The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 69

Hyeon Yang, who had left the Eungnam Merchant Guild, naturally entered a nearby inn.

Since it was still early, there were almost no customers in the restaurant.

"Welcome..."

The waiter was about to greet him, but then he closed his mouth.

Because he remembered Hyeon Yang's request to pretend not to know him as much as possible when he was wearing his Taoist robes.

Hyeon Yang nodded once as if to say he was doing well, and then went into the room he had already rented on the second floor.

There, he took off the Taoist robes he had worn down from Wudang, put on ordinary clothes, and put on a long robe over them.

And when he even put a sword on his waist, his appearance didn't look like that of a Wudang Taoist at all.

After neatly folding his clothes and going down to the first floor, the waiter finally approached him.

Hyeon Yang handed him a few iron coins and said, "Is there any new information you've obtained?"

"Nothing in particular. I've mobilized all the connections I know to find out if there's any place that has exchanged such a large amount of money recently, but they all said there hasn't been any recently. I think they either had a lot of cash from the beginning, or they exchanged the bills for silver a very long time ago."

"Hmm... I see. You don't have to look into it anymore from now on."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of help. You give me an information fee like this every time you come..."

The waiter said apologetically.

"No. Still, the information about the Eungnam Merchant Guild was useful."

"I'm encouraged that you say so. Please have a meal today as well. I'll prepare some noodles."

"Thank you."

Hyeon Yang, watching the back of the waiter who was disappearing with short steps, thought about where he should look into next.

He had met the waiter not long after he had come here.

Hyeon Yang, who had accidentally found out that the waiter of this inn was a man of wide acquaintance, had recruited him and asked him to gather all the information he could about the Eungnam Merchant Guild.

Because although he had come this far, he hadn't come down completely trusting the Eungnam Merchant Guild.

If the Eungnam Merchant Guild was doing illegal things or harming the surrounding common people, he was planning to break the sponsorship contract right away and return to Mount Wudang.

Fortunately, as a result of his investigation, he confirmed that the Eungnam Merchant Guild was not a merchant guild that did such things, but a merchant guild that was growing explosively with recent active investment and good business skills.

'I haven't seen anyone carrying a large chest recently... and there are no people who have exchanged a large amount of money...'

If the waiter's words are true, it means that a person who can use about two hundred taels of silver as a slush fund has requested the killing of the disciples of the Wudang Sect, but there are not many such people around here.

'To be able to hoard that much money, they would have to be high-ranking officials or great merchants.'

But high-ranking officials, of course, have no reason to attack the disciples of the Wudang Sect.

Those who have already achieved a lot have a lot to protect, so why would they do something that has no benefit and would cause great damage if they were caught?

'Then it's the merchants. In fact, this side should be seen as the most likely. If our Wudang Sect starts to protect the explosively growing Eungnam Merchant Guild, it will be like giving wings to a tiger.'

He decided what he should look into next.

It was to investigate the merchant guilds around here.

"Here are your noodles."

At that time, the waiter came out with a bowl of noodles.

It was a basic noodle made with a clear vegetable broth so that Taoists and monks could also eat it.

Hyeon Yang picked up his chopsticks and, while preparing to eat the noodles, asked the waiter, "Are there any other large merchant guilds around here besides the Eungnam Merchant Guild?"

"There are a few. The Daeheung Merchant Guild and the Baekma Merchant Guild. These are the ones that can be said to be relatively large."

"Do you know how their scale compares to the Eungnam Merchant Guild?"

"The Daeheung Merchant Guild is a roughly similar merchant guild. It's also the closest to here. It's a place that monopolizes the sale of tea varieties grown only in Hubei Province, but it also handles various other small items. The Baekma Merchant Guild was originally the place that dominated this surrounding area. It also handled weapons and made a lot of money by trading the specialties of Hubei with other provinces. Ah! To put it simply, you can think of it as the place that suffered the most damage as the Eungnam Merchant Guild grew."

"I see. You know a lot."

Hyeon Yang took out a few more coins from his money pouch and handed them to him, but this time, the waiter refused the money.

"Didn't the information fee you gave me last time not live up to its value? This time, I'll take it as a substitute for what you gave me then."

"I'd be grateful if you did."

When he put the money back, the waiter finally bowed and said to eat well, and then went back to his seat.

Hyeon Yang slurped a mouthful of noodles.

'The Baekma Merchant Guild. If they suffered the most damage because of the Eungnam Merchant Guild... I should investigate that place. If it's a merchant guild, even if they use a few hundred taels, it won't even show.'

By the time he finished his thoughts, the noodles had also hit the bottom.

After finishing his noodles, he called the waiter again.

"Martial artist. Do you need anything?"

"This time, I need information about the Baekma Merchant Guild. If you can, the Daeheung Merchant Guild as well."

"Hmm... the Baekma Merchant Guild is large, so its security is also tight, so it won't be easy..."

Hyeon Yang smiled brightly and this time, he took out not iron coins but two silver coins from his money pouch and slid them in front of him.

"How about this much?"

"Even if you give me a lot of money, it's not something I can decide."

"Then tell the person who can decide. This is my intention."

"...I understand."

The waiter took the silver coins and went into the kitchen.

And a little while later, when he came out again, he was empty-handed.

"I'll find out as much as I can."

"Thank you. When should I come?"

"This time, I think I'll need about five days."

"Five days. I see. Then I'll get up now. The noodles were delicious."

"We're grateful that you enjoyed them."

"I'll come to change my clothes in the evening, so see you then."

Hyeon Yang stood up from his seat and left the inn.

