novelraw Chapter 105 : Chapter 105
Chapter 105 : Chapter 105
Chapter 105 - Another wave
“Nooooooo!”
Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.
Whatever its use, it was a substance like a blessing to a person who knows how to handle tools.
It had characteristics of enduring high temperature and high pressure, and even a master's internal energy, and its inherent nature never collapsed no matter how much time passed.
Whether a technician making weapons or a technician making spirit pills, Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron is considered a dream material.
If someone threw a lump of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron to a technician, that person might dance in joy or faint.
“Uaaaaaaa!”
However, Hyeokri Chong’s reaction was hundreds of light years away from dancing.
He screamed, and screamed again.
Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.
Why on earth is this here?
If it were usual, he was a substance he would have welcomed with joy.
But today, circumstances were different.
Because of the words he spat out while arguing with Biyoung just last night.
-Okay! Even if I grind my body, I will definitely make them for you! If you can bring it, try bringing it!
Twenty spirit pills a week.
An amount Hyeokri Chong had never made even when he was in his prime.
He intended to spend his later years leisurely coming to the Diancang Sect, but he ended up facing hardship he had never experienced in his life!
“Ugh……!!”
Hyeokri Chong fell flat on the floor with his knees down.
Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron that would make one wake up even while sleeping, but right now in Hyeokri Chong’s eyes, it looked not like the best material but like a slave contract.
Even without weighing it, considering the size, it seemed to easily exceed ten catties.
‘Damn it. I can't even say let’s pretend it didn't happen.’
It was just a boast made last night.
He could say he judged wrong and ask to adjust the quantity of spirit pills.
But who was he?
The best Medical Saint of the time who makes the spirit medicine no matter what, even if the sky splits in two, once he makes a promise.
Hyeokri Chong.
He would rather die than take back the words he once spat out; it was an impossible thing.
“Hooooooo?”
Behind Hyeokri Chong, who was in despair, someone’s voice was heard.
When Hyeokri Chong turned back, a handsome man looking like a painting was there.
“You……!!”
Although he had an appearance where admiration would burst out from anyone looking, right now to Hyeokri Chong, he appeared as an existence worse than a demon or devil.
“How did this happen all of a sudden? Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron suddenly appeared on this barren Mount Diancang? And an amount that looks over ten catties at that.”
The handsome man circled around the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron tilting his head repeatedly as if it was truly a wondrous thing.
“…………!”
He wants to hit him.
He wants to fold his body in half.
He wants to punch him in the mouth until his face swells up……!
Hyeokri Chong was captivated by such a primitive impulse for the first time in a long while.
However, all he could do was ask about the object in front of his eyes with a trembling voice.
“Wh, where did you get all this? Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron is not a substance one can make overnight!”
“Someone gave it to me. Saying to keep it well and use it where necessary.”
Then Hyeokri Chong burst out in anger as if it made no sense.
“Gal (Scolding sound)! Keep the bullshit to a limit! What crazy supreme pushover hands over this amount of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron to another person readily? This is a substance so expensive that the marketplace cannot even digest it! It means the value is great enough for several generations to play and eat for a lifetime!”
“The former Sect Leader.”
“Eh, hmm?”
At the unexpected answer, Hyeokri Chong’s fierce eyes turned round.
“Th…… Former Sect Leader?!”
So.
Did I just call the former Sect Leader a ‘crazy supreme pushover’?
No.
No.
I cannot be swayed by that slick fledgling anymore.
“Unfortunately, the former Sect Leader is a person who passed away more than ten years ago. How do you mean you received that item?”
“It’s long to explain…….”
Biyoung explained the events related to the Tiger-Bear Stronghold’s vault one by one in a place where people were watching.
“…………!”
And the more he explained, the more Hyeokri Chong’s face contorted to an unwatchable degree.
Because he felt that he was really stuck with no way out now.
“Ha…….”
It was the moment a ‘slave artisan making spirit pills’ was born on Mount Diancang.
***
That night when Hyeokri Hong performed the entrance ceremony.
Crunch crunch.
“Nom nom.”
The sound of hard rice grains breaking fills the kitchen.
Two people were standing in the kitchen of the Diancang Sect here.
One was Biyoung.
And the remaining one was his grandfather, Jinbae.
“Is it that tasty?”
