'Didn't the contract state that he would have to receive ten beatings if it was violated?'
She couldn't help but click her tongue.
As a previous aide of Kang-hyuk's, she was well aware of the true meaning behind that particular clause.
'Why were you so troublesome….. If you had acted up a little less, your beatings would have been reduced to five rather than ten….'
There was another issue. There was no clause in the contract referring to when it would end.
***
The second day had begun.
Unaware of the events of the previous day, the students woke up with bright faces, and after finishing their morning Qigong practice, they began to busy themselves with the morning breakfast preparations.
Kang-hyuk turned his head to look at Eun Myeong-myeong. Whilst doing so, he caught sight of Byeok Ae-rin, busy with the breakfast preparations, and sent her a telepathic message.
-I think the Princ.i.p.al has made his mind not to inform the other students of yesterday's kidnapping incident.
-He probably wants to avoid unnecessary commotion, but I don't know if it's really the right thing to do.
Kang-hyuk clicked his tongue.
-Anyway, it seems as though Cheol-mok is diligently clearing the area of trouble as I had told him to.
-What do you mean?
Kang-hyuk lifted up his arm, and pointed towards a location. Byeok Ae-rin's expression changed to that of understanding.
Observing that Kang-hyuk's expressions had changed to that of annoyance, Byeok Ae-rin then spoke up carefully.
-Er, what's with your expression? Isn't Cheol-mol Orabeoni clearing things up as you wanted?
-It's too noisy.
- ...?
-It's like he's trying to let the entirety of Goseon Mountain know that he's at work. It's quite likely that the Princ.i.p.al knows of his presence as well by now….
***
*Swish!*
*Pok!*
As a white pipe cut through the air, the blood of Black Snake Sect warriors flowed in every direction.
Amongst the people present at the scene was an elderly man.
"These rotten b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! Why did you have to come here and get an old man who was living his life peacefully involved! You despicable b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!"
He muttered curses at the man whilst waving his pipe.
"Arghhh!"
"Save, save me…."
The warriors of the Black Snake Sect weren't the only men whose lives were ended by Ji Cheol-mok's pipe.
Bandits, and other dark cultivators were also suffering an unexpectedly unfortunate fate at the hands of his famed pipe.
At that moment in time, Ji Cheol-mok was in a hurry.
If he didn't hurry and clear out the group of dark cultivators, and those with evil intentions out of the stated radius within his area of retirement, he knew that he would suffer a beating at the hands of his elder Hyung-nim, Kang-hyuk.
He was a Hwacheon Clan Elder over the age of eighty that no one would even think of beating, but this was irrelevant to Kang-hyuk.
What was relevant to him was whether one had made a mistake or not.
'Moreover, Hyung-nim's fists hurt like h.e.l.l!'
As he began to recall a time when he had experienced the pain of Kang-hyuk's fists, he quickly shook his head, and tried to forget the memory.
"d.a.m.n it! There's so many of them!"
He blurted out some curses once more.
During this duration of time, since he had found managing his zone somewhat bothersome, he had managed it carelessly, causing the number of dark cultivating groups within the area to rise sharply.
Ji Cheol-mok felt regret at not having acted earlier.
Around half a day had pa.s.sed.
He ma.s.saged his shoulders. He estimated that it would take around two more days to completely wipe his area clean of the remaining dark cultivation groups and bandits.
"Ahh, my joints! I'm so old that I can't even do these things anymore! There was I time when I could fight for fifteen days straight without feeling any lack in energy!"
He took a pill out of his sleeve, and placed it in his mouth. The pill was a mysterious pill known as the 'Heavenly Spirit Restoring Pill.'
Ho-seong had distributed the pills amongst all of the Kwaepungdae members, and therefore he too, having been a member of the Kwaepungdae, had a copious supply of it.
After having regained his Qi and strength from the pill, Ji Cheol-muk was ready to begin his extermination of the dark cultivators from Goseon Mountain once more.
