Chapter 50 :

First-Rate Warrior Peering into the Darkness (3)

After being treated by the unidentified young man, Moyong Sangwon somehow felt a new energy circulating inside his body.

His body still had no strength at all, but he had recovered enough to barely perform breathing cultivation.

After recovering his vitality through one round of breathing cultivation, Moyong Sangwon looked at the small wooden case before him with complicated eyes.

The young chivalrous hero, who had desperately given him his own blood, had left the cave, saying he would go find food.

“Does he not know this is the Fire Monkey’s inner core?”

The Fire Monkey’s inner core emitted warm yang energy all on its own.

There was no way someone who had learned martial arts could fail to sense that energy, so he was probably pretending not to see it despite knowing.

“What exactly should I think his intention is?”

The sight of him pulling out something like a thin thread from his arm and climbing the valley had looked just like a spider.

While tearing off and chewing the dried meat the young man had left behind, Moyong Sangwon thought deeply about the young man.

#

After filling his stomach at an inn, Jin Sowoon immediately headed to a blacksmith.

“Those are bear traps.”

Jin Sowoon looked at the pile of bear traps stacked in one corner of the forge and asked,

“But you have quite a lot in stock.”

“The magistrate of the lower village said he would pay three times the price for bear gallbladders, so every hunter nearby gathered, and the bears were wiped out.”

After thinking carefully, Jin Sowoon asked,

“Can you adjust these to be extremely sensitive?”

“Sensitive? How much?”

“To the point that they activate if a rabbit steps on them.”

“Tsk. If I adjust them like that and a person steps on one, it would be a disaster!”

“I will not use them on people. Beasts have been appearing earlier than the season and harming people.”

“Still no.”

When the blacksmith firmly shook his head, Jin Sowoon took out two silver coins from his robe and set them down.

The blacksmith’s eyes shook violently.

“Is it really impossible?”

“…”

When he set down one more silver coin, the blacksmith said,

“I cannot make it so sensitive that a rabbit stepping on it will activate it, but I can change it so that even a squirrel stepping on it will activate it.”

The blacksmith smoothly tucked the silver coins into his robe.

#

It was a day later that he returned to Moyong Sangwon.

Setting the traps had taken longer than expected.

After stopping by the inn again to buy dumplings and bamboo-leaf liquor, he went to Moyong Sangwon.

Moyong Sangwon seemed to have been quite anxious during the day and welcomed me with delight.

“I wondered if perhaps you had abandoned me.”

“Haha, I am sorry. I had something to take care of.”

“Sniff, sniff. What is this smell?”

Perhaps because he had been very hungry, Moyong Sangwon’s sense of smell had become sensitive.

When I set down the dumplings and bamboo-leaf liquor, he seemed to forget even his position as the young family head of the Moyong Family and began hurriedly grabbing and eating the dumplings.

“Wh-What kind of dumplings are these? I have never tasted such delicious dumplings in my life.”

Every time Moyong Sangwon smiled, Moyong Seol’s face faintly showed through.

Seeing the smile she had rarely shown in the past in this way made my feelings strange.

“They are probably dumplings called Hunger.”

“That cannot be. There is no way.”

Moyong Sangwon, who had been swallowing the dumplings in haste, eventually choked.

“Keheok!”

When I handed him the bamboo-leaf liquor, Moyong Sangwon struck his chest and gulped the liquor down.

“Kkeuk! Is this also bamboo-leaf liquor called Hunger?”

“That is correct.”

Once his stomach seemed somewhat filled, he finally realized I was not eating at all, and with a reddened face, he subtly pushed the dumplings toward me.

“I filled my stomach at the inn while getting the food.”

“…”

Moyong Sangwon looked conflicted for a moment, then nodded a couple of times and reached for the dumplings.

“This is deeply embarrassing before a young friend.”

Only after eating all four portions of dumplings I had packed did Moyong Sangwon seem to regain a little energy.

“Everything is a mystery, but there is one thing I am most curious about.”

Moyong Sangwon spoke with an awkward expression.

“Please ask.”

“Do you know who I am?”

“When you were unconscious, you uttered the word ‘Moyong.’ From that, I guessed you might be someone from the Moyong Family.”

“That is correct. I am Moyong Sangwon, the young family head of the Moyong Family. But… who exactly are you?”

“My family name is Jin, and my given name is Sowoon. I am a disciple of a small martial sect near Hefei.”

“If it is Hefei… do you mean the Iron Sword Sect?”

I shook my head and said,

“It is the Taeul Sect, which is a little older than that.”

“Ah…! The Taeul Sect…”

Moyong Sangwon smacked his lips and scratched his head, seemingly embarrassed.

“A member of the One Hundred Eight Peaks… I am sorry. If it is Hefei, of course it should be the Taeul Sect.”

“Not at all. It must be because the Iron Sword Sect’s influence is that great.”

Moyong Sangwon lowered his head with a somewhat guilty expression.

