25 Chapter 25

"Welcome back."

After greeting Kang-hyuk, Byeok Ae-rin began her duties as a maid.

After preparing the meal, she organized the plates and the cutlery, then went on to clean the whole house.

The time had now come for her to organize the more troublesome matters.

Her eyes glinted. The Mad Fox, that had been dormant within her for seven years, was beginning to awaken.

'Should I ask Shim-gu Orabeoni (1) for a favour?'

She was curious what the reaction of the other Kwaepungdae members would be after finding out about Kang-hyuk's reverse aging.

She lightly stamped her feet, and her youthful body appeared not long after.

***

The location was the outskirts of Nakyang.

A woman clothed in red with red hair was walking along a road.

She then stepped into a dark alley. As she did this, she sensed that she had a number of pursuers behind her, making her grin.

'Haha, Shim-gu Orabeoni really is something! Why did he ask me to meet in such a place!'

She abruptly stopped as they began to close in on her with sleazy expressions on their faces.

Her pursuers were a group of five men, whose gazes were on her chest and exposed legs.

The men edged closer, under the impression that she was scared.

"Hahaha. Young lady, you shouldn't have come to such a dangerous place."

"If you come here, you can't turn people like us away. Hehehe."

A hand slipped onto her shoulder.

Suddenly.

*Crunch-!*

"Aaaaarghhh!"

The sound of bones cracking and a man screaming could be heard.

"What kind of crap are you spouting? You bastards!"

The woman, who had broken the arm of the man who had touched her shoulder, was none other than Byeok Ae-rin.

"This bitch, who are you?"

Byeok Ae-rin lightly stepped on her skirt as she edged towards the men.

"How dare you casually ask for a lady's name! Don't you have any manners?"

Her body moved backwards whilst she stretched her right leg out in front of her, drawing a circle with her foot.

It was a simple movement, with dramatic results. All of a sudden, the five men, that were standing around her, all had broken legs.

"Arghhhh!"

"Legs! My legs!"

"Ahhhh!"

Byeok Ae-rin was oblivious to the spectacle of the men screaming whilst clutching their broken legs, seemingly gazing elsewhere.

*Tap. Tap. Tap.*

A man appeared within a few moments after this incident. He was holding a black fan whilst being fully clothed in black, having the appearance of an old man in his eighties.

Byeok Ae-rin's pursuers, who had collapsed onto the ground, became jubilant at his sudden appearance.

"My lord!"

"It's the lord!"

"This bitch, you're dead now… aaarghhh!"

The man began to scream once more. Byeok Ae-rin had stepped on his broken leg.

*Crack!*

The sound of bones breaking could be loudly heard.

"Oh my! It must have been an accident! Why is your leg broken?"

The man clothed in black sighed at her obviously intentional action.

"Judging by the terrible personality, it must be Ae-rin. Are you using Ju-Ansul?"

"It's been a long time, Shim-gu Orabeoni."

Byeok Ae-rin smiled at him.

The old man standing in front of her was known as Shim-gu.

He had been a member of Kwaepungdae, and had become the Head of Hyeonmugak around the time Kang-hyuk had become the Hwacheon Clan Leader.

"I am indeed using Ju-Ansul."

"It seems that it requires a lot of energy to maintain…."

Byeok Ae-rin sighed at his words.

"These clothes wouldn't suit an old lady. Moreover, I don't want people to see me as a grandmother."

"Well, I guess that makes sense."

Sim-gu looked at her clothes as he nodded.

"The red top looks okay, but the long ripped skirt is a bit questionable…."

"You have terrible taste, as usual. You aren't a Magi, so what's with your all-black clothing?"

"It's my personal taste."

"It's my personal taste as well. These lads that are calling you by 'My Lord' must be your men, right?"

"They aren't my men, they just started calling me that after I beat them up a few times. I also told them that if they were going to address me like that, they would have to leave the elderly, children and women alone…."

Byeok Ae-rin narrowed her eyes.

"But they went after me, a woman, did they not? How dare they take Orabeoni's words so lightly!"

The pursuers, still lying on the ground and groaning, became pale at the force of energy she began to emit.

Byeok Ae-rin took no notice of their reactions, and Shim-gu didn't stop her from acting either.

"Aaahhhh!"

Their desperate screams resounded throughout the dark alley as she stepped on something 'precious' on their bodies.

Byeok Ae-rin's actions served as a clear warning to them.

She dusted off her hands after having thrown their half-dead bodies into a corner. Shim-gu sighed as he watched on.

More than fifty years had passed since he had first met Byeok Ae-rin.

They had met each other as new initiates of Kwaepungdae. In those days she had been a shy, modest and obedient girl who spoke very little.

However, her personality had changed throughout the ensuing chaotic and violent happenings of the group. He felt that it was an obvious change as it was a miracle that she was still alive.

"Anyway, what are you doing here? Hadn't you retired from Jimilgak to live a peaceful life in freedom?"

"I guess I did, but the situation is different now, Orabeoni."

Shim-gu's eyebrows wiggled in curiosity at her words.

"The situation is different? What do you mean?"

"I've been working as a maid within the Hwacheon Academy recently."

Shim-gu dug his little finger into his ear as he spoke.

"Hahaha! I'm sorry, my eyes have been acting up recently, and it looks like my ears are doing the same thing as well! Could you repeat what you said?"

"I'm working as a maid. At Hwacheon Academy!"

"Are there good-looking men at the Academy or something? Shame on you! You need to remember how old you are! Even Myeong-myeong, the Principal, being the oldest man there, is at least twenty years younger than…"

Byeok Ae-rin let out a scream.

"I know, okay! I know! Even without you pointing it out, I'm aware. I'm already upset that even when it rains, my joints begin to ache."

