Chapter 110
With the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering a week away, the mouths of the Gossips moved without rest.
Naturally, the topic was about who would take the win.
“Ah, the winner will naturally be Shaolin! It isn’t called the Mount Tai and Big Dipper for nothing!”
“Still, these days the Mount Hua Sect is… I heard Mount Hua’s Rising Star is the absolute best, isn’t it?”
“Look here, everyone. The Namgung Family, the orthodox Strong Expert, is right there. So, where else!”
“Regarding orthodox Strong Experts, the Peng Family can’t be left out either…”
Predicting the winner of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering didn’t stop at simple amusement. Countless people placed bets on predicting the winner, and there were even those who wagered their entire fortunes.
Was that all?
The Sect that produced the World’s Foremost Rising Star had a high probability of making a name for itself in the future, so one could use the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering as an opportunity to make a good impression on the future World’s Foremost Sect in advance.
Because of this, people predicted the winning odds of each Sect with serious expressions.
“Still, for the Peng Family to win is a bit…”
“What about the Shanxi Yu Family?”
“I heard the daughter of the Shanxi Yu Family is quite the martial prodigy.”
As people gathered in the Inn in small groups, debating on behalf of each Sect, a voice suddenly cut in.
“What about Jongrimun?”
“Jongrimun?”
At the voice suddenly shouting 'Jongrimun', most people’s heads snapped around.
“Where is the Sect called Jongrimun located?”
When someone asked in a questioning tone, the person who first brought up the name Jongrimun clicked his tongue as if the question was pathetic.
“Tsk, tsk. How can someone predicting the Winner of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering not even know of Jongrimun in Guangxi Province?”
“It’s my first time hearing of it…”
“Jongrimun is an Affiliated Family of the Zhongnan Sect located in Guangxi Province.”
“What? An Affiliated Family of Zhongnan?”
As soon as the story came out that Jongrimun was an Affiliated Family of Zhongnan, people immediately burst into chuckles.
And rightly so…
“No, are you joking right now? Does it even make sense for a mere Affiliated Family to win the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering? And…, I hear even the Zhongnan Main Headquarters is in a precarious state these days, being pushed back by the Mount Hua Sect… What could a mere Affiliated Family possibly do?”
In the first place, the quality of Martial Arts learned by a Lay Disciple was lower compared to that of a Direct Disciple.
Furthermore, the Zhongnan Main Headquarters was famous for being lackluster at that time, so there was no way a mere Lay Disciple could do anything.
However, the man who heard this shouted sternly, as if he had heard something unspeakable.
“Silence! Jongrimun is different from other Affiliated Families!”
“No, is there a need to get angry…”
“Ignorance is a sin! You are distorting the truth about Jongrimun, the Hero of Guangxi, so I have no choice but to get angry!”
“The Hero of Guangxi? What does that mean?”
“Well, you see… There was an incident a while ago where the Southern Tribes barbarians invaded Guangxi Province…”
After that, the Man rattled off a string of believe-it-or-not heroic tales, claiming that the Disciples of Jongrimun took the lead in fending off the barbarians and that the skills of the Jongrimun Disciples were incredibly outstanding.
“Did such a thing… happen?”
“Now that you mention it, I feel like I might have heard of Jongrimun before…”
“Ah, I’m telling you! Jongrimun is a more famous Sect than you think!”
“I have no doubt that the Disciples of Jongrimun will pull something off this time.”
“Jongrimun, well…”
“How outstanding the Disciples are…”
Jongrimun this, Jongrimun that…
Jongrimun is the dark horse of an upset. Pay attention to Jongrimun.
Anyway, as such stories circulated, the people of Anhui gradually began to engrave the Sect called Jongrimun in their brains.
And that…
“Jongrimun?”
…was not limited to just ordinary Commoners.
* * *
“Older Brother, Have you ever heard of a Sect called Jongrimun?”
Yoo Somyung of the Shanxi Yu Family, who had come out for an excursion, asked her Older Brother Yoo Jinmyeong, who was sitting across from her, about Jongrimun.
But naturally…
“Jongrimun? Well, I don’t know the details either.”
…he did not know about Jongrimun.
“I heard it’s an Affiliated Family of Zhongnan, but it’s fascinating to think how much prestige it must have wielded for an Affiliated Family to be the talk of the gossips.”
“That’s what I’m saying. How could a mere Affiliated Family…?”
“Haha, what’s the matter, Somyung-a? Is it bothering you?”
“…Yes. It’s strangely bothering me. I wonder why…?”
Not only was it Yoo Somyung’s first time hearing about Jongrimun, but she also didn’t have deep ties with its Main Headquarters, Zhongnan.
But why was it?
As soon as she heard the name Jongrimun, Yoo Somyung was drawn to it like destiny.
“Then let’s hurry up and finish our meal, go back, and look into it. There are far too many people here right now…”
“Understood, Older Brother.”
The Yoo siblings had come out to the Inn for an excursion without any attendants, just to get some fresh air and have a meal.
In particular, the two were promising Rising Stars whose names were widely known.
Yoo Somyung, whose beautiful appearance had made her face widely known, was even wearing a veil.
The two agreed to quickly end this uncomfortable excursion-return and rapidly continue their remaining meal.
