Chapter 61 : Gangho
"Um, it seems you were trying to protect that beautiful young lady over there…"
Saying so, the man looked at Madam Ma, who was chatting with Jang Yuran.
The moment Madam Ma was fully in his eyes!
"Haaaaa~"
His face melted disgracefully, like ice thrown on a hot iron plate.
"…Don't tell me you approached Madam Ma because you fell in love with her at first sight… are you trying to say something like that?"
"Madam Ma? Even her name, Madam Ma, is so beautiful~"
"No, her surname is Ma, and 'madam' means…"
"Wh-what!? I-is she perhaps married!?"
"…Do you perhaps have a problem with your eyes? Can't you see that belly?"
"Th-that can't be…"
The mysterious master, who had suppressed Jang Baekseo's surprise attack as if he were breaking a child's wrist, bent his knees and sat down pathetically, like a child whose candy had been taken away by a neighborhood bully.
***
"Oh my, Baekseo, who is that person behind you?"
"…I wonder. Who could it be?"
Jang Baekseo looked at the man smiling behind him, the mysterious Unrestrained master who had told him to call him Gangho, with a dumbfounded face.
"Haha! He's someone Baekseo and I became friends with while watching the river. He's a good talker and tells interesting stories, so I brought him along so that Madam Ma wouldn't be bored while on the boat."
'What the hell?'
Seeing Gangho, who had sat down pathetically at the words that Madam Ma was married, Hwa Mokyeon had completely dismissed the suspicion that he might be a pursuer.
He, who had dismissed his suspicion, had carefully spoken to Gangho, who was sitting on the ground, and had a conversation.
And in that short conversation, what had they hit it off with so well that Hwa Mokyeon and Gangho had become sworn brothers in a short time?
'Is it an alliance of men who are in unrequited love…'
While talking like that, Gangho, who had heard from Hwa Mokyeon that Madam Ma's husband had already passed away, suddenly revived and began to beg him to let him talk to Madam Ma just once.
At the disgraceful appearance of the sublime martial artist who had reached the Unrestrained realm, which was unbearable to watch, Jang Baekseo could not refuse and had brought him in front of Madam Ma like this.
"Hahaha, I'm Gangho, madam."
Madam Ma also received the handshake with a smile, looking at Gangho who was extending his hand to her with an awkward smile.
"Y-your hand is very cold. Ha-haha! My hand is very hot. Ha-haha!"
'Wow, Hwa Mokyeon was bad, but this guy is serious.'
It wasn't as if he had never held a woman's hand before. What on earth was he doing?
"Hey, is that guy really okay? Isn't he a lackey of that Hundred Rivers Association place?"
"Does he look like that to you?"
Looking at Gangho, who was saying things like 'They say if your hands are cold, your heart is warm. Oh? Then if my hands are hot, is my heart cold? Just kidding, hahaha!' after shaking hands with Madam Ma, Jang Yuran's face contorted as if she had seen a dog's poop on the main street.
"…I don't think so."
"Right?"
Jang Baekseo decided not to mention the fact that Gangho was a master who had reached the Unrestrained realm.
Jang Yuran was sensitive because she was taking care of Madam Ma.
No matter how much Hwa Mokyeon and Jang Baekseo took care of her, there were things that only a woman could do.
There was no need to add to her worries by saying something like, 'That guy named Gangho, who's acting like a fool and hitting on Madam Ma, is actually a Unrestrained master.
'But… what is that guy's identity?'
As far as Jang Baekseo knew, he had never heard of a Unrestrained master named Gangho, not only in this era but also until the fateful day he had regressed.
'Guangxi… if it's Guangxi, perhaps…'
Although the name of one person came to Jang Baekseo's mind, he tried hard to think that it was not him and buried it in a corner of his heart.
***
Kwaang!
"P-please calm down, Young Lady Cheong Yeonah!!"
"H-how can I calm down!"
"Everyone, stop Young Lady Cheong Yeonah!"
The escort, which had saved their lives with Jang Baekseo's decision and had escaped Mount Emei, had barely managed to reach Chongqing.
After reaching Chongqing, the escort had entrusted themselves to a merchant guild that had a connection with the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency. Cheong Yeonah and Cheongdo, whose injuries were so severe, had been hovering between life and death for a while and had only just opened their eyes.
"Baekseo! That young kid stayed there to save us, so how can I just stay still!!"
Cough!
As Cheong Yeonah shook off the people who were holding her, she vomited blood as if her wound had opened.
"K-keuk, damn it!!"
Cheongdo, who had run over after hearing the commotion, supported such a Cheong Yeonah.
"Yeonah, calm down for now. In our current condition, there's nothing we can do."
"Senior Brother, are you even saying that!!"
Pushing away Cheongdo who was supporting her, Cheong Yeonah stood up, holding her trembling legs.
"He's fourteen. A brat who's only fourteen stayed there to save us!!"
But they had cowardly run away to save their own lives.
Cheong Yeonah could not bear to see them dragging their feet, making all sorts of excuses, when they should have gone to save Jang Baekseo right away.
"If Baekseo… if Baekseo dies…"
"Don't worry about that."
"Yes?"
"As soon as we arrived in Chongqing and the situation was under control, I sent people back to investigate."
And as a result, Jang Baekseo's body was not found on Mount Emei.
