novelraw Chapter 135 : Chapter 135
Chapter 135 : Chapter 135
Chapter 135 - Let's Have a Go
Even monkeys fall from trees, and everyone makes mistakes.
When Sedong had looked into Lijiang City, which So Hyeon had recommended in the past, he had thought that.
It was hidden by the petals of its specialty products, but in reality, it was a place from which perilous thorns protruded.
So Hyeon’s judgment was wrong, but at the time, Sedong did not question or reprimand him.
Because everyone makes mistakes.
However.
After Biyoung revealed the inner story, everything became clear.
So Hyeon had not recommended Lijiang by mistake.
He had knowingly led him into a trap.
“Hoo……”
As So Hyeon left the room, Sedong let out a low sigh.
Lijiang City was a city full of popular specialty products such as Pu'er tea and matsutake mushrooms.
If he just formed a good merchant caravan, he could make a profit that far exceeded the average.
The problem lay in the ‘road’ to Lijiang City.
To get to Lijiang City, one had to arrive at Dali City, which was close to Yiliang County, and then cross a lake called Elm Leaf Lake.
Unlike ordinary lakes, Elm Leaf Lake was enormous in scale.
Its width from side to side was nearly twenty li, and the length from one end to the other was a whopping one hundred li.
It wasn't that there were no roads on either side of the lake, but the mountains were so rugged that they could not be used as trade routes.
The trap that Steward Yi So Hyeon had laid was right on this ‘waterway.’
“Hojubang (Lake Lord Gang)……”
Sedong muttered the name of that trap.
It was called a bang, but they were a vicious group that could well be called a zhai at the end.
The Hojubang was an unorthodox faction that plundered by targeting ships crossing the lake.
Those who became their prey had to give up everything they had on the ship with nowhere to run.
Occasionally, merchant caravans would hire escort warriors and engage in a full-blown battle, but the results were always disastrous.
This was because no matter how skilled the escort warriors were, they could not display their skills in an underwater battle.
They were water bandits who had lived and made their home in Elm Leaf Lake for decades.
It was only natural that those who operated on land could not withstand their water attacks.
Merchants drooled over Lijiang City, but because of the Hojubang, they did not dare to form a merchant caravan.
“I owe Biyoung a great debt.”
Sedong scratched the back of his head and smiled bitterly.
Friends help each other when things are difficult, but recently, he had only been receiving one-sided help.
So, Sedong made a decision.
After the Awl Selection Period ended, he would return all the help he had received so far.
What kind of expression would Biyoung make then?
And how would his father react?
Thinking about the imminent future, Sedong made a quizzical expression.
***
“Gentlemen! It’s good to see you again!”
Biyoung, acting like an instructor for a change, put on a solemn expression.
Normally, they wouldn’t have made an issue of it, but at this moment, even the junior disciples of the Diancang Sect did not stay silent.
“Look at you. What on earth did you do after going down from the main headquarters?”
“Hmm? What do you mean by that, Sir Eung Gajin? This instructor was attending to a very important matter at the Yi Family Clan.”
“You can say that after looking at your state?”
Eung Gajin, as if he could not stand it any longer, shouted out.
How comfortable must his life have been for a person to change so much?
His sharp jawline had disappeared without a trace, and his face was so shiny that oil seemed to be dripping from it.
Anyone looking at him would think he was the noble son of a high-ranking official, not a martial artist of a Daoist sect.
“You bastard! You worked us like dogs, telling us not to skip training! And you ate and drank until your stomach burst all by yourself? I found out everything!”
“Heo. To not understand this instructor’s heart like this. All that playing and eating was also for the sake of the Diancang Sect.”
“!?”
At the shockingly shameless remark, everyone except Absolute Protector opened their mouths wide.
‘How can there be such a thick-skinned person in the world?’
‘Is playing and eating something to be proud of? Is it?’
‘At least pretend to be sorry, you damn bastard!’
But Biyoung, far from pretending to be sorry, beat his chest in indignation.
“…………That damn bastard.”
If he could, he wanted to beat the plump little pig in front of him to a pulp.
Very, very desperately!
But unfortunately, no matter how much Biyoung’s fat spread sideways, such a thing could not happen.
The junior disciples had never resented their lack of martial strength as much as they did today.
“Ahem. Why do you all have those expressions? You don’t believe me? Should I give you a round of hellish training today?”
