Chapter 197: The Drunkard, Seomun Ak
After revealing his heart to Jin Seong-un and Lee Seowon, Hyeon Baek spoke again.
“When this matter is over and you have ti, co find
again. There are stories we must share about Quanzhen’s martial arts.”
For a brief mont, Hyeon Baek’s eyes seed to glimr with madness. Jin Seong-un noticed it but pretended not to. He simply nodded.
“Yes, I shall do so.”
With that, Jin Seong-un and Lee Seowon successfully escaped from the Martial Studies Hall without issue.
Their gain was more than enough.
There had been suspicions that the Myriad Gold Manor might be behind the children’s abductions, and they had confird that there truly existed a great thod capable of restoring lost martial arts using those very children.
The circumstantial evidence had grown even stronger.
What remained now was physical proof.
As they walked side by side, each lost in thought, Lee Seowon suddenly asked,
“If it truly turns out to be the doing of the Myriad Gold Manor, what will you do?”
To be exact, he was asking how Jin Seong-un intended to handle it. The Myriad Gold Manor was that kind of place—one that neither an ordinary martial artist nor even most major sects or clans could afford to make an enemy of.
Jin Seong-un mulled over Lee Seowon’s question for a mont before recalling the rchant King. In the end, how they would deal with the Myriad Gold Manor depended entirely on that man’s will.
He had to fulfill the Martial Gods’ request.
If the Myriad Gold Manor truly had kidnapped thousands of children in order to restore the Black Wolf Saber Art—
And if the rchant King were to learn of that—
Jin Seong-un briefly pictured the man’s reaction before speaking to Lee Seowon.
“If the Myriad Gold Manor is truly such a place, it would be better for it to vanish from this world.”
He spoke of the Manor’s eradication in his characteristic calm tone. Even the normally stoic Lee Seowon unconsciously swallowed hard.
The two walked in silence for so ti. Lee Seowon, especially, wore a deeply contemplative expression.
As they passed the grand training field of the Wudang Sect, they saw a crowd gathered near the main gate, chattering noisily.
Lee Seowon remarked,
“It seems the Clan Head of the Seomun Clan is about to leave.”
Seomun Jeok was exchanging smiles and farewells with the Sect Leader of Wudang, the Sword Immortal, and several other Taoists.
Looking closely, Seo Yu-gyeom and Seomun Ak were already mingled naturally among the group.
Jin Seong-un and Lee Seowon naturally made their way there as well.
Seomun Jeok looked upon his son and his son’s companions with great satisfaction. The appearance of that once-hopeless scoundrel of a son was nowhere to be found.
Watching the four who made his heart swell with pride, Seomun Jeok said,
“How regretful. I wished to invite you all to the Seomun Clan soday.”
“I’ll pay my respects once this matter is over,” Jin Seong-un replied as if it were only natural. After all, Seomun Ak was now an official mber of the Seong-un Inn. Jin Seong-un, too, had wanted to visit Seomun Ak’s ho at least once.
Just as Seomun Jeok smiled contentedly, the Wudang Sword Immortal spoke casually,
“Then why didn’t you go to the Seomun Clan first?”
He was pointing out how they had co directly to the Wudang Sect instead of stopping by the nearby Seomun Clan after leaving the Baek Li Clan because of the children.
Seomun Jeok scratched his head awkwardly.
“Ha ha, I have no excuse for that. Please think of it as a choice made for the children’s future.”
He then gazed toward the distant training ground of the Wudang Sect, where the children were running about as if it were their own yard.
Those children would grow into fine adults under the tutelage of the Wudang’s virtuous Taoists.
Had they instead grown up in the Seomun Clan, they might have beco n who solved everything with their fists.
The world would then have called the Seomun Clan a breeding ground for thugs.
Just the thought made Seomun Jeok’s heart sink, and he turned to the Sect Leader with a smile filled with both apology and gratitude.
After finishing his farewells, Seomun Jeok looked toward his son, who stood there idly.
“Try not to co ho too often.”
“……”
Seomun Ak looked utterly dumbfounded.
Regardless, Seomun Jeok remained firm.
“Live as the inn waiter.”
“……”
Seomun Jeok wanted his son to stay by Jin Seong-un’s side for life. He also knew that the waiter of the Seong-un Inn was no ordinary waiter.
His son’s only lifelong achievent had been being called a scoundrel, but ever since becoming the Seong-un Inn’s waiter, people had started calling him a hero.
In Seomun Jeok’s mind, the Seong-un Inn had already beco the most trustworthy martial faction of their ti.
Speaking in a deliberately indifferent tone, Seomun Jeok continued,
“I plan to head straight to the Murim Alliance. If that Righteousness Captain causes trouble, even Dragon Seizer may not be able to handle it. I’ll also pay my respects to the Alliance Leader and Chief Strategist while I’m there.”
