< The Witch 2 >
A ship that was supposed to land at the Infinite Wharf, but passed right past the bustling Infinite Harbor.
As I was getting ready to get off, my destination suddenly started to move further away from me.
“Huh!? Don’t you think we’re going too far?”
When I asked in a panicked voice, my sister pointed to a small pier that was beginning to appear in the distance and spoke.
“No, Soryong. We’re going to get off over there, not here. That’s where the Martial Arts Alliance is, and there’s a small dock there. It’s only for the Martial Arts people to use.”
“aha.”
I wondered why they had to transfer to a ship operated by the Jegal family, another of the Seven Great Families, at a place called Yichang, but it seemed like they were all doing it to use a private dock.
The Murim Alliance seemed to be a cooperative of people who had learned martial arts, and they had a lot of money, so they had separate facilities for landing.
“Little Dragon, the Infinite Pass is called the Nine Provinces Pass. It is called the passage connecting nine provinces. To the east are Anhui and Guangxi, to the west are Chongqing and Sichuan, to the north are Henan and Shaanxi, and to the south are Guizhou, Hunan, and Guangxi.”
‘So, in short, it means a transportation hub?’
I was wondering why there was a Murim Alliance in a place called Muhan, but after listening to the explanation of the leader of the Gupae Alliance, it seems that this place is a transportation hub.
While listening to the explanation of the old man, I looked at the direction my older sister was pointing at from the boat, and a tall pavilion and a wall like a castle wall came into view along the river.
One side of the place called Murimmaeng was along the winding Yangtze River, and the other side was in contact with the Infinite.
-thud!
After a while, the boat slowly glides towards the dock and reaches the dock.
As soon as the ship reached the dock, warriors with swords performed light maneuvers and quickly jumped onto the ship.
And the leader of the warriors asked the ship’s owner, a man from the Zhuge family.
“Could you please tell me the purpose of your visit to the Murim Alliance?”
“This is the regular ship of the Zhuge family. Do you really have to do this when you already know their faces?”
“Don’t you know? Then, would you please give me the list of guests?”
“Hey. Here it is.”
The warriors seem to know each other because of the flag that says Jegal on the ship, but they still carefully check why they came to the Murim Alliance.
“Those whose names are being called, please come forward and show your faces.”
Musa checked each person one by one as if he was checking attendance during a lecture.
It feels like security is very tight.
And when it was our turn.
The leader of the warriors who were checking the list and calling names asked with a slightly surprised expression as if he had discovered something.
“Were there people from Sacheondangga on this ship?”
Then, the person from the Zhuge family quickly nodded.
“Yes. Lady Dokhwawolgye, a direct descendant of the Tang family, is riding.”
“You should have told me that earlier. Where are the Tang family? The military is waiting for you.”
“No, I said I would do it thoroughly again···.”
When her name was mentioned, she walked out from the crowd and threw a punch at the leader of the warriors.
“This is the Dang Hwa-eun of Sacheon Dangga.”
“Nice to meet you. I am Mak-gyeol, the leader of the Hwangryongdae (黃龍隊) under the Murim Alliance Cabinet (內閣). The military is already waiting for you.”
“You’re a great warrior, huh? Then, would you please guide the soldiers? I brought the items you asked for.”
“Yes, ma’am. What are you guys doing? Put the pipe in front of the military and invite the Sacheondang family!”
“yes!”
A warrior jumped off the boat and quickly disappeared towards the tall pavilion, while his older sister and the leader of the warriors got off the boat and entered the Moorim Alliance.
It was when I was passing through the pavilions and heading towards the tallest building.
Three young men and women appeared from the back corner of the pavilion and approached us while talking about something.
A woman with a sword on her waist is dragging the ear of a man with a spear on his back.
A loud noise began to be heard.
“Ahhh! Stop it. Sword! That bastard was going to give me a beating!”
“Ahhh… Do you know that this is what happens in the family? If the Murim Alliance comes to capture the Blood Cult guys and says they want to fight with the warriors on the same side, what are you going to do?”
“Yes, you were too hasty, Seonghu, without even checking what they said.”
“No, what is right! For the sake of my lady’s honor···.”
And then three men and women were about to pass us.
In the meantime, a voice was heard calling my sister’s name.
“Poison? Lady Danghwa-eun?”
“Huh? Poison? Huh!?”
