Wudang Sacred Scriptures

Hu Gae glared at Kwak Yeon and delivered what he thought was a decisive blow.

“Brother Kwak, no matter how happy you were to see them, what were you doing running around all night like children?”

Kwak Yeon knew very well that Hu Gae was using that as an excuse despite knowing Kwak Yeon had spent the night teaching martial arts to his Hall of Heroic Martiality classmates, so he asked abruptly,

“Brother, did you truly lose sleep because of the noise we made in the courtyard?”

“Of course I did.”

“I was under the impression that you did not sleep because you were drinking.”

“What...?”

“I saw the serving boy carrying whole jars of liquor to your room several times.”

“That was because it was too noisy outside and I couldn’t sleep... so I had no choice but to drink. Ahem!”

Hu Gae cleared his throat and stuck his head out the carriage window. Then he shouted a question to the Martial Alliance patrol warriors following the carriage.

“You there, how much farther to the Martial Alliance headquarters?”

CLATTER! CLATTER!

The captain of the Martial Alliance patrol rode closer and answered.

“Hu Gae, roughly two li remain.”

“Huh. We’ve already come that far?”

Hu Gae continued with a regretful expression.

“I was thinking of stopping by a tavern on the way and wetting the throats of all you hardworking men.”

“Hu Gae, we are grateful for the thought alone.”

“Tsk! The Hocheon Unit Lord sent us this carriage and even assigned an escort like this, yet I’ve been thoughtless. I have no face.”

“Hu Gae, we are also carrying out our regular patrol duties, so there is no need for you to worry about it. If you have nothing more to ask, I will return to my position.”

When the patrol captain turned his horse’s head and returned to the patrol formation, Hu Gae had no choice but to pull back the head he had stuck out the window.

“Brother Kwak, you should have stopped the carriage for a bit along the way at least. If a man takes being treated well for granted, people call him heartless.”

Kwak Yeon lightly shook his head at Hu Gae’s transparently obvious words and turned his gaze out the carriage window.

If he responded for no reason, Hu Gae would clearly insist he needed a hangover drink.

Damn it, it takes two hands clapping to make a sound.

Hu Gae felt awkward for no reason and looked around the carriage.

He wished Jin Cheongha would come back inside the carriage, but there was no word from the driver’s bench.

What’s so good about a carriage with nothing but two black-haired men inside? And one of them is just sitting there like a sack of borrowed barley.

Restless from sitting around with nothing to do, Hu Gae had no choice but to turn his gaze back toward the sack of borrowed barley.

“......?”

When Hu Gae saw Kwak Yeon lost in thought, he asked abruptly,

“Brother Kwak, are you worried about something?”

Kwak Yeon turned his gaze from outside the window and looked at Hu Gae.

“Not particularly.”

“Then why do you look like that? I doubt you’re upset about the cost of the liquor I drank.”

“......”

“Tell me honestly what you’re thinking about.”

At Hu Gae’s serious question, Kwak Yeon nodded lightly.

“I cannot fool your eyes, Brother.”

“Your insides are just that transparent. It’s not that I’m especially quick-witted. Anyway, say it.”

Kwak Yeon had been curious about Myung Jincheon since meeting him yesterday, so he asked,

“Do you know anything about the Hocheon Unit Lord?”

Hu Gae asked back with a puzzled look.

“Why are you suddenly asking about Unit Lord Myung?”

“I crossed paths with him yesterday when he came to greet Martial Uncle Uncheon, and for some reason, he seemed to have complicated feelings.”

“You sensed something from Unit Lord Myung, didn’t you?”

Hu Gae asked because he knew Kwak Yeon sometimes saw straight through people’s hearts.

“When I faced him yesterday, it felt as though I were facing a honed blade. I was wondering why I felt that way.”

“Didn’t I already tell you, when we met Unit Lord Myung at Aju City’s east gate, that he was an extremely cold person?”

Kwak Yeon nodded.

“I heard you say that, Brother, so I simply assumed that must be why. But the Hocheon Unit Lord’s original nature did not seem to be that way, and that kept feeling wrong.”

“......?”

When Hu Gae stared blankly, Kwak Yeon continued.

“The Hocheon Unit Lord was sincerely grateful for the safety of Aju Prefecture’s residents, and even today, he sent us a carriage and an escort, did he not?”

