CH 59

She hugged Pyo-wol without wearing anything. There was still a lot of heat on her face. She traced Pyo-wol’s chest with her white fingers.

“You’re like a bad guy.”

Seonha said while looking at Pyo-wol.

Her appearance was alluring enough to make any man fall in love with her. However, Pyo-wol only looked at her without any change in expression.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to see you for a while. I can’t leave the sect because a valuable guest has come.”

“A dear guest?”

“I told you before. The great disciple of the Emei sect, Jeonghwa, is my aunt, and she came to the White Flower Room with her junior sister. She has a very picky personality, so I have to take care of her myself.

“What is she here for?”

“I heard it was to hire a group of mercenaries called the Black Cloud Mercenary Group.”

“The Black Cloud Mercenary Group?”

“Yes. It seems that it is a place that is evaluated as having the highest level of power among the mercenary groups. They said that they had no choice but to sign a contract because the Emei sect’s power is inferior to the Qingcheng sect.”

Seolha answered every question that Pyo-wol asked, unaware that she was already leaking confidential information. She was just talking about whatever came to her mind.

Thanks to this, Pyo-wol was able to lay still and get a lot of information.

“When will Jeonghwa return to their main sect?”

“I think she’ll be staying in the White Flower Room for a while.”

“Really?”

“It’s nice to keep seeing Auntie, but it’s annoying to keep seeing that bitch.”

“That bitch?”

“I mean my aunt’s youngest junior disciple Yong Seol-ran.”

“Why?”

“I just hate everything about her from head to toe. She always likes to be alone with her eyes looking like she seems to know everything. Anyway, I hate her. I want her to disappear from this world.”

“……….” 

“If I ask you later, can you get rid of that bitch? If she disappears, Auntie will take care of me more.”

“If you’re a samurai in the Jeonghwa Situation, wouldn’t you also become a magistrate?”

“Who said that a bitch like that is the chief? A bitch with no such foundation?”

Seolha’s expression turned into a ferocious one. Pyo-wol noticed that she was jealous of the Yong Seol-ran.

‘Yong Seol-ran…’

Pyo-wol recalled memories from seven years ago.

Even though he has only seen her once, the memories of that time are so strong that he can remember everything clearly. 

Yong Seol-ran, who was calm and collected, felt more threatening than Jeonghwa, who had a fiery personality.

It was still the same today.

He doesn’t care much about Jeonghwa, but strangely, he was more concerned about Yong Seol-ran. 

‘If we meet in person, will I know why?’

As long as they stay in Chengdu anyway, they will end up meeting someday.

It’s just a matter of timing.

At that moment, Seonha whispered in Pyo-wol’s ear.

“Don’t worry about that bitch. Don’t even think about her. You just have to move for me.”

Her breathing grew hotter.

* * *

Seolha went back to the White Flower Room before dawn.

During that time, he had two more rounds with her. Pyo-wol left the room a long time after Seolha left.

The sun was already in the middle of the sky, and quite a few customers were seated in the restaurant on the first floor.

Pyo-wol also ordered a light meal and sat down.

“Wow!”

“That a man’s face…”

The guests who had been eating for a long time looked at Pyo-wol, lost in their hearts. However, Pyo-wol did not even look at them and only looked outside.

He was now accustomed to the people’s gazes and gossip so getting their attention wasn’t a big deal. Even Pyo-wol was aware. 

That his appearance is vastly different from others.

He had a unique decadent atmosphere that attracted people.

It wasn’t like this before.

He was handsome, but not enough to attract people like this.It was evident that this had happened after spending seven years with numerous snakes in the snake pit.

The clean skin without any blemishes resembles that of a snake, and the red-lighted eyes looked unique. At times, his appearance was burdensome, but now he has decided to accept the reality.

After a while, the waiter brought food. There were only a few side dishes including rice and fruits. The waiter placed the food down on the table and glanced at Pyo-wol’s face.

‘He’s really handsome. I want to live just one day with that kind of face. Then the women will all line up before him.’

