Book 22 Chapter 2

Centipede Yokai and Unity Incarnate

-Sighing Women

Voila!

After closing the door, Yunbi shook her head nervously and rubbed her hands together. She looked like she had just cleaned an unpleasant toilet. Eunsulan, who had come to visit Yerin and Yanbi in their room during the break, asked cautiously.

"Dawn Sojae, did something happen to offend you?"

"Huh? I thought you were going to the bathroom."

Lee Jin-sul, who had sneaked in to visit her dear sister Na Yerin again today, interrupted. Yeonbi sat down with an embarrassed smile.

"Hmm, that's what I thought, but somehow I got caught up in exorcism."

"That's bizarre, can you tell me more, Yeonbi?"

When Na Yerin asked with a straight face, Yunbi spoke up reluctantly.

"I walked into the bathroom and it felt weird, so I looked up and…… well, there's this really creepy-looking thing that looks like a centipede stuck to the ceiling and it's looking at me and laughing at me and it's totally a monster."

"I'm offended just by the sound of it!"

Lee Jin-sul shuddered and clung to Na Yerin.

"Dawn Sojae, you can't be serious, can you?"

Silver Snow asked with a serious face. If Yan Bi was serious, especially if he was comparing humans to centipedes, this was not something to be taken lightly.

"Yeonbi, are you okay?"

Na Yerin looked worried. Yunbi smirked, feeling a little better now.

"Alas, of course, Silver Sojae, that fiend will never appear again now that I have so graciously extinguished it."

"……Sung Buddha?"

"Yeah. I beat him up with a few tricks and then carved his name in red letters on his forehead, and he got pissed, because that's what demons fear most of all: having their names revealed."

When I told them about the Yeonbi, they didn't know whether to believe me or not.

"But…… what was his name?"

Lee's face turned serious as he shook his head.

"You know it when you see it: change."

"……puhhhh."

Momentarily speechless, the three soon burst into laughter.

"Well, that's no laughing matter, but somehow every day since I've been here, I've had unforgettable experiences that I'd like to forget sooner rather than later, and I don't know if that's going to work out."

"Hah- I heard the story- you got proposed to?"

Eunseulan sighed and said. The real reason she came to play is because she heard about the King of the Four Heavenly King's exploits(?). Lee Jin-sul narrowed her eyes and asked.

"Has the word gotten to you already?"

"Digitize."

"……."

There was a moment of silence between the four of them.

"Hah- I'm sorry, that's the kind of person I am."

With another long sigh, Eunseulan apologized. As if to apologize for the Macheon Pavilion for perpetuating such an untenable situation.

"Well, at first I suspected it was a new psychological attack."

He was being sincere.

As it turns out, I can understand the sentiment.

"But apparently it was real. Well, it was a more lethal mental attack, but hey, it was a life lesson in what it means to be 'out of control'."

She feigns composure as she speaks, and smiles crisply.

The smile left the three of them speechless.

"He's angry!

Her intuition told her that.

"Ugh… I shouldn't have ended with a warning! I should have been more explicit."

Eunseulan covered half her face with her palm, embarrassed.

"Why should a silver Sojae be so shy? Isn't it strange that they're all over the place, not just in the pavilion, but everywhere? Men are wolves nine times out of ten, and we ought to be ashamed of them as we can, don't you think, Rin?"

Na Yerin was silent for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

"Okay, Yeonbi. Nine times out of ten, yes."

"Hmm, that sounds like a statement I shouldn't have made."

Na Yerin felt a little embarrassed as Yun Bi's amber eyes bore into her, questioning her. She glanced to her left and right to see Eunseulan and Yi Yun smoking something else.

"Hmm, I meant that there are some good ones."

"Ho-ho, like what?"

Trying to hide a wry smile, Yunbi pressed for an answer.

"……, for example, Mo Yong Confucius, Hyorong Confucius, and……."

Yunbi wanted to ask, "Who else?" but she held her tongue when she saw Na Yerin. Her eyelashes were long and she was lost in thought as she traced a circle with her finger along the rim of her teacup. She looked as if she might sigh at any moment, but it was Eunsulan who actually did.

"Phew……."

It was a low-key but fairly complex and nuanced sigh.

"Gee, why is Silver Sojae sighing again, what's wrong with him?"

"Hot! My… did I do that?"

Apparently, I wasn't aware of it. It was severe.

"Nah, I don't have any problems, just……."

"Just?"

"I was just wondering, I don't see Mo Yong Confucius around these days, not yesterday, not today, and I was wondering about this……."

Even without Yong'an's abilities, it didn't take much to read the disappointment in her words. Yi Yun, who didn't usually take long to think, quickly interjected with a twinkle in his eye.

"Giggle, somehow I got back-to-back silver Sojaes yesterday and today……."

"Ahahahaha. Uh, why did I think of that……."

He looked stunned, as if I had hit him right in the heart. She smiled wryly, pleased that the subtlety had been broken. "Gotcha!" she pretended to whisper to Na Yerin with a look that said, "I got you.

