Chapter 8. Even If I Must Abandon the World
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"Is this actually happening?"
"To be honest, I’m still a bit dazed myself."
After three days of waiting, I finally set off for Yeongneung with a single bundle on my back. I even managed to secure the title of Branch Master of Yeongneung County.
'Jong Wi-cheon, are you feeling quite stung? I was half-doubting it myself, but I never expected things to go this smoothly.'
The look on Ma Cheon-bo’s face when he came to see me off and saw my official plaque was truly a sight to behold.
"Is this for real? You’re a Branch Master?"
"Show some respect. You should call me Branch Master."
"This is driving me crazy."
Ma Cheon-bo scratched his head vigorously before grabbing my hand and urging me.
"I have no idea what’s going on in that head of yours. But you aren't going there to die, are you?"
"If I were going to die, I’d do it on my own. Why would I go through all this tedious trouble?"
"Right, I suppose so. Just... don't die."
"You, too. Make sure you become a more respectable martial artist by the next time we meet."
There were no other colleagues who came to see me off. It was only natural, given that I had incurred the wrath of the First Young Master. In that sense, Ma Cheon-bo was a decent fellow.
-I still don't get it. When he should have been kicking you out, why on earth did he hand you a Branch Master’s plaque and send you off? What kind of madness is that?
"When someone possesses both power and authority, they can exploit the loopholes in procedure and law as much as they please."
But Jong Wi-cheon would eventually pay a heavy price for that 'thoughtless' decision.
"Stay well."
I took in the streets of Cheongju County. I wouldn't be returning for a while.
"Mom, that man is weird."
"Shh! Just pretend you didn't see him."
Passersby, seeing the rabbit doll hanging from the end of my bundle, avoided me with looks reserved for a madman.
-I’d run away too. A guy who looks perfectly normal, carrying a sword at his waist and a rabbit doll on his bundle...
"Hmm. Is it that bad?"
But in my own way, it was a gesture of consideration to let Myoseonja see the outside world.
-Ah, the nostalgic world of mortals. It’s truly refreshing.
"You sound like a dog excited to go for a walk after the rainy season ends."
-Have you ever been sealed for several hundred years? Don't talk if you haven't experienced it.
It was an absurd story, no matter how many times I heard it. That this shabby rabbit doll contained the greatest medicinal pill and martial arts under heaven?
"Myoseonja, I say this now, but—"
-What is it?
"Actually, there’s a reason why I’ve dismissed Ghost Spirit’s words as nonsense all this time."
It was only after knowing Ghost Spirit for over a decade that he finally revealed his true intentions.
Before that, the things we talked about were—
"Mok Ju-gyeol, do you happen to like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms?"
"I wouldn't say I like it, but I’ve heard of it."
"Hmph, how pitiful. Still, you must at least know about Wei, Shu, and Wu, right?"
"I know that much."
"Then you must also know that the older brother of King Quan of Wu was called the Little Conqueror, Sun Ce."
"I told you, I don't know much about it."
"Do you know how that man died?"
"Well, he died a regrettable death, I suppose."
"There are two theories. One is that he was struck by a poisoned arrow from a guest of a man named Xu Gong, whom he had killed, and the second is—"
"……."
"Don't look at me like that. A man is trying to explain something."
"I get it, so please continue."
"There was a Taoist named Yu Ji in the old land of Jiangdong. He wandered the martial world with his disciples, performing Taoist arts and saving many people. His reputation was so high that he was revered by the common folk."
"……."
"However, Sun Ce, jealous of that fame, killed him. Sun Ce then died of rage after being cursed by that man."
"Now that you mention it, I think I remember."
"His top disciple was my ancestor."
"And here I thought you were talking nonsense."
"It’s the truth. My ancestor mastered the Taiping Qingling Dao left behind by that man and founded the Mount Mao Sect. The Mount Mao Sect is a sect that has existed since the dawn of the martial world."
