The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Chapter 46

[ … words ]

***

“Nice to meet you. I am Jin-so-un of the Tae-eul-mun.”

“…….”

“…….”

Although I greeted them with a Pogyon (cupped hand salute), the warriors assigned by the clan merely gave a light nod.

“I am Yeong-yeong.”

However, contrary to the male warriors assigned by the clan who ignored me, the woman who had been standing a little apart from those men gave a light Pogyon.

Uniquely, the woman had her face covered from the nose down.

Although it was common for myeonsa (face veils) that slightly covered the contours of the face to be widely used, in this woman’s case, it looked more like a mask often used by yangsan-gunja (thieves).

Come to think of it, the length of the twin swords rising above her shoulders was not very long either.

“I am going to prepare for the hunt from now on, but will that be alright?”

There was no answer, so I nodded and headed toward the village to find the hunters.

“I heard you should not hire hunters.”

One of the warriors who had not answered said so.

“I will not hire them.”

“Then why are you going to find the hunters?”

“Because there is something I have to buy from the hunter. Were you told that I could not do that either?”

The warrior thought for a moment before speaking and stepping back.

“I was told it did not matter as long as you do not use artifacts or treasures.”

Although the Cheolgap-heungmang-daesa (Iron-Armored Black Python) was a demonic beast, it was not a very scary opponent for me as I was now.

Even without the Heungnyong-geom (Black Dragon Sword) or the Biryong-jo (Flying Dragon Claw), one hit of the Gwangcheon-sinjang would be enough to cleanly blow its head off.

However, if I did that, it was fully expected that they would make absurd unreasonable demands or, at worst, accuse me of hiding my martial arts.

If they really thought it was impossible, they would not let go of Jegal Cheon-gi, even by making unreasonable demands.

‘Thinking about how they kept Jegal Cheon-gi locked in the Geum-ok for 8 years, they would certainly do that.’

Rather than that, I chose a method to distract Jegal-jeong.

When I visited the hunter’s house living on the edge of the village, rabbit skins and fox skins were hanging from the yard.

However, perhaps the hunting was very poor these days, the number of skins was absurdly small compared to the hanging lines.

“That is all because of that Imugi (lesser dragon) bastard.”

A hairy middle-aged man, who could not distinguish whether he was a bandit or a hunter, said while spitting.

“What does that mean?”

“Since that guy sweeps through Geummok Mountain, Bokryong Mountain, and Hwadong Mountain like his own front yard, other beasts are scared and cannot come out.”

The aftermath of the damage caused by the Cheolgap-heungmang-daesa was enormous.

“That bastard is currently only robbing mountain villages, but if this continues, something really big might happen.”

“What does that mean?”

“Since ancient times, what beasts value most is human flesh. Don’t they say that even a tiger, once it gets a taste of humans, doesn’t even look at other beasts? If this continues, there will be a series of funerals. What on earth are the Jegal Clan or the Murim Alliance doing? They were all swaggering about being warriors. Are they going to use their martial arts to boil soup?”

At the hunter’s words, one warrior was about to twitch and jump forward, but the hunter stood up abruptly, holding an axe in his hand as if he were not afraid. Fortunately, another warrior raised his hand to stop him, so a fight did not break out.

“More importantly, are wild boars caught at all?”

“At least those are caught a little. The pig bastards can’t endure the hunger and eventually crawl out. Still, I don’t see much fun. Because if I set a trap, the Imugi guy eats the wild boar whole.”

“I see. By any chance, could I buy some wild boars?”

“Wild boars?”

“Yes. If possible, I would like to buy everything that other hunters have hunted as well. I will give you three nyang of silver as the price.”

“You will give three nyang for one wild boar?”

“……Yes, that is true, but.”

I tilted my head and asked.

“Why are you suddenly using honorifics?”

“Oh my, what are you talking about? How could I dare not use honorifics to someone like you, sir.”

