Chapter 77 : Chapter 77

Chapter 77. Comrades (2)

As Jin Yuseong continued to climb Mount Heng with Dang Sopyeong for a while.

“Senior Brother!”

“Brother!!”

The two were able to meet Baek Hyang and Nam Geon, who had run down from the thatched cottage, on the mountainside of Mount Heng.

Jin Yuseong briefly introduced Nam Geon and Baek Hyang to Dang Sopyeong.

“This is Junior Sister Baek Hyang, and this is Nam Geon. They are my comrades.”

“I-I'm Nam Geon. N-nice to meet you.”

When Nam Geon took a step forward and offered a greeting, Dang Sopyeong flinched without realizing it and took a step back.

He had only taken one step forward, but the sense of pressure was immense.

It felt as if a mountain was approaching.

It wasn't just because of his size.

‘H-he’s nothing short of a Heavenly Martial Body.’

As a physician before being a martial artist, he could tell.

How outstanding the body of the man named Nam Geon was.

Despite his huge frame, he was perfectly balanced, and a strength that seemed ready to burst out at any moment could be felt from his entire body's muscles.

Even Dang Sopyeong, who had grown up in the so-called number one martial family in Sichuan, had never seen such a body.

Thanks to being surprised by that overwhelming physique, he hadn't even realized that Nam Geon had spoken informally to him from their first meeting.

While Dang Sopyeong was blankly looking up at Nam Geon.

This time, a voice came from below.

“A pleasure to meet you for the first time. I am Baek Hyang.”

When he lowered his head, a girl who looked to be in her mid-teens was performing a clasped fist greeting towards him.

‘Comrades? She looks so young, though?’

After pondering that question for a moment.

Dang Sopyeong, belatedly realizing he was being rude, hurriedly performed a clasped fist greeting.

“Ahem. I am Sopyeong of the Dang clan.”

After finishing the brief greeting with Dang Sopyeong, Baek Hyang turned her head and asked Jin Yuseong.

“But what is your relationship with Young Master Dang? Senior Brother. You said you were going to a dangerous place…”

When Baek Hyang trailed off and asked, Jin Yuseong answered plainly.

“He is my bad friend whom I picked up on the way.”

Dang Sopyeong’s expression crumpled.

‘Why is this madman calling me a bad friend?’

But he couldn't bring himself to say those words out loud.

It wasn't because he was afraid of being slapped by Jin Yuseong again.

It was because of the booming voice he suddenly heard.

“I-I learned characters from Hyang-i. ‘A-ak’ means bad. B-brother kills all bad guys. Bad friend. Strange.”

“Brother Nam Geon, ‘ak-u’ does not mean a bad person.”

Baek Hyang, who had taught Nam Geon the characters, smiled awkwardly.

“It's a friend, but a friend one doesn't like, or a friend with whom one has fought and grown close, sharing both fond and resentful feelings… It's a word that means such a friend.”

“Hing. Difficult.”

Baek Hyang, who had been pondering for a moment, gestured to Nam Geon.

Then Nam Geon bent his upper body deeply and brought his ear to Baek Hyang’s face.

To Dang Sopyeong, it looked like a bear was about to devour a girl.

Baek Hyang whispered into Nam Geon’s ear, who had come closer.

“It will be easier if you think about your mother, brother. Your mother made things difficult for you, but you want to avenge her, don't you?”

At Baek Hyang’s excellent analogy, Nam Geon suddenly raised his head and let out a sound of admiration.

“Ah! Th-then my mom is a bad mother!”

“……”

Baek Hyang smiled awkwardly. It seemed that ‘bad friend’ and ‘bad mother’ had very different meanings.

After an awkward silence flowed for a moment.

Baek Hyang asked Jin Yuseong.

“Senior Brother Jin. How did you come to be with Young Master Dang?”

It was partly to change the subject, but there was also curiosity.

Because a person who said he was going to a dangerous place had suddenly made a friend and returned.

At that question, Jin Yuseong answered in an indifferent tone.

“This one is pursuing the enemy of his late mother and maternal grandparents. That enemy is a man worse than trash who persecuted innocent physicians.”

An explanation that was concise to a fault.

But the girl nodded as if she understood, and Nam Geon welcomed Dang Sopyeong with great enthusiasm.

“I-I also have to avenge my mom! W-we are friends!”

Dang Sopyeong felt his head spin, finding it difficult to follow the flow of the conversation.

