Leaving the Family Compound
And so the next day came, and I prepared to leave Jegal Clan Manor, where the banquet was still in full swing.
Moyong Jua wore an openly disappointed look, and Paeng Jeon-ho—still as stoic as ever—somehow seemed to be feeling much the same.
"Why are you making such sad faces? It’s not like we’re parting forever."
"Right? We’ll get to see each other again, won’t we? Ah, if it weren’t for Thorny Immortal-senpai, I’d follow you too...."
At that, Paeng Jeon-ho, standing beside her, visibly shuddered.
Wait. Was that really enough to make him recoil that hard?
Was that woman’s reputation really that awful?
"The next time I stop by the Moyong Clan, you won’t turn me away at the gate, will you?"
"Nooo! Turn you away? How could you say such a thing!? Just come already! I’ll be waiting at the gate to greet you myself! Understand? You absolutely have to come!"
"Yes, I understand. And the same goes for you, Paeng gongzi?"
"The Paeng Clan always welcomes those who visit. If it is Baek sojourner, all the more so."
"Thank you. Meeting the two of you has really been one of the best things that’s happened to me."
Then Moyong Jua stepped up and hugged me tightly.
There was a warmth to it that felt completely genuine.
Maybe these two were the first real friends I’d made since coming into this world.
It hadn’t been that long, of course, but it was true all the same.
I wondered if they thought of me the same way. I hoped they did.
If we ended up as nothing more than people who’d merely crossed paths, that would be a real shame.
I’d already said my farewells to the Jegal Clan Head and Jegal Seyeong the night before, so there was no need to make a special round of goodbyes. The clan head had seemed quite reluctant to let me go, but he hadn’t gone nearly so far as to cling to me as much as I’d half expected. He’d only told me to stop by whenever I thought of it, and to treat the place like my own home.
I’d been so busy worrying about schemes and plots that I’d felt almost embarrassed by my own paranoia.
Anyway, when I headed over to where Byeokunja and Thorny Immortal were, Byeokunja was nowhere to be seen, and Thorny Immortal alone welcomed me with a radiant smile.
Ugh. Why was she smiling like that and still somehow terrifying? Weird. Why did it feel like I’d walked into an ant lion pit?
"This little one greets you in the morning."
"Good. Come in. Don’t just stand there—sit."
"By the way.... Where is Elder Byeokunja?"
"If you mean my martial uncle, he left for Mount Zhongnan early this morning. He had an urgent matter to attend to."
"Ah.... I see. Then it’ll just be the two of us, Senior?"
"So it shall. What, is that burdensome to you?"
"No, not at all. Why would it be?"
Thorny Immortal was still grinning at me from ear to ear.
Still, seen this way, she really was beautiful.
How should I put it? Like a rose with thorns? That was exactly the kind of face she had.
It felt like someone had taken the image of a stereotypical 'female martial arts master' and maxed out her beauty stat.
The first time I’d seen her, I’d thought she looked like a married woman, and that had been exactly right. Smiling only made it more so.
Though now that I thought about it, how old was she? That did make me a little curious....
"So. Is there anywhere you want to go, or anything you want to do? Tell me anything. It can be anywhere."
"About that...."
Since I’d already been thinking about this for a while, I carefully continued.
"Is there perhaps a place where they keep manuals and martial arts texts?"
In the end, I had to get stronger.
Besides, I’d learned that when I used elixirs, the martial arts I’d already mastered all improved at the same time.
Which meant it was far better to learn as many martial arts as possible before taking any elixirs.
So I was asking, just in case.
In wuxia stories, there was always some place like that, right? A library full of secret tomes, where the protagonist would stumble onto some heaven-sent chance?
"Hmm. A library, you say. The places that come to mind immediately are two: the Murim Alliance and Shaolin. But Shaolin is out of the question. The Sutra Depository is not a place either you or I can simply wander into."
"Yes, that would be so."
"As for the Murim Alliance.... Hmm. Even if you went there, you’d still face restrictions. I could take the books out and show them to you, of course, but that doesn’t sit especially well with me."
"I wouldn’t want that either."
"Then why do you seek a library? Is there some martial art you’re specifically looking for?"
"I have something I need to do. So if possible, I’d like to learn as many martial arts as I can."
"Then why go about it in such a roundabout way? You could simply head straight for Mount Zhongnan, could you not?"
"Everyone knows the sword arts of Mount Zhongnan are extraordinary, not least because Elder Byeokunja is called the Sword Venerable. But I don’t want to focus on swords alone."
"Child, I think you’re looking at this the wrong way. Talent or no, learning everything under the sun doesn’t necessarily help you. When one method is perfected, all roads lead to the same end. Master one thing, see it through to its conclusion, and the rest will follow."
Whenever the topic turned to martial arts, Thorny Immortal became remarkably serious.
And honestly, she wasn’t wrong. For an ordinary person, that would absolutely be true.
But I was a little different, because I had to make full use of the game system.
So I needed to explain myself properly if I wanted things to stay easy later.
"Senior."
"Do you have something to say? Go on."
