ISS 47

Mount Hyeongsan was a place many people visited, so they often saw climbers on the slopes.

There were those who climbed for their health, and others who came to visit the large and small temples and hermitages built on Hyeongsan.

“People say Hyeongsan is a famous mountain — it really is something.”

Compared to Hyeongsan, the little mountain rising from Heukam Island wasn’t even worth calling a mountain.

Enjoying the scenery with a relaxed heart, Geomryeong thought it was a very good decision to follow Guard Yu up Hyeongsan.

If he hadn’t listened to him, he wouldn’t have been able to enjoy views like this.

Everywhere he looked was a spectacle; no matter where he turned, admiration escaped him.

It was enough to make him hum a tune. In the end, unable to contain the beauty of Hyeongsan, a sweet, faint song slipped from Geomryeong’s lips.

“Young Master! You seem to be in a good mood.”

“It’s because Guard Yu led me well.”

“Young Master, then how about going this way?”

This path wasn’t one many people used. Ordinary folks would find it hard to climb.

“Why?”

Geomryeong tilted his head — asking why they would take this dangerous path when a safe road existed.

“The path most people take is safe, but you can’t see Hyeongsan properly from it. If you want to see Hyeongsan right…”

Listening, Geomryeong nodded and asked Jeok Hwamyeong his opinion.

“Brother Jeok, what do you think?”

“Do as you wish. Just because the trail is steep doesn’t mean it’s impossible to climb.”

It was a place common people couldn’t climb, but to those who had learned martial arts it posed little difficulty.

Jeok Hwamyeong agreed with Guard Yu to some extent. He himself had once climbed Hyeongsan while traveling central plains, and he remembered using a path different from the usual one to visit the Hyeongsan sect.

“Then let’s do that.”

The three of them decided to use a pathless slope to climb Hyeongsan and moved out.

Whoosh!

Although the trail was fairly steep, it couldn’t hold back their footsteps.

“How is it?”

After climbing a bit they reached an open spot. From there, looking at Hyeongsan presented a different scene from the usual path.

“This seems fine.”

Guard Yu smiled with satisfaction.

It was rare for Geomryeong to praise him like that; not that it was the first time, but getting such praise from Geomryeong was very difficult.

“How far have you advanced with the Phantom-Shadow Transformation technique?”

“Not yet to the fifth level.”

Guard Yu had hoped Geomryeong would teach him the technique, so he answered with some expectation.

“I see. You’re not young anymore, but that level means you’re not talentless.”

Although those words could have offended, Guard Yu bowed his head.

“Walk on your toes, not on the soles of your feet.”

“Huh?”

Guard Yu repeated.

“When you move your feet, press the ground with your toes and use that force to maintain your balance as you move.”

Not every peak-level master knows everything. Especially the unique and difficult techniques of the Ghost-Phantom sect were even more obscure.

Take the Phantom-Shadow Transformation technique alone — though Guard Yu had earned the name “Angel Yu” thanks to it, he hadn’t mastered even the fifth level yet.

Even Geomryeong’s own master had spent a lifetime mastering it and achieved high attainment, but a single line of advice from Geomryeong was tremendously helpful.

Jeok Hwamyeong listened, but it differed somewhat from the Jingxin Technique he’d learned, so it wasn’t of much use to him.

“Like this?”

“Walk as if you’re springing off the ground with your toes.”

When Guard Yu tried that, his weight shifted forward and it became hard to keep his center.

As he tried to use internal energy to steady himself, Geomryeong barked out:

“Don’t use internal energy.”

At Geomryeong’s command, Guard Yu released his internal energy. A faint smile appeared at the corner of Jeok Hwamyeong’s mouth as he watched Guard Yu from behind.

It resembled the way a courtesan in the red-light district might sway her hips and walk coquettishly.

Jeok Hwamyeong couldn’t bring himself to tell Guard Yu how his current gait looked. Guard Yu’s expression was serious, not coquettish.

Guard Yu kept walking like that, perhaps unaware of why Jeok was smiling.

One shi-jin, two shi-jin… (note: a time measure)

As time passed, Guard Yu adapted to walking that way and his movements became as quick as a squirrel.

Being a peak master, he learned fast.

“This fellow’s got martial talent too.”

Jeok Hwamyeong thought this as he watched Guard Yu. In fact, everyone who could be called a peak master was a talented person — it wasn’t something achieved by effort alone.

Teaching Guard Yu in this way, they slowly ascended Hyeongsan. When they reached mid-mountain, the sun was already slipping below the ridgeline.

“Ah!”

The sunset viewed from Hyeongsan was also magnificent.

When the red light bathed the whole of Hyeongsan, the beauty was beyond words.

“The greatness of nature…”

They were overwhelmed by the natural scenery.

“Soju, how do you feel about climbing Hyeongsan?”

Although he told them to call him “Young Master,” when there were no people nearby they called him Soju.

“Thanks to Guard Yu, I had a really good view. Thank you.”

Guard Yu smiled broadly.

“Since Soju says that, I feel rewarded.”

