Chapter: 153
The lush, green forest.
After trudging along a narrow mountain path that had naturally formed from the infrequent passage of people, three individuals—a Taoist priest, and the Namgoong siblings—were making their way through.
The trio was sweating profusely as they walked earnestly.
The mountain trail was poorly maintained, bumpy, and steep, with branches and grass reaching out, requiring them to push through as they passed. It was an uncomfortable journey, no matter how one looked at it.
Namgoong Seung-Ah burst out with complaints.
“Why didn’t we take the main road? Did we really have to choose this rough path?”
“… Hah, I’m… ah, I’m really feeling the lack of my inner power… haah…”
Namgoong Myung’s breathless and exhausted voice chimed in from behind, almost like a gasp for air.
However, Cheong-Hwi, the Taoist priest, resolutely replied, “This is the right way.”
“… So what exactly makes it the right way?”
“Explaining that wouldn’t be very chivalrous of me.”
“Are you saying the poison hasn’t been completely detoxified yet?”
Cheong-Hwi kept his mouth tightly shut and continued walking in silence. Namgoong Seung-Ah shot a glare at his back, but ultimately had to help her brother along.
If only they had rented a carriage, they would have arrived by now…
“Hmm.”
Cheong-Hwi had his reasons for this trek.
He was on guard against any possible ambush. Since he had declared his intention to help restore Namgoong Myung’s Dantian, the enemies would surely reach out their filthy hands once more.
Taking the predictable route would only lead to a second round of pursuit. So, he had chosen a path that no one would recognize and mixed up their route to prevent anyone from following.
And that wasn’t all.
After negotiating with Namgoong Chaegong, Cheong-Hwi had returned to the Academy. Upon waking, the first thing he did was dash to the female dormitory to knock on the door.
‘Envers, has he lost his mind coming here at this hour…?’
When he called out to her, Selvia appeared with a load of scrolls, offering various bits of advice.
Having attended a lecture on the practical compression theory of evasion taught by a capable Red Tower wizard—with his friend Niore being a master at tracking—Cheong-Hwi devised a travel route that no organization could follow.
That route was the one they currently traversed.
Whenever he came across a moment of downtime, he unleashed scrolls for erasing traces and decoy spells to ensure a safe passage. Even if they had been pursued, they would have fallen behind by now.
Cheong-Hwi gazed at the dizzy Namgoong Myung, contemplating why he was hiding the complexity of their route. It was out of concern for the boy.
Though it was merely a hunch at this point, if Cheong-Hwi’s worst fears were to come true, the boy would suffer considerably.
With a thud, Cheong-Hwi stopped and announced, “We’ll take a short break here.”
“Huwaaa…!!”
“Uugh…!”
Namgoong Myung collapsed, and Namgoong Seung-Ah stretched out her arms, letting out a strange noise.
Envers rummaged through his supplies, pulling out camping gear. He gathered stones and branches to start a fire, igniting it with an artifact, and tearing open a water generation scroll to pour into a metal pot.
Seeing this, both Namgoong siblings’ eyes sparkled with wonder. How could this not be fascinating? Every time he ripped a charm, something bizarre would occur.
Namgoong Myung exclaimed, “If everyone had skills like Taoist Cheong-Hwi, there would be no chaos in this world!”
“On the contrary, wouldn’t it be the opposite? Wouldn’t there be even more fighting?”
“If you could create water out of thin air, wouldn’t farmers squabble over who gets to draw from which waterway, Sister?”
“Instead, they’d probably start arguing over who gets more land to sprinkle that water on.”
While Namgoong Myung thought of the proper uses for such skills, Namgoong Seung-Ah firmly believed that chaos would inevitably arise. Cheong-Hwi, intrigued by their dynamic, tossed in some mushrooms into the pot.
“We come from the same belly, yet we turn out so differently.”
“It’s because I was adopted.”
“… But you look so much alike?”
“I don’t resemble him at all?!”
Namgoong Seung-Ah yelled loudly. Namgoong Myung seemed a little deflated at hearing such a rejection of his resemblance.
But the truth was, Namgoong Seung-Ah and Namgoong Myung didn’t really look alike. There was a distinct difference in their facial structures, enough to make one wonder if they had different mothers. However, to Cheong-Hwi, who had trouble distinguishing Asian features, he made a sheepish expression.
“… Adopted, huh.”
“My talent caught the attention of the family head. By bloodline, I have no relation to the Namgoong clan.”
“Still, Sister, you’re my sister! We’re part of the Namgoong family.”
