The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Chapter 89

[ … words ]

***

“Combat readiness!”

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

The one hundred and fifty martial artists on horseback drew their glittering swords, ready to crush the enemy at any moment.

Although the enemy was far greater in number, the horses they rode and the emblems of the Namgung Family and the Iron Sword Sect they wore overwhelmed the momentum.

“Fortunately, we aren’t late.”

Seong Mo-ran and Namgung Seon-hwa approached my side.

I still could not help but be surprised by their appearance.

“Were you in Suzhou?”

“How could that be?”

Seong Mo-ran smiled meaningfully while looking at Namgung Seon-hwa.

“We stayed up for three nights and crossed over from Anhui Province. Why on earth did Young Master Jin not stay in Anhui Province and go all the way to Zhejiang Province?”

As I tilted my head at words I could not understand, Namgung Seon-hwa just nodded.

“Let’s talk a little later.”

“…….”

Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran straightened their backs and looked at Song Baek.

“Long time no see. Song Baek.”

Song Baek’s expression was subtle; he could neither frown nor smile.

“I didn’t know I would see you two in a place like this.”

Namgung Seon-hwa looked around without even looking at such a Song Baek.

“You said the Huaying Escort Agency often provides a lot of support to martial arts halls, so I guess it was all for this?”

“……Escort agencies naturally do not stop supporting to acquire excellent escorts.”

“No one here looks like they are taking the Moorim Academy regular exam. Is this my misunderstanding?”

“…….”

“Is there anyone here who has secured First Gate tokens or Second Gate tokens?”

No one stepped forward.

Song Baek quickly continued.

“They are taking the exam because they haven’t obtained gate tokens yet.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. That is so.”

Namgung Seon-hwa nodded as if she understood clearly.

“Anyway, do you intend to continue?”

“I had my gate token taken by that guy.”

At Song Baek’s words, Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran looked at me with absurd expressions. It felt like, ‘Even in that situation?’

Namgung Seon-hwa, who let out a sigh, continued.

“……Weren’t the others also here to take Young Master Jin’s gate tokens?”

“…….”

“From now on, you will have to deal with our Namgung Family and the Iron Sword Sect as well.”

Song Baek looked back and forth between me, Namgung Seon-hwa, and Seong Mo-ran.

“Why is the Namgung Family taking the side of the Tae-eul-mun? Moreover, weren’t the Iron Sword Sect and the Tae-eul-mun on bad terms with each other?”

“That is not something Young Master Song needs to be concerned about.”

“No matter how much it is the Namgung Family, you cannot carelessly interfere in the affairs of the Jianghu.”

“What if our Namgung Family and the Iron Sword Sect are in a cooperative relationship with the Tae-eul-mun?”

“…….”

“The right to interfere has been created, hasn’t it?”

“Do you truly intend to do this?”

Song Baek’s eyes sharpened.

His gaze was dry, as if all the goodwill that had remained a little had fallen away.

“No matter how much it is the Namgung Family and the Iron Sword Sect, you cannot ignore the Huaying Escort Agency in Suzhou.”

Song Baek raised his head and looked at the top of the castle wall.

Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran’s gazes followed him.

There, the magistrate could be seen with an expression of clear embarrassment.

“……That is right. You cannot ignore the Huaying Escort Agency in Suzhou. However, do you think you can ignore the Namgung Family within the Jianghu?”

“…….”

“If the magistrate’s term ends and you move to another place, wouldn’t the power of the Namgung Family reach there rather than the influence of the Huaying Escort Agency?”

“!”

“!”

If the Huaying Escort Agency is the king of Suzhou, the Namgung Family has power that dominates the entire Jianghu.

The face of the magistrate on the castle wall turned pale.

Because unless he was going to be buried in Suzhou, he would eventually have to complete his term and be assigned to another place.

“If you take revenge later for something that happened during the Moorim Academy exam, this will also be treated as an act of misconduct.”

“I never said anything about taking revenge.”

“…….”

Song Baek pursed his lips.

His gaze was repeating back and forth toward the magistrate on the castle wall.

If it were the Tae-eul-mun, they could be pressed down by the power of the government, but the Namgung Family and the Iron Sword Sect were not opponents that could be dealt with by the position of a mere magistrate.

Perhaps they had talked enough, the magistrate waved his hand.

Then, the archers started to lower their bowstrings one by one.

Then, the magistrate disappeared from view, and the police officers started to quickly let out the people who were lined up at the entrance of the city gate.

