The First Gate of the Hell Official Exam (5)
A human’s mental strength exerts an influence no less than martial force.
Fear of an opponent carved deep into one’s mind cannot be overcome merely because one’s own martial force has improved.
“Eldest senior brother…….”
That was the case with the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers now.
Their fear of Gye Yeonseok, who had ruled over the Taeul Sect over the years.
That memory was not something they could easily escape simply because they had learned new martial arts.
“Should we go somewhere else……?”
Gye Yeonseok’s uncomfortable gaze and Gye Cheolyeong’s crooked face.
Unable to endure that pressure, the three brothers looked at me anxiously.
“Why? From what I can see, this inn seems fine.”
“No…… It’s just…….”
Dongryong glanced toward Gye Yeonseok, then quickly avoided his gaze.
I spoke curtly.
“Did you do something wrong?”
“……That is not it…….”
“Do you owe them anything?”
“…….”
“The Gyeryong Merchant Guild took back all the money it had sponsored over the years, using Gye Cheolyeong’s withdrawal as the reason. With interest added on top. They are no longer our creditors.”
At my words, they pressed their lips shut as if pretending to accept it, but there was nothing they could do about their trembling eyes.
At that moment, someone called me from behind.
“Jin Sowoon.”
It was Gye Yeonseung, once the hall master of our Busaeng Hall.
“It has been a long time.”
“It certainly has. Have you been well?”
“…….”
The corners of Gye Yeonseung’s mouth trembled.
It seemed the Gyeryong Merchant Guild had not been doing well.
That was only natural.
In the end, Gye Yeonseung had been nothing more than a tool to raise Gye Cheolyeong.
Since Gye Cheolyeong had become like that, there was no way Gye Yeonseung could be doing well.
“The guildmaster says he wishes to see you briefly.”
I raised my head and looked at Gye Yeonseok.
Bloodshot eyes.
A raw appearance filled with resentment toward the other party.
It was understandable that the still-young Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers would be afraid.
“If he wants to see me, tell him to come down himself.”
“…….”
But what of it?
To me, they were nothing more than people who had used us like tools and tried to discard us.
“Can you not see how hard we have suffered? We were just about to finally eat.”
“……He means to share a meal with you.”
“Why? Is he going to pay for the meal?”
“……I was still once the hall master who taught you.”
“Hall master, the only thing you taught us was to submit to Gye Cheolyeong, was it not?”
“……!”
Gye Yeonseung’s face crumpled like a sheet of paper.
Even though I was grating on his nerves quite a bit, it was strange to see him not easily draw his sword.
By now, he should have drawn his sword while talking about being a Mount Hua lay disciple or something.
“…….”
Gye Yeonseung, whose fingers twitched, looked at Gye Yeonseok.
Gye Yeonseok, who had been silently watching us for a moment, nodded.
“The guildmaster says he will treat you to a meal, so let us go up together.”
“……Sounds good. You there!”
I immediately called a passing waiter.
“Cancel what we just ordered and prepare eight of the most expensive dishes in this inn. Ah! You heard that those people over there will be paying, right?”
“……Ah, yes. Understood.”
At my words, both Gye Yeonseung and Gye Yeonseok looked full of dissatisfaction.
“Let us go up.”
“……Senior brother, can we not eat here?”
“I thought about your next training. Since you have now become skilled in footwork, how about walking on your hands?”
“Geumpyo hyung! What are you saying? We cannot send eldest senior brother alone!”
“That’s right! I’m disappointed in you, Geumpyo hyung!”
Dongryong and Eunho sprang to their feet, and Geumpyo looked at the two of them as if they were traitors before slowly standing up.
Gye Yeonseok had rented out the entire second floor.
The wandering warriors were gathered in small groups, eating food and drinking, and on the table where Yeon Chuak, Han Geumtak, and Dam Cheolgak sat, the most expensive food and wine had been placed.
Before going to Gye Yeonseok’s table, I pointed to an empty table and spoke to the three brothers.
“You eat here.”
“Ah! Understood! Please go and come back, eldest senior brother!”
Geumpyo clasped his fists as if excited.
I sat facing Gye Yeonseok and Gye Cheolyeong.
“It has been a while.”
“……You look well. Did your household circumstances improve after abandoning the Gyeryong Merchant Guild and clinging to the Wang Family Estate?”
