Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Moon Maiden Ha Ah-rin - [2]
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The formal contract with the Mosan Sect was still half a year away. In the meantime, the two visitors from the Mosan Sect decided to stick around the area.
They weren't just holing up in a hotel. Park Ae-jin spoke up.
"He's going to be the Mosan Sect's star from here on out. Don't you think it makes sense to get to know him ahead of time? And who knows, maybe we'll pick up a few pointers ourselves."
Like they were shooting a documentary, Park Ae-jin started shadowing Heo Pung-gae's every move.
The plan was to observe what this peerless master ate on the daily, how he handled his conditioning, how much he trained. They'd mimic his routine and report it back to the Mosan Sect.
And right from day one, they were hit with a shock.
Park Ae-jin stared with eyes wide as saucers.
"You only eat this?"
Heo Pung-gae downed a bowl of porridge mixed with sesame and pine resin in seconds flat.
"Yes."
"Three squares a day, just this?"
"Yes."
"Why on earth?"
"To avoid grains. Doesn't the Mosan Sect do the same?"
"We don't go that far—just mostly vegetarian. Even that's only at the dojo to keep up appearances for guests. Off the clock, we chow down on meat too."
"You eat meat?"
"Vegetarianism was ruled out as any real boon to training twenty years back."
That verdict was clearly from scientific breakdown, not some Taoist mumbo-jumbo. Just like baseball teams crunching sabermetrics to manage players, the massive martial world treated stats and data like gold—it was common knowledge.
Heo Pung-gae, old-timer that he was, owned up to his outdated knowledge and didn't bother arguing.
Of course, true to form, he didn't switch to the new ways either.
"Still, I've got my tried-and-true method."
"Well, who am I to boss around a guy in the peerless realm..."
"I wouldn't dream of shoving my habits down anyone else's throat. Even if I end up teaching martial arts someday, I won't push my diet on them. Rest easy."
After that jaw-dropping meal, his routine was tediously, terrifyingly mundane.
Training. Doctor duties. Training...
Heo Pung-gae turned even downtime into meditation. There was zero slacking, basically round-the-clock focus. Park Ae-jin figured it was all for show—an ascetic act.
But nope. After weeks of sneaky peeks, nothing budged. Meals, training slots, work hours: all creepily identical.
In the end, the watchers cracked first.
Park Ae-jin threw in the towel and asked straight-up.
"What's the point of grinding this hard? You've hit the pinnacle—nowhere left to climb."
Heo Pung-gae didn't miss a beat.
"Gotta live a long time."
He figured that nailed it. Taoism was all about immortality, right? What else motivated a Taoist priest's grind?
Park Ae-jin didn't buy it, though.
"You train to live longer?"
"Yes."
She mulled it over, then risked rudeness.
"Avoiding grains means no joy in eating, huh?"
"Yes."
"Virgin Boy Skill? No fun on that front either."
"That's right."
Heo Pung-gae narrowed his eyes like she was spouting filth.
Park Ae-jin flinched but pressed on.
"No hobbies. Just training."
"Yes. Issue?"
"No, it's just... is there really a reason to go that far just to stick around longer? Stripping away life's little joys one by one—anything left worth living for?"
"Not much."
"Then?"
"So I don't die."
Even that fell flat. Park Ae-jin bit back more questions.
Hey, better than getting busted for DUI or drug-fueled orgies. Still, asking Mosan Sect newbies to model that lifestyle? They'd lose their minds.
It was that afternoon.
A visitor dropped into Yi Pung's office—a woman in a suit emblazoned with the royal crest.
"We met before, right? Hong Na-yeon, from the Imperial Guard."
"Oh, right—the palace expert?"
Yi Pung gawked in awe as she nodded.
"Is Yi Leul around?"
"Downstairs. Want me to fetch him?"
"Please. I need help—any chance of some cooperation?"
Yi Pung beamed, eyes gleaming. Nothing boosted a martial artist's resume like Imperial Guard gigs.
"What's the job?"
"It's the Moon Maiden..."
Hong Na-yeon didn't need to spell it out. Soon, everyone on the peninsula knew her deal.
Right then, Heo Pung-gae was glued to the TV in his clinic, left on for the patients. His eyes bulged.
Breaking news: entry ban on Full Moon Mountain.
He kept watching.
Helicopter footage, looked like.
The screen showed a woman in Taoist robes, cross-legged on a boulder. Heo Pung-gae knew her face, naturally.
And that lone sword circling her.
Two cops with punctured hands were mumbling through their ordeal.
Those weren't the only ones skewered by that rogue sword.
Other officers converging on the radio chatter got stabbed in arms or legs too.
A reporter who raced in for the scoop dodged stabs but had a blade at his throat. Rescue crews hauling out the stabbed cops? Untouched.
"Moon Maiden! Can you hear me? My voice—"
The guy megaphoning into the mountain at her toppled in horror.
The sword sliced the megaphone clean and zipped back into the peaks.
Too fantastical for news—like kiddie fantasy fluff.
"Gu Ja-seong was gunning for Heo Pung-gae, I heard. You two scheming?"
President Park grilled her. Rana shot back.