“It seems to be over.”

The moment the magistrate signaled that he would not interfere in this battle.

The weighing scale tilted back to this side.

“What will you do? Will you return as is? Will you continue?”

Namgung Seon-hwa pressed the opponent with an overwhelming presence that she had never shown even once before.

“……If you return the gate token, I will think about it.”

Song Baek’s voice trailed off. Namgung Seon-hwa looked at me.

I said something obvious.

“I won’t return it. I have no intention of returning it. Go back!”

<><><>

In the end, Song Baek returned empty-handed.

Since the story of asking for the return of what he had been robbed of in the middle of a regular exam was no different from a child’s tantrum, Song Baek could no longer act stubborn.

“Dae-sahyeong…….”

Eun-ho whispered softly.

“Are you going to travel with those people from now on?”

“Well…….”

Perhaps my voice was a little loud, Eun-ho noticed and lowered his voice even more.

“Couldn’t we travel together if possible? There is a limit to us standing guard in turns among ourselves, isn’t there?”

What we need right now is sufficient rest and nutritional supplementation.

The children, who had not been able to sleep properly for even a single day since the exam started, had their fatigue already pushed to the point of going crazy.

No, judging by their appearance at the inn, it seemed like they had already lost their minds a little.

“But where are we going now?”

“But why are you lowering your voice from earlier?”

Eun-ho glanced at Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran.

“Because…… if my voice is loud and makes them uncomfortable…… shouldn’t I not do that?”

“Haa…….”

I wondered why even Geum-pyo and Dong-ryong had become quiet unlike usual, and it was because they were very nervous in front of Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran.

“Couldn’t you treat them the same as you treat your Dae-sahyeong?”

“Is something a little different?”

“……No. Never mind.”

We headed straight to the Cangqiong Trading Company branch located in Suzhou, escorted by the martial artists of the Namgung Family and the Iron Sword Sect.

“For now, before…… eating, it would be better to wash up.”

Namgung Seon-hwa, who was about to recommend a meal, saw our appearance and recommended a bath first, and the Geum-Eun-Dong brothers were guided to the bathroom with their faces flushed red.

“Wow!”

“Why is the bathhouse as big as the Tae-eul-mun hall?”

“Amazing.”

In the center of the bathhouse, which looked like a place where escorts washed in groups, there was a bathtub made of large wood, and hot water was pouring out endlessly from a water channel connected from the ceiling.

“Kyawoo!”

“Ugh…… hot.”

The three Geum-Eun-Dong brothers who put their bodies into the bath had expressions as if they had tasted paradise.

“If I could rest like this for just three days, I would have no wishes.”

“For real. It’s so good.”

“Ugh…….”

When the three Geum-Eun-Dong brothers put their bodies into the bath, dried blood scabs and soil powder fell from their bodies in a massive amount.

However, soon, the bathtub became full of water due to the hot water falling from the ceiling, and the contaminated water quickly changed to transparent water.

Geum-pyo, who was enjoying the bath to his heart’s content, asked me as if he had thought of something.

“Sahyeong, then sects with branches nationwide will be safe from ambushes while taking the exam.”

“That would be so.”

“Hul…….”

They take the same exam, but the disciples of the Tae-eul-mun are always exposed to ambushes the moment they leave Anhui Province…… no, Hefei.

Conversely, sects that have direct/indirect branches nationwide, such as the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families, can use accommodations without worrying about ambushes.

“It’s a truly absurd exam.”

An exam that cannot be easily passed by those who are weak, let alone those who are reasonably strong, in the first place.

That is why people called the Moorim Academy regular exam the Hell Regular Exam.

Unlike the grumbling Geum-pyo, Eun-ho, who was lost in deep thought, looked at me intently and asked.

“Dae-sahyeong, how did you form a relationship with Miss Namgung and Miss Seong?”

“Various things happened. Why do you ask?”

“Because it doesn’t make sense. Aren’t those people also in the middle of taking the exam? But I don’t understand that they ‘went out of their way’ to cross the province to save Dae-sahyeong.”

Splash.

I hit the water in the bathtub and splashed it all over Eun-ho’s face.

“Ugh. Dae-sahyeong! Don’t you see the dirt water here?”

“Even if it’s the same words, why do you add ‘went out of their way’?”

“From their perspective, isn’t it worth it?”

Actually, it was a part I was also questioning.

