Hyeonjilmusin - Chapter 131



Only Krnovel

131. Aftercare (2)

Going from Gansu to Nanjing in Jiangsu Province was almost like crossing the Central Plains, with Gansu at the western end and Jiangsu at the eastern end.

But the schedule wasn’t particularly tight. After all, there was no deadline for going to Cheonsu Sangdan.

“Let’s take a short break in Xi’an.”

“You can just go.”

“They said they would die next to me.”

I pointed at Yeo Hongyang with my chin. Myungil and I had learned martial arts, so it was okay for us to walk for such a long time, but Yeo Hongyang stuck out her tongue like a dog in the heat, and her pupils were dilated. Fortunately, she had trained as a lay disciple, so she didn’t say anything when we came all the way to Xi’an in Shaanxi.

“And there’s something to do.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Ah. It has nothing to do with the death penalty. If you rest, I’ll take care of it.”

“Or so.”

As soon as I arrived in Xi’an, I left the dying Yeo Hongyang in the care of Myeongil. I searched my memory and headed to the inn where I had stayed before.

As soon as I entered the guest house, Jeomsoi clung to me.

“Are you one person?”

“Oh. Roll up some noodles. I like them undercooked, so cook them a little less.”

Jeomsoi’s posture changed slightly. It was such a subtle change that anyone who wasn’t a martial artist would not have noticed it.

“I see. What kind of vegetables would you like on top? Green onions? Chinese chives?”

“Put it on with some bean sprouts.”

“Oh. You don’t seem to be looking for a lot of clams. How would you like the eggs?”

“Don’t let it dissolve, keep the yolk alive.”

“All right.”

Jeomsoi went right in. Not long after, an old man came down the stairs from the upper floor, groaning. The old man sat down across from me, even though there were plenty of seats.

“Young man. Can I sit with you?”

“sure.”

It was really amazing. I was sure it was someone I knew, but the face, voice, and even the bone structure were different. I wondered if these were people who dealt with information.

Two bowls of somen noodles came out. I took the noodles first and slurped them down. The egg yolk was not broken, and there was also a paste on top, but it was really disgusting and tasteless. I didn’t like paste to begin with. Sometimes, people say that paste smells like lye, and I completely agree with that.

“But it’s a bit shabby. Sir, you didn’t order somen noodles, did you?”

I took a sip of the soup and said with a smile. The old man chuckled.

“That’s good advice. I’ll take it into consideration.”

“Yes, yes.”

The old man and I both finished eating the noodles. The old man took me to a room deep inside the guest house. The side of the room was lined with long bowls, so I couldn’t see them from outside.

“It’s been a while.”

“It’s been a while, Your Majesty the Bukjin Musa.”

“Your Majesty? That’s not an appropriate title to use when addressing a superior.”

There was a cracking sound coming from the old man’s body. It seemed to be the sound of his bones stretching, and with each sound, his body grew larger and stronger. When his body was completely transformed, the old man removed the mask from his face. When he removed the mask, a face I knew appeared.

Baek Yu-gyeom, the commander of the Golden Guards. He was the old man who ate noodles with me.

“Then what should I call you?”

“You can just call me Master Jinmusa.”

“Yeah, well.”

“That’s quite rude.”

Baek Yu-gyeom said that, but he didn’t seem to care.

Anyway, since I wasn’t an official royal inspector, but a person from the martial arts world who came in by recommendation, they seemed to be giving me some consideration.

“So, has His Majesty the King returned with a report?”

“yes.”

I was worried about how much I should say. Of course, I didn’t say anything related to Magi.

The rebellion occurred after Yeo Bul-jin handed over the throne to Yeo Hong-won, so it seemed that the Jinuiwi were still unaware of the fake rebellion. Then there was no need for me to tell them.

All they did was to say that the King was doing a good job of governing the country. But they still had to say this.

“Oh, but it’s not that the King removed the royal inspectors.”

“okay?”

“It is said that Admiral Dongchang of Gansu eliminated the royal secretaries without the knowledge of His Majesty the King.”

“Heh heh… … That’s what happened.”

Baek Yu-gyeom’s eyes turned cold. I didn’t understand it at first.

