The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 103

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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103
The Edge of the Sword
Woo Geom-san looked around the plain room and remarked.
“It’s a nice place.”
“Thank you!”
The one replying was none other than the Chief of the Hongjo Bang, Bo Hyeon-seung.
The place they were currently in was Bo Hyeon-seung’s own private quarters.
Bo Hyeon-seung let out a soft sigh and spoke.
“But is it truly alright to send Doctor Nam away like that? Furthermore, didn’t you subject him to a restriction technique known as Chilseongjehonchim?”
“It will be fine.”
“Hmm!”
Despite Woo Geom-san’s response, the grim expression on Bo Hyeon-seung’s face showed no signs of easing.
The moment Nam Se-myeong heard that the acupuncture needles Woo Geom-san had placed in his body would strike his heart in forty-nine days, he fled toward Saengsagok without even looking back.
This was because his own life was far more important than Man Tian Hua Yu.
Thanks to this, Bo Hyeon-seung no longer had to accommodate Nam Se-myeong’s unreasonable demands.
He asked Woo Geom-san.
“Would you like a cup of tea?”
“I would love some.”
“Please wait a moment.”
When Bo Hyeon-seung opened a storage chest, a paper parcel containing Yunjung Tea revealed itself.
“It’s Yunjung Tea, isn’t it?”
“How do you know that? The tea hasn’t even been brewed yet.”
Bo Hyeon-seung looked at Woo Geom-san with a puzzled expression.
Yunjung Tea was rarely ever released to the general market.
Only a tiny number of high-ranking officials and Jianghu notables managed to obtain and drink small quantities of it. For that reason, ordinary people did not even know that Yunjung Tea existed. Yet, because Woo Geom-san had recognized it just by looking at the parcel, it could not help but be astonishing.
Woo Geom-san pointed at the tea parcel and explained.
“Because the paper is exactly the same as the one used when packaging Yunjung Tea in my village.”
“Your village?”
“Yunjung Village on Cheonbaeksan. It’s the village where I lived before coming here. It is the place where Yunjung Tea is produced.”
“Is that true? You really came from the place where Yunjung Tea is grown?”
Bo Hyeon-seung asked back, unable to believe his ears.
Woo Geom-san smiled as he untied his travel bundle.
Inside the bundle were ten whole parcels identical to the one in Bo Hyeon-seung’s storage chest.
“Are these all Yunjung Tea?”
“Yes!”
“I barely managed to obtain even a single parcel… and even then, I couldn’t bring myself to drink it freely, hoarding it away…”
“Would you like me to give you a few?”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
As Woo Geom-san nodded his head, Bo Hyeon-seung suddenly grasped his hand.
“Thank you! If you do that for me, I shall revere you as my benefactor.”
“I will give you half.”
Woo Geom-san handed five large parcels over to Bo Hyeon-seung.
Bo Hyeon-seung cradled the parcels of Yunjung Tea in his arms with an expression as if he had gained the entire world.
“Thank you so very much. You have no idea how parched I felt while rationing it all this time.”
“I apologize for not being able to give you more. When tea is sent from Yunjung Village later on, I will give you more then.”
“If that happens, I shall consider you my lifelong benefactor.”
Bo Hyeon-seung looked at Woo Geom-san with a profoundly moved expression.
To someone with no interest in tea, they might think Bo Hyeon-seung was speaking far too exaggeratingly, but anyone who loved and enjoyed tea would be able to understand Bo Hyeon-seung’s behavior.
Woo Geom-san understood Bo Hyeon-seung’s feelings perfectly.
“This is Yuqian, harvested just a short while ago. It’s a batch that hasn’t been released to the market yet.”
It was tea harvested right before Woo Geom-san left Yunjung Village.
Although the Man-sang Alliance and the Tianjin Escort Agency had purchased the entire stock, it was still in a state where it hadn’t been distributed to the public.
Bo Hyeon-seung had also put every effort into obtaining Yunjung Tea harvested before the solar term of Guyu, but he had been unable to find any until now.
He spoke with sudden delight.
“May I taste it right now?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you!”
Excitedly, Bo Hyeon-seung placed the tea leaves into the tea set and poured appropriately heated water over them.
As the fragrance rose from the tea set, an ecstatic expression appeared on his face.
“Oh! The fragrance is truly magnificent.”
“Yes! The aroma will be much deeper than that harvested during Mingqian.”
“It really seems to be so.”
Bo Hyeon-seung nodded his head.
After a moment, when the tea had steeped sufficiently, he poured the first cup and handed it to Woo Geom-san, then poured into his own cup as well.
