There could be a thousand people, not merely hundreds. Escorted by martial artists from the Jin Family of Taiyuan, we pushed our way through the enormous crowd.
This feels amazing.
I felt like a star in the Chinese-speaking world. The Korean Wave1 and all that.
Then again, I really was Korean, so maybe that wasn’t entirely wrong.
“Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi! Look this way just once!”
“Eeeek! Young Hero Jin!”
“Waaah!”
They say even a mutt has the advantage on its home turf.
No matter how famous the Three Plum Blossom Elites were, they couldn’t beat the pride of Shanxi Province—the son of Taiyuan—on his own turf.
As I beamed and waved, Chulwoo whispered to me.
“Look at the corners of your mouth. Enjoying yourself?”
“Look at the corners of yours. Are you crying?”
“You Shanxi bumpkin.”
“Yeah, next mountain man.”
“You little—”
“What, you—”
Just as sparks were about to fly again, a thread of Sound Transmission pierced my ear.
Third Young Master!
Wipeng was glaring at me with a fierce expression. He looked like he wanted to slap me right then and there.
He must have sent a similar Sound Transmission to Chulwoo, because the man added a curt remark with a dissatisfied expression.
“I let you off.”
I answered with a derisive snort.
When the crowd’s cheers first told me that Chulwoo was a fairly prominent young prodigy of Huashan, I’d been rather surprised.
But that was all.
So what if he’s one of the Three Plum Blossom Elites?
I’d already seen more than enough of Huashan’s martial arts, thanks to a certain someone trudging along beside me.
“I’m hungry. I’m hungry.”
“……”
Cheongpung was a strange guy no matter how many times I saw him, but there was no denying that he was a Peak master who had mastered Huashan’s supreme secret arts.
Thanks to him, I was confident I could counter whatever martial arts Chulwoo used. The only thing Chulwoo had over me was Huashan’s backing.
……
Ah, no. I take that back.
Now that I thought about it, the difference in our backgrounds was pretty serious. No matter how far the Jin Family of Taiyuan had risen, the Nine Sects and One Gang were overwhelmingly powerful.
Fuck. I lose.
The Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families were essentially Murim’s version of a corporate alliance.
A bunch of already powerful conglomerates had banded together to gang up on everyone else. Who could possibly stand against that?
Fortunately, for all their talk of being the orthodox faction, they didn’t encroach on the neighborhood markets. That was why small and medium-sized companies like the Jin Family of Taiyuan still had room to climb.
Seen that way, Huashan is clearly paying close attention to this matter.
Huashan’s Lone Crane, Baek Museong.
If everything Hyuk Mujin had told me was true, Baek Museong was practically the next Sect Leader of Huashan—recognized as such by everyone, including himself.
There was one person among Huashan’s young prodigies who could be considered his only equal, though…
“Benefactor, I’m really hungry. Do you have any dumplings left?”
“No. I don’t.”
“Oh. Aaaah…”
Cheongpung was a lost cause.
Huashan’s Daoists would probably convert to Islam before that guy became the Sect Leader of Huashan.
Even I, an outsider, couldn’t help thinking, What kind of person is this? How much worse must it be for the people of Huashan?
He’s the kind of guy who’ll experience everything the world has to offer, then decide he’d like to try being Huashan’s Sect Leader too. Yeah.
As I imagined this highly plausible future, Chulwoo spoke with an irritated look.
“What, are you possessed by the ghost of someone who died craving dumplings? Please shut up and walk.”
“……?”
“……?”
“……?”
Chulwoo flinched as Wipeng, Hyuk Mujin, and I all turned to stare at him.
“W-What? Why are you suddenly looking at me like that?”
“Hey, don’t tell me…”
“Young Hero Chul, you don’t know?”
“Come on, surely not. You’re one of the Three Plum Blossom Elites. There’s no way you wouldn’t know.”
As our reactions came one after another, Chulwoo’s ox-like eyes darted around.
“What? Why is everyone acting like this?”
Why else? Because he couldn’t recognize an elder of his own sect.
In terms of seniority, Cheongpung was the Sword Saint’s Disciple and the youngest Junior Brother of the Heavenly Sword True Person, Huashan’s current Sect Leader.
That made him Chulwoo’s master’s Junior Brother—in other words, his Martial Uncle.
Actually, now that I think about it, maybe he wouldn’t know.
The Sword Saint, Mae Jonghak, had raised Cheongpung while living in seclusion. Only a select few within Huashan could possibly know his face and identity.
I clicked my tongue at Chulwoo, who was standing right in front of his Martial Uncle without recognizing him.