"Ho-ho, Lin, Mo Yong Confucius must have seen that……?"

"Uh-huh, uh-huh."

Na Yerin nodded softly, and Eunsulan coughed.

"It's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's good to kill two birds with one stone, don't you think?"

"Well, is that so, is that so, is that so, is that so?"

Eunsulan, finally able to breathe, responded to Yeonbi's words. Her slightly flushed cheeks looked cute.

"Fufu, by the way, the Mo Yong Confucius you're looking for has been in a room or by a well lately, right, big sister Yerin?"

"Yeah, I think we're already on day three, that's amazing."

The suspicion planted in Eunseulan's mind grew larger and larger.

"Ooh, the well? What the heck are you doing there, and for three days at that?"

Eunsulan's eyes widened at the mention of an unexpected location.

"Oh, that's……."

After a pause, Lee said.

"Cleaning."

"Ah!"

Eunseulan was instantly convinced. It was indeed fitting for him.

* * *

Gong Zhenghui was mopping the floor in his quarters, grumbling and moping with his mouth hanging out five feet. It was an uncharacteristic behavior for the heir to the prestigious Gongsong family.

"The Seven Feast Divine Sword Mo Yonghui!

I'm gritting my teeth just thinking about the three names.

"He is indeed an enemy that must be defeated!

He gritted his teeth. He remembered the shallow face that had reduced him to such a miserable wretch.

'Handsome is all, we'll see, and I'll never forget this grudge!

Once again, he proved himself to be incompatible with Mo Yonghui.

"Hah……."

The thought of what happened a few days ago casts a shadow of despair over me once again. How can I raise my head to my grandfather and father, especially to the man who handed me the family sword, when I was so afraid and ashamed that I dared not even mention it to them? The family's treasure trove… one by one…….

"Yikes, no more, don't come up with any more!

Politeness hurriedly cut off memory retrieval. Any more frustration and I risked becoming mentally retarded.

"Because of that damned colposis!"

Gong Zhongquan shook his fists in vengeance.

"That's terrible."

Three days earlier, the dyslexic had scanned the room he was assigned and muttered something strange. It was the beginning of a cleaning incident in which Mo Yonghui, a young man with a good life who would go down in history, persecuted his blue junior with a weapon of some sort.

Of course, the rooms allotted to him by the palace were by no means abominable. The building had been vacant for several years in the absence of the Thirteenth, and even though it had been regularly maintained, it hadn't been able to completely remove the grime and dust from every nook and cranny. At the very least, Mo Yonghui would be the only member of the delegation who would find the condition appalling. Anyway, he jerked his head toward Mo Yonghui, who had unexpectedly been assigned to the same room as him, his eyes shining brightly.

"Here we go. It's about time we got them out."

Just as he was about to ask, "What do you mean?", Mo Yonghui strode over to where he had left the hanglang, took out a bunch of things, and laid them out in a row on the table. He then quickly began to assemble the new weapons. She didn't know why he was suddenly doing this, but she watched him intently, her heart racing. In the blink of an eye, the assembly was complete, and he was stunned.

"Huh, this is… a broom and duster?!"

"Hoot. I got it specially for you the other day. It's not only functional, it's portable. Not only can it be disassembled and assembled in three steps, but it can also be adjusted in length by pressing here. It's made of a special hollow metal, so it's both light and strong. This part here in particular is made of a special horsehair material that is soft but durable. You can even replace this part of the horsehair. I have it on good authority that it's even been supplied to the imperial palace. Isn't it amazing? Gone are the days of sari and bamboo!"

Looking at Mo Yonghui, who spoke enthusiastically with the eyes of a long-lived man who had won a famous horse, the polite phrase was confused.

"That's… so how does it work, like, you can pretend to clean it and then turn the knob and it fires the memorization……."

"…What does that mean? You must be very tired, too. Tonight, just clean up until midnight and get some rest."

Mo Yonghui then wrapped the white cloth he had taken from the hanging rack around his head and waist, and tied the cuffs of his arms together with a string. He was in full formation.

"……."

When Mo Yonghui picked up the gun and turned his back, Gong Zhenghui turned away without a sound. For now, he planned to escape and then alert someone to Mo Yonghui's serious condition and call for help. Until a lively gun, a duster, was pointed at his back.

"Where are you going, at this critical time?"

"Boom!"

He groaned as he saw the guns pointed at him.

"It's important, bullshit!

But the words would not come out of his mouth. There was something about the muzzle of the gun that was so determined and unyielding that if he took another step, the hairs on the barrel would shoot out at the speed of light in a rote fashion.

"Damn."

Gong Zhenghui surreptitiously reached his right hand to his left waistband. He felt the hilt of his sword against his hand and was secretly relieved.

"Does that mean you don't want to clean?"

"Of course not, that's for the servants, and I've never done any cleaning in my life."

"Oh no. It is the duty of a soldier to take care of his body. Keeping one's place of residence clean is part of that, but you think you can entrust such a task to someone else?"

"I do."

