Chapter 179

Nun Jeong-yo’s expression hardened.

This was clearly the attitude of a superior reprimanding a subordinate, evident to anyone watching.

The other nuns of Emei Sect also realized this. One nun stepped forward and spoke with a sharp voice.

“Even setting aside matters of seniority, your words are excessive as a fellow member of Sichuan’s Three Powers.”

Taoist Bok-cheon snorted derisively.

“My disciple is also young but a member of the same Sichuan Three Powers, yet dragging him to Emei Sect to give humiliating testimony – wasn’t that excessive?”

The nun argued back point by point.

“Isn’t the situation different between then and now, Amitabha? How can you compare that young disciple to our sect’s Nun Jeong-yo, who has long since received full ordination?”

“I have studied and investigated the truth encompassing all the heavenly realms: the Six Heavens of the Desire Realm, the Eighteen Heavens of the Form Realm, the Four Heavens of the Formless Realm, the Upper Four Heavens, the Three Pure Realms, and the Great Luo Heaven. How dare monks who have merely received full ordination raise their heads and argue before me?”

“That is sophistry! Amitabha… Amitabha. I feel hatred and resentment in every word the Taoist speaks. What grievance do you hold against our sect that you despise and oppress us so?”

“You’re just being unreasonable.”

Taoist Bok-cheon turned his head away as if he no longer wished to speak. However, since he was effectively blocking the path, it was difficult for the Emei nuns to ignore him and pass by.

Nun Jeong-yo calmed her emotions and asked composedly.

“It seems you have no intention of pursuing that carriage anyway. If it’s not presumptuous, may we pass?”

Taoist Bok-cheon didn’t even respond. However, he held his sword in his arms, indicating he wouldn’t remain idle if they ignored him and tried to pass.

He was blocking the path to protect his disciple. This wasn’t something that could be resolved by simply stepping aside.

This meant that within Sichuan, no one could touch that carriage now. If they tried, they would probably have to fight to the death with Taoist Bok-cheon.

The Emei nuns bit their lips.

“I believe the relationship between our sect and Qingcheng Sect has not been particularly bad until now. However, today’s humiliation will not be easily forgotten.”

Taoist Bok-cheon answered briefly.

“We shall see.”

Nun Jeong-yo led the nuns away. The Emei nuns returned while suppressing their anger.

Tang Ha-ran looked back at Taoist Bok-cheon with interest. She thought there was an amusing side to this stern, upright old Taoist. Or perhaps it was precisely because of such a personality that he had shown the determination to block Emei Sect.

Taoist Bok-cheon noticed Tang Ha-ran’s gaze and turned to look at her. He asked.

“I didn’t know the Tang family had interest in my disciple.”

“We have no interest.”

“I see.”

After throwing out a sudden question and cutting off the conversation with “I see,” the person being questioned naturally became more curious. However, Tang Ha-ran wasn’t one to fall for such psychological tactics. She refrained from asking further and held back.

Taoist Bok-cheon laughed so broadly that his teeth showed.

“Heh heh heh heh. They say the daughters of the Tang family all hold their own, and those words weren’t wrong. If I were to match you with my disciple, you’d be so strong-willed that the boy would spend his life being led around.”

Depending on how one heard it, commenting on another’s marriage prospects could be unpleasant. However, since it was Taoist Bok-cheon saying it, one had no choice but to let it pass. The biggest reason Qingcheng Sect hadn’t joined the Martial Arts Alliance was precisely because this Taoist had opposed it.

Tang Ha-ran once again spoke decisively.

“If that’s a proposal, I must decline.”

“Very straightforward. Good. When a wedding comes up, contact me. Since we have this connection today, I’ll personally oversee the wedding ceremony.”

The wedding ceremony is the ritual where bride and groom pledge to live together for a hundred years.

This time, Tang Ha-ran couldn’t help but be interested. For Tang Ha-ran, who was past marriageable age, marriage was an imminent reality.

“You would oversee the wedding ceremony?”

“Of course. Be sure to invite me. I’ll come running even from the ends of Shandong.”

Specifically mentioning Shandong seemed to be said with Dan Ryeong-gyeong, who was in that carriage, in mind. However, the reason was still unclear.

