The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 49

"To ask for ten taels just for guiding the way, how wasteful is that money? And didn't you agree earlier?"

"I did agree. But if I had known the mountain was this rugged, I would never have agreed!"

"I didn't know it would be like this either!"

It seemed they had gotten lost on their way to Mount Wudang.

Well, the path up to the Wudang Sect is quite complicated.

If you climb the mountain path alone for the first time, you're likely to get lost like that.

"Have you lost your way?"

"Taoist master! Are you a Taoist master of the Wudang Sect?!"

"Yes, I am. My name is Hyeon Yang. I happened to hear your conversation. Are you on your way to the Wudang Sect?"

"Oh! Thank you, heaven and earth. I thought I was going to get lost in the mountains, but to meet a Taoist master of Wudang. Oh, by the way. I am Wang Hyeon-seong of the Eungnam Merchant Guild."

"I am Jin Tae-jin of the Eungnam Merchant Guild."

"Eungnam Merchant Guild..."

My master, perhaps having heard the name somewhere, repeated the name Eungnam Merchant Guild and then opened his mouth again.

"What business do the people of the merchant guild have with our Wudang?"

Then, at that moment, the look in their eyes changed.

From the eyes of a fool and a simpleton to the sharp and confident eyes of a merchant.

"We were on our way to ask a favor of the people of the Wudang Sect."

"A favor? Wudang does not accept requests from outsiders like other sects. It will be a waste of your time even if you go, so I will guide you on the way down."

Quite a few sects take on private requests like this and use it as a supplementary source of income.

Because people who run merchant guilds or do business are bound to have problems that require power rather than law, and they are willing to pay a huge amount of money to solve those problems.

Typically, it mainly consists of eliminating local thugs who rule the neighborhood, or using force to stop competing merchant guilds that are engaged in illegal activities.

From the perspective of the sect that receives the request, such things can give a good impression of seeking stability in the lives of the people in places where the authority of the imperial court does not reach, and it is also an opportunity to earn money, killing two birds with one stone.

"Ah! We are not here to make such a request. We also came knowing that the Wudang Sect does not accept such requests."

Wang Hyeon-seong said urgently at my master's firm words.

As he said, our Wudang does not accept private requests.

Because such requests often have vested interests or grudges, and before accepting any request, we have to find out whether the request made by the client goes against the standards of justice of Wudang.

If it were one or two cases, it would be different, but once we start accepting requests, we will have to handle dozens, hundreds of requests, and the workload to verify the transparency of the request each time becomes too large.

That's why we don't accept private requests at all.

"Then what is the favor? Do you have someone you are personally acquainted with in our Wudang?"

"That's not it either. Our merchant guild wants to formally enter into an agreement with Wudang and provide regular sponsorship."

"Regular sponsorship... that's a word I haven't heard in a long time."

"Yes. I heard that there are currently no merchant guilds or families that provide regular sponsorship to Wudang."

My master answered nonchalantly, but as soon as I heard the word 'regular sponsorship', my eyes lit up.

Although we don't accept private requests, regular sponsorship is another story.

The term 'regular sponsorship' is just a phrase; in fact, it means giving a certain amount of money to Wudang every month and receiving dispatched martial artists to borrow the power of Wudang.

I heard that such cases happen from time to time.

Because if the merchant guild that wants regular sponsorship is working in a just and right direction, and if what they demand does not go against justice, it can be a good source of income in the long run.

Of course, it is said that one has to go through a complicated process.

"Although there are no places that receive regular sponsorship now, it will be quite difficult to persuade our Sect Leader."

"Haha! Even without that, I heard from the head of the Hyeongju Merchant Guild. He said that the Hyeongju Merchant Guild also stopped their regular sponsorship for that reason."

"Hyeongju Merchant Guild... I remember. It's the place that cut off contact after we refused their request to dispatch martial artists for a territory dispute with another merchant guild."

"Did... they stop the sponsorship for that reason? They didn't tell me that..."

Wang Hyeon-seong answered with wide eyes, as if it was the first time he had heard of it.

My master said with a slightly cold expression, "It seems the stories they tell outside are different. I do not speak falsehoods."

"Aigoo, I never thought that the Taoist master had lied. That merchant must be a bad person."

"Thank you for thinking so."

My master spoke very politely, but with an attitude as if there was an invisible wall in between.

Because of that, their conversation was cut off for a moment, and an awkward atmosphere flowed.

So I had no choice but to step in.

"Now. Let's not just stand here and talk, shall we talk while we move? We were on our way to the mountain gate anyway, so let's go together."

"Aigoo, thank you, young Taoist master. I thought I was going to get lost and become tiger food in the middle of the night, but I was saved thanks to you two."

Thanks to my appropriate intervention, the merchant who was next to me, who had said his name was Jin Tae-jin, made a fuss and lightened the mood.

"But what is the relationship between you two? I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but from your conversation, it doesn't seem like you have a superior-subordinate relationship."

"This Wang Seobang and I have been close friends since we were snot-nosed kids. As it happened, we have been close for our whole lives and even opened a merchant guild together. We are co-heads."

"That's amazing. They say that if you go into business with a friend, you'll end up fighting, but you two seem to get along well."

"Well. What is there to fight about? Since he's a friend like family, if my friend takes more, my friend is happy, and I think I'm happy too."

Jin Tae-jin seemed to have a very good personality.

On the outside, the two of them seem to have a pretty good chemistry for working together.

The affable, lively, and talkative Jin Tae-jin and the serious and weighty Wang Hyeon-seong.

Although I've never heard of the Eungnam Merchant Guild, if they run it, it seems like it would be a pretty good merchant guild.

