CLS-Chapter 118

Chapter 118

“The, the Sword Emperor?”

“Yes. That Sword Emperor.”

Seo Mun Da-yeon’s lips began to tremble.

If that were true, it wouldn’t be strange at all that everyone here had rushed off. No, it would be stranger if Gong Son-hyeong was staying at his post.

“The Sword Emperor?”

Wei Yan-ho, who had been nodding off, perked up his head at the mention of the Sword Emperor.

“Who is the Sword Emperor?”

“You don’t know the Sword Emperor?”

“No. I think I’ve heard of him, but I don’t know much.”

“How can someone who uses a sword not know the Sword Emperor…? He’s called the greatest of all swordsmen who have ever appeared in this world.”

“…You mean the greatest swordsman of all time?”

“Yes. He’s universally recognized as the greatest swordsman of all time. Even Wudang and Mount Hua cannot deny that the Sword Emperor was the greatest swordsman of all time.”

“That’s impressive.”

Those words definitely hit home.

If Wudang and Mount Hua, whose pride in swordsmanship could topple mountains, couldn’t deny that fact, then he truly was the greatest swordsman of all time.

“But why isn’t he famous?”

“He is famous. Incredibly famous.”

“…No, but then shouldn’t I have known about him? Like Zhang Sanfeng or Master Dharma.”

“Ah, that’s because…”

Seo Mun Da-yeon explained.

“The biggest reason would be that he had no faction.”

“Hmm?”

“The reason Master Dharma and Master Zhang Sanfeng are still called the ancestors of martial arts is because they each built up the factions of Shaolin and Wudang.”

“Hmm, that’s definitely true.”

“A person’s life is short. For that life’s evaluation to continue into the future, there must be disciples who will widely spread knowledge of his life, or there must be a faction that serves him. For example, even in the case of Confucius, without the disciples who served him, he would have remained just a scholar.”

“That would upset a lot of people if they heard it. I can already think of one person…”

“That’s the truth.”

Seo Mun Da-yeon brought her hand to her lips.

“Of course, it’s not something to say openly.”

“Hmm…”

Wei Yan-ho nodded.

“So what did that man do with such skills instead of building power?”

“It’s not that he had no power…”

“Yes.”

“They say he had a very eccentric personality, almost severing ties with his family.”

“…This sounds like a story I’ve heard somewhere.”

Wei Yan-ho’s expression began to turn subtle.

“Then didn’t that man cause trouble at Shaolin or Wudang or anything?”

“Come on, even if he was the Sword Emperor, would he have done such things? Are Shaolin and Wudang places where that could happen?”

“Then I guess not.”

Wei Yan-ho sighed.

“Tsk tsk tsk, does being good with a sword make your personality bad? Why is everyone like that?”

“Everyone?”

“Among the sword masters I know, there doesn’t seem to be a single one with a normal personality.”

Baek Mu-han had been like that, and Wi Jeong-han had been like that.

“Anyway, so that’s why it wasn’t passed down. But suddenly a secret manual appears? Are there people who fall for such things?”

“Fall for it?”

“If word spreads that a secret manual has appeared, that means someone saw it. If I had discovered the Sword Emperor’s secret manual, would I be crazy enough to tell others about it? I’d keep quiet and swallow it up. But the fact that word has spread is strange in itself.”

“That, that’s true.”

Normally, she would have noticed the strange point too, but the impact of the phrase “Sword Emperor’s secret manual” was too great.

But Gong Son-hyeong seemed to think differently.

“I never said it was a secret manual. I said it was remains.”

“Remains?”

“To be precise, the tomb of the Sword Emperor, whose final whereabouts had been mysterious, has been discovered.”

“Ooh.”

“Xinyang isn’t that far from the Sword Emperor’s residence. Moreover, the person who said the Sword Emperor’s tomb would be on Mount Na is called the Greatest Scholar Under Heaven Chu Ji-gaek, so it has credibility.”

“Ooh?”

Wei Yan-ho asked with apparent interest.

“That person called Chu Ji-gaek seems trustworthy?”

“He’s closer to a scholar than a martial artist. He’s particularly interested in ancient studies. The ancient artifacts he’s uncovered so far are not just one or two. However, rather than directly finding artifacts, he’s someone who verifies documents and circumstances of the time to find appropriate locations. When he finds a location through documents, other people rush there and dig it up. The hermitages of past masters he’s discovered alone number over ten.”

Wei Yan-ho asked with a somewhat sour expression.

“Isn’t that being an accessory to grave robbing?”

“…Accessory to grave robbing?”

Could such a term exist?

Gong Son-hyeong, who had heard of accessories to murder but never accessories to grave robbing, opened his eyes wide.

“I mean, that’s scholarship, but in reality, he’s figuring out where people’s graves are and telling others to dig them up. That’s being an accessory to grave robbing.”

…Come to think of it, that was true.

It was a moment when the mysterious figure of the martial world, Chu Ji-gaek, was reduced to a mere grave robber.

“The tomb owners must be beating the ground in the afterlife.”

Gong Son-hyeong quietly looked at Wei Yan-ho.

What’s with this guy?

His way of thinking is somehow a bit strange.

“But, it still helps the development of the martial world.”

“Tsk.”

Wei Yan-ho waved his hand.

“As times flow, there should be development. The world develops by creating new martial arts and surpassing predecessors. But if people are still saying that the martial arts of predecessors are the best and clinging only to old martial studies, there’s no development.”

