Hyeonjilmusin - Chapter 135



Only Noblemtl

135. Aftercare (6)

When I went to Sambonggak, it was already dark in the evening. Nevertheless, there were many people around Sambonggak. The annex of Sambonggak was where the disciples studied, whether it was the secret or the scriptures.

“What are you doing here?”

The person I ran into right away was Myeong-il. Myeong-il, who I had parted ways with earlier, had just come out of the shower and had changed from looking disheveled to looking fluffy.

“Can I not come here?”

“That’s because I’ve never seen it before.”

“The death penalty doesn’t come every day. I could have come in the meantime.”

“Come every day.”

“……I see.”

There must be a reason why he ranks first among the three great disciples.

Besides that, I was able to see many students. It was fun to see students with great passion for learning. Since it was a place for studying, we couldn’t have long conversations, so we exchanged a few words and parted ways.

“Why did you come here?”

But even while I was greeting people, Myeongil didn’t leave me.

“I have something to find out.”

“what?”

“It’s an adult’s secret.”

“I am on death row.”

“That doesn’t mean the death penalty is for adults.”

Myeongil showed an angry expression for the first time. There is a reason why they say that if you are going to be angry, you should be born first.

I greeted Myeongil and went to the main office of Sambonggak. There was also a person acting as a librarian at the main office.

“capital punishment.”

“huh?”

It was none other than Myeong-yeop. Myeong-yeop was also studying, rolling a brush with his fingers at a small desk in front of him.

“What are you doing here?”

Same reaction as tomorrow. Am I being labeled as someone who plays around within the non-partisan group? I seriously thought about it.

“I was thinking about studying.”

“What are you studying?”

“What shouldn’t I study?”

“That’s not true, though.”

Myungyeop shrugged. I looked around. There wasn’t really anyone there.

“But if you’re here to see a proper secret, you should come with Cheonghwa Sasuk. You can’t see the martial arts books directly at Sambonggak yet. The only things open to the public are low-level martial arts and scriptures.”

“Actually, I didn’t come here to study.”

“I knew it. Why?”

“Do you have any records of emergency rentals?”

All of the Sambonggak’s secrets are in the form of rentals. No one can take them personally and keep them permanently. So I thought there had to be a rental record.

“There’s a rental record? There is. But why?”

At Myeongyeop’s words, I clenched my fists. But my mouth relaxed and drew a line.

“I wanted to see it once.”

“It’s not hard to show you. But something feels off?”

“Hey. What am I supposed to do?”

“I think you are the most dangerous person in the non-partisan group.”

“Such harsh words.”

When I lowered my head, pretending to be hurt, Myeongyeop laughed in vain.

“What is that, that pitiful and innocent pose that a poet or a poet would make? Stop it, it’s disgusting.”

Myungyeop searched under the drawer.

“What emergency rental records would you like to see?”

“It’s the Taegeuk Hyegeom.”

“Taegeuk Hyegeom? It’s getting even more uncomfortable.”

Soon, Myeongyeop found the rental record of the Taegeuk Hye Sword and handed it to me. I said as I accepted it.

“Is there anyone who looks at this rental record without leaving it?”

“No. The librarian in the main building is always there.”

“What shifts does the librarian have?”

“Divide the day into four equal parts and take turns. Work three shifts each.”

“Is there a designated person who will do it?”

“All the disciples take turns doing it.”

“Really? Who makes the work schedule?”

“At the Gokjeongak.”

“Ah. So Gokjeongak doesn’t only deal with money-related matters?”

“All these slightly messy things are the responsibility of the Gokjeongak.”

Only then did I recall an old memory. I heard that Gokjeongak was looked down upon because it was in charge of money.

“But why do you keep asking me this? It doesn’t seem like you want to be a librarian.”

“Why? Can’t I do it?”

“You obviously hate this kind of thing. You like to wander around outside.”

Myungyeop stroked his chin and then made a startled expression as if he realized something.

“Are you trying to steal the secret recipe for martial arts?”

“What are you talking about? You’re talking nonsense that’s going to cause trouble.”

“No matter how much money you want, please don’t sell our supplies. Please. I don’t want to kill you.”

“No way. What do you think of me?”

Myungyeop chuckled. I looked at the rental records.

Taegeuk Hyegeom. Although it is a martial art representing shamans, it is not something that anyone can learn. That is why there are no records of rentals.

Almost all of the people who rented it were Cheong-ui. No. It was just everyone.

The person who rented it.

Cheongyi.

Cheongyi.

Cheongyi.

Cheongyi.

Cheongyi… … .

I looked up and asked, since there was nothing left after almost three years. Myungyeop smiled as if he had expected that.

“Can’t the Taegeuk Hye Sword be borrowed unless you’re a long swordsman?”

“Yes. The Taegeuk Hyegeom is taught by Jang Mun-in himself.”