***

Jin Yuseong and his comrades finished climbing Mount Heng and headed for the residence where the sect leader of the Mount Heng Sect lived.

“Thank you for everything, Sect Leader.”

As Jin Yuseong briefly paid his respects and said so, Baek Hyang and Nam Geon also performed a clasped fist greeting.

“I will engrave the debt I have incurred during this time in my bones.”

“Th-thank you, Daoist grandpa.”

At the greetings of the three young people, the sect leader laughed cheerfully as always.

“Mount Heng belongs to nature, what is there to thank this old man for.”

The sect leader slowly turned his head, looked over the three young people, and said to Jin Yuseong.

“Seeing you visit like this, do you really intend to leave now?”

“That is correct, Sect Leader.”

“Hohoho. The ties between people are unknowable, so if the time is right, let us meet again.”

Was it because he had failed to hold Jin Yuseong back once before, or was it because he was originally a Daoist who studied the Way?

The sect leader allowed them to descend the mountain as if he had no lingering attachments.

Around the time it takes to drink a cup of tea after the guests who had stayed on Mount Heng for eight months had left.

An old Daoist came to see the sect leader.

“Are you really going to let them go just like that?”

“Hohoho. Their intentions are firm, how can I hold them back? Junior Brother. Forcibly bending another’s will is also not the Way.”

“But aren't they still young? In our Mount Heng Sect, don't we also force our young disciples to do things and scold them so that they can form good habits?”

The sect leader turned his head and looked at the old Daoist.

The sect leader, who was looking at his junior brother with clear eyes, smiled gently and said.

“Junior Brother. Let go of your greed.”

“……”

“It is understandable to covet the talents of those children, but that is not the way of the world.”

“It is no different from them going to their deaths, Sect Leader Senior Brother. So, shouldn't we protect them?”

“Hohoho. It seems my junior brother has misunderstood my words.”

When the old Daoist made a curious expression, the sect leader added.

“No matter how big a jar is, how can it contain the great sea? What I meant by it being against the principles was that the vessel of our Mount Heng is far too narrow to embrace those children.”

At the sect leader’s words, which he had never even imagined, the old Daoist’s eyes widened.

“Wh-what do you mean by that?”

But the sect leader did not bother to answer his junior brother’s question.

He merely turned his head and looked down at the foot of the mountain where the young people would have left.

The sect leader recalled the images of the three young people he had seen so far.

The body of the child named Nam Geon was deserving of being called blessed, and the insight of the girl named Baek Hyang was at a level that even he, as the sect leader, could not dare to fathom.

But the one who had truly surprised the sect leader was someone else.

‘To think he would not only return alive but have improved so much…’

The presence of Jin Yuseong, whom he had met again after a little over two months, had changed so much that he was truly unrecognizable.

It was to the point where he wondered if he might reach a higher realm than the sect leader himself within a few years.

Of course, it could be that he had improved by luckily obtaining some miraculous encounter.

But what did that matter?

The words Jin Yuseong had spoken before leaving Mount Heng came to the sect leader’s mind.

- Even if my crotch is torn and my wings are plucked out, if I can chase a stork, I will gladly do so. Ninety-nine out of a hundred might die, but wouldn't at least one undergo a complete transformation?

In the end, that miraculous encounter must also have been obtained through some life-risking endeavor that the sect leader could not know.

The images of the two young men came to the sect leader’s mind as if in contrast.

Jin Yuseong when he spoke those words before leaving.

And Jin Yuseong, who showed a presence that had improved by several levels.

Strangely, the young man’s gaze was the same then and now.

A straightforward gaze that felt almost like madness.

On the contrary, because of that steadfast gaze, the sect leader had a thought.

That this young man would really cause a great stir in the world.

The sect leader laughed cheerfully and said to his junior brother.

“Who knows. Someday, when dark clouds loom over our Mount Heng. Those who have gone outside might be the ones to save our Mount Heng. Hohoho.”

***

After moving for a long time by unleashing their movement techniques.

Only after completely leaving Mount Heng did Baek Hyang ask.

“Senior Brother. Where are we heading now?”

Jin Yuseong pondered for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“We have already attacked the black markets in Hunan and Guizhou once, so they must have hidden their tails. This time, let's look for the black market in Guangdong.”

There was no guarantee that there was only one black market in one province.

But since they had already been hit once, it was highly likely that the black markets in this vicinity had vanished.

