novelraw Chapter 93 : Father and Son
Chapter 93 : Father and Son
There is a saying that if you delve into any field for 10 years, you will become a master.
Although that saying is not entirely true, it is a reasonable story.
Until Cheon Mubaeck awakened his past life.
For a full 10 years.
While learning to read, what Cheon Mubaeck held in his hand was an instrument.
Jiiing. Jiiing.
The vibration that rang when his fingers pressed the strings.
It was a strange feeling, different from when he held a sword.
Every time he circulated the Heaven-Shaking Soul Art, he used various instruments, and he had felt many things.
Cheon Mubaeck considered the series of processes of handling an instrument to be similar to the process of using a sword.
His long right index finger drew a graceful curve as if it were dancing.
At first, it was soft and slow.
Like taking a stance, taking a starting posture, and taking a breath before swinging a sword.
Soon, his fingers moved gracefully as if they were dancing. As they slowly moved back and forth between the five strings, the melody became beautiful.
"...!"
Seol-ah's eyes widened.
Look at how he presses the strings, plucks them, and then releases them.
The notes do not waver at all. It is a natural performance, as if he has the strings under his complete control, like flowing water.
The melody became faster, and then it suddenly slowed down again.
Cheon Mubaeck was not recalling a musical score in his head.
He was recalling the forms and techniques of the sword that he had used countless times.
The sword moves in his head. The melody changes colorfully.
There were no flashy techniques.
Although it was a simple technique with a colorful rhythm, it had a heavy resonance.
Seol-ah watched the scene blankly. And she had a hunch.
That this was a rare performance.
As it went on, what the melody conveyed became more intense.
It was a famous tune.
It was a folk song about a head of a household who had been wandering the Central Plains for a long time on business, and who had returned home and asked if anything special had happened.
The ordinary and unremarkable folk song became richer and more intense in Cheon Mubaeck's pipa. It was heavy and had a clear meaning.
It was as if Cheon Mubaeck had become the merchant in the tune, and Seol-ah had become the wife who had been waiting for a long time.
Cheon Mubaeck's fingers plucked the last string.
"..."
Cheon Mubaeck smiled lightly and handed over the pipa.
"May I ask for a reply song?"
Seol-ah accepted the pipa with a subtle expression.
* * *
"Are we really going like this?"
As they came out of the Nakwha-ru, Neung-heo kept looking back.
Neung-heo muttered quietly, 'This can't be right.'
"Let's go and get some rest. I'm all worn out from fighting with the Red Dragon Faction Master since noon."
"No, have you really suddenly become so generous?"
Neung-heo shouted as if he were dumbfounded.
"Have you suddenly attained enlightenment? Have you become some kind of Buddha? Why are you backing down so meekly, unlike yourself? If Im Hong had heard this, he would have lamented. That guy was beaten to a pulp for not selling the treasure map for half a nyang. Just..."
"I've already gotten everything I need, so we have to go."
"Pardon?"
At Cheon Mubaeck's nonchalant words, Neung-heo tilted his head.
Gotten, what?
At best, he had gotten a drink of alcohol, and had listened to the pipa performance of Seol-ah, who was said to be the best artist at the Nakwha-ru. Wasn't that all?
"Since when have you become so generous? My goodness."
"How can a petty person fathom the will of a gentleman?"
"Well. I'm a petty person, so please explain, my lord, who is a gentleman. What on earth did we get? We don't know who the Red Dragon Faction Master met, and we couldn't find out what conversation they had."
"Do you know what the first tune I played was?"
"I don't."
"It's a common folk song about a head of a household who has been away from home for a long time, wandering the Central Plains, and who has suddenly returned and asked if anything special has happened. It's a song of a worthless husband who bluffs that he will solve everything if there were any hardships or oppression."
"So?"
Neung-heo's face became sullen.
"So do you know what the reply song that the gisaeng sang was?"
"My lord. I'm sorry, but I'm an ignorant guy who has eaten sword rice my whole life, so I don't know anything about music."
"Tsk, tsk, you're a pathetic guy who doesn't even know about entertainment."
Neung-heo's expression crumpled.
"Have you been having fun teasing me lately? Please get to the point."
