembly, so I spoke up.
"I'm not the type to be rude to just anyone. The situation at the assembly was what it was, wasn't it?"
I meant it.
I had asked him to introduce them because I thought it would be helpful to bring reclusive experts to our side.
'But if I push too hard and make enemies of them, that would be putting the cart before the horse.'
Of course, I needed to assess these hermits myself.
I couldn't just bring anyone into the Murim Alliance willy-nilly, no matter how badly we needed hands.
So my plan was to first make contact, consider their circumstances and character, and approach accordingly.
Jang Cheol-han shook his head and spoke.
"It's not that you're lacking. It's just that those guys are impossible to pin down. Even before I went to the Heavenly Martial Grand Assembly, they had a base in the valley of North Ridge Mountain. But they might have changed their minds in the meantime and gone off somewhere."
"Well, striking out now and then is fine. We can call it a stroll."
"Worst case, they might attack us."
"Attack?"
"Yeah. Among ourselves, that's our version of a greeting."
"Well, that doesn't sound like a problem either."
"I said greeting, but it's no light matter. I've nearly died blocking one of those before."
"No wonder they're called eccentric hermits. I didn't take it lightly when I agreed."
"Hmm. In that case, let's go together."
With a nod, Jang Cheol-han resumed his paused steps and began sharing stories about his friends.
"Like I said, they might not be there. Or there could be some new face I've never seen. But the ones I consider friends are two in particular."
"Anything specific I need to keep in mind?"
"Hard to say? They're not your typical friends. We don't pry into each other's business. Now that you've asked, it hits me that I don't really know them all that well myself."
"I see."
"Well, I do know the martial arts they use. Those two employ styles a bit different from ordinary wanderers."
"How so?"
"One we call Taegong among acquaintances. Seems he was a boatman in his youth, so his footwork is unique."
A thought suddenly crossed my mind as I listened, so I spoke.
"...Taegong. As in the title for fishermen?"
Jang Cheol-han nodded and continued about the other.
"The other carries a seven-stringed zither. When the mood strikes him, he plays masterful tunes. But other days, he uses that zither as a weapon."
At that moment,
images of the two took shape in my mind.
"So he's called the Music Master?"
"Exactly."
"Taegong and Music Master... Their surnames wouldn't happen to be Yeo and Wang, would they?"
I blurted it out without thinking.
Jang Cheol-han looked at me in surprise and asked,
"...Spot on. That's why we call them Yeo Taegong and Wang Music Master. You know my friends?"
Know them? Of course.
Though I'd never met them in person.
'...They appeared in the original story.'
Curiously, Jang Cheol-han, walking beside me, had no appearance in the original.
But Yeo Taegong and Wang Music Master had once saved Jeonghyeon when he was in dire straits fighting the Demonic Cult.
'So this is how our paths connect.'
Of course, I couldn't say I'd seen them in the original story, so I made up an excuse.
"With eyes and ears in the Beggars' Sect and Hao Clan, I've heard bits and pieces."
I followed up with a question right away.
"But from what I know, those two are quite advanced in years, aren't they? You call them friends?"
Jang Cheol-han was of an age with Father and Gong Son-mukul.
Taegong and Music Master were from the generation above, elders like Namgung Won or Jegal Cheok.
At my question, Jang Cheol-han chuckled and replied.
"I told you. We don't ask or pry into each other's lives."
He then began recounting anecdotes the three had shared.
"...So one day, the three of us just sat around twiddling our thumbs."
We chatted idly as we ascended North Ridge Mountain for a while.
"!?"
"!"
Suddenly, fierce killing intent shot out from both sides like arrows.
Two elders, one shouldering a fishing rod and the other a seven-stringed zither, attacked without a word.
Swaeek!
Swaeaeaeek!!
Jang Cheol-han let out a dry laugh and drew his sword.
"See? What did I tell you?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The news that Eon Yong-un had heeded the Baekbon Council's summons and headed to the Murim Alliance spread quickly to the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
As a result,
in the depths of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains right now, under the watchful eye of Cult Leader Hyeok Ryeon-gang, the core forces of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult were being inspected.
"Loyalty!"
Once all the forces had assembled,
a group of cultists stepped forward.
It was none other than Hyeok Ryeon-gang's youngest son, Hyeok Ryeon-so, tasked with restoring the cult's honor, along with the family heads supporting him.
"This one will surely punish the heretics and restore our cult's dignity!"
Hyeok Ryeon-gang slowly nodded at Hyeok Ryeon-so's shout from the forefront.
Crack.
Hyeok Ryeon-so and his subordinate demons bowed once more toward Hyeok Ryeon-gang, then sharply turned and dashed toward the Central Plains.
Hyeok Ryeon-gang watched their retreating figures for a moment before waving his hand to dismiss the Five Elements Unit and other forces.
His gaze shifted to Demon Brain Gal Hyo-bong.
"Old man, come see me."
As always, he began walking toward the Heavenly Demon Cave.
Gal Hyo-bong followed, and Hyeok Ryeon-gang spoke again.
"Eon Yong-un responded to the Baekbon Council's summons and went to the Murim Alliance, and right on cue, the King of the Green Forest vanishes. Suspiciously perfect setup."
"Indeed. Considering the newsletter that started all this... Their intent to draw us out is clear. But every irresistible bait must be bitten, even if it kills you, right?"
"So what odds do you give this plan succeeding?"
