Episode 226

Mu Young emerged promptly.

A not-so-vast yard stretched out before him.

On a small bench, a wrinkled old woman was cutting herbs with leaves that were shaped like human hands and drying them in the sun.

She appeared to be around 90 years old, yet with eyes that shouldn’t see well, she carefully picked up herbs and trimmed them with a small knife.

Swish.

Was it due to excessive force?

Despite her efforts to cut, she couldn’t control the sharp blade’s motion and accidentally cut her skin.

“Again.”

Even as blood started to trickle, the old woman’s tone suggested this was trivial. Mu Young hurried over and caught her just as she was about to wipe her hands with the nearby rag.

“…?”

“You’ve cut yourself again.”

Upon Mu Young’s remark, the old woman couldn’t help but feel remorse and attempted to retract her hand.

“Stay still. It won’t improve like this.”

The old woman gazed at Mu Young with sorrowful eyes.

He tried to staunch the bleeding by applying pressure to the blood points near the cut and using his own qi, but it was ineffective.

Her advanced age was the reason. She was so elderly that even her bleeding seemed unstoppable.

Once the bleeding ceased, the old woman smiled, revealing her few teeth.

Mu Young smiled back and tore a clean cloth from his inner garment, wrapping it around the woman’s hand.

Hands marked with scars. This mishap wasn’t a first.

He advised the old woman, who tended to the place, to rest, but she never heeded his words. Especially upon Mu Young’s return from a journey, she always prepared a delicious meal, insisting he needed to eat something warm.

“I apologize.”

The old woman expressed with her wrinkled eyes.

Mu Young gazed at her and smiled.

“Rest today.”

“Huh? No, that won’t do. I’m the elder.”

She always does that, calling herself the adult and him the younger.

Mu Young shook his head as he watched her wave her hand.

“I think I’ll have to go out.”

“For work?”

“Yes.”

“Then, I will prepare a meal for you.”

“It’s fine. We can go out to eat.”

“Such nonsense. Since the past, when you go out to work, you need to come home and have a home-cooked meal.”

The old woman shook off Mu Young’s hand and stepped into the kitchen with brisk steps despite her stooped waist.

Even if he tried to stop her, she wouldn’t listen. Just because it made her happy, he left her like that.

An unnamed village.

It is literally a small mountain village with no name.

A hundred years have passed since it formed, and despite being huge with over 1,000 people living there, no one knew about this place.

They were people who lived for generations thinking that the village was their entire world.

Mu Young, looking out the gate, saw someone approaching.

“House head.”

A good-looking man dressed like a merchant approached and sat down on the bench where Mu Young was sitting.

Thud.

At the heavy sound of someone sitting down, the old woman who had stepped into the kitchen stuck her head out with a happy look.

“Jong Pyo is here.”

“Yes. Have a nice day!”

“What now? Thanks to you, I live without starving.”

“What are you saying? I brought a lot of dried fish this time, so share them with the villagers.”

“You have such strength. Did you bring all that with you?”

The old woman was shocked to see the large baggage that Jong Pyo was carrying.

“Why are you so thankful every time? Wait. I will quickly prepare a meal.”

“Yes.”

Jong Pyo, who greeted him warmly, wiped his sweat a couple of times and looked in his direction as Mu Young said,

“I’ve located the whereabouts of the Sword of Wudang.”

The polite way of speaking was different from when he spoke to the old woman.

In addition to the name Jong Pyo, he also went by the name Chu Yeong and was one of the seven leaders in the Hidden Troops overseeing the Hunan branch.

“I suppose in Xi’an?”

“Yes, I can’t approach the officials there, but I’m certain. Currently, Wol Young is keeping an eye from a distance.”

“Mok Yeong’s demise. It seems the Sword of Wudang is implicated.”

“Yes.”

Mu Young’s gaze sharpened.

The Sword of Wudang.

Despite being hailed as the hero of the Justice Faction, he was viewed as a thorn in the side by many enemy leaders.

Their investigations all pointed towards him.

He, in search of the Dual Internal Qi Arts, was a target of scrutiny, disrupting their plans as if harboring a past grudge, and is now aiming for their downfall.

Consequently, Sang Gwang-Pyung, the Third Palace Lord, was demoted, Great Wolf perished, and three infiltrators within the Central Murim Alliance were eliminated, rocking the very foundations of the Palaces.

