Chapter 73

Chapter 73

“Hey, look over there…”

“Ahem! Turn your head, turn your head!”

Yueyang Street

In that place where many people came and went, a group was walking down the street at a leisurely pace.

Swords and sabers were hung at their waists, and their appearance, with every single one of them wearing scarlet martial robes, made it clear at a glance that they were martial artists.

It was not particularly strange for martial artists to pass by.

This was Yueyang.

Since the nearby Lake Dongting played a highly famous role as a tourist attraction, it was common to see martial artists coming and going.

Furthermore, because of the many incidents that had occurred recently, it had gotten to the point where one could see martial artists just by turning their head.

In such a situation, at most one group.

It was not that big of a deal.

However, the reason people were afraid was different.

They were from the Wind Sword Sect, a sect that had settled down in Yueyang.

They were those who suppressed the martial arts sects and families that had been springing up like mushrooms after rain near Yueyang recently, and were reborn as the undisputed best sect in Yueyang.

While it belonged to the stronger side among the small and medium-sized sects belonging to the Murim Alliance, recently they had been patrolling the Yueyang area under the pretext of managing it, and did not hesitate to behead ruffians or criminals on the spot.

Because of that, people came to avoid them.

“Ever since those people appeared, I've been too scared to even walk in the marketplace.”

“…”

Ji-yak muttered softly as he watched them disappear. Ever since he had witnessed them killing ruffians in an alley while walking down the street last time, his whole body flinched whenever he saw red clothes.

“I heard the County Magistrate is also having a headache over this?”

“I suppose so.”

Ji-yak scowled.

Questioning and punishing the ruffians who committed crimes was originally a duty that Hong Won-chang, the County Magistrate, had to perform, but ever since they appeared, he had not been able to handle the matters properly.

Since it was true that most of those who died had actually committed crimes, and they pulled out the roots and erased all traces to the point where they could not even report it to the government office, there was nothing Hong Won-chang could do from his position either.

The two children sighed softly.

As Yueyang turned turbulent, it felt as though even their minds were becoming exhausted.

However, there was also a child who seemed completely unrelated to such things.

Hong Jin-rang and Ji-yak turned their heads toward the place where the sound of giggling could be heard. At the end of the two children's gaze was Dan So-mi, who was crouching down and playing with a small puppy.

“It must be nice to have peace of mind.”

“It's even funnier that she doesn't care at all.”

They looked at Dan So-mi with awkward expressions.

Even when the people of the Wind Sword Sect passed by and glared with wide eyes, Dan So-mi did not care in the slightest. She seemed like a person who thought that no matter what they did, they would not harm her.

“So-mi, aren't you scared of the people from the Wind Sword Sect?”

In the end, Ji-yak asked with a sigh.

Just a moment ago, when the people of the Wind Sword Sect were passing by, she had run right between them upon seeing the puppy. Most of the people watching were shocked enough to be terrified.

“Huh? So-mi didn't do anything wrong to those people, though?”

“Still… aren't you, you know, scared? I heard those people kill people and all that…”

“Hehe, that must be a lie. How could a person kill another person so recklessly?”

There had to be a limit to being naive.

Hong Jin-rang sighed.

He had felt it when she stayed at his house for a few days last time as well, but Dan So-mi seemed to trust everyone and think they would not harm her.

'Compared to that, she is causing considerable damage at the academy, though…'

Hong Jin-rang broke out in a cold sweat.

Such an innocent child had cleaned out the other kids' pockets playing territory game. And was that all? Not long ago, while the three of them were wandering around the marketplace, they ran into a ruffian who was extorting money from a young child.

He was a man who extracted copper coins using odd-even bets, but Dan So-mi won every single time against him and took a substantial amount of money.

Later, the angry ruffian tried to swing his fist, but by some stroke of luck, he was caught by the patrolling constables and was now locked up in prison.

'It really is crazy luck…'

She had even started learning Go from the headmaster a few days ago, and now she was cleaning out the headmaster's pockets with it.

Hong Jin-rang had seen it.

He had seen her extending her hand with a bright smile toward the headmaster, whose face had turned completely pale. At that time, the headmaster's expression was so miserable that it was beyond words.

“Could you perhaps…”

Be putting on an act?

Hong Jin-rang wanted to say that much, but he held it back.

Because Ji-yak's gaze was extremely fierce.

At any rate, when it came to So-mi, Ji-yak would rush in without a second thought. Although Hong Jin-rang was supposedly the best fighter at the academy, there was nothing he could do about Ji-yak's gaze.

He could not risk bringing ruin to his family.

“Anyway, everyone be careful. Those guys don't look like the type to go easy on someone just because they're a kid.”

Hong Jin-rang shrugged his shoulders as he spoke.

There was no doubt they looked that dangerous.

Of course, he wondered if they could compare to Ji-yak, who was right in front of him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

When Ji-yak tilted her head and asked, Hong Jin-rang averted his gaze. Looking at that brightly smiling face, he felt as if his inner swearing had been caught.

She really was like a fox.

“Is this Hubei?”

“Yes, it is.”

Having entered Hubei, Dan Woo-hyun looked around his surroundings first.

It was a scenery completely different from the past.

Not to mention the built houses, even the clothes they wore were different. Indeed, a thousand years had passed and many things had changed in the meantime, so it was natural for everything to be new and unfamiliar.

All the landscapes he had walked through had changed.

“How much further do we have to go to reach Hanchuan?”

“It will take about ten more days.”

They were currently going up along the watercourse of Lake Dongting.

The place where they were was the watercourse called Honghu, and five days' distance to the east from here, there existed Chibi, where the Battle of Chibi once took place.

