The Second Son of the Dancheon Sword Clan Prepared for Regression-Chapter 76 : Chapter 76

Chapter 76. Reunion (1)
The private meeting with Chief Strategist Singija had dragged on, so as the sun could no longer hold its position and descended along the mountain ridge, darkness fell upon the surroundings.
In the Murim Alliance, perhaps in the entire Murim, I was taking up the time of the busiest person, so I didn't feel at ease.
“Sit.”
“Isn't it late?”
“This very moment could be called the future of the Jianghu Murim, so how could I possibly spend it carelessly?”
As Singija, who had thus declared, willingly gave his time, I had no reason to refuse.
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.
Slurp.
“Kyah-”
For a conversation that extended past sunset, fine liquor was essential.
With high-quality Geomnamchun before us, Singija and I continued our private meeting.
To be precise, it was not a private meeting.
-You should join us too.
-Me?
-Yes. You.
Singija had Senior Brother Chun-baek, who was waiting outside, join us.
-Gija, are you leaving me out?
-Are you finished with your work?
-I’m done.
-Then join us.
-Thank you.
The reason was that the Emperor Breaker, who had finally finished his paperwork, had joined in.
Putting the Emperor Breaker aside, it was a bit surprising that he had Senior Brother Chun-baek join even though I hadn’t asked.
I predicted that Singija also knew Senior Brother Chun-baek’s identity.
The successor of a mysterious sect, the King of Wanderers, Lee Chun-baek.
The reason was that Singija had long known that he too was an important figure who would shape the history of Jianghu.
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.
Slurp.
“Kyah-”
Several rounds of Geomnamchun were passed around.
“What do you think about the Great War of Righteousness and Evil?”
Singija opened the topic.
As expected, with such a gathering of faces, it couldn't just be a place to drink comfortably.
“It’s something that shouldn't happen.”
After the firm answer…….
“But conflicts are still happening even now.”
I added a remark.
“The Dancheon Clan Head has educated you well.”
In reality, it would be closer to the education I received from the Beggar's Gang and the Secret Pavilion, but I didn't bother to correct him.
Setting aside the fact that it was a truth that couldn't be revealed, there was also the reason that I had sincerely accepted the heart of my father, Dancheon Gang.
“I will be the one to catch the Heavenly Demon!”
The Emperor Breaker, who was deliberately not expelling the alcohol's poison, said as if declaring with a flushed face.
“Just finish your drink.”
“Alright.”
Sadly, there was no one in the room who responded to his grand spirit.
The Emperor Breaker, who was tipsy, also didn't seem to mind, so I should say it was a relief.
“How many spies from the Demonic Cult do you think are in the Central Plains?”
Singija’s question, after dealing with the Emperor Breaker, was directed at me and Senior Brother Chun-baek.
“…….”
I knew the rough answer but didn't say it, and Senior Brother Chun-baek remained silent.
“At least ten thousand. Including related individuals, roughly one hundred thousand. This is a figure calculated only for the spies in the Central Plains, not the forces of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's main base.”
“That’s a lot.”
“It’s a great many.”
He was right.
One hundred thousand.
It was an enormous number.
After all, the Beggar's Gang, which boasted the largest scale in the Jianghu Murim and was said to have no information it didn't know in the Central Plains, spoke of one hundred thousand members.
“They know the Central Plains.”
What Singija was saying was clear.
Just as there was no place in the Central Plains Murim that the Beggar's Gang's feet couldn't reach, it meant that there was no place that the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's feet couldn't reach.
Although it was an era called a peaceful reign, it also meant that the forces of the Demonic Cult had already established themselves in various parts of the Central Plains.
“But we don't know them.”
For a moment, a heavy silence consumed the drinking party.
“Ten years.”
“……?”
Singija, who received my gaze, continued.
“Perhaps within ten years, there will be a great war between the righteous and the demonic.”
“Hmm.”
It would be right to say that the ability of Singija, the greatest strategist under the heavens, was well-deserved.
Unlike me, who knew the truth because I had regressed, he had predicted the coming future with only fragments of information.
Furthermore, even though he had predicted this, he couldn't stop it.
It also meant that the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's movements were that meticulous and firm.
Singija’s gaze turned to me.
“What can you do?”
What was contained in his gaze was anticipation.
I knew what Singija was expecting from me.
Slurp.
I savored the Geomnamchun and opened my mouth.
“I will achieve the Sixth Stage.”
That was enough.
“I will make your prediction wrong. There will be no Great War of Righteousness and Evil.”
That would be the path I would walk.
“Is it possible?”
“I’ll have to try.”
However, I knew that achieving the Sixth Stage was impossible with my strength alone.