“Was the Third Palace Lord’s intuition correct? I underestimated him as a mere youngster.”

Before Sang Gwang-Pyung departed, he warned that whoever acquired the Dual Internal Qi Arts would become the Palaces’ greatest foes.

Subsequently, traces of Jinmu were found in Kunlun, thwarting the Second Palace Lord’s scheme involving Gu Yaja as bait.

Mu Young headed straight for Mount Hua.

There, the repository housing the Dual Internal Qi Arts was set ablaze.

He believed that the martial arts the Third Palace Lord fretted over should not fall into the wrong hands. Thankfully, the tome was destroyed in the fire, preventing its acquisition.

But then.

“That foolish woman.”

Jinmu wasn’t the sole source of his ire.

The Inner Palace Lord, Jong Ryeo-gyun.

Perhaps she is more to blame for this than Jinmu. If Sang Gwang-pyung had been alive and well, if he hadn’t been demoted by her schemes, things would be better by now.

“Inner Palace Lord?”

“They are heading to the Heavenly Strong Clan with troops.”

“Heavenly Strong Clan?”

“Yes. They say it was that Clan which stole the gold from the Money Hall.”

“……”

“Didn’t the entire plan go wrong from when Shaolin attacked the White Horse Temple? So it seems like they at least plan to secure the funds now.”

“It isn’t just funds. She probably aims to devour the forces of the Heavenly Strong Clan which fell from Evil Sect’s Heaven. Only then will she have room to fight with the Great Palace Lord.”

Mu Young, who took a moment to think, continued.

“Chu Yeong, pass on the information to the Inner Palace Lord. The Sword of Wudang is in Xi’an.”

For a moment, he looked Chu Yeong in the eyes.

“Are you planning to have the Inner Palace Lord handle the Sword of Wudang?”

“Yes.”

Chu Yeong seemed to know what Mu Young was thinking.

As the Inner Palace Lord, who had begun to be chased by the Central Murim Alliance, there was currently no place for her to stay.

Since she cannot enter the sphere of influence of the Evil Sect’s Heaven or the Demonic Cult, which was in charge of the Second and First Palace, she has just one choice.

As Mu Young said, the Heavenly Strong Clan has broken away from Evil Sect’s Heaven and is expanding their strength now.

Cheon Woo-myung and Won Gong-hu are holding out, but if the power of the Assassination and Inner Palace Troops reach them, and she manages to devour them, she can endure it.

But that can never happen.

The Inner Palace Lord has to fail. Only if she falls will Sang Gwang-pyung take charge of the Third Palace again.

Mu Young thought for a moment.

What if Wudang’s actions are revealed in this situation?

She will definitely try to direct her horse there, and then her troops will run for the Heavenly Strong Clan as intended.

Isn’t it her army which needs the Heavenly Strong Clan under her for the sake of long-standing?

Now that the foundation of the Third Palace was collapsing, the responsibility on herself and her troops wouldn’t be small.

Inevitably, they will start interrogating.

Knowing that her troops will attack the Heavenly Strong Clan and try to take it over.

What if everything goes as planned and Jong Ryeo-gyun, who turns the horse, collides with the Sword of Wudang?

The Sword of Wudang will die. Knowing her skills, he was sure.

“It doesn’t matter if either of the two die. Because we can just kill the one who gets exhausted from the fight.”

“I understand.”

“Tell this to all the remaining spies. They are leaking the wrong information to the Central Murim Alliance and they will not get involved in the fight.”

“……”

Chu Yeong’s face contorted at the command of Mu Young.

Leaking out wrong information is bad in this situation. This is the point where all their works get revealed. They had to risk their lives. Most of them will die too.

And the end is clear.

“It is time for the unnamed village to be abandoned.”

“……”

The goal was to use false information to lead the Alliance’s pursuit to the unnamed village and use it as kindling.

This was a lot crueler than the other orders, but Chu Yeong had to stay silent. This was because they knew the purpose of creating the obscure village in the first place.

A substitute for the Palace. As a fail bait.

Chu Yeong looked at the peaceful view of the village.

People working in the rice fields that resembled stairs, children playing happily, women doing laundry, and elderly people chatting while smoking cigarettes under the shade of trees.

At some point, the peaceful scenery reflected in Chu Yeong’s eyes changes.

An illusion created by the impending future.

Burning houses, people screaming and writhing in pain, corpses everywhere.

“Chu Yeong.”

