Chapter 324
Maeng Gwang-gae, with a look that was so clean it was hard to get used to, began to tell an old story with an excited face.
"In my younger days, let's see, was it about ten years after I joined the Beggars' Sect?"
Since I guessed that it was probably about fifty years ago now, he was talking about a story from forty years ago.
"At the height of my martial arts, I, a young man in my twenties who was not afraid of anything in the world, was a member of the Beggars' Sect, but I wanted to earn money."
"Why did a member of the Beggars' Sect want to earn money? You people don't have a single worry about money in the world."
"That's because there was a famine in the Central Plains at that time, and all my senior and junior brothers were starving. Begging and charity are things that are done only when one is full and the world is at peace. That famine made people's hearts desolate, and it was a situation where we couldn't make a living by begging."
I, who was about to add a word to the beggar's desire to earn money, shut my mouth.
Because I felt like I had said something I shouldn't have, since he had a reason to starve to death.
Fortunately, Maeng Gwang-gae, as if he didn't even care about my words, continued to speak again.
"But no matter how hungry we were, we members of the Beggars' Sect couldn't work, could we? And we couldn't plunder from others either. So I started to go around and rob the nearby gambling houses."
"To think you gambled because you couldn't plunder..."
"While going around the gambling houses, I learned how to unconditionally win at gambling, and in the end, I mastered that method."
"What is that method?"
"It's simple. You just have to cheat."
"Yes...?"
Dumbfoundedness filled my and my senior brothers' eyes.
In fact, it was a surprising thing that a member of the Beggars' Sect had thought of winning money by gambling, but to think he even confessed to cheating himself.
"Excuse me, elder... isn't that against the spirit of the Beggars' Sect, which is to revere righteousness?"
"What do you mean, against! It's not against it at all. No, on the contrary, it can be said to be more in line with that principle."
"Why is that?"
"When I appeared, that place was on the verge of being devastated. All the gamblers were reluctant to gamble with me, and there were even some people who actually quit gambling because of me. Moreover, I even destroyed a few gambling houses. I was the one who made several of these social evils, the gambling houses, close down. So isn't that the same as carrying out justice?"
His face, as he said that, looked very confident.
No matter how much I heard it, it sounded a little strange, but since he said he thought so, I decided to just let it go.
"So what is that method? Although you said it was cheating, the gamblers wouldn't be such easy opponents."
"That's right. Because gamblers are bastards who are masters at extorting other people's money in a very cunning way. Moreover, if bastards with clumsy martial arts clumsily use their internal energy to cheat, they are easily caught, and those who are caught using their internal energy can never set foot in a gambling house again."
It's a well-known fact.
Originally, the use of internal energy is forbidden in gambling houses.
According to their claims, gambling is a true sword fight where you purely clash your luck with the opponent's luck.
They say that there can be no cheating in such a sacred match.
Of course, it's a public secret that they use their own cunning hand techniques to cheat.
"So I'm going to teach you this method."
"What method?"
"You all should know that you're very lucky. Because I'm thinking of teaching you one martial art."
"A martial art?"
"It's a martial art called Formless Heaven Creation. It's a martial art that I unconsciously used at that time, and as I got older, I naturally developed it into a martial art and organized it."
"How can you, the elder, teach us a martial art..."
Senior Brother Un Cheol said in a troubled voice.
No matter how close they are, old man Maeng Gwang-gae is strictly a person from another sect.
So if we learn the martial arts of the Beggars' Sect, not only will the relationship between the two sects become awkward, but there may also be problems in the future.
Apart from that, my heart began to pound.
'Formless Heaven Creation?'
I remember Maeng Gwang-gae not now, but about ten years from now.
Although he was seventy years old and was old enough to be called an old man, he was at the peak of his martial arts.
Not only were all his other martial arts at their peak, but especially the palm force that came out of his palm unconsciously during a fight was almost invisible to the opponent's eyes, so its accuracy and lethality were amazing.
'Even though I begged him so much to teach me how to handle that hidden force, he wouldn't teach me.'
At that time, I had asked old man Maeng Gwang-gae several times to teach me how to hide my energy, but he refused.
To be precise, he didn't just cut me off, he said he would teach me as much as I wanted if I joined the Beggars' Sect and became his disciple.
But I would rather die than become a beggar by joining the Beggars' Sect, and even if I did, I hated the idea of becoming Maeng Gwang-gae's disciple even more, so in the end, I couldn't learn the martial art.
"Don't worry. This Formless Heaven Creation is not a martial art of the Beggars' Sect, but something I created myself. And to be precise, this is not a way to fight, but just a miscellaneous skill to handle energy. So I guess it's okay to teach this much. That's why I, leaving aside the more skilled and amazing martial artists, specifically called you guys. Ahem. I thought it wouldn't be a waste to teach you such a miscellaneous skill. Ahem."
He, embarrassed in the middle, kept clearing his throat, and my senior brothers, jumping up from their dining table chairs, clasped their hands in a fist and palm salute to Maeng Gwang-gae.
Originally, I had no intention of doing it, but since I couldn't just sit there alone, I had no choice but to clasp my hands with my senior brothers.
"Thank you, elder. Whatever it is, it contains a part of your lifelong enlightenment. I will learn it with gratitude."
