Hyeonjilmusin - Chapter 27



Only Krnovel

27. Pride (1)

As I expected, the news of my victory spread throughout the shaman world in less than half an hour.

I knew it when I saw Cheonghwa come into my room with her eyes wide open.

“What have you done?”

Cheonghwa asked me that right away. I understood what she said, but I pretended not to understand.

“What are you talking about?”

“How did you win tomorrow?”

“How did I win? I won by saying, ‘Yay, yay.’”

“Don’t joke around. I’m not joking around right now.”

Cheonghwa had a serious expression on her face, just as she had said. But even so, there was nothing I could say. It was impossible to say that she had won by buying a quick move from the Mujae store.

“I guess I’m stronger than tomorrow.”

“Were you hiding your martial arts skills?”

“That’s impossible. Then wouldn’t the Master have known?”

It is not easy to hide one’s realm from the masters. Haven’t they even tried to explore my inner strength?

“How, how on earth… … .”

Someone appeared behind Cheonghwa, who was speechless due to the shock. Today, my place was a great success.

“Muk Hwi-yeong. Call from Samcheong-gwan.”

The person who appeared was Cheongsu, the owner of Gokjeongak. Cheonghwa looked back and was startled.

“What a surprise. When did you come?”

“If you can’t even feel my presence, you must be quite crazy.”

Cheongsu took Cheonghwa and me, who were still not in their right minds, to Samcheonggwan. In Samcheonggwan, Myeongil, who had fought with me along with Cheongui, a long-time friend, several of the three great disciples who were onlookers, and the leaders who had seen the judgment were already there.

“You came.”

Cheong-ui said. After the door closed behind him, he got to the point. It must have been an urgent matter for them.

“So, Myeongil really lost to Hwiyoung?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The head of the bridge who had been judging Qingyi’s question answered. It seemed that he had been silent until I arrived.

Cheong-ui looked at Myeong-il. Myeong-il was bowing his head as if he were a great sinner.

“Raise your head, Myungil.”

As Cheong-ui spoke, Myeong-il slowly raised his head. His expression was filled with great humiliation.

“Tell me with your own mouth. Is it true that you lost to Whiyoung over there?”

“……yes.”

“Speak louder. I can’t hear you well.”

“yes!”

Fortunately, Myeongil wasn’t a dirty guy who couldn’t accept the outcome of the match. Instead, he looked at me with resentful eyes.

“But if we fight again, I can definitely win. I was a little flustered because the movements themselves suddenly changed… … .”

However, excuses were made because he was still a child. However, in this situation, excuses were rather poisonous. In fact, Cheong-ui frowned.

“Saying such things makes you look even more shabby. Don’t lose your dignity. You are a shaman.”

“……sorry.”

Myeongil bowed his head again.

“Myungha (明霞), you tell me. Tell me how the rain flowed.”

It seems that the guardian deity of the bridgehead was a person of honor. The people who looked after the bridgehead were the great disciples of the famous person distribution.

He was nervous because the order was long, so he started explaining it intermittently. Still, he had no trouble understanding the overall content of the martial arts.

Just like Cheongsu, who described the proxy battle between me and the head of the Seungryeomun clan, Myeongha also included a detailed description. It seemed that even the warriors were trained to remember it like writing down the records of a game of Go.

As Myeong-ha continued speaking, the expressions on the faces of Cheong-ui, Cheong-hwa, and Cheong-su, who were not there, began to change.

“Ugh.”

In particular, Cheonghwa was so amazed that she even exclaimed when I avoided Myeongil’s incredible move with Cheongunbo’s technique.

“That’s amazing.”

After Myung-ha finished explaining, Cheong-ui began to organize. When Myung-il heard the explanation of the fight, he bit his lips tightly as if his sense of defeat was resurfacing.

“Wow. That’s really amazing. Even if there were some unorthodox moves that suddenly changed the movement, that’s still skill.”

Cheong-ui continued speaking after seeing Myeong-il’s aggrieved expression.

“A single defeat to a warrior is like death. Even if you win 99 out of 100 battles, you die if you lose once. Even if you could fight Whiyoung again and win, what would be the point?”

“Disciple, I understand. However, I cannot raise my face because it seems like I have smeared the Master’s face.”

Myung-il’s voice trembled as he bit his lips. If I teased him even a little here, he would shed tears. Of course, I’m a mature adult, so I have no intention of doing something like that.

“I would have been embarrassed if you had not accepted the outcome of the fight here. But since you didn’t, it’s okay.”

Cheonghwa took her gaze away from Myeongil and finally looked at me.

“Hwiyoung, you’ve proven it. At least you can’t just be a disciple.”

“I was lucky.”

“You are very humble. I have never taught Myungil carelessly. He is not a man who would be defeated by luck.”

The way he looked at Cheongui Day also changed. He was more impressed by defeating his disciple, Myeongil, than by defeating the head of the Seungryeomun clan, whose name he didn’t even know.

“It’s nice to see young talent.”

“You are too kind.”

“So I would like to make another suggestion. Please come in as a disciple of the main temple.”

