Heaven-Defying Hero - Chapter 74

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#074

Late at night.

The meeting in the mountain forest was not very long.

Ja-gang-cheon persuaded the man who was startled as if he had seen a ghost with calm words.

“Don’t worry. The person who was watching you didn’t follow once you left the village.”

He had originally come along as a guard. Judging that he could no longer stay far from his charge, he didn’t chase outside the village.

“The ginseng diggers and woodcutters here haven’t joined the Chosan Association. I’ll personally invite you all to the Chosan Association, so don’t miss this opportunity.”

Since there weren’t many mountains in this area, the number of ginseng diggers and woodcutters was inevitably small. Naturally, the Chosan Association that guaranteed their rights hadn’t expanded here either.

“Can we really join the Chosan Association?”

“You need a recommendation from an existing member to join, and I’ll recommend you directly. Convince the other two as well. It would be better if you all joined together.”

In the end, he obtained the information he wanted through persuasion rather than threats.

The ginseng digger who was promised membership in the Chosan Association met with the others during the night.

Since the watchers also returned after they fell asleep, everything could be finished in one night.

“Thank you so much.”

“Not at all. I was also pleased to increase our membership in this barren land. Please contact me anytime if you need anything.”

After the Shandong Province representative left, Ja-gang-cheon returned to the Yongseong Merchant Guild.

He was planning to tell his companions in the morning since it was time for them to sleep, but the moment he opened the door, he could see two people waiting for him.

“You’re back?”

When Ja-gang-cheon arrived, Cheon-gu, who had been cultivating his internal energy, opened his eyes.

They had been taking turns standing guard while practicing internal energy cultivation.

“You’re still not asleep?”

“We were waiting for Hyeongnim to return before sleeping.”

Ja-gang-cheon shared the information he had gathered through the night, grateful for their waiting.

“So all three were asked the same question?”

“Right. They showed them the area first and asked if they had ever met Song Jin-baek even once near here. They even showed them a portrait. The common point among the three who were questioned was that they were old. They were people who had traveled the mountains even when Song Jin-baek was alive.”

“Since searching didn’t work, they’re asking if there’s anyone who directly saw Song Jin-baek.”

Cheon-gu frowned.

“Somehow it feels like North Cheon City has reached its limit too. If they’re giving up on searching and relying on eyewitness accounts, it seems they have no other methods.”

Just a few days ago there had been no regrets, but now it was different.

“We need to find the Gongcheongseokyu…”

Feeling regretful wouldn’t open a path.

“Let’s sleep for now and talk again tomorrow. If we consult with Gae-bang or Hao-mun, we might be able to find out something more.”

Ja-gang-cheon promised to continue tomorrow.

When he opened his eyes the next morning.

Ja-gang-cheon saw Cheon-gu alone in the courtyard, lost in thought.

“Didn’t you sleep?”

“Yeah. I had some things to think about.”

His face was haggard and his eyes were bloodshot, looking very tired.

“Don’t do that and get some sleep.”

“I just want to organize one thing.”

“What’s wrong? Is there something strange?”

“The areas that North Cheon City pointed out. The distances are similar.”

“Distances?”

“This seems like the last information North Cheon City has.”

Cheon-gu spread out a map in front of Ja-gang-cheon. It was already marked, and indeed the distances were similar.

“You’re really right. Could there be information about distance?”

“I thought it was distance at first too. But I don’t think that’s it.”

“Why?”

“The range is too wide for that. Looking at these areas, they’re between forty and sixty li. If they knew the distance, a twenty li difference would be strange.”

The deviation between minimum and maximum was indeed large.

“So I thought about this. What kind of information would produce such a wide range of results? They must have derived results based on information that couldn’t be measured precisely. That’s what appeared as the deviation.”

Ja-gang-cheon was gradually finding it hard to follow, but he pretended to understand for Cheon-gu’s sake.

He knew from experience that listening attentively from the side helped improve concentration.

“What information could calculate an imprecise approximate distance from a center point?”

Cheon-gu, who had asked himself the question, mentioned one condition that came to mind.

