Chapter 322
The next day, we left Yu-hoe's house early in the morning.
Yu-hoe woke up at dawn and even prepared breakfast for us, and we managed to eat all of it.
Yu Su-yeong even had tears in his eyes, but since he would be going out to the Central Plains now, he smiled again at the end when I told him that we could meet whenever we wanted.
"Then I'll contact you when I get out. I can contact the Wudang Sect, right?"
"That's right. I'm saying this out of concern before you leave... when you go out to the Central Plains, you can't just pile up money like that and not manage it. And don't go around showing off that you have a lot of money."
"No need to worry. Do you think I don't know the ways of the world just because I've only lived in the mountains? I've been around often enough to know what kind of place the Central Plains is. For now, we're planning to take only the money we need. It'll be safer to leave it here than to entrust it to any battlefield."
That's right. Since I burned the treasure map yesterday, there will be no more martial artists coming here to look for treasure.
"So... if the money disappears, I'll know it was all your doing. So don't even think about stealing it."
"Oh dear. I was planning to stop by here whenever I needed money, but I got caught."
He chuckled again.
It was a sincere remark this time too, but it seems he thinks I'm joking again.
"Oh dear. I should offer some bribes first so that the thief won't come to steal because he's scared."
"Bribes?"
Yu-hoe, without answering, casually handed me a wooden box.
I took it reflexively, and it was heavier than I thought. With a jjeol-leong! sound, my eyes widened at the same time.
"What is this?"
"You already know, so stop pretending you don't."
"No, what's the meaning of giving this to me?"
"Didn't I just say? I'll give you this, so don't come here to steal money."
"What are you talking about..."
He's a truly dishonest man.
Would it hurt to say he's giving it because he's grateful?
Come to think of it, since he has such a rigid personality, he must have waited for someone to find the relic of the Meteor King while being trapped in a mountain village like this for his entire life.
"Can I open it?"
"Go ahead. If it's not enough, say so now."
When I opened the wooden box, a brilliant yellow light hit my eyes.
No matter how much money I have, I get a thrill when I see this light. The wooden box was full of gold coins.
"There are fifty in total. Share ten each with your senior brothers."
"You... you were actually a good person?"
As I, with a moved voice, approached him with my arms open to hug him, Yu-hoe, terrified, dodged.
"What are you doing, you're being creepy."
"Because I want to hug a very good, kind, decisive, generous, and cool person who is giving me fifty taels of gold."
"That's enough. Don't even think about doing that again. I'll take it back."
"Alright. I won't."
"Geez... you're quick to act."
He, as if he were dumbfounded, burst out laughing and continued, "Then go. We're busy now because we have to clear out this manor."
"I understand. I won't bother you anymore."
I, after saying goodbye to Su-yeong for the last time, left the Yu family with my senior brothers.
Yu-hoe, as if he knew that what I had obtained was the Divine Eye Art, did not see me off when I returned, but it didn't matter much to me.
We, who had passed through the place where formations and mechanisms were installed in droves with my senior brothers, went down the mountain.
"Senior brothers. It wasn't a thousand taels of gold as I said before, but we still got quite a bit, right?"
"Yes. In fact, didn't we get something more precious than a thousand taels of gold?"
My senior brothers' expressions looked quite good.
That's right. What could be more precious to a martial artist than internal energy?
For my senior brothers, more than anything else, taking the Great Heaven Pill this time must have been the biggest gain.
Of course, it's the same for me.
As I fumbled with the Great Heaven Pill I had packed in my bosom, a smile naturally bloomed on my face.
'I thought I was really unlucky... but maybe I'm incredibly lucky...'
Come to think of it, how many people can get three elixirs in such a short period of time?
From the Heavenly Transformation Pill to the Hwari's inner core, and even the Great Heaven Pill.
Moreover, the Heavenly Transformation Pill and the Great Heaven Pill are elixirs whose histories are very similar.
Because both elixirs were made by a Taoist for the purpose of 'internal energy enhancement' rather than other purposes.
Sometimes, at times like this, I even have a feeling that some unknown fate is holding me.
I even wonder if the Primordial Lord of Heaven is really telling me to grow diligently and overcome the calamities of the martial world.
'Maybe that's really right.'
In fact, if I were to say no, my very existence now is the proof.
Because it's ridiculous to wake up again in someone else's body.
"Then let's go to our original destination now."
"Yes. You said it was Hezuo, Gansu Province."
"That's right. We have to go and see the old... no, the elder Maeng Gwang-gae."
We, who had come down from the mountain, began to walk towards the northwest.
Everyone's steps were light.
***
Hezuo, Gansu Province is, on the surface, an ordinary city.
If a person who knows nothing goes there, they would just think, 'There are quite a lot of people for the size of the city.'
But Hezuo has a huge secret hidden.
'There is a huge secret gambling house here.'
That's also why it seems like there are a lot of people.
The gambling house is known by word of mouth, and all the people who are someone in the Central Plains gather here.
But the gambling house opens every day around 7 PM and closes at 7 AM, so during the daytime other than that, the idle people spend their money in this village.
As a result, the villagers rather like these gamblers.
Although they cause trouble once in a while and get drunk and rowdy, they spend the money they won from gambling all night here in a frenzy.
Simply put, it's local economic revitalization.
