****
"...Oh."
When I demonstrated the grass flute, the children's eyes sparkled.
'They just have an inflated ego from being main mountain disciples of the Nine Great Sects and One Union, but that doesn't change the fact that they're barely ten years old.'
Besides, were they ordinary children?
They were kids who had been locked up on Mount Wudang since they were young, unable to play, and only doing grueling martial arts training.
They couldn't help but show interest even in a crude toy like a grass flute.
"Ahem. This Daoist is called Myeong-gyeong. Could I perhaps try blowing it once?"
His childish instincts and his reasoning that he shouldn't look like a child clashed, resulting in a way of speaking like a precocious old man.
"Of course. A free demonstration is possible."
I gave the best-made one to Myeong-gyeong.
Myeong-gyeong glanced at the surrounding children of the 'Myeong' generation and blew the grass flute weakly.
—Fweeeet.
"Wow!"
When the grass flute produced a clear high pitch, the children made a fuss.
The lay disciples had expressions of disbelief.
To them, who were tainted by a secular perspective, a grass flute was far too boring of a toy.
However, everything was relative.
Myeong-gyeong handed the grass flute to the kid behind him and let him blow it.
The children reacted immediately whenever a sound was made.
"The sound is beautiful."
"How did he make this?"
Their prickly attitude from earlier had vanished without a trace, and they now looked like a bunch of cute kids huddled together.
"Sahyung. Look at this. If you make a sound like this, doesn't it sound like the morning wake-up flute?"
"It does."
Myeong-gyeong nodded as if he was pleased.
Myeong-gyeong seemed to be the eldest Sahyung here.
To catch bandits, first catch the king.
To catch the enemy, aim for the leader first.
The person I needed to actively sell to was decided.
"It's three copper coins for one, but if you buy five, I'll give them to you for ten copper coins."
I rubbed my palms together.
However, at my words, the expressions of the 'Myeong' generation children collectively turned gloomy.
"...Money."
Myeong-gyeong looked at the kids behind him as if he was flustered.
I noticed it immediately.
Then again, it wasn't like they were on their way out for a stroll, so there was no way they had money.
I had just probed them just in case.
Those kids drooping like rain-soaked squirrels caught my eye, but business was not done out of pity.
"This Daoist doesn't have any money right now, so..."
Myeong-gyeong made an awkward expression.
It seemed he had brought it up because of the kids behind him.
"Are you asking for it on credit?"
"Ah, yes. Credit. It would be really nice if you could do that for us."
I put on a contemplative expression.
I even narrowed my eyes and looked at Myeong-gyeong.
When Myeong-gyeong met my eyes, he hurriedly lowered his gaze.
He seemed to know that he was making an embarrassing request.
"Do you perhaps have anything else besides money? Like items."
"I-Items. We do have the Daoist robes issued to us, but..."
Would that even fit me?
What use would that be to me in the first place?
"I don't really need that."
"This Daoist is begging you like this. It's because it's my first time seeing my Sajes enjoying themselves so much."
Myeong-gyeong even did a fist and palm salute with his tiny hands and bowed his head.
"I beg of you."
I had teased him enough.
My goal was to create a connection with the main mountain disciples anyway, not to extort money from them.
"Your situation is pitiful. Then I will just give you one."
"Really? Not on credit, but you'll just give it to us?"
Myeong-gyeong's expression brightened up entirely.
The expressions of the children who were anxiously watching their Sahyung from behind also relaxed.
"Yes. I'm just giving it to you. It is an honor for me as well if I am offering it to the main mountain disciples of the Wudang Sect."
"A-Ahem. You know how to show courtesy to main mountain disciples. You are excellent for a lay disciple."
And although nobody knew it yet, that little kid with the protruding forehead named Myeong-gyeong would later become a master who made a name for himself in the Wudang Sect.
Was he called by the title of Tai Chi Invincible Sword?
Forming a connection with someone like that wasn't a bad trade.
"Good grief."
From behind, Jeon Oh-soo lamented as if his stomach was churning.
He had bought his for three copper coins, so his mood definitely wouldn't be comfortable hearing I was giving one away for free.
