My Younger Siblings Are the Greatest Masters in the World - Chapter 108
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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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108.
It couldn’t be handled like Bae Cheonman’s case.
Kidnapping Bae Cheonman in that manner would have been impossible without Hwang Unhwa.
“I think I’ll have to go and see for myself.”
Go Bongsu asked.
“You might not be able to return before we leave for Beijing?”
“I can go to Beijing and meet you there. I’ve already received the Minister’s address. Father should be more careful than me.”
Though it must have been called a hundred times by now, Go Bongsu’s lips twitched every time he heard the word “father.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll do well too.”
After talking with the two for about half a hour, Seol Mujin returned home.
In the courtyard, Hwangbo Cheonak and Namgung Hyemin were practicing internal energy cultivation.
Hwa Yeonshim, who had been watching their cultivation from one side, welcomed Seol Mujin.
“When are you leaving for Hubei Province?”
“We plan to depart today. But…”
Seol Mujin turned his gaze to Namgung Hyemin, who was performing martial techniques.
“It seems you’re already teaching her the Flying Swallow Plucking Water?”
“Yes. She wanted to learn it herself. Since her foundation is built on Namgung Family martial arts, I think she’ll improve quickly.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“The Namgung Family and Hyemin have made a big decision. It’s not easy for someone from the Namgung Family to learn martial arts from another sect.”
“Is that so?”
“Well, Seol Podoo wouldn’t understand. You don’t really have a master’s school to speak of. Anyway, don’t worry. Hyemin seems to have gathered her resolve too. Oh! You have about two hours, right?”
“Yes. I think I have about that much time, but why?”
“Then shall we go to my room?”
“Ro-room? Why the room?”
There was something ominous about Hwa Yeonshim’s eye smile.
It felt like something would happen that would be fun for her and troublesome for Seol Mujin.
“It’s something good for Seol Podoo too, so come quickly.”
Seol Mujin couldn’t shake off the sleeve that Hwa Yeonshim was pulling, so he went to the room with her.
Something good? What could that be?
That can’t be right. Miss Hwa wouldn’t do that.
Hwa Yeonshim, who had entered the room, suddenly placed both hands on Seol Mujin’s face.
Startled, Seol Mujin tried to step back, but Hwa Yeonshim’s irresistible voice rang out.
“Stay still.”
“Wh-why are you suddenly touching my face…?”
“Hmm.”
Hwa Yeonshim touched Seol Mujin’s face with both hands.
No, rather than touching, she was kneading it like molding pottery from clay.
“As expected, with such good features, the range of possibilities is quite wide.”
Hwa Yeonshim, who had removed her hands from Seol Mujin’s face, smiled contentedly.
“What do you mean by range of possibilities?”
“Have you ever heard of disguise arts?”
Seol Mujin shook his head.
“Literally changing your facial appearance?”
“Like disguising?”
“Similar, but it’s a more advanced technique. In Seol Podoo’s case, with such pretty features, you could even pass as a woman.”
“Do-do I really need to disguise myself as a woman?”
“You never know when it might be useful. Especially when going on uncertain missions like this one, you never know what might happen. You can’t solve everything with force.”
Hwa Yeonshim’s words weren’t wrong.
“That’s true, but can I learn these disguise arts in just two hours?”
“It would be impossible for others, but it’s possible for Seol Podoo. You’re a genius.”
“I’m not really a genius…”
To the embarrassed Seol Mujin, Hwa Yeonshim said.
“Try moving your ears once.”
“My ears? Can ears be moved?”
While he could blink his eyes and flare his nostrils, could he move his ears?
It was a movement he had never even attempted in his life.
“Try it.”
Seol Mujin concentrated on his ears and tried to move the muscles.
Twitch!
“Oh? Did I do it?”
Though he couldn’t see it, he felt the movement.
“See, I told you you’re a genius.”
Could moving your ears once really make you a genius?
“Try moving only your left ear.”
It was possible.
It was a new discovery about his body.
“Now try moving your ears forward and then stop them there.”
That’s how Seol Mujin learned to control his facial muscle movements.
