episode_0084

The next day came. Although I was a little tired, my body was full of energy, perhaps because I was going to Hongseongmun Gate.

After finishing the morning business, I changed into the clothes that Hongryeon gave me last time and while I was waiting outside, Chaejin also came out.

As she walked out, well dressed in Moonwoljeong’s uniform, I smiled and said,

“You also put on makeup that you wouldn’t normally do. It’s okay if you don’t do it, but it suits you if you do.”

Chaejin’s face turned red. I saw Chaeryeon smiling brightly behind me.

“Hong Seong-mun is our Moon Wol-jeong’s nemesis! Since we are going into enemy territory, we need to prepare. As you know, beauty is also a woman’s weapon.”

“Yes, I heard that. Even though I don’t understand it, women have their own world. Anyway, you did a really good job with the makeup. Did you do it?”

“Hehe. It was a fun experience. Why did my sister, who usually told me to do something like that, but didn’t do it, ask me to do it?”

“…Hey. Be quiet…?”

Chae-ryeon clicked her tongue and entered the guesthouse. I looked at Chaejin hesitantly and then laughed.

“Awkward… isn’t it?”

“As I said before, it suits you very well.”

“Ugh… thank you.”

People can’t help but feel embarrassed if they suddenly do something they haven’t done before.

It’s not the gentleman’s job to keep pointing that out.

I just nodded and Chaejin, who was as red as blush, took several deep breaths before calming down.

“Then, let’s take a cart to the entrance of Hongseongsan Mountain.”

“Yes…”

After checking the cloth in the cart, I climbed into the coach seat. Naturally, when Chaejin got into the back seat, Ginoya and Wiyeol came out from inside the guest room.

“ing? Where are you going?”

“I would like to visit Hongseongmun for a while.”

“Oh. To Hongseongmun. Why are you there?”

“It is said that with the funds obtained last time, they were able to renovate the building, which they had not been able to do before. I was invited to celebrate it.”

“I see. Then please tell me this too.”

Kinoya took something out of his arms and threw it. When I received it, it was a small bead.

“What is this?”

“It’s called a memorial district. I got it from a secret place a long time ago. Since Hongseong Mountain has a lot of spiritual energy and is a place where ghosts often flock, the presence of it can weaken the power of the ghosts. Please tell me congratulations.”

I received an unexpected gift. When I lowered my head, Ki Noya smiled and waved his hand, then tapped me on the stomach.

“What do you have?”

“All the man has in his hands is his fists and his spirit.”

“Beggar.”

“You damn old man?”

I smiled at the two who were bickering again. Now it’s time to go.

I also loaded the cart with things that Yohwan, who followed me, had packed, as well as sweets, cookies, and moon cakes.

“Gi Noya. While I’m away, I’d like to ask you a favor.”

“Hahaha. Just trust me.”

Actually, I’m a little anxious, but at best I’ll just ask Yohwan to cook and have a drink, right?

At that level, you can laugh and move on. Also, the stomach heat will be there to help you.

I also asked Yohwan to do a favor and drove the cart.

When the moving cart arrived at the entrance of Hongseong Mountain, two Hongseong disciples were already waiting at the entrance.

“Welcome!”

“Thank you for visiting!”

Sayun and Yuhee were now quite familiar faces. When I laughed at the fact that the two of them were out to greet the guests, Sayun was startled when she saw the things in the cart.

“Why did you bring so much?”

“An invitation to celebrate something happy requires a certain kind of reciprocation. Also, Hong Seong-moon and I are not strangers, so how can we stay silent? I brought some cloth and some food.”

“Ugh… You can just come…”

“I want to share the joy, so please don’t hesitate. Rather… I need to listen to this.”

“We’ll take it!”

Sayun and Yuhee heard what was inside the cart. Of course, Chaejin and I also heard it.

After leaving the cart at the government patrol post at the entrance to Hongseongsan Mountain, we calmly climbed up Hongseongsan Mountain.

Just as I had before, as soon as I crossed the mountain gate of Hongseongsan Mountain, an eerie energy enveloped my body.

Even though I thought I had become stronger in my own way through constant training, what is this stickiness that I feel…

“It must be really difficult for a man to stay on Mt. Hongseong for a long time.”

“It’s something that can’t be helped. However, a man cannot learn Hongseong Shingong.”

“But since I like the scent of a thousand plum blossoms, I still like Hongseongsan Mountain.”

“Hehe. That’s really fortunate.”

Around the time Sayun smiled brightly, the entrance to Hongseongmun Gate appeared at the end of the stairs.

As before, the Hongseong disciples were waiting.

“Exit.”

Unlike before, the one standing in front was Hongryeon. Following her signal, the Hongseongmundo members drew their swords and aimed their swords at me, forming a protective formation like last time.

At the same time, the soggy and gloomy energy that was trying to cling to my body disappears.

“Thank you for accepting the invitation. And you can come empty-handed…”

“How could that be? And it’s not that big of a deal, so don’t do that.”

“The guest himself is a great gift to us.”

Hongryeon smiled and spoke lightly before turning her eyes to Chaejin. Then he looked at her face and smiled.

“You put on makeup?”

“…what. Can’t I do it?”

“No. There’s nothing that can’t be done. I’m so happy that you did makeup for Hong Seong-moon’s event, which you didn’t do even for the official Murim League events. Hehehe. Does this mean that Moon Woljeong respects Hong Seongmoon?”

“Ugh. And what about you?”

“…What am I?”