Even in the eyes of a young waiter, he was enamored because of Pyo-wol’s appearance. At that moment, Pyo-wol called for the waiter.

“Hey.”

“Yes? Oh! I’m sorry. You’re so handsome—”

The waiter replied in amazement.

He thought Pyo-wol was angry, but Pyo-wol had no intention of blaming him. The reason Pyo-wol called the waiter was for another reason.

“Do you know how to get to Dangata?”

“If it’s a Dangata, are you talking about the old hometown of the Tang Family?”

“Yes.”

“Excuse me, but why do you want to go to Dangata?”

The waiter asked why with a subtle fear in his eyes. It is also because it was taboo to mention the name of the Tang Family in Chengdu.

The Tang Family once ruled over Sichuan, beyond Chengdu, but now it has been completely destroyed, leaving only a few traces of it.

This is because the rest of the sects in Sichuan have completely erased the existence of the Tang Family. 

“Since I’m here in Chengdu, I’m just going to take a look.”

“Ah! It’s just watching.”

“Yes.”

“Then I will tell you. Leave our guesthouse and go west. After walking for almost half a day, you will come to a village with three large trees standing at the entrance. If you go twenty six more miles south of that village, you’ll find Dangata. But there will be nothing left there since they had already collapsed a long time ago.”

“Okay.”

“Hey, customer! This is just rambling from an old man, but don’t use the word Tang Family recklessly. It doesn’t matter to people like us, but the warriors of Sichuan are very sensitive.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s just because they’re afraid. The delusion that the Tang Family might be resurrected and rule Sichuan Province still lingers among the martial artists of Sichuan. That’s why they treat those who use the Tang surname more harshly.”‘

What the waiter said was true.

Now, the Qingcheng sect and the Emeis ect were fighting for supremacy, but in the past, the Tang Family was unparalleled.

The Tang Family, which was synonymous with poison, fell and left almost no traces, but its name still lingered in people’s minds together with a feeling of fear.

“Anyway, since I told you, I’ll now go.”

The waiter nodded at Pyo-wol and ran towards the kitchen. Pyo-wol, who was left alone, ate and went out immediately.

The sun was hot.

Sichuan Province, a basin topography, was famous for its hot temperatures. Thanks to that, there has been a bountiful harvest of rice for the farmers, but people suffered from one heat.

People walking on the street all walked close to the wall to avoid the midday sun. However, Pyo-wol did not care and moved forward while receiving the sunlight.

Even the hot heat that makes people suffer has no effect on him.

Pyo-wol moved towards the direction the waiter told him.

After walking for almost half a day, he came to a village with three large trees standing in the shape of a nest. After turning south from the village and walking about 20 li, he finally came to Dangata.

As the waiter said, Dangata was thoroughly demolished. Only a few stones were left in the ruins of Dangata. Even the tiles and bricks were taken by the people who lived nearby.

In the ruined space, only the bushes were overgrown. It was a sight that felt the passing of time. Pyo-wol looked at Dangata indifferently.

“Underlying fear.”

The reason Pyo-wol dared to come here was because of the Sichuan people’s perception of the Tang Family.

More than a hundred years have passed since their fall, but fear remains in the minds of people. It was possible because the name of Tang itself remained a source of fear.

This was exactly what Pyo-wol, who was completely alone, needed.

Ssssreuk!

At that time, a foreign movement was felt at Pyo-wol’s feet.

He looked down and saw a small snake crawling at his feet. It was small in size, but seeing the triangular shape of its head, it was clear that it was a venemous snake.

The viper wriggled past Pyo-wol.

A normal person would have been terrified and made a fuss, but Pyo-wol did not change his expression. Pyo-wol had lived in a pit full of snakes. A snake with this kind of venom did not pose any threat to him.

Pyo-wol expanded his senses.

Then he felt the movement of snakes all over the bushes.

He didn’t know if it’s because the Tang Familymainly dealt with poison, but there were a lot of poisonous snakes there.

Ssss!

Pyo-wol clenched his lips and made a bizarre sound, like a snake licking his tongue. Then the snakes hiding in the bush raised their heads all at once and looked at the Pyo-wol.

