Chapter 47: This Time to Mount Hua. (1)

This time, to Mount Hua (1)

A little over a month had passed since receiving the Gu family’s request at Haomun.

Within that time, many things, both big and small, had happened to Do Woonchu.

After Gu Yangcheon left Haomun, the first thing Do Woonchu did was not Gu Yangcheon’s request, nor the whereabouts of the information he provided, but rather to investigate information about the Gu family.

Seeing as he suddenly mentioned the Sect Leader, it was only natural to consider the Gu family as the prime suspect.

Do Woonchu needed to know.

Had the Gu family really kidnapped the Haomun Sect Leader?

If so, for what reason, when, and how.

And why did they send Gu Yangcheon to reveal that?

While investigating that, he also had to verify the authenticity of Gu Yangcheon’s request and the information he handed over.

A month was far too short a time to handle all of this.

Even with such limited time, Do Woonchu had no choice but to proceed.

There was no turning back without doing it.

First, he gathered information about the Gu family.

Haomun was known as one of the twin pillars of the Central Plains when it came to finding and hiding things.

Therefore, even if he couldn’t use the full power of the main sect, he believed he could find something if he truly searched.

However, aside from the information Haomun already possessed, no new details about the Gu family could be obtained.

Even the Four Great Clans wouldn’t be this difficult; it was strange, really.

It felt as if someone was deliberately cutting off the flow of information.

‘…Did they hide even Three Venerables within the clans?’

He even had to resort to such trivial thoughts.

Verifying the truth about the Yeokcheon Mountain Range that Gu Yangcheon had mentioned was too much to grasp within a month.

Given the distance, it wasn’t easy for information to travel.

However, he had heard news of a strange anomaly being found, so he was paying close attention.

Besides that, there was an overwhelming amount of other information constantly flowing in.

Yet, Do Woonchu had to maintain his composure and the mask he always wore, even in this situation.

Even if curious, one must not show it.

The very fact that one is curious is the greatest weakness one can reveal to an opponent.

He had lived his life with that mindset, and he prided himself on its correctness.

However, today, Do Woonchu had no choice but to set that mindset aside for a moment.

This was something he absolutely couldn’t not ask about.

After hesitating for a long time, Do Woonchu finally asked.

“…Young Master Gu, may I ask just one thing?”

“No, don’t ask.”

“What exactly happened to your eye…?”

The place Do Woonchu carefully pointed to was Gu Yangcheon’s left eye.

Gu Yangcheon’s eye, which had seemed fine, was not only swollen but also sported a black-and-blue bruise.

“…I told you not to ask.”

At the same time, Gu Yangcheon’s brow furrowed deeply.

---

‘He just had to ask about this…’

He was already in a foul mood from dragging his tired body out.

Haa…

A sigh naturally escaped him at Do Woonchu’s question.

This injury was a mark earned from a fight with a wild boar last night.

Damn it….

That crazy boar, I told it to calm down, but it wouldn’t listen even if it died.

What was scary during all this was that Gu Huibi kept laughing throughout the sparring match.

What could possibly be so exciting that she charged at him with that expression?

She said she’d help release the excess energy in my body, but somewhere along the way, it seemed like she was just having fun herself.

As a result, thanks to the sparring with Gu Huibi, I managed to release most of my energy, but I also ended up with an injury like this.

“…Something just happened.”

“I see…”

After the sparring match ended, perhaps realizing she might have gone a bit too far, Gu Huibi looked crestfallen the entire time.

‘…Where in the world do you find someone who swings their elbow after you dodge their sword?’

It was fortunate that Gu Huibi lacked internal energy right after dodging the sword, because if I had been hit properly, my head probably would have exploded.

I swear I’ll never spar with that person again.

Meanwhile, Do Woonchu kept glancing sideways at my injury, clearly bothered.

Honestly, wasn’t he just teasing me with his gaze?

Perhaps sensing my discomfort, Do Woonchu cleared his throat.

“…Ahem, I heard you had some business in Sichuan recently.”

“Business…?”

At Do Woonchu’s words, I paused mid-sip, my teacup hovering.

If it was about Sichuan, I only found Vigo… Surely, they couldn’t possibly know about that….

“They say you defeated the Thunder Dragon.”

“Ah.”

Ah, so that’s what he was talking about.

Only then did I feel a sense of relief.

Fortunately, it seems he doesn’t know about Vigo.

The matter Do Woonchu asked about was so trivial that I had already half-forgotten it.

“The rumor that the Gu family’s First Young Master broke the Thunder Dragon’s arm during a match, isn’t that about you, Young Master?”

