Hyeonjilmusin - Chapter 12



Only Krnovel

12. Gungdogak (1)

I heard that the store’s rank had been raised, so I called the Mujae store again.

“Oh, it’s snow.”

I squinted my eyes as soon as I called it up. The letters were so small that my eyes hurt. I guess I looked young now, but in my past life, it would have been impossible.

That means the number of talents I can buy has increased. So, does that mean that better talents open up as the store level goes up? It was fun to see talents I had never seen before.

[ Metamorphosis – Level 4 ]

[ Price: Five thousand nyang of silver ]

Plague. Five thousand nyang was an amount that even the Hwiyoungsangdan could not easily handle in his previous life.

Anyway, it seems like there are a lot of good talents, but there are so many that I think I should organize them all later when I have time.

That’s that. Certainly, running around the entire Mt. Mudeungsan was really training my body.

When running up a mountain, you develop a sense of balance, lightness, and endurance, and when climbing a cliff, you develop full-body strength.

In fact, when I was a businessman, I could not even dream of having abs, but before I knew it, I had abs. Not only my abs, but the muscles of my entire body were clearly visible.

This happened in about two months. I literally delivered all the letters of the non-partisan faction in two months. If I didn’t do it, I would be defeated, so there was nothing I could do.

Those were the days when I was confused as to whether I had become a disciple of the main temple or a worker affiliated with the main temple.

If I were a temporary disciple of the main temple, I would have thought that we would at least train together, but Cheonghwa just left me in Gokjeongak. No, I don’t think leaving me is the right word. He came to Gokjeongak every day to check on my condition.

Every time I came, I would ask, “How long will I stay in Gokjeongak? Is this why you brought me in as a disciple of the main temple?” but there was only one answer.

-There is a time for everything.

It was only then that I realized that Cheongsu and Cheonghwa were part of the same gang.

I now know why Cheongsu was so obsessed with me on the second day. At first I thought he was just a crazy guy, but it turned out he was just a bloodthirsty man.

Somehow, even though I kept getting hit, I felt refreshed and cool when I got up. Who would have thought that what seemed like a reckless beating, whether in a situation or with momentum, would actually be a chunggung and hyeol that cleared blocked qi and blood?

Cheongsu would sometimes beat me up using the excuse that I was late, but that was also a bloody chase. So I gritted my teeth and endured the pain.

As I had expected, I was now being pickled. Pickled to become a disciple of the main temple of the shaman sect. That prediction was right on target.

“I think I’ve made it to this point at least.”

Today, Cheonghwa and Cheongsu looked at me and spoke to me as if they were evaluating me. If there had been no Mujae Store, I would have been bewildered.

“What kind of person are you talking about as if they were an object?”

“A person is like a sword. In that sense, it’s not so wrong to say that he is an object.”

Cheonghwa said with a kind smile. I wanted to ask how she could smile so passionately.

“Anyway, is your service at Gokjeongak over?”

“No. People are more satisfied with your work than you think. Do your training, but continue to serve when you are not training.”

“Did the other messengers have broken legs?”

“Anyway, the herbalists in Hubei were only working temporarily. Now that the herbs are growing again, they should return to their original occupation.”

“Then wouldn’t it be fair to give the wages that should go to those herbalists to make up for it?”

“How can dirty money be involved in the relationship between a sacred sect and its disciples?”

These consistent bastards. They still disrespect money. I decided to give up the option of working for them and getting paid.

“Then when will you give me my hundred nyang?”

“He said he would give it to me after I finished my service at Gokjeongak.”

“You said you liked my work so you asked me to do more volunteer work. It was supposed to end originally.”

“It’s not over anyway.”

“Don’t you know that when you deliver additional items, you have to write a new contract?”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Then from now on, I will shit on the messenger. I will make you dissatisfied with the way I handle things.”

“If you get caught by a bad guy, you might end up never being able to poop for the rest of your life. Are you okay with that?”

“The person in front of me seems to have the worst personality.”

“Haha. No way. There aren’t many people with the same personality as me in this faction.”

“You said that with your own mouth?”

It’s ridiculous. But I didn’t have much of a choice. If you want to criticize, you have to criticize. I’m just a tiger in the dark, waiting for an opportunity. A chance to escape from this devilish Mt. Wudang…

“Let’s go to the palace first. My disciples will be able to see you there. If you become a formal disciple of the main temple, they will be put to death.”

“All right.”

Cheonghwa and I greeted Cheongsu and went to Gungdogak. I already knew where Gungdogak was because I had been there several times as a messenger.

