Chapter 140
"Do you think it makes sense that someone who suddenly appeared could take down Young Master Shangguan Hong in one blow?"
Of course, I don't think it makes sense.
It's not like he's some neighborhood mongrel – Young Master Shangguan Hong isn't someone who would go down that easily.
"Then that means Wei's older brother is an unimaginable master, but why hasn't he been known until now? If Wei San-ho's younger brother was such a skilled master, there's no way his name wouldn't have been known by now."
Of course, Namgung Hye's question was something Wei Su-ryeon couldn't answer at all, and Wei Su-ryeon found a very simple solution.
Bang!
"Brother!"
Wei Su-ryeon had found a clean solution. If there were questions, just ask the person involved. There was no need for her to struggle with it.
Wei Su-ryeon rushed to the giant caterpillar lying on the bed and stripped off the blanket.
"Auuung."
Wei Yan-ho squirmed in resistance, but he couldn't escape Wei Su-ryeon's hands, which had been stripping his blankets for years.
"Brother! Brother! Wake up!"
"…Why?"
When Wei Yan-ho raised his head with a face still heavy with sleep, Wei Su-ryeon grabbed his sleeve and asked.
"Brother, where did you become such a skilled master? You might actually be stronger than eldest brother!"
Wei Yan-ho's face contorted sharply.
"You woke up someone who was sleeping peacefully just to ask that?"
"Yeah."
When Wei Su-ryeon smiled innocently, Wei Yan-ho sighed.
"I met a ghost, I tell you."
"A ghost?"
"A ghost, a demon, something like that."
"Explain it so I can understand!"
Wei Yan-ho sighed and began to tell her what he had experienced.
Wei Su-ryeon's face changed moment by moment as she listened to his words.
"…That's how it happened."
"…"
Wei Su-ryeon stared at Wei Yan-ho with a bewildered expression and asked again.
"So to summarize, after parting with eldest brother that day, you fell into a strange cave where you met a ghost who claimed to be the number one under heaven from three hundred years ago and learned martial arts from him. Is that what you're saying?"
"Exactly!"
Wei Yan-ho felt like he could cry.
Wei Su-ryeon was the first person to understand and accept his story in one go. Wei Yan-ho was overjoyed, feeling family affection.
"I can't believe this…"
Wei Su-ryeon looked at Wei Yan-ho with a subtle gaze.
Just listening to it sounded utterly absurd, but if it wasn't true, Wei Yan-ho's rapidly improved martial prowess couldn't be explained.
And Wei Su-ryeon fully understood that Wei Yan-ho wasn't someone who would train of his own will unless he had met a ghost or something.
In her eyes, he was a lovable brother, but to others, he was a human trash-level lazy bum.
"Brother, it would be better not to tell this story to other people."
"…I suppose so?"
"Yeah. You'd likely be treated as a madman. Just say you met a hermit expert in the mountains and learned martial arts from him."
"I was thinking the same thing."
Wei Su-ryeon nodded vigorously.
'I don't know who that person is, but this definitely isn't a good situation.'
From what she heard, it seemed that martial knowledge originally intended for someone else had come to Wei Yan-ho, and if descendants of Wei Yan-ho's supposed master appeared demanding the martial arts, they might have no choice but to hand over the martial knowledge.
'It's probably not a lie.'
Based on Wei Yan-ho's testimony, it was clear the person was no ordinary master. Moreover, the fact that he had changed Wei Yan-ho this much in five years left no room for doubt.
"Let's get our story straight for now."
"Yeah. Whatever."
Wei Yan-ho sent a look asking if he could sleep now that he'd said everything, and Wei Su-ryeon slowly nodded and left the room.
'I have a feeling there's going to be trouble.'
Things that didn't fit were bound to cause problems. Wasn't it definitely strange for such a lazy bum to possess such martial arts?
But Wei Su-ryeon smiled and brushed away her worries.
"Ah well, he's my brother after all."
Unlike others, her brother wasn't someone who would cause trouble even out of annoyance.
So there wouldn't be any upheaval in the martial world because of Wei Yan-ho.
But Wei Su-ryeon didn't know.
Wei Yan-ho was already causing enough trouble as he wandered around, and he was thinking that he needed to travel and gain experience somehow in order to survive.
* * *
"Get out of the… carriage?"
Seeing Wei Yan-ho's face crumple, Seomun Dayeon desperately searched for words to comfort him.
"He's a patient, after all."
"That's true, but…"
Wei Yan-ho trembled.
What kind of carriage was this?
Wasn't this the carriage Wei Yan-ho had personally worked to modify to be soft and comfortable for a pleasant journey? But now he had to abandon that carriage and walk to Luoyang on his own two feet?
It was absolutely impossible.
But…
Wei Yan-ho smacked his lips as he looked at the limping Shangguan Hong. Seeing Shangguan Hong glaring at him with poison-filled eyes made his heart soften involuntarily.
'He is pitiful.'
Though unintentional, this situation might lead to the end of the Shangguan family line.
Moreover, Shangguan Hong's current condition made not only walking but even riding a horse difficult. Walking would actually be better – if he rode a horse, something terrible would happen.
Having memories of the pain transmitted to his crotch when Wei San-ho had dragged him onto a horse in the past, Wei Yan-ho couldn't bring himself to tell Shangguan Hong to ride a horse.
"…Can't be helped."
Wei Yan-ho was lazy but not without conscience.
