A short while later.
I entered one of the tents with Taoist Geum-bong.
We decided to keep the man who had tried to assassinate him restrained in the Underground Prison.
Other buildings might have collapsed, but the Underground Prison was still intact.
“Have a seat.”
“Whew…”
When I offered him a place to sit, he lowered himself onto the temporary cot inside the tent and let out a long sigh.
“You must be wondering what in the world is going on right now.”
“Yes. I am.”
Just then, Palgap brought us tea, and I personally poured a cup and handed it to him.
“Drink some. It should help calm your nerves.”
I had infused the tea with Qi from the Supreme Yin Ice Sea Divine Art, so it should help clear his head.
“…I finally feel like I can think straight again. So what exactly is going on?”
“First of all, Taoist Geum-bong, you were nearly assassinated.”
“…!”
His eyes widened in an instant.
That alone showed just how shocked he was.
“Wait, who in the world would try to kill me…”
“Surely you know the answer to that better than I do.”
“…”
He bit his lip and remained silent for a moment before asking,
“Was it because of the bewitching drug that man with the red-leaf tattoo gave me?”
“What? A red-leaf tattoo?”
I had already heard about it from Taoist In-bong’s father, but since I couldn’t reveal that, I pretended this was the first time I had heard of it.
“Ah… yes. Th-That’s right.”
He looked uncomfortable as he continued.
“My Martial Uncle told me not to tell anyone else about it… but it seems I let it slip without thinking.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to hear the whole story.”
“Of course. You’ve saved my life twice now. How could I possibly keep silent?”
He nodded with a bitter expression.
“The man with that tattoo approached me and gave me the drug. He told me to make my father take some and then take some myself. If I did, he said my father would start caring about me.”
From Taoist Geum-bong’s explanation, I had a pretty good idea what kind of drug he had used.
A few years before my death in my previous life, a certain bewitching drug had secretly circulated among some particularly rotten figures in the merchant world.
There was a rare insect called the Eternal Love Insect, a creature that chose a single mate in its lifetime and remained attached to that mate until death.
The drug was made from those insects. If someone consumed a bewitching drug made from a male Eternal Love Insect, they would develop an intense favoritism toward whoever had consumed the drug made from its female counterpart.
At first, no one knew exactly what the drug was, but after some time passed, its true nature was discovered, along with a method of neutralizing it.
The solution was simply to consume a bewitching drug made from another Eternal Love Insect.
Someone who had consumed a drug made from a male insect only needed to consume one made from a female insect.
On top of that, the drug was eventually discovered to have one fatal flaw.
If one person died, the person who had consumed the paired drug would lose all desire to eat and eventually starve to death.
The risks were enormous, and Eternal Love Insects were so incredibly rare that the drug was seldom used. Yet someone was already using it this early!
In any case, that made one thing obvious. The ones manufacturing this Eternal Love Insect bewitching drug had to be the Asura Blood Cult.
I looked at him and said,
“I don’t know exactly who those people with the tattoos are either. But I do know one thing for certain. People like them won’t hesitate to use any means necessary to achieve their goals.”
“So they bribed another disciple to kill me?”
“They didn’t bribe him.”
“What? Then what happened?”
“He claims he murdered Taoist Eom-bong, peeled the skin from his face, and used it to make a Human-Skin Mask.”
I didn’t believe that story, but for now, that was what the assassin himself was claiming.
Taoist Geum-bong’s face twisted with anguish.
“Th-Then Eom-bong is…”
“The important thing is that their original goal wasn’t to silence you, Taoist Geum-bong. They intended to use you to manipulate the Sect Leader and take control of the Qingcheng Sect.”
“…”
“When that plan stopped going the way they wanted, they decided to silence you instead.”
“That’s…!”
“Have you ever told anyone about this?”
At my question, he shook his head.
“No.”
“Who else knows about it?”
“Only the Martial Uncle who interrogated me and my father should know.”
“I see.”
That made sense. Even the Sect Leader’s other son only knew that Taoist Geum-bong had bought some suspicious drug in the marketplace.
Then a thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
Wait… hold on…
If I hadn’t neutralized the poison affecting the Sect Leader, then killing Taoist Geum-bong would’ve eventually killed the Sect Leader too, wouldn’t it?
Damn, these bastards were vicious.
I looked at Taoist Geum-bong and began piecing together the memories and information I had.
This earthquake had happened in my previous life as well.
If so, there was a good chance Taoist Geum-bong had been the reason relations between the Qingcheng Sect and the Emei Sect had deteriorated so badly back then.
They could have used Taoist Geum-bong to make the Sect Leader issue whatever orders they wanted.