"The tune that the child replied with was a poem about missing her older brother who had gone to war."
Neung-heo's face became puzzled.
"What does that have to do with anything? It doesn't sound like a reply song at all."
"It's about her hair turning white while missing her older brother who had gone to war. In the end, it means that her older brother went to war and did not return, but just look at the surface."
"The surface? Her hair turned white while missing her brother...?"
When Neung-heo could not get a grasp, Cheon Mubaeck sighed.
"Who is the Red Dragon Faction Master's older brother?"
"That guy is an only child."
Paak!
Neung-heo grabbed the back of his head and swallowed his tears.
"Where does the Red Dragon Faction Master have an older brother... Ah! The Great Dragon Gang!"
"Right."
Wasn't it a well-known fact that the Red Dragon Faction Master and the Great Dragon Gang Master called each other brothers?
Neung-heo's face brightened.
"The older brother is the Great Dragon Gang Master, and the fact that her hair turned white while waiting... are you talking about the White-Haired Twin Ghosts?"
"That's right. Then the person the Red Dragon Faction Master met that day was the White-Haired Twin Ghosts, and the one who arranged the meeting was the Great Dragon Gang Master. Or the Great Dragon Gang Master might have sent the White-Haired Twin Ghosts down."
Since it was a reply song that did not match the theme at all, it must have been to convey that meaning.
At Cheon Mubaeck's conclusion, Neung-heo's mouth fell open. To think that he had just been admiring the sound, saying, 'Wow, that sound is amazing!', without even knowing that.
"Since they didn't talk openly at the Nakwha-ru, they saved face. On the contrary, since it will be rumored that they protected the customer's secret without yielding to the reputation of the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero, it's a profitable business for them too."
"Wow... I didn't know it had such a deep meaning."
If it had been the usual Neung-heo, he would have been sarcastically sarcastic, but not now. He was purely impressed. He had considered the other party's position in that situation, and he had gotten everything he needed. And in a brilliant way.
And even if he knew the method, how many people could use it?
Among the martial artists, who, besides those who had learned sound arts, knew how to handle an instrument?
"Wait, then doesn't that mean that the Great Dragon Gang is related to the Blood Ghost Valley?"
"That's right."
"Damn it..."
The admiration was also for a moment. Neung-heo crumpled his face at the cold truth.
The Great Dragon Gang was by no means a group that could be called a simple black-way.
It was not just a place where black-way members who were good at fighting gathered.
It was strictly a single sect. A martial world sect. And the Great Dragon Gang, which even the Nine Sects One Gang or the Five Great Families could not rashly touch.
Until now, why couldn't the Flying Sword Sect strike the Red Dragon Faction in Chongqing?
Because the Red Dragon Faction Master was strong?
Not at all. Wasn't the sect leader of the Flying Sword Sect the Fighting God, Gwak Yong, who had been active in the righteous-demonic war, following the Azure Sky Sword God?
If he had made up his mind, it would have been nothing to annihilate the Red Dragon Faction.
But the reason he could not was the fact that the Red Dragon Faction was close to the Great Dragon Gang.
And the personal friendship between the Red Dragon Faction Master and the Black Dragon Faction Master, who called each other brothers.
Those were the reasons that prevented the great Fighting God from touching the Red Dragon Faction.
Even the Blood Ghost Valley, just from the tails that had been revealed so far, were by no means easy guys. And what if those guys were in a cooperative relationship with the Great Dragon Gang, or if they were guys who shared the same will?
"Wow, shiba..."
The Great Dragon Gang was not a simple black-way. Not only the black-way, but they were also the big brothers in various bad-quality unorthodox sects.
"Isn't this a sign of a righteous-unorthodox war, not a righteous-demonic war?"
"We'll have to investigate more in detail. On the contrary, the Great Dragon Gang might be moving according to the orders of the Blood Ghost Valley."
"Does that make sense?"
"Why not? They're the guys who made even the Blood Demon Sect a well-behaved dog."
"Well..."
After talking for a long time, they arrived at the inn where they were staying.
At the inn, Gwak Cheon-hu was already there with a tired look.
"Is the work resolved?"
"It is."
"Did you destroy that place too?"
"Not at all."
