Chapter 31

Chapter 31:

Thwack!

Wei Yan-ho’s Go stone landed roughly on the board.

Wrinkles formed on the old man’s forehead.

He had heard rumors, but this was truly a style that made one’s head shake involuntarily.

‘Such an explosive style.’

Even playing Go in the middle of a battlefield wouldn’t produce such a game.

It wasn’t simply a matter of having an impatient personality or not. If having an impatient personality could produce such Go, then one would have to draw a sword every time someone’s sleeve brushed against them on the street to be considered normal.

But the man sitting across from him, wearing an arrogant expression, certainly didn’t seem to possess such a violent temperament.

That’s why he was first surprised that his impression changed so dramatically the moment he sat at the Go board, and second surprised that an even more intense style than that impression was pouring forth.

‘What kind of life has he lived?’

The more he looked, the more incomprehensible the man became.

“Aren’t you going to play?”

Wei Yan-ho, wearing his arrogant expression, opened his mouth.

“Hmm…”

The old man placed his stone down. There was no point in continuing the game any further.

“Oh? You’re not playing? Aren’t you going to ask for a take-back?”

“There’s no need for that.”

The old man asked Moon Yu-hwan to bring tea and quietly gazed at the board. On the board, swept by a storm, Go stones were scattered here and there in disarray.

It looked as if novices who didn’t even know what Go was had simply placed stones randomly.

‘This doesn’t fit.’

Neither the explosive appearance shown on the board nor the lazy demeanor usually displayed was the image of the talent he desired.

The old man took a sip of tea to calm his mind.

He needed to investigate a little more.

“You said you were practicing cultivation, didn’t you?”

Wei Yan-ho shook his head.

“No, I’m not.”

“Didn’t you say you came to the Martial World to uphold your master’s dying wishes?”

“That’s right.”

“…”

The old man’s eyes trembled.

“But you say it’s not cultivation?”

“I do it because I’m told to, but it’s not cultivation, you know?”

The old man coughed emptily.

It was hard to say his manner of speaking was particularly bad, but it was strangely a tone that made the person conversing with him feel irritated.

“Well then, can you tell me what kind of person your master was?”

Master?

Wei Yan-ho fell into contemplation.

How on earth should he explain Baek Mu-han?

Baek Mu-han was probably the most difficult person in the world for Wei Yan-ho to explain. It wouldn’t be different for other people either, but for Wei Yan-ho, it was truly a difficult task.

After thinking for a moment, Wei Yan-ho found the most perfect word he could use to describe him.

“He’s a con artist.”

The old man’s body shook greatly.

He nearly sprayed the tea he was holding in his mouth cheerfully onto Wei Yan-ho’s face.

“A, a con artist?”

Wei Yan-ho nodded calmly.

“He claims he’s not, but no matter how I look at it, he’s a con artist.”

“You’re saying your master is a con artist?”

Wei Yan-ho nodded without hesitation.

“That’s what I’m saying. When I think about the time I wasted being deceived by that man…”

Wei Yan-ho looked as if he might burst into tears from indignation at any moment.

The old man let out a deep sigh.

If the master was a con artist, where could one use someone who learned under a con artist, and if the master wasn’t a con artist, where should one use someone who calls his master a con artist?

“…Then what did you learn from your master?”

Wei Yan-ho blinked blankly and answered.

“What did I learn?”

“Well, you must have learned something?”

“Ah!”

Wei Yan-ho nodded.

“That would be… how not to get hit, how to get hit less, how to hit once more without getting hit, how I don’t get hit but you get beaten to death, and such things.”

The old man gave an empty laugh.

‘Was he a martial artist?’

But Wei Yan-ho’s appearance was nothing like that of a martial artist.

Not only the outstanding martial artists of the imperial court, but even the rookies who had just become military officers all had sharp gazes and imposing physiques without exception.

While martial officers who had reached a certain level knew how to contain such presence, expecting such a level from Wei Yan-ho, who seemed to have barely passed his coming of age, would be excessive expectations.

The old man nodded.

“I understand. Now go.”

Wei Yan-ho glanced at Moon Eun-ji.

The old man answered in an irritated voice.

“You don’t need to play more Go, so go rest.”

Only then did Wei Yan-ho show a foolish smile across his face and happily went outside.

The old man’s deep sigh filled the room.

Moon Yu-hwan looked at the old man with a somewhat troubled expression.

“Are you not pleased with him?”

“Are you asking if I’m not pleased?”

“…”

The old man shook his head.

“It was a waste of time. I can’t understand at all why you evaluate that person so highly.”

Moon Yu-hwan smiled gently.

Even though he should feel embarrassed by the old man’s reproach, Moon Yu-hwan seemed completely unbothered.

“What appears on the surface isn’t everything.”

“It could be even worse than what appears.”

“Great Master, how could I doubt the eyes of the Great Master who has observed countless people for much longer than I have? But that person certainly possesses something we don’t know about.”

The old man clicked his tongue.

“Tsk tsk, you really are…”

The old man’s anger somewhat subsided at Moon Yu-hwan’s good-natured smile.

“Why do you evaluate that person so highly?”

“Because I saw it.”

“You saw it?”

Moon Yu-hwan slowly nodded.