Also, if possible, he planned to wander around focusing on places he had not yet visited.

Apart from the black markets, there were ruffians, street thugs, and mountain bandits. There was a mountain of trash to be cleaned up all over the Jianghu anyway.

Baek Hyang and Nam Geon nodded as if they understood. But there was still one person who did not understand.

“Black market? What are you talking about?”

“The black market is a market teeming with trash who kill people to steal or sell stolen goods, and even people.”

“……I understand what a black market is, but why are we going to one?”

“Are your ears broken? Or is your head broken? Trash is gathered there. Isn't that reason enough to go?”

After staring at each other as if looking at a madman for a moment.

Dang Sopyeong realized a very important fact.

‘Was this guy originally going around doing chivalrous deeds?’

Only then did everything fall into place.

The fact that he had come to save him, who had no connection to him, and the fact that he had comrades.

“Don't tell me you came to save me because you received a request?”

“I don't know how many times I have to say it. I told you I received a request from someone who knows you very well, didn't I? How on earth did you study medicine with that head of yours?”

“……”

Dang Sopyeong couldn't answer at all.

It was a strange feeling.

The madman’s insults were unpleasant, but being with him was not so unpleasant.

‘Chivalrous deeds…’

Dang Sopyeong. He was now only eighteen. An age where he could still be immersed in vain romance. Even though he had seen harsh things in his clan.

No, on the contrary, because he had experienced harsh things at a young age, he felt an even stronger fragrance from the word ‘chivalrous hero’.

“Ahem. Well, if you really want it, I will join you. Hahaha. If I chase after villains, I feel like I will eventually encounter my enemy.”

“Do as you wish.”

Jin Yuseong, who answered indifferently, suddenly unleashed his movement technique.

To follow him, Nam Geon and Baek Hyang also ran, showing off the achievements of their training, and Dang Sopyeong also hurriedly moved his feet.

After heading south like that for about a shichen.

Because of the time delayed by visiting Mount Heng, the sky was already growing dark.

They stopped at a nearby village and looked for an inn.

After moderately ordering food from the waiter and waiting for the food to arrive for a while.

Jin Yuseong turned his head, looked at Nam Geon and Baek Hyang alternately, and opened his mouth.

“Both Nam Geon and Junior Sister Baek Hyang seem to have improved their internal energy quite a bit.”

He could naturally feel it in the process of moving here using their movement techniques.

“It is thanks to Senior Brother’s teachings.”

“Y-yes. W-we diligently trained what b-brother taught us.”

At their answers, Jin Yuseong shook his head.

“It is the result of your steady training. Also, since Mount Heng is a spiritual mountain where clear energy flows, the results seem to have doubled.”

Jin Yuseong’s words were true.

The biggest reason why Daoists and Buddhists stayed cooped up in the mountains was to cut off ties with the secular world, but in fact, it was also partly because of the energy that flowed in the spiritual mountains.

Accumulating internal energy in a clear mountain rather than in a place where many people live was much more helpful for cultivation.

Thus, even those who were not Buddhists or Daoists, but who intended to go into seclusion or closed-door training, often wandered in search of a spiritual mountain.

Of course, Jin Yuseong could never do so, if only because of his temperament.

“At this rate, it seems we can move on to the next stage.”

Jin Yuseong, who muttered some incomprehensible words, turned his head and looked at Dang Sopyeong.

“Please prepare poison with the medicinal herbs and poisonous herbs you have gathered so far.”

“Is it something we need when fighting the black market?”

“That's right.”

“There aren't many types, but I think I can prepare a few.”

At Dang Sopyeong’s answer, Jin Yuseong turned his head and looked at Nam Geon and Baek Hyang again.

“Although that one has trouble understanding words, his medical skills are certain. So don't worry and eat the poison he gives you.”

Dang Sopyeong doubted his own ears.

“W-wait a minute. A-are you not going to use the poison on the villains of the black market, but f-feed it to those two?”

At that question, Jin Yuseong shook his head.

Dang Sopyeong was about to let out a sigh of relief, but it was too early to be relieved.

“I’m not just giving it to those two, I’m going to eat it too.”

“……”

After looking at Jin Yuseong as if he were a madman for a moment.

Dang Sopyeong, who had turned his head from side to side, felt a wave of dizziness.

‘Why, why is no one objecting?’

For some reason, both Nam Geon and Baek Hyang had faces of firm resolve.

‘Am I the crazy one? Me?’

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