Chapter 20 – Mureumchochul (8)
Gathered like dumplings, black hair decorated on both sides, strong muscles, and a large sword on her back.
And a beautiful woman with long arms and legs took control and spoke in a very awkward voice.
“Uh, um…thank you for your help, Eungong.”
The women who had been kidnapped and rescued by her seemed to bow their heads along with her.
Oh…
Come to think of it, it’s not just me and Hong Yeon-hwa here.
I adjusted my posture with Hong Yeon-hwa in my arms and lightly bowed my head to greet her.
“I apologize that our group is too tired to take control. Are you okay where you were injured?”
“Oh, no! It’s nothing! I’m the one who was saved, how could I complain to Eungong about such a trivial matter? I have some injuries, but they’re just minor cuts that will heal quickly. Thank you for your concern.”
She spoke in a cautious voice, as if she was worried about being dizzy.
“…Um, my name is Paeng Soso. Can I know Eungong’s name?”
“It’s not exactly a noble title…it’s Jin So-chan. And this is…”
“Hmm?”
I turned my body slightly to make Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng Soso face each other.
As if to check if they were really close together, Hong Yeon-hwa, who was rubbing her reddened cheeks, suddenly looked surprised and quickly put on a serious expression.
“The lady’s name is Hong Yeon-hwa. She’s a member of the Cheonma religion…oh.”
Like when she first met me, Hong Yeon-hwa tried to introduce herself as a Cheonma, but stopped in the middle of her sentence.
Then she looked around with her eyes and glanced at me.
“Oh…”
Hong Yeon-hwa, who seemed to have realized something from me, spoke in an excited voice.
“She’s going to be this man’s wife!”
It’s not a wrong statement.
After the wedding ceremony in Hong Yeon-hwa’s world, I could be called her husband.
So it’s right to say that I will be her future wife, but…
Her proud attitude, as if my position as her wife is equivalent to the position of the leader of the Ma-gyo, made my heart itch.
It wasn’t just me, Paeng Soso also opened her mouth for a moment, then nodded with a smile.
“I see. You two must have a special relationship.”
“Um!”
Hong Yeon-hwa snorted with satisfaction and pressed closer to me.
The feeling of her soft chest on my upper body became more vivid, and the weight of her buttocks on my arms added to the sensation.
Chapter 20 – Mureumchochul (8)
I wanted to continue holding Hong Yeon-hwa like this, but I quickly changed the subject when I saw the women who had been kidnapped and rescued behind us becoming more and more depressed as they listened to our conversation.
“When we raided them, they must have stolen a lot from us, right? Let’s take it back from them.”
***
Chaeju suddenly collapsed, feeling threatened by Hong Yeon-hwa’s aura, and tried to escape with all her might, but it seemed like she was caught by the Juwhaipma.
There are no Ma-gyo in this world, but there are Ma-gongs.
Ma-gongs are techniques that are either wicked or make the practitioner wicked, unlike the martial arts that Ma-in has learned.
Chaeumboyang, which Hong Yeon-hwa said she would improve earlier, is an example of Ma-gong, as well as techniques like the Absorption Law and the Reverse Blood Energy Technique.
I don’t think Hong Yeon-hwa is doing anything crazy or going crazy because of Ma-gong. But it’s true that the Cheonma Divine Technique emits a dense aura that gives you goosebumps.
It’s not a necessary situation, so there’s no need to create unnecessary misunderstandings. We should hide it for now.
Paeng Soso looked skeptical about my guess, but when I and Hong Yeon-hwa pushed her, she eventually nodded.
Since Hong Yeon-hwa didn’t show any signs of weakness towards Paeng Soso, she probably didn’t notice anything strange. But we have to make sure.
After that, we started searching the mountain for anything valuable with the help of the women who had been kidnapped.
The bandits had fled, but they seemed to be desperately trying to harm us as much as possible.
We gathered the treasures we found in a spacious central area of the mountain. But there was one problem.
“What? Is this all we have?”
It’s too little.
Three pouches with a reasonable mix of copper coins and silver coins. A well-crafted gemstone ring and a hefty gold toad.
Is this all we have?
Of course, this is not a small amount of money. Especially if the gold toad is solid gold all the way through, it must be very expensive.
But it’s somewhat ambiguous to think of this as the entire property of the Nokrim mountain, which has many top-notch martial artists and experts.
With their skills and number of people, they could easily make that much money even if they did not engage in banditry.
One of the women who guided us started to tremble, wondering how to interpret my silence.
“When we gather the money, we’ll go to another village and buy some alcohol and meat…I swear I didn’t try to hide or steal anything!”
“I wasn’t worried about that.”
I had been watching them closely from the beginning. Hong Yeon-hwa, who was hugging me, was also attached to me.
Although these women may not have much physical strength, they may have some hidden skills that could deceive my eyes. But they won’t be able to deceive even Hong Yeon-hwa’s eyes.
“I want meat…I want to eat some beef from my hometown.”
…I can’t refuse that, can I?
I patted Hong Yeon-hwa’s back and revealed the harsh truth.