Since it was a very famous place, anyone visiting Hubei might visit it at least once, but Dan Woo-hyun did not seem to have much interest.

“However, Lord, please know that this is the territory of the Wudang Sect, so if you act carelessly, you might fall out of their favor.”

“The Wudang Sect…”

Dan Woo-hyun nodded slightly.

He already knew about it from hearing stories. Did they say it was one of the forces called the Nine Sects and One Gang, and a presence that had ruled Hubei for a long time?

It was also quite interesting.

“Is there nothing else?”

“There is the Zhuge Family.”

Dan Woo-hyun looked at Gwon Mu-jin with a somewhat surprised expression.

Zhuge? Zhuge, you say?

It was certainly a very famous place even when he was active. It was said to be a family proficient in mechanism formations, active around Mount Rongzhong in Hubei.

Furthermore, was it not the place where the house of Zhuge Liang, who created the Three Kingdoms, stood decades before Dan Woo-hyun was active?

Dan Woo-hyun showed interest, letting out an "Oho."

“If it is Zhuge, you mean that Kongming's…?”

“That is correct. Their martial arts are negligible, but they are a family very outstanding in strategy as well as mechanism formations. In fact, while it is clear that the power of the Demonic Cult is stronger than the orthodox path, it is said that the strength of the Zhuge Family played a major role in preventing this Central Plains land from ever being surrendered to the Demonic Cult even once since the Murim Alliance of the orthodox path was formed.”

“Is that so.”

Gwon Mu-jin looked at Dan Woo-hyun with a somewhat surprised expression.

Dan Woo-hyun was someone who had no interest in anything other than Dan So-mi. For the first time, vitality seemed to return to his expression.

“Are you interested in the Zhuge Family?”

“Haha, it is nice because the name is familiar.”

“…?”

Gwon Mu-jin could not help but be puzzled by the words of unknown meaning. The name of the Zhuge Family was familiar no matter where one went, but it was nice because it was familiar?

He could not understand what he was talking about at all.

“Do you have a connection with that place…?”

He asked just in case.

Because he thought that if there was a connection with the Zhuge Family, that would not be a bad thing in its own way. If they could obtain Zhuge Un, the best brain of that place, the family would surely fly even higher.

“No, I do not.”

“I see.”

Gwon Mu-jin smiled awkwardly at the words that cut off immediately. Indeed, it seemed a bit of a stretch for Dan Woo-hyun, who did not even know much about the Murim, to know someone from the Zhuge Family, one of the famous families of the Eight Great Families.

'Well, I thought as much.'

Gwon Mu-jin nodded, understanding on his own.

“By the way, what exactly is the Murim Alliance?”

At that time, Dan Woo-hyun showed interest in the Murim for the first time. He, who had not shown much interest other than dealing with those who challenged him so far, finally showed interest.

Gwon Mu-jin spoke as he managed his excited expression.

“I heard the Murim Alliance is a place created by orthodox groups in the past to oppose the Martial God. Of course, it must have been in a different form than it is now.”

Dan Woo-hyun frowned.

He felt like there indeed was such a thing, and also felt like there wasn't. Since he did not think about and cut down such things one by one, he had no great interest in it.

“The Murim Alliance has many organizations, but the ones that can be called the main pillars are the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Eight Great Families.”

“Hmm?”

He saw an expression of complete ignorance.

Gwon Mu-jin smiled awkwardly and spoke.

However, he did not explain them one by one. Because he thought Dan Woo-hyun was curious about the place called the Murim Alliance rather than those organizations.

“It is composed of many other small and medium-sized sects, and starting from the Alliance Leader, there is a Chief Strategist, and below him are unit leaders, hall chiefs, and branch managers who govern various groups. In the past, they gathered to oppose the Martial God, but now they are just groups gathered to block the Demonic Cult and the unorthodox path, or to protect their own power.”

“So you mean their leader was Namgung Cheon.”

“Yes, that is correct.”

Dan Woo-hyun nodded.

Although it was simple, he seemed to understand to some extent that they stood at the center of the orthodox path's power. It seemed that those who wanted to grasp power were everywhere, whether in the past or now.

“If the Nine Sects and One Gang led the orthodox path in the past, now the Eight Great Families have become its main pillar. The Namgung Family, which produced the Sword Emperor. The Murong Family, the second in command of the orthodox path, can be said to be at the center. What remains are the Sichuan Tang Family, the Hebei Peng Family, and the Zhuge Family.”

“I see.”

“And these five are usually called the Five Great Families out of the world-famous families, and the remaining three are called the three newly risen families. These three families include the Hwangbo Family, the Jinju Eon Family, and the Shinchang Yang Family.”

“They lead the current orthodox path?”

“Yes. And in the unorthodox path, as you know, there is the Martial Emperor Castle, and as for the Demonic Cult, there is the Heavenly Demon Cult founded by the Heavenly Demon, past and present. It can be said that these three factions are the absolute entities that shake the current Central Plains.”

Nodding his head, Dan Woo-hyun was able to perceive the situation of the current Murim to some extent. In fact, the biggest reason he had not been interested until now was that he did not want to get involved with them anymore.

Of course, that thought could be said to be the same even now, but knowing the situation of the Murim would allow him to think about many things in the future.

“Then this place is the territory of the orthodox path, and Zhuge and Wudang govern it, is that so.”

“Yes, that is correct.”

Although learning things one by one was interesting, this feeling, which was so different from a thousand years ago, was somewhat unfamiliar and also fun.

Dan Woo-hyun looked down at the map briefly.

A distance of ten more days to go.

However, the excitement did not fade.

Having left the nest he had been in for a thousand years, his excited heart could only be imagined. Smiling faintly, he closed his eyes again. A refreshing wind blew in from the window.