Chapter 127

Chapter 127

Outskirts of Hwayonghyeon.

“……Just for today.”

Gawol, clutching her trembling heart and exhaling deeply, glared at the walls of Uicheonjang visible in the distance. The heavy weight pressing down from the load on her back.

‘I need to propose a deal today.’

At first, it was about pride.

She thought the mere sect master of a mid-sized sect was looking down on her, so she didn’t go first. She thought if she built her reputation in the area by making silk, they would come to her naturally.

Direct disciple of Hwangryongjangju. The successor of one of the greatest masters in the Central Plains.

That was who she was. Though she couldn’t yet call herself a great master, it still meant there was no reason for her to bow her head first. Besides, hadn’t they been the ones to request first?

‘How irritating.’

That’s what she thought. While she could understand being busy, completely forgetting about it was too much, wasn’t it?

She thought that way until she saw Baek Riyun and the Muryeon Hall disciples blocking the Hundred Demons Night Parade in Akyang.

‘The Uicheonmun Master is a mass of inspiration.’

The moment she saw Baek Riyun fighting from afar, she knew. It wasn’t that she fell in love with that oddly smooth face. Just the inspiration bubbling up from the atmosphere he exuded. Ideas.

If she worked with him, it seemed like entirely new attempts would be possible. Just looking at him made ideas for how to weave fabric surge up. A leap in skill she’d never experienced before.

There was something about Baek Riyun that aroused creative desire. She had realized that.

‘I must catch him.’

She must. Because this was a first. Because this was the first time a person made inspiration surge just by looking at them. If she could observe more closely, if she could understand his principles of action, what then?

That alone was enough to reverse their internal power relationship, and now Uicheonmun’s reputation had risen enough to soar upward. There was no need for him to be desperate for her anymore.

The reason Gawol hadn’t even managed to speak to Baek Riyun during the two months since he returned with his disciples lay there.

The worry that she might be rejected.

“……Calm down. Gawol. Calm down.”

Huuu.

Gawol, calming her trembling voice with deep breaths, tapped her cheeks with two fingers and carefully adjusted the fabric on her back. The texture of the fabric flowing through her fingertips.

‘My skills aren’t lacking.’

She had refined them painstakingly for nearly half a year. Even before, it wasn’t that she couldn’t make it, but now she could confidently say she had become an even better tailor. Thinking rationally, there was no reason to be rejected.

‘Let’s go in. Today, I’m going to make this deal.’

Gawol, renewing her determination, firmly hoisted her load and took a step forward. And the moment she turned the corner toward Uicheonjang’s main gate, she saw someone.

“You are……?”

A familiar figure. The taciturn-looking Muryeon Hall disciple she had seen in Akyang.

‘I’m sure his name was Seomun Cheok……wasn’t it?’

She had heard vague rumors that he had taken on one Muryeon Hall disciple as a student. This Muryeon Hall disciple must be that disciple.

“S-Seomun Cheok, young hero. It’s good to see you. You’re an Uicheonmun disciple, right? I came to make a deal with Uicheonmun…….”

“Shh.”

Gawol, who had been stammering nervously, closed her mouth at Seomun Cheok’s action. Now that she looked, Seomun Cheok was staring intently inside through the open main gate.

“What…… are you doing?”

“Come and see.”

At Seomun Cheok’s taciturn tone, Gawol swallowed and carefully brought her eyes to the gap in the gate while still firmly holding her fabric on her back. And at the sight before her, Gawol lost her words.

“……What on earth is that?”

What kind of situation is this?

At Gawol’s question, Seomun Cheok shook his head awkwardly.

“I don’t know either.”

“Weren’t you an Uicheonmun disciple?”

“Not yet. I came to become one.”

I might need to reconsider joining.

Saying that, Seomun Cheok looked inside.

“You bastards. You’re slow as slugs. Do you think you’ll touch it within a week at that rate?”

“Go and ask! If that doesn’t work, at least lick it!”

Inside Uicheonjang.

Baek Riyun was kicking away the Uicheonmun disciples rushing toward the sword stuck in the ground.

