The Genius Warrior Who Remembers Everything Chapter 70

Chapter 70. The ‘First’ Trial of the Hell Regular Exam (4)

“This is proof that you are a Guest Retainer of our Hao Gate. If you have this with you, no matter where you are, we will be able to find you.”

What Yeo Mi-mi held out was a small Black Token.

How were they supposed to find me with this?

“In the end, you too have no choice but to remain within our field of vision. But even if you don’t, inside the Black Token is Hao Gate’s own Thousand-Li Tracking Fragrance concentrate.”

So this faint fragrance I had been smelling must have been the Thousand-Li Tracking Fragrance.

“Every morning, we will deliver newly organized information to you.”

“……Is that possible?”

No matter how skilled an information organization was, there had to be limits. Every morning?

Moreover, how would they know how I would move and send someone every day?

“How truly strange. You know us more thoroughly than anyone, yet on the other hand, it seems you know nothing about us.”

That was because there had been nothing written about how Hao Gate’s “Guest Retainers” received information.

Yeo Mi-mi was still looking at me as if she found me fascinating.

“We will do our utmost to help you achieve what you desire. Our fate has already been placed atop yours.”

“……Please don’t suddenly say something so burdensome. I asked you to join me, not to place your fate on me.”

Yeo Mi-mi and Hae-ryeong smiled at the corners of their mouths.

I shook my head, then opened my mouth.

“There is something I would like to ask first.”

“What is it?”

“Please spread a rumor about me.”

“A rumor about you? Is the Jianghu not already full of rumors about you?”

“That is why I am asking. Please spread the rumor that my martial arts are not that outstanding.”

“Hm…… Would that not be difficult? The rumor that you faced the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly must already have spread through the world.”

“The Dragon and Phoenix Assembly will not spread that rumor themselves. And will people not need a little more time to believe whether that rumor is true?”

“Hm……. So you want that rumor to spread a little later.”

“Yes. That is correct.”

“Understood. don’t worry about that. I will spread rumors so that the people under heaven think of you not as the Black Flame Dragon, but as an earthworm.”

“…….”

I did not like the sobriquet Black Flame Dragon, but that did not mean I wished to be called an earthworm.

Caught in an ambivalence where I could not choose either side, I simply shut my mouth.

After sleeping alone at an inn overnight, I packed some simple food and headed toward Mount Hwaun.

I had told them to come down quickly if they did not want to stay on Mount Hwaun all night, but there was no way that would be possible.

Even the Sojeong Squad, who had been placed in urgent circumstances, had taken fifteen days to become proficient in Taeul Moving Circulation.

It would take at least three days just to get out of Mount Hwaun.

Naturally, I expected that they would not even have come halfway down Mount Hwaun and would be sleeping in the forest.

“Oh…….”

But as I entered the beginning of Mount Hwaun, the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers were moving at a fairly fast speed.

“They look about as fast as turtles now.”

It was a level of fast achievement that would have astonished the Sojeong Squad members if they had seen it.

“Well, those fellows had garbage-level comprehension to begin with.”

Finally, Geum-pyo arrived in front of me.

“Huff, huff, huff. Senior Brother…… It was a lie that we could get down before nightfall, right?”

“Drink some water.”

Geum-pyo, whose whole body was sweating as if he had been drenched in rain, emptied the water bottle I handed him in one go.

“Did you stay up all night?”

“Yes… Honestly… huff, tell… huff… me… huff. Senior Brother… huff, you are using… huff… moving circulation… huff. That is a lie, right?”

I held out dumplings I had brought from the inn.

“Do you want some dumplings?”

“Huff, huff, huff.”

Geum-pyo glared at me when I did not answer, then snatched up the dumplings and devoured them in a flash, as quickly as a crab hides its eyes.

While Geum-pyo had filled his stomach a little and collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion, Eun-ho arrived, and Dong-ryong arrived last.

“Huff… huff… huff… Eldest Senior Brother… liar….”

“Huff… huff… liar.”

The two brothers did not even have time to continue speaking properly and only looked at me with eyes full of resentment.

“Do you want to drink water first? Or do you want to eat dumplings first?”

I handed them water and dumplings.

***

Their walking speed was gradually getting faster.

The boys, who had moved at the speed of turtles, began walking at the speed of chicks, and then they began walking at the speed of slow oxen.

As the children’s speed began to build little by little, I chose a mountain path rather than the official road.

Then the three brothers’ speed slowed down again.

