Chapter 192
Chapter 192
“Gasp!”
At the terrifying aura felt from all directions, Yoon Seojeong sharply inhaled.
Youngho, who had been walking beside her, calmly swung his arm and swept away the surrounding energies.
As her breathing became easier, Yoon Seojeong looked at Youngho with a curious gaze.
“The energy that clung to my body just now… that was a formation, right?”
“Yes. Compared to the previous formation, this one has become far more vicious. Only someone at your level would merely feel pressure.”
“Well, even a fully seasoned First Rate Martial Artist would probably faint from this level of energy, right?”
“Most certainly. That aside, by now those who wish to welcome us should be arriving…”
—You have arrived?
At that moment, a strange voice echoed inside their heads. Yoon Seojeong frowned at the unpleasant noise, and Youngho spoke in a chilling voice.
“Show yourself. It’s distracting and disorderly.”
“My apologies.”
Then a human-shaped figure made of mist appeared before Youngho. It was literally nothing more than a form; since it was composed of fog, no detailed features such as eyes, nose, or mouth could be seen on its face.
A voice emerged from the fog that had taken the shape of a human.
“Alliance Lord, I am truly sorry, but could you walk just a little farther?”
“That’s not just a little.”
“Pardon?”
“We have to walk at least this far ahead. Jeong-ah, don’t even think about using Lightness Skill. Your clothes might get damaged.”
“We can just get new clothes!”
“The clothes and accessories you’re wearing together are worth fifty nyang of gold.”
“……”
“They are extremely expensive, so even the slightest scratch would drastically reduce their value.”
“……I will behave properly.”
“My disciple is truly so well-mannered. How kind-hearted she is to consider her master’s feelings.”
“……For Master’s sake, what couldn’t I do?”
“Then let’s go.”
Youngho and Yoon Seojeong slowly walked forward. The human-shaped mist stared at them blankly before letting out a hollow laugh.
“…He can sense our presence even from outside?”
Moreover, this was the very center where the formation had been deployed. At the center of a formation, even a Master Level expert would lose all sensation in their body.
Of course, comparing Youngho to an ordinary Master Level expert was absurd, but it once again made the fog figure realize just how monstrous Youngho truly was.
The human-shaped mist moved its unseen lips before soon releasing the spell. The fog dispersed into the air, and nothing could be felt from it any longer.
When the presence she had felt behind them disappeared, Yoon Seojeong finally spoke.
“Was it a formation made by Aunt Muyeon?”
“It was probably her. Only Stench Ghost under heaven could create a formation of this level.”
“I wanted to visit her since it’s been so long…”
“That woman wanders around everywhere, so she’s probably not here.”
‘Because she’s always slacking off, I rarely get to see her face. That makes it even more irritating.’
When he saw her later, he would personally check whether she had been training properly.
Youngho hid his thoughts and showed Yoon Seojeong a smiling face. As they chatted pleasantly while walking, they soon exited the formation.
“Hmm?”
The moment they stepped out of the formation, hundreds of people welcomed Youngho.
He occasionally visited to see Jeong Guyu, but this was the first time so many people had gathered.
Yoon Seojeong also couldn’t hide her bewilderment at the unexpectedly large number of people welcoming them.
At that moment, a man approached Youngho and spoke.
“I greet the Supreme of the Unorthodox Faction.”
The moment the words ended, the man and the hundreds behind him dropped to one knee and bowed their heads.
It was, quite literally, an act of submission to Youngho. Even in the grand spectacle of hundreds of people swearing loyalty to their lord, Youngho merely wore a disinterested expression.
Seeing his face, Yoon Seojeong realized something. Right now, her master wasn’t just displeased—he was annoyed.
“…Why do you look more like soldiers of the Unorthodox Alliance?”
He had managed to speak somehow, but the unease in his voice couldn’t be hidden.
“Your name was Yongpil, right? Why are you the one welcoming me instead of Jeong Guyu?”
“Big Brother went hunting to serve you venison, Supreme.”
“When?”
“The moment he heard that you had arrived here…”
“More importantly, didn’t I tell you not to call me Supreme?”
Yongpil gazed at Youngho with misty eyes.
Just looking at that gaze made Youngho uncomfortable, so he quietly averted his eyes.
“Will you not accept us into the Unorthodox Alliance?”
“Shouldn’t you ask your captain that?”
“My brother is just not honest. In truth—!”
Thud!
At that moment, two deer dropped right in front of Yongpil. They were so massive that each one easily weighed over two hundred geun.
A creeping sense of dread rose in Yongpil as he slowly lifted his head. Then he forced an awkward smile and said while pulling up the corners of his lips.
“Thanks to Sister shading me from the sunlight, this younger brother was able to rest comfortably. Then I shall be going now—”
“Yongpil.”
“Yes.”
“What did you just say?”
A killing intent gathered on Jeong Guyu’s face as she smiled eerily.
‘I’m dead…!’
He was certain that whether he flew into the sky or burrowed into the ground, he would die. Thus Yongpil used his final method.
“It wasn’t just me! Those guys also said they were greeting the Supreme of the Unorthodox Faction and asked to be accepted into the Unorthodox Alliance!”