“Tsk, tsk. It really is darkest beneath the lamp.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Never mind. You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Damn it, this is driving me insane.”
As Chulwoo pounded his chest in frustration, we left the cheering crowd behind and passed through the main gate of the Jin Family of Taiyuan.
At once, more than a hundred pairs of eyes turned toward us, accompanied by whispers from every direction. The atmosphere was completely different from the one outside the gate.
“That young man…”
“That’s the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi. He’s every bit as handsome as I’d heard.”
“The Defeated Flower Fist is here too. Isn’t he the Heavenly Sword True Person’s second Disciple?”
“Then who are the two young men beside them?”
“I couldn’t tell you.”
More than a hundred men and women of all ages mingled inside. Their clothes and bearing spoke of wealth and leisure.
The power players of Shanxi Province.
Some were Sect Leaders, while others were wealthy merchants. Every one of them possessed enough influence and ability to earn a formal invitation to this gathering.
At first glance, it almost looks like an aristocratic ball.
A strange feeling came over me as I walked on.
These people could be considered Shanxi Province’s ruling class, yet they were merely supporting players at this gathering. Their curious, admiring gazes made something tickle in one corner of my chest.
Then it happened.
“My name is Jang Se-pal. I lead a small sect called the Hequ Sect.”
“Ah, yes. Hello.”
“I’ve long admired the reputation of the Jin Family of Taiyuan and the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi from the bottom of my heart, and…”
The middle-aged martial artist launched into a long-winded speech about how honored he was to meet me. Then people began swarming toward us like a horde of Zombies.
“Greetings. I run a small martial arts academy near Yangcheon…”
“Pardon? Oh, yes.”
“Young Hero Jin, I have something important to discuss with you. Perhaps we could move somewhere else…”
“Right now? That might be difficult.”
“This is my daughter. She wanted to meet the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi at least once, so I brought her along. If you happen to find her appealing…”
“Yes, yes.”
“Oh! Then shall I send a matchmaker at once?”
“Wait, wait! I answered that wrong!”
What the hell was going on?
Requests for handshakes—or rather, a barrage of fist-and-palm salutes—poured in from every direction. I was on the verge of losing my mind.
If Wipeng hadn’t stepped forward at just the right moment, I would have ended up accepting every favor and marriage proposal wrapped in flowery language.
“Everyone, restrain yourselves!”
The shout of a Peak master infused with internal energy made the people flinch, and we took the opportunity to escape. Chulwoo clicked his tongue as though he’d had enough.
“That was excessive. Are all the people of Shanxi like that?”
Of course not. This was a special case.
Wipeng was the only member of our group who hadn’t been flustered. He spoke with his usual calm expression.
“This will happen often from now on, so you should gradually get used to it.”
“I’m supposed to experience things like this often?”
“You’re a direct descendant of the Jin Family of Taiyuan, after all.”
“I almost got married five times just now.”
“That’s only natural for a promising young prodigy without a partner.”
“I heard someone claim they were betrothed to me while we were still in the womb… Is that true?”
“What does it matter whether it’s true or false? Look on the bright side.”
My hair stood on end.
I’d spent twenty-seven years in the modern world without ever dating anyone, and now I was afraid I might suddenly end up in an arranged marriage.
In Murim, thousands of miles from home, no less.
No. I have Song-i.
Veins bulging in my neck, I shouted,
“Marriage is incredibly important! You can’t just brush it aside like that! Love between a man and a woman! Pure feelings! Don’t I get any of that?”
“No. You don’t.”
“Why?! How come?!”
Wipeng looked me up and down as if I were an insect.
“Is that something a man who’s been frequenting pleasure houses since he was sixteen should say? Did you scatter your conscience along with your silver nyang2?”
“……”
“Let’s keep moving quietly. Our Lord is waiting.”
If I’d actually been to one, at least I wouldn’t have felt so wronged.
Fuck, I’d never even been to a pickup bar, let alone a pleasure house.
As I kept silent and wept tears of blood inside, Chulwoo sidled over and asked,
“Is that true?”
“What is?”
“That you’ve been visiting pleasure houses since you were sixteen.”
“None of your business. Why are you suddenly asking?”
Chulwoo flinched and began to ramble.
“Well, how should I put it? Personal curiosity, perhaps. The curiosity of a man who has steadfastly walked only the path of a martial artist…”
“You want to visit a pleasure house?”
“Ahem!”
“Finish walking the path of a martial artist. Don’t go wandering down side paths for no reason.”
