Chapter 295 – Are You Stupid? (3)
The way the world worked was mysterious. As summer passed, autumn would come, and as autumn passed, winter would arrive.
Gyeomsung and Hwangbo Ungeom had lived for nearly a hundred years, yet they always felt a sense of mystery in the way things worked.
“Summer’s strong energy is filled with grains that bring the richness of autumn. How can this not be a mysterious thing? The trees may seem to wither as they shed their leaves in autumn, but they will bloom with new life again in the spring.”
As Gyeomsung recited these words under the fluttering leaves, he felt a presence approaching him and furrowed his brow slightly.
But he pretended not to notice and continued to walk, though his pace was no different from that of an ordinary man walking down the street.
If he used his martial arts skills properly, he could disappear like smoke, but he was acting with the dignity of a prince, and he didn’t have high expectations.
“Grandfather?”
“…Yes, what is it?”
Could a prince run away from work in front of his granddaughter? Gyeomsung was not thick-skinned enough to use vulgar language in front of his granddaughter, but he had recently developed a habit of sending his granddaughter annoying tasks, so he decided to scold her a little.
“Yes, it’s not about anything else. It’s a letter from Jegal Se-ga.”
“Damn it.”
“What?”
“No, come here.”
Gyeomsung muttered a curse unintentionally and roughly tore open the neatly sealed letter before reading from the last line.
[…Therefore, I ask that the princess pressure the Ma-gyo to uncover the truth as soon as possible.]
“Damn it, what a bunch of nonsense.”
As a prince, he didn’t like sitting at his desk, but he hadn’t been away from his seat for long.
He had just managed to get an apology from the Ma-gyo after they had caused a commotion, and now some people claiming to be from the Ma-gyo were bothering Namgung Se-ga.
There were injured and dead people, and the problem was that Namgung Se-ga’s bastard son was among the few dead.
Although he was a bastard, Namgung Se-ga was constantly instigating the victims, and it was thanks to Gyeomsung’s direct conversation with Namgung Se-ga that the idea of attacking the Ma-gyo had not yet been put into action.
Chapter 295 – Are You Stupid? (3)
The world worked in mysterious ways. As summer turned into autumn, and autumn into winter, Gyeomsung and Hwangbo Ungeom, who had lived for nearly a hundred years, still found the workings of the world mysterious.
“Summer’s strong energy is filled with grains that bring the richness of autumn. How can this not be a mysterious thing? The trees may seem to wither as they shed their leaves in autumn, but they will bloom with new life again in the spring.”
As Gyeomsung recited these words under the fluttering leaves, he sensed a presence approaching him and furrowed his brow slightly.
But he pretended not to notice and continued to walk, though his pace was no different from that of an ordinary man walking down the street.
If he used his martial arts skills properly, he could disappear like smoke, but he was acting with the dignity of a prince, and he didn’t have high expectations.
“Grandfather?”
“…Yes, what is it?”
Could a prince run away from work in front of his granddaughter? Gyeomsung was not thick-skinned enough to use vulgar language in front of his granddaughter, but he had recently developed a habit of sending his granddaughter annoying tasks, so he decided to scold her a little.
“Yes, it’s not about anything else. It’s a letter from Jegal Se-ga.”
“Damn it.”
“What?”
“No, come here.”
Gyeomsung muttered a curse unintentionally and roughly tore open the neatly sealed letter before reading from the last line.
[…Therefore, I ask that the princess pressure the Ma-gyo to uncover the truth as soon as possible.]
“Damn it, what a bunch of nonsense.”
As a prince, he didn’t like sitting at his desk, but he hadn’t been away from his seat for long.
He had just managed to get an apology from the Ma-gyo after they had caused a commotion, and now some people claiming to be from the Ma-gyo were bothering Namgung Se-ga.
There were injured and dead people, and the problem was that Namgung Se-ga’s bastard son was among the few dead.
Although he was a bastard, Namgung Se-ga was constantly instigating the victims, and it was thanks to Gyeomsung’s direct conversation with Namgung Se-ga that the idea of attacking the Ma-gyo had not yet been put into action.
“Grandfather…?”
“Oh, Hyosun. What is it?”
Gyeomsung responded to his granddaughter’s cautious voice, as if he had noticed her troubled expression.
“I have one more thing to tell you. No Bang-ju has come to see you.”
“Oh, No Bang-ju?”
Gyeomsung felt the forced smile on his face turn into a genuine one.
Someone had finally come to solve the problem that had been bothering him for so long.
It would have been better if the order of things had been reversed, but he was still happy to hear good news, especially since his mood had been dampened.
When Gyeomsung hurried back to the reception room, he found a woman sitting there, wearing a worn-out outfit that seemed to have been patched up several times.
“Did you wait long? No Bang-ju.”
“It’s okay for beggars to wait in such a warm and soft place. Don’t worry about it.”
The woman’s voice was as confident as a man’s, and she looked like a woman in her late thirties, despite her rough appearance.
Her hair was roughly tied up, but it seemed like she had at least washed it recently, and her natural beauty made her look somewhat presentable.
Chapter 295 – Are You Stupid? (3)
Despite her overall thin and lean physique, it was unclear whether she was a member of the open-minded people of Shimman Bang or just a common beggar. However, the nine knots tied to the string around her waist clearly proved that she was the leader of the open-minded people.
Ok Yeong-gae, No Hui-bang. As he faced the woman who had taken the position of Bangju with her body as a disciple of Jeja, Gyeomsung began to wonder what to say first.
“…Bangju, have you been drinking?”
“Ah, I had a little while you were away. But don’t worry, I’m not drunk.”
Hwangbo Hyosun made a disgusted expression, but No Hui-bang seemed indifferent.