He wondered if he could really change his face this much, but when Seol Mujin checked the mirror, he was shocked.
Just by controlling muscles like his forehead, around his eyes, cheeks, and jaw, he looked like a completely different person.
Of course, maintaining the changed state required considerable effort.
Even if he relaxed slightly, his muscles would return to their original positions.
The disguise arts were quite interesting, so two hours passed quickly.
“Seol Podoo is really satisfying to teach. You’ve learned the basics, so if you keep practicing, it’ll become much easier.”
“Thank you. I always seem to be receiving from Miss Hwa.”
“There’s something Seol Podoo could give me too…”
“What would that be…?”
When Hwa Yeonshim’s gaze slipped downward, startled Seol Mujin quietly brought his legs together.
“Hohoho! You’re satisfying to teach and fun to tease too.”
Hwa Yeonshim patted Seol Mujin’s back while saying “You should go now!”
When they came out to the courtyard, Hwangbo Cheonak and Namgung Hyemin were crouched down with their heads together, talking about something.
On the ground, drawings made with tree branches were scattered about, showing figures performing martial techniques.
“Here you perform Autumn Swallow Falling Water like this, but you need to be careful not to let your arms drop.”
“For this Retreating Buddha Sweeping Chariot, moving diagonally like this would make it more powerful, don’t you think?”
Hwa Yeonshim whispered to Seol Mujin.
“Seeing how diligent she is, I think Hyemin will become a master soon.”
Hwangbo Cheonak and Namgung Hyemin, who had been discussing, sensed Seol Mujin and Hwa Yeonshim’s presence and turned their heads.
“Oh? When did you get here?”
Hwangbo Cheonak asked that, while Namgung Hyemin quickly turned her head away.
“I-I’ll go inside first.”
Seol Mujin didn’t bother to stop Namgung Hyemin as she fled into the room.
Some things require time.
A hint of regret flashed in Hwangbo Cheonak’s eyes as he watched Namgung Hyemin’s retreating figure.
Seol Mujin exchanged brief greetings with Hwangbo Cheonak.
“Take good care of Namgung Sojo.”
“Hyemin isn’t a little kid.”
“Oh! You’re already on a first-name basis?”
“We-well, since I’m like an older brother, naturally…”
Seol Mujin was about to tease the shy Hwangbo Cheonak but instead patted his shoulder.
“Please take good care of the kids at Yeonji Won too.”
After finishing his farewell greetings, Seol Mujin set off on the road to Hubei Province with the triplets.
***
Jo Cheongkwan entered the restaurant with two pokwae.
Pokwae Hwang Dugwan hurriedly found a seat and said.
“My belly’s about to make friends with my backbone.”
“I don’t even have the strength to hold chopsticks right now.”
“You guys, stop exaggerating.”
Though he scolded the two pokwae, Jo Cheongkwan’s stomach was also constantly rumbling.
After Seol Mujin swept through Wuhan, only thirty percent of the government officials remained.
Even though they only cut those who committed serious corruption, that was the extent of it, showing just how rotten the Muan Government Office had been.
Thanks to that, the remaining officials had twice as much work to do.
At least it was fortunate, if you could call it that, that the underworld was quiet.
As Jo Cheongkwan was ordering noodles and dumplings from Jeom Soi, someone at the next table greeted him.
“Hello.”
When Jo Cheongkwan turned his head, a smile immediately appeared on his face.
“Oh my, why are the restaurant owners eating at someone else’s restaurant?”
The couple Yang Seongwu and Gil Seongsim, who ran a restaurant on Wonseongno, were the couple Seol Mujin had specifically asked him to look after.
So he visited them once a day without fail and often ate there.
Husband Yang Seongwu scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
“We closed the restaurant yesterday.”
He seemed to remember hearing a few days ago that they would be selling the shop soon.
“So you’re going to Jinan?”
“Yes. Jinan where that person is seems safer after all.”
The couple, who had suffered from being badly entangled with the underworld, still didn’t feel at ease about this place, Wuhan.
So they were having their last meal before leaving for Jinan, where Seol Mujin had told them to come.
