Chapter 393
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C393. Now I can live peacefully
Yeon Jeokha said with a calm expression:
“It’s a pill called Sochungdan. I’ve put four, so Mrs. Yang, please take care of them.”
Hearing “Sochungdan”, Yang Yi-hwa’s eyes widened.
There is no Murim practitioner who doesn’t know Sochungdan.
An invaluable treasure that, when consumed, grants ten years of internal energy.
Seeing Namcheon’s skill, it’s clear that the Sochungdan is genuine.
“Why are you giving me something so valuable…?”
“I give it to you as a token of apology. Then, I’m leaving.”
Yeon Jeokha bowed to Yang Yi-hwa and disappeared with his displacement technique.
As everything happened suddenly, Yang Yi-hwa couldn’t ask him anything.
Apology? Why?
Yeon Mubaek, the Waryong Swordsman, approached Yang Yi-hwa, who was standing with a confused expression.
“I just saw Lord Namcheon carrying a backpack. What happened?”
“He’s gone.”
“But why at this hour of the night?”
“He said he had important things to do. More than that, I don’t know what to do with this.”
“What’s wrong?”
She showed him the oil paper she was carrying.
“He gave it to me before he left.”
“What is that?”
“According to him, it’s Sochungdan.”
“Sochungdan? Are you saying that Lord Namcheon really gave you Sochungdan? That Sochungdan from the Wudang Sect?”
“Yes. He definitely said that.”
Yeon Mubaek was surprised, but at the same time he felt a pang of unease.
He couldn’t understand why he had given a treasure like Sochungdan to his wife.
“Did you ask him why he was giving it to you?”
“He said it was an apology.”
“Ha! An apology. This is… I don’t understand anything…”
Yeon Mubaek shook his head.
A man who has been excessively generous with her gives her Sochungdan as an apology?
If Namgung Yeon, the Incomparable among Ten, were nearby, he would want to run to ask her.
Yang Yi-hwa murmured with a bewildered expression:
“I don’t know either. Why would he have to apologize to me?”
Yeon Mubaek looked alternately at the oil paper package and at his wife.
Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.
‘Could it be that he was sent by Jeokha?’
Thinking about it, the only person who had done something to her that he owed her an apology was Yeon Jeokha.
But that’s too much of an assumption.
Jeokha’s revenge against the Three Powers was not over yet.
That can be seen in the fact that the Baek Family and the Yang family cannot return home and wander around.
‘No, it can’t be.’
Besides, he had never heard of a mystic like Namcheon among Jeokha’s acquaintances.
Even if he were an acquaintance of Jeokha, Sochungdan is too much.
The Wudang Sect wouldn’t give a treasure like that to Yeon Jeokha!
He shook his head vigorously to get rid of those thoughts.
“Why?”
“No, I just thought of something that doesn’t make sense.”
“Anyway, I don’t know what to do with this.”
Yang Yi-hwa stared at the oil paper package containing the Sochungdan.
“How many are there in total?”
“He said there were four.”
“Wow, a significant number.”
“Why?”
“Because it gives me the feeling that he has taken you, me, Seungbaek and Seolju into account.”
“Aha! Now that you mention it, I remember he said “an incredible family.” If it really is the Sochungdan, couldn’t Seolju and the second young master reconcile?”
“I can’t assure you, but maybe I can bring Seolju before Seungbaek.”
As the two talked excitedly about how to use the Sochungdan, Yeon Seungbaek came running up.
Yang Yi-hwa quickly put the oil paper in her chest.
Yeon Seungbaek was a person as ambitious as Yeon Seolju, so she had to be cautious.
“Sister.”
“Yes?”
As if caught red-handed, Yang Yi-hwa jumped when Yeon Seungbaek called her.
“Why are you so scared?”
“Ah, I was thinking about something else. Why did you call me?”
“I was wondering if you had seen Lord Namcheon.”
Then, Yeon Mubaek answered instead of his wife.
“He left a while ago.”
“He left? At this hour of the night?”
“He said he had important things to do. Why are you looking for him?”
“I wanted to confirm something about the talisman. Sister, were you there when Lord Namcheon wrote the talisman?”
“Yes.”
“Didn’t he recite any other prayers?”
“Prayer?”
“Yes, I think the mystics of the Heaven and Earth Alliance also recited prayers when they wrote talismans. If Lord Namcheon also did it, we should know the prayer related to the thunder talisman.”
“Ah! I think he recited a prayer too.”
“Really? Then, it was like that. This is a problem.”
“Is it necessary to know the prayer?”
“Each mystical technique is slightly different, but I think his is like that.”
Yeon Mubaek exclaimed:
“I knew it!”
“Why? Brother, have you discovered anything?”
“Lord Namcheon is a disciple of the Wudang Sect. It’s strange that he, being from the Wudang Sect, gave such a terrifying talisman to the Evil Faction. Doesn’t it seem strange to you? Surely he will need a special prayer to use that talisman. If he doesn’t know it, it will be useless.”
“Now that you say it, yes. Damn it.”
Faced with his brother’s sharp observation, Yeon Seungbaek looked at the night sky with an incredulous expression.
It was incredible that he had fought so fiercely with his sister without knowing it.
Yang Yi-hwa, who was thinking deeply, said:
“Young master, don’t be discouraged. Lord Namcheon is from the Wudang Sect, isn’t he? Couldn’t we find a mystic from the Wudang Sect to find out the prayer?”
“Oh! That’s a good idea! Thank you, Sister.”
Yeon Seungbaek, who was with the face of a beaten dog, smiled broadly.
He didn’t understand why he had become obsessed with a single possibility without considering other options.
Meanwhile, Yeon Mubaek was about to tell his brother not to get his hopes up, but he stopped.
