Wudang Sacred Scriptures

Chapter 217

After Poyang Thousand-Moon Saber Bae Ho-cheol, Society Leader of the Black Moon Society, left, Chwi Dugae opened the money pouch and screwed up his face.

“Huh! Why is there this much?”

He had expected it to be fairly stuffed since the pouch was heavy, but ten taels of gold, of all things.

“That black-path bastard Society Leader Bae, so this is why he dragged his feet so damn much. Damn it!”

Kwak Yeon was also surprised by the large sum of ten taels of gold.

Still, it was hardly something to get annoyed about, was it?

“Brother, isn’t it better than being short?”

“Of course it’s better than falling short. It’s just that even after compensating the owner here, there will be far too much left over.”

Kwak Yeon realized that Chwi Dugae was feeling burdened by the money being more than he had expected.

For a beggar who took being penniless as a creed, it was only natural.

“Then call Society Leader Bae back and return it to him.”

“That won’t do.”

Chwi Dugae shook his head sharply.

“That will be money he amassed by doing dirty deeds, and it’s something he brought out as payment for his sins.”

Looking at Chwi Dugae, whose expression was still sour, Kwak Yeon spoke.

“Brother, then let’s use the extra money for something good. Like building another Taoist temple, for example.”

At the word “temple,” Chwi Dugae made a horrified face.

“Don’t even start. If I build one more Taoist temple, my master will cut ties with me completely.”

“In that case, just carry it around for now. Traveling the martial world, you end up finding more uses for money than you’d think.”

“Let’s do that.”

Nodding, Chwi Dugae pushed the money pouch toward Kwak Yeon.

“You keep this.”

“......?”

“It’s money that came about because of you anyway, isn’t it? And if I keep so much as a single piece of metal on my body, it makes my skin crawl.”

Kwak Yeon nodded toward Chwi Dugae, whose very nature was that of a beggar.

“Then I, as your younger brother, will look after it.”

Receiving the money pouch, Kwak Yeon called out to the restaurant owner, who was sitting blankly at the counter.

After the Black Moon Society men had left and he had returned to the restaurant, the owner had done nothing but sigh.

“I don’t know if this will be enough to make up for everything.”

When Kwak Yeon took out one gleaming gold tael and handed it over, the owner jumped in shock.

“Oh my, it more than suffices. But why would you, Great Hero...?”

Since it was almost unheard of for martial-world folk to cause a disturbance and then actually compensate for it, the owner was all the more astonished.

“The damage arose because of me, so it’s only right that I compensate you.”

The owner bent his back and bowed deeply.

“Great Hero! I truly thank you! Thank you.”

“Would it be all right if we stayed a little longer before we leave?”

Why would that be any problem?

A single tael of gold would more than cover the damage to the broken items, and even after deducting the cost of the food that other customers hadn’t paid for, at least half would remain.

“You can stay all night if you like.”

Once the owner, whose face had been on the verge of tears, turned back with the look of a man who had struck it rich, Chwi Dugae straightened his posture.

Now that everything around them had been tidied up, it was time to question why they had let the great demon head Black-Yin Demon God of Ghost Night Castle walk away unscathed.

“Brother Kwak, why did you spare that man?”

Having asked point-blank, Chwi Dugae continued speaking without waiting for an answer.

“It wasn’t because you wanted to avoid a fight with the Ghost Night Castle people who showed up afterward, was it.”

Kwak Yeon nodded.

“It is true that if they had chosen to attack, I intended to stand against them.”

“Then are you saying you let him go because of that absurd request from the one in the black hat?”

Kwak Yeon shook his head.

“That’s not it. Hearing that person’s plea did make me think a little, but that was all.”

“What were you thinking?”

“It was a thought too vague to put a finger on precisely. Only that it seems they have something going on.”

“......?”

“At any rate, letting the Chief Protector go was entirely my own decision.”

At those words, Chwi Dugae grew even more puzzled and asked.

“Then what on earth was going through your mind that you didn’t kill him?”

“I couldn’t find a reason to kill him.”

“What?”

Flabbergasted, Chwi Dugae blurted out.

“He tried to kill you. Just that alone is reason enough for him to—”

“Brother.”

Cutting him off, Kwak Yeon asked in return.

