Chapter 65
Ha Hyeon took Chwiwol Geolgae to Namgung Mu-ryong’s office.
Chwiwol Geolgae kept snickering as if something was very amusing while walking.
“What’s so funny?”
“Thirty years. After a full thirty years!”
“What is?”
“Seeing Mu-ryong getting beaten up and groaning.”
Ha Hyeon tilted his head in confusion.
“Groaning?”
“Yes! From what I hear, he can’t even walk properly?”
“What?!”
This time, Ha Hyeon was even more surprised.
Certainly until they arrived at the Namgung family compound.
No, until Ha Hyeon entered his room after entering the compound, the grandfather had appeared perfectly fine on the outside.
‘Could it be, he was hiding such severe pain?’
Ha Hyeon quickened his pace.
Ha Hyeon seemed more urgent than Chwiwol Geolgae.
“Master. Let’s hurry. This way!”
“Yes. Let’s go!”
Chwiwol Geolgae was constantly grinning.
Sword Venerable (ćć°).
Literally meaning the supreme being of the sword.
However, if you ask whether there are also Dao Venerable, Spear Venerable, or Fist Venerable in the martial world, the answer is no.
The title “Venerable” was only placed before Namgung Mu-ryong’s name.
This contained the meaning of respect for him who had saved the righteous martial world during the Righteous-Evil Great War.
‘Only that Mu-ryong fellow gets called by such a splendid title.’
Of course, it’s not that he disliked the title Chwiwol Geolgae.
He had used this title for such a long time that he couldn’t even remember what his original name was.
But Chwiwol Geolgae just felt bitter about it.
The treatment his closest friend received.
‘And since then, Mu-ryong has never been defeated.’
Moreover, since being called by the title Sword Venerable, he had never been defeated once, whether in martial competitions or battles.
No, he hadn’t even been injured a single time.
Therefore, as soon as Chwiwol Geolgae heard the news through his information network that Namgung Mu-ryong was injured and having difficulty moving, he rushed over as fast as he could.
“Grandfather is probably in here.”
“Yes. Let’s go in.”
Eventually, the two arrived at Namgung Mu-ryong’s bedroom.
The other martial artists who had finished paying their respects must have left, as there was no one in front of the room.
However, upon arriving and seeing Ha Hyeon’s reaction, Chwiwol Geolgae thought something seemed strange.
‘Why is this kid making such a fuss?’
At first, he thought it was natural since his grandfather was ill.
But after calming down and examining Ha Hyeon, he realized that wasn’t it.
His face looked as if he was hearing about Namgung Mu-ryong being injured for the first time.
Chwiwol Geolgae began to feel that something was off about the situation.
“Grandfather! It’s Ha Hyeon. Are you inside?”
“Hyeon? Come in.”
Hearing that voice, Chwiwol Geolgae unconsciously frowned.
Because that voice did not sound like the voice of a sick person.
Slam-
Chwiwol Geolgae roughly opened the door.
Namgung Mu-ryong was leisurely pouring tea into teacups.
“Chwiwol?”
“Yes. It’s me.”
Chwiwol Geolgae hurriedly approached Namgung Mu-ryong, carefully examined him, and then sniffed around.
“This… There is a smell of those Demonic Cult bastards, but it doesn’t seem too serious?”
“Hahaha. I can’t fool your nose.”
“Oh, you possibly…!”
Namgung Mu-ryong got up from his seat and pulled out a chair for Chwiwol Geolgae.
“Haha. I’m sorry. I didn’t expect you to rush here so quickly. Here, please sit down.”
“How could you do this!”
“Please think of it as me needing to call you urgently.”
Chwiwol Geolgae sat down roughly in the chair, clearly upset.
Seeing Ha Hyeon still looking confused, Chwiwol Geolgae pouted his lips and said:
“Ha Hyeon. Your grandfather, the noble Sword Venerable, deceived this old and powerless beggar, making me rush all the way here without rest.”
“Ah…!”
Ha Hyeon now understood the whole situation.
Looking at Namgung Mu-ryong’s mischievous expression, giggling like he’d never seen before, and Chwiwol Geolgae’s dismayed face, everything made sense.
The Sword Venerable had spread false information about being seriously injured to make Chwiwol Geolgae come here as quickly as possible.
“Oh my, how unfair. That I, of all people, was deceived by Namgung Mu-ryong and ran desperately from Hubei to here without taking a single break.”
“Haha. After spending decades with you, I seem to have learned a thing or two.”
“What did you say…!”
“Father, it’s Gi-cheol.”
Chwiwol Geolgae, with his indignant expression, was about to say something, but at the voice from the doorway, his mouth only opened and closed without making a sound.