“Well, this is truly… I have shown every kind of disgrace in front of my benefactor.”

“Benefactor? I merely did what I should naturally do.”

“Do not say that. Not just anyone can go this far for another person.”

“The teaching of the Taeul Sect is, ‘Always benefit people as far as your ability allows.’ I merely acted according to that teaching, so if you keep elevating me, I may feel embarrassed.”

“…Huh. This is the first time in my life that someone has made the name ‘Moyong Family’ feel small.”

Moyong Sangwon looked at me as if seeing a strange creature.

“…But how did you know to come down here?”

I could not tell him that I had tried to retrieve the Fire Monkey’s inner core from his corpse.

“While the Iron Sword Sect’s influence was growing, I was thinking about whether there was any way I could contribute to my sect. Then I heard from an elderly herb gatherer that clifffire grass grows on the cliffs of West Lake Peak in Wugang, so while searching the cliff…”

“And then you discovered me!”

Moyong Sangwon chimed in excitedly.

“That is correct.”

“A disciple who goes this far for his martial sect. I envy your sect leader.”

“I am simply returning what I received. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Moyong Sangwon nodded, then spoke again.

“Still, because of me, you could not obtain that precious medicinal herb. What should be done?”

Moyong Sangwon fidgeted with his hand inside his robe for a long while, then finally seemed to make up his mind and pulled out the wooden case.

“…Would you accept this instead?”

“…”

“As you know, this is the Fire Monkey’s inner core. I do not know what level your martial achievement has reached, but with this alone, you could easily reach the first-rate realm. If you share it with the disciples of your sect, it could become the foundation for the Taeul Sect to establish itself as a powerful sect no less than the Iron Sword Sect.”

The sight of Moyong Sangwon offering the Fire Monkey’s inner core overlapped with Moyong Seol from my previous life.

[Is this not a Blue Face Pill?]

[So what if it is?]

[It is fine. Please use it when you are in danger, Senior.]

[You and I are both just members of the Small Elite Unit right now. What I need right now is a comrade for survival. And how long are you going to keep calling me ‘Senior’?]

Looking at Moyong Sangwon’s actions, I understood where Moyong Seol’s kindness had begun.

Remembering the Blue Face Pill I had failed to refuse in the past, I pushed the Fire Monkey’s inner core back.

“I did not act in hope of a reward. So please take it back.”

“…If you feel the reward is insufficient, do not worry. It is shameful to say this with my own mouth, but the life of the young family head of the Moyong Family is not cheap. This will certainly not be the end of it.”

“If the young family head of the Moyong Family personally came out to find a spiritual medicine, then surely you have an extremely important use for it. For example, the Murim Academy regular exam.”

“……!”

“To intercept the heart of a father who cares for his child is not the teaching of the Taeul Sect. I will accept only your feelings, Senior.”

In my past, and in their future, I had already received all compensation.

I no longer wanted to leave even a little misfortune in Moyong Seol’s future, a debt I could never repay.

Then I drove the nail in for Moyong Sangwon, who was still conflicted.

“If a weak sect like ours came to possess the Fire Monkey’s inner core, could an incident like the Tae-Won Cheon Estate happen?”

In Taiyuan, the provincial capital of Shanxi Province, there was a famous martial family that had continued for ten generations, called the Cheon Estate.

The unique martial art created by its founder Cheon Inse, the Cheon Family Saber Forms, was an outstanding martial art counted among the ten great saber arts of murim. It had also played no small role in various large and small incidents throughout murim history, to the point that there had been much debate over whether it should be included in the Murim Alliance’s One Hundred Eight Peaks.

One day, a rumor spread that the Taiyuan Cheon Estate had secured an extraordinary spiritual medicine, the Empty Blue Stone Milk, and warriors from all over the murim world gathered in Taiyuan.

At the time, the influence of the Taiyuan Cheon Estate was also formidable, so even with thousands of warriors gathered, the estate’s defenses seemed solid.

However, for incomprehensible reasons, a fire broke out and spread greatly, and while that was happening, warriors hiding their identities invaded the Cheon Estate. That very day, the Cheon Estate suffered the calamity of extermination.

Later, no rumor about where the Cheon Estate’s Empty Blue Stone Milk had gone was ever confirmed.

Thus, the Taiyuan Cheon Estate vanished into history without even knowing the culprit.

This was why I had consumed the spiritual medicines I had secured until now while keeping them secret even from the people of my sect.

“…Hmm.”

“I have already decided, so please put your mind at ease, Senior.”

“Very well. I will respect your will. But aside from that, tell me what you need. No matter what, I will grant that wish.”

“I am fine…”

“Ah, do not think that just because I grant your request, the debt I owe you disappears. I say this because my heart cannot be at peace unless I properly express my gratitude. This is my will, so you must also accept it.”

“…”

I thought carefully, but there was nothing in particular I could say.

I had already eaten so many spiritual medicines that I could not fully digest them, and I would continue eating more in the future.