However, someone of Jeon Oh-soo's caliber would know what I was aiming for by doing this.
"Then I will accept it with gratitude."
I handed over a grass flute.
No, I tried to hand it over.
When Myeong-gyeong's hand and mine were connected with the grass flute as the medium, a sudden gust of wind blew.
Instantly, Myeong-gyeong's expression turned pale.
Before I knew it, the grass flute had been snapped in half.
"We greet you, Master!"
As Myeong-gyeong led the chant, the children of the 'Myeong' generation bowed their heads in unison with a fist and palm salute.
When I blinked, a middle-aged man was suddenly standing in front of me.
It was a face I was seeing for the first time.
If he was the master of the 'Myeong' generation, he had to be someone from the 'Cheong' generation.
But was there ever a reason for someone of the 'Cheong' generation to visit out of the blue like this?
In my memory, it had never happened even once until I left.
The middle-aged man looked at me and immediately opened fire.
"What kind of fellow are you?"
"Excuse me?"
"What kind of fellow are you to bewitch our disciples with miscellaneous tricks?"
I barely held back a frown.
Why on earth did martial artists consider everything except martial arts to be vulgar?
A crooked voice came out without me realizing it.
"Music seems like an entertainment one can fully enjoy."
"Your gaze is quite bold."
The moment the middle-aged man's words fell, a chill ran down my spine.
It felt like a blade was pressed against my neck.
"I don't like your way of speaking, either."
My spine turned cold, and words wouldn't even come out properly.
I obviously knew what this situation was.
It was a situation I had experienced many times in my past life as well.
'To use internal qi so cowardly.'
I bit my lip tightly.
Even though both my feet were firmly planted on the ground, it felt like I was hanging off a cliff.
The terror that I would die if I moved even a little bit gripped my body.
But I knew.
This was just a feeling of fear.
No matter how recklessly the Wudang Sect acted, they wouldn't kill someone over something like this.
Trembling, I barely managed to open my mouth.
"There is an old saying. What always wavers is your eyes. The hand pulling the bowstring. The mind doubting whether it can hit the mark. The target is always at that same distance."
Even though my voice came out trembling, a strange light flickered in the middle-aged man's eyes.
"To speak so steadfastly even under this Daoist's Qi Manifestation. You are a fellow with spirit."
Qi Manifestation was a technique that harmed people solely with the internal qi emitted from the body.
It meant the person in front of me was a master of that caliber.
"Even if this is a bewitchment as the Jinin said, if one knows the truth, it is no big deal."
The middle-aged man's expression stiffened.
The other children didn't notice what I was saying, but the middle-aged man seemed to have caught on.
Because it was no different from saying, what was there to fear if you had educated them properly?
"Can I consider those words an insult to the Wudang Sect?"
"How can a tree stop the wind from blowing? It can only pray that it will not be broken."
"Kuhahaha!"
The middle-aged man suddenly burst into loud laughter.
Along with that, the internal qi that had been pressuring me vanished in an instant.
It felt as if I had been choked and then released.
I immediately dropped to my knees and coughed dryly.
"You do not bend until the very end."
The middle-aged man seemed to have understood my last words as well.
Because they were words filled with the mockery of, 'I don't think so, but if you, the strong one, say so, then it must be.'
"Right. A grass flute might be enough entertainment to soothe a boring life in the mountains. Instead, we will have to educate them well to make up for it."
"Thank you for understanding."
"I came because the sound of a grass flute kept ringing out suddenly, and I see quite an interesting fellow."
I bowed my head.
Even if it was the sound of a grass flute, it wouldn't have reached beyond a radius of a few jang.
He had personally made a trip here after hearing that faint sound.
As expected, martial artists were monsters who defied common sense.
"So. How much did you say the grass flute was?"
"It is three copper coins for one."
"I will buy them all."
I was surprised by the middle-aged man's words, but I cheered internally.
I had just intended to create a connection with the main mountain disciples, but to think he would actually give me money, I couldn't be happier.
"How many do you have?"
"I have about thirty right now."
