Hyeonjilmusin - Chapter 6



Only Krnovel

6. Evaluation (3)

“The disciple of the lay world, Mukhwiyeong, will be punished by serving in the Gokjeongak (曲全閣) of the main sect for the time being. He will be guaranteed time to receive education as a disciple of the lay world.”

Cheong-hyeon spat out his words as if he was displeased. That made me realize that it was Cheong-hwa’s punishment, not Cheong-hyeon’s.

Looking at Sakong-hyeon and his followers, they didn’t look very satisfied either. It seemed like they also thought my punishment was too light.

And it was the same for me too.

‘You’re not going to kick this out?’

Previously, they kicked me out for bringing in pornography, but now they let me leave it when I openly threw sand during a fight. It was a shocking sentence for me, who was planning to go out and do something.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if I didn’t get kicked out?”

Cheong-hyeon openly sneered. I tried hard to ignore his gaze. I didn’t want to be targeted by Cheong-hyeon any more.

“I, the disciple of the world, Mukhwiyeong, will obey your command.”

I knew where Gokjeongak was. It was the pavilion right after passing Haegumji (解劍地), which could be called the main gate of the Mudangpa. As for what it was for, it was the pavilion that handled the Mudangpa’s money.

It is a place that manages the protection tax in the name of donations from stores near Gyunhyeon and the back money in the name of voluntary sponsorships coming in from all over the country.

Because it was the closest job to the world, it was placed on the outermost level. To that extent, it was also a group that was on the outside looking in within the shamanist faction. It is not a new thing for shamans to look down on money.

‘Is money cheap? The problem is that money is earned cheaply.’

Of course, I understand why they are using the name of donations and sponsorships. It is because protection taxes and fundraising are prohibited by national law.

As long as the imperial surveillance was still so cold, even the shamanist faction of the old guard could not openly collect protection taxes. For that reason, even the Sapa did not dare to use the word protection tax.

“But I wonder if you will follow the shaman’s training. Even if you are a lay disciple, we do not give you the name of shaman. You will definitely need time to practice on your own, but you will have to use that time exclusively for service at Gokjeongak.”

“I will work hard.”

“It’s not something that can be achieved just by working hard. You have to do well. As you know, there are periodic evaluations for lay disciples. If they don’t meet our standards, they are immediately dismissed.”

“all right.”

Cheong-hyeon clicked his tongue, wondering what he didn’t like so much. After all, it’s said that it’s unprecedented for a disciple to throw sand during a dance. There are many old-fashioned people in the sect, so it’s something that can be quite unpleasant.

Anyway, it was good. Just knowing the criteria for leaving was a huge achievement.

I was going to leave Mudeungsan, and to do that, I just had to mess up the first test. It was simple, wasn’t it? Of course, it would have been better if I could have left before that.

“… … Today, we will delve deeper into the secrets of the Samjae Simbeop. The Samjae Simbeop is known as a low-class martial art, but it is actually a profound martial art that can contain pure internal energy… … .”

Haaam. I’m already starting to feel sleepy. I closed my eyes without hesitation. Since my goal was to go out anyway, there was no need to listen carefully to things I wasn’t interested in.

When I opened my eyes, the boring lecture was over. I tried to pretend to sleep, but it turned out I really was asleep.

“What are you sleeping on?”

When I woke up, Jeon Oh-su was laughing next to me. When I looked around, everyone was already looking at me with pity.

I said something I didn’t mean.

“Wake me up.”

“The Cheong-Hyeon Jin-In said not to wake him up. He said that the Shamanist faction does not insist on dragging along unqualified people. But if you don’t listen, aren’t you the only one who suffers?”

“Why should I lose?”

“But I paid a lot of money to become a disciple, so I should learn something before I go.”

“well.”

The reason I had to go out was obvious: no matter what I did, I would never be able to obtain the label of a disciple of the non-partisan faction.

In order to become a disciple of the shaman sect, you must win a fight with the shaman sect’s three great disciples. Even if they are the three great disciples, their skills are only those of a second-rate master. If you have ordinary martial arts talent, you can become a second-rate master, but I don’t even have that ordinary martial arts talent.

Of course, I also tried to learn martial arts after I got money in my previous life. I bought and learned martial arts from the black market, and I even had famous martial artists as my teachers, but I still had no talent.

My body’s flexibility, the speed at which I gained strength, my agility, and all my talents for moving my body were all gone. It’s not like I had any good knowledge of martial arts either.

After wasting years of money on martial arts, I humbly admit that I am a man of means, but not of skill.