Holding chopsticks with dumplings in one hand, as if he had just rushed out from eating.

***

Ttak.

“Hmm.”

Picking up a dumpling from the plate he brought out with his chopsticks, he looked at the disciples sprawled on the ground. The disciples turning their heads to avoid his gaze, covered in dust.

He casually kicked away Baek Risan, who was slithering toward the Uicheongeom, with the top of his foot and sighed. It was the fourth day since training began.

There had been no proper progress in the meantime.

“You’re lacking.”

He understood the first day. He had never properly shown these kids what could be called a master’s qi sense until now.

Unlike other masters, he could see enemy qi. So rather than spreading his qi sense and staying alert to his surroundings, he tended to focus on what he needed to do.

If he wanted to, he could catch the presence of someone fleeing with qinggong from a hundred zhang away, but he rarely did so. Because unless it was a threat to him, there was no reason to do so. Since the disciples had seen him like that, it wasn’t strange for them to judge his qi sense as weak.

But.

The second day, the third day. And now, the fourth day.

Nothing had changed. Only the timing of attacks differed. They hadn’t moved away from the idea of trying to secretly touch the Uicheongeom by avoiding his qi sense.

That made him truly disappointed.

“Mon……ster…….”

“Monster, you say.”

He crouched down next to Baek Risan, who was sprawled on the ground and wriggling, and tapped his head with the flat part of his chopsticks. The satisfying texture wrapping around his fingers.

“I even notice and block attempts while sleeping, so how much more when eating? Did you think you could avoid my qi sense?”

“It’s strange to sense someone approaching stealthily from over twenty zhang away……!”

“You can’t be called a master unless you’re strange enough to be outstanding. Didn’t you know?”

“…….”

“It’s not just me—others do this too. Anyone among the Murim’s Hundred Great Masters can do this much.”

The heads of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families. Or those who become the faces of their sects.

Not to mention such people, but even the Hundred Great Masters below them can mostly do this much. It’s something Moyong Hyeyeon, who became the Changcheon Corps Commander after him, can do, and for him, it’s extremely easy.

“The attempt to avoid my qi sense was good. But you should have brought a clearer method. I mean you should have devised a way to definitively scatter my qi sense rather than merely guessing you could avoid it by luck. Understand?”

“…….”

“I’m quite disappointed.”

Four days have passed as of today. Three days remain.

Could these kids who showed no development during these four days show something proper in the remaining three days?

“It seems we have guests, so let’s stop here. This attempt failed, so everyone return.”

There’s no point in continuing if the approach doesn’t change.

“……Okay.”

“Yes.”

“Alright…….”

At the two presences felt at the main gate, he gestured lightly and the disciples moved away one by one with deflated expressions. After they all disappeared, two figures cautiously opened the main gate.

“You are…….”

“It’s been two months, Sect Master. Have you been well?”

“I’ve been well. But more than that.”

Seeing the unfamiliar foreign woman and the familiar Muryeon Hall disciple’s face, he glanced around. The courtyard, messy from the commotion.

“Seomun Cheok. And the young lady whose name I don’t know.”

“Yes?”

“Please come inside first.”

This wasn’t a good environment to receive guests right now.

“I’ll guide you to the reception room. Follow me.”

As he led the way, the woman and Seomun Cheok quietly followed behind. The cold wind stirring up dust as it swept through the courtyard.

Seomun Cheok, who had been quietly following behind, couldn’t contain his curiosity and spoke softly. He must have been curious about the situation he saw through the door gap.

“Sect Master. That training earlier…….”

“It’s not training.”

“It wasn’t training?”

“Right. It’s not training but a test.”

“A test……?”

“We’ve arrived. Sit down. The young lady who came with you, please sit as well.”

Watching Seomun Cheok’s increasingly puzzled expression, he opened the reception room door and lit the furnace.

“I’m sorry I can’t serve you tea. I am Uicheonmun Master Baek Riyun. Young lady, you are…….”

“Gah!”

The woman, who seemed to have bitten her tongue while trying to answer hastily, made a tearful face and stammered her answer again.

“Ga-Ga-Gawol.”