I gave a small sneer at his lightning-fast change of attitude and continued.

“Please tell them that I will buy all the wild boars you hunt starting today. I need about twenty, and it doesn’t matter if they are alive or dead. Instead, it must be less than a day since they were caught.”

“Is there any doubt? By any chance, even if one person hunts five, will you pay that price for all of them?”

“For the fifth one, I will pay five nyang more, giving you twenty nyang.”

“Just leave it to me!”

“Oh, right, and do you know any herb gatherers?”

The place I visited through the hunter’s introduction was a thatched house at the entrance of Geummok Mountain.

Dried herbs were spread out in the yard, and the old couple, who had been sitting on the wooden veranda, shouted at us when they saw us.

“You there!”

The old man pointed at the warrior’s foot with his gombangdae (long-stemmed pipe).

The warrior’s foot was stepping on the herbs spread on the floor.

“Now that those precious medicinal herbs are ruined, what are you going to do!”

Unlike Village Chief Heo, the herb gatherer did not fear, even though he was a warrior carrying a sword, and shouted back.

“Heh. Geez. It’s not like they are unusable just because they got a little dirt on them. I get it. I’ll pay for it, so that’s enough, right? How much?”

“You bastard. You should have apologized first! I don’t need money! Get lost!”

At that moment, something like dried tree bark caught my eye.

“Oh? Isn’t this Cheonyakdong?”

“……Huh?”

“I heard that Cheonyakdong is not only difficult to dig up, but it is also difficult to get such a beautiful shape. How did you do it?”

“……How do you know about Cheonyakdong?”

“Since I was young, I liked playing in the mountains and fields more than studying, so I learned a lot from the nearby herb gatherer elders. They also said it was not easy to make Cheonyakdong into this hard tree bark form. How on earth did you do it?”

The herb gatherer old man stroked his beard and let out a dry cough.

“That is my secret, so I cannot tell you easily!”

“I suppose so……. Huh! Isn’t this Haesanja?”

I took out the knowledge in the Manchoborok (Book of Ten Thousand Herbs) like that and calmed the old man’s mood.

“Did you work as an herb gatherer?”

“Even if I asked the herb gatherer elders to teach me, they told me I was too dull to learn.”

“That is true. That is true. This herb gathering work is not something just anyone can do. By the way, what brings you here? Seeing that you are carrying a sword, you didn’t come to learn herb gathering. Did you come to buy something?”

“That is correct. Elder.”

So I talked about all the medicinal herbs I needed.

“All those things, five geun (approx. 3kg) each?”

The herb gatherer, who was pretending to be serious, was surprised for the first time.

“Are you a merchant? We already have a merchant group we trade with.”

“Ah, please don’t worry. I am just a fool who strictly buys at twice the market price.”

“……!”

The old man’s mouth fell wide open.

“You pay that much?”

“Didn’t you say it was hard to climb the mountain these days because of the Imugi? I must naturally take care of the danger pay.”

“Heoheo, are you also a person of the Jegal family like them? The Jegal family doesn’t buy like this?”

“Then how do they buy?”

“Hmph! They tell me to give it at a cheaper price than handing it over to the merchant group since they are buying it at the production site.”

“Haha, I see. I am not a person of the Jegal family.”

“Then?”

“I am a disciple of Tae-eul-mun.”

“Ueum, Tae-eul, Tae-eul. I haven’t heard of it, but it feels like the basics are very well established just from the name.”

The faces of the Jegal Clan warriors turned red as they transformed into ferocious hyungsin-aksal (evil spirits).

On the way back to the village.

“Senior Brother, I will go and make sure that no more words insulting the Jegal family come out of that old man’s snout.”

“…….”

The mood of the Jegal Clan warriors was exceedingly uncomfortable.

I blocked the front of him, who looked like he would run after the herb gatherer at any moment.

“Did the Supreme Elder tell you to interfere with my work?”

“What are you talking about?”

