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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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Since we had bought everything we needed, we thought it was time to head back. Not just me, but Hongryeon and Sayun were also carrying a lot of luggage in both hands.
It wasn’t easy to pass through crowded places with all that, so we decided to take a slight detour. It wasn’t a problem since there were many things to see around here anyway.
“Isn’t it heavy?”
I smiled and asked Sayun, who was walking with a basket full of incense. But she just shook her head.
“Not at all! I’m a martial artist too, you know?!”
“Oh? That’s good to hear.”
“Hehe. If you had said it was heavy, I would have made you train more when we got back, because it would mean you were lacking in training.”
Sayun’s expression hardened, and I burst out laughing. At our exchange, Hongryeon chuckled and looked towards the end of the road.
“Ah. Look over there.”
“Hmm. Lanterns.”
It was a simple event also present in the Celestial Moon Order. You make a lantern using bamboo and paper, write your wish on it, and float it on the river. There was no particular reward, it was just pretty to look at.
A lot of people had already floated their lanterns, and the river was already filled with many lanterns floating along.
“Shall we try it?”
It wasn’t very expensive. It only cost a few coins to float one lantern. Hongryeon looked at Sayun. Her eyes were sparkling.
“Shall we go then?”
When we arrived at the place where we could make lanterns, a sturdy, potbellied merchant with a friendly face greeted us with a smile.
“Welcome! Come on in!”
“We’d like to float a lantern each. How much is it?”
“Just five coins per lantern!”
While I was about to pay, Hongryeon quickly paid for us. When I looked at her, she just winked and smiled, and in the end, I had no choice but to put my hand back in my pocket.
After receiving the money, the owner brought out bamboo and paper. Watching him, Hongryeon taught Sayun how to make one, and I also quickly put one together. It wasn’t difficult to make, but skill was still apparent.
“Hmm…”
“It’s a bit crude, but well made.”
“Haha. Is that so? Then…”
I looked at the paper of my lantern and picked up a brush. Seeing that, Hongryeon smiled.
“That brush.”
“Ah. The one you gave me. I’m using it well.”
“Ahaha. I’m glad to hear that.”
After a laugh, Hongryeon immediately started writing something on her lantern. Then she lit the candle inside and quickly floated it on the river.
“It’s best to keep your wish a secret!”
Hongryeon seemed to know what to do, perhaps because she had done it several times before. Hearing the owner shout to the customers who had arrived while we were making our lanterns, I also wrote on my lantern.
‘Please let me achieve my goal without any major problems.’
When I was done, Sayun seemed to be finished as well. Did she have many wishes? One side of her lantern was quite densely filled with writing.
“What did you write so much about?”
“I have many things I want to achieve!”
“What are they?”
“It’s a secret!”
Chuckling and scratching her head, Sayun also covered the part where her wish was written and floated her lantern on the river. As our lanterns floated away on the river, I picked up my luggage.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
Even though we were taking a detour, it wasn’t like there were no people at all.
No, why is there a bottleneck on this kind of road?
It was probably because it was the exit of the night market. While we were waiting in the crowd, the front started moving, and we were naturally swept along.
Sayun, who was standing separately, was about to be swept away, so I immediately grabbed her arm. Hongryeon also noticed it, and almost at the same time as me, she grabbed Sayun’s other arm.
Perhaps because of that, Sayun looked back and forth between me and Hongryeon with a blank expression.
“Are you alright? I’m sorry. I thought you might get swept away by the crowd. Of course, you’ve also learned martial arts, so you would have been fine, but…”
“Ah. No. It’s not that… Thank you very much. Head Disciple. Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. Let’s go.”
The path had cleared in the meantime, and we were able to escape the crowd and return safely to the inn.
“Then go in and rest, and let’s meet here tomorrow morning. If you’re hungry…”
They both shook their heads. I had also eaten a lot, so I felt like I could just sleep.
“We’re going up right at dawn?”
“Yes. We’ll depart right after taking care of business… Ah. If you want to look around some more, you can.”
“How about we decide after we get there? Sayun, is that okay?”
“Hehe. I’ll follow the Head Disciple and Innkeeper’s opinions.”
“No. If there’s something you want to see, you can.”
There was plenty of time anyway. Of course, we would arrive at dawn, but that wouldn’t be a problem.
“Um. Alright. Thank you.”
After a moment of thought, Sayun nodded, and we returned to our rooms. They were rooms on the second floor of the inn.
