novelraw Chapter 53 : Chapter 53
Chapter 53 : Chapter 53
Chapter 53 - I'm an Expert at That
“Wha……what is all this.”
Looking at the sparkling gold and silver treasures, Eung Gajin asked Biyoung.
“What do you mean? Senior Brother Eung Ga. Can't you tell by looking?”
Biyoung burst into a manic laugh, his hands full of precious metals and silver coins.
“It's money, money! And gold trinkets! This is a total jackpot! Hehehehehet!”
The sight of Biyoung, holding handfuls of gold and silver treasures, looking ecstatic.
He looked less like a swordsman from a Daoist sect and more suited to be the leader of the Tiger-Bear Stronghold.
‘Isn’t this just a bandit incarnate.’
Eung Gajin thought to himself, clicking his tongue.
“Where did all this money come from?”
“I asked the Great Mother. Where Wi Sung usually stayed. I completely cleaned out the area around it.”
“So. You were searching Wi Sung’s residence all morning?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Why, you ask. Your other senior brothers are working their butts off……”
“What are you talking about?”
As if he truly did not understand.
Biyoung smiled with an innocent face.
“Senior Brother Eung Ga. This is why they say that if a person’s head is bad, their hands and feet suffer.”
“Wha-what?”
“Do you think moving a few wooden pillars like this will improve our living situation? We need to find the gold trinkets, the gold trinkets! The Tiger-Bear Stronghold was a stronghold that prided itself on being something in Yunnan, does it make sense for them not to have any hoarded wealth!”
“That is……”
Eung Gajin could not find a suitable reply.
When you thought about it, he was not wrong.
The Tiger-Bear Stronghold was ambushed in the middle of the night, and only a very few of the top brass survived.
Since even the Stronghold Master Wi Sung did not manage to escape Diancang Mountain and met his end, the stronghold's assets would remain intact.
While Eung Gajin was lamenting the damaged pavilions and working on repairs, Biyoung was digging for the treasures left behind in the Tiger-Bear Stronghold.
And now, the fruits of his labor were glittering before his comrades' eyes.
“However……”
Eung Gajin said with a serious face.
“If it's money, we have what we saved up in Simao. Besides, isn't this all money plundered from innocent people? We cannot use this money for the restoration of the Diancang Sect.”
“!”
This time, it was Biyoung's turn to be stunned.
No, I knew he was stubborn, but to this extent?
Biyoung looked up at the sky and spoke to someone.
‘Sect Leader. Just look at your grandson. They say the student surpasses the master, but his stubbornness is even worse than the previous Sect Leader’s, isn't it?’
It seemed as if a string of profanities could be heard from the sky, but that was not the important part.
Just as Biyoung was about to open his mouth, a man with a stern expression stepped forward first.
“Senior Brother. Don’t talk nonsense.”
“Wha-what?”
“What does it matter where this money came from? And look at all the precious metals piled up here. Are these things that good, common folk would wear?”
“That is……”
‘Hoo.’
Biyoung watched Uma's actions with intrigued eyes.
His face already looked angry, but now his expression was definitely fouler.
For some reason, Uma was clearly furious.
“Let's concede a hundred times and say all these items belong to good people. How on earth are we going to return all of this? Are we going to put up a poster in the marketplace and say, ‘Everyone come and get your stuff’?”
“Uma. Calm down a little……”
Eung Gajin and the other comrades could not adapt to this sudden outburst.
His eyes were even welling up with moisture.
What on earth was wrong with this guy all of a sudden?
“Money itself is noble! If it has no owner, wherever it was obtained from, we should just use it! Do any of you Senior Brothers know how I felt when I had to fight with swords at The Five Hundred Establishments of our Fellow Disciples? While other people were painting or working at respectable escort agencies, I had to brawl every other day!”
‘Aha.’
Only then did enlightenment dawn on everyone's faces.
So that was it.
This bastard.
He was acting this way out of sorrow.
