Episode 141. Sometimes actions speak louder.
Namjikryeoseong.
Combined.
It was around the end of March when Yeonjeokha’s party passed the host and arrived at Hapbi.
In the meantime, Seol Cha-su and Yoo Geun-sik recovered their health.
After more than two months of companionship, Namgung Se-ga and Seol Cha-su have become quite close. As they are members of the same Justice Alliance, their strong bond is visible.
Of course, even in the midst of all that, Namgung Yeon maintained her characteristically appropriate distance.
The beauty of Namgung Yeon and Jin Seol-ha attracted people’s attention wherever they went, but no trouble arose. This was because there were seven martial artists who had the courage to interfere.
What if we had encountered a group of similar size to the volunteers we met at Dengzhou?
A few martial artists were afraid of the prayers emanating from the Gucheonnodo Simtong and the Cheongungum Namgungcheon and did not come near.
Thanks to this, Yeonjeokha and his party were able to travel comfortably to Hapbi without getting caught up in any major fights.
Around lunchtime.
The carriage paused at the spot for a moment before driving through the city and out to the outskirts.
I sat down next to the horse riding stone and dozed off.
The sun was shining brightly and I was feeling sleepy, so I couldn’t stand it.
Less noise.
The carriage, which had been moving slowly, stopped for a moment.
As Yeon-jeok-ha opened his eyes in reaction, the coachman spoke as if making excuses.
“The top was blocking the road so I had to stop for a moment.”
He turned his head forward, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
As the director said, there were about fifty merchants crowding the streets.
Seeing a few warriors running around busily trying to sort out the situation, it doesn’t seem like it was intentional.
As expected, a young warrior approached in a carriage.
“I’m sorry. We are the people of the Hap-bi Jo-yang-sang-bang. The departure order was messed up somehow, and the road was blocked. Please wait a moment, as it will be sorted out soon.”
The director smiled and nodded at the polite words of the warrior.
“Yes, yes. Let me see.”
As Musa was about to turn around, Yeonjeokha asked.
“Wait a minute over there!”
“Is that you?”
“Yes, do you know how long it takes to get to Guhwasan?”
“If you mean Yeogang-hyeon’s Guhwasan, you can get there in about a day. But if possible, it would be better to go back by another route.”
“why?”
“Samdosanchae is crazy these days.”
“Are you crazy?”
“It was notorious before, but it has recently become too much. Now even the superiors are avoiding it.”
“Oh yeah?”
“There are rumors going around that even the Green Forest has given up, so I guess that says it all.”
“It seems pretty bad?”
“If you ask Yeo Gang-hyeon, you will know.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you.”
“Then that’s it.”
The warrior bowed and left.
The director, who had been glancing at Yeonjeokha’s face, asked in a resigned tone.
“You’re still going, right?”
“Sure.”
While Yeonjeokha and Isa were talking, the people from the upper room scattered to the left and right to make way.
The carriage moved forward cautiously, then after passing the people above, it picked up speed again.
That evening, Yeonjeokha and his party finally arrived in Yeoganghyeon.
The sun had already begun to set, so it was impossible to go straight to Mt. Guhwa.
Yeonjeokha and his party slowly passed through the center of Yeoganghyeon and looked for a place to stay.
The director looked around and muttered.
“There are a lot of houses, but I don’t see many people on the streets?”
“Iknow, right.”
Seol Cha-su, who was standing next to the horse, nodded.
Considering the size of the city, there weren’t many people walking around the streets.
If it hadn’t been for the intact building, I would have thought that a war had swept through the area.
“ah!”
An exclamation escaped Seolchasu’s mouth.
At this hour the streets should be bustling with merchants looking for lodging, but there were no merchants in sight.
Now that I think about it, it seems like there wasn’t anyone on the road starting from near Yeo Gang-hyeon.
‘Tsk! How much did Samdosanchae mess up to get to this point?’
I remembered what the warrior from Jo Yang Sang Bang, whom I had met at lunch, had said when he told me to go back.
Meanwhile, the director parked his carriage in front of the largest guest house.
After a while, Yeonjeokha and his party got off the carriage and entered the guest house.
As expected, there were no guests in the large guest room.
“Oh my! Welcome! Welcome! We will do our best to serve you!”
A man in his fifties who was at the checkout counter suddenly jumped out and guided me to my seat.
Seol Cha-su asked the man in a casual manner.
“You look old to be a salesperson. Are you the owner?”
“Yes, we kicked out all the stores a few months ago because there were no customers. How could we do business there?”
“Is that why the people above aren’t visible?”
“Yes. Because Samdosanchae turned the entire Yeoganghyeon area into a wasteland… … .”
Jin Seol-ha, who was sitting in the seat, said a word.
“Why is the magistrate just sitting there and letting Yeo Gang-hyeon get to this point?”
“The government troops and the officers of Yeogang County went on several punitive expeditions, but they all failed. It is said that the inaction of the Samdo Mountain Cultivation reached the heavens. After that, Yeogang County became like a ghost town. There were more than a few shops that were empty.”
At the end of the conversation, the owner let out a sigh of frustration.
The Yeonjeokha group sat at two tables as usual and ordered food.
Perhaps because there were no customers, the food came out quickly.
Yeonjeok-ha, who was diligently using her chopsticks as if she was hungry, said with a satisfied expression on her face.
“Brother, is the food delicious?”
“That’s right. It’s not like this place is doing poorly, but it’s too bad they even kicked out the store manager.”
Namgungcheon looked around the empty restaurant with pitiful eyes.
