Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: The Perceptive Disguise
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Jinmu's cold words made the Zhuge family's escorts, standing a good distance away, glare at him sharply with narrowed eyes.
"Look at these guys? Sticking to someone who says no like your life depends on it, and now glaring? Should I gouge out all your eyes as a group?"
As Jinmu licked his lips with a chilling smile and tried to stand...
"A, a wench—no, a woman?"
Cheongu widened his eyes round and stared at Zhuge Seon.
Deung Yeopyeong was the same.
Though she had a somewhat petite build and a pretty face, her disguise made her look like a man in their eyes, so Cheongu tilted his head.
"Oh dear, oh dear. Don't be like that. There's a reason for the male disguise. Yulpyeong, Saryeong—you stop too. What kind of rudeness is this before an elder?"
Zhuge Seon mediated with a laugh, unperturbed by Cheongu's stunned gaze.
"You... were a woman?"
"I'm sorry. Circumstances led to it. I didn't mean to deceive you on purpose, so please understand."
"Mm, no matter. Everyone has their reasons."
Deung Yeopyeong gave Zhuge Seon a strange look.
He hadn't noticed.
Given her rough speech and behavior, she had naturally seemed like a man.
Even if he hadn't looked closely because his attention was on Jinmu, for her disguise and speech to fool him so perfectly...
'Tch!'
Jinmu, who had tried to pick a fight to separate Deung Yeopyeong and Zhuge Seon, felt his energy drain as the situation unfolded completely differently from expected.
Zhuge Seon's expression remained unchanged.
She's quite steady. Such people are dangerous.
There's a saying about hiding a dagger behind a smile—concealing a blade in laughter while waiting for the perfect chance.
She was exactly the type Jinmu hated most.
Especially since she was a woman?
That made her even more dangerous.
Men are easily swayed by women. That's why there's the phrase about pillowside persuasion.
Men rule the world, but women rule men. In this turbulent jianghu, the most dangerous thing wasn't assassins or strong foes, but a woman hiding a dagger in her smile.
And even after her secret was exposed, she didn't panic.
Proof of her emotional control and profound scheming.
Moreover, the aura emanating from Zhuge Seon.
She had it well-contained, but Jinmu, with his senses spread out, could feel it clearly.
Her skill was nothing compared to his—like dirt under his nails—but she could easily overpower Cheongu and rival Cheongsang.
He had to separate them. Both Deung Yeopyeong and Zhuge Seon.
Vile things could stay nearby, but dangerous ones were best kept far away from the start.
"If knowing makes you uncomfortable, you could switch to women's clothes—no issue."
Jinmu smirked at Zhuge Seon's smile.
Women's clothes?
She didn't seem particularly pretty, and her speech was pure man anyway—it would look even stranger.
"Why the interest in me? Your target was White Heron... this old man, wasn't it?"
At Jinmu's words, Cheongu, who had been rolling his eyes watching them, jumped up in shock.
"Wh-White Heron... Great Hero?"
Ignoring Cheongu's reaction, Deung Yeopyeong looked even more shocked.
"What! You knew who I was?"
"Hmph!"
Jinmu irritably furrowed his brows.
"What? Should I greet you now?"
"What? Hahaha! Have you ever seen such a damned brat!"
Damned brat?
This young punk?
Even if he was Jinmu in his thirties, there was a man twenty years his senior inside.
Unaware of Jinmu's inner thoughts, Deung Yeopyeong burst into loud laughter at the absurdity.
He had acted that way even knowing his identity?
In that moment, curiosity flickered again in Zhuge Seon's eyes.
Unfazed and bold even before White Heron Deung Yeopyeong's fame.
Temperament? Unlikely.
No matter the personality, he was a Wudang Taoist, a martial artist even if secluded in the mountains cultivating the Dao.
He couldn't have not heard of Deung Yeopyeong.
Even the Wudang Sect Leader would bow, so no mere first-generation disciple could bluff like that, no matter how bold.
