A day passed, and Shinseung came to Baek Yoonjun with several rolled-up bamboo slips.
"Benefactor Baek. The martial monks stopped by at dawn and delivered several stories."
"Could it be?"
"Unfortunately, there was no story about the Sichuan Divine Doctor. Still, I heard some quite interesting news from the Sichuan area."
At the word 'Sichuan', Baek Yoonjun's ears perked up.
Although it hadn't been that long since he had known the name of that neighborhood, since it was a place he had lived in for a long time, he was interested in the news.
"It seems a person called the king among beggars has appeared."
"What? The Beggar King?"
At the word 'beggar', Baek Yoonjun thought of Hong Yungae.
'I came without leaving any word, I wonder if Yungae and Hwaryeong are doing well?'
Baek Yoonjun thought of Hong Yungae and Zhuge Hwaryeong.
'There's also Brother Zhang, and Elder Blacksmith, and the Cheongseong Sect, so they should be fine.'
Since Baek Yoonjun had taken care of all the jiangshi, and there were many people he knew. So, thinking that they would take care of them, his mind was at ease.
'By the way, the Beggar King... since 'king' is in it, is he a strong beggar?'
Baek Yoonjun tried to imagine a very strong beggar.
'But no matter how strong a beggar is, isn't he still a beggar?'
But he failed.
Because with Baek Yoonjun's poor imagination, he could not imagine a king of beggars, unless it was an object of fear.
"The name of the person called the king of beggars is a young beggar named Hong Yungae..."
"Wait!"
At the familiar name he heard next, Baek Yoonjun cut him off without realizing it.
"What was the name just now?"
"He said it was Hong Yungae, Benefactor Baek."
"Really?"
"That's right. Amitabha."
Even after confirming, it was not that Baek Yoonjun had misheard.
'A person with the same name? And a beggar with the same name at that?'
Baek Yoonjun could not imagine that that screw-loose Hong Yungae was being called the king of beggars.
'Come to think of it, I've also met a person with a similar name. It seems it's a person with the same name.'
After accepting it like that, Baek Yoonjun's mind was at ease.
"For a beggar to be called a king, he must be very outstanding."
"He has outstanding martial arts, and it is said that he is upright and well-behaved, unlike a beggar."
At Shinseung's subsequent words, Baek Yoonjun nodded his head.
'It's definitely not Yungae.'
Baek Yoonjun's mind became very much at ease.
At the same time, in Sichuan.
In a secluded and quiet alley inside.
"So, senior brother. What are you going to do now?"
"Uh... that's... what should I do?"
Hong Yungae was kneeling on the ground like a great sinner, and Zhuge Hwaryeong, who was currently using the surname Baek, was standing upright and looking down at him.
"So, let's go over the problem."
Zhuge Hwaryeong's eyes were narrow, and she looked very angry, and Hong Yungae was looking at the ground obsequiously, avoiding Zhuge Hwaryeong's gaze.
"First, Master left without discussing it with us, right?"
"Th-that's right."
"The temporary leader of Cheongseong said that the reason was that he had heard news of Master's second disciple, who would be our second senior sister, and had left."
"That's right...?"
"Then, as disciples, we should either follow Master or find our second senior sister, right?"
"Th-that's right."
At Hong Yungae's weak answer, Zhuge Hwaryeong frowned and glared at Hong Yungae.
"But why are you, senior brother, now!!"
As soon as Hong Yungae received that gaze, he ducked his head as if to slam it on the ground and avoided her eyes.
"Making things bigger at a time like this?!"
"Uh... that's..."
Towards the angry Zhuge Hwaryeong, Hong Yungae tried to make an excuse somehow.
But the words that Zhuge Hwaryeong shot out were much faster.
"Beggar King? You must be very happy! To have become the king of beggars?"
"Th-that's, I couldn't just pretend not to see, and as I helped a little..."
"Well, let's just say that's that. Since it's true that you did a good thing."
As Zhuge Hwaryeong understood, Hong Yungae stealthily raised his head.
"But why are you acting so unnecessarily solemn?! To anyone who sees, you look like a founding contributor who has beaten to death several traitors."
"That... since Master is always dignified, I was following his spirit..."
"What? You were? If Master knew of that upright spirit, he would be very happy, wouldn't he?"
But after meeting Zhuge Hwaryeong's flashing eyes, he immediately ducked his head as if to slam it on the ground.