Danseol turned his head towards Eung Gajin with a strange smile.
“Uma is right. If we turn our backs on rebuilding our sect because the money is from an improper source, that would not be a desirable course of action either.”
“Danseol.”
Eung Gajin still looked reluctant.
At that moment, Danseol took another step closer and said secretly.
“If you say you won’t use that money, Biyoung will get to have it all. Can you imagine what kind of things Biyoung will do ‘by himself’ with that money?”
“!”
Suddenly, a scene flashed in Eung Gajin’s mind.
A terrifying vision of Biyoung joining hands with Uma and opening a ‘Diancang Loan Shark’ business……!!
‘That can’t happen. Absolutely not!’
Eung Gajin shook his head vigorously.
His gaze turned to Solbo and Jeong-i.
“Do you two think the same?”
Solbo chose his specialty, taking a step back.
“I will follow the majority opinion.”
“Senior Sister Jeong?”
Jeong-i pressed her beautiful lips together firmly.
Then she hesitantly expressed her opinion.
“With this money…… I think we can restore the ancestral shrine splendidly.”
“I see.”
Eung Gajin nodded with a low sigh.
“You worked hard to find the treasure. Let's use this money for the reconstruction of our sect.”
“You should have said so from the start.”
Biyoung shrugged once and called Uma.
“I'll entrust the money management to Senior Brother Uma. Listening to what you just said, I don't think you'll ever spend it wastefully.”
“Leave it to me!”
Uma replied like Biyoung’s trusted subordinate and then arranged the chests in one place with meticulous movements.
Watching this, Eung Gajin felt truly complicated.
‘He orders his senior brother around like a subordinate. Where on earth are the etiquettes of our sect headed.’
However, Eung Gajin’s worries did not last long.
Because unexpected words came from Biyoung’s mouth after he had organized the wealth.
“That lanky fellow who was protecting Wi Sung. You remember him, right?”
“Of course I remember.”
Before attacking the Tiger-Bear Stronghold, Biyoung had given a stern warning.
Never to face Wi Sung's guard alone.
When Eung Gajin actually crossed swords with him, he understood why Biyoung had said so.
Among the swordsmen here, besides Biyoung, there was no one who could defeat him single-handedly.
“That fellow. Let's make him a disciple of the Diancang Sect.”
“?”
Large question marks appeared above the heads of the five men and women.
Did I just hear that correctly?
They were fighting with swords just a day ago, and now suddenly he wants to make him a disciple of the Diancang Sect?
No.
Above all.
Would that guy agree to it?
Amidst the confusion, it was Danseol who asked the question.
“From what I heard, he protected Wi Sung so tearfully, would his heart change so easily?”
“It will. I persuaded him well.”
What kind of persuasion could make a person change 180 degrees like that?
But Biyoung’s attitude was so firm that even Danseol did not argue further.
“His name is Absolute Protector. Since we don't use the same generation name anyway, his name won't be a problem. The real problem is something else.”
“?”
“Absolute Protector's haphazard swordsmanship is superior to the swordsmanship of the Diancang Sect's descendants here. That's the biggest problem.”
At the sudden truth bomb, the swordsmen's faces flushed.
They knew it even without Biyoung explicitly saying so.
The man called Absolute Protector looked to be about twenty years old at most.
Older than Biyoung, but about the same age as the swordsmen gathered here.
The swordsmanship of Absolute Protector they had observed over their shoulders was by no means inferior to their own.
Far from being inferior, it seemed to be at least two levels higher.
“So. What should we do?”
Eung Gajin asked through clenched teeth.
It would be the same for the other next-generation disciples, but Absolute Protector’s skill was particularly painful for Eung Gajin.
For the other disciples, it was acceptable, conceding a hundred times, as they were of a similar age to Absolute Protector.
However, Eung Gajin was at least four or five years older than Absolute Protector.
Of course, he could not win against every young swordsman in the world, but the problem was that Absolute Protector had not learned proper swordsmanship.
