The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 104

I requested to have a brief conversation with Zhuge Ling as well.

Since Zhuge Ling was the only one who could communicate with Zhuge Yun right now, I thought I should hear her side of the story too.

He said it was too late today and that he would arrange a meeting for tomorrow morning. For now, we decided to return to our respective rooms and rest.

The path from the dining hall to our quarters was quite long. Walking slowly, it would take at least a quarter of an hour (about 15 minutes).

I thought it was for the best and started walking.

I could organize my thoughts while walking slowly.

Among the things I learned from my conversation with the Zhuge Clan Head, there was the detail that while Zhuge Yun had no greed, ink, paper, and various geography books were continuously being brought into his room.

Now that I knew all this, I felt I understood what he was doing.

He had declared his separation from the world and, trapped in his own universe, would be endlessly drawing maps, over and over again.

'Perhaps the reason the Demonic Cult's advance suddenly quickened after they conquered the Zhuge Clan was...'

A thought suddenly struck me.

The Demonic Cult had first attacked the Zhuge Clan for purely strategic reasons; conquering the Zhuge Clan and the Wudang Sect was as good as taking over Hubei Province.

After conquering the Zhuge Clan through many twists and turns, they find that in the room of the clan's young master—a person who didn't even exist in their intelligence network—the maps of the Central Plains are drawn densely and in great detail.

'The Demonic Cult's invasion begins about nineteen years from now. He might be unskilled at map-making now, but if he kept drawing maps until then...'

If you do one thing continuously for just ten years, you are recognized as a master in that field.

But what if he had been drawing maps for twenty years?

Perhaps, just as Zhuge Yun wished, he might have drawn the most accurate map in the Central Plains.

And if I assume that map fell into the hands of the Demonic Cult... a slight shiver ran down my spine.

Moving troops without the enemy's knowledge, or splitting forces to feign retreat and then merging them into one to face the enemy...

The military strategies one could employ just by knowing the terrain better than the opponent were endless.

As my thoughts reached this point, I could imagine what a great asset Zhuge Yun could be to our Orthodox Faction.

'This... shouldn't we be encouraging this?'

Just because one is a martial artist doesn't mean they must live as a warrior.

The Beggars' Sect is a prime example.

Among the members of the Hao Mun, there are more who haven't properly learned martial arts than those who have.

No, to say simply "more" is not accurate; "most" would be a more precise expression.

So, what law says a cartographer cannot be a part of the martial world?

'Alright. I will drag you out into the world, one way or another, Zhuge Yun.'

There is plenty of time. I don't know if Zhuge Yun has agreed, but we have to accompany them to the Namgung Clan anyway.

It's not a one or two-day trip to Hefei in Anhui Province; calculating the round trip, we would have to be together for at least a month. That's more than enough time to remodel his body and mind.

Gurgle—

Just as I finished organizing my thoughts and deciding how to handle Zhuge Yun, my stomach suddenly churned.

Come to think of it, I couldn't even eat properly earlier because of the Zhuge Clan Head.

He had suddenly set a serious mood and started talking when I had only taken a few spoonfuls, and I wasn't so clueless as to keep eating in that situation.

"Shall I go back to the dining hall?"

When I left the dining hall after talking with Zhuge Myeong-hyeon, the servants were cleaning up.

Still, if I went there, I might be able to get something to eat, so I turned around and went back the way I came.

"Aww, all the lights are off."

Unfortunately, the lights in the dining hall were off, and there was no sign of anyone around.

Well, it's not like I'd die from hunger, so I was just about to go back to my quarters, drink some water, and go to sleep.

Rustle—

A small sound came from inside the dining hall.

Normally, I might have thought a servant was still inside, but that sound was not a typical human presence.

'A sound made unavoidably while trying to conceal one's presence.'

Even a skilled assassin has sounds they cannot hide, like the sound of holding their breath or the rustle of clothes brushing against something.

Such sounds are bound to be unnatural, and the sound that had just brushed my ear was 'the sound of walking on tiptoes to muffle one's steps.'

I slowly moved closer to a window of the dining hall and began to focus my internal energy into my hearing to listen more closely to the situation inside.

Then, a clearer sound began to come from within.

'It's definitely the sound of someone hiding their presence.'

In an instant, various possibilities flashed through my mind.

It could be a thief, a spy from the Unorthodox Faction or the Demonic Cult, or an assassin trying to harm someone from the Zhuge Clan.

'Did something like this happen in the Zhuge Clan?'

I tried to recall, but no matter how much I thought, I couldn't remember any incident of someone from the Zhuge Clan being assassinated.

Of course, it's not like I know everything that happens in the Central Plains.

'First, I need to find out who it is.'

I slowly gathered my energy inward and began to conceal my presence.

The principle was the same as the stealth techniques that assassins learn.

Living alone in the martial world, there were many times I needed to hide, so I once raided an assassin sect and learned their stealth arts.

It was also thanks to this that I could distinguish between natural and unnatural sounds.

Slowly blending into my surroundings, I quietly climbed onto the roof of the dining hall.

Then, lying flat on my stomach on the roof, I began to move slowly towards where the sound was still coming from.

