Tangmunjeon - Chapter 250



Only Noblemtl

Episode 250: The Joint

The next day, the three of them left the shamanist group.

Although Hyun-gong was still bleeding profusely, and people passing by found him very suspicious, thanks to Yeong-bo-jin-in’s exquisite swordsmanship and desperate defense, he was not injured enough to impede his movements.

The worst wound was only when the sword passed over his ribs.

‘···Actually, it is true that this is a wound that makes it difficult to move.’

Hyun-gong would flinch his eyebrows as if he was feeling a great deal of pain every time he moved.

However, Dang Mu-jin and Hong Geol-gae could not feel even the slightest bit of sympathy. Unlike his frowning eyes, there was an unpleasant smile stuck to Hyun-gong’s lips and it would not go away at all.

“Are you sure you can move?”

As soon as Hyun-gong heard Hong-geol-gae’s question, he lifted his chin. Even though they were of similar height, his gaze seemed to look down on him. Hyun-gong answered with one corner of his mouth raised.

“Of course. Anyone who leads others should not be shaken by such trivial pains.”

With his sinister smile and extremely arrogant attitude, Dang Mu-jin and Hong Geol-gae could guess what had been discussed between Hyeon-gong and Yeong-bo Jin the day before.

Yes, the story of the long-winded Hyeon-gong was not an empty one.

‘It seems that Yeongbo Jin-in is trying to destroy the shamanist faction. I guess this is the end of the shamanist faction’s history.’

Hong Geol-gae and Dang Mu-jin felt strange.

Although the party members bickered, they secretly wished each other well.

But as is the case with all things, I didn’t expect things to work out that well.

Hyun-gong asked Dang-mu-jin with his chin still raised.

“Are you going straight to the castle?”

Dang Mu-jin shook his head, wondering whether he should make a hole in that chin.

“No. I have somewhere to stop by.”

“where?”

“I’m concerned about the communist faction. I think I should go back and take a look at it at least a little bit.”

“Hmm, well.”

Dang Mu-jin wasn’t the only one who had doubts about the joint faction.

Hong Geol-gae didn’t pay attention to the meeting from the beginning, so he didn’t think much of it, but Hyun-gong thought that Gongdong-pa and Baek Ya-hyo were a little strange.

Nickname and name. A Sapa expert who had never heard of anything suddenly became a long-time master.

It feels a little awkward to just think that it could be because it’s a joint faction and move on.

Hyun-gong took the initiative to express his opinion.

“Then, when we go back, let’s go through Hanjung instead of Chongqing. Will that be okay?”

If you return to Sacheon via Hanjung, the route will be shorter, and you can pass by the Gongdongpa headquarters while you’re at it, so it’s killing two birds with one stone.

Hong Geol-gae asked Dang Mu-jin.

“What are you going to do about Namgung Myung?”

“Of course we should go together.”

Rumors spread that Shintu had swept away the Hwasan and Jongnam factions.

By now, the elders of each sect will be hurriedly heading to the main temple, and Namgung Myung will be burning the last flame before the elders return.

Even if he is Namgung Myung, he cannot enter and exit a sect with long-suffering followers as if it were his own home.

And there was a high possibility that Namgung Myeong’s talent would be needed to spy on the communist faction.

No matter what anyone says, isn’t there no one in the group who is as good at covert infiltration as Namgung Myung?

Hong Geol-gae said, tapping the ground with his heel.

“But we don’t know where Namgung Myung is, and we have no way to contact him. Are we going to wait in the village until Namgung Myung returns?”

“That’s difficult. We can’t just sit there and wait for Namgung Myung indefinitely. We have to go first and wait.”

“How are you going to contact me?”

“You don’t need to know exactly where the fish are to catch them. Just cast your net along the water’s path.”

Hong Geol-gae frowned because Dang Mu-jin seemed to be talking nonsense.

“What are you talking about?”

“Namgung Myung won’t go back without passing through the Mudangpa area. Just follow me for now.”

Dang Mu-jin has known Namgung Myung for six years.

If you watch a dog for three years, it will be able to recite poetry, and if you watch a thief for six years, it will be able to imitate theft.

Dang Mu-jin headed to the wealthiest-looking mansion in the village below Mt. Mudang.

And he pointed to the mansion and said.

“Now that I’ve returned to this village, Namgung Myung will definitely come to this mansion.”

Since it was as obvious as the saying that the sun rises in the east, Hong Geol-gae and Hyeon-gong did not object to Dang Mu-jin’s story.

