Chapter 335
It's been over a week since we started to seriously clean out the gambling house, and we've made a lot of money.
"Hwi-ya. A few days ago, I said I might get addicted to gambling, right?"
"You did."
"But now it's a little different... I'm making money so easily, and so much of it, that life feels a little futile."
"Yes?"
"Of course, money isn't everything in life. And as Wudang Sect Taoists, we should pursue something greater than money. But since money is being made so well, it feels so futile. Why do people have to work? Why do people have to live so diligently..."
Thwack!
"Ugh!"
Senior Brother Un-mi, who was suddenly discussing life with me, grabbed his head and rolled on the floor.
Because old man Maeng Gwang-gae, who had appeared out of nowhere, had given Senior Brother Un-mi a very strong flick on the head.
It was a blow so powerful that I thought his skull might have cracked.
"There's nothing a young brat can't say. Unmi-ya. You're cheating right now. Of course, since you're taking money from gamblers, I'll let it slide, but do you want the money you get from cheating?"
"Ouch... Elder. That's not what I meant..."
"What do you mean, that's not what you meant! If I had known you would think like that, I shouldn't have taught you the Formless Heaven Creation."
"No. Please listen to me until the end. What I was trying to say was that since life becomes so futile like this, I should never even loiter around places like gambling dens after this is over."
"Huh. Really?"
"Yes! I'm serious."
Senior Brother Un-mi said as if he were wronged, and old man Maeng Gwang-gae, without even saying sorry, said it was his fault for making him misunderstand, cleared his throat, and then went to meddle with another senior brother.
"Unhwi-ya. It's so unfair. I don't know what I should do to resolve this unfairness."
"Well, what can you do? The opponent is Elder Maeng Gwang-gae. If you're wronged, maybe you can protest when you become an elder of the Wudang Sect?"
"You're just saying that I shouldn't even think about protesting in the future, aren't you?"
"Fortunately, you understood well."
Senior Brother Un-mi finally burst out laughing.
After old man Maeng Gwang-gae and my senior brothers had spent quite a long time together, their relationship had become drastically closer.
Originally, my senior brothers, who would just blindly follow Maeng Gwang-gae's words, saying 'Elder! Elder!', now started to give their opinions and the atmosphere became natural.
"I'm back."
At that time, Senior Brother Un-sik, who had gone out to the room, came in.
"Are they still not operating today?"
"Yes. That's right."
"Hmm... I wonder what these bastards are up to..."
The reason we were just chatting and killing time here instead of going to the gambling house was because the gambling house was closed.
The gambling house, which had suddenly closed a few days ago, said it would take an indefinite break, and made many people come for nothing.
Chun-mong had also been here for quite a long time, and he said this was the first time he had ever seen anything like this.
"Elder. It's just my thought..."
At that time, Senior Brother Un-jeong, who had been thinking hard about something in a corner, opened his mouth.
"Speak."
"Could it be that the bastards have noticed?"
"Noticed what?"
"I was wondering if they had vaguely noticed that we were determined to clean them out."
"Hmm... that's probably not it..."
They had carefully observed their surroundings when they went to the gambling house, and when they returned to the inn from the gambling house.
It means that they were not being followed.
Since old man Maeng Gwang-gae, who has an excellent qi sense, had especially looked around well, unless a master of a higher level had suppressed his presence and followed them, the bastards could not know that we were a group.
"It's not a feeling of 'This is exactly it!', but what should I say. Could it be that they just sensed something strange and stopped for now?"
"Hmm... that could be. Since they are so cunning."
Maeng Gwang-gae, after thinking for a moment, opened his mouth again.
"Then there is one way to check."
"What is it?"
"It's to follow the Green Snake. The reason I think she's a really vicious woman is that, the Green Snake... she hasn't gone outside a single time since that day. We have to go outside to kidnap her or whatever, but how can she not come out of that basement even once. Tsk, tsk."
He, after clicking his tongue, continued, "Anyway, to continue what I was saying, Unhwi and I will cover our faces and raid the gambling house. But we won't go all the way to where the Green Snake is, we'll just cause a ruckus in front of it. Then the bastards will resist somehow, right? At that time, we'll pretend we can't handle it and just run away. Their reaction will be different then, so we can just check that."
"How will it be different?"
"If they closed the gambling house just for a break or something like that, they will try to find the culprit without specifying the perpetrator, and if they were thinking that we were even a little strange, they will specify the perpetrator and try to find us. Like spreading our descriptions."
"That could be."
"I finally understand."
As if he were pleased with my senior brothers' response, he, with a faint smile, said, "Hmm... then for now, shall we check if the Green Snake is still there?"
He closed his eyes and began to raise his energy.
Although I am very curious about how to use the Manlihyang and how to track its scent, the Manlihyang tracking art is a secret of the Beggars' Sect.