“But you said it was important. How…”
“Hyosun, it’s okay. No Bang-ju, it’s fine for me, but be careful in front of others.”
When Gyeomsung first met No Hui-bang, he was also taken aback by the faint smell of alcohol emanating from her, but now he didn’t pay much attention to it.
“Hehe, I’ll keep that in mind, Your Highness.”
From just looking at her slightly remembered face, it was hard to tell, but she was someone who had never failed to bring Gyeomsung the results he wanted.
As she was not a member of the open-minded people, she always had to pay a price, but the results were always certain with her.
“But, the story that will be exchanged may be a bit too much for my granddaughter to hear. Is it okay for her to listen?”
“Hmm…”
When Gyeomsung turned his head slightly, he could see the desire to listen from his granddaughter’s eyes.
But in the end, Gyeomsung could only shake his head. As the leader of the Baekho-dan, who dealt with information, Hwangbo Hyosun was actually unsuitable for handling information.
Only believing in Gyeomsung’s promise of “let me know if you need it later,” Hwangbo Hyosun had no choice but to leave, and Gyeomsung was left alone with No Hui-bang.
“It seems like your granddaughter is quite interested in this matter too.”
“It’s my fault. I couldn’t even hide my boiling anger as a grandfather.”
As No Hui-bang began to use jeoneum, Gyeomsung also received it.
There couldn’t be anyone who could deceive Gyeomsung’s intuition and eavesdrop on their conversation, but it would mean that they had found out an important fact.
As Gyeomsung began to stare at No Hui-bang with a penetrating gaze, the conversation got to the point.
“So, did you catch their tails?”
“Well, that’s… I’m not sure if I should say we caught them or not.”
“…What do you mean?”
“First of all, regarding the martial arts of the attackers, according to the information we have secured from the main house, there is no such swordsmanship among the martial arts known to the public.”
Chapter 295 – Are You Stupid? (3)
No Hui-bang calmly explained while at the same time gesturing with her hands to recreate the swordsmanship. Even just by looking at the rough movements of her hands, Gyeomsung could vividly imagine what the swordsmanship would look like.
“You might not believe it just by looking at it, but this swordsmanship is at least a swordsmanship that has never been seen in the world.”
It wasn’t just an ordinary swordsmanship. Among the swordsmanship known as Vision in the Geodaemunpa, this swordsmanship was one that had never been seen in the world.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. But the way the sword moves is like the swordsmanship of Samao-do?”
“You saw it right. There is evidence that they felt magic from them. And…”
“Hmm…”
Gyeomsung hesitated for a moment on how to express what he felt.
“It’s excessively rational.”
“That’s right. There is no room for interpretation, and the structure of the swordsmanship is too clear.”
Because of this, it lacked depth and there was no room for creativity.
Excessive rationality blocked the door to higher levels of martial arts for those who were not suitable for the swordsmanship.
Instead, it became easier to reach at least the level they were allowed to reach in a relatively short amount of time.
Like…
“A martial art created to exploit others. It’s not a martial art that the head of the Magyo would like.”
“…Wouldn’t you have gotten the answer faster if the prince had gone himself? Should I deduct the information fee for this information?”
No Hui-bang had taken more than a month to reach the same conclusion, so it was disappointing for Gyeomsung to see it right away.
She was at the point where many swordsmanship experts she had consulted would have doubted whether they would break their swords if they saw Gyeomsung.
“Just take it. If I had known about the swordsmanship earlier, I would have known the answer about the swordsmanship. But other information is something that a nobody like me cannot know.”
“Well, Prince, you are very considerate. Then let me tell you about other information.”
No Hui-bang continued her explanation.
“It is estimated that those who left Ahn Hwisung have hidden themselves in a small village market nearby.”
“They wouldn’t have a base there… Was there a fight?”
“That’s right. We have secured evidence that the number of upper-level personnel there has increased rapidly.”
“Then if we dig into that upper-level, we’ll find a clue. Where exactly is that upper-level?”
No Hui-bang paused for a moment at Gyeomsung’s question. Seeing her serious expression, Gyeomsung patiently waited, and eventually the answer came out.
“It’s Yongun Upper Level. They are using the fake disciples of the Geodaemunpa to boost their momentum. They are the upper level that has been rapidly increasing their power recently.”
[Gu Pa is involved…?]
Gyeomsung was shocked. Although the relationship between Gu Pa and Odaese was not as good as before, he never thought that such a thing would happen among the same faction.
[We cannot be sure if it involves all of Gu Pa or just some of them. Even if a specific faction is involved, it’s difficult to assert that the entire faction is involved.]
[But isn’t it certain that someone must be involved?]
No Hui-bang did not deny it. It was highly likely that a member of the faction had collaborated with the Sa Pa to attack their own faction.
[How could this happen…]
At this point, it was enough to block the mouths of those who were harassing Gyeomsung, including Jeon Ga-se, but No Hui-bang had found out even the facts that Gyeomsung did not want to know.
[And there is news that similar people have been causing trouble in Sachon.]
[Sachon? Could it be related to the Tangga rebellion?]
[No, it’s not related to Tangga. It seems that fights have occurred sporadically rather than attacking a specific location, but according to the report from Sachon Buntaju, a similar martial art was definitely used.]
[Who were the people who fought?]
[We are still investigating, but it seems that they used Namgung Se-ga’s martial art.]
[Namgung Se-ga?]
As No Hui-bang focused more on the Sa Pa, who seemed to be from the same faction, than on the people who caused the commotion, she suddenly stopped talking as soon as the situation calmed down.
“This is a mess…”
Gyeomsung muttered disappointedly.
With the help of Gaebang, he no longer had to worry about Jeon Ga-se’s letter campaign, but instead, he had gained even more things to worry about.