The three moved to the other side of the gate and jumped over the fence. Even though it was broad daylight, the people in the mansion did not notice Dang Mu-jin and his party.

As soon as I crossed the fence, I saw a large building. The sight of the mansion grounds being divided into two halves, centered around the building.

The three people were lost in thought.

‘If I were Namgung Myung, where would I go from here?’

The left side, where there are few people? The right side, where there are many places to hide?

No. That’s a normal person’s idea. The three people climbed up to the roof of the building in front.

They crept along the ridge of the roof, then hung on the eaves at a suitable location and headed inside the building.

Up until this moment, there was no need for any discussion between the three of them, because they knew Namgung Myung too well.

Hong Geol-gae sighed because he could predict Namgung Myung’s actions so easily.

“They say that ink is black. Could it be that we have become black because of Namgung Myung?”

“That’s right. Namgung Myung’s sins are serious.”

“Sometimes, I think that maybe the old man Namgung Jincheon was too merciful. If I were the old man Namgung Jincheon, I would have cut off Namgung Myung’s healthy right arm instead of his already shattered left arm.”

“That’s right.”

The three of them chattered in low voices as they checked the inside of the building for signs of life. Fortunately, there seemed to be no one there.

They entered the room stealthily, led by the party leader.

Of course, Hyun-gong was at the very back. He had the most to lose, so it was reasonable to put those with the least to lose in the front.

The interior was quite splendid. It was indeed a space that Namgung Myung would not easily pass by.

Dang Mu-jin looked around and then immediately raised his head.

The space where Namgung Myung would feel most comfortable, the main beam, was visible.

Dang Mu-jin jumped up onto the main beam and took out a small knife.

‘Wouldn’t it be too suspicious if I wrote ‘Namgung Mo (南宮 某)’?

Dang Mu-jin carved letters on the main beam.

– To the unknown. If you see this writing, you will come to Gongdongsan.

At this point, even if someone discovers the writing in the future, there won’t be any problems.

“Okay. Let’s get out.”

The three of them left the mansion straight away and ran west toward the communal mountain.

*

Gongdongsan is located in Pingliang County, Gansu Province.

Compared to the distances between clans and villages in other regions, the distance between Gongdongpa and Pyeongnyanghyeon was a bit far.

To understand why, you need to know about the relationship between the Jeongpa Murim sect and the villagers.

To people from other regions, the Murim School is a trustworthy pillar.

Even the arrogant black magicians and the incompetent gangsters tend to lower their gaze and become humble around the martial arts school.

Also, the Jeongpa Murim people are excellent customers for merchants. In many ways, it is a relationship that is not bad to have close. Naturally, the closer the house is to the wall of the Murim sect, the more expensive it is.

Therefore, if there is a clan on top of a mountain, a village will be established by clinging to the mountain, and if there is a clan at the bottom of a mountain, a village will be established surrounding the clan.

There were cases where the village came first and then the sect came in, but the result was always the same.

But the Communist faction is different. Weren’t most of the Communist faction’s unmanned people from Heukdo?

Since they had to eat and live by interacting with the common people, people also gathered in Pyeongnyang-hyeon near Gongdongsan.

However, the reality is that the unmanned members of the Communist faction, who are less likely to protect the villagers, are more likely to threaten the villagers.

As people found the Gongdongpa uncomfortable, Gongdongsan and Pyeongnyanghyeon began to secretly distance themselves.

Instead, the scale of Pyeongryang-hyeon itself was quite large. It felt like all the small villages around Pyeongryang-hyeon had been gathered together and placed in one place.

“This is about half of Chongqing.”

“I know.”

Dang Mu-jin and his party stopped walking without going deep into Pyeongnyang-hyeon.

Unlike other times when there was nothing to be afraid of, this is a situation where we have come to spy on the Communist faction. We must avoid situations where we might encounter the Communist faction’s unmanned personnel, or situations where the Communist faction’s unmanned personnel might find us suspicious.

Hyun-gong asked.

“What are you going to do now?”

“We should stay until Namgung Myung arrives and ask around about the Gongdongpa.”

“If we do that, the people in the communist party will hear our story.”

It’s natural for local people to be interested in the community, but it’s suspicious to see men from other places taking an interest in the community.

Dang Mu-jin waved his hand.

“Who wants to grab anyone and question them? I should hide the fact that I’m a martial artist and live like a normal person.”