“But even if the Dongchang and the Geumuiwi are enemies, is there a need to kill each other like that? After all, aren’t they part of the same palace?”

“Well, if you don’t know, you could say that.”

Baek Yu-gyeom rummaged under the seat. A red bottle that might have been there came out from under the seat. When he opened the cork, the smell of alcohol filled the room.

“Would you like a drink?”

“Okay.”

The wine glass came from Baek Yu-gyeom’s bag. It was clearly an expensive wine glass because of the gorgeous patterns engraved on it.

“Do you carry a glass with you? You must be a drinker.”

“These are the people who deal with information. They are half like merchants. I’m saying this because you are also a merchant.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s right. Where does information come from? It all comes from human relationships. Forcibly digging them out costs a lot of money, and there are limits. If you become close to them, they will naturally spread information, but you have to maintain good relationships with everyone. Even if that’s my fake identity.”

“I understand.”

Baek Yu-gyeom picked up his glass and I clinked our glasses. The clear alcohol went down my throat hotly.

“I asked my classmate and the King of Gold why they were killing each other. The answer was simple. We are incompatible people.”

“Incompatible? What does that mean?”

“Why, don’t people who accumulate spiritual energy and people who accumulate magical energy instinctively avoid each other?”

“Yes.”

“That’s the kind of relationship we have as classmates.”

“Is that so?”

That was something I couldn’t understand. As I was twisting my head in confusion, Baek Yu-gyeom smiled and said.

“Since my classmates were eunuchs in the first place, they learned martial arts that contained yin energy. Among them, the masters would emit a cold aura just by making a gesture.”

“Geumuiwi is a martial art that mainly uses yang energy.”

“That’s right. On the other hand, if you master the martial arts of the Golden Guard to the extreme, it becomes as bright as sunlight and hot.”

Come to think of it, this alcohol was surprisingly hot on the tongue. I wonder if this had something to do with the martial arts they had learned.

“But that doesn’t explain everything. There are many yin and yang spirits in the world, but not all of them try to kill each other when they collide.”

“That’s right. But extreme yin and extreme yang tend to avoid each other.”

“Is there something more to it than just reluctance?”

“That’s right. Normally, this is a secret from the royal inspectors, but since you’re a martial artist, you may know something.”

“… … Am I really allowed to know?”

I was the type of person who didn’t want to hear other people’s secrets. However, I was curious about why Geumuiwi and Dongchang were fighting to the death.

“Well, it’s a secret that everyone at Jinmusa knows.”

“Then please tell me.”

“The martial arts of our classmates are rooted in magic. Ours are rooted in spiritual energy.”

“her.”

This was something I had never heard of before. In the first place, it was surprising that the palace had used magic to create martial arts. However, considering that the King had mastered magic, it was not an impossible story.

Certainly, it was a convincing story when it came to magic and spirit energy. As seen in the Taegeuk Test, people with weak spirit energy react to magic energy to the point of vomiting.

“Of course, since he is a person of the palace, he does not display his magic in the forefront. If he were to show even a hint of magic, it would be a big deal. Perhaps only those who have mastered the martial arts of their classmates to the utmost will be able to subtly display their magic.”

“okay.”

Actually, I fought two of my classmates, but I couldn’t feel even a hint of magic. I think it was because they didn’t use martial arts to develop magic.

“But I don’t understand. Why would you create a martial art using magic?”

“They say that Taejo, who founded the empire, ordered it to be done that way.”

“why?”

“The group that handles information is important, so you thought it would be dangerous if they colluded with each other. The reason you split the group into two was to induce competition.”

“iced coffee.”

It seemed to make sense. The palace wanted the dynasty to last forever. So they would not leave behind even the slightest risk.

“Then, if we hadn’t learned martial arts, we wouldn’t have been hostile to each other.”

“I guess so? But what can I do?”

It was a bitter story when you think about it. They had no personal feelings, but they were enemies because of the martial arts they had learned.

“Anyway, that’s true. Don’t you know that the Imperial Palace and the Royal Guards are killing each other? In fact, they’re encouraging killing. They’re saying that it’s to make them more competitive with each other. People can be hired if you want.”

“That’s a cruel thing to say.”

“The world is cruel sometimes. No, it’s always like that.”

