noveltune Chapter 248:
Chapter 248:
Harvest
After finishing urgent matters like cleaning up the battlefield and interrogations, a formal meeting commenced.
“Now that the Five Poison Sect is gone, what do each of the palaces intend to do?”
Upon translating Mu-jin’s words, Ou-yang Pae’s translation made the Beast Palace Master snort and reply, “We will return to our palace and protect the forest.”
“With the war over, we plan to return as well.”
Mu-jin tilted his head at the straightforward responses of the two palace masters.
“Aren’t you interested in the territory that the Five Poison Sect occupied?”
“Our Taiyang Palace has fewer than a thousand members. Expanding our territory here would be difficult to manage.”
“We are busy protecting our forest. We only fought the Five Poison Sect because they kept encroaching on it.”
Mu-jin looked at the two palace masters with a curious expression.
‘Hmm. Even so, the Taiyang Palace Master doesn’t seem to be just giving up.’
Currently, the problem was the small number of members. But it seemed like they had thoughts of expanding here once they became stronger.
The Beast Palace Master, on the other hand, appeared to have no such thoughts.
With the two palace masters planning to return, Ou-yang Pae spoke up.
“Then, our Red Tiger Group will stay here for a while.”
“... Are you saying you plan to make a nest here?” The Taiyang Palace Master glared fiercely, but Ou-yang Pae calmly replied, “Don’t worry. Our goal is to return to the Divine Sect. Until then, we need a place to stay, so we will stay here temporarily.”
“Hmph. How do you know when you will be able to return, claiming it’s temporary?”
“We have a plan, so it won’t take long.”
If the Red Tiger Group, Ou-yang Pae, and Geum Yang-hwi stayed here, news would inevitably reach the Demon Sect.
The Demon Sect would then send someone to deal with the traitors.
If the ones coming were upper-class slaves, they could just kill them, but if they were outcasts like the Red Tiger Group, they planned to bring them over to their side.
Either way, the number of people following the Left and Right Protectors would decrease.
Of course, the Taiyang Palace Master’s expression was still sour.
Mu-jin, seeing the Taiyang Palace Master’s mood worsen after losing Geum Yang-hwi, decided to mediate.
“Doesn’t it seem like a good idea? Now that the Five Poison Sect is gone, only two palaces remain in the Southern Barbarian lands. Both sides have lost people they consider family in this war. You don’t want to start another war immediately, right? But seeing how things have been, if only the two palaces remain, another war could break out in a few days, correct?”
“... So, you’re saying they will act as mediators?”
“Exactly, Taiyang Palace Master.”
“Hmph. What makes you think we can trust these people who have been with savages?”
To this criticism, Ou-yang Pae, who had been translating Mu-jin’s words, answered directly.
“Taiyang Palace Master, do you not trust Hero Geum Yang-hwi, who has been with us for ten years? How could Hero Geum Yang-hwi favor the Beast Palace unilaterally?”
“....”
With no retort to Ou-yang Pae’s words, the Taiyang Palace Master grimaced as if he had eaten something unpleasant.
As things seemed to settle, Mu-jin turned to Tang So-mi.
“Shiju-nim Tang So-mi, is there something you desire here?”
“Quite a lot. I’m thinking of collecting the materials and research data on poisons used by the Five Poison Sect.”
After Ou-yang Pae translated her answer, Mu-jin asked the two palace masters.
“Since neither of the palaces uses poison, those materials are not necessary for you. Would it be alright to let her take them?”
“Hahaha. Go ahead!”
“Hm. We don’t really care.”Nôv(el)B\\jnn
With the two palace masters readily agreeing, Tang So-mi clapped her hands as if she had just remembered something.
“Ah! There’s one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“An apology from the Taiyang Palace Master. Now that the war is over, he needs to apologize for the delay.”
After Ou-yang Pae translated her words, the Taiyang Palace Master looked at her for a moment with a sour face.
“Sigh.”
Letting out a deep sigh, the Taiyang Palace Master bowed to Tang So-mi.
“I apologize for underestimating you.”
It was a rare sight to see one of the top martial artists in the Southern Barbarian lands apologizing for his rudeness.
“Hahaha!!!”
Of course, the Taiyang Palace Master swung his large sword at the Beast Palace Master, who was laughing at the scene.
* * *
After all the negotiations were completed, the Taiyang and Beast Palaces returned to their territories.
“Guangxi is not a problem. I know someone there.”
