## Chapter 194 – (6)
“Hoo… It’s been a while.”
Moyong Yeon sighed after drinking the Zhuye Qing, and I smelled a refreshing yet rich aroma of alcohol that I had never experienced before.
I followed suit and downed the Zhuye Qing in one gulp.
Unlike modern alcohol, the raw alcohol was immediately apparent, numbing the tip of my nose and the inside of my mouth.
The place where the alcohol had passed felt hot.
It was quite potent.
‘So, this is Zhuye Qing.’
It was the alcohol that always appeared in martial arts stories.
It wasn’t delicious, but the unique aroma and intensity made my mouth feel clean.
Gulp.
Moyong Yeon immediately poured another glass.
At first, when I said I would order alcohol, she refused, saying it wouldn’t help with training.
But there’s no beating a disciple.
When I called the waiter to order, she glared at me as if she couldn’t help it, but eventually, she was drinking with me.
“You’re enjoying it.”
“Masters are all good drinkers.”
It might sound like a joke, but I knew that there was some truth to those words.
Even I had become someone who didn’t get drunk easily.
Moyong Yeon in front of me was only slightly flushed even after drinking alcohol with such a high proof.
“…Why?”
“Yes?”
“Stop staring.”
Without realizing it, I had been staring blankly at Moyong Yeon.
I usually didn’t stare so intently.
But when else would I get to see my master’s slightly flushed face?
I glanced at her without being too obvious.
Moyong Yeon smiled mischievously and placed a piece of Dongpo pork in my bowl.
“This is…”
“Eat it.”
It was her masterly affection for her disciple.
Master and disciple.
‘…What should I do?’
As Master Moyong Yeon’s face started to look prettier and prettier, I couldn’t help but wonder how to win her over.
First of all, we were in a master-disciple relationship, which somewhat fit one of her fetishes: forbidden love.
However, it didn’t seem easy to satisfy her fetish for liking her own brother.
“Speaking of which—”
“Yes.”
I was spacing out when I reflexively answered Moyong Yeon’s voice.
“What about the location of the martial arts tournament?”
“Ah.”
Originally, it would have been held at the Cheonmu Academy, but now that the Cheonmu Academy wasn’t participating, the location of the martial arts tournament had become ambiguous.
It hadn’t been decided until a week ago, but what about now?
“Since I’m down from the mountain, I’ll ask around.”
“Okay.”
Since I had come down from the mountain anyway, I decided to go to the academy separately.
It was a satisfying meal.
Culinary skills aside, the most delicious food is always the food someone else makes.
I parted ways with Moyong Yeon for a while and slowly entered the academy, receiving warm glances from those around me.
‘What’s this?’
I was awkward at the unfamiliar warm glances when I heard a group of students whispering.
“He smells like alcohol…”
“I guess he’s giving up on everything and just drinking…”
“He must be having a hard time… He finally seemed to be seeing the light, but then the sects got involved…”
“I should buy him a drink sometime…”
“…”
I was being misunderstood.
How many leaves did I cut down during my week of training?
Dozens of trees in the back, where the cave was, were already showing off their bare branches, even though winter hadn’t arrived yet.
The wooden sword was stained green on the blade and couldn’t be cleaned.
I felt a little wronged.
I slowly walked through the academy and arrived at the private room where Instructor Cheolung was.
Knock knock.
I knocked on the door, and I heard a sound from inside.
The door slowly opened, and Instructor Cheolung walked out.
“Hmm.”
The instructor scanned me up and down without saying a word and then nodded.
“I wasn’t sure when we parted ways last time…”
Cheolung, who had been scanning me, slowly opened his mouth.
“Now I’d lose.”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind. What’s the matter?”
“I was hoping you could tell me about the schedule or location of the martial arts tournament.”
“You’ve come at the right time.”
Instructor Cheolung went inside and handed me a piece of paper that was on his desk.
There was a freshly torn envelope on the desk, as if it had just been opened.
“The Sichuan Tang Clan… Is there a reason why this place was chosen?”
The paper I received contained information about the participating sects and academies, the detailed schedule for the day, and the order of the matches.
The useful information was that our Inmu Academy would advance quite far with a bye and that the tournament would be held at the Sichuan Tang Clan.
When I asked why, Cheolung slowly explained about the tournament.
“Since sects are participating in this tournament, the competition will be fierce.”
I nodded at those words.
When I went to the inn with Moyong Yeon, there was a group of men who didn’t even glance at Moyong Yeon and were arguing.
I heard them arguing about which sect would win.
Then the argument became heated, and they almost got into a physical fight with each other.
Even those who didn’t belong to the sects were arguing so much, so how much more would the sects argue among themselves?