Jo Cheongkwan made a disappointed expression.
“To think Wuhan’s best restaurant is closing. How sad.”
It was half joking but also half serious.
“If you ever come to Jinan later, please be sure to visit us.”
“Of course. I definitely must go.”
Though he answered that way, he probably would never have occasion to go to Jinan.
Not only was the distance far, but he didn’t want to meet Seol Mujin again.
In a way, he was a benefactor, but if a benefactor was as scary as the grim reaper, it was natural not to want to meet him.
After finishing their meal, the couple greeted Jo Cheongkwan and left the restaurant.
“Be careful on your long journey.”
Jo Cheongkwan offered a perfunctory greeting and soon forgot about the couple.
He was extremely busy, after all.
***
“Sir. Once we cross this mountain, we’ll reach Wuhan soon.”
Gwak Jongoh struck Hwang Jungbaek, who was riding alongside him, on the head with the stick he was holding.
“You bastard, you need to add my title in front!”
“I’m, I’m sorry. Captain Gwak!”
Gwak Jongoh, who had passed the military examination, was on his way to Seondo County where his posting was.
“Father gets to be in a big city like Wuhan, so why do I have to work in such a backwater place?”
Of course, it wasn’t his father Regional Military Commissioner Gwak Sugyeong’s fault that his posting was Seondo County.
Since the Hubei Province Regional Military Commission was in Seondo County, he naturally had no choice but to go there.
Passing the military examination wasn’t due to his own ability but thanks to his father Gwak Sugyeong, and being appointed directly to the seventh rank of Captain was also thanks to having a good father.
“There are pleasure houses in Seondo County too, right?”
Attendant Hwang Jungbaek let out a silly laugh and said.
“Hehehe! How could there be a place without pleasure houses? Since there’s a military base there, wouldn’t pleasure houses be everywhere?”
“You bastard, you’re knowledgeable about that stuff again. Still, we should spend a night in Wuhan today. After all, wouldn’t the women in big cities have fairer complexions?”
Climbing the steep mountain path made his crotch chafe even more against the saddle.
His sturdy twenty-two-year-old member was starting to act up.
“Aren’t there any Hwajeommin villages around here? At least then there might be some passing women.”
“What would you do if there were passing women?”
For asking a pointless question, Hwang Jungbaek got hit on the head again.
“You idiot! What do you think I’d do! I need to soothe this Captain’s loneliness!”
“What? No, last year when you touched a commoner woman and got such a beating from the madam… Ouch!”
“That was because I got caught! Who in these mountains would know me!”
“But if there are witnesses… Aaah!”
“Talking about witnesses! Just kill them all and that’s the end of it! My father is a Regional Military Commissioner and I’m a Captain!”
As he was beating Hwang Jungbaek’s head like a toy, Gwak Jongoh unconsciously pulled his horse’s reins.
He could see a man and woman with bundles slowly climbing up from below.
Though they were twenty zhang away, he could tell that the woman following behind the man was quite beautiful.
“What a treat to find in these mountains? Hehehe…”
Gwak Jongoh slowly rode his horse closer to the couple.
The man and woman spotted Gwak Jongoh and Hwang Jungbaek and pressed close to the side of the narrow mountain path.
Approaching close to the couple, Gwak Jongoh pulled his horse’s reins to stop.
Just as the couple, who glanced nervously at Gwak Jongoh, were about to start walking, Gwak Jongoh blocked their path with his stick.
“Where are you headed?”
The startled man hurriedly answered.
“We’re, we’re on our way to Jinan!”
Since he wasn’t curious anyway, he didn’t even hear the place name “Jinan.”
Gwak Jongoh’s lustful gaze never left the woman.
‘To meet such a beauty in these mountains. Hehehe… Even heaven is giving me a posting gift! Slurp!’
Gwak Jongoh asked the man.
“You’ll need travel money for such a long journey. How much would be enough?”
“What? What do you mean…?”
“The price for borrowing your woman for half a shichen.”
The man, who had been bewildered, suddenly shouted.
“We’re not merchandise!”
“What a shock! This lowly bastard is yelling without knowing who I am!”
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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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