Chapter 101
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: An Old Grudge
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A quiet inn's rear courtyard.
“I'm ready.”
Ga Du-dal, who had been yawning languidly, turned his head at the sound of Dan Ak-seon's voice from behind him.
“Ready for what?”
Dan Ak-seon said with a serious expression.
“The duel. I won't be defeated so easily this time.”
Ga Du-dal stared intently at Dan Ak-seon. It seemed he had steeled himself after his last defeat.
*Not a chance.*
Ga Du-dal had no intention of readily agreeing to a duel.
“You're not ready yet.”
“What?”
Ga Du-dal approached the bewildered Dan Ak-seon and whispered something to him.
“……!”
Dan Ak-seon's eyes wavered.
“No! That's not true!”
Ga Du-dal grinned at Dan Ak-seon's vehement denial.
“Is that so? How can you be so sure?”
“Because……”
Dan Ak-seon turned his head toward Beom Gye-wi and Han Seol-hwa, who were standing some distance away.
“Because there's no way those two would do that.”
Beom Gye-wi tilted his head. Why were they suddenly being brought into the conversation?
“No way they'd do what?”
“That you two are……”
Finding it embarrassing to explain out loud, Dan Ak-seon blushed and trailed off.
Then, with a slightly suspicious gaze, he asked again.
“It's not true, right?”
“What isn't?”
Ga Du-dal quickly intervened.
“Haha, it's nothing.”
Ga Du-dal turned his head toward Dan Ak-seon.
“Your heart wavers at such a simple goading tactic, and you say you're ready?”
Dan Ak-seon looked surprised.
“So…… this time too.”
“That's right, it was a lie.”
Ga Du-dal said with a stern expression.
“In a real fight, all sorts of insidious schemes, incomparable to this, are rampant. If you can maintain your composure even against my attempts to sow discord, then I will agree to a duel.”
Dan Ak-seon sighed and stepped back.
Even knowing it was a lie, he would find himself swayed by Ga Du-dal's words. Truly, his talent for stirring people's hearts was second to none.
It was then.
A person entered the rear courtyard, guided by the inn's attendant.
“I think those are the people.”
As the attendant pointed to Dan Ak-seon's group, the man following him muttered.
“A stunning beauty, a giant built like an iron tower, a cute-looking child. And a goatee……”
The tanned man's face brightened.
The man approached with a pleased expression and abruptly asked Beom Gye-wi.
“Are you perhaps Physician Ak-il of the True Saint Clinic?”
“Huh? Ak-il?”
Beom Gye-wi, who had been looking puzzled, soon remembered something.
It was the name he had used at the Martial Alliance.
Beom Gye-wi grinned.
“Yeah, I'm Ak-il. Means number one among villains.”
“Ah! What a relief. I've finally found you. I've been searching every inn in the vicinity to find you all.”
“You were looking for us?”
The man nodded at Beom Gye-wi's question.
“My name is Gu-chil, and I work as a dyer under Master Yeom. A man named Ak-gong asked me to deliver a message to you……”
Before Gu-chil could finish speaking.
“Uncle Cho?”
Dan Ak-seon, who had run over, had sparkling eyes.
“What did he say?”
Just as Gu-chil was about to relay Cho Ak-ryang's message, Beom Gye-wi stopped Dan Ak-seon and stepped forward.
“Show me some proof.”
“Pardon?”
“Do I look naive enough to believe you without question?”
Gu-chil, blinking, soon recalled something.
“According to him, there would be a bald eunuch here receiving treatment……”
“What, you bastard!”
At Beom Gye-wi's thunderous roar, Gu-chil was startled and collapsed to the ground.
“I-It wasn't me, Master Ak-gong said……”
Pushing past the screaming and rampaging Beom Gye-wi, Han Seol-hwa stepped forward.
“What is the message?”
Gu-chil looked up at Han Seol-hwa with a dazed expression for a moment.
In all his life, he had never seen such a stunning beauty.
“Ah! Cold!”
Startled by the sudden chill seeping into the nape of his neck, Gu-chil belatedly met Han Seol-hwa's steady glare and hurriedly spoke.