“If not, is it natural in the Jegal Clan to ignore the people around you?”

The older warrior frowned.

“They are people who live on the merit of the Jegal Clan. Yet they do not know that grace. Do you think it is appropriate to treat such people well?”

“You are mistaken about something. No human can live alone. As much as the Jegal Clan gives benefits to people, people also give benefits to the Jegal Clan.”

“Hmph. How can they give benefits to the Jegal Clan, you say? Can you prove that statement?”

“I am trying to do just that right now.”

Jegal Hyeon-un visited the Geum-ok after a long time.

It was a place he didn’t visit unless it was special, due to the eyes of the Elder Hall and the people of the clan, and especially because Jegal-jeong, the Supreme Elder, was displeased.

“Cheon-gi. Are you there?”

A moment later, a thumping sound was heard.

It was certain that he was studying or researching something again.

Among the three children, Cheon-gi was definitely the talent that suited the Jegal Clan.

He learned to read characters by himself, liked books more than toys, and had skipped meals several times to study.

He had even thought that perhaps it would be Cheon-gi who would lead the Jegal Clan in the future.

-Yes, Father. Have you come?

Cheon-gi’s voice was heard from beyond the door.

“Have you eaten?”

-Yes. I have eaten.

“What were you doing?”

-I was studying.

“What kind of study?”

-…….

Seeing that he could not answer, it was certain that he was studying Gigwan-jin-sik (Mechanism Formation) again.

This point always made Jegal Hyeon-un feel sorry.

“Were you researching Gigwan-jin-sik again?”

-……I am sorry. Father.

“Is it that good?”

-……I think it is a necessary task.

“Why?”

-The Gimunjinbeop (Formation technique) requires enormous wealth, and it is difficult to maintain. However, once Gigwan-jin-sik is installed, it does not break easily and is easy to manage.

This was the reason why the Jegal Clan locked Jegal Cheon-gi in the Geum-ok.

It had already been 2 years. It must be quite frustrating inside, but Jegal Cheon-gi had a stronger stubbornness than the elders of the Elder Hall.

-Uhm, Father.

“Why?”

-……I heard that a guest came to see me.

A voice filled with excitement that could not be hidden.

He must not have been able to hide his joy at the story that someone had come to find him, who had never been recognized by anyone in his life.

“……Hoo. You must have heard it from Yeong-yeong?”

-I am sorry. I told her not to come like that.

“It is fine. You won’t be able to meet him anyway.”

-Yes?!

Jegal Hyeon-un worried about how to tell this story, but then calmly told him what had happened.

That way, Jegal Cheon-gi would be able to give up quickly.

-Th, that, what do you mean? Father! A Cheolgap-heungmang-daesa!

Clatter, clatter.

It shook as if the door would open at any moment.

“Don’t worry. That’s why I deliberately assigned Yeong-yeong to him. You shouldn’t die if you want to have even a short conversation, right?”

-Ah, Father. This is not it. Please send warriors quickly to help the Great Hero.

“Didn’t you hear the condition earlier? Didn’t they say it would be a failure if he received help from a warrior?”

-But…….

“Even if a dangerous situation occurs, Yeong-yeong will save him well. So be self-restrained.”

-Father!

Jegal Hyeon-un left Jegal Cheon-gi, who was calling him desperately, and headed to the office.

“Hmm?”

The inside of the clan was quite noisily stirring.

Warriors were packing their weapons, and sorcerers were packing their tools.

In addition, they were checking large umbrellas to block the shade and horse saddles.

“Ah! Clan Leader! You were here.”

A passing General Manager approached.

“What is going on?”

“The Supreme Elder says he will climb Geummok Mountain tomorrow.”

“Geummok Mountain?”

“He said he doubts whether the young man of Tae-eul-mun is taking the test properly.”

“What does that mean?”

“The warriors who went out for surveillance said that the young man just walked around the village here and there, then went into the inn, ate, and is resting.”

