Tangmunjeon - Chapter 282



Only Noblemtl

Episode 282: The Blue Fish

The story of Geulseon being murdered was so shocking that Dangmujin had to take a moment to think about what it was.

Dang Mu-jin asked back half a beat later.

“Geolseon was murdered. What’s the story?”

“Didn’t you already know that?”

“This is the first time I’ve heard of it.”

“You speak as if you know something… Anyway, that’s exactly what it is. An unfortunate incident occurred while fighting against the villains of the evil Sapa.”

Even as I listened to the explanation, I wondered if it made sense, but if I thought about it carefully, it was something that could definitely happen.

The Northwestern Jeongpa warriors fought well, but lost two of their long-suffering men. In a battle where even a young man would die, there was no way that Geolseon would not die.

While Dang Mu-jin was lost in thought for a moment, Hyun-gong strode forward.

A small doubt appeared in the eyes of the open elder. As expected, he could only guess that Hyungong was a Taoist monk of the Wudang sect, but he did not recognize Hyungong.

“Who are you?”

“The frequency of the non-partisan is called the Hyun-gong.”

“Hyungong. Hyungong… It’s the Seungryong Sword.”

“It’s an excessive nickname. People around me often call me Jeong-eon rather than such a grand nickname.”

In Dang Mu-jin’s opinion, both Seungryong Sword and Jeong-eon were excessive nicknames for Hyeon-gong.

However, Hyun-gong stubbornly insisted on using the nickname Jeong-eon.

Since the nickname Seungryonggeom was already quite well known, I thought it was time to make the nickname Jeongeon known.

This strategy of Hyun-gong worked surprisingly well. In the vicinity of Sacheonseong, he was often called by the nickname Jeong-eon rather than Seung-ryong-geom.

Of course, the Elder of Openness did not know such circumstances.

“Hmm… Young people usually want flashy nicknames. How humble.”

“I just felt burdened, it’s not something that can be called humble.”

The Elder of Openness looked at Hyun-gong with a very satisfied expression.

The eyes of a senior looking at a junior with both great character and skills.

“···It must not be easy to have this kind of personality at such a young age···. The shaman’s skills are formidable. In any case, why did you come to me?”

“There’s something I really want to ask you.”

“Let’s talk.”

“If Geulseon leaves, what will happen to the position of the Ark of Openness? I understand that the position of the Ark of Openness is vacant.”

Hyun-gong hoped that Hong-geol-gae would become the ark of openness as soon as possible.

And if the Ark of Openness is left vacant, Hong Geol-gae may really become the Ark of Openness overnight. The so-called leader of the Ten Thousand Openness Degrees.

‘The next leader of the non-partisan faction, the Ark of Openness and Ho-Hyeong-Ja, is a thrilling person.’

However, the elder’s story only met half of Hyun-gong’s expectations.

“If both the ark and the successor are vacant, the senior elder is supposed to inherit the ark position.”

“If you are the senior elder···?”

“It’s the guy named Hwahwanogae Heo Heum. Until the next person to take charge of the ark appears, he will be the ark.”

That’s a bit of a relief. Doesn’t that mean that when someone else appears to take charge of the next ark, the author of Hwahwanogae Heo Heum will step down?

Hyun-gong turned his gaze very naturally and looked at Hong-geol-gae.

As if drawn by the gaze of Hyun-gong, the gaze of the unknown Elder also turned towards Hong-geol-gae. Soon, the expression of the Elder became subtle.

“···Hmm?”

Hong Geol-gae was just standing there, so even the experienced Open Elder could not tell what was going on.

But people have something called an atmosphere.

An attitude that confidently shows off one’s presence without being intimidated at all even among the likes of Jeong-eon’s Hyun-gong and Ui-ryong Dang Mu-jin.

‘There’s something fishy about that guy.’

If you have the achievements of a Danggajangju or Hyeon-gong at a young age, you will not be lacking in aiming for the next or next open ark position.

Moreover, the young man’s open-mindedness was not only confident but also full of confidence. It was as if he was one step ahead of the people around him, and he had a confident air.

‘no way···?’

The open elder approached Hong Geol-gae and asked.

“My name is Seopgu. Who are you?”

“It’s called Hongjusan.”

Seop-gu closed his eyes for a moment and thought, then a funny nickname came to mind.

“I’ve heard that name before. It was Gyuchogae Hongjusan, right? I heard that Geolseon taught you Hangryongshippaljang. How much have you learned?”

“I was taught from Chapter One to Chapter Twelve.”

Seop-gu nodded. Judging from the atmosphere, it seemed like he wasn’t in a good mood. If he had mastered twelve of the eighteen chapters of Hangryong, his accomplishments were by no means lacking.

Hyun-gong slyly intervened and said something.

“I am proud of you, my friend. You recently defeated the Ssanggeukhyeolwang and have even reached the next level.”

“···So you’re saying you became a top-notch expert at that age?”

“I was lucky.”

