Chapter 49- Honey Belly Sword (8)
Ah, that feels so refreshing.
It felt like a 10 years of stagnation was being washed away like the tide. You know those situations, right? When someone clearly did something wrong, but it’s awkward to confront them directly.
That was exactly Ma Kang’s case. First of all, it’s true that he caused harm by not revealing the betrayal. But conversely, what if Ma Kang hadn’t joined Go Gyeom and instead joined the Evil sect?
Perhaps we really would have fallen for the Evil sect’s schemes. Additionally, there were somewhat mitigating circumstances for his silence about the betrayal.
What if he had rejected the Evil sect’s proposal at that time?
Or if he had shown any signs of betraying them midway?
Then he might have been killed by the Evil sect members.
But still, I had this strange feeling that made me reluctant to just let him go. You could call it a lingering resentment or attachment.
However, even that feeling washed away completely after I decisively struck down Ma Kang with a single blow. I nodded with a refreshing smile.
If there was one thing I didn’t expect, it was that even Ma Kang, who had been overwhelmingly defeated by me, was nodding with a refreshed expression. What’s that about?
“Thank you, Master.”
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
“Thanks to you, Master, I’ve finally realized the path I must take. And at the same time, that the path I wanted to walk was not wrong.”
“I-Is that so? I’m glad I could help… Though I don’t know what path you’re talking about, continue to work hard.”
While saying that, I unconsciously moved my disciples behind me. Surely he hadn’t gained some strange enlightenment about enjoying being hit? That’s quite unsettling.
“I also thank you, Master.”
“What does Young Master Go Gyeom have to thank me for?”
“This guy Ma Kang, he’s not really a bad person.”
“I heard that Young Master Go Gyeom and Young Master Ma Kang were sworn enemies.”
“That’s true. But I don’t particularly like seeing a worthy rival break himself.”
Ah, what is this? This guy is a bit suspicious too.
I read martial arts novels most frequently, but I wasn’t a reader who only read martial arts novels. I read everything without discrimination, including fantasy, modern novels, and even sports stories.
Thanks to that, I encountered many masterpieces.
But at the same time, I also stepped on many landmines.
And that experience is telling me.
‘Could this be… A homosexual relationship?!’
Of course, it’s not certain. But from my perspective, having become accustomed to modern novels, I can’t help but think more sensitively about this. I should be a bit more careful.
“Oh, right. Master! Sua received a marriage proposal from that Go Gyeom guy!”
“I thought I told you to keep that a secret…?”
“It’s good news, isn’t it? It deserves congratulations, right?”
“……”
However, my suspicions were instantly dispelled. Instead, I had to be careful in a different way. I silently glared at Go Gyeom. This bastard, how dare he set his sights on my disciple.
“Ah, about that, Master. Actually, there’s something urgent I need to tell you…”
“I’ll listen later. Right now, I’m busy with the road ahead.”
“I-I’m sorry. Then I’ll visit you again later.”
Though it’s difficult to define precisely, despite our initial bad blood, Sua is now a disciple I think of almost like my own daughter. And he proposed to Sua?
‘You rascal! I won’t give you my daughter!!’
I’m not sure about anything else, but now I clearly understand one thing—why parent characters are so wary and dislike their sons-in-law.
“Are you seriously considering Young Master Go Gyeom’s proposal?”
“Absolutely not! I properly rejected him, Master.”
“I see.”
“…Are you that concerned about my marriage, Master?”
“Isn’t it natural to be concerned? You are my disciple.”
I didn’t bother to lie and told Sua my honest feelings. At that, Sua nodded with a pleasant smile on her face.
“I’ll be satisfied with that for now, Master.”
“Don’t tease your master, you punk.”
“I’m sorry, Master. And Seolhwa? I need to talk to you.”
Sua, who had been apologizing to me with slightly blushing cheeks and a bowed head, suddenly transformed into a fearsome expression and looked at Seolhwa. At this, Seolhwa spoke while sweating.
“Why me all of a sudden…?”
“Didn’t I clearly tell you to keep it a secret?”
“But it’s better to eliminate your rivals as much as possible, right?”
“You really are hopeless. Master, I’d like to spar with Seolhwa for a moment.”
“I won’t allow that. I can clearly see you’re just going to bully her.”
“Wow! Master is the best!!!”
When I forbade the sparring, Seolhwa jumped for joy and hugged me. That’s fortunate. At least she doesn’t know that Sua is staring at her back with a terrifying expression.
