The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Chapter 104

[ … words ]

***

During my time in the So-jeong-dae, we were wretched.

The mission originally assigned to the So-jeong-dae by the Moorim Alliance was mostly to be at the forefront of the battlefield or to act as bait to divert the attention of the Demonic Cult.

However, we selected ‘survival’ as our top priority, and we used any means and methods necessary to escape the clutches of those who were strategically unbeatable.

The spray of the Geumdan Mountain was one of those methods. The terraced reservoirs formed along the mountain ridges of Geumdan Mountain.

Even if one reservoir was not large, if you burst all of them at once, it was enough to fill the valley in an instant.

And in my past life, I had used this tactic to drive away the Blood Demon Sword Troop while being chased by them.

“This is nonsense!”

I deployed the Cheon-ha-dok-haeng-sin (Heavenly Solitary Movement) and flew toward Hyun-su in an instant.

“You bastard!”

Hyun-su, who discovered me in the midst of his surprise, gnashed his teeth and swung his sword, but there was no way any strength could be properly put into a sword swung in such a sudden moment.

Clang.

The guy’s sword flew away powerlessly, and I struck his Ma-hyeol (demon pressure point) while he was defenseless.

“I am Hyun-su of the Wudang sect……”

It seemed the guy wanted to say something, but I didn’t listen to the end and struck his Dan-jeon with a fist full of internal energy.

Thud.

“Gah-ack!”

His body was plunged into the spray of water faster than the speed at which he had flown in.

Splash.

The other Taoists of the Wudang sect were in the same state of disarray as Hyun-su.

“What is this? That!”

“Is it a formation? Why is there a waterfall in a place like this!”

“A-avoid it!”

“No! If it’s a formation, you shouldn’t avoid it!”

The Wudang Taoists, who were wavering between avoiding it and not avoiding it, eventually decided not to avoid it.

“Gah-ack!”

“Gurgle.”

“This fucking! It’s for real!”

The rocks and trees piled up above the valley were swept away by the spray and fell madly down the cliff.

The Wudang sect Taoists couldn’t collect their thoughts, being hit by stones and trees.

Once the spray passed, our attack began toward the Wudang Taoists who were too busy gasping for air to catch their breath.

“Throw!”

Our team members and martial artists who had been hiding in the trees above the valley lifted the surrounding rocks and threw them at the Taoists without mercy.

“Gah-ack.”

“Damn it! Someone look up!”

“Run away!”

I threw myself along with the falling rocks and threw my body at Hyun-myeong, Hyun-hyang, and Hyun-jin in turn.

Clang.

“Even after doing something like this to us……”

Thud.

I deflected the sword, struck their Ma-hyeol, and drove a straight punch into their Dan-jeon.

If they received this much impact on their Dan-jeon, they would have to convalesce for at least a month.

By that time, the Moorim Academy regular admission would all be over.

After beating all the examinees into a pulp, I immediately deployed the Cheon-ha-dok-haeng-sin and soared to the top of the valley in one go.

“How is your movement technique so elusive?”

Seong Mo-ran, who had been throwing rocks the size of a human head, opened her eyes wide like a rabbit.

“It is time to go now.”

“You mean it’s time to run away?”

“Yes.”

Perhaps because we had spent a long time working with the Namgung family and the Iron Sword Sect (Cheol-geom-mun), we worked together well without needing to say long sentences.

“Won’t the Wudang sect keep chasing us?”

Seong Mo-ran expressed her regret about not being able to throw the rock she had held in her hand at the end.

“The operation worked better than I thought.”

Half of their numbers were in a state of being injured by the reservoir water and rocks.

Moreover, the personnel in the rear were still agonizing over whether the water poured into the valley was a formation or not.

To those who had never studied formations separately, being trapped in a formation was a scarier thing than they thought.

Even the Blood Demon Sword Troop couldn’t easily take a step, so there was no way the Taoists could rush in blindly.

“But why did you go down to the bottom of the valley all of a sudden?”