The room was similar to the one in my inn, so it didn’t feel unfamiliar at all.
Are inn rooms built to a standard?
“I’m a bit too early to just sleep.”
I checked the backyard under the inn. Perhaps because it was a place where many martial artists stayed, there were already several martial artists practicing in the backyard.
It wasn’t full-fledged martial arts training, just simple physical training or meditation.
Alright. Then I should train before going to sleep too.
If I skipped training because I was here, Chae-jin would find out like a ghost and make me train twice as hard.
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The room with two beds was quite spacious for two people. Especially for those from the Hongseong Clan, who were used to communal living.
After washing up in the inn’s bathroom, Hongryeon saw Sayun sitting on the bed meditating after having washed up first and smiled wryly.
She was commendable for not skipping training.
She glanced out the window and saw several martial artists practicing in the backyard. And among them was Yuwol, practicing Chae Family Tai Chi.
He was a very diligent person.
“Ah. You’re out.”
At that moment, Sayun opened her eyes and spoke. Nodding to her, Hongryeon sat on the bed and asked.
“Why were you so surprised earlier?”
“Yes?”
“No. When I grabbed you earlier.”
“Ah… Did I perhaps offend you?”
“It’s not that. But I was curious because our youngest was surprised. And worried too. Can I ask you why you were so surprised? If it’s hard to answer, you don’t have to.”
Originally, it was polite to answer a superior’s question, but the Hongseong Clan was far from that. Even though they were the head disciple and the youngest, the Hongseong Clan had a family-like atmosphere.
They could smile and overlook personal secrets.
That’s why Hongryeon spoke casually, and Sayun also answered without much pressure.
“It’s not that. It just reminded me of the old days. Um. As you know, before I met my master, I was just a wandering orphan, right? And at that time, there were many times when we had to flee because of monster attacks… Back then, us beggar kids were very afraid of being swept away by the crowd.”
“I see. When you’re fleeing, you can’t afford to worry about others. If you get swept away and fall, you could get trampled and seriously injured.”
“Yes. So we were always envious.”
Of the children who held onto their parents’ hands tightly.
Of those who found stability even in the midst of the chaos, holding onto their hands.
“We were envious. Of those children who were safe in the midst of the swaying crowd, holding onto their family’s hands. We could only be envious of those children…”
A hint of longing appeared on Sayun’s lips, and Hongryeon smiled wryly as she faced it.
Family.
Family, huh.
“It’s just that I was very envious of that hand back then… When the innkeeper grabbed me, I was just reminded of that time… Ah! I didn’t mean to create this kind of atmosphere! I, I just wanted to say that I’m grateful to the head disciple and the innkeeper, or something like that!”
The flustered Sayun stumbled over her words. Hongryeon gently stroked her head, and at that touch, Sayun didn’t know what to do and just ended up laughing.
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Since we decided to leave early in the morning to have some time to look around, there were few people climbing Changun Mountain, making it a good time to sightsee.
Of course, there were a few families who seemed to have some money and a few young martial artists who looked like they were new to the martial world.
But they were all the people they encountered while climbing Changun Mountain.
Since there weren’t many people, it was good to stop and look around while climbing… It was good that we came early.
“Ah. There’s a pavilion over there.”
“That’s Chwi Ureol Pavilion, where one of the Eight Immortals, the Drunken Immortal, Yi Cheol-goe, is said to have drunk alcohol.”
“Wow. It’s impressive… Ah? What’s that?”
“That’s a trace left by the Sword Immortal, Yeo Dong-bin.”
“Wow. Did the Eight Immortals really come here?”
The sword marks engraved on the huge cliff indicated that this was indeed a place where immortals had resided. Honestly, who could make such sword marks that cut across the entire cliff in one strike.
And in fact, even in the Celestial Moon Order, traces were found through the burnt ruins of Changun’gwan, and through related events, one could follow the traces of the Eight Immortals and obtain a genuine artifact as a reward…
So they probably did come here.
“Wow… Do you think our master could do something like that?”
“Hmm. I don’t think it would be impossible for him.”
Perhaps it was because they were martial artists. Looking at the traces on the cliff, Hongryeon and Sayun were having a serious conversation.
They weren’t the only ones. Other young martial artists climbing Changun Mountain were also constantly expressing their admiration as they looked at the cliff.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
There were many other things to see besides that. As they climbed the mountain, they saw the basin said to have been created by Jongni Gwon with his fan, and the flower garden where Nam Chae-hwa planted flowers.