“He said not to go to Qingcheng, but to head straight for Wudang. He will join you there at the right time.”
An unconcealable look of disappointment appeared on the face of Dan Ak-seon, who had been looking forward to reuniting with Cho Ak-ryang.
“To Hubei?”
Gu-chil nodded at Han Seol-hwa's question.
“Yes. He said you won't be able to meet the Qingcheng Sect Leader.”
Han Seol-hwa, unable to understand the reason, was lost in thought. Beom Gye-wi's face, on the other hand, visibly hardened.
The deep-seated grudge between Cho Ak-ryang and the Qingcheng Sect.
Because he was one of the few people who knew the reason.
*Did he finally lose his patience?*
The very thing he had feared most had happened.
*They say words have power...*
He had once said this to Dan Ak-seon.
That if Cho Ak-ryang had been there, some kind of trouble would have definitely broken out. Recalling those words, Beom Gye-wi slapped his own mouth.
“This damn mouth is the source of all trouble.”
“What's wrong?”
Beom Gye-wi gave an awkward laugh at Dan Ak-seon's question.
“It's nothing. Nothing at all……”
After Gu-chil left, the group also departed from the inn immediately.
Since Cho Ak-ryang's rendezvous was canceled, there was no reason to stay any longer.
They turned toward Hubei, where Mount Wudang was located.
How long had they been walking?
“Physician Dan, aren't you feeling stuffy?”
Beom Gye-wi swiftly lifted Dan Ak-seon and placed him on his shoulder.
“Shall we have a good run for the first time in a while?”
Dan Ak-seon nodded with a glum face.
Beom Gye-wi executed his movement arts and began to dash forward. Han Seol-hwa silently followed behind, her figure flying through the air.
Ga Du-dal did the same.
Able to use his internal energy to its fullest for his movement arts after a long time, Ga Du-dal was thoroughly excited.
But after about an hour, his internal energy began to deplete.
*Damn it!*
Instantly out of breath, Ga Du-dal glanced at Beom Gye-wi and Han Seol-hwa.
The two of them showed no change in their complexion.
They were truly monstrous. He had prided himself as a master of movement arts who would be sad to be called second in the martial world, but compared to those two, he was like a firefly before a full moon.
And so, a short while later.
A groan escaped the exhausted Ga Du-dal's lips.
“Please put me down now.”
At Dan Ak-seon's words, Beom Gye-wi's figure came to a sudden halt.
The group had already crossed the border of Hubei and reached Jun County.
“Is that Mount Wudang?”
High peaks shrouded in mystical clouds and mist.
“Oops. I guess 'getting some fresh air' brought us all the way here.”
Beom Gye-wi, feigning nonchalance, paused. Dan Ak-seon was staring up at him intently.
“Tell me now.”
“Huh? Tell you what?”
“What's going on?”
“Well……”
Beom Gye-wi trailed off, internally conflicted.
It would be a relief if it turned out to be a groundless fear, but for some reason, he had a bad feeling. Yet, he hesitated to tell the truth, fearing it would worry Dan Ak-seon.
Dan Ak-seon asked again.
“Is Uncle Cho in danger?”
Han Seol-hwa shook her head.
“Don't worry. If I were to name someone in the entire martial world who has even a slight chance of defeating me, it would only be Brother Cho.”
Beom Gye-wi bristled at her words.
“What about me?”
Han Seol-hwa looked at Beom Gye-wi and snorted.
It was just that, but the meaning behind it was clear.
His pride wounded, Beom Gye-wi scowled and glared at Han Seol-hwa. He wanted to start a proper brawl, but now was not the time.
“That was when he was at his best. No matter how strong Brother Cho is, he'll be in danger now.”
In the end, Beom Gye-wi explained the deep-seated grudge between Cho Ak-ryang and the Qingcheng Sect.
When the rather long story ended, Dan Ak-seon let out a sigh.
He finally understood why Cho Ak-ryang became unusually quiet whenever the Qingcheng Sect was mentioned.
“And I didn't even know……”
Despite that history, Cho Ak-ryang had silently endured coming to Sichuan for him, who needed the joint petition.
“Don't worry, Physician Dan.”
