Chapter 124
After returning from a brief trip to the restroom, I found Dongryong-i in a panic.
Wondering what he could have possibly experienced in such a short time, I asked him and soon understood the reason.
‘A Shaolin Monk figured out our identities…?’
He even demonstrated a Stance of the Five Tiger Severing Gate Saber right in front of Dongryong-i.
If anyone else had said this, I wouldn’t have believed it.
Why is an Inherited Martial Art called an Inherited Martial Art?
Isn’t it because it is strictly passed down only within the family?
Friends or comrades are a bond. It’s something that cannot be taught even to a Benefactor who saved your life. That is an Inherited Martial Art.
And yet, a Shaolin Monk demonstrated a Stance of the Five Tiger Severing Gate Saber…
I first tried to recall the contents of the Original Novel to see if there was such a Personage in Shaolin.
However…
‘Fuck, I don’t remember…’
It had already been over several decades since I read the Original Novel. I couldn’t remember.
A Shaolin Monk who shouts the names of his techniques out loud while executing Martial Arts, and even possesses extensive knowledge of other Sects' Martial Arts…
If Dongryong-i’s words were true, that was a considerable Martial Talent.
‘There’s no way he didn’t appear in the novel…?’
Ah…, I felt like I could almost remember, but not quite…
But in the end, I failed to guess the identity of the Old Monk who Dongryong-i had encountered, and I gave up.
Since I couldn’t remember anyway, racking my brain over it would only make me lose my mind going forward.
‘For now, let’s just remember the fact that the number of people figuring out our identities is increasing.’
The most important thing was that the Old Monk knew our identities but didn’t reveal them. If he had, the Murim Alliance Warriors would have come to catch us a long time ago.
“Dongryong-a, there isn’t much time left until the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering ends. The number of guys guessing our identities like today will probably increase.”
“Then…, what should we do?”
“What else can we do? We just have to try our best to hide our identities.”
Our current situation was no different from wearing worn-out, hole-ridden clothes on a midwinter day.
Holes would continue to appear in our clothes from now on. The only way to solve this was to patch the clothes and fill the holes every time one appeared.
“Let’s go solve the problem right in front of us first.”
It is the same right now.
Since Somyung-i’s Dad and the Family Head of the Shanxi Yu Family, Yu Haseong had figured out our identities, we had to patch this hole first.
“…Yes, let’s go.”
Dongryong-i still seemed uneasy about the Old Monk’s identity, but I patted him on the back and headed to the meeting place with Yu Haseong.
* * *
The place we agreed to meet Yu Haseong was a fairly secluded teahouse in the Anhui Outskirts.
‘To think there’s a place like this in Anhui.’
I didn’t know how he found such a place in the bursting crowds of Anhui, but it was a truly great place to talk in secret.
Marveling at this, I went inside and…
“Oh my~, Yu Family Head. It’s been a while.”
“…”
…the Shanxi Yu Family had already arrived and was seated.
Whether they had rented out the Teahouse or not, there were no customers inside, let alone the Owner; only Yu Haseong, Yu Jinmyeong, and Yoo Somyung were present.
At this, I pretended to be glad to see them and waved my hand…
“…”
…the Righteous Sword Knight-errant glared at me with fierce eyes.
From his eyes, it didn’t seem like persuading him would be easy.
Grasping the mood, I quietly sat down in front of him with Dongryong-i.
“…”
“…”
Even though I sat down, Yu Haseong didn’t utter a single word. Thus, only a heavy silence lingered in the Assembly.
“Huu…”
And what broke it was Yu Haseong’s sigh.
He let out a sigh as if suffering from deep worry, and then continued speaking.
“…Are you out of your mind?”
His voice contained deep-seated anger.
“You are a Martial Artist of the Unorthodox Faction! Are you participating in a Rising Star tournament that doesn’t even match your status, just to play a game of deception? Do you see the Murim Alliance as water?!”
“I don’t see them as water; I see them as fire…”
“Stop playing with words!!”
Unable to hold back any longer, Yu Haseong let out a Lion’s Roar.
“…”
As he shouted fiercely, his shouting drew all attention and the room fell quiet for a moment.
I didn’t miss that opening and spoke up first.
“Didn’t you hear the truth from Young Master Yu and Young Lady Yu? I had my circumstances too.”
“…You mean to heal your Subordinate’s Dantian?”
“The reason that guy got hurt was none other than his fighting a Demonic Cult bastard. We fought the Demonic Cult in place of the Murim Alliance, so shouldn’t we be able to receive that much compensation?”
“…”
“Frankly, what does the Murim Alliance even do for Under Heaven? Even when we leaked information that the Demonic Cult bastards were invading Hunan Province, it did nothing and just stood by as a spectator.”
“That’s…”
When the Murim Alliance was brought up, Yu Haseong shut his mouth, honestly having nothing to say. I took advantage of that gap and spoke to him pleadingly.
“It’s not like I’m asking for a lot, is it? I will just win the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering and cleanly step down.”
“…”
“Who knows? Maybe this incident will cause me to harbor goodwill toward the Murim Alliance, and the relationship between the Hunan Green Forest and the Murim Alliance will improve.”
Of course, there was no way I would ever harbor goodwill toward the Murim Alliance, but I just spat it out anyway.
At that, Yu Haseong continued to show signs of contemplation before speaking.
“…All right. I understand that you came here not out of greed, but for the sake of your Subordinate’s recovery.”
Perhaps because Yu Haseong had a humane side, his heart seemed to have softened at the fact that I was doing this for my subordinates.
However, I couldn’t help but flinch the moment I heard his next words.
“But how did you know that the Winning Prize for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering was Gongcheongseokyu? That was a fact even I didn’t know.”
“…!”
