“Ah! You have arrived, Great Hero Jang.”
“Mm. It seems everyone is ready to depart. Did anything happen?”
Having naturally transformed from Song Gwang-sik into Jang Geo-i, he blended very smoothly among the wanderers.
“Well, there was a light commotion…… But it was not greatly different from usual.”
A small man with a genial impression.
Drifting Blossom Sword So Il-hyeon.
He was a First-Rate Expert with fairly high popularity among the wanderers.
Since his personality was round and without sharp edges, he was a fellow who had quite a good evaluation even among rough wanderers.
“Those two had another round today.”
“……It seems so.”
While the Escort Agency’s carriages had briefly stopped for lunch and were resting, they had apparently already gone at it once.
Bloodstorm Spear Yang Cheon-jo, who had collapsed on the ground panting, entered his sight.
“Judging by the state of him, he must have lost again.”
“Haha, that is right. The Bloodstorm Spear under heaven was no match for him at all.”
Over the past six days.
Yang Cheon-jo had persistently challenged Il-hyang.
Every time Il-hyang told him to call him Father, he made one excuse or another.
Leaving out the title, he fought a duel with Il-hyang.
This was the maximum petty behavior a person who had lost a wager could show.
Unexpectedly, Il-hyang said nothing in particular and obediently faced him each time.
And.
‘With today’s loss, that makes six matches and six defeats.’
From the first day onward.
Yang Cheon-jo had steeled himself once again and tried using a weapon, but he lost.
The next day, he tried fighting barehanded, but lost again.
Later, he even made a cowardly agreement not to use inner arts and fought him.
Only to be beaten wretchedly by a child barely ten years old.
And whenever he was thoroughly beaten like that.
Il-hyang’s nagging would pour down on Yang Cheon-jo, who had collapsed for a while.
“Could it be that you’ve already forgotten Father as the Guide of the Son from the Three Bonds and Five Relationships I taught you last time? This father must kindly explain it once more to his foolish son.”
“…….”
The Three Bonds and Five Relationships, the moral guidelines that formed the foundation of Confucianism.
Father as the Guide of the Son, meaning a child ought to serve his parents.
These were words Yang Cheon-jo was truly hearing for the first time in his life.
Yang Cheon-jo’s entire body trembled at Il-hyang’s nagging, which had begun again.
But even as he lay there grinding his teeth, he did not dare throw a fit.
‘A loser originally has nothing to say.’
After losing six times in a row to the same opponent.
Though he was frustrated now.
Deep down, he had submitted to this ten-year-old brat.
The other party only wore the shell of a brat on the outside.
He was a complete monster.
“……You do understand what I’m saying right now, don’t you?”
“Ha…… Haha, of course, Father.”
“Really? Then explain what Affection Between Father and Son means.”
“Uh……?”
Over the past six days.
He had explained more than one or two things, so how was he supposed to remember all of them one by one?
Yang Cheon-jo’s wolf-sharp eyes shook for an instant as if an earthquake had struck them.
Il-hyang sighed.
Then, looking at the stammering Yang Cheon-jo, he flicked him on the forehead.
SNAP—
“Kghhhk!”
It was a simple forehead flick, yet it hurt too much.
While Yang Cheon-jo clutched his forehead and floundered at the pain that felt as if the crown of his head would split apart.
“Haa, haven’t I explained it since last time? In the relationship between parent and child, filial piety and affection, meaning harmony and closeness, are important. I teach you the fine words of the ancient sages again and again like this, yet you dare let them go in one ear and out the other?”
“…….”
Teachings, my ass. It was all bullshit.
This was clearly bullying.
There simply was no one-sided violence.
Whenever he abruptly threw out a question like this, if Yang Cheon-jo failed to answer properly, Il-hyang used that as an excuse to flick his forehead again and again while nagging him.
‘Ha! I’d be a hundred times better off if he just beat me outright!’
Originally, in this neighborhood, beating someone under the name of discipline was common sense.
But Il-hyang absolutely did not use such an ignorant method.
“Ahem? Keep those eyes nice, son. Unless you want to die .”
“…….”
Without realizing it, Yang Cheon-jo lowered his rebellious gaze.
This was a high-dimensional form of bullying he had never experienced before in his life.
‘No, is this really bullying?’
Yang Cheon-jo was confused.
It was definitely terribly painful.
But since there was no direct violence, he was gradually beginning to feel uncertain.
In any case, Il-hyang quietly told him stories of the great sages of old.
And throughout the escort run, he tamed Yang Cheon-jo.
There were clear results.
Yang Cheon-jo, who had no interest whatsoever in scholarship.
Had begun to memorize the Three Bonds and Five Relationships little by little.
‘As expected, rote education is the best.’
Il-hyang felt pleased.
This was an outstanding educational method verified long ago through countless disciples of the Mage Tower.
Suddenly, the faces of countless disciples who had passed through his life in the past flashed through his mind.
Then, all at once, he recalled his final disciple.
‘You must be doing well there, Lian?’
The fellow had been filled with talent on an unprecedented level.
Recalling those eyes blazing with ambition made Yang Cheon-jo before him look like a fool for no reason.
