Wudang Sacred Scriptures

Chapter 225

“Why do you ask?”

Jin Cheongha looked at Kwak Yeon with startled eyes.

“Could it be...?”

Kwak Yeon nodded.

“Depending on your answer, I might travel with you.”

“Why would you take that risk?”

Jin Cheongha asked with a gaze full of suspicion.

“If your identity is exposed inside the Martial Alliance, the two of you traveling with you will be put in a difficult position.”

“I do not know what you mean by ‘difficult,’” Kwak Yeon said.

“......?”

“The two of us merely happened to meet Miss Jin of a righteous-path sect in distress on the road, and helped.”

“......?”

For a moment Jin Cheongha looked dumbfounded—then the gaze turned cold.

“What scheme is this?”

“It is true that I have a scheme.”

“......?”

“Even if I revealed it here, it does not seem likely you would believe my sincerity, so I will not say it.”

Jin Cheongha felt as though being drawn into Kwak Yeon’s deep eyes, and quickly pulled the gaze away.

“For some reason, it feels like I give you a peck and you take a bushel.”

Kwak Yeon formed a faint smile at the corner of the mouth.

“Let us think of it in a good way. We will overlook things according to each other’s needs.”

“I truly don’t understand how I could become any need of yours. If I were baggage, maybe—but not otherwise.”

Shaking the head, Jin Cheongha asked with a sharpened look.

“More than anything, you are a person of the righteous path, Taoist Kwak.”

It was a question of whether Kwak Yeon intended to do something that ran against the Martial Alliance as a righteous-path martial artist.

If Kwak Yeon did not loosen that doubt, Jin Cheongha would not withdraw the suspicious stare, so Kwak Yeon spoke quietly.

“Young Castle Lord—yes, I am a person of the righteous path. And before that, I am a person of the rivers and lakes.”

A person of the rivers and lakes.

It was the sort of phrase that sounded like wordplay—the four seas are all fellow travelers—and yet Jin Cheongha could not answer a single word before Kwak Yeon’s grave eyes.

“Before I descended Mount Wudang, I received my master’s final charge.”

Jin Cheongha knew that righteous-path martial artists did not speak lightly of their sect and, especially, their master—at least, not if they were righteous-path martial artists in truth.

At the Dark Cavern Taoist’s solemn expression and heavy eyes, Jin Cheongha became subdued without realizing it.

“He commanded me to sweep away the baleful qi that has spread across the world, and told me to set aside my Taoist robe so there would be no hindrance on that road.”

For a disciple of the Taoist Gate to set aside the Taoist robe meant leaving the order.

And in what Kwak Yeon called leaving the order, there were many implications.

I will not let anything stand in the way of sweeping away baleful ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) qi.

Jin Cheongha understood that there was a reason the Dark Cavern Taoist was telling this to Jin Cheongha.

“Young Castle Lord. Now answer. Is the thing you intend to do in the Martial Alliance unjust and wicked?”

If Jin Cheongha spoke carelessly, Kwak Yeon would certainly demand responsibility—an iron declaration.

Throb.

Jin Cheongha felt a small resonance in the heart.

The same resonance as back then.

Because of that small resonance that rose in the heart, in the guesthouse in Nanchang Prefecture Jin Cheongha had suddenly revealed the true identity by Sound Transmission.

Back then, Jin Cheongha had thought it must have been gratitude—because the Dark Cavern Taoist had shown consideration for the Chief Protector.

But now, Jin Cheongha was grateful for Kwak Yeon’s cold stare boring straight through. It was not clumsy pity.

Jin Cheongha took a deep breath and squared the shoulders.

“It is absolutely not an unjust or wicked thing.”

At that firm answer, Kwak Yeon said,

“Then that is enough.”

“......?”

Jin Cheongha was slightly startled to see Kwak Yeon simply close the mouth like that.

“Is that the end?”

“If it is not unjust and not wicked, by what right would I stop what you mean to do?”

“Even so—aren’t you curious? It’s something a person of the Demonic Eight Divisions intends to do after infiltrating the Martial Alliance.”

