Chapter 21 : Congratulatory Gift

Chapter 21: Congratulatory Gift

“Well. I don’t know what it is, but they must have prepared something quite impressive. From what I’ve heard, the Danri Family Head had been making tremendous efforts to form a marriage alliance with the Namgung Family. Wouldn’t they have prepared a gift befitting that?”

Their conversation continued even after that, but it was a story that had nothing to do with Dong Bong-su anyway. Completely possessing Sosam, he indifferently passed by people chattering about the Unnamed Righteous Hero or the Namgung Family’s wedding.

For him, compared to such trivial matters, the far more important and pressing task was how, and in what manner, he should hunt Murim people from now on.

While he was thinking about that, he arrived at the main gate of the family estate before he realized it.

After entering the Danri Family, Dong Bong-su headed straight for his quarters, the East Stable, without delay.

Even as he walked toward the stable, countless thoughts crossed his mind, but he had yet to make a decision on any single one. That decision would be made only after arriving at the stable, carefully retracing each possibility one by one.

It was when he and Yeoro passed several pavilions of the Danri Family and were almost upon the stable.

[An enemy with a level difference of 10 or more has approached within 20 meters of you. 20.]

‘Spirit Eye got activated?’

Halt.

His steps instinctively came to a stop.

Dong Bong-su’s gaze naturally fixed on the stable that served as his nest.

The East Stable was located in a particularly secluded area, even within the Danri Family grounds, so if someone had come here, it was obvious without even looking that they were inside the stable.

‘Why?’

That question flashed through his mind.

The reason the question “why?” arose first instead of “who?” was because the answer to who was already known. Not long ago, there would have been three possibilities, but now that he had reached level 7, there was only a single answer.

[7, 6, 5....]

Dong Bong-su still could not find an answer to “why,” but he continued approaching the stable. It was because he was certain that the ‘enemy’ inside the stable had not come for a dangerous purpose. If they had intended to kill or capture him, they would not have been waiting here.

Even so, he continued to contemplate the reason the other party had come.

In the end, he arrived at a single reason.

Another topic people had mentioned earlier at the market, aside from the story of the Unnamed Righteous Hero.

For a very brief moment, Dong Bong-su’s teeth were revealed before disappearing again. It seemed that an unexpected matter had decided his next course of action.

Carefully gripping Yeoro’s reins, he stepped into the stable.

Creeeak. Thud.

Inside the stable.

As expected, an elderly man with an elegant white beard draping down to his chest was standing there. With both hands clasped behind his back, he looked at Dong Bong-su and Yeoro as they entered the stable.

He was,

It was Danri Cheon-u, the Danri Family Head, the Flying Heaven Beautiful Sword.

“So you were Sosam.”

The moment Dong Bong-su’s eyes met his, he pressed himself flat against the ground. As a servant of the family, that was only natural.

Swoosh.

Danri Cheon-u glided toward Dong Bong-su and Yeoro. Because Dong Bong-su had slightly lifted his head while prostrating himself, he could naturally see Danri Cheon-u’s feet.

‘That is...!’

Danri Cheon-u’s movement lasted only a brief moment. But the instant Dong Bong-su saw it, a crackling current ran through his brain. To him, Danri Cheon-u’s movement had completely departed from the laws of physics.

Could that really be called walking?

Humans were able to move forward because of the friction between their feet and the ground. If friction were zero, one could not walk forward or backward. No matter how small the value, friction had to exist to advance or retreat.

However, when the coefficient of friction of the ground material was extremely low, walking forward became difficult because of slipping. That was why humans, in such cases, wore shoes that increased friction or reduced the surface area in contact with the ground to slide forward more effectively. Mountaineering boots or ice skates were examples of this.

Yet the shoes Danri Cheon-u was wearing now were ordinary shoes made of silk. Above all, the ground here was nothing more than ordinary dirt. He had not measured it, but the coefficient of friction would have been high.

And yet.

At this very moment, Danri Cheon-u was moving across the ground ‘as if flying,’ as though he were ignoring the laws of gravity and friction altogether.

“....”

Dong Bong-su had seen many people who possessed martial arts, but he had never seen anything like that before.

‘Is that real Lightness Skill?’

All the Lightness Skills he had seen so far, those of the black-clad bandits and ordinary warriors, had truly been low-grade Lightness Skills and movement techniques.

Moreover, the Lightness Skill he himself used as a skill was entirely different from that in another sense. Of course, it too operated outside physical laws, functioning by the rules of a game, but it merely made the body faster and more agile as a ‘skill.’ It was on a completely different level from that.

That.

In other words, Lightness Skill as a martial art was no different from a unique enlightenment that allowed one to move in a special way by utilizing the natural laws of this place. A new world distinct from physical laws. In that single step of Danri Cheon-u, Dong Bong-su could feel and witness its actual existence.

At that moment.

‘I need to learn it.’

For the first time since coming here, Dong Bong-su resolved to properly learn martial arts. Until now, he had felt that simply raising his level was enough, but at this very instant, that thought changed.

A single small step from Danri Cheon-u brought about a great change in Dong Bong-su. No one except Dong Bong-su knew it, but the murderer was once again drawing closer to evolution.

In the meantime, Danri Cheon-u reached Dong Bong-su’s side.

Dong Bong-su was still staring at Danri Cheon-u’s feet, while Danri Cheon-u simply raised a hand and stroked Yeoro’s head.

“So it’s time to part with you as well.”

Hihihiing.

Yeoro let out a low whinny, welcoming his master’s gentle touch.

At that, Dong Bong-su realized that his earlier prediction in front of the stable had been correct. The reason Danri Cheon-u had appeared here was to see the congratulatory gift that would be sent to the Namgung Family.

