Hyeonjilmusin - Chapter 136



Only Noblemtl

136. Aftercare (7)

If it were the old days, I would have just been intimidated and not said anything. But now it’s different. I’m also a member of the non-partisan faction, and my superiors are also in the same boat as the non-partisan faction.

“Can’t I look at it?”

When I spoke confidently, Cheonghwa flinched.

Cheonghwa’s eyes met mine. Cheonghwa immediately let out a deep sigh.

“I’m sorry. I was being overly sensitive. But I wish you hadn’t asked that.”

“Is this something that needs to be hidden?”

“I don’t think I can explain it to you in a convincing way.”

Cheonghwa’s expression showed regret. Perhaps the loan record was the Master’s sore spot.

If nothing had happened with the Taegeuk Hye Sword, I could have just let it go and covered it up. But now, I couldn’t let it go.

“You will have to explain.”

“You speak as if you have the right to do so.”

“Aren’t we shamans? Do you intend to contaminate the word shaman just as the word family has been contaminated?”

Cheonghwa’s mouth closed. Since it was her own words, she couldn’t say she didn’t remember.

“… … Even deep relationships require secrets.”

“You should know. I have my reasons.”

“I will tell you the reason when it makes sense.”

Without hesitation, I took out a copy of the Taegeuk Hyegum and placed it on the desk. It was a copy I had taken back from the King.

Naturally, Cheonghwa’s eyes widened as if they were going to tear apart. Cheonghwa, who was unable to speak with her mouth wide open, snatched the secret book and began reading it right away.

“Oh, how… … .”

“Even if I look at that secret, I don’t know if it’s real or fake. I don’t know the original itself. But Master, you will know.”

Cheonghwa held the copy of the secret book and trembled. Whether it was real or fake was obvious from that reaction.

“Where on earth did this come from?”

“I recovered the Taegeuk Hye Sword that was leaking outside.”

“… … That’s ridiculous.”

Cheonghwa even hiccupped, either because of the alcohol or because she was surprised.

It is well known that Taoists are bad at acting. Even among those Taoists, Cheonghwa was one of the worst at acting. So the regret, shock, fear, and despair in Cheonghwa’s expression right now could be seen as real.

And that actually made me more certain that Cheonghwa wasn’t the leaker. If she had leaked it, there would be no way she would have reacted like that.

But it certainly seemed that there was something troubling about the Taegeuk Hye Sword.

“I have given my master a convincing reason. Since the Taegeuk Hye Sword has been leaked outside, isn’t it natural for a shaman to find the culprit?”

“That doesn’t make sense… … .”

Cheonghwa was still mumbling those words with blank eyes.

“Master!”

I screamed. Cheonghwa looked at me in surprise.

“Aren’t you ashamed to see your disciple?”

At my words, Cheonghwa’s face turned slightly red. It seemed like she knew that she was acting embarrassingly.

“… … I guess I need to go back to my right mind.”

Cheonghwa, who had been chanting like that, sat cross-legged and ate a bowl of yunzhi to get rid of the intoxication. Warm energy emanated from Baekhoehyeol. It was the alcoholic energy that contained heat.

Soon, Cheonghwa opened her eyes. Her gaze was as clear and sharp as her teacher’s usual.

“Can you stay sober?”

“I am more sane now than I have ever been.”

“Yeah. You looked embarrassed.”

“Okay, you know.”

Cheonghwa smiled bitterly. She wanted to squeeze him like she usually does, but now was not the time.

“Now it’s your turn to convince me. Why is your name on the Taegeuk Hye Sword’s rental records, which are only open to the public?”

“It’s not a big secret, as it’s in the records. Even Jang Moon-sa-hyung knows about it. Since Jang Moon-sa-hyung gave me permission, I borrowed it and used it.”

“That’s right. But I want to hear the story after borrowing it. It seems like you, Master, have some idea about the leaked version.”

Cheonghwa kept her mouth shut. In this situation, silence was tantamount to affirmation.

Cheonghwa, who had been silent, opened her mouth in a low voice.

“Do you know that the leaked copy has been spread and that Jang Moon-sa-hyeong is also aware of it?”

“I don’t know. This is the first time I’ve told you, Master.”