“But you seem to have a lot of talent, it’s a shame.”

“I see. That’s actually a scam.”

“fraud?”

The Mujae store is a scam, what the heck. It’s not my talent, it’s a talent I bought from the store.

My determination to go out was also strengthened by the effectiveness of the products. Of course, I could supplement my own talents at the Mujae store, but in the end, I needed money to buy the products.

But there is no way to make money while living as a disciple of a non-partisan group. The most you can do is sell flutes to children to make some extra money.

“In that case, I might as well go out and sell some hot noodles.”

“Why is there suddenly noodles?”

“There is something like that.”

Jeon Oh-su tilted his head, but he had no obligation to tell him more. Even if he did, he probably wouldn’t believe it anyway.

After the training, it was time for self-study. Unlike the first day, there were no kids playing around with tai chi. Each person learned the basic Samjae Simbeop and Samjae Kwonbeop.

Of course, I wasn’t given that time. Even if I had been given the time, I wouldn’t have done it.

“I came to pick you up.”

“… … I can go.”

Cheonghwa came to me and said she would take me there.

“I will also be teaching lay disciples from now on. That’s why I am currently a member of the Outer Circle. Of course, I also belong to the Kungdogak (窮道閣), which studies the martial arts of the main sect.”

The members of the shamanist faction, once they are distributed to a certain extent, work within a group within the shamanist faction. The place that takes care of the lay disciples is the shamanist faction’s external circle, and Cheonghwa has taken a place there.

“I thought you were from Gokjeongak because you sent me to Gokjeongak.”

“It’s okay for me, but don’t say that to other people. The Gokjeongak is a group that deals with money, so they tend to look down on it. That comment could be an insult to some people. If a non-partisan says someone is like a Gokjeongak person, it’s the same as saying they’re like money grubbers.”

“Oh, I see. I’ll keep that in mind.”

I cursed inwardly as I answered like that.

Is handling money a crime? People who can’t live a day without money are very neat and tidy.

“Then what should I do? Cleaning?”

“There’s someone else who will do the cleaning… … You will be in charge of delivering the orders.”

“A messenger?”

“Yes. It’s related to finance, so it interacts with all the departments.”

Interacting with all the halls. I got goosebumps down my spine.

Mudeungsan is one of the nine great powers, and has many buildings.

Samcheonggwan (三淸觀), where the elders and the monks are currently located, is located at the top of Mt. Wudangsan, at Cheonjubong (天柱峰), or Geumjeong (金頂).

It would take a full two hours to walk up from the outer garden located halfway up the mountain.

“If I become a messenger, I think the shamanist faction will be paralyzed.”

“Hehehe. Don’t worry. You’re not the only messenger.”

“I think it would be a huge burden to the same messengers.”

“That doesn’t matter. I just added you to the existing lineup. I hope it helps.”

Cheonghwa laughed and answered everything I said.

I thought to myself, if this goes wrong, we’re in big trouble.

People who are uninitiated would never think of it, but I am an ordinary citizen who could stumble and fall.

“Of course, I’m not saying you have to start right away. You need to learn some geography, too.”

Cheonghwa laughed heartily and dragged me, who was out of my mind, to Gokjeongak. There was a map of Mt. Mudang and the locations of each pavilion written on Gokjeongak.

There are more than ten pavilions. Some of them were built in places where you had to climb up a cliff to get to them. It was ridiculous to go around there as a messenger.

I made up my mind to run away in the middle of the night, pretending to listen intently to Cheonghwa’s explanation.

I didn’t want to end my precious second life in misfortune.

***

Honestly, who would watch over a disciple who runs away in the middle of the night? There are many people who want to enter the shaman sect, but no one wants to leave. So, even if there is a lot of caution when entering, there will be less caution when leaving.

I opened the light blue robe of the disciples of the non-partisan clergy and changed into my usual clothes.

Perhaps because the first training session was so exhausting, none of the children woke up.

I thought about saying hello to Jeon Oh-soo, but I didn’t want to make a fuss by scratching at him.

‘We’ll see when we get closer.’

I put my backpack on my waist and quietly left the building where the disciples were sleeping.

The darkness that covered the mountain path was too thick for the moonlight to shine through. The unmanned people can see the path well even in the dark, so they must not have lights. Damn those unmanned people.

Although Mt. Mudang is not an incredibly rugged mountain, it is high enough to make a farewell to life while descending at night.

I called the junk shop to see if they had anything that could be of use in the current situation.