“Hurry up and come quickly. At this rate, the Murim Regular Exam will all be over.”

“Haa… haa… Then, could we not just go by the official road? We were only barely getting used to walking.”

A mountain path was different from an official road.

One had to use both hands and feet, and restrictions were constantly placed on one’s movements.

On top of that, if they tried to use moving circulation as well, it would truly be enough to drive them mad.

The climb that had begun before sunrise made no progress even by the time the sun stood high in the sky, and we had not even moved ten li.

“If you don’t reach the summit of the mountain, you will skip lunch as well.”

“……!”

“……!”

“……!”

Killing intent appeared in the eyes of the three brothers from the millhouse.

“Oh, you have already learned to emit killing intent even though I have not taught you? As expected, this Eldest Senior Brother’s grace is as high as the sky and as broad as the sea.”

The three brothers looked as if they had many things to say, but they pressed their mouths shut.

Was it because of that?

The three brothers’ speed began to increase little by little.

SCREEEE—

At that moment, a black bird let out a cry as it swam through the blue sky.

The voice spread so far that the birds in the forest flew up all at once, and the squirrels that had been watching us curiously quickly hid in their shelters.

“What is that?”

When I looked at the sky through the trees, a large hawk was flying as if it ruled the heavens.

That hawk, which had been moving across the sky, suddenly began dropping toward me.

“Oh? Does it hunt people too?”

At my words, the three brothers flinched and looked up at the sky.

They had seen the hawk, with wings larger than a person’s arm, descending at high speed.

“Senior Brother, I think it is coming this way.”

“It really is. Th-That… Senior Brother!”

“Tsk! Moving circulation!”

When I faintly emitted killing intent toward the boys, who were about to release their moving circulation and run, they stiffened like beasts startled by a predator’s gaze.

And at the moment they could neither run nor dodge, and all tightly closed their eyes at the same time, the large hawk suddenly spread its wings, slowed down, and slowly approached me.

“What is this?”

It seemed to want my shoulder, so when I offered it, the hawk landed neatly on my shoulder.

The three brothers blinked as they watched that strange sight, and I discovered a small bamboo tube attached to the hawk’s ankle.

“Huh. They don’t use carrier pigeons, but messenger hawks? Wait…….”

The hawk rubbed its feathers against my head, though it was seeing me for the first time, then tapped near my chest.

That was where the Silver Wang Token I had received from Wang Geum-san and the Black Token I had received from Hao Gate were located.

“You are remarkable. Did they train even messenger hawks with Thousand-Li Tracking Fragrance?”

When I took out the Black Token and stroked the hawk, the hawk acted charmingly as if it had met its master.

Then I immediately took the materials Hao Gate had sent out of the tube on its ankle and began scanning through them.

“Senior Brother, what in the world is going on?”

“It seems someone who agreed to give me information sent this.”

When Geum-pyo approached the hawk in fascination, the hawk’s eyes turned fierce, and it screeched.

“……It is extremely fierce.”

“Unlike carrier pigeons, messenger hawks don’t have their wild instincts erased. Because of that, they are difficult to train, but they also have the advantage of being less likely to be hunted. don’t touch it carelessly. It looks like an Iron Hawk, and one like this can easily cut off a person’s finger.”

At my words, Geum-pyo withdrew his hand with a pale face.

“Hm…….”

After reading through all the materials, I took out the Four Treasures of the Study, wrote down several more pieces of information I needed, and put them into the bamboo tube attached to the Iron Hawk’s ankle.

Then, as if it knew what it had to do, the creature began flying up again.

“What was it?”

Eun-ho looked curious about the materials I had received.

“It was a brief report on the current situation. It says that among the mountain strongholds currently designated by the Murim Alliance, two thousand four hundred have disappeared.”

“Already?”

Considering that only three days had passed since the Regular Exam began, it was an extremely fast pace.

“This kind of unfortunate incident has happened because you boys are not learning moving circulation quickly! If I fail the Murim Academy exam because of you, will you take responsibility?”

Geum-pyo and Eun-ho looked at me as if they were utterly dumbfounded.

At least the venom had not yet disappeared from Dong-ryong’s eyes.

I thought he said something like, “I will kill…….”

I decided to think he was saying it to our competitors.

Kind Dong-ryong, who had waited for me for days and days just to share a piece of rice cake, would surely never dare say he would kill his Eldest Senior Brother.

“Guild Master! Young Master Cheol-yeong’s condition is strange!”

“What!”

