The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 102

 It was when I had been talking with Elder Zhuge Bang-ju for about two more hours and it was almost dinner time that we parted.

I don't know if he was a person who talked a lot, or if it was because he wanted to talk about Zhuge Yun but had nowhere to talk, but he told me about him in great detail.

'So, to sum it up, something happened three years ago...'

Although Zhuge Yun was not that interested in martial arts in the first place, he said that it was not to the extent that he would not even look at it like now.

And even though he had no interest, his aptitude was so outstanding that he received all the attention and expectations of those around him even though he had only trained for a few years.

'And Zhuge Yun told Zhuge Myeong-hyeon that he wanted to go a different path, not martial arts... and Zhuge Myeong-hyeon stopped him, and he went astray. That's what it means.'

Zhuge Yun must have declared that he would not succeed the position of head of the family because of the thing he had really become interested in.

Since Zhuge Yun is nineteen this year, he was sixteen at that time.

It's an age where it's not too late to be officially recognized as the successor to the family head and start the succession lessons, but since he suddenly said he couldn't be the family head, it must have been a bolt from the blue for Zhuge Myeong-hyeon.

'And it's not like he had another child to succeed the position of family head...'

Now, he can just hand over the position of family head to Zhuge Ling.

Well, in this day and age, there's no such thing as a woman not being able to become a family head or the head of a sect.

But that was three years ago. When Zhuge Ling still couldn't learn martial arts.

Zhuge Myeong-hyeon would have had no other choice but Zhuge Yun.

'But thanks to me, Zhuge Ling was able to learn martial arts. And with great talent.'

That's what Zhuge Bang-ju said.

He said that Zhuge Ling likes martial arts, has outstanding talent, and also likes to take care of the family's affairs.

In other words, she is a person who is perfect for the position of family head.

So the burden that Zhuge Myeong-hyeon had on Zhuge Yun has disappeared a lot, and Zhuge Myeong-hyeon will also want to reconcile with Zhuge Yun and let him do what he wants.

But the emotional rift that has deepened over the past three years would not be filled just because he wants to fill it now.

'First, I need to find out what field Zhuge Yun is interested in.'

Zhuge Bang-ju said he didn't know that well either.

Because Zhuge Myeong-hyeon doesn't say, and Zhuge Yun doesn't say.

You might think that you can just go to his room and ask him.

But since he doesn't open the door unless it's Zhuge Ling, and he doesn't answer even if you call him, that's not possible either.

And another piece of information I got about him is that he has no interest in food or money, but he has a great interest in ink and paper, and various history and geography books.

'Does he perhaps write?'

Although I had this thought, I don't know anything for sure.

At the banquet yesterday, when I said to the head of the Zhuge family, 'Wouldn't it be better if he had a field he was really interested in?', he raised his head for the first time and looked at me with sparkling eyes.

For some reason, I can't seem to forget that gaze.

'Wait. Then isn't it a matter of asking Miss Zhuge Ling?'

I suddenly had that thought.

If the only person who can enter Zhuge Yun's room is Zhuge Ling, then she will know Zhuge Yun's secret, and for some reason, it seems that she might answer if I ask.

When we accompany her to the Nangong family, if we get close to each other, I'll have to try to dig it out, saying that the journey won't be boring.

As I was having these thoughts and returning to my quarters.

"Waaah! We won this time. We finally won for the first time!"

"It seems we can only compete with the martial artists of the Wolongdae!"

The cheers of the men began to be heard from a little distance away.

That place is where the training ground is.

The training ground of the Zhuge family is surrounded by a wall higher than a person's height so that other people can't peek in from the outside, and to be precise, it was the cheers coming from inside it.

"Oh, no way? It seems my senior brothers are doing well."

I turned my steps that were heading to my quarters and went there.

It seems that my senior brothers are successfully carrying out their assignment.

The assignment I gave them is simple. Fight, and win. That's all.

But judging from the story I heard a little while ago, it seems that they couldn't just keep winning.

Well, that's natural.

No matter how hard I trained my senior brothers, we are still chicks who haven't even officially debuted in the martial world.

We are among the youngest of the late-stage martial artists.

So it's natural to be pushed back when you fight against real martial artists who are over twenty.

As far as I know, the Wolongdae is one of the main strike forces in the Zhuge family.

Even if you lose a fight with a martial artist from that place, you can't say anything.

"Next! Who's next!"