At Cheon Mubaeck's calm words, Gwak Cheon-hu's brow narrowed.
"The Red Dragon Faction is gone."
"Really? That's good."
"My father wants to see you."
"Really? Is he waiting?"
Cheon Mubaeck turned his gaze to the second floor nonchalantly. It meant whether he was at the inn. It was so natural. Not that he was going to see him, but that he was checking if he had come.
Gwak Cheon-hu, as if he were used to it now, answered calmly.
"No, he's not here."
"He called me?"
"Right."
"Tell him to come."
"..."
"The one who has business should come. Where is his manners? The lack of manners is just like father, like son. Eum. Pretend you didn't hear that, and if you want to see me, bring your father."
To think that he had cursed his father in front of him and then told him to pretend he hadn't heard.
Gwak Cheon-hu let out a small sigh.
His father, and this guy.
They were both equally difficult to deal with.
* * *
In the end, Gwak Cheon-hu could not bring Cheon Mubaeck and returned.
"I'm back."
The Flying Sword Sect, as if to prove that it was the strongest sect in Chongqing, had bases in each region.
Among them, there was a base near the Red Dragon Faction, and Gwak Yong was training in the training ground there.
Looking at the back of his well-defined back muscles, Gwak Cheon-hu was lost in thought for a moment.
'My hero, my idol, my father.'
Since he was young, Gwak Cheon-hu's father, Gwak Yong, had been a hero.
All the warriors of the sect bowed their heads in front of his father. It was not a courtesy that was forced by shouting. He had seen it on their faces. It was a look of sincere following.
He also sincerely respected his father.
As he got older, and as he learned martial arts.
He had felt his father's martial power and had been shocked.
His deep, profound, and powerful internal energy and his sharp and fierce techniques were unmatched in Chongqing.
His father had said.
'You can become a great martial artist as great as the person I could never surpass. You have that much talent.'
So he had held a sword and had worked tirelessly. He had trained and trained, and had had numerous duels, and at some point, people had given him the title of the Fighting Ghost.
At some point, he had become the best successor in Chongqing. As time went on, people pointed to him and praised him as a master who was on par with the great son of the Namgung and the Plum Blossom One Sword.
But his father was cold.
'You're far from it, you're lacking, keep training...'
He had never heard a single compliment.
At best, he had even cried with emotion at the one word, 'Good job.'
He had hated and disliked such a father. But he had still respected him. Because he was strong. As a martial artist, his father was an endlessly great and high person.
Gwak Yong withdrew his sword and turned his head.
Although he had felt his presence long ago, he only opened his mouth after he had finished his training.
"You're back."
"Yes, Father."
"What about that guy?"
"He didn't come."
"Heo, that cheeky..."
Gwak Yong clicked his tongue and then suddenly looked at Gwak Cheon-hu's eyes.
"How was it? The Plum Blossom One Sword, or the Zhongnan Wind Sword, those brats."
"They were strong."
"Tsk. Did you realize that the martial world is wide?"
"Yes. There were many masters."
"Looking at you, it seems your sword use has become quite sharp."
Gwak Cheon-hu did not answer and stared at Gwak Yong.
In an instant, his heart pounded.
He had felt it himself.
He had seen, felt, and learned a lot while traveling with Cheon Mubaeck. It had been only a month since he had left for Shaanxi.
In that one month, Gwak Cheon-hu had felt that he had grown. So he had hoped. For a single word of praise, 'Well done,' to come from that cold face.
But Gwak Yong was the same as ever.
"But you're still far from it."
"..."
"I saw the corpse of the Red Dragon Faction Master. The Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero, that brat is not to be taken lightly. Looking at his wounds, he's no ordinary person. You have to be at least that much. Isn't that right?"
"...Yes. That's right."
"Make that guy your goal."
The disappointment at his bleak father, who did not give a single compliment, was also for a moment.
At the words to make Cheon Mubaeck his goal, he felt his fighting spirit burn.
The Fighting God, Gwak Yong, who enjoyed fighting, and his son, the Fighting Ghost, Gwak Cheon-hu.
'As that guy said, it's like father, like son.'
Gwak Yong smiled bitterly.
(End of Chapter)