"It'll be soft."
"Kugh!"
Shangguan Hong trembled every time he looked at Wei Yan-ho.
Wei Yan-ho boldly accepted that gaze. Normally, if someone else glared at Wei Yan-ho with such eyes, he would have poked their eyeballs with his finger to check if there was actually ink inside them, but at this moment, Shangguan Hong was the only person besides family who had the right to look at Wei Yan-ho with such eyes.
Eventually, Shangguan Hong turned his head away.
"Please be careful getting in."
At Eon Hyo's words as he supported him, Shangguan Hong nodded and opened the carriage door.
"Wait a moment."
But someone stopped him in his haste.
Lee Seol-hwa came running over, pushed past Shangguan Hong, and stuck her head into the carriage first.
"Hmm?"
Lee Seol-hwa emerged from the carriage carrying a bunch of things, then quickly climbed onto the carriage and began laying things out neatly.
'Blankets?'
Shangguan Hong's eyes widened.
Wait, why were blankets coming out of there?
What reason would there be for blankets to be in the carriage?
And why was she laying those blankets on the carriage roof?
Gong Mujin watched Lee Seol-hwa arranging the blankets with satisfaction.
'I raised one disciple well.'
Look at her laying out blankets so her master could travel comfortably.
'I should have been nicer to her earlier.'
Scolding doesn't improve skills – he felt he'd been too harsh all this time.
He was resolving to make Lee Seol-hwa walk only on flower paths from now on when Lee Seol-hwa finished organizing and came down from the carriage. Then, without even glancing at Shangguan Hong, she approached Gong Mujin.
"Oh, right."
But Lee Seol-hwa passed by even Gong Mujin and looked at Wei Yan-ho, who was standing behind Gong Mujin, speaking in a somewhat blunt tone.
"The, the arrangement is finished."
"Huh?"
"You can get on the roof."
"Oh!"
Wei Yan-ho climbed onto the carriage with great joy. Meeting the softly laid blankets again, satisfaction naturally arose.
"Ahgugugu."
Despite having slept lying down until this morning, Wei Yan-ho burrowed into the blankets as if he hadn't slept for two days, causing Gong Mujin to stare blankly.
"Seol-hwa."
"Yes?"
"Do I… do I have to walk?"
"…"
Seeing Lee Seol-hwa looking at the distant sky without answering, Gong Mujin squeezed his eyes shut.
Was this moisture seeping around his eyes… tears?
They say raising a daughter, no, a disciple, is useless…
Seeing Lee Seol-hwa who refused to meet his eyes to the very end, Gong Mujin let out a deep sigh.
'Fine, you can do that.'
Having awakened to love for his disciple and country, Gong Mujin didn't direct his arrows of criticism at Lee Seol-hwa.
'But you shouldn't do that!'
Taking the elder's seat and rejoicing…
"He's sleeping already!"
Already?
How long has it been since he lay down and he's already sleeping?
Did he learn some sleep technique? How could he fall into such deep sleep the moment his head touched the pillow? Even though he slept all day yesterday!
"Keuuuing."
It felt like his stomach was being stabbed.
A martial artist with stomach pain!
"Master Gong."
Hearing Seomun Dayeon's voice, Gong Mujin turned his head weakly.
"I think we should depart now…"
Gong Mujin thought he knew what Seomun Dayeon was trying to say. Lee Seol-hwa would sit in the driver's seat, and the others could walk. So what would Gong Mujin do?
Would he walk with the other junior disciples, or…
Gong Mujin turned his head weakly.
Meeting eyes with Peng Do-hyeong, Gong Mujin opened his mouth.
"Listen, you."
"Yes, Master Gong."
"Go buy a horse."
"…"
Clop clop, clop clop.
Gong Mujin felt miserable.
Horses had been precious beyond measure since ancient times. Moreover, the price of a proper steed far exceeded the value of an ordinary house.
So there was no way there would be a proper horse market in such a rural area, and all they could obtain was a donkey that looked ready to collapse.
"…"
Riding on the donkey's back following the carriage, Gong Mujin had to feel something welling up in his chest.
'Why am I suffering this humiliation?'
Think about it.
He was Gong Mujin.
Wasn't Plum Blossom Sword Ghost Gong Mujin recognized as one of the swordsmen leading the current era? Such a person should naturally be galloping through the world on a spotless white horse, but in reality, he had to wobble along the public road on a donkey with sleepy eyes.
"This is all because of that bastard."
Until recently, Gong Mujin had thought meeting Wei Yan-ho was a great fortune. But lately, his thoughts were changing.
"…That guy might be a disaster god."
At the thought that he might have encountered an evil spirit that brought misfortune, Gong Mujin trembled.
If it were just him alone, it would be one thing, but seeing that even his disciple was being swept up by that demon, he felt it was time for drastic measures.
"How…"
Just then, Gong Mujin's head shot up.
'What's this?'
He noticed two people slowly walking toward them from ahead.
Gong Mujin's body began to tense up. Just seeing their appearance made his body automatically tighten his muscles and prepare for the battle that was about to unfold.
'Who are they?'
People who could make the great Gong Mujin feel this way.
Gong Mujin slyly turned his head.
Since he wasn't the only one here, even if danger approached…
"He's sleeping agaaain!"
Seeing Wei Yan-ho lying down and sleeping peacefully, veins bulged on Gong Mujin's forehead.