Chapter 21 - A Wedding Gift

“Who knows? Whatever it is, he must have prepared something quite fine. Rumor has it the Head of the Danri Family is going to tremendous lengths to establish marriage ties with the Namgung Clan. Surely he would have chosen a gift to match those ambitions.”

The two continued talking, but none of it had anything to do with Dong Bongsu. Fully immersed in his role as Sosam, he passed indifferently by the people chattering about the Nameless Hero and the Namgung Clan’s wedding.

He had a far more pressing concern than any of that nonsense: how, and by what means, he should hunt martial artists now.

Lost in those thoughts, he reached the estate’s main gate before he knew it. Once inside the Danri Family estate, he headed straight for his quarters in the eastern stable.

Various ideas occurred to him as he walked, but he had yet to settle on any one of them. Once he reached the stable, he would review them one by one and make his decision as carefully as possible.

He and Yeoro had passed the estate’s many halls and were almost at the stable when a message appeared.

[An enemy at least 10 levels higher than you has approached within 20 meters. 20.]

‘Spirit Eye activated?’

He instinctively stopped dead in his tracks.

His gaze naturally fixed on the stable he called home. The eastern stable stood in a particularly isolated corner of the Danri Family estate. If someone had come out here, he did not need to look to know they were inside.

‘Why?’

The question flashed through his mind. He wondered why before wondering who because he already knew the answer to the latter. Not long ago, there would have been three possibilities. Now that he had reached level 7, there was only one.

[7, 6, 5...]

Though he had yet to find an answer to “why,” Dong Bongsu continued toward the stable. He was certain that the “enemy” inside had not come on dangerous business. Had the visitor intended to kill or capture him, they would not have been waiting here.

Even so, he kept considering what could have brought the visitor here.

At last, he found one possible reason: the other topic the people in the marketplace had discussed besides the Nameless Hero.

For the briefest instant, Dong Bongsu’s teeth showed, then disappeared. It seemed an unexpected development had decided his next move for him.

Taking a very careful hold of Yeoro’s reins, he entered the stable.

CREEEAK. CLACK.

Inside stood, just as he had expected, an aging man with a magnificent white beard flowing down to his chest. With both hands clasped behind his back, the man watched Dong Bongsu and Yeoro enter.

He was Danri Cheon-u, the Beautiful Flying Heaven Sword, Head of the Danri Family.

“So you are Sosam.”

The instant their eyes met, Dong Bongsu prostrated himself flat on the floor. As a servant of the family, it was only proper.

Danri Cheon-u glided toward Dong Bongsu and Yeoro. Still prostrate, Dong Bongsu held his head slightly raised, giving him a natural view of the man’s feet.

‘That...!’

Danri Cheon-u had moved for only a brief instant, but the sight sent an electric tingle through Dong Bongsu’s brain. To his eyes, that movement had utterly defied the laws of physics.

Could that even be called walking?

Humans could move forward because of the friction between their feet and the ground. With zero friction, they could walk neither forward nor backward. Some friction, however slight, was necessary to advance or retreat.

But when the ground material had a very low coefficient of friction, walking forward became difficult because one slipped. In such cases, people wore footwear that increased the coefficient of friction, or reduced the surface area in contact with the ground so they could slide forward. Hiking boots and ice skates were examples.

Yet Danri Cheon-u was wearing ordinary silk shoes. More importantly, the floor here was plain dirt. Dong Bongsu had not measured it, but its coefficient of friction would be high.

And yet Danri Cheon-u was moving over it as though flying, seemingly disregarding gravity and friction altogether.

“...”

Dong Bongsu had seen quite a few people who practiced martial arts, but never anything like this.

‘Is that true Qinggong?’

The Qinggong he had seen so far—that of Black Faction members and ordinary warriors—had truly been low-grade Qinggong and movement techniques.

The Qinggong he used as a Skill was entirely different from this in another respect as well. Of course, his also defied physics, operating according to the game’s rules. But it was merely a Skill that made his body faster and more agile. This was on a different plane altogether.

This—Qinggong as a martial art—was nothing less than a unique insight that allowed special movement through the natural laws of this world. It was a new world apart from the laws of physics. In that single step of Danri Cheon-u’s, Dong Bongsu had seen and felt proof that it existed.

At that moment, he thought:

‘I have to learn it.’

For the first time since coming here, Dong Bongsu resolved to learn martial arts properly. Until now, he had felt that leveling up would be enough. At this very instant, that belief changed.

One small step by Danri Cheon-u had brought a great change to Dong Bongsu. No one but Dong Bongsu knew it, but the murderer was once again moving toward evolution.

Meanwhile, Danri Cheon-u reached his side. Dong Bongsu was still watching his feet when the man quietly raised a hand and stroked Yeoro’s nose.

“So it is time to say goodbye to you, too.”

NEIGH.

Yeoro whinnied softly, welcoming her master’s gentle touch.

That confirmed the guess Dong Bongsu had made outside the stable. Danri Cheon-u had come to see the wedding gift he would send to the Namgung Clan.