The sight of thousands of snakes staring at Pyo-wol was terrifying to see. However, there was no trace of fear on the face of Pyo-wol, who was stared at by numerous snakes.

Snakes would be feared by ordinary people, but to Pyo-wol, they were the most familiar.

Ssssss!

When Pyo-wol made another bizarre noise, the snakes bowed their heads and led the way.

“Good.”

* * *

Cheongyeop looked at the Thunderr Gates with calm eyes.

After descending from Mount Qingcheng, he immediately led his disciples to the Thunder Gates. 

Since Mu Jeong-in seriously hurt Tae Yeon-ho, the master of the Thunder Gates, they had to find out the truth behind the Thunder Gates as soon as possible.

As his recovery time increases, the confrontation with the Thunder Gates will intensify. It was not difficult to subdue the Thunder Gates with the current power of the Qingcheng sect.

The problem was Soroeumsa, which could be said to be behind them.

Tae Yeon-ho was arguing that the Thunder Gates is a completely separate school from the Soroeumsa, but there were no people in Sichuan who believed in that fact.

Today, it was the prevailing opinion of Sichuan that there was the support of Soroeumsa in the background of the growth of the Thunder Gates.

That is why Muryeongjin also sent his most trusted disciple, Cheongyeop, to rectify the situation. Cheongyeop, with the cooperation of the Thunder Gates’ Mundo, inspected the place where Nam Ho-san died.

“You mean you were attacked by an assassin here?”

As if to tell the situation at the time, the situation in the room was miserable. Blood was splattered everywhere, and all the furniture were broken.

Cheongsan, a great disciple who had followed Cheongyeop, stroked the sword traces left on the wall with his finger and said,

“This is definitely a trace left behind by the Seventy-Two Sword Waves of our sect.”

Similar to Cheongyeop, Cheongsan had a calm personality and sharp eyes. There was no doubt in his voice when the words Seventy-Two Sword Waves came out of his mouth.

“Among the external disciples, who has mastered the Seventy-Two Sword Waves?”

“As far as I know, there’s none. Even in the main sect, only a small number of students have learned the technique, so it is more impossible for an external student to learn it.”

“You used to have a copy leaked once, didn’t you?”

“The copy only contained the swordsmanship. Without the support of the cultivation method of our main sect, they cannot bring out half of its original power.”

Cheongsan shook his head.

The martial artists of a prestigious sect seem to be playing separately, but eventually, when they reach the top, they are connected as one living thing.

In order to demonstrate the proper power, it is necessary to learn the related techniques and martial arts at the same time. But with only a copy, only the form and the formula exist. So a person can’t ever be successful with such an incomplete book.

“More than anything else, the assassin who learned martial arts using the copy was eventually killed by Senior Brother Mu Jeong.”

“Is there any guarantee that he is the only one who has mastered the Seventy-Two Sword Wave from a copy?”

“I’m not sure, but I think that it is impossible to learn and bring out its full power with just a copy. At least with their own strength.”

“What if the proper clan intervened?”

“Then it’s a different story. Conversely, it would be possible to analyze the sword art and come up with an appropriate cultivation method. In that case, it would be better to create a new martial arts method. There’s no guarantee that a right cultivation will be appropriate and above all, you never know how long it will take.”

“So we’re back from the beginning.”

“I think it would be faster to trace back the path of the assassin by figuring out how the assassin got here than to figure out how the assassin learned how to use the Seventy-Two Sword Waves.”

At Cheongsan’s words, Cheongyeop nodded.

He was also aware that there was only one way to solve the situation as quickly as possible. Everything was blurry, as if obscured by fog, but there was one thing that was still clearly visible.

It was the presence of an assassin.

‘Eerie!’

It felt as if all the hairs on their body had stood up against the opponent who they had not yet been able to identify his face or his identity. It was the first time they felt this way since the assassination of Woo Gunsang seven years ago.

‘Is it possible for it to be the same assassin?’

Cheongsan immediately denied his thoughts.

Seven years ago, that assassin was already killed by Mu Jeong-jin.