Beom Gye-wi pounded his chest with his fist.
“I'll go and bring Brother Cho back.”
“I'll go with you.”
Beom Gye-wi shook his head at Han Seol-hwa's words.
“Witch, you need to protect Physician Dan.”
Beom Gye-wi immediately sent a telepathic message.
—*I don't want Physician Dan to see it.*
—*See what?*
—*Just… everything.*
Beom Gye-wi continued his telepathic message.
—*For the cool-headed Brother Cho to confront Qingcheng at this point? There must be a reason.*
“……”
—*I have a feeling it's going to be a very gruesome scene.*
After thinking for a moment, Han Seol-hwa nodded.
Dan Ak-seon looked up at Beom Gye-wi and said.
“Please. Bring Uncle Cho back. I'll wait here.”
“You don't have to……”
“No. I will wait.”
Dan Ak-seon said with a stubborn look in his eyes.
“The joint petition, and making martial arts a taboo……. All of it was started for all of us from the beginning. It's meaningless without Uncle Cho. The same goes for you, Uncle Beom. So……”
Trailing off, Dan Ak-seon gazed at Beom Gye-wi with sincere eyes.
“Please come back safely.”
Beom Gye-wi grinned broadly.
“Just trust me.”
Having gotten Dan Ak-seon's permission, Beom Gye-wi shot off.
As Beom Gye-wi's figure, which had moved away in an instant, eventually became a small dot and disappeared, Dan Ak-seon let out a soft sigh.
“He'll be okay, right?”
Han Seol-hwa silently patted Dan Ak-seon's shoulder.
*Talk about worrying for nothing.*
Ga Du-dal actually felt sorry for the Qingcheng Sect, who were about to face an unexpected disaster. Then, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
*Wait a minute? Isn't this an opportunity?*
Ga Du-dal glanced toward Han Seol-hwa.
If he could just shake her off, he could run away with Dan Ak-seon.
An opportunity he couldn't even dream of when Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi were around! As Ga Du-dal watched Han Seol-hwa, a look of confusion appeared in his eyes.
Her expression as she gazed at the spot where Beom Gye-wi had disappeared seemed different from usual.
*Is she worried? About those two?*
Knowing the bickering relationship between the three, Ga Du-dal was momentarily confused.
*Come to think of it…….*
Ga Du-dal turned his head to observe Dan Ak-seon's expression.
Looking at Dan Ak-seon's eyes, which were filled with genuine concern for his companions even now, made him feel strangely restless.
*They're like a family.*
Ga Du-dal felt a strange emotion.
He had lived his entire life freely, untethered to anyone.
But for some reason, at this moment, he found himself envying them.
* * *
The Shangqing Palace of the Qingcheng Sect.
This was the largest of the dozens of Taoist temples clustered on Mount Qingcheng.
Historically, it was second only to the Tianshi Cave.
That was why Cheongmyeong Sanin had recently moved the Sect Leader's office here.
Of course, there was also the fact that he disliked the Laojun Pavilion, where his martial nephew and the former Sect Leader, Unsan Jin-in, had resided. Somehow, the Laojun Pavilion seemed to symbolize the decline of the Qingcheng Sect.
In martial arts, they were overshadowed by Wudang, and in fame, by Huashan, but Qingcheng was still, by name and in reality, the Taoist sect with the deepest history.
Mount Qingcheng was where Zhang Daoling, the founder of the Way of the Celestial Masters, preached the doctrines of the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice, and so it is still recognized as one of the birthplaces of Taoism.
The building erected where Zhang Daoling had stayed was none other than the Shangqing Palace.
What place could be more fitting to symbolize the authority of the Qingcheng Sect Leader?
Straightening the Taoist robes gifted by his disciples, Cheongmyeong Sanin wore a satisfied smile.
His inauguration ceremony was only half a month away.
Soon, congratulatory delegations from various sects would arrive.
On that occasion, he planned to show off the continued strength of the Qingcheng Sect.
For many long years.
He would reveal to the world the results of his training, honed in deep mountains and secluded valleys far from the public eye, and rewrite the history of the martial world.
*First, I will add my name to the Five Absolutes Under Heaven.*