Though he seemed to speak sharply and directly, he was actually hiding his true intentions, making him an uncomfortable conversational partner.

Tang Ha-ran felt like she was being teased and decided not to continue the conversation.

“It doesn’t seem to be something I can choose. I’ll discuss it with the elders of my family. Thank you for your consideration.”

“That would be proper. We’ll meet again soon.”

Taoist Bok-cheon quickly flew away and disappeared.

Only then did Tang Ha-ran reveal her discomfort without hiding it. She muttered quietly.

“What an unpleasant old man.”

She couldn’t understand why he had grabbed onto her and brought up marriage talk when she was perfectly fine.

Due to the Tang family’s special customs of handling poison and accepting live-in sons-in-law, Tang Ha-ran couldn’t marry just anyone.

Tang Ha-ran looked toward the carriage that had already disappeared from sight, then soon left with Tang Li-sim.

* * *

Mang Ryo and the Zhuge family warriors were dejected.

The manor was already empty. Or more precisely, it was occupied by nearby sects and those dispatched from Sichuan’s Three Powers. They were having people clean up the scene, removing corpses and wiping away blood.

Zhuge Ming and Zhuge Son-gi stamped their feet and forcibly suppressed their anger.

“Do we just go pick up corpses? What about the Tang family and all that?”

At that moment, dozens of people inside the manor all fell silent at once. Among them, all those related to the Tang family stopped their hands and looked at Zhuge Son-gi.

Zhuge Son-gi tried to close his mouth and pretend ignorance to get past it, but Zhuge Ming quickly apologized to the people.

“I misspoke. It came out of regretful feelings, so please understand.”

Only then did they turn their heads and return to their tasks. Zhuge Ming scolded Zhuge Son-gi.

“Watch your mouth. Everything said here reaches their ears.”

Zhuge Son-gi glared at Mang Ryo with resentful eyes.

Mang Ryo also realized his entire plan had been ruined and was extremely dejected.

But that was only momentary.

As if nothing had happened, he began chatting cheerfully with others. Zhuge Son-gi wanted to see what was inside Mang Ryo’s head. Mang Ryo stopped a passing lay disciple of Emei Sect and spoke to him.

“Oh my, is this the sickle that Poison Dragon used? Could I touch it once?”

The lay disciple handed the sickle to Mang Ryo. It was the sickle that Jin Ja-gang had wielded.

Mang Ryo was filled with emotion. He seemed to feel the warmth of Jin Ja-gang’s hands that had gripped the handle tightly.

The Emei lay disciple looked at Mang Ryo strangely and said.

“It’s nothing special, just an ordinary sickle you can get at any blacksmith.”

Mang Ryo responded as if asking what he meant.

“But there are many types of sickles. The iron sickle is used for cutting wood, the grass sickle for cutting grass, and when cutting flexible trees like willows, you use a willow sickle. For cutting vines you use a vine sickle, left-handed people use left sickles, there are mulberry sickles with short blades, and saw sickles for cutting thick ropes.”

The Emei lay disciple opened his mouth in amazement.

“Are there really that many types of sickles?”

“There are many differences in whether you sharpen the blade from deep inside or only at the tip, whether you use the blade angle narrow or wide. When cutting branches that have grown taller than a person’s height, a moderately short blade is good because it doesn’t get in the way. Since each sickle has different uses, there are dozens of types.”

“I never thought of that. Then what about this sickle?”

“This sickle…”

Mang Ryo looked at the sickle and said.

“The tang that goes into the handle is long, and the sickle’s neck that curves from the tang to the blade isn’t a smooth crescent shape but a sharp right-angled form. This type of sickle is a grass sickle advantageous for cutting grain stalks.”

“That’s right. This area grows a lot of sesame. So as you said, blacksmiths make many of these types of sickles.”

A passing Qingcheng lay disciple interjected.

“Since it’s a sickle used for killing people anyway, is there a need to distinguish such things?”

“Of course there is. If a sickle’s blade is thick, it’s advantageous for cutting thick wood, and if the blade is thin and light, it’s good for cutting thin, flexible things. Since this type of sickle belongs to the latter category, if you tried to cut human bones with it, the blade would break before killing many people. So Poison Dragon probably used it by hooking wrists or ankles to cut blood vessels or tendons, or stabbing with the pointed tip.”