To the question of Namgung Seon-hwa, who had followed next to me, Seong Mo-ran also nodded as if she was curious.

“Shouldn’t we take the spoils of war?”

“Spoils of war?”

I handed two entrance tokens each to Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran.

The two, who had received the First Gate and Second Gate tokens taken from the Wudang sect Taoists, looked at me with absurd expressions.

“Wouldn’t you feel wronged if you were chased without a reason too?”

“…….”

Namgung Seon-hwa had no words.

“You’re crazy. Seriously…….”

Seong Mo-ran clicked her tongue.

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“Young Master, what are you learning?”

Baek Won-gak could not hide his absurdity.

“It is a sword formation that So-un Hyung-nim personally refined.”

Baek Won-gak felt ‘as expected.’ If it was related to Jin So-un, he would want to do everything.

If not that, why would the Young Master, who usually neglected even the family’s sword techniques, be learning a sword formation at a time when he didn’t even have enough time to sleep?

‘Should I call this a good thing…….’

Moryong Jae-hwa, who seemed like he would blindly follow everything Jin So-un did.

While seeing him show enthusiasm for martial arts, I was worried about whether I should be happy about it or not.

Moryong Jae-hwa had not liked sword techniques since he was young.

Even though he was the eldest son who had to lead the next generation of the Moryong family, he spent more time learning hobbies than swords.

I wondered if I should be thankful that he didn’t fall into wine and women like the twisted children of prestigious families, but I couldn’t do that because his sister was Moryong Seol.

Compared to her, who had created her own Dan-jeon with the breathing technique I had taught her for her health early on, and who had learned sword techniques alone by watching the family martial artists train, Moryong Jae-hwa was always too light.

When he said he would not take the Moorim Academy exam, Jin Cheon-gak had a huge uproar, and the family head, Pa-geom, even went out looking for Moryong Jae-hwa with a club himself.

It was an open opinion of the family that it would have been so much better if Moryong Seol and Moryong Jae-hwa had been born with their genders swapped.

Was it after he had been dragged away by the family head’s eccentricities and returned after finishing them? From then on, Moryong Jae-hwa started to change little by little.

He took the time to learn the sword himself, and he came voluntarily and did not hesitate to spar with the Moryong family’s martial artists.

Practicing hobbies alone remained the same, but everyone in the family couldn’t help but feel proud of his appearance of thinking seriously about the sword and training.

However, he talked about Jin So-un and the Tae-eul-mun every day, and sometimes he even said he wanted to enter the Tae-eul-mun as an outer disciple, which made the family members’ blood run cold.

‘He is a hero in his heart.’

Doesn’t everyone live with one hero in their heart when they are young? For Moryong Jae-hwa, that hero was Jin So-un.

When he first said he wanted to give up his exam and join Jin So-un’s party, I couldn’t help but be disappointed, but after admitting that he didn’t have the skills to take the Third Gate token, and saying that if he couldn’t do even this much for the person who saved his father’s life, it would be too shameful as the eldest son of the Moryong family, I had no choice but to agree.

“I am so happy learning martial arts these days.”

After seeing the Young Master’s face smiling brightly, I think it would be okay even if I get scolded by the family head or the young family head later.

Isn’t life long?

Even if he can’t get into the Moorim Academy, it doesn’t mean he isn’t the eldest son of the Moryong family, and if he can grow even further based on this, that would also be a good thing.

But no matter how much enthusiasm he has, isn’t the White Tiger Sword Formation (Baek-ho-geom-jin) a bit much?

“Young Master, haven’t you already learned an excellent sword formation of our family called the Jung-pa-yeol-hwa-geom-jin? So, please sleep at least a little now.”

“The martial artists of the Namgung family and the Iron Sword Sect have also learned it.”

“That thing? Why would those guys?”

“They say if you learn this, you can eat warm rice.”

“Who said that?”

“The Namgung family’s Chang-gung-dae (Sky-Piercing Unit) leader.”

