Chapter 44: Chapter 44

After subjugating Heungsan Stronghold, the escort journey progressed smoothly.

Since it had been the only stronghold in Hubei Province, there was no chance of running into bandits, and thanks to Escort Leader Jang Seong-guk’s seasoned command, there was no chance of losing their way either.

“Yaaaaawn!”

“Young Hero Song, it seems your mouth has torn open.”

Song Yi-yeon touched the edges of his mouth and smacked his lips slightly.

“The mission seems likely to go smoothly from now on. I wonder what the others are doing. I heard that fellow Namgung Jin took on a mission to subjugate an Unorthodox Path sect in Anhui.”

“Is there an Unorthodox Path faction even in Anhui?”

Cheon Woo-jin tilted his head. He could not understand that the proud Namgung Clan had left the Unorthodox Path by their side.

Song Yi-yeon nodded casually and answered.

“Of course there is. If the Unorthodox Path disappeared entirely, who would need the help of the Namgung Clan?”

“Aha.”

The Righteous Path despised the Unorthodox Path, but on the other hand, it was because the Unorthodox Path existed that there were common people who relied on the Righteous Path. Thinking that it was truly a strange relationship, Cheon Woo-jin abruptly asked.

“Do you envy Young Hero Namgung?”

“Well…”

Song Yi-yeon could not easily answer and trailed off his words.

To be honest, saying he did not envy him would be a lie.

Song Yi-yeon was also a man who had entered the path of a martial artist. Naturally, he could not help but envy Namgung Jin, who hailed from one of the Five Great Clans.

It was true that Namgung Jin’s martial prowess was outstanding, but had he been born in an ordinary merchant family like himself, could he have risen to that realm?

Having thought for a moment, Song Yi-yeon shook his head.

“Being born as the Young Patriarch in such a gigantic clan is itself a great fortuitous encounter, isn’t it?”

“That is indeed so.”

Cheon Woo-jin agreed with those words. After all, he himself was in a position where he had learned martial arts from two renowned masters.

Having watched Song Yi-yeon’s envious expression for a while, Cheon Woo-jin abruptly spoke.

“Young Hero Song has also obtained a fortuitous encounter, haven’t you?”

“Me?”

Song Yi-yeon tilted his head as if he genuinely did not know. At that sight, Cheon Woo-jin calmly continued his words.

“When subjugating Heungsan Stronghold, I observed Young Hero closely. It was a Pure Yang Boy Art of quite a high level.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Song Yi-yeon brightened up. He had guessed it inwardly, but hearing it through another person’s mouth made it even more welcome.

“How did you come to master that martial art?”

It was something he had been curious about all along. Naturally, he had expected that he learned it in the Anhui Song Clan, but Clan Head Song did not even practice martial arts, and even seemed not to know that his son had mastered the Pure Yang Boy Art.

After mumbling for a moment, Song Yi-yeon spoke in a sigh-mixed voice.

“When I was young, my body was frail, so there were several times I almost died. Once, even the village’s renowned physicians all shook their heads, but even so, Father did not give up.”

Among the many Daoists and Buddhist masters Song Ha-baek brought at that time, there was someone who cured Song Yi-yeon’s illness. It was a person called Master Jin-beop from Shaolin’s secular disciples, and he told Song Yi-yeon that he could only survive by learning martial arts.

“So, you learned from that person?”

Song Yi-yeon shook his head.

“To be precise, I self-studied. That person merely gave me a single book and departed. Knowing that I was the only son of a clan, he told me to do as I pleased, whether to master it or burn it, and I learned it to survive.”

Cheon Woo-jin wore an impressed expression. The mental formula of the Pure Yang Boy Art was quite profound, so it must have been difficult to self-study.

“Remarkable. However, there will come a day when you hit a wall, so what do you intend to do then?”

All martial artists encounter a wall someday. There were those who encountered a wall and became frustrated not long after entering martial arts, and there were times when a genius who had been advancing triumphantly encountered a wall in his later years.

What was needed at such times was one’s own enlightenment or the teachings of a master. At Song Yi-yeon’s current level, it was a period when the teachings of a master were more important than one’s own enlightenment.

Song Yi-yeon narrowed his brow.

“That is the problem. Actually, the secret manual that person gave me was the upper volume. Because I had already read it more than a hundred times and fully mastered it long ago, there has been no achievement recently. There should definitely be a lower volume, or middle and lower volumes, but…”

“Hmm.”

The best thing was to find the person called Master Jin-beop and receive the subsequent martial art. However, there was no way Song Yi-yeon had not attempted this.

When Cheon Woo-jin narrowed his brow together and fell into deep thought, Song Yi-yeon grinned and spoke.

“For your information, even after searching through all secular branches of Shaolin, that person called Master Jin-beop could not be found. In fact, for a Buddhist monk, he was a person who exuded an immortal-like aura. In any case, his identity has fallen into a mystery.”

“It is a difficult problem.”

“Well, it will work out somehow. Besides, even if it isn’t the Pure Yang Boy Art, I also have the White-Robed Pure Spirit Art and Black Tortoise Iron Leg Art learned this time, don’t I?”