Baek Yu-gyeom laughed, hehe.

* * *

Anyway, I paid back the debt of ten thousand nyang. Although I felt a little guilty for not being able to speak honestly about the King after paying ten thousand nyang, Baek Yu-gyeom seemed to think that the fact that his classmate had killed the royal inspectors was enough to pay for it.

After meeting Baek Yu-gyeom, I received a means to keep in close contact. As the Geumuiwi was an information group, An Ga was really everywhere.

“Finally, Kang So-ne.”

Ming-il said. Even Ming-il, who rarely expresses his own opinion, said that the journey from Gansu to Jiangsu was really boring and long.

Moreover, since he didn’t use light force to move quickly, and since he had Yeo Hong-yang, who was close to commoners, he had to ride a horse and walk repeatedly, so it couldn’t be helped but be slow.

“Why are you looking at me?”

“I haven’t seen it.”

Yeo Hong-yang spoke rudely to Myeong-il, but Myeong-il continued to pretend not to know.

Still, their relationship had improved considerably. After all, if they had been together like this for several months, they would have started to develop feelings for each other.

Considering that they barely spoke in Gansu, it was truly a great development. Yeo Hongyang occasionally joked with Ming Yi, and Ming Yi would reply briefly as if he was annoyed, but he would continue to talk.

We went straight to the main office of Cheonsu Sangdan. There was already someone at the main entrance of Cheonsu Sangdan who recognized us.

“The Lord has been waiting.”

Perhaps when we set out from Gansu, we flew to Jiangsu Province.

We naturally went inside. It was my second visit. But my companions were different. Instead of Myeong-yeop, Myeong-gyeong, and Myeong-seong Sa-hyeong, they were Yeo Hong-yang and Myeong-il.

“Please come in.”

The person who guided us in front of the short-term residence opened the door.

Inside the door were the escort and Yeo Bul-jin I had seen last time. Yeo Bul-jin was sitting, and the escort was standing right behind her.

“Hehe. You’re here.”

“yes.”

“I hope I didn’t offend His Majesty the King?”

I thought about it for a while. Was it unpleasant to cut off the escort’s arm and threaten him? No. It was the man who tried to kill me first, so it would be petty to be unpleasant about that.

“It was a very comfortable meeting.”

“Um, um. I guess so. So, did you sell it?”

Yeo Bul-jin asked me with a smile. I glanced at Myeong-il. I couldn’t mention the Taegeuk Hye-geom here.

“I sold it. How could I not sell it?”

“Yeah. That’s true. Hehehe.”

Yeo Bul-jin’s smile was disgusting. He gave me the Taegeuk Hye-geom and told me to sell it, and then he smiled like that. Actually, I guess I underestimated the King too much.

I approached Yeo Bul-jin and handed her the pouch.

“Here is the selling price.”

“hmm.”

Yeo Bul-jin received the envelope and looked inside.

“Four thousand nine hundred nyang? That’s a somewhat ambiguous amount.”

Originally, he received five thousand nyang, and gave one hundred nyang to the girl, so it was four thousand nine hundred nyang. Yeo Hong-yang and Myeong-il, who knew what the one hundred nyang was used for, turned around to look at me. It seemed like they didn’t think I would give it to the girl as money to give to the king.

I shrugged.

“I used the 100 nyang for personal use.”

“You’re so confident.”

Yeo Bul-jin laughed in disbelief.

“Well, I guess it’s understandable that you’d be a little upset. I’m sorry.”

“You knew that. That’s good.”

“Well then. Don’t worry about it. If you rent the distribution network for three years, it’ll be a profitable business.”

Yeo Bul-jin nodded. Her smile was very satisfied with the water she gave me.

“That’s true.”

“Okay. Can I ask what you’re going to distribute through your distribution network? If possible, I’d like to see if our products don’t overlap too much.”

“Ah. I guess I have to say this now. I’m sorry to say this.”

I smiled. Yeo Bul-jin’s smile hardened slightly at my smile.

“Starting next year, we have decided to have our Hwiyoungsangdan take charge of procuring supplies from Gansu.”

“……what?”

The corners of Yeo Bul-jin’s lips, which had been raised, became straight. It was a moment when my smile grew even deeper.