"Depends on the variables, but restoring our fallen honor? I'd say nine out of ten. The youngest young master's forces are fully mobilized. Whether he burns Luoyang to the ground or turns the area into a sea of blood, he'll show the cult's might one way or another."
"And the chances of reeling in Eon Yong-un too?"
"Around two out of ten."
"Higher than I expected."
"To lure us out, they've deliberately sent their main forces to the outskirts, leaving Luoyang's defenses thin."
"So it's real blades without armor, huh."
"Yes. Their real strength is just a portion of the Alliance Lord's strike team, Gong Son-mukul, and Do Jung-gwang."
"Got it."
Hyeok Ryeon-gang stopped listening there and waved Gal Hyo-bong off as if to say go.
That was when Gal Hyo-bong posed his question to Hyeok Ryeon-gang.
"Aren't you considering the chance of total failure, or the youngest young master never returning? If you command it, I'll have elites handpicked from the Five Elements Unit follow him in secret."
Hyeok Ryeon-gang frowned and replied.
"Wouldn't that guarantee failure? If it happens, he dies honorably like my son should. Becoming kindling for the Demonic Path's supremacy."
Kindling for Demonic Supremacy.
At Hyeok Ryeon-gang's ruthless resolve to ignite the cultists' hearts if his youngest fell,
Gal Hyo-bong sincerely bowed his head.
'As expected, this is the man worthy of becoming the Heavenly Demon.'
His wrinkled lips parted of their own accord.
"Heavenly Demon Reborn. Myriad Demons Triumphant."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Taegong and Music Master.
Jang Cheol-han had warned me their martial arts were unique,
but as the saying goes, seeing is believing—there's a world of difference between hearing and witnessing.
Kaaaang!!!!
Taegong felt especially bizarre.
He wielded a fishing rod with an iron shaft like a sword.
- Huh, so this is Yeo Taegong? Even I've never seen a style like this. The footwork is typical of seafarers who fight on water or sand.
A martial art even Master had never seen.
The slashes extending from the flexible rod traced unpredictable paths.
Kang! Kang!!!
Kakakakang!
And that wasn't all.
The rod had a fishing line attached.
The heavenly silken thread whipped toward my back the moment I blocked the rod.
Swaeaeaeaeaeak!!!
It felt like facing a sword and whip at once.
'One misstep, and one of my limbs is in danger.'
Music Master was no pushover either.
Hwaruk-
Hwaruruk-
Jang Cheol-han, naturally taking on Music Master, spread a sword barrier with his blazing sword to block the energy waves from the zither.
Dung ddiding ting!
Ting! Ting! Tititing!!!!
But he couldn't block everything from Music Master's incredibly swift fingers.
Leaked waves flew to disrupt my hands and feet.
Pung! Pung!
Pupupung!!!
They were opponents who made it clear they were no joke.
Yet a hopeful prospect flickered in my mind.
'But we can take them.'
First reason: Jang Cheol-han, who had become an owl at the Righteous Martial Academy and completed the full course, synced perfectly with me.
"Senior!"
"Switch? Got it!"
Second: Having fully absorbed the internal energy Namyeong passed me, I felt no fatigue.
The issue was how to lure these two back to the Murim Alliance.
'What to do.'
I mulled it over amid the frantic movements for a while.
Suddenly, a good idea flashed through my head.
'Break their weapons.'
Unlike their hermit garb, their weapons were special.
Taegong's rod went without saying.
Music Master's zither used heavenly silk strings and a body of wrought iron and ebony.
'Treasured weapons they've used since before retiring to seclusion.'
Repairing them wasn't something doable in a remote valley.
Decision made, I shifted targets from the men themselves to their gear.
Pat!
First, I circulated the Blood Tide Technique internally for a half-beat faster movement than before, startling Music Master.
"!"
Seizing the gap, I swung Regret infused with Heaven-Splitting Staccato, cleaving the zither in two.
Thudk!!!!
At that instant, I realized Taegong thrusting his rod, Jang Cheol-han in front, and I were in a straight line.
The moment I grasped it, I bellowed.
"Duck!"
Still with owl instincts, Jang Cheol-han reflexively bowed his head as I continued.
The gap created let Taegong's line shoot past.
Swaeaeak!
I slashed Regret at it,
wrapping it up in an instant.
Then, with my left hand, I invoked the Black Hole technique derived from the Star Absorption Great Law.
Shuaeaeaeak!
Taegong's energy, linked through the heavenly silk to the rod, began sucking into my left hand.
"!"
Feeling my unorthodox method as sinister,
Taegong unhesitatingly released the rod.
Clack.
I crushed the captured rod underfoot with qi-wrapped force.
Kwagagak!
Meanwhile, Taegong and Music Master, now at a neither close nor far distance, spoke in turn.
"...Huh. Jang brought quite the weirdo."
"Tell me about it. Coming with Jang is odd enough, but targeting our weapons instead of our necks... Not a twisted soul. How does a beardless kid wield such profound skill?"
Confirming them, I sheathed Regret at my waist and ostentatiously dusted my palms.
Tap. Tap.
The two bellowed in succession.
"Hey, kid! What about my rod?!"
"My zither too!"
Truth be told, they attacked first and were now complaining about their broken gear—classic pot calling the kettle black.
But it was fine.
This reaction was exactly what I'd aimed for.
So I grinned and opened my mouth.
"I've got money to spare. Know a good craftsman too. I'll get them fixed up nice. Come with me."