“Yes, Myung, you’re definitely my brother. No doubt about it.”
The sibling duo seemed to be getting along wonderfully. Cheong-Hwi tossed dried meat into the pot and began to boil it. As long as one tossed in a few random ingredients and heated things up, what emerged would be stew that wouldn’t kill them.
“Taoist Cheong-Hwi, we found these mushrooms while walking… should we try throwing them in?”
“If they’re bright red with spots, aren’t they poisonous?”
“Taoist Cheong-Hwi! This leaf has a wonderful fragrance! Last time, the smell was unpleasant, making it hard to eat, but if we boil it with this leaf, it might turn into a more palatable gruel!”
“This is stew.”
Since there were three people who were culinary novices, every evening they attempted to make something, it ended up turning into an alchemical experiment. Last time, they had thrown in an oddly-shaped fruit whole, resulting in a sour broth.
“Then let’s save the mushrooms for next time, and just put in a couple of those leaves…”
“I brought ten!”
“If you put in that many, it might end up smelling like grass!”
Bubbling bubbling bubbling.
Various additional ingredients freshly gathered from the mountains were tossed into the boiling water. Suddenly, the color of the stew changed in a mysterious way! It seemed to have a hint of purple tint to it…
Cheong-Hwi had a hunch that tonight’s dinner might be quite unusual, and quietly put on the lid. Namgoong Seung-Ah sighed and stood up, adjusting her sword.
With a puzzled look on his face, Namgoong Myung observed the two of them preparing for something. What was going on? Was the cooking that bad? Were they perhaps planning to hunt a mountain rabbit?
“Where are you both going, Taoist Cheong-Hwi? Sister?”
“To deal with unwanted guests.”
“Not ‘unwanted guests,’ but ‘uninvited,’ Taoist Cheong-Hwi.”
“…”
A bitter expression crossed Namgoong Myung’s face. For him to be the only one sensing danger… Was this the result of his damaged Dantian?
Cheong-Hwi read that expression and gently patted Namgoong Myung’s head.
“You’ll be alright.”
“… Yes.”
Rustle rustle.
Breaking the brief silence, there were sounds of rustling from the bushes, and then appeared a group of rough-looking individuals with scruffy beards, pulling out various weapons!
They were clad in mismatched rags, patched together from the skins of wild beasts. No matter how one looked at it, they were mountain bandits, around six in number.
The tallest among them stepped forward, a large blade resting on his shoulder, and shouted, “This is the territory of the Green Forest! Who dares to light a fire and cavort here?!”
“This is a fine opportunity for practice.”
“… Huh?”
Seeing these youngsters displaying such fearless attitude, the Green Forest bandits hesitated for a moment. Those who encountered bandits in a remote mountain might behave one of two ways: they were either oblivious to the world or highly skilled themselves.
“Namgoong Seung-Ah, let’s leave one of them alive for Myung’s training.”
“… Uhm, I’ve never killed anyone before, though, Taoist Cheong-Hwi.”
“Ah, seeing as I was trained as an assassin during my youth, I apologize. I’d better not let them see blood in front of children. Let’s incapacitate them instead.”
“D-Do you mean you underwent assassin training, Taoist?!”
His tone was imbued with a sense of incredulity. Cheong-Hwi snapped a twig, sharpened its end, and held it lightly.
With a change in mindset, there was a noticeable shift in his demeanor.
Revisiting painful memories buried in his past, the assassination techniques and other skills learned from his family resurfaced in his mind. Cheong-Hwi finally resolved to utilize them in this moment.
The application of such tools is decided by the person holding them. Even if these techniques were initially meant for Duke Redburn’s foul schemes, wielding them in Cheong-Hwi’s hands would surely yield a different result.
With a rapier.
Flashes of past teachings drifted through his mind. His brother had been an excellent rapier wielder, and he had imparted quite a bit of knowledge to Cheong-Hwi.
“Maintain light and fluid movements, but be firm when you thrust.”
Then, he indeed possessed good techniques.
Whoosh!
The tip of the twig flickered around mischievously, finding the gap in their defenses with a thrust like a bolt of lightning! With that, the explosive technique was launched into action.
Thud! Slash! Slash! Slash!!
“Guh!”
“Uugh…! A master!”
“Damn it, Aah!”
Thrusts rained down from everywhere, poking holes into shoulders, wrists, and knees before being withdrawn. He moved so rapidly that there appeared to be two or three afterimages.
“Those filthy-!!”
Whoosh!
An opportune moment arose as one of the Green Forest bandits swung his sword with great might. Suddenly, Cheong-Hwi glided across the ground without any prior warning, almost as if an invisible hand was pulling him along.
