Chapter 194. Messenger from the Past (4)

“Ugh…….”

Watching Jin Tae-san work while making a strange sound that could not be called either a groan or a scream, Wang Geum-san furrowed his brow.

As Wang So-so devoted herself to training, the hectic affairs of Wang Estate had eased considerably.

In the past, he had been heartbroken every day over not being able to spend time with his daughter, but now, he welcomed the routine of his child often sleeping over at Taeul Sect under the pretext of training.

Thanks to that, Wang Geum-san’s complexion had regained quite a healthy color, while on the other hand—

‘That’s going to kill a man.’

Jin Tae-san’s appearance had fallen into a terrible state.

Empty patches were already visible here and there on his head, and perhaps because he was not even washing his face properly, his skin was cracked and dry.

Who knew when he had last slept? His two eyes were bloodshot red, and the flesh beneath them had sunk black.

‘Did he say recently that they were building a smithy?’

He had said that a famous forge master from Yueyang and a technician from the Tang Clan had been recruited and placed on Taeul Sect’s rolls.

Taeul Sect had truly been growing at a dazzling rate over the past few years.

Because of that, it was only natural to be busy, but Jin Tae-san was still working with ruthless tenacity.

“Why not take it a little easier?”

“…….”

Jin Tae-san, who had slightly lifted his head, lowered it again as if ignoring Wang Geum-san and resumed his work.

“You will collapse at this rate, my friend.”

“……Are you bored?”

“Hm?”

“Or did you come here to tease me?”

“Ahem, hem. I am already so busy with work that I could die, so why would I go out of my way to come all the way here just to tease you?”

“Then why did you bring Candied Fruit and tea? Does that not mean you intend to spend time here?”

In truth, Wang Geum-san also did not know why he had come all the way here on a holiday.

Of course, there was some enjoyment in teasing Jin Tae-san, but was it not also quite enjoyable to meet High Officials and Nobles and the heads of great sects to drink with them?

“……I brought them for you to eat. Did I bring them so I could eat them myself?”

“……I have no appetite.”

Jin Tae-san lowered his head again and worked.

The Great Heaven Merchant Guild was settling into Hefei to some degree.

The scale of its logistics volume was growing larger and larger, and he had heard that the merchant guild branch newly opened around Mount Tianmu was doing so well it was complaining of a shortage of manpower.

“You can take it a little easier. Why work as if your life depends on it?”

“……Last time, did you not criticize me, saying, ‘Young people these days only think about slacking off’?”

“Ahem! Hem! That was merely something I said.”

Of course, his intention had been to motivate him, but he had not known Jin Tae-san would truly work to this extent.

Jin Tae-san’s expression, which had been endlessly grumbling, grew serious for an instant.

“I am doing it because I am ashamed.”

“Hm?”

Still working with his head lowered, Jin Tae-san continued speaking.

“You know well too, Estate Master. How terrifying money can be.”

“……Of course I know.”

“If you truly do not have a single coin in your pocket, the world becomes terribly frightening. More than you can imagine, Estate Master.”

“…….”

Though he had lived his entire life learning the terror of money, Wang Geum-san had never actually been poor.

Naturally, because from childhood, he had grown up enjoying an abundant life within Wang Estate.

“It would be better to say it is literally ‘desperate.’”

As if he were feeling through painful memories, faint wrinkles formed at the corners of Jin Tae-san’s eyes.

“The pain of weighing whether to reduce the amount of grain that goes into the children’s mouths, or reduce the amount of firewood burned in the room during winter…… becomes daily life.”

Jin Tae-san set down his brush for a moment and, perhaps because his eyes ached, pressed both eyes firmly with both hands.

“And such pain reaches the children no matter how much the adults try to hide it. Because of that, children who grow up in difficult environments mature quickly.”

“…….”

“My son was like that as well.”

Thinking of Jin So-un, Wang Geum-san carefully spoke.

“……Would it be too arrogant to say that So-un grew up so splendidly because of such an environment?”

Jin Tae-san’s head snapped up.

“Yes. It is arrogance.”

His eyes were fierce, and his tone was firm.

It could have been unpleasant for Wang Geum-san to hear, but he did not feel particularly displeased.

Jin Tae-san lowered his gaze again.

“When I heard that Jin So-un, that bastard, had passed the Regular Exam as the top scorer, I felt as if my heart were being torn apart.”