“Yes. You’ve come at the right time. Come in.”
As soon as Namgung Gi-cheol opened the door and entered, he looked surprised to see Chwiwol Geolgae sitting in the chair.
“So ‘The Method’ has come to visit.”
“What?!”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Chwiwol Geolgae was already full of irritation, and when Namgung Gi-cheol, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, started talking nonsense he didn’t understand, he reacted irritably.
“Bah! I don’t like this. Tell me the reason. Why did you call me so urgently? It’s not because you missed me. You must have had something important to discuss.”
“Yes. Actually, I have an important matter.”
“What is it? Tell me quickly. You know I’m a busy person.”
Namgung Mu-ryong smiled at Chwiwol Geolgae’s disgruntled expression.
Despite his gruff tone, his face was already full of curiosity.
But Namgung Gi-cheol tried to dissuade Namgung Mu-ryong.
“Um, Father.”
“What is it?”
“Ha Hyeon is here too…”
“It’s fine. He’ll find out anyway.”
“I understand.”
Namgung Mu-ryong lifted his upper garment to show the scars that the Blood Sword Lord had carved.
Ha Hyeon was surprised, but Chwiwol Geolgae clicked his tongue and nodded.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I thought so. That suspicious smell rising up was definitely their stench.”
He continued with an expression that suggested he knew it all along.
“This is going to be quite troublesome for a while, isn’t it? In my opinion, you’d need something like the Wudang’s Great transformation pill or Shaolin’s Small transformation pill to drive out this evil energy.”
Although Chwiwol Geolgae spoke as if it wasn’t a big deal, Ha Hyeon couldn’t maintain such composure.
Ha Hyeon spoke with trembling eyes that looked like they might shed tears at any moment.
“Grandfather. Are you in a lot of pain?”
“Haha. Hyeon, I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m fine right now. As long as I don’t use my inner power, there’s no problem with daily activities.”
“Ah, so that’s why…”
Ha Hyeon now understood the real reason why Namgung Mu-ryong hadn’t used his lightness skill to quickly travel from Hebei to home, but instead walked slowly or used a carriage.
In his childish mind, he had only thought that his grandfather wanted to enjoy his final journey more.
“Then, should I go get those miraculous medicines? I’ll go anywhere.”
Ha Hyeon said, clenching both fists tightly.
Chwiwol Geolgae felt touched by this sight, but spoke coolly.
“Hyeon, there’s a bit of a problem.”
“What problem?”
“Until yesterday, I was at Mount Wudang in Hubei. But currently, there isn’t a single Great transformation pill left at Wudang.”
“Why is that?”
Chwiwol Geolgae clicked his tongue and shook his head as if displeased.
“The formula has been lost.”
“Lost?”
“Yes. The method for making Great transformation pill is extremely complicated. And those foolish Taoist priests were only passing down the method through oral tradition.”
Ha Hyeon quietly waited for Chwiwol Geolgae’s next words.
Chwiwol Geolgae licked his lips as if it were a shame and said:
“Then, a few years ago, the Taoist who knew how to make Great transformation pill passed away. He was even younger than me, and died of old age at that.”
“Ah… Did he not have any disciples?”
“He did.”
“Then didn’t his disciple continue his legacy?”
“He did receive it, but only seventy percent. They say he’s been experimenting diligently to fill in the missing thirty percent and trying to make the elixir, but without much success.”
“I see…”
Ha Hyeon’s expression dampened, but then he spoke as if something had occurred to him.
“What about Small transformation pill? You mentioned Shaolin’s Small transformation pill too!”
“The situation isn’t good for that either.”
This time, Namgung Gi-cheol answered instead.
Ha Hyeon turned to him and asked.
“Why?”
“They say even the Emperor finds it difficult to get a glimpse of Great transformation pill, and Small transformation pill is only produced in small quantities each year. Most of it is consumed within Shaolin. Very little gets out. It won’t be easy to obtain it right away.”
After thinking deeply, Chwiwol Geolgae said:
“Should I talk to Juwon?”
“Do you mean Master Juwon?”
“Yes. That monk, despite appearances, is a high monk of the same generation as the current abbot. For someone of his status, giving out one Small transformation pill shouldn’t be a big deal, right?”
But suddenly, Chwiwol Geolgae realized something strange.
“But, Mu-ryong, you could just ask Juwon yourself? Surely Shaolin wouldn’t refuse if you said you needed it.”
“Haha. You’re right. Getting one shouldn’t be difficult.” â”But why?”