Especially, it is a technique that cannot be learned unless one is at the elder level, and I even heard that only the Dragon Head Branch Leader knows the manufacturing method of the Manlihyang.
I had also heard that the Sichuan Tang family had once tried to make something similar to the Manlihyang but had ultimately failed.
The internal energy from Maeng Gwang-gae's body began to spread out in waves.
This sight is amazing every time I see it.
I want to find out someday what principle makes this possible.
"Huh?!"
But not long after he performed the Manlihyang tracking art, Maeng Gwang-gae made a surprised expression.
"What's wrong?"
"She's out!"
"Yes?"
"The Green Snake is out! It's not that damn basement now! She's finally out of the cave!"
"Yeees?"
Everyone showed a reaction of disbelief at the same time.
Until now, the Green Snake had really been stuck in the cave and had no intention of coming out, but to think she suddenly came out of the gambling house.
Come to think of it, since she's a person, she wouldn't just live in there, so I had thought that she would surely come out someday.
But I just didn't think it would be now.
"Let's move. The plan has changed. Ruckus or whatever, if we can't catch her when she's on the ground, we don't know when another chance will come."
"Yes, elder!"
"Alright."
My senior brothers, including me, jumped up from their seats and went to their respective bundles.
And then they put on the masks that Maeng Gwang-gae had bought and distributed to us a while ago.
"Now, let's summarize one last time before we leave."
"Yes, elder."
"First of all, our first goal is to kidnap the Green Snake. And I will play that role. When the situation arises, I will snatch the Green Snake and return here. You know why I have to play that role without me saying it, right?"
We all nodded our heads at the same time.
The act of kidnapping someone is not that easy.
Because it is a difficult task to hold a person and return here without being caught by anyone.
So it's right that the person with the most internal energy, the most strength, and the fastest movement technique should do it.
Of course, I think I can fight on par with Maeng Gwang-gae now, but... I'm better at fighting enemies than moving people.
"Then you guys just have to play the role of buying time so that the things that protect the Green Snake can't follow me. You can defeat all the enemies, and if not, you can fight them appropriately and then run away when it's time for me to be far away. But when you run away, you have to run in the exact opposite direction of this inn... you all know that well, right?"
Everyone nodded their heads at the same time.
I, in a slightly low voice, said to him, "Depending on the situation, can I kill them all?"
Everyone looked back at me at my cool tone.
Only Maeng Gwang-gae said with a calm expression, "You judge, and if you think you have to, do it."
"I understand."
"And if by any chance a strong person who is hard to handle comes out... well, Unhwi, you'll take care of it, right?"
"Haha... don't you trust me too much?"
"I wouldn't have called you on this mission in the first place if I didn't trust you."
He, after saying such a cheesy thing without any hesitation, went to the window.
"For now, hurry up and follow me. It seems better to just follow me rather than explaining where it is. You can find your way back somehow if you go, right?"
"I can."
"Good."
He immediately threw his body out the window.
He moved stealthily with a graceful movement technique so as not to be noticed by people, and we soon followed him.
***
Meanwhile, the place the Green Snake, who had come out of the gambling house, was heading to was the middle of the road that connects Kaifeng, Henan Province, to Hezuo, Gansu Province.
"Ugh. I'll have to tell my master all about this later."
She was heading that way, cursing inwardly.
The reason she had come out of the gambling house for the first time in a long time was because of her junior brother who wouldn't listen to her.
'Owner of the manor. Your junior brother won't listen to me. He says he's a dead man to his master if he doesn't punish Maeng Gwang-gae... so he keeps repeating that he must catch Maeng Gwang-gae.'
When he first saw his junior brother, he didn't have this impression.
Although he had a cruel side, he was a talented martial artist with a quick mind and flexibility.
But after he messed up the plan at a certain brothel in Wuhan a few years ago, he completely changed.
'I have to prove my worth...!'
After that, he began to do all the dirty things his master told him to do.
But strangely, since that day, everything he did tended to go wrong, and now he even heard from his master that he would be cast out if he didn't succeed in this task.
"Of course things don't go well when you only do stupid things like now."
Although she was frustrated with him, whether she liked it or not, he was her junior brother, so she had to take care of him.
"So stupid. Who knows if Maeng Gwang-gae is already in Hezuo? And who knows if the fact that I'm seeing a loss for the first time in ten years of running a gambling house is actually Maeng Gwang-gae's trick! I don't have enough time to protect myself and catch the bastards who are causing me losses. What stupid person would come into the road if I just guard the road, saying 'I am Maeng Gwang-gae!'?"
She moved that way, grumbling constantly.
But there was one thing she didn't know at all.
That there was a person who was a little surprised and stopped at her surprisingly accurate guess.
And that person was aiming for her.
(End of Chapter)