Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 74 - Conscience

Chapter 74 – Conscience

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Qingcheng Sect’s mountain gate was unusually crowded for a Taoist temple in normal times. This was partly due to the numerous lay schools under Qingcheng’s command, but primarily because Qingcheng Sect had a strong secular leaning.

But right now, only elegantly dressed Taoists walked around with grim expressions… there were no visitors to be found.

The war clouds pervading the Sichuan martial world had been caused by the dispute between them and Emei after all.

Moreover, Qingcheng Sect had now declared an all-out war against Emei Sect.

In truth, if Emei Sect had offered proper apologies and compensation, the cold war would have ended long ago.

However, since Emei Sect denied the accusations and showed no intention of apologizing or compensating, the standoff dragged on, and then…

“Haah…”

The Qingcheng Sect leader, Immortal Yeong-heo, let out a deep sigh and rubbed his forehead.

He was an elderly Taoist with celestial bones living amidst mountain winds, yet worldly worries he hadn’t yet shaken off hung heavy on his face.

‘Was it really Emei Sect’s doing?’

Officially, Qingcheng Sect’s young prodigy, Young Master Mok Yeo-woon of the Mok House, was announced to have been killed by an Emei assassin.

But the reality was different.

The one killed bearing the marks of Emei martial arts was the escort guard who had been protecting Young Master Mok Yeo-woon, while Young Master Mok Yeo-woon himself had vanished without a trace.

He couldn’t fathom what use they’d have for a mere ten-year-old that they would even kidnap him, but in any case, it was a dire situation for Qingcheng Sect.

Opinions within the sect were divided on several fronts.

-That child’s five senses are sufficient to carry Qingcheng Sect for the next hundred years! Though his constitution is weak, making him unlikely to become the strongest in the martial world, he could certainly achieve power on par with the Emei Sect leader. We must form a tracking team and find him!

-Depleting our forces while hesitating is exactly what those treacherous nuns want! Rather, we shouldn’t dance to their tune… we should push forward!

-…This humble Taoist is also of the same opinion. It is unfortunate that the child Yeo-woon is missing, but it is more prudent to assume he has already passed on.

-Rather, if we use this opportunity to decisively strike down Emei Sect, Qingcheng Sect can seize hegemony over Sichuan. We could achieve even greater prosperity than what that child would have brought to Qingcheng Sect.

-Has everyone lost their minds! A ten-year-old child is missing, and you won’t even try to find him! Even though we’re steeped in worldly affairs, at our core, we are followers of the Immortal Path!

-Tsk, are you saying that being swayed by personal affection is truly the Path, Cheong-jin?

-Strictly speaking, even with the Emei Sect leader present, we have objective superiority in total force. It’s a fight with enough chance of winning…

In the end, the conclusion reached was to announce the child as dead and declare total war against Emei Sect.

Of course, they couldn’t blatantly congregate their forces and clash in an open field battle. No matter how lenient the Sichuan government was, they wouldn’t turn a blind eye to such mayhem.

Thus this would unfold in a very protracted form as total-force regional warfare.

This warfare would be fought in Chengdu’s sleepless night streets, in secluded forests, and in treacherous mountainous terrain.

It would be guerrilla warfare mobilizing the full power of lay schools and the main temple.

Thinking about it, Immortal Yeong-heo already felt the back of his head throbbing.

‘I should call Cheong-jin, that child, to give me some acupuncture…’

Cheong-jin was a disciple Immortal Yeong-heo had taken in at an advanced age.

Only about twenty. By age, he should have been a second-generation disciple, but his outstanding character and talent had earned him first-generation disciple rank and the Taoist name Cheong-jin.

In particular, before catching Immortal Yeong-heo’s eye, he had been an apprentice physician at the Medicinal Cuisine Hall, so he was reasonably skilled at acupuncture.

“Is anyone there? Call Cheong-jin, that child…”

Just as Immortal Yeong-heo was about to give the order, his martial nephew Cheong-hak burst through the office door.

“Sect Leader!”

“My, Cheong-hak… What brings you in such haste?”

“Cheong-jin, that fellow descended the mountain without permission! We tried to stop him, but as you know, he’s so capable that…”

Immortal Yeong-heo’s eyebrows twitched as he shifted in his seat.