“There’s no expensive food like that in the inn we’re staying at.”
“What? Are you saying there’s no meat…?!”
“It’s not that there’s none. There might be relatively cheap frozen meat like dongpa-yuk. Even if there’s none of that, we can go to another inn.”
Considering that we just raided Nokrim, the harvest is not bad objectively.
Above all, there’s a bounty on Chaeju’s head. I don’t know how much it is, but unless the officials see her as a top-notch martial artist, she could receive a considerable amount of money.
This should solve most of our financial problems. We can indulge ourselves for a few days.
I gently scolded the women who were apologizing and bowing their heads to prove their innocence.
Soon after, Paeng Soso returned with several other women who had been kidnapped like me, with a bright expression on her face.
“We searched thoroughly, but there was no treasure. However, we found this!”
She handed me a book without hesitation. The title read Iron King’s Heart Protection Technique.
“Is it a secret technique?”
“Yes. Maybe it’s a technique that Chaeju didn’t learn? We found it in the largest room!”
Fist techniques are a martial art with clear advantages and disadvantages. As long as you have a body, you can fight with all your might anytime, anywhere, and since you don’t need a weapon, it’s easier to use your inner strength. However…
On the other hand, because it’s fighting with your arms and legs, it’s painful and you get injured frequently when you divide offense and defense.
That’s why to properly learn fist techniques, you need to have a sturdy body that can withstand ordinary blows.
Usually, external techniques are chosen as a means to that end.
Iron King’s Heart Protection Technique is probably one of those external techniques. Just because the name sounds impressive, don’t expect too much.
After all, my Samjae Sword Technique that I learned is just a simple downward slash, but it has a cool name like “Mount Tai Crushing the Pestle.”
“But is it okay for you to give this to me? It’s not a martial art that you have to learn alone, so Paeng Soso can watch and learn for a few days…”
This is sincere. Hong Yeon-hwa may have dominated Chaeju, her subordinates, and the hostages, but that doesn’t mean Paeng Soso did nothing.
Of course, she was holding Chaeju, but there may have been other reasons why Chaeju decided to run away later.
It’s not something that will wear out just by looking at it, and we can share relatively low-value external techniques as much as we want.
However, Paeng Soso herself just smiled awkwardly.
“I’m a direct descendant of the Ha Buk Paeng family, although Eun Gong must have already noticed that. I have my own external martial arts that I learned separately….”
Ah, I see.
The Ha Buk Paeng family is famous for handling thick swords, but they are also known for their innate strength and muscles.
They are bigger and more muscular than others…they are the epitome of muscleheads!
In fact, Paeng Cheol-jin, whom I met before, was a giant who was at least a head taller than me, and Paeng So-so in front of me also boasted a considerable height for a woman.
Am I similar to them?
Anyway, they wouldn’t have just made fun of the physique that was born in the martial arts family. Even I would have practiced external martial arts in parallel.
As a member of the prestigious Odae family, the level of their external martial arts must be considerable.
It is a martial art that a master who has reached the peak would learn, so the Iron King’s Heart Protection Technique would not be worse than the Ha Buk Paeng family’s family martial arts, but it would not be better either.
“Peng So-so’s internal energy is amazing. I didn’t expect that.”
“Hehe…even Eun Gong is knocking on the wall of the peak. You’re really amazing! Among those who are not members of the prestigious Odae family or the giant door, there are few people like Eun Gong!”
“Uh-huh.”
Hong Yeon-hwa suddenly interrupted and boasted.
Does she feel good when I’m praised?
However, Paeng So-so seemed to interpret it slightly differently and suddenly burst out laughing at the unexpected Hong Yeon-hwa.
“Of course, the Tanji Gong that the benefactor showed us was also amazing! I didn’t know that a rock could be so scary?”
“Uh, is that so? Specifically, what did it feel like…?”
“Well, that’s…uh-huh, uh-huh!”
Hong Yeon-hwa, who was delighted by Paeng So-so’s continuous admiration, raised her chin and almost looked up at the sky. I watched her and unfolded the Iron King’s Heart Protection Technique, unable to understand what they were talking about even though there was an interpretation next to it.
What kind of external martial arts are they learning that they keep talking about such nonsense? Let’s just leave it to Hong Yeon-hwa.
I put Hong Yeon-hwa, who was still in my arms, on the ground.
Actually, I had already recovered, but I was holding her because it looked good.
As soon as she stepped on the ground, Paeng So-so praised me, and Hong Yeon-hwa turned her head left and right as if weighing my arms.
Then, with a determined look in her eyes, she walked towards me and hugged my waist.
“…Am I Peng So-so? I wasn’t trying to say the same thing.”
“Then what is it?”
I handed her the Iron King’s Heart Protection Technique, unable to guess anything else.
“I just wanted you to hold this for a moment. I think we’ve found everything we need, so let’s get our things and go down now.”
“….”
Feeling embarrassed about her own delusion, Hong Yeon-hwa silently put the Iron King’s Heart Protection Technique in her chest…no, in her arms.