"Dignity, my ass!"
As a curse came out of Zhuge Hwaryeong's mouth, Hong Yungae flinched as if to jump up from the ground.
"Since they were praising you, you just took on all sorts of tasks! What Beggar King! You're just a beggar slave!!"
At Zhuge Hwaryeong's rough voice, Hong Yungae's head fell without end.
At this rate, it seemed only his head would dig into the ground.
But it wasn't that he had nothing to say.
Because it was true that, as Zhuge Hwaryeong had said, he had been helped and praised, and as a result, his nose had risen without end.
And so, Hong Yungae, who had been ducking his head without end, stealthily raised his head and looked at Zhuge Hwaryeong's face.
"B-but it could be helpful...?"
"Helpful, my ass!"
But it soon went down again.
"All the rumors that come in are just nonsense!! What? In the north, there lives a demon who controls and eats people!! A descendant of Zhuge Liang has come back to life and is plotting behind the scenes of the world!! An immortal in black robes is controlling the emperor from behind?! The rumor that the Emei Sect is actually a descendant of a divine thief?! If you add up all the rumors I've heard, this whole neighborhood is ruined! Oh my! People of the neighborhood!! The world is ending!! My senior brother says the world is ending!!"
Zhuge Hwaryeong spoke without even breathing.
That sound pierced Hong Yungae's mind like a dagger and dug into his brain.
'Can't a junior sister kill a person with words?'
In Hong Yungae's mind, the mystery of a single-inch iron killing a person came to mind and then disappeared.
Since there was nothing wrong with Zhuge Hwaryeong's words, Hong Yungae just slammed his head on the ground.
"That... junior sister, what should I do?"
"Hah."
As Hong Yungae began to physically crawl on the ground, Zhuge Hwaryeong let out a sigh.
Then she wrapped her head and held out her middle and index fingers in front of Hong Yungae's eyes.
"Senior brother, you have two choices."
Zhuge Hwaryeong folded her middle finger.
"The title of Beggar King that you have obtained! Using that, senior brother will educate the beggars and completely reorganize them to let only proper rumors come to your ears and inquire about the whereabouts of Master and our second senior sister!"
"Then the work I did was not useless..."
As a positive statement different from before came out of Zhuge Hwaryeong's mouth, Hong Yungae, who had gained a little spirit, stealthily raised his head.
"Senior brother."
"Wh-why?"
"Can you do what I said?"
"Uh... I don't know..."
"Even if you can, do you think it will be done in a short period of time?! In the first place, why do you think there's a saying that if you want to know information, you should go to the beggars, even though they spout all sorts of nonsense?! It's because it's difficult to get properly organized information! Because it's difficult to form an information organization!"
"W-was that so?"
"You don't even know that, and you're doing what! What are you doing! Before that, if you had any thoughts, you should have stopped that king thing! Since the local kings have lost their power due to the policy of reducing the number of fiefdoms, and they are glaring with their eyes wide open, a Beggar King? You might as well go around shouting, 'Please stab me in the belly with a knife'!!"
"I-I didn't give myself that name..."
"Shut up!"
"Yes!"
Hong Yungae, who had raised his head, couldn't even get his principal back and slammed his head on the ground again.
Seeing that, Zhuge Hwaryeong immediately folded her index finger and held up her middle finger.
"Second. Pack your bags right now, leave Sichuan, and set out to find the whereabouts of Master and our second senior sister."
"Right now?"
"Right now!"
Zhuge Hwaryeong's middle finger, still extended, pointed towards the exit of the secluded place they were in.
"Right now! Now! Pack your bags!"
"Yes, yes!"
Without realizing it, Hong Yungae stood at attention, spoke politely, and rushed towards the exit.
"Hah."
Zhuge Hwaryeong, who had been watching that, let out a deep sigh.
"It's true that senior brother is a good person, but..."
Muttering to herself, Zhuge Hwaryeong thought of Hong Yungae.
'Senior brother was a little cool when he stood up to the ruffians to save me.'
At the sight of Hong Yungae, who had not even properly known martial arts at that time, standing up to the ruffians, Zhuge Hwaryeong's heart had fluttered slightly.
After that, he had taken Baek Yoonjun as his master, explored the secret cave together, and on the way to Sichuan, he had even preserved the lives of the bandits from his enraged master.
In that process, the person named Hong Yungae was deeply engraved in Zhuge Hwaryeong's heart.