As Danri Cheon-u stroked Yeoro’s mane, a long shadow fell over his head.

“You’re here.”

“Yes, Patriarch.”

Dong Bongsu never forgot a voice once he had heard it. He had heard this newcomer’s voice before.

‘Gi Daehyo?’

As he suspected, it was Gi Daehyo, leader of the Black Crow Unit.

Gi Daehyo, in fact, still had no idea what had possessed the patriarch to summon him to a place like this. If he wished to ride Yeoro, he need only have the servants bring her to the front of the estate. Why had he come personally to this smelly place? And why had he called Gi Daehyo here as well?

As though reading his thoughts, Danri Cheon-u spoke with a faint smile.

“There’s no need to look like that. I merely wanted to see Yeoro one last time.”

“...!”

Gi Daehyo was startled by the words “one last time.” Dong Bongsu, of course, had already anticipated them as he listened with his head bowed.

“Heh heh. And here I am telling you not to be surprised.”

“But...”

“The Namgung Clan’s Patriarch is marrying off his second daughter on the coming full moon.”

“Ah!”

The Namgung Clan’s Patriarch, Sword Immortal Namgung Byeok.

He headed the Namgung Clan, currently the most powerful of the Five Great Families of the Central Plains, and was one of the finest swordsmen in Murim.

Above all, Namgung Byeok—or rather, the Namgung Clan—held absolute sway in Anhui. Things might have been a little better had there been a rival, but none of the Nine Sects and One Gang or the other Five Great Families of the Central Plains were based in Anhui. There was no power to keep them in check. There was not even a major underworld sect.

In other words, the wedding of the Namgung Clan patriarch’s second daughter was an event capable of turning all of Anhui upside down.

Danri Cheon-u’s personal visit here meant he had decided to send Yeoro as a gift for the Namgung Clan’s wedding.

“Are you sure you are all right with this?”

Gi Daehyo knew well how deeply he treasured Yeoro.

Despite his decision to part with her, Danri Cheon-u looked perfectly at ease. A faint smile even spread across his face.

“Of course. If it means I can send one of my children into the Namgung Clan, why, I could give them more than this.”

“...!”

Only then did Gi Daehyo realize what Danri Cheon-u truly wanted. Offering Yeoro as a wedding gift was a declaration of his intent to use this marriage as an opportunity to establish ties with the Namgung Clan, one way or another.

There could be no doubt.

Certainly, the best way to secure a foothold in Anhui was to come under the Namgung Clan’s protection. There were various ways to do that, of course, but only two were truly reliable.

“A lifelong marriage vow? Or the nine-bow rite?”

A lifelong marriage vow: a promise to spend a hundred years together. Marriage.

The nine-bow rite: a ceremony of nine bows, performed when a disciple established a bond with a master.

The two options were a marriage alliance and a master-disciple relationship.

Listening to Gi Daehyo, Dong Bongsu once again predicted Danri Cheon-u’s answer. Once again, he was right.

“Didn’t I just tell you? One of my children. Is it not easier to cross a stream with two logs laid across it than with one?”

“But... the Namgung Clan may want neither.”

Danri Cheon-u smiled at Gi Daehyo’s words, stroking his long white beard.

“Heh heh heh. Isn’t that precisely why I called you here?”

“...”

“I care not what means you use. Make certain it happens.”

“Whom do you have in mind?”

Gi Daehyo did not specify whom he meant. Nevertheless, Danri Cheon-u seemed to understand. Stroking Yeoro’s nose once more, he answered.

“Let us choose the Thunderbolt Tyrant Sword.”

“Understood, Patriarch.”

The Thunderbolt Tyrant Sword was the epithet of Namgung Hu, the current Namgung Clan patriarch’s third younger brother and the previous patriarch’s youngest son.

That concluded the true business for which Danri Cheon-u had summoned Gi Daehyo here. And with that, Gi Daehyo understood everything he had said.

All Danri Cheon-u wanted was a slender thread connecting him to the Namgung Clan. He had no grand ambition of seizing control of the clan in the next generation.

His son, Danri Ganghae, could become Namgung Hu’s disciple. Failing that, his second daughter, Danri Hui, could become the wife or concubine of Namgung Hu or one of his sons.

That was all. He had chosen a secure foundation over a dangerous, rapid rise.

“When should I depart?”

“Leave tomorrow. You will have much to do once you arrive.”

“Yes, Patriarch.”

Believing their discussion over, Gi Daehyo bowed his head to Danri Cheon-u and turned away. Then the patriarch’s final words came from behind him.

“Be sure to take this boy with you when you leave for the Namgung Clan. You will need him to handle Yeoro.”

With the hand that had been stroking Yeoro’s nose, Danri Cheon-u pointed at Sosam—Dong Bongsu—who remained quietly beside him with his head bowed.

Dong Bongsu listened silently to their exchange, his lowered eyes gleaming.

“Yes, Patriarch.”

Gi Daehyo’s brief reply settled it. Dong Bongsu would be leaving the estate.