I heard from the Haomun that they had been ambushed from the beginning and were in hiding to avoid enemies. It was not easily understandable that they had come to save me while they were busy taking the exam.

“Ah!”

Geum-pyo, who was agonizing along with Eun-ho’s words, snapped his fingers.

“That’s it. That makes sense.”

“Huh?”

Eun-ho looked at the fact that Geum-pyo noticed what he himself could not understand with suspicious eyes.

“Love.”

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

It was the first time only the sound of water rang in the bathroom.

Eun-ho suddenly got up and dunked Geum-pyo’s head into the bathtub.

Glug-glug-glug-glug.

“Ack! Why, why are you doing this!”

“Where should you say something that makes sense. Love? Did you get Qi Deviation during battle or what.”

I had the same thought as Eun-ho.

Glug-glug.

“Ugh. Don’t do it. Water, glug-glug. I’m drinking water!”

“Is Dae-sahyeong even worthy of Miss Namgung Seon-hwa, who is the daughter of the prestigious Namgung Family? You have no background, your appearance is not great, and your personality is strange too. All you have is a useless memory. What is so good that Miss Namgung Seon-hwa loves Sahyeong?”

“…….”

Eun-ho’s continuing words are strange.

“Moreover, Miss Seong Mo-ran? Come on! Until a few months ago, you were like enemies growling at each other! Besides, is Miss Seong Mo-ran’s family inferior to the Namgung Family? Considering beauty and martial arts achievement, do you think the two of them think of our Sahyeong even as much as the dirt on their toes?”

“……Eun-ho-ya.”

“Yes? Ah! Dae-sahyeong, don’t worry. I will educate Geum-pyo hyung properly so that he cannot talk nonsense in front of the young ladies. Please persuade them well so that we can accompany them.”

I said to Eun-ho, who was triumphant.

“……Do you want to drink all the water in this bathtub?”

“……Hiccup.”

<><><>

“Nice to meet you.”

The meal was simple.

Inside a small space prepared on one side of the dining room, only Namgung Seon-hwa, Seong Mo-ran, and I and the Geum-Eun-Dong brothers were seated.

“It, it is an honor!”

“Ni, nice to meet you.”

“Hello….”

In the bathroom, they said they wouldn’t show a shrunken appearance, and the three brothers showed their spirit in a naked state, but as if that was when, the three Geum-Eun-Dong brothers moved unnaturally as if they had become wooden dolls.

Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran covered their mouths and laughed as if they were cute seeing that appearance.

“Ho ho ho.”

“If I had known that Jin Young Master’s junior disciples were this cute, I would have come to meet you sooner.”

Geum-pyo, whose face is flushed red, keeps scratching the back of his head while grinning.

Eun-ho, who had scolded the Iron Sword Sect so much in the past, looks like he is wagging a tail that he doesn’t have in front of Seong Mo-ran.

Dong-ryong was hanging his head low while turning into a red radish.

It would be difficult for boys of this age to show a dignified appearance in front of the opposite sex, but the degree of it was severe for them.

‘Well, they are in front of Seong Mo-ran and Namgung Seon-hwa.’

The two people, along with Wang So-so, were being rumored for their beauty even within Anhui Province.

If I think about it that way, there is something I don’t understand.

There is no way these guys, who saw Wang So-so every day, don’t have immunity to beauties. Is it because of Wang So-so’s personality? Or is the immunity to something dressed up and something not dressed up another thing?

“Stop it and sit down.”

“……Ye-yes.”

“……Ye-yes.”

“…….”

Geum-pyo and Eun-ho sent me a gaze full of dissatisfaction, daring to be disrespectful, and then sat down.

As expected, I should have made them drink more bathwater.

“You must be hungry. Please eat first.”

On the table where only six people were seated due to the consideration of the Cangqiong Trading Company, there were 11 kinds of food.

Aren’t the guys, who were devouring food as if they were starving at the inn during the day, tasting it little by little using chopsticks for some reason?

I ignored them and looked at the two people.

“What happened?”

Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran looked at each other and smiled meaningfully.

“Are you not happy that we came?”

“How could that be? Thanks to you, I escaped the most critical moment.”

If it weren’t for the two people, there is no way the Huaying Escort Agency would have retreated so easily.

“I heard that you two also had a lot of damage and were in hiding.”

“Did you hear that story too?”

Since it was surprising that there were people who touched the groups of the Namgung Family and the Iron Sword Sect at the point when the First Gate ended, I remembered it clearly.