“In the martial world, must we kill everyone who tries to kill us?”

“Well, that’s...”

For a moment, Chwi Dugae’s thinking halted.

If you kill without exception anyone who tries to kill you, that is no different from the demonic path.

“...No, that’s not so, but that Black-Yin Demon God is the great demon head of Ghost Night Castle, one of the Demonic Eight Divisions. Countless orthodox martial artists have died at his hands.”

“If killing orthodox martial artists is a crime, then I too would be someone who deserves to die.”

“......!”

Once again, Chwi Dugae was at a loss for words.

It was because he remembered that Kwak Yeon had killed the Coiled Dragon Divine Sword of the Jegal Family.

While Chwi Dugae was at a loss for what to say, Kwak Yeon quietly spoke to him.

“I was being extreme in my wording, but in truth, I have doubts when it comes to the business of cutting down demonic-path men.”

“What kind of doubts do you mean?”

“If a demonic-path man bore a grudge against some orthodox person and took revenge, then is it right for that demonic-path man to be punished just because the other party is orthodox? That is what I’m asking.”

At that question, Chwi Dugae deeply sympathized.

It was a doubt anyone stepping into the martial world for the first time would have.

He himself had once held that very doubt.

“If a demonic-path man is paying back a grudge, then in truth, it’s not something others can meddle in. Bearing the gratitude and resentment that follow one’s own actions is the fate of a martial-world man.”

Thus, Kwak Yeon had walked a hard road, and would have to endure an even harsher journey ahead.

“But, Brother Kwak, once you gain a bit more experience in the martial world, you’ll come to see it too. The actions of demonic-path men are actually not so easy to clearly sort out. And besides, demonic-path men harbor a grudge against orthodox martial artists that runs down to the bone.”

“I also know that the entangled resentments between the orthodox martial world and the demonic path are not simple.”

Nodding at Chwi Dugae’s words, Kwak Yeon continued calmly.

“At any rate, if I had known for a fact that the Chief Protector had committed atrocities, I would not have hesitated to kill him. But I did not know what kind of evil he had actually committed.”

“......”

“I did not wish to kill him based solely on the guess that he must have done evil.”

When he had been harried by the assistant instructors who had tried to drive him out of the training hall on suspicion alone, Kwak Yeon had vowed to himself that he would never become like that.

After he began learning martial arts, he thought all the more that he must be cautious in his judgment.

Death did not ruin only the one who died.

It damaged that person’s family and kin, and it wounded the very hand that swung the blade as well.

“To walk the path of chivalrous righteousness is to take up the double-edged blade called martial arts and tread a narrow road with thousand-zhang cliffs on both sides. That is why one must not grow lax in training the heart.”

Recalling what Hyeonhae Taoist had repeatedly exhorted him with when sending him out into the martial world, Kwak Yeon turned to Chwi Dugae and asked.

“Is my way of thinking wrong?”

Looking into Kwak Yeon’s deep gaze, Chwi Dugae let out a low sigh.

“No. In truth, that is the right way to put it.”

Looking at Kwak Yeon, Chwi Dugae had always thought he seemed like an old man before his time.

He had never known why, but only today did he clearly understand the reason.

His thoughts run deep.

No, there was something even more primordial than that in Kwak Yeon.

From that origin sprang both these deep thoughts and his meddlesome concern for others.

Chwi Dugae felt he knew what that origin was.

That was why he had been drawn to this Dark Cavern Taoist, and why he always found himself anxiously cheering him on.

They say that when roots run deep, a tree grows tall.

That was why Brother Kwak had reached such a realm at such a young age.

“You vulgar bastard who sees only what lies right in front of your nose!”

He now felt he understood why his master had cursed him like that when he had demanded to know why he had no progress despite training himself half to death.

Resolving to take Kwak Yeon as a stone from another mountain, Chwi Dugae suddenly felt ashamed of himself for having wasted his days envying and begrudging others’ realms instead of doing the work.

“Brother Kwak, it’s a bit embarrassing to say this, but...”

Blushing slightly, Chwi Dugae went on.

“Maybe it’s because I heard so many stories that made me sick of the Demonic Eight Divisions, but I must have gone in with prejudice. And it’ll sound like an excuse, but there was also what happened at Huayang Temple.”