At Yongpil’s tattling, the other members of the Fungnang Unit stared at him in disbelief.
Some even glared at him with killing intent, but Yongpil lightly ignored them.
“I may be guilty, but the others are guilty too!”
“So if you’re going to die, you’ll drag the others down with you?”
At Jeong Guyu’s question, Yongpil nodded vigorously.
“That’s right! Look at them! They were kneeling and bowing together with me!”
“You’re so insolent that I should only punish you. I’ll deal with you later.”
“Pardon? Sister? Wait a moment!”
“Take this guy to the Reflection Palace.”
The Reflection Palace was a place where one had to memorize ethical texts like the Tao Te Ching or the Heart Sutra for three days.
For ignorant wandering warriors like Yongpil, it was literally a punishment no different from hell.
“Sister! At least let five people stay with me!”
Having touched the reverse scale of the Fungnang Unit, Yongpil had his mouth gagged and his limbs bound as his comrades dragged him away.
“Wait! Mm! You guys did it too!”
“Shut up!”
“You need a beating!”
The Fungnang Unit even began beating Yongpil. They literally beat him while dragging him away. Even when he desperately begged them to hit somewhere else because that spot had already been struck once, they showed no mercy.
Watching this, Youngho muttered quietly.
“…Why does Jongpal come to mind?”
Yoon Seojeong nodded slightly as if she agreed.
Then Youngho suddenly looked around and said,
“But where did that brat Jongpal go?”
“Black Shadow dragged him away earlier to beat him.”
“…Ah.”
From that day onward, Jongpal’s salary increased.
Jeong Guyu lit the pile of firewood.
“…You’re using Samadhi True Fire just to light a fire?”
At Yoon Seojeong’s question, Jeong Guyu replied while preparing the deer.
“Martial arts aren’t something that grand.”
“Master said something similar… Does something really change starting from the Transformation Realm?”
“It does change quite a bit. Are you going to eat?”
Jeong Guyu asked while lifting the deer’s hind leg. Though it seemed like a question asked out of courtesy, Youngho nodded.
“If you’re offering, I should eat.”
“…You’re the Lord of the Unorthodox Alliance, yet you wander around hungry? Why do you keep wanting to eat the food I cook?”
As Jeong Guyu grumbled, Youngho chuckled.
‘Even though she’s clearly pleased.’
Youngho had seen the slight upward curl of her lips. If he had been forcing himself to eat her food, that smile would never have appeared.
‘Besides, I simply don’t eat food that tastes bad.’
Youngho asked Jeong Guyu, who continued grumbling in a good mood.
“Did your training produce results?”
Jeong Guyu skewered the entire deer and sprinkled spices over it before answering.
“I think there were results, but I don’t know if it will satisfy your eyes.”
“Actually, I’ve already finished evaluating you.”
“What?”
Youngho picked up a piece of venison while looking at Jeong Guyu’s puzzled face.
“Three years? No, was it five years ago? You had already stepped into the realm of an Absolute Being back then.”
“……”
Jeong Guyu fell silent for a moment. Youngho didn’t bother organizing the confusion occurring inside her mind.
Because the Jeong Guyu he knew always gave answers that defied expectations when hearing words like this.
Whoosh!
Samadhi True Fire spread from Youngho’s hand and instantly engulfed the venison.
It lasted only for a fleeting moment, but thanks to Youngho’s perfect control of internal energy, the meat was cooked perfectly all the way through.
“Let’s eat.”
Youngho served meat to Yoon Seojeong. Receiving the meat Jeong Guyu had prepared, Yoon Seojeong’s eyes shone.
‘It’s incredibly clean.’
Not only was the internal energy perfectly refined, but even the energy within the Samadhi True Fire felt incomparably pure and immaculate.
‘Is that really all?’
Of course not. Her master was the Greatest Under Heaven. What she saw couldn’t possibly be everything.
‘Surely she must have seen far more than I did.’
Though she appeared straightforward and humorous like a neighborly aunt, Jeong Guyu was none other than the Wandering King.
She acted like a friendly older sister in front of her, but the hardships she had endured until now could never be fully expressed in words.
That was the kind of existence a wandering warrior was.
At that moment, Jeong Guyu—who had been organizing her thoughts—opened her mouth.
“…Then how strong am I now?”
“Kuhuhuh!”
Hearing the question, Youngho simply laughed.
“You really are interesting. Normally people would complain about being deceived all this time.”
“There’s nothing to gain from pointing out the past. It’s more productive to ask how strong I’ve become.”
“You’re sharp.”
“That’s a lie. I said that because if I got angry, you’d probably enjoy it.”
“……”
Once again the answer was unexpected, but this time Youngho chose silence.
‘Did I torment her that much?’
Her face looked so disgusted that it seemed filled with deep resentment.
“In any case, your martial strength now is far stronger than the Chief Aide of the Unorthodox Alliance.”
“Ridiculous.”
The Chief Aide who sat at a desk processing documents couldn’t possibly be that strong.
‘But what if it’s true?’
Everyone around Youngho was a monster, so she felt slightly doubtful.
