novelraw Chapter 104 : Chapter 104
Chapter 104 : Chapter 104
Chapter 104 - ‘Does this guy see me as a pushover?’
Diancang Sect.
And entry.
For them, it is a combination of words more welcome than anything.
Since reclaiming the main mountain, there had been no new disciples other than Absolute Protector.
Furthermore, even that Absolute Protector had decided to enter before the elders from Simao arrived.
Someone requesting entry after everything had settled was a first this time.
“Why is everyone silent!?”
The problem was the identity and character of the person requesting entry.
Hyeokri Hong.
A cute beautiful girl whose appearance would make passersby open their eyes wide.
She was the only granddaughter of Hyeokri Chong, called the Medical Saint, and possessed a personality that had no equal under the heavens in being difficult.
At her cute and bold bombshell declaration, the surrounding figures showed various reactions.
“Holholhol.”
Jeokseo made a wheezing laughter sound as always, and,
“Ho-oh?”
Biyoung, a person who could be called a worthy match in terms of difficult personality, swept his sleek chin as if interested.
“Huhu.”
Jeong-i let out a low laugh as if she knew this would happen, and,
‘N, no……!’
Solbo’s large eyes shook violently as if an earthquake had occurred.
No.
It cannot be.
He felt like sarira (Buddhist relics) would come out of his body catering to that reckless personality from the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain to here, and now she wants to enter the sect?
Does that mean it’s not a short accompaniment but living together rubbing shoulders for a lifetime?
“Huh…….”
In fact, although not as much as Solbo, the gazes of other adults were also worried.
Personality aside, everyone knew what kind of existence she was to Hyeokri Chong.
Martial artists are those who always aim swords at each other and don't know when they might die without a sound.
Even if conceded a hundred times, one would lose sleep worrying if it were a grandson, let alone a granddaughter.
‘You cannot, Sect Leader……!’
Solbo looked at Jeokseo with a desperate face.
However, whether he didn't see it or didn't want to see it, eyes could not meet with the Sect Leader.
Jeokseo’s gaze was fixed only on Hyeokri Hong.
“Holholhol. Do you know exactly the meaning of entry? Staying as a guest here on Mount Diancang and staying as a disciple will be very different.”
“Of course. It is something decided after thinking deeply!”
Although she answered confidently, the gazes of the crowd were full of doubt.
‘Doesn't seem like she thought deeply.’
‘Anyone can see it’s impulsive.’
‘Seeing one thing tells ten; it’s plain to see how she grew up.’
Perhaps sensing their suspicious gazes, Hyeokri Hong cleared her throat and shouted sharply.
“I just have to train hard, raise the honor of the Diancang Sect, and further become the Number One Under the Heavens, right!?”
‘Nu…… Number One Under the Heavens?’
‘How can she speak of the name of the world so easily……!’
‘She is truly a child who doesn't know the ways of the world yet.’
The gazes of the crowd were still not kind.
They thought Jeokseo would soon reject her request.
However, instead of answering, Jeokseo asked another person about this matter.
“Holholhol. Why does Lord Hyeokri not say anything?”
The people of the Diancang Sect only then burst out admiration inside saying ‘Ah’.
They thought Jeokseo’s response was truly seasoned.
Even without the Sect Leader making a conclusion, Hyeokri Chong wouldn't agree with his granddaughter’s will.
Where in the world is a grandfather who would willingly throw his granddaughter into Murim?
If Hyeokri Chong opposed, this matter would naturally become as if it never happened.
“………….”
Hyeokri Chong, who had been staying still with a sullen face throughout, only then opened his mouth.
“Does this sh*tty puppy look like a girl who would listen if told, Sect Leader?”
“Holholhol.”
“!”
Jeokseo just laughed at Hyeokri Chong’s words, but it was enough to surprise the surrounding people.
Wasn't that virtually permission, saying he would let his granddaughter do as she pleased?
Ignoring the hot gazes around him, Hyeokri Chong looked silently at his granddaughter with stubborn eyes.
‘It was decided long ago.’
Hyeokri Chong knew.
From the day they first met Biyoung at the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Hyeokri Hong’s behavior had noticeably changed.
The moves of the Sun-Shooting Sword Art Biyoung showed that day.
And the martial arts of the Diancang Sect shown intermittently.
Even after Biyoung left, Hyeokri Hong asked about the martial arts of the Diancang Sect every day.