“Gawol. A good name.”

“Th-thank you…….”

Is she very shy?

Looking at Gawol bowing her head deeply, he tilted his head and turned his gaze to the side. Seomun Cheok was staring at him intently.

“What is this test testing? It’s not an entrance exam or admission test, is it?”

“Uicheonmun doesn’t have such things.”

“Then…….”

“I was testing whether they’re qualified to accompany me on a commission. It seems like it will be quite a dangerous commission.”

“A commission…… you say?”

“Right. A territory protection commission.”

Protecting Gaecheon School of the Dragon Sect and defending Anhwahyeon from Hyeolung Mountain Manor’s territorial expansion.

On the surface, the content Haomun commissioned to Uicheonmun was that. To demonstrate Uicheonmun’s power.

The probability of combat occurring was low, and even if it did occur, the probability of it escalating to bloodshed was even lower. He heard Hyeolung Mountain Manor wasn’t a large sect, so at most, a few representatives would come out to cross swords and gauge Uicheonmun’s capabilities before leaving. Because Anhwahyeon was too remote and lacked interests to risk confronting a master.

But.

“There was information that it would be dangerous.”

“Information…….”

“Right.”

There wasn’t actually information, but since he saw enemy qi, wasn’t it similar?

He quietly continued.

“I don’t know what kind of danger it will be. But since there will be danger, I can’t help being cautious. That said, I can’t wrap up fully grown martial artists either.”

“So you’re testing them…….”

“Right. At the very least, they need to be able to flee if something happens, don’t they?”

Even if he responded, he couldn’t block ten hands with one. If worst came to worst, they might need to stick together as martial siblings and escape.

The minimum standard for that was touching the Uicheongeom stuck in the training ground. If the four of them could accomplish that together, they could at least flee.

“Will it be possible?”

“At this rate, it will be difficult.”

He shook his head at Seomun Cheok’s words. Whether it’s possible.

“They have sufficient potential.”

Right.

As far as potential goes, it’s sufficient. By his assessment, if those four displayed their actual abilities, even in their current state, they could touch the Uicheongeom. It might be somewhat difficult, but the possibility is sufficient.

But what about now?

“They’re not drawing out their potential.”

They’re not properly united.

Seohwa couldn’t properly voice her opinions while being conscious of her junior disciples, and conversely, the junior disciples respectfully honored Seohwa’s opinions and tried not to overstep their bounds.

The one most actively voicing opinions was Baek Risan, but his younger sibling wasn’t particularly good at using his head. If judging by strategic thinking alone, the ones most similar to him would be Seohwa or Seonwoo Gang.

As he laid out such stories, Gawol, who had been quietly listening, carefully spoke up.

“If-if you know what the problem is…….”

“Hmm?”

“If you know what the problem is, couldn’t you just tell them? That there’s this problem, so fix it.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why…….”

“Because it’s a problem those children need to solve.”

He could teach martial arts. But resolving human relationships was something only the parties involved could solve.

Especially when he, as the superior, stepped in—it might patch up immediate cracks, but it wouldn’t help in the long term. Even if he told Seohwa right now to have confidence, actually gaining that confidence was a different matter.

“Mental issues need to be handled carefully. Seohwa needs to realize her position on her own.”

The position of eldest disciple. The position of having to lead her junior disciples when the sect master is absent.

As he laid out such stories, Gawol, who had been quietly listening, blinked her blue eyes. And the following question.

“……That’s enough, isn’t it?”

“It’s enough, but why do you ask that, young lady Gawol?”

“I have a good idea.”

“An idea…….”

“In short, the story is she just needs to have confidence, right?”

If she’s not willing to step forward, create a situation where she has no choice but to step forward.

Gawol, now with a triumphant expression, looked at him. And the following answer.

“Create a desperate situation.”

“……?”

“It’s simple. That sword is your cherished possession, isn’t it? Something you can’t lose.”

“That’s right.”

“Then, tomorrow, sell it as stolen goods to bandits. So she can’t help but retrieve it.”

“……Explain in more detail.”

Oh?

That sounds a bit interesting, doesn’t it?