Chapter 116

Yeok Yong-ma’s shout embroidered the Mount Hua Sect.

But neither the second class disciples nor the first class disciples moved a single person.

They had seen the sajil collapse, but the identity of the apparitional figure troubled them.

That thing on the face—isn’t it a human skin? Even the voice is that of a woman….

Then where is the real apparition supposed to be?

And who is that person?

Amid the confused people, Hyeon Mun—no, Yeon Mujin—shouted.

“What are you doing! The children are dying! Move, move quickly!”

He kicked the buttocks of a nearby second class disciple.

Whack!

“Agh!”

“Move quickly!”

Thud!

“Ouch!”

“Honey! Cinnamon! Can’t you run already?”

Smack!

“Hyeon Mun, I’m your sahyung…!”

“Shut up and run! Are you planning to just stare blankly and then have to clean up corpses?”

Only when Yeon Mujin began to rage did the warriors start moving busily.

“Bring foods that boost yang qi! Also bring things that can lay the children down immediately!”

The second class disciples of Mount Hua Sect ran to all corners of the mountain.

Yeon Mujin, having started the people moving, approached beside Yeok Yong-ma and asked.

“Why is the kid looking like that?”

“It’s poisoning. They’ve been taking Occult Blood Grass for too long and their bodies couldn’t hold up.”

“Occult Blood Grass?”

Even though Yeon Mujin had already heard and knew everything, he asked deliberately from the side.

Yeok Yong-ma, whether doing it deliberately or simply flustered, looked only at the fallen children and spoke.

“Occult Blood Grass is an herb that suppresses a man’s vital qi. If taken for a day or two it’s one thing, but long-term use is fatal to men. While martial artists with built-up internal qi might endure, such young children cannot.”

“What on earth are you saying? Are you saying someone made the third class disciples of Mount Hua Sect take poison for an extended period?”

Yeon Mujin shouted loudly as if for them to hear.

The nearby Taoist practitioners who heard those words were shocked.

Poison? To the disciples of Mount Hua Sect? For a long time?

What kind of person could commit such an act?

Amid the bustling, agitated crowd, Hyeon Gyeom had not moved a single step from the beginning and was quietly watching Hong Yujin, and the Purple Cloud Divine Sword he held.

He held an attitude as if certain that the sword would soon fall into his hands.

Hong Yujin had heard the entire conversation between Yeon Mujin and Yeok Yong-ma.

He too did not budge from his place.

He called out the name of his only disciple.

“Hyeon Gyeom.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

“Not only to me, but did you give that to the third class disciples as well?”

Hyeon Gyeom, Yeon Mujin, the Mount Hua Sect elders, and the first class disciples all—

—all looked astonished at the Sect Leader.

The silent Hyeon Gyeom pressed down his voice and counter-questioned.

“What do you mean?”

“Hyeon Gyeom.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

“Where did the food and the money you brought to Mount Hua Sect come from?”

For the first time, Hong Yujin asked Hyeon Gyeom that.

“Well, of course I earned money by working….”

“What kind of work are you talking about?”

Hyeon Gyeom, who had been looking at his master with cold eyes, answered.

“I helped people. I beat up third-rate street thugs, retrieved lost items, carried messages or bribes, that sort of thing.”

This time Hyeon Gyeom, in turn, asked Hong Yujin.

“Sect Leader. Are you suspecting me, your Mount Hua Sect disciple?”

“Hyeon Gyeom.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

“I knew that Occult Blood Grass was mixed into the food you gave me.”

Hyeon Gyeom opened his eyes wide and fell silent.

Hong Yujin’s words continued.

“I thought it was your feeling toward Mount Hua Sect. Your desire to inherit the Sect Leader’s position as soon as possible. I thought it was ambition born of your plan to raise Mount Hua Sect with your strength. Hyeon Gyeom.”

Hong Yujin kept calling Hyeon Gyeom’s name.

Once, twice. Each time he called, the sigh buried in the name deepened.