As they looked around and continued their ascent, Hongryeon saw the traces of destruction here and there and smiled wryly.
“Changun’gwan is a place frequently visited by orthodox sects, and because it’s a place where the Eight Immortals stayed, it’s one of the places frequently attacked by the Demonic Cult.”
“Wow…”
“So the Martial Alliance always suggested stationing high-ranking martial artists from the Alliance here, but Changun’gwan vehemently opposed it. They’ve been attacked by the Demonic Cult many times, but they still haven’t changed their policy. Look over there. Do you see a slightly collapsed area?”
“Yes.”
“That’s the trace from when the Demonic Cult attacked last year. I happened to be here on business at the time, so I participated in that battle.”
“But why does Changun’gwan refuse to have martial artists stationed here?”
“Well? I don’t know that either…”
“When Changun’gwan was built, the Eight Immortals said, ‘This is a place to continue the Tao, so martial force should not reside here.'”
“Martial force is also necessary for protection…”
“What can you do if that’s their policy. But the talisman magic of the Taoist priests of Changun’gwan is strong, so they’ve been able to hold out without any major problems.”
As Hongryeon said, Changun’gwan, which had few martial artists, was often the target of attacks by the Demonic Cult or monsters in events. But no one complained about that. Those events were recurring events, and if you succeeded, the rewards were quite substantial.
To the extent that there were people who stayed here just waiting for these events to happen.
How could they resist when the Demonic Cult and monsters were automatically supplied and they could continue to receive rewards, they said. Of course, in the end, Changun’gwan couldn’t withstand the attacks of the monsters and the Demonic Cult and was burned down.
Of course, that also led to a related event, so no one complained. Because of that, the event to find the artifacts of the Eight Immortals could be started.
While I was lost in thought, and Hongryeon and Sayun were chatting as they looked around, we arrived in front of Changun’gwan.
A worn-out but large and neat Taoist temple came into view. As we passed through the entrance of the temple, a middle-aged female Taoist priest was guiding visitors in the center of the wide courtyard.
“May the blessings of the Eight Immortals be with you. Have you come to pray? Or…”
“We would like to pray and also receive a sacred object…”
“There is a donation required to receive a sacred object.”
She held out a small box, and I put some silver coins into it. She bowed her head and led us inside.
Inside, there was a place with paintings of the Eight Immortals. Normally, there would be quite a few people, but since it was still early in the morning, there was no one.
“Haha. You’ve come to obtain a sacred object?”
The female Taoist priest who had guided us bowed to an old Taoist priest who came out with a piece of paper. After telling him that I was the one seeking a sacred object, she took only Hongryeon and Sayun, who wanted to pray, and moved towards the statues of the Eight Immortals on the other side.
“The sacred objects of the Eight Immortals are meant to supplement what you lack. If you fill out this form, we will give you the most suitable one.”
Saying so, the old Taoist priest handed me a piece of paper. In the meantime, I could hear Sayun praying earnestly in the distance.
Haha. That prayer must be for me.
Alright. I should finish this quickly. I immediately examined the form. As expected, the content was not much different from when it was in the Celestial Moon Order.
Then I should be able to get the artifact I want…
I immediately checked the form and filled it out before handing it over. The old Taoist priest smiled and brought out a fan from inside.
“Do you know? The leader of the Eight Immortals, Master Jongni Gwon, created numerous elixirs and produced many things through alchemy. If you keep this well and install it properly, the quality of the goods produced around the sacred object will improve.”
Alright. I got what I wanted.
Medicinal dishes made at the inn, talismans made by the innkeeper, and weapons and armor made at the new blacksmith’s.
Although the quality improvement would be insignificant compared to the original I would obtain later, every little bit counted.
Now was the time to gather even dust.
“Are you done?”
“Yes. Did you pray well?”
“Yes. Sa-yoon, did you pray well too?”
“Yes!”
“Good. Then let’s go down and look around some more.”
Let’s look around leisurely before too many people arrive and then go back.
We looked around Changun’gwan and headed towards the entrance we came in through.
“Aaaagh! The Demonic Cult! The Demonic Cult has appeared!”
“…Why?”
Sigh. Talk about bad timing.
The recurring event, the Demonic Cult’s attack on Changun’gwan, had begun.
“Let’s go.”
What else could we do?
Since it had come to this, we might as well clear it and get the rewards.
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