"No way! Why would I?"
"You sure?"
"Duh! Does pounding Heo Pung-gae oppa give EXP? Moon Maiden sis would just come for revenge!"
"Even a Heavenly Demon can't take her?"
"Dunno, but no EXP from her either! Country'd flip if we offed a national hero—army and cops on a rampage. Too messy for business. I'd rather bail like in the UK than run deficits."
"So why'd Gu Ja-seong pull that?"
"Got antsy, I guess?"
"Antsy how?"
"It's a thing! Anyway, I'll chat with Ja-seong oppa."
"What if he blows you off?"
"Whatcha gonna do? He's not my underling—he's a partner. No leash. So, President, business booming? Heo Pung-gae oppa really heading to Mosan Sect?"
"Who knows."
"Whaddya mean?"
"He's nuts. No clue what he's thinking, so no predicting his moves."
President Park sighed, then kept going.
"Ditched his legendary rep from the biographies just to launder his ID—why? Obsessed with elixirs, picky as hell with jobs. Hates jail or exposure, hides like a ghost, but one elixir and he storms a TV station. Words and deeds? Total contradictions..."
"Fair. Anyway, glad that last incident dominated the nine o'clock news for days."
"Not really. Smashing O Family Manor and Full Moon Mountain bandits? Small potatoes. We need this blowup to spread peninsula-wide. Then pols move, cops move, and they crush the martial thugs."
"Uh..."
"Spit it out—where you looking?"
"Smartphone. News articles, actually... President, check this."
"What?"
"We're screwed."
"Quit with the—shit."
"Hey, no potty mouth!"
"Shit."
In the speeding car, Heo Pung-gae asked.
"She left months ago?"
Hong Na-yeon replied.
"Yes."
"Imperial Guard knew and let it slide?"
"Just supplied food and essentials. To keep her up there."
"Why?"
"Moon Maiden wanted to go with dignity. Quietly, no one the wiser."
"Like a self-immolating monk? You let her waste away willingly? She's a Taoist priestess, not a monk."
"No excuses. We regret it."
"Why no doctor?"
"We called one."
"Called?"
"Doc said no dementia. What kinda dementia does that? Consulted again for this mess—'dementia doesn't pick random targets,' they said."
Heo Pung-gae pondered, then spoke.
"Could be dementia. Or not."
"As a doctor?"
"Nah—as a guy who trained the same arts. I see beyond the veil. Upper Dantian opened."
"Impressive. Not bragging about your cultivation now, though..."
"Hers is open too. What's the Upper Dantian?"
"The head?"
"Brain, roughly. Hers developed weird—levitates a sword, limited clairvoyance. Not your average noggin. What happens when that breaks?"
"No idea..."
"Yeah. No precedent, no known fix."
A heavy silence settled in the car.
Heo Pung-gae broke it.
"So, Imperial Guard's plan?"
"Calm her down."
"How?"
"Pin her physically if we must, then drugs or whatever..."
Stomach-churning just hearing it, but Heo Pung-gae forced calm. Not rock bottom yet.
She'd killed plenty in her day, but never innocents. Silver lining.
Since her mania flared, injuries aplenty—no deaths. If it stayed that way, no stain of late-life murders.
Good her decline hit the mind hard—public pitied her, didn't curse a "crazy bitch."
Yeah. She couldn't take the people's scorn. Unlike him, no shame in her ledger. She deserved to stay pure.
So before she snapped and stained that purity, he had to stop her.
Moments later, the car halted at Full Moon Mountain's base.
"Lord Protector!"
Imperial Guard elites greeted them, securing the site.
Korea's other martial artists, hastily summoned, were there too.
Heo Pung-gae blinked—thought he'd stumbled onto a historical drama set.
Martial artists in white or black hanbok, ratty fur coats, packed the place.
"Why the getup? Sword's stabbing approachers—shouldn't you armor up?"
Yi Pung sidled up to a fur-clad one for answers.
"Block a peerless master's blade with anti-slash gear? Nah, this works better. To jog Moon Maiden's nostalgia."
"Nostalgia?"
"This fur? What Green Forest wore fighting for independence. Same fighter as her—familiar, right? Sword's picky, not slashing everyone. Might help."
Yi Pung startled—Green Forest outlaw here? After their scandals?
Not just them—Martial Alliance sects sent pricey elites too. Not just subduing prep; they prepped harder for show.
Broadcast vans clogged the scene. Clan heads and sect leaders ranted for cameras.
"We Korean martial artists deeply regret what befell Moon Maiden, eternal icon of Korean independence and our warriors. To aid her, we'll spare no effort."
Heo Pung-gae clocked it: Martial Alliance turning this into a massive event.
Shift eyes from petty sect shootouts to tragedy of a 120-year-old patriot. Plus, showcase Korean martial contributions.
As he clenched a fist—
A black sedan pulled up. An old man stepped out.
Cameras swarmed him.
"Grand Chieftain? A word..."
Nearing ninety but stately, he faced the lights, grinning like a talebook hero, game for the interview.
"Yes, hello. Folks..."
Gu Ja-seong. Korea's Grand Bandit Chieftain had arrived.