“Heo…….”

“The Supreme Elder said he was suspicious, so he said he would move with the elders.”

Jegal Hyeon-un let out a bitter laugh.

It was certain that the timid old man could not bear his curiosity, having been insulted by the young Jin-so-un and seeing strange behavior.

But he still thought it was a bit much to have even prepared the sorcerers.

How much is the worth of one sorcerer, yet he is using them for his personal outing?

“Perhaps he is worried that the Cheolgap-heungmang-daesa might attack him.”

“Yes?”

Jegal Hyeon-un said to the General Manager.

“Tell them I will join as well.”

“Yes?”

“I also became curious about how that young man will try to catch the Cheolgap-heungmang-daesa.”

In the morning, after leaving the inn, I headed to the hunter’s house.

Although I did not tell the people of the Jegal Clan separately, they were following me closely before I knew it.

“Have you come?”

“Heo!”

Eight wild boars were already placed in the hunter’s yard.

“Did you catch all of this in one day?”

“To catch this, all the neighborhood hunters searched the mountain all night.”

“That is amazing. By any chance, is there anyone who caught five?”

“Not yet.”

“That is a pity.”

“Please wait a little longer. We plan to catch two more within the day.”

It looked like this hairy hunter had caught three out of the eight.

“I will look forward to it.”

“Oh, right, and at dawn, Elder Gang left the medicinal herbs.”

“Is that it?”

“Yes. He says he will bring the rest a little later.”

I looked at the medicinal herbs piled up in bundles on one side.

“Where do you intend to use all of this?”

“You can lend me the yard, right?”

“As much as you want.”

After some time passed, the pots borrowed from the inn and restaurant were lined up in the hunter’s yard.

Then, after pouring one bundle of medicinal herbs into each pot, I put in firewood and started boiling water.

The hunter went back up the mountain saying he would check the traps he had set all night, and I gave ten nyang of coins to the servers who had brought the pots and made them watch the fire.

In the meantime, I slit the belly of one wild boar and took out all the internal organs.

“What are you doing?”

The herb gatherer old man came with the rest of the medicinal herbs on a cart.

“Medicinal herbs have efficacy when steamed, do they not?”

“But where on earth do you boil herbs so ignorantly like that? For whom to eat?”

“It is not for humans to eat.”

“Then?”

“The Imugi will eat it.”

“What?”

The herb gatherer old man’s mouth fell wide open.

“You are going to feed those herbs to that Imugi guy? Are you in your right mind? That guy is a guy who eats people.”

“Please do not misunderstand. I am trying to feed the herbs to catch the Imugi.”

“You are going to catch the Imugi with these things?”

“Yes.”

After saying that, I threw away the water from the boiled pots, took out the herbs that had become mushy inside, and stuffed them full into the belly of the wild boar whose internal organs had been emptied.

Then I used silk thread and a needle to sew up the wild boar’s belly.

“What is this smell? Is someone sick?”

“Oh my, what are those wild boars for again.”

“I heard that yesterday someone promised to give three nyang of silver per wild boar. So all the men in the village have gone up the mountain now.”

“It seems all those wild boars are here.”

People who smelled it and came to find it started to gather at the hunter’s house one by one.

The interesting thing was that among them, there was no one who feared or was scared of the Jegal Clan warriors.

Rather, they were treating the warriors with contemptuous attitudes and ignoring gazes.

“That person there is going to catch the Imugi.”

As one server who was adjusting the fire said, the buzzing among the people became very loud.

“What does that mean? Catching the Imugi?”

“They say that if you do this, you can catch the Imugi.”

“Really?”

“Ayy, it’s a lie, can that guy do it alone when even the Jegal Clan can’t step up easily?”

The voices of the buzzing people grew louder and louder, and in the end, they started looking with suspicious eyes.

“Excuse me. Is it true that you intend to catch the Imugi?”

“That is correct.”