“The lad left? Why? What did he say when leaving?”

“That, he said he would find Young Master Mok Yeo-woon… He said he couldn’t stand by watching while a ten-year-old child was kidnapped and written off as dead without anyone even searching for him…”

“My word… That child’s temperament should have meant I foresaw this…”

Cheong-jin was, put nicely, straight as bamboo; put harshly, aggressive and stubborn in nature.

“Oh, and Martial Uncle…”

“What else is there?”

When Immortal Yeong-heo asked with a touch of irritation, Cheong-hak bowed his head deeply and spoke.

“That, he said he was disappointed in the Sect Leader, and if you wished to expel him, he would accept it willingly…”

“That brat, urghhh…”

Immortal Yeong-heo grimaced horribly while clutching the back of his head.

What was a full-grown man the size of a mountain doing, throwing a tantrum and running away from home?

And a Taoist who had already left home, no less!

The truth was, he hadn’t failed to anticipate such a reaction.

In the sect-wide assembly that first-generation disciples were entitled to attend, Cheong-jin had been the one most vociferously insisting they must rescue the child, clashing with the elders.

As the sect leader’s personal disciple, it was quite a sight watching elders unable to shut him down by pulling rank.

In other words… As sect leader, he was in a position where the sect’s well-being and interests had to take priority, so he couldn’t be free from such considerations.

Cheong-jin might be a headache, but he was his conscience.

An existence that constantly pricked at his back like a thorn.

But because of that discomfort, Immortal Yeong-heo was reminded each time that he was still someone capable of feeling the pain of conscience, and he could find relief.

In a way, Cheong-jin was his uncomfortable refuge.

“…Let him go. Let that brat run away and suffer a bit; he’ll come back on his own. That fellow’s stubbornness couldn’t be broken even by the Jade Emperor himself.”

Immortal Yeong-heo said that and slumped back into his chair.

Cheong-jin had left to find the missing child. Cowardly as it was, Immortal Yeong-heo felt his heart ease considerably thanks to that fact.

Once again, his disciple had become a refuge for him.

* * *

Ju-seong headed to the Chengdu business district with Dong-sam in tow.

“Um… Young Hero. No, sir? Great hero? I don’t know what to call you.”

“Just call me Big Bro. You’re a gangster, aren’t you?”

“Ehhh… That’s a bit awkward. I’m older than you.”

“How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-seven.”

Ju-seong stopped in his tracks.

“Really? I thought you were at least at the age of no more doubts (40 years old).”

“…Huh?”

“Just kidding. Just call me Young Hero.”

Dong-sam touched his face with a disappointed expression, then asked.

“Are you going straight there? To the Ten Thousand Ears Gang’s Sichuan headquarters?”

“Hmm…”

Ju-seong stroked his chin.

Truthfully, storming in there alone was a bit reckless.

But he was alone yet not alone. Because he had all the poison formulas and venom techniques learned from his master.

Actually, the venom techniques were something Ju-seong studied on his own.

The Divine Physician had only taught him the properties of poisons and how they spread. The formulas were taught as a precaution against accidentally creating poison while making medicine.

-You brat, why do you only cherry-pick such things to learn! You grasp only two or three things for every one I teach about medicine, but one thing about poisons and you grasp ten! You gruesome little wretch!

-Learning two or three things from one teaching is plenty praiseworthy!

-Come here… Let me savor the feeling of clobbering my beloved disciple.

“Hmm.”

Remembering the Divine Physician’s angry face, Ju-seong scratched his nose, then entered a fairly large apothecary on the main street.

“I’ll take some galgeun, some aconite, oh, Polygonum multiflorum too. How many years old? Give me everything under ten years. Realgar? Oh nice, mess that up and you’ll really be… Pardon? No, I said it’s good for the bones.”

Watching from the side, Dong-sam could tell this man was very knowledgeable about herbology.

His manner of selecting and sorting herbs didn’t seem like the kind of swagger that could be faked.

Moreover, from his street performer days, Ju-seong had experience frequenting apothecaries to make cheap quack medicines, so he was fairly well-versed in market prices.