“You should study, son.”
Yang Cheon-jo’s face twisted.
And on the faces of the wanderers watching that sight, pleased smiles appeared for no particular reason.
“They look close, don’t they?”
“They certainly do.”
When looking from afar at the two people standing close together and conversing softly.
It was true that they looked friendly.
‘Damn it, when the hell are the bandit bastards going to attack? Why aren’t they coming!’
Over the past six days, the escort run had truly had no incidents or accidents at all.
That drove Yang Cheon-jo even more insane.
“Huh? Your eyes are wandering again.”
SNAP—
“Ahh-hhk!”
“Focus. What did I just say?”
“Y-you said that if one is human, one must know the precise concept of the Three Bonds and Five Relationships in order to understand proper etiquette between people and fulfill the roles and ethical duties appropriate to oneself. Fa. Ther.”
As Yang Cheon-jo answered while grinding his teeth lowly, Il-hyang spoke with a slightly surprised expression.
“Oh? Then do you remember what Affection Between Father and Son means?”
“……Between parent and child, there ought to be closeness!”
When Yang Cheon-jo answered correctly even while his whole body trembled.
Il-hyang clapped with an expression of true surprise.
“Wow~ My son. How admirable! You were much smarter than I expected!”
“…….”
It was somewhat absurd.
But at Il-hyang’s exaggerated praise, Yang Cheon-jo honestly felt a little better.
‘But just what the hell did this bastard usually think of me?’
Yang Cheon-jo was frustrated and angry, yet felt good on the other hand.
His head spun with bizarre, grotesque ambivalence.
‘Fuck it, what can I do?’
Originally, in this harsh martial world, the strong were kings.
In any case, without any major trouble, the Jinsung Escort Agency arrived on the evening of the sixth day.
At what they had considered the greatest crisis point of this escort run.
Wisin Port on the Yu River, the lifeline of Ming Province.
“Now, from here, we must take boats and travel for five more days.”
Since the Jinsung Escort Agency had already secured passage by boat in advance.
The wanderers did not particularly have anything to do here either.
They merely loitered around.
As stated before, this kind of subcontracted request was a form of insurance.
Unless a major incident occurred, the Escort Agency would handle everything on its own.
“Whew, I wish there were only requests like this every time.”
When Drifting Blossom Sword So Il-hyeon joked as he climbed onto the deck of the ship.
Jang Geo-i, Bright Moon Sword Song Gwang-sik, nodded without realizing it.
“I agree.”
“Haha, at one time, I was very envious of escort guards who had stable income coming in, but at times like this, not particularly.”
At So Il-hyeon’s words, Song Gwang-sik slightly turned his head.
Then he stared at the escort guards moving busily and fell into thought.
The Jinsung Escort Agency had prepared a great deal for this request.
There were six Peak Experts invited from outside, including Heaven-Shaking Sword Namgung Min.
Four Peak Experts held by the Escort Agency itself.
In addition, the number of newly joined First-Rate Experts was as many as forty.
If the twenty First-Rate Experts they already had were added to that.
There were a staggering sixty First-Rate Experts alone.
It was a fighting force far too powerful for an Escort Agency in the countryside to possess.
They truly had mobilized all their outside connections and scraped together every First-Rate Expert they could.
The remaining thirty people not included in the combat strength.
Were people hired as porters who had specially learned martial arts, from Third-Rate to Second-Rate Experts.
‘In conclusion, it means the Jinsung Escort Agency has staked everything on this escort run.’
Those who attacked an escort run prepared to this extent were either fools.
Or else.
‘An enormously powerful force.’
Because of that, Song Gwang-sik predicted that they were almost unlikely to be attacked.
In any case, the Jinsung Escort Agency’s escort run arrived at Wisin Port and rested for one day.
The next day, they prepared to depart again.
From early morning, the escort guards and porters diligently loaded the cargo onto sailboats with two enormous sails.
There were four sailboats in total.
Overall, the people boarded the sailboats together with the food supplies.
Of the four ships.
Two sailboats were separately set aside to carry the cargo they had brought.
The cargo visible for now consisted of silk and high-quality alcohol.
Palm oil, coral, pearls, jewels, and so on.
It was largely fairly expensive luxuries.
However, among the sailboats the people had boarded.
One, a command ship with an especially large frame, was being loaded with the most important cargo of this escort run.
An unidentified iron carriage.
According to what Song Gwang-sik had heard from Senior Escort Guard Jo Chang.
‘He repeatedly stressed that there is an extremely, extremely important and expensive cargo, so we must always be thoroughly vigilant.’
In the end, he had not told them what the cargo was.
But the wanderers nodded.
Even in the wanderers’ opinion, those luxuries openly displayed like that were certainly expensive.
But their unit price did not seem to match an escort by this many people.
The wanderers, simply curious about what the important cargo might be, asked this and that.
But Senior Escort Guard Jo Chang eventually confessed that he himself did not know anything about the cargo.
Song Gwang-sik believed that Jo Chang’s confession was not a lie.
‘Since it is a special mission of the main house, the cargo must certainly be an extremely precious item.’