Namgung Mu-ryong smiled as he looked at Chwiwol Geolgae, and Chwiwol Geolgae still had an expression of not understanding what was going on.
“I’d like to get about three.”
“What? Your greed is excessive. There’s no way Shaolin would give away those precious Small transformation Pills, not three of them… Three?”
Chwiwol Geolgae stopped mid-sentence and looked at Namgung Mu-ryong as if something had occurred to him.
“Could it be?!”
“Yes. That’s right. Last year, didn’t you make a bet with Juwon? That’s why I called you all the way here. You have the method, don’t you?”
Chwiwol Geolgae’s eyes shook violently.
He understood everything Namgung Mu-ryong was saying.
Last year, at the Murim Alliance, Chwiwol Geolgae and Master Juwon had a truly big fight that started with a trivial argument.
Chwiwol Geolgae recalled that time.
‘Your Shaolin’s three top disciples performing the Eighteen Arhat Formation could be broken by just two of Mu-ryong’s grandsons!’
‘What did you say?! Are you, a mere beggar, insulting our Shaolin?’
‘Insulting? It’s simply a fact. No, not even a fact. Even if one of those two was his youngest grandson, he could easily destroy it!’
‘My goodness. A beggar who’s lost his mind! Such a thing could never happen, not in five years, not in ten!’
He couldn’t remember exactly why they started arguing in the first place.
Sometimes they were the kind of people who would stake their lives on nothing at all.
But he remembered the following words distinctly, down to the last letter.
‘If Mu-ryong’s grandson breaks the Eighteen Arhat Formation, I’ll hand over one Small transformation Pill!’
‘Haha. Just one? I see the monk is afraid of the Namgung family.’
‘Eek! Then if you win with the youngest included, two pills. And if neither of them falls until the Eighteen Arhat Formation is broken, I’ll add one more for a total of three.’
Hearing those words, Chwiwol Geolgae sneered.
‘Kheukheuk. Can you even get three?’
‘If I can’t get them, I’ll stake my own neck. Then what will you stake?’
‘What would I do with the neck of a smelly old monk! If Mu-ryong’s grandsons lose, I’ll serve you as my elder brother for life. Is that enough?’
Chwiwol Geolgae and Master Juwon glared at each other as if they were going to kill each other and shouted.
‘Fine! Your arrogant face will become humble. A man doesn’t go back on his word!’
‘You too, whether beggar or monk, take responsibility for what you say!’
Chwiwol Geolgae looked at Namgung Mu-ryong with a somewhat dumbfounded expression.
“Back then, didn’t you try to stop me, asking why I was making such a bet with our grandsons?”
“Despite how much I tried to stop you, you were the one who ended up making the bet and the promise, weren’t you?”
“W-well, that’s true, but…”
Mu-ryong grinned.
Despite appearances, Chwiwol Geolgae is a person who always keeps his word.
And the same goes for Master Juwon.
‘There were many eyes and ears that saw and heard their fight at that time.’
They had caused that commotion in the middle of the Murim Alliance, not in a private space, so they couldn’t back out now.
“You should take them yourself. I’ll send Ha Hyeon and Min.”
“Do I have to take them personally?”
“That’s right. It’s the bet you made with Juwon, so shouldn’t you be there? Imagine it. Juwon’s face when he loses the bet and is defeated!”
When Namgung Mu-ryong spoke as if whispering, Chwiwol Geolgae’s lips twitched, perhaps unconsciously imagining Juwon’s embarrassed face.
“Chwiwol. This is an opportunity. An opportunity to flatten Juwon’s nose.”
Chwiwol Geolgae nodded with a face that had somehow become grinning.
He looked like he wanted to leave for Shaolin right away.
“Good. Ha Hyeon, let’s go. Bring Min too. On the way to Shaolin, I’ll teach you good methods to break the Eighteen Arhat Formation.”
“Right now?”
“Yes. The sooner we go, the better. Didn’t I tell you earlier? I’m a busy person.”
Ha Hyeon left the room, pushed by Chwiwol Geolgae.
After Chwiwol Geolgae also left the room, it suddenly became quiet.
“So… When I look at Elder Chwiwol Geolgae sometimes, he seems cool, but other times…”
“He seems childish?”
“Actually… yes.”
Namgung Mu-ryong laughed heartily at Namgung Gi-cheol’s answer.
“This is the way we’ve lived. Sometimes there are things more important than being cool.”
“When you say ‘we,’ does that include you, Father?”
Namgung Mu-ryong grinned.
Gi-cheol somehow felt that smile was slightly different from his usual smile.
“That’s right. Maybe that’s why I’ve been able to remain close friends with them for decades.”
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