“Ha, really? You knew about it and lent it to me?”

“Even if you keep looking, you won’t find anything.”

As I kept looking at the same name, my vision started to blur as if my eyes were going crazy. I shook my head to refocus and kept looking back, hoping to find some clue.

So I continued to flip through the paper and stopped at one point because I finally found a name other than Cheong-ui.

I opened my eyes slightly and looked at Myeongyeop. Myeongyeop didn’t seem to notice that I had found a different name.

“Ahem. Here it is.”

“Hehehe. Nothing to see?”

Myeongyeop smiled and accepted the record book I handed him.

One name was engraved deep in my mind, a name I really wished was not mine.

Blue and white.

It was the master’s protection.

* * *

I wandered outside for a while and then came into the palace. After returning from a long trip, I had to say hello to the master.

But I had no idea how to look at the Master. If the Master was really the one who leaked the Taegeuk Hye Sword, what should I do?

But maybe not. I changed my mind and went to the master’s residence in the palace. The light was on. It meant he was not asleep yet.

“Master.”

“Tsk.”

As soon as I called, all I heard was a tongue-clicking sound.

“I’m going in.”

I opened the door without asking for advice. Cheonghwa was sitting facing the door with her arms crossed. It seemed like she had been waiting for me to come.

The blade of Cheonghwa’s hand flew towards my head like a flash. No matter how advanced my martial arts were, it still seemed impossible to dodge it. The blade struck my forehead exactly.

“ah.”

“You didn’t even give me permission to come in.”

“Didn’t you allow that? Tsk, tsk.”

“How can you interpret it to hear it like that?”

“So, what are you so upset about?”

“Huh? Well, what’s there to be upset about?”

Cheonghwa turned her head and fanned herself, but her expression was very displeased.

“I think that’s possible. You’re also a senior and busy. You might go on a trip and not come looking for me right away. Yeah.”

That’s why. I laughed, hehe, and approached Cheonghwa from behind, rubbing her shoulder.

“I was a bad disciple. I should have come and greeted you right away.”

“Okay. Okay.”

“Please be sorry. I was wrong.”

“Hmm, hmm. Well then… … .”

As Cheonghwa raised her eyes, they met mine.

“What about the gift?”

“yes?”

“A gift. You said you were going to buy it?”

“… … ?”

I forgot to rub her shoulder for a moment. Then I remembered that I had mentioned in passing that I would buy her a gift. Fortunately, I also remembered Cheonghwa’s answer.

“You said it was okay?”

“Tsk tsk. You don’t know your teacher’s heart. Who doesn’t like gifts?”

“They say that 40 is a very hateful age.”

“You turned 40 five years ago, you punk.”

Cheonghwa shook her head and pointed to the chair with her chin.

“Sit down. Stop whining.”

“Yes. It seems like only the Master has said this.”

“I guess your head is aching because you haven’t had a cold in a while.”

“Oh, that hurts a little bit. Don’t do it.”

“He hits me because it hurts.”

After a long time of talking nonsense with Cheonghwa, I felt like I had really returned to being a shaman. As expected, people need a place to return to.

“Yeah. Did anything happen in Gansu?”

“It was nothing special.”

“There were a lot, but you don’t want to talk about it.”

“You are quick-witted. To be exact, it is something I do not want to involve you with, Master.”

“Okay. That’s your decision. I respect it.”

Cheonghwa pulled a small wooden box out from under the desk. When she opened the box, a white porcelain bottle came out. The fragrant smell that filled the room was a bonus. I knew what it was right away.

“It’s alcohol.”

“okay.”

“Can I drink alcohol at the main temple now?”

“If you get caught, you’ll be punished.”

“As for the Gu Yu-su-ra sword, there are many things to discipline.”

Cheonghwa laughed while raising her fist. I laughed and changed the subject.

“If that’s the case, just eat outside.”

“It doesn’t feel thrilling when you drink it outside. Is it because no flavor that breaks the taboo is added?”

I flinched. I didn’t mean it like that, but I wondered if there was something like the emergency copying among the taboos that Cheonghwa had broken.

“Would you like a drink?”

“Okay.”

“Instead, you must get the alcohol out when you leave this room.”

“I don’t know how to do that.”

“You can do it now. You can do it by removing the intoxication through the Baekhoe point while doing the Sojucheon. It’s a bit complicated to explain in words, so I’ll explain it to you later.”

Cheonghwa immediately took out two glasses and waved the bottle in the air. The wine that was sprayed into the air landed exactly in the glasses. Not a single drop spilled.

“What a great feat.”

“I want to drink with my disciple, but no matter how much I try, I can’t drink with Myeong-gyeong, Myeong-seong, or Myeong-jin, right?”

“Then you should revoke your teacher status.”

“yes.”