“To be precise, the Taeul Sect did not abandon the Gyeryong Merchant Guild. The Gyeryong Merchant Guild ran away from the Taeul Sect of its own accord. Gye Cheolyeong paid the price for that.”
“Aeu, awu, aeu.”
Whatever made him so angry, Gye Cheolyeong kept drooling while glaring at me as if he wanted to kill me.
“So, does the money of the Wang Family Estate taste different?”
“Did you not know? The Taeul Sect recently discovered a mine. Ah, we also came to possess the Hefei branch of the Changgung Merchant Guild. Now there is no need to tolerate people who flaunt their money like before. Though Estate Lord Wang is different from the Gyeryong Merchant Guildmaster from the very start, in terms of character.”
“…….”
“Ah, and you must have heard that we also recovered the Taeul Sword Emperor’s true transmission, right? Haha, you should have waited just a little longer. If you had, Gye Cheolyeong might have inherited the Taeul Sword Emperor’s true transmission and participated in the Martial Academy regular examination himself.”
In Gye Yeonseok’s eyes was longing for the opportunity he had missed right before his nose.
Even an ordinary person would feel wronged if they were in Gye Yeonseok’s position, so I could not imagine what kind of hellish days a greedy man like him must have been spending.
“Enough. Why did you call me? We are not on terms where we can sit together amicably and share a meal, are we?”
From the moment he had brought out his ruined son to take the Martial Academy regular examination, Gye Yeonseok’s desire was no different from having thrown him into hell.
I had no hobby of tormenting someone living in hell.
He could just live like that.
“……The Taeul Sect owes me a debt.”
What kind of fresh nonsense was this?
“It was the Gyeryong Merchant Guild that extended a hand when the Taeul Sect was at its most difficult.”
The Gye Yeonseok who once flaunted money was gone.
The guild and its financial power were probably still intact, but with Gye Cheolyeong ending up like that, all the plans he had set for the future had fallen apart.
And for Gye Yeonseok, who had to lead wandering warriors out to the Martial Academy exam, the dignity he had built through financial power in the past had long since vanished.
“The fact that the Taeul Sect could take the Wang Family Estate’s hand, and the fact that it now has the mine and the Hefei branch of the Changgung Merchant Guild, are all thanks to the Gyeryong Merchant Guild.”
I quietly listened to his nonsense.
“…….”
“Just because the money was repaid, just because interest was paid, it does not disappear. A debt of kindness can only be repaid with kindness!”
He continued speaking as if convinced by his own words.
“Your debt. The debt of your fellow disciples. You repay it.”
“……?”
At the table on one side, the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers, who had been eating the food that came out, stopped their hands and looked this way.
“Join our Cheolyeong. Help each other and enter the Martial Academy. I have already hired one hundred famous wandering warriors. This will absolutely not be a losing deal for you either. Repay my kindness with that.”
“…….”
I thought quietly.
Why was Gye Yeonseok saying such things to me, someone from the Taeul Sect he considered insignificant, and especially someone who had a role in making Gye Cheolyeong a cripple?
It did not take long for the answer to come.
‘Ah, it must be because of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.’
The incident with the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering had not spread publicly.
The Taeul Sect had also ordered people to keep quiet, and there was no way the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering would go around spreading their own mistake everywhere.
But if someone had continued watching the Taeul Sect…… if someone had been thinking of taking revenge on the Taeul Sect someday…….
‘They could not help but know.’
And he must have thought I, who had not backed down even an inch against Hua Jeongsan and Jong Byeokgi of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, would be of help to them.
Then Gye Yeonseung’s attitude and the patience he had shown all made sense.
“Puhuhuhu.”
Once that series of thoughts came together, laughter burst out.
“……!”
I laughed lightly, but the atmosphere on the second floor sank cold in an instant.
The wandering warriors sitting with Yeon Chuak also stopped with their cups halfway to their mouths.
The Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers put down their chopsticks and prepared to draw their swords at any moment.
“You should have shown some real kindness, then.”
“…….”
“You could have offered sponsorship and given the children a few kind words. When holding a feast, you could have been generous with food. When Cheolyeong did something wrong, you could have come and apologized instead of resolving it with money.”
“……Aeu, ueu, aah.”
“You say we owe you kindness? You have to have given us kindness for us to owe it, do you not?”
“…….”
“If you came in to apply for the Martial Academy early examination, you should have at least tried to get along with the Taeul Sect. Whose idea was it to absolutely refuse to learn the heart method because the Taeul Sect’s martial arts would be harmful? After acting like that, kindness?”