“I see.”

Cheonghwa nodded. I felt a cool sensation enveloping my body for a moment. It was just an intuition that could not be explained by senses.

I flew backwards and landed on the wall. I was standing on the wall and looked at Cheonghwa. Cheonghwa was just looking at me without doing anything.

It was an absurd situation. The person who was talking suddenly stepped back and leaned against the wall. But the Master’s eyes remained calm and settled.

“Disciple.”

“yes.”

“You’ve developed a lot. That feeling saves the lives of the unmanned people. This teacher is proud.”

There was a real sense of pride and joy in Cheonghwa’s voice.

“You are my good fortune. Seriously. I can’t tell you how lucky I am that you came to me. You are my best disciple. So… … .”

The blue flower that had been blurring the end of the words disappeared from my sight. I couldn’t even react for a moment. It was that fast.

“I believe you can forgive this incompetent teacher.”

“this…….”

The moment I was about to spit out the curse, a strong shock exploded in my throat. I felt Cheonghwa supporting my body as my consciousness faded away.

The words that could not even be spoken sank beneath the surface.

* * *

Cheonghwa headed to Gokjeongak with brisk steps. She was on her way back from dropping off her Mukhwiyeong at Naman, the secret residence of the shamans.

Usually, when disciples do retreat training, they go to the Chaehoe-dong, but when they want to cultivate their mind or practice the pedestal, they go to the Bicheo. Therefore, the Bicheo was a place that the famous disciples did not even know existed.

So, Mukhwiyeong became the first person to enter the secret room during the distribution of the names of the people. Even though he was unconscious.

“Is the lord here?”

When Cheonghwa arrived at Gokjeongak, she asked. The disciple of Mingzi Bae-bun quickly stood up, bowed his head, and gave a winning hand.

“I am meeting you, private tutor.”

“Yes. Is the headmaster here?”

“Oh, yes, yes. But they said they are busy with urgent work right now, so please try not to let people in… … .”

“It’s not an easy task.”

At Cheonghwa’s serious voice, the disciple immediately bowed his head and went into the study room. The disciple of Gokjeongak came out immediately and said with an apologetic face.

“I’m sorry to say this to you, but the headmaster told me to make sure to convey this message. He said that if something goes wrong, he’ll die.”

“I get it.”

After receiving permission, Cheonghwa entered the Gokjeon Gakjushil. It was a Gakjushil that was more bleak than neat.

In the center of the Gokjeon Hall sat Cheongsu with his sharp eyes. It seemed like he had stayed up all night last night.

Naturally, Cheongsu reacted harshly.

“What is it?”

“I just came because I wanted to see the execution.”

“what?”

Before Cheongsu could even react, a curtain of air formed around the room. Now, no sound would leak out. Cheongsu also felt the air and his expression became strange. Opening the curtain meant that he was going to say something that should not leak out.

“What is it all of a sudden?”

“Haha. It’s nothing.”

Cheonghwa took out a white bottle from her bosom. It was obvious that it was alcohol.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a drink together as brothers.”

“Are you crazy?”

Cheongsu’s face suddenly crumpled. Then it turned out that the reason he opened his mouth was to drink alcohol.

“Is the kid not telling you? If it’s nothing serious, he’ll die.”

“Why is this a big deal? It’s a very important matter that fosters camaraderie among the brothers.”

“Do you want to keep being sick?”

Cheonghwa ignored Cheongsu’s words and took out a glass of alcohol and poured it roughly. The alcohol overflowed from the glass and soaked the documents.

When the angry Cheongsu was about to spit out his words, Cheonghwa drank the wine in her glass first and spoke.

“Death penalty. What have you done?”

“what?”

To Cheongsu’s question, Cheonghwa did not answer, but took out a copy of the Taegeuk Hyegeom from her bosom and threw it on the desk.

“Why is this here?”

Cheongsu’s crumpled expression returned to calm. There was even a hint of peace and comfort in that expression.

“What? It came back as a neutral party.”

“I wrote this.”

“That’s right. I use my head a lot, so I use my left hand.”

“And I gave it to the executioner.”

A multitude of emotions flashed through Cheonghwa’s wavering eyes. The biggest one among them was betrayal.