“Mo-ran unnie suffered a lot. Because of me for no reason.”

The inside story was like this.

Namgung Tae-ha and Namgung-san did not come out until the start of the regular exam, and Namgung Seon-hwa had no choice but to take the exam with only twenty martial artists.

Fortunately, Seong Mo-ran did not abandon Namgung Seon-hwa and tried to take the exam while being with her.

Because of Seong Mo-ran’s martial artists, the two were barely able to pass the First Gate, but they said they started to be attacked right away.

“That was our branch family.”

In the end, because it was the Namgung Family, they were able to strike the Namgung Family.

They persistently chased Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran without even thinking about the Second Gate, and in the process, they said they had no choice but to send back the martial artists they didn’t have as injured.

“Still, it is a great relief. Because grandfather came out.”

It is said that Namgung Tae-ha, who completed the Cangqiong Cloud-Weaving Sword Technique, immediately called in all the branch families and reorganized the family.

The reason why the branch family of the Namgung Family persistently chased Namgung Seon-hwa immediately after the First Gate ended was to block Namgung Tae-ha.

It is said that Namgung Tae-ha sent eighty additional martial artists of the Namgung Family along with spiritual pills to Namgung Seon-hwa as soon as he finished organizing the family.

“I thought I could catch my breath. But didn’t I hear that Jin Young Master became a target of Wudang, Huashan, and Diancang?”

“……Huh?”

“……Yes?”

“???”

The Geum-Eun-Dong brothers reacted as if it was their first time hearing it.

Namgung Seon-hwa asked me back.

“Didn’t you know?”

“I knew. I just thought there was no need to tell you.”

“……Crazy…….”

“……No, Dae-sahyeong…….”

“…….”

Complaints burst out.

“Would bathwater be good for dessert?”

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

Seeing the Geum-Eun-Dong brothers closing their mouths again, Namgung Seon-hwa makes an expression as if she doesn’t know the reason.

I lightly changed the subject and continued speaking.

“Did you come here by any chance after hearing that story?”

Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran nodded greatly.

“Of course. Naturally, we had to come.”

“It is a natural thing.”

I felt sorry for some reason.

“I wonder if I have burdened you with unnecessary things. Still, thanks to you two, I survived.”

“It is a natural thing. You saved our lives too.”

“Unnie, for me, it is twice.”

Seeing the two of them giggling at each other, this time the Geum-Eun-Dong brothers looked at the two young ladies without knowing the reason.

“Ah…… you didn’t tell them this story either?”

“……Well, there was no time to talk, and so on. They must have been busy training too.”

“Still, you should know what kind of person Sahyeong is.”

Saying that, they told stories such as what happened at the Demon Spirit Plateau, what happened on the way to the Namgung Family, etc.

The Geum-Eun-Dong, who were eating food, heard all the stories, forgetting that they had eaten food at some point.

“That’s how it happened.”

“…….”

“Were Namgung Seon-hwa seonbae-nim and Seong Mo-ran seonbae-nim both at the Demon Spirit Plateau?”

At the two women’s nodding, the Geum-Eun-Dong brothers opened their mouths wide.

It seems they knew to some extent about the Demon Spirit Plateau incident when the Evil Path sect gifted the Tae-eul-mun, but they didn’t seem to know who was inside.

Perhaps they finished organizing it in their heads, the three brothers, who had been acting awkwardly, shouted out loud.

“As expected of Sahyeong! There was a reason for everything!”

“See hyung! I told you there would be a reason.”

“By any chance, in the middle of being rescued from that Demon Spirit Plateau, love…… Ugh-ugh!”

As Dong-ryong was about to say something strange, Eun-ho quickly blocked his mouth.

Then he stood up from his seat.

“It seems we are a little tired, so may we go up first?”

“……? Ah, yes. Rest well today and let’s see each other tomorrow.”

When the three Geum-Eun-Dong people left, the maid came in with tea.

Around that time the thick steam of the tea water slowly disappeared.

Namgung Seon-hwa said with a heavy expression.

“You don’t seem as worried as I thought?”

“Isn’t it something that won’t be solved by worrying?”

Namgung Seon-hwa exhales as if she is dumbfounded.

Seong Mo-ran continued.

“Wudang, Huashan, Diancang, these three places…….”

And she looks at me intently.

“If they are targeting Jin Young Master alone…… I’m sorry to say this, but it is as if it is already over.”