The reason was that I had to walk a different path from the Healing Sage.
“I’m counting on you.”
Behind the nodding Singija…….
“Do not forget your promise to fight me once you achieve the Sixth Stage.”
The Emperor Breaker was burning with fighting spirit.
Senior Brother Chun-baek was silently sipping his Geomnamchun.
***
On the way back after finishing the private meeting with Singija.
“Myeong.”
“What is it?”
Senior Brother Chun-baek called me.
Senior Brother Chun-baek, who had been looking at me for a moment, took something out from his bosom.
Clink-
What came out from Senior Brother Chun-baek’s bosom was a liquor bottle.
“It’s a pity to just go back, how about another drink?”
“Anytime is good if it's with you, Senior Brother Chun-baek.”
“Haha, where would be a good place?”
Senior Brother Chun-baek, who smiled with satisfaction, asked.
Since the time with Singija and the Emperor Breaker was already evening, with the sun having passed over the mountain ridge, it was already late at night.
Of course, there was no way there would be a tavern open at this hour.
But…….
With a good person and liquor, what could be the problem?
“How about over there?”
“Good.”
The place I pointed to was on top of a rock by a stream, spread out wide like a flat bench.
Senior Brother Chun-baek and I sat there side by side.
A late night where even the moon hid its face in the clouds.
The fireflies hovering around the stream were the only source of light, but there was no problem.
The reason was that both Senior Brother Chun-baek and I were martial artists who had reached a high realm, no longer bound by such trivial matters.
“Good.”
I was reminded of my Myeong-gae days.
If there was one thing better about being a beggar than a direct descendant of a prestigious clan, it would be the fact that it was good to befriend nature.
After all, Myeong-gae's pleasure was also to drink sour rice wine while listening to the sound of the stream, rather than in a fancy tavern.
“You have a sip too.”
Senior Brother Chun-baek, who had drunk the Geomnamchun straight from the bottle, offered it to me.
“It’s a familiar bottle.”
It was the Geomnamchun that Singija had treated us to.
Although I was not well-versed in liquor, I knew that it was quite a high-quality liquor.
“I swiped a bottle.”
“Your sleight of hand is on par with a master thief.”
“Puhat.”
With Senior Brother Chun-baek’s characteristic laugh and the gentle sound of the stream as side dishes, we shared the Geomnamchun.
“Do you have something to say?”
I asked Senior Brother Chun-baek.
The reason was that Senior Brother Chun-baek’s face was that of someone who had decided to say something.
I knew that it was better to ask like this than to pretend not to know.
Of course, this was a story for cases where the trust between each other, like between me and Senior Brother Chun-baek, was very deep.
“Myeong, I am a successor of a mysterious sect.”
As if launching a surprise attack, Senior Brother Chun-baek’s main point suddenly entered the conversation.
Senior Brother Chun-baek was this unskilled with words.
“I said a mysterious sect, but it's not really a big deal. It's just a place that carries on a martial art passed down to a single person.”
“I see.”
Like that, for a long time…….
“My master is still hale and hearty, but he worries a lot. Actually, I was barely able to participate in the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly because I insisted. Thinking about it now, I think it was a really good thing to do. I met you there, didn't I? If not for that, I wouldn't have reached my current realm so quickly. I didn't know how wide the world was.”
Senior Brother Chun-baek continued to speak alone as if confessing something.
Only after telling a great many stories with the Geomnamchun…….
“……My story ends here.”
Senior Brother Chun-baek’s story was concluded.
I knew that everything he said was true, but one thing was wrong.
If it was a martial art that could give birth to the martial artist known as the King of Wanderers, Lee Chun-baek, then that mysterious sect was not an insignificant place.
It would be right to say it was a truly great place.
To the extent that ordinary martial artists would call it a fortuitous encounter.
Since outstanding things usually became the target of envy, jealousy, and greed, mysterious sects generally hid their identities.
But Senior Brother Chun-baek had told me everything.
To me.
Perhaps because it was me.
“I just, wanted to tell you this fact.”
Senior Brother Chun-baek's expression as he said so looked relieved.
“I have learned a martial art called the Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art.”
I opened the topic in a manner similar to Senior Brother Chun-baek's way of speaking.
A story just as long as the one Senior Brother Chun-baek had told flowed from my mouth.
That day.
With nature and Geomnamchun as our companions, we shared a great many stories throughout the long night.
Sharing secrets might not be the only measure of friendship and trust, but it was a time where one could not deny that Senior Brother Chun-baek and I had grown closer.
***
Kaifeng.
It was the city where the headquarters of the Beggar's Gang was located.
It meant that this city was the headquarters of the beggar's den.