“Did you have to deceive even your master with what you did? If you had not crossed the line, if your heart had truly been only for Mount Hua Sect, I would have considered bestowing this Purple Cloud Divine Sword upon you. Hyeon Gyeom.”

But there was no trace of regret or guilt on Hyeon Gyeom’s face.

Only greed and anger filled his gaze.

Yeon Mujin sighed inwardly.

He was exactly as Yeon Mujin knew Mok Gyeong-hae, the Sword Ghost of Mount Hua Sect.

He hadn’t changed at all.

“But you gave poison not only to me but to the young disciples as well? What wrong did the children commit? Hyeon Gyeom, answer. I wanted to forgive you. Why on earth did you do it?”

When Hong Yujin finished speaking, all the remaining Mount Hua Sect practitioners looked at Mok Gyeong-hae.

The elders and first class disciples, and Yeon Mujin who had stepped back observing him, all stared.

Mok Gyeong-hae cast his gaze around and looked at the Mount Hua Sect practitioners who were paying attention to him.

His private students, his sworn brothers, the ailing sajil who had collapsed.

Lastly, his master who had saved his life, Hong Yujin.

“Sect Leader.”

Mok Gyeong-hae sighed and slowly drew his sword as he answered.

“If you’re going to notice it, notice it quickly. You’ve only wasted time for no reason, haven’t you?”

Bukgung Yoon and the External Protection Troops were formally invited to the Southern Edge Sect’s banquet.

“Welcome.”

Pork, beef, mutton, chicken….

The prepared table was filled with all kinds of meat dishes.

“There’s not much prepared, but please eat a lot.”

The Southern Edge Sect’s Sect Leader, Won Rang Taoist, said with a smile.

He especially kept grinning at Bukgung Yoon.

“What on earth….”

“…Is this really a Taoist hall? We didn’t come to the wrong place, did we?”

“Are Taoists allowed to eat like this?”

The External Protection Troops murmured upon seeing the spread.

Judging by the setup, it looked more like a nouveau riche feast than a Taoist hall.

Moreover,

“Isn’t that bottle over there alcohol?”

“It looks like it, doesn’t it?”

Taoists drinking alcohol?

“Southern Edge Sect is a Taoist hall, but it doesn’t particularly forbid meat and drink. Southern Edge’s ethos is free-spirited.”

At the Sect Leader’s words, one of the elders immediately took offense.

“Free-spirited? In which Taoist hall in the Central Plains does one eat like this, Sect Leader? This isn’t free-spirited—it’s rootless.”

It seemed harsh to speak to a fellow Sect Leader like that, but Won Rang did not wipe the smile from his face.

Should this too be considered part of Southern Edge’s character?

“Sit down and eat.”

When the Sect Leader began eating, the Southern Edge practitioners also sat and started to eat.

Especially the younger disciples, their eyes fixed on the food, shoved it in greedily.

“Un Jeong! Un Hyeon! Eat slowly, slowly….”

The second class disciples saying that were the same.

With one hand they stuffed food in and admonished the third class disciples.

It wasn’t only the young disciples who hadn’t eaten meat in a long time.

At least the first class disciples and elders touched the food little by little to keep their dignity.

The elders were displeased with the Sect Leader’s conduct, and the first class disciples watched the elders’ reactions.

“It’s a good day! A good day! When will the disciples of Southern Edge again gather like this to share a meal? Isn’t that so, sajae? Isn’t it so?”

The Sect Leader loudly blown his horn as if he had no decorum.

The rougher his behavior became, the more the Hall leader sighed, and the elders’ brows furrowed.

Bukgung Yoon and the External Protection Troops found the occasion extremely uncomfortable.

“Lord of Flying Swallow Manor, is it not so?”

Failing to get a response, the Sect Leader asked Bukgung Yoon.

Bukgung Yoon reluctantly nodded her head.

An elder of the Southern Edge Sect, displeased by this, drank his cup and said.

