Enshrinement as a God

"Excuse me."

First, Old Ancestor Hongjun, and now Cook Li.

Agong, who had been kicked out without being able to properly do the work assigned by the two, announced his presence at Gongsun Yuan's door with a dejected voice.

"Come in."

The inside of the room was larger than he had thought.

Papers with incomprehensible characters written all over them were hung on the walls, and books were piled up here and there.

'Where on earth does he sleep?'

Most of the room was filled with books.

Since most of the tavern's rooms were empty anyway, it wouldn't matter if he slept in another room, but Agong was amazed at the countless books he had never seen before in his life.

"It's Agong. What is it?"

"Cook Li... told me to help Master Gongsun with his work."

Agong couldn't bring himself to say that he had been half-forced out because he couldn't do his job.

Since there were three people in the tavern, he wanted to show a good side to at least one of them and restore his honor.

"Hmm... my work, you say."

Master Gongsun put down his brush and looked back and forth between Agong and the piled-up books for a moment.

"Then could you sort those documents by type?"

"Sort them?"

Agong made a troubled expression.

It wasn't a physically demanding job, and it was a very easy task of sorting the writings of Master Gongsun by type.

But Agong had a fundamental and major problem.

"What's wrong?"

"Hahaha..."

It was clear that the white was paper and the black was writing.

When Agong looked troubled, Master Gongsun realized the reason.

Unless one was well-off, it was rare for someone of Agong's age to know how to read.

Judging by his appearance, it was clear that he hadn't studied separately, so how could he sort the documents?

"You don't know how to read."

"I've only lived in the mountains... Please give me something else to do."

It wasn't something to be ashamed of since he hadn't been able to learn due to his circumstances, but in front of the gentle scholar, Agong felt embarrassed for some reason.

'Gong, it is a shameful thing before heaven. That a man who has secluded himself in a place like this to seek knowledge could not even look after the heart of a child...'

Seeing this, Master Gongsun reproached himself.

It had already been three years since he had cut off all worldly ties and stayed at the Mountain Sea Tavern.

He had so eagerly explored the principles of the world and hidden knowledge, yet he couldn't even look after the heart of a young boy. The world would laugh at him.

"Please sit here for a moment."

Master Gongsun offered Agong the seat next to him.

When Agong sat down, Master Gongsun stopped what he was doing and spread a sheet of paper in front of Agong.

"If you want to help me, you must first know how to read. From today, let's study together."

"What?"

Agong looked at Master Gongsun in surprise.

Although he was illiterate, he had lived without much inconvenience knowing only a few numbers.

It wasn't that he had never thought about learning to read, but Master Gongsun's proposal was very unexpected.

"I can't do that. I'm here to help with work."

"If it's just simple chores, I have hands and feet, so there's not much you can help with. If you want to help me, you need to know how to read, so think of it as an investment in the future, and I will teach you."

"But..."

It was nice to call it studying, but for Agong, who was now working as a waiter at the tavern, studying was nothing but a luxury.

"To live in the tavern, you will need to know some simple writing. Even if Old Ancestor Hongjun says not to, it is absurd that a person living with this Gongsun Yuan does not know how to read."

"Um... then am I becoming your disciple?"

"Even a short teaching establishes a relationship between a master and a disciple, so that's what it is."

At the concept of a master, which he had encountered for the first time in his life, Agong scratched his head.

Although he had been taught a cultivation method by Zhao Wei, it was learned out of necessity due to the situation, rather than being received in a master-disciple relationship.

In that sense, Gongsun Yuan was Agong's first master.

"Let's start with the character for 'one'."

At Master Gongsun's strong will, Agong had no choice but to pick up a brush.

Learning how to grind ink and hold a brush for the first time in his life, Agong began to write characters on the white paper as Master Gongsun taught him.

* * *

As he spent his busy days, time flew by in an instant.

A week had already passed since Agong started working at the Mountain Sea Tavern.

He was still being scolded for not being able to do his job properly, but although cleaning and other chores were difficult, the work at the Mountain Sea Tavern was generally leisurely.

