CLS-Chapter 248

Chapter 248

Wei Yan-ho trembled as he watched the food being arranged before him, enough to make the table legs bend under the weight.

‘Where is this place? Heaven?’

Among the dishes currently being set before him, there weren’t particularly luxurious items or foods that money couldn’t buy.

But how should he put it?

‘My word, to think I can eat normal food here.’

Grilled fish that would be nothing special by the seaside becomes more precious than beef at a mountaintop. And this was the peak of Mount Hua, treacherous among all mountain peaks.

Wasn’t there a saying that the reason Mount Hua disciples had such good stamina was because they had to carry rice from the base to the main temple once a month?

The path up Mount Hua was so treacherous that ordinary people who entered the mountain ignorantly would often flee in the night or leave the mountain after trying to carry provisions just once.

To see such food at the peak of Mount Hua was nothing short of miraculous.

“What is all this?”

“Food, of course.”

“Unless I lack eyes to see or a nose to smell, I know it’s food. But I mean, what’s with all this food?”

Ho Cheol-san smiled broadly at Wei Yan-ho’s reaction.

‘It’s working.‘

When he had visited Wei Yan-ho’s room, the man had shown a reaction of ‘Everything’s bothersome, so get lost right now or I’ll kick your ass… but who are you?’ But when he heard about the feast being prepared, Wei Yan-ho had shown interest and eventually followed him all the way here, shuffling along.

‘Well, it’s not surprising.‘

The meals provided at Mount Hua were nutritionally perfect foods. And as always, nutritionally perfect foods were perfectly garbage in terms of taste.

How else could even Ho Cheol-san be living on Grain Avoiding Pills instead of the meals Mount Hua provided?

Ground grain formed into dumplings was the most flavorful food available here.

The reason Mount Hua had such a worldly disposition compared to Taoist sects like Wudang or Qingcheng was probably because life at the main temple was too harsh.

“…Did you carry all this up?”

“Yes.”

“From down there?”

“Of course.”

Wei Yan-ho’s eyes wavered.

Wei Yan-ho, who had leaped down cliffs with his bare body, couldn’t bring himself to descend the mountain again after experiencing climbing Mount Hua on foot. It had been a hellish experience where all the nutrients he had stored up drained away as he climbed, leaving him hungrier when he reached the peak than when he started.

No matter how much he wanted to eat human food, he realized that going down on foot was not something to do. There was a reason why the people living here silently endured a diet that even rabbits would covet.

But to receive food from the base while sitting comfortably in place! Wei Yan-ho was dumbfounded and pinched his cheek.

“Is this a dream?”

“It’s reality.”

“For reality, this is quite unrealistic. I never thought such a thing could happen…”

Ho Cheol-san smiled broadly watching Wei Yan-ho’s reaction.

‘Who knew it would be this effective?‘

Though he had spent a considerable amount of money on that beggar, it felt worthwhile at this moment.

‘But still, something seems a bit strange.‘

Ho Cheol-san slightly furrowed his brow and spoke.

“May I ask you something?”

“Sure. You can ask two things.”

“Then excuse my rudeness. I generally thought that as one’s martial prowess increases, one becomes more distant from desires and reality. Don’t greed and attachments disappear as martial learning grows stronger?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Simply put, it seems like desires themselves would decrease as martial prowess increases, but Master Wei Yan-ho still enjoys fine dining, so I find it curious.”

“Ah, that.”

Wei Yan-ho spoke as if it were nothing.

“That’s bullshit.”

“…Pardon?”

“I don’t know where such rumors started, but the strongest person I know was the embodiment of desire.”

Ho Cheol-san’s pupils trembled slightly.

“If you think about it logically, if desires decreased as one became stronger, there wouldn’t be occasional madmen appearing to conquer the martial world and cause chaos.”

“That makes sense.”

Ho Cheol-san nodded.

“Anyway, this food was prepared for Master Wei.”

Wei Yan-ho asked with a slightly puzzled expression.

“But is it okay for me to eat this?”

“Haha, of course.”

“My master told me to be wary of those who show kindness without reason. He said that humans are creatures who won’t spare effort to pick up a single coin that falls from their pocket even when they have ten thousand gold, so there’s no such thing as kindness without reason in this world.”

Ho Cheol-san couldn’t help but ponder as he listened to Wei Yan-ho’s words.

Was Wei Yan-ho so messed up because he was naturally ill-tempered, or was it due to the tempering by that radical master?

If Wei San-ho, who knew both the past and present, had heard this, he could have concluded that there were signs before, but it had gotten much worse after meeting that so-called master. Unfortunately, Wei San-ho wasn’t present here.

“It’s not without compensation.”

“Do I have to pay money?”

“Not money. We just want to clear up a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?”

“Yes.”

Ho Cheol-san spoke with a good-natured smile.

“Actually, it’s just a misunderstanding. There’s no real reason for Master Wei and us to have a bad relationship, is there?”

“That’s true.”

Wei Yan-ho was someone who made living peacefully his life goal. Whether it was actually possible or not, opposite to his master who wrapped himself in thorns and expected obedient children to naturally revere him while beating those who didn’t listen, living opposite to his master was Wei Yan-ho’s goal.