“How?”

“I will let you know, so could you please help me a little?”

“……Hmm. What should I help with?”

The middle-aged man who was looking with eyes full of distrust approached hesitantly.

“You just have to fill the inside of the wild boar with the boiled herbs like I did.”

“Is that the end?”

“Yes.”

The middle-aged man, who had been half-doubting, eventually started helping with the work.

Then people started to step up one by one.

“Oh my, if you sew the belly like this, the herbs will all pop out. Move aside.”

“Even if you scrape out the internal organs, you have to leave some flesh. Isn’t this to feed the Imugi?”

“That is correct.”

That was how people started helping with the work one by one, and at the same time, newly hunted wild boars arrived.

There were some that were alive, and some that were dead, bleeding.

How hard they must have hunted. There were as many as twenty-five wild boars.

“Do not kill the live ones, and please take the dead ones separately.”

I paid for the wild boars on the spot, and in addition, I handed out one silver coin each to the people who helped with the work.

As people gathered and it became noisy, all the people in the village started to gather one by one while going out to work.

When nearly two hundred people had gathered like that. Someone shouted loudly.

“It’s the Jegal Clan!”

The people who had been working excitedly as if they were holding a feast stopped and looked to one side as if the music had stopped.

The Jegal Clan appeared in flashy attire, including warriors and sorcerers.

The people avoided them as if they didn’t want to associate with them and made space.

“What is this doing?”

“We are preparing to catch the Imugi.”

“I clearly said that help from others would not be allowed.”

“Didn’t you say it didn’t matter as long as I didn’t receive help from warriors and hunters?”

“…….”

“By any chance, are you worried that I will catch the Cheolgap-heungmang-daesa with the help of powerless people?”

“Khu-hum…….”

“But what brings you here? If you wait, wouldn’t I catch it and bring it to you?”

“It was so suspicious that I came in person to check.”

“You are very suspicious as well.”

When the work was completed, I borrowed the village’s cart and started climbing Geummok Mountain with the wild boars.

Not only the people of the Jegal Clan but also the village people were all following.

“W, what is this?”

Village Chief Heo and the slash-and-burn farmers who were living on Geummok Mountain had dumbfounded expressions.

“I am going to catch the Imugi from now on.”

“The Imugi? Are the Jegal Clan finally stepping up?”

At that moment, the herb gatherer old man shouted.

“What Jegal Clan, those guys just came to watch.”

“Then…… who?”

“I will catch it.”

“Y, you, warrior?”

“Yes.”

“But warrior…… that Imugi is…….”

“It is fine. I know everything, so you don’t have to tell me. Instead, could you help me a little?”

“O, how should I help you?”

“Please evacuate all the village people.”

“……?”

“Then from this evening, you don’t have to be afraid of being eaten by the Imugi.”

I drove the people of the Jegal Clan and the village people out of the slash-and-burn village.

In the empty village, only twenty dead wild boars and five wild boars tied to ropes and crying remained.

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to move aside too? The Cheolgap-heungmang-daesa is very ferocious.”

When I spoke to Yeong-yeong hiding on the roof, her gi was disrupted for a moment.

-There was an order from the Clan Leader to protect the Young Master.

“You don’t have to.”

I nodded like that, approached one wild boar, grabbed the leash, and slit its throat.

Kueeeek!

Because it didn’t end its life properly, the wild boar bled everywhere and screamed.

As I slit the throats of two wild boars in succession, the remaining two started screaming as if they would die, and as that sound continued, the forest finally started to shake.

Purururuk.

Flocks of birds flew into the sky flapping their wings.

The giant trees of the forest shaking little by little.

That shaking was slowly heading toward the village.

The reason I deliberately made the slash-and-burn village the guy’s hunting ground was because the guy had already marked the slash-and-burn village as a place with prey.

“Come.”

Durururuk.