“Ah. No. Senior Brother Eung Gajin! Stop talking nonsense!”
“What, you bastard?”
Rather, at the words ‘hellish training,’ the cowardly Solbo stepped in to stop Eung Gajin.
Eung Gajin was so dumbfounded that a hollow laugh escaped him.
Shit.
The sect is in a fine state.
“Alright, alright. Enough with the nonsense, shall we check your skills?”
But as the training began in earnest, the expressions of the junior disciples, whose cheeks had been puffed out, quickly became serious.
One way or another, when it came to martial arts, Biyoung’s word was the truth and the law.
“Tahat!”
The swords of the junior disciples cut through the air fiercely.
They felt much sharper than before they left Hunan.
He was worried that their sense of purpose might disappear after completing their revenge, but that was just a groundless fear.
Rather, the fact that they had taken down the Ghost Face Gang, the hegemon of the Changsha region, in an instant seemed to have given them a sense of accomplishment.
“Chaha!”
Opening up new paths for each of them according to their characteristics was also effective.
Eung Gajin had opened the first chapter of the Sun-Shooting Sword Art, and Jeong-i and Solbo had each set foot in the Profound Heaven's True Energy Unification Art and the Vast Sky Eagle Body Method.
Uma and Danseol had also discovered their own techniques.
‘Then now… shall I take care of the rest of the people?’
After the training ended, Biyoung looked at the junior disciples crawling on the ground and opened his mouth.
“After dinner, we’re going to see the Sect Leader. I have something to say, so let’s all go together.”
“Huck… huck…”
“Eugh…!!”
Unfortunately, those sprawled on the ground did not even have the strength to open their mouths.
***
After finishing their meal, the people of the Diancang Sect sat in a circle.
Not only the junior disciples, but also the Sect Leader and the elders were packed in tightly.
Biyoung came out to the middle of the group and stuck out his belly as much as he could.
“It seems there was some misunderstanding, but I wasn’t just playing and eating.”
At that moment, disbelief rose in everyone’s eyes.
No?
Anyone could see that he was a pig who had played and eaten.
But at Biyoung’s following words, everyone’s faces froze.
“Sedong is in danger.”
“……!”
Those who knew, all knew.
What kind of position Sedong held in the Yi Family Clan.
And what kind of existence he was to Biyoung.
“In danger. What does that mean?”
Eung Gajin, who had been grinding his teeth at Biyoung’s protruding belly, asked in a deliberately serious voice.
“The actions of those who are keeping him in check have gone too far. To the point of secretly adding strange substances to his restorative medicine.”
Biyoung briefly explained what had happened, and sighs escaped from here and there.
Wasn’t he betrayed by the person he trusted the most?
For the people of the Diancang Sect, who had gone through harsh hardships together in Simao, it was an incomprehensible matter.
“Does Sedong also know about this?”
Jeokseo asked Biyoung with a pitiful face.
“Yes. Sect Leader.”
“He must be feeling terrible inside.”
“But he pretends to be fine on the outside. He’s all grown up.”
At Biyoung’s words, the crowd all smiled bitterly.
Wasn’t the guy who was the same age as Sedong talking like an elder?
“The fortunate thing is that he’s not wallowing in despair, but is preparing a counterattack of his own.”
“Did you say a counterattack?”
“Yes. He has a move that will make the back of their heads tingle. And he said he needs the strength of our Diancang Sect for that move.”
This was the reason why Biyoung had gathered the people, including the Sect Leader.
“I’m thinking of hitting the Hojubang. Is it okay if I go?”
“……!”
At the words Hojubang, everyone’s eyelids shot up.
Since their area of activity was Yunnan, the crowd also knew well about the existence of the Hojubang.
Water bandits who had been making a profit by attacking merchant ships for a long time.
On the water, they were as difficult to deal with as first-rate masters.
But…….
“Go ahead.”
Jeokseo nodded his head readily, and the crowd, who had been surprised for a moment, soon returned to their original expressions.
The hegemon of the Changsha region in Hunan.
Wasn’t he the one who had caught Dancheong of the Ghost Face Gang in an instant, like catching a dog on a hot summer day?
In Diancang Mountain, there was not a single person who doubted Biyoung’s martial arts anymore.
Rather, they would offer their condolences to whoever was Biyoung’s opponent.
‘I don’t know who the leader of the Hojubang is, but he’s messed with the wrong person, big time.’
