Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 97

“Well, well? What brings this beggar all the way here? Did they finally kick you out of your position as the Dragon Head?”

“I’ve told you countless times, the position of the Dragon Head isn’t one you get kicked out of.”

“Kekekeke.”

“Stop that weird laughing. It’s annoying.”

“If you don’t like it, then don’t come.”

“This brat, even though he’s young, his attitude is something else.”

“Didn’t you say the era of making friends based on age is over?”

“There’s a limit to that, you know. You haven’t even reached fifty yet.”

“Then should I treat a beggar like you as my elder brother? Where did you learn to act so shamelessly?”

“You’re going to get hit for real if you keep that up.”

“Go ahead, hit me.”

Thwack!

“Ouch! You actually hit me!”

“Enough with the noise, and bring me some wine. Damn it, I’m exhausted. What’s the point of building a Taoist temple on this high mountain when you have nothing to do?”

The Taoist grumbled but got up nonetheless.

As he headed to the kitchen, his muttering was a sight to behold. ‘Why is he looking for wine at a Taoist temple?’, ‘How did he even know there was wine?’, ‘I have to see that bastard die before I die.’, ‘That beggar has an incredibly long life.’ It was the kind of talk that made anyone’s blood pressure rise.

Hwa Jin-Cheon endured it. Well, he was a beggar, the lowest of the low. Even if he was the king of beggars, he was still a beggar.

Without patience, this relationship couldn’t be maintained. He was once again amazed at his own patience that had endured all these years.

After a while, the Taoist brought out a table with food and drinks.

“Huh? I only asked for wine, what’s that?”

“What do you think it is, you dirty bastard? It’s jerky.”

“You are a Taoist, right?”

“Shut up.”

“Did you know I was coming?”

“Then how else would I make a living with divination if I didn’t know that?”

“As if anyone even comes to you for divination.”

“Ah, just take the table! My back hurts!”

Soon, the two men set up the table in the open space in front of the Taoist temple and filled each other’s cups.

The Taoist, Tongcheon Jin-In, asked,

“Anyway, what brings you here?”

Hwa Jin-Cheon snorted.

“Why else would I come to a diviner? I came to find something out.”

“Crazy. Aren’t you supposed to be the best in the world? Don’t you have all the information in the world? What do you need to find out?”

“Is information the same as divination?”

“Is your payment generous?”

“You’re greedy even though you have a lot of wealth.”

“That’s different, you know!”

“Tell me what you want. I’ll have my men send it to you.”

The playfulness slowly disappeared from Tongcheon Jin-In’s face.

The difference between his playful face and his serious face was stark. It was as if he had become a completely different person.

“Is it because of the Nine Families?”

Hwa Jin-Cheon’s eyes gleamed.

As expected, this guy knew. He was a man who sat on top of a high mountain and watched the world.

“The Nine Families are involved, but what I want to ask is a bit different.”

“Surely it’s because of the young tiger who is at the forefront of destroying the Nine Families?”

A serious look appeared on Hwa Jin-Cheon’s face.

“Yes, I came because of him. More precisely, I came because I’m curious why the world is turning out differently from what you said.”

Tongcheon Jin-In.

It was said that there were three extraordinary individuals in the current Jianghu [the martial arts world]. These three individuals were experts in their respective fields, and their skills were so high that they were given the title of Tongcheon [meaning ‘reaching the heavens’].

The Three Wonders of Jianghu. Or the Three Masters of the Martial World.

Tongcheon Jin-In was one of those three, and the most difficult to meet among them.

“I know that your divination skills have reached the level of the heavens. And I also know that your divination abilities are severely limited.”

Tongcheon Jin-In saw the flow and principles of the world. He sometimes predicted the future and told people their fates.

But those were extremely limited abilities. There were very few people who had met Tongcheon Jin-In, and even if they did, there were days when he couldn’t divine depending on his luck that day.

However, one thing was certain.

A divination he had spoken once never turned out to be wrong. Never once had the words from his mouth been wrong.

Tongcheon Jin-In shook his head.