'Senior brother doesn't even know my heart.'
Zhuge Hwaryeong was not originally a person who raised her voice like this.
A life of escape.
In that process, she had lived, looking at others' faces, dressing as a man and working as a waiter.
In the first place, Zhuge Hwaryeong, who had never raised her voice even when living in the Baek family clan, had lived, lowering herself even more after that.
Now, it was just that her voice had naturally risen because of her worry for Hong Yungae.
Even so, it was an era where the emperor was cutting the authority of the local kings to centralize power.
She had to avoid unnecessarily provoking them and getting into trouble.
And she hated the sight of Hong Yungae doing all sorts of dirty work just because he was being praised.
'Although there are people who are genuinely grateful to senior brother...'
Beggars are at the bottom of society.
If it is helpful to them, they will use all sorts of flattery and use what they can.
Naturally, that also applied to the current Hong Yungae.
"Hah..."
And so, as Zhuge Hwaryeong was organizing her complicated thoughts and letting out a sigh.
"Can I join that story too?"
A ninja, no, a masked man appeared.
At the suddenly appeared masked man, Zhuge Hwaryeong flinched but quickly regained her composure and looked at the masked man in front of her.
A strange man wearing a mask and black clothes in broad daylight.
"Who are you?"
"I am called Ha Uhyeon, young lady."
The identity of the masked man was Zhuge Uhyeon, who was using the surname Ha.
Although both were hiding their original Zhuge surname and using other surnames, they did not know each other's identity.
It was truly a meeting of a strange combination.
At the appearance of Zhuge Uhyeon, Zhuge Hwaryeong was thrown into confusion.
It wasn't that his existence itself was a problem, but the word at the end of what he said was the problem.
"Y-y-y-young lady, what do you mean?"
"You're trying so hard to dress as a man, did I mention it unnecessarily?"
"N-no! What nonsense are you talking about!"
"I have good eyes, so I tend to see the essence well."
"N-no!"
"Let's just say that's that."
"What do you mean, let's just say that's that!"
Although Zhuge Hwaryeong reacted almost like a struggle, Zhuge Uhyeon, who had passed it over as if it were nothing, continued to say what he had to say.
"More importantly, can I join too?"
"Wh-what?"
"I asked if I could join the party that is leaving to find Great Hero Baek."
"Why should I trust you, who suddenly appeared?!"
"As for my identity, the Cheongseong Sect is guaranteeing it."
Although his appearance and behavior were suspicious no matter how one looked at it, at the words of the Cheongseong Sect's guarantee, Zhuge Hwaryeong had no choice but to shut her mouth.
'If it's just the two of us with senior brother, it would be awkward and dangerous, so it would be good to have more people, but...'
Zhuge Hwaryeong's head tilted.
'But still, no matter how I look at it, he's suspicious.'
Despite the Cheongseong Sect's guarantee, Zhuge Uhyeon's appearance was too suspicious.
'For now, should I ask for the reason?'
Since it seemed a bit much to ask about his suspicious appearance openly, Zhuge Hwaryeong decided to just listen to the reason and asked.
"Why on earth do you want to join?"
"That's because."
Zhuge Uhyeon's eyes above the mask flashed.
"It looks fun."
The eyes of Zhuge Uhyeon, who said so, were as clear as a boy who did not know the world.
At that clear madness, Zhuge Hwaryeong was overwhelmed and lost her words.
Whether Zhuge Hwaryeong had lost her words or not, Zhuge Uhyeon continued to say what he had to say.
"If I join the party now, I can also get Great Hero Zhang Sanfeng to join the party. Isn't this killing two birds with one stone, a one-plus-one deal?"
"Senior Zhang?"
Only when the name of Zhang Sanfeng came up did Zhuge Hwaryeong come to her senses.
Zhuge Hwaryeong's mind was spinning busily.
'To be honest, it's a bit uneasy to wander the Central Plains with just senior brother's martial power.'
Although it was uneasy to accept the suspicious man in front of her, Zhang Sanfeng was a man who was not inferior to be called a renowned great hero at present.
No matter how she thought about it, Zhang Sanfeng's joining seemed to have only benefits.
Having finished her calculations, Zhuge Hwaryeong held out her hand as if nothing had happened.
"I will accept that proposal."
"That's a good idea."
The two Zhuges shook hands.
And so, the Master Expedition was born.
(End of Chapter)
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