* * *
A few days later, Mu-jin’s party was ready to leave.
Tang So-mi and the poison masters had gathered enough research materials, and it was time to start paving a trade route to Guangxi.
‘If all goes well, we can earn funds for that guy’s activities and mass-produce the decoction,’ Mu-jin thought, recalling someone in Guangxi.
As he was deep in thought, Ou-yang Pae approached Mu-jin’s group.
“Are you here to say goodbye?”
Finding Ou-yang Pae’s behavior out of character, Mu-jin chuckled and asked, but Ou-yang Pae shook his head.
“Not to say goodbye. I just have something to say before you leave.”
Though it seemed the same to Mu-jin, he did not point it out.
“So, what do you want to say?”
“I’ve thought about what you said before. For now, I’ve decided that staying with you is the best decision.”
“Oh.”
Mu-jin nodded, satisfied, and Ou-yang Pae frowned.
“It’s only a temporary alliance. After purging the Divine Sect and punishing those Shinchun bastards who toyed with us, we will return to the Central Plains.”
At Ou-yang Pae’s confident declaration, Mu-jin thought it was very much like him and replied, “Why are you so set on returning to the Central Plains? Can’t you just live comfortably in Xinjiang? Is it too hard to survive there?”
“As expected from someone of the orthodox sects, you know nothing.”
“???”
Seeing Mu-jin’s confused expression, Ou-yang Pae elaborated.
“We’re not eyeing the Central Plains. We’re returning.”
“Returning? Does that mean the Divine Sect was originally based in the Central Plains?”
“Yes. Over a hundred years ago, the oppressive politics of the previous dynasty reached its peak, exploiting the common people. The emperor even resorted to human sacrifice to prolong his life, so our sect was a beacon of hope for the commoners in the Central Plains.”
“Are you talking about the Hwan Dynasty?”
The current ruling family in the Central Plains was the ‘Cho’ Dynasty, and the previous empire was called the Hwan Dynasty.
Both were names of empires that didn’t originally exist in China, but Mu-jin, having lived in this world for nearly a decade, knew them as basic knowledge.
Nodding at Mu-jin’s question, Ou-yang Pae continued.
“When the first emperor of the current dynasty founded the empire, we allied with him and people like you from the Nine Great Sects and the Five Noble Families to overthrow the previous dynasty. But after the war, you denied our doctrines and drove us out of the Central Plains.”
Mu-jin, never having read such a setting even in novels, tilted his head in confusion.
“Your ancestors, the perpetrators, seem to have erased all records of it.”
Ou-yang Pae’s continued words made Mu-gung, who had been listening, snort in discontent.
“Hmph. Isn’t it more likely that your sect left records favorable to yourselves? How can we trust the words of those who tried to annihilate our Shaolin Temple by diverting troops during the war?”
Though Mu-gung continued to stay with them due to Mu-jin, he still found the Demon Sect members untrustworthy.
Ou-yang Pae, frowning as well, replied, “Why do you keep falsely accusing us? Our sect attacked head-on. Why would we divert troops to attack Shaolin when our main forces were being defeated?”
“Y-you thought you could win!”
Unable to logically refute, Mu-gung shouted like a child.
“Hey, say something. Didn’t the Grand Elder Hyun-gwang get seriously injured because of them?”
Mu-gung quickly turned to Mu-jin, but Mu-jin stroked his chin, lost in thought.
‘Now that I think about it, it makes sense. Even the Namgung Sword Emperor once said it was uncharacteristic of the Heavenly Demon.’
It could indeed be the work of another faction.
And if there was any force capable of such acts...
‘Could it be those bastards too?’
Naturally, the name Shinchun came to mind.
But discussing events from forty years ago now wouldn’t yield any results.
“We’ll have to investigate that. If we catch any Shinchun members next time, we’ll ask them. If you succeed in returning to the Demon Sect, look through your records too.”
“I will.”
Leaving things somewhat unresolved, they bid farewell and departed from the Red Tiger Group’s mansion.
‘If it’s Ou-yang Pae, he’ll manage somehow.’
Having informed him about the Left and Right Protectors, Mu-jin believed he would handle things well.
As he sorted out his thoughts on the protagonist of Part 1, Ou-yang Pae, his thoughts naturally turned to Dao Yuetian.
‘Has he settled in well?’
This was a crucial matter.
The person Mu-jin intended to meet to establish a trade route to Guangxi was none other than Dao Yuetian.