“……”

“Don’t feel sorry. Strengthen your heart now. If the Palace fulfills its purpose, future generations will be able to live freely in a world for the weak.”

“……”

“They die fiercely for that cause.”

Mu Yeong’s cruel words crushed Chu Yeong’s heart.

And…

“…For the greater good.”

Chu Yeong returned with his usual cold gaze.

“Now let’s eat.”

Mu Young and Chu Yeong smiled innocently at the old woman who brought them a table full of food just in time.

“Let’s eat together.”

As if nothing had happened, as if the future ahead was uneventful.

The green-colored herbs growing everywhere as far as the eye could see swayed with the wind blowing up on the mountainside, making a rustling sound.

There is Cannabis there, which resembles a human hand.

Jinmu felt good.

This was like wrapping up all the ties he had to handle up until then.

After finishing his work, he stopped at the Drinking House and met Heo Sam-su again.

“How should I address you from now on?”

“Heavenly Lord.”

“I understand.”

Jinmu uttered it naturally, and Heo Sam-su accepted it as such.

Perhaps deep down, he still couldn’t admit it. Well, what does it matter if he understands or not? It won’t cost him anything.

“Are you heading to the Heavenly Strong Clan?”

“Yes.”

“Then, take this guy with you.”

The little boy brought by Heo Sam-su.

A guy named Hwang Shin, just over 20 years old, and was as blunt as his mouth was stubborn.

But then something strange happened.

Not only is he so small that it is hard to think of him as 20, but he also has a strange look.

The lines are too thick to be considered a woman, and the facial features too beautiful to be considered a man.

A smooth, well-shaped nose bridge and shining eyes, eyelashes long enough to conceal half the eyes, and lips that are blood-red.

Anyone could see that his hands were folded politely, and the skin so pale that if dressed as a woman, he would be called a beauty right away.

Is this guy good enough to compete with Zhuge Sansan? No, there is no need to even talk about this.

It was Jinmu who recognized Zhuge Sansan at a glance, but he couldn’t feel anything like that from this man.

“You… are a boy, right?”

“……”

At Jinmu’s question, Heo Sam-su raised his head and looked sad.

“A girl?”

“Boy.”

Right? Right?

But why does it feel like confirmation is needed?

No matter how odd he looks, when did Jinmu begin to think about all this? A girl or a boy…

Was it an illusion that Heo Sam-su, who noticed the change in Jinmu for a moment, felt like he was seeing a bug?

“Hm, ahem. I was just asking. Just.”

“Ah, yes.”

“……”

Damn you, damn Wudang. Did I end up following sodomy without realizing?

When the thoughts reached that point, Jinmu frowned in disgust, and despite the misunderstanding that was the only exchange that happened, Hwang Shin maintained the polite form without even changing his expression once.

People like that usually hide their secrets well. Hmm, I don’t like this person…

Heo Sam-su, who was looking at Jinmu watching Hwang Shin with a scary look, added,

“He is quite outstanding in the Lower District Sect. He was once a member of the Secret Guards, and the Clan Leader also wanted to take him as a disciple.”

Secret Guards?

Did Myung Se-chan try to make him a disciple?

This is nice.

“He will attend to the Heavenly Lord on the way to the Heavenly Strong Clan. You can contact us through him.”

In other words, it would mean serving as a servant to liaison, and also a watchdog.

He didn’t like it, but he was ready to accept it for now. Anyway, he had to keep in touch with the Lower District Sect from now on.

Anyway, now that I think about it, it seems like Won Gong-hu isn’t able to contact Myung Se-chan.

As I departed from the Heavenly Strong Clan, I kept reminding him of my need to reach the Lower District Sect and the Assassins Hall.

Did being with Cheon Woo-myung make him foolish as well?

“For now, let’s rest today and depart tomorrow. Get a horse ready.”

“Yes.”

There’s no need to decline when they offer to help.

I had been considering acquiring a horse, but finances have been tight, thanks to the remarkable people of Xi’an.

Jinmu was grinning happily, surrounded by a table full of drinks and snacks prepared by Lee Hyang-ran herself.

Eheh, just as I suspected.

It feels good to be back, as expected.

Ultimately, being the leader of the Evil Sect’s Heaven is a better position than being under the Taoist facade.

Tonight, I will drink like there is no tomorrow.

I’ll demonstrate what it truly means to walk on all fours!