Chapter 9
It seemed like it would be great if I could leave this place.
I had no desire to stay long in a place where my life depended on the decisions of others.
"Pae Maseong too?"
"Probably. The reason he wants to meet you is because of Pae Maseong."
"What do you mean by that?"
"He wants to take Pae Maseong, but he knows that Pae Maseong won't listen to others easily. But Pae Maseong listens to you well. So, I'm saying, tell Pae Maseong that you received this offer. If you just say that you're leaving Eumyeong Valley, Pae Maseong will probably follow you."
It wasn't a bad story.
There was nothing good for Pae Maseong to gain by staying in Eumyeong Valley either.
"I'll think about it."
"This is a good opportunity. It's not an opportunity that comes anytime."
"Even if we don't go, will you leave Eumyeong Valley?"
It wasn't something I necessarily needed to know, but I asked just in case.
But Cho Yusan made an angry face, didn't answer, just told me to think carefully, and left.
It seemed that if we didn't go, Cho Yusan couldn't leave Eumyeong Valley either.
Thinking that Pae Maseong must be really amazing, I was walking alone when I realized that this decision was not something we should make alone.
I thought that Yeon Cheongha would be able to make a decision that would be most helpful to us, so I went to find him. Pae Maseong saw me from a distance and ran over.
"Where have you been, Socheong? I couldn't see you, so I was looking for you for a long time."
Pae Maseong was a really funny guy.
Why was the strongest guy in the world so shy?
After this much time had passed, he could have made one or two other friends, but it was really amazing.
Thanks to Pae Maseong, my path from now on might become a little smoother, so this guy looked a little admirable.
"Let's go to the instructor first. I have something to ask him."
"Okay."
Pae Maseong followed me without a word.
When we went, Yeon Cheongha was agonizing over a martial arts manual.
"What's going on at this hour? Is someone bothering you again?"
Yeon Cheongha said with the corners of his eyes raised, so I quickly shook my head.
"I came because I have something to ask you, instructor."
He told us to sit down, and as soon as I sat down, I told him everything I had heard from Cho Yusan.
I didn't just say that Cho Yusan's uncle wanted to take me, but also their ulterior motives and the fact that they had made the offer to me first to take Pae Maseong.
Pae Maseong listened with wide eyes.
"Pae Maseong must be really amazing."
When I said that, Yeon Cheongha laughed.
"What do you want to do?"
"I don't know. If I can leave Eumyeong Valley, I want to leave. But I don't know if I have to go to the Cho family just because I'm leaving Eumyeong Valley. I don't think they'll teach me martial arts even if I go to the Cho family."
"Yes, you've thought it through well. Pae Maseong will be guaranteed an opportunity, but you won't. They'll probably use you as bait. But as you said, if you can leave Eumyeong Valley, it might be a good idea to accept the offer. As you know, there are still a few more competitions before you graduate from Eumyeong Valley, and if you don't survive there, you'll be thrown into the underground caves."
Even as he spoke, his face became more thoughtful.
"Just because you're skilled doesn't mean you'll survive until the end. If a skilled child seems like they'll become someone else's person, the easiest way is to kill them in Eumyeong Valley. It's entirely possible."
He seemed to think that it would be best for us to leave Eumyeong Valley as soon as possible.
"Do that, Yasocheong. If you can leave Eumyeong Valley with Pae Maseong, that would be the best for you."
Then he looked at Pae Maseong.
"You'll have many good opportunities in the future, but for Yasocheong's sake, I hope you'll choose a path where you can go with him, Pae Maseong."
"Of course I will. I only have Socheong as a friend anyway."
It was a line I had heard over a hundred times by now.
But I wondered if that was the best option, so I kept thinking while they were talking.
"You don't seem to like it?"
Pae Maseong asked first.
"Instructor, is there no way for us to go to Cheonrim without graduating from Eumyeong Valley? Can't you take us with you?"
Yeon Cheongha didn't seem to have expected me to ask that.
And from then on, he was lost in deep thought.
"I'll have to look for a way. Since I've already caused trouble before, if I say I'm leaving, the instructors will probably welcome it with open arms. I'll have to try saying that I'll take you two as a condition for leaving."
That wouldn't be as easy as it sounded.
It seemed like he would have to get the Valley Lord's permission.
If Yeon Cheongha couldn't do it, then even if it meant going to the Cho family, I decided to hold on to a sliver of hope for now.
Cho Yusan's uncle was scheduled to come next month, so time was tight.
No matter how fast Yeon Cheongha moved, it seemed difficult to make a decision in that time, but Pae Maseong offered his thoughts.
"What if I say I haven't made up my mind yet, Socheong?"
It seemed like we could buy some time that way, so we planned to say that for now.
