Chapter 50, Shinbi's Scheme
Only a few days had passed, but under Goeui's treatment, So Rihyang had already recovered considerably.
She could now take light walks.
That alone showed how different her condition was from Ha Seonbaek's.
The reason So Rihyang recovered so quickly was because her internal energy was incomparably greater than Ha Seonbaek's.
Once her meridians and dantian recovered to a certain level, she began restoring her own health through qi circulation.
"Let's go retrieve the spiritual medicine."
When So Rihyang stood up, Goeui asked with concern,
"We can go ourselves. Just tell us the location."
"Would that be better?"
Since So Rihyang had already decided to trust them, she thought it might be better not to follow them personally to the hiding place.
If she went with them, it would only prove that she still did not fully trust them.
When So Rihyang revealed where she had hidden the spiritual medicine, both Goeui and Jaha exclaimed.
"Indeed. That place would be extremely safe. No one would ever think to search there."
Jaha also admired So Rihyang's cleverness.
Even he had not imagined such a hiding place.
"Then we'll retrieve the spiritual medicine and go directly to the Beggar Sect branch to raise the flag."
So Rihyang nodded at Jaha's words.
"Do that."
At that moment, Ha Yeon, who had remained quiet until now, spoke.
"Um, couldn't we switch the spiritual medicine with a fake one?"
To young Ha Yeon, giving the genuine spiritual medicine to Hwancheonma felt far too wasteful.
Jaha answered,
"That might work against someone else. But our opponent is Hwancheonma. He isn't stupid enough to mistake a fake for the real thing. Don't worry too much. We'll give him the genuine spiritual medicine, but we can take it back later."
Ha Yeon did not understand how they could recover it after handing it over.
However, she had no choice but to trust Jaha.
Jaha carefully asked,
"Could you teach me Senior Divine Thief's movement art now?"
"I would need my body to recover before I could demonstrate it."
So Rihyang looked troubled.
"I don't need a demonstration. Please teach me only the mnemonic formula."
Jaha had already learned dozens of movement arts and footwork techniques in the Demon Cult.
He was confident he could understand the principles from the mnemonic formula alone.
"Then I'll write it down for you."
Jaha shook his head.
"No. Please recite it two or three times."
"You intend to memorize the entire formula after hearing it only two or three times?"
So Rihyang asked in surprise.
Even a short mnemonic formula was difficult to memorize perfectly without missing a single word.
Jaha had possessed an extraordinary memory even during his days in the Demon Cult.
The only reason he had been able to learn so many strange minor demonic techniques was because of his exceptional memory.
So Rihyang stared quietly at Jaha for a while before speaking.
"If Young Hero insists, then I'll recite it."
Goeui stood up.
"I'll wait outside."
So Rihyang looked apologetic.
"If my internal energy had recovered enough, I could transmit it directly through voice transmission. Unfortunately, I still don't have enough power for that. Thank you for understanding."
After Goeui went outside, So Rihyang spoke to Jaha.
"The Ghost Spirit Traceless Steps can be considered the extreme form of both movement arts and footwork. We've never been discovered while using it. Once you master the Ghost Spirit Traceless Steps to its highest level, using Shape-Exchange Movement will not be especially difficult either."
Jaha knew she was not exaggerating.
His father had said several times that the Divine Thief's unpredictable movement art had placed him in danger.
Jagang had even admitted that none of the Demon Cult's movement arts or footwork could catch the Divine Thief.
That alone showed the power of the Ghost Spirit Traceless Steps.
If it truly surpassed the Demon Cult's greatest movement art, the Heavenly Demon Steps, Jaha naturally looked forward to it.
So Rihyang recited the mnemonic formula exactly twice.
Jaha then said,
"I'll repeat it now. Please tell me if I make any mistakes."
"Already?"
So Rihyang thought Jaha must be joking.
However, she soon became shocked.
Out of several hundred characters, Jaha made mistakes in only three places.
She had never imagined he could memorize almost the entire mnemonic formula after hearing it only twice.
What an extraordinary genius.
After hearing it a third time, Jaha memorized the entire formula perfectly.
Perhaps because of Byeok Ho's White Spirit, Jaha felt his memory had become even better than before.
"I think I understand now why Goeui refuses to leave your side."
So Rihyang finally understood why Goeui, a man famous for looking down on everyone, kept following this young man.
She also understood why he had passed down his ultimate techniques so generously.
If anyone encountered a genius like this, they would probably become eager to teach him at least one thing.
After Jaha finished memorizing the formula and left, Ha Yeon spoke to her master, So Rihyang.