"From now on, the mountain will become particularly rugged, so you will have to save your words and follow."

After my master's words, the mountain really began to get steep, and Wang Hyeon-seong and Jin Tae-jin began to breathe heavily without a word.

And my master, without any thought of being considerate of them, did not slow down and just walked his own way.

***

Finally arrived at the Wudang Sect.

We parted ways with Wang Hyeon-seong and Jin Tae-jin at the entrance of the Wudang Sect, because they had to go to the Shangqing Gate and we had to go to the Yuqing Gate.

"We're finally back! We're home, Master!"

"Yes. It took longer than I thought."

I had just passed through one gate, but I felt a sense of relief and comfort.

It seems I really consider this place 'home'.

"Hwi-ya. You go straight back to the Yuyeop Hall."

"Is it okay if I don't greet the Sect Leader separately?"

"Yes. For now, I have to report what I talked about with the Abbot in Shaolin. And I also have to tell him that I have decided to take you as my disciple. If the Sect Leader wants to see you, I will send a separate message."

"Yes, Master."

My master ruffled my hair once and then headed straight for the Shangqing Palace where the Sect Leader would be at this time, and I also headed straight for the Yuyeop Hall.

"Huri-yaap!"

"Hwa-ak!"

As I got closer to the Yuyeop Hall, I could hear sounds from afar that I couldn't tell if they were shouts or screams.

A smile spread across my face without me realizing it.

I hadn't even contacted them about when I would be coming to Wudang, but the sound of them training with all their might like that made me feel pleased for some reason.

"Wow—"

When I arrived at a place where I could see the Yuyeop Hall, I let out a sound of admiration without realizing it.

Even before I saw it with my own eyes, I had thought that more people were training than I had thought, but there were even more martial artists than I had thought.

'At a rough estimate, there seem to be over a hundred people.'

There weren't this many before I left Wudang, but in the meantime, the number of senior brothers who wanted to do my training method had increased.

The one leading the training at the very front of their group is Senior Brother Uncheol.

I wonder if he led this many people while I was away; he's conducting the training skillfully.

'They're all pretty good, aren't they?'

The senior brothers' posture, body, and the energy they emitted had all improved more than before.

It seemed they had really trained hard without skipping a single day even while I was away.

Thinking that I should give them a few days of rest as promised, I ran to the Yuyeop Hall, burst open the door, and went inside.

Then, in an instant, a hundred pairs of eyes were fixed on me.

"Un, Unhwi-ya!"

The one who recognized me first was, as expected, our Senior Brother Uncheol.

"Senior Brother. Have you been well? I'm back."

Tears slowly began to well up in Senior Brother Uncheol's eyes.

I hadn't thought of such a moving reunion, so I'm a little flustered.

I've only been away for about a month, so is he that happy to see me?

"I've been well... no, I haven't been well!"

"Pardon?"

"Why did you come back so late? We all thought we were going to die waiting for you."

As soon as Senior Brother Uncheol's words ended, the other senior brothers also rushed towards me.

"Let's just endure one more day, let's just endure one more day, and we barely made it to today!"

"None of us rested for a single day. We were just waiting for the day you would come!"

"Look at this arm. Look at this leg too. The fact that my body has changed this much in a month is proof of my training, isn't it?"

The senior brothers poured out their words to me all at once, as if to vent their pent-up anger.

I can't understand exactly what they're saying, but I seem to know one thing for sure.

"I understand. Everyone, stop, stop!"

When I shouted, the surroundings finally became a little quiet.

"Senior Brothers, thank you so much for keeping your promise with me. I didn't know you would listen to me, the youngest, so well."

"What does it matter who is the senior brother and who is the junior brother? Thanks to you, I have realized the true taste of training."

"Really? Then I've devised a more advanced training method, would you like to try it? Your body will definitely get better than now."

"......"

Although I had spoken in a bright voice, the surroundings suddenly became as quiet as a mouse.

Because some had expressions of astonishment, and some were silently making expressions as if they were about to cry in disappointment.

I barely held back a small laugh.

Although their bodies are muscular and their faces are rough enough to be believed to be mountain bandits, at times like this, they are just kids.

"Well. I was thinking of taking a break for about three days and then starting after that, but it seems you all don't like it?"

"Ah, no! It's great. Advanced training. I'm already looking forward to what kind of training it will be!"

"I love training. Training is the best!"

"Since you're teaching it, it must be good. Let's do that. Let's do it!"

The senior brothers showed an explosive reaction, as if they had never been silent.

Of course, they must be so enthusiastic about the word 'rest'.

"I'll take that as a yes and go back to my room first. You all finish up the training you were doing and rest on your own. Then I'm off."

I turned my back on them without hesitation and walked quickly, almost running, to my room.

Because I thought that if I stayed, they would just be conscious of me and it would only delay them from going to rest.

In times like this, it's better for me to just disappear.

"Waaaah! I'm happy. This is happiness!"

"Damn it. Senior Brother. We endured such hard training for this time. You've worked so hard!"

"Everyone, clean up and go back to your rooms! It's a precious rest!"

For a long time after that, loud shouts echoed from behind me, but I didn't look back.

The Shaolin monks I saw in Shaolin had passion and outstanding skills.

So I thought that if they and our senior brothers were to fight as they were, we wouldn't have a chance, but now I see that their passion is similar to that of the Shaolin monks.

No, it surpasses them.

'The pupil technique I'm going to teach them will be like pouring oil on the fire of my senior brothers' passion.'

For now, rest is rest, and I'm starting to look forward to how my senior brothers will be after that.

Perhaps because of that expectation, a huge smile was plastered on my face, reaching from ear to ear.

(End of Chapter)