“how?”

“Follow me.”

Instead of heading to the center of the village, Dangmujin slowly wandered around the edge.

No one found it particularly strange. It might be a small town, but Pyeongryang County has easily over ten thousand households, so not everyone knows each other. Unless someone is acting suspiciously, no one is suspicious.

‘The problem is that it’s suspicious for a newbie to dig up rumors about a communal faction.’

If so, the solution is simple. All you have to do is blur the perception that they are newbies, and listen to their stories without actively asking for them.

Before long, Dangmujin found a half-collapsed blacksmith shop on the outskirts of town. It was clearly an abandoned blacksmith shop.

“Are you there···”

Dang Mu-jin sneaked into the blacksmith shop. As expected, there was no one there.

Anything worth selling has long since disappeared, and all that remains is a finger-handle-high pile of dust and an old furnace.

By now, it must have been abandoned for at least three years.

‘The blacksmith will not return.’

Dang Mu-jin said to Hyeon-gong and Hong-geol-gae.

“This forge is our base for the time being. Let’s start by cleaning up. We’ll have to buy or borrow the necessary items from a nearby forge.”

“You want to work as a night watchman?”

Hyun-gong seemed a little dissatisfied. His attitude was clearly different from before, when he had followed along without complaint.

“Yeah. It would be strange to see three healthy men lounging around. We need to do something.”

“What I’m saying is, why the blacksmith shop?”

Dang Mu-jin raised one eyebrow.

“What can you do besides being a blacksmith’s assistant?”

Hong Geol-gae, if you use your major to go begging, you can easily blend in with people.

The neighborhood beggars might look at you with some disdain, but ordinary people won’t pay much attention. To them, beggars appear out of nowhere and then disappear like fog.

But Hyun-gong was different.

‘What can I do?’

None. There really wasn’t a single one.

Even if Hyun-gong says that he has learned martial arts throughout his life, it is nothing more than the martial arts of the Mu-dang-pa.

But isn’t it impossible to teach martial arts to a shaman in Pyeongnyang-hyeon without being a military officer?

However, he could not just back down. Wasn’t Hyungong the leader of the group and the next leader of the non-partisan faction? Hyungong pushed his opinion forward once more.

“Wouldn’t it be better to become a member of the National Assembly?”

This time too, Dang Mu-jin cut off Hyun-gong’s story like a knife.

“No. You can pound iron moderately, but you can’t examine a patient moderately. Can you just let people who are groaning in pain continue to suffer? You have to show your skills no matter what.”

“It would be the same if you were to strike iron. I guarantee you that within five days, the Gongpa unmanned forces will be lining up to make you a sword. In fact, you’ll get caught much faster than if you were a member of the National Assembly.”

“I would never do that. I only plan on making farm implements.”

“Farm tools? You want to make sickles and plows and things like that?”

“okay.”

Hyun-gong was astonished.

With the skill to sharpen the Songmun Sword, you can make something like a sickle to cut grass. Does that make sense?

There are two main types of forges: forges that make weapons and forges that make farm implements.

However, unless you are a blacksmith who is particularly confident in your skills or a blacksmith who learned from a blacksmith since childhood, a blacksmith is naturally someone who makes farming tools. In reality, blacksmiths only make up about a third of all blacksmiths.

In a similar vein, the treatment of a swordsmith and an ordinary fieldmaster is completely different.

A skilled swordsmith has a higher status than an average martial artist, while a blacksmith who makes common farming tools has a lower status.

Furthermore, while martial artists maintain a fairly close relationship with swordsmiths, they usually never have a chance to talk to a craftsman who makes farming tools.

In some ways, the craftsmen who make farming tools can be seen as the people who are the furthest from the martial arts world. They are like shadows under a lamp.

Hyun-gong looked back on his past memories. He remembered how he had reduced his sleeping hours and polished his sword day and night in order to ask Dang Mu-jin to make him a sword.

Will the farmers who bought a sickle for a few coins ever realize its true value?

That can’t be true. Most likely, you’ll just think, ‘The sickle I bought this time is pretty sharp and sturdy,’ and move on.

A corner of his heart ached. Hyun-gong could not bear such a future.

“No matter what, that’s ridiculous…”

Instead of trying to persuade him again, Dang Mu-jin presented a realistic alternative.

“If you don’t like it, then follow Hong Geol-gae and beg.”

As always, Hyun-gong’s judgment was quick and accurate.

“Should I start by cleaning?”