However, Cheon Woo-jin was still locked in thought.

Of course, the two martial arts Song Yi-yeon mentioned were also splendid. However, they were lacking to be used as foundational martial arts. Setting aside whether they were advanced martial arts or not, the very nature of the White-Robed Pure Spirit Art and Black Tortoise Iron Leg Art was like that.

“Learning another cultivation art at this point will not be easy. Because once a dantian tastes the pure and unadulterated internal energy of the Pure Yang Boy Art, it will regard other internal energy as impurities.”

When Cheon Woo-jin spoke in a grave tone, Song Yi-yeon also nodded with a somewhat darkened face.

“…I know.”

“In the end, it means you have to learn another Pure Yang Boy Art.”

And that too a Pure Yang Boy Art possessing advanced caliber. However, because the Pure Yang Boy Art itself was a peculiar martial art, obtaining it would truly not be easy. Even if using the financial power of the Anhui Song Clan.

Cheon Woo-jin, who had been contemplating deeply, shook his head.

“For now, I have never heard of a master who has mastered the Pure Yang Boy Art in the present era.”

“Likely so. If someone achieved great success, they would be the most famous master of the present era, and if not, they would all hide it tightly like me, after all.”

In the midst of a somehow serious atmosphere, Song Yi-yeon abruptly clapped his hands to refresh the air.

“Well, what can be done? I must make efforts in various ways.”

Cheon Woo-jin also nodded his head and agreed with Song Yi-yeon’s words.

“In any case, right now you are doing better than anyone of our age group. Because the full strength Young Hero showed when subjugating Heungsan Stronghold was clearly superior to Young Hero Namgung.”

Song Yi-yeon’s eyes went wide.

“Heh, is that truly so? That I am stronger than that fellow?”

“One would only know for sure by exchanging moves, but at least in my view, it was so.”

Song Yi-yeon felt a surge of emotions welling up inside. He was a Song Yi-yeon who trusted Cheon Woo-jin’s words more than anyone else in the world.

“Still, you said I am doing better than anyone of our age group, but compared to you, Young Hero, I am nothing at all, aren’t I?”

At Song Yi-yeon’s words, Cheon Woo-jin did not know how to reply, so he merely narrowed his brow. Having contemplated for a long time like that, Cheon Woo-jin soon spoke cautiously.

“I am an exception. Originally, I was a bit unusual since childhood. My masters also always spoke like that.”

“…Unpleasant bastard.”

“In any case.”

Cheon Woo-jin uncharacteristically cleared his throat with coughs and averted his gaze. Just around the time he felt Song Yi-yeon’s stinging glare from the side.

Truly fortunately, Escort Leader Jang quietly walked over and said.

“The escort journey is now entering its final stretch, so before arriving, how about stopping by a village to have a meal?”

Cheon Woo-jin, who had just been trying to change the subject, brightened up and replied.

“Sounds good. But even when we are not here, do you usually stop by a village in the middle to have a meal?”

If by any chance it was because of them, it would be a bit awkward. Because having come to carry out a mission, he had no desire to pointlessly delay someone else’s escort journey.

At that, Escort Leader Jang Seong-guk, who had seemed like a complete old fogey before the Heungsan Stronghold incident, spoke with a truly benevolent smile.

“A natural matter. After all, everything we do is to eat and live.”

Thus, before crossing the next mountain path, the escort convoy entered a small village along a side road.

* * *

Song Yi-yeon and Cheon Woo-jin silently moved only their chopsticks.

Although it was delicious food eaten outside after a long time, the atmosphere was completely sour.

Escort Leader Jang’s expression had turned just like a rotten pollack. Letting out deep sighs continuously, he was barely picking at his food with his chopsticks.

“A plague, of all things. Damn it, why of all times right now…”

“We will likely have to take a detour, right?”

At Song Yi-yeon’s question, Escort Leader Jang let out another deep sigh. Song Yi-yeon scratched his head with an awkward expression.

“Likely so. It is halfway up the mountain path where one village with a circulating plague happens to be, after all.”

Seeming unable to swallow his food, Escort Leader Jang soon placed his chopsticks down with a clatter. In the midst of the drastically dampened atmosphere, everyone except Cheon Woo-jin let out low groans.

Even without this, the escort journey was in a somewhat delayed state because of the Heungsan Stronghold bastards. However, just when they thought they could barely make the agreed deadline, out of nowhere a plague had seized their ankles.

It was truly a natural disaster beyond human control.

The problem was that at the destination of the escort, the Henan Escort Agency, they were unlikely to say, ‘Ah, since it was a natural disaster, it could not be helped. Naturally, you do not have to pay a penalty. How could people doing business lack even this much compassion?’

In the end, having arrived late due to making a large detour around the mountain, the Yicheng Escort Agency would have to pay a penalty to the Henan Escort Agency, and that responsibility fell entirely upon the escort leader, Jang Seong-guk.

“Haaa…”

It truly felt as if Jang Seong-guk’s sigh was piercing the floor and extending down into the underground.

Cheon Woo-jin glanced at Jang Seong-guk and resumed eating noodles. His philosophy was that there was no need to waste emotions on things beyond one’s control despite effort.

