The Great Peng Waiting for the Typhoon (3)
I had to speak for a long while in my defense.
When I explained that I had not known the Wind Earl Breaking Sword’s identity, and that I had merely answered a joking old herbalist with a joke, their expressions seemed somewhat relieved.
“Your name is slowly spreading through the murim world. For your own sake as well, you must be especially careful in your actions.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
I ground my teeth at the Wind Earl Breaking Sword.
This was the most important time for the Taeul Sect, and he ruined the mood like this?
“Next, there is something I wish to ask…….”
Hong Mungi’s expression quickly became emotional.
It was the kind of expression that looked as if he might shed tears at any moment again.
“Is it truly the true transmission of the Taeul Sword Emperor?”
The experienced elders and the hall masters all looked at me with the same expression.
“Yes.”
“Huh…….”
“Hup!”
The elders closed their eyes and stroked their white beards.
The hall masters stared at my mouth with their eyes wide open, as if even the moment of blinking was too precious.
“Where…… and how did you find it?”
Because there were parts I could not tell truthfully, I gave them a made-up story that I had entered Maling Plateau, fallen into the Soul-Destroying Formation, and happened to discover it.
“……You went alone into such a dangerous place?”
Hong Mungi’s eyes trembled violently.
“……No. In Yueyang, I happened to form connections with Young Lady Seong Moran of the Iron Sword Sect and Young Lady Namgung Seonhwa of the Namgung Family, so we went together.”
They looked a little surprised that I had been with the Iron Sword Sect, but they did not make a problem of that part.
Still, their expressions remained full of concern.
“Why do you not think more of yourself? I know you are working harder than anyone for the Taeul Sect. But do you not know that no elixir can be exchanged for you?”
“…….”
Yes, this was originally the kind of sect it had been.
How much had I resented such a sect in my past life?
“……I apologize.”
Kang Chaeseok cleared his throat and cut in.
“Sect leader, how about stopping here on such a good day? Is it not thanks to Sowoon that the true transmission of the great-grandmaster, which might never have continued forever, has been continued?”
Hong Mungi looked at me for a moment and nodded.
“Yes…… Did you properly pay respects to the great-grandmaster?”
“Yes. I showed as much courtesy as I could. Until the moment he passed away, the great-grandmaster worried about the disciple left behind in the Taeul Sect.”
“You fulfilled his final wish. Right now, that is what brings me the greatest joy. I cannot help but praise you.”
“Your praise is too generous.”
Then I spoke of the reason the Taeul Sword Emperor had been trapped there.
They were greatly shocked that the Hell Demon Emperor, who had suddenly disappeared from the world, had been buried together with the Taeul Sword Emperor, and they were enraged that the reason he ultimately became trapped there was because of those who ruled the murim world at the time.
“Who was it! Who trapped the Taeul Sword Emperor?”
I had a rough guess as to who they were, but I did not bother saying it.
Right now, the Taeul Sect was not in a situation where it should focus on that.
I alone was enough as an incarnation of revenge.
How terribly painful was a life lived while harboring resentment?
“It will be impossible to identify someone specific. At that time, they must have feared the Taeul Sword Emperor as much as they feared the Dark Demon Emperor. If one had to say it, all the renowned elders who led the murim world at the time were the culprits.”
“…….”
“…….”
Even though I had spoken as indirectly as possible, the faces of the people in the hall hardened.
They were probably all roughly thinking of certain people in their heads.
And they would know well how great those people had become now.
Even so, it was clear that the fact that the five hundred years of humiliation they had suffered was ultimately caused by someone’s scheme could not be easily shaken off.
I continued speaking to change the atmosphere.
“I think the truly important matter now is how we should soar from here.”
There were still too many problems scattered across the future for us to live while looking only at the past.
At my words, Hong Mungi nodded.
“You are right.”
“Here, this is the record of the Taeul Sword Emperor’s true transmission. I wrote it down exactly as it was, so it will need to be organized later to make it into a secret manual.”
I took out the book I had personally written from inside my robe and held it out.
It was passed to Hong Mungi through the hands of the nearby hall master of Busaeng Hall.
Hong Mungi carefully opened the book, which was several times thicker than an ordinary book.
What I had written down was only the true transmission and final words of the Taeul Sword Emperor.
I did not write down the true transmission of the Hell Demon Emperor or the secret art the two of them had created together.
For a secret like that, the fewer people who knew, the better.
If it became known that the Taeul Sword Emperor and the Hell Demon Emperor had created a martial art together in there, that alone would create unnecessary justification for trouble.
“……Hmm.”
