Chapter 94
It was a long way from Liaoning to the North Sea.
Moreover, the road was rough, so it was a considerable hardship.
But for So-ah, it was no big deal.
With his stamina that was beyond the human category and his peerless Swift Whale Step, So-ah set foot on the land of the North Sea in less than ten days.
Hwiiiiing…
The fierce wind of the North Sea brushed past So-ah’s cheek.
‘Wow! This place is amazing even when I come back. It’s strange to see people living in a place where icebergs are spread out in a pile of snow like this.’
It was really true.
But this was a prejudice that stemmed from So-ah’s lack of knowledge.
In fact, the North Sea was also a place where people lived, and a larger population than expected pioneered their own way of life and lived their lives.
Was that all?
Even in the humid swamps of Nanman, and in the barren Xinjiang.
Since humans are animals of adaptation, they live well anywhere.
As if to prove that, a small inn soon came into view.
‘I should tidy up for a bit.’
So-ah, who was tired in mind and body from the arduous journey, could not just pass by.
He was hungry, and above all, he was shabby because he hadn’t been able to wash properly.
He didn’t want to show a shabby appearance to a friend he was meeting after a long time, so he entered the inn without hesitation.
At that.
“Welcome!”
A friendly-looking waiter came running.
“Hello. I’m a passing guest, and I’d like to eat and wash up for a bit. Please prepare a room with a bath and a meal.”
“Aha! You must be a tourist. The North Sea has many things to see. Hehet. Then I’ll guide you to the large room on the second floor. Please come down to the first floor after you finish your bath. I’ll prepare a meal as well.”
“Yes.”
“…Young Master? By the way, what would you like to eat?”
“A plate of the dish this house is most confident in, and a bowl of noodles.”
“Yes, yes.”
So-ah, who had been guided, soon took out a bundle of iron coins from his pocket and handed them over.
“Uncle. Take this.”
“Gasp! Thank… thank you, great hero!”
“Hahaha.”
So-ah would give a penny or two like this whenever he saw waiters.
It was a social skill he had learned when he roamed the Jianghu under his grandfather’s orders as a child.
A little later…
So-ah, who had finished his bath, put on the black martial arts uniform and robe he had prepared in advance, and he looked like a nobleman of the world.
Then he looked at himself in the mirror once, tidied up his appearance, and murmured softly.
“Kya. Even though I’m not as good as Brother Chan or Brother Namgung, this is pretty decent. Of course.”
Of course, with a voice so small that no one could really hear it.
***
So-ah, who had come down to the first floor for a meal, devoured the food greedily.
The food of the North Sea was generally different from that of the Central Plains, from the ingredients to the spices, but So-ah, who ate everything well except for rotten things, was inhaling it deliciously.
In the midst of that.
So-ah sensed a gaze that seemed to be shining down on his body.
It was because an old man who was eating nearby was looking at him with profound eyes.
‘That old man…’
So-ah instinctively recognized the old man’s extraordinariness.
‘He’s no ordinary person…’
He was an old man who was not particularly special.
But his white hair and his pure white robe, which was not stained with a single speck of dust, were conspicuous.
But
‘I can feel a very well-refined mysterious ki. By any chance, is he a Taoist from Kunlun or Wudang?’
So-ah, who had felt the old man’s subtle and dignified ki that an ordinary person could never perceive, did not avoid his gaze and looked at the old man carefully.
In that moment.
“Hah…! To think that there is someone with such a wonderful physiognomy in the world!”
An incomprehensible word came out of the old man’s mouth.
‘A physiognomist?’
So-ah tilted his head and said to the old man.
“Um… old man. Are you perhaps talking about my physiognomy?”
At that, the old man nodded with an even more surprised face.
“That’s right. I have never seen a physiognomy like yours in my life, so I was rude.”
He was interested.
At a glance, the old man, who had a tremendous mysterious ki, was praising him, so it was strange and his mood was strange.
“What’s my physiognomy like? Can you tell me in detail?”
“Physiognomy is not just about looking at the face. But you, not only your face, but also your voice and the ki of your body are incredibly amazing. A person like you is born only once in an era. I don’t know, but you will surely become a hero who will save the world.”