Namgung family’s Kang Seo-pyo was a person I had exchanged with during my mandatory service in the Moorim Alliance. I thought he was a person with weight due to his serious and prudent appearance, but he told a lame joke to the naive Young Master.

“I didn’t see that gentleman that way, but he said all sorts of useless things.”

Baek Won-gak clicked his tongue like that, but it didn’t take long to confirm that those words were not a joke.

Five days later, the carriage finally stopped. Jin So-un gave them a whopping one hour of time to eat, and it was when people were happy about the reality that they could boil at least warm porridge instead of the boring dry rations and dried meat.

“Ambush-!”

Just as I was about to put a spoonful of porridge that tasted roughly like meat by soaking dried meat in the boiling porridge into my mouth.

Damn pursuers swarmed in from all sides.

The Moryong family martial artists, filled with spite, defeated their opponents with all their might, and fortunately, they made them retreat without any damage, but.

Those who returned to the dining spot could not help but be frustrated.

“My rice……!”

“Damn it!”

In the midst of the chaotic battle, the pot had tipped over, and the white porridge was mixed with dirt.

“Look. I told you if you learned it, you could eat warm rice.”

When I turned my head, Moryong Jae-hwa was eating hot porridge with Geum-pyo’s party.

“…….”

No, it wasn’t just Moryong Jae-hwa. The porridge of the Namgung family and the Iron Sword Sect martial artists were all intact. Only the Moryong family’s porridge was mixed with dirt.

“…….”

“Are you okay?”

Kang Seo-pyo and Cho Mu-bin approached, each holding a pot that was half-full.

“Why was only our family’s pot overturned?”

“That…… it’s always like that. We protected the rice as the top priority as the White Tiger Sword Formation escort.”

“…….”

The words ‘You learn an escort formation because of rice?’ were about to pop out, but after seeing the porridge with steam rising from it, I swallowed my words.

From that day on, the Moryong family’s martial artists returned all their short breaks to learn the White Tiger Sword Formation.

“W-we arrived!”

“I arrived! Buddha! Jade Emperor! Thank you, Tai-shang Lao-jun!”

As soon as they arrived at the Changgung Trading Company in Jeong-ju, Jin So-un’s party collapsed in the large stable.

The trading company people, who had expected the appearance of martial artists with dignified bearing at the news that the Namgung family, Moryong family, and Iron Sword Sect were coming, were dumbfounded at the sight of them like defeated soldiers.

“…….”

“Branch Manager, long time no see?”

“Miss Seon-hwa…… It seems you have gone through a lot of trouble….”

“That is true. I heard that brother San wasn’t like this….”

“Yes, yes. Truly…… there is a veeeeery big difference.”

“Haha.”

“I prepared a feast since I heard you were coming, but……”

The branch manager glared at the martial artists who were lying spread-eagled as if they couldn’t move an inch from the stable.

“If it’s okay, could you prepare it here? Everyone hasn’t been able to sleep a wink and has been running for a week.”

“Huh…… No wonder, you said you arrived a bit quickly, but you didn’t sleep for even a day?”

“Yes.”

The astonished branch manager immediately ordered his family members to prepare food in the stable.

As pots were hung in the stable and food began to sizzle on the pot lids, those who had collapsed began to wake up one by one and started grabbing and eating food in a hurry.

“Are these Beggar Sect members, or martial artists of the Five Great Families……”

“Shh, won’t you be quiet?”

They, who had expected the appearance of elite martial artists of the Five Great Families in name, were horrified at the appearance of martial artists who were so primitive that the Beggar Sect would go away.

“What on earth happened?”

“It’s a long story if I explain……”

The eyes of Namgung Seon-hwa, who was telling the story, also seemed to be closing.

“Ah! I have talked too long. Please rest a little first.”

“Yes…… And……”

“Please speak.”

“Could you also bring some food to the room?”

“……Ah, of course, I will do that.”

After entering the room, Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran, like the other martial artists, repeated eating, passing out, waking up, doing internal energy circulation, and then eating and passing out again.