Just around the time he was slurping noodles alone like that.

“Hey, have you heard the rumor that Butcher Ma’s daughter caught the plague?”

“Wh-What!”

“Well, hasn’t that butcher’s daughter frequently visited Baokang County? According to Gae-pyeong from the fabric shop, he said he saw a few blue spots on the nape of her neck and her earlobes.”

The conversation of two middle-aged men was heard from a table quite a distance away. It seemed they had lowered their voices in their own way, but they could not deceive Cheon Woo-jin’s ears. Cheon Woo-jin focused on the conversation while persistently eating his noodles.

“Wait, isn’t Baokang County where the plague broke out? Why did she go there without fear?”

“How would I know? She might have hidden a man there. In any case, have you seen Butcher Ma’s daughter recently?”

Having pondered for quite a while, the man shook his head.

“Indeed. There is a rumor that Butcher Ma hid his daughter who caught the plague in a room and is secretly looking for a physician.”

“Shouldn’t we quickly inform the villagers and chase them out or something? If this brings great misfortune to our village too, what will we do!”

“Do you intend to go and talk to Butcher Ma yourself?”

“No, that is…”

From the sound of it, the man called Butcher Ma seemed to have quite a temper. Indeed, since he must not have let go of a cleaver his entire life, his temper would likely be as fiery as an ordinary martial artist.

Cheon Woo-jin was lost in thought for a moment.

‘Blue spots on the nape of the neck and earlobes.’

Generally, when catching a plague, red spots formed regardless of the body part, erupting and oozing pus.

Blue spots were certainly not a common symptom.

The issue was that he had a memory of hearing about that symptom before.

– Woo-jin. A man must be decisive in his actions. Once you draw a blade, you must hold the mindset of killing without fail.

At such teachings of Black Elder, Cheon Woo-jin had once asked, ‘Then Master, did you kill everyone you intended to kill?’

– Mostly so. Regrettably, there are three martial artists I could not kill, and the first of them is none other than the Dark Emperor.

It was a story he already knew. However, the subsequent words were quite interesting.

– The second is none other than that White Elder fellow, and the third is a fellow called Dok-ra-su.

Because it was the first time hearing the moniker Dok-ra-su, Cheon Woo-jin had asked, and Black Elder continued with an exhaustive explanation about him.

As could be inferred from the moniker, he was a master of poison arts, and was said to be someone who was friends with Black Elder during the young days when Black Elder was a disciple of the Dark Emperor.

‘If he was friends with Master…’

Naturally, he would not be a normal man.

He was a madman obsessed with poison, so it was said that when it came to researching poison, he did not care about ethics or anything, choosing whatever means and methods.

Having researched only poison arts his entire life, whether he had finally gone mad or not, he sprayed poison on the sleeping young Black Elder’s body saying he would conduct an experiment, only to be discovered and flee.

– Even if vomiting blood, I should have chased that fellow down and torn him to death, but my body was heavily damaged, so I ended up missing him. Even afterwards, with the mindset of smashing his head, I chased him for three years, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Recalling the past, Cheon Woo-jin smiled bitterly. Whenever Master Black Elder spoke about Dok-ra-su, he used to grind his teeth vigorously, seemingly still indignant.

Of course, Master White Elder habitualized rebutting those words.

– Ridiculous talk. Does it make sense that a martial artist of your caliber couldn’t catch such a fellow? Having once considered him a friend, you merely let it slide while feeling bitter. Even if that fellow is the greatest villain in the world, he is a human after all, so it isn’t as if he has no emotions.

– Humph, you are writing a novel.

Returning from his reverie, Cheon Woo-jin moved his chopsticks again and wore a peculiar smile. At that sight, Song Yi-yeon asked in return.

“Young Hero, what is the matter?”

“I just remembered the past all of a sudden.”

“Ah, you mean your masters?”

Cheon Woo-jin nodded his head.

In any case, it was said that when Dok-ra-su researched poison arts, in order to confirm many cases, he frequently poisoned entire small villages.

Mainly releasing poison into wells or the village’s largest farmland.

If poisoned by his poison, the symptoms were very similar to the plague called smallpox, but uniquely, blue spots formed on the nape of the neck and earlobes.

Having sorted out his thoughts, Cheon Woo-jin spoke to Escort Leader Jang, who was still gloomy.

“If you do not take a detour around the mountain, can you make the deadline?”

Escort Leader Jang glared with wide eyes for an instant and nodded his head frantically.

Soon, having refreshingly drained even the broth, Cheon Woo-jin set the noodle bowl down with a clatter and spoke.

“Then pass straight through the village.”

“…We cannot do that. The escort journey is important, but escort warriors and porters are the escort agency’s greatest fighting strength. If they happen to catch the plague, the entire escort agency will truly be shaken.”

Whether that was so or not, Cheon Woo-jin stood up from his seat, readjusted the Crescent Moon Staff strapped to his back, and spoke casually.

“What spread in Baokang County is not a plague.”

At the same time, not only Escort Leader Jang and Song Yi-yeon, but everyone inside the inn looked at Cheon Woo-jin with astonished faces.