Thump, thump—
It was a little funny.
If a stranger praised him to the point of embarrassment under the pretext of physiognomy?
Anyone would suspect him of being a swindler first.
But for some reason, So-ah’s heart was pounding.
Because the moment he looked into the old man’s eyes, he felt as if a huge wheel of fate was attacking him.
‘Brother Gu-yang also said that when he first saw me. Am I really that good at physiognomy? A hero who will save the world. Kikik.’
But soon, So-ah just smiled and cleared his head.
He was afraid that he would become arrogant with unnecessary thoughts, and he had never harbored a blue cloud of saving the world.
‘I just want our Moyong family to eat well and live well, old man.’
His true feelings were also like that.
“Haha. Old man. You’re overpraising me. A hero who will save the world. I’m not that kind of person.”
“Fate is something that no one can go against. You will soon realize your own fate.”
“…”
“But regardless of the era, the path of a hero is a rough one. I hope that blessings will be with you in your future.”
At the same time.
“@#$%^&&*[email protected]#…”
A very low, and as if it were alive, a thick voice flowed from the old man’s mouth like a spell.
So-ah instinctively sensed that the spell was a kind of ‘prayer of blessing’ for himself and naturally bowed his head.
‘Ah… how should I react.’
In that moment.
“Huh?!”
So-ah doubted his own eyes.
It was because the old man, who had just been reciting a prayer, had disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.
“Wow! What? Is it a lightness skill? Or is it a special ability?”
A considerable surprise and bewilderment.
It was only natural.
Hadn’t So-ah’s eyesight already reached a level comparable to clairvoyance?
But the old man had disappeared, completely deceiving not only his sight but also the senses of his body, which had reached its peak.
On the one hand, it was even astonishing.
—It is said that there are as many strange people in the world as there are grains of sand in the Yangtze River.
He remembered what his grandfather had once said.
“Phew… Jin So-ah. Let’s live humbly.”
In this way, So-ah came to realize another truth of the world.
***
“You… you…!”
“Wang So-yeong! Have you been well?”
“It’s really So-ah, right? Right? This isn’t a dream, right?”
“A dream? What kind of dream? It’s reality, reality. Hahaha.”
“Yaaaah~~~!”
Hugging—
Wang So-yeong, unable to control her joy, ended up hugging So-ah tightly.
‘Gasp…!’
It wasn’t the first time this had happened.
Tang Hwa-rin would often give the order ‘Let me hug you!’ and forcibly hug So-ah, and recently, even Myo-seon and his junior sister would link arms with him without hesitation.
Nevertheless, So-ah could not help but feel uncomfortable at Wang So-yeong’s bold action.
That was because.
Glares, glares.
The fierce gazes of Wang So-yeong’s bodyguards, who looked as if they would rush at him with swords at any moment.
From number 1 to number 6.
Their hostility was so blatant.
‘Ugh! You think she’s your young lady, right? Stop it, you brats. I won’t eat her, I won’t eat her.’
So-ah gently pushed Wang So-yeong away, stroked her head once, and patted her shoulder.
“Our friend. Have you been well?”
“I’ve been well! What about you, Jin So-ah?”
“Me? Kikik. You might hear the rumor of ‘Jin So-ah, one of the Ten Great Masters of the Orthodox Path’ in the North Sea soon.”
At So-ah’s words, Wang So-yeong smiled broadly.
“Ehehe. You? You must have completely swept the entire Central Plains.”
“I’m a bit like that, aren’t I?”
“Anyway, it’s really good that you came, Jin So-ah. Have you eaten?”
“I had a simple meal, so I’m not hungry. But I’m craving a drink.”
“Yes, yes. Then let’s have a drink.”
“Good!”
“Follow me!”
Wang So-yeong, with a smiling face, took the lead with light steps, leading So-ah.
She was a lonely person with no proper friends in the vast North Sea.
There was no need to say how happy she was at the appearance of So-ah, her father’s benefactor, her own benefactor, and the first friend she had ever made.
***
“Kikikik.”
“Hohohot!”
“Kalkalkal.”
“Hehehet!”
“Eheheh!”