[Dark Adaptation – Level 9]

[ Price: Eighty nyang coins ]

Fortunately, I found an item that fit my price range and seemed to fit my current situation. I took out a voucher from my backpack pocket. It was a voucher for 100 nyang that Cheonghwa Jinin had given me.

‘Can I get a receipt too?’

I wished in my mind that I would buy it as I did when I bought the nimble move.

But the note did not disappear. No matter how many times I wished, the note remained silent.

‘Does this place only accept cash? Damn store.’

Even among merchants, there are some who don’t trust the vouchers. Even though the Infinite Battlefield is a battlefield with decent reliability, they don’t accept it.

I sighed. The thick darkness seemed even more daunting.

Suddenly, I remembered the torches of the smokescreen near the outer garden. If it was a smokescreen, it was close and not dangerous. I quickly headed to the smokescreen. Fortunately, the torches were still there.

Of course, the fire wasn’t still on. I pulled out one of the torches stuck in the ground. Fortunately, the oil was still on.

I tried to make fire by hitting two rocks nearby. It didn’t work at first, but after trying again, the fire started.

“after.”

Since I was holding a torch, I had to charge straight ahead. It was nonsense for me to escape using the night as my companion anyway.

He had no choice but to confidently advance, armed with his face, which had been covered in iron plates during his merchant days.

I walked along the main road with a torch as far as I could. It was called “walking along the gentleman’s road.” It was definitely not because I was afraid of slipping on the narrow and rough road.

Even with a torch, descending Mt. Mudeung was extremely difficult. The darkness in the mountain that could be illuminated by a single torch was only about five or six steps ahead.

I walked half-step at a time. If I took long strides, I would have fallen immediately. As I walked at such a fast pace, I wasted a lot of physical and mental energy.

“Wait a minute. Who are you?”

As I was walking like that, looking straight ahead, suddenly a cold piece of iron touched my neck.

Rather than being scared, I was glad, because I had finally come down to where the sentry was.

“omg.”

First, I made a voice that seemed as panicked as possible. In front of the torch, the disciples of the shaman sect wearing blue robes were looking at me with suspicious eyes.

“Who are you that is coming down from the main mountain at this time?”

“I, I am an ordinary herbalist. I came to Mt. Mudeungsan to dig up herbs, but I fell fast asleep under a tree stump and am now coming down.”

A mixture of cowardice and embarrassment comes out in his voice. This level of voice acting was a basic skill for a merchant.

Even the disciples of the shaman sect had eyes, so they would know that I had not learned martial arts.

“Herbalist? Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen an herbalist fall asleep while digging for herbs.”

“Haha, I didn’t know I was that stupid.”

“You are not by any chance a spy from the Demonic Cult, are you?”

“Oh my, how can you say such scary things? I am just an ignorant worm who knows nothing.”

The shamans weren’t that wary of me. Some might have seen me in passing, but who would remember the faces of laymen one by one?

“Hmm. It seems a bit strange, but should I just send it down?”

“I don’t think there will be any problems.”

The non-partisans were talking amongst themselves. I was nervous inside and kept repeating, “Please.”

“It doesn’t look like there’s anything hidden.”

“Yes, that’s right. What would I have to hide?”

I opened my bag and showed him some muddy roots that I had collected before meeting the people. Of course, they were not herbs. But unless you were a Taoist who was doing the chanting yourself, there was no way you could distinguish herbs in the dark.

“Okay. Be careful going down.”

‘Okay!’

Only then did the shamans put away their swords. I bowed.

“Thank you, sirs.”

“What are you saying, sir?”

I was about to come down after saying a warm goodbye to them, when I heard another voice in the darkness.

“That’s right. They’re not old people. They’re about the same age as you.”

Someone came out of the darkness laughing. The backs of the shamans straightened in an instant.

“Meet the Cheonghwa Private School!”

A loud noise woke up the silent Wudangsan Mountain. The person who came out was Qinghua Jinin.

“Yeah. You’re standing guard well.”

“Go, thank you!”

The non-partisan soldiers looked moved. For a private tutor to come out at this hour and give encouragement? It was an impossible thing.

Yeah, that can’t be happening. Why on earth would Cheong-hwa be here? I couldn’t understand it at all.

“Where are you going in such a hurry, Whiyoung?”

Cheonghwa came to me with a kind smile. Then she came in front of me, bent down, and whispered in my ear.

“Did you think I didn’t know that you wanted to leave the party you were in?”

A cold chill ran down my spine and to the top of my head.