Episode 244
“Did you learn any new martial arts in the meantime?”
“I have been learning martial arts using soft swords for a long time. “I just ended up using what I learned as an auxiliary martial art as my main one.”
My eyes turned to Cheon Ga-ryeong’s waist.
A waist belt with colorful decorations caught my eye.
It was an item that I had given as a gift to Cheon Ga-ryeong when I visited Heuksi (黑市) previously.
An auction item that was auctioned off for a whopping 100 gold coins.
It was created by Heukyajang, a famous swordsman, and was not just a decoration, but a sheath for a soft sword.
“Do you have anything to say to the returning manager?”
“thank you. “Thanks to you, we averted the crisis.”
“No, don’t say that.”
With a bitter smile, Cheon Ga-ryeong pointed out the archduke’s blood sword lying on the ground.
The Grand Duke, who woke up groaning, looked at me and Cheon Ji-ryeong in turn with a puzzled expression.
I stared at the broken wall of the guest room and sighed.
“For now, let’s go inside and talk about the overdue stories.”
* * *
I paid a huge repair fee to the owner and got a new room.
It’s unfair that I have to pay for the attack when it was Yeongeumdae that attacked it, but what can I do?
Someone has to make up for the loss of the guests.
This is why people had to have money to see it.
Especially if you are a martial artist.
The good news was that the divine object was safe.
If the shrine had been broken or lost during the battle, there would not have been such a disaster.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“yes. Fortunately, there were no injuries.”
“sorry. “I should have thought something like this could happen and been on guard, but my complacent attitude put the Archduke in danger.”
“It is not for the branch leader to apologize. “Aren’t they the ones who made the mistake?”
“Thank you for saying that.”
The Grand Duke, who was awkwardly scratching the back of his head, glanced sideways in the direction of Cheon Ga-ryeong.
The reddening of both cheeks clearly showed what he was thinking.
Bangcheoksam, who had been quietly watching, suddenly spoke.
“It was a little strange.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s hard to pinpoint, but I got the feeling that they were different from those who had attacked before.”
I let out an inward exclamation.
It must be said that it was Changmyeonggung, but his keen eye was not ordinary.
“Were they really a music school?”
“Probably English music college. “I know that among the assassination groups cultivated by the Demonic Cult, Yeongeumdae is the only group that has experts in the Flower Sutra.”
“Umm…”
“However, except for the head lord, it is highly likely that the rest will be newly recruited personnel.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Young Music University is an elite unit. “Of course, each member is of a high standard, and they receive a variety of training to be able to respond to all kinds of situations.”
The true horror of Yeongumdae was not the inaction of the members, but their thoroughness and persistence.
In fact, before, my group, including Bangcheoksam, faced a great crisis due to an attack on Yeongeumdae.
Despite being far superior in terms of power.
“It goes without saying, but we are by no means a group that can be used as expendable items. “Perhaps the sense of discomfort you felt came from that difference.”
“Right.”
In my memory, the Youngeumdae was not a group that threw their lives away like straw to achieve their goals.
Throwing up one’s body to block an arrow and risking death to buy time were far from the methods of the Yeongum University.
Yeongeumdae, who attacked the group heading to Namgung House in the past, took a much more clever approach.
It took away the party’s mobility, eroded their stamina, and gradually accumulated damage.
It was because of this that Yeongum University suffered almost no manpower losses despite several engagements.
“I was attacked by a music college before and I did some research on them.”
“······.”
“Basically, the Young Music University is a group made up of five groups. We defeated two of them. “It must have been a huge blow to the demonic cult leader, as as many as four-tenths of his people evaporated at once.”
“I guess so. “It won’t be possible to make up for that much damage in a short period of time.”
“Perhaps the Demon Cult leader filled the vacant positions with ordinary believers. “They can be used as consumables and are easy to replace and exchange.”
“Does it mean that the group that attacked this time is likely to be newly recruited?”
“That’s right.”
The masked people who had attempted to kidnap the Archduke a while ago were in fact only disguised.
In terms of individual inaction, it was at a considerable level, but its organizational power and professionalism fell far short of existing English music schools.
“At least it would be easy to deal with.”
“It’s not something to be that optimistic about. “It means that the quality of attacks may decrease, but their boldness and frequency will definitely increase.”
“······.”
“The purpose of coming to Guangxi has been achieved, so it would be better to quickly return to the Sichuan branch.”
Bangcheoksam nodded with a stern expression.
The air inside the room became heavy.
After discussing the future schedule, we left.
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For the Archduke’s safety, it was decided that he and Bangcheoksam would share the same room from now on.
“Take a good rest. As I said, we will leave early tomorrow morning.”
“All right.”
The Grand Duke and Bangcheoksam left the room.
Cheon Ga-ryeong, who was straightening her messy hair, asked me with a meaningful smile on her lips.
“What do you plan to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“You found out clearly through this attack, right? “The Lord Ma has changed his ways.”
“······.”
“It is highly unlikely that the newly recruited English corps members will be able to do anything to you. But what if their target is not you, but the people around you?”
“I have no intention of being dragged around one by one. “If they weren’t stupid, they wouldn’t make a reckless attack.”
