Chapter 162

Jin Ja-gang did not stay longer at the inn and got up after lightly eating just one bowl of noodles.

Anyone watching would think he was leisurely spending time, but in fact Jin Ja-gang was extremely on edge.

It had been only one day since leaving the manor.

Yet already a tail had attached itself to him.

It was just as Dan Ryeong-gyeong had warned.

“Not long after leaving the manor, there will be surveillance. Since you have good instincts, you’ll surely be able to notice it. But don’t react unnecessarily and don’t provoke the other party either. Then nothing seriously worrying will happen.”

Jin Ja-gang scratched his cheek.

If he followed Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s words, it was fortunate that things would proceed without major problems, but thinking of what Bian Bu had separately told him, there were also parts that needed to be considered differently.

“It’s best if no incidents occur, but you’re already a famous person. There’s no way disturbances won’t arise. So how should you respond? It depends on what kind of people you get into disputes with. If you meet Tang Clan people? Pretend you don’t know anything. If they say something, just apologize saying you were wrong and run away. If they tell you to stop while you’re running? Then pretend to be deaf. If they still chase you? Then pretend to be dead. With Tang Clan kids, it’s best to avoid any association at all costs, even if you have to do that.”

About Emei Sect, it was different again.

“Emei Sect’s monks are extremely harsh. If you get into a fight but can’t settle it in the early stages, and the monk says ‘Ahem, I will no longer show mercy in my hands,’ then just kneel down and beg. Plead for your life, or throw a tantrum saying you’ll kill yourself in front of the monks if they don’t spare you. Then they’ll be troubled and give you one chance. I’m certain of this because I’ve tried it.”

At this part Jin Ja-gang suppressed a smile, but Bian Bu was serious. If it came to a life-or-death situation, it wouldn’t be a laughing matter.

“Finally, about Qingcheng Sect’s Taoists…”

Bian Bu sighed and shook his head repeatedly.

“These people, always talking about the Tao while only cultivating the Tao in the mountains, so except for a few, they don’t know worldly affairs. Since they don’t know worldly affairs, they’re inflexible and you can’t reason with them, yet they’re terribly fastidious and prideful… Plus most are complete single-minded people, so if they fixate on something, they’ll just risk their lives and charge at it… If you meet a Qingcheng Sect Taoist, just think you’ve had a great life experience and pray to the Primordial Heavenly Venerable for what comes after, because they’re completely mad people with no solution.”

Jin Ja-gang wondered if it could really be that extreme, but Bian Bu was genuinely horrified.

“Once, one said ‘If you know what the Tao is, I’ll spare your life,’ so I answered that the Tao I know is ‘The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao.’ Then he said ‘The Tao is like the highest good being like water.’ So I asked, ‘Can’t “The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao” be called the Tao?’ Then he said it was also the Tao, but if you say you’re right, it’s no longer the Tao, so you can’t say you’re right. Damn, so I also answered, ‘I know what the Tao is but cannot speak it. If I speak it, it’s not the Tao.’ Then he spared me. I survived, but it was infuriating. How is that different from dealing with madmen?”

Bian Bu seemed to have a lot of pent-up feelings, as he continued complaining about Qingcheng Sect for quite a while after that.

In any case, to define it in just one sentence:

“Just looking at how they’re stubbornly refusing to join the Martial Arts Alliance these days shows what kind of people the Qingcheng Sect Taoists are.”

Just from how he called Tang Clan “kids,” Emei Sect “monks,” and Qingcheng Sect “people,” one could understand Bian Bu’s perception of the three sects.

So Jin Ja-gang thought it necessary to confirm.

Which faction the person currently following him belonged to.

Only then would he have the leeway to deal with the next situation.

Jin Ja-gang waited for quite a while drinking tea. He sharpened his senses to the point where he could detect if the other party became even slightly careless or made a mistake.

But no matter how much time passed, he absolutely couldn’t find them. It was certain they were watching, and it was also certain they occasionally showed signs of surveillance, but he couldn’t find which direction that person was in.