Besides, his expression didn't seem like a bluff—it felt genuine.
She had already extended her senses to gauge his skill, but even at her level, she couldn't predict it.
That meant he possessed such prowess, and only one person came to mind.
"I see. So you're Jinmu."
"......"
As Zhuge Seon smiled faintly, Jinmu's face scowled even more.
Sharp one.
She recognized him as a Wudang Taoist from his plain black robes, and deduced his name from just a few words and expressions.
It was astonishing to Jinmu, but nothing special to Zhuge Seon.
She couldn't know every event in the Central Plains, but she wouldn't miss even a minor incident in her clan's branch under their influence.
That meticulousness had allowed her, born a woman, to be recognized as the Zhuge main family's eldest son.
Recently, the friction between the branch and Wudang at Dangkan-gu.
The branch leader Zhuge Mulin had already been reprimanded by the main family, and that's when she heard the name.
Wudang's Sword, Jinmu.
Yang Sobang of the Orthodox Seven Stars had been there and confirmed his realm as a Sword Master.
"Oh my, to not recognize the renowned 'Wudang Sword' of our time—such a discourtesy. No wonder your words carried no hesitation."
"Wudang Sword?"
Jinmu's face twisted further, while Deung Yeopyeong's filled with shock.
Of course, that astonishment spread even to Yulpyeong and Saryeong, who had been glaring at Jinmu.
"What, Wudang Sword? Even if I'm out of touch with jianghu news, how could I not know the title of Wudang Sword went to a mere first-generation disciple, not even an elder?"
It was truly shocking to him.
No, the emergence of a Wudang Sword was exactly something to be shocked about.
Because he knew the feats of those who had borne that title in the history of the Orthodox Martial World.
"Heavens, this meeting calls for me to greet you instead."
Deung Yeopyeong beamed and offered Jinmu his wine flask.
But Jinmu's gaze was fixed on Zhuge Seon, not Deung Yeopyeong.
Martial arts weren't the issue. Her mind turned too quickly.
'Damn, caught by a dangerous woman out of nowhere.'
Even as Jinmu stared without looking away, Zhuge Seon kept her usual smile and continued speaking, as if explaining on his behalf.
"They said from toppling the branch's Qinghua Squadron Leader, he was already at Sword Master realm? Impressive. A Sword Master at your age—unprecedented in martial history."
"What! Sword Master?"
What drivel from these two, who weren't even drummers or attendants.
Zhuge Seon dissected Jinmu piece by piece, with Deung Yeopyeong chiming in each time.
Damn it. A mistake.
He shouldn't have revealed so much.
In living as a martial artist, there was an unwritten rule: hide your true strength until crisis struck.
He resolved to be more careful from now on.
"Not Sword Master, but Gang... "
Listening Cheongu unwittingly tried to add, but clamped his mouth shut at Jinmu's murderous glare.
"Eh? What?"
Zhuge Seon, catching even the tail end with her tenacious focus, feigned wide-eyed surprise.
"No way? Sword Gang?"
"Heavens! Really?"
Ah, thanks to this idiot Cheongu, it's all ruined.
"Nonsense. My skill's lacking, so it just looks that way."
He tried to cover it up, but the suspicion once lit in Zhuge Seon's eyes wouldn't fade.
'My god! What nonsense is this? A thirties Taoist with Sword Gang?'
So shocked, Zhuge Seon widened her eyes round.
Jinmu stared blankly at her.
Stupid to disguise as a man with such doe-like eyes. Even if she'd cut her lashes, it would've been useless.
She'd tried so hard to look manly, but those beautiful eyes full of shock couldn't be hidden.
But.
Damn, another mistake.
For a split second, Jinmu thought her eyes were 'pretty.'
Clearly a man in appearance, husky voice and all—yet finding only her eyes pretty. At over eighty years old, no less.
Meanwhile, realizing her own slip, Zhuge Seon quickly erased her surprise and returned to her inscrutable face.
"Haha! Truly an event of the generation. Sword Gang!"
