The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 67

A little while later, Senior Brother Unsik and Senior Brother Uncheol, who had gone to find an open space, returned at the same time.

It seems they each found a decent place.

We talked about where would be better to go, and since the place Senior Brother Unsik found was closer to the water, we decided to go there.

After gathering dry branches and grass at the campsite and starting a fire, my senior brothers naturally scattered to find something to eat.

And a little while later, they each came back with large and small animals.

Although I told Senior Brother Unmi, who had injured his arm, to rest a little, he stubbornly caught a rabbit as well.

My senior brothers took the beasts to a place where water was flowing, and without hesitation, they ended their lives, butchered them, and made them into chunks of meat.

Grilling it was my job.

Since my senior brothers were not yet accustomed to charcoal grilling, I volunteered to be the cook because there was a high possibility that they would burn everything.

Holding the grilled meat made from the beasts they had each caught, my senior brothers took a bite of the meat.

And they all chewed and swallowed the meat without a word.

Although I had grilled it really well and even sprinkled salt on it, so it must have been very delicious, no one made a fuss about how delicious it was.

I wasn't disappointed about that.

Because I knew that they were all eating it deliciously.

However, the reason they couldn't say anything was probably because they were feeling the weight of life in the meat they were chewing and swallowing.

***

After a few days of walking, sleeping, and eating what we caught, we finally arrived at the Eungnam Merchant Guild.

The courtyard that the Eungnam Merchant Guild was using was larger than I had thought.

I was newly reminded that the Eungnam Merchant Guild was a large merchant guild.

Because among the merchant guilds I had formed a connection with in my past life, a merchant guild of this size was not common.

Senior Brother Uncheol went to the main gate of the merchant guild and knocked on the door.

Then, a martial artist who was guarding the gate from inside revealed himself.

He was a man who looked to be a fist taller than Senior Brother Uncheol, and his martial arts skills didn't seem that weak.

Judging from his appearance, he seemed to be a person hired by the guild master for money.

"Where... ah, you must be the Taoist masters from the Wudang Sect."

"That's right."

"Come in. There are many people who have been waiting for you with their necks stretched out."

His attitude was strangely unfriendly.

Well, I thought it was understandable.

Because in a way, that person would lose his job because of our Wudang Sect when his contract period ended.

As I followed him into the innermost part of the courtyard, I asked him, "Martial artist, what is your name?"

"Me? Haha. There's a Taoist master who's curious about a gatekeeper's name."

I responded to his words with a smiling eye.

I didn't bother to say that it was because he didn't seem to be a simple gatekeeper.

"I am Yeo Dong-gyu. Well... if I have to say, I'm from a wandering background."

"I am Unhwi."

"Uncheol."

As the rest of my senior brothers also naturally said their names, Yeo Dong-gyu stopped for a moment, bowed as if to remember each and every one of them, and then went back inside the courtyard.

As I went inside, I examined his presence.

Although it was a name I had heard for the first time, I thought he was not from a wandering background.

His stride is constant, and the depth of his steps is constant.

Usually, wanderers lack basic skills because they haven't received systematic education.

But if his footwork, which is the most basic of basics, is that proficient, I predicted that he must be a person who had learned from the basics in some sect or family.

"You can go in this way. From here, that person will probably guide you."

"Thank you, Martial Artist Yeo."

Yeo Dong-gyu pointed to a servant and told him to guide us, and then he headed back to the main gate.

He seems to be a person who separates his public and private life well, as he does his job properly even to us who have come to take his job.

"Please come this way."

We followed the servant again and went up the pavilion, and he said in a low voice in front of a closed door, "Taoist master. Other Taoist masters from the Wudang Sect have arrived."

Then, a cheerful voice was heard from inside.

"Let them in."

The door opened with a creak, and the owner of the voice revealed himself.

In fact, although I am not a person who has great emotional fluctuations, I couldn't hide my happy heart.

"Master!"

"Hwi has come. You've worked hard to come this far. The rest of you have also worked hard. Did Hwi not torment you on the way?"

Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang was as neat as his usual self.

Although all my senior brothers answered that there was no such thing as torment, for some reason, my Martial Uncle burst out laughing.

He must have known it was a lie.

"Yes. Did anything happen on the way?"

"Anything?"

I was about to reflexively say that nothing had happened, but then I just spoke my honest feelings.

"No. Too many things happened. We were attacked."

"Attacked?"

To my very surprised Master, I explained in detail what we had experienced.

Although it was a story that continued for quite a long time, my Master listened to my words without missing a single letter.

***

My story continued for a long time. Since the story was much longer than I had thought, I sent all my senior brothers to their quarters to rest, and I stayed with my Master and continued to talk.

My Master, while listening to my story, got angry, then worried, then admired, and then in the end, when the story ended, he got angry again.

"These bastards who wouldn't be cool even if I chewed them up. How dare they aim for a Taoist of Wudang?"

I had seen my Master get excited a few times, but since it was the first time he had said such harsh words, I looked at him with surprised eyes.

Perhaps realizing that he had gotten too excited, my Master, who had cleared his throat a few times in embarrassment, said again, "From what you've told me, it seems there's no way to know who the culprit is right now."

"Yes. It's a pity... I tried to find out as much as I could, but there's no information. If they had given the contract payment in a bill, it would have been possible to track it, but they said they received it in silver."

"How much was the silver?"

"The down payment was two hundred taels, and they said they would give another two hundred taels if they succeeded in killing everyone."

"A total of four hundred taels...?"