“ah?”
Perhaps he is acquainted with his older sister.
My sister stopped walking and threw a ball at the group.
“It’s been a while. This is the first time since the Sword Dragon, Sword Phoenix, and Spear Dragon Yongbongjihoe.”
“Oh, oh, oh. What a coincidence that we met like this. It’s been a while, Dok-hwa.”
“It’s been a while, Hwa-eun.”
“It’s been a while. Hwa, Hwa-eun, no, Dok-hwa.”
People who call me by my nickname instead of my name, even though I don’t have autism.
Since I had learned the rules to some extent at Sacheondangga, and had learned what the nicknames before people’s names meant, I thought about their meaning.
‘It means a dragon that uses a sword, a phoenix that uses a sword, and a dragon that uses a spear. Aren’t you embarrassed by a nickname like that? Well, your nickname, when translated, is ‘poisonous rose’. I was surprised when I found out what it meant later… It’s a nickname that a sister with a rose tattoo on her thigh would use, you know.’
They say that only those with outstanding skills among the martial artists around the same age as those guys are given the titles of Yong (龍) or Bong (鳳). If you think about it, it means that all of those people are elites.
Among them, a girl who was close to my older sister clung to me and linked arms with me.
“Hwa-eun, we saw each other last year, right?
“Yes, Geombong. I saw you last year. In Sacheon. Let’s leave this aside for a moment…”
“I don’t like children. Now that we’re friends, we decided to call each other by our names.”
“That’s just the swordsman’s arbitrary actions···.”
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The woman named Geombong seemed to have quite a sociable personality, so she paid no attention to my older sister’s awkwardness and spoke with a sly smile.
“Well, anyway. It was nice meeting you. I was wondering about something.”
A question from a woman who has something to ask her older sister.
When the person she had suddenly met said that he had something he was curious about, the older sister tilted her head and asked back.
“Are you curious? About me? We met suddenly. Us?”
Then, a woman named Geombong nodded her head.
She glanced at the man holding the spear next to her, then smiled something like a mischievous grin.
“No, I heard something strange when I joined the effort to capture the Blood Cult guys this time.”
“Is that a strange sound?”
“Yes. There’s a strange rumor going around the Murim Alliance. That Dokhwa has a lover. Is that really hard to believe?”
“Are you my lover?”
“Yes, the warriors gathered together and were talking about that story. That’s why I’m on my way back to stop that idiot from requesting a duel with the warriors who were talking like that, saying that he would protect Lady Hwaeun’s honor.”
The idiot pointed at by the tip of Geombong’s finger is a man named Changryong.
He spoke with a blushing face as if making excuses.
“No, it doesn’t mean anything else. But, we can still be considered friends who fought, so in order to protect your honor… Well, there’s no need to be thankful. After all, between friends….”
Then, the older sister glanced at the man with an expressionless face and answered as if it was nothing.
“The rumor was wrong.”
‘Are you going to keep it a secret here? Does that mean there’s no need to spread rumors to the outside world?’
My older sister said that the rumor was false, and that the Tang family introduced me as a lover to the military and the Peng family.
But after hearing the story, I wondered if it made sense since it seemed like the rumors about the Murim Alliance had spread because of the warriors who had followed the military.
That’s why I was wondering what to do next, and I decided to ask my older sister what she thought.
A man named Changryong is delighted by his older sister’s answer.
“Look at that, that. That’s right!”
“Ah, so it was just a rumor? You’re alive. Haha.”
“You’re talking as if I were going to die. Ahem. No, this isn’t the time. I’m going to go find that bastard and beat him up again…”
As he rolled up his sleeves in a haughty manner, my sister put her hand on my shoulder and answered with a smile.
“I should set the record straight. She’s not my lover, she’s my fiancé.”
‘Ugh! I’m your fiancé!’
A lover is someone who has given their heart to someone they love, but a fiancé is someone with whom they have promised to marry.
I swallowed hard, feeling like I absolutely had to fail at catching the teenage poison.
Now that I know you, sister, you seem to be an all-in, no-nonsense type.
‘I gave you a chance, so you have to succeed.’ Something like that?
Even Geombong, who seemed to have a high social level, looked at me with surprised eyes at my older sister’s explosive words.
“Me, your fiancé!? After a while, huh? You look so young?”