“To be honest, the sect's swordsmanship that you senior brothers have learned is an illusion.”
“An illusion?”
“Yes. It’s swordsmanship learned after being kicked out of the main headquarters, and I understand since more than half of it has probably been lost. But in my eyes, the footwork and swordsmanship you senior brothers use have been considerably altered from the sect’s martial arts.”
A heavy shadow fell on the faces of the five men and women.
They had vaguely known it.
That the martial arts they had learned were incomplete.
Let alone the Sun-Shooting Sword Art, even the Flying Eagle Steps and the Eagle Talon Twelve Swords seemed to have flaws somewhere.
But unfortunately, there were no longer any peak masters left who could solve that.
“Absolute Protector just swings his sword instinctively; he has no forms or anything. But he is that much more concise and strong. If you senior brothers had fought in a similar way instead of with the Diancang Sect’s swordsmanship, you would have been able to match him to some extent.”
“That method is impossible.”
Eung Gajin dismissed Biyoung’s words flatly.
“Even if it is an incomplete swordsmanship, we cannot abandon our sect’s martial arts to fight. As long as we hold the sword of the Diancang Sect, we must fight with the martial arts of the Diancang Sect, whether it turns out good or bad.”
‘Being stubborn is good at times like these.’
In this very moment, it was as if the previous sect leader had regained his youth and appeared before his eyes.
Biyoung smiled pleasantly at that thought.
“That’s what I was hoping for. A swordsman of the Diancang Sect must have that kind of spirit. Besides……”
Biyoung looked around at the group once.
“Now there is someone who can complete the swordsmanship of the Diancang Sect, so we can solve that problem.”
Huh?
Someone who can complete the swordsmanship of the Diancang Sect?
Who?
The five men and women looked at each other, exchanging questioning glances.
“Is it you?”
“It’s not me.”
“It’s not me either.”
“Then who is it?”
“You lot……”
Being ignored right in front of his face, Biyoung’s shoulders trembled slightly.
“It is I. I! I am the one who will make you senior brothers into proper people!”
“Heeik!”
Solbo let out a reaction close to a scream.
The day he sparred with Biyoung.
After witnessing the form of the Nine-Shooting One Flash, no one doubted Biyoung’s skill.
But to receive teachings from a much younger junior brother?
Besides.
He couldn't even begin to imagine what would happen when a guy with an already terrible personality took up the teaching stick.
“I won't accept any objections. Well, I guess you can’t object out of embarrassment, seeing as you get beaten by Absolute Protector who hasn't even learned swordsmanship.”
Even with the piercing truth bombs, the five men and women could not argue back.
“From now on……”
A devilish smile bloomed on Biyoung's lips.
“You’ll find out that you’ve been living comfortably until now.”
***
That night.
When everyone was asleep, two men stood facing each other.
The faces of the two men, illuminated by the moonlight, were starkly contrasting.
A criminal-type face that would surely be reported to the authorities if encountered in the middle of the night.
And a handsome young man with skin brighter and smoother than the moon in the sky.
Of the two, the criminal-type face asked.
“Why did you want to see me at this hour? And secretly, without the senior brothers knowing.”
“Because the senior brothers would object if they knew. And you’re the perfect person for this kind of work.”
“That’s a very suspicious answer. Tell me.”
“Wi Sung had a subordinate who acted as his strategist. His name is Han Hoe.”
“And?”
“His actions were very suspicious, so I locked him up on one side for now. I've taken everything there is to take from the Tiger-Bear Stronghold, but for some reason, I feel like there's more to come out.”
“So……”
Uma asked, his eyes glinting fiercely.
“You want me to get out what he's hiding?”
“That's right.”
“By threatening him appropriately, and beating him up?”
“Exactly.”
Only then did Uma understand why Biyoung had called him out alone.
And, he was confident that Biyoung's choice was an excellent one.
“I’m an expert at that.”
The notorious private loan shark from Simao.
Uma smiled, baring his teeth.