Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 56 - From the Beginning

Chapter 56 – From the Beginning

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Ju-seong and Hong-yeon’s sparring ended in a draw.

For Ju-seong, who had just reached peak level, to fight evenly against Hong-yeon, who had been at that level for a long time, was quite encouraging.

“Young Hero is truly an outstanding talent.”

“You flatter me. I’m not that good…”

“You are. I’m also called the foremost talent within the Five Poisons Valley. Even my older brother Yeo Hong-pa cannot last more than fifty exchanges against me.”

“Did Lady Hong-yeon not hold back from using poisonous insects or snakes?”

“And it seemed Young Hero Ju-seong also hid several techniques.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Red Beggar interjected.

“Ah, isn’t this that saying from the martial world? Hide thirty percent of your skill. It’s my first time seeing it done for real. My, so this is really the martial world.”

Hiding thirty percent of one’s skill meant always keeping a secret technique tucked in one’s chest, but realistically, that wasn’t possible.

For second-rate, third-rate martial artists, each fight was a life-or-death struggle staking everything. How could they afford to hide or conceal anything?

At minimum, only peak-level martial artists could lower their apparent skill at will.

“Red Beggar, shut up, you’re embarrassing me.”

Both Red Beggar and Ju-seong were newcomers to the martial world. They were truly country bumpkins, rural mice of the martial world.

Ju-seong too had never fought while consciously hiding his abilities before, and it was quite a neat feeling. Now he felt like at least a carp rather than a minnow.

Ju-seong and Red Beggar laid out their bedding in an empty cave dwelling in the Five Poisons Valley and began staying there.

Yeo Hong-yeon told them not to feel unnecessarily burdened and to stay comfortably.

Of course, it was an unnecessary reminder for the two.

Both of them were old hands at mooching and relying on others, so even without being told, they had planned to stay put until their bodies recovered.

* * *

The next day, Ju-seong encountered a face he had forgotten.

“It’s been a while, Young Hero.”

The Martial Alliance Third Pursuit Squad Captain, Helian Qiu.

‘Honestly, I had forgotten.’

The fact that he had forgotten the patient he had saved proved his qualification as a physician was truly rock bottom.

“Good to see you, Martial Artist Helian… How are your injuries?”

“Thanks to you, I’m fine. Having received the grace of saving my life… My goodness. There must be quite a few whose lives you’ve saved, Young Hero.”

“Living in the martial world, you give grace and earn grudges alike.”

“To think so lightly of grace you’ve given shows truly the magnanimity of a great man. But if one thinks lightly of grace received, that makes them petty. Please don’t make me a petty man.”

‘What do you want me to do?’

It seemed he desperately wanted to repay the life-saving grace.

But for Ju-seong, he had merely saved someone who was in front of him, without any thought of doing some great good or bestowing favor.

After pondering briefly, Ju-seong spoke.

“Martial Artist Helian holds quite a high position in the Martial Alliance, doesn’t he?”

“That’s right. Martial artists who have crossed the wall are not common even in the Martial Alliance.”

“Then… If you hear any news about certain poisonous creatures, could you relay it to me? Such creatures have little use but cause great danger.”

Were poisonous creatures really useless? Not entirely. Ingested poisons could be useful for covert assassinations, and blood toxins could be applied to assassins’ blades.

The Martial Alliance, being an organization of the martial world, naturally had occasions to use hidden moves.

But as a martial artist of the Martial Alliance, which claimed to be the orthodox faction’s leader, he couldn’t openly affirm such uses of poisonous creatures.

Helian Qiu deliberated for a moment, then spoke.

“Hmm… That’s certainly within my discretion. It’s not spiritual medicines but poisonous creatures, so the intelligence classification drops somewhat. However, if you were to use them for nefarious purposes… Mm, I’m sorry.”

Ju-seong shook his head.

“No. That’s a reasonable concern. The information you give me could let me obtain poison, and if I used that poison to assassinate someone from the orthodox faction, responsibility would fall on you as well.”

“…You’ve scratched where it itches. That’s right. I felt too embarrassed to say it, but…”

“What of it? It’s a natural thought. Then let’s do this. The poisonous creatures I’ll mention are terribly dangerous ones that could cause great harm to civilians, so from the Alliance’s standpoint, shouldn’t you want to exterminate them? You take the role of going to hunt them, and include me too.”

“Hmm…”

Helian Qiu fell into thought.

Originally, the pursuit squads were also tasked with catching poisonous creatures or monsters. However, these missions were generally not popular because they were much more troublesome than catching martial world criminals.

Beasts had keen senses, and monsters worthy of the Martial Alliance’s attention often possessed wisdom enough to be called spiritual creatures.

Moreover, the environments where they lived were usually harsh.

On top of that, while pursuing martial world criminals earned considerable bonuses, honor, and fame, monster hunting yielded little in return.

“I also have some experience hunting monsters.”

“That would be even better.”

Helian Qiu had been assigned to hunt the wolf monsters in southeastern Shaanxi Province when he was the junior of the pursuit squad captains.

Led by Helian Qiu, the Third Pursuit Squad members had fought desperately and killed them all. The pack leader had even awakened some spirituality, engaging him in a life-or-death duel when he was still a first-rate martial artist.

But the reward was far from adequate. A meager bonus, unremarkable fame, and thank-you words from the nearby commoners.

Of course, it wasn’t done for gain, but wouldn’t it be more worthwhile if something came from doing good?

‘I’m not in a position to spend time on such things, but… Even this is far from enough to repay the grace of saving my life.’

“I gladly accept Young Hero’s request. Tell me where you live and I’ll contact you through the Sichuan branch. And this much isn’t enough to repay the grace of saving my life, so please come to the Great Clarity Martial Hall in Hubei Province anytime. I’ll host you properly.”