“Of course. This scorched rice is much tastier than the Dongpo Pork I ate at night?”
“I made the Dongpo Pork too.”
“Oops!”
Perhaps embarrassed, Biyoung smiled grinning and poured the remaining scorched rice into his mouth.
“Hehe. As expected, scorched rice tastes best when eaten secretly hiding like this, right?”
“You are right about that.”
Whatever the food made, the scene of eating it deliciously makes the cook's heart happy.
Jinbae slowly stroked Biyoung’s head.
“I heard your contribution was great in reclaiming the main mountain. You worked hard during that time.”
“Hehe. Not really. It is true I did most of it.”
In a normal case, he might have given a knuckle sandwich telling him to know how to be humble.
However, Jinbae had absolutely no intention of doing so.
Biyoung’s achievements heard from the Sect Leader were something that would make one's mouth drop naturally.
He didn't know if he could think this, but he had accomplished a great deed comparable to the ancestors who established the Diancang Sect.
“Do you really intend to make him make twenty spirit pills a week?”
“Eh?”
At Jinbae’s words, Biyoung opened his eyes round.
Then narrowing his eyes, he cracked a mischievous joke.
“Now that I see it, the scorched rice I ate just now was a bribe?”
“A bribe?”
“Didn't Grandpa Hyeokri Chong secretly order from behind? To coax me a bit to reduce the number of spirit medicines.”
“This rascal. Heo-heo-heo-heo.”
Jinbae made a wheezing laughter sound as if nonsense.
It looked like he was troubled by his grandson's cleverness, but in reality, a drop of sweat was forming on his temple.
‘He’s a ghost.’
It was indeed true that before meeting Biyoung, he had conversed with Hyeokri Chong.
‘Jinbae. Please do me a favor. I cannot take back the words I spat out with my own mouth! You help me a bit!’
Hyeokri Chong’s desperate plea seemed to be heard again from far away.
“Heo-heo.”
Jinbae recalled that appearance and smiled a benevolent smile.
Lord Hyeokri.
I am sorry.
This guy is not such an easy guy.
There is no choice but to work your *ss off from now on…….
Leaving Hyeokri Chong’s scream drifting further away behind, Jinbae brought up the main topic.
There was the matter related to the spirit pill, but there was something he absolutely had to say to Biyoung today.
“Enough with the spirit pill matter, actually there is something you need to know.”
“What is it that you set the mood and speak so?”
“I am thinking of leaving the mountain gate now.”
“Yes?”
Biyoung’s straight eyebrows fluctuate severely.
It seems to reveal his rippling heart.
“What do you mean? We just reclaimed the main mountain, and you are leaving here.”
“I don’t mean I am leaving for good. I’m just trying to do my work like before.”
“Work…….”
At the development too sudden, even the unparalleled Biyoung couldn't think straight.
Let’s see.
What was the work he originally did before the Diancang Sect was exterminated?
Uh…….
Surely……?
“Inn? Then you mean you will open an inn?”
“Heo-heo-heo.”
Once again, a wheezing laughter sound came from Jinbae’s mouth.
It looked a bit shy, and on the other hand, it was a laugh where will could be felt.
“Since the main mountain has been recovered, it seems there is no work for me in the sect now. For cooking, there are the elders who came from Samo and Great Mother, and as you see, I don't have the skill to teach martial arts.”
Jinbae had changed his career path to become an inn owner while active as a swordsman of the Diancang Sect in the past.
Even among the small elite group of Diancang Sect swordsmen, he hadn't found any significant talent.
Furthermore, now he was even limping, so he was absolutely no help in terms of martial arts.
“Even so…….”
Biyoung blurred the end of his sentence as if very reluctant.
“Do not think of it as sad. Rather, it is something to congratulate. Since this was my dream from long ago.”
“Dream?”
“Being chased by Black Daoists and becoming a cripple, and hiding with you, there was one dream I didn't let go of.”
Jinbae raised his head toward the dark ceiling.
There was no way there were stars on the kitchen ceiling, but at that moment, sparkling things were contained in Jinbae’s eyes.
“Someday if the Diancang Sect returned to normal, I wanted to open the inn once again. Serving delicious food and alcohol to visitors coming and going to Mount Diancang and the sect’s swordsmen, I really missed those times.”
“Grandfather…….”