It was only a guess, but it was probably a kind of rare treasure difficult to purchase with money.
In truth, throughout the escort run.
Not only Heaven-Shaking Sword Namgung Min, but also the Agency Head of the Jinsung Escort Agency and the Agency Head’s three sons never moved more than a certain distance away from the iron carriage being loaded onto the command ship.
The problem was that Song Gwang-sik also had no idea what item was inside that iron carriage.
‘Should I have quietly asked what the cargo was yesterday?’
Song Gwang-sik thought that briefly, then shook his head.
What good would it do to know about the special mission for no reason?
He only needed to do well at the mission entrusted to him.
While Song Gwang-sik boarded the ship separately assigned to the wanderers and organized his thoughts.
Likewise, Il-hyang climbed onto the ship.
Sitting on the railing that was taller than himself, he narrowed his eyes.
‘But that cargo. How in the world did they obtain it?’
Il-hyang turned his gaze toward the iron carriage.
The most important part of this escort run.
In truth, at first, Il-hyang had not known at all what was inside the iron carriage either.
The entire iron carriage had been sealed with some special technique.
But just a moment ago.
While they were separating the iron carriage from the horses and loading it onto the sailboat.
A powerful impact sound, “THOOM!” had come from inside.
And a very faint aura had flowed out from the iron carriage.
That aura soon vanished into the air.
But Il-hyang, who had been watching from a little distance away, was startled.
Because it was a familiar aura.
“Huh? Hey, you bastard! Be careful over there! The carriage is tilting!”
“Hey, over there! The plank! The plank is about to collapse, so support it with your hands!”
“Pull it up from the front! Are you not going to get your head on straight?”
“You bastard, is this your first time working? Do you have any idea how much this is worth? Think of it as more precious than your own body!”
That iron carriage, which the escort guards and escort heads were carefully carrying while shouting at each other.
THOOM—
At last, the iron carriage was safely loaded onto the largest command ship among the sailboats.
And Heaven-Shaking Sword Namgung Min could not take his eyes off that iron carriage.
“Now, if we travel along the Yu River, there should be no great danger, Great Hero Namgung Min. Please do not worry too much.”
“Mm…… In truth, I am worried about the movements of the Yu Riverr pirates.”
Heaven-Shaking Sword Namgung Min.
As he watched the iron carriage being loaded onto the ship and lowered into the cabin.
He showed an expression full of concern.
Because inside that iron carriage.
His future depended on it.
If only this escort run succeeded, he could stand at the very forefront among the next successor candidates of the Namgung Clan.
That was how important the cargo was.
Conversely, if he failed?
‘Straight into the abyss.’
Originally.
This was a matter that should have required a clan elder-level expert, a Transcendent Expert, to move.
But he had insisted and insisted.
And received it in the form of a special mission.
Thanks to that, in truth, Namgung Min was still a little frightened.
“Haha, please do not worry too much. No matter how wild the Yu Riverr pirates may be, have we not also invited Peak Experts separately for this escort run? Please trust us.”
The Agency Head of the Jinsung Escort Agency.
Jin Yu-seong was confident in the perfect transportation of the cargo.
For this request, he had sent urgent messages outside.
And separately invited high-nosed Peak Experts.
He had scraped together all the money and all the connections the Escort Agency had built up until now and mobilized them.
‘Including me, there are as many as ten Peak Experts here, so what is there to worry about?’
If one went to an ordinary sect.
A Peak Expert would receive treatment at the level of an Elder or a Sect Leader.
And there were as many as ten such Peak Experts.
Moreover, the other escort guards and escort heads were all First-Rate Experts.
Even the porters had all been hired from those who had learned martial arts.
Honestly, with this level of fighting strength, they could turn most small and mid-sized sects into ashes in about one meal-time (30 minutes).
“……I will trust only you, Agency Head.”
“Haha, trust me. I will repay you with safety!”
Agency Head Jin Yu-seong slapped his firm chest heartily and answered with a voice full of confidence.
Only then did Heaven-Shaking Sword Namgung Min relax his expression, which had been stiff from beginning to end, a little.
Then he turned his gaze to the side.
At the very front of the sailboats.
The deck of the sailboat carrying the wanderers.
Song Gwang-sik, who happened to be there, was also looking toward the command ship.
The two briefly met eyes and nodded.
Though they had run into each other by chance while each was carrying out a different mission.
Honestly, among the people here, the other was the person they trusted most.
‘Yes, since the Captain of the Pursuit Squad is here, if a problem occurs, we should be able to resolve it somehow.’
The Captain of the Pursuit Squad of the Namgung Clan was an important post that no one could dare assume unless he was an exceptional expert.
Even within the clan, the super-special talent selected through strict selection upon selection was none other than Captain of the Pursuit Squad Song Gwang-sik.
However, Song Gwang-sik too.
Thought that if an emergency occurred, Heaven-Shaking Sword Namgung Min would somehow handle it.
‘He is one of the great heirs of the main house. Surely nothing much will happen?’
Like that, the two served as comfort for each other and slowly finished the final inspection on the deck.