Ch. 39
When there were too many people to deal with and I was distracted, it was more comfortable to reduce their numbers first and then slowly match my pace.
In an instant, I sent out dozens of sword strikes and kicked the abdomen of the person blocking my way to create a path.
As I approached Pae Maseong like that and stood back to back with him, looking forward, the number of people coming towards me had decreased significantly.
They glanced at the corpses piled on the floor and flinched with surprised faces.
As if they wouldn't have attacked if they had known it would turn out like this.
I flew at them again and swung my sword.
After rampaging to my heart's content, there were no more living people moving in front of me.
As I was smacking my lips with a sense of disappointment, Pae Maseong tapped my shoulder.
"It seems to be mostly over. Should we let the children hunt the remaining ones?"
At Pae Maseong's words, the children on the trees fell down with a thud.
They hadn't even been told to do so, but it seemed they had come down first because they didn't want to lose the opportunity.
Still, they didn't move right away and just stared at me with clear eyes, as if they were waiting for my disposal.
"Don't get hurt."
"Yes, Senior Brother!"
I don't know if all fifty-seven of them answered, or if a few of them had forgotten to answer and had flown off first, but in an instant, several shadows disappeared in each direction.
Pae Maseong and I, without even exchanging words, soared up and stood on a tall tree.
Then we divided into two directions and looked at the places where the children had scattered.
We were going to go and lend a hand if there were children who needed our help, but the guys fought really well.
They were more clever than strong.
They were good at hiding their bodies and then striking and retreating, and they inflicted necessary blows and avoided attacks to ensure their safety.
After about half a shichen had passed like that, there were no more living mountain bandits left in the mountain bandit stronghold.
Although it had taken longer than other times, it was definitely meaningful.
"They'll be usable after a few more times. It's a shame that there aren't many mountain bandit strongholds left for us to attack. And now Pae Maseong has to go back to the Cho family."
When I said that, Pae Maseong shook his head.
"I don't think I can go back to the Cho family now anyway. The family head and the elders will also find it difficult to continue to defend me. How about we get together again this time, Socheong?"
Hearing those words, it seemed that my room for maneuver would definitely become narrower now.
If I had continued to ignore the matter of Nether Shadow Valley, it might have been different, but that was not possible.
If I went back to the Danli family, what could I learn there?
There would be many things I could learn, but I knew that Pae Maseong would become the strongest in the world in the future.
It meant that no matter how long I stayed in the Danli family, it wouldn't be better than being next to Pae Maseong.
It was my fault that Pae Maseong couldn't stay at the Cho family, and it was also ridiculous for me to continue to be registered with the Danli family alone.
"Then let's do that."
I had received an elixir from the family head, but thinking that the Danli family's security escort group would be able to conduct their security escorts safely in the future, it didn't seem like I should be just sorry.
And if he asked for it, I could just give him a little of the wealth I had plundered from the mountain bandit strongholds for the price of the elixir.
Pae Maseong's face brightened.
I don't know when he had been thinking that, but he seemed to be very happy.
"Should we ask our master to come too?"
Pae Maseong asked, but I couldn't bring myself to say yes.
If we asked, Yeon Cheongha would say that he would be with us, but I knew how happy he had been when he had entered the Danli family's martial force.
Rather than keeping all the people we had formed a connection with by our side, it might be better for the future to place them in key positions.
When I said that, Pae Maseong also nodded.
Still, it seemed that I had to at least meet Yeon Cheongha and tell him that I had decided to leave the Danli family.
I gathered the children and told them that.
When they had come out of Nether Shadow Valley, they had been scared and anxious children, but now that look had disappeared a lot.
They seemed to have gained confidence from the fact that they had been helpful to us.
"Take your time. I'll be teaching the kids how to handle poisonous creatures in the meantime."
At Pae Maseong's words, the children's eyes shone with anticipation.
In the novel, it was mentioned that Pae Maseong led a group, and I belatedly wondered if these children were that group.
'The story isn't completely off track. It's going well, right?'
Thinking that, I ran through the night that had not yet cleared and headed to the Danli family.
* * *
The saying that a word without feet travels a thousand li is true.
Several mountain bandit strongholds had been completely subjugated, and the rumor that all of those strongholds were related to the Silver Wind Force's security escort had spread widely not only in the Danli family but also in all sorts of places.
Because of that, a procession of people who wanted to entrust their cargo to the Silver Wind Force was endlessly continuing to the Danli family.
When I went to the Danli family, I hesitated, wondering what was going on as I saw people continuously entering the family, but an outer hall martial artist who recognized me welcomed me and told me that it was all because of me.