While Danri Cheon-u was stroking Yeoro’s mane.

A long shadow fell over his head.

“You’re here.”

“Yes. Family Head.”

Dong Bong-su never forgot a voice once he had heard it. He had heard the voice of the one who had just appeared before.

‘Gi Dae-hyo?’

As he expected, the one who appeared was Gi Dae-hyo, the leader of the Black Five Division.

In truth, Gi Dae-hyo still did not know what whim had possessed the Family Head to summon him to a place like this. If he wanted to ride Yeoro, he could have simply ordered the servants to prepare the horse in front of the estate. Why had the Family Head come all the way to this foul-smelling place himself, and on top of that, why had he called him here as well? Those thoughts were running through his mind.

Perhaps sensing his thoughts, Danri Cheon-u smiled faintly and spoke.

“There’s no need to make that face. I simply wanted to see Yeoro one last time.”

“...!”

Gi Dae-hyo was startled. It was because of Danri Cheon-u’s words, ‘one last time.’ Of course, Dong Bong-su, who was listening to their conversation with his head lowered, had already expected those words.

“Huhu. I told you not to be surprised, yet here you are.”

“But....”

“On the coming full moon, the second daughter of the Namgung Family Head will be holding her wedding.”

“Ah!”

The Namgung Family Head, the Sword Immortal Namgung Byeok.

He was the head of the Namgung Family, the most powerful of the current Five Great Families of the Central Plains, and one of the greatest swordsmen in the Murim.

Above all, Namgung Byeok—or rather, the authority of the Namgung Family—was absolute in Anhui. It would have been somewhat better if there had been even a rival, but in Anhui, aside from the Namgung Family, there were no Nine Sects and One Gang, nor any other Five Great Families of the Central Plains. There was no opposing force whatsoever. There were not even any major black bandit sects.

That meant that the wedding of the Namgung Family Head’s second daughter was an event capable of turning all of Anhui upside down.

Danri Cheon-u’s personal visit here meant that he had decided to send Yeoro as a congratulatory gift for this Namgung Family wedding.

“Will it be all right?”

Gi Dae-hyo knew well how much Danri Cheon-u cherished Yeoro.

Yet despite having decided to send Yeoro away, Danri Cheon-u’s face was filled with ease. In fact, a faint smile even spread across his entire face.

“More than fine. If I can send even one of our children to the Namgung Family, couldn’t I send something even greater than this?”

“...!”

Only then did Gi Dae-hyo realize what Danri Cheon-u was truly aiming for. Sending Yeoro as a congratulatory gift was an expression of his will to forge ties with the Namgung Family by any means, using this wedding as a pretext.

That was certain.

Indeed, if one wished to firmly establish a foothold in Anhui, entering under the shadow of the Namgung Family was the best option.

There were, of course, many possible ways to do so, but the most certain methods were only two.

“A marriage alliance for a hundred years? Or the rite of nine prostrations?”

A marriage alliance for a hundred years. A promise to spend a hundred years together, meaning marriage.

The rite of nine prostrations. A ritual of bowing nine times, performed when a disciple formed a bond with a master.

Those two were precisely a marital alliance and a master–disciple relationship.

As Dong Bong-su listened to Gi Dae-hyo’s words, he once again predicted Danri Cheon-u’s answer. And once again, it hit the mark without fail.

“Didn’t I say so just a moment ago? One of our children. Wouldn’t placing two logs across a stream make it easier to cross than placing just one?”

“But... they might not want both at the Namgung Family.”

At Gi Dae-hyo’s words, Danri Cheon-u stroked his long white beard and smiled.

“Hahaha. And that is precisely why I called you here.”

“....”

“I don’t care what methods you use. Make sure it succeeds.”

“Whom are you considering as the counterpart?”

The counterpart. Gi Dae-hyo did not specify exactly whom he meant. Even so, Danri Cheon-u seemed to understand, and as he once again stroked Yeoro’s head, he said,

“Make it the Thunderclap Dominating Sword.”

“I understand, Family Head.”

The Thunderclap Dominating Sword.

That was the sobriquet of Namgung Hu, the third younger brother of the current Namgung Family Head and the youngest son of the previous Namgung Family Head.

With that, the core reason Danri Cheon-u had summoned Gi Dae-hyo here came to an end. And with that, Gi Dae-hyo fully understood Danri Cheon-u’s intentions.

What Danri Cheon-u wanted was merely a small thread connecting him to the Namgung Family. He was not aiming grandly for the supreme authority of the next Namgung Family Head.

Either his son, Kang Hae of the Danri Family, would enter as a disciple of Namgung Hu, or, failing that, his second daughter, Dan Ri-hui, would become either the legal wife or a concubine of Namgung Hu or one of Namgung Hu’s sons.

That was all. Rather than a dangerous, radical advance, he had chosen to secure a stable foundation.

“When should I depart?”

“Leave immediately tomorrow. There will be much to do once you arrive.”

“Yes, Family Head.”

Thinking the discussion was over, Gi Dae-hyo bowed once toward Danri Cheon-u and turned around.

At that moment, Danri Cheon-u’s final words reached his back.

“Before departing for the Namgung Family, be sure to take this child with you as well. You will need this child to manage Yeoro.”

With the same hand that had been stroking Yeoro’s neck, Danri Cheon-u pointed to Sosam—Dong Bong-su—who was quietly bowing his head beside him.

Dong Bong-su, head lowered, listened silently to their conversation, his eyes gleaming.

“Yes, Family Head.”

Gi Dae-hyo’s brief reply. With that, Dong Bong-su’s departure from the estate was decided.