Hu Gae nodded.

“The Hocheon Unit Lord is cold on the outside, but his nature itself is truly humane and righteous.”

“That is why I was curious. I wondered why the Hocheon Unit Lord does not act comfortably according to his original nature.”

Hu Gae was silent for a moment before he said,

“That is because Unit Lord Myung has a painful wound.”

Kwak Yeon had expected as much, so he quietly listened.

“Unit Lord Myung’s family, the Myung Clan Manor, was a prestigious martial family of Hubei Province. During the Eight Desolations Upheaval, the Clan Master, his elder brother, and their retainers were all killed, so the family collapsed. After that, Unit Lord Myung devoted himself to the Martial Alliance and found his place there.”

“......!”

“He went through a major event where he lost most of his family all at once and even his clan collapsed, so it’s only natural that his personality turned cold.”

The moment Kwak Yeon heard Hu Gae’s words, a corner of his chest twitched.

“That tragedy of the Myung Clan Manor had some connection to the Wudang Sect, didn’t it?”

Hu Gae flinched.

“How did you know that?”

“I saw you hesitate before answering, Brother, and guessed it might be so.”

Kwak Yeon had no particular way to explain the chill the Hocheon Unit Lord Myung Jincheon had shown in front of the moon gate, so he used Hu Gae’s momentary hesitation as an excuse.

Completely unaware of that, Hu Gae exclaimed,

“Huh! The more I see that sharp intuition of yours, the more astonishing it is.”

As a member of Mount Wudang, Kwak Yeon felt sorry toward the Hocheon Unit Lord and asked,

“Would you tell me what happened at the Myung Clan Manor during the Eight Desolations Upheaval?”

“All I know is a few words I heard from my master. I was young at the time, so I did not participate.”

“Please tell me what you know, at least. Though I cannot represent Mount Wudang, if the opportunity comes, I would like to convey even a small apology to the Hocheon Unit Lord.”

Hu Gae looked at Kwak Yeon with eyes full of admiration.

“Brother Kwak, you really are remarkable.”

“......?”

“Even after being treated like that, you still think of Mount Wudang with such absolute sincerity. If it were me, I would have run out at once and refused even to piss in that direction.”

Kwak Yeon could tell that Hu Gae had heard about his past from his Hall of Heroic Martiality classmates.

By filling them with liquor and egging them on, no less.

When Hu Gae saw Kwak Yeon’s face twist, he hurriedly said,

“I only heard that the Myung Clan Manor suffered that disaster while moving under the Wudang Sect’s command at the time. My master did not say any more, so I do not know beyond that.”

Kwak Yeon had to be satisfied with learning even that much.

In any case, he had learned the source of the cold chill inside the Hocheon Unit Lord’s heart.

His curiosity had been resolved, but in its place, a heavy tightness settled in him.

Even if it was a tragedy that occurred in the midst of fierce fighting, he could not imagine the size of the pain that came from having one’s family die and one’s clan collapse.

Kwak Yeon was trying to fathom the pain of Hocheon Unit Lord Myung Jincheon when Hu Gae spoke.

“By the way, Brother Kwak, what will you do after we arrive at the Martial Alliance headquarters?”

At Hu Gae’s question, Kwak Yeon returned to the immediate problem before his eyes.

“First, I think I should meet Elder Begs-for-All, then decide what to do afterward.”

He had a premonition that the madmen in the Demonic Eight Divisions might be one corner of the evil aura, but he could not be certain yet.

Only after meeting Elder Begs-for-All and finding out news of the Supreme Patriarch could he judge anything.

“Then we may have to part ways at the Martial Alliance.”

Hu Gae’s heavy voice was filled with regret.

Because of the order from his master, Beggar Clan Leader Yongdu, Hu Gae was completely tied to the Martial Alliance.

Sensing Hu Gae’s regret, Kwak Yeon changed the subject.

“Brother, we will soon arrive at the Martial Alliance headquarters. How do you think the Martial Alliance will react after hearing about the madmen of Huayang Temple?”

“What do you think the Martial Alliance will do?”

“I do not think the Martial Alliance will stop the campaign against the Demonic Eight Divisions because of it.”

“I think so too.”

Hu Gae nodded readily and continued.

“It’s difficult to stop a carriage that has already begun rolling.”

