Chapter 214
Chapter 214
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Visit to the Infinite Pavilion (1)
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"...The Yangtze Waterway Stronghold, you say?"
Dokgo Ryul, whom he'd met in secret, showed his reluctance from the start.
"They must be having a hard time at the Lowly Sect too."
"Yeah. Neither the Beggars' Sect nor the Lowly Sect knows much about the Yangtze Waterway Stronghold."
The Lowly Sect was a faction formed by those who handled the lowliest and basest of jobs, as its name implied. Thanks to that, they had countless informants among servants, courtesans, thieves, and more—but there were limits.
"Thieves don't hire people with money, after all. Same goes for the Beggars' Sect."
There was no way beggars would be welcome among thieves, right?
"There is very little confirmed information."
"The Green Forest Eighteen Strongholds are at least connected by land routes, but the Yangtze Waterway Stronghold doesn't even have that."
For the Yangtze Waterway Stronghold's bandits, getting their location exposed meant facing imperial troops with hundreds of warships coming to wipe them out.
They were elusive phantoms, and it was common knowledge that no one even knew how many there were or where they hid.
"It's fortunate they sent some clues, but it'll take time."
Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province was called a lake, but it connected to the Yangtze River via a maze of waterways to the north.
To the west, it linked to the waterways of Infinite City here, and to the east, all the way to the sea.
Jiujiang.
And the place where the bastard had slipped in was an extremely complex terrain where nine rivers converged.
A natural fortress where they could flee to the sea or anywhere else?
"Above all, the guy seems to have some kind of異種 ability to control water."
"Like a fish in water."
Seeing Dokgo Ryul's furrowed brow deepen with repeated worry, Chu Un-hwi spoke up.
"No need to overthink it. What an Apostle does is obvious enough."
For starters, if he'd earned the title of Apostle, he wouldn't just hole up in silence.
"He'll definitely try to seize control of the stronghold somehow."
"Right now?"
"Yeah. Their goal isn't survival. It's to get Awakening Stones faster than the other Apostles and become gods."
Especially since causing massive bloodshed and creating more victims would mean more pure blood to offer at the Awakening Stone altar—so they'd likely see it as an opportunity.
"Indeed..."
Dokgo Ryul straightened his expression as he recalled the Apostle's confident and overwhelmingly powerful appearance, then asked.
"So, what should we do?"
"For now, I've asked the Lake Chief to notify us the moment anything happens."
Since who knew where in the vast Poyang Lake the bastard was hiding.
"He'll try to build an altar, so there has to be some contact with the outside."
But that alone wasn't enough.
Chu Un-hwi pulled a pouch from his bosom and tossed it over, adding,
"You use this to set up a chance to lure him out."
"Isn't this a Blood Dew Stone?"
"Nothing's more convenient for baiting an Apostle than a Blood Dew Stone."
And one more thing.
"Look into slave traders."
"Because he's buying slaves to use as sacrifices. Understood."
As Dokgo Ryul clasped his fists and moved to withdraw, Chu Un-hwi added one more word.
"Oh, and... want to go for a walk with the chick?"
A little later, after returning to the lodge and reviewing the materials Yoran had compiled on the Yangtze Waterway Stronghold, Chu Un-hwi felt things weren't going as smoothly as expected.
- Apologies to the young master, but we need more time.
Even from a capable Lake Chief like her, the contents were spotty in places.
- The terrain of the rivers changed a lot due to record floods two years ago.
Suddenly, he recalled Moyong Seon-ya mentioning a few years back during her Jianghu excursion that there had been record flooding.
'Tch. I didn't pay it much mind back then.'
Who knew it'd come back to bite like this?
The problem was Yoran's continued complaints.
- Many of the flood victims threw themselves into the Yangtze Waterway Stronghold.
Unlike ordinary farmers, those who made the river their livelihood had no other place to go.
They didn't know how to farm; all they knew was navigating waterways.
"This is unexpected."
He was muttering and flipping through the ledger when—
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
Light footsteps approached, someone climbing to this floor.
'She's here.'
Chu Un-hwi quickly tucked the book into his bosom, snapped his fingers to reheat the cold tea, and leisurely lifted the cup with care.
The perfect picture of a mature senior instructor, right?
"Huff! Huff! I'm late!"
Seeing Jin Seol-hyang appear with flushed cheeks, Chu Un-hwi smiled gently.
"Haha. No worries. I just got here myself."
"...Really?"
"I was just pouring tea. Feel it—you'll see."
Jin Seol-hyang cautiously sat across from him, glancing around, then widened her eyes.
"It really is hot?"
"You were worried I'd be late? Looks like we both just arrived."
It's fate, isn't it?
He added softly, and Jin Seol-hyang shrugged her shoulders, turtling her neck.
"Haha. What's the occasion today?"
Rarely, Jin Seol-hyang had reached out first today.
Adorably avoiding others' eyes by leaving a note in the instructor's office.
How thrilled he'd been at the unexpected invitation.
Her handwriting was so cute he almost yelled out in excitement mid-work.
'Ahem. A senior instructor can't look too frivolous.'
Please fall for it a little, sis.
Thinking that, Chu Un-hwi smiled.
"I'm curious what business brought little Hyang here today?"
"H-Hyang?!"
Seeing her face turn beet red as she turtled again, he nearly crushed the teacup in his grip and shouted in joy.
"S-Sorry. Did I tease too much? Student Jin?"
"S-Seol-hyang is fine."
Squeeze!