A look of surprise was also visible on my Master's face.

Because four hundred taels is that much of a large sum of money.

"Then it's actually a good thing."

"What is?"

"First of all, it means that a large sum of two hundred taels has moved, right?"

"That's right."

"If it were a note or a bill, it would be different, but if two hundred taels of common silver moved, there would surely be a trace left. In terms of chests alone, a chest the size of a child's body would have been needed, and there aren't many places that can exchange that much for silver, and there must have been someone who saw it."

"Oh..."

To be honest, I was purely impressed.

It seems my Master is not just serious about martial arts, but also knows how to use his head in this direction.

Even though I know that things like strategy or military tactics are not taught in Wudang, this is amazing.

His thinking is flexible, and he knows how to get to the point.

Although it may sound arrogant, my evaluation of my Master's abilities is gradually rising.

And the bigger question that arises...

'Why on earth is such a person not able to make a name for himself later on?'

In the war against the Demonic Cult, the Wudang Sect played a really big role.

Not only the martial artists of the Hyeon generation, led by Hyeon Cheongdo-in, but also masters like Martial Granduncle Okheo played a huge role in the war.

Even some of the old masters of the Cheong generation, who had put everything down and were living in seclusion deep in Mount Wudang, and no one knew if they were alive or had ascended to heaven, came down from the mountain and played a big role.

But nowhere in my memory is the name Hyeon Yang.

'The reason is, in the end, one of three...'

The first is death. If he died for whatever reason before the war with the Demonic Cult, it's natural that I wouldn't know.

The second is seclusion. Seclusion is not just for old masters. If you're sick of the martial world and don't want to fight anymore, Taoists can go into seclusion even tomorrow.

The third is that he didn't go to the war against the Demonic Cult... no matter how much I think about it, I still don't know what the problem is.

"Hwi-ya. What are you thinking about so much?"

"Ah, then we should first ask around and see if there's anyone who saw a large chest being moved."

"That's right. I'll have someone look into that."

"Should I do it? I think they'll all answer well if I ask."

As I looked up from below with my eyes wide and pretended to be as gentle as possible, my Master couldn't hold back his laughter and said with a small laugh, "Stop it. As long as peploe don't run away."

"My appearance is not at a level where people would run away. I'm sure it will work well."

"That's enough. Let's stop talking about that, you have other things to do. You didn't come to the merchant guild to find that out, did you?"

"Ah... that's right."

"For now, you and your senior brothers help with the work of the merchant guild. When I've looked into it and it's time for you to step up, I'll let you know."

"I understand, Master."

To be honest, since I was the one who almost died and I was the one who crushed the Geoungbang, I wanted to take charge of finding the culprit, but since my Master said so, I held back.

It's not just because it's my Master's word, but because he's a man who seems to be able to do this kind of thing as well as... or even better than me.

"First, bring Cheol-i. Since he hasn't greeted the guild master yet, let's greet him and then ask what you have to do."

"Yes, Master."

A little while later, when I brought Senior Brother Uncheol, my Master took the two of us behind him and walked somewhere with long strides.

Perhaps because he had perfectly memorized the geography of the merchant guild while he was here, his steps seemed to be without hesitation.

Finally, in front of a building.

The other buildings were large, huge, and new, but that building alone was old and shabby, not fitting in. Even the other buildings were built high with two or three floors, but this building was only a single story.

My Master approached the building without hesitation and knocked on the door.

"Guild Master. It's me. My disciples have arrived, so I've come to greet you."

"You may come in."

Perhaps because there were no servants or maids inside, my Master opened the door himself and went in.

When the door opened, the inside of the building could be seen.

The building was a fairly large one-room building, but there were no luxury items or decorations inside, and there were piles of documents here, and piles of documents there...

It was a room that made me wonder if this was what a document hell would be like.

"Young Taoist masters of Wudang. Welcome. Actually, I heard from my subordinates that you had arrived, but I was too busy with work to greet you properly."

"Ah, no."

Senior Brother Uncheol answered reflexively.

And for good reason, his hair was greasy as if he had stayed up all night, and the shadows under his eyes were dark.

Anyone could tell at a glance that he was a person suffering from overwork.

He, as if he had finally caught his breath because we had come, stood up from his seat and then pointed to a tea table in a corner and said, "Shall we sit for a moment? I should also take a short break thanks to you."

He sat down and skillfully poured a cup of tea for each of us and then said, "Did anything happen on your way here?"

"Nothing... happened."

Senior Brother Uncheol was about to say that something had happened without thinking, but when my Master lightly placed his hand on his knee, he changed his answer.

Wang Hyeon-seong, perhaps not noticing that, said with a smile, "That's a relief. To be honest, I regretted not sending a carriage to Mount Wudang several times. I was worried that your journey might be uncomfortable..."

"No. We trained on the way, and we talked a lot among our senior and junior brothers, so it was very good."

He smiled again at my answer.

"I'm a little relieved that you say so. As you can see, I'm in a bit of a rush, so is it okay if I get straight to the point?"

"That's fine. It suits my temperament."

"First, there is an item in our merchant guild that needs to go to Xiangfan. This item is not that great, nor is it heavy... but the biggest problem right now is that there is no one to go there. As I mentioned before, since our merchant guild frequently travels to Sichuan, all the hired escort agencies and escorts have rushed there."

Just by hearing this much, I can roughly guess what he wants.

I don't know what the item is, but it must be a request to move it to Xiangfan.

I began to listen intently to what he was saying.

(End of Chapter)