“While playing the great game, there was a single moment when I made a divine move. Even I thought it was a truly excellent move.”

“Hmm…”

The old man nodded heavily. Moon Yu-hwan was praised by the world as a master player. For the word ‘divine move’ to come from Moon Yu-hwan’s mouth meant it was truly an excellent move. It must have been a perfect move that could decide the flow of the entire game in a single stroke.

“And then?”

“Thinking the great game was now over, I took my eyes off the board and looked across. And then, I was able to see it. The face of that person looking at the board with a completely different expression than before.”

Moon Yu-hwan gazed into empty space as if lost in thought.

“That face is not something easily seen. It was the face of selflessness — the kind someone completely immersed in writing and absorbed to the extreme would barely show once in a while. How could someone who shows such an expression while merely playing Go be ordinary?”

But the old man was still negative.

“Didn’t you see it wrong?”

Moon Yu-hwan shook his head firmly.

“I couldn’t have seen it wrong.”

“Hmm.”

Moon Yu-hwan continued with a serious expression.

“Whether learning literature or learning anything else, learning is always the same. Countless people challenge it, but those who can continue learning without giving up until the end are rare in this world. Whatever he learned, if he can easily cross the boundary of selflessness at such a young age after continuing such learning… he cannot possibly be ordinary.”

It was a statement filled with conviction.

Normally, the old man would have nodded without a second thought.

Moon Yu-hwan’s words contained truth. And finding someone that Moon Yu-hwan evaluated so highly was an extremely difficult task.

But the old man turned his head with a displeased expression.

“Bah.”

The words were absolutely right, but how could such words come out after seeing such a pathetic sight?

Moon Yu-hwan’s words were correct, but the person those words referred to was definitely not a proper human being.

“Anyway, I have no intention of using that person.”

“Is that so?”

Moon Yu-hwan clicked his tongue as if disappointed.

The old man sighed deeply.

“I wasted time. No, since I was able to see you like this, I can’t call it a waste of time. In any case, I must leave early tomorrow.”

“Are you that busy?”

“Didn’t I tell you? The atmosphere in the imperial court is not good at all.”

Moon Yu-hwan was reluctant but had no choice but to respect the old man’s wishes.

Frankly speaking, what could he say when he wasn’t providing any help to the imperial court?

“I understand.”

The old man looked out the window with a somewhat empty expression.

“It’s regrettable.”

He had come to seek talent, but having discovered that what he thought might be a phoenix was actually a chicken, his sense of emptiness was indescribable.

Bang!

“Where did he go?”

Moon Eun-ji looked around repeatedly with a face full of anger.

But Wei Yan-ho’s figure was nowhere to be seen in the room. She seemed quite displeased with the conversation with the old man from earlier.

Indeed, having made such rude remarks while conversing with an old man who clearly seemed to be of high status, Moon Eun-ji’s mood couldn’t be good.

She couldn’t act rashly in front of her father and the old man, but the story was different when they were alone.

Moreover, hadn’t Moon Yu-hwan been embarrassed because of Wei Yan-ho?

“I’ll get this guy!”

Bang!

The door slammed shut again.

Then Wei Yan-ho poked his head out from under the bed.

“Did she leave?”

A triumphant smile bloomed on Wei Yan-ho’s face.

“I knew this would happen.”

It was a good choice to trust the ominous premonition flowing down his spine. If he had been lying on the bed without thinking, he definitely wouldn’t have had a pleasant experience.

“But why is that woman like that to me?”

Wei Yan-ho clicked his tongue.

What use would a woman be with such a personality?

Of course, Wei Yan-ho didn’t consider at all the emotions people around him might feel when looking at him.

“In any case…”

Under the bed was more comfortable than expected.

The dark and dim space was perfect for sleeping from broad daylight, and since he was out of other people’s sight, he could rest comfortably. The cold rising from the floor was a problem, but for Wei Yan-ho, that level of cold was no problem at all.

Wei Yan-ho stretched lazily and hugged the blanket.

“Until tomorrow…”

Wei Yan-ho closed his eyes with a pleasant smile. It had been a long time since he could properly indulge in laziness.

Night arrived.

Deep silence enveloped the estate shrouded in darkness. The rooms of those who had been reading until dawn also had their lights extinguished one by one, and the sounds of reading that had been seeping out gradually died down.

At a time when everyone was asleep to receive lessons and study from early dawn.

There were those moving stealthily.

“We’re ready.”

Those dressed in black night clothes whispered reports to someone with a bulky build. The bulky man nodded and opened his mouth.

“Subdue everyone swiftly.”

“Yes!”

As soon as those words ended, dozens of night prowlers leaped over the walls into the estate.

The bulky man smiled and walked slowly toward the main gate.

Creeeeak.

The unlocked gate opened, creating a grinding noise.

The man quietly looked at the estate.

“You should have listened to me.”

Nok Mok-pung smiled triumphantly and enjoyed the commotion taking place in the estate.

“Who are you!”

“Ahhhhh!”

“Bandits! Bandits!”

Rough sounds erupted from everywhere.

Nok Mok-pung closed his eyes as if listening to music and hummed a cheerful tune.

“Hmm, what a nice sound.”

A smile barely visible, buried in flesh, formed on his bulky lips.