"Then, for what reason is an oldie like you working as a maid at Hwacheon Academy?"

A grin slowly spread across Byeok Ae-rin's face.

"I'll explain all of that later, but for now, there's something I need you to help me with."

She took something out of her sleeve. It was a folded piece of paper. Shim-gu unfolded it.

Written on the paper was the name of a person and a description of their appearance.

"I need you to deal with this person."

"His name is….Oh-Tae?"

"I need all of the information you can find on him."

Byeok Ae-rin was the former Head of Jimilgak, and Shim-gu was the former head of Hyeonmugak. Their jobs seemed similar, but in actuality were quite different.

Hyeonmugak's focus was on information. In summary, it was a place where information was collected, and then analysed.

The role of the Head of Hyeonmugak was to utilize this information for certain purposes, for example, to use as a threat.

Others, who wished to obtain information, also came to Hyeonmugak for their services.

Jimilgak, and Hyeonmugak had a type of symbiotic relationship in this manner.

"Find information on him… Is he a lad you've fallen for by any chance?"

"Orabeoni, are you senile? Didn't I just tell you to deal with him?"

"Then, has he been harassing you?"

Byeok Ae-rin shook her head.

"It's not about me. To be honest, I would have preferred him to harass me."

"...?"

Byeok Ae-rin smiled at Shim-gu's confused expression.

"He's been harassing the person I'm serving."

"...!"

Shim-gu narrowed his eyes.

There was only one person that Byeok Ae-rin would serve.

He was aware that many years ago, she had sworn her allegiance in blood to serve her one eternal lord.

That lord was the only person she treated with the utmost respect and courtesy. It was none other than the Retired Leader, Kang-hyuk.

"He harassed Hyung-nim?"

"He slandered him, saying that he wasn't of the same level as them, and is even trying to expel him from the Academy…."

"Hold on! Wait!"

Shim-gu held his hands up to stop Byeok Ae-rin from speaking any further.

"You're always in such a hurry! This old man's going to die like this!"

"Orabeoni, I'm over eighty as well."

"I'm three years older than you."

"...."

Shim-gu took a deep breath before speaking.

"Anyways, if I got this right, Oh-Tae is trying to expel Hyung-nim by slandering him, right? But you seemed to have missed some details out here."

He lifted his head and stared at Byeok Ae-rin.

"What on earth is Hyung-nim doing at the Academy? Expulsion… what is going on here?"

"He...I mean, Kang Seonsaeng is at the Academy as a Horticulture teacher."

Shim-gu suddenly became lost in a daze, then, in a few moments, burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Ae-rin-ah. It looks like I'm really becoming senile as you said, seeing as I keep on hearing nonsense. I guess the time for me to leave this world is soon approaching."

"This old man, really! Do you want me to personally send you to the Grim Reaper?"

Shim-gu shrank at her emanation of furious energy. He had felt it many times before, but it was still fear-inducing.

"I'll pass on that offer. So you're saying that Hyung-nim is working at the Academy as a teacher?"

"Exactly!"

"Isn't Hyung-nim ninety-eight? He must still be feeling rather vigorous!"

Byeok Ae-rin grinned.

"Yes, he's feeling very vigorous indeed. It's not surprising, seeing as he's undergone reverse aging."

"Hahaha, I think I…."

"If you say that you think you're becoming senile again, I'll beat you until you really become senile!"

"….so he's really undergone reverse aging?"

As Shim-gu's fan dropped to the floor, Byeok Ae-rin muttered under her breath.

"He's really surprised, isn't he? He even dropped the fan that he never drops."

***

Baek-gap was looking at the mountain in front of him incredulously.

"M-my god….."

Kang-hyuk, who had turned his head, was also looking at the unbelievable sight.

It hadn't even been a day since they left the residence, but they had already arrived at the base of Mu-dang Mountain.

Baek-gap had initially assumed that the 'Mu-dang Mountain' Kang-hyuk and Byeok Ae-rin had been referring to was a mountain with the same name that was close to the Academy.

There were many mountains bearing that name within the central provinces.

He couldn't have predicted that the Mu-dang Mountain they were going to would be the Mu-dang Mountains in Hubei, where the headquarters of the Wu-dang Sect were located.

"It's the real Mu-dang Mountains…"

Kang-hyuk looked at him oddly.

"What do you mean? Is this the first time you've seen the Mu-dang Mountains? It's strange for you to have never visited the mountains as a Jimilgak Warrior. I heard that when you first join Jimilgak, you travel around the whole central province for five years."

"That's not it!"

Baek-gap screamed his words out.

"I know that these mountains are the Mu-dang Mountains. My last assignment was near the Wu-dang sect headquarters! Anyways, it usually takes at least five days to get here! My god…. I can't believe it…"

Seeing Baek-gap's almost crazed state, Kang-hyuk muttered under his breath.

"Has his head gone weird because we travelled too fast?"

Kang-hyuk had been frustrated with Baek-gap's slow pace, and so, he sped things up using his Qi energy. It was thanks to this that they were able to arrive within a day. However, Kang-hyuk thought this may have adversely affected Baek-gap as his cultivation was only at peak level.

Baek-gap having slumped onto the ground in a daze only confirmed his suspicions further.

Kang-hyuk raised his fist and spoke, "If that's the case, I'm sure you'll be fine if I hit your head again…."

"I- I'm completely fine!"

Before Kang-hyuk could even finish his sentence, Baek-gap immediately jumped up.

"Are you really okay?"

"O-of course! I'm just in shock that we arrived here within a day!"

Kang-hyuk lowered his fist, and Baek-gap breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew that if he hadn't gotten up within that very moment, he would have almost definitely received a beating.

(1) Orabeoni- Korean Honorific that a female uses to address a close male that is older than her.