"The bodies of the escort warriors were there, but the bodies of the men in black had disappeared. Since they had left the bodies of the escort warriors, if Baekseo had died there, his body would have remained there. But the fact that it's not means that Baekseo somehow escaped that place…"
As if she was relieved by those words, Cheong Yeonah, who had been standing up, holding her trembling legs with force, collapsed as if she were crumbling.
"Ah, ah, thank goodness…"
"Besides, since Young Master Hwa Mokyeon and Young Lady Jang Yuran also remained with him, he must be safe. You know better than I do, don't you? How extraordinary that child is…"
"H-he's certainly a bit extraordinary…"
As if Cheongdo's words were a little comforting, Cheong Yeonah regained her composure a little.
Cheongdo asked the maids of the pavilion to support the collapsed Cheong Yeonah. She, who had stood up with the help of the maids, said in a weak voice.
"…Senior Brother, this is the first time for me."
"What is?"
"To be frustrated that I'm weak."
"…"
At Cheong Yeonah's words, Cheongdo could not say anything.
Cheong Yeonah had been called a genius all her life and had a strength that overwhelmed her peers.
For such a Cheong Yeonah, such an overwhelming defeat was probably the first in her life.
Cheong Yeonah, who had never experienced a defeat worthy of the name and had never thought of herself as weak, had learned the bitterness of defeat and the frustration of being weak through this incident.
'That child will grow another step.'
Cheongdo had a hunch that Cheong Yeonah would grow one step further through this incident.
"Did you send a message to the sect?"
"Yes, I've already sent a carrier pigeon and have received a reply."
"What did the sect say?"
"They said they would summon the Sword Guard and request support from the Emei branch."
The Sword Guard was a group that had gathered only the most skilled swordsmen in the Mysterious Profound Sect. Formed with Cheongmu, the best master of the Mysterious Profound Sect, as its leader, they could be called the best military force of the Mysterious Profound Sect.
***
"Sect Leader! We must not just sit by and watch this incident!"
Ju Yulgok, the Sect Leader of the Mysterious Profound Sect, nodded his head without a word.
"The Hundred Rivers Association last time, and now this. Something is happening in the Western martial world. In this incident, the Mysterious Profound Sect must show that it is not an easy opponent."
In the main hall, the voices of the first-generation elders, who were expressing their opinions on this incident, echoed endlessly.
That was because it was an incident that had touched the disciples of the Mysterious Profound Sect and the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency, which was no different from a subsidiary escort agency of the Mysterious Profound Sect.
If the Mysterious Profound Sect did not respond properly to this, they would not only be seen as an easy target by those around them, but there was also a risk that the other businesses that had trusted and followed the Mysterious Profound Sect until now would also turn their backs.
"I will send the Sword Guard. And judging from the stories I've heard, the opponent does not seem to be an ordinary group, so I will officially request help from the Emei branch."
The Sect Leader, who had decided to take the best possible measures that the Mysterious Profound Sect could take, then looked at the door of the main hall with a flustered face.
The main hall, which had been in the middle of a meeting, became quiet at the sudden appearance of an uninvited guest.
"…Grandmaster Gwangha? Why are you here?"
"I've heard the story."
The news that the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency had been attacked had spread throughout Sichuan faster than imagined.
Although the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency was not famous, the Mysterious Profound Sect, which was backing the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency, was currently on a steep rise.
In particular, the fact that Cheong Yeonah, a renowned female master in Sichuan, had participated in the escort mission and had been seriously injured was enough to attract the interest of many people.
In particular, the news that a transcendent master had attacked an escort mission that was only transporting food and luxury goods had attracted the attention of the entire Sichuan.
Of course, Grandmaster Gwangha had also heard the news and had come to the Mysterious Profound Sect in person like this.
"Jang Baekseo, I heard that that child has gone missing. That child is a benefactor who has done a great service to me, no, to Qingcheng. How can I just sit by and watch?"
"Does that mean…"
"Qingcheng, no, the Qingcheng branch will also lend a hand in this matter."
At Grandmaster Gwangha's groundbreaking declaration, the happy voices of the first-generation key members burst out from all over.
"Ah! The heavens are helping us!"
"If Qingcheng helps, it will be extremely reassuring!"
But unlike the happy reactions around him, the Sect Leader was busy hiding his bewildered expression.
It was true that Jang Baekseo had been a great help to Qingcheng. But for Qingcheng to step up and offer such large-scale help was something that the Sect Leader could not understand.
The three sects of Sichuan, Emei, Qingcheng, and Tang, had been at odds and had fought for a long time. The old feelings they had accumulated were not shallow enough to be buried with just a word of having received a great favor.
As he was thinking that, the Sect Leader heard Grandmaster Gwangha's telepathic message.
-I understand your bewilderment.
-…Then can you explain why you are doing this?
At the Sect Leader's telepathic message, Grandmaster Gwangha looked somewhere else, not here, with nostalgic eyes.
-Something, in Sichuan, no, in the Central Plains martial world, something is happening… I have that feeling.
-Does that mean…
-The Hegemon King's march across the world thirty years ago, and the various incidents that shook the martial world before that… I have a premonition that something that is not inferior to them will happen.
Grandmaster Gwangha cut off his words for a moment, thought for a while, and then sent the rest of the telepathic message.
-In the midst of the turmoil of the times, we can't just keep fighting among the three sects of Sichuan, can we?
-Does that mean…
-That's right. I plan to use this incident as an opportunity to unite the power of Sichuan, and furthermore, the Western martial world.
At Grandmaster Gwangha's unimaginable remark, the Sect Leader's eyes widened.
(End of Chapter)