The Legend of Red Cloud - Chapter 50

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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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Episode 50. Excuses
Hyun-un, knowing Taegeuk Geomwang’s peculiar habit of causing trouble at moments like these, was thoroughly on edge.
Taegeuk Geomwang asked him a question.
“You’ve no thought of taking it up?”
“Taking… it up?”
“Gather stones from outside and make them into Mudang jewels. Presto. In one stroke, the Sinhwagyeong becomes two—who would dare look down on Mudang then? That’s what I’m saying.”
For a moment, it would have been a lie to say greed didn’t stir.
But.
“The root remains unchanged, Master.”
“Every man who believes such things is a fool.”
Even as Hyun-un watched Taegeuk Geomwang reduce him to a fool in one breath, he could only smile bitterly.
“I understand your meaning, but it’s not about high or low—”
“You don’t distinguish high or low, yet you distinguish righteous from demonic? Tch! If your way is only that shallow, Mudang’s future is plain to see.”
Hyun-un had no words for Taegeuk Geomwang, who spewed out what amounted to crude mockery.
Because he knew the words were not wrong.
Yet he could not ignore reality either.
It was a problem Mudang might face—the slander and intrigue asking whether he was walking toward the Mado path.
Displeased with him, Taegeuk Geomwang suddenly stood and spoke.
“In any case, I’m going after that one. Remember that.”
The initial attitude of pleading vanished—he left only that unilateral declaration before Taegeuk Geomwang disappeared in an instant.
Though his expression was one of bewilderment, Hyun-un did not go searching for Taegeuk Geomwang to dissuade him.
Because he understood that beneath the various excuses he had offered lay the truth: he had no courage to return to Mudang Mountain, where traces of disciples whose blood he had spilled by his own hand remained.
“Sigh… It wasn’t your fault, Master. I said it that way.”
A sigh tangled with regret and sorrow hung thick in Jang Mun-in’s quarters.
***
Six days after Jeoksajo arrived at Mudang’s Juksan branch, permission for their return was granted.
Jeoksajo, now packed and burdened with equipment once more, set out from Juksan at once.
Though there had been no conflict, all the Jeoksajo members wished to depart in haste, their hearts uneasy.
As they left, one Mudang disciple followed after them.
Gaunt in appearance, shabby robes, crooked hat—it was Taegeuk Geomwang.
At first, Jeoksajo thought their paths had merely coincided by chance, but when he continued alongside them after leaving Juksan, it became awkward to simply let him come along.
In the end, Yi Song, pushed forward by the mere fact of being senior, cautiously approached Taegeuk Geomwang.
“Um… where are you headed?”
“Why? I’m not asking you for anything, so why do you ask?”
“It’s just—we’re about to use Gyeongong, and we feared you might misunderstand—”
“If you’re going to use it, then use it. Who told you not to?”
His strident voice was pure provocation.
Yet none of the Jeoksajo members were mad enough to meet him on equal ground.
In the end, after Yi Song retreated with a cowed expression, Jeoksajo followed his words and deployed Gyeongong to increase their pace.
The company with Taegeuk Geomwang was so uncomfortable that they violated their cardinal rule: never expend Naeryeok during travel.
Ryu felt the same, for she silently nodded at the Jeoksajo members’ proposal to use Gyeongong.
Astonishment flashed across the runners’ faces.
Taegeuk Geomwang, having caught up somehow, was running alongside Jeoksajo with a remarkably composed expression.
Yet they could not bring themselves to increase speed and shake him off.
None of the Jeoksajo members save Ryu possessed a Gyeongong faster than his.
Confirming they could not escape him, Jeoksajo halted their technique and resumed walking.
True to form, Taegeuk Geomwang likewise stopped his Gyeongong and followed on foot.
In the end, Ryu approached him.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why you’re following us.”
“Who says I’m following you lot? I’m headed to Maengui-dan myself.”
To Taegeuk Geomwang’s answer, Ryu had nothing to say.
Thus the uncomfortable journey stretched for two days, and only when they reached Maengui-dan did Taegeuk Geomwang part ways.
Watching his retreating figure, Dong Pil muttered.
“Vexing old man. He was following us the whole time just to use us as servants.”
It was true.
During the journey from Mudang’s Juksan branch to Maengui-dan, save for the walking itself, Taegeuk Geomwang hadn’t lifted a finger.
He had even made Jeoksajo members fetch water for him to drink.
And that was not all. He complained they were slow, cursed that they gave him Travel Rations that weren’t even theirs, and grumbled about discomfort despite occupying someone else’s sleeping place.
All the malice had been shaken loose—every last bit of it.
Yet no one dared speak a word of complaint to Taegeuk Geomwang.
Nor could they have.
Who would dare raise a hand against the Grand Elder of Mudang, now ascended to the Sinhwagyeong realm?
Because of this, the members of Jeoksajo who parted ways with Taegeuk Geomwang felt as though they’d set down a great burden.
“Come on, let’s go find some wine. My treat.”
Dong Pil’s eyes widened at Jwa Ryang’s sudden offer to spend money.
“What’s gotten into you? Since when does Jwa Ryang treat? Are you giving up on the Spiritual Medicine?”
That was the thing.
Jwa Ryang had been pinching every coin for one reason: to save up for Spiritual Medicine.
Even after being swindled once, he hadn’t let go of his attachment to it.
So when he suddenly began talking about spending freely, it caught everyone off guard.
Jwa Ryang shrugged at Dong Pil’s question.
“Watching that old man Taegeuk Geomwang, I realized it’s not something Spiritual Medicine can fix.”
Though he said this, his gaze drifted toward Ryu—and all the members of Jeoksajo understood what he was really thinking.
They had watched Ryu advance day by day without any special medicine or even a Giyeon, all through sheer effort at their side.
