"Senior brother. How much ti has passed since we were last here?"
"Let's see... I think it's been about a year?"
"Right? Can such a large building be built in that ti?"
It was Monk Il-won who answered my dumbfounded question.
"Isn't the most important thing in the world money? When you make the impossible possible, it's usually one of two things. Either a miracle really happened, or you poured a huge amount of money into it."
"Then the Flying Dragon Inn is probably... the latter."
"Donor Unhwi, do you have a connection with such a wealthy inn owner? You said you haven't been out in the martial world many tis, but did you make a connection in that ti?"
"Yes. For now, I am the benefactor of that inn owner..."
"Benefactor?"
He looked at Senior Brother Un Cheol with wide eyes, and my senior brother also nodded his head calmly.
Since they had spent a few days together and knew that Senior Brother Un Cheol was not the type to speak empty words, Monk Il-won was even more surprised.
"For now, let's go to the inn. Then we'll be able to find out what happened."
"I understand."
I led my senior brother and the Shaolin monks and approached the entrance of the Flying Dragon Inn.
The closer we got, the more I could feel its grandeur.
There were also incomparably more custors than before, and if I hadn't had a connection with the Flying Dragon Inn, I might not have co because there were too many people.
When I arrived at the entrance and looked around, I couldn't see the face that should have been there.
"Senior brother. I don't think I see Mr. Mo Yong-hae. Did the owner change by any chance?"
"That's right. The atmosphere also seems too different from before... I don't know if sothing happened to the master of the Shi-yue Pavilion in the anti."
The original atmosphere of the Flying Dragon Inn was calm and heavy.
It made think at once that it was a high-class inn rather than just an inn.
But now, since the interior is decorated in a red color sche, the atmosphere itself feels like a common inn.
Of course, this enormous size is by no ans common.
"Welco!"
At that ti, a waiter ca running to our side.
The waiter's face seed to have no wrinkles.
Usually, when monks or Taoists co to an inn, they tend to frown, but he didn't show any such sign.
Because quite a few rchants think that monks and Taoists are not a source of money, but a target for charity.
"Are there four of you? I will guide you to your seats."
"Wait, I have sothing to ask."
"Yes. Please speak."
"Did the owner here change? It's been a year since I've been here, but it seems too different from the Flying Dragon Inn I knew. Did sothing happen to the master of the Shi-yue Pavilion by any chance..."
Before my words were even finished, the waiter looked at my face intently, and then his eyes suddenly widened as if he had seen a ghost.
I also finished what I was saying, and as I was looking at him, blinking my eyes, wondering why he was like that...
"A-Are you by any chance a Taoist from the Wudang Sect?"
"Yes. That's right."
"Ah! I'm sorry. Since I am a layman in the martial world, I did not recognize the Taoist robe of the Wudang Sect. Please forgive !"
"Yes? What's so wrong about that?"
"No. I'm really sorry. Please wait a mont!"
The waiter suddenly turned around and shouted loudly towards the inside.
"The Taoists from the Wudang Sect are here!"
Then the waiters who were dealing with other custors, and even the people who were working in the kitchen, all ca out and said.
"What? The Taoists from the Wudang Sect are here?"
"Is that really true? Take them upstairs imdiately! And quickly send word to the innkeeper!"
"Please co this way! Thank you for coming to the Flying Dragon Inn!"
The employees, without exception, began to welco us suddenly while shouting, and thanks to that, the attention of the many people who were sitting at the tables and eating was drawn.
"It seems they are Taoists from the Wudang Sect."
"But why are the employees of the Flying Dragon Inn making such a fuss?"
"You. Don't you know that? Didn't the Taoists of the Wudang Sect step in and save the Flying Dragon Inn and the Shi-yue Pavilion when they were about to disappear last year? Thanks to that, the Flying Dragon Inn was able to grow this much."
"Ah...! I've heard that story. So that's why the people of the Flying Dragon Inn are making such a fuss."
"It's understandable. Since they are no different from their benefactors."
The sound of people whispering reaches our party.
My senior brother and I were greatly flustered, but Monk Il-jik and Monk Il-won had expressions of admiration.
Well, a situation like this can be said to be a situation that a martial artist dreams of once.
A situation where I am treated as much as the good deeds I have done, and people also recognize .
"I will guide you this way. Please follow upstairs."
"Yes. Shall we go quickly? I don't feel good about people looking at us and whispering."
"Ah! I didn't think of that. I'm really sorry."
The waiter, as if he were so sorry, kept bowing to us and then went upstairs.
The inn was a total of four stories, and the atmosphere was very similar up to the third floor, and when we entered the fourth floor, I felt the interior decoration change in an instant.
"Ah...!"
My senior brother, who saw the interior decoration, let out an exclamation without my realizing it.
In fact, I almost did the sa.
Because it was only when I ca here that I could feel that the Flying Dragon Inn was still safe.
"The Flying Dragon Inn from when we were here... is still intact on the fourth floor."
"Yes. Now I finally feel like I've co to the Flying Dragon Inn."
The Flying Dragon Inn was still there.
However, it had just moved up to the fourth floor.
I don't know if they moved the original building as it was, or if they built a new four-story building and recreated the original Flying Dragon Inn by making the interior decoration the sa as before.
