Chapter 75
Translator: penny
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: En Route to Beijing
After a minor commotion, we had lunch at the tavern.
Cheon Woojin looked aggrieved the whole time he ate, but he knew I'd been putting up with a lot lately, so he kept his mouth shut tight.
As we left Shenyang, Moyong Hui asked me brightly.
"Honey, so where are we headed now? Straight to the Murim Alliance?"
"No. We're making a quick stop in Beijing first."
"Huh? Beijing?"
Not just Moyong Hui—even Cheon Woojin, who had been grumbling beside her, looked puzzled.
'Right. This guy came from Beijing too, and we met in the Liaoning region.'
Something about it felt like we'd been traveling together forever, but in reality, it hadn't been that long.
I pondered why it felt that way and suddenly realized the reason.
'Ah! It was because he reminds me of that Jang guy.'
The guard for Eun Garyeon... Jang something-or-other.
I always just called him Jang guy, so I couldn't even remember his name.
Either way, that guy and Cheon Woojin had way too many similarities.
For starters, they were both men, and both ridiculously talented.
'Of course, Cheon Woojin's skills are leagues ahead...'
First-rate versus peak absolute realm.
The gap was massive, but to me, they were both fifty paces from a white horse all the same.
They both ended up getting their asses handed to them by me anyway.
And they both obeyed my orders without question...
Especially,
'The satisfying feel when I smack them is the same.'
Hitting them with the scabbard made all my irritation vanish—that was their biggest commonality.
As I mulled over the similarities between Jang guy and Cheon guy, Moyong Hui asked again.
"Honey? Why are we going to Beijing?"
"Got something to look into."
At my casual reply, Moyong Hui suddenly narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"...A woman, right?"
Is this what they call a woman's intuition?
Seeing Cheon Woojin nodding slightly from the side made me think it was more about my reputation.
I felt a little guilty, but showing it here would be amateur hour.
Instead, I furrowed my brow like she was talking nonsense.
"Hui-ya. What do you take me for? Father-in-law asked me to check on something."
"Ah.... I'm sorry."
She seemed genuinely apologetic and flustered.
Cheon Woojin, on the other hand, looked like he didn't buy it one bit.
'Tch, suspicious bastard.'
Sharp intuition too.
The real reason for going to Beijing was indeed a woman.
Otherwise, why the hell would I go all the way there?
'Eun Garyeon and Somwol.'
I wanted to see how those two were doing and catch up after so long.
Checking into the Sima Clan and Blood Cult for my father-in-law was just a side thing.
But I couldn't let that slip to Moyong Hui, so I elaborated a bit on father-in-law's request.
She'd find out eventually since we were traveling together anyway.
"You know the Sima Clan? Father-in-law asked me to look into them and this group called the Blood Cult..."
'Now, how do I even explain the Blood Cult?'
As I hesitated, Moyong Hui's eyes went wide.
"The Sima Clan?"
She seemed to know something.
Cheon Woojin, meanwhile, looked clueless.
Honestly, his reaction was the normal one.
Even I had never heard of them until recently.
So I ended up blurting out a dumb question.
"Yeah? Hui-ya, you know about the Sima Clan?"
"Of course. It's my aunt's family..."
Thinking about it, it would've been weirder if she didn't know.
I scratched my head awkwardly, and she furrowed her delicate brow.
"Father asked you to look into the Sima Clan?"
"Yeah. Why?"
To be precise, he asked about the Blood Cult too, but... to him, it felt like 'if something turns up when you dig, great; if not, whatever.'
'The total opposite of how seriously I take the Blood Cult.'
There was an information gap, so it couldn't be helped.
And Moyong Hui was in the same boat.
"The Sima Clan would be a good place to gather info in Beijing, sure... but isn't it too dangerous?"
Moyong Hui spoke with concern.
Cheon Woojin looked baffled at that.
"Um... what exactly is this Sima Clan that even just inquiring about them is dangerous?"
His reaction was understandable too.
Who was I?
A transcendent realm master.
Not even fighting the clan—just gathering info—and he reacts like that? Fair enough.
'I still don't fully get it myself.'
Father-in-law had explained in detail, but most of it went in one ear and out the other.
I didn't even grasp what he was saying.
'I'd have to care about the imperial court or officials for that.'
All I remembered was that they were close to the imperial family.