The moment the giant tremor was felt at the tips of my toes. I also performed the Gwisik-haengbo (Ghost-Breathing Footwork) and erased my tracks.

Then, a moment later, the Cheolgap-heungmang-daesa with a giant body appeared, splitting the forest.

Sweeek.

It opened its mouth as big as a house and made a sound, but didn’t it hit my ears and even ring my head? I quickly covered my ears with both hands.

Durururuk.

A giant body reaching 20 jang, a hard shell that scraped the floor every time it moved.

I was fed up with the majesty of the Cheolgap-heungmang-daesa that I had only heard of.

‘They told me to catch that thing with just a sword, so that’s why people were being torn apart like that.’

The guy looked here and there and briefly stared at the house where Yeong-yeong was. The guy had sensed Yeong-yeong’s presence.

While I was agonizing over whether to step out or not, fortunately, the guy turned his head back and started to slowly approach the wild boars.

Then, it bit to death the wild boar that was struggling as if it would go crazy at the appearance of the Cheolgap-heungmang-daesa and swallowed it in one bite.

Even though it was a wild boar, its size was quite large, but as it entered the mouth of the Cheolgap-heungmang-daesa, it disappeared without a trace.

The guy didn’t seem to have satisfied his appetite yet, so he bit and put the very next wild boar and the dead wild boar into his mouth at the same time.

From then on, there was no hesitation, the guy started devouring the wild boars without rest like a beggar who had received a feast.

And the moment he was about to return to his nest again.

Sweeek.

The guy started to make a sound and was in pain.

Then, didn’t it gulp its neck to spit out the wild boar it had just swallowed?

I jumped forward without delay and threw the stone I had prepared at the guy.

Thud.

Recognizing my existence along with the stone, the guy started rushing in an instant.

Dudududududuk. Crack. Crack.

Every time the Cheolgap-heungmang-daesa moved roughly, the crudely built buildings of the slash-and-burn farmers collapsed without a trace.

After a short time of chasing and being chased, the guy judged that he could not follow the speed of the Cheonha-dokhaeng-sin at all, so he tried to spit out the wild boars in his belly again.

And I turned my direction straight away and poured the Manhwa-mujeok-gwon at the guy’s lower jaw.

Pu-pu-pu-pu-puk.

I couldn’t give any wounds to the guy’s skin, but I still made him close his mouth.

Again, time passed chasing and being chased, and the guy’s body started to slow down slowly.

Keuk, keuk.

A look of wanting to spit something out but absolutely unable to spit it out.

Keeeeek.

Red blood poured out between the closed mouths.

Evidence that the wild boar swallowed whole was slowly melting and the medicinal herbs started to mix.

Keeeeek! Keeeeek!

Every time the guy tried to vomit, I persistently stuck to him and kept him from spitting it out.

A moment later, like that.

Thud.

The giant body collapsed and there was no more movement.

‘It is time.’

I approached the guy straight away and activated the Cheongnyong-hwan.

There was no inner core, but the guy had lived while harboring spiritual energy in his body. Moreover, didn’t the Cheongnyong-hwan easily detoxify even the poison of the Inmyeon-jiju (Human-Faced Spider)? The guy’s spiritual energy and poison would also be good nutrients for me.

When I was covering my wrist and absorbing the guy’s energy because there was no Biryong-jo.

People who had been watching breathlessly from outside the village started to approach, one by one.

“D, did you really catch it?”

“Y, you caught it this easily?”

“Ayy, no way.”

People who had been afraid to approach also started to approach one by one, seeing me touching the Cheolgap-heungmang-daesa.

“It’s really dead?”

“The damn Imugi is dead!”

“The Imugi is dead!”

“The warrior really caught the Imugi!”

“The young warrior caught the Imugi alone!”

Starting with the people who confirmed the death of the Cheolgap-heungmang-daesa, people shouted until Geummok Mountain left, without distinguishing between village people and slash-and-burn village people.

“Waaaaah!”

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