First of all, there were no customers coming to the tavern.

With no customers, Agong's time naturally became more free.

At first, he had hoped that the Slender Moon Squad would return soon and take him out of this place.

But as a week passed, that expectation gradually faded, and the thought that it might be better to stay here grew stronger.

In his spare time, he secretly practiced the cultivation method he had learned from Zhao Wei, and at other times, he was called by Master Gongsun to learn to read.

"Gasp... Gasp..."

Agong was chopping firewood in the kitchen, breathing heavily.

He didn't know what kind of wood it was, but it was truly terrifying wood.

On the first day, he couldn't even make a scratch, but thanks to diligently memorizing the cultivation method and accumulating energy, he was now able to barely make firewood by striking it dozens of times.

"That's enough. You can go back now."

As soon as Cook Li's words fell, Agong wiped his sweat and left the kitchen.

One of the three figures of the Mountain Sea Tavern.

Cook Li, the cook who was solely responsible for the kitchen, was a foul-mouthed old man, but he was surprisingly considerate.

In addition, seeing his amazing strength and quick movements, it was highly likely that he was a martial artist who had learned martial arts.

Seeing him occasionally complain about his lot and openly curse at Old Ancestor Hongjun when he wasn't around, it was clear that there was some story between the two.

Of course, in the presence of Old Ancestor Hongjun, he never said a harsh word to him.

The way he subtly watched the Old Ancestor's mood made it clear that he was either being blackmailed or feared him.

And Cook Li's cooking was not very tasty.

"Master, it's Agong."

"Come in."

After finishing his work, Agong went to see Master Gongsun as usual.

Cook Li seemed to have many secrets, but Master Gongsun also seemed to have some story.

As Master Gongsun had revealed himself, he was undoubtedly an ordinary scholar.

But sometimes he would go out to investigate something, or he would mutter strange sounds and write down things that were either strange shapes or characters.

When he asked what it was out of curiosity, he would only give an enigmatic answer that it was a special character from the West, or a writing that contained the laws of all things.

Agong had once carefully brought up the subject to Cook Li, wondering if Master Gongsun was a little strange in the head.

"You foolish brat, what nonsense are you spouting about the greatest scholar in the world."

He had only received a bowlful of curses.

He had asked out of concern, but in any case, it was a relief that he wasn't crazy.

Wasn't it a miracle that he wasn't crazy, living in a place like this and only studying and researching for his whole life?

"Now, let's learn this today."

Master Gongsun spread out the assignment he had prepared in advance.

Unlike his initial interest, learning to read was not very exciting.

Agong, who was more used to using his body than using his head to memorize things, would often fidget and couldn't even last for an hour.

"Ma, ma, master."

"Shall we take a short break?"

Agong felt a tickle in his throat as he tried to say the word 'master', which didn't come easily to his lips.

Knowing that Agong was struggling, Master Gongsun had a gentle smile on his lips.

"Ah, no, that's not it... I have something I'm curious about."

"What are you curious about?"

"What on earth... is this place?"

Agong carefully asked the question he had been wondering about inside.

No matter how much he thought about it, the Mountain Sea Tavern was a very strange place.

It wasn't that Agong had experience working at other taverns.

But he wasn't so dull as to not know that this place was strange.

"Shall we say it's a place of preparation?"

"A place of preparation?"

Master Gongsun realized that he had given too much of a Zen-like answer.

"To put it simply, it's like a door."

"A door?"

"Yes, this place is the door to the Hermit's Valley. A door that people who enter and leave open and close."

He still didn't understand, but Agong couldn't ask any more questions.

Jingle. Jingle.

"The sound of the bell!"

From what he had seen while staying at the tavern for a week, the only ones who made the sound of the bell on the curtain at the entrance of the tavern were Master Gongsun and Agong.

But the fact that the sound of the bell was heard when both of them were together meant that someone new had entered the tavern.

"It seems we have a guest."

Agong's heart pounded fiercely.