……Sitting there listening to such things seriously, how could I not treat it as nonsense?
I thought this man had truly lost his mind.
-Well, the master who created me also talked about the Taoist Yu Ji quite often.
Perhaps that’s why he hated the state of Wu so much and favored the state of Wei.
"What do you think of Prime Minister Cao?"
"You mean that Cao Cao, the one who said 'I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me'? Isn't he a heinous traitor who humiliated the Emperor and killed the Empress Dowager?"
"Ahem! Of course, those who don't know better say such things, but the Prime Minister was a hero of a chaotic age who possessed the greatest military strategy and poetic talent of his time."
"Even so, isn't he just a mediocre man who built a country through treason only to have it snatched away by his subordinates?"
"You fool! That’s because the traitor Sima Yi did something cowardly!"
"It just sounds like karma to me."
"Shut up! Because of that traitor Sima, the entire Central Plains suffered for hundreds of years, didn't it? The martial world also suffered great damage during that period. The current situation of the Northern Orthodox Sects and the Southern Evil Sects is, if you look closely, a result of the aftermath of that time!"
Unable to listen to my recollections any longer, Myoseonja chimed in with a grumpy voice.
-I don't know what you're getting at. Why the sudden talk about the Three Kingdoms?
"Looking back, that man Cao Cao said one thing that was right."
-What thing?
"I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me."
I looked back quietly.
Even though I had walked for quite a while, the main base of the Ten Thousand Evil Alliance had not yet disappeared from my sight.
The sight of tall pavilions rising throughout that vast estate was as magnificent as the castle of a nation.
'This is the power of the Ten Thousand Evil Alliance.'
A legacy created by the great giant, Jong Yu-gang.
And the true face of a great sect that reigns as the hegemon of Hunan Province.
I had, quite suddenly, made an enemy of the First Young Master of such a place, the eldest son of Jong Yu-gang himself. Would the Alliance Leader Jong, with whom I had yet to build any bond, truly look upon me with favor?
I was certain he would.
"Jong Wi-cheon."
Keep one thing in mind.
"I don't know what happened in my past life, but in this life, I am the one who will betray you."
No one can betray me anymore. I will not allow it.
"My path of vengeance starts now."
And so, I will strip away all the glory you once enjoyed.
I will not let the likes of you ruin the family business that my late father built.
-What are you talking about, you madman. Did you catch the ghost of the Three Kingdoms?
"……."
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* * *
— — —
By the time the sun began to set, I changed my route and prepared to camp on a nearby hill.
I gathered dry wood for fuel, built a fire pit, and lit a fire with a flint.
-You’re skilled. I thought you were a courier. It suits you well.
"I have experience from wandering as a ronin."
A low cliff with an inward slope is the optimal place for camping. It blocks the rain and traps the warmth.
'The taste is terrible, though.'
It was much better than the food I ate in the Brain Prison. At least there was a hint of salt.
-What will you do after you finish eating?
"Circulate my energy."
I had been busy circulating my energy whenever I had the chance.
However, a significant amount of internal energy was still firmly lodged in my Dantian, like month-old stool.
-What kind of metaphor is that, 'stool'?
"It’s just a figure of speech."
I must absorb the energy of the medicinal pill as much as possible before arriving in Yeongneung.
That was also the reason I didn't bother riding a horse or traveling with a merchant caravan.
-Anyway, it’s serious.
"What is?"
-The internal energy that was originally in your body. Where on earth did you accumulate such crude, trashy energy? In my day, even the disciples of the Hao Sect learned better internal arts than this.
"I learned it from the person who was both my master and my foster father."
-…….
Myoseonja smoothly changed the subject.
-Do you intend to keep practicing the Ten Thousand Evil Alliance’s internal arts? You already have the Primordial Heaven-Shaking Art, the strongest internal art.
"One cannot immediately master top-tier martial arts without any foundation."
-So you’ll use it as a stepping stone?