When I entered the training ground and looked up at the training stage, a large-bodied martial artist was standing there with a wooden sword and shouting.

'I've seen that martial artist somewhere before... ah...!'

Come to think of it, he is the martial artist who was guarding the gate when we first came to the Zhuge family.

Next to him, Senior Brother Uncheol is holding his shoulder and frowning.

Although I thought someone among my senior brothers had lost, I was a little surprised that it was Senior Brother Uncheol.

I was about to push through the crowd and go to my senior brothers to hear the whole story of what had happened, but I heard the conversation of two martial artists of the Zhuge family who were right next to me.

"What happened?"

"Can't you see? Hong-gyu beat the Taoist from the Wudang Sect."

"No, am I blind? That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking why Hong-gyu went up to that stage. Didn't we decide to only have the training martial artists go up, considering the generation of the Taoist masters from the Wudang Sect? I'm asking why Hong-gyu, who is one of the best in the Wolongdae in terms of martial arts, is fighting."

"Well... isn't it obvious? Our training martial artists all lost to the Taoist masters. Hong-gyu, who couldn't stand to watch, stepped up."

"No, you mean the training martial artists couldn't win even once?"

"That's what I'm saying. I thought you were just bad at seeing, but are you also bad at hearing?"

When I overheard their conversation, I couldn't help but nod my head and a satisfied smile spread across my face.

As they said, if he's a master of the Wolongdae, he's of the same generation as our Martial Uncles.

Although I've never heard the term 'training martial artist' before, I guess it refers to the young martial artists who haven't debuted in the martial world, like our third-generation disciples.

Since our senior brothers beat all the training martial artists, a master from the generation above them stepped up, and it seems that Senior Brother Uncheol, who is the strongest among our senior brothers, stepped up and unfortunately lost.

"What. You did much better than I thought."

Although I have no intention of being satisfied with just this, it was proven today that our senior brothers are much stronger than the martial artists of the same generation from the five great families.

This is not only proof that my senior brothers are strong, but it is also the same as proving that I am on the right path.

"And, the Zhuge family. They're more manly than I thought, aren't they?"

To be honest, the prejudice I had about the martial artists of the Zhuge family until now was that they were like gigolos.

I thought they would be the kind of people who wear flimsy clothes and use fans as weapons, with no strong appearance to be found... but the appearance I see now is no different from any other male.

Seeing them get excited about fighting, roar in victory, and foster a competitive spirit just by watching, I have a thought that the Zhuge family will also be quite useful if they are well-polished.

Tat— pa-ba-bak!

I kicked the ground hard and, after doing a few somersaults in the air, landed on the training stage.

"Hwi-ya!"

"Unhwi-ya!"

"Unhwi!"

My senior brothers who found me called my name with a cheerful voice.

Since I had done a rather flashy somersault in the air, the attention of all the martial artists was already focused on me.

Although I'm not an attention seeker, I did this on purpose to draw their attention.

"Unhwi?"

The martial artist of the Zhuge family who was roaring on the stage called my name.

I think his name was Zhuge Hong-gyu a little while ago.

I politely bowed to him and said, "I am Unhwi of the Wudang Sect. I am the youngest disciple among the third-generation disciples of the Wudang Sect."

"Are you my next opponent?"

I smiled brightly and nodded my head.

Zhuge Hong-gyu let out a small laugh as if he were dumbfounded.

Even at a glance, Senior Brother Uncheol's body is half a size bigger than mine.

Since even Senior Brother Uncheol couldn't handle him, it's natural that he would find it ridiculous that I, who am much smaller in build and look younger, stepped up.

"Senior Brother. Can I borrow your wooden sword?"

"Uh-huh."

When I said to Senior Brother Unmi, who was behind me, he immediately threw a wooden sword to me.

"I'm fine to start right away. Please let me know whenever you're ready."

"Hahaha! This is... in fact, the generation doesn't match, so I don't know if I can continue to do this."

Although Zhuge Hong-gyu said that, he subtly showed his intention to fight.

Looking at his face full of confidence, I said to him, "As you already know, there is a saying in the Wudang Sect."

I said, swinging my sword slightly.

The tip of the sword, which was shaking according to my will, drew a pattern.

That pattern is the pattern of Taiji, which is also a symbol of our Wudang Sect.

"Softness overcomes hardness. It's the principle of Taiji."