“Yes, this is my fiancé, Weisorong. Soryong, please say hello. From over there, Geomryong, Geombong, and Changryong. I should have said hello first, I’m sorry.”
Even I was taken aback for a moment, but I said hello anyway.
I decided to check my sister’s intentions later.
It seems like that little rascal was secretly in love with his older sister, but what can he do?
That’s how all kids grow up.
‘That’s how we all grow up.’
So I took a step forward and greeted the three of them.
“Nice to meet you all. My name is Wi So-ryong. I am the ‘fiancé’ of Lady Hwa-eun. Please take good care of me.”
The two of them were flustered by my greeting, but then came to their senses and greeted me.
“Oh, that, that’s right. Nice to meet you, Sohyeop. My name is Seonhwa, the Taoist priest of Jeomchang. I have the nickname Geombong, which means “excessive swordsmanship.”
“It’s a young thief who has defeated one of the Three Flowers of the Murim. I am the Dragon King, Pengyu Sung.”
The man with the spear, named Changryong, looked at me with a blank expression, and only after the other two elbowed him in the side did he greet me with a blank expression.
“Yangga Seo, my name is Seonghu. Nice to meet you.”
As the greetings ended, the voice of the warriors’ leader was heard from the side.
“The soldier is waiting, so hurry up.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Sebun. I have an appointment with the military. Well, I’ll see you later.”
My older sister smiled and looked at me. I followed her and walked forward. When I looked back, I saw two other people patting Yang Seong-hu on the shoulder.
Perhaps today, a boy seemed to be growing up.
***
“Who is this? Yeah, it’s nice to see you two. I didn’t know you two would come in person.”
“Meet the military.”
“See the military.”
As we entered the military office, General Zhuge Hu warmly welcomed us.
After offering us a seat, he poured us each a cup of tea and asked us:
“Okay, how much did you bring this time?”
“You said you prepared as much as possible, but it’s only about three bottles of alcohol.”
-widely.
The older sister put the box she brought in response to his question on the table.
When I opened the lid of the box, three bottles of alcohol appeared inside.
“You must have had a very hard time. When I was in Sacheon, I saw the venom being squeezed out. It was a lot of work and not easy to collect. Please tell them I am grateful.”
They say he’s the smartest man in the martial arts world, and as expected, he’s a soldier who knows our hard work.
Three bottles of alcohol is a huge amount, you know.
Although the research data for the blood-thirsty snake is limited, the average venom production of the Russell’s viper, a slightly larger venomous snake, is estimated at around 12 milliliters.
However, the difference is very large, with some having as little as 2 milliliters and others having as much as 20 milliliters.
So, to fill a 1.5 liter bottle, you need to squeeze the venom of at least 125 venomous snakes, and that’s the case with the Russell’s viper, which is famous for its venom, but for the smaller, less venomous, haematophagous snake, you need to squeeze the venom of almost 500 snakes to collect 1.5 liters.
So, to collect three bottles that look to be about 1.5 liters each, you would have to squeeze out the venom of almost 1,500 animals.
“Understood, sir. I will tell the elders of the family.”
He smiled and nodded at his sister’s answer.
“Yes, then, it’s a bit noisy, but while you’re here, let’s take a look around the Murim Alliance. I hope you can become friends with the disciples from each sect. Oh, So-ryong, you should meet me and the leader. The leader really wanted to meet you.”
A suggestion to go sightseeing and meet some high-ranking officials while you’re at it.
But we didn’t have much time.
We can go sightseeing later, but if our lizards don’t get food soon, they’ll starve to death.
“We are leaving immediately, sir.”
“Right? Why are you in such a hurry? Are you trying to stop by somewhere else?”
A soldier blinks at the words that he is leaving right away.
I explained the situation to him.
“Yes, actually, the Seokcheok you told me about are probably guys that grew by eating the energy of Seol-sam, so they need Bing-ok. That’s why I’m going to go to Namgung Se-ga, who is said to have Bing-ok.”
He nodded after hearing what I said, but answered with a worried tone.
“Oh, I guess I stole food from those kids. I know what you mean. Anyway, something strange has happened to Namgung Se-gae right now, so I don’t know if he’ll be able to receive guests. That’s why I couldn’t send anyone to capture those Blood Cult guys.”
“Something strange?”
Namgung Se-ga says something strange happened.
I started to feel a little worried because it was a place I had to go.