The Palace of the Swordsmen was a place to study the martial arts of the Wudang sect. It was certainly a place where Cheonghwa, one of the best martial artists in the Wudang sect, would reside.

By the way, the death penalty. I wonder who I should send to the death penalty. I thought it would be nice if it was someone who could communicate with others, like Jeon Oh-su.

“Ah! A flute!”

“It’s broken! Fix the flute!”

But a grim reality awaited me before my eyes.

The kids, including Myeonggyeong, were Cheonghwa’s disciples. So that’s why he bought them flutes.

I craned my neck and looked at Cheonghwa.

“Should I call these kids Death Row?”

“then.”

I blankly looked at Myeong-gyeong and the kids. Even if it’s a distribution of Myeong-ja, there are terms and conditions.

Usually, there are one to three great disciples in a distribution, and each generation is separated by about ten years. Now, the distribution of the listeners is about a thousand middle-aged people, so the great disciples are people inside and outside of the two-rip.

But who would have thought that Cheonghwa would be the one in charge of the third disciple?

“I am now in agreement.”

“however?”

“Death penalty for friends who look ten years younger than me?”

“Isn’t that a common thing in the martial arts world?”

Cheonghwa said it as if it was nothing. That would be common among the martial artists who value distribution as if it were their life. People usually judge by age. I barely managed to suppress the anger that was rising in my throat.

“… … I’m still temporary.”

“Yes. There is no need to call it death penalty yet. There will be many days when it will be called in the future.”

I somehow managed to escape. It wasn’t an idiomatic expression, but a real one. Living with those who didn’t even dry their hair. It was truly humiliating for me, who lived in a place other than the martial arts world.

“But you actually have to train with the three great disciples. You’re currently in a state where you only have the basics down as a martial artist.”

It was the muscle mass I had built up from running around Mt. Mudeungsan for two months. I must have slept two hours a day. No matter how fast I moved, it was hard to handle all the messenger duties.

“All right.”

“Since this is your first time seeing me, get used to my face. Say hello. I have work to do.”

In the blink of an eye, Cheonghwa disappeared. I looked at the kids awkwardly. There were three of them, including Myeonggyeong.

Among them, only Myeonggyeong bought a flute. Myeonggyeong brought along the disciples of other masters.

“Hmm. Are you the one who will be my priest?”

The oldest-looking one came rushing in. Of course, he was only about twelve or three years old. I felt dizzy for a moment, but I managed to regain my senses.

“I guess so.”

“I see. Don’t use that tone of voice in front of me.”

“… … Ah, yes.”

“Oh, yes? You sound somewhat dissatisfied.”

I was left feeling confused as I was being scolded by a kid who looked to be no more than ten years old.

Seeing that the other kids, including Myeong-gyeong, couldn’t say anything, it seemed like this kid was the most severely punished person here.

Looking at the way they skillfully played, it was possible to roughly guess how much the children, including Myeong-gyeong, had suffered.

“My name is Myeongseong.”

“I am Muk Hwi-yeong.”

“I guess you haven’t received the permit yet.”

“Yes.”

Fame clicked his tongue as if it was unpleasant. It was a sound that was not appropriate for his age. I wondered how these shameless martial artists were being raised, and he was growing up like this. He could not help but be a great martial artist.

“You made a flute and gave it to the priests, right?”

Myeongseong glanced at Myeonggyeong and said. Myeonggyeong hurriedly hid the flute behind her.

“To be exact, I sold it.”

“You’re determined to completely upset the shaman’s order.”

“yes?”

“Not only the priest, but also other shamans and priests play with the flute during the time they should be practicing martial arts. What will happen to the shaman?”

Seeing that he can’t even accept a little bit of rest, he must be a truly great martial artist with a dream.

But the martial artist’s dream tree cannot defeat the merchant’s giant tree.

“Everything depends on how you use it. A proper rest actually helps your work efficiency. It’s true that I sold the flute, but I didn’t tell you to play with it and neglect your martial arts training. If a Taoist priest goes to Hongru and plays with the gisaengs, will you cut off their throats?”

Myeongseong looked flustered at the words flowing like a stream. He seemed to want to say something in rebuttal, but he didn’t know how to say it.

I have a tongue as sharp as steel, honed by arguing with countless people in the marketplace. To a merchant, a tongue is a sword to a warrior. Even if he is a disciple of the main mountain of Mt. Wudang, in my eyes, he is just a simple mountain boy. It was not a job to boil such a boy.