“Where did you get that?”

“Does that matter now?”

“It’s not important. Shouldn’t we know where it leaked to?”

“Whiyoung brought it. He said he recovered it from the risk of it being leaked.”

“Then it wasn’t leaked. That’s fortunate.”

“Is the person who leaked it saying that?”

“That could be true. Hwiyoung is a bastard. Where did you get such an amazing thing?”

Cheongsu laughed heartily. Cheonghwa’s face turned red, almost dark. Her immense anger caused the blood to rush to her head.

“I can’t understand it at all. The death penalty is also someone who loves the nonpartisan faction. Didn’t he even give up his own wrist to seek a long-term death penalty?”

“Of course, that’s what I was supposed to do.”

Cheongsu smiled broadly and snatched Cheonghwa’s bottle of liquor. Then he filled his own glass with liquor.

The right hand that was pouring the bottle of alcohol was trembling. Although it looked fine on the outside, Cheongsu’s right hand had been damaged for a long time.

A few years ago, when he was capturing the Murim Gongjeok, it was Cheong-su who sacrificed his own wrist to save Cheong-ui who was almost killed due to carelessness. He sacrificed his own wrist to block the trajectory of the sword heading for Cheong-ui’s neck.

After that, the God of Life and Death stitched up his wrist and allowed him to go about his daily life, but he was unable to hold a sword again. His muscles and nerves were all damaged.

This was a fact that the disciples of the Mingzi distribution did not know, and only a few of the people of the Cheongzi distribution knew. Among them, Cheonghwa knew it even better because he was there. As a person who was a warrior, such a decision was truly harder than death.

It was Cheongsu who sacrificed his right hand, which was like his life, for the execution. Cheonghwa saw that and thought that her judgment was not wrong.

To Cheongsu, who was not chosen as the successor of the Taegeuk Hyegeom, I wrote down a copy of the Taegeuk Hyegeom. I had barely managed to borrow it from Jangmunsahyung after begging him for several months. I thought that the Taegeuk sword master was more suited to someone with that kind of sense of justice than talent.

However, when he found the secret book he had written in Muk Hwi-yeong’s arms, he almost fainted. That was because it was a copy of the Taegeuk Hye-geom that he had written ten years ago. And the owner of that copy was Cheong-su.

“Where did things go wrong? Death penalty. Do you still regret coming to the shaman faction?”

“I told you, the Independent is my home.”

“Is it because of your mother?”

Mother. It was an awkward word to come out of a Taoist’s mouth. It was a word that did not suit Taoist priests who had cut ties with the secular world, and it was a word that should not come out. It was also a violation of the discipline of the shamanist sect.

Cheongsu didn’t say anything. He just drank his alcohol with trembling hands.

Cheongsu, whose face was red from drinking alcohol, slowly opened her mouth.

* * *

“Damn master!”

I opened my eyes wide as I shouted like that. It felt good to finally spit out the words that had been stuck in my throat like a thorn.

“What is this place?”

When I opened my eyes, I was in a very small room that could fit one person. I ran outside. As soon as I opened the door, a strong wind blew.

The house was a small hermitage, befitting the size of the room.

“……under.”

I let out a sigh. The existence of the small hermitage itself wasn’t that surprising. It would be expected that there would be such a space within the shaman sect.

But the important thing was the location of this hermitage. This hermitage was located on a really steep cliff. The cliff of Samcheong-gwan was so high and angled that it didn’t look like a cliff; it was literally a thousand-foot cliff.

The place where the hermitage was located was a hollow piece of land in the cliff, and it was almost perpendicular to the ground whether it was above or below, so it was a place where even a person with a reasonable level of lightness could not move.

Looking across, I could see Cheonjubong Peak with Samcheonggwan in the distance. Even though it was the same Mt. Mudangsan, it was so far away that it looked blurry.

I screamed right away just in case someone could hear.

“Yaaaah!”

The sound echoed without even having time to reach other peaks.

I knew this would happen. It seems that this hermitage was set up in a way that prevents even sound from escaping.

It was clear who had put me here.

“You crazy teacher!”

I bowed my head and shouted with all my might.