“…….”

“Jin Young Master also knows well what will happen after the Third Gate, right?”

The Great Journey of Pandemonium (Ah-bi-gyu-hwan).

Probably, once the final gate is passed, the real Hell Regular Exam will begin.

There will be many casualties that cannot be compared to the number of people who died during the First Gate, Second Gate, and Third Gate.

There are also those who are waiting for the Third Gate to end without attending the exam.

Moreover, three sects among the Nine Sects and One Gang are openly saying that they are targeting me.

“I know well. So I ask…….”

Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran said they already obtained one First Gate token and one Second Gate token each.

If it goes like this, they will be able to pass the Third Gate and pass the Moorim Academy exam.

And they will flow in the direction of the lives that were scheduled in advance.

“By any chance, do you intend to travel with us?”

Even if they heard about my danger, they should have just ignored it with one word of worry and concern and went their own way. Then they would be able to tread the future scheduled for themselves as it is.

However, if they step out clumsily with unnecessary bravado or a sense of justice, their life path will be completely changed.

“If you move with us, your passing might become distant……. No, it is more likely that you won’t be able to pass.”

“…….”

“…….”

Repaying the grace of saving my life is a truly thankful thing, but since it was not something I did in the first place hoping for a price, I have no intention of forcing them.

Moreover, I have already received some prices to the point of overflowing.

If there was anything forcing them in their hearts, I was in the middle of telling them not to do it.

Because the loss is too great to step out with youthful vigor.

“For me, it is enough that you two thought of me this way. No, rather I hope you don’t move with us. If you two suffer a big thing because of me, I have no face to see the Divine Sword-nim or the Iron Sword Sect Master.”

“…….”

“…….”

I quietly swallow the cold tea.

If I hold the cards of Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran, the strategies I can plan become infinite.

However, even so, I don’t have any thoughts of wanting to use them as tools like Yong So-a or the Moorim Alliance.

Because there is a difference as big as heaven and earth between regarding them completely as my people and taking responsibility for them, and using them as tools for me.

They are people who still stand on the boundary between tools and my people to me.

“Truly…….”

Seong Mo-ran, who was silent for a long time, opens her red lips.

“It is a remark worthy of Jin Young Master.”

“Unnie, you said Jin Young Master would definitely say this, didn’t you?”

The two people look at each other and nod their heads after seeing what is so fun about it.

“We said the same thing at the same time we heard the news of Young Master. So don’t think of this as repaying a debt or repaying a grace.”

“That’s right. Because we wanted to be with Jin Young Master from the beginning.”

The weighing scale tilts to one side.

With their words, my choice also became firm. Instead of answering, I nodded.

“Please take care of us.”

“We are the ones who ask you to take care of us again this time.”

At Namgung Seon-hwa’s appearance of being talkative, the tense atmosphere was instantly loosened.

“But why are Wudang, Huashan, and Diancang specifically targeting Jin Young Master and the Tae-eul-mun? I heard that when the Dragon-Phoenix Meeting visited the Tae-eul-mun, there was an antagonism with the disciples of Huashan and Diancang. But why Wudang?”

Before even hearing the answer, Seong Mo-ran continued.

“Is it because of that guy Yong So-a? That guy escaped from the Soul-Destroying Formation alone, didn’t he? Because of that, that guy was scolded and Jin Young Master was revered.”

“I cannot say that it has no influence, but perhaps the accurate reason is because of the gate tokens I have.”

Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran tilt their heads at the same time. Their appearances are so different, but their actions are just like sisters and twins.

“Didn’t you know?”

“What?? Don’t you have one gate token each?”

“……?”

“I have nine First Gate tokens and six Second Gate tokens. Ah! I took one each from Song Baek earlier, so it would be ten and seven respectively.”

“Yes?”

“Ye-yes?!”

Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran’s mouths opened wide with expressions as if they had been struck by lightning.

“From the beginning, I have been assuming that not only Wudang, Huashan, and Diancang, but the entire Jianghu is targeting us.”

“…….”

“…….”

The two people with expressions as if they had lost their souls.

Did they really come here without knowing?

I quickly added words.

“The promise that you will be with us, staking the honor of a martial artist and the name of the family. Thank you once again.”

“……I never staked the honor of a martial artist….”

“……U-unnie, did I stake the family earlier……?”

Nak-jang-bul-ip (Once a card is played, it cannot be taken back).

Once the hand is off, it’s the end.