“As far as I, a poor man, can see, there is only one way for the Lord to guide the priests on the right path.”

“……what?”

“That’s just setting an example.”

I took out my flute from my bag. I had kept it to play when I was bored, but I never thought I would use it like this.

The pupil of Myeongseong shook greatly. I finally figured it out. Looking at him, he seemed to want to have a flute.

Since he was sentenced to death, he couldn’t take away something childish like a flute, and he was just being mean. A customer who is caught wanting by a merchant is like a rabbit revealing its neck in front of a tiger.

I played a tune on the reed flute. It was one of the ten famous tunes, Hujia Shipalbok (胡笳十八拍). Originally, a craftsman never blames his tools. When I reached the level of entertainment, I could play the ten famous tunes on the reed flute. The children of the famous children just listened to my splendid tune.

When I finished playing, Myeong-gyeong looked at her own flute. It was clearly the same flute as hers, but her eyes were filled with doubt as to how it could produce such a sound.

I roughly wiped the flute I had played on my sleeve and handed it to Myeongseong. Myeongseong, who was absentmindedly staring, accepted the flute. It was really cute how he almost dropped it and tried to catch it in a panic.

“If the deceased only plays the flute when he is resting, and only focuses on training when he is training, wouldn’t the priests who follow him naturally follow suit? How could the priests rest when the deceased doesn’t rest? In the most prestigious of prestigious schools, the Gupaeil School, that would never happen, right?”

“Well, I guess so.”

“Then, please control the priests with that flute. I will give it to you as a gift.”

Even if I had it, I wouldn’t use it anyway. I carried the book every day, so I didn’t have time to play the flute. Even when I had some free time, I thought about drinking, but I didn’t think about the flute.

“… … Then, I guess I’ll take it. Ahem.”

The priests, including Myeong-gyeong, looked at Myeong-seong with eyes of bewilderment at his appearance.

When Myeongseong received the flute and was flustered, they realized that Myeongseong was also coveting the flute.

And we weren’t the only ones who noticed it.

“I came here to see the cheap music, and I saw that Myeongseong had turned his eyes towards the reed flute.”

When we looked in the direction of the sound, we saw a group of children with unbelievable size for a ten-year-old looking at Fame with mocking eyes.

“Ming Han.”

Myeongseong said with a frown. It seemed to be Myeongseong’s motivation. There was one person on each side of Myeonghan, and they also said a word to Myeongseong.

“Know shame. Fame.”

“Aren’t you ashamed to look at the priests?”

Myeongseong put his palm to his forehead. Judging by his expression of disgust, it seemed like this had probably been the first or second time he had been in trouble like this.

Mingming chose the wise way. He chose not to deal with them himself. Minghan kept trying to pick on Mingming, but Mingming didn’t even respond.

Myung-han, with a pained expression, continued to tease me, but soon found me. The arrowhead was pointed at me.

“You’re a merchant who sells flutes. Do you want to get your wrists cut off to sell something like that at a shaman’s place?”

“Yes. My priest also got scolded by his private tutor because of the flute.”

The kids, including Myeong-han, started to pressure me. I really, really hate to admit it, but those ten-year-old kids were physically threatening. Those kids who were born as martial artists were definitely different.

“No, that’s not it… … .”

Just as I was about to make an excuse, someone came between Myeong-han and me.

It was none other than the spectacular view I had been enjoying until now.

“Yes, death penalty. I will discipline the priest well.”

Unlike when he was actively persecuting the lay disciples, he looked timid. He was still just a kid. However, the kid’s words provoked them even more.

“A priest? Saaajaeeeee? A businessman like this is a priest?”

“Not yet, but it’s temporary… … .”

“temporary?”

The eyes of the children, including Myeong-han, scanned me closely. And soon, as if they had figured something out, their eyes drew a line.

“Oh, you are that guy. A guy who started out as a lay disciple and is now a disciple of the main temple. I heard it from the Master. A lay disciple can become a disciple of the main temple? And at that age?”

Those little bastards are talking about age.

It was as if they were looking for prey. They slowly approached me, and only Myeong-gyeong, who was between me and Myeong-han, lost her expression.

At that moment, someone appeared next to Myeong-gyeong. It was Myeong-gyeong with an expression that said she really didn’t want to get involved.

Fame pulled out the wooden sword from his waist and aimed it straight at them.

“Don’t come any closer. You are my direct priest.”

A smile appeared on Myeong-han’s face. It was a look in his eyes that said he had been waiting for this kind of situation.

There was a suffocating tension among the kids.