Chapter 115
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: The Ape Lord's Sacred Sword
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I Rip's glare was so intense that Ga Du-dal flinched.
Thankfully, Dan Ak-seon came to his defense.
"Don't be too hard on him. He teaches me a lot, you know."
"All he's teaching you is how to be a thief!"
Hit right on the mark, Ga Du-dal was startled.
For a moment.
*Wait a minute.*
Ga Du-dal suddenly felt a surge of anxiety.
If I Rip's words came true and martial arts were banned, countless unorthodox martial artists would flock to them. It was highly likely that among them would be masters more famous and skilled than himself.
*At this rate, won't I lose my place here?*
It was already happening.
Even those smelly beggars who had just joined the group were masters he could barely handle.
*Still, I can't give up!*
Glancing at Dan Ak-seon, Ga Du-dal ran his tongue over his lips.
It was then.
"It's about time we decided on our next destination."
Cho Ak-ryang began, assessing the remaining locations.
"Are there four places left?"
Dan Ak-seon nodded.
"Yes. Of the Nine Great Sects, only Emei, Kunlun, Diancang, and Kongtong are left."
Beom Gye-wi tilted his head.
"So, should we head to Yunnan now? Or to Sichuan, where the Emei Sect is?"
"Hmm? The Emei Sect..."
Recalling something, Cho Ak-ryang trailed off, casting a peculiar glance.
At the end of his gaze stood I Rip with a troubled expression.
Surprised, Dan Ak-seon approached I Rip.
The man, who had been composed until now, had suddenly turned pale and started breaking out in a cold sweat.
Moreover, his eyes were darting about nervously.
"Are you all right? Is something wrong...?"
I Rip quickly waved his hands.
"It's nothing. This happens sometimes, so don't worry. It's like a chronic illness I've had for a long time."
"Then we should find the cause and treat it quickly."
Seeing this, Hong Jeok-mun sighed.
"No matter how skilled you are in medicine, you can't cure the Sect Leader's illness."
"What? Why not?"
"Because it's an illness of the heart."
"An illness of the heart?"
"It's... Gack!"
Just as he was about to say something, Hong Jeok-mun let out a choked sound, clutched his side, and collapsed.
"Haha, this fellow is at it again."
I Rip patted the pained Hong Jeok-mun's shoulder and joked.
"This friend of mine has a chronic illness too."
"This is because you..."
"A chronic illness of having a loose tongue."
Hong Jeok-mun, who had been about to argue, shut his mouth at those words. Beom Gye-wi watched with a bewildered expression.
"What's wrong with them?"
Cho Ak-ryang asked back, as if he were the one who was surprised.
"You haven't heard the rumor?"
"What rumor?"
"The one that immediately comes to mind when you mention the Beggar's Sect and Emei."
"...?"
Seeing Beom Gye-wi's still-clueless expression, Cho Ak-ryang glanced uncomfortably at I Rip.
It was awkward to bring up the story right in front of the person involved. But he couldn't keep the impatient Beom Gye-wi waiting forever.
It was then that a glint appeared in Beom Gye-wi's eyes.
Neither Cho Ak-ryang nor Beom Gye-wi said a word, but as time passed, the way Beom Gye-wi looked at I Rip changed.
"I see now, you're quite a man."
Cho Ak-ryang gestured with his eyes to Beom Gye-wi, who was nodding in admiration.
Seeing this, I Rip gave a wry smile.
He had realized they were communicating through telepathy.
Meanwhile, facing Dan Ak-seon, who was still looking at him with concern, I Rip quickly changed the subject.
"If you haven't decided on your future plans, how about visiting the Hengshan Sect next?"
"The Hengshan Sect?"
Dan Ak-seon asked back with a puzzled look.
He hadn't planned on visiting the Hengshan Sect in the first place.
As if expecting this, I Rip explained why.
"If the Qingcheng Sect is pushed out of the Nine Great Sects, the Hengshan Sect will likely fill the vacancy."
"Pushed out of the Nine Great Sects?"
"It's the fate of a sect whose power has waned. It's not like similar things haven't happened in the past."
To help him understand, I Rip continued his explanation.
