Chapter 107
107
"What? But... Brother is in the Alliance..."
We can't go together.
Yeon-ryang, understanding the unspoken words, chuckled.
"We'll go together. If I send you alone, you'll never go."
"No. I don't want to go together either. I wish Brother wouldn't go anywhere near Murim."
"It's better to go together. Even if you go alone, the Orthodox Faction guys will try to use you to draw me out. That little Taoist seems convinced you were deceived by me. They're probably looking for me too."
Unable to come up with a response, I chewed on my lip, and Yeon-ryang asked soothingly.
"So-hye, you don't want to be misunderstood as a member of the Demonic Sect and become an Enemy of the Martial World, do you?"
"Of course not."
"It's not good to be at odds with the Alliance. Especially if you're a Martial Artist of the Orthodox Faction. Let's settle this before it's too late. You being hunted is because of me, so I should finish it."
"What are you going to do at the Alliance? If your identity is exposed, you might really not get out of the prison. They'll torture you until they get the information they want."
"That's why I'm thinking of finding Beopgong and taking him with us."
"Your friend? Why him?"
"To use him as a guarantor."
I blinked at the unexpected idea.
Did he just say he's going to use a Shaolin disciple as a guarantor for a Demonic Sect member?
He's not just fearless, his liver is hanging outside his body.
"Are you serious? You know we'll both die if we get caught, right?"
"That guy will find it interesting. Messing with the Murim Alliance, he'll be thrilled and follow us as soon as he hears about it."
"Uh, okay..."
I wasn't sure if I should be happy to have a crazy friend or feel sorry for him for making such a friend.
Anyway, it wasn't a bad idea. They wouldn't treat a Martial Artist guaranteed by the Shaolin Abbot's direct disciple carelessly.
"That's all good, but where do we find that monk?"
At my question, Yeon-ryang sighed deeply.
"Actually, that's what I'm worried about too. I'll have to stop by the Lowborn Sect because of him."
"The time to cancel the contract has already passed. Won't they be suspicious?"
"They might think I was trying to escape and failed, so I'm late. They won't think I've completely eliminated the Poison. Cutting it off immediately would be more suspicious, so I'll have to gradually reduce the number of times I go to cancel the contract."
"Are you going to pretend to be dead at the right time?"
"Wouldn't that be the best? And the expenses the Demonic Sect gives are quite substantial. It wouldn't be bad to stop by occasionally and get some pocket money."
"Then we should go."
As I quickly changed my tune, Yeon-ryang chuckled.
"Our sister really loves money."
"The more money, the better, Brother."
"Yeah, yeah. Having a clear sense of values is a good thing."
Yeon-ryang shrugged as if he understood everything.
"Anyway, I'll narrow down the places where Beopgong might be. If we wander around as our feet lead us, we'll meet him someday, right?"
Yeon-ryang's complexion gradually darkened as he smiled awkwardly. He hesitated, then apologized weakly.
"I'm sorry for getting you involved."
"Don't say weird things. You're the one who got involved. If it wasn't for me in the first place, there wouldn't have been any traces left."
I firmly denied his words, but Yeon-ryang only gave a faint smile and said nothing. He looked self-reproachful.
I felt a little sad.
Yeon-ryang becoming a member of the Demonic Sect and learning Demonic Arts wasn't what he wanted.
‘I was like that at that age too. I didn't want to die. I wished every day that someone would appear and help me not die.’
He had just desperately survived in a place that was no different from hell.
The way he calmly said he wanted to live came to mind, and my throat tightened.
After choosing my words for a long time, I called out to Yeon-ryang with difficulty.
"Hey, Brother."
"I'm listening."
"I... I think people can change their lives through choices."
"..."
"It doesn't matter what choices you've made or what kind of life you've lived. What matters is that you made the choice to save me. From that moment on, you were a good person to me."
"Ahahaha."
Yeon-ryang laughed with a deflated sound.
"So-hye, if you knew how many people I've killed, you wouldn't say that. Hearing those words makes me feel like I have to be a good person, even if I have to force myself."
"No. You're already a good person."
Because you're a caring person who came back because you were worried about me being left alone.
Because you're someone who can throw away your own life just because it's the right thing to do.
"So stop thinking strange things and think about where that Buddhist monk goes often. Can you think of any places?"
"Alright, alright. I won't say strange things, so don't worry about it either, So-hye."
Yeon-ryang put on a playful expression at my scolding.
Then he started drawing on the ground. It was a fairly detailed map of the Central Plains.
"Let's see... That monk doesn't go anywhere near Shaolin. He won't be around Mount Song. I think it's one of these three: Rongzhong, Luoyang, or Bozhou."
I frowned as I checked the areas Yeon-ryang circled. Even after thinking for a long time, it was difficult to find a common point between the three areas.
"Aren't the expected places too different, Brother?"
"There's a reason for each one. If he ran out of money and went to raid someone else's liquor storage, he would have gone to the Jegal family in Rongzhong. He's friends with the Jegal Young Patriarch, so he often stays there as a guest."
"Goes to raid someone else's liquor storage? He's a monk, right?"
"I told you, he's not normal. You shouldn't expect common sense from a crazy monk."