“Whew! Tremendous. It is truly a famous tea. It is deeper and smoother than Longjing Tea. The delicate flavor remaining on the tip of the tongue leaves a long-lasting aftertaste.”
Such was Bo Hyeon-seung’s impression after tasting the Yunjung Tea.
Woo Geom-san also nodded his head to agree with his opinion.
For a while, they drank the Yunjung Tea in silence.
Only after drinking three cups of Yunjung Tea did Bo Hyeon-seung finally set down his teacup.
He looked at Woo Geom-san with a warm gaze and spoke.
“First of all, I wish to express my gratitude.”
“Pardon?”
“Thanks to you showing consideration, we were able to avoid a direct clash with Saengsagok.”
Bo Hyeon-seung felt genuinely grateful to Woo Geom-san.
This was because Woo Geom-san had taken all of Nam Se-myeong’s resentment upon himself, allowing them to escape a burdensome situation.
“Saengsagok certainly seems to be a burdensome existence. Seeing that even you, Chief Bo, are reluctant to deal with them.”
“Not just me, but every master of a martial sect would think the same way. Since no one has a spare life, we have no choice but to treat a skilled doctor with high regard. Let alone the fact that Saengsagok is not a simple medical gang, is it? It is teeming with those who can manipulate life and death just as their name implies, so naturally we have to tread carefully around them…”
Bo Hyeon-seung let his words trail off and took a sip of tea.
In truth, there was absolutely no reason for the Hongjo Bang, which held the shipping rights, to fear Saengsagok.
No matter how grand Saengsagok was, if they requested cooperation from the other Seven Great Water Sects to completely block the usage of the waterways, Saengsagok would have no choice but to be isolated.
However, worldly affairs would never operate that easily.
First of all, achieving cooperation among the Seven Great Water Sects was difficult.
This was because they had been in a relationship of keeping each other in check for a long time, not one of cooperation.
If any single sect declined, they only thought of seizing the shipping rights that sect possessed, and had not a shred of thought to offer help.
There was no way such people would unite as one just to oppose Saengsagok.
As the atmosphere seemed to grow heavy, Bo Hyeon-seung changed the subject.
“By the way, your medicine is extraordinary; where did you learn it? It certainly wouldn’t be from Saengsagok.”
“It just so happened that I came to learn it naturally.”
“Ha! It seems your master is a truly magnificent person. To possess such high and mighty martial arts, yet have such deep medical skills as well.”
Bo Hyeon-seung believed that Woo Geom-san’s master had taught him both martial arts and medicine.
Woo Geom-san did not deliberately correct Bo Hyeon-seung’s misunderstanding.
When looking at it closely, the Nine Heavens Soul Returning Method was also a type of medicine.
Because the Nine Heavens Soul Returning Method served as his foundation, he had been able to easily understand the medical arts contained within Bojebang.
“Quanzhen is indeed formidable. To possess such high and mighty martial arts along with supreme medicine.”
“It seems the people of the Huajin Sect or Fenglin Zhai have been talking.”
Woo Geom-san replied calmly, without even showing surprise.
This was because it was an event he had anticipated to some extent.
Many people had witnessed the scene on the Fenglin Zhai express vessel where he subdued Qingyi Shizhe, Xuanxuan Xinjun, and the others.
Since it was impossible to keep all of their mouths shut, it was only a matter of time before the rumors spread.
Furthermore, Yichang was the base of the Hongjo Bang.
Nothing that occurred in this place could escape their eyes and ears.
If they made up their minds to dig into it, finding out what had happened aboard the ship was not very difficult.
“Fenglin Zhai kept their mouths tight, so it wasn’t easy to find out from them. However, the people of the Huajin Sect became very talkative once alcohol entered their systems. For a mere few cups of wine, they blabbed everything that happened on the ship.”
The light in Bo Hyeon-seung’s eyes deepened as he looked at Woo Geom-san.
The Head Manager, Ha Jin-yeop, was a capable subordinate.
He had uncovered everything that happened on the express vessel in a mere three shijin.
Naturally, the leadership of the Hongjo Bang, including Bo Hyeon-seung, had been turned upside down.
Three of the core combat forces of the Red Cloud Sect had been annihilated aboard the express vessel. Moreover, the martial artist who killed them had revealed himself to be a disciple of the Quanzhen Sect.
A descendant of the Quanzhen Sect possessing terrifying swordsmanship.
Though it was almost forgotten now, when the Quanzhen Sect was at the height of its prosperity, it boasted a prestige that actually surpassed even the Mount Hua Sect or the Wudang Sect.