At the suddenly familiar voice and name, we all turned our gazes at the same time toward the official road below the mountain.

There was a traveling party leading about a hundred wanderers, and at the front stood Gye Yeon-seok.

At someone’s call, Gye Yeon-seok was moving backward alone, and beside him was Gye Yeon-seung, who had once been the Hall Master of our Busaeng Hall.

“Could they be going on a trade journey?”

Since the Gyeryong Merchant Guild had no escort agency of its own and only possessed the final distribution rights for goods, they did not conduct escort runs.

Moreover, there were only three luggage carriages in the traveling party.

The place Gye Yeon-seok and Gye Yeon-seung moved toward was an iron carriage among the luggage carriages.

When Gye Yeon-seok knocked on the window, the one who came out from inside was Gye Cheol-yeong, whose face was twisted in a strange direction.

“Huh…….”

“Holy…….”

“Why…….”

The three brothers immediately recognized Gye Cheol-yeong, who had changed into a bizarre appearance, since they had still spent nearly five years with him.

“Auh, auh. Aaah.”

Gye Cheol-yeong could not even speak properly.

“Endure it just a little. Once we cross this mountain, there is a village, so let us rest a little there before going on.”

“Auu, auu. Auu.”

Drool trickled down between his twisted lips.

Gye Yeon-seok wiped away the drool at the corners of Gye Cheol-yeong’s mouth.

“don’t worry about anything. You will definitely, definitely enter Murim Academy.”

When Gye Yeon-seok went back to the front and led the group, the traveling party began moving.

Even after they had passed by for a long time,

the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers stood still in a daze for a long while.

In truth, I was not so different.

The sight of Gye Yeon-seok dragging along his son, who had become a ruined man, to take the Murim Academy Regular Exam was practically a projection of his chilling desire.

It was enough to give me goosebumps without my realizing it.

“……Does he have to take the exam even if he goes that far?”

For the first time, Geum-pyo wore an expression that made it seem he truly felt what kind of exam he was taking.

“It has long been the case that the hierarchy of the Jianghu has been established around the Murim Alliance according to the logic of power. It is only natural that Gye Yeon-seok, who wants more wealth and power, desires to put his only child into Murim Academy.”

“But in that state…… can he take the exam? No, even if he does take the exam, can he attend the academy?”

Absurdly enough, the Murim Alliance thoroughly restricted helpers, but placed no particular restrictions on the examinees themselves.

Attending the academy after being admitted was a later matter, but if one entered the academy, one could receive the Murim Alliance’s medical support for free.

Even if he could not recover his martial arts, if he completed the academy course well, he might be able to obtain at least one position in the Murim Alliance.

In that sense, Gye Yeon-seok’s choice might not have been wrong.

“This is not the time to worry about them. Did you not see the faces of the people making up that traveling party?”

“……What do you mean?”

“The people standing at the front of the traveling party with Gye Yeon-seok were Yama Axe Yeon Chu-ak, Windless Demon Rod Han Geum-tak, and Three-Handed Ghost Ape Dam Cheol-gak. Those three are counted among the special-grade wanderers even among wanderers.”

“……Windless Demon Rod Han Geum-tak…… Is he not a Black Path man?”

The one move of his, in which he hooked the skin of a person’s nose with a strange fishing rod and spun them round and round in the air until they died, was an ultimate art feared even by Black Path men.

“He only worked in the Black Path as a wanderer. If someone pays him, he can convert to the Orthodox Path at any time.”

“Senior Brother, from what I heard, experts at First-Rate or above definitely cannot participate as helpers.”

“That is the problematic part. Since they are wanderers, their skills are not accurately recorded, and because the Murim Alliance looks down on those without affiliation by one level, it could easily judge them to be First-Rate experts.”

“That kind of absurdity…….”

“So hurry up and walk properly. The competition is already becoming difficult, and on top of that, the pace is growing slower and slower because of you boys, is it not?”

Although I pressed the three brothers, this time, the children’s eyes did not easily die.

Rather, they seemed filled with heat.

And the speed of the three brothers began to grow faster and faster.

In preparation for running into Gye Yeon-seok’s traveling party, we passed by two villages without stopping, and our speed rose to the level of ordinary people crossing mountains.

Seeing the three brothers gradually adapting to moving circulation, I went back down to the official road.

“We can go by the mountain paths now.”

“Of course. We are confident!”

“Why would I make you undergo training that is not difficult? Now let us go while using Footwork Art.”

“…….”