"I still haven’t fully recovered all my memories, so I can’t say this with complete certainty. But I do know one thing: the more kinds of martial arts I learn, the stronger I become."
"Hmm...."
"So I want to learn as many as I can. I think I should."
After hearing that, Thorny Immortal fell silent for a long while before finally speaking.
"If that is what you want, then there is no helping it. Fine. Then let us do this. First, go to the Murim Alliance. There, while helping with the Alliance’s work, you can gradually earn the right to access its library."
"I can do that?"
"Why would you not be able to? The Alliance is always short on hands. Sects, clans, all of them are too busy looking after their own affairs to care about the Alliance. They only come knocking when they need something. So if you go there and help ease that burden, they will give you the treatment you deserve."
Come to think of it, that wasn’t a bad idea.
After all, my eventual targets included the Lord of the Evil Faction, the Lord of the Blood Cult, and the Heavenly Demon.
And for that, I’d need the Murim Alliance’s support.
Building my reputation in advance didn’t sound like a bad idea at all.
"Understood. I’ll follow your advice, Senior."
At my words, Thorny Immortal’s expression softened into a calm smile.
Hmm. If she stayed this gentle all the time, she actually wouldn’t be hard to deal with.
Still, how long would this last? Probably not long. She had a temper like fire, after all.
"Then let’s make our preparations. There’s no need for us to linger here forever, is there?"
"I’m ready. I can leave anytime."
"Oh? I, too, can rise at once. Then what is there to delay? Let us depart immediately."
"Yes, Senior."
And so Thorny Immortal and I rose from our seats together, and before long, we had left Jegal Clan Manor.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
That evening, after Thorny Immortal Mae Yeong-ok and Baek Harin had left Jegal Clan Manor, a small commotion broke out there.
"What? You mean Yeong-ah is missing?"
Dang Ho-jun stared at Moyong Jua, who had brought him the news, as though he couldn’t begin to understand what she was saying.
"Yes, Gongzi Dang. Do you know anything? I thought maybe she’d just shut herself in her room all day, so I went to check, but I couldn’t feel even a hint of her presence. Did you perhaps hear anything? It’s strange, isn’t it, when that energetic girl suddenly disappears?"
At once, a chill ran through Dang Ho-jun. He shot to his feet and rushed back to the lodgings.
Sensing that something had happened, Moyong Jua and Paeng Jeon-ho followed after him, and the others from the various clans in attendance also rose from their seats, curious about the commotion.
The Dang Clan annex provided by the Jegal Clan.
The Dang Clan hadn’t come to Xiangyang with only Dang Ho-jun and Dang Yeong-young, so the annex was fairly large.
Dang Ho-jun dashed inside and hurried straight to the room where Yeong-young had been staying.
The road from Sichuan to Xiangyang wasn’t a short one.
Because of that, Yeong-young had brought a great deal of luggage, and all of it was still in the room.
But as Dang Ho-jun searched the room in a panic, his anxiety only grew, and the feeling of dread became unbearable.
She was gone.
Her luggage was still there, but the things she always carried with her were missing.
Her hidden-weapon case, her medicine vials, her throwing blades—those sorts of things.
Then Dang Ho-jun spotted a letter lying on the bed.
The moment he saw it, his anxiety and dread surged to their peak, and he hurriedly tore it open.
[I’m going to follow Baek sojourner. So don’t bother looking for me, and don’t worry. Please explain things properly to the elders at home. - Dang Yeong-young.]
"Aaaagh!"
Dang Ho-jun clutched the letter in both hands and screamed up at the ceiling.
The others who had followed, including Moyong Jua and Paeng Jeon-ho, were startled by the sudden shout and rushed over to see what was happening.
There, they saw Dang Ho-jun still shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Wha—!? Why!? Gongzi Dang, what happened!?"
At Moyong Jua’s cry, Dang Ho-jun finally stopped yelling, huffing with rage as he thrust the letter at her.
Paeng Jeon-ho took it. He glanced through it once, then let out a long sigh and passed it on to Moyong Jua.
"Good heavens.... Oh, Yeong-ah."
The letter made its rounds through the others’ hands as well, and everyone reacted in much the same way.
Even Jegal Seong-jin and Jegal Seyeong, who arrived late, read it and wore expressions of utter disbelief.
"Everyone! I’m terribly sorry, but I won’t be able to keep company with you any longer! I must go and find that reckless younger sister of mine!"
"Is this really the time to worry about keeping company? Hurry and let’s go find her! We’ll help too!"
"That’s right. We’ll go together as well. Something like this is something everyone should handle together!"
The others readily agreed with Dang Ho-jun’s words.
And watching him, Jegal Seyeong grew increasingly uneasy.
Why on earth had that child, Dang Yeong-young, followed Baek sojourner of all people....
Just as that thought crossed her mind, the woman hurriedly shook her head.
"Seyeong. Don’t worry. I’ll go with Jeon-ho and bring her back quickly. They couldn’t have gone very far yet. So don’t think too badly of it."
Moyong Jua noticed the look on Jegal Seyeong’s face and spoke in an attempt to reassure her.
Then, inwardly, she let out a sigh at how strangely things could become tangled when they went wrong.
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