Chapter 309 The Blue Family (4)

Chapter 309: The Blue Family (4)

“Huh? You ask where the First Master’s tomb is? Why suddenly that place…?”

“Ahem, I wish to pay my respects to the great man who left such a profound mark on the Central Plains. One must understand the roots to properly examine the branches, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Hahaha! Well, I suppose so! Since we’ll be like family now, it’s best to visit early on.”

The head of the Cheong family burst into a hearty laugh.

“I’d love to go with you myself, but I’m afraid I’m too busy today… I’ll send Soso with you instead.”

“Please don’t trouble yourself. Just tell me the location, and I’ll go alone…”

“Is anyone else here?!”

“Yes, Master.”

“Hurry and fetch Sosso. Right now!”

“No.”

I said I’d go alone?

A moment later.

The servant returned with the cleaning lady, who clearly looked like she’d just woken up.

“Ah! I’m swamped! Why keep calling me?!”

Even from over ten paces away, the strong smell of alcohol made it clear he’d been drinking all night and slept in late.

The woman who had been angry met my gaze and smiled brightly.

“Oh? The landlord was here too? I was just about to invite you out for drinks tonight—perfect timing. Found this amazing place nearby that makes incredible duck stew. How about a glass of baijiu later? Of course, the generous landlord will pick up the tab.”

Seeing this, the landlady’s pupils trembled violently.

“You… you crazy girl, acting so improperly…”

“Modesty? We’ve seen each other naked before. What’s the big deal?”

“We’ve seen everything?”

The Qing Family Patriarch’s gaze instantly turned toward me.

“I think there’s some kind of misunderstanding… I really didn’t do anything.”

“No, it just means we’re that close! What were you thinking? Surely you didn’t think we were… well, you know…”

The head of the Cheongga family grabbed the massage stick right beside him and dashed out in an instant.

“Ouch! Why are you doing this all of a sudden?! Aaah! That hurts!”

“Can’t you just stand still?!”

Watching the fleeing cleaning boy and the pursuing head of the cleaning department, a sigh escaped.

“Ugh.”

I just hope my daughter doesn’t turn out like that.

* * *

An hour later.

I took the cleaning crew and Dangyanggang to the ancestral burial ground of the Cheong family.

“Why are we suddenly going to the graves?! I came home after so long just to relax…”

“Exactly! What kind of hellish ordeal is this?!”

My two companions, who had become close friends during this journey, scolded me.

They both seemed to have a bit of a rogue streak, which made them easy to get along with, but this alliance didn’t last long.

“Is it still far? How much longer must we go?”

“Shut up! I’m already annoyed enough, stop nagging me!”

Perhaps it was the hot weather, but before long, they started attacking each other.

“What? You can’t even ask?”

“Well, I ask once every now and then, so that’s how it is! With such impatience, I wonder how he’ll ever get married…”

“This woman is serious?! Does everything that pops out of her mouth count as a statement?”

“What? This woman? Does this guy really think everything that comes out of his mouth is gospel? I’ve been putting up with his bad breath all this time…”

“What?!”

After walking for about half an hour while listening to their arguing, the janitor pointed ahead with his finger.

“It’s over there.”

She dashed out, then spread out a mat with a smile as if she’d never been annoyed, pulling out liquor and simple snacks from her bundle.

“Since you’re here, you thought you’d hold a memorial service?”

“No? We should feed the living first—what kind of memorial service is that? I just brought this for myself to drink. Come sit here, Yang Muso. You may look like a scoundrel, but I’ll share my liquor with you.”

“Ahem, I apologize for earlier. The heat must have made me lose my mind for a moment.”

“Well, I’ll forgive you.”

“…….”

I just hope my daughter and son aren’t like that.

Leaving the two drinking men behind, I examined the grave and its surroundings.

A neat grave, neither large nor small, and a tombstone of moderate size indicated that a Chulgyeong was buried here.

The grass was trimmed to a suitable length, suggesting someone maintained it.

‘Let’s just bow.’

What can you expect when the direct descendants are like that?

I should at least do it.

Shh.

Bowing deeply, he unfolded the seven-fold paper inside the tomb.

He sensed what appeared to be skeletal remains and a few personal belongings.

‘Just as I thought.’

My prediction had hit the mark perfectly.