This was certainly something Yu Haseong would find strange, because this was information I would have never known if I hadn’t read the Original Novel.
Therefore, I…
“That is a secret.”
…had no choice but to draw the line without even making a proper excuse. Making a flimsy excuse would only raise more suspicion.
“If you do not reveal that, I cannot take your side.”
“…If you don’t take my side, what do you plan to do?”
“What else? I will have to report your and your subordinate’s identities to the Murim Alliance.”
“…!”
So that’s how you’re going to play it…
I didn’t panic and brought out the words I had prepared in advance.
“The two of us have already advanced to the quarterfinals. If we are revealed to be figures of the Unorthodox Faction, wouldn’t it cause massive chaos? The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering won’t be able to proceed properly.”
“They will have to bear it.”
“People will lose trust in the Murim Alliance for having its security breached, won’t they?”
“…That is also a Domain the Murim Alliance must bear.”
At Yu Haseong’s unyielding attitude, I clicked my tongue once.
But since I had expected at least this much, I pressured him even more strongly.
“Then what about the Zhongnan Sect? People will heavily criticize Zhongnan for not even recognizing its own Disciples.”
“…”
If this matter were to be discovered, the Murim Alliance would receive a lot of condemnation from the people. But compared to the finger-pointing Zhongnan would receive, this would be a drop in the bucket.
Zhongnan failed to recognize its own Disciples and sent us, Martial Artists of the Unorthodox Faction, out as Representatives for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
There was no way people would stay quiet after learning this fact.
Zhongnan’s reputation would plummet to the ground, and it would lose its status as a Prestigious Sect. It might be excluded from the Nine Great Sects and the One Alliance, and perhaps even face a Crisis of Existence.
If it were anyone else, that person might take the attitude of 'Zhongnan or whatever, it’s not my Sect, so it’s none of my business,' but…
“…”
…Yu Haseong in front of me was different.
Anticipating the blow Zhongnan would take, he seemed to pity him, closing his eyes and falling into deep thought.
And the answer that soon came from him was…
“…That is also the karma the Zhongnan Sect must bear.”
…the same as before.
“You’re too harsh.”
At that moment, Somyung-i, who had been brewing tea instead of the Teahouse Owner, placed a cup of tea in front of each seat.
I picked it up, took a sip, and said to her.
“Young Lady Yu, Could you place one more teacup? There’s someone coming here.”
“What do you mean…?”
When I said that, the three members of the Yu Family tilted their heads.
And…
“I called the Zhongnan Sect Leader here.”
“…!”
…Hearing my subsequent words, everyone was startled out of their wits.
“What on earth are you doing!”
Looking at their shocked expressions, I shamelessly continued to wag my tongue.
“If you truly intend to report us to the Murim Alliance, then tell this fact to the Zhongnan Sect Leader first.”
“H-How could I…”
Of course it would be hard to say that your Disciples are actually Martial Artists of the Unorthodox Faction.
“If you tell him the truth, who knows, the Sect Leader might even suffer from Qi Deviation.”
“You are wicked…!”
“If you don’t want that to happen, please pretend not to know us in front of the Zhongnan Sect Leader.”
“…!”
“We will truly just quietly win the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering and return. Our identities will be discovered someday, but we’ll stay quiet until then. So please help us out. Yeah?”
“There’s no way I would help…”
“Can’t you repay the favor of my helping the Shanxi Yu Family right now?”
“…”
When I brought up the story of how I had helped the Shanxi Yu Family in the past, Yu Haseong shut his mouth again.
And taking advantage of that gap, I continued to push him.
“Just think of it as saving one of my subordinates who got hurt fighting the Demonic Cult, and saving a sect called Zhongnan, and pretending not to know. I’m not asking for much.”
“…”
Yu Haseong’s contemplation continued like that.
“I…”
And the moment he difficultly opened his mouth…!
Rattle-.
“Hmm?”
“…!”
…The Zhongnan Sect Leader, Jong Yeon-Myeong, opened the door and revealed himself.
At this, not only the Shanxi Yu Family but even Dongryong-i was surprised and sent me a Sound Transmission.
‘Wait, did you really call the Zhongnan Sect Leader?’
‘Of course.’
The more a situation is like this, the stronger you have to push to handle it decisively.
I wasn’t joking; I had actually called the Zhongnan Sect Leader here.
“My word! Aren’t you the Righteous Sword Knight-errant, Great Hero of the Shanxi Yu Family?”
“…I greet the Sect Leader.”
Jong Yeon-Myeong was surprised to see Yu Haseong and greeted him, and Yu Haseong also returned the greeting with full courtesy.
And when the greetings ended…
“But for what reason is the Righteous Sword Knight-errant, Great Hero, with our Disciples…?”
…the Zhongnan Sect Leader immediately asked why we were together.
“Ah…, that is…”
When Yu Haseong couldn’t easily answer this…
“We happened to meet him while passing by on the street. The Righteous Sword Knight-errant, Great Hero, said he wanted to talk with us, the quarterfinalists.”
I answered on Yu Haseong’s behalf and gave him a look.
“Right? Yu Family Head?”
“…”
However, even after receiving my look, Yu Haseong tightly closed his eyes, as if he couldn’t decide what to do.
Perhaps finding that sight strange, the Zhongnan Sect Leader tilted his head and asked.
“Great Hero Yu, did you request a conversation with our Disciples?”
“…”
Everyone present here knew that Dongryong-i and I were not Disciples of Zhongnan.
The only one who didn’t know that fact, the Zhongnan Sect Leader Jong Yeon-Myeong, wore an expression so pure it evoked pity.
And perhaps unable to bring himself to directly hurt such a person…
“Yes…, that’s right… I wanted to share a conversation with these Righteous Faction Juniors here…”
…Yu Haseong ended up answering like that.