Episode 301: Only for those with a connection.
The journey with Bias was incredibly enjoyable.
He practiced the Cheonmahoshinkong in the carriage he drove skillfully, and stopped at a delicious inn to eat. Just like when he went, he stopped the carriage when he came across a place with a nice view and looked around together. He saw a rainbow rising over a waterfall, and he also heard about the life of a coachman while having a drink.
So we arrived at Magachon and I paid the cost of returning to him.
“There are many vicious minions here, so it is dangerous to take a guest and return. This money is not for you, but to buy at least one set of clothes for the children. Please do not disrespect my kindness.”
Bias had a face that had so much to say, but he replaced it with this one word.
“I look forward to the day when we can welcome you again.”
I will never see this person again, but you never know what fate will bring. Maybe one day I will get on the carriage of that biased man whose hair has turned gray.
“Go back carefully.”
I turned away from the bias and entered Magachon.
“Ah, good! This smell!”
The distinctive smell of Magachon greeted me. I finally realized that I was home.
“Your Majesty!”
The person who saw me from over there and ran to me was Jo Chun-bae from Pungryu Tavern. He was so happy to see me that I was worried he might fall.
“How have you been, sir?”
“When did you come back?”
“I’m just getting here. I think today will be a good day, seeing as I’m meeting our owner as soon as I get here.”
“Oh my, don’t say that! What did you say to me?”
Even as he waved his hand, he was smiling broadly. When I saw Jo Chun-bae, I realized that he had really come back.
He was on his way to the Pungryu tavern with groceries on his cart.
“You buy the ingredients yourself.”
“Of course. I personally select the fresh ingredients one by one. Now, let’s go.”
When Jo Chun-bae tried to push the cart, I made him sit on the cart.
“Let’s sit together and go.”
I sat next to Jo Chun-bae in front of the cart.
Jo Chun-bae asked, blinking his eyes.
“If both of you sit, who will pull the cart?”
“You pull it off with your heart.”
“I’m kidding,” said Jo Chun-bae, smiling.
“I’ll push you. Try riding in my cart for the first time!”
The moment he was about to get off the cart, the cart started moving by itself.
“Oh my! It moves on its own!”
Of course, I was using the empty space to move the cart. Jo Chun-bae was amazed and kept exclaiming in admiration.
“I started working in a bar when I was young and have had all kinds of experiences, but this is a first for me.”
“Actually, this is my first time too.”
“Can we use the precious internal energy of the Young Master for something like this?”
“That precious internal energy is always being used only on trash. Rather, it is being used for the most valuable things right now.”
Jo Chun-bae looked at me and said.
“If I were a monk, I would definitely serve the Little Leader.”
“I don’t like it.”
He smiled and said this to Jo Chun-bae, who was very nervous, as if he had said something wrong.
“Then there wouldn’t be any taverns, right? Even if he’s not the owner, he has a lot of subordinates.”
A deep smile appeared on Jo Chun-bae’s lips.
That’s how we arrived at the Pungryu Tavern.
I went up to this floor where I always sat and drank.
“Is this place still empty?”
“Yes, it is a place for the sect leader and special people.”
“Wouldn’t this be a loss for the owner?”
“I’ve lived my whole life struggling to avoid that loss. Now, I need to have fun like this too.”
Jo Chun-bae looked happily at the signatures of the demons carved on the wall.
I was also looking at it and was startled.
“Father left something behind too!”
“He came about a month after the new leader left the sect.”
“Did you come alone?”
“Yes, you came twice, and both times you came alone.”
I thought about my father sitting here alone, drinking.
It must not have been easy to leave your signature there. How could I not like it? After all, a father is a father.
“Would you like a drink?”
“I need to say hello to my father first. I’ll stop by later.”
“Then I’ll see you later.”
My steps quickened as I left the bar. After seeing my father’s signature, I wanted to see him even more.
* * *
In front of Cheonmajeon, the person in charge of the guard, Jeokyeon, was waiting.
It seems that news of my return has already spread.
He quickly looked me up and down to check for any injuries.
“I’m glad you came back safely.”
He must have been angry that I sent my escorts away and went to Gangseo District alone, but he looked relieved that I returned safely.
“I have to get used to this kind of thing. I have a long way to go.”