"There was a time when the Hengshan Sect was also one of the Nine Sects. They lost their position to the Diancang Sect when their strength weakened due to a certain incident."
"Ah, I see."
"Now that Qingcheng's power has diminished, this is a golden opportunity for them to reclaim their name among the Nine Sects and One Clan. That's why now is a good time to get their signature on the petition. If they hear our reason for visiting, they will likely welcome us with open arms."
The mere fact that their name, not Qingcheng's, would be on the joint petition was reason enough for the Hengshan Sect not to refuse.
It carried the indirect meaning of being recognized as one of the Nine Great Sects.
However, Dan Ak-seon's expression wasn't bright.
"I'm not sure it will go well."
"They will most likely accept. I'll help you."
"The thing is..."
Dan Ak-seon trailed off and then let out a sigh.
"I have a bit of a bad history with the Hengshan Sect."
"A bad history?"
I Rip found this hard to understand.
He had already heard that Dan Ak-seon had spent his entire childhood in a place called the Divine Demon Valley.
He had only left home to travel to distant places twice.
The journey to treat the Martial Alliance Leader's daughter and this current trip to complete the joint petition.
When on earth could he have formed a bad connection with the Hengshan Sect?
Noticing his confusion, Dan Ak-seon smiled bitterly.
"Not me, my mother."
"Ah!"
Recalling that Dan Ak-seon's mother was the Life and Death Demonic Physician, I Rip let out a soft exclamation.
Dan Ak-seon had already revealed this at Shaolin, and I Rip, who was close with the Shaolin, had already heard the story.
"Hmm..."
Faced with an unexpected dilemma, I Rip was lost in thought.
In truth, the Life and Death Demonic Physician was a public enemy not just to the Nine Sects and One Clan, but to the entire orthodox martial world. Just as the Divine Physician had done for the orthodox faction, she had saved countless members of the unorthodox faction.
"How about hiding that story?"
"What? Are you telling me to lie?"
Realizing Dan Ak-seon had misunderstood, I Rip shook his head.
"No, I'm not telling you to lie."
"Then what?"
"I mean that if they don't know, there's no need to bring it up first."
After a moment of thought, Dan Ak-seon shook his head.
"I don't want to do that."
"Why not? Why take the hard road when there's an easy one?"
"Because I'd feel sorry for my mom."
"...!"
"Both my dad and my mom did their best to save patients. It doesn't seem right to speak proudly of one while hiding the other."
Seeing the stubborn look in Dan Ak-seon's eyes, I Rip sighed.
It was a rigid answer, but it was also the right one, so he couldn't really argue.
"Hmm. What to do...?"
In terms of both distance and difficulty, the Hengshan Sect was the perfect choice.
Kunlun and Emei were too far, and heading to Kongtong right away wasn't easy either.
It would require a significant detour, wasting a lot of time.
As I Rip's concerns deepened...
Ga Du-dal, who had been watching silently, suddenly spoke up.
"I have a good idea."
I Rip eyed Ga Du-dal suspiciously.
Dan Ak-seon, on the other hand, showed curiosity.
"A good idea?"
Nodding, Ga Du-dal looked around at the group and began to speak.
"What if we find an important item that the Hengshan Sect lost?"
Everyone in the room looked puzzled.
At this, Ga Du-dal grinned and declared confidently.
"I'm talking about the Ape Lord's Sacred Sword."
"The Ape Lord's Sacred Sword?"
Cho Ak-ryang tilted his head.
"You mean the sword that was once the sacred treasure of the Hengshan Sect?"
Like Shaolin's Jade Buddha Staff, Wudang's Pine-Patterned Ancient Sword, and the Beggar's Sect's Dog-Beating Staff, the Hengshan Sect once had a sacred treasure that symbolized the authority of its Sect Leader.
It was a single sword.
The Hengshan Sect had a legend as old as its history, a story about the Golden-Haired Sacred Ape.
It was a legend about an ape with literally golden fur.
Taller than a man and possessing unmatched intelligence among beasts, it was also a long-time friend of Ha Won-il, the sect's founder who first established his base on Mount Heng.