"Indeed. I want to spar right now!"
Despite Jinmu's firm denial, Zhuge Seon and Deung Yeopyeong had already accepted it as fact, drumming and piping away.
Haa, Cheongu.
What am I supposed to do with you?
Feeling his seams burst, Jinmu snatched the flask from Deung Yeopyeong's hand.
Gulp, gulp.
As if his throat had opened wide, the wine went down smoothly.
And the taste was exquisite.
And then.
"Martial Uncle!"
Cheongsang arrived, a large deer slung over his shoulder.
"Haha! This one was so fast. There was a rabbit too, but I just had to catch this for you, Martial Uncle—sorry for being late."
Jinmu sighed at Cheongsang proudly boasting despite his scratched face.
Life is all about timing, Cheongsang.
Normally he'd praise him, but right now, he resented Cheongsang for being late chasing a deer. Why not just bring the rabbit, you fool?
"My, what a big one. Enough for ten grown men!"
Deung Yeopyeong admired as the deer thudded to the ground.
Damn, it's huge.
An old spirit of a deer, big enough for three—nay, all of them to share.
"Didn't bring it for you to eat, old man."
Cheongsang meant well, but.
"Senior Brother. White Heron, White Heron."
"Huh?"
Cheongu poked Cheongsang's side and whispered.
"Zhuge Seon. Woman, woman."
"......"
Jinmu let out an even deeper sigh.
This night was going to be very long.
For clueless Cheongu and Cheongsang, who unnecessarily hunted a deer big enough for everyone...
The road to Wuhan was far.
From Yichang to Wuhan, splitting Hubei horizontally at the end—over twenty days on horseback.
Ten days since leaving Yichang.
Near Jingzhou. Only halfway there.
The Zhuge carriage riders and Deung Yeopyeong rode comfortably, but for Cheongu and Cheongsang, exhausted from days of extreme training, it was hellish.
"Rest there. Train too."
At "rest," Cheongsang and Cheongu's faces lit up, then plummeted again.
The spot Jinmu pointed to was a riverbank against a cliff.
"Why the long faces?"
"N-No, Martial Uncle."
Cheongsang and Cheongu answered simultaneously.
Cliff.
Its sheer drop might awe some, but for them...
'Haa, gotta climb another one?'
Pure despair.
Two cliffs in the past ten days.
Each time, Jinmu had them train Wudang finger techniques.
Climb using only finger strength.
With head-sized rocks tied to each ankle, no internal energy.
Of course, it was training.
Not to shut their yapping mouths.
"Impressive training. Tiring, but highly effective."
Deung Yeopyeong butted in cluelessly, irritating Jinmu—no second-generation disciple dared complain to a jianghu luminary like White Heron.
Only Jinmu could.
As the rest area formed, Jinmu, Deung Yeopyeong, and Zhuge Seon sat facing the river; Cheongsang and Cheongu swallowed tears and crawled up the cliff.
"Climbing well."
Deung Yeopyeong admired.
"They have to. Fall and they die."
Jinmu said casually.
"Impressive. Is that how you raised Cheongsang Dojang to Manifested Qi realm? Cheongu Dojang seems close too."
Zhuge Seon watched with curious eyes.
Obviously wondering if she should try.
By her estimate, Cheongsang matched her skill.
And from sparse talks over ten days, Jinmu had trained him.
Hearing he'd reached Manifested Qi solely through Jinmu—not debates with masters—stirred her competitive spirit.
"Hmph, think a woman could do it?"
"What a harsh thing to say."
Despite Jinmu's jab, Zhuge Seon smiled boldly.
'Tch.'
Failed again.
Damn woman. Need to ruin her mood and shake her off quick, but no matter how harshly he prodded, she never got angry.
'Damn, what is she?'
Jinmu scowled irritably; Zhuge Seon laughed heartily at the sight.
"Whew."
As Jinmu approached the river to splash water and shake off his frustration...
'Hm?'
His head snapped toward the cliff top at a sound from somewhere.
"What's this?"