He didn’t think Namcheon was that easy to manipulate.
He was more concerned about how to deal with the Sochungdan.
And also why Namcheon was so interested in his family’s history.
***
Gosong Village.
Full Moon Inn.
Shim Tong, the Old Dao of the Nine Heavens, who was sleeping, jumped and opened his eyes when he heard the noise of the door slamming open.
“Who… ?”
“It’s me, keep sleeping.”
It was Yeon Jeokha’s voice. Shim Tong relaxed his guard and pulled the blanket up to his neck.
“Oh, why didn’t you stay to sleep at the Yeon Military Academy? What are you doing here at this hour of the night?”
Yeon Jeokha slumped onto the empty bed and replied:
“Oh, how nice! The Iron Blood Sect has just come. I didn’t want to receive them in the morning, so I left.”
“Receiving them is not easy either.”
“Yes, it’s a bit awkward.”
“But you should get used to it. You can’t avoid it all the time.”
“How do others do it?”
“The others? If they don’t greet them, they get angry. In fact, there are many who help you with a little money and fill you with empty praises.”
“Old Shim, it seems that you see the world too twisted.”
“This is what is called wisdom of life.”
“That’s something that Sister Yeon does better. Old Shim, you’re just a bitter old man.”
“Yes, yes, what does it matter?”
Shim Tong closed his eyes reluctantly.
Only the sound of their breaths could be heard in the silence.
A quarter of an hour passed.
Just as sleepiness was taking over Shim Tong’s mind, Yeon Jeokha spoke in a calm voice:
“When I was a child, I thought everyone was ganging up on me just to make me suffer. I could only see that back then.”
“Mm… “
Shim Tong emitted a groan that mixed “yes” and “no” in his sleepy state.
“But today I realized that wasn’t all.”
“Uhm… “
“They fight among themselves as if they were going to devour each other alive. My second brother yelled all sorts of insults at my sister. It was a sight. It seemed that, if I wasn’t careful, they would cut off my nose with their eyes open.”
“….”
Finally, Shim Tong fell fast asleep.
But Yeon Jeokha kept talking.
“But today, suddenly, I felt sorry for my brothers and my sister. I know, it’s silly. But I’m glad I don’t hate them and I can say those silly things. Don’t you think?”
Shim Tong moved in the bed, as if uncomfortable.
“I don’t hate them anymore when I see them. As Old Shim said, maybe the Wudang Sect abandoned me. Even so, I don’t want to be like before. Before, everything made me angry, and I could never feel at peace.”
Snore~
The sound of Shim Tong’s snoring made Yeon Jeokha pause.
“That’s why I gave Mrs. Yang the Sochungdan.”
Suddenly, Shim Tong opened his eyes wide.
“What did you say?”
“What’s wrong? Weren’t you sleeping? You were even snoring.”
“A Murim practitioner always sleeps with one ear covered. I think I heard something about the Sochungdan.”
“I told you I gave Mrs. Yang the Sochungdan.”
Shim Tong sat up as if struck by lightning.
“No! Why did you give it to Mrs. Yang? It’s too generous for a simple meal she served you! It’s too much!”
“Don’t get so nervous. It’s my Sochungdan, I give it to whoever I want.”
“Of course it’s the Young Master’s Sochungdan. But Sochungdan is not something you can give to anyone. Have you already forgotten what they did to the Young Master? They beat him, trampled him, and locked him in a warehouse to kill him!”
Since he had fallen asleep earlier, Shim Tong hadn’t heard the previous conversation and couldn’t understand Yeon Jeokha.
“I’ve forgotten it all.”
“Why do you forget something like that?! You must never forget it! Not even on your deathbed!”
“What’s the point of living remembering those things?”
“To be able to take revenge!”
“I’ve already taken enough revenge on my mother. That’s it. Now I want to live peacefully.”
Yeon Jeokha’s words, which sounded somewhat empty, made Shim Tong swallow the words he had in his throat.
After all, resentment is a poison.
The deeper the resentment one has towards someone, the more one’s own heart will rot.
“Be honest. Are you upset because you’re envious?”
“… A little, yes.”
Shim Tong didn’t deny it.
There was nothing to hide between Yeon Jeokha and him.
“How many do you need?”
“A couple…”
Yeon Jeokha smiled ironically.
Ten years of internal energy don’t mean much to Shim Tong.
It seems that he wanted to give the Sochungdan to his two disciples, whom he has gathered in his later years.
—You’re a dying old man and you still have ambitions.
—The only people without ambition are those who are already dead.
—Okay, I’ll give them to you in the morning.
—Jeje, thank you.
Shim Tong smiled broadly at getting what he wanted.
Thinking of Geum-a and Wol-a, who would be delighted to take the Sochungdan, made him smile non-stop.
“Are you so happy?”
“If you’re curious, try having a disciple, Master.”
“At this age?”
“Don’t your brothers have disciples? What does age matter for teaching? What matters is skill.”
“I’m lazy.”
“Well, with how lazy you are to bathe, I guess you wouldn’t want to train a disciple either.”
“You’re the last person to talk. Don’t Geum-a and Wol-a scold you to bathe?”
“Do they scold me? They bring me water every morning and beg me to bathe.”
“Really? Two first-rate disciples. Maybe I should think about it.
“Please! If you don’t want to move an inch, better order Sangdo to bring you water. With how messy you are, it makes no sense for you to take disciples.”
“Damn! So, are you telling me to take disciples or not?”
Yeon Jeokha continued to joke with Shim Tong until his eyes closed with fatigue.
And finally fell asleep when the guilt he felt for Mrs. Yang and the compassion he felt for the Yeon Family faded away.