Hyeonjilmusin - Chapter 137



Only Noblemtl

137. Fate (1)

Cheongsu’s real name was Jang Haewon. Jang Haewon and several other disciples did not experience any major tragedies when they entered the Wudang sect.

Rather, Jang Hae-won was a child who volunteered to become a non-partisan. Of course, it wasn’t completely voluntary.

Jang Hae-won’s father was a tenant farmer in Shanxi. So, they were far from living a comfortable life. They were always poor, and Jang Hae-won’s younger brother, the second son of the family, even died suddenly.

Even in such a shady life, they lived by supporting and encouraging each other as much as possible. Jang Hae-won helped his father with his work since he was five years old. Even though he had poor hands, he could do things like cut weeds.

“Son. At your age, you shouldn’t be doing this… … .”

“It’s okay! If you can do it, do it!”

Jang Hae-won’s immature tongue let out awkward pronunciation, but at heart, he was already an adult.

Then, a great tragedy struck them. It was the pregnancy of their third child. It was because Jang Hae-won’s mother was in her 40s and her father let his guard down.

Of course, it wasn’t a tragedy at the time. The birth of a new life was always a blessing, and perhaps because he was old, he received even more congratulations.

But we all knew that the birth of a life in an unprepared home was the birth of another tragedy.

“father.”

“huh.”

“We’ll have more mouths to eat at dinner now.”

“Shh. That’s not the time to be talking like that.”

Even the Seven Jang Hae-won members sensed the coming tragedy, but they celebrated louder because they thought the new life would notice. The celebration was so great that even the members who knew the truth forgot about reality and got drunk. The third child was a daughter.

The father, who was a hardworking tenant farmer, pushed himself even further to his limits. When he returned home, the third son, who greeted him with a bang, unintentionally whipped the father.

However, it was difficult for a family of four to make a living as a tenant farmer even if they worked all day. In the meantime, the third son, Jang Hae-rin, grew up too fast to be able to do anything, and his father ended up cutting the back of his hand while working while dozing off.

Normally, it would have been possible to treat him at a hospital, but they had no money to spare. Father held his rotting hand and watched his family’s reactions. Even if Jang Hae-won worked, he was still eight years old. No matter how hard he worked, he couldn’t earn enough to feed his family of four.

It was around that time that Jang Hae-won caught the eye of the shaman. It wasn’t for nothing that he was able to do farm work since he was five years old. It was possible because he was born with a natural talent for farming.

The shaman went to Jang Hae-won’s house first. It was to have Jang Hae-won become a disciple of the main temple.

A shaman disciple came to a house that was about to collapse. All he could offer was a bowl of water with a little bit of dirt in it. The shaman politely declined and said,

“I would like to accept this child as a disciple of the shamanistic sect.”

“That child is supporting our household right now.”

That was what the mother said. The originally kind mother had been eating porridge made from the bark of the tree for a long time, so her speech had become quite harsh.

The shaman knew what that meant. Of course, if it was a wealthy shaman, they would send it on its way, but in these farming families, it was customary to pay money and bring the child back.

“No, this is our child. Where are you taking him?”

At that time, the one who opposed it was Jang Hae-won’s father. From Jang Hae-won’s father’s hands, which were wrapped in cloth, black pus was flowing out, giving off a putrid smell.

“The most important thing is the child’s health. This child is too poorly born to live as a mere farmer’s child.”

The shaman said so. In fact, Jang Hae-won was a rare boneless person. As is usually the case with shaman disciples.

“And we won’t take the child with our bare hands either. We’ll give you money too.”

“I’ll go.”

The one who answered those words was Jang Hae-won. The mother lowered her head without saying anything, and the father shouted.

“Haewon! What are you talking about!”

“How much can you give?”

The nonpartisan looked at Jang Hae-won with a warm smile.

“It’s about twenty nyang of silver. With this amount, you can fix your father’s hand and buy a field in his name.”

“great.”

Jang Hae-won’s shamanism was thus decided. The mother bowed her head and shed tears, and the father sat on the ground with his legs spread out carelessly, looking desolate.

“My son is being taken away from me because I am incompetent!”

That was the scene that caught Jang Hae-won’s eye as he looked back from the doorway. That was the kind of scene that could often happen in a poor house in Jungwon. And later, Jang Hae-won, who became Cheong-su, realized that the scene was not only caught in his eyes, but also in his heart.

At that time, Jang Hae-won did not know that if she became a shaman, she would never see her parents again. However, it was the rule of the shamans to completely cleanse all ties with the secular world.

