The Farmer Who Ended Up Teaching the World’s Greatest Martial Artist - Chapter 62

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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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| Chapter 62

“…Okjukpae (Jade Bamboo Plaque)?”

As soon as Soo Hwa-seon’s muttering ended, Ju Yu-ryeon snatched the Okjukpae.

“This is really an Okjukpae? Where did this come from?”

“I received it from Dosa-nim.”

Ju Yu-ryeon, who had taken the Okjukpae, examined it front and back as if appraising it. However, that was only momentary. Soon her eyes narrowed as she looked at Yoo Eun-hyun.

“This is an invitation letter from Cheonmu-maeng… Why did he give this to you?”

At Ju Yu-ryeon’s puzzled question, Yoo Eun-hyun could only shrug his shoulders. He too had received the Okjukpae, but didn’t know exactly what purpose it served.

Seeing this, Ju Yu-ryeon held up four fingers and began explaining.

“Cheonmu-maeng usually uses plaques when inviting people. The plaques are divided into four grades of plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo, with the grade increasing in that order. Plum is the lowest grade, and bamboo is the highest.”

“So that means….”

“Yes. The Okjukpae you received is only given when Cheonmu-maeng invites the highest grade of distinguished guests. There probably aren’t even ten of these in all of Cheonmu-maeng.”

Upon hearing Ju Yu-ryeon’s words, Yoo Eun-hyun’s complexion visibly darkened. The fact that Cheonmu-maeng had given out such a precious item meant they weren’t calling him for any light request. Realizing this fact, Yoo Eun-hyun’s shoulders grew even heavier.

“Why do you look like that? Why such a death-like expression?”

“I also received this.”

This time Yoo Eun-hyun took out the black bead he had received from Cho Yeong and placed it on the table. The rather heavy bead rolled across the table and stopped in front of Soo Hwa-seon.

“This is… Mukryongju (Black Dragon Pearl)….”

Soo Hwa-seon trailed off in shock. She was so surprised that her already pale face seemed to grow even more ashen. At Soo Hwa-seon’s words, Ju Yu-ryeon also jumped in surprise and pointed at the Mukryongju.

“Th-this is that Mukryongju?!”

“I’ve only heard about it from my father, so I’m not certain… but it looks very similar.”

Soo Hwa-seon, who had been examining the bead with narrowed eyes, finally let out a low sigh.

“Eun-hyun, don’t tell me that Maegyo follower you fought gave this to you?”

“Yes. She said it was a Maegyo entry pass.”

“A Maegyo entry pass… What nonsense.”

“Huh? It’s not an entry pass?”

Since Yoo Eun-hyun was hearing both the Okjukpae and the name Mukryongju for the first time, he could only ask innocently. To this, Ju Yu-ryeon answered as if incredulous.

“This is a token only given to the direct family members of Cheon Se-hyeon-ma, the leader of Maegyo. No matter how much that grandmother was a Maegyo follower, she couldn’t just go around giving these out without Cheon Se-hyeon-ma’s permission. Have you… ever been involved with Maegyo followers before?”

At Ju Yu-ryeon’s words, Yoo Eun-hyun glanced at Soo Hwa-seon. When Soo Hwa-seon gestured for him to explain, Yoo Eun-hyun began telling the truth.

“Well, you see….”

Yoo Eun-hyun revealed that Sa Un-sik had proposed marriage with his daughter to draw him into Maegyo, and So Bi-won had also tried to connect him with his disciple to call him to Cheonmu-maeng. Ju Yu-ryeon’s eyes widened as she learned the whole story.

“So you’ve met both of those people?”

“That’s right. Though it was by chance.”

“Wow. Now the story is starting to make sense.”

Ju Yu-ryeon nodded lightly as if she finally understood.

Then Soo Hwa-seon, who had been waiting for their conversation to end, looked at the Okjukpae in Ju Yu-ryeon’s hand and the Mukryongju and spoke.

“It seems neither of them has any intention of giving up on Eun-hyun.”

At Soo Hwa-seon’s meaningful words, the air in the room instantly froze. Yoo Eun-hyun also nodded as if in agreement and said.

“Perhaps… even this might be part of their scheme.”

In fact, Yoo Eun-hyun had been somewhat suspicious of this. Weren’t these the people who had unhesitatingly turned his land into a wasteland to recruit him? But Ju Yu-ryeon raised her voice with an incredulous expression.

“That’s impossible. Then are you saying the rumors about the gold vein were also fabricated by them? I don’t know about other things, but the gold vein rumors and this village becoming noisy started at least half a year ago. That was when those two were in the middle of their closed-door training.”

“It wouldn’t be impossible if they had made arrangements before entering closed-door training.”

At Ju Yu-ryeon’s rebuttal, Soo Hwa-seon, who had been listening quietly, slowly opened her mouth.

“They knew Eun-hyun would eventually return to this place.”

The moment she heard those words, Ju Yu-ryeon’s face visibly paled.

“Then don’t tell me… Heukryeon Trading Company was also planted by them?”

“That’s right. If the big shots moved directly, rumors would spread, so on the surface they spread gold vein rumors to attract people. Their purpose was simply to cause a disturbance here. That was it.”

Soo Hwa-seon paused for a moment and closed her eyes tightly. Then she let out a small sigh and continued speaking calmly.

“Gathering people and making the village noisy so farming would be impossible… In the end, they wanted to make it so Eun-hyun couldn’t settle down and live on this land. Well, with Cheon Se-hyeon-ma’s temperament, it’s not something she couldn’t do. If she set her mind to it, she’s someone who could overturn even Mount Taishan….”

Ju Yu-ryeon opened her mouth wide with a shocked expression at Soo Hwa-seon’s words.