And now, words I'd heard from father-in-law long ago started pouring from Moyong Hui's mouth.
"The current Ming Emperor's Crown Prince's teacher, the Grand Preceptor of the highest rank, first class—that's the former head of the Sima Clan. Over half of the Hanlin Academy scholars are directly or indirectly tied to the Sima Clan. And then there's the current Left and Right Censors..."
Cheon Woojin, listening blankly, nodded vigorously.
"I see! So they're deeply connected to the imperial court!"
Exactly. I wasn't the weird one.
That'd be the normal reaction for most martial artists.
Moyong Hui must have picked up on our thoughts, because she let out a deep sigh.
"Sigh... In simple terms, messing with the Sima Clan is as good as messing with the imperial family. Easy to investigate in Beijing, yes, but move carelessly and soldiers might swarm us."
To ease her worries, I chimed in belatedly.
"Hui-ya, it's fine. What I'm mainly checking isn't the Sima Clan—it's the Blood Cult."
"Blood Cult?"
"Milord, what's that place?"
I wasn't sure how much to reveal about the Blood Cult.
Most of what I knew was just my own delusions anyway.
To begin with...
"That's what we're going to find out."
That was the whole reason we were moving now.
The distance from Shenyang to Beijing was quite far.
About a month on foot.
So during the journey, we had plenty of conversations.
"Honey has two sisters!"
"You and Sir Heavenly Warrior only met that recently?"
From stories about my family to how Cheon Woojin and I first met.
We chatted about all sorts of trivial things, and time flew by.
But even that had its limits.
My time with Moyong Hui had been short, and we didn't have many shared memories.
And I sure as hell wasn't going to recount my romantic escapades.
Eventually, we ran out of topics and had to fall back on our shared interest.
And that shared interest was...
'The sword.'
To be precise, martial arts—but to us, it was one and the same.
Anyway, as we walked and talked about that, something naturally arose.
'Sword debates.'
Moyong Hui had debated swords with me over drinks at our first meeting.
She seemed to love it from the start, and now she had an opponent of similar skill.
"Then I advance one step to the left and aim for Moyong Sword Master's throat with the Swift Fierce Thrust stance."
"I concede defeat. That makes it 8 wins to 8 losses, a tie with Sir Heavenly Warrior."
Cheon Woojin and Moyong Hui were evenly matched in sword debates.
Whenever they got bored, they'd spar verbally, and watching them gave me insights.
'These scrubs fight so damn hard.'
They assumed second-rate warrior conditions, so they'd go back and forth forever, only resolving when it got boring.
'If it were me, I'd just swing the scabbard once and end it.'
That was just a playful aside, but I did gain some real new realizations.
Suddenly, I wanted to test them out.
"Hui-ya, let's try it—you and me."
"With you...?"
Sweet Moyong Hui didn't say it aloud, but her face screamed, 'Honey's debates are so boring...'
My pride stung a bit, but I let it slide.
Our record: 17-0.
Me at zero, of course.
'But not this time.'
Debating while watching them had given me enlightenment.
Time to show it.
"Then you go first, honey."
She looked reluctant, but once we started, she got serious.
"...Advance one step and unleash Palm to the Abdomen with my left hand."
"You're extra aggressive today, honey. Then I'll raise my right knee to block and strike your left temple with my sword hilt."
After a bunch of pointless back-and-forth, I got the situation I wanted.
I grinned and played my trump card.
"I'll yield the temple. Drop the sword in my right hand and instead grope Hui-ya's left breast."
"...Pardon?"
"Didn't hear? I'll grope your left breast with my right hand."
I leered stickily at her ample chest and clenched then released my palm.
Moyong Hui flinched visibly.
"What is this... Honey, we're in the middle of a sword debate."
Cheon Woojin, listening nearby, squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.
Then he wisely vanished somewhere.
But I pretended not to notice and brazenly continued to Moyong Hui.
"What? Conceding already?"
"Eek... Fine, let's continue! I'll push your right arm away with Dragon-Resisting Palm from my left hand!"
"Using that recoil, I'll spin half around and grope your right breast with my left hand this time."
"Honey!"
And so, after dozens more instances of sexual harassment, I finally claimed my first victory over Moyong Hui.
She resisted admitting it midway...
"I'm telling you, it works. Want me to demonstrate for real?"
"Hngh, honey..."
Once I made her feel it physically, she finally conceded defeat.