"Not at all."
I grinned.
"I have yet to see the end of the Ten Thousand Calamities Ghost-Extinguishing Art."
Sometimes, I fell into the fear that it might be impossible to find the path of the Evil Path alone. But hadn't I gained the Primordial Heaven-Shaking Art to serve as a guide?
"Besides, I didn't just play around for twenty years in the Brain Prison. If I add the insights I pondered in the darkness, one day I might reach a realm that even Alliance Leader Jong has not touched."
My roots are in the Ten Thousand Evil Alliance. If I am to become the greatest under heaven, it is something that cannot be achieved without roots.
-You’re quite something. I’ll give you credit for your confidence as a martial artist.
"Why the sudden praise?"
-I’m a rabbit with a bit of recognition, that’s all.
I don't think that's the right phrase for that.
-Anyway, hurry up and absorb all the medicinal pill. Once you reach the required level, I’ll vomit up the next stage of the pill for you.
"Wouldn't it be more accurate to say you excrete it rather than vomit it? Is the name perhaps the Rabbit Excretion Pill?"
-Will you shut up!
Now that I think about it, it was strange. Where in that small body was the medicinal pill stored?
"Just asking, but can't I just cut your stomach open?"
-If you take it out like that, it becomes a deadly poison. It must pass through the large intestine of this Myoseonja to undergo a detoxification process before it finally transforms into a peerless medicinal pill.
"It’s excessively rational."
To the point where it doesn't even consider the feelings of the person eating it.
"Wait, do kids like it when you talk about poop, so you did it on purpose?"
-Stop talking about poop.
Anyway, whenever I talked to this rabbit, I felt like my own mind was becoming childish.
-You blame me for everything.
Myoseonja tapped my knee with its front paw.
-By the way, that Second Young Master, Jong Wi-ryang—is he a man you can trust with your back?
I chuckled.
"Yes and no."
If I were to discuss the qualities Jong Wi-ryang possessed, it would be this:
"Compared to his brother, his talent for martial arts was somewhat lacking. In a martial arts sect where everything is ultimately decided by strength, having martial arts inferior to one's brother was a major weakness."
-Indeed.
"But his character was gentle. That was both his strength and his weakness."
-Why would it be a weakness?
"He lacked a certain ruthlessness, and that lack of aggression ultimately made the difference."
-If he had been a brother born into an orthodox sect, things might have been a little different.
"It’s not for me to say, but the difference in the second-in-command was also significant."
-If it’s not for you to say, then just don't say it.
I poked the gently burning campfire with a stick for no reason.
"That is still a distant story. In any case, it is a pipe dream until I produce results. Handing over that letter was merely a way to make an impression in advance."
I had boasted to Ma Cheon-bo, but my guess was that the letter would never even reach Jong Wi-ryang’s hands and had likely been tossed aside somewhere.
‘One cannot get full on the first spoonful.’
"I am going to circulate my qi, so just stand guard quietly."
-To think you would dare use this master as a sentry.
‘Isn't it nice enough just to watch the stars? It’s not as if you’d sleep just because I do.’
Besides, this was no time to be sleeping with a light heart. Because—
— — —
* * *
— — —
In the dead of night, four figures stood watching the sleeping Mok Ju-gyeol.
"……He is sleeping quite peacefully."
"To have so little sense of crisis."
"Does he even understand who he has provoked?"
Following the three incredulous voices, a man in black spoke.
"Even if he had been on guard, it is the hour when exhaustion would make anyone drift off. I had my doubts since he seemed skilled at camping, but he is truly amateurish."
The man in black commanded.
"Destroy his dantian and sever his meridians. Finish it within a quarter of an hour."
"Understood."
The three assassins approached, masking their footsteps with the rustling of leaves…….
-Enemy attack!
Mok Ju-gyeol, who had appeared to be asleep, opened his eyes calmly.
‘They’ve arrived, my teaching aids.’
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