They’d even felt another breakthrough emerge from him during his time in Juksan.
Since Ryu himself said little about it, they didn’t know all the details, but every member of Jeoksajo had noticed the change in him.
Yet none of them pressed him for answers.
They believed that when the time came, he would tell them.
Through this waiting, the members of Jeoksajo had formed a shared theory.
They believed Ryu’s breakthrough had come from his fight with Taegeuk Geomwang in the cave.
A duel against a master far stronger than himself—and a duel where lives hung in the balance—had driven his advancement forward.
So the only thing worth believing in was real combat.
This resolve made them all promise that in future operations, they would lead the charge.
Having steeled themselves with this resolve, the members of Jeoksajo set down their packs at the quarters and rushed toward a nearby tavern near the garrison.
***
When Yi Hwan heard that the Jeoksajo members had returned, he thought he’d finally receive their return report.
But instead of the expected Jeoksajo, an entirely unexpected visitor arrived.
He bolted upright.
“L-Lord Sajjo!”
Taegeuk Geomwang let out a dissatisfied grunt at Yi Hwan’s startled response.
“Don’t screech like that. The whole world knows I’m your Sajjo.”
“Ah! M-my apologies, sir.”
Yi Hwan bowed hurriedly, relieved to see Taegeuk Geomwang looking more vigorous than he’d feared.
Through the letter that had come from Jang Mun-in, Yi Hwan already knew of Taegeuk Geomwang’s safe return and his ascension to the Sinhwagyeong realm—and he felt a quiet sense of pride.
Not pride in his appearance, of course.
Because despite looking frail and creaky, this man possessed a power that was truly terrifying.
With a look of admiration, Yi Hwan heard Taegeuk Geomwang speak.
“I need a position.”
“Pardon?”
Taegeuk Geomwang scoffed at Yi Hwan’s confusion.
“Your ears going deaf already, boy? A position—I need a position!”
“A p-position? But… what kind of position?”
His rank was Grand Elder of Mudang.
By Mudang’s protocols, even Jang Mun-in could not unilaterally dismiss his opinions—there was no reason for a man of such standing to suddenly come to Maengui-dan asking for a position.
Seeing Yi Hwan still bewildered, Taegeuk Geomwang explained.
“There’s an interesting fellow in Jeoksajo. I’m thinking of settling there for a while.”
Yi Hwan, who had likewise learned from Jang Mun-in’s letter of the realm Ryu had attained, asked carefully.
“Is it really true, then?”
“What is?”
“The realm that Jeoksajo has reached.”
“Yes. That sharp one has touched it.”
“Then your intention to remain with him is…?”
“It’s not recruitment—don’t give me that meaningful look. Your master already said Mudang cannot take him in because of his origins.”
Yi Hwan’s expression grew regretful at Taegeuk Geomwang’s words, but he soon let the regret pass.
He understood his master’s position well enough.
“My master must feel the same regret.”
“If you feel regret, stop feeling it. You still don’t know that, so all your Dao practice has been half-hearted.”
Yi Hwan simply smiled faintly at Taegeuk Geomwang’s grumbling.
Though Taegeuk Geomwang spoke dismissively, everyone knew he was the first to roll up his sleeves and demand answers if anyone dared speak ill of Jang Mun-in.
“That said, I understand your intentions, but Jeoksajo will be deployed in an operation soon.”
“Already putting us to work the moment we return?”
“A difficult operation looms before us. They’ve returned ahead of schedule, and their abilities have improved by leaps and bounds—there’s no reason not to use them.”
“You’ve spent a long time playing leader, and it seems you’ve mastered the art of reading others’ situations. You ought to know when to give a man some consideration.”
“Which is why I intend to let them rest freely for today and tomorrow.”
“Two days of freedom. Ha! This scheming fellow speaks like he’s being charitable.”
“That’s why I’m bringing this up. After this operation concludes—”
“What? You think I’ll die if they follow me?”
Yi Hwan noticed the upward slant of his eyes and caught the moment Taegeuk Geomwang’s mood began to sour. He hastily shook his head.
“No, that’s not it at all.”
“Then just put him there. Hey! They’re leaving. Remember it that way!” He hurled out his words and bolted from the room. The ones Taegeuk Geomwang had rejoined were the members of Jeoksajo.
Yi Hwan, watching his figure recede beyond the window, was seized by bewilderment.
The silhouette of Taegeuk Geomwang grew steadily more distant in Yi Hwan’s troubled gaze.
Along with the Jeoksajo members, whose expressions made their displeasure plain.
***
Dong Pil, his expression vacant, leaned toward Yi Song sitting beside him and whispered into his ear.
“Do Daoist masters normally drink this much?”
“……”
Yi Song managed only an awkward smile, unable to answer.
The Daoist tradition, much like Buddhism, placed great emphasis on purity and self-restraint.
Abstinence from alcohol was naturally included.
The prohibition against meat differed slightly from Buddhism’s reasoning—where it signified the refusal to take life—but the restriction itself was just as absolute.
The Daoist regimen traditionally centered on raw foods.
Consequently, some Daoist temples that upheld orthodox practice actually forbade all cooked food entirely.
In any case, officially, a Daoist master could not drink alcohol.
Of course, some accomplished monks did consume what they called grain wine, so one couldn’t say the same rule applied universally to Daoists, but……
“Hark! Give me another jug!”
Having already drained seven jugs and bellowing for an eighth, Taegeuk Geomwang’s antics left Jwa Ryang staring at his own increasingly depleted coin purse with growing dismay.
Catching the desperate look in his eye, a servant grudgingly stepped forward.
Though her approach hardly matched Jwa Ryang’s preferences.
“I’m afraid we’re out.”

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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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