A man of his stature wouldn’t have entered the tomb unarmed.

Now all that remained was to check inside the tomb.

He blew a gust of wind toward the cleaning crew and Dangyanggang, who were passing the bottle back and forth.

Thud, thud.

The moment the blood transfusion hit, both men collapsed instantly.

I was a bit worried about the swarm of mosquitoes on this midsummer day, but… well, it should be fine.

“See? I told you to come alone.”

Having put the two to sleep, I surveyed the area around the grave.

It felt a bit unsettling to dig up someone else’s grave, but there was no helping it.

The first step in forensic science is gathering clues from the body.

“Let’s see…”

He infused energy into the cloth net wrapped around his waist and unfurled it.

The net spread out in all directions, not only enveloping the grave but also snapping tightly right above the coffin’s location.

It was practically a bulldozer.

If I lifted it out whole like this and restored it afterward, no one would know the coffin lid had been opened.

Just as he was about to exert that force.

“…!”

A killing intent surged from behind me.

Turning around immediately, I saw an old man with a sickle walking toward me.

“Who the hell are you? What gives you the right to dig up someone else’s grave?”

“…….”

There was no room for excuses.

Just as he was about to knock him unconscious.

“This child…”

Seeing the collapsed janitor, he gained momentum.

“To kidnap even the precious jewel of the Cheong family? You’re no ordinary bold bastard.”

“No, it wasn’t kidnapping…”

“Well, what’s the point of listening to a dying man’s last words anyway?”

“No, let’s hear it first and then decide…”

“Die!”

Flash!

A sickle flew like lightning, aiming for my throat.

“Hah!”

Its power was clearly no ordinary threat.

The explosive force of the bursting light shattered the barrier, sending a tingling power through my hands.

In that instant, I realized.

“…A master?”

Perhaps today would be the day he suffered a major humiliation.

* * *

“Heh heh heh.”

“Your lips are curled up to your ears.”

As the Qing Family Patriarch smiled while making his rounds to check on patients, A-cheon, who was guarding him, asked.

“Thanks to Jin, the head of the clan.”

“Well, if a master like Jin Dangzhu were your son-in-law, he’d certainly be the envy of every father with a daughter in the land.”

“Huh, do you think I like him just because of Jin Dangju’s martial arts?”

“Then what?”

“It’s because you’ve become In-sung that you like it!”

“……You mean In-sung?”

“Yes, In-sung. Well, this morning he asked where the first master’s grave was. He said you have to know the roots to see the branches.”

“The grave? Why suddenly that…?”

“Why indeed? He went to pay respects to his ancestors before the wedding. What do you think? Even if I don’t have a daughter’s blessing, doesn’t this mean I have a son-in-law’s blessing?”

“Taking care of his wife’s ancestors already. He certainly has a heart unlike most young people these days.”

“Exactly! That’s precisely what I wanted to say. Now that you mention it, just look at the young ones these days. If they’ve got even a tiny bit more talent than others, they start strutting around. Compared to that, our son-in-law is so talented, yet humility is second nature to him.”

Acheon nodded at the words of the Qingzhang Master, who already regarded Jinmujian as his son-in-law.

After all, the fact that he had gone so far as to visit the grave of the founder of the sect meant he was as good as converted.

Though it bothered him slightly that it wasn’t his first marriage, he was a young man vying for the title of the world’s greatest martial artist. He believed that even if he took three wives and four concubines… no, seven wives and twelve concubines, there would be nothing to criticize.

‘Soso is finally getting married…!’

A lump rose in his throat.

In that instant, Acheon felt his throat grow hot.

He had watched over Soso since her birth.

Though they shared no blood, they had lived as uncle and niece for over twenty years.

Thinking that his beloved niece was finally getting married, a whirlwind of emotion surged from the depths of his heart.

“Brother…”

“Brother…”

The moment he saw the fiery gaze of the Blue-Eyed Lord, Acheon realized what emotion had stirred deep within his heart.

“Brother!”

“Brother!”

Thud!

Relief and pride.

The relief of finally being able to send that wild colt of a Qingzhangzhu far away, and the pride that the runaway colt had brought back a dragon.

“This is truly a blessing.”

“That’s right. Yeah, exactly!”