It seemed to be a master of a level that would be difficult for Jin Ja-gang to easily handle.

‘Do they mean to watch and tell me not to act rashly?’

Having every move under someone’s surveillance wasn’t a very pleasant feeling for Jin Ja-gang either. Since he would soon be leaving Dayi anyway, he would need to shake them off then.

Jin Ja-gang went outside and toured the market, buying jerky and mixed grain powder. Mixed grain powder was made by grinding mixed grains, steaming and drying them, then grinding them into powder again – you could eat it like porridge by adding water.

Then, as if his legs hurt, he stopped at an empty teahouse and drank tea.

While drinking tea, he pretended to have forgotten something and returned to the market to buy a few more items.

Then he stayed a bit longer at the earlier teahouse, took out all his camping supplies to check them, and then set off on his proper journey.

Jin Ja-gang chose not the main road where many people traveled, but a mountain path.

Jin Ja-gang liked mountains.

Though somewhat desolate due to winter, mountains were still abundant. Dense forests provided hiding places, and when hungry he could catch mountain birds or animals to eat, and it was a place where he could obtain all kinds of poisonous plants and medicinal herbs.

For Jin Ja-gang who had started with nothing, mountains were a treasure trove and simultaneously the optimal battlefield.

Jin Ja-gang gradually began showing signs of being concerned about the surveillance. He would look back while pretending to drink water, or glance sideways while pretending to look at the sky. He would also steal glances while sitting and resting. Of course, no matter what he did, he couldn’t catch any trace of his opponent.

Passing the middle of the mountain, it gradually became deeper into the mountains.

Jin Ja-gang searched for a suitable location. And when he finally found what seemed like a good place, he began to act.

He took out a leather pouch from his bundle and began sprinkling the white powder inside around the area bit by bit.

He walked around sprinkling white powder all over the ground and path, nearby grass and trees.

Jin Ja-gang did this and then, looking satisfied, went back on his way.

Not even a moment after Jin Ja-gang left, a clean-looking Taoist appeared.

“Primordial Heavenly Venerable, Supreme Elderly Lord, Spiritual Treasure Heavenly Venerable!”

He looked to be around fifteen or sixteen years old.

He was a young Taoist who had barely passed the age of learning.

“What a wicked fellow Taoist! To carelessly scatter poison on paths where people travel.”

The young Taoist thought for a moment and muttered to himself.

“No, that’s not right. Having my presence detected is all due to my insufficient cultivation. If my training had been deeper, such a thing wouldn’t have happened. I cannot help but clean this up so innocent people don’t get hurt.”

The young Taoist looked tense as he dipped his finger in the powder to taste it.

“Bitter but savory. Even poison doesn’t all taste bad.”

The young Taoist rummaged in his robes and pulled out a fan, waving it.

Whoosh.

When he fanned, instead of wind blowing away, wind actually rushed toward him. As the young Taoist moved left and right like sweeping while continuously fanning, light powder and dust rose up and gathered in the air.

Before long, the powder became a single ball. The young Taoist stopped fanning and squeezed the powder tightly with his hands to make it into a lump. When the lump wouldn’t compress any further, he applied force with internal energy and pressed it harder.

Squish, squish.

The lump that had been fist-sized became almost nail-sized. The young Taoist, wondering what to do with it, put the lump inside his sleeve.

“I should show this to the senior brothers later.”

The young Taoist looked at the dense forest path Jin Ja-gang had taken and sighed slightly.

“Sigh. I need to hurry and follow before I lose him.”

Since the ground wasn’t wet, finding footprints wasn’t easy either. Still, he could find traces from the occasional footprints. Since Jin Ja-gang limped, the traces of his two feet were different from each other. That was at least the part that made tracking easier.

The young Taoist followed Jin Ja-gang’s trail while examining the ground.

However, at some point the young Taoist became greatly flustered.

“Ah! I’ve lost him!”

The trail had suddenly cut off.

The young Taoist searched the surroundings but could no longer find any traces.

He lightly stamped his foot. His body shot up into the sky like a feather. The young Taoist who had leaped up several zhang at once sat on a treetop and looked around in all directions.