Kwak Yeon thought that expression fit the Martial Alliance’s current situation exactly.

“Still, it is fortunate that they will be able to prepare for it. If the Martial Alliance’s punitive force had faced the Demonic Eight Divisions without knowing about such a thing, the result would have been very grim.”

At the sound of Hu Gae’s heavy sigh, silence settled inside the carriage.

CLATTER! CLATTER!

The sound of the carriage wheels grew louder and louder.

“Sub-Branch Master!”

Jin Cheongha’s excited voice came from the driver’s bench.

“I can see the Martial Alliance headquarters ahead!”

A little while later, as the carriage rounded the hillside road, even those inside the carriage could see the Martial Alliance headquarters through the window.

A massive fortress loomed in majesty atop a rocky mountain jutting out toward the Yangtze River.

Its scale was so enormous that Wuhan Prefectural City, faintly visible across the Yangtze, looked shabby by comparison.

“Brother Kwak, how is it now that you’re seeing it yourself?”

“As you said, Brother, it truly is vast and magnificent.”

“Of course it is.”

Hu Gae nodded.

“It is the place that symbolizes several centuries of history for the orthodox martial world.”

The rocky mountain where the Martial Alliance headquarters stood, Dragon-Quelling Hill, was the point where the Yangtze River’s current, which flowed down from the northeast, turned toward the southeast.

“Brother Kwak, the Yangtze’s direction is not the only thing that turns at Dragon-Quelling Hill. The Yangtze, which flows fiercely before that point, slows sharply once it passes Dragon-Quelling Hill.”

Hu Gae’s lengthy explanation began from there.

“That is why Dragon-Quelling Hill is the terminus for the flat-bottomed boats that come upstream from the lower Yangtze, and the starting point for the deep-keeled boats that go up to the upper Yangtze. To push against the rough currents of the upper Yangtze, it’s difficult unless the boat has a keel.”

As Kwak Yeon listened to Hu Gae’s fluent explanation, he felt anew that Hu Gae was the Sub-Branch Master of the Beggar Clan.

To one day lead the greatest clan under heaven, a person had to be that knowledgeable.

“...For that reason, because the Yangtze’s logistics cross here, Wuhan Prefectural City is called the center of the Central Plains.”

Thanks to Hu Gae’s extensive explanation, Kwak Yeon understood why the Martial Alliance had established itself at Dragon-Quelling Hill.

There could be no location better than Dragon-Quelling Hill for moving as quickly as possible anywhere beneath the heavens of the Central Plains.

To Kwak Yeon’s eyes, the massive fortress crouched atop the rocky mountain and the dozens of towers soaring high as if competing with it looked like the ambitions of the orthodox martial artists.

*****

“Grand Strategist, what happened with the senior leaders’ council?”

At Left Military Strategist Yong Baekcheon’s question, Grand Strategist Sagong Ui let out a low sigh.

“No conclusion was reached in today’s meeting either.”

“That is a serious problem. The Wudang Sect’s main force is said to arrive tomorrow.”

“Exactly. What can we do when none of the commanders of the eight corps will yield?”

Grand Strategist Sagong Ui fanned himself with his crane-feather fan as though his insides were burning.

SWISH.

The heavy air of the Grand Strategist’s hall stirred, and it seemed to let them breathe a little.

Left Military Strategist Yong Baekcheon nodded lightly and said,

“I can understand the positions of the eight corps commanders. How much effort did each of them put in to secure those commander seats? On top of that, there were unsavory incidents as well. After all that turmoil, they have only just reached an agreement...”

“Left Military Strategist, even so, we cannot refuse to welcome the Wudang Sect’s participation, can we?”

At Grand Strategist Sagong Ui’s question, Left Military Strategist Yong Baekcheon had no choice but to nod.

With the participation of the Wudang Sect, the strongest single force in the current martial world, the success of this campaign against the Demonic Eight Divisions would become even more certain.

“Grand Strategist, how could I not know that? I am only worried that division might arise before we even march.”

“In any case, the leaders had no objection to the Wudang Sect taking command of one corps. The problem is only that none of the commanders of the eight corps are willing to give up their position.”

After sighing, Grand Strategist Sagong Ui spoke to Right Military Strategist Baek Ri-gi.

“Right Military Strategist, why have you said nothing?”

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