Only after a long while did the two true individuals part, nodding their heads.

Then, suddenly remembering something, Acheon frowned.

“But if it’s the grave of the founding master, I thought he was still here…”

“Ah!”

The head of the Cheongja family jumped to his feet.

“I completely forgot he was there!”

An old man who volunteered to be the caretaker of the First Patriarch’s tomb for over eighty years.

He didn’t know his name, nor why he volunteered to be the caretaker.

But one thing was certain.

He was a master whose equal was hard to find anywhere in the world.

Even Yook Hak, who had served as the head of the guest hall before Acheon, had seen the old man and dared to call him a master he himself could scarcely look upon.

Naturally, the head of the Cheongja family visited him repeatedly, pouring out his devotion to serve him.

But he never left the cemetery.

Instead, the more the head of the Cheongja family approached, the more the old man avoided him, and now he hid deep within, tending only to the graves.

Thirteen years passed without seeing his face.

The head of the Cheongja family had completely forgotten the old man existed.

He asked Acheon with eyes filled with unease.

“Nothing’s going to happen, is it? Like suddenly getting a competitive streak and challenging me, or some misunderstanding arising…”

“It should be fine. When you meet a martial artist’s hands, you can instantly grasp what kind of life they’ve lived. Given the character of the Jin family head, he would surely approve.”

“If you say so, then I suppose it’s true. That’s a relief.”

Only then did the Qing Clan Head relax, smiling as he gazed at the blazing sun.

* * *

“That murderous intent in his martial arts—no doubt he’s some lowly scoundrel from the heretical sect who’s mastered the Four-Sword Style!”

“What nonsense! How could the righteous martial arts of the orthodox faction, which are as fair and just as can be, be called the art of the rogue? And do you even know who I am to speak such nonsense… Hah!”

CRASH!

He unfurled his ultimate sword technique, parrying the sickle that flew toward him like a bolt of lightning.

CRACK!

Its power was enough to cleave a boulder the size of a house.

But the force behind the sickle was so immense that even the Extreme Mirror could only slightly deflect its path, unable to repel it entirely.

The sickle grazed the trapezius muscle beside his neck, slicing a long gash through the flesh.

“Whaaat?!”

“Tell me why you kidnapped the Qing family’s household!”

“I told you I didn’t kidnap them! I just wanted to put them to sleep for a bit…”

“No need for further discussion!”

“No.”

Are you out of your mind?

Thwack!

As soon as I dodged, he aimed straight for the top of my head.

The aura emanating from him was no ordinary threat, so he immediately deployed the Lee Hyeonghwan technique to evade it.

Simultaneously, he unleashed his own counterattack.

A massive gravitational force blocked the old man’s path.

“Predictable move!”

Swoosh!

He snorted derisively, then spun violently and slashed his sword.

Swoosh!

“……!”

The black Pa-Wul split in two before it could even bloom.

Stunned by the unbelievable reality, the old man, his face twisted in a deep smile, swiftly drew the sword held in both hands.

Caught off guard by the unusual momentum, I instinctively unfolded the Zhen Wang Sword.

Kwoong.

The full-power transformed sword technique unfolded, transforming the surrounding landscape.

The distance he instinctively moved was nearly a hundred meters.

And then.

Snip, snip, snip.

The spot I had been standing just moments ago was sliced into dozens of pieces.

It was an attack that could be described as literally splitting space, sending a cold sweat running down my back.

Chills.

‘If I’d been caught in that…’

I’d have been torn to shreds, no doubt about it.

Even while wearing the dragon-scale armor.

It was incomprehensible.

No matter how many extraordinary individuals roam the world, masters are few and far between, and absolute masters are even rarer.

It meant they weren’t beings who could suddenly appear.

‘Where on earth did he…’

So this master was hiding all along?

And he even claimed to be a graveyard keeper.

I couldn’t fathom it, but one thing was certain.

‘If I don’t give it my all, I could die.’

No choice. I had to fight for real.

Crackle. Snap.

He pulled up the sword and asked.

“I pray the old man is very old.”

“……”

“That way, I won’t feel guilty about killing him.”

“Go ahead and kill me, you brat.”

“Yama asks, sent by the Earthly War God… Oh my!”

Swoosh!

The battle truly began as Lee Gi-eok flew in.