Rustle, rustle—

Perhaps realizing there was no one around, the sound began to grow bolder.

They were rummaging through things in the kitchen, and their skill suggested it wasn't their first or second time.

'A petty thief. How fearless. Robbing the Zhuge Clan's dining hall? Ah! Could it be someone from the Zhuge Clan?'

Since it could be an inside job, I decided to quietly confirm the thief's face.

I thought it would be better to see the face and then discreetly tell one of the clan elders like Zhuge Myeong-hyeon or the Clan Head tomorrow, rather than causing a commotion by catching them myself.

I stretched my neck out to check if there was an open window.

Fortunately, there was a window not far away, and I slowly crawled towards it.

Then, sticking to the wall upside down like a spider, I peeked my head through the window to look inside, and...

"Hup!"

Seeing a person I never expected sitting there, I was so startled that I let out a gasp.

Hearing the sound, the person immediately turned their head towards me, and our eyes met.

"T-Taoist master."

"Miss... Zhuge?"

"What are you doing there? Are you perhaps trying to steal something...?"

The intruder was Zhuge Ling.

She spoke with a dumbfounded expression, looking at me hanging upside down.

I replied in a voice even more dumbfounded than hers.

"Steal something! I was just passing by when I heard a strange sound from in here, so I came to check who it was."

"Ah..."

She blushed and lowered her head.

She had realized that in the current situation, she looked more like a thief than I did.

I crawled through the window, landed upright, and asked her.

"And what are you doing here at this hour, young miss? If you needed something, you could have just asked a servant."

"Ah, that's..."

In her hands were things like potatoes and corn, simple food for a meal.

For a moment, I wondered if she was hungry, but then someone suddenly came to mind.

"Zhuge Yun...? Are you perhaps trying to bring that food to Young Master Zhuge Yun...?"

At my casually spoken words, Zhuge Ling's pupils shook violently.

It seemed I had guessed it in one go, and correctly at that.

If Zhuge Ling were truly hungry, she could have done as I said and asked a servant to bring her some food.

But to be secretly gathering food like this meant she had to give it to someone secretly, and in the Zhuge Clan, the only person she would need to secretly bring food to was Zhuge Yun.

"Taoist master. Please, could you keep this a secret from my father?"

"Why? It's the young lady of the Zhuge Clan taking what she needs from the Zhuge Clan's dining hall. Is there a need to be so secretive?"

"The reason my older brother doesn't come out for meals is that he doesn't want to see our father. When my father found out, he ordered the servants not to give my brother any meals until he comes to the dining hall."

"Aha..."

I roughly understood what was going on.

The kind-hearted Zhuge Ling was going so far as to secretly invade the dining hall to bring food to her older brother.

Judging by her practiced movements, it seemed she had done this often.

If Zhuge Ling's martial arts skills had been better, she wouldn't have been caught by me, but since she hadn't been learning for long, she must have been clumsy.

"Alright. It's no big deal. I won't tell anyone. Not even my senior brothers."

"Thank you...! Truly..."

I shrugged and looked at her.

"In return, please do me just one favor."

"A favor?"

"Yes. As it happens, there's something that only you, Miss Zhuge, can do. If you grant me that favor, I'll completely forget about what happened today."

"What is your favor?"

"Please arrange a meeting where I can speak with Young Master Zhuge Yun."

"With my older brother...?"

She asked back with an expression of complete surprise.

"Why on earth my older brother..."

"I'm going to try and persuade him to come with us on the way to the Namgung Clan."

"You might not be able to have a proper conversation. As you've already seen, my brother's heart is gravely ill right now..."

Zhuge Ling's voice trailed off.

She probably felt like she was exposing her own family's shame with her own mouth.

"I want to see that for myself, and I want to hear it directly from Young Master Zhuge Yun's lips. You see, I haven't had a proper conversation with him yet."

“……”

Zhuge Ling couldn't answer me easily and just squeezed the potatoes in her hand tightly.

"Actually, I heard the whole story from the Clan Head earlier."

"You... did..."

"The Clan Head seems to hope that I will help the young master, just as I helped you, young miss."

"Did the Primordial Lord of Heaven perhaps give you another revelation...?"

I shook my head firmly.

The lie about receiving a revelation from the Primordial Lord of Heaven was effective, but if overused, its power would diminish.

"No, nothing like that this time. But I want to meet him once. Please take me to the young master."

Zhuge Ling hesitated for a brief moment... then finally nodded.

"Alright. I'll try to arrange it. My brother listens to me, at least a little..."

"Thank you. It must have been hard to find the courage."

"How long are you planning to stay at the Zhuge Clan? It will take some time to persuade my brother."

"I was planning to leave tomorrow, or the day after at the latest."

"Then when on earth..."

"Right now."

"......?"

"We should go right now while it's on my mind. If we try to persuade him and all that, he'll start getting complicated thoughts like, 'Why is this person looking for me? Was he sent by my father? How should I run away this time?' Let's launch a surprise attack now, before he has time to think."

I gave a bright smile to her as she stood there with a dumbfounded expression, unable to answer.

And I added one more thing.

"Oh, and while you're at it, please grab some more potatoes and corn. I'm hungry too."

(End of Chapter)