* * *
Cho Yusan's uncle was above the instructors, and Cho Yusan, who was with him, had more power in his shoulders than ever before.
But that was only in Eumyeong Valley; if you thought about the entire Heavenly Demon Sect, Eumyeong Valley was just a small well.
Right now, it might seem like the best thing to do is to catch the eye of the Cho family's leadership, and it might seem like the highest position we could climb to, but Pae Maseong was the strongest character in the world.
The person who would eventually become the master of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
But I, whom that Pae Maseong trusted and followed the most, was now in a situation where I had to watch this person and that person's face to get out of Eumyeong Valley.
"How did the story go?"
Cho Yusan's uncle started with that.
I knew he was asking about Pae Maseong, so I didn't hesitate for long.
"Pae Maseong doesn't seem to have made a decision yet. Pae Maseong has no reason to follow me. He met a good instructor here and is learning a lot. Since his martial arts progress is fast here, he probably has no intention of going elsewhere."
"How foolish. To be satisfied with Eumyeong Valley and settle down. No matter how well the instructors of Eumyeong Valley teach, it can't be compared to being taught with determination by the main family."
It would be better to say that to Pae Maseong directly, but it seemed that Cho Yusan had already told him how unreasonable Pae Maseong was.
"Yusan, wouldn't it be better for this uncle to meet Pae Maseong directly and talk to him?"
At that, Cho Yusan shook his head.
"That guy is a bit strange. It's not easy to persuade him. He's not happy even after getting into the First Class, and he doesn't seem to care much about good food and good lodging. I don't think he'll be particularly happy about being made stronger either."
Then he glanced at me and continued.
"He seems to be a guy who lives for the fun of learning martial arts with Yasocheong."
"So he has martial talent but is lacking in the head."
Cho Yusan's uncle said, clicking his tongue.
"I've already spoken to him, so I think Pae Maseong will make a decision soon. I'll let you know through Cho Yusan then."
Since there probably wouldn't be any more to talk about there, I said that, and he nodded.
A few days after he left, Yeon Cheongha came to our dormitory.
Seeing his confident face, I realized that the matter had been resolved.
He first caught my eye and beckoned me with a nod, and I quietly called Pae Maseong and went out.
"Let's leave like this. We probably don't have anything to pack anyway. It's not good to run into anyone else."
"Yes, instructor."
I had expected it to be like this to some extent, but I was still dazed.
"You got permission from the Valley Lord, right, instructor?"
"Of course. It took this long because I had to get the Valley Lord's permission. And if the Valley Lord doesn't give permission, even an instructor can't leave Eumyeong Valley carelessly."
I knew that too.
On the outside, the security didn't seem that great, but because of the formation, there was always fog around, so you couldn't go out.
When we left, the fog had lifted, which was because the Valley Lord had dispelled the formation in advance.
The Valley Lord probably wouldn't have listened to Yeon Cheongha's words easily, so I couldn't know what conditions he had set to persuade him.
For now, I owed him a great debt, so I thought I would have to repay it someday and followed Yeon Cheongha.
As I left Eumyeong Valley with him, the memory of when I first came here was vivid.
The time I spent in Eumyeong Valley flashed by like a revolving lantern.
Most of the guys I saw every day were dead and thrown to the poisonous creatures in the underground caves.
It might have been a miracle that I was able to get out alive like this.
"Even if it's hard, let's go as far as we can first and rest there. I got permission from the Valley Lord, but there might be some instructors who don't want to let us go."
We followed his words without a word.
I didn't know what awaited us in the future, but I thought it wouldn't be worse than life in Eumyeong Valley.
* * *
I found out later what promise Yeon Cheongha had made with the Lord of Cheonrim to get us out of Eumyeong Valley.
Not knowing that, I was first curious about how Yeon Cheongha had resolved things with the Valley Lord.
In fact, if you think about it, it was something that could be easily predicted.
It was just that I wondered if Yeon Cheongha would have gone that far to get us out.
"The assassins of Cheonrim decide on their own assassination missions. If they judge that the probability of success is low or that their lives may be in danger, they can refuse the request. But from now on, I have to go on all the assassination missions that the Lord orders. But you don't have to worry too much. It's just that I don't want to go, but if I put my mind to it, I can succeed in all of them."
That was the answer I got from him after prying.
I was so dumbfounded that I stared at him, and Pae Maseong couldn't close his gaping mouth.
"But... don't some people die while on assassination missions, instructor?"
When Pae Maseong asked, Yeon Cheongha shook his head.
"That doesn't apply to me."
"Even if your skills are not lacking, couldn't that happen? Someone who thinks they were insulted by you could fake an assassination request and set a trap for you. In my opinion, even Instructor Son Eun could do that."
At my words, Yeon Cheongha stared at me quietly.
(End of Chapter)