“Why are you wearing that when it’s Hong Seong-moon’s event?”

It was just as Chaejin said. Hongryeon is wearing a uniform provided by the Murim Alliance. It was a white Chinese dress that clung to the body.

“There is some misunderstanding that this is used for conquest.”

“Oh. Is that so? You were the one who wore the Hongseongmundo uniform during the Murim Alliance event…”

“What kind of fuss is this?”

A calm voice was heard behind them as they smiled and talked.

The person walking from there was not his usual old gi, but a swordsman wearing Hongseongmun long-legged uniform.

Hongryeon and Chaejin stopped their conversation and retreated as they saw her lightly walking towards them.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude for accepting the invitation.”

“Thank you for inviting me.”

“You also came from Munwoljeong.”

“Yes. There is no way not to respond to an invitation. Geomseong.”

Geomseong slightly nodded to Chaejin, who bowed his head while holding his hand. Then he slowly looked at me and spoke to Hongryeon.

“Ryeon. Would you like to join me in introducing the newly renovated place to our guests? Hyun Ryu. You should prepare a meal.”

“Yes. Okay.”

“The rest of the disciples should follow me.”

As Ryu Hyeon moved away with his disciples, the only ones left were Geomseong, Hongryeon, Chaejin, and me. When Hongryeon was left in the wide space, she cleared her throat low and spoke calmly.

“Hongryeon, the great disciple of Hongseongmun, will guide guests to the new Hongseongmun. We hope you will be satisfied.”

It was a polite and neat voice. Seeing that attitude, both Chaejin and I straightened up, and Geomseong nodded as if satisfied.

“Hong Seong-moon is the sword master Na Ye-rin. I would like to guide our guests, so I hope they are satisfied.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Thank you very much.”

As the guests, Chaejin and I, gave in, they moved naturally.

The first place Hongryun took us to was a small building. When I saw it before, it was old and looked like it might collapse at any moment, so it was locked, but now it has definitely been repaired.

“This is Hong Seong-moon’s independent view. Here, we study Hong Seong-moon’s martial arts and pursue ways to advance further.”

“There is a similar place in Munwoljeong. Ours is based on Taoist Taegeuk… but this one seems to be made based on Cheoncheongjin.”

Hongryeon nodded to Chaejin’s explanation next to her.

Although they are from the same Taoist family, there seems to be differences in this area.

“Can I go inside?”

“It doesn’t matter… but there won’t be anything special to see.”

When I went inside with Hongryeon’s guidance, there really wasn’t anything special.

There were several empty buildings in the giant sect in Heavenly Moon. Could this be seen as similar to that?

As he came out, looking at quite a few books on the wall and patterns engraved on the floor, Geomsung spoke calmly.

“I will guide you to the training center.”

Most of the training centers, accommodations, closed training buildings, restaurants, and other buildings that I thought were shabby when I visited before were neatly renovated.

When I was surprised, Hongryeon smiled brightly.

“All of this is thanks to the owner.”

“No. It is the result of the efforts of Hong Seong-moon’s disciples. All I did was play around with Sechi’s tongue a little. I really didn’t do anything.”

“If you have too much humility, it becomes rude.”

Geomseong said something, but I just shrugged my shoulders. While looking around Hongseongmun Gate and looking at the newly added buildings, I saw one place and tilted my head.

A lot of things had changed, but one place didn’t seem to have changed much from last time.

“That’s…”

“Ah. That’s… where Jang Mun-in stays. It’s called Seonggwan.”

But why is it so shabby? Was there not enough money? When I looked at Geomsung, he smiled bitterly.

“We decided to renovate that place later when Ryeon becomes a scholar. To begin with, I don’t really stay there either. Also, there should be something new over there, but there isn’t anything new…”

“I see.”

There was bitterness in the Sword Saint’s eyes. After staring at that place for a while, she let out a small sigh.

“At this point, I feel like I’ve seen all the places worth seeing. Moonlight Island.”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for coming this far. Can you give me a brief guide? In particular, I will correct the mistakes I made while dancing with Ryeon last time.”

“Huh? Is it true?”

“Um.”

Geomseong nodded heavily and looked at Hongryeon. She just smiled softly.

Are you confident?

Well, a good opponent is someone who builds himself up.

“Then shall we have some tea?”

“That’s not bad either.”

“I will serve you the Cheonil Plum Tea I made this time. I’m sure you’ll like it. Please wait a moment.”

She spoke lightly and walked often. While watching Geomseong and Chaejin for a while, Hongryeon returned and offered me tea. A strong scent tickles my nose. When Hongryeon was surprised by the scent, which was different from the thousand-day plum tea I had tried, Hongryeon burst into laughter.

“How do you feel?”

“This is pretty good.”

I feel a different depth from what Sayoon created.

If Sayun’s tea has a refreshing taste, should we say that Hongryeon’s tea has a deep flavor?

Both cars had such great charm that it was difficult to say who was better.

“Hehe. I’ll wrap it for you when I go.”

“Huh? Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

If you give it to me, you shouldn’t decline it. Anyway, this is delicious.

I sipped tea and watched the sparring between Geomseong and Chaejin.

Of course, Geomseong was blocking Chaejin’s attack with great ease.

“But is it okay to do that?”

“Of course. This is how martial arts develops through exchange.”

“But if the vegetables become stronger…”

Hongryeon looked at me intently for a moment and then smiled confidently.

“Still, I will win. Martial arts or anything.”

Then I have nothing to say.