If he just lived opposite to his master, he wouldn’t get beaten to death anywhere. The problem was that lately, he kept living more and more like his master.

“So we prepared this gathering to eat and drink together and share our feelings. Actually, since Master Wei Yan-ho will become a hero of the future generation, we had a little greed to build friendship at this opportunity.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Friendship?”

“No, being a hero.”

Wei Yan-ho spoke with a blank expression.

“Because that won’t happen to me.”

“Why not? You seem plenty strong already.”

“Being good at fighting doesn’t make you a hero. You need the will to step forward for righteous causes and fight earnestly to have the qualities to become a hero…”

Wei Yan-ho trailed off.

But even without finishing his words, Ho Cheol-san could guess Wei Yan-ho’s next words.

‘He’s too lazy for that.‘

Ho Cheol-san had been thinking the same thing anyway. It was just something he said to make him feel good.

“Anyway, please sit.”

“Yes.”

Wei Yan-ho sat down happily. Watching this scene, Ak Seo-hui and Namgung Yeong-ryeong whispered.

‘He looks in a good mood, doesn’t he?‘

‘It’s fortunate that they seem to get along well.‘

The fact that they had made an enemy of Wei Yan-ho was quite burdensome for them too.

While it felt somewhat like being taken advantage of by Jang-il, if they could restore their relationship with Wei Yan-ho like this, it could be seen as a profitable deal.

“Is the food to your liking?”

“Oh, it’s like the food I ate down there?”

“Yes. Jang-il said that Master Wei ate the dishes prepared by that place’s owner. So we went there to order food.”

‘Writing an IOU, that is.‘

It was information obtained after being completely fleeced of even the last emergency funds in Ho Cheol-san’s private stash by Jang-il. As a result, having no money left, he had no choice but to use his status to get food on credit. How must he have felt writing an IOU to get food, but still, seeing Wei Yan-ho’s bright expression was consoling.

“That beggar told all kinds of stories.”

“Selling information is their job.”

“They sell it?”

“Yes, that’s right. Is there something strange about that?”

No matter how little Wei Yan-ho knew about martial world common sense, he couldn’t not know that the Beggar’s Sect dealt in information. This was common knowledge not just in the martial world, but in the world itself.

“So you’re saying he sold my information for money?”

“Well, um, that’s…”

If you put it that way, that’s what it amounted to…

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

Seeing Ho Cheol-san forced to agree, Wei Yan-ho glared.

“Where is this beggar now?”

Jang-il was in a dazed state of mind.

He had made good money today and was resting contentedly at his lodgings when suddenly the door opened and his colleagues burst in.

Then they spouted nonsense like ‘We don’t want to do this either, so please understand’ before forcibly subduing and carrying him off.

At first, he thought these guys were making trouble because they regretted the money, but…

‘Why is that person in front of me?‘

The place he was dragged to was the first-floor parlor of the lodgings. A large banquet was set up there, and Wei Yan-ho sat at the head seat, eating food like a beggar.

‘Seeing that really makes me feel regretful.‘

Anyone could see that Wei Yan-ho was suited for the Beggar’s Sect.

If he had entered the Beggar’s Sect from childhood and lived as a beggar, he would have become a tremendous beggar by now. Unfortunately, being born into the wealthy and affluent Guangdong Wei Family, he failed to become a proper beggar and instead became a beggar-like person.

If Wei Yan-ho had become an elder beggar, the history of the Beggar’s Sect would have been different.

Setting aside his regrets, Jang-il spoke.

“But why was I dragged here?”

“I don’t know either.”

Ho Cheol-san shrugged.

“Master Wei told us to bring you.”

He wanted to shout about whether he wanted to use “Master” for his colleague’s younger brother… but in the martial world where might makes right and ability determines status, it was common.

Come to think of it, Wei Yan-ho was now receiving treatment equal to or greater than Wei San-ho. Wei Yan-ho showed no signs of wanting to hide his abilities.

While there were some who failed to recognize his abilities and looked down on him, that was only because Wei Yan-ho’s reputation wasn’t sufficient yet and he was too lazy to show his abilities often. Wei Yan-ho, who was born incompatible with modesty, would show off his power when he did, but would never hide it.

“You called for me?”

When Jang-il asked, Wei Yan-ho slammed the table with the chicken leg he was tearing at.

“You beggar scoundrel!”

“What’s wrong with beggar feet!”

Wei Yan-ho was making the beggar feel worse than ordinary people would by cursing him as a beggar scoundrel. He was naturally gifted in this regard anyway.

“I heard you sold my information! You know your crime!”

Jang-il spoke in a bewildered tone.

“Ah, no, wait a minute. The Beggar’s Sect originally does that, and I’ve lived that way all along. What do you mean by bringing this up now?”

Wei Yan-ho spoke blankly.

“Why do you get the money when you sell my information? If money’s to be made, I should make it.”

“Huh?”

Now that he heard it, that was true, wasn’t it?

Jang-il’s face went stupid.