Chapter 49 (1/2)

The next day, Seomunjaehak, Gu Yangsu, and Chu Younghak took a boat returning to their families.

Thinking about the effort they put in coming together so far, Yeon Ha-rin watched them as they left.

And beside Yeon ha-rin, Byeoktaesan was standing. With a very meaningful expression.

The three stood on the deck and looked towards Yeon ha rin. Their expressions were intertwined with regret, sorrow, and fear.

Their gaze suddenly turned to Byeoktaesan.

At that moment, Byeok Tae-san pointed at his eyes with two fingers, then turned his finger to point at them.

It was a hand signal that meant he was always watching.

The three people saw that and trembled all over. Even just glancing over them, it was obvious they were tightly tightening their buttocks.

It was a reflexive action that came out of being done in, twice.

“Too bad for them.”

Byeoktaesan smiled at the words of Yeon Ha-rin.

She could say that because she didn’t know what they were going to do to her.

Probably if she knew it, Yeon Ha-rin would have come out and struck a rage.

“They probably won’t be able to do anything about the rumors that would spread, right?”

Byeoktaesan nodded.

“Of course.”

Even if he didn’t say anything, Chun Chu Shin Ui will spread the rumors on his own.

It was one of his hobbies.

“We should get going.”

At Byeoktaesan’s words, Yeon Ha-rin looked at Byeoktaesan with a happy expression.

It was like hell on her way here, but she couldn’t hide her expectation that the rest of the road would be paradise.

They climbed onto a fairly large ship at the dock.

It was a ship prepared by Chun Chu Shin Ui and Cheon Gyeong-wan by diligently looking around.

It was a borrowed boat, but it cost enough money to be able to buy a small boat.

The outside was simple but the inside was a gorgeous ship.

It was also very fast compared to its size. It was natural that movement and balance were stable as well.

In a word, it was a ship that was worth the cost.

Byeoktaesan and Seomun-deok, who now have to return to Homu-ryeon, boarded the boat together.

Seomun-deok asked for a request in advance, and Byeoktaesan accepted it.

Soon the ship left.

* * *

There wasn’t a particularly big incident until they arrived at Uichang, where Homu-ryeon was located.

The ship was so fast that they reached their destination in two days.

What kind of incidents would even occur in that short of a time? Unless they met pirates or something there wouldn’t be any trouble.

However, there weren’t a lot of pirates who dared to attack the ship with Homu ryeon’s flag.

The people on the Homu-ryeon side, including Seomun-deok, did not come out from the cabin throughout the journey.

While renting the ship, they also hired sailors and workers, who were responsible for all the chores.

Driving the boat, preparing meals, cleaning, and even small errands.

So, everyone was able to get along with both body and mind.

But not everyone did that.

There was only one person, who was very uncomfortable, it was Soso.

The day Byeoktaesan told her to visit him at night, Soso couldn’t go.

That day, Soso stayed up all night in Yeon ha rin’s room.

Yeon Ha-rin asked her all kinds of questions about all the things she was curious about.

Soso was the person who had served Byeoktaesan the longest, so it could be said that she knew about Byeoktaesan the most.

However, Soso couldn’t confidently say that she knew Byeoktaesan well these days.

Anyway, from the day after she talked to Yeon Ha-rin to the limit she knew, for some reason, she couldn’t look straight at Byeoktaesan.

However, as they got on the boat together, she continued to run into Byeoktaesan.

Now was one of those moments.

On the way to ask for food,  she ran into Byeoktaesan on the deck.

Soso tried her hardest to avoid his gaze.

Byeoktaesan, who saw that, clicked his tongue.

“Are you conscious of something?”

“Oh, i-it’s not like that?”

Even though she said so, her gaze was still pointing to the side.

“Well, if it’s not like that, why stutter?”

Soso’s cheeks slightly swelled at the words of Byeoktaesan. She was struggling because of a certain someone right now, so how can he do this?

Byeoktaesan was amazed at himself.

He was not originally this kind of person.

He wasn’t a person who played with words like this and made fun of people. It would be unthinkable if he was the same before.

But now it was so natural and fun.

Whether this was because of wearing the body of Byeoktaesan, or whether his spirit was purified and a new personality was revealed.

“Why? Even though you didn’t come that day, you must be upset I didn’t call for you again, right?”

Soso jumped in amazement.

“W-what, what are you talking about! That is not the case!”

Byeoktaesan smiled and passed by Soso.

“It’s difficult on the ship, so come to me on the day we arrive, at night.”

Soso stared blankly at the back of Byeoktaesan, who had passed by leaving the words behind.

Soso, who soon became sad, rustled her head.

“What am I supposed to do?”

It seemed to be inevitable this time.

* * *

“Hoh. This is Homuryeon.”

Byeoktaesan was slightly admired as he looked around the view of Homu-ryeon.

Honestly, he slightly belittles them because they were called the Hubei Martial Arts Alliance.

What the Cheonma Shinkyo dealt with were huge organizations such as the Moorim League or the Black Lotus.

Their array of networks dominated the world.

It can be said that they competed with them for the world.

So, to him, he cared less about the small fries that messed around in a tiny area like Hubei.

However, when he arrived in Homu-ryeon, the scale was much larger than he had imagined.

“If they like this, they would be equivalent to about half of the Moorim League.”

Chun Chu Shin-ui, who was next to the muttering Byeoktaesan, said.

“I mean isn’t it because it’s Homuryeon? Sure the title is Hubei Martial Arts Alliance, but in fact, they also reach out to the vicinity, Honam, Gangseo, and Anhui, so it is equal to about half of the Moorim League in scale.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes. At the same time, it can be said that it is a small Moorim League because they are actively interacting with the Moorim League.”

“I heard that they were decent a few times, but I didn’t know their scale was this much.”

Byeoktaesan’s words were sincere.

When he was Cheonma, there was no reason to be interested in things like Homu-ryeon.

Even so, considering the number of reports that had been given to him before, it was certainly not an ordinary organization.

He briefly recalled the report he had received at that time.

As expected, the memory was engraved in his mind very clearly.

“So, you can think of it as an alliance created by warriors who have it difficult to exert direct influence on the Moorim League.”

This was exactly the content of the report that just came to his mind. Of course, there were more details, but the gist was exactly what Chun Chu Shin Ui said.

Byeoktaesan looked at him with a fresh eye.