“I didn’t break it… I just gave it a little tap, tap.”

There should have only been direct disciples at the Dangbyeong Battle Convention. Who on earth is spreading rumors….

“As there are many eyes, there are also many mouths.”

Perhaps guessing from my expression, Do Woonchu answered for me.

Honestly, I expected rumors to spread quickly after leaving the Thunder Dragon in that state. It was surprising it stopped at this level.

“The Namgung family is already desperately trying to suppress the rumors, so it won’t spread much further.”

Are they the Namgung family or something?

To actually manage to stop it from spreading….

‘Unless they sprinkled gold coins on the Beggars’ Sect, it seems impossible.’

Stopping spreading rumors is harder than spreading them, yet the Namgung family managed it.

They must have spent an unimaginable amount of gold.

It was even stranger that Do Woonchu, who must have heard I defeated the Thunder Dragon, showed no reaction.

‘…My bruised eye surprises him, but defeating the Thunder Dragon doesn’t?’

That’s messed up in its own way…?

“Anyway, what about the task I requested?”

In response to my question, Do Woonchu produced a letter from his robes as if he’d been waiting.

I took the letter without hesitation and opened it. It was news I’d waited a month for.

“…What is this.”

But something felt off.

After reading a few lines, I couldn’t help but frown.

The brief text in the letter stated the child’s whereabouts.

That the child had already left the search area and moved on with their grandfather from the time the request was received.

It was absurd.

The fact that the target had left the area, and suddenly left with a grandfather, was difficult for me to comprehend.

I heard they were an orphan with no family ties, so they had family? Moreover…

“Already left the area?”

“Yes, this is the information we could find within our limits.”

A boy around ten years old, a streak of white hair covering half his head, a specific mountain valley terrain.

Anyone would recognize the distinctive appearance, making a mistake unlikely.

If this is the case, then Haomun is lying, or the information I had was false, or perhaps…

Something else has changed.

‘This has become troublesome.’

If Haomun were lying, what would be the reason?

If I had to find a reason, it would be either they are keeping a close eye on the target to extract more information from me,

Or they believe I consider the target important and have kidnapped and confined them…

Either way, it wasn’t bad for me.

In fact, it would make things easier for me if they did.

What if the information I knew was wrong?

That’s a disturbing thought.

‘If he lied even in that situation…’

It was a past account told directly to me by Je gal Hyuk himself.

Moreover, if he lied back then, in that situation….

It was a truly chilling thought.

Would he have lied to me even while dying?

I couldn’t be sure because I thought he might have done it.

He was someone who, despite being a mere mortal with no internal energy, handled thousands of martial artists effortlessly using his intellect.

‘Even if that were the case.’

Whatever the case, there was nothing I could do right now.

I couldn’t go around digging for information myself.

I had to go to the Mount Hua Sect soon.

‘…It feels like troublesome matters are piling up all at once.’

“Young Master.”

“…What should I do about this.”

“Young Master…!”

“…What is it.”

I was walking through the marketplace after leaving Haomun.

Since there was nothing more to gain from talking there, I had said I’d return later and left.

And as usual, before going in, I intended to buy some yakgwa.

It felt almost like a habit now.

As I received a handful of yakgwa, Mu Yeon stood behind me with a sorrowful expression.

Why was he acting like that?

“…What is it? Why are you acting like that.”

“…I don’t have any money, Young Master…!”

Mu Yeon suddenly exclaimed.

What was he suddenly talking about?

Why would he assume I’d buy it with my own money?

Seeing him like that, I felt like teasing him a bit.

“What!? Why are you saying that now….!”

At my words, Mu Yeon wore an expression of despair, as if he knew this would happen.

Seeing his face, I immediately took out some silver coins from my pocket.

Mu Yeon looked shocked at my action.

Watching him, I chuckled wryly and said,

“What, it’s a joke, a joke. Did you really think I’d buy it with your money?”

“No… that’s not it.”

“No? Then why are you acting like that?”

“…If you have money, could you perhaps give me back the money you borrowed last time….”

“….”

“Yakgwa is ready!”

“Ah! The yakgwa is ready, I need to go quickly.”

I quickly grabbed the yakgwa, which conveniently came out just then, and started walking towards the clan estate.

Mu Yeon seemed to be calling out to me plaintively from behind, but…

I ignored him for now.

Sorry… I’ll really give it to you next time.

---

Perhaps the biggest change in Gu Yangcheon’s residence was the row upon row of wooden carvings.

The once plain and desolate residence had started to gain a bit of life, thanks not only to Wi Seol-ah but also to Sword Master’s hobby.