The Emei lay disciple’s eyes widened.

“That’s right. Most of the orthodox faction warriors’ corpses that died in the manor were like that.”

“If the sickle’s neck had been a gentle crescent shape and the blade thick like an iron sickle, there would have been more corpses with entire wrists severed. There would have been many broken weapons too. An iron sickle is close to an axe, so with sufficient internal energy, it can cut and break most iron swords.”

The Qingcheng lay disciple was struck dumb. Everything was exactly as Mang Ryo said.

The Emei lay disciple, impressed by Mang Ryo’s extensive knowledge, even told him various information he hadn’t asked for.

But Mang Ryo was still focused on the sickle.

Though he didn’t tell the Emei lay disciple, the nail that fixed the sickle’s tang and handle was bent, and the metal ring that tightly wrapped and secured that part was shaking.

This meant that Jin Ja-gang’s Mad Blood Heaven technique had become so strong that ordinary forged blades made at blacksmiths could no longer withstand Jin Ja-gang’s internal energy.

“Heh heh heh.”

Mang Ryo was pleased. It was partly because he learned how strong Jin Ja-gang had become, but also because he could now predict Jin Ja-gang’s actions.

Probably soon Jin Ja-gang would try to find a weapon suited to his internal energy. Blacksmith sickles had reached a level where they could no longer satisfy him.

However, finding a weapon that fits one’s hand and becoming familiar with using one weapon for a long time – that’s never an easy task.

Even after obtaining one’s own weapon, the aftermath becomes problematic. The aftermath is usually quite troublesome.

Even when drinking, he’d have to carefully keep track of it so as not to lose it, and no matter how exhausted he was after fierce battles, he’d have to find it and take it with him. He couldn’t just throw it around or use it carelessly.

Sometimes situations would arise where he’d have to kill people or do things against righteousness to protect his weapon.

Having one’s own weapon could perhaps be seen as a kind of bondage.

“This will become interesting.”

People often say that having something to protect makes one stronger.

But in human life, simply becoming stronger isn’t everything.

There’s a world of difference between the mindset of a wealthy person with many possessions leaving home and going out, and a beggar with nothing leaving home and going out.

The more one has to protect, the deeper the attachment becomes, and anxiety increases proportionally to strength.

Anxiety multiplies itself to become “attachment,” attachment becomes “affliction,” and affliction becomes “cracks” that destroy oneself from within.

Attachment is weakness.

Jin Ja-gang, who had possessed nothing until now, was ready to “possess” attachment.

Just imagining it was enjoyable.

Moreover, it was said that Jin Ja-gang had run to save the people of the manor. Though this wasn’t what Mang Ryo had planned and expected, it brought results much better than what he had expected.

It meant a gap had formed in that fellow’s heart!

“Heh heh heh!”

When Mang Ryo suddenly burst into laughter during the conversation, the Emei and Qingcheng lay disciples looked puzzled. Bursting into laughter in a place filled with human blood and corpses naturally looked strange.

“Ah, I sometimes laugh like a madman because I learned martial arts incorrectly, so don’t mind it.”

“Oh my… that’s unfortunate.”

Since they weren’t close and he said it was because he learned martial arts wrong, it was difficult to argue. After the Emei and Qingcheng lay disciples left for elsewhere, soon a warrior from a Tang family vassal clan came to Mang Ryo.

The warrior said bluntly.

“Let’s go to the Tang Family Great Compound.”

“Do I have business there?”

The warrior lowered his voice.

“The elder wishes to see you.”

Mang Ryo’s hair stood on end. He wanted to cheer with joy but forcibly suppressed his feelings.

“Now?”

“You must go now.”

“That works out well. I was concerned about my missing leg.”

Mang Ryo pointed below his legs. His prosthetic legs had been shattered and he was supporting himself with two crutches.

The Tang family vassal warrior delivered his message and withdrew to wait. The meaning was to finish up behind and then go. Behind Mang Ryo were the two Zhuge family members and warriors still wearing uncomfortable expressions.

Mang Ryo asked blankly.

“You still haven’t left?”

Zhuge Son-gi became so upset he made an expression as if he wanted to devour Mang Ryo.

“That b*st*rd!”