They probably intended to do the same thing this time, only to resort to killing Taoist Geum-bong when the plan failed.
Once I had organized my thoughts, I looked at him again.
He was clutching at his hair, tormented by what had happened.
And understandably so. All of this had begun with his own foolish choice.
“I only wanted my father to love me. Was that desire itself wrong? That was all I wanted…”
“No. There was nothing wrong with wanting that. It’s only natural for a child to long for a parent’s love.”
“…”
I calmly continued.
“The mistake was in the method you chose.”
He let out a heavy sigh.
“Then what was I supposed to do?”
“I don’t know that either. Everyone’s circumstances are different, so how could I possibly give you a perfect answer? But from what I’ve seen, perhaps the Sect Leader’s cold and strict treatment of his children was simply his own clumsy way of showing affection.”
“…”
That was when it happened.
“My Lord! Are you there? My Lord!”
Escort Guard Lee Pil’s urgent voice called out for me.
“What is it?”
“They say they found Taoist Eom-bong.”
“What?”
“They searched the places Taoist Eom-bong often visited, just as you instructed, and discovered him being held captive.”
The assassin had claimed that Taoist Eom-bong was dead, but I hadn’t believed him.
There was no way he could have impersonated Taoist Eom-bong for so long without being exposed unless he had continued extracting information from the real man.
That was why I had asked my Escort Guards to search for him.
We hurried to the location and found a disciple whose face was identical to the assassin we had captured.
So that bastard really had made a remarkably convincing Human-Skin Mask.
“Eom-bong!”
“Eom-bong! Thank heavens! We thought you were dead!”
“Waaah! Eom-bong!”
His fellow disciples crowded around him, embracing him and openly sobbing.
“I thought I was going to die too.”
Then he repeatedly bowed to everyone around him, thanking them for saving his life.
Taoist Geum-bong watched him from a distance, biting his lip.
“Why aren’t you going over there?”
“How could I possibly face him…”
“Do you feel guilty about what happened to him?”
“Of course I do. He suffered like that because of me. If I didn’t feel sorry after all that, could I even call myself human?”
Well, at least he was better than those two Great Heroes from the Embroidered Guard who had gotten under my skin before.
“Then tell him how you feel. No matter how sorry you are, he’ll never know unless you say it.”
“…”
At that, he clenched his fists and walked toward Taoist Eom-bong.
“Eom-bong.”
Then he dropped to his knees in front of him.
“I’m sorry.”
Everyone looked stunned by what he had done. To be honest, even I was surprised.
I had expected him to bow deeply at most. I hadn’t thought he would actually kneel.
“What can I possibly say? You went through all of that because of me.”
“…”
“Curse me if you want. Hit me if you want. Or… cut off one of my arms. If that’s what it takes for you to understand how sorry I am…”
“Hey.”
Taoist Eom-bong walked closer and called out to him.
“Are you all right?”
“…Huh?”
“The bastard who did this to me said he came here to kill you.”
“Ah… I’m fine. Handsome Young Hero saved me.”
“Thank goodness.”
“I’m sorry. I really am… so sorry.”
Large tears spilled from Taoist Geum-bong’s eyes.
It finally looked as though Taoist Geum-bong had broken free of the stubborn pride that had kept him trapped all this time.
“That’s enough. Get up. There’s nothing to forgive.”
“Huh?”
“Just don’t do it again. Truthfully, the reason I kept avoiding you all this time was because you still didn’t seem to regret anything. You acted like you hadn’t done anything wrong.”
“…”
“Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe.”
Watching the two of them, I let out a faint chuckle.
Taoist Eom-bong… Now that I see him clearly, he’s a much bigger man than I gave him credit for.
Then again, even during the Murim Grand Assembly, he had stayed away from Taoist Geum-bong’s group and gone out of his way to look after Taoist In-bong.
I left them behind and turned to go.
“Ah! Handsome Young Hero!”
But just then, someone called after me.
When I turned around, I saw Taoist In-bong.
“I heard what happened. They said you saved us from the assassin.”
“That’s true, but someone else was actually responsible for dealing with the assassin in the end.”
“What?”
“There’s someone here in the Qingcheng Sect who seems to care about you very much, Taoist In-bong.”
“Ah…”
“That person stepped in to help.”
After leaving him with only those words, I turned around again and headed toward the Sect Leader’s residence.
.
.
.
Morning came.
We put the events of the previous night aside and resumed the restoration work.
The Sect Leader had said he would handle the matter himself.
Our original assignment was to clear a path to the Wind Cultivation Pavilion so that we could rescue the disciples trapped there.
The five disciples who had originally been assigned to that task joined us as well.
