Chapter 25
In the group of porters climbing the mountain trail with all their might, there were three young boys and girls who seemed evidently young. Aside from the strange-looking bundles, which appeared like personal items, they weren’t carrying any significant luggage. Even considering that, it was clearly peculiar that they didn’t sweat a single drop while ascending the rugged mountain path.
‘Have they learned martial arts?’
Gu Yang-sen observed them closely with a glint in his eye. However, he couldn’t find anything particularly odd.
‘It seems their internal energy is at a civilian level… Though they’re light on their feet, their walking style suggests they haven’t learned any specific footwork. Has someone carried them up to here?’
“Master, what are you looking at so intently?”
Oh dear, was he too lost in thought?
A middle-aged porter walking beside him must have sensed something unusual and spoke to Gu Yang-sen. Flustered, Gu Yang-sen turned his head and responded.
“I was just watching those kids climb this difficult mountain trail so well. Are they working here?”
“They’re the kids taken in by the new herbalist. And how clever and adorable they are.”
“A herbalist?”
A herbalist, not even a physician, following the caravan?
The more he heard, the more curious he became. As he glanced around out of curiosity, he saw a man lightly following the children. The man wore a bamboo hat that obscured his view, and though he carried a large, heavy-looking medicine chest on his back, he walked up the steep mountain path with a light and elegant step. There were no visible signs of specially trained internal energy or external martial arts.
‘It doesn’t seem like he learned any formal footwork either….’
Yet he was graceful, like a fairy walking on clouds and as soft as a deer treading on a flower path. Gu Yang-sen didn’t realize he had been distracted for nearly half an hour.
Cho Yun, who was receiving his passionate gaze, found Gu Yang-sen just as curious.
‘If it’s Gu Yang-sen from the Huashan sect, is he really that Gu Yang-sen? The “Turtleback Flower Sword” Gu Yang-sen?’
Gu Yang-sen, who carried the flower-decorated turtle on his back. A person renowned for being eccentric as he used a heavy sword focused on defense and powerful strikes, unlike the flashy and tricky phantom sword typically used by the Huashan sect members. If the sect’s usual style was like swirling plum petals, Gu Yang-sen had cultivated a large plum tree.
No matter who mocked or belittled him, he remained strong and steadfast like a turtle.
In the original work, he was depicted as a straightforward, righteous, and somewhat slow-witted character who steadily occupied the position of the protagonist’s ally number one.
Although the Huashan sect, depicted as antagonistic within the divided Baek-Hyub League, sided with the Namgung family portrayed as villains, the protagonist and Gu Yang-sen, who began to stand out, became sworn brothers, sweeping away the Huashan sect and elevating Gu Yang-sen’s master to the head of the sect.
In other words, Gu Yang-sen became the great disciple of the Huashan sect overnight, becoming the protagonist’s solid support.
‘If he’s just appearing as a bodyguard now, it seems he’s still struggling.’
Gu Yang-sen had broad shoulders, a thick build like a bear, and solid muscles and joints. It was as if his body was saying he needed to wield a heavy sword. However, what he carried at his waist was a typical long sword provided to the disciples of the Huashan sect.
It seemed he was unaware of the weapon that suited him, lingering at a lower tier of skill.
Realizing this, Cho Yun began to deeply ponder.
‘Should I tell him… or not?’
If Cho Yun had done nothing wrong, he could have trusted the original story’s flow and thought, ‘Someone else will tell him’ or ‘He’ll figure it out himself’ and let it pass.
However, Cho Yun had already detonated a bomb long before the original story began.
The presence of Cheon-o walking silently beside Cho Yun was the cause.
Not just anything, but the absolute antagonist standing against the protagonist, the supreme martial artist. Since he had interfered in such a person’s storyline and brought him along, there was no telling what could happen in the future. The butterfly effect wasn’t just a saying.
While walking quietly, lost in fierce internal debate, Cheon-o, walking beside, alternately looked at Cho Yun and Gu Yang-sen before suddenly sending a telepathic message.
[Is this correct?]
……Isn’t he a genius?
This boy really is a genius. Though, even so, he didn’t expect him to master the essentials of telepathic messaging in just half an hour. Thinking about how he’d have to continue teaching such a talent in the future made Cho Yun’s mouth taste bitter.
Without a word, Cho Yun patted the boy’s head and answered telepathically in return.
[Well done. Now practice adjusting the vibrations to change the nature and volume of the transmitted voice. To do that, you’ll need to listen carefully to how others speak. If you do well, you can use someone else’s voice as if it were your own.]
“……!”
The last sentence was said in Sa-yeong’s voice, mimicking her clear pronunciation and sharp tone. Cheon-o, hearing this, quickly looked at Sa-yeong and Cho Yun in surprise. Soon he nodded slightly, a faint resolve appearing in his usually expressionless face as he looked down at the ground.
The advanced techniques were quite challenging, so even for a kid as gifted as Cheon-o, it would take some time. Feeling a bit relieved, Cho Yun quietly sighed and approached the siblings walking ahead.
[Sound is a vibration. If you touch your throat while speaking, you’ll feel it. Each person’s voice is unique, and every syllable is pronounced differently. Thus, the vibration you feel from each word varies.]
The children, hearing his telepathic message, instinctively placed their hands on their necks. Watching them hum and feel their vocal cords, evidently trying to directly confirm the vibration, Cho Yun smiled inwardly at their enthusiastic demeanor and continued his fast-track lesson.
[Internal energy is a primal force that can become anything. By refining it into the form of sound vibrations and sending it like a shooting arrow to the small membrane inside a person’s ear, you create telepathic messages. Practice this on me.]
Finishing his explanation, Cho Yun adjusted his walking pace to go in front of the siblings. Soon, crude lumps of internal energy imitating telepathic messages began to bombard his ears.
‘Because it’s Cho Yun, he can handle this. If it were anyone else, their eardrums would’ve burst.’
[It’s not about imbuing a lot of force blindly. Telepathic messages are a delicate technique. You must pack a lot into a thin thread of internal energy.]
[S……]
[The start was good, but I couldn’t understand the meaning. You need to analyze the vibrations in the words more closely. Alternatively, vibrating your throat as if speaking and then amplifying that could also work.]
While quietly teaching the kids, they had already reached deeper into the mountains, where the forest known as Noklim emerged. The warriors surrounding the porters looked noticeably tense.
Gu Yang-sen, who had been glancing this way, suddenly looked far ahead and moved to approach Nanwi-jin. He was still amiably calming Yo Myeong-woo.
“Clan Master, the bandits of Noklim will soon swarm in. Tell the warriors to prepare solid defenses.”
“W-What?”
“Just now, one of the bandits scouting from afar hurried back to their stronghold. They will soon appear, leading their men.”
“Oh my god.”
Nanwi-jin, pale with fright, called his closest aide Jo Woo-il and gave several orders. Quickly, the warriors formed a tight formation, and the pace of the mountain climb slowed down significantly.
Due to the strenuous path and the heightened tension, sweat began to drip from the porters’ foreheads.
As they ventured deeper into the mountain range, despite the still bright sun, a chilly sensation loomed. The singing birds and buzzing insects had gone silent at some point, replaced by the sound of nervous gulping.
Cho Yun abruptly halted and reached out to stop the children following him. At the perfect moment, Gu Yang-sen stepped forward and called out sternly towards the empty trail.