"The fourth floor is a floor where we only serve VIPs at our Flying Dragon Inn. There was a strict order to guide the Taoists of the Wudang Sect here without any reason if they ca."
The waiter explained from the side, as if to resolve our doubts.
At that ti, a person ca running out of the door in the middle.
He was a person that my senior brother and I knew well.
"Mister!"
"Great benefactor! Why did you co without any notice? If you had told in advance, I would have gone out to the surroundings to et you."
"I didn't say anything because I thought you would. I was planning to stop by quietly and then leave. But what is all this? Why has the Flying Dragon Inn changed so much?"
"Everything is all thanks to you, great benefactor!"
He was Mo Yong-hae, whom Ha-hyeon had been looking for at the entrance earlier.
Mo Yong-hae was wearing clothes that looked luxurious even at a glance, and his hair and beard were also well-grood, so the rough and crude atmosphere of before was not visible at all.
To the extent that I thought he had been transford into a different person in a year.
To the extent that it seed a little bit of wealth and nobility was even flowing from him.
He, as if he were so happy to see and Senior Brother Un Cheol, had tears in his eyes and they were sparkling.
He grabbed my hand and continued, "After the great benefactor helped us, the Flying Dragon Inn and the Shi-yue Pavilion have grown explosively."
"Really? It seems it's because the biggest competitor has disappeared."
"That's also true, but to be honest, we also didn't expect the Flying Dragon Inn to do so well so suddenly."
"Why? The food is delicious, the people are kind. It was an inn that showed signs of doing well."
Mo Yong-hae, as if he were happy to be praised for the original Flying Dragon Inn, smiled, showing his teeth, and then said, "But, our inn was too expensive. It was a place where ordinary people could not stop by to eat or drink."
"But the downstairs didn't seem like that."
"That's right. You have a good eye, don't you? In fact, the master of the pavilion said that we should repay the grace we received from the Taoists of the Wudang Sect to the people. But we had no way to share the grace we received from the people other than food. So we started to sell the very delicious food we could make to the people, receiving only the minimum cost of ingredients."
"Ah. That spread by word of mouth and people gathered explosively, and even though you were only leaving a minimum, since so many people gathered, it was a huge success. Is that it?"
"Exactly. You understand at once."
I, feeling good after hearing that story, smiled.
In fact, rather than the story that the inn did well, I smiled because I felt that the people I knew, including the master of the Shi-yue Pavilion, were living well without any trouble, in between Mo Yong-hae's words.
"I have kept the people who have co a long way standing for too long. For now, please co in. You ca to rest today, didn't you?"
"That's right. These two are monks from the Shaolin Temple. Please prepare a separate al that they can also eat."
"Yes. I will personally instruct the cook to make it with special care. But the great benefactor, by any chance...?"
He ca up to stealthily and said to in a small voice that the Shaolin monks could not hear, "Should I bring out the food as you always have it?"
"Of course."
As I was looking at him with a dazed expression, wondering if Mo Yong-hae was this quick-witted, he suddenly winked and said, "It's already been a year since I've been in charge of this inn. I've learned this much."
He laughed heartily and led us inside.
As I looked at his back as he led the way, I had a question.
Did he originally have such an ability and personality, but he just didn't have a chance to show it?
Or did the position make the man, and did he change like that after becoming the innkeeper?
To be honest, this question is not important.
The important thing is that I have greatly changed Mo Yong-hae's destiny, and that it doesn't seem so bad.
I, with a happy smile, followed him inside.
***
The dinner that day was more than abundant.
Although Mo Yong-hae stealthily asked if he should bring out the at dish separately, I just told him to bring it out naturally.
Because I thought that if we ate the food on the table naturally, even the Shaolin monks would not say anything.
Fortunately, my thoughts were correct.
Although Senior Brother Un Cheol and I naturally picked up the at and ate it, Monk Il-jik and Monk Il-won did not say anything even after seeing that.
Instead, they ate the various dishes made with various vegetables and fruits that the cook had made for them very deliciously.
Monk Il-jik, while constantly moving his chopsticks, said that it was the first ti he had eaten such delicious food in his life, and that another temptation of the secular world had been added, but his pained expression was very funny.
Anyway, after finishing the al like that and resting for a while, a familiar face ca to see us again.
"Great benefactor. Have you been well?"
"You've been well too, right, master of the pavilion?"
"Yes. I have been very well. To the extent that I wonder if I have ever been so well in my life. Have you also been well, great benefactor?"
"Of course. I'm always well. I'm glad you've been well too, master of the pavilion."
He smiled brightly at .
Although there was a slight shadow in his original smile, I don't see any such thing today.
He was a dignified and sophisticated young nobleman himself.
"Actually, I was thinking of sending a ssage to the Wudang Sect anyway."
"Really? The timing of my visit was appropriate. But why?"
"Actually... there is soone who wants to see you, great benefactor."
"Soone wants to see ? Who is it?"
He hesitated for a mont and then opened his mouth.
"It's my uncle."
"Your uncle... Minister Jeong of Chang'an?"
"Yes. He said he has sothing to ask of you, great benefactor."
For a mont, I felt a sense of curiosity rather than a question.
Because I had the thought that a matter that a high-ranking official in the court would ask of would not be an ordinary matter.
(End of Chapter)
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