I had barely finished answering with utter disdain when a voice cut in.
“Jin Taekyung is absolutely right. How long has it been since you descended from the main sect? Have you already forgotten the duty of a martial artist?”
The tone was stern, yet tinged with amusement.
The unfamiliar voice belonged to a clean-cut man. He approached with steady steps and respectfully offered a fist-and-palm salute.
But it wasn’t directed at me or Wipeng.
“Baek Museong, First-generation Disciple of Huashan, pays his respects to his Martial Uncle.”
Cheongpung remained silent for a moment before answering.
“Who are you?”
He looked to be around sixty.
The old man had a slender frame and strikingly narrow eyes.
A deeply hoarse voice rasped through his chapped lips.
“So you were utterly humiliated by some nameless nobody?”
“E-Elder, that isn’t what happened…”
The three men standing before him were sweating profusely.
They were known as the Three Hands of Zhongnan, but in the presence of an elder of their sect, they had to watch every word and every movement.
All the more so when that elder was the Roaring Fury Swordsman, a master counted among the five strongest in the Zhongnan Sect and a man notorious for his fiery temper.
“Then what happened? No matter how I listen to this, all these old ears hear is that you bastards smeared shit all over the name of the great Zhongnan Sect.”
The Three Hands of Zhongnan trembled beneath his piercing gaze.
Just as the Roaring Fury Swordsman was about to unleash his thunderous reprimand, one of the men, who had kept his mouth tightly shut the entire time, suddenly spoke.
“He wasn’t a nameless nobody.”
“What?”
Gong Ilhyuk, the man with a splint on his arm, continued.
“He said he was the Sword Saint’s Disciple.”
The revelation was so shocking that the Roaring Fury Swordsman fell speechless. After a moment, he asked in disbelief,
“…The Sword Saint?”
“Yes.”
“The Sword Saint, who has lived in seclusion all these years, raised a Disciple?”
“We suspected it at first, but… it seems to be true.”
“Your evidence?”
“Li Feng, a lay Disciple of Huashan, serves in the military of Shanxi Province. Judging by his reaction, there can be little doubt.”
“Li Feng?”
The old man’s already wrinkled brow furrowed further.
His memory wasn’t sharp enough to recall some lay Disciple of Huashan.
“Is that all?”
At the lukewarm response, Gong Ilhyuk hurriedly continued.
“He has mastered Huashan’s supreme secret arts to the Peak level despite being barely twenty. He displayed one martial art after another that only the main sect’s direct Disciples are permitted to learn…”
After hearing the entire account of what had happened, the Roaring Fury Swordsman silently rubbed his sword scabbard.
The Sword Saint’s Disciple. The Sword Saint’s Disciple.
The Sword Saint had been in seclusion for decades.
No one even knew whether he was alive or dead, yet now his Disciple had suddenly appeared in Murim?
It was hard to believe, but the Roaring Fury Swordsman was already inclined to accept it.
At the very least, I should confirm it for myself.
After remaining silent for a long while, the Roaring Fury Swordsman abruptly rose from his seat. An order fell on the startled Three Hands of Zhongnan.
“Guide me.”
“W-Where do you mean?”
“Could you mean the Sword Saint’s Disciple…?”
Unlike the other two, who stood there flustered, Gong Ilhyuk’s eyes flashed.
“As far as I know, that bastard is traveling with a scion of the Jin Family of Taiyuan.”
“A scion of the Jin Family of Taiyuan? You mean that Jin Taekyung fellow you mentioned earlier?”
“Yes. He’s half a day’s journey from here.”
The Roaring Fury Swordsman clicked his tongue.
“You cunning bastard. That’s why you came looking for this old man, isn’t it?”
“The name of the great Zhongnan Sect has fallen into the dirt because of these inept Disciples. Elder, aren’t you the person who cares about our sect more than anyone? I happened to hear that you were in the area on business, so…”
“Cut it out. From what you’ve told me, this Jin Taekyung fellow sounds like an incredibly arrogant bastard too.”
“That’s right. A bastard like him needs to be taught a harsh lesson.”
As if the thought had only just occurred to him, Gong Ilhyuk added,
“I hear the Jin Family of Taiyuan is holding a gathering.”
“A gathering?”
“They invited every sect in Shanxi Province so they could flaunt their power.”
“They trampled on our sect, and now they’re holding a gathering?”
Anger flared in the Roaring Fury Swordsman’s eyes.
“I’ve heard enough. Lead the way.”
“I obey, Elder.”
A smug smile spread across Gong Ilhyuk’s lips.
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