“Of course I am curious.”

“......?”

“But it is not as though you will tell me, is it?”

“That’s true, but...”

“Young Castle Lord—truth be told, my scheme is to learn what you intend to do. That is why I am permitting you to travel with us.”

“......!”

“But do not worry. I have not the slightest intent to test you with bait, or to pressure you into revealing it.”

“Then you mean you’ll wait for me to speak of my own accord?”

“If I forced you, would you speak?”

“I will never speak.”

“Then there is no help for it.”

“What if I never speak, ever?”

“That, too, cannot be helped.”

“.......”

“There is only this that I wish to say. If you ever come to trust this Dark Cavern Taoist, then speak—before it becomes too late.”

Throb.

Jin Cheongha again felt the resonance rise in the heart.

It still isn’t complete.

This was a matter upon which Ghost Night Castle’s future depended; Jin Cheongha could not divulge it to anyone.

When that time comes, I will do exactly that.

Answering only in the heart, Jin Cheongha changed the subject.

“That may be so for you, Taoist Kwak, but what will you do about the Sub-Branch Master?”

“That is for you to handle.”

“You mean I should tell him myself?”

“Would you have me, a lay Taoist, run and tattle?”

“......!”

“If it is difficult to speak at once, postponing it for a while is also a method.”

“It’s because I feel sorry toward the Sub-Branch Master.”

“There is no need to feel so sorry. Brother Chwi is accustomed to such things.”

“Yes?”

“You saw it at the guesthouse in Nanchang Prefecture, did you not? What Brother Chwi did to the Society Leader Bae.”

Jin Cheongha recalled how Chwi Dugae had brazenly claimed the money pouch was something picked up on the road while facing the Black Moon Society’s leader—the Poyang Thousand-Moon Saber.

“It’s very different from that right now.”

“It is no different.”

Kwak Yeon shook the head and continued.

“And if you reveal your identity, it will become a great burden upon Brother Chwi. Unlike me, who have nothing to do with the Martial Alliance, Brother Chwi is a member of it.”

“.......”

“Miss Jin—sometimes, not knowing is its own medicine.”

Jin Cheongha could guess the meaning behind Kwak Yeon changing the form of address to Miss Jin.

“Taoist Kwak... you truly can’t be grasped.”

That was Jin Cheongha’s honest feeling toward Kwak Yeon.

A Dark Cavern Taoist who dealt with villains decisively—and yet, at times, a person broader in tolerance than anyone.

At the request of an intruder, Jin Cheongha had never expected—even in a thousand years—that Kwak Yeon would release the Chief Protector so readily after facing that person with intent to kill.

And to drive off the black-path riders by throwing buns at them... Jin Cheongha had never even heard of such a thing.

Young masters of the righteous path were always desperate to display their martial prowess and earn a name.

“Taoist Kwak. Then please grant me one request.”

“What is it?”

“From now on, I would like you not to treat me like a cow staring at a chicken.”

“......?”

“The Sub-Branch Master is someone who reads your heart with unspoken understanding, isn’t he? If you keep treating me at arm’s length, won’t he soon notice?”

Because Jin Cheongha’s words were not unreasonable, Kwak Yeon answered without resistance.

“I will try.”

“Thank you.”

As Jin Cheongha’s stiffened face fully eased, the blush that had vanished from the cheeks returned, reddening faintly.

Like a balsam flower that had bowed its head for a moment beneath a sudden shower, then bloomed again.

“Now let us speak of what is practical,” Kwak Yeon said, wiping away the image of the balsam blooming in the shade of the Cultivation Lodge on Samryeong Peak.

“What will you do after entering the Martial Alliance? The Miss Jin you are claiming to be is said to be rather famous as Nanjing’s One Flower.”

It was a question of whether someone inside the Martial Alliance would inevitably recognize that Miss Jin was not Miss Jin.

Jin Cheongha looked straight at Kwak Yeon and asked,

“From what you see, Taoist Kwak, does my face seem lacking to be called Nanjing’s One Flower?”

“That is not what I mean.”