Kaifeng was located in Tianjin County, Hebei Province, next to Beijing, where the emperor resided.
Next to the residence of the greatest person, the residence of the most humble people had taken root, so this could also be said to be a cross-section of the Central Plains.
Of course, because the beggars of the Beggar's Gang were not ordinary beggars, there were no problems such as weak security or dirty streets.
Rather, since the many beggars of the Beggar's Gang also served as the self-defense force of Kaifeng, Kaifeng was a safe and clean city.
Revere righteousness.
The reason was that the foolish villains who would scheme crimes by breaking through the vast information network of the Beggar's Gang, which possessed such a noble spirit, had long been exterminated.
Therefore, Kaifeng was a strange city where a few more shabbily dressed beggars could be seen in a city that was cleaner and more peaceful than any other place.
Kaifeng was far.
If you thought based on Anhui, it was a journey that required moving through Henan to the center of Hebei, so it was a distance that required passing through at least two provinces.
Considering the size occupied by each province of the Central Plains, it was a distance that was hard to call close, even in empty words.
Dancheon Myeong, who had left the clan at the age of twenty, had a memory of having made that difficult journey penniless.
I vividly remembered that when I arrived in Kaifeng at that time, my appearance was no different from a member of the Beggar's Gang.
And now.
“Is this the place?”
“Yes.”
I had come to Kaifeng with Senior Brother Chun-baek.
“You guide me as if you've been here many times.”
Senior Brother Chun-baek, who couldn't find his way well even with his status as a wanderer, was amazed by me.
“I’ve always had a good sense of direction. You're the strange one, Senior Brother Chun-baek.”
I was amazed by such a Senior Brother Chun-baek.
“The life of a wanderer is to go where one's feet lead, what use is it to know the way well?”
I wondered if human ability was truly limitless, as a person who said this had managed to find the Dancheon Clan just in time.
In any case, it was the first time I had visited Kaifeng in this life, so the feeling was new.
Dancheon Myeong at twenty, who had left the clan and came to Kaifeng alone.
And…….
Dancheon Myeong at twenty-two, who had received the clan's recognition and reached the supreme realm of the State of Harmony before coming here.
Since the difference between the two was truly great, it was inevitable that I felt a sense of overwhelming change.
“Let’s go.”
Leaving the feelings behind, I walked to the entrance of the Beggar's Gang headquarters with Senior Brother Chun-baek.
Unlike my last life where I couldn't escape the beggar's rags, I was wearing the martial uniform of the Dancheon Clan, stylishly colored with high-quality fabric, so it was right to see it as a triumphant return.
After all, the Beggar's Gang was a place that was not lacking to be called my second home.
Step.
When I arrived at the entrance of the headquarters, an old beggar was shabbily sprawled out.
As I approached the old beggar, he raised his body.
“I have come to the Beggar's Gang on business.”
I told him…….
“A direct descendant of the Dancheon Clan has business with the Beggar's Gang?”
The old beggar replied.
-A direct descendant of the Dancheon Clan wishes to enter the Beggar's Gang?
The reason I felt a sense of déjá vu was that the current situation was so similar to that time.
When I looked at the old beggar's waist, six knots were messily tied.
It was a matter of course.
The reason was that this six-knot old beggar would become a seven-knot elder only after Myeong-gae had become a branch master at the age of twenty-three, so there was still time left.
“What is your name?”
The six-knot old beggar, who had clearly recognized me, asked.
Even now that I had regressed, I still didn't know his intentions, but it would be right to answer.
There was nothing to be sorry about, but it was because I wanted to do so.
“I am Myeong, the second son of the Dancheon Clan.”
My voice scratched past my vocal cords.
‘In this life, I have not abandoned this name.’
I swallowed that thought.
The reason was that I knew that although I was very happy to see him, he was actually seeing me for the first time.
“Yes. Dancheon Myeong. That was the name.”
The old beggar answered with a mischievous smile. I was pleased to see him call my name.
After all, even in those days when I had abandoned my own name, he had called me ‘Dancheon Myeong’.
“It’s good to see you, Chwipung-gae.”
In the end, I couldn't hold back my joy and called out to him.
Chwipung-gae, who looked surprised for a moment, broke into a broad smile.
‘An astute child with excellent information.’
Chwipung-gae was surely thinking this. Since I knew him, there was no way I could be wrong.
“Do you have business at the headquarters?”
I shook my head at Chwipung-gae's question.
“I came to see you.”
At my unexpected words, Chwipung-gae nodded his head.
“I see. Follow me.”
Chwipung-gae did not have any questions.
After looking at Chwipung-gae's back for a moment, I followed behind him.