“…….”
“Stop talking bullshit. If anything, we are the ones who showed kindness. Gye Cheolyeong. We could have taken his life, but we did not go that far. Right now, it is you, guildmaster, who owes the Taeul Sect.”
Yeon Chuak, Han Geumtak, and Dam Cheolgak rose from their seats and approached this way.
“Hey, young friend, your words are a bit harsh.”
“Stay out of it. Wandering warriors move only when their employer orders them to.”
“Huh, look at this kid.”
Gye Yeonseok, who was watching the scene, shook his head slightly, and the wandering warriors spat and turned away.
“……Do you intend not to join us?”
“If Gye Cheolyeong has to enter the Martial Academy for me to enter the Martial Academy…… then I will give up on the Martial Academy.”
“…….”
The corner of Gye Yeonseok’s eye trembled.
“If…… our Cheolyeong cannot enter the Martial Academy, then I will not stand by and watch the Taeul Sect enter the Martial Academy either.”
“…….”
“Even if I must throw everything I have into it, I will block you and the Taeul Sect.”
Clatter.
Dongryong unconsciously dropped the spoon he had been using to eat.
“May I take that as a declaration of war?”
“…….”
“I am prepared to lay down my life if it means protecting the Taeul Sect.”
I looked straight into Gye Yeonseok’s bloodshot eyes and spoke.
“So, guildmaster, when you touch the Taeul Sect, you should be prepared to that extent as well.”
I rose from my seat.
At the same time, Yeon Chuak, Han Geumtak, and Dam Cheolgak stood and glared at me.
“Kid, have you never heard the murim proverb that says one should not make enemies easily?”
“Among proverbs, there is also one that says not to look down on someone just because they are young.”
I looked at the three brothers and asked.
“Have you finished eating?”
They had only eaten about half the food, but perhaps because the situation was uncomfortable, they nodded vigorously.
“Let’s get up.”
#
Gye Yeonseok’s group departed first that day.
As planned, we finished bathing, rested for a day, and only finished preparing to leave the next morning.
Before departing, I gathered the boys.
“You saw yesterday’s events well, did you not?”
“…….”
Perhaps recalling the heavy exchange of emotions, the boys remained silent.
“That is what the murim world is. Even if I have not harmed anyone, if I am weak, I cannot protect the people precious to me.”
“We will keep that in mind.”
“We will keep that in mind.”
“We will keep that in mind.”
The eyes of the three brothers shone more strongly than ever.
I took out two wooden boxes from my bundle.
“These were bestowed upon us by the sect leader.”
“What are they?”
“They are Great Swallow Divine Pills of the Namgung Family.”
“What?!”
The three brothers’ mouths fell wide open.
“The reason I made you train to death in moving circulation using the Taeul True Scripture, in addition to the reason I mentioned before, was to help you digest these spirit pills.”
Unfortunately, the internal energy of the three brothers was around the level of ten years.
Eunho, who had talent in the heart method, at least possessed twelve years of internal energy, while Geumpyo and Dongryong had not even reached ten years.
“Your internal energy is not at a level where you can withstand the spiritual energy of the Great Swallow Divine Pill. So the moment you eat this elixir, you must operate moving circulation even more desperately than you have done until now.”
“……Senior brother.”
“What is it?”
“There are only two. How are we supposed to divide them?”
I tilted my head.
The Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers were boys with such strong consideration that they would yield to one another even if it meant they themselves could not eat.
I wondered if even they could not help themselves before an elixir.
“There are four people, but only two pills, so would it not be better for senior brother to take them all?”
“……Why does the calculation become like that?”
At Geumpyo’s words, Eunho continued.
“Geumpyo hyung is right. Even if we eat them, it will take us a long time to digest them anyway, and we will only hold senior brother back. Just take them all, senior brother.”
“I also think my brothers are right. Besides, medicine does not suit my body well, so when I was young, I did not even take tonics properly.”
Looking at the boys making light of it, I split the two Great Swallow Divine Pills in half.
Then a clear fragrance filled the room.
I handed half to each of the boys, who were blankly staring at the sight.
“…….”
While the boys swallowed their saliva at the sight of the Great Swallow Divine Pill, they did not dare bring it to their mouths carelessly.
“You said you told the sect leader you would get me into the Martial Academy and come back, did you not?”
“Uh…… that was…….”