“The Sichuan Tang Clan is famous for its poison and hidden weapons, but it’s also skilled in medicine.”
Those who handle poison also had to know about medicine in the process.
Poisoning and detoxification.
In the two inseparable processes, they became the best in the martial arts world in both poison and medicine.
“Since it’s obvious that there will be injuries due to the heated competition, we had no choice but to choose the Sichuan Tang Clan.”
Hearing that, I understood why the martial arts tournament was being held at the Sichuan Tang Clan.
‘Sichuan… That’s where my master’s brother is.’
It was as if the heavens were helping me.
If I went and met him, I could find out why Moyong Yeon liked her brother and what his characteristics were.
“Would it be okay if I went to Sichuan first?”
“Hmm, I guess it doesn’t matter.”
Originally, we would gather at this academy and move together, but I wanted to go to Sichuan as soon as possible.
Cheolung casually gave his permission as if it wasn’t a big deal.
I had found out what I needed to know, so I bowed lightly to Instructor Cheolung and turned to leave.
But Instructor Cheolung stopped me.
“Wait a minute.”
“Yes?”
Instructor Cheolung went into his room for a moment and then gave me a large pill.
It was round like a medicine, but it was quite large.
“What is this?”
“It’s a Byeokgokdan.”
“Ah, this is…”
I had seen it occasionally in martial arts novels.
There were scenes where the protagonist would take a bunch of these Byeokgokdan and go into secluded training, using only these to eat.
I didn’t know why he was giving it to me, but I was curious about this Byeokgokdan, so I put it in my mouth without hesitation.
“Ptooey.”
I chewed it a couple of times and spat it out.
I made eye contact with Instructor Cheolung.
“No… it’s too bitter…”
I didn’t want to spit it out because of the giver’s feelings, but it spread in my mouth like dirt, stealing all the moisture in my mouth.
At the same time, I couldn’t chew it anymore because of the unpleasant bitter taste and grassy smell, as if I was chewing raw, inedible grass.
“Hmm, I guess the bitterness is a problem if I take out the honey and chestnuts and add ginseng. Thank you.”
Thud.
Instructor Cheolung nodded as if he had expected me to spit it out and closed the door and went inside.
“…Tsk…”
It seemed that the original Byeokgokdan didn’t taste like this.
I felt like I had been tricked.
***
“To Sichuan?”
“Yes.”
“…Okay…”
Moyong Yeon, who had heard my story, had a complicated expression on her face.
I could understand her feelings, even if only a little.
She still liked her brother, so of course she wanted to see him, but at the same time, she must have had complicated feelings about seeing her brother, who had a family.
Moyong Yeon, who had closed her eyes and let out a long sigh for a moment, slowly opened her eyes.
“…Okay, let’s do the remaining training while moving.”
As if she had finally made up her mind, Moyong Yeon sighed and started packing her bags.
She didn’t have much luggage.
Most of it was a pouch filled with money, and the rest was a simple map and dried jerky.
Moyong Yeon, who had packed all her bags, finally put her sword on her waist.
Moyong Yeon slowly approached and put a sword on my waist as well.
“Here.”
“What is this?”
“Your sword.”
“Ah.”
Moyong Yeon, who thought I didn’t have a sword, had prepared one for me.
When I carefully took out the sword that had been put on my waist, I saw a sword with a blade that was sharpened to a terrifying degree.
It was obviously a good sword.
I swung it lightly, and the sound of the wind cutting through the air was impressive.
It was a little heavy, but this weight was just right for people like me and Moyong Yeon, who were full of strength.
“Thank you so much.”
“Hmm, um.”
She awkwardly cleared her throat at my compliment and moved away.
The corners of her lips were twitching slightly.
She had an expression as if she was gauging whether to smile or not.
She didn’t seem used to this kind of atmosphere or receiving thanks.
“Get used to the sword quickly during the trip.”
“Yes.”
On the way to Sichuan, we started a new training.
The content of the new training was simple.
“We’re going this way.”
The content of the training was to move to Sichuan by the shortest route.
We went through mountains and rivers as we moved forward.
I cut thick branches with sword energy, and I hunted animals to continue eating.
The swordsmanship to hunt these spiritual beasts was shining.
We were able to arrive in Sichuan much faster than expected.
And by the time we arrived, I had grown considerably.
[Sword Energy has reached LV.4.]
[Composure has reached LV.3.]
[You have acquired Spirit Slaughter Swordsmanship.]
[Spirit Slaughter Swordsmanship has reached LV.1.]
First of all, I was able to acquire the swordsmanship that I wanted most in the martial arts world smoothly.