There was a touch of flattery in his words, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

“Brother Jeok, the sun’s set. We should camp here for the night and set off tomorrow.”

“Do as you say.”

The three prepared to camp. Preparing to camp required little — they dug into the ground as protection against wild beasts, piled branches in, and lit a fire.

Crackle!

The fire quickly warmed the surroundings. It was hot during the day, but the mountain temperature naturally dropped at night.

“Wait here a moment. I’ll go and catch a wild animal.”

Guard Yu said.

“Don’t you have jerky?”

Geomryeong asked; Guard Yu shook his head.

“Jerky tastes different from fresh meat, doesn’t it? Jerky is just a snack. Please wait a bit.”

Saying this, Guard Yu disappeared from sight.

“That fellow seems to have had good fortune meeting you.”

“Maybe. It could’ve taken a lifetime to find someone like you, so it’s lucky he met you quickly. Actually, I was thinking of not looking for anyone.”

“Why?”

“Because it seemed bothersome.”

Maybe in the past, but not now. Geomryeong was stronger than him. A subordinate weaker than him might be a burden rather than a help.

“That may be true. But you never know how people will turn out. You have little worldly experience; having that fellow by your side would make you feel more secure.”

“Yes. After meeting him I felt that way. And because of him, I could see the beautiful Hyeongsan like this.”

Jeok Hwamyeong nodded. The two were silent for a moment. In the quiet the mountain birds could be heard.

“Ah!”

Jeok Hwamyeong spoke first.

“Without doubt the Tianming Lodge will follow us.”

“Indeed they will. The Minghua Merchants’ guild will be tracking our whereabouts too. They may already have sent people to find our trail.”

“That’s likely. Merchants’ intelligence shouldn’t be underestimated. And the assassins have followed our trail as well.”

“Which is why I’m saying — Brother Jeok, how about parting ways here?”

“What do you mean?”

“I worry that my presence may put you in danger.”

“Don’t say that. I made a promise to Mr. Leng Yeo-seol. I can’t say I’ve always kept every promise I’ve made in my life, but I try to keep them when I can.”

“You could be in danger because of me.”

“Then you help me, don’t you? You’ve attained the Won-Yeongshin realm — can’t you protect just one person like me?”

Jeok Hwamyeong didn’t know exactly what the Won-Yeongshin realm entailed, or whether Geomryeong truly had reached it, but from Guard Yu he could see one thing.

Perhaps Geomryeong’s words to him weren’t lies.

“But…”

“Now that Guard Yu is with you, I won’t be of much help anymore, but I’ll still be more useful when dealing with people.”

Compared to the angelic Guard Yu, who leaned toward the heterodox, Jeok Hwamyeong was more moderate but had a mainstream-scholarly bearing — he was better at dealing with people publicly.

“Understood. But if I judge you are in danger, leave at once.”

“I will. And don’t worry. I may not be as skilled as you, but I have enough strength to protect myself.”

As the two talked, Guard Yu returned holding three rabbits.

“Soju, I’ll gut and skin these and prepare the meat, so please wait a moment.”

People often say a loose tongue brings trouble.

That proved true now.

They had joked the night before that the warriors from Tianming Lodge might be following them — and no sooner had they eaten breakfast and set out than they met the martial men of Tianming Lodge.

“Be careful. Besides these, there are others hidden.”

Geomryeong felt members of the Tianming Lodge’s Assassins’ Squad concealed around them and said so.

“Guard Yu, can you tell where they are?”

“Yes, Young Master!”

Guard Yu was used to the martial arts of killers, so he could sense where members of the Assassins’ Squad were hiding.

“Then I’ll leave those ones to you.”

He wasn’t the kind of person who would spare someone who came to kill him.

Also, having not been in the martial world long, he hadn’t given much thought to how Tianming Lodge influenced the orthodox martial world.

“You’re the one who killed Hyeon Jin-myung, I hear. Why did you kill your nephew?”

Hyeon Tae-seong, the Third Elder of Tianming Lodge, asked.

“He had learned dark arts. He intended to kill innocent commoners.”

Geomryeong wasn’t magnanimous enough to treat those who came to kill him with kindness.

“Your nephew learned dark arts?”

Besides the members of Geomcheondae who were present, others looked at Geomryeong with disbelief.

“Since you’re not going to believe me anyway, why ask?”

This puzzled Geomryeong since leaving Heukam Island.

“Why would my nephew want to learn dark arts?”

“That I don’t know. The one who mastered the dark arts was Hyeon Jin-myung, not you. Who knows — maybe he wanted to surpass his brother and take over Tianming Lodge…”

“You jerk! Where did you hear such nonsense?”

Hyeon Tae-seong shouted.

“Aren’t you here to kill me anyway? Whether you believe me or not, you still have your duty — do it and go.”

This too was incorrect.

Whether Hyeon Jin-myung had learned dark arts or not, they had to kill Geomryeong and Jeok Hwamyeong.

—When their attack begins, fall back and deal with those who are hiding.