"I will strive to spread greater justice in the world with what I have learned from the elder."
"Thank you so much, elder!"
"I will do my best to learn."
As if he didn't know my senior brothers would suddenly come out like this, Maeng Gwang-gae kept waving his hands and had my senior brothers sit down.
Maeng Gwang-gae was weak to compliments from a long time ago. And he is also weak to a soft atmosphere.
Although my senior brothers are probably doing that because they are really grateful to him, they are rather making Maeng Gwang-gae uncomfortable.
I, holding back a chuckle, looked at Maeng Gwang-gae.
As expected, he is flustered, not knowing what to do in this situation.
"Sir. Thank you so much."
I said that and naturally sat down first.
Then my other senior brothers also followed me and sat down, and the situation was somewhat settled.
"What's with such a miscellaneous skill. There's no need to make such a fuss."
He answered as if it were no big deal.
It seems Maeng Gwang-gae is not yet at the stage of fully incorporating the Formless Heaven Creation into his martial arts.
Because sincerity was evident in his tone when he called it a miscellaneous skill a little while ago.
Come to think of it, the time I was close to him was more than ten years from now.
So it means that I don't know what kind of enlightenment he gained and how he incorporated the Formless Heaven Creation into his martial arts during those ten years.
'Knowing old man Maeng Gwang-gae's personality, he might regret teaching us this amazing martial art for a long time.'
I, barely holding back a smile, at that moment, the waiter started to bring in the food.
Soon, a feast was set before us, and we began to eat.
"Elder. Does this inn also have a sponsor like the inn we rented in Zhejiang Province last time?"
"Why?"
"The price of this food and the price of the lodging... they all seem to be quite expensive."
Then Maeng Gwang-gae grinned, showing his teeth.
"There is a sponsor."
"Really?"
"Didn't I say it earlier? That I'm called the God of Gambling in the gambling house. I've already been there several times for the purpose of reconnaissance. Of course, I have this much money. Anyway, after this mission is over, it's all meaningless money to me, so isn't it okay to spend it lavishly when I can?"
"I... see."
My senior brothers and I, after that, began to focus on the food.
Because we realized that the food in front of us was more precious than we thought.
We don't know when we'll be able to eat a meal bought by a beggar again.
So we began to inhale the food diligently.
***
After finishing a hearty meal, we moved to that spacious room from before.
"Formless Heaven Creation. To be honest, it's a waste to just teach this. Because I have a feeling that if I incorporate this miscellaneous skill well into my martial arts someday, an unbelievably scary martial art will be born. Formless Heaven Creation is, literally, a method of letting out formless energy to the surroundings. A person who has not learned martial arts will naturally not be able to notice it, and even if they have learned martial arts, they will not be able to notice it unless their qi sense is exceptionally outstanding."
"What happens if there is a master with a qi sense outstanding enough to notice this technique?"
"If it's a master of that level, I can definitely recognize them. So at times like that, you can just quietly stop the gambling you were doing and come to the inn to eat and rest."
I felt like I knew why Maeng Gwang-gae could keep winning at gambling.
Basically, gambling addiction has that thrill, but the greed for money is its biggest foundation.
But Maeng Gwang-gae is not a person who doesn't know the pleasure of spending money, but he has no greed for money in the first place.
Although he is maintaining his cleanliness and has money for the mission now, in fact, he is a person who would share any money that came in more than he needed with the needy people around him or other beggars.
So he doesn't need to earn more money, and he's not in a hurry for money, so he can pull out cleanly when he can.
"Now. Come to me one by one. I'm not very talented at teaching others. I also don't have the talent to explain the martial arts I know in incantations. So I'll imprint this energy on each of you one by one."
In fact, he never took a single disciple until later.
He didn't have the confidence to teach someone well, and since he knew his own personality well, he had even said that he felt a little sorry for his disciple.
"For now, Un Cheol, you come first."
Maeng Gwang-gae had Senior Brother Un Cheol sit in front of him and, placing his hand on his back, began to directly transmit the movement of the internal energy that moves when he creates the Formless Heaven Creation by infusing his energy.
Although that method looks easy to the eye, it is actually a very difficult method.
The person transmitting the martial art must have a very high understanding of their own martial art, and the person learning must also have a sense and understanding that is beyond ordinary.
But fortunately, our senior brothers have now all grown to the extent that they can be called martial artists who are beyond ordinary.
Thanks to that, my senior brothers learned the Formless Heaven Creation one after another.
"Huu... I'm a little tired after doing four in a row. Then, the last one, Unhwi. Come here and sit down."
I immediately went and sat in front of him.
He placed his hand on my back again.
I feel the foreignness of Maeng Gwang-gae's energy penetrating my body.
I, calming my mind as much as possible, accepted his energy.
*Seu-euk—*
But suddenly, Maeng Gwang-gae took his hand off my back.
I, wondering why Maeng Gwang-gae was doing that, was surprised and looked back.
But his expression looked more surprised than my surprised expression.
He, as soon as he met my eyes, reflexively said to me, "Unhwi, you... no... you were already at this level?"
"Yes?"
"At that age, it's ridiculous that you already have such a high level of martial arts. I knew you were outstanding, but to think you were at this level...!"
He seemed to be very surprised by my current martial arts level.