Chapter 77. Will You Walk the Path of the Evil Heretic?
Won Seung and Jong Bi busied themselves after dinner.
They hid the silver from selling the Observer's Scroll in the basement next to Baekhwa Pavilion, and sorted out the poisons and medicines as well.
Of course, they also stashed away all the paintings he'd painstakingly created.
Jong Bi asked,
"What about Ogu?"
Won Seung handed her a bundle of silver and said,
"This is for Ogu's treatment. Pass it to Gong I-gwan and tell him to use the leftovers to find a safe house for recovery. And give Ogu this letter."
He'd written that he had to leave Sangyang for important business, so once his body recovered, he should reopen and run Baekhwa Pavilion while waiting.
I should at least say goodbye to Yeo-wol.
If he left tomorrow, it would be a while before he saw her again... Should he sneak over tonight?
As Won Seung pondered, Yong Jo-un arrived.
"What's up?"
"Is there a quiet place to talk?"
His expression was gravely serious.
With a life-or-death duel looming, that made sense.
Won Seung had been planning to tell him about the situation with Hwa Cheon-gang anyway.
"Yeah. The gloomy room next door..."
Won Seung led Yong Jo-un to the gloomy room in the adjacent building.
He turned up the lamp wick to brighten the space and got straight to the point.
"So, what's this about?"
"Thanks to you, I'm in this three-way duel. I don't know how it'll turn out... but before that, I want to repay you."
Something for free? Won Seung's ears perked up.
"As expected of a great hero. You settle debts thoroughly. I'll gladly accept."
"Hm... You don't stand on ceremony."
"Think of it as me skipping the fake humility since I'm taking it anyway. So, what're you giving?"
"My insights on the Musanggyeol."
Won Seung blinked in confusion at Yong Jo-un's words.
Insights on Musanggyeol? Did that mean initiation into Musanggok?
"Isn't Musanggyeol Musanggok's secret art? Can you just hand that out?"
"Don't misunderstand. I said my insights on Musanggyeol."
"Your insights on Musanggyeol, Great Hero Yong?"
"Musanggok pursues the pinnacle of martial arts! Each person can pass their personal insights to one other."
"So, does that make me a full member of Musanggok? Are you taking me as your disciple?"
Yong Jo-un shook his head.
"Unless you enter Musanggok and swear the initiation oath in the ancestral hall, you can't be called a full member. Nor would you be my disciple. It's merely giving you my insights on Musanggyeol as a foundation to create your own new version. In return, you must share your insights with me later. That's how Musanggok's arts have evolved through exchange with the world."
"Ah! I get it. Combining Musanggyeol with other arts to reach new heights."
Now he understood why Musanggok ranked among the three great orthodox sects.
"Countless sects rise and fall. Even those who once reached the peak vanish without a trace over time. Sects that cling stubbornly to their ancestors' arts, claiming supremacy, inevitably decline."
"Makes sense."
"Then let's begin. First, swear the oath."
"Oath?"
"Though not a full member of Musanggok, as one who receives Musanggyeol, swear to uphold its three tenets."
"Three tenets?"
"First, in pursuing martial perfection, you shall not walk the path of the evil heretic. Second, as one seeking martial perfection, you shall not harm ordinary folk ignorant of martial arts. Third, if you pass on your insights and the recipient violates the first or second tenet, you must take responsibility and reclaim them!"
Won Seung tilted his head at the third tenet.
"Wait... What does 'take responsibility and reclaim' mean exactly?"
"It means reclaiming the Musanggyeol, literally."
"How do you reclaim something in your head?"
He wasn't going to chop his head off, right?
"Though these are my insights on Musanggyeol, they stem from the accumulated wisdom of Musanggok's ancestors over centuries. If I misjudge someone... it's only right I take responsibility."
"So... that's just a fancy way of saying 'kill them,' isn't it?"
Why beat around the bush?
Yong Jo-un fixed Won Seung with a solemn gaze.
"Will you walk the path of the evil heretic?"
"...As if. I'm no great hero, but I'm no demon either."
Ah, but assassins were heretics, weren't they? Seemed that way... But he'd sworn to himself he'd never walk that path again.
Yong Jo-un asked again.
"Will you harm civilians ignorant of martial arts?"
"If they're utter scum? Bad enough to deserve death? It's not like only martial artists are that evil."
"In that case, capture them and hand them to the authorities or the Murim Alliance."
"Huh, good point. Truth is, I hate getting blood on my hands anyway."
Won Seung swore the oath without hesitation.
Taking what's offered was one of his virtues.
Yong Jo-un asked,
"What internal cultivation method do you practice?"
"Cheongmyeong Simgong. Excellent heart method."
"I've heard of it. A derivative of Daoist arts, I believe. Could you recite its oral formula?"
Won Seung shot him a sharp look.
Offering Musanggyeol, but eyeing his Cheongmyeong Simgong?
Yong Jo-un explained,
"Some heart methods conflict. Checking beforehand is only natural before passing Musanggyeol."
Fair enough.
A great hero like Yong Jo-un wouldn't covet his arts.