"Did you say ten copper coins for five? Then should I give you sixty copper coins?"
"No. It is ninety copper coins."
"Your words are different, though?"
At the bewildered middle-aged man's words, I decided to try bargaining once more.
"The special price is only applicable to the Daoists of the 'Myeong' generation, and an elder of the 'Cheong' generation must pay full price."
"Haha. That is absurd."
The middle-aged man said that and pulled out a bank note from his clothes.
I received it in a daze and saw that it was a bank note worth one hundred copper coins.
At the edge of the paper was the seal of the Wuhan Money Exchange.
"I do not carry coins separately. If you go to the Wuhan Money Exchange, they will exchange it for you. Keep the change. Consider it the price for threatening you."
"Thank you."
The value of my threatened life was ten copper coins.
It was a sufficiently high value.
There were just far too many human beings who weren't even worth a single copper coin.
I handed the grass flutes in the pouch to the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man untied the pouch, glanced through it roughly, and threw it to Myeong-gyeong.
"Ah."
"Blow them well. It is my gift."
"Thank you! Master!"
Myeong-gyeong and the other children of the 'Myeong' generation bowed deeply in gratitude.
The middle-aged man watched the children, who were excited to receive the grass flutes, with a smile.
"I am hearing a sincere gratitude that I could not even hear when teaching them martial arts worth a thousand pieces of gold."
"That is how children naturally are."
"You speak as if you have mastered life."
I shook my head.
"How could I discuss life as a whole? I am merely grasping the characteristics of my customers. Because only then can I sell even one more item."
"Is that so."
The middle-aged man seemed to contemplate for a moment before asking.
"What is your name, by any chance?"
"I am called Mok Hwi-young."
"Mok Hwi-young. I see."
I was suddenly filled with curiosity and asked.
"May I perhaps know the Jinin's Daoist name?"
"This Daoist possesses the Daoist name Cheonghwa."
I froze instantly.
All the lay disciples behind me froze as well.
Cheonghwa was a supreme master who currently ranked within the top five of the Wudang Sect.
He was a big shot among big shots who would later occupy one of the positions of the Eight Venerables.
I belatedly managed my expression and performed a disciplined fist and palm salute.
"I greet Senior Wuji Divine Sword."
"It seems you did not know who I was."
"I had only heard of your great name; I did not know your appearance."
"I suppose so. Do you understand now? Just who you were acting so stubbornly in front of."
Exactly.
If I had known he was the Wuji Divine Sword, I truly wouldn't have defied him.
As expected, a newborn puppy knows no fear of the tiger.
"I apologize. However, just as Wudang has the way of Wudang, a merchant has the way of the merchant."
"You run your mouth freely until the very end. If you learned the art of bewitching people, you would be second to none."
Cheonghwa chuckled as if he wasn't in a completely bad mood and left.
The children of the 'Myeong' generation also left while blowing their grass flutes among themselves.
"That's amazing."
Just then, Jeon Oh-soo's voice was heard from behind.
"What is?"
"You said everything you wanted to say in front of that Cheonghwa Jinin."
"I did it because I didn't know."
"Even if you didn't know, some friends won't think that way. Rather, there will be friends who think you acted out knowing who he was."
Then again, while it might be different for main mountain disciples, it was a competition for lay disciples.
If you made even a small mistake, you would be kicked out like I was in my past life.
Receiving the title of Wudang Sect lay disciple was just that difficult.
"You speak as if you're talking about someone else's business."
"Because it is someone else's business."
"True."
"Well. I'll be going now, then."
Jeon Oh-soo seemed like he was going to say more, but hurriedly slipped into the inner courtyard.
Just as I tilted my head at that sudden change in attitude, someone spoke to me.
"I watched with deep impression earlier."
When I turned toward the sound, a group of kids had approached before I knew it.
"I am Sagong Hyeon of the Ascending Thunder Gate. Nice to meet you."
"...Ah."
I sighed as I looked up at the guy who was a whole head taller than me.
Jeon Oh-soo, this bastard.
He had run away.
In my memory, the guy with the worst character in our class had latched onto me.