“Southern Edge’s granary has been empty for a long time, and yet you used up the remaining funds to throw a banquet for outsiders. Do you have no sense, Sect Leader?”

Won Rang looked blankly at the elder who had spoken.

“Did I say something wrong?”

Won Rang smiled and shook his head.

“You’re right. Now Southern Edge hasn’t a single grain of food left.”

“Cough cough.”

Yang Gwan-wol choked on those words and gave a forced cough.

Seo Nak-il, picking up a chicken leg beside him, quietly put the food down.

Even the most brazen in the martial world, Yeon Mujin, would not find it easy to eat while hearing such remarks.

“Se-gwang, I think I’m bloated—pat my back a bit.”

“Deputy captain, you haven’t eaten anything yet.”

“Even what I ate this morning feels heavy.”

At Won-rang’s words the elders openly displayed their discomfort.

None of the elders touched the food.

Won Rang gazed at the table where they were sitting and said.

“Aren’t you going to eat that?”

“It feels like we’re swallowing Southern Edge’s future down your throats.”

“Oh? It goes down well for me. The food’s tasty, we can fill the young disciples’ bellies, and above all, dining across from a beauty makes the food taste exquisite.”

At that moment, someone over there made a small sound, clicking their tongue and muttering.

“What a rootless fellow……”

Even Bukgung Yoon, who had not trained in martial arts, heard it clearly.

Isn’t this going too far, she thought, and glanced at the Sect Leader.

But the Sect Leader continued to eat and drink and chuckle like a carefree person.

He even went so far as to ask Bukgung Yoon.

“Lord of Flying Swallow Manor, do you know what that means?”

Won Yang, the Training Hall leader sitting beside the Sect Leader, tried to dissuade him.

“Sect Leader.”

“Why?”

“Please stop.”

“What?”

“You’re drunk.”

“Won Yang.”

“Yes.”

“You know what day today is, don’t you?”

“….”

With those words the hall leader fell silent.

Bukgung Yoon, watching the signs, asked.

“What are you talking about?”

“The hall leader and I here are not originally from the Southern Edge Sect.”

“What?”

“The two of us joined Southern Edge after reaching adulthood. We were originally wanderers. When the elder calls me a rootless fellow, that’s what he means.”

“Ah….”

Bukgung Yoon let out a short sigh.

“But even if one joined Southern Edge after reaching adulthood, considering the Sect Leader’s current age….”

“It’s been thirty years since I shed my past and became a disciple of Southern Edge, yet to the elders I remain an outsider.”

At the Sect Leader’s frank confession, some of the elders clicked their tongues and others displayed obvious discomfort.

“The previous Sect Leader was a noble man, but appointing you as Sect Leader was his greatest mistake.”

There were even those who said this outright.

“Then among you, is there anyone who can step forward as Southern Edge’s sword and beat him in a match?”

No one met his gaze at Won Rang’s question.

Won Rang smiled faintly, downed another cup, and said.

“This is why my master appointed me Sect Leader. I possessed sword talent.”

But even then, an elder raised an objection.

“The position of Sect Leader cannot be attained by martial skill alone! Is this not a Taoist hall?”

“Exactly.”

“What?”

“Because Southern Edge is a Taoist hall, I could not entrust this position to you all. For the future of Southern Edge.”

“What does that mean?”

The elders’ looks toward the Sect Leader turned harsher.

As the atmosphere grew tense, the External Protection Troops quietly prepared to guard Bukgung Yoon.

Then one of the elders seated at the highest rank spoke in a low voice.

“Sect Leader. Let us resolve Southern Edge’s matters among ourselves. Surely you don’t intend to make a spectacle in front of guests?”

Won Rang quietly rose from his seat.

He spoke to his disciples who had been eating by glancing about.

“Second- and third class disciples, return to your quarters and wait. First class disciples, remain here.”

It was a declaration that he would, after all, show an unbecoming sight in front of the guests.