"I have experienced many sword arts while traveling the martial world, but I have not yet experienced the Taiji Sword Art. I will finally get to experience the famous Taiji Sword Art in person."

He took the starting stance of a sword art that is presumed to be the martial art of the Zhuge family, and I also took the starting stance with the Taiji Sword Art.

And without anyone going first...

Pa-ak!!

We strongly clashed our swords against each other.

Although it's not as good as Un Gwang, I'm also quite used to the Taiji Sword Art now.

The best way to train this sword art is to constantly parry the sword of an opponent who is a little stronger than me, but until now, I haven't had many opportunities to train the Taiji Sword Art.

So today, I have to make up for the Taiji Sword Art training I couldn't do by parrying the sword as much as I can.

***

My spar with Zhuge Hong-gyu continued until dinner time.

No, to be precise, we were so engrossed in the spar that we didn't even think of going to the dining hall even after dinner time had passed, and we could only stop the spar after the head of the Zhuge family, Zhuge Myeong-hyeon, who had been waiting for me to have dinner with him today, came to the training ground to get us.

Perhaps because of that, the head of the Zhuge family also called Zhuge Hong-gyu to the seat he had prepared for us to have dinner together and sat him down.

Now, at this table, the head of the Zhuge family, his wife, and Zhuge Ling and our senior brothers were sitting together.

The empty seat where Zhuge Hong-gyu sat was probably Zhuge Yun's seat.

"You sparred even forgetting about mealtime, how long did you do it?"

"In terms of time, it was about an hour, and in terms of exchanges, we had just passed six hundred."

Zhuge Hong-gyu immediately answered the question of the head of the Zhuge family.

Although I wasn't paying much attention, it seems he was counting them all one by one.

"Tsk. You should be ashamed. In terms of generation, he would be much lower than you. And in terms of age as well."

"What does generation and age have to do with a martial artist? When I faced Taoist Master Unhwi directly with my sword, I don't think it's something to be ashamed of to have fought like this."

"Why?"

"From beginning to end, he only parried my sword with the Taiji Sword Art. If the level of his Taiji Sword Art had been a little higher, or if he had mixed in other sword arts in the middle, I might have lost."

Zhuge Hong-gyu said this and then laughed heartily.

I looked at the two of them talking with a slightly surprised look.

Usually, they wouldn't talk about such things next to the person concerned, but for some reason, it seems to be getting uncomfortable to be in this place.

"I was worried about sending Ling and Yun alone, but if I'm with you Taoist masters, I don't think I'll have to worry much."

"Really?"

Then Zhuge Hong-gyu smiled brightly at me.

Although we had asked for a spar by picking a fight first, it seems that the martial artists of the Zhuge family also intended it.

"Taoist Master Uncheol."

While the head of the Zhuge family and Zhuge Hong-gyu were talking a little more, and I had nothing to say, so I was just quietly eating, the head of the Zhuge family called me in a deep voice.

"Yes, Family Head."

"I have a favor to ask, would you listen?"

"Yes, please speak."

"Can you meet my son once?"

When I was bewildered because I didn't know the inner meaning of his words, he explained further.

"Yun has completely closed his heart to me since some time ago. No, not just me, but all the martial artists of our family. But you are a martial artist of the same age, aren't you? If you talk to him once, maybe you can pull my son out of his own world?"

He said in a tearful voice.

I feel like I can feel his heart, how much he worries about Zhuge Yun, in his voice.

"That's not a difficult task."

"Really?"

"But there is something that must be done before that."

"What is it?"

"I heard from Elder Zhuge Bang-ju. Three years ago, something happened between you and Young Master Zhuge, and after that, Young Master Zhuge was cooped up in his room."

"......"

"Can you tell me everything that happened at that time? I think I can think about it after hearing that story first."

"Hmm..."

He stroked his chin and let out a groan.

"Hong-gyu. I'm sorry to interrupt your meal, but can you leave for a moment?"

"Of course. Then I'll be on my way. Taoist Master Unhwi, we'll see each other again at the training ground soon."

"Ah, yes, yes."

He smiled kindly and then left the room.

Still, when the head of the Zhuge family couldn't continue, Hwangbo Jeong-hwa took Zhuge Ling and stood up, saying to talk comfortably, and my senior brothers also sensibly left the room.

Only after all the servants and handmaidens had left could I finally hear his voice.

"What happened that day was..."

The story that he had not been able to bring out of his mouth for a long time began to flow from his mouth.

(End of Chapter)