That wasn’t entirely wrong either…

Somehow, conversing with Wei Yan-ho gave a strange feeling.

It didn’t seem like he was saying anything wrong, but listening to him gave a somehow unpleasant, mysterious feeling.

“Anyway, it’s not related to me, so now I should keep my promise.”

“Ah…”

Seo Mun Da-yeon looked at Gong Son-hyeong and said.

“I’m sorry, but could we get support for a carriage and coachman?”

“Normally it would be possible, but…”

Gong Son-hyeong awkwardly scratched his head.

“Right now execution is a bit difficult. As you can see…”

Looking at the branch office empty without a single person, it wasn’t hard to understand why it was difficult.

However, while she might not know, Wei Yan-ho didn’t seem likely to understand.

“…It’s absolutely necessary.”

“Hmm.”

Gong Son-hyeong thought and then spoke.

“In that case, I can provide support for a carriage, but a coachman is difficult. Since there’s a carriage we were using here anyway, it’s not difficult to lend it, but a coachman requires hiring personnel, and right now there’s no one to approve the deployment of additional personnel.”

“Couldn’t you do it yourself, Administrator Gong Son?”

“Personnel matters are the branch manager’s jurisdiction. If you really insist, it would be better to go to Mount Na and find the branch manager…”

Seo Mun Da-yeon looked at Wei Yan-ho with a subtle expression.

“Young Hero Wei?”

“I’ll be sleeping here, so come find me.”

“…I thought as much.”

Even though they hadn’t been together long, it was quite remarkable how predictable his reactions were.

“That seems difficult… Isn’t there any way?”

“If you really insist, I’ll provide support for a carriage and money. If the person you captured is definitely a demon, that much support isn’t difficult. But personnel is hard. One of you two will have to drive the carriage. It’s not really that difficult, is it?”

Of course, Gong Son-hyeong said this with Wei Yan-ho in mind, but the person who sighed at those words was Seo Mun Da-yeon.

“Not that… difficult… I suppose.”

Compared to pulling a cart, it could be called an incomparably comfortable task. But why did her eyes keep getting moist?

She had been delicately brought up in the comfort of her home…

At work, they told her to go check out strange information and sent her to mountains crawling with demons at night, and when she barely returned alive, now she had to become a coachman.

What kind of disaster was this?

“But, but I need to go to Luoyang now. I have to go straight to the Righteous Martial Alliance. But Young Hero Wei’s destination isn’t Luoyang.”

“It’s fine.”

“…Yes?”

“I don’t have a particular destination. Anywhere is fine. If anything, places with lots of people are better, so Luoyang is fine too?”

Seo Mun Da-yeon felt as if the sky was falling.

She had barely discovered light in the distance to escape from this dark cave, but while heading there, it felt like the cave had collapsed.

“You’re going to Luoyang?”

“Yes. Come to think of it, I’m also curious to see what the Righteous Martial Alliance looks like.”

“Ah, I see…”

Seo Mun Da-yeon desperately sought a way.

“Then, then isn’t Young Hero Wei interested in the Sword Emperor’s remains?”

“…What’s that used for?”

“It’s the Sword Emperor’s remains…”

Wei Yan-ho shook his head.

“My master said that secret manuals and such things aren’t really that useful. Besides, honestly, I’m already struggling to digest what I have now.”

Even with the Dream Training Technique allowing him to train all night while sleeping, making what his master had left him completely his own was an arduous task.

It wasn’t uncommon to wake up more tired than when he went to sleep, but what could he do?

‘But when does this end?’

He had been told that it would naturally resolve when he reached a certain realm, but he had no idea where that realm was.

“It might not even exist, and also… climbing the mountain again is a bit…”

‘That’s it.’

Somehow the last words felt like they encompassed everything.

In any case, the result was that Wei Yan-ho had absolutely no interest in the Sword Emperor’s remains.

Having her escape route blocked, Seo Mun Da-yeon asked Gong Son-hyeong with a sad expression.

“Then where is the carriage?”

It was a carriage that, while not sparkling, gave a neat feeling.

Moreover, having the Righteous Martial Alliance’s symbol clearly engraved on it was most pleasing as it reduced worry about getting involved in unnecessary disputes.

‘But I’ll have to drive it.’

Seo Mun Da-yeon sighed.

As someone who had chosen the path of a martial artist, she didn’t think driving a carriage was strange. But what made her sad was that the person who would ride in that carriage was a physically healthy lazy bum.

“Hmm.”

But Wei Yan-ho seemed dissatisfied with the carriage and kept peering inside.

“Wait a moment.”

“Yes?”

“Wait just a moment. I really don’t like this.”

Leaving those words, Wei Yan-ho shuffled outside.

What on earth was he trying to do now? The question arose, but it was soon resolved.

Wei Yan-ho, who had gone outside, returned not long after carrying a large bundle on his back.

“…What, what is that?”

“Bedding.”

“Bedding?”

Wei Yan-ho opened the carriage door and began neatly laying out the bedding he had brought inside.

“It needs to be at least this much to be called a carriage.”

“…”

Wei Yan-ho, who had created a bed on the floor, took off his shoes and got into the carriage.

“Let me know when we’re departing.”

Thunk.

As the carriage door closed, Seo Mun Da-yeon looked at the distant sky with a somewhat sad expression.

‘Mother.’

Today especially, she missed her mother who was at home.