“I don’t know about others, but shouldn’t we take steps to protect the Archduke? “The way you showed yourself this time must have given him the impression that you were valuable as a hostage.”
“If you return the Archduke safely to Sega, my role will be complete. “I have no intention of caring about what happens next.”
“That’s heartless.”
“It wasn’t that deep of a relationship to begin with.”
“The problem is that the English College of Music does not know that fact.”
“Well, it will be okay for a while. As long as the Manzhang family is participating in the martial arts alliance in Guangxi centered on the Hongyuan family and Mengyi branch, the Yingyin family will not be able to aim at the Grand Duke without permission.”
“but. “If only I had informed Manjangse of the danger in advance, wouldn’t something big happen?”
Cheon Ga-ryeong nodded and muttered and stretched.
I rested my chin on the back of my hand and stared at her face.
Her beautiful appearance that captivates men’s hearts still remains.
It seemed like he had become more mature in the time we hadn’t seen each other.
‘The quality of energy has changed.’
The heavy prayer that emanated implicitly gave an idea of the extent of her growth.
Among the later exponents, there were probably few people with skills that could compare to her.
Perhaps because he felt the gaze, Cheon Ga-ryeong’s eyes narrowed.
“Why do you look at me like that?”
“Your skills are quite impressive.”
“Well, because I was locked in an enclosed space and trained every day.”
“I never thought I would reach the pinnacle so quickly.”
“My in-laws are talking. “In fact, I ascended to Hwagyeong at the age of twenty.”
“······.”
“Well, I greatly benefited from your help. Speaking of which…”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to clean the blood vessels. But right now, we don’t know when we might be attacked, so we’ll talk about it when we get to the Sacheon branch.”
“You speak as if you can read someone else’s mind.”
“I tend to be quick-witted.”
“Well, considering that, the other side’s perception is a bit…”
“what do you mean?”
“no. By the way, I heard you met Lord Moon?”
“yes.”
“What did you talk about?”
“Are you curious?”
“Of course I’m curious. “Because Master Moon rarely comes face-to-face with the customers of his clan.”
I shook my head and narrowed my eyes.
It seems that Hao Wen-ju did not tell the disciples about the conversation he had with me at the time.
‘In a way, it’s natural. It appears that she did not even reveal to those around her that she was having precognitive dreams.
Cheon Ji-ryeong asked with a slight frown.
“You’re not trying to tell me it’s a secret again, are you?”
“You know very well.”
“Anyway, I’m a fool for having high expectations.”
“If you have any questions, ask Lord Moon directly.”
“If I could, I wouldn’t have asked you in the first place.”
“People don’t know how to do things. Who knows, the answer may be different than you thought.”
“You can only say that because you don’t know much about Lord Moon.”
As I watched Cheon Ga-ryeong replying with a disapproving expression, I couldn’t help but laugh.
As she said, I didn’t know much about Hao Wen-ju.
But at least I knew one thing she didn’t know.
‘He is Hao Wenju’s biological relative.’
Not long ago, when Hao Wen-ju proposed joint excavation, saying it would help in the attack on Bi-dong.
The reason I accepted his offer was not simply because he offered good conditions.
If he had been an unreliable partner, no matter how good the conditions were, I would have shown my intention to reject them mercilessly.
Hao Wen-ju told me this.
It is highly likely that the secret of return lies dormant in the secret cave of Shintu.
[You don’t have to worry about distribution issues. There is one thing I want. [The goal is to determine the cause of the phenomenon you and I experienced.]
If I interpret what he said at the time, I could accept it like this.
What he’s after is ‘something’ that sent me back to the past.
[I am not particularly interested in the martial arts or gold and silver treasures left behind by Muyeongsintu, so you can keep them all for yourself.]
Basically, Hao Wenju was far from a philanthropist.
After all, because he is a greedless person, could it be that he unilaterally presented favorable conditions to me?
‘In the first place, this is not someone you can easily trust.’
Nevertheless, the reason why I accepted his proposal without hesitation was simple.
I thought that as long as my biological relative, Cheon Ga-ryeong, was in charge of me, he would never betray me.
‘You never know.’
Perhaps Hao Wen-ju had taken that into account and appointed Chen Ji-ryeong as my exclusive handler.
After gathering my thoughts, I corrected my posture and bowed with my arms raised.
“Anyway, please take care of me in the future.”
“I am.”
* * *
I joined the group waiting at Hongwonsega and immediately set off on a journey back to Sacheon.
I was worried that we might be attacked by the Yeongumdae while moving, but contrary to what I thought, there was no dangerous situation.
In the blink of an eye, 15 days passed.
After passing through Guangxi and Guizhou, he finally returned to Sichuan.
When I entered the Sacheon branch with Damun, Hwa Dae-rang, who was acting as the branch manager, ran out to greet me with a happy expression.
“welcome. “Branch manager.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“no.”
“I have received the interim report sent to Jeonseo-gu. “Has anything happened since then?”
“yes. “There were no major problems except for the fact that customers visiting the branch manager came in and out of the parlor every day.”
“Now that I think about it, I heard there was a group of people looking for me. Where are they now?”
martial arts,