Jang Hae-won knew that he would never be able to return home, so he wandered around the shamanist sect for a long time. He would often cry while receiving training, and he would run away in the middle of the night to see his mother and father, and he would get caught. Every night, he would sob in his bed, and the executioners would yell at him.

But the sword of time tends to dull all sharp things.

At some point, Cheongsu stopped crying while receiving training and developed good relationships with the shamanist disciples.

The private tutors were strict but kind, and the four disciples were like real brothers. The Mudangpa was truly a new family.

Even when I thought about my old family sometimes, I ended up thinking that if my sacrifice saved my family, it was a noble choice.

But fate was much tougher than I thought.

“Death penalty. It’s nice to be back in Gangho after a long time. Should I have a drink?”

At that time, Kang Ho-hang was with Cheong Hwa. Since he went a little beyond the terms and conditions, he didn’t have any private tutors, and Kang Ho-hang was truly free.

“What kind of Taoist is this? The kid is going crazy.”

“They say that even private tutors eat everything when they go out.”

“Are you a private tutor?”

It was while Cheonghwa and Sisik were joking around like that.

A woman who looked to be of a young age passed by Cheongsu. Cheongsu stopped talking and just stood there blankly staring at the woman.

“Death penalty? What? Is the death penalty interested in women?”

Cheonghwa noticed it and laughed, but Cheongsu had no time to respond to such a joke.

I just resented the fate that was given to me by heaven.

I knew it intuitively at a glance. That child was my younger sister, Jang Hae-rin. Jang Hae-rin had grown up so beautifully that even the young men in the village looked back at her.

This was truly fate. Jang Hae-won’s house was originally in Zhejiang, but they were now in Henan. What on earth happened that brought them from Zhejiang to Henan?

And in the meantime, when they met the people who had come out of Ganghohang, it was a truly vicious relationship.

“Hey. It’s Cheonghwa.”

“Yes, Death Penalty. Should I ask where he lives? If Death Penalty is ashamed, then do so.”

“huh.”

“Huh? Really?”

Cheonghwa was surprised. She had said it to tease him, but she didn’t expect this prickly death row inmate to agree.

Soon, Cheonghwa became interested. Of course, it was against the rules, but they were young, energetic people who had just passed their term.

I couldn’t help but help such a prickly executioner being interested in a woman. It’s fun, after all.

“wait a minute.”

Cheonghwa chased Jang Hae-rin, who had disappeared into an alley. Fortunately, she didn’t have to endure the embarrassment of asking for directions, because she saw Jang Hae-rin enter a dilapidated house right inside the alley.

Cheonghwa, who had just escaped from the alley, returned to Cheongsu.

“Death penalty. It’s right inside the alley.”

“okay?”

Cheongsu walked toward the alley with a strangely stiff face. Cheonghwa, who saw his face, thought that he was slightly nervous because he was in love.

“Over there.”

As Cheongsu entered the alley, Cheonghwa pointed to a house. It was a house that looked like it was being lived in extreme poverty by anyone who looked at it.

“under.”

Cheongsu sighed as soon as he saw the house. Twenty nyang of silver was not a small amount of money, so how could it have changed so much? In fact, the house seemed even more shabby than before.

“This is ridiculous.”

“Was it really that pretty? To the point where it was ridiculous? Well, it was pretty.”

“Stop it.”

Cheongsu slapped Cheonghwa on the back of her neck and then turned around. After receiving the Taoist protection, a disciple of the Wudangpa was not allowed to have contact with the family of the previous one. It was a strict rule.

“Cheong-hwa.”

“yes?”

Cheongsu couldn’t continue speaking. She had to tell him to go back to being a shaman. She had to completely forget about that house.

“Why are you taking so long? Could you please excuse me for a moment?”

“That’s not it.”

“Then what is it?”

“… … How much of our operating expenses do we have left?”

“There was some left. I was going to drink with it.”

“Excuse me, can I use that?”

Cheonghwa opened her eyes wide. Of all the disciples she knew, Cheongsu was the one who lived the life of a Taoist monk with the most exemplary discipline. This was the opposite of how he had been the most whiny when he was the youngest.

A smile soon appeared on Cheonghwa’s surprised lips.

“Ah. I see. You’re going to give that girl a gift? I guess that’s acceptable.”

“no.”

“No, it’s not. Let’s be honest. We’re family.”

“Family.”

Cheongsu continued speaking in a bitter tone.

“And the people living in that house are my family too.”

For a moment, Cheonghwa didn’t understand what Cheongsu was saying. Then, belatedly, she realized it and her face hardened.

“Let’s get back to the main text. Death penalty.”

“Give me some money.”

“No. This is against the rules. If you get caught, you’ll be locked up in the penitentiary for five years. It’s a completely different story from having a drink.”