Hong Geol-gae bowed his head slightly as he took the lottery. Seop-gu couldn’t see it, but Hong Geol-gae’s cheekbones were slightly raised.

Seop-gu said, sounding a little excited.

“In times of trouble, when a star sets, a new star rises. With that level of achievement, I should be able to sit in the next ark, or at the latest, the ark after that. It would be good to visit the elders and learn the basics of the Hangryongsippaljang that I have yet to master. I can ask Hwahwanogae to teach me.”

Long ago, Hangryong Shipaljang was not Hangryong Shipaljang, but Hangryong Twenty-Eight.

However, because the Ark died or went missing before being able to deliver all 28 chapters of Hangryong, ten of the recipes were lost, resulting in the current Hangryong 18 chapters.

In order to prevent the Hangryong 18 Chapters from being used again in battle and becoming Hangryong 15 Chapters or Hangryong 12 Chapters in the future, the elders of the Open Age began to gradually learn Hangryong 18 Chapters.

‘You should go find Hwahwanogae Heo Heum and learn the basics of Hangryongsippaljang.’

Hong Geol-gae thought so and asked Seop-gu.

“I’m not ready for such a big responsibility yet. But there’s something I’m curious about.”

“What is it?”

“Is the situation in the east serious?”

“The East? Both Gaepo and Shaolin Temple are not very good. It’s to the point where Geulseon is about to pass away… Why else would he have come all the way here to ask for help?”

I wondered why he had come all the way to Mt. Mudang, and as expected, it seemed he had come to ask for help.

Seop-gu, unable to control his excitement, spoke to Hong-geol-gae.

“This is not the time to be talking about this or that. You should go to Gaebong while you’re at it. There are countless people who need you.”

“All right.”

Although Hong Geol-gae usually just loiters around the market, he is a fairly high-ranking official of the Open Movement. He cannot turn a blind eye to the difficulties of Open Movement.

Hyun-gong planned Hong-geol-gae’s future on Hong-geol-gae’s behalf.

‘I’ll do well in the Jeongsa Daejeon, get noticed by the elders and the Gaebangdo, and then go find Hwahwanogae and learn the basics of Hangryong Sipaljang, and then I’ll grab the Gaebangdo Ark.’

Elder Seop-gu slyly brought up the following story.

“By any chance, do the Tang family leader and the young man behind him have any intention of making a name for themselves in the Central Plains martial arts world?”

Hyun-gong, Hong-geol-gae, and Nam-gung-myeong. The three of them looked at Dang Mu-jin without any hesitation.

Until now, when four people gathered together, the final decision-making authority would go to the party leader. Asking the party leader for his opinion may have become a habit.

Dang Mu-jin was lost in thought for a moment.

Dang Mu-jin has received great help from Geul-seon.

When I first clashed with Samanbul, wasn’t it Geulseon who appeared with Namgung Jincheon and saved my life? But I never once repaid Geulseon or Gaebong, so now is the time to repay them.

Likewise, Shaolin Temple was also on my mind. Tang Wujin and Shaolin Temple have a very close relationship. Of course, there are some subtle aspects because of the Three Eyes Buddha.

‘Is there any danger to the party leader?’

The probability of that happening was low. Since the Northern Command was monitoring the activities of the Southern Sapa’s unmanned forces, it was safe to assume that there was no need to worry about being raided.

The military is also sufficient. The Tang family has several top-class masters, as well as Sam-an-bul and Jang Il-nam. If the Tang family is threatened, the Ami faction will not sit idly by, and even the Cheongseong faction has already returned to Sacheonseong.

And the most important thing was not the safety of other sects, but the safety of my friends.

“I don’t need honor, but I don’t intend to send my friends to dangerous places.”

If you think about it, maybe everything was decided from the beginning.

*

Now that he has returned to Mt. Wudang, Hyeon-gong must go to Hyeoncheon-dang and meet Yeongbo Jin-in.

However, Hyun-gong did not go straight to Hyun-cheon-dang, but waited for an appropriate time.

And then at some point, the perfect moment arrived.

‘Now is the time!’

Hyungong immediately entered Hyuncheondang. As expected, Yeongbojinin greeted Hyungong with a generous attitude.

Hyun-gong said while throwing away the lottery ticket.

“I’ve traveled a long way, so I’m late because I had to get my bearings.”

“It’s okay. Did you achieve anything?”

The moment Youngbo Jin asked, Hyungong’s head rolled quickly.

‘What achievement should I talk about? Martial arts? Internal skills? Connections? Or should I slyly make it seem like I killed the Ssanggeukhyeolong?’

After thinking about it over and over again until my head started to burn, I realized that it wasn’t the right answer. There was no need to hastily show off my accomplishments like before. Hyungong diligently showed off his accomplishments because he wanted to become the next leader of the non-partisan faction.

And Hyun-gong has been promised the position of the next leader of the Mudang faction.

Since Youngbo Jin-in won’t change his story as easily as turning over the palm of his hand, we should consider that the situation has already stabilized to some extent.