I tried to refuse without thinking, but Cheong-ui’s words still remained.

“If you come as a disciple of the main temple now, I will give you one tablet of Taecheongdan.”

At those words, not only mine but everyone in the Jangmunin room’s eyes widened. I know about Taecheongdan. If there is Daehwandan in Shaolin and Jasodan in Hwasan, there is Taecheongdan among shamans.

I am a merchant, so I do not know the details about Taecheongdan, but it was a precious elixir that was treated well even in the Central Plains. As far as I know, only the most skilled disciples of the shamans could receive it, so I could not believe that they were giving it to me.

“… … Is that true?”

“Do I look like a person who would lie?”

No, that’s not true. Honestly, I was shaken by those words. Even if you had billions of dollars, you couldn’t buy Taecheongdan.

But I shook my head. Not only Cheong-ui, but also Cheong-hwa, who was quietly watching, had a bitter expression on her face.

“sorry.”

“I see. I won’t ask any more questions.”

Everyone else looked at me like I was some kind of weirdo. It seemed like it was impossible for them to understand why I would refuse the offer, even though I was offered the position of a shaman’s disciple and even Taecheongdan. Cheong-ui and Cheong-hwa seemed to have anticipated my answer to some extent.

“Good. But you know this. Even if you won the Mingil, it’s another story if the elders recognize the disciple who is a named disciple.”

“I know.”

“It’s good to see you so determined. But there are only a little over ten days left until the next elders’ meeting. What else do you have to show us in the meantime? In fact, I think I’ve shown you everything I had to show you.”

“No. I thought that if I were a disciple of the underworld, I shouldn’t just prove Mujae. From the beginning, I had planned to prove two things.”

“two?”

“I’m talking about Mujae and Sangjae. I have to prove that keeping me is to the shaman’s advantage. I think the elders will understand the necessity, regardless of their dislike for money.”

Cheong-ui nodded at my words.

“That may be true, but there is not much time left. Can you prove Sang-jae in the meantime? It would take more time to prove Sang-jae than to prove Mu-jae.”

“Not at all.”

I laughed.

“Business is my pride. It doesn’t require much time.”

Everyone inside was shocked by his confident words. It was definitely difficult to prove that Sangjae was the type of person who could do it. They say that if you beat someone, you can prove it right away, but how can you prove Sangjae?

It’s not an easy task. If I had tried to prove my worth with my bare hands, it would have taken some time.

But I was none other than the current shaman. A shaman of the Gupailbang, one of the few sects scattered throughout the central plains. To me, just having that name was enough.

***

I proposed a new business to the shaman. Naturally, Gokjeongakju Cheongsu looked trembling. Gokjeongak was in charge of the shaman’s money-related business, but Gokjeongakju was also a mountain hermit, so he couldn’t possibly be familiar with business.

“… … Is that really money?”

“Absolutely.”

“I don’t understand. It’s cheaper if you deal directly, so why do you deal through us? Who would want to do that?”

As expected, Cheongsu was only a little good at math. And that was compared to the shamanistic Taoist priests.

What I proposed was distribution. It was a role to take care of the goods of the merchants in Hubei or passing through Hubei and deliver them to others. Only shamans in Hubei could do that.

There was no place that people trusted as much as a shaman. At least you wouldn’t have to worry about your money being stolen.

“I thought you were going to sell something since you said you were a businessman, but you’re thinking of such trivial things.”

“We sell trust. It is an intangible asset, but it is not an absent asset. The reputation that the shaman has built up as a shamanist is what makes it possible.”

“It just seems like a scam.”

“That’s because I’m not used to selling intangible items.”

As everyone knows, the Central Plains is a dangerous place. There are many people who, when they see something, turn their backs on it and try to steal it. Naturally, many merchants are worried about that.

That’s why the shaman came forward and offered to act as a mediator. At least, no one would dare pull out a knife in front of the shaman. Instead, they would receive a certain amount of commission. Since their lives and safety were at stake, people would surely pay without hesitation.

Cheongsu didn’t know what it meant to take care of an item and help deliver it, and he didn’t even think that such a simple act could make money, so he just looked at me with a suspicious expression.

And it didn’t take long for that gaze to change.

“… … You’re crazy.”

When a shaman took over as an intermediary, merchants who saw the value of the shaman’s reputation began to compete to entrust their goods to her.

Rather, I think he thought it would be cheaper to hire an escort when doing business because he was worried about safety. In fact, I strategically set my commission lower than the daily cost of hiring an escort.

“… … I have nothing to say. I have nothing to say.”

Cheongsu just repeated those words as if he had lost his mind.

It would be absurd to make money even though it was just a job of depositing goods in a warehouse and taking them out. In fact, all we did was intervene in the direct transactions between merchants. That alone is what we charge a commission for.

The previous life’s Whiyoungsangdan also tried to do this, but it was a project that was abandoned because people who had no faith in the power of the Whiyoungsangdan did not entrust it to them. That project was given life through a shaman.

In less than ten days after starting her brokerage, the shaman was able to earn over two hundred nyang of silver.