Although the vastness of their martial arts could not compare to the Wudang Sect or Mount Hua Sect, the public assessment was that they actually surpassed them in terms of depth.
Such a disciple of the Quanzhen Sect had reappeared in the Jianghu after a long time and killed three of the Red Cloud Sect’s core forces in an instant.
Bo Hyeon-seung and Ha Jin-yeop had naturally mobilized the Hongjo Bang to uncover the identity of this Quanzhen Sect disciple.
It was right around that time that Nam Se-myeong had come looking for them.
While he was in the middle of issuing orders to his subordinates, Nam Se-myeong had barged in out of nowhere, claiming there was an urgent matter.
He had no choice but to accompany him all the way here, and thus he came to see Woo Geom-san.
In truth, up until that point, he only thought he had been dragged into a troublesome matter. However, the moment he saw Woo Geom-san instantly neutralize the vigilance of himself and his trusted lieutenants, and unleash the Chilseongjehonchim upon Nam Se-myeong, he realized it instinctively.
That Woo Geom-san was precisely the disciple of the Quanzhen Sect they had been looking for. That was why he had invited him to his room to learn more about Woo Geom-san.
‘The Quanzhen Sect is like a divine dragon amidst the clouds. Usually they hide their bodies within the clouds, but whenever they occasionally show themselves, they have always shaken the entire world.’
There was nothing bad about forming a connection with a disciple of such a Quanzhen Sect.
Judging by how he had slain Qingyi Shizhe, Xuanxuan Xinjun, and the others in an instant, it was clear that his martial arts had reached an ultimate realm.
The issue was his disposition.
No matter how high and mighty one’s martial arts were, if they possessed an evil nature, one should not form a bond from the very beginning. However, no matter how one looked at him, Woo Geom-san did not appear to be an evil person.
The reason he fought against Qingyi Shizhe and the others of the Red Cloud Sect was also to protect Ning Yunxiao, and his clash with Saengsagok had occurred while trying to save Ha Baek-jin’s daughter.
Just looking at the sequence of situations, one could tell that Woo Geom-san was not an evil person.
Rather, he was extremely righteous, and it could be seen that he did not recklessly flaunt his martial power unless it was to protect someone within his own fence.
Above all, he had given away half of his precious Yunjung Tea.
By that alone, he was a person thoroughly worth staying close to.
Even if a problem arose with Saengsagok because of it.
Since Woo Geom-san’s medical skills were great enough to rival Saengsagok, they could receive help from him instead of them.
Thinking that way made his heart feel much lighter.
“It is an honor to form a connection with the Quanzhen Sect.”
“I am merely grateful that you think of it that way.”
“May I ask just one thing?”
“Please speak.”
“What is your relationship with the Fist Hero? It seemed as though you have known him since a long time ago.”
“Long ago, when I was heading to Cheonbaeksan with my grandfather, I met him while he was returning to his hometown. He did not look down on me for being a young child, and treated me warmly, calling me Little Brother.”
“Certainly, the Fist Hero has that kind of special side to him. He is strong against the strong, but could not be warmer to the weak. Why else would our Hongjo Bang have tried to seat him as an esteemed guest?”
“So that is why you provided the annex.”
At Woo Geom-san’s words, Bo Hyeon-seung gave an awkward smile.
“Am I too calculating?”
“Not at all. It is human.”
“Thank you for wrapping it up so nicely!”
“I am sincere.”
“Then I am even more grateful. Please accept another cup.”
Bo Hyeon-seung filled Woo Geom-san’s empty cup to the brim with tea once more.
“Thank you.”
“What do you plan to do now? If it is not urgent, I would like you to stay a few more days so we can build our friendship.”
“I am sorry. Due to circumstances, I must depart first thing tomorrow.”
“Is it an urgent matter?”
“Yes.”
“So that is why Fenglin Zhai provided an express vessel as well.”
“That’s correct.”
At Woo Geom-san’s honest reply, Bo Hyeon-seung smiled and said.
“Then, we shall also provide an express vessel.”
“You don’t necessarily have to go that far…”
“I have received a gift of precious tea that cannot be bought even with money, so shouldn’t I pay a price for it?”
“Thank you.”
“In return, even we cannot pass through the territory managed by the Tianjin Escort Agency.”
“I am aware. I happen to know someone at the Tianjin Escort Agency, so I will procure a separate boat there.”
“From Fenglin Zhai to the Tianjin Escort Agency. You are truly well-connected.”
“It just happened to turn out that way.”
Bo Hyeon-seung gazed intently at Woo Geom-san with a profound look in his eyes.
“Since your virtue is excellent, a good destiny must have reached you. I also pray that I may become one of those good destinies.”

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