“Shall I co with you? That Righteousness Captain looks like quite the temperantal man,” Seomun Ak joked.
Seomun Jeok let out a short laugh.
“Who are you to say that? It’s true that the Seomun Clan’s warriors are all like that, but you, especially, should live with a smile. If a weaker opponent fears you, don’t take pride in it—feel ashad instead. Understood?”
Seomun Ak nodded.
He had been like that for quite so ti already.
When he was younger—no, even just last year—he used to feel a thrill when he crushed opponents with his intimidating face, size, and background.
Whether his opponent was a martial artist or a commoner made little difference.
But now, it was different. When kind people flinched at his presence, he felt nothing but discomfort and guilt.
Nodding at his son, Seomun Jeok said nonchalantly,
“Well, you’ve been doing well. Recently, soone raising a son asked
how to make him grow into such a chivalrous man. Quite the ridiculous question, isn’t it?”
Even as he said that, a faint but undeniable satisfaction spread across Seomun Jeok’s face.
It was both praise for his son and pride toward the Taoists of the Wudang Sect.
“My son is called a hero now. The scoundrel who tornted
all his life is now called a hero,” his expression seed to say.
Hyeon-un frowned slightly, while the Wudang Sword Immortal smiled benevolently as always.
After finishing his farewells, Seomun Jeok departed Mount Wudang. The others also returned to their respective places.
Jin Seong-un and his group gathered in a room, sitting around tea instead of liquor.
It was their first proper rest in a long while, yet the atmosphere wasn’t one that allowed for lighthearted talk.
Lee Seowon spoke.
“The matter of the Baek Li Clan, and even that of the Deathshroud’s Third Instructor—I suspect the Myriad Gold Manor is behind them all.”
He went on to explain.
How much effort the Myriad Gold Manor had invested in restoring the martial art known as the Black Wolf Saber Art.
How the Righteousness Captain, who had even drawn blades against the Seomun Clan just to capture children, had practiced a certain martial art.
And how, according to Hyeon Baek, there existed a demonic technique that used children to study and evolve martial arts to their limits.
When the explanation ended, Seo Yu-gyeom furrowed his brows slightly and asked,
“So, according to what you confird firsthand using the Dumpling Mask, that Righteousness Captain was using the Myriad Gold Manor’s martial arts?”
“That’s right.”
“Then how do you know that saber technique?”
It was the key question.
The first Master of the Myriad Gold Manor—the man known as the rchant King—was staying at the inn, and Jin Seong-un had learned from him.
“Because he could not say that, Jin Seong-un remained still, and Seo Yu-gyeom said as if he had expected it.
“Of course you could not talk, right? Not even about the various martial arts you learned besides that formation technique. He was a strange fellow. His temperant was not sly, but when it ca to martial arts he kept an absurd number of secrets.”
In truth, Seo Yu-gyeom did not even believe that Jin Seong-un had been taught the Quanzhen Sect’s sword art. The footwork that was more covert and swifter than any assassin of Deathshroud, and even that demonic qi that poured out like an ill on.
From Seo Yu-gyeom’s point of view, each martial art Jin Seong-un had learned was worthy of being called a peerless marvel.
It was impossible to guess where, from whom, or how a man who had lived his whole life as an inn waiter had obtained such techniques.
“Jin Seong-un. What kind of person on earth were you?”
It was a question carrying much implication.
Seo Yu-gyeom stared at Jin Seong-un.
Jin Seong-un t the eyes of Seo Yu-gyeom, who was trying to look into him, and hesitated for a mont.
Should he tell the Martial Gods’ stories?
But that was not for him to decide. He had to ask the Martial Gods for their opinion.
After a mont, Jin Seong-un chose his words carefully and spoke.
“You were right, Master. I was not soone who learned martial arts in the sa way as others. I obtained every martial art through fated encounters.”
“I do not an to suspect or bla you. Even such fated encounters could not be borne unless the person was fit for them. Look at this Chief Steward. He could not even swing a straight saber properly.”
“…….”
Lee Seowon, who had been silently sitting there and had now been hit by the words, wore an unjust expression. Regardless, Seo Yu-gyeom continued in a firm tone.
“I was rely curious. We are, well, comrades now, aren’t we?”
Seo Yu-gyeom inwardly regarded Jin Seong-un as family.
They ate, slept, and lived in the sa house, and neither of the two had any other family, which made it feel more natural.
Although he had used the awkward word “comrade,” everyone present seed to have sensed the aning behind it and cleared their throats.
It was a slightly embarrassing conversation for full-grown n to have.
Jin Seong-un nodded and said.