“Eheheh!”
“Lululu!”
“Lalla?!”
The laughter of So-ah and Wang So-yeong did not cease.
So-ah, for his part, began to endlessly unravel the heroic tales he had experienced so far (he was also the best in the Jianghu in the gossip department), and Wang So-yeong also pricked up her ears and let out a fierce reaction.
“So, I’m a bit special now? No, should I say unique? At my age, I’ve become the sworn brother of the Green Forest Demon Emperor, Brother Beon-pal, so what’s there to say? I’m just the best! Kekeke.”
“You’re crazy, you’re crazy! The Green Forest Demon Emperor, Jang Beon-pal, is one of the Ten Great Masters of the Unorthodox Path, right? You became the sworn brother of such a person? Jin So-ah, a rising star of the Orthodox Path?”
“Who’s a rising star? I’m a respectable great master now. And what do you mean by ‘such a person’! Don’t call our Brother Beon-pal like that. If you don’t want to shit blood.”
“Ugh! That damn shitting blood, shitting blood. Do you still go around spreading nonsense like infinite stamina and body remodeling to people?”
“Isn’t that obvious? That’s the most important thing in martial arts! You! Have you been training a lot? Shall I check after a long time?”
“Forget it! I’m pretty strong now too. I refuse to be checked by you.”
“Now, now! Have a drink!”
Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp.
“You have one too!”
Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp.
In the overflowing Golden Cask Liquor, the joy, pleasure, and memories of So-ah and Wang So-yeong were reflected.
Clink—
Just as they were drinking without hesitation like that.
“Noooo! Who is this? Our son-in-law…”
“Daddyyyyy!”
The lord of the North Sea Ice Palace, Wang Bang-tae, who had rushed over after hearing the news of So-ah, expressed his pleasure, but at his daughter’s disgust, he was startled and shut his mouth.
Then he said again with an awkward laugh.
“Hohohot! The benefactor of this great one. The benefactor of So-yeong! The benefactor of the North Sea, isn’t it Young Master Jin? Why haven’t you sent word once? I missed you so much!”
At that, So-ah stood up and performed a polite cupped fist salute.
“Palace Lord. Have you been well?”
“Of course. Thanks to you, I’ve been well. What about you? Have you been well?”
“I’ve been well too.”
“Is the head of the Moyong family also well?”
“Yes. My uncle is also well.”
After exchanging greetings, Wang Bang-tae also sat down and began to tilt cups with So-ah.
***
“Hoho. So that’s what happened. It’s really unbelievable. A new monk who broke through the 18 Diamond Arhats of the Shaolin Arhat Hall at the age of twenty and threw out his debut in the world. Isn’t that a truly mythical event?”
“That’s right. The martial arts of that monk Gwang-won were amazing.”
“Keke! And what about you, who crushed such a monk?”
“Me? Do I have to say it with my own mouth? Hahahat.”
As if he were not a chatterbox, So-ah also told Wang Bang-tae his own story in detail.
But praise is only good once or twice.
Wang So-yeong, hearing the same story again, began to get bored.
“Ugh. Jin So-ah. You’re still as talkative as ever.”
Fortunately, Wang Bang-tae appropriately changed the subject.
“Since you’ve accomplished such things, the prestige of the Moyong family will rise once again. Perhaps for the first time in the history of the martial world, a single martial family will surpass the Nine Great Sects and the One Union. Keke!”
Just then.
‘Good! It’ll be easier to talk.’
So-ah decided to slowly bring up the main topic.
“No, Palace Lord. Our family is far behind not only the Nine Great Sects and the One Union, but also the other Five Great Families and the Eight Great Families.”
“What do you mean? With you there, that can’t be.”
“Where is the prestige of a family evaluated only by the achievements of one person? The family members, the scale, the financial power, and the history. In fact, our family has nothing much to boast about.”
“Hmm…”
“So, on this occasion, our family has also decided to carry out a huge reform.”
“Hah! How so?”
“Through an alliance with the North Sea Ice Palace.”
“An alliance with our palace…?”
“Palace Lord.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s sweep the Central Plains together.”
The corners of So-ah’s mouth rose slyly.
(End of Chapter)