Didn’t this mean that the fields weren’t destroyed as a result of the clash between Cheonhwang Paewundae and Jeongeum-dae, but that they had moved to destroy the fields from the beginning?

The more Ju Yu-ryeon learned, the more astounded she became.

“So in the end, Cheon Se-hyeon-ma was worried you’d be stuck here just farming again, so she caused a disturbance to make you come out into the martial arts world?”

“That’s how we should see it. But Dosa-nim… no, Deo Geom Ssang-seon also noticed when this place became noisy and sent someone while giving you the Okjukpae.”

“And in response to that, Cheon Se-hyeon-ma sent that scary grandmother?”

“That’s probably it. In the end, their real purpose was to give this to me when I returned here.”

Yoo Eun-hyun took back the Okjukpae and Mukryongju from Ju Yu-ryeon’s hands and placed them on the table while muttering. Then Ju Yu-ryeon also opened her mouth as if astounded.

“Eun-hyun, what on earth did you do to those two people that they’re trying so hard to draw you in?”

“I don’t know either. At this rate, teaching farming methods twice might make me a public enemy of the martial arts world.”

Even after Yoo Eun-hyun finished speaking, it didn’t seem to be an answer, so Ju Yu-ryeon couldn’t move for a while as if in a daze. The situation didn’t seem easy to understand.

Eventually her gaze turned to the table. The Mukryongju and Okjukpae lay there with a subtle luster. Looking down at that scene, Ju Yu-ryeon’s lips slowly moved.

“Then… it’s not over yet?”

When Ju Yu-ryeon finally reached her conclusion, Yoo Eun-hyun and Soo Hwa-seon nodded silently. Though Heukryeon Trading Company and Chukho-bang had withdrawn for now, these weren’t people who would be satisfied with that.

“It will be quiet for now since not much time has passed, but if Eun-hyun continues to stay stuck here just farming, they will definitely move again. Especially Deo Geom Ssang-seon might respect Eun-hyun’s position, but Cheon Se-hyeon-ma is absolutely not someone who will give up. And if Cheon Se-hyeon-ma doesn’t give up, Deo Geom Ssang-seon will have no choice but to move as well.”

“That’s right. It might not be Heukryeon Trading Company and Chukho-bang, but similar incidents will happen again. No, this time it might be even worse?”

At Soo Hwa-seon’s calm explanation, Ju Yu-ryeon also nodded as if convinced it would be so.

Being targeted by both Maegyo and Cheonmu-maeng was troublesome enough to be considered a public enemy of the martial arts world.

“Is there any suitable alternative?”

“There wouldn’t be. Sigh… We must have thought too lightly of this. We thought they’d be too busy keeping each other in check to pay any attention to the likes of us….”

Though Yoo Eun-hyun said this, Ju Yu-ryeon didn’t have any particular answer either. In Ju Yu-ryeon’s opinion, the best method in such cases would be to request help from Uiseonsu-ga, but if the opponents were Maegyo and Cheonmu-maeng, the story was different.

If they interfered wrongly, there was a possibility that Uiseonsu-ga itself could be destroyed, so they couldn’t just ask for help. Probably Yoo Eun-hyun and Soo Hwa-seon also knew that requesting help from Uiseonsu-ga wouldn’t be much help, which is why they weren’t doing so.

Just from the fact that they had given the Mukryongju and Okjukpae, one could tell how Sa Un-sik and So Bi-won viewed Yoo Eun-hyun.

“It would be better if only one side was doing this, then we could just take that side.”

“That’s also not a very good choice. In such matters, it’s best not to get involved in the first place.”

“I know that too, but… we can’t help it. No matter how neutral we are, in this situation, trying to walk a tightrope is too dangerous.”

“That’s right. Neutrality is not particularly necessary but would be missed if absent, and if you become the other side’s ally, you become threatening—that level is good, but looking at the current situation, both sides seem to want to draw you in by any means necessary.”

When no answer came to mind even in their respective heads, Soo Hwa-seon and Ju Yu-ryeon began putting their heads together to think. However, even wracking their brains like this, no clear answer emerged.

“There’s no choice. This is the only way.”

Finally, Yoo Eun-hyun, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, stood up from his seat. Then the gazes of the two people who had been talking focused on Yoo Eun-hyun.

“What will you do? Do you have a method?”

“I’m going to follow my instincts. When farming, there are similar cases to this.”

At Yoo Eun-hyun’s words, when Ju Yu-ryeon tilted her head as if asking what he meant, Yoo Eun-hyun slowly opened his mouth.

“There are two things that are essential in farming. Do you know what they are?”

“Um… of course it’s water and sunlight, right?”

Though not as much as Yoo Eun-hyun, Ju Yu-ryeon was also quite familiar with farm work, so she could answer this much without difficulty.

“Right. But the important thing here is that you can’t do without either one. The order might be slightly different, but in the end, to grow crops well, you absolutely must have both.”

At Yoo Eun-hyun’s cryptic words, Ju Yu-ryeon unconsciously made a blank expression.

“Did you understand what we’ve been talking about? We’re in this situation because that’s not possible. You can give water and sunlight together, but this case is different. If you choose one side, the other immediately becomes an enemy.”

Ju Yu-ryeon raised her voice as if frustrated. To this, Yoo Eun-hyun nodded slightly as if he understood.

“So what you’re saying is that we have to choose one of the two, but both are important so you don’t know what to pick.”

“Right?”

“The premise itself is wrong from the start. There’s no need to take anyone’s side.”

Yoo Eun-hyun paused for a moment and added calmly.

“If both are important, why try to choose only one.”

Yoo Eun-hyun smiled faintly as if hiding his meaning, then slowly clenched his fist.

“Just take a little bit from both sides tactfully.”

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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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