“Reaching the level of the heavens is a ridiculous thing to say. I was just struggling not to die because my innate divine power was too strong.”

“Whatever it is.”

“I’m just barely peeking through the cracks of the heavens, I haven’t mastered it. If I had mastered the principles of the heavens, I would have become a god long ago.”

“Are there even gods?”

“If you believe, there will be, and if you don’t, there won’t be in your eyes.”

“Enough. I don’t want any nonsensical Zen questions.”

“Why is this a Zen question?”

“Shut up.”

“Geez, this beggar is really….”

“Enough, just tell me. Why is it different? No, why was it wrong?”

A shadow fell over Tongcheon Jin-In’s face.

“I don’t know either.”

“You don’t know? The great Tongcheon Jin-In?”

“You’re not being sarcastic, are you?”

“Stop joking and tell me. I’m serious.”

“Tch, I don’t know. Like I said, if I knew everything, would I be a human? I’d be a god.”

“Hmm….”

“However, there is one thing that bothers me.”

“What is it?”

Tongcheon Jin-In, after emptying his full cup of wine, immediately burped.

“Sometime last year… yes, I think it was around autumn. Something changed around that time.”

“Last autumn?”

“Whether it was the heavenly secret or the heavenly weather, I saw something indescribable twisting and distorting in the sky.”

“The heavenly secret….”

“At that time, I didn’t even know what it was. In fact, I still don’t know exactly. However, I suspect that the change at that time is the starting point of a different future than what I had predicted in the past.”

“……That’s difficult.”

“It’s not difficult, but shall I tell you something despairing?”

“What is it?”

Tongcheon Jin-In said bitterly.

“You won’t be coming here anymore.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I can’t see it, not since then.”

“……What?”

“I can’t see it. I can’t divine it.”

Hwa Jin-Cheon’s face was filled with shock.

“What do you mean? You can’t divine it?”

“Yeah, I can’t. No matter how hard I try, I can’t see it.”

“……That can’t be? Wait a minute! You knew I was coming today, didn’t you? You also knew that the Nine Families had become enemies of the martial world and disappeared, and you knew the identity of the guy who was at the forefront of destroying the Nine Families?!”

Tongcheon Jin-In snorted.

“Are you really the leader of the Beggars’ Union? How did you become such a fool?”

“Huh?”

“It’s all over the world that the Nine Families have become enemies of the martial world, how can you not know that? Every time I go down to the market to buy necessities, that’s all I hear. And that guy, the eldest son of the Yeon family?”

“Yeon Ho-Jeong.”

“Yes, I’ve been hearing about him too. The young tiger of Gangdong, a man who is the reincarnation of both Son Ceok and Yuk Son [famous historical figures known for their bravery and martial prowess]. They say he’s called the Byeoksan Tiger these days?”

“Y-yes?”

“Just because I live on a high mountain doesn’t mean I don’t go down to the mortal world. I know everything.”

Hwa Jin-Cheon asked urgently.

“Then how did you know I was coming?”

“That?”

Tongcheon Jin-In smiled bitterly and took out a thin booklet from his pocket.

“I wrote it down here.”

“What is that?”

“It’s not like I suddenly couldn’t see anything. It slowly, one by one, started to disappear. Just in case, I wrote down everything I could see.”

“……!”

“And.”

Tongcheon Jin-In threw the booklet carelessly.

The booklet flew far away and fell off the cliff, carried by the wind.

Hwa Jin-Cheon’s mouth dropped open.

“W-what are you doing?!”

“Your coming was the last line in that book.”

“Oh no….”

Tongcheon Jin-In chuckled.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“No… I never thought you would lose your divination skills….”

“Why are divination skills so important that you’re making such a fuss?”

“What?”

“I became a Taoist because of my divine power, and I’ve repaired my upper dantian [an energy center in the body according to Taoist beliefs]. But I’m still just a Taoist. I just happened to have a talent for divination and told you various facts, but even that wasn’t something I could choose to see.”

“……!”

“Does a monk stop serving Buddha just because he lost an arm, or does a Taoist stop cultivating the Tao just because he can’t see? There’s no need to be so worried.”