"Master, can we really trust them? What if they also came because they want to steal the spiritual medicine?"
So Rihyang smiled.
"What you say makes sense. But Ha Yeon, a person who openly reveals his own weakness is usually not someone trying to deceive others. People trying to deceive others never expose their own weaknesses."
Ha Yeon thought carefully before asking,
"Did he reveal a weakness? I don't remember anything like that."
"That's because you're still young and inexperienced. That man named Byeok Ho openly admitted that he comes from a countryside martial school. In truth, that's a very large weakness. What martial artist would respect someone whose sect is nothing more than a small martial school? You don't understand yet, but the martial world also treats people differently depending on their family and sect background. Yet he openly revealed his unimpressive origin without hesitation. It may seem unimportant, but only someone truly confident in himself can do that. A swindler or someone trying to deceive us would never speak that way. If he planned to steal my spiritual medicine, he would've dressed up his background to impress me."
Ha Yeon tilted her head, still not completely understanding.
She would need more life experience before she could fully understand So Rihyang's words.
So Rihyang watched Jaha and Goeui leave the brothel, then turned away.
Strangely, she did not feel anxious.
So Rihyang had spent most of her life working as a Divine Thief beside her husband, Gung Cheolmu.
Her instincts told her those two men would return with the spiritual medicine.
She had only known them for a short time, but she had already decided they were not the kind of people who would betray trust.
Jaha and Goeui entered a secluded Guan Yu Shrine deep inside a forest.
"That really was a good choice."
At Jaha's words, Goeui nodded.
"Yes. Guan Yu shrines are among the most respected folk shrines. Almost no one would dare damage one. And if we're talking about the statue of Guan Yu himself, even more so."
At the front of the shrine stood a statue of Guan Yu.
To either side stood his son Guan Ping and his loyal follower Zhou Cang.
Jaha approached Guan Yu's statue and bowed.
"Please forgive me for damaging your statue."
After bowing, Jaha jumped into the air and struck Guan Yu's head with his fist.
Thud!
The statue's head cracked open.
Inside was a silver box small enough to fit in one palm.
Jaha opened the box.
Click.
The moment it opened, a faint yet sharp fragrance spread through the area.
"So this is the spiritual medicine made from the legendary Ten-Thousand-Year Fleeceflower Root. Even the fragrance alone calms the true qi."
Inside the box was a round pill wrapped in thick silver foil.
Both Goeui and Jaha swallowed when they saw it.
Jaha honestly wanted to swallow it immediately.
However, if he did that, Byeok Ho's White Spirit would probably go berserk and cause qi deviation.
Byeok Ho was absolutely the kind of bastard who would do something like that.
They needed this medicine to save his master and fellow disciples.
If Jaha swallowed it, Byeok Ho might genuinely try to kill him.
Jaha had no intention of taking that risk.
After sharing a body with Byeok Ho's White Spirit for some time, he now understood Byeok Ho's personality very well.
Jaha placed the medicine inside his clothes.
"Let's go to the Beggar Sect branch now."
Goeui watched the spiritual medicine disappear into Jaha's clothes with a regretful expression.
Even the faint fragrance had been enough to make his mouth water.
However, Goeui quickly forced himself to stop thinking about the medicine.
Otherwise, greed might tempt him into harming Jaha.
Hwancheonma was staying at a branch of the Demon Cult when he received his subordinate's report.
He burst into anger.
"What are you talking about?! How did the rumor spread?!"
The Shadow Tracker kneeling before him flinched.
Hwancheonma's killing intent stabbed into his chest so strongly that he could barely breathe.
Shinbi spoke.
"Father, that bastard must have deliberately spread the rumor. Otherwise, there is no reason the entire region would suddenly hear that the Medical Righteous Sect's spiritual medicine is here. They're even saying that we're searching for it. It must have been spread intentionally."
Hwancheonma remembered Jaha framing him for arson at the Divine Thief's shop, causing government constables to chase him.
"How many times is that bastard going to humiliate me?!"
As Hwancheonma exploded in anger, the Right Protector tried to calm him.
"My lord, please control your anger. They're simply struggling desperately to interfere with us. Who would dare covet a spiritual medicine that my lord has already claimed? Unless someone is desperate to die, they'll only watch from far away. He spread the rumor merely to annoy us."
Hearing the Right Protector's words, Hwancheonma calmed slightly.
Among his subordinates, this one was at least somewhat useful.
He knew how to read his lord's mood and offer comfort.
Once his father calmed down, Shinbi quickly spoke.
"Father, then instead of falling into their trick, why don't we strike them with a plan they won't expect?"