"That person is even worse than you..."
"If he's hooked on Dukang Wine, he'll be in Luoyang, and if it's neither, there's a high possibility he's in Bozhou. Beopgong's favorite wine is Gujing Gongjiu. So it'll be one of those three."
"It sounds like complete nonsense, but it's also strangely plausible. It's really weird."
I wondered what kind of person this monk named Beopgong was.
A monk who goes on a tour of famous liquors? Just hearing about it makes me think he would have been expelled a long time ago, but is it okay to get help from him? Won't things get more complicated?
"Brother. That monk is still affiliated with Shaolin, right? We're not trying to get rid of a wart and end up with a boil, are we?"
"I don't think so yet? He's mastered seven of the Shaolin Seventy-Two Arts, which are said to be difficult to master even one properly, so even if Shaolin wants to kick him out, they won't be able to do so carelessly."
"Hmm. 'Not yet' means he's likely to be expelled soon. I don't trust that monk. Wouldn't it be better for you to take the Mountain Collapse Poison and pretend you don't have Inner Energy?"
Then Yeon-ryang distorted his mouth with a pitiful expression.
"So-hye... I've eaten all the Poison I'll eat in my life in the past month... Stop feeding it to me..."
He looked like he was really going to cry if I tried to feed him more, so I couldn't bring myself to recommend it and waved my hand.
"Okay, okay, calm down. I won't talk about the Mountain Collapse Poison."
Only then did Yeon-ryang relax his expression and continue, pointing at the ground.
"Since we're around here, if we go north, we'll reach Luan. It would be good to stop by the Lowborn Sect's Luan branch to get information before moving."
I stroked my chin and pondered.
The Lowborn Sect's Luan branch... Does each large city have a branch?
How many branches are there in the entire Central Plains? I heard that the Beggars' Sect has over a hundred branches, so is it similar?
It would be good to find out the location of the Lowborn Sect this time. Someday, I'll have to find the Lowborn Sect too.
"Let's think a little more about when to leave. Have you finished maintaining the Flying Daggers?"
"Yeah. I've oiled them all."
Then Yeon-ryang, raising the corners of his mouth, lightly waved the wooden stick in his hand.
"Then we should throw them. Sister, let's loosen up a bit too."
\ \ *
Thwack!
The wooden stick, quickly cutting through the air, lightly struck the top of my head. At the same time, a tingling pain rushed in.
Yeon-ryang, adding another bump on top of the bump on my head, chuckled teasingly.
"Oops. Our sister died again."
I glared at Yeon-ryang while rubbing the top of my head.
"Do it again."
"Wouldn't it be better to stop here today? You've already died twelve times."
"Do it again. I saw a little bit of the Sword Trajectory this time."
"What's the point of seeing the Sword Trajectory? You keep giving the Swordsman distance. You have to prevent him from getting close from the start."
Yeon-ryang shrugged and shook his head. I narrowed my eyes.
"I know that! But how can I maintain the distance when you're charging at me like a bull? If I blink once, you're already in front of me."
"Haha, but you have to adapt. Sister. There are Martial Artists in the world who are faster than me."
Hmm. That's true.
"That's true. Jin-sung Taoist was also very fast. It was obvious he was going easy on me, but I was still out of breath."
"That little Taoist was quite something. He's said to be around twenty, but the Artisan Energy he can emit at that age is no joke."
"No wonder he's a disciple of the Greatest Swordsman Under Heaven. It was a little scary when he blocked the Songmun Ancient Sword. I got goosebumps."
"Don't be discouraged, Sister! You're also a disciple of the Poison King!"
"What are you talking about! I'm not discouraged!"
"Yeah. That's a great attitude. A Martial Artist is all about spirit."
Yeon-ryang, joking around and grinning, tapped the ground with the wooden stick.
"The best thing is not to give them any distance in the first place, but when the distance has already been narrowed... There are three ways."
"Three ways?"
"First, if the opponent is weaker than you, or if you feel they're being careless, break their weapon."
"Huh? Break their weapon?"
"You're strong, Sister. I saw you break a sword blade with your bare hands before. The drifters will lose their will to fight the moment they lose their weapon."
I nodded, recalling the bandits who knelt down as soon as I broke their sword blades.
"What's the second?"
"It's simple. Widen the distance again."
"...Brother. If that were possible, I wouldn't have a bump on my head."
"Make the opponent retreat first. A Martial Artist's center is in their lower body. Aim for their legs and shake their Sword Trajectory. If you paralyze one leg with your Poison, they'll retreat on their own."
"Ooh."
So that's how it's done. Smart.
I clapped my hands in admiration.
To think that a trick that I would have cursed as unfair in the past feels like a wise strategy, you really do learn something from living a long life.
Yeah. Poison isn't unfair. It's my weapon, what am I supposed to do? If they have a problem with it, they should have been born with Immunity to all poisons.
"The last method is to run away. It would be even better to blind them with Poison and run away."
"Run away?"
"The Orthodox Faction guys will pretend to be noble and call it cowardly, but the important thing isn't being fair and square. It's surviving."
Yeon-ryang's eyes sank low as he explained slowly.
"So if anything happens, run away even if you're alone, So-hye."