“Now, my mind is returning a little.”

“That is true, on the last day, I thought about ten thousand times that it would be better to just give up the exam.”

“……Me too.”

Just because I was born as a daughter of a prestigious family, it doesn’t mean I haven’t experienced rough things.

No, rather, because I was a daughter of a martial family, I had grown up receiving hard training from a young age that ordinary women of the same age could not experience.

But I tasted the limit of the limit to the point where such pride was all shattered.

Still, the reason I could not be ashamed of myself was that the male martial artists who were now approaching thirty were also having a hard time.

“……Can we continue?”

After finishing the reorganization, we have to leave again. And we will experience the things we experienced over the past seven days over a month.

“Aren’t we becoming a useless hindrance…….”

At Namgung Seon-hwa’s hesitant words, Seong Mo-ran nodded unconsciously.

For some reason, Jin So-un was not much different from when he left Nam-ak.

He even stood guard for others, searched, and stood guard alone far away during meal times.

The Great Journey generally chooses one of two methods: moving secretly as an elite or moving as a group.

But now, Jin So-un seemed to have become in an awkward state due to the joining of Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran.

We, who joined to help Jin So-un and the Tae-eul-mun, were now clearly becoming a hindrance to Jin So-un.

“Should we tell him to split up and move even now?”

“…….”

Namgung Seon-hwa spoke, but Seong Mo-ran did not answer.

If we move separately from Jin So-un now, the possibility that we will not be able to complete the Great Journey is high.

Knowing that, Namgung Seon-hwa could not urge Seong Mo-ran’s answer.

While the two kept their silence, a servant knocked on the door from outside.

“Miss, a guest has arrived.”

“A guest?”

<><><>

Twenty martial artists of the Moryong family had spread out.

They were not big external wounds, but they didn’t even realize they were hurt because they were moving without thinking, and they left the wounds unattended, which made the illness grow.

“What should we do? Elder brother?”

Moryong Jae-hwa was bowing his head as if he had committed a sin.

“Of course, you have to rest. If you die while helping us, how can I face the elder Pa-geom?”

“……I am sorry.”

“It is not something you should be sorry for. Rather, look closely to see if there are any other injured places on the other martial artists.”

“Yes.”

Moryong Jae-hwa ran to check on the Moryong family’s martial artists, and Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran approached that way.

The appearance of having washed cleanly and wearing new clothes was completely different from yesterday.

But Namgung Seon-hwa is looking at me intently.

“Why are you doing that?”

“Jin Gong-ja, did you sleep?”

“Yes. I slept.”

I also woke up after sleeping for about two hours last night. I couldn’t sleep more than that because I had to check the information from the Haomun that came in the morning.

“You didn’t sleep properly because you were checking information again, right?”

A pursuit is a fight with information.

It was more important to grasp the trends of the opponent than to run away well.

Since we ate and slept together for the past week, it seems they have started to penetrate my daily routine as well.

Seong Mo-ran sighs long.

“So, how is it?”

“It’s not very good.”

I said honestly.

Even though it is crossing one province, the difficulty is incomparable to normal escort missions.

The only thing I can do is to move without resting just the way we came to Jeong-ju, but I doubted if people could endure it.

“…….”

Perhaps my words became an unnecessary burden, I smiled and told them.

“Don’t worry. Because there are many ways.”

Even though I talked, the two people’s faces did not brighten significantly.

Namgung Seon-hwa, who hesitated for a long time with an expression that seemed to have something to say, finally spoke.

“There are people who want to meet Jin Gong-ja.”

“Me?”

At this point, I had no sense at all about the people who wanted to meet me. Anyway, it was impossible to have found a colleague I couldn’t find in Nam-ak in Jeong-ju.

“Do you know about the 12 Bong-seong?”

“……?”

The 12 Bong-seong is the strongest alliance of sects of the 108 Peaks.

“They want to meet Jin Gong-ja.”