Some days, it was hard to distinguish if she wanted to learn martial arts or if she was chasing Biyoung’s shadow.
But Hyeokri Chong, being a fool for his granddaughter, tried not to overinterpret.
‘And that was the decisive blow.’
Immediately after taking the Cradle-to-Grave Pill at the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Biyoung’s Flowing Water Shooting Leaf unfolded amidst the scattering petals was enough to excite everyone's hearts.
Even his heart, well past sixty, beat like this; how would it have looked to Hyeokri Hong, who was immersed in the martial arts of the Diancang Sect?
Force majeure.
Hyeokri Chong had no choice but to regard his granddaughter’s bombshell declaration as such.
Hyeokri Chong, who slowly retraced the past times, bowed his head slightly.
“Deciding entry to the sect is entirely a matter for the Sect Leader to do. I mean there is nothing to ask me for my opinion. I only hope the Sect Leader will carefully examine my lacking granddaughter’s request.”
“Holholhol.”
Jeokseo bowed his head in return and then called Hyeokri Hong.
“If you enter this sect, you become the very youngest of the Diancang Sect. It means not only in age but also in generation rank and seniority, you take the lowest position. You must serve not only the adults here but also the children who came with you as senior brothers with utmost politeness. Can you do it?”
“Everyone who came together? Then……!”
Hyeokri Hong glared at Biyoung’s group with sharp eyes.
Biyoung or Jeong-i, she could accept.
But did that mean she had to serve that man with the blank expression over there as a senior brother?
“Why. Will it be difficult?”
“D, difficult? I must rightly do so! I can do it! Sect Leader!”
“Holholhol. Understood.”
Although it seemed like a promise she couldn't keep by anyone's eyes, Jeokseo nodded readily.
Then soon he looked around the assembly and called everyone.
“Everyone listen.”
“Yes! Sect Leader!”
“As of today, Hyeokri Hong has become a person of the Diancang Sect. We will hold the formal entrance ceremony tomorrow.”
“Yes!”
The answers had no hesitation, but there were shaking voices among them.
Whether it was really okay to admit Hyeokri Chong’s granddaughter.
Whether that tomboy could adapt well within the Diancang Sect.
They couldn't erase such doubts.
“There are no special conditions to enter the Diancang Sect. That was so in the past, and will be so in the future. Anyone can become a person of the Diancang Sect if they have the mindset to devote themselves to the sect and pursue the Way. Whether a person with a great background or a person who came starving, everyone is just the same family here.”
Having said that, Jeokseo stared at Hyeokri Hong again.
“From now on, you will learn the martial arts of the Diancang Sect and receive guidance from senior brothers and adults. Learning other martial arts other than this sect’s is prohibited, and you cannot leak them outside without special permission.”
‘Ah!’
Solbo could only then realize Hyeokri Chong’s intention.
If she entered the Diancang Sect, she wouldn't be able to learn the Mad Dog's Barking Palm, so he made her learn it even as a crash course while moving.
“Do not worry, Sect Leader! I am sick and tired of hiding and rotting in the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain all my life!”
He didn't tell her to hide.
Jeokseo burst into hearty laughter as if dumbfounded.
However, he couldn't correct her because Hyeokri Hong’s face was so flushed.
She couldn't control her excitement, joy, and fluttering heart.
It seemed she wasn't simply requesting entry impulsively, but truly desperately wanting the Diancang Sect.
Putting aside various conditions, Jeokseo granting her request was exactly because of that.
“Holholhol. You are better than most men. There hasn't been a child discussing the world when entering the sect until now, I recall.”
Jeokseo left the seat leaving weighty words, and the aftermath of the permission was the share of those left behind.
“Yay!”
The sight of a child pretty like a doll jumping up and down puffing nasal breath was quite impressive.
The people of the Diancang Sect, who were gauging the mood, congratulated Hyeokri Hong one by one.
“Kid. You finally achieve your will.”
“Let’s do well from now on.”
“Congratulations on entering the sect.”
“Yes! Mister…… no, how should I call you from now on?”
“Hahahahahaha.”
The youngest, Hyeokri Hong, who had never experienced group life, let alone a sect.
Although she didn't realize it yet, tasks she had to overcome were piled up like a mountain in front of her.
***
“Not a chance.”
Hyeokri Chong rejected Biyoung’s words in a single stroke.
“You don’t want to?”
“It’s not a matter of wanting or not. I mean it is impossible in the first place.”