As he walked towards the market, he suddenly looked back and looked up at the inn's sign.

'Yeonju Inn.'

Although it looks ordinary, an ordinary inn cannot use the character for swallow (燕).

Although there are not many people who know this fact, it is because the character for swallow can only be used in inns belonging to the Haomun.

Although it costs a little money, since the Haomun is the only information organization that can compete with the Beggars' Sect, there is no need to doubt the results.

That's why he decided to look into other directions while waiting for the results of the information about the Baekma Merchant Guild.

***

The distance from the Eungnam Merchant Guild to Xiangfan is not that far.

It's a distance that a martial artist with truly outstanding footwork can reach in a day if they set their mind to it and run.

But, my qinggong is not that fast, and I lack the internal energy to reach Xiangfan in one go.

And if it were just me, I would have tried somehow, but since I had to go and come back with my senior brothers, I gave up from the start.

And there are no senior brothers who know how to ride a horse since they grew up only in Wudang.

So what can I do? I have to walk again.

The only fortunate thing is that I know most of the roads in the Central Plains.

If you look at a map and look for a road you don't know, even if you walk the same distance, it feels several times more tiring because you use your head and body at the same time.

In my past life, I had wandered all over the Central Plains and had already memorized the roads, so it's very convenient at times like this.

"Hwi-ya. But, is it okay for us to walk so comfortably like this?"

At that time, Senior Brother Uncheol approached me and said.

I let out a small laugh.

"Why? Should I make it a little uncomfortable for you?"

"No. That's not it, but we used to walk while training, so I was wondering if it's okay to go so comfortably like this..."

"It's okay. We don't know who might attack us again, so we need to save our strength until we reach Xiangfan."

"Ah... I see."

A strong sense of disappointment was contained in Senior Brother Uncheol's answer.

Although he used to find training so hard, he has become addicted to training and exercise.

"Senior Brother. It's strange. I've always wanted to go comfortably like this without training, but why do I want to do the duck walk?"

"I know... I'm strange too. I feel an unknown anxiety. The worry that the body I've built up until now might degenerate..."

"Didn't Unhwi say that resting is also the most important training? He must have a reason for doing so..."

Although my senior brothers were whispering quietly, I could hear them well.

I smiled inwardly and said to my senior brothers, "Senior Brothers. When you're walking around the Central Plains, leisure is also a very important thing. Look at this. How fresh the wild grass is here, and how beautiful the wild flowers are over there. Feeling and accepting this kind of beauty is also very important for growth."

After I said this, I immediately walked forward, and my senior brothers followed me and said, "But Unhwi-ya. I think this time is a waste, so can't I follow you on one foot?"

"Or how about doing the duck walk for just one hour? Didn't you say that we should never stop training?"

I stopped walking and looked back.

I could find an anxious expression on a corner of everyone's face.

Although I had dragged my senior brothers into the world of training, they are now trying to cross a slightly dangerous line.

If they become addicted to training and exercise like this, the first standard for living in the world will become training.

When you live in the martial world, there are times when you have to have meetings all day, and there are times when you have to be in ambush all day.

At times like this, if your body is itching to train, you can't concentrate, and in the long run, there's nothing good about it.

"There are two reasons why we should rest. The first is that someone might attack us again. What would happen if we were exhausted from using up all our strength then? It means that we could lose to an opponent we would have won against if we had all our strength, just because we lack stamina. You understand this, right?"

My senior brothers nodded with slightly darkened expressions.

Because they had learned with their whole bodies a few days ago that defeat in a real battle means death.

"And the second reason is more important."

"More important? Is there something more important than life and death?"

At Senior Brother Unjeong's question, I looked straight into his eyes and said, "Of course. When we return after delivering the goods to our destination, we will train so hard that you'll wish for this time. We're not just going to get stronger through training... we're going to push ourselves so hard that it feels like our bodies have evolved to the next level."

"Heup...!"

My senior brothers all closed their mouths.

The anxiety they had shown a little while ago was gone, and fear even appeared on their faces.

"You senior brothers are too weak now. Although you fought well against the Geoungbang members a few days ago, do you think you can survive if a hundred, two hundred of those guys rush at you?"

"......"

No one could answer.

They say there's no answer to numbers, and if I were to fight against such a large number, I would also be in danger.

"If you don't think you can win, you have to run away, but do you senior brothers have the footwork skills, stamina, or internal energy to shake them all off?"

"......"

There was no answer this time either.

If you ask me if I can do that, my answer is 'possible'.

That's exactly the difference in level between my senior brothers and me now.

"I don't want to lose a single one of you senior brothers. So I'm going to go so hard that the training so far will feel like a joke. Do you understand?"

"Phew... I understand. You're right. We're too weak."

Since Senior Brother Uncheol, who is the strongest among them, said this, the other senior brothers would have nothing to say.

"And just as training is precious, I hope you senior brothers also know how precious a life without training is. You have to control the training, not let the training control you. Do you know what I mean?"

They all nodded at the same time.

It seemed that with the conversation just now, they had realized that they were close to being addicted to training.

"Then let's go. Let's go slowly, looking at the sky and the ground. It's not that far to Xiangfan."

I moved my steps, and my senior brothers immediately began to follow me.

Although my senior brothers can't see it, a deep smile is on my lips.

Although I treat them a little harshly, my senior brothers easily understand whatever I say and follow me well.

It means that their comprehension is not bad, and they have perseverance.

I had a thought that it wouldn't take that long for those senior brothers to become as strong as the level I'm aiming for.

(End of Chapter)