Cheonghwa and I clinked our glasses. As we drank, the hot air went down our throats and hit our empty stomachs hard.

“Ugh.”

“Good.”

We continued to share our drinks without saying much.

Even though there was nothing special to say, this place was comfortable. It’s really strange. It’s like forming such a deep connection with someone you had no connection with in your previous life.

I tried to slightly remove the intoxication without Cheonghwa noticing. I was told that if I do the Sojucheon, I should remove the intoxication through the Baekhoehyeol. I tried it a little and it worked. Cheonghwa didn’t seem to notice because she was drinking.

In that way, I gradually let the alcohol drain away and brought Cheonghwa to a state of intoxication. When I thought she had matured to a certain extent, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Master.”

“okay.”

“By any chance, what did you do before you became a shaman?”

“Huh. Asking that is against the rules.”

“If we’re going to break the rules, let’s do it even harder. The taste of breaking the taboo is added, so doesn’t the alcohol taste even better?”

“You are truly invincible.”

Cheonghwa continued speaking with a smile.

“I was nothing special. I was just a black bully.”

“Oh my. Really?”

“It’s not a big deal. Even now, that’s the only way for an orphan of that age to make money.”

This was unimaginable. That the Infinite Sword was a black magic sword. Who would believe that?

“Ah. Even if you call it a riot, there were six or seven of them back then. I joined the shaman faction when I was eight.”

“I see. Then I guess he didn’t do anything bad.”

“Bad things? I’ve done a lot. I’ve begged for money because my parents were sick, and I’ve even lured people to take care of my sick parents.”

“If you try to lure them, the black men will come out and threaten you and extort money.”

“Yeah. It’s an embarrassing past.”

I smiled bitterly. It was because I remembered the child that Myeongil had killed.

What was the difference between that child and the Cheonghwa of that time? They were just driven into the dark realm. But someone died, and someone became a master of the shamanist faction. Such different life trajectories.

“I was caught by Jang Moon-sa-hyeong while doing such a dirty thing. At that time, Jang Moon-sa-hyeong must have been about a year old.”

“I see.”

“After defeating all the black thugs, Jang Moon-sa suddenly threw a sword at me and told me to swing it.”

“Really? That’s really interesting.”

“I heard later that even the young Jang Moon-sa-hyeong thought I was incredibly boneless.”

“You’ve become something to brag about.”

“It’s true, you punk.”

Only then did I understand why Cheonghwa had such a raw feeling even among the non-partisans. It could be because she came from a black background.

“Then do you still meet the people you knew back then?”

“Is that so? What are we going to do when we meet?”

“Well, at least give me some money.”

“Money, my ass. What do I have?”

I felt a little relieved when Cheonghwa laughed heartily.

In fact, Cheonghwa was a person with no material desires, to the point that he tried to give me a hundred nyang of silver when I was going down Mt. Wudang. It seemed unlikely that someone like that would have a reason to sell the Taegeuk Hye Sword.

“I guess I’m feeling a bit emotional since we’re talking about old times after so long.”

“It’s not for nothing that they say you get drunk on alcohol.”

“Yes, yes. Oh. Do you want to see this too? In the old days, when we had nothing to do, we used to write poetry. There is a collection of those poems.”

“You drank healthily.”

It seemed that Cheonghwa had suddenly become engrossed in an old story. Of course, I was still conscious.

I looked at the anthology that Cheonghwa had handed me. I smiled as soon as I saw it.

“I guess I wrote this when I was young.”

“Yes. Because it was written at a certain point in the history of geography.”

The poems of the private tutors were extremely childish. Well, that was to be expected, since they were written to kill time when they were young.

While I was browsing through the anthology, I came across a very simple poem.

at home

I want to go

The poem was only two lines long. The person who wrote it, interestingly enough, was the prickly Gokjeongakju Cheongsu. It turns out that even private tutors had childhoods when they wanted to go home.

While Cheonghwa and I were looking at the anthology together, I chuckled and then I slyly threw in a comment.

“But Master, are you studying the Taegeuk Hyegeom?”

“huh?”

One of Cheonghwa’s eyebrows went up.

“Since you are from Gungdogak, aren’t you studying Taegeuk Hyegeom? I heard Gungdogak is a place to study and develop martial arts.”

“That’s true. But Taegeuk Hyegeom isn’t a martial art that needs to be developed. It’s a martial art that’s completely complete.”

“Really? I heard that Master is in the Taegeuk Hyegum review records.”

I said this with a smile, trying to lighten the mood as much as possible. This was something I had to talk about while drunk. I wanted to make sure it didn’t stick in Cheonghwa’s memory.

But when I looked at Cheonghwa’s face again, the smile had disappeared.

“Why did you see that?”

“yes?”

“Why did you see that?”

Cheonghwa’s expression had already become so cold that my laughter could no longer turn it around.