Even the crazed wizard watching could only jump up and think, ‘Did a bug break out?!’
The secret behind this unearthly maneuver was a combination of the ‘Ice Patch’ scroll that reduced ground friction and the explosive technique. The unsteady weight distribution from his lower body training also played a role.
“I-It’s sorcery──!!”
“It certainly seems like sorcery, doesn’t it, Taoist Cheong-Hwi!”
“Kuh!”
Successfully dispatching the Green Forest bandits, only one remained, trembling in fear as he gasped, “Y-you bastards! This is the domain of the Green Forest…!! Aren’t you afraid of retaliation?!”
“Namgoong Myung, what you’ll practice today will be an extension of your insight technique, which I call the ‘Dance.’ This is a technique learned from Luna… which means ‘Moon’.”
“Aren’t you afraid of retaliation?!”
“I believe the essence of dance is in movements that are unhindered by the variety of stances… However, I lack the brain capacity to conjure enough, so I shall teach you the few moves I learned from Luna. You should be able to adapt them suitably.”
Cheong-Hwi demonstrated several inhuman evasive maneuvers targeted at the bandit, and after giving Namgoong Myung ample practical experience, he finally let them go.
In later years, the Green Forest bandit group would recount their bizarre encounter.
They would describe a crazy madman whose swordplay was akin to that of assassins, moving like a bug rather than a human, utilizing sorcery, and toying with them before letting them go.
===============================================================
A few days later, Cheong-Hwi and the Namgoong siblings arrived at the city, looking like beggars. This was Jebu City, which was quite bustling, located not far from Tianjing Lake.
All sorts of people were coming and going before the castle gates. Observing the carriages leisurely moving along the main road, the Namgoong siblings expressed their grievances.
“… If we hadn’t gotten lost on those mountain paths, we could have made it in a day on the main road.”
“If we had taken a carriage, we could have gotten here in half a day…”
Jebu City was quite close to the Namgoong Family. Thus, Cheong-Hwi had purposefully twisted their route to arrive later. Naturally, one would assume they had come from afar.
“Should we eat first, or take a bath?”
“I’d prefer to eat something that actually resembles food…”
“First, we should wash up; in what state do we look like humans?”
As the siblings had differing opinions, they exchanged glances preparing for a showdown. Rock-paper-scissors would determine their fate.
“Rock… Scissors… Paper!”
“Ha!”
“…!!”
A clever tactical application of insight technique. Predicting the next moves based on the opponent’s gaze and responding accordingly.
“That’s cheating…!!”
“There’s no cheating in a game, Sister.”
Namgoong Myung had won by choosing rock and raised his arm in celebration of victory.
“Let’s go to an inn, Taoist Cheong-Hwi! Since I’m very familiar with Jebu City, I know a place with delicious food. It’s called Seonyeonru…”
“What cuisine does it serve?”
“Carbon– Uhg.”
“?”
Namgoong Myung seemed to choke on his words and paused briefly before answering again.
“The noodles with Jukyeopcheong are said to be truly excellent!”
“… I’m not quite sure what that means.”
“They say the broth is extraordinarily rich, so it should suit Taoist Cheong-Hwi’s tastes!”
Chatting and laughing, they finally reached the castle gates, only to be blocked by the gatekeeper, who slammed the ground with his staff.
“?”
“Beggar entry is prohibited for the time being.”
“Excuse us, but we’re not beggars…?!”
“Look at the state you’re in! Now get lost!”
Namgoong Seung-Ah seemed to be on the verge of tears. At this moment, she longed to proclaim their ties to the Namgoong Family to this rude gatekeeper, to make him kneel so that she could finally take a bath in peace.
On the other hand, Namgoong Myung wore a puzzled expression.
“Excuse me, Sir. Haven’t beggars always been allowed entry? Has something happened inside?”
“… Recently, there have been frequent disappearances. Suspicious individuals are barred from passing through the gates. If you get caught, you may find yourself detained, so you’d best seek another spot to beg.”
“Such a thing…”
“Hmm. Still, we’re not suspicious individuals. I’m actually a Taoist who has refined my skills, and if I were to burn this talisman, I could even show you a fireball…”
Just as Cheong-Hwi was attempting to pull off a charade to pass through the gate…
“… What are you doing, Taoist? Why are you leading the Namgoong heirs?”
“… Hee Yeong-Hyun? What are you doing here?”
“I have my own matters to attend to. And please stop calling me ‘so-juh.’”
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