Won Seung recited the Cheongmyeong Simgong formula, and Yong Jo-un nodded once finished.
"No conflicts."
Then Yong Jo-un transmitted his Musanggyeol insights and breathing method. Musanggyeol was a qi art that drew power through yin-yang circulation.
"Musanggyeol connects acupoints corresponding to yin and yang when circulating the great and small heavenly cycles simultaneously. The energy flow varies by connected points. It starts by linking Conception Vessel and Governing Vessel, but afterward, each person's responsive points differ."
"Let's try it now?"
Won Seung sat cross-legged right there and began circulating his qi.
Activating Cheongmyeong Simgong unleashed over forty years of inner energy. Focusing per Yong Jo-un's insights, his Conception Vessel and Governing Vessel resonated.
After finishing, Won Seung described it, and Yong Jo-un nodded.
"Feeling it immediately—impressive. Keep cultivating with the sense of linking them with qi, and the channel will open. Then new responsive points emerge. Opening channels progressively changes your energy. Completing sixty pairs yields a century's worth of inner energy."
"Whoa! A full century!"
Won Seung lit up.
"Don't force responsive points out of impatience. Even after one channel completes, new points might not appear. Forcing it will cause backlash."
"Got it, Master Yong!"
Sixty pairs for a century? That's one year per pair. For me, twenty pairs would do it.
But Yong Jo-un's next words dashed his hopes.
"Musanggyeol arises with intent and fades without. It's not a formal inner art, so keep refining Cheongmyeong Simgong steadily."
"Ugh... That's how it works?"
Full of drawbacks? Yet counted among the Ten Supreme Arts.
Having passed it on, Yong Jo-un looked relieved.
"I'll spend the night at the old house. Tell Hyeol Hwa she can leave now."
"You should tell her yourself. Anyway, I have something to say."
Won Seung explained the Sangyang situation.
Seong Wang's ambitions, Deung Noya's black-hearted schemes as the true underworld boss, Dosanrim and Geom Yak Jong eyeing interests under the pretext of supporting Gwancheonbang and Cheongsu Gate...
Yong Jo-un looked shocked after hearing it all.
So much riding on his revenge...
With a hardened face, he asked Won Seung,
"You knew all this and pushed for the three-way duel?"
"Nah, I pieced it together as things went."
Yong Jo-un thought a moment, then said,
"I just need to kill Hwa Cheon-gang and Cheon Il-hae. I won't meddle in matters unrelated to my vengeance."
"Even if you don't want to, someone might drag you in. Especially Deung Noya—he's too suspicious."
"The shipowners' guild head as the true underworld boss... I think I heard the title Deung Noya as a kid."
"Ah, so he's been pulling strings on the Sang River for decades? And no one knows his real identity... Truly a sinister viper."
"Black Dao involvement in Sang River businesses isn't unusual, so no one suspected."
Won Seung shook his head at Yong Jo-un's words.
"Identity isn't the issue. We don't know what Deung Noya's preparing—that's the problem. Best to stay cautious."
Yong Jo-un nodded in agreement.
Silence fell briefly.
"...Planning to leave Sangyang? I saw you tidying up earlier."
"Gotta dodge the storm."
"Figured. Can you tell me your real identity?"
"Hm... Better not. But my name's Won Seung."
"Won Seung... How should I find you later?"
"Find me? Why?"
"To hear your Musanggyeol insights?"
Won Seung eyed him suspiciously.
What a lame excuse. As if he wouldn't see through it? He was really saying he'd come to lop off his head if he broke the tenets.
Yong Jo-un averted his gaze slightly and said,
"I've lived in the mountains, so I know few people. Coming into the world, I'm grateful for your help. I passed my Musanggyeol insights, but they fall short. If you ever need aid, just say. For a righteous cause, I'll step in."
Then why dodge my eyes? Getting shadier by the minute.
"I wander without a fixed home. That's why I use aliases like Pung Woo Saeng."
Won Seung didn't bite, so Yong Jo-un gave up. No confidence his skills could pry open this sly fox's mouth.
He stood immediately.
"You're right—better tell Hyeol Hwa myself."
After Yong Jo-un left for Hyeol Hwa, Won Seung slipped out through the safe house into the alley.
Even at night, guards patrolled Baekhwa Pavilion. Left and right guards or black Dao lurked at a distance, watching—so the safe house let him exit unseen.
Won Seung darted through alley shadows toward Cheongsu Gate.
With the three-way duel looming, security was tight.
No need for misunderstandings, so he knocked on the main gate.
The wicket opened, and the same pockmarked warrior he'd treated peered out.
This guy's glued here? Why's it always this face?
The pockmarked warrior asked,
"What brings Young Master Seung here so late?"
"I have a quiet message for Lady Hwa."
He flashed some silver.
A hand snatched it, and the warrior said,
"Can't let outsiders in at night. I'll pass it on."
The wicket shut, then reopened shortly.
"Go to the west side gate—Lady Hwa awaits."
Won Seung scaled the wall, circled around, and reached the west side gate.
But Hwa Yeo-wol wasn't alone.
That guy?
A slick-looking man stood before her.
Isn't he Geom Yak Jong's disciple?