“…….”

“I did not even want to imagine what that boy must have sacrificed in place of money.”

Moisture entered Jin Tae-san’s voice.

“I lost sleep wondering whether I even had the right to call myself his father.”

“…….”

“The opportunity Taeul Sect has obtained now was also all brought by that boy.”

Jin Tae-san looked at Wang Geum-san again.

“Estate Master, allow me to ask you one thing.”

“Speak.”

“You said there is nothing free in this world, did you not?”

Wang Geum-san answered at once.

“That is right. That alone is truth.”

“Then, for a sect with nothing like Taeul Sect to enjoy this degree of abundance in such a short time, what must it sacrifice?”

“…….”

This time, Wang Geum-san could not immediately answer the question.

He had never been in such a position, no, he had never even imagined it in the first place.

“I cannot simply look at that boy with pride. Because the person most precious to me is Jin So-un, that bastard.”

“…….”

“But I cannot stop him either. If Taeul Sect becomes poor again, the other children will once again be thrown into a cruel world.”

Wang Geum-san only nodded silently.

Jin Tae-san began moving his hands busily again.

“That is why I cannot rest even for a moment. Because this alone is what I can do.”

As Wang Geum-san listened to Jin Tae-san’s heartfelt story, a faint smile formed on his face.

Heh.

Only now did he understand why, on his holiday that was as precious as gold, he had not gone to meet High Officials and Nobles or the heads of great sects, and had instead come here.

The simple honesty of not running away from one’s own inadequacies and doing the best one could.

Wang Geum-san liked that single-track yet upright Jin Tae-san.

“My thinking was shallow. Is there anything I can help with?”

“Something you can help with, Estate Master…….”

Jin Tae-san, who had been thinking carefully, hurriedly rummaged through the documents.

Then, in the next moment, he began reciting something in a stream as if he had prepared it.

“By classifying goods that differ in market price between Anhui Province and nearby provinces, we can calculate profitability…….”

“Ah, forgive me. My words came out wrong. Today is my holiday, so I must rest.”

“…….”

Just then, as Wang Geum-san pointlessly cleared his throat, a servant entered and delivered a letter.

Jin Tae-san, who had continued glaring at Wang Geum-san, slowly tore open the letter and read its contents.

“Hup!”

Jin Tae-san’s two eyes widened, and he swallowed his breath.

Curious about the contents of the letter because of his reaction, Wang Geum-san slowly approached.

Normally, Jin Tae-san would not have shown him the letter, but for some reason, he was merely clutching it and trembling.

At last, the moment Wang Geum-san took the letter and was about to read it—

Wild laughter burst from Jin Tae-san’s mouth as he threw back his head.

“Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!”

“……What is wrong with you?”

“Read it.”

Jin Tae-san’s mouth was filled with a smile.

As Wang Geum-san quickly read the letter, a small groan also flowed from his mouth.

“To think it was designated as the Murim Alliance’s exclusive purchasing supplier…… How truly astonishing.”

“Mwahahahahahahahaha!!!!”

“Dozens of merchant guilds must have rushed in to obtain this right. I cannot fathom what happened…… In any case, congratulations.”

“Of course. I too am delighted beyond measure that I seem to have gained an opportunity to keep you busily occupied, Estate Master.”

“Hm? What does that mean?”

When Wang Geum-san made a puzzled expression, an insidious smile hung at Jin Tae-san’s lips.

“Wang Estate has also wanted regular transactions with the Murim Alliance, has it not?”

“!!!”

As the memory returned, Wang Geum-san’s hair stood on end.

“N-no. No, it has not. We cannot possibly steal away such a fine opportunity.”

At Wang Geum-san’s attitude of feigned modesty, Jin Tae-san immediately shook his head.

“What are you saying? Do you know the quantity and kinds of goods the Murim Alliance Branches require? Are you telling us to handle all of that alone? Of course we must work with Wang Estate.”

“I said it is fine!”

“I am not fine with it!”

“I-I will not accept!”

“Then I will have to tell So-so.”

“…….”

Wang Geum-san’s brow furrowed deeply.

For the first time in a while, Jin Tae-san felt as if his fatigue had been swept away by his hearty laughter.

***

Yaryul Geuk meets his death.

The first basis for that inference was Yaryul Jae.