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“No matter what, it’s not something that’s easy to get used to.”
That’s right. If I died, they would have to take full responsibility.
He asked the enemy who was about to turn around.
“How are your eyes?”
“it’s okay.”
“Let’s meet up.”
Now he took off his blindfold without any fuss. Looking at the red aura in his eyes, it seemed that he had made progress in his training.
“Once we get over this hurdle, we’ll enter a phase where the pain will lessen.”
He placed his palm on Jeokyeon’s eyes and injected soft energy into them.
“I know best that the master’s martial arts realm has changed.”
“Does it feel different?”
“Yes, it feels different from the last time you looked at it.”
Rather, his eyes were subtly sensing changes that I could not sense.
“When on earth do you practice?”
“I may look like a slacker, but I’m actually surprisingly diligent. I practiced the whole time I was riding in a carriage here.”
That’s what I said, but I don’t think there was any change because of the training I did on the carriage while going back and forth.
Wouldn’t it have changed when he looked at the sunset with his bias? Wouldn’t it have changed when he put a coin in Joo-yang’s hand? Wouldn’t it have changed when he listened to Jidan-ju Ho-gyeong’s complaints?
I still believe.
Life changes, people change, and martial arts changes too.
* * *
The father I had finally wanted to see was sitting far away.
I walked briskly along the bloody path to the foot of the Taesa Temple. My father was guarding the main temple with the same appearance.
“I’m back. How have you been?”
I paid my respects to my father.
When I come back from going out, I always look for my father first. I have already greeted him many times, and although I greet him the same way, I feel different each time and feel that I am treated differently. As time goes by, I am happier and better at seeing my father.
“Every time you go out, you come back with blood on your hands.”
In Honam and Gangseo, there was no room for excuses.
“Isn’t it because I take after my father?”
A smirk crossed my father’s lips. It was so nice to see that smirk after so long.
My father has also changed a lot from before. He used to be the one who looked down on me from the beginning to the end.
“Let’s go out and take a walk.”
These days, he likes to walk with me like this.
I followed my father out of Cheonmajeon. We walked together along the narrow path created along the back garden.
“I met a good coachman and got to know many good inns. There are delicious restaurants hidden in places you wouldn’t expect. I’ll show you all the restaurants later.”
I didn’t tell my father about the people who died by my hand. He must have already heard about what happened through Tongcheon-gak. These were the things I wanted to tell him.
Where is the place with the best scenery, where is the place with the best atmosphere, how do people live? Just as my father came from Taesa to this place, I wanted to go to the central plains with him now.
“Do you know how much interest they charge at Yeomwangchae these days? They are crazy.”
He told me the story of the King of Hell and the conversation he had with the Demon Sword Masters.
“If Father sends a gift directly to the Demon Sword Master, his morale will rise significantly.”
“Okay.”
I couldn’t help but whine when my father answered obediently.
“The discrimination is too severe.”
“What kind of discrimination?”
“You are so different when you are a scholar and when you are a disciple.”
“You have to be different. Then you will know how precious your position is. Why? Should I treat you like I used to?”
“That time when my father’s wind almost blew a hole in my handsome face? I refuse!”
I’m so glad to be moving forward with my new relationship with my dad.
My father stopped for a moment and looked at Mt. Daecheon in the distance.
And what I wanted to say to my father the most was this.
“Come play with me next time.”
“If I move, Kang-ho will be surprised.”
“I told you to be surprised. Stop guarding Cheonmajeon and now… … go protect your father’s life.”
For a moment, I felt my father’s back flinch.
I don’t want my father’s departure from the martial arts world to be a war. I want his departure to be a pleasant journey.
“I do that because I want to play with my father.”
My father just looked at Mt. Daecheon in the distance without saying a word.
Yeah, what father wouldn’t want to go out? You can’t know the pressure that comes from that seat unless you sit there.
“Kwonma has a daughter.”
“I was surprised too. That the Master would make such a decision.”
“You didn’t intervene?”
“I like to meddle in all sorts of things, but not this time. This is a matter between parents and children, so how could I dare interfere?”
“It was unexpected.”
Would my father be the only one surprised?
“It seems like I would be fine even if I was left alone in the world, but I was lonely. What do you think? Wouldn’t it be nice for a father to have a daughter?”
For some reason, my father nodded obediently.