Jeong Guyu scratched the top of her head in frustration. When that wasn’t enough, she loosened her raised hair and said,
“Which Chief Aide could possibly be compared to me? What kind of monster is he?”
“Horyeung.”
“……That crazy hunting dog became Chief Aide?”
“It’s been over ten years since Horyeung started working as Chief Aide.”
“Do you know how my first meeting with that madman went?”
“You got punched once, right?”
“Are your eyes crooked? I got beaten so badly my body wasn’t intact!”
So resentful was she that Jeong Guyu grabbed a wine bottle beside her and poured it straight down her throat.
Gulp! Gulp!
“Kha!”
After emptying the bottle in an instant, Jeong Guyu’s eyes gleamed fiercely.
“This time I’ll definitely plant my fist in that unlucky face.”
“The one you have to face isn’t him.”
“You already chose my opponent?”
Her eyebrows twitched slightly.
“Why? Interested?”
Jeong Guyu looked like an enraged bull, but Youngho knew the truth—she was actually intrigued.
After wetting her throat with more alcohol, Jeong Guyu said,
“If the Martial God himself picked the opponent, how could I not be curious?”
“I thought about it a bit. Who is the most frightening enemy for a wandering warrior?”
“Now that you say it like that… I’m getting a little scared.”
A strange sense of foreboding made Jeong Guyu glance at Youngho.
And she despaired.
Youngho was smiling. His face shone with joy and delight, like the innocence of a newborn baby.
“The Tang Clan.”
“……!”
“The one you must face is a man named Tang Gunhyeon of the Tang Clan.”
“Are you insane?! You want me to fight the Tang Clan?!”
The Tang Clan was just as foul-tempered as wandering warriors, and above all, they used poison.
Poison was the most lethal thing for wandering warriors. Most who were poisoned died without being able to respond at all.
One might ask whether they had been struck by some deadly poison without an antidote, but the truth was different.
They simply died because they didn’t have money to buy the antidote.
They had no savings and spent recklessly, unable to afford even cheap antidotes.
Thus poison was the natural enemy of wandering warriors, and the Tang Clan—masters of poison—were particularly notorious.
Jeong Guyu’s shouting was so loud that Youngho frowned.
“I told you to spar with Tang Gunhyeon, not fight the Tang Clan. Use my name, and if they ask for verification, tell them to take the price of a finger.”
“…Seriously?”
“What, you think I’m joking?”
Jeong Guyu weakly laughed and set down the wine bottle she had been holding.
“You’re basically holding a funeral ritual for me.”
“Really?”
“What can’t I say?”
Jeong Guyu silently sipped her wine for a while. Meanwhile, Youngho sprinkled various spices over the meat and discussed cooking with Yoon Seojeong.
“Why?”
At that moment, Jeong Guyu asked Youngho.
“Why did you help me?”
She stared blankly into the air. Her eyes looked unfocused as if she were heavily drunk, but Youngho knew it was an act.
‘More precisely, she’s being sentimental.’
“Fifteen years ago, when you proposed that deal to me, I was in a very desperate situation.”
“So?”
“I had no money, and I was about to let the children starve.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’ve always wondered.”
Without looking directly at Youngho, Jeong Guyu asked,
“Why did you help me… no, why did you help my children?”
The word “children” carried a double meaning.
It referred both to the Fungnang Unit she considered her comrades and to the young children she had raised with her heart.
Youngho glanced at her. She looked very tense.
“…This doesn’t seem like something to talk about in front of my disciple who knows nothing.”
Jeong Guyu turned her eyes to Yoon Seojeong. Sitting stiffly and awkwardly, Yoon Seojeong looked more tense than ever.
“My apologies. I misspoke.”
“No, I can answer.”
Youngho gently patted the head of the anxious Yoon Seojeong beside him.
Her body flinched slightly, but Youngho didn’t withdraw his hand. His lips moved slightly before he let out a small laugh.
‘Why is it so hard to say something so simple?’
Still, it had to be said.
“I think it’s simple hypocrisy.”
Hypocrisy.
It was a word that didn’t suit the straightforward and blunt Youngho.
Perhaps because of that, Jeong Guyu felt his words pierce deeply into her heart.
The sincerity of a man who had been forced to stain his hands with blood because he was born into the Unorthodox Faction shook her very soul.
“Alliance Lord, may I ask one favor?”
She was about to say something extremely impulsive. Perhaps tomorrow she would be too embarrassed to show her face.
But she would say it anyway. Because even if it was shameful, she knew it was a request she would not regret.
“If I defeat that man Tang Gunhyeon, will you accept us into the Unorthodox Alliance?”
Youngho’s eyes widened as if he had never expected Jeong Guyu to say such a thing.
Soon realizing her gaze was sincere, Youngho pondered briefly before answering.
“Alright. If you win, no matter what happens, I will accept all of you.”
“…Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
Though their meeting had lasted less than two shijin, Youngho and Jeong Guyu had confirmed and acknowledged each other’s sincerity.
Watching Jeong Guyu quietly drink her wine, Youngho thought,
‘Does she not know Tang Gunhyeon is the King of Hidden Weapons?’
She’s even more ignorant than I expected.