Seeing Kwak Yeon’s brows knit, Jin Cheongha gave a light smile.

“Of course I understand what you mean. And I understand what you worry about. But you need not worry at all.”

“......?”

“Because it is true that I am Jin Cheongha, Nanjing’s One Flower of the Reed-Blossom Gate.”

Kwak Yeon’s eyes widened.

“You mean it was not a story you fabricated?”

“That’s right.”

Jin Cheongha formed a bitter smile and continued.

“Taoist Kwak, you also know that the Demonic Eight Divisions have lived being relentlessly hunted by righteous-path martial artists since the Eight Desolations Upheaval.”

“I know.”

After the Eight Desolations Upheaval, the rivers and lakes had been loud with the uprooting and eradication of the Demonic Eight Divisions’ remnants.

“The Demonic Eight Divisions—especially those of our Ghost Night Castle’s lordly bloodline—were not hunted only by outsiders.”

“......!”

“Within the cracks of chaos, seeds of rebellion took root.”

Kwak Yeon could tell that those seeds of rebellion had borne fruit—and that, as a result, Jin Cheongha now stood isolated, without aid.

“So you have lived hidden as a disciple of the Reed-Blossom Gate.”

Jin Cheongha nodded.

“They say it is darkest beneath the lamp. Who would ever guess that the Young Castle Lord of Ghost Night Castle, of the Demonic Eight Divisions, would be a disciple of a righteous-path sect? The rebels of Ghost Night Castle kept their eyes blazing, but in the end, they could not find the cuckoo in the sparrow’s nest.”

At Jin Cheongha’s words—calling the self a cuckoo raised by the Cuckoo-in-the-Nest Stratagem—Kwak Yeon’s chest ached faintly.

It felt too similar to the life of being sold for two taels of silver to the training hall on Mount Wudang.

“Taoist Kwak, there’s no need to look at me with such eyes. In truth, I genuinely liked living as a disciple of the Reed-Blossom Gate. When my father rebuilt Ghost Night Castle and sent the Chief Protector to bring me back, I was even reluctant.”

Now Kwak Yeon understood where the flashes of righteous-path bearing that Jin Cheongha had shown, again and again, had come from.

“Your honored master, the Clear-Water Sword, must have suffered great heartbreak.”

A disciple cherished and raised had become a cuckoo—and flown away.

“Who knows.”

“......?”

“My master may have felt regret, but it wouldn’t have been deep heartbreak.”

“You mean the Clear-Water Sword already knew your identity?”

“Of course.”

“......!”

Was not the Clear-Water Sword a revered elder of the righteous path?

Reading that doubt on Kwak Yeon’s face, Jin Cheongha said,

“I cannot tell you every inner circumstance. I will only tell you this: my master and my father were close friends in a way others did not know.”

“That alone is astonishing enough.”

“It is astonishing, yes—that the head of the demonic path and a revered elder of the righteous path share friendship. I was curious myself, so I once asked my master.”

“.......”

“My master told me this: that he only looks at people.”

Thang!

At those words, it felt as though Kwak Yeon had been struck on the back of the head.

Because it aligned with the meaning of the maxim—Kill the Buddha, Kill the Patriarch—spoken as the master’s final charge.

Just as there are villains among the righteous path, might there not be good people even among the demonic path?

I only tried to find villains. I never once tried to see good people.

Feeling sudden shame, Kwak Yeon resolved to keep the Clear-Water Sword’s teaching—only look at people—burned into the heart.

“I am grateful to have heard such good words from your honored master without expecting it.”

When Kwak Yeon even offered a formal salute in thanks, Jin Cheongha looked slightly surprised—and yet a warmth swelled in one corner of the heart.

As a disciple, pride in one’s master was only natural.

“Thank you for receiving it kindly, Taoist Kwak.”

After a brief moment of watching Jin Cheongha, Kwak Yeon abruptly asked,

“Young Castle Lord—if Nanjing’s One Flower is truly your original identity, and yet you still insist on traveling with us... then you intend to go into the deepest inner reaches of the Martial Alliance, do you not?”