“What if I disappear and you have a daughter?”
Father nodded more firmly.
“You are too much!”
It felt good to show off my skills in front of my father after such a long time.
“Follow me.”
My father took me deep into the backyard of Cheonmajeon. After passing through all sorts of barriers that prevented outside intrusion and even the secretly spread out formations, I was finally able to see my destination. This was my first time here, and I was surprised to see what was written on the signboard.
Cheonmabogo (Heavenly Demon Treasure House).
You brought me to the treasure house of the Cheonmasingyo.
“Ah! This is my first time here.”
I followed my father inside.
Numerous weapons were flashing, elixirs and herbs were emitting various fragrances and tempting people. There were countless dazzling jewels such as night liquor and poison liquor.
Since it was unmanned, the first thing that caught my eye were weapons and elixirs.
Swords, daggers, spears, of course, but also axes, wheels, sickles, rulers, fans, brushes, and needles… … All kinds of new weapons were on display. Each and every one of them was a new weapon that would cause a storm in the martial arts world if it appeared.
That wasn’t all. The elixirs weren’t even handled with the Millennium Snow Ginseng. The highest grade elixirs and herbs of the Millennium Snow Ginseng class were classified and stored according to the nature of yin and yang.
There were also elixirs stored separately there. The numbers were eight in total.
“These things here are elixirs that will be given to the demons immediately when war breaks out.”
In addition, there were poisons and secret weapons to be used in war. The secret weapons were forbidden weapons in the martial arts world, and the poisons were mass-killing poisons that could kill hundreds or thousands of people at once. Since they had bottles of that expensive intangible poison, it was scary to see just how many poisons were prepared. If war broke out, these poisons would be delivered to the Poison King right away, right?
But that wasn’t all. On one side, there were stacks of protective gear. Stacked like this, they looked like cheap martial arts uniforms from the market, but each and every one of them was a protective gear that was hard to find in the martial arts world. These were also things that would be given to the demons and the leaders of each organization if war broke out.
My father was diligently preparing for war.
Father, I respect you so much, but war is not okay.
My father knows that I feel that way too. But he shows me this to convince me. That this is the path you and I must take.
Then my father said something unexpected.
“Choose one of these.”
What I really didn’t expect followed.
“This is my gift to you, my disciple.”
The emotion was even greater because it was an unexpected gift.
After becoming a religious leader, I heard the words “religious leader, religious leader” countless times, but now I feel like I have become a real religious leader.
“Can I really choose any of the things here?”
“Anyway, when you become a Cheonma, everything will be yours. Of course, right now, there is only one.”
Choosing one of these precious treasures is an exciting task. Which one will be most helpful to me?
I walked past the place with the medicine and elixir and went somewhere else.
“Where are you going? There is no elixir there.”
My father assumed that he would naturally choose one of the elixirs. Since he had the Black Magic Sword, which was the second most valuable sword after the Heavenly Magic Sword, he didn’t need the weapon.
“I feel like there might be something better if you show it from there.”
I continued walking while looking at the items in the report. There were really all sorts of things. There were cushions that replenished yin energy, and incense burners that invigorated yang energy. There were also iron dolls that performed martial arts with mechanical devices, and there were also beautiful dancing statues. The iron dolls seemed to perform martial arts of peerless divine power, and when they danced, they seemed to perform peerless magic.
But I kept passing by.
There were all kinds of precious, fancy, and novel things, but nothing caught my eye.
As I was about to turn around, something caught my eye.
It was a square lump of iron the size of a palm.
“What is this?”
“It’s called a secret chest.”
If it was called a box, it would mean a box, but there was no lid anywhere.
“What is it used for?”
“I don’t know either.”
When I looked back at my father, he shook his head with an expression that said he really didn’t know.
“It is an item that has been passed down to our school for some time. It is not known where or how it is used, and it is said that it will only be opened to those who have a connection to it.”
“What about your father?”
Father nodded.
“To me, it was just a lump of iron.”
It is only open to those who are destined to have it.
Could it be that my current attraction to this is fate?
I wanted to choose this. This dull lump of iron caught my eye more than anything else.
Even though I knew full well that it was more likely than not fate, I still wanted to choose this among these many treasures. I didn’t hesitate for long.
“I’ll do this.”