“Taoist Eom-bong, are you sure you’ll be all right? Your body still hasn’t fully recovered…”
At my concern, Taoist Eom-bong smiled.
“I’m fine. My arms and legs still work, and I can move on my own. How could I sit back when my fellow disciples need help?”
“Understood. But don’t push yourself under any circumstances. The route there is fairly dangerous.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
The path leading to the Wind Cultivation Pavilion was extremely steep and narrow, making the work anything but easy.
Still, we refused to give up, and after three days, we finally managed to clear a route to the Wind Cultivation Pavilion.
“Senior Brothers! Senior Brothers!”
“Is everyone all right?”
Half-collapsed and shattered buildings surrounded us.
Taoist In-bong and the other Qingcheng Sect disciples rushed ahead, shouting in every direction.
“Huh? That voice…?”
We heard something rustling, and someone poked his head out. The moment he saw us, his face lit up.
“In-bong!”
“Senior Brothers!”
When we approached, we found around fifteen people gathered in the courtyard around a campfire.
“Is everyone all right?”
“Yes. Some of us are injured, but everyone’s alive.”
“Fortunately, we had plenty of Fasting Pills.”
“Senior Brother! Are you all right?”
One disciple, whose head appeared to be injured and was wrapped in a long strip of torn cloth, waved dismissively.
“Don’t worry about me. Something like this will heal with a little spit.”
“Senior Brother…”
Watching them, I was reminded of my previous life.
Back then, I doubted there had been anything warm or cheerful about this reunion.
The reconstruction within the Qingcheng Sect grounds had taken much longer, which meant the road leading here had also been cleared far later.
I remembered hearing that some members of the Qingcheng Sect had starved to death back then. I couldn’t help wondering if they had been these very people.
“I’m glad to see everyone made it through safely.”
“Who are…”
They tilted their heads as they looked at me, but then one of them recognized me.
“Ah! Are you perhaps Handsome Young Hero?”
“That is what people call me.”
Taoist In-bong quickly stepped forward to explain.
“Thanks to the Great Hero’s help, we were able to clear the road all the way here.”
At those words, the disciples cupped their fists toward me in salute.
“Thank you very much.”
“We were already starting to run low on Fasting Pills. You truly saved our lives.”
I waved my hand, modestly dismissing their gratitude.
“You should thank the Sect Leader who invited me here, not me. And you should also thank His Majesty the Emperor, who foresaw that a natural disaster might strike and sent aid in advance.”
I smiled as I continued.
“For now, you should head down and have some warm porridge to regain your strength. Make sure your injuries are treated as well.”
With the disciples of the Wind Cultivation Pavilion rescued safely, the atmosphere throughout the Qingcheng Sect immediately brightened.
As I watched the cheering disciples with a smile, someone suddenly came running up from behind, calling out to me.
“Great Hero!”
I turned around and found someone I hadn’t expected to see.
“Huh? Jo-ung!”
It was Tang Jo-ung, the Sichuan Tang Clan Lord’s youngest son and the boy who had once rescued me after I was kidnapped.
It had already been almost ten years since then, so he should be around seventeen now.
The childish features I remembered were completely gone. He had grown into a sturdy young man.
“It’s been a long time!”
“Yes, Great Hero. I came along when our clan sent support to the Qingcheng Sect.”
“I see.”
“Sister Su-bin came too. She’s over there.”
The person he pointed toward was Young Lady Tang Su-bin.
“It’s been a long time, Young Lady.”
“Yes, it has. I’ve heard you’ve been making quite a name for yourself in all sorts of places.”
“Haha. Have you?”
I continued,
“But if two members of the Tang Clan’s direct line came here in person, there must be something fairly important behind this visit. Am I right?”
“You are.”
She nodded.
“We came to provide the Qingcheng Sect with financial assistance.”
Financial assistance…
They were probably here to discuss lending money to the Qingcheng Sect.
One glance was enough to tell that the Qingcheng Sect would need an enormous amount of money to rebuild itself.
Hold on…
If I played this right, our Merchant Group might be able to profit from this too.
And as it happened, I already had a construction company of my own.
There had once been a company called Oseong Construction Company that went bankrupt after botching a construction project in Beijing.
Back then, I gathered up the skilled builders who had been left with nowhere else to go and established a construction company of my own.
They had already worked for me once before, rebuilding structures that had collapsed.
Right now, buildings had collapsed all across Sichuan.
Which meant there was about to be an enormous amount of construction work, and actual experience rebuilding collapsed structures would soon become extremely valuable.
– Geumryeong.
– Kui?
– I need you to run an errand for me.
I never let an opportunity like this slip through my fingers.
– Kui!
–TL Notes–
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