I didn't hesitate.

"I don't mean to brag. I've always cleaned up after myself whenever possible. Why don't you expand your horizons by practicing qi?"

He thrust his bayonet forward, as if it were the key to a new world. As if it were the key to a new world. But the answer was already known.

"You're on your own!"

Mo Yonghui flatly refused, with no wiggle room. And in that moment, Mo Yonghui's prayer subtly changed.

"Can't do it. Pull it."

"What do you mean?"

"The sword. If you can break the barrel of this gun with your sword, you may have it. But if you can't, you'll have to clean up after yourself."

"…Was that a special weapon, too?"

"Is that what you're saying? Get a grip. It's just a new prefab gun."

Politeness laughed in vain. New or prefabricated, a gun to block a sword. This man was not normal after all.

"Then make that decision, don't regret it!"

Mo Yonghui nodded in silence. The situation was eventually settled by force of arms, a clash between the Gongsong family sword and the newly developed prefabricated guns.

Boom!

The sword was drawn. The pure white hilt glowed with a bluish light. The weapon's advantage was obvious, even without the strength test. The enormous gap was not one that could be filled by skill alone.

With a single stroke of the sword, that ugly new gun barrel would be reduced to nonrenewable scrap, and in its wake, the family's nemesis, the scavenger, would not be spared. That's what Elder Gong believed, but he overlooked one thing. No matter how sharp a sword is, it can't cut without touching.

"Huh?"

A banner burst from his mouth as he lowered his sword. The stab had missed. At that moment, Mo Yonghui slammed his sword down with the butt of his gun.

The iron rang with a clear sound.

Whirrrrrr!

Without missing a beat, the hairs on the hilt of the gun wrapped around the sword like a dragonfly. In an instant, Mo Yonghui burrowed into Gong Yonghui's embrace.

Poof. Tsk!

With one light step, the world of polite manners spun out of balance.

With a loud crack, his back and spine groaned in unearthly pain. The impact struck the spine and its center of gravity with such force that it left no room for a counterattack.

"Okay, let's clean it up, shall we?"

Looking down at Gong Yonghui, who had fallen to the ground in a heap, Mo Yonghui spoke in a very casual manner.

"ugh……."

The politeness wore thin. Even though he had the demeanor of a child, he shouldn't have let his guard down. He was frustrated to the core at his pathetic skills, unable to drop a single shot with a real sword, even the family treasure sword.

"Get used to this."

As he straightened up, Mo Yonghui suddenly held out two items. A piece of white, fluffy cloth, and a small scroll.

"For now, I want you to learn the basics with the rag I've given you and familiarize yourself with the notes on the scroll. I originally prepared it to sensitize someone in prison, but I didn't realize I'd be giving it to you first."

With a dazed look on his face, Gong Gongzhihui accepted a piece of pure white cloth called a rag and a scroll. On the scroll, which looked like a martial arts master's scroll, was written in neat script, "The Twelve Laws of Qingfeng.

"Phew, Hyo-ryong's complexion hasn't been looking so good lately. He says that the room next door, that is, Mo Yong's room, keeps making hissing noises until the middle of the night, and the frustration left in the room whenever Mo Yong goes to the well… No, he can't get a good night's sleep because he hears the sound of Mo Yong hissing to himself. It disturbs his dreams, too."

"Hah, that's good in moderation……."

Eunseol-ran responded to Lee Jin-sul's complaint with a sigh.

"When it comes to cleaning, the concept of 'moderation' wouldn't work for Mo Yong Confucius; it's more like an ectopic or an obsession……."

Yun Che's body instantly stiffened in response.

"Wow, Dawn Sojae knows a lot about him, doesn't she?"

An unexpected gaze fell on Yunbi. He smirked outwardly, though he felt hot inside.

"Don't you see, Chuck, the way he keeps his clothes so white and dust-free, he's not the kind of man to do it 'moderately,' and he's been cleaning his cabin all the way back from the ship, and his face… it's like he doesn't make any concessions when it comes to cleaning."

"Hmm, that's definitely true."

Na Yerin nodded in agreement from the sidelines, but Eunseulan remained suspicious.

"No, why does Silver Sojae keep giving me that look?"

"I realize you've been watching me pretty closely, and we've only just met."

This is why a man of few words should be a man of many. Yeonbi was the last straw.

"Pooh-pooh, don't worry, I just thought it was a little unusual, but it's not going to be a competitor to the Silver Sojae."

Before Yunbi could finish her sentence, Eunsulan's face lit up.

"No, what are you talking about! I'm not a competitor, I'm not a competitor! I'd never be a……."

The more I protested, the more his voice grew quieter and quieter, until finally it turned into a loud sigh.

"Haha…… really does it, and out of all the people who do it, why him?"

No one could answer my lamentable counter-question.

The human heart is immeasurable and powerful enough to overwhelm the power of reason, so to control it is the desire of the seeker.

Eunseulan shook herself out of her seat and stood up, looking strangely exhilarated at the same time. The human mind was indeed both simple and complex.