“Heo-heo. Certainly, this grandfather doesn't seem to be a vessel to be a swordsman. But even if not a swordsman, there are many ways to contribute to the Diancang Sect. If I make money at the inn and deliver a part to the Diancang Sect, it will be a help in my own way.”
As a member of the Diancang Sect.
And to realize a long-held dream.
Jinbae is trying to leave the mountain gate for that reason.
“……Since you speak to that extent, I cannot possibly stop you.”
Biyoung smiled bitterly once, then suddenly his eyes shone.
“But you absolutely must not go outside Mount Diancang. If by any chance something happens, I have to run there immediately.”
“Rascal. I also have no thought of going outside the mountain. I intend to cultivate the empty inn I operated before again.”
“……That will be a task as difficult as reclaiming the main mountain.”
Reviving a ruined shop is harder than starting a new shop.
Moreover, since Mount Diancang had become a den of bandits for a while, there were no people coming and going.
The inn Jinbae operated in the past was in a state where the foundation had all collapsed and spiderwebs were everywhere.
It would be a not easy challenge for him.
“But, for me, it will be a most enjoyable process.”
Putting the last remaining scorched rice into Biyoung’s mouth, Jinbae smiled a good-natured smile.
***
Dong…… Dong…….
There was a place where the verdure of fresh green felt mysterious beyond just being fresh.
Although traces of time were smeared all over the buildings, it was a space where elegance was felt before the feeling of being old.
Dong…… Dong…….
The tolling of the bell announcing the hour of the Rabbit (5-7 AM) roams everywhere in the antique temple.
Like waves slowly pushing in washing away debris, there was a resonance that erased the anguish of the heart.
At the same time, a young monk’s voice is heard from outside.
“Abbot.”
A man with a roundish physique inside the room answered with his eyes closed.
“……Come in since I am awake.”
A cleanly shaven head and dark yellow robes.
It was an appearance no different from any other monk.
But should one say it befits their ideology of not dwelling on what is seen?
This middle-aged man with a round physique looking featureless was the head of the group called the root of the Murim Alliance.
Shaolin.
The central axis of the Nine Sects One Union, and a group that has received admiration and trust from Jianghu people since very ancient times.
A man in his prime welcoming the monk with benevolent eyes.
Great Master Nanbyeol, Deokdam, greeted the young monk.
“You came as soon as it became the hour of the Rabbit, when I said after the hour of the Rabbit would do.”
Deokdam smiled a smile similar to his physique.
“……Amitabha. This small monk has committed a discourtesy.”
“No. It probably means you were that urgent. Also that the result is unusual.”
“It is so.”
“Okay. Try speaking. What happened with the content investigated through the Beggars' Union?”
“They say the rumors floating in the world are true. They say the survivors of the Diancang Sect seized the bandit group and reclaimed the main mountain. Since it is information conveyed directly from the Beggars' Union, it seems certain.”
“………….”
Deokdam’s expression did not change.
When first welcoming the monk, when throwing a question, and when hearing the answer, he only smiled a round smile.
People of the world think he is called Great Master Nanbyeol (Hard to Discern) because it is difficult to distinguish whether Deokdam is sleeping or meditating.
But the true meaning was a nickname created because it is hard to grasp his intentions, even for a seasoned person.
“It was true.”
A very faint sigh leaked from Deokdam’s mouth.
He was silent for a while with his eyes closed again.
It was difficult to distinguish if he had fallen back asleep or if he was thinking.
“Gye-yeong.”
“Yes. Abbot.”
“What is emotion to one who pursues the Buddhist way?”
“It is temporary and incomplete.”
“Yes. That is right. But…….”
In the pupils of Deokdam who opened his eyes after a long time, truly indescribable emotions were contained.
“Somehow I feel a fearful feeling. It feels as if another wave is about to surge into the already unstable Murim.”
Deokdam closed his eyes again after saying so.
The young monk found it difficult to understand the Abbot's words.
Is there something even the Abbot of Shaolin fears in the world?
Then what is the nature of that fear?
Although he knew he shouldn't, the young monk had no choice but to be engulfed in anguish for quite a while after coming out of the room.
As a result, Deokdam’s prediction turned out to be exactly right.
Because the rumor related to the Diancang Sect made the whole Jianghu tumultuous.
It was when half a year had passed since Deokdam heard the news of the Diancang Sect.