Elder Yi thought so as he looked at the newly finished eagle carving.

“He left Anhui.”

It was Sword Master’s question.

Elder Yi placed down the eagle he had been fiddling with, very carefully, lest he break it.

“That’s what I heard.”

“…Did something happen?”

Shin Ui is a person like the wind.

He doesn’t stay in one place for long.

The information that such a Shin Ui had gone to Anhui held a special significance.

Anhui is the territory of the Heavenly Venerable, and the Heavenly Venerable is looking for me.

In that situation, Shin Ui, whom Sword Master was searching for, setting foot in Anhui…

It was expected that something bad had occurred.

‘…But why.’

If the Heavenly Venerable knew that Sword Master himself was looking for Shin Ui, he would never have let him go.

But Shin Ui already left Anhui?

“Do you know where he went, Gu Ryun?”

At Sword Master’s question, Elder Yi fell into thought.

The reason Elder Yi had to head to Namgung was due to the family head’s request.

He had to look into Gu Yangcheon’s engagement issue, as well as matters related to Shin Ui.

Considering the wandering he did all the way to Anhui, he felt he had done far too much work compared to sending Gu Yangcheon to Sichuan; he felt like cuffing Gu Yangcheon on the forehead when he saw him later.

Shin Ui had already left Anhui by the time I got there.

Although there were many statements saying they couldn’t know exactly where he went,

I heard that Shin Ui had mentioned Shaanxi frequently at the place he stayed.

“…Shaanxi, that would be Mount Hua.”

A familiar region popped up. It was the place Gu Yangcheon was supposed to go in a few days.

“What will you do, Senior?”

“If necessary, I’ll have to find him myself.”

Sword Master himself? The person who was hiding his identity by working as a servant here, unwilling to be discovered, would personally go out of his way?

Could this be such an urgent matter for Sword Master?

Elder Yi couldn’t easily predict the situation.

When asked about his plans, Sword Master didn’t answer immediately.

And a few days later.

Elder Yi discovered that Sword Master and Wi Seol-ah were included in the schedule for departure to the Mount Hua Sect.

---

As a farmer, summer is a hellish season.

Not only the scorching sun, but also the crops obtained through hard labor often wither, resulting in earning less than the originally agreed-upon wages.

If you think about it that way, aren’t all four seasons like that?…

For Mang Dong, who lived his life helping his mother with farm work, summer was the most burdensome.

“Mother! I can’t sell this again.”

He cried out mournfully and tossed the crops he was holding onto the ground.

Damn it, this shitty season.

When will this beggar-like season pass again?

Every year, I wipe the same sweat and lament, but nothing changes.

Just then, the relentlessly shining sunlight was briefly blocked.

“What is it?”

Thinking perhaps it might suddenly rain, Mang Dong looked up.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t raining, but seeing the person standing before him, casting a shadow, Mang Dong couldn’t help but be startled.

“…Hoooaaah…!

So surprised was he, Mang Dong yelped as he fell onto his backside.

Blue-white hair catching the sun, skin as white as if it lived alone in the shade.

It was the image of the ‘heavenly fairy’ Mang Dong’s father used to rave about whenever he drank.

“Excuse me…

The heavenly fairy spoke.

Crazy, even her voice was this beautiful.

Mang Dong couldn’t calm his pounding heart.

“Y-yes!?”

“To get to Shanxi, which way is it…”

Shanxi…? What Shanxi?

Does the fairy live in Shanxi…? Mang Dong, not quite in his right mind, even had the absurd thought.

But he firmly grasped the line he was barely holding onto and regained his senses.

“Sh-Shanxi is east from here….”

“Thank you.”

Perhaps in a hurry, the fairy flew into the sky the moment she heard Mang Dong’s words… Hah, she flew!

Mang Dong exclaimed in a trembling voice.

“What the hell! Why are you yelling and causing a scene!”

“M-Mother, it’s a fairy, a real fairy!”

“…You crazy kid. I told you you lost your mind after getting rejected by Bang Suk last time.”

“No… really, fairy…”

No matter how much he tried to explain, his mother turned her head back, saying she had to get back to work.

There was no proof to corroborate Mang Dong’s words.

“…What is this?”

Only, a silver coin lay dropped where the fairy had been.

It was enough money for his family to eat their fill for several months.

“M-My god….”

Did the fairy leave it? Mang Dong put the silver coin into his pocket.

However, there was one point of confusion.

The fairy had asked for the location of Shanxi. All Mang Dong knew for sure was that it was to the east.

“…But why did the fairy run towards the west?”

Even after I pointed it out with my hand…

Mang Dong would never know the reason, even until the day he died.