It was then.
“Oh…, that crest… It looks like the crest of a Zhongnan Affiliated Family…”
“…Pardon?”
At Yoo Jinmyeong’s words, Yoo Somyung stopped picking up a dumpling and raised her head. She saw Zhongnan Lay Disciples wearing sky-blue martial arts uniforms that were slightly modified from the Zhongnan Sect’s uniforms.
Normally, she wouldn’t have paid any attention to the Lay Disciples of another Sect, but Yoo Somyung recalled the rumors about Jongrimun and peered at them out of curiosity.
`[Was the rumor exaggerated?]`
However, regardless of who among them was a Disciple of Jongrimun, their appearances didn’t look particularly special.
Just as she felt a brief moment of disappointment and was about to pick up her dumpling again…
“…Huh?”
…the face of a person who absolutely should not be seen here appeared in her eyes.
Rub, rub.
At this, she tried closing and opening her eyes, and even rubbed them, but…
“…”
…the face of the man she saw before her eyes remained exactly the same.
And as she looked to her side in momentary panic…
“…Somyung-a, it seems I am seeing things.”
…it seemed her older brother had also spotted the same thing she had.
* * *
After barely making do with raw food for breakfast at Zhongnan’s Lodging, Dongryong-i and I came out to Anhui City to have a meal with the other Lay Disciples when lunchtime arrived.
It was a decision made because the other Lay Disciples begged us so much to go together, and because it was too difficult to keep eating a Taoist Priest’s diet any longer.
However…
“Oho…, it looks like Zhongnan Lay Disciples are passing by over there?”
“Then is there a Disciple of Jongrimun among them?”
“I’d like to see them for myself.”
…I didn’t know how well Munseok had spread the rumors, but the way people looked at the Zhongnan Lay Disciples had changed somehow.
Furthermore…
“I’m glad the prestige of our Zhongnan Affiliated Family has risen.”
“This is all thanks to Jongrimun.”
…the eyes of the other Zhongnan Lay Disciples looking at me were shining even brighter.
`[At this rate, I’m really going to become Zhongnan’s Promising Talent…]`
No…, it seems I already have.
Now it was to the point where people were directly asking me if I was a Disciple of Jongrimun.
“By any chance, is the Young Hero a Disciple of Jongrimun?”
“No, I am not.”
I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked this and how many times I’ve answered.
Since I couldn’t afford to have my face already known, I immediately cut off the questions asked of me.
When I told the other Lay Disciples that it was because I didn’t want to become too famous, they roughly understood.
`[Right…, until the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering begins, let’s just let the rumors run wild and keep a low profile.]`
“By any chance…, Jongrimun…”
“I said no.”
If people are already showing this much interest today, on the very first day, how will it be from tomorrow onwards?
I can just run an errand and have the other Lay Disciples pack food and bring it back.
Deciding to let it slide today since I didn’t know, and planning to hole up starting tomorrow, I followed the other Disciples and took a seat in the Inn.
“Shadowless Taoist Priest, Dongbong Daoist. This is an inn we found with good food. It will probably suit your tastes.”
“Is that so?”
Hmm…
Smelling the aroma of food wafting through the Inn, I found the situation actually wasn’t bad. Aside from its being crowded with too many people, I was somewhat looking forward to it.
However, …
Tap, tap.
`[Fuck.]`
Just as I was getting somewhat excited at the thought of eating a proper meal for the first time in a while, another fruit fly clung to me.
It was probably another guy asking if I was a Disciple of Jongrimun. This time, he didn’t even just speak to me, but directly laid a hand on my shoulder.
Annoyed by this, I nervously brushed off my shoulder without even looking in that direction.
“It’s not me.”
“…”
However, even though I answered like that, the person who tapped me didn’t back away. Instead, I could feel them standing by my side, staring holes into me.
`[What the, why aren’t they leaving?]`
Finding it strange, I looked to my side…
“…?”
…standing next to me was a Queen Consort.
She seemed to be a young lady from a noble family from somewhere, but because her entire face was covered with a veil, I was momentarily flustered.
And taking advantage of that opening, she asked me.
“…Are you a Jongrimun Disciple?”
“…”
Her voice was too familiar for me to complain about her speaking informally from our first meeting. So when I lifted the veil covering her face…
“…”
“…”
…Somyung-i, whom I never expected to meet so suddenly like this, was looking at me with dumbfounded eyes.
Are you flustered too? So am I.
`[Fuck.]`
In this situation where the surroundings are packed with people, if Somyung-i were to expose my identity by any chance, I’d be fucked.
What should I do here to pass this off naturally…?
Maybe Somyung-i could be fooled here?
Thinking so, I smiled naturally and spoke to her.
“That’s right, I am that rumored Jongrimun Disciple.”
However, Somyung-i…
“…Spouting bullshit…, mmph!”
…wasn’t that much of a fool.
In that desperate situation, my hand shot out first. However, since she was standing and I was sitting, I had to lean my body forward to reach out.
“…!”
Crash - !
In the end, I inevitably ended up pressed closely against Somyung-i’s body, holding her and covering her mouth with one hand. This…
“Shadowless Taoist Priest…?”
…was being watched by everyone around us.