He then turned his head all of a sudden.
"Who's there?"
As he spoke, a figure emerged.
The man's attire was clean and smart.
He was wearing a blue uniform, and a belt with the Princ.i.p.al's insignia embroidered onto it. It was Eun Myeong-myeong.
"Huh? It's Eun Myeong-myeong!"
Eun Myeong-myeong immediately bowed.
"I greet the White Pipe Sword Emperor!"
The White Pipe Sword Emperor was a nickname of Ji Cheol-mok's which had stuck to him as he was always seen carrying a white pipe.
As Eun Myeong-myeong was the head of Hyeonmugak who dealt with information, Ji Cheol-mok recognized him at first glance.
"Why have you come all the way here?"
"Well we are having a field trip here so….."
"I already know that. I was simply curious as to why you're standing in front of me at this moment in time."
Eun Myeong-myeong sighed.
"How could I not come? I could feel the Elder's energy all the way from the campsite. That's why I thought something might be going on, and just came to check."
"I-I see."
Ji Cheol-mok felt like an old man.
He had been so desperate to deal with the groups of dark cultivators that he had forgotten to hide his energetic traces.
"But how did you know that we're currently on a field trip?"
Ji Cheol-mok coughed at his question.
"Ahem, ahem ahem. About that…. Well, the surroundings suddenly became so noisy that it was obvious to me."
"I see."
"I also found out that the warriors of the Black Snake Sect dared to kidnap teachers and students of the Academy!"
"It, it can't be. Is that why you're fighting all of the Dark Cultivators on Goseon Mountain...?"
Ji Cheol-mok nodded his head.
"Of course, that's why!"
If he wanted to preserve his honour, there was no way that he was going to state the true reason to Eun Myeong-myeong- that he didn't want to be beaten by Kang-hyuk.
"Am I not an Elder of the Hwacheon Clan?!"
Eun Myeong-myeong looked at him with a gaze filled with admiration.
"I'm touched! I'm incredibly touched that an Elder in retirement would move in such a way for the sake of Hwacheon Academy!"
"Ahem, ahem ahem. There's no need to think too much into it, it's simply my duty as an Elder of the Clan."
"I was already touched when Shim Jangro-nim began working as a cleaner for us, but now even you, Ji Jangro-nim is addressing the issue of dark cultivators on the mountain for our sake! I feel as though I've been bestowed with such grace as the Princ.i.p.al of the Academy that I don't know how I can pay such debt back!"
Ji Cheol-mok felt as though Eun Myeong-myeong's words were a little strange.
"What did you just say?"
"Sorry?"
"Where is that fellow Shim-gu?"
"He's at the Hwacheon Academy right now?"
"What is he doing at the Academy?"
"Erm, well, he's a cleaner….."
Eun Myeong-myeong suddenly realized why Ji Cheol-mok had reacted in such a way.
As Shim-gu and Ji Cheol-mok were the same age, they were often quarrelling.
'It's so strange that you two fight so well when against one another.'
Ji Cheol-muk sighed.
'He really has gone senile with age, hasn't he! An Elder of the Hwacheon Clan, being a cleaner in the Academy!'
He indicated at Eun Myeong-myeong with a hand signal.
"You can go now. I need to clear up….no, deal with those Dark Cultivator b.a.s.t.a.r.ds."
"Understood. I'll leave now."
After Eun Myeong-myeong bowed and headed towards the campsite, Ji Cheol-mok began to move.
Or started to move, then stopped.
"Ah! It's that!"
There had been something that had been bothering him from yesterday, and he had just realized what it was.
It was the strange way in which the teacher he had come across had spoken to him.
Even Eun Myeong-myeong, the previous head of Hyeonmugak, and the current Princ.i.p.al of the Hwacheon Academy, only second to the Clan Leader in its running, bowed and showed reverence to him.
But a mere Horticulture teacher spoke to him with such a confident att.i.tude.