“Hah. Now that we have become true family, for you to come out this stiffly…….”
Biyoung shook his head as if truly regretful, and Jeokseo laughed making wheezing sounds.
Inside the Blue Eagle Hall, which now served as the headquarters of the Diancang Sect, were Jeokseo, Eung Gajin, and Biyoung and Hyeokri Chong.
It was a meeting arranged suddenly after dinner.
“If you were going to be like this, why did you permit Hyeokri Hong? Without even making this for us.”
“Rascal! Was your head stuck in the ground when speaking during the day? Entry to the sect is entirely what the Sect Leader decided!”
“I know you were inwardly permitting it, you know? Don’t be like that and please do it! Since we aren't really strangers now. Aren't we close!”
“I’m telling you it’s impossible!”
The reason Biyoung and Hyeokri Chong were bickering was because of the Cradle-to-Grave Pill.
Biyoung requested him to manufacture Cradle-to-Grave Pill regularly while staying at Mount Diancang.
Hyeokri Chong also intended to do so to some extent.
He had brought pharmaceutical tools packed heavily to feed spirit pills to Hyeokri Hong anyway.
The problem was the quantity of spirit pills Biyoung demanded.
“Do you think making ten spirit pills per week makes sense? If it’s that easy, you try making them! Even when at the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, it was fortunate if I made one or two a week!”
“Don’t just say no like that, tell me why it’s not possible?”
“With the pharmaceutical tools I have now, it is impossible. To make that number of pills, special material capable of containing heat and energy for a long time is needed.”
“For instance…… like Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron?”
Biyoung’s eyes sparkled for a fleeting moment, but unfortunately, Hyeokri Chong didn't notice.
“Exactly! Unless it’s a tool made of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, one cannot make ten a week! That is impossible even if a Great Firmament Immortal comes!”
“Does a Great Firmament Immortal have nothing to do? Making spirit pills.”
“Rascal! Every word you say turns my insides upside down!”
“Ah, forget it. Then how much of that do you need?”
“How much? Of what?”
“That thing called Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron. How much do you need to make the tools?”
“Ha!”
Then Hyeokri Chong’s lip corners soared to the sky.
Finally, the moment to lecture the fledgling who knew nothing of the world had arrived.
“Kuk-kuk-kuk. A reckless fool is exactly the word for you. Wouldn't I have thought about trying to make many spirit pills? But to make tools of that level, about ten catties (geun) of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron are needed.”
“D, did you say ten catties?”
Eung Gajin asked even before Biyoung, so surprised was he.
Considering the same weight, Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron was a substance more expensive than gold.
That enormous cost, no, leaving cost aside, it was questionable if that much Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron even circulated in the market.
Hyeokri Chong, seemingly quite pleased with Eung Gajin’s reaction, answered putting on airs to the fullest.
“That is so! To make tools, naturally that amount is needed! You guy who is all talk, why did you become quiet suddenly? If you can bring Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, try bringing it. I will make not ten but twenty a week for you! Kuk-kuk-kuk!”
But.
Biyoung, who he thought would smack his lips frowning, threw unexpected words.
“You promised?”
“Uh, hmm?”
“Ten catties of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron. You mean if we just have that, you can really make them?”
Somehow the atmosphere is unusual.
As if a person who really stashed Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron somewhere.
It’s chilly.
A dagger flies and sticks in the heart.
‘Does this guy see me as a pushover?’
But don’t be intimidated.
Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron is not the name of someone's puppy.
That amount requires pulling out the pillars of a medium-sized sect to create.
“Okay! Even if I grind my body, I will definitely make them for you! If you can bring it, try bringing it!”
To make twenty spirit pills a week, it might or might not be possible even working like a slave day and night.
But that is all possible only if there is Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.
For Hyeokri Chong, even if he made a big boast, there was nothing to lose.
Looking at Hyeokri Chong whose shoulders were raised high, Biyoung smiled.
Fluttering like a spring breeze, yet smiling an insidious smile like that of an evil spirit on the other hand.
“See you tomorrow morning.”
It wasn't obtained from somewhere.
It was just originally here.
When the Tiger-Bear Stronghold was occupying Mount Diancang.
Under the ground, there was a vault made of very, very special material.
Only a very few people knew what material that vault was made of, and unfortunately, Hyeokri Chong was not a figure included in those very few.
***
“Noooooooo!”
The next morning.
Hyeokri Chong ended up facing the most absurd and desperate situation in his life.