It was not as if I lacked wealth to serve as the foundation of my sect either.

‘Ah!’

A good idea flashed through my mind, and when I looked at Moyong Sangwon, he too looked expectant.

“How about giving one Blue Clarity Pill to a disciple of our Taeul Sect?”

“Blue Clarity Pill?”

Moyong Sangwon tilted his head.

Then he looked down at the Fire Monkey’s inner core, looked back at my face, and asked again.

“The Blue Clarity Pill is certainly a precious spirit pill of our family, but surely it cannot compare to the Fire Monkey’s inner core?”

“If I possess the Fire Monkey’s inner core, it will invite disaster, but if you personally give me a Blue Clarity Pill, no one will dare covet it.”

“……!”

A faint smile appeared on Moyong Sangwon’s lips.

“Very well. I will certainly give it to you in the name of the Moyong Family.”

For me now, eating a Blue Clarity Pill would not mean much.

In any case, there were plenty of spiritual medicines I could take, even if they were only minor ones.

It would be more efficient to use this opportunity to raise the internal energy of my junior disciples.

“Rather than that, please give it to our sect leader so that he may distribute it to the disciples.”

“…Why?”

“If I, as the eldest disciple of the Taeul Sect, receive it, it might be seen as favoritism. But if the sect leader chooses and another disciple receives it, would that not motivate the other junior disciples as well?”

“…Huh!”

Moyong Sangwon’s expression turned as if he had lost his senses.

Then he suddenly said something unexpected.

“…By any chance, were you promised in marriage to someone when you were young?”

Unable to understand the intent behind the question, I tilted my head.

“No, I was not. Why do you ask?”

For some reason, Moyong Sangwon looked relieved.

“It is nothing. Do not worry about the Blue Clarity Pills. With my gratitude, I will deliver three Blue Clarity Pills to your sect leader.”

#

“What a fascinating device.”

After tying Moyong Sangwon and me together, I climbed up the valley using the Flying Dragon Claw, and Moyong Sangwon spoke as if amazed.

But soon, seeing sunlight for the first time in a long while, Moyong Sangwon’s interest quickly drifted away from the Flying Dragon Claw.

“This is wonderful. Truly wonderful! I once thought I would have no other wish if only I could feel sunlight like this once more. You have granted that wish.”

Moyong Sangwon stretched and enjoyed the sunlight.

“Please do not overdo it.”

I had absorbed all the demonic energy, but his dantian was still not fully intact.

“Do not worry. I feel like I could run right now. What is your schedule from here?”

“It is about time for me to return to my sect.”

Considering the time needed to stop by the Namgung Family along the way, the schedule might already be tight.

“If you are not particularly busy, rest for a few days at our merchant group in Wugang, then come with me to the Moyong Family.”

“I will visit the Moyong Family another day. I also have things to do after returning to my sect.”

“Is that matter related to the Murim Academy exam?”

“…Yes.”

Moyong Sangwon did not hide his disappointment.

“I suppose so. …Still, you can rest for a few days before leaving, can you not?”

“That is…”

“Do that. If you keep moving so recklessly without resting, fatigue will build up and harm your body.”

“Underst—”

As I was speaking, I turned my head sharply at a strange sensation.

Although it was still the middle of the day with the sun shining brightly, no sound echoed through the forest except the sound of the wind.

“What is it?”

Moyong Sangwon still seemed unaware of anything.

“Were the ones who attacked you wearing black martial uniforms with red bands around their heads?”

“Mm? How do you know that…”

“Over there.”

When I pointed to one side of the forest, Moyong Sangwon looked at the place where nothing could be seen and frowned as if forcing himself to raise his internal energy.

As expected, his dantian had not fully recovered yet.

“……!!”

“Are they the ones who attacked you?”

“I am not sure.”

A moment later, twenty people who gave off no presence at all appeared from within the forest.

“…Yes. It is them.”

Instead of answering, I drew the Black Dragon Sword.

Moyong Sangwon wore a troubled expression.

“I am truly filled with nothing but apologies toward my benefactor. I have not repaid even a single debt, yet because of me, you have been dragged into something like this.”

“Senior, let us speak of such things later.”

“Very well.”

Moyong Sangwon stepped forward.

Although the twenty people stood only in front of us, they dominated the entire area around us.

There was not even a gap through which we could flee.

“What exactly is your purpose that you pursue me so persistently!”

“…”

The masked men with red bands still gave no answer.

Moyong Sangwon’s voice rang out loudly.

“Let me ask one thing.”

“Have you come to capture the young family head of the Moyong Family?”

“…”

The masked men in red bands remained silent.

Then Moyong Sangwon pointed at me and said,

“If you spare this child, I will willingly give you my head. Will you accept the deal?”

Before I could stop Moyong Sangwon, the man standing at the center of the red-banded men stepped forward.

“Impossible!”

It was a rough and sinister voice, like scraping metal.

He pointed at us and said,

“Eliminate them!”