“Time.”

“Huh?”

“When talking about distance, we say ‘a few hours’ distance.’ If that’s the information, such results could come out.”

Hearing Cheon-gu’s words, Ja-gang-cheon looked at the map again.

“If he had lost all his internal energy, it would have been an ordinary person’s distance, and based on fifty li, that would be a three-hour distance.”

“That’s right.”

“Round trip would be six hours.”

Cheon-gu had thought this far quickly, but couldn’t proceed any further.

“I don’t know. What’s at a three-hour distance? Honestly, searching seems meaningless anymore.”

“Didn’t North Cheon City get stuck at the same place?”

“They must have.”

This was why Cheon-gu couldn’t sleep and stayed awake until morning.

“Rest now.”

“No. I want to get some fresh air.”

“Then shall we go to the seaside?”

Cheon-gu went out to the sea to soothe his frustrated heart.

When they deliberately went to a seaside area a bit far from the port, there were no people and it was quiet.

Just as he was washing away the intense worries of the long night with the dawn breeze.

“Since you’re young juniors, you have good stamina. You were busy moving around last night.”

Someone appeared with a thorny voice.

‘Cheon Seolhwa.’

Yoyeolnyeo Cheonseolhwa appeared with four guards.

Since he hadn’t expected to encounter her like this, Ja-gang-cheon was quite flustered.

Nevertheless, there was something he absolutely had to ask.

“What did you do to the ginseng digger men?”

“How about worrying about yourself first?”

Cheon Seolhwa, who pursed her red lips, showed a sneer.

Cheon Seolhwa faced head-on had beauty that could change the standards of beauty itself.

Her straight nose, clear and large eyes, and soft, slender jawline – there wasn’t a single feature that could be seen as a flaw.

If a painter were to draw an imaginary beauty, wouldn’t it look like this?

However, in Ja-gang-cheon’s eyes, she didn’t look like a woman.

‘She’s family.’

So he faced her boldly.

“Tell me. What did you do to those men?”

“Why? Are you going to criticize me if I killed them?”

Cheon Seolhwa spoke as if teasing.

“I paid them a large sum on the condition that they keep the secret. It’s money they would have to work a year to earn. They could have that money just by keeping the secret with no other conditions. But they didn’t do that. So should I have to endure it?”

When Ja-gang-cheon couldn’t refute, Cheon Seolhwa continued.

“Do you want to make me the villain? Do you think that would make you a hero? Listen well. I’ll clarify this matter for you. If something happens to those guys’ safety, it’s entirely your fault. If you hadn’t appeared and shaken things up, they would have received a large sum for free and lived well without any trouble.”

It was sound logic. Even Cheon-gu beside him just listened quietly.

“So. Stop playing hero and worry about yourself. What’s your reason for interfering in our business?”

Cheon Seolhwa asked with sharp eyes.

Depending on what answer he gave, many things would change going forward.

At that moment, Cheon-gu, who was standing beside them, stepped forward.

“We needed to know the purpose of North Cheon City’s visit to Yonggu. We have a merchant guild here that we must protect. It’s a place that recently started anew after escaping the persecution of the Hwangbo Clan, so we were concerned when we heard that a key figure from North Cheon City was coming.”

“Are you guys the Martial Arts Alliance or something?”

“We are people of Deungmyeong Manor. The person here is our Lord, and I hold the position of Subordinate.”

“Deungmyeong Manor?”

As she searched her memory, the tallest man among the guards approached. The guard with corpse-like pale skin bowed his long waist and delivered the answer she was looking for.

“Ah! You’re the ones who nailed something to the Hwangbo Clan’s gate?”

“Now that we’ve revealed our identities, will you show us proper courtesy?”

“Courtesy?”

Cheon Seolhwa glared at Cheon-gu with blatant contempt in her eyes.

“You interfere in my business like a little rat and expect courtesy?”

She made a demonic expression as if her earlier beauty had been a lie.

“Stop it.”

Finally, Ja-gang-cheon stepped forward.