At Chwi Dugae’s frank confession, Kwak Yeon felt a little embarrassed yet also glad.

It was because, for anything, he could lay it all out and Chwi Dugae would listen without strain.

“Brother, it’s only my own thought, but it seemed to me that the madmen of Huayang Temple and the man just now were unrelated. That was why I all the more found myself refraining from using the sword.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“The self-destructive art the Chief Protector used at the end was not an evil sorcery. It was a demonic art that explosively released one’s inner power all at once in a destructive way, that much is true.”

“I did feel that it was of a different grain from the madmen’s heretical techniques.”

Nodding, Chwi Dugae suddenly brightened his eyes.

“You heard something from that black-hatted one, didn’t you?”

“......!”

“When I saw you suddenly turn your head toward that person, I was half-sure. I thought that black-hatted one had sent you a Sound Transmission.”

Kwak Yeon smiled faintly.

“I see I can’t slip past Brother’s instincts.”

“It’s not that my instincts are good, it’s that your expression is too honest. You suddenly popped your eyes open like that—sitting right in front of you, how could I not notice?”

Putting on a sly air, Chwi Dugae asked with eyes full of expectation.

“So, what did that person say?”

“They said they would surely repay today’s favor.”

“Huh, why go to the trouble of sending a Sound Transmission for something like that.”

Disappointment clouded Chwi Dugae’s face.

“Just from seeing that black veil over the face, I’d figured they were a frivolous one, but to think they were such a petty wretch of the demonic path that they couldn’t even say a simple thank-you out loud.”

While Chwi Dugae was grumbling, Kwak Yeon, having confirmed that no one but them remained in the restaurant, spoke quietly.

“Brother, there was another reason they used Sound Transmission.”

“Yeah? Another reason?”

Sensing how cautious Kwak Yeon was being, Chwi Dugae leaned in and pricked up his ears.

“What was it?”

“They identified themself as the Young Castle Lord of Ghost Night Castle.”

Chwi Dugae’s eyes flew wide open.

“The... Young Castle Lord?”

After flinching, Chwi Dugae nodded.

“In that case, I can understand why they spoke by Sound Transmission. And why they disguised their voice and covered their face.”

“Is there some particular reason the Young Castle Lord of Ghost Night Castle hides that identity so thoroughly? It seemed to go beyond simply maintaining security befitting a precious figure of the Demonic Eight Divisions.”

At Kwak Yeon’s question, Chwi Dugae answered at once.

“There is, of course.”

“......”

“All that’s known is that Ghost Night Castle has a Young Castle Lord. Beyond that, nothing at all.”

Kwak Yeon found it strange that even a Hu Gae of the Beggar Clan, the greatest intelligence organization under heaven, knew nothing beyond that.

“......?”

Reading the puzzlement in Kwak Yeon’s eyes, Chwi Dugae hurriedly continued.

“After the Great Upheaval of the Eight Desolations, the pursuit of the Demonic Eight Divisions’ remnants by martial-world men was fierce. From that time on, Ghost Night Castle has been taking such top-secret measures to ensure the safety of the Castle Lord’s direct line, or so I’ve heard.”

Only then did Kwak Yeon understand.

“If they have been that cautious about security from within Ghost Night Castle itself, then it’s only natural they’d maintain that outside as well.”

“Exactly. All the more so when the martial world is crawling with people who shake at the very mention of the Demonic Eight Divisions... Wait.”

Chwi Dugae faintly knit his brows.

“Come to think of it, why is the Young Castle Lord of Ghost Night Castle out in the martial world?”

His question was only natural.

The direct line of the Castle Lord, whom the demon heads of Ghost Night Castle cherished more dearly than their own lives—among them, the Young Castle Lord, beyond doubt the direct line of lines—being sent outside the stronghold with only a handful of escorts made no sense.

If word got out that the Young Castle Lord of Ghost Night Castle was roaming the martial world, the central plains martial world would be turned upside down.

Those doubts, which kept biting at each other’s tails, finally led back to Kwak Yeon.

Why did that Young Castle Lord reveal such an utterly secret identity to Brother Kwak?

Even if it was spoken by Sound Transmission so only the person concerned could hear.

The notion that they had blurted out their status out of gratitude for sparing Chief Protector Black-Yin Demon God made even less sense.