“My word… Five roots for five taels of silver? Is this by any chance the famous Elixir of Immortality’s nephew or something? Impressive. So this is Sichuan. Even in a random apothecary, they sell the Elixir of Immortality. I’m moved, truly moved…”

“Agh, fine! Three taels! That’s the actual current price!”

“Oh, is that three taels for ten roots by any chance? My… This place is generous. Elder, you’ll be blessed.”

“Ha… Fine. Two taels. That’s really the going rate.”

A short while later.

The elderly apothecary saw Ju-seong off with an expression as if his very soul had been wrung out.

“Go carefully… I thought I’d met King Yama himself.”

Ju-seong shrugged in response.

“I bought the whole stock at exactly market price, so what’s the problem?”

“Agh, if we sold at market price, why would we do business!”

“Come now. Do honest business, elder. I’ll be off now.”

“…Come again.”

He hadn’t made a huge profit, but since the volume Ju-seong purchased wasn’t small, a decent margin did remain.

It was just that the customer had been so sharp and particular that it had been nerve-wracking.

Ju-seong shoved the heavy bundle straight into Dong-sam’s arms. He could have carried it much more lightly himself, but anyway, that’s what he did.

Now the materials were secured; production remained. But production couldn’t be done just anywhere.

Various items were needed, from the pill furnace to copper pipes for distillation and pots of all sizes.

If he walked into just any clinic and started making such things, he’d be reported to the authorities for a lunatic mass-producing poisons.

Ju-seong hired a cart and headed to the outskirts of Chengdu with Dong-sam.

The driver leisurely drove the horse, then glanced back and asked.

“You two gentlemen seem like the type who can handle a blade. Where are you heading in such dangerous times?”

Normally, commoners didn’t casually speak to martial artists. They might get slashed for mouthing off carelessly.

But Ju-seong had been so affable and normal when hiring the cart that the driver’s guard had been lowered.

To the untrained eye, both looked like experts. That was because Ju-seong actually was an expert, and Dong-sam had such fierce eyes and features.

Ju-seong tilted his head slightly.

“I am indeed an expert, but this fellow’s just a dolt.”

“Haah…”

“Haha, you two must be close friends.”

“Absolutely not. Anyway… We’re heading to the House of All-Living Clinic.”

“Ah, the All-Living Clinic! Haha, our company used to deliver there. They were really good clients, but our company owner got greedy and got the contract terminated.”

“Oh dear, that’s unfortunate.”

“Well, as long as I get my wages on time, it’s fine by me. Pulling this cart around Chengdu is my only concern.”

“This cart seat is exactly your place then, driver.”

“Ah, exactly right. Even if the county magistrate came, he couldn’t take this seat from me. I saw all three of my daughters married off from this seat.”

“They say some people make their fortune sitting still… that must be you, driver.”

“Hahaha! That it is.”

Ju-seong was a man who could chat all day with anyone, and the driver was also quite talkative, so the half-day cart ride felt like it passed quickly.

“See you next time then.”

“Yes, I hope you find what you’re looking for at the All-Living Clinic, young master.”

Ju-seong exchanged warm farewells with the driver, then looked at Dong-sam.

“You fool.”

“Why the sudden insult?”

“Nothing.”

Saying that, Ju-seong knocked on the door of the All-Living Clinic. He had thought one of the clinic’s workers or medical women would open it as usual.

But what popped out was some rough-looking middle-aged man.

The dark-faced man looked Ju-seong up and down and bluntly demanded.

“What’s your business? You don’t look injured. The All-Living Clinic doesn’t receive martial artists as private guests.”

Ju-seong tilted his head and asked.

“And who might you be, Senior Brother…?”

“I’m here by personal request of Physician Seo-baek.”

As he spoke, a slightly proud look crossed the middle-aged man’s face.

“…Oh?”

“Ten times out of ten, martial artists who come here knock on the gate to build connections or recruit physicians. The Physician has no time to loiter around with such people.”

“Mm, noted. I understand, so please go inside and tell my senior martial brother Seo-baek that his junior has arrived.”

“…Senior martial brother?”

The middle-aged man’s eyes went wide.