‘Immeasurable Buddha… may he pay for his sins in hell…’
‘If it were me, I would have run away no matter what… to hell with money and all that…’
‘I’d rather bite my tongue and die than be targeted by that bastard.’
Just as everyone was shaking their heads at Biyoung’s martial arts and villainy, unexpected words came out of his mouth.
“I need a companion. About one or two?”
“A companion? Did you say a companion?”
Eung Gajin asked again with an unbearably anxious face.
The wounds he had sustained in the Changsha region had not yet fully healed.
If he had to accompany that demon-like bastard again in this state, a scene from hell would unfold from the very beginning.
“Yes. There’s no need for everyone to go this time, about two people should be enough. Anyone want to go?”
“Hmph hmph.”
“Keheom.”
The other swordsmen, seeming to have similar thoughts as Eung Gajin, all cleared their throats and avoided his gaze.
It had begun once again after a long time.
Who would be the one to receive Biyoung’s punishment… no, choice?
“Hoooh? How come no one is making eye contact? What are you going to do if you get dragged along?”
The junior disciples flinched their shoulders as if a thief was startled by his own guilt.
But they gritted their teeth and averted their gaze.
If they made eye contact now, they might really get dragged along…!!!
But only one person.
There was a swordsman who willingly raised her hand.
“I want to go.”
A slender hand waved lightly in the air.
It was Jeong-i.
“Heo……”
The rest of the junior disciples each showed a reaction of incomprehension.
Unlike the other junior disciples, she was a person who had not been injured in Changsha.
But even so, to raise her hand and volunteer?
Was she truly not afraid of the hellish scene that came with being with that demon?
Just then, another person raised their hand high.
“I-I want to go too!!”
“???????”
Everyone’s eyes widened like an owl’s.
This time, it was a person that truly no one had expected.
“H-Hong-ah!”
The slave who made spirit pills for the Diancang Sect… no, the Medicine Saint Hyeokri Chong, was surprised and called out her name.
Hyeokri Hong.
Hyeokri Chong’s granddaughter, who was barely over ten years old, had raised her hand towards Biyoung.
“Hoo?”
Biyoung stroked his chin and stared at Hyeokri Hong.
His expression and attitude were very strange.
As if he had anticipated such a thing.
“Junior Sister. Do you really want to go? People really die there.”
“This young lady… no! Does this Junior Sister look like she would be afraid of such a thing? My hands are itching to beat them up right now!”
At her bold remark, the crowd smiled bitterly.
Only her title had changed to Junior Sister; her personality and way of speaking were no different from when she first came here.
Hyeokri Hong was truly eager, even puffing out her nostrils with a snort.
Unable to stand it any longer, Hyeokri Chong tried to stop his granddaughter.
“You can’t, Hong-ah! Do you think the martial artists of Jianghu will go easy on you because you’re young?”
“Go easy on me? I’m going to fight them fairly and beat them all up!”
Her grandfather scolded her sternly, but Hyeokri Hong’s will seemed more resolute than anything else.
“Oh dear……”
Hyeokri Chong could not hide his bewilderment.
Now that she was a member of the Diancang Sect, he could not forcibly stop her.
The decision on sect matters was ultimately up to the Sect Leader.
Hyeokri Chong’s desperate gaze turned to Biyoung.
Not only Biyoung, but everyone knew the meaning of that gaze.
Biyoung.
You have to stop that tomboy.
Does this even make sense?
“Hmm. This is a bit troublesome.”
As if that desperation had gotten through, Biyoung shook his head.
At the same time, Hyeokri Hong’s cute eyes shot up high into the sky.
“Why can’t I? I’m also a proud martial artist of the Diancang Sect now!”
“I’ve already picked one person. Both of you can’t go.”
Jeong-i and Hyeokri Hong.
It was as clear as day which of the two would be a greater asset to their forces.
Hyeokri Chong, who had been watching anxiously, finally calmed down.
My dear Biyoung.
As expected of you.
Does it even make sense for Hong-ah to fight a real battle at her age…….
“Then let’s do this. First, you two have a go at each other.”
…………A go?
“If I judge that Junior Sister has the skills to step out into Jianghu, I’ll take you with me.”
At the sudden declaration of a duel, the mouths of the Diancang Sect people dropped wide open.
Of course, the person whose mouth dropped open the widest was, without a doubt, Hyeokri Chong.