'About... five years from now?'
This place, about five years from now. It is definitely devastated in the name of rooting out the den of evil in cooperation with the Martial Alliance.
Although it's a place that will disappear even if left alone, it's impossible to know how many people will shed tears of blood here in the meantime.
Moreover, gambling is not something that only destroys oneself.
Family, relatives, friends, and even just acquaintances. Gambling is what harms other people by borrowing and borrowing money.
So it wouldn't be bad to take care of it once before that day comes.
Of course, the reason old man Maeng Gwang-gae called me here might not be related to this gambling house.
But to be honest, since there is nothing in Hezuo other than this gambling house, it would be more correct to think that it is highly related.
'And perhaps this gambling house is related to the Evil Faction Alliance.'
In fact, when I saw the letter from old man Maeng Gwang-gae asking me to come to Hezuo, the first thing that came to my mind was whether the gambling house in Hezuo was related to the Evil Faction Alliance.
"Unhwi-ya. I think this is the inn."
At that time, Senior Brother Un Cheol said to me.
My senior brother was holding the letter from old man Maeng Gwang-gae that he had received from the Sect Leader.
I looked up at the signboard of the inn.
[Hidden Dragon Inn]
It seems the name of this inn was written in the letter.
"The name of this inn is quite grand. Shall we go in?"
"Yes."
My senior brothers and I entered the inn.
The inn, at a glance, looked nothing special.
People were eating, and the waiter was running around busily.
No matter how much I looked around the interior, I couldn't see a single trace of a beggar.
At that time, the waiter came running to us.
He was a boy who looked to be about twelve years old, and his answers had been bold from a while ago.
"Hello! Would you like to eat? Or should I get you a room?"
"For now, get us a room first. We'll come down and eat later when we get a little hungry."
"Yes! Follow me!"
The waiter answered brightly and led the way.
As I was about to follow his back, for some reason, I feel like I'm reminded of someone.
'I wonder if Yeon-rang is doing well.'
Yeon-rang, who was a waiter at the inn where I met Maeng Gwang-gae.
Yeon-rang was recognized for his talent by old man Maeng Gwang-gae and went to the Beggars' Sect.
Although I was curious about many things, such as how he was doing there, whether he was learning martial arts well, and whether he was healthy, there was no way to know now.
Just as I was thinking that I should ask Maeng Gwang-gae once when I meet him later, the waiter brought us to the front of the room.
"You can use this place. If you need anything, just let me know!"
And then the waiter went running down.
Senior Brother Un-mi, who was closest to the door, opened the door and went in.
Then, a large room that could easily accommodate five people and still have room to spare was revealed.
We entered the room and began to unpack our luggage.
"There are exactly five sets of bedding, and the space is wide. It's like a room prepared for us."
At that time, Senior Brother Un Cheol said as if in passing.
I, who had no thoughts, at the moment I heard Senior Brother Un Cheol's story, felt something flash through my mind.
"That's right. It's as if they were really waiting for us. They didn't even ask how many people were in our group, how many nights we would be staying, and we could have taken separate rooms, or split into two or three, but they didn't ask anything like that."
"Come to think of it, it's strange. As far as I know, in the case of lodging, you usually pay in advance, but they didn't even ask for money."
My senior brothers, who had been unpacking their luggage, stealthily got up from their seats.
In their hands, they are all holding their scabbards.
They are preparing to draw their swords at any time if something happens.
Knock, knock—
At that time, someone knocked on the door.
My senior brothers, in an instant, stuck close to the wall next to the door, two by two.
It's to be able to get behind someone if they burst open the door and come in.
That movement was so fast and powerful that it made me roughly know how much my senior brothers' level had risen.
—I'll open it. Everyone, get ready.
I, after sending a telepathic message to my senior brothers, slowly approached the door.
I feel a presence as if someone is on the other side of the door.
When I opened the door, a man was standing in front of the door.
To be precise, he looks closer to an old man than a man.
He was wearing dazzlingly white clothes, and it was a clothing that went well with his completely white hair.
"Who are you?"
"It's me."
"I think you've come to the wrong room. I don't think I've seen you before."
"What do you mean, you've never seen me? Did you eat something bad? No, you haven't even eaten yet. Is it because you haven't eaten?"
"Yes?"
I was flustered for a moment.
This voice. This tone. I've heard it somewhere before.
No, it's not just that I've heard it, it's a tone I know very well.
"What are you doing! Are you going to keep me standing in front of the door? Aren't you going to move?"
At that moment, he suddenly shouted, and I, without realizing it, dodged to the side.
The old man came inside and, looking at my senior brothers who were looking at him with a dumbfounded eye, clicked his tongue and said, "What are you going to do if you can't even feel a presence like that? And Unhwi. Are your eyes knotholes? You still don't recognize me?"
At that moment. Me and all my senior brothers made a surprised expression at once.
"N-No way..."
"What do you mean, no way! I thought you'd be here in about ten days. What took you so long?"
"Elder Maeng Gwang-gae!"
"Elder Maeng Gwang-gae?!"
The white-haired old man in white clothes was none other than Maeng Gwang-gae.
Because he, a beggar of the Beggars' Sect, had washed himself and was wearing clean clothes, and had appeared in an unexpected situation, we had not recognized him.