‘Now is the time to stop being so aggressive in trying to score points. It’s time to be patient and protect what you have.’

That is, we must be humble now.

Hyun-gong finished all of these judgments in one breath and answered in a serious voice.

“But as I traveled around the world, experienced many things, and tried to learn, the more I did so, the more I felt my shortcomings. It was a time when I realized just how foolish I was.”

“Hmm. The next leader shouldn’t be stupid…”

At Youngbo Jinin’s muttering, his heart sank for a moment, but Hyungong did not waver and pulled himself together.

This is just a lie. If you open your mouth hastily to defend yourself, you will be cut deep by the hidden truth.

“I will do my best.”

Upon hearing Hyun-gong’s calm answer, Yeong-bo Jin-in’s eyes lit up.

Because Hyun-gong’s attitude was clearly different from the past.

Youngbo Jin asked the question again.

“I heard you killed the Ssanggeukhyeolwang?”

For a moment, Hyun-gong almost answered, ‘Yes.’

But this time too, Hyun-gong’s head was spinning busily.

‘The fact that you brought up the story of the twin bloodlines means that one of the Taoists who returned to the shaman sect came to you first and told you the story of Gyerimsan.’

‘While telling the story of Mt. Giryeon and Ssanggeukhyeolong, there is no way we could have left out Hong Geol-gae’s achievements or the whole story we heard.’

‘Then this too is nonsense.’

‘If I had talked as if I had killed the twin blood prince, I would have been in big trouble. The right thing to do would have been to show a humble attitude.’

Hyun-gong opened his mouth calmly.

“How could that have been my doing? It was more my friend, Hong Ju-san’s, who contributed more than I did. If I had to pick the person who contributed the most, it wouldn’t have been me, but Dang Mu-jin. After all, it was Dang Mu-jin who cut off the right arm of the Ssanggeukhyeolong. Everyone who was there would think the same.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

Although Youngbo Jinin spoke a little indifferently, Hyungong noticed a faint sense of satisfaction in Youngbo Jinin’s voice. He had avoided all pretense.

‘Now is the time for me to stretch my sword.’

Hyun-gong desperately controlled his expression and asked Yeong-bo-jin.

“As I was coming, I noticed that the atmosphere of the non-partisan faction was unusual.”

“Yes. Over there, to the east-”

At that moment, a faint presence was felt outside Hyeoncheondang.

Knock knock.

The door opened and a familiar face appeared. It was the elder of openness, Seopgu, who had been talking outside.

“The old beggar is meeting the leader of the shaman faction… Oh my, there was a guest. I’m sorry. Jeong-eon.”

“I’m fine. I’ll step aside for a moment, so you can talk first.”

As Hyun-gong got up from his seat, Yeong-bo-jin asked with a puzzled look.

“What is Jeong-eon?”

Seop-gu burst into laughter.

“You don’t even know your disciple’s nickname?”

“Nickname? Wasn’t that guy’s nickname Seungryonggeom?”

“Huh. I heard that in the area around Sacheon where Hyeon-gong stayed, everyone called him Jeong-eon.”

Hyun-gong’s heart was pounding.

Suddenly, Dang Mu-jin came to mind. Just as the flying wheel that Dang Mu-jin threw away secretly returned to target the opponent’s back, the flying wheel that Hyeon-gong had thrown away a long time ago was also returning.

Youngbo Jin asked.

“Hyungong-ah. What are you talking about?”

“I kept quiet because the nickname Seungryonggeom was burdensome, but the people of Sacheon gave me a new nickname. It was an excessive nickname, but I thought it was better than a nickname that mentioned something like a dragon. It was also embarrassing to go around asking people not to call me that…”

Hyun-gong bowed his head slightly.

As if he couldn’t overcome his shame, Hyun-gong’s ears had already turned red.

A brief silence.

Soon, Youngbo Jin said with a satisfied smile.

“A person’s actions are revealed by his nickname. While I was sitting on Mt. Wudang wasting my time, you have shaken off even the last of your flaws. Today is truly a happy day.”

Suddenly, an idea occurred to Hyun-gong.

Last time, was it true that Youngbo Jin-in promised to become the next Jang Moon-in?

It may not have been a complete lie.

But looking back, it was an extremely unstable promise. It was a verbal promise between two people that could be overturned at any time if a problem arose.

But at this moment, Hyun-gong thought everything was certain.

Hyun-gong answered with a trembling voice.

“You are too kind.”

“It’s okay. Let’s talk again later.”

“yes.”

Hyun-gong bowed his head and slowly walked backwards as he left Hyun-cheon Hall.

Now, only Seopgu and Yeongbojin remain in Hyeoncheondang.

Hyun-gong looked around to see if there was anyone around him. As expected, there was no one.

Only then did Hyun-gong clench his fists and cheer quietly.

‘at las!’

After a long wait, Hyun-gong achieved a complete victory in his battle with Yeong-bo-jin.

This is also a case of the blue bird following the red twig.