Chapter 58 – Wu and Yue in the same boat (3)
I sat down face to face with my disciples. Not one of them had a bright expression on their face. And I was no different.
I never imagined they would act in such a vicious and dirty manner. Of course, I understand the justification itself. After all, Hanam is essentially the front yard of the Righteous Sect Martial Arts Alliance.
Moreover, Cheongok Pavilion is located not far from Sunmoo Academy where young students attend. There is certainly both justification and benefit. The problem is that the intention is too blatant.
Despite the fact that they could have arrested her long ago, they accepted bribes from Cheongok Pavilion and turned a blind eye. And now they suddenly arrested Roo-ju Yang Mi-yeon?
“Their intention is so blatant that it appears transparent.”
“I can’t help but marvel at their pettiness.”
“I don’t know much about it… But in the end, it’s the Namgung family causing problems again, isn’t it?”
“…Not everyone in the Namgung family is bad, Master.”
Should I admire Seolhwa’s boldness for criticizing the Namgung family right in front of Namgung-yeon, who is of Namgung blood? Or should I sympathize with Namgung-yeon’s tearful defense?
No.
That’s not what’s important right now.
As a result, our plan to naturally join forces with the head of the Sichuan Tanga has fallen apart. But that doesn’t mean I intend to sit idly by.
“We have no choice. We’ll have to go to Sichuan ourselves.”
“It’s dangerous, Master. They might be aiming for that.”
“If they set a trap, we’ll simply break through it with force.”
In response to Sua’s concern, I answered with a confident voice. Although I had been helpless before due to my ignorance, I am certainly different now after going through that experience.
Of course, I don’t want to take risks either. However, our current situation isn’t so good that I can’t argue about this or that. Even though we succeeded in defeating the Evil Sect before.
But that was only a part of the Evil Sect, we have never directly attacked their headquarters or forces to inflict damage. At least the Sword Demon of the past was able to do that.
I am not the Sword Demon. I have no intention of giving in on this one thing. Even though I inherited the Sword Demon’s power. I cleared my throat and continued speaking.
“The Evil Sect is quiet for now, but there’s no guarantee that it will last forever”
“That’s right, Master.”
“We need to join forces quickly and root out the Evil Sect. Of course, that path won’t be easy… But it’s clear that we don’t have much time.”
Honestly, I still don’t have the slightest idea what the Evil Sect is plotting right now. But that doesn’t mean we can just sit back and watch. We have to do something.
Fortunately, Sua nodded in agreement with my words. So we set off on another long journey. But this time we prepared thoroughly. Thanks to the compensation we received for the unfortunate attack at Sunmoo Academy, we won’t have any financial problems for the time being, as long as we don’t spend too much money.
However, I didn’t plan to depart for Sichuan with much fanfare this time. I don’t want to give the Evil Sect another opportunity. Instead, I asked someone I could trust.
“It’s nice to meet you again.”
“The honor is mine, Great Warrior.”
“Isn’t this Sir Ma Kang? I look forward to working with you.”
“Who is he?”
“He’s someone who helped us before.”
A man with a massive build carrying an equally enormous greatsword on his back. Ma Kang offered a formal salute with cupped hands. Since that day, Ma Kang had stayed in Hanam.
Occasionally, or rather, often, he would come to visit me seeking guidance. But how much do I know? All I know is that he just makes up plausible excuses.
[I understand what you mean.]
[I see, you are indeed the Master.]
[???]
Yes, that’s all there is to it. If I had to rate my teachings, I would give them at most one star. Even though they weren’t very good teachings.
These two geniuses gained their own insights and developed their martial arts by themselves. Even though Sua didn’t directly teach them, she just listened to them from the side.
Thanks to that, it’s safe to say that Ma Kang ended up staying at my place, and there were even rumors spread in the marketplace that I had taken one of the hundred great masters as my disciple.
‘Why does it feel like my problems keep piling up like a mountain the more I go?’
I just wanted to be the best in the world.
â—‡
We prepared immediately and headed to Sichuan. Fortunately, there was no attack from the Evil Sect along the way. It was possible because we moved much earlier than they anticipated.