In my past life, Yaryul Jae had said he lived like a ruined man around this time.

He did not speak of the reason, and only said that for several years, he had lived drowning in alcohol.

Yaryul Jae was not a man who despaired easily.

If he had been that sort of person, then as soon as he became an adult, he would not have been able to continue working as a wanderer, training his martial arts, and sending all the money he earned to his sect for years.

If so, one could naturally predict that something which became the cause of his ruined life had happened around that time.

Second. The fact that Yaryul Jae had never mentioned his blood kin.

If he had never spoken about his blood kin and I had never seen him go to meet his family either, then it could be presumed that by the time he entered Sojeong Squad, he had already fallen out with his siblings, or they had died.

If his blood kin had died, and he could not easily speak of that blood kin’s death, then—

‘……It means that death must have given him a shock powerful enough to leave a lifelong yoke.’

Even after a long time had passed, painful memories would rise together with the floating debris called longing.

Despite that, the fact that he could not bring himself to speak of it meant he had forcibly suppressed that longing himself.

In other words, the ‘death itself’ had not been natural.

Not simply an accident, nor a chronic illness…….

But the kind painful enough to torment him with guilt every time he recalled it.

Third. The fact that after completing the Flowing Cloud Divine Art, he had repeated regret under tremendous guilt.

Such behavior naturally showed that the Flowing Cloud Divine Art and his brothers’ deaths were connected.

Fourth. The fact that he hated his opponents simply because they were from the Murim Academy.

When all of that was put together, this was the result.

‘Yaryul Jae tried to complete the Flowing Cloud Divine Art through Yaryul Geuk. Yaryul Geuk was stuck in a burdensome situation like that, in a daily life of isolation and violence, and in the midst of it…….’

I abruptly cut off the thought I had been continuing.

Because this was only an inference.

Even so, it felt as if my breath had been blocked.

“Those brothers really make every damned kind of trouble!”

I began searching the classrooms of the main building.

“Who is running so frivolously through the sacred school grounds?!”

“Stop right there!”

The Teaching Masters and Instructors tried to stop me as I ran inside the Academy, but I unfolded the Taeul Eighty-Thousand Divine Steps, created afterimages, and avoided them.

“Young Master Jin!”

At the voice suddenly calling me, I turned my head and saw Seong Mo-ran, Namgung Seon-hwa, and Sa-ryeon looking at me with startled eyes.

“What are you doing? Why are you running in such a hurry?”

I urgently made a request.

“Please help me find Yaryul Geuk.”

“Yes? Who is that?”

“In any case, please help me.”

Leaving those words behind, I immediately moved my feet.

I searched all the classrooms in the main building, and searched through both the west building and the east building.

Just in case, I also searched all the rooftops, but Yaryul Geuk was nowhere to be found.

‘I need to go find that bastard.’

The Instructors and Teaching Masters were chasing after me from behind.

They were shouting something or other, but not a word reached my ears.

Once again, I raised my inner arts and ran to the four-person dormitory.

As I entered the corridor, those who had come out of their rooms all looked this way at once.

I passed them quickly, taking each of their faces into my eyes one by one.

“Jin So-un?”

At that moment, my eyes met Nam Hwa-seong’s as he came out of his room, drenched in sweat.

Puzzlement appeared on his face.

“What are you doing here?”

“You. Do you know what room Ak Ju-pyeong lives in?”

“Ak Ju-pyeong? Why him all of a sudden?”

“Do you know or not?”

At my cold voice, he flinched.

“Room Thirty-Eight.”

“Is that so?”

“Hey, what is going…….”

Ignoring Nam Hwa-seong’s question, I immediately ran up to the third floor as if flying and found Room Thirty-Eight.

CRASH.

Fortunately, the door was not locked, so I smashed the door panel aside and entered.

In an instant, a commotion arose.

“……Wh-what is it!”

“J-Jin So-un?”

Inside, four people seemed to have been trading jokes, and they could not hide the smiles hanging at their lips.

I immediately found the bastard’s face.

“Ak Ju-pyeong.”

The bastard was looking at me with an interested expression while leaning back slightly.

With an indifferent expression, I asked him.

“You were with Yaryul Geuk yesterday, weren’t you? Where was that?”

“Yaryul Geuk? He said he had no connection to you.”