The pondering young Taoist decided to thoroughly search the surroundings and began flying toward one direction. Based on a day of observation, Jin Ja-gang’s walking speed wasn’t very fast. Even if he was using lightness skills, that would actually make traces easier to find.

Stepping on tree branches while leaping made almost no sound. Only one or two dried leaves would occasionally fall.

The young Taoist searched in all directions.

But even after half a day passed, he couldn’t find any traces at all.

Having no choice, the young Taoist returned to the place where Jin Ja-gang had scattered the poison powder. He planned to try tracking from there again.

However, that place had in the meantime been disturbed by footprints of others, as if a merchant group had passed through. Now it had become impossible to find anything more.

The young Taoist was disheartened.

“Oh no… This is serious. It was a simple task to just watch until he left Dayi. I can’t face a year of wall meditation for failing even this.”

The young Taoist hung his head low and returned to the village.

And at that location.

At the very place where he had scattered poison, Jin Ja-gang emerged in the evening after the sun had set.

The dirt mound stirred, then Jin Ja-gang came out, pushing through earth and grass.

He had hidden there waiting for a full half day.

Jin Ja-gang brushed off the dirt and grass from his body.

Being able to dig and hide in such a short time was thanks to using the vine roots of grass. Since the ground was dry and weak, pulling grass would uproot the vine roots and cause surrounding soil to fall away in chunks. Just pulling a few clumps would quickly create a hole big enough to lie in.

Covering it with soil and placing grass on top allowed him to quickly hide underground.

Of course, if one looked carefully, it wouldn’t be impossible to find. But the young Taoist probably wouldn’t have thought of such a thing.

This was because Jin Ja-gang had used poison beforehand, somewhat impairing the young Taoist’s judgment.

“Hmm.”

However, Jin Ja-gang felt somehow unsettled. He had clearly shaken off his pursuer perfectly, yet somehow he didn’t feel good about it. This was because the one who had been following him happened to be a Qingcheng Sect Taoist.

Jin Ja-gang thought for a moment. Then he soon covered and concealed the place where he had hidden, and walked toward the direction opposite to where the young Taoist had gone.

Jin Ja-gang walked for a full day and arrived at a small village inn late in the evening.

Planning to camp outdoors had also been a kind of deception. Deliberately taking out camping supplies at the teahouse to check them had also been a device to hide his itinerary.

When Jin Ja-gang was waiting after ordering rice and tea at the first floor restaurant of the inn:

“Hahaha! So you were here. I really searched with great difficulty to find you. Primordial Heavenly Venerable.”

With a clear Taoist greeting, a Taoist in a completely disheveled state came and stood before Jin Ja-gang.

Jin Ja-gang looked at the young Taoist, somewhat surprised and also finding it absurd.

The young Taoist was looking at Jin Ja-gang with a bright smile, clearly showing signs of hardship.

“May I sit?”

Looking at the Taoist asking with an innocent expression, Jin Ja-gang couldn’t understand what the Taoist was thinking in coming to find him.

“Please sit.”

“Then I’ll take the liberty. Primordial Heavenly Venerable.”

After sitting down, the young Taoist caught his breath and smiled again.

“Ah, at first I thought a merchant group had passed through and contaminated the traces, but thinking about it later, no merchant group had passed through there. I had searched a full ten li radius around the area. But to think you would shake me off and be here. Fellow Taoist’s cunning and lightness skills are truly amazing. I was impressed.”

Jin Ja-gang still couldn’t determine whether the young Taoist was bluffing or was naturally careless.

But looking at the rice in front of Jin Ja-gang seemed to make him hungry, as the young Taoist’s stomach made a rumbling sound.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been starving all day.”

Jin Ja-gang had no choice but to offer.

“Would you like to eat?”

“Then I won’t decline and will gratefully partake.”

The young Taoist immediately picked up chopsticks and began eating rice as if swallowing it.

Slurp, slurp.

Jin Ja-gang watched this and quietly said.

“There’s poison in there.”

Slurp…