Since Roo-ju Yang Mi-yeon said that Ryeonju Mu-wol, would personally exert his power, we had no choice but to trust and wait. It was impossible to break down the prison and save it.
Sichuan was characterized by four large rivers flowing through its center. The name ‘Sichuan’ itself means ‘four rivers,’ so this was natural.
Thanks to this, Seolhwa was captivated by the sight of the flowing great rivers. It seemed that she wanted to take a boat and go on a trip, so I could definitely give her that much.
“But we don’t have time, do we?”
“You’re not wrong. But we don’t have even half a day to spare. Anyways, we’ll have to wait that long anyway for the news to reach the head of the Sichuan Tanga.”
“This is my first time on a boat. What does it feel like?”
“You’ll experience it yourself soon enough.”
I’m not trying to take it easy either. I’ve already told Sichuan Tanga that we’ve arrived. It just takes a little more time until it gets to the head of the family.
[The letter has definitely been delivered.]
[When should I come back?]
[There’s no need to do that. You’ll be meeting our people soon.]
Then it wouldn’t be bad using the remaining time to satisfy my disciple’s curiosity while enjoying the atmosphere on the boat and discussing future plans.
“A bit of leisure is important for anything. I agree with the Great Warrior’s opinion.”
“If the Master says so.”
“Aye!!”
“Then I’ll go rent a boat right away.”
Namgung-yeon rose from his seat, taking the initiative to rent a boat. However, I grabbed his hand. Namgung-yeon was startled by this sudden action.
“M, Master?”
“I cannot send you alone. Let’s all go together.”
“T-that means…”
“It’s because of the Evil Sect, isn’t it?”
A chilling voice seemed to pierce my lungs. Thanks to that, I was startled and turned my head to find Sua smiling brightly. What the heck, was I just imagining it?
“We’ve been caught off guard before. I completely understand Master’s concern about that.”
“That’s what I was about to say.”
“Yes, so please don’t make any strange misunderstandings.”
“I’m, I’m sorry! Master!!”
Sua placed her hand on Namgung-yeon’s shoulder with a gentle smile on her lips. Namgung-yeon immediately responded as if he were in the military, with a disciplined tone.
What’s going on? He’s clearly speaking with a smile.
Even his tone of voice is very gentle.
For some reason, I could sense a chill in Sua’s voice.
Well, anyway, thanks to Sua, I didn’t need to explain further. The Evil Sect has established deep roots in the martial arts world for the past several decades. In other words, they could appear from anywhere.
Moreover, I’m not even familiar with the geography of Sichuan. So it would be better for all of us to move together. I was quite proud of Sua for immediately understanding my intention.
We all headed to the dock together to rent a boat. There were far more people than we had thought who wanted to enjoy the scenery and atmosphere on the vast rivers of Sichuan.
It was truly a full house. Fortunately, we were able to find a boatman with an empty boat. The boatman lit his long pipe and spoke.
“Are you here to ride the boat?”
“Yes. I think it would be enough to cross to the other side and come back.”
“Hmm… Judging by your appearance, you seem to be outsiders. I’m a bit reluctant to say this, but I need something to prove your identity.”
“Do we need to go that far just to ride a boat?”
“It didn’t matter in the past. That is until those unheard of filthy things called the Evil Sect or whatever came to Sichuan.”
As soon as the name ‘Evil Sect’ was mentioned, my disciples and Ma Kang, who had been listening attentively from behind, immediately placed their hands on their weapons. However, the boatman showed no signs of fear.
“Oh, it seems that you are the visitors looking for the Sichuan Tanga.”
“How do you know about the Evil Sect?”
“Well, they tried to devour Sichuan’s marketplaces a few years ago. Although the head of the Sichuan Tanga personally stepped forward and destroyed them all.”
“…I thought you weren’t an ordinary boatman. Could it be that you’re from the Sichuan Tanga?”
The boatman gave a faint smile at my words. I had suspected something was strange from the moment there were no passengers. In fact, it turned out he wasn’t from the Evil Sect but from the Sichuan Tanga.
‘I didn’t know we’d meet like this. Are there a lot of weird people from the Sichuan Tanga?’
However, at that time, I had no idea whatsoever.
That this was merely the beginning.