Hong Mungi, who had examined the book for a moment, soon closed it again.
“I have never even imagined a situation like this, so I do not know what should be done. I hope all of you will share your wisdom.”
A powerful martial art suddenly recovered.
And the Taeul Sect, far too weak to digest it.
A problem one had never experienced made it impossible to solve, regardless of age.
“……Well.”
“I will follow the sect leader’s opinion.”
Neither the elders nor the hall masters could bring up any particular opinion.
“How about first announcing that the Taeul Sword Emperor’s true transmission has returned and informing the murim world? Then a situation like the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering incident will not happen again, will it?”
Kang Chaeseok could not wipe the smile from his lips, as if his body was itching to act.
Most of the younger hall masters seemed to think Kang Chaeseok’s idea was good and nodded.
However, Hong Mungi, Jin Taesan, and the elders seemed full of worry.
After thinking for a moment, Hong Mungi looked at me with eyes full of expectation.
“Sowoon, what do you think?”
“This disciple will simply follow what is said.”
At my answer, Hong Mungi let out a small sigh.
“……However, if even a shallow opinion is acceptable, I will say one thing.”
“Yes! You hold the position of eldest disciple. I will not blame you for any opinion, so speak freely.”
I spoke of what I had planned from the moment I discovered the Taeul Sword Emperor’s true transmission.
“First, the Taeul Sect should close its gates.”
“…….”
People tilted their heads.
Closing the gates usually meant something like declaring surrender to enemies one could not resist.
Since it meant that the sect would not exist as a murim sect, people of the murim world considered it a disgraceful act.
Moreover, when closing the gates, the signboard had to be removed.
Considering how much murim sects staked their lives on that signboard, the phrase “closing the gates” carried a meaning close to death.
“……You mean closing the gates?”
It was only natural to question it, since this was the time when they should be soaring with new wings.
“Yes.”
“Have we not just received the true transmission of the Taeul Sword Emperor?”
“That is precisely why we must close the gates. And within the shortest possible time, everyone in the Taeul Sect must learn the Taeul Sword Emperor’s martial arts.”
“……Is that not something we can do without closing the gates?”
This was the Taeul Sect, which had never once closed its gates during the five hundred years of its weak power.
One could understand how uncomfortable Hong Mungi found the idea of closing the gates.
“Thanks to Senior Moyong Gang, we were able to persuade the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering. Since he personally announced it, externally, no one will question the Taeul Sword Emperor’s martial arts. But will there truly be no one interested in the Taeul Sword Emperor’s martial arts?”
“…….”
“For example, and this is only an example, what about the descendants of those who threw the Taeul Sword Emperor into hell together with the Hell Demon Emperor five hundred years ago? Will they also think the records of the Taeul Sword Emperor are nothing more than exaggerated rumors? And will they allow us to truly inherit and learn the Taeul Sword Emperor’s true transmission?”
Groans came from here and there.
They knew how strong the obsession of murim people was toward powerful martial arts.
They had already felt the Taeul Sword Emperor’s martial arts indirectly through me.
It was absolutely not something that could be overlooked.
“I am not unaware of how important the signboard is to the elders here. But no matter how important the signboard may be, to me, the elders of the Taeul Sect and my young junior brothers and sisters are more important.”
Before flames, it was nothing more than an object that would disappear without a trace into ash in less than half a day.
“I do not think one becomes the owner of a treasure merely by possessing it. I believe one becomes the owner of a treasure only when one can protect it.”
“!”
Everyone in the hall looked at me at once.
Their eyes were trembling violently like Hong Mungi’s.
I drove in the final point.
“A quail that freely moves through the bushes laughs at the Great Peng crouching in its nest every day. But when the typhoon comes, the Great Peng risks its life and soars, covering the world. We are now at the moment when we must wait for the typhoon.”
After finishing my words, I closed my mouth.
The gazes that had been focused on me and trembling soon lowered, as if ashamed of themselves.
Hong Mungi, who had kept his eyes closed for a long while after hearing my words, looked at Jin Taesan and asked.
“Outer Hall Master.”
“Yes.”
“How about we choose a new sect leader?”
“Pardon?”
“What?”
At the sudden words, the hall masters and elders were greatly shocked and looked at Hong Mungi.
“I say this because a young disciple is seeing farther and better than the sect leader who leads the sect. I think it would be better to just hand the Taeul Sect over to that brat and rest comfortably in the Elder Hall.”
Hong Mungi had a smile spread across his entire face.
Only then did the expressions of the people who realized Hong Mungi’s words were a joke begin to relax one by one.