"A lucky charm has rolled into the main family. How did you think of that? But who helped you? I heard that no one from the main family's martial forces went with you."
People were now interested in that.
From the outside, it seemed that they thought that the Danli family's martial force had stepped up, and it would have been beneficial for the Danli family to let them misunderstand like that.
The rumor that 'the Danli family's martial force does not show any mercy to the mountain bandits who have attacked a security escort group and chases them to the end and brutally punishes them' spread, and the Danli family enjoyed a fame it had never had before.
"Hurry up and go to the family head's residence. He'll be waiting. Oh my, how can there be such a lucky charm?"
Until I reached the family head's residence, I was caught by several people and heard similar words.
I was a little sorry to hear such words at a place where I had come to say that I would be leaving the Danli family, but it couldn't be helped.
On the way, I ran into Yeon Cheongha, and he discovered me first and ran over, creating a wind.
"Socheong!"
"Master!"
I was happier than when I had met anyone else, and I hugged him.
"I have something to tell you, master. I think it would be better to tell you first."
"Weren't you on your way to the family head's residence?"
"That's true, but I think you should know first."
"Yes, then let's do that."
He also seemed to have noticed that I was saying that because it was an important story.
"I think the Silver Wind Residence will be quiet now, so let's go there."
"Yes, that would be good."
The Silver Wind Residence was empty, and there I told him that Pae Maseong and I had been to Nether Shadow Valley.
Yeon Cheongha, who seemed to have been expecting a story about the subjugation of the mountain bandit strongholds to come out from me, looked at me with a surprised face.
"Socheong, what did you just... say? To Nether Shadow Valley? You rescued the children from there? What about the Valley Lord? What about the instructors?"
"I killed them all."
As I asked that, I thought that he would have expected that answer to some extent.
He would have known that it would be impossible to bring the children out while leaving them alive.
"Socheong..."
He had a face that said he couldn't believe what I was saying.
"Pae Maseong's performance was great."
At that, he shook his head.
"It wouldn't have been possible with just Maseong."
Then he told me to finish the story first, and I roughly told him what had happened there.
When I said that I had killed all the Valley Lord and the instructors and had crippled the dantian of the First Class children and made their arms unusable, he nodded with his mouth agape.
"And I brought out the poisonous creatures from the underground cave, and Pae Maseong said that the children who were in Nether Shadow Valley are resistant to poison. There are fifty-seven children who came with us from there."
I told him without stopping that I had somehow become the Senior Brother, that the children had helped us during the subjugation of the mountain bandit strongholds, and that it would be difficult for Pae Maseong to return to the Cho family now.
He kept nodding and listened to what I was saying.
"Yes, it couldn't have been helped."
"So I'm also going to join Pae Maseong, master."
"Then I'll go too."
I had guessed that Yeon Cheongha would say that if I told him that.
"It won't be helpful to us at all if you do that, master. Rather, it would be better for you to increase your influence here. Then, when we need your help later, please help us."
"..."
Yeon Cheongha could not make a decision right away.
It must have been because he thought that the path we were trying to take would be difficult and rough.
"Socheong, isn't it because I wanted to join the Danli family's martial force?"
Although it was true, there was no way I would say that.
"That's not why. It's really because we need your help, master. We will always let you know where we are staying. If there is anything we need, you can bring it to us."
At those words, he burst out laughing.
"Yes, I will. I will also work hard here to build up my strength and be sure to be of help to you."
"Thank you so much for everything. If it weren't for you, master, I might not have been alive until now."
That was a fact that neither of us could deny.
Yeon Cheongha, as if he had noticed that I was now trying to say goodbye to him, had a sad face.
"Can't we see each other again? So let's not say goodbye for so long."
"Yes, master."
He, as if he had remembered that I had to go to the family head, let me go.
Even so, he affectionately patted my shoulder frequently and followed me for a long time.
The time at the family head's residence became much longer than I had thought.
The family head, even after hearing my story, said that he couldn't let me go from the Danli family and tried to hold on to me to the point where it felt clingy.
Later, he said, 'Do you know how precious the elixir I gave you is?', and he also said that having the qi infusion done was as valuable as the elixir.
It seemed that he was not saying that to boast, but because he wanted to hold on to me somehow, and I was sorry.
I was more grateful that he seemed to have recognized my value, which even I did not know.
"Thank you for everything, family head."
"No. There's no need to say that. If you've made up your mind that much, I don't think I can hold on to you any longer, but if you need my help in the future, come and find me anytime. You know well that my words are not empty, right? Since I said it once before, you've been coming to get help without even knowing to be sorry."
Now, we had become a relationship where we could talk about such things without any problem.
(End of Chapter)