“I had neither the intention to deceive nor the intention to keep it secret forever. When the ti ca, I would certainly tell you.”
Even Jin Seong-un did not know when that ti would be.
Perhaps it would be after the grudges of the five Martial Gods were all resolved. Or maybe it would be even later.
“All right, that will do.”
Seo Yu-gyeom nodded as if he was sufficiently satisfied with that.
When the talk about Jin Seong-un drew to a close, the topic naturally shifted back to Myriad Gold Manor.
Seo Yu-gyeom said.
“In the end we must find hard evidence, not just suspicion. Only then can we fight Myriad Gold Manor openly. Only then will others step forward with us.”
“That is true.”
They could not start a big affair on re suspicion.
Moreover, there was no one they could trust.
Even the leader of the Murim Alliance was suspect, so it was awkward to reach out to anyone.
In other words, at least the task of finding physical evidence had to be completed by the four of them here.
All eyes naturally turned to Lee Seowon. After all, he knew Myriad Gold Manor better than anyone alive.
“Myriad Gold Manor put trendous effort into security. Outsiders simply—absolutely—could not enter.”
“So how do you intend to find anything?”
“I must go myself.”
Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom watched in surprise.
Lee Seowon spoke calmly.
“In any case, I am still the strategist of the Third Son and the eldest son of the Lee household. Well, Ha Joo-yeon’s death may already be known….”
“What if sothing goes wrong?”
Seo Yu-gyeom asked.
Myriad Gold Manor was, at that mont, nothing less than a tiger’s den. He wondered if they could send Lee Seowon—the weakest man in the land, not Jin Seong-un or himself—into such a place.
Lee Seowon sighed and said.
“I will die, of course.”
“……Is that an answer?”
Seo Yu-gyeom looked bewildered.
At tis he seed the greatest coward in the world, and at other tis he could be so magnanimous; such was this Chief Steward.
“Still, I must go. There are two reasons. First, the greatest goal of my life is to bring Myriad Gold Manor down.”
“……What?”
Seo Yu-gyeom’s expression turned grave.
He had thought the Chief Steward was rely competent and sowhat adept at betrayal. He had never imagined such resolve lay within him.
Lee Seowon continued regardless.
“Second, if I turned away from this matter to save my life, in the worst case a thousand children could die.”
“Of course I will go with you.”
Jin Seong-un said as if it were natural.
How could he leave the Chief Steward—who had been gained through his own efforts—alone to face death? Moreover, Lee Seowon was a direct descendant of the Teacher of the rchant King. He could not be left to die.
“I cannot enter Myriad Gold Manor with you, but I will wait nearby. If anything unexpected befalls this Chief Steward, we must be prepared to clash with Myriad Gold Manor.”
Jin Seong-un was willing to take that risk.
He did not care that the opponent was the greatest trading company under heaven. Indeed, nothing really mattered.
Jin Seong-un did not know fear by nature.
“Then we should go too.”
Seo Yu-gyeom nodded.
If the innkeeper of Seong-un Inn and the Chief Steward risked danger together, the chef and the inn waiter could not simply wait in safety.
When Seo Yu-gyeom said so, everyone looked at Seomun Ak. After all, his consent was the most important.
But Seomun Ak’s condition was sowhat strange that day. For so reason he had been unusually silent—when he would normally have interrupted the conversation repeatedly.
Today he had remained still the whole ti and now wore a peculiar expression.
Seomun Ak looked down at the teacup in his hand. More precisely, he looked at his reflection in it.
“Has my face changed?”
“……What are you on about now.”
Seo Yu-gyeom said in a strained voice.
Yet Seomun Ak was resolute. The warriors of the Seomun Clan were like that by nature.
“Do I not look more handso than before?”
“Are you talking nonsense? Are you drunk from the tea?”
“Is this the face of a chivalrous hero?”
“…….”
Seo Yu-gyeom felt an urge to dash over and fetch the Heaven-Slaying Dagger with a blade technique, so to speak.
Jin Seong-un and Lee Seowon turned away with looks that said, “Here we go again.”
While everyone fell silent for their own reasons, Seomun Ak alone was serious.
For the first ti in his life he had been intoxicated by the praise he had received from his father—the common boost of a would-be hero.
Seomun Ak spoke earnestly.
“It was as natural for a hero’s step to reach injustice as water flowed downstream. I would go too. A hero’s sword did not choose its target.”
“You are not even a bladesman.”
“Shut up.”
Seomun Ak drained his tea in one gulp. It tasted sweeter than any liquor in the world.
Seeing this, Seo Yu-gyeom mouthed to Jin Seong-un and Lee Seowon.
“Can we not just leave him behind?”
Jin Seong-un and Lee Seowon also considered the matter seriously.
They were about to undertake an important mission; they could not bring along a drunkard.
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