Under the table, his left fist clenched tight.
'Finally calling her by name.'
Until now, it'd been Jin Seol-hyang or Student Jin—a huge leap forward.
With over ten chance encounters already, maybe she was starting to believe it was fate?
As he maintained a calm, expressionless demeanor with feigned leisure—
"Um."
Jin Seol-hyang carefully pulled out a small pouch and rummaged through it.
'It's pretty worn. I want to buy her a silk one.'
But with her strong pride, outright favors might hurt her feelings.
'I'll find an excuse later.'
No telling how long until he could buy her all of Kaifeng City as promised in his past life, but for now, rejoice in the small progress.
"I've been receiving so much from you lately, so..."
Fidget, fidget.
The older sister in reality, the junior student socially, pulled out a small handkerchief she'd made herself.
"!"
"...It's nothing special, and I had nothing to give, so I made it myself."
"!!"
"...If it's okay with you... would you accept it?"
"!!!"
Snatch.
Having taken it unconsciously, Chu Un-hwi saw her wide eyes and hurriedly replied.
"Th-Thank you. I wasn't expecting this."
"I put some effort into the stitching... I hope you like it."
The neat white handkerchief had a simple flower embroidered inside.
And the finishing touch? His name, 'Chu Un-hwi', stitched there too?
'...This.'
Seeing his trembling lips, Jin Seol-hyang asked in a shrinking voice.
"...It's too... shabby, isn't it?"
"Heirloom!"
"Huh?"
"I'll make it my heirloom."
"Whaaat?"
It wasn't enough to be just an heirloom.
It deserved a spot in the deepest imperial vault, with people bowing to it ten times a day.
"I'll make it my heirloom."
He declared, and she burst into a small laugh.
"Ahaha. What is that?"
I'm serious, though?
"Anyway, I'm glad you like it."
One thing was missing, though.
If she'd embroidered 'Lady Jin Seol-hyang' next to my name, it'd be perfect.
If so, he'd store it in the imperial vault's depths and have people bow to it a hundred times a day.
"Ahahaha. You're as fun as Rang said."
"Urgh."
A shame his sincerity didn't get through.
But for now, satisfaction in the relationship's progress.
Back at the swamp lodge, he flopped down and admired the handkerchief's beauty when—
The troublemakers arrived one by one.
"My, you look exceptionally happy today?"
"Sis, the instructor looks totally out of it."
He tucked the handkerchief away, avoiding the ever-sharp-tongued duo's gazes.
'Instinct says they can't see this.'
He sat up abruptly, looked around, and they naturally took their spots, resuming training.
Relieved at their recalling yesterday's pointers, he lay back to secretly admire the hidden treasure again—
"Instructor. Could you guide us too?"
Dang-gan approached from the edge of the training ground.
"Instructor's busy."
"Busy my foot. You were about to nap, weren't you?"
That noisy Un Ho-seung.
Ignoring him with fake snores while lying down, Un Ho-seung persisted.
"Your fishing rod's broken now anyway. How about playing instructor for once?"
"...Not feeling it today."
"You're never in the mood to teach."
"Especially today."
He hadn't memorized every stitch yet.
"Tch."
"For real."
Truth was, not everything had gone perfectly.
There'd been bad news this morning too.
"Got chewed out for not writing my instructor log from morning. Even told to do them all at once."
"What? You don't even write instructor logs? Then what do you do loafing around?"
No retort to that.
Seizing the chance, Un Ho-seung shook his lying body relentlessly.
"Check my martial arts. Just a bit."
"No. Too annoying."
Different from saving failing students.
They had assigned instructors—why bother teaching them?
"This is discrimination! You only help those guys."
"Dude. Teaching new martial arts and drilling existing ones the same? You think?"
Honestly, yeah. Practically no difference.
The Jinju Un Family's Stiff Corpse Fist was tricky in Jianghu terms, but not to him.
"Then shut up!"
As he bolted up to yell—
Chu Un-hwi froze, glancing between Dang-gan and Un Ho-seung.
"What happened to your faces?"
Crusts of blood stuck to Un Ho-seung and Dang-gan's faces.
"...Tch."
"......"
He crooked a finger at the two turning away in bruised pride and asked again.
"Where'd you get beat?"
"Forget it if you don't wanna."
Unlike the sulky, stubborn Un Ho-seung, the oddly pride-less Dang-gan just moped.
"...Lost in sparring."
"I never lost! Got worn down a bit, sure."
Ignoring Un Ho-seung's grumble, he asked Dang-gan.
"What sparring turns you into exploded buns?"
"Lately, some guys suddenly started standing out."
Dang-gan's casual start was jaw-dropping.
"They got hooked on climbing ranks, ganging up for sequential challenges."
"Instructors not intervening?"
Instructors knew endless spars could cause injuries or accidents.
But the response was absurd.
"...Seems there's some weird competition among instructors."
"Not just that."
At Un Ho-seung's words, the twins approached hesitantly, gauging moods.
"Yeah. Some can't control their surging power from rapid progress."
"Now it usually ends with them brawling till one drops."
Un Ho-seung had even chained twenty spars on youthful vigor, ending up like this.
'Damn it.'
That changed things.
"Shoulders back, you lot!"
Not official students, but tangled up with him plenty.
'Fine if I beat 'em, but I don't wanna see 'em thrashed elsewhere.'
His stomach churning, Chu Un-hwi growled with sparks in his eyes.
"I'll make sure you can get sweet revenge."