Episode 53
“Hahaha!”
Cheonwoo Dojang suddenly burst into laughter.
After laughing for a while, he wiped the moisture from his eyes with his index finger and said.
“Are you serious?”
“Did it sound like a joke?”
“You don’t know the topic.”
“What a coincidence. “I just happened to think the same thing.”
“With the direct descendants of the Tang family on their backs, it seems like there is nothing to see, right?”
“I don’t think it’s the right thing for someone to look down on others with the backs of a monk.”
“I’ve looked down on others?”
“You weren’t even aware of it?”
“You’re saying something incomprehensible.”
Laughs flowed out.
‘They don’t even use Hao script anymore.’
An attitude and tone of voice that openly looks down on the other person.
Since there were no eyes watching, I didn’t even try to show the slightest courtesy.
‘I just need to stimulate it a little more.’
I asked while yawning proudly.
“So the reason you called someone here was just to air your dissatisfaction?”
“Unsheath your sword.”
“......?”
“A warrior has his own laws.”
“Are you really trying to decide right now by force?”
“Why do you look scared?”
“Not a barbarian either.”
“Say whatever you want.”
“What will you do if I say no?”
“Don’t you have any pride as a warrior?”
“Pride doesn’t feed you, does it?”
“What a disappointment. A guy like you doesn’t deserve to hang out with Cheon Soje.”
“I was curious about this a while ago, why are you so anxious about not being able to get closer to Soje Cheon? “Aren’t Taoists of the Huashan Sect prohibited from dating people of the opposite sex?”
Not all Taoists do not marry.
Each sect has different rules, each sect has different training methods, and each practitioner has different values.
For example, in the case of the Shaman sect, they sometimes accept female disciples and conditionally allow their disciples to marry.
However, the Hwasan faction was a faction with the exact opposite tendencies of the Shaman faction.
I heard that marriage was banned, drinking was banned, and even eating meat was banned 30 years ago.
In a way, they could be said to be a pitiful people who live bound by old-fashioned rules and regulations.
Of course, not all disciples of the Hwasan Sect will faithfully live by the Moon Gyu.
“...I simply wanted to exchange.”
“That is a very persuasive statement.”
Cheonwoo Dojang’s face turned red as he snorted and answered.
He shouted, pointing at me.
“Then what is your relationship with Cheon Soje?”
“If I had to put it bluntly... I guess you could say it’s the relationship between a business owner and a customer.”
“Business and customers...?”
I didn’t really lie.
Because Chen Jiiling is Hao Wen’s leader and I am Hao Wen’s client.
“Anyway, if you don’t have anything more to say, I’ll just leave.”
I turned around and walked away without any hesitation.
In my heart, I support Cheonwoo Dojang.
Hold on.
Hold on.
Don’t let me go back!
Stop them from going and force them to fight!
“Where are you going?”
yes!
I glanced back, feeling internally happy.
Dojang Cheonwoo, who had drawn a sword from his belt, was glaring at me with burning eyes.
“what do you mean.”
“Unsheath your sword.”
“There is no reason to hang out with them.”
“I won’t allow you to run away.”
“I never thought it would be this reckless.”
“You were the one who provoked me first.”
“I didn’t even want it to be an honorific, but it’s still a bit unpleasant to hear you call me a bastard.”
I said, looking back into the dark forest.
“Please come out now.”
A woman emerged through the grass.
It was Tang Seoyeon.
Dojang Cheonwoo looked shocked as if he had seen a goblin.
I asked her in a humorous voice.
“Since when have you been watching?”
“I have been watching since the time Dojo Cheonwoo forced Yeon Sohyeop to fight.”
“They say so.”
I squatted down in front of Cheonwoo Dojang and made eye contact with him.
Cheonwoo Dojang’s eyes shook as if there had been an earthquake.
“So what do you plan to report to the monks? “There was a guy I didn’t like, so I called him to a deserted place and tried to take care of him, but instead, he was overpowered and beaten up?”
“.......”
“I’m sure you don’t plan on making a false report that will get you caught right away.”
Dojang Cheonwoo’s face became the color of earth.
He must have realized it by now.
That you are like a fish caught in a net.
‘The cause is here.’
There was no escape hole.
However, he couldn’t give up the strong behavior commanded by his teacher, Maehwa Shingeom, so he had no choice but to submit to me.
‘It seems like I still have a long way to go before I come to my senses, but...’
Soon, I would have no choice but to come to my senses even if I didn’t want to.
Because if you want to live, you have to do that.
* * *
The journey went smoothly.
Exactly six days after leaving Shaanxi, the group reached their destination, Wuhan, Hubei Province.
“Thank you so much.”
After saying goodbye to the group and parting ways.
Me, Cheon Ga-ryeong, Dang Seo-yeon, and Cheon-woo Dojang unpacked our bags in a nearby guesthouse.
I immediately searched to see if there was a passenger heading to Zhejiang, but unfortunately, no significant results were obtained.
It was inevitable that Zhejiang was currently in an unstable state of security due to Japanese enemies.
Except for a few large merchant merchants and bureaus that supplied supplies to the military, there was no group attempting to travel to Zhejiang during this time.
“There is no choice. “I have no choice but to drive the carriage myself.”
I purchased four horses and a carriage from a nearby town.
And he proposed it to Dojang Cheonwoo.
“Would you like to make a bet with me?”
“bet?”
“I know that the Dojo is not satisfied with the results of the last fight. “Don’t you think that you were defeated by a surprise attack without even being able to use your martial skills properly?”
“.......”
“This time, let’s have a proper business with a notary. “Considering that you are injured, if you can hold out for just 50 seconds, I will deem you the winner.”
“You underestimate me too much.”
“If I lose, I will give you fifty gold coins.”
“Those fifty gold coins?”
“Instead, if I win, you will have to act as my coachman until I reach my destination.”
“good night.”
Dojang Cheonwoo nodded excitedly.
It was an offer he had no reason to refuse.
Even a Taoist monk who stayed in the mountains and practiced only swordsmanship knows that fifty gold coins is a lot of money.
Fifty gold coins and a few days of driver service.
There was no question of which side should bear the greater burden.
Sigh! Sigh! Sigh! Sigh!
Of course, the fight ended with my victory.
Dojang Cheonwoo, who was in perfect preparation for the fight, fought hard by using the plum blossom thirty-six swords, but fell before he could last even thirty seconds.
“Ahh! Stop that!”
I once again beat the Cheonwoo Dojo mercilessly.
‘Amazing.’
There was one thing I learned while hitting.
‘It’s only been a few days, but most of the wounds have healed.’
The durability and recovery of the body were unusual.
It was far from an ordinary human body.
‘I don’t think I was born with a natural constitution...’
I thought he simply had outstanding skills for his age, but it turns out that wasn’t the only thing.
Is the way you train your disciples different from others when you reach the level of Plum Blossom Sword?
In this way, Cheonwoo Dojang lost the bet and ended up serving as a coachman without even being able to do it.
He sat in the coach seat with a swollen face, grabbed the reins, and muttered as if sighing.
“How did my situation end up like this...”