The Slender Moon Squad must have returned.

Agong hurriedly bowed to Master Gongsun and left the room.

In front of Agong, who had rushed out, stood a man.

Agong, who had been running in a hurry, came to a screeching halt in front of the man.

"Who...?"

The man in front of him was neither Zhao Wei, the leader of the Slender Moon Squad, nor any of the other members.

The man, dressed in a Taoist robe, looked to be in his thirties and was a handsome man who boasted a well-groomed beard.

"I am Lingbao. And who are you?"

"Ah, my name is Agong."

His voice was gruff, unlike his appearance.

Agong came to his senses at the voice of the Taoist named Lingbao.

"Are you a guest?"

"You don't seem to be the Old Ancestor... I heard a young brat has newly entered the tavern, so that must be you."

Lingbao sat down.

Agong, thinking he was a guest, stood by his side, fidgeting.

"Bring me some tea. And where is the Old Ancestor?"

"I don't know."

Agong, surprised anew that a guest had come to a place like this, ran to the kitchen.

Perhaps because he had been so noisy, or perhaps because there were so few customers that all sounds could be heard, Cook Li had already prepared tea and was waiting for Agong.

"What's that long-nosed fellow here for again?"

With the thought of whether there was anyone in the world who got along with Cook Li besides Master Gongsun, Agong brought the tea.

"Hmm... The Old Ancestor isn't here, so does that mean it wasn't the right day..."

While Lingbao was muttering to himself and drinking tea, Agong brought a cloth and diligently wiped the tables.

He was the first guest, and he seemed to know Hongjun, so he didn't want to be told that he was being lazy.

Lingbao, who was sipping his tea, looked at Agong intently.

"You brat, did you say your name was Agong?"

"Yes."

"Come here for a moment."

"Why?"

"When an elderly gentleman calls, you should come right away. What are you asking for!"

Where on earth did he see an elderly gentleman...

Agong grumbled inwardly but obediently approached Lingbao.

Lingbao slowly looked Agong over and then tilted his head.

"You brat, are you learning martial arts?"

"Martial arts?"

Thwack!

"Ack!"

When Agong asked back again, the fan in Lingbao's hand flew to Agong's forehead.

Agong was in so much pain that tears welled up in his eyes.

"You should just answer the question. Why are your manners so bad!"

"You son of a...!"

Agong's forehead turned red as if it were on fire.

Lingbao looked at the fuming Agong as if he were going to eat him.

"Want to get hit again?"

"No!"

"Looking at you, you haven't learned properly, and fortunately, you're a half-wit. What martial art is it?"

If Agong had known about the martial world, he would not have easily answered the question of an unknown person asking about his martial arts.

"The Slender Moon Squad's!"

In front of the fuming Agong, Lingbao tilted his head again.

"If it's the Slender Moon Squad... it's the martial art of the Black Contemplation Fortress, but does the Black Contemplation Fortress have such a martial art?"

"Why did you hit me!"

"When was the last time you brat looked in a mirror?"

"Why would a man look in a mirror!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... Look at your face."

Lingbao clicked his tongue softly.

The Black Contemplation Fortress was a place that aimed for the supreme position of the evil path.

It was not surprising that the Black Contemplation Fortress, the leader of the evil sects, had a cultivation method that deviated from the right path.

The reason Lingbao clicked his tongue was because a child who didn't even seem to be of coming-of-age was learning such a cultivation method.

"This is why evil sect bastards are..."

Lingbao said to Agong, who was about to turn away in anger.

"From now on, you must not practice the martial arts of the Slender Moon Squad. If I catch you practicing it without listening to my words, I will make you grow a lump for a head."

"Grr!"

"Keep that in mind. You will grow tall and strong. This immortal is a man who keeps his word."

Agong glared at Lingbao, who was leisurely drinking his tea.

'Immortal, my ass!'

The human heart is such that it wants to do something more when told not to.

Agogen, feeling defiant, decided to redouble his training and get revenge on that Taoist.

(End of Chapter)