Gucheonnodo Simtong, who had been eating silently, added his words.
“Just look outside. Even though it’s such a nice day, there’s not a single person on the street.”
Yeonjeokha’s gaze turned out the window.
It’s not that I didn’t see a single ant in the sunset-filled street.
It is a desolation that does not match the sunset of March, when flowers are in bloom.
***
next day.
After finishing breakfast, Yeonjeokha and his party leisurely left Cheongpung Inn.
After about half an hour of riding the carriage, a huge lake appeared.
An exclamation escaped Jin Seol-ha’s mouth as she looked out the window.
“Oh my! There’s a lake?”
Namgung Cheon, who is from Hapbi, spoke calmly.
“It’s a lake called Huangpi Lake. If you go another half hour, you’ll reach Guhwasan Mountain.”
The faces of Seol Cha-su and his party hardened slightly at the words, “If it’s half an hour, it’s Guhwasan.”
I remember the incident where I almost died during the last fight with the twelve horsemen.
Jinseolha saw Yeonjeokha.
“Yeon So-hyeop, how many Sipsoo Ma-byeong are there in Samdosanchae?”
“Well, I heard that the cold noodle swordsman who became Chaeju is suspicious, but I don’t know if there are more.”
Namgung Yeon, who had been listening quietly, opened his mouth.
“Two hours north of Guhwasan is the famous church of Musansochok. Gonggeoin must have a connection with Musansochok. I don’t think it will end as simply as it did at Taesan.”
Yoo Geun-sik’s face, which had just recovered from his injury, was distorted.
“Excuse me, does that mean there might be a pro-oxygen reduction in this case?”
Namgung Yeon nodded in response to Yoo Geun-sik’s question.
“Lee Mae-hwa, the owner of the oxygen-free farm, is a person of great wisdom. Do you think she would give up Guhwasan, which is her front yard, so easily?”
“Are you saying you’re going to send another dozen horsemen?”
“For now, it is highly likely that he will move like the welcoming spirit of Gwangmyeongjangwon, Ungjaegwi. Since he will not know about the Gwangmyeongjangwon incident yet, he will try to check the enemy’s actions.”
“Ha! When I hear those words, my back suddenly starts to hurt.”
Seol Cha-su absentmindedly rubbed Yoo Geun-sik’s shoulder at his words.
If two or more of the Ten Horsemen come together, the whole group will be involved in a fight.
At such times, life is at stake, but there is no other place to turn for help. This is because the Justice League is still in the process of gathering information about the famous religion.
Do the Justice League know that they are doing such a dangerous thing?
***
A tall mountain was visible in the distance.
It’s a volcano.
A murderous look poured out from the eyes of Namgungcheon, who was sitting next to the horse.
If the owner of Samdosanchae is a person who does not have oxygen, then Namgung Se-ga is his mortal enemy.
A few days ago, while passing through Hapbi, I stopped by the ruined Namgung Se-ga alone.
That day, he swore revenge in front of the huge mound that the Hapbi warriors had made.
Namgungcheon looked up at the blue sky of his hometown.
‘Father, are you alive? You must be alive.’
Only then can we take proper revenge in the name of the Namgung family.
He gripped the sword handle tightly.
Today, I feel resentful of my lack of swordsmanship skills.
If he had been as smart as Namgung Yeon, he would have been able to handle ten horsemen on his own.
I wanted to be a strength to Yeonjeokha, but I felt inadequate to do so.
‘If only I had tried a little harder. A little more… … .’
Namgungcheon blamed himself for not trying harder despite living a life of idleness.
The village at the foot of Mt. Guhwa was terribly destroyed.
There wasn’t a single house in sight that was fully formed.
As the carriage slowly crossed the village, people began to appear one by one from somewhere.
These are people who still have hope and have not left the village.
More than half of them were children.
Unlike the adults who were watching from afar, the children flocked around the carriage.
“Just a penny!”
“Help me! Huh?”
“My dears! Please give me something to eat!”
The director couldn’t move quickly for fear that the children might get hurt.
As a result, the distance between the carriage and the children became even shorter.
Soon the faces of naked and starving children came within arm’s reach.
Jin Seol-ha, who was at a loss and didn’t know what to do, threw the bag she was holding outside.
“Wow!”
The children rushed into the backpack with cheers.
Only then did the director hastily shake the reins to increase the carriage’s speed.
A few children followed, but then gave up and turned around.
No one in the carriage opened their mouths.
As soon as we left the village, Yeonjeokha asked.
“Miss Jin, how long have you been in there?”
This is a question about the backpack thrown at the children.
Jin Seol-ha answered with an embarrassed face as people looked at her.
“I didn’t have much money. Maybe ten nyang? I just gave it to him because he had some beef jerky and dried meat.”
Yeonjeokha nodded, took out ten nyang from his pocket, and handed it to Jinseolha.
“Are you giving it to me?”
Jinseolha opened her eyes wide and looked at Yeonjeokha.
He handed over the silver without saying a word and looked out the window again.
Namgung Yeon, who was sitting next to Yeonjeokha, clenched his small fist.
This is what happened while I was hesitating for a moment, wondering, ‘What should I do?’
In that brief moment of setting up, he threw down his bag and was too busy thinking to do anything.
Sometimes actions speak louder than words.
That was the situation a little while ago.
I regret not reacting immediately when the children approached me.
It’s not that I’m jealous of Yeonjeokha taking care of Jinseolha separately.
He’s not stupid, and he wouldn’t do that in the face of great enemies like Samdosanchae and Musansochuk.
Wuxia,