“I know.”

“If you know, you shouldn’t do that.”

“I know. I know, but what can I do?”

Since Cheonghwa had been with Cheongsu since childhood, she knew how much Cheongsu had thought of his family. She also knew how hard he had tried to forget his family. However, family was not something that could be forgotten in the first place. The more you try to forget, the more clearly you remember it.

“ha.”

Cheonghwa looked at Cheongsu and took out the pouch. It was the pouch that contained the remaining activity funds. Cheongsu’s eyes wavered as he looked at the pouch Cheonghwa had handed him.

“Here it is. Take it before I change my mind.”

“……thanks.”

Cheongsu broke the rules anyway. And Cheonghwa had a premonition.

This means that this will not be the last time that Cheongsu will break the rules.

* * *

Kwakwakwakwang!

There was a huge explosion. I had created a sword ring and shot it over the cliff. Now, there was an invisible barrier around the hermitage that physically blocked me. I was trying to break through the formation.

The smoke cleared. The area where I had shot the sword was clean, without any damage.

“Fuck.”

I returned to the hermitage again. If I had laid down a method that could penetrate my realm, Cheonghwa would not have brought me here.

Having given up on trying to understand the method, I decided to look around the small hermitage. Of course, I had already looked around.

There was a small spring behind the hermitage, and there were a lot of weeds growing near the spring.

I squatted down and drank some spring water. My throat was dry from exerting myself.

“Oh, I’m the only one suffering because of that crazy teacher.”

“Is that crazy teacher referring to Cheong-hwa?”

As soon as I heard that voice, water flowed into my airway and I gasped. I looked around with tearful eyes, but I couldn’t see anyone, let alone feel anything.

“Knock knock, knock. Who is it?”

“These days, disciples have no manners. Revealing one’s identity is a priority.”

For a moment, I came to my senses. After all, this was a hermitage on Mt. Mudang. Naturally, the people here were also from the Mudang sect.

And judging from the fact that he was just calling for the Qinghua, it was obvious that it would be distributed higher than the Qinghua. I immediately put down my lottery ticket and bowed my head.

“My name is Mukhwiyeong, a disciple of a shaman and a teacher of the Cheonghwa Jinin. Where is the deceased?”

“A lay disciple? This is the first time I’ve seen a lay disciple in Nam-am.”

“Please tell me where you are.”

“It’s right in front of you, but you can’t see it. It’s like there’s no such thing as a hole.”

I looked around again. I couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from, whether it was because I was surrounded by a formation or it was the Yukhapjeonseong in the first place.

“I am still of low birth, so I cannot see where the deceased is.”

“You speak roughly without even trying to observe closely. It seems that Cheonghwa also has slit eyes. Why would I have someone like you as my disciple?”

A disappointed voice echoed around the hermitage. My brow furrowed.

“I don’t know, but please don’t curse at the teacher.”

“Isn’t that the teacher who locked you up here? That’s why I called you a crazy teacher.”

“… … That’s true. But is it the same when I curse and when others curse?”

“Haha. What a funny guy. He can swear at me, but I can’t.”

Along with that, there was a rustling sound from the bushes around the spring. Suddenly, a person was standing in front of the bushes. The old man, with white hair and eyebrows, was bent over.

I was almost faint. The grass around the spring was so short and tangled that it reached up to a person’s thighs. It was not a place where a person could hide.

“When did you come?”

“When did you come? I was just sitting in the bushes.”

“Are my eyes slits? I can’t even see that.”

“Isn’t the hole right? Shall I show you again?”

The old man sat down in the bushes, naturally. If he had been doing that, I could not have missed him.

But then something amazing happened. When I blinked, the old man who had been sitting there disappeared.

“Please stop teasing me, sir.”

“I’m sitting right where you saw me. Open your eyes wide and look carefully.”

The old man’s voice rang out. I squinted my eyes, half in doubt, and strained my eyes to look at the bushes. Then, to my surprise, I saw an old man sitting in the swaying bushes.

The old man came out of the bushes again. I opened my mouth wide as if I had been tricked.

“Did I say that I am Cheonghwa and Nam?”

“yes?”

The old man laughed.

“My name is Hyunwol (玄月).”

I was so surprised that I fell to my knees. The distribution of the wise men was one level higher than that of the listeners. From my perspective, it was a heavenly trend.

And then something even more shocking came out of the old man’s mouth.

“What a disciple. I brought in a new disciple, and yet he didn’t say a word to me.”

“… … !”

I hit my head right away and screamed until my throat gave out.

“Meet the Lord!”

The old man’s identity was none other than my teacher’s teacher.