It was said that Ha Won-il learned martial arts from the Golden-Haired Sacred Ape, which might be why many of the Hengshan Sect's techniques, like the Ape Lord Fist, contained the character for "ape."
According to the legend, one day the Golden-Haired Sacred Ape came to Ha Won-il on the verge of death.
It had been gravely injured while fighting a venomous dragon that lived deep in the valleys of Mount Heng.
Ha Won-il went to the valley for revenge but was no match for the dragon.
Its hide and scales were so tough that his sword couldn't penetrate them.
Before it died, the Golden-Haired Sacred Ape took Ha Won-il to a cliff.
And there lay a metal that Ha Won-il had never seen before in his life.
Belatedly realizing it was meteoric iron that had fallen from the sky, Ha Won-il wandered the world searching for artisans who could forge it.
Finally, in his later years, he met a smith with the surname Gu.
He was a descendant of Gan Jiang, the legendary swordsmith who had forged the famous swords Gan Jiang and Mo Ye.
Realizing he was the only one in the world who could melt the meteoric iron, Ha Won-il pleaded for seven days and seven nights, and the smith finally forged a sword from it for him.
With that sword, Ha Won-il was able to slay the venomous dragon and went on to become renowned as the greatest swordsman under heaven.
It sounded like a tall tale, but the disciples of the Hengshan Sect still believed the legend wholeheartedly.
"But didn't that disappear?"
Jin Jo-un was a famous swordsman of the Hengshan Sect.
He was famous for single-handedly subjugating the Green Forest bandits who had been terrorizing the Mount Heng area.
With his incredible martial prowess, he began to take down their strongholds one by one. Sensing a crisis, the Green Forest dispatched a large number of masters, including two other chieftains.
But even they couldn't handle Jin Jo-un's overwhelming power, and as the Green Forest's losses mounted, their Grand Chieftain, Ak Ho-gun, finally stepped in.
After fighting for a full day and night...
an unexpected result occurred.
Jin Jo-un and Ak Ho-gun, being evenly matched, both ended up grievously wounded.
Having inflicted severe internal injuries on each other, the two began meditating to regulate their ki simultaneously.
The two were equal in martial skill.
Both were so severely injured internally that they couldn't move.
Strangely, the disciples and subordinates from both groups arrived to rescue them at the same time and chose to retreat to save their respective masters instead of fighting.
The fight was over, but Jin Jo-un headed back to the Green Forest.
The sword he carried had vanished without a trace. He thought his disciples might have recovered it, but none of them had it.
This time, all the masters of the Hengshan Sect went to the Green Forest, prepared for an all-out battle.
But the sword was not found.
Fearing mutual destruction, the Green Forest even allowed a search, clearing themselves of suspicion.
In the end, the sword never appeared in the martial world again.
That lost sword was the Ape Lord's Sacred Sword, the sacred treasure passed down through generations of the Hengshan Sect.
"I know where that sword is."
At Ga Du-dal's words, I Rip nodded.
"If they can get their lost sacred treasure back, the Hengshan Sect will gladly give you not just their signature, but anything else you ask for."
Then, Ga Du-dal turned to Cho Ak-ryang.
"But I have a condition."
"A condition?"
"Physician Dan must be the one to retrieve the sword."
Cho Ak-ryang frowned.
"Are you telling Physician Dan to become a thief?"
"I've been letting this slide, but..."
Beom Gye-wi growled, glaring at Ga Du-dal.
Han Seol-hwa was the same.
She said nothing, but her icy gaze felt like it could freeze him solid.
Ga Du-dal quickly replied.
"To be precise, it's not stealing. It's taking back what was stolen by that scoundrel."
Ga Du-dal quickly turned his head towards Dan Ak-seon.
In situations like this, persuading the person in question was most effective.
"Think about it. If they were to go instead of you, someone would surely get hurt or killed. But if you and I go, no one gets hurt, and the item is returned to its rightful owner. Is there anything wrong with that?"
After thinking it over, Dan Ak-seon nodded.
He wasn't wrong.
"That is the true Way of Thievery."
"The Way, not just the act?"
For once, Ga Du-dal puffed out his chest.
"Because my thievery has a philosophy. That's why it's a Way."