“Ahaha.”
“…….”
Looking at the embarrassed boys, I spoke.
“I have no intention of entering the Martial Academy alone. I will enter the Martial Academy together with all of you.”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
I had said something rather moving, but the boys merely looked at one another and tilted their heads.
“Senior brother, honestly, is that not realistically impossible?”
“Then is it realistically possible for me to enter the Martial Academy alone?”
“……If it is eldest senior brother, would it not be possible?”
“Yes. I think it would be possible.”
Just how were these boys seeing me?
“Then believe in me and follow me.”
“……We want to, but we are…… honestly too weak, are we not? Yesterday, among the wandering warriors, we could not even raise our heads.”
“Honestly, I was scared.”
That was also the feeling I had felt in my previous life when I first went out for mandatory service in the Murim Alliance.
“Do not worry. When you enter the Martial Academy, no one will dare meet your eyes. I will make it so.”
“…….”
The Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers opened their mouths and said nothing.
*
Even after they became skilled in footwork while using moving circulation, we did not climb the mountain again.
Instead, this time, I made them walk the main road while performing a sword formation.
They were not simply performing the sword formation; they were moving together with it.
At first, their feet tangled and the sword formation naturally fell apart again and again, but the amount of time they could maintain the formation gradually lengthened.
On top of that, whenever I swung the Black Dragon Sword from time to time and struck the sword formation, their mastery of the formation began to rise quickly.
As expected of children who had memorized the sword formation with their eyes and ears blocked, their proficiency rose quickly.
“Chew, chew. Senior brother, but is it really all right for us to go this leisurely?”
While the three brothers were eating on the roadside, I wrote a letter to send to Haomun, tied it to the iron hawk’s leg, sent it off, then released killing intent toward the boys.
“……Ugh!”
“…….”
“Keuheuk.”
Geumpyo and Dongryong looked like they were about to vomit, while Eunho remained unfazed.
“Haa… Can we not just eat when we are eating?”
“How much of the Great Swallow Divine Pill have you dissolved?”
“……About half.”
“If a fight suddenly breaks out, that energy may flow backward.”
“……Haa, understood.”
Thanks to their learning the Taeul True Scripture, they were dissolving the Great Swallow Divine Pills faster than I had expected.
“Senior brother, are we not truly going to fail to pass even the first gate at this rate? How many mountain strongholds remain?”
“They say eight hundred ninety-eight remain.”
Upon hearing that the first test of the Martial Academy was subjugating mountain strongholds, the mountain strongholds that moved quickly had fled deep into the mountains, making the suppression of mountain strongholds take more time.
Even so, the fact that three thousand one hundred mountain strongholds had already disappeared in fifteen days was astonishing.
“At this rate, we really might not even get to see a mountain stronghold. I think we are spending too much time on our training……. Honestly, I do not even know how prepared we are.”
At Geumpyo’s concern, I smiled faintly.
“Soon, you will probably get a chance to test how strong you are.”
Now, even while using moving circulation, stepping with footwork, and performing the White Tiger Sword Formation, they no longer looked uncomfortable.
Even when I used the Twin Heaven Sword Art to strike them continuously with false attacks and real attacks, they had reached the level where they could block them skillfully.
“Senior brother, by the way, what did you mean when you said we would get a chance to show our skills?”
“After leaving Golden Palace Inn, I asked for two things through the iron hawk. One of them was to grasp Gye Yeonseok’s movements.”
The three brothers tilted their heads as if they did not understand.
“But this morning, word came that three experts from Gye Yeonseok’s procession were missing.”
The reason I had wanted the qualification of Haomun’s “guest,” despite knowing all information about the Martial Academy regular examination, was precisely because I needed information about the people moving within it.
Even so, I had not expected to use it this quickly.
“They ran out of money…….”
Geumpyo, who had been continuing his words, looked ahead as if something was strange.
At the end of the main road, three men were blocking the path.
The man with a strange fishing rod slung over his shoulder stepped forward.
“Why are you moving so late? Because of you, our client left without us.”
Beside him, a man with a giant axe and a man whose hands were hidden beneath his long sleeves walked out.
“……Why are they here……?”
Yeon Chuak of the Hell Department, Han Geumtak, the Windless Demon Rod, and Dam Cheolgak, the Three-Handed Ghost Ape, who should have been moving with Gye Yeonseok, were blocking the road.
“They were probably waiting for us.”
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