…Surely she’s not doing this knowingly?
â—‡
Fortunately, traveling on horseback didn’t take too long to reach Shandong. Although Sua and Seolhwa couldn’t ride horses, Namgung-yeon and I solved this by letting them ride with us.
Of course, during this process, Sua and Seolhwa argued over who would ride with me, but we resolved it by taking turns carrying them. Namgung-yeon said with a smile.
“You’re fortunate to receive such love from your disciples, Master.”
“It’s just because they haven’t met a good man yet. Once they meet a man, all this childishness will come to an end.”
“I don’t think it’s such a trivial matter…”
“Master! I can see a village over there!!”
Indeed, looking in the direction Seolhwa was pointing, a sizeable village came into view. It was certainly smaller than Hanam, but still quite large.
“Young Masters Ma Kang and Go Gyeom said they would go ahead and spread this news.”
“They should. If we don’t properly alert people about the Evil sect’s deception, the Righteous Sect Alliance will be next.”
“…At first it was hard to believe, but after experiencing it firsthand, I can definitely relate to what you’re saying.”
Having experienced the threat of the Evil sect personally, Namgung-yeon shuddered and readily acknowledged my words. Thanks to Namgung-yeon, I was able to grasp quite a bit about the Righteous Sect Alliance’s activities.
To summarize.
Too steeped in peace.
They failed to notice the loneliness eating away at their core.
In fact, if you think about it, the greatest adversary of the Righteous Sect Alliance in the past was none other than the Sword Demon. At that time, they say even the legend of the righteous sect, the Sword God, could barely match the Sword Demon.
Moreover, even the Sword God passed away not long after. So it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the martial arts world was under the Sword Demon’s dominion. That was the greatest threat to the righteous sect.
There was no master in the righteous sect who could stop the Sword Demon. Moreover, the Sword Demon was stirring up the righteous sect and even killing people. So they had to stop the Sword Demon somehow.
“Based on the circumstances, I think that’s when they joined hands with the Evil sect.”
“If that happened, there would be no force that could stop the righteous sect.”
“But there’s one thing I don’t understand. Let’s say the righteous sect did this, but then what was the evil sect doing all this time?”
Why are you asking me that? I’m not the Sword Demon.
But as someone in the position of a master, it would be quite unseemly to say I don’t know. Fortunately, I had already heard the entire situation from Mu-wol.
“The Evil sect had infiltrated the evil sect as well. To completely isolate him. As a result, there were few people he could trust, and in the end, he had no choice but to push himself alone.”
“To think they even infiltrated the evil sect. They really are thorough bastards.”
“Yes, and just recently, I buried all of the evil sect’s Black Death Squad who had joined hands with the Evil sect.”
“B-Black Death Squad? Do you mean the Black Death Squad of the Black Plague Sect?!”
It seems the infamy of the evil sect’s Black Death Squad was widely known even to the righteous sect. Not only Namgung-yeon but even the Hundred Great masters of the righteous sect knew the name Black Death Squad.
“Although it has fallen now, it was once the elite unit of the Black Plague Sect, which boasted poison arts on par with the Sichuan Tang family, one of the Five Great Families.”
“Yes, that’s right. But let’s postpone that story for later.”
“What?”
“It seems the Namgung Family has sent people.”
The conversation with Namgung-yeon was certainly informative and enjoyable, but it was interrupted by the sound of hoofbeats in the distance. There were about 10 of them.
Moreover, each one was a warrior with extraordinary inner strength. It seemed that the Righteous Sect Alliance… No, the Namgung Family had sent an escort force after hearing about this incident.
Of course, I couldn’t help but think they were too late, but it had only been about two days since then. I reasonably accepted this and greeted the escort force.
“Ah… Th-that person…”
“Do you know him?”
“Y-Yes. Actually…”
However, it was none other than Namgung-yeon who showed an unexpected reaction. As soon as Namgung-yeon saw the young man at the front, his face turned pale blue.
He was a young man with hair almost as navy blue as Namgung-yeon’s, wearing a long robe. His sharp gaze was like an eagle eyeing its prey.
“It is my first time meeting you, Master. I am Namgung Baek, the young master of the Namgung Family, who has come to escort you upon my father’s orders.”
Namgung Baek made a fist-palm salute and bowed his head. Though his words were respectful, the tone embedded within them was not. Rather, I strongly felt as if he was wary of me.