Ja-gang-cheon, who blocked Cheon-gu’s path, quietly looked at Cheon Seolhwa.

“You really do look alike.”

“What?”

“You’re really similar to someone I know.”

“There have been so many men who said that to me. Most of them said I resembled their mother. I’m curious who you’ll say I resemble.”

“You really look a lot like my mom. Ah, of course my mom is prettier. What I mean by resemblance is your expression when you’re angry and your sharp way of speaking.”

This was the first time Cheon Seolhwa had heard such an assessment. It was fresh and absurd, and as she couldn’t respond, she heard an unfamiliar voice from behind.

“What brings the granddaughter of the Lord of the Bukcheon Clan to Shandong Province?”

At the heavy and solid voice, Cheon Seolhwa turned around.

There stood a giant whose face could only be seen by craning one’s neck up considerably.

And it wasn’t just one, but two of them.

Geumgang-gae and Pan Seok-i had come together.

‘What is this?’

Cheon Seolhwa felt a sense of unreality. Two giants that couldn’t be found anywhere in all of North Cheon City were standing there.

“I am Geumgang-gae, Daehobbeop of Gae-bang.”

The Bald Man guard who recognized Geumgang-gae whispered.

“Who’s that big guy next to him? A disciple?”

“I don’t know either. But seeing that he’s not dressed like a beggar, he’s probably not a disciple.”

Cheon Seolhwa looked at Geumgang-gae and asked.

“I didn’t know Gae-bang’s Daehobbeop had so much interest in me.”

“Of course I’m interested. I must prevent the blood spilled by North Cheon City from spreading to Shandong Province.”

“What did you say?”

“Deungmyeong Manor has been watching North Cheon City together with Gae-bang, so if you want to make trouble, do it with our Gae-bang.”

Gae-bang declared itself as Deungmyeong Manor’s shield. In fact, it wasn’t wrong since they had agreed on this from the beginning.

Even when Ja-gang-cheon came out for a walk just now, he told the Gaebangdo in front of the merchant guild that he wanted to meet Geumgang-gae. So Pan Seok-i and Geumgang-gae met at the merchant guild and came here together.

“You’re quite brazen about your surveillance.”

“If we go to Liaoning Province, will North Cheon City leave us alone? If you promise that, I’ll apologize. I was just thinking of going there anyway since I heard the begging rice in Liaoning Province is quite delicious. How about it? If you just make that promise, I can board a ship today.”

What Geumgang-gae was saying was clear.

“If you came to the Central Plains in the name of North Cheon City, be prepared to be watched. If you don’t like it, then don’t come. Isn’t that simple?”

“Hmph! You’ll definitely regret today’s events.”

“Do you think you’re the only one who’s said that to me? If I lined them up, the line would probably stretch from North Cheon City to Kaifeng.”

Even Cheon Seolhwa couldn’t pick a fight with Gae-bang’s Daehobbeop.

“Let me say just one thing.”

Cheon Seolhwa brushed past Geumgang-gae and spoke clearly and slowly.

“Being a beggar really doesn’t suit you. How about finding a different profession?”

“Ahem!”

“Hmph!”

After exchanging sharp glances once, Cheon Seolhwa passed by Geumgang-gae.

And before leaving that place, she turned back to look at Ja-gang-cheon.

“Strange guy.”

“You’re not exactly normal either, sister.”

Cheon Seolhwa clenched her fist and turned around roughly.

After she left, Ja-gang-cheon looked back.

It was because Cheon-gu, who had been threatened by Cheon Seolhwa, hadn’t said anything.

But Cheon-gu was looking in the opposite direction, not at Ja-gang-cheon.

“Gangcheon.”

“Yeah?”

“If North Cheon City searched that much and couldn’t find it, maybe their method was wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“Since Cheon Seolhwa came forward, the information should be reliable. Then the interpretation must be wrong.”

Cheon-gu seemed to have completely forgotten what just happened and was focused only on Yongmyeong Tomb.

“There’s still a place that hasn’t been searched.”

Cheon-gu was looking at the sea where the morning sunlight was breaking apart.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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