Ji Cheol-mok found this completely bizarre.
As he reflected on the teacher's strange behaviour and their conversation, suspicious points about the man began to surface.
'There wasn't a single drop of blood on his clothing, despite him claiming to have almost been killed by the Black Snake Sect. And thinking about it, ain't his face rather familiar?'
He finally remembered a particular person the man resembled.
It was none other than Kang-hyuk in his youth.
'It-it can't be that elder Hyung-nim is using Ju-Ansul to appear as someone young and is working as a Horticulture teacher at Hwacheon Academy?'
But, he felt as though there were a few points amiss in the reasoning of this conclusion.
Firstly, the Kang-hyuk he knew detested coming to Nakyang. Secondly, he could neither feel Kang-hyuk's energy, nor internal force on the young teacher.
Finally, there was no way that Kang-hyuk would have been unable to recognize him.
"Hahaha! There's no way! I'm just misunderstanding things! Hahahahaha!"
Ji Cheol-mok laughed dumbfoundedly.
'Wait, I've got him.'
Ji Cheol-mok realized the man seemed to be unfamiliar with his face.
Even if he was a liberal arts subject teacher, all teachers of the Hwacheon Academy were given a book containing the names and ill.u.s.trations of all the important figureheads and Elders of the Clan.
But despite this, the man still seemed to be unaware of who he was….
'It's definitely strange!'
However, Ji Cheol-mok had a more pressing issue at hand.
This was to properly clean up his area before his elder Hyung-nim, Kang-hyuk found a reason to beat him up.
'I'll have to go to the Academy myself after I finish to see the spectacle of that fellow Shim-gu!'
***
*Sound of drum beating*
The sun had begun to set.
As sound of the beating drum rang out, students began to gather around a large boulder in the campsite.
They all looked exhausted.
The task of the second day was to find green ribbons.
As Ok Hae-mi had said to them the day before, the ribbons that they would need to find on the second day would be different, and therefore, the ribbons were not red, but green in colour.
This was exactly why the task had increased in difficulty.
The forest wasn't overflowing with foliage, since it was still early spring, but it still had trees with emerging leaves.
Unless one had sharp eyesight, it was a challenge to find a green ribbon amongst the vegetation.
Kang-hyuk returned to the campsite with his group that he had been watching over.
Thankfully, there were no mishaps like the day before.
This wasn't due to the students being more careful, but rather, it was due to Ji Cheol-mok.
Due to his hard work, the dark cultivators around Goseon Mountain had almost entirely disappeared.
Kang-hyuk grinned.
'Well, it's not a bad thing.'
Soon, each team's points had been counted up, and Ok Hae-mi announced the results.
The Samjo group that Kang-hyuk was a part of, had a total of forty points.
With each green ribbon giving ten points, it was an average score. The highest score of a group thus far was seventy points.
Ok Hae-mi smiled kindly after having read out the points.
"You've all worked hard. If you've done well today, don't be overly conceited, and if you've scored low, try harder tomorrow! Now, let's all have dinner!"
At her words, the students all began to disperse for dinner, and Kang-hyuk too began to leave with his group.
"Huh?"
He then noticed two warriors clothed in blue running towards the campsite.
Their ident.i.ties as messengers were evident by the red feathers adorning their headwear.
A question arose within Kang-hyuk.
'Messengers? This late in the day?'
The priority when selecting messengers was the person's Gyeonggong ability. Even if the person was lacking in other martial techniques, if they had excellent Gyeonggong, they would be eligible for selection as a messenger.
It took eight hours to reach the site of the field trip, Goseon Mountain, but this was catered to the speed of the students.
However, it took messengers a mere two hours to reach Goseon Mountain. There was only one conclusion that could be made from this….
'There must be an urgent situation of some sort!'
Curious about what could be so urgent, Kang-hyuk slipped under the guise of an Invisibility Technique.
With this being the case, no one would be able to feel Kang-hyuk's presence, nor his energetic traces.