“…….”

“There are not only one or two advantages to using Footwork Art while using moving circulation. In particular, the Taeul Eighty-Thousand Divine Steps is a peerless Footwork Art that also possesses the characteristics of Movement Art. If you boys only learn this, you will be able to escape from the enemy’s grasp as much as you like and run without rest.”

“……Senior Brother, we have already been sleeping outdoors for a week and have not washed either. Could we not go a little normally today?”

“Is that so? Then there is no helping it. Let us go and rest a little at a suitable inn.”

The mouths of the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers stretched wide enough to reach their ears.

“And then let us return to Taeul Sect. As the Eldest Senior Brother, I cannot put you boys in danger, so if you don’t want to train, we have no choice but to go back together. Goodness, if Sa-ryeon has to take responsibility for all of us, it will truly be so very~ hard.”

The lips of the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers trembled.

“…….”

“…….”

Among them, the youngest, Dong-ryong, could not endure it and spoke.

“Eldest Senior Brother!”

“What is it?”

“Is this how I step with the Taeul Eighty-Thousand Divine Steps?”

Dong-ryong asked while stepping on the ground, and Geum-pyo and Eun-ho even trembled around their eyes as if quivering with a sense of betrayal.

“No. I will teach you again. What will you do? It seems Dong-ryong says he will keep going. Will Geum-pyo and Eun-ho return?”

“……Of course we will go with you.”

“Yes! And I like sleeping outdoors!”

To the three brothers, who were muttering something while stepping along the footprints I had marked, I said,

“If you can freely display even the Taeul Eighty-Thousand Divine Steps, I will rent the best inn in the next village we reach.”

“Pardon?”

“Really?”

“Senior Brother, you don’t have any money.”

Geum-pyo, Eun-ho, and Dong-ryong spoke in order, and I showed them the money pouch full of gold coins that I had previously received from Wang Geum-san.

“Who said I have no money?”

Clink, clink.

When the children saw the yellow gold, their eyes sharpened once again.

‘This is what they call the carrot-and-stick method.’

The children’s desire to eat high-quality food at a good inn and relieve their bodily fatigue with hot water was intense, and in less than three days, they reached the level where they could use the Taeul Eighty-Thousand Divine Steps while using moving circulation.

It was already the tenth day.

Because of the continuous nights outdoors, the children had become impossible to distinguish from Beggars’ Sect disciples or Taeul Sect disciples.

Should I at least consider it fortunate that they wore black martial arts uniforms after following me?

“Senior Brother! Senior Brother! I found out. They say the inn with the best value in this village is that one!”

As soon as we arrived at Mount Huang, Eun-ho asked the surrounding people and found the inn with the best value, then pointed at Silver Palace Inn as he spoke.

“That place is classified as a high-class inn, and it is an inn that costs one silver tael per night.”

I pointed at the new-style building beside Silver Palace Inn and asked,

“Is that not an inn as well?”

“It is a place called Gold Palace Inn, but they say you have to pay as much as five silver taels there.”

“Is that so? Then let us go there.”

“Pardon?”

“Did I not promise you? I said I would rent the best inn in this village.”

“B-But Senior Brother. For four people, that is twenty silver taels.”

Eun-ho’s voice trembled as he spoke.

“Every time your training shows results, you will be able to keep enjoying such luxury. So for now, think only of relieving your fatigue and training hard again.”

As I said that and headed toward Gold Palace Inn, the three people, who had been hesitating, followed me in a line.

“Welcome!”

When I entered, the inn waiter who had been approaching with a bright smile slowly began to frown when he saw the state of the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers.

I quickly took out one gold tael and handed it to him.

“The children look terrible because we have been sleeping outdoors for several weeks. Please prepare rooms, bathwater, food, and new martial arts uniforms.”

The corners of the inn waiter’s mouth, which had been about to twist, bloomed brightly once again.

“We will serve you kindly. Would you like to eat first?”

“Please.”

“This way.”

Just as I was about to move under the inn waiter’s guidance,

Eun-ho grabbed the hem of my clothes and said,

“Eldest Senior Brother, over there…….”

The place Eun-ho’s finger pointed to was the railing on the second floor of the inn.

“…….”

There, Gye Yeon-seok, whose eyes were burning red, and Gye Cheol-yeong, whose face was twisted in a bizarre direction, were looking this way.

“Taeul Sect…….”

It felt as if I could hear Gye Yeon-seok grinding his teeth all the way from the second floor.