“Keulkeul. Do not say such nonsense, Sect Leader Hong. The Elder Hall is so narrow that there is not enough space for Sect Leader Hong and your senior and junior brothers to stay.”
“Is that so?”
Hong Mungi looked at me and asked.
“What do you think, Sowoon? If you build a new Elder Hall, I will give you the position of sect leader.”
At Hong Mungi’s words, which treated the position of sect leader of the Taeul Sect as if it were the position of neighborhood alley leader, I shook my head.
“I am sorry. I still need to travel around the world, sightseeing and playing, so please suffer a little longer, sect leader.”
“You impudent brat……. When you were young, you were such a diligent and kind child…….”
With that brief joke, the atmosphere loosened considerably.
Hong Mungi spoke with a calm expression.
“Sowoon is right. For now, is it not more important to decide how to pass the Taeul Sword Emperor’s true transmission to the disciples than to announce it to the outside? If so, we must first properly inherit the true transmission ourselves.”
“……But sect leader, closing the gates is…….”
It seemed some elders still had resistance toward closing the gates.
“I know what you are worried about. Even when we had no martial arts, that signboard had not been taken down once in five hundred years. However, did Sowoon not say it? If the Great Peng clings to the mockery of the quail, then would it truly be the Great Peng?”
“…….”
“Also, the great-grandmaster went so far as to leave martial arts for us, so if we fail to properly protect them because of our pride, how ashamed will we have to be later?”
The elder who had spoken thought deeply again, then nodded.
“The sect leader is right. I was briefly mistaken.”
Just as their opinions were gradually coming together, Father poured cold water on it.
“I oppose this.”
“Why?”
“The Taeul Sect has no money right now.”
“Ah…….”
“Did the sect leader not say recently that we should seriously consider creating an escort agency?”
Kang Chaeseok suddenly stepped forward.
“Is money not coming from the iron ore mine? Should that not be enough?”
“How many people do you think are currently staying at the Taeul Sect? The Maosan Sect is installing the formation without payment, but that only applies to labor costs. Do we not still have to pay material costs and their living expenses? Moreover, the Changgung Merchant Guild still has not answered us regarding iron ore distribution. At this point, we should consider it a rejection. In the end, we have no choice but to rely on the Wang Family Estate.”
Kang Chaeseok looked back at me.
“As expected, we should send that brat to the Wang Family Estate…….”
Jin Taesan cut off Kang Chaeseok’s words and spoke to Hong Mungi.
“There will be endless places where money will be needed from now on. It is not over just because we obtained martial arts, is it? To let the disciples inherit the Taeul Sword Emperor’s true transmission, we will also need to obtain elixirs. To do that, we have no choice but to earn money somehow.”
“Hmm…….”
Faced with the wall of reality, Hong Mungi once again fell into deep thought.
At that moment, the elders stepped forward.
“Then how about we go out separately and operate an escort agency?”
“……I appreciate the thought, but how could we eat and sleep comfortably if you did that?”
The average age of the Elder Hall was in the sixties.
They had not learned powerful martial arts like those of other sects, so they could not go out into the world and work.
While everyone was caught in a situation where they could neither do this nor that, I carefully opened my mouth.
“I think that can be resolved somehow.”
“Hm?”
“What do you mean?”
The one most pleased was, as expected, Kang Chaeseok, who was obsessed with martial arts.
I took out an envelope, a letter, and two Great Swallow Divine Pills from inside my robe and handed them to the hall master of Busaeng Hall.
Hong Mungi, who received the items passed along with a dumbfounded expression, widened his eyes while reading the letter.
“What is this…….”
“What is it?”
“You read it too.”
After Hong Mungi handed the letter to Father, he hurriedly took out the deed and unfolded it.
Then Father’s eyes also grew as wide as a rabbit’s.
“……H-How did this happen?”
“Just what is written there?”
Unable to hold back, Kang Chaeseok asked.
“It says the Namgung Family will hand over the Hefei branch of the Changgung Merchant Guild.”
“Is Hefei not the headquarters of the Changgung Merchant Guild? Was there a separate branch?”
“It says they changed that headquarters into a branch. And they will hand it over.”
“Pardon?”
“Huh?”
Everyone looked at me with eyes asking for an explanation.
I scratched my head and said.
“I received it as repayment for saving the Divine Sword’s granddaughter.”
“…….”
“…….”
Everyone in the hall stared at me silently with their mouths wide open.
Especially Father, who looked at me with blood vessels standing out in his eyes, as if deeply moved.
‘Hm? Is he so moved that he is grinding his teeth?’
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