Helian Qiu was the eldest son of the Great Clarity Martial Hall, a lay family of the Wudang Sect. He had joined the Martial Alliance to gain experience in the martial world before inheriting the hall.

Even with Ju-seong’s limited knowledge, he knew the Wudang Sect had something called the Great Clarity Sword Art.

“As a lay family of Wudang Sect, I’ll be treated quite well. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Helian Qiu nodded slightly and gave a fist salute. A scion of a prestigious martial lay family and a street performer.

Their origins were different, but the two martial artists recognized each other’s character.

“Well then, take care until we meet again.”

Helian Qiu, having recovered, packed light travel gear and departed immediately for the Martial Alliance.

The surviving members of the Third Pursuit Squad, unable to find their captain’s body, must have been bewildered but returned to report. That was the regulation.

Anyway, he needed to return before the command structure became chaotic.

* * *

After spending the morning doing energy circulation and eating lunch, Ju-seong was called to the Valley Master’s residence while doing physical training in the afternoon.

He should have visited first thing in the morning to report his achievement and express gratitude, but the Valley Master’s residence was such an exclusive place, and he was likely a busy man, so it was awkward to visit before being called.

The Valley Master was inclining his teapot while sitting atop the pavilion.

“Come, child. You’ve digested the Heavenly Silkworm Moth’s poison and achieved something.”

Ju-seong bowed his head deeply.

“It was possible thanks to the Valley Master’s grace.”

“How can you call that grace? You saved my granddaughter’s life, so naturally I should be willing to give my life too. That’s the way of the martial world. But this cripple’s life is completely useless, so I merely gave you a precious item. Treating grace and grudges heavily is this old faction’s pride.”

“No, I am more grateful.”

“I say no.”

“No, I’m grateful.”

“…As I recall, Weiji Baek had quite a fiery temper… Has he changed?”

“He’s the same as ever.”

“You must have been beaten a lot.”

“How did you know?”

How did he know, indeed.

‘Strange, I’m curious.’

Ju-seong stared blankly at the Valley Master, fiddling with his teacup.

“…Drink. It’s good tea.”

When Ju-seong sipped it, it was indeed good tea.

Due to the Celestial Nose, Ju-seong could detect a slightly off-putting taste in most foods.

But this tea had almost no unpleasant taste that people would dislike, only the depth of the fragrance growing with each breath in and out.

“It’s exceptionally clean. Clean yet the fragrance is heavy and rich, I’d like to take a bundle with me.”

Though he could smell well, Ju-seong knew nothing about the way of tea, so he just said whatever came to mind.

The Valley Master gazed at Ju-seong for a moment, then asked.

“Just recognizing it is praiseworthy, but… Have you never drunk this tea before?”

“Looking at it, it seems to be tea made with the Five Poisons Valley’s own secrets… I’ve never drunk it.”

The Valley Master sighed and chewed over his words for a moment before speaking.

“Weiji Baek’s disciple, it seems you don’t know your master’s past.”

“Yes, well… I’ve never specifically asked. He hasn’t told me either.”

The Valley Master rubbed the surface of his teacup with his finger and spoke.

“Where should I begin… Yes, let’s start from the beginning. Long ago, in the Spring and Autumn, Warring States period.”

“Ah, from that far back?”

“Yes.”

It really was from the beginning. Ju-seong adjusted his posture and began focusing on the Valley Master’s words.

“At that time there was something called the Hundred Schools of Thought. Are you aware?”

“Yes, I know. Taoism, Confucianism, Legalism… What else is there?”

“Actually, for discussing history, knowing more than those three isn’t very useful. But when discussing martial arts, it’s different.”

“Were the Hundred Schools of Thought martial factions?”

The Valley Master shook his head.

“Not exactly. However, many of the Hundred Schools sought to understand the world, and that was linked to understanding energy. Also, many sought to beneficially govern the world, and to realize their ideals, they needed at least minimum martial force… The martial world and Hundred Schools were inseparable.”

“I understand.”

“That concludes the introduction. Among them were those who sought to understand the world through yin-yang and the Five Elements, and they were the Yinyang School.”

“The Yinyang School…”

“Yes. Later they split into two: the Taegeuk Gate, which deeply studied yin-yang, and the Wu Xing School, which studied the Five Elements. Taegeuk Gate is the predecessor of that Wudang Sect.”

“My… As prestigious as the Wudang Sect. Did the Wu Xing School also develop into a great faction?”

“Correct. The successor of the Wu Xing School is our Five Poisons Valley.”

“Oh, wow…”

“Why that reaction?”

Ju-seong couldn’t very well say outright that the Five Poisons Valley was less impressive than the Wudang Sect, so he brazenly smoothed over the situation.

“Actually, I half expected it, so I’m not that surprised.”

“…Anyway, we’re not the only successor of the Wu Xing School. There’s a faction that shares a sibling bond with us. Actually, tracing back, they branched from the same bloodline. Their name was the Five Medicines Tang Clan.”

“One handled poison, one handled medicine.”

“Correct. We would periodically meet to test each other’s medicine way and poison way. The recipe for making this tea, and the exceptionally effective wound salve, were secrets of the Five Medicines Tang Clan. In the medicine way, they arguably competed for the top spot in the world. They just weren’t known because they rarely ventured into the martial world.”

“Could that Five Medicines Tang Clan be my master’s sect?”

The Valley Master nodded to affirm.

“Correct. The descendants of the Dotang clan who founded a medicine family… And now, it’s also a forgotten family whose successors can no longer be found.”

Ju-seong’s eyes deepened.