"You have such a plan?"
Hwancheonma looked doubtfully at his son.
He found it difficult to believe Shinbi had a scheme good enough to outsmart the man who had defeated him several times already.
When they had been inside the Demon Cult, Hwancheonma Shin Jeok had believed Shinbi was an extremely talented child.
Shinbi had stood out among the younger generation of the Demon Cult.
Because of that, Hwancheonma had secretly placed great expectations on him.
The greatest genius Hwancheonma Shin Jeok had ever seen inside the Demon Cult was the former Demon Cult Leader, Jaha, whom he had already killed.
The young Cult Leader Jaha had possessed extraordinary comprehension.
He was a genius who could easily understand even difficult demonic martial arts.
None of the descendants of the Seven Heavenly Demons had been capable of surpassing him.
The only one once compared to Jaha was Hwancheonma's eldest son, Shin Dok.
However, Shin Dok died of illness.
No one knew how deeply Hwancheonma had suffered over that.
When the Seven Heavenly Demons decided to kill the young Cult Leader Jaha, their official excuse had been the expansion of the Demon Cult into the martial world.
However, none of them could deny that they secretly hoped to place one of their own descendants on the Cult Leader's seat.
Hwancheonma had revealed that ambition through Shinbi.
That was why he assigned Shinbi the mission of kidnapping Deung Hwahong.
He wanted Shinbi to gain real combat experience and experience in the martial world.
However, every mission he gave Shinbi ended in failure.
Hwancheonma had become deeply disappointed.
Then he discovered that a countryside martial school bumpkin was responsible for all of those failures.
He could hardly believe it.
At one point, he had even grown disgusted with his own son for repeatedly losing to such a nobody.
But that was not the truth.
After Hwancheonma himself was humiliated by the same man, he realized Shinbi had not lost because he was incompetent.
The man named Byeok Ho was simply exceptional.
Because of that, Hwancheonma decided not to completely give up on his son.
"Father, there is a method to completely block that bastard's tricks."
Now that Hwancheonma had accepted that his son was not completely useless, he listened more carefully.
"Speak."
This time, Shinbi was confident he could regain his father's trust.
"Byeok Ho spread the rumor because he wants to stop us from easily obtaining the spiritual medicine. Countless eyes will follow us, and our movements will become exposed. He probably planned to use those fools rushing toward the spiritual medicine like moths to wear us down, then use some trick when we're exhausted. Since his specialty is formations, he was probably planning to prepare a trap."
"And?"
At his father's question, Shinbi smiled confidently.
Now was the time to display his brilliant strategy.
"Not far from here is the Willow Flower Water Garden. It's a huge lake, large enough that the horizon can be seen. There is a small stone island in the middle of the lake. We should make the exchange there. If we do, that bastard won't be able to pull any tricks."
Before Hwancheonma could respond, the Right Protector exclaimed.
"Ah! I understand. Even if Byeok Ho asks the Martial Alliance for reinforcements, the meeting place will be in the middle of the lake, so attacking us will be difficult. They also won't be able to hide people or prepare an ambush."
"Exactly. We lost a large portion of our forces while fighting the Vermilion Bird Unit. If they attack us with superior numbers, we'll be at a disadvantage. But if we meet at Willow Flower Water Garden, we don't need to worry about that. On top of that, Willow Flower Water Garden flows directly into the Yangtze River. If we prepare a boat beforehand and escape into the Yangtze, everyone else will be forced to simply watch us leave."
The Right Protector admired Shinbi's plan.
"An excellent plan, Young Lord. If we destroy the other boats around Willow Flower Water Garden beforehand, they won't even be able to chase us."
Shinbi became extremely happy when he saw his father Shin Jeok smiling and slowly nodding.
He believed he had finally demonstrated his true value.
"That's a very good idea. I can't think of a better method."
The Right Protector agreed immediately.
"Yes, my lord. In this subordinate's opinion, it's a perfect plan. We won't need to worry about attacks from the rear or being surrounded."
Thinking about it, Hwancheonma Shin Jeok decided that his son Shinbi was not actually that useless.
"Good. Secure the boat we'll use at Willow Flower Water Garden in advance. Leave one small boat for that bastard Byeok Ho, and destroy every other boat. Byeok Ho will definitely obtain the spiritual medicine and come by tomorrow. He knows his master and fellow disciples will die otherwise. Even if he has to steal it, he'll bring it."
In a strange way, Hwancheonma Shin Jeok trusted Jaha more than anyone.
He had no doubt that Jaha would obtain the spiritual medicine and bring it.