“I don’t have time for word games. Where is Yaryul Geuk?”

He let out a fishy sneer.

“Why should I answer?”

“Because then your bones will stay intact.”

“What?”

Ak Ju-pyeong erased his smile and rose from his seat.

Though I was also rather tall, his eye level was slightly higher than mine.

As if he would charge at me at any moment, the bastard looked down at me.

“Do you think you can do anything to me with your paltry authority as Representative?”

“Do you think I would be afraid of the paltry power of the Ak Clan?”

“You bastard……!”

THWACK.

The moment the bastard moved, I gathered qi at my toes and struck his shin.

“Guuurk──.”

Before he even knew what had happened, Ak Ju-pyeong’s shin bent in a direction it should not have bent, and his eyes bulged as he kept sucking in breaths.

I decided to give him one more chance.

“Where is Yaryul Geuk?”

“Aaaaaaagh!”

As if the pain had surged in belatedly, Ak Ju-pyeong screamed.

Just as I was about to bend the other remaining leg in the opposite direction as well—

“J-Jin So-un! Are you truly not afraid of making an enemy of the Orthodox Path Association?”

At the voice coming from behind me, I looked back at the bastard.

“The Orthodox Path Association, the Righteous Path Association, and the Twelve Peak Citadels are already at odds with me, so what should I be afraid of?”

“Th-that is…….”

I bent Ak Ju-pyeong’s remaining leg in the opposite direction as well.

“Aaaaaaaaagh!!!”

Ak Ju-pyeong’s eyes rolled back, and he foamed at the mouth.

Since I had completely bent his joints the wrong way, even if he recovered, he probably would not be able to unfold Movement Art as perfectly as before.

“Y-Yaryul Geuk was last seen yesterday……! A-after that, we truly didn’t see him……!”

Ak Ju-pyeong’s lackey answered.

“What I asked was where, I believe.”

“N-near Yangsan Peak.”

“When was that?”

“It was probably around the Hour of the Pig.”

“……How badly did you beat him?”

“……Gulp.”

The lackey swallowed thickly.

“Do you want extraordinary joints like Ak Ju-pyeong?”

Fear appeared on the bastard’s face.

“H-he was definitely breathing.”

“He was breathing, was he…….”

The bastard added, almost in tears.

“Y-yes. H-he was definitely still alive.”

“Did you confirm that he returned to the dormitory?”

“…….”

The lackey swallowed thickly.

“Yesterday, Yaryul Geuk did not return to the dormitory.”

“……!”

After hearing Ak Ju-pyeong’s scream, Academy students began gathering one by one.

Nam Hwa-seong was also among the crowd.

“What the hell…… What did you do?!”

“Nam Hwa-seong. You’ve bullied kids a lot, haven’t you? Especially powerless kids.”

At the sudden question, Nam Hwa-seong made a stunned expression.

“H-huh?”

“Was Yangsan Peak the place where you usually bullied kids?”

“Wh-what is that supposed to…….”

“Was it?”

After hesitating for a moment, Nam Hwa-seong soon pointed out one place.

“Y-yeah. Because it’s hard to climb, and it’s out of the Instructors’ sight.”

It was autumn, but the temperature would have been low in the middle of the night.

“Fuck.”

All the pieces had fallen into place.

It was no longer an inference.

At that moment, the voices of the Instructors could be heard from among the Academy students.

The Dorm Supervisor also seemed to be coming after hearing the screams.

“Nam Hwa-seong, handle the aftermath here.”

“What? Hey! You bastard!”

I opened the window and jumped down.

Then I cut straight across the Murim Academy, running toward Yangsan Peak.

The Instructors and Teaching Masters who had been chasing me were gasping for breath as they followed.

I kicked off the ground, climbed onto a building, and began running by leaping between the buildings.

After the buildings ended, I took to the trees and ran.

How long had I run like that?

At last, I arrived at the entrance of Yangsan Peak and headed straight for the clearing said to be where they usually robbed others’ money pouches.

And there, I saw an ominous figure.

“Damn it. ……Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it.”

It was Yaryul Geuk.

There was no color in his face, and his body was cold.

Had I ultimately been too late?

As if to mock the confidence I had gained from the Sichuan matter that I could change the future, I had ultimately failed to save my comrade’s blood kin in such a hollow way.

“This fucking shit!!!!”