Hwa Jin-Cheon sighed.

“I’ve lost a good source of information.”

Tongcheon Jin-In burst into laughter.

“You’ve been too lazy all this time. If I’m being honest, there were many things I saw when you came for divination that I didn’t tell you.”

“What? This crazy Taoist tricked me?”

“It’s not hard to tell you, but wouldn’t that disrupt the heavenly order?”

“……?!”

“Don’t underestimate your influence. If the Dragon Head of the Beggars’ Union makes one wrong move, the world will shake. If I were to teach you your fate and predict your future, wouldn’t that be going against the heavens?”

Hwa Jin-Cheon couldn’t say a word.

Tongcheon Jin-In, taking a sip of his wine, said in a calm tone.

“Where is there an answer sheet in life? It’s because we don’t know the future that today is precious. That’s life. Therefore, it’s not good to rely on divination.”

“Damn it, you’re just spouting words like a Taoist.”

“Hahaha!”

Tongcheon Jin-In’s laughter was very pleasant to hear.

Even though he had lost his divination skills, which were worthy of being called divine, he didn’t seem to care at all. No, it even seemed like he had shaken off a heavy burden.

Hwa Jin-Cheon smiled wryly.

He thought that his friend losing his talent was a loss for both of them. But if the person himself was so happy, what could he do? He had no choice but to be happy with him.

“I’ll come more often from now on.”

“Oh? Are you trying to comfort me?”

“Comfort, my foot. I’m thinking of passing on the position of the Dragon Head to my disciple soon. I’ll be lonely in my old age, so I’ll need a drinking buddy.”

“Has that rascal grown up that much already? It feels like it hasn’t been long since I saw him.”

“He’s still far from it. But the righteousness and integrity he possesses are quite impressive.”

“If you say that much, he must be quite the prodigy.”

“If he trains his martial arts properly, there’s nothing more to ask for.”

Hwa Jin-Cheon got up from his seat.

“I have to go now. I’m a bit busy.”

Tongcheon Jin-In waved his hand.

“Come anytime.”

“I’ll build a room next to yours soon, so don’t kick me out.”

“Hahaha!”

* * *

“Hmm.”

Today was another very busy day.

Even though a martial arts master wouldn’t have any physical problems from just a day’s work, the mental exhaustion was considerable. He had been doing this for over ten years.

Yeon-Wi massaged his neck. His neck wasn’t particularly stiff, but massaging it like this made him feel better.

Lee Baek-Hyun, who was watching Yeon-Wi, organized the documents.

“I’ll take care of the rest. Please rest for today, Clan Leader.”

“Alright.”

“Ah, and what will you do about the Chief Manager? You should start choosing someone soon.”

Yeon-Wi glanced at Lee Baek-Hyun.

“If you’re okay with it, why don’t you try it?”

“M-me?”

Lee Baek-Hyun waved his hands.

“How can I become the Chief Manager of the Yeon family with my abilities? I’m just enough to assist.”

“You’re doing a good enough job.”

Lee Baek-Hyun hiccuped without realizing it.

He never thought that the Clan Leader would give him such a huge compliment. He was so flustered that Lee Baek-Hyun’s face turned pale.

“I, I, I am absolutely… I lack the ability….”

Yeon-Wi shook his head.

“Go now.”

“Huk! Yes!”

Lee Baek-Hyun quickly left the Clan Leader’s office. He moved so fast as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.

Yeon-Wi leaned back in his chair.

He was tired, but he still felt rewarded every day. The stabilization of the business in Gangso was going well, the construction within the family was going smoothly, and especially the growth of his second son was amazing.

He wished that tomorrow would be the same as today. He hoped for a day where he could dream of a hopeful tomorrow, even if it was difficult but rewarding.

‘It seems like my second son hasn’t finished his cultivation yet. It’s his first state of selflessness, so it’s understandable.’

Yeon-Wi closed his eyes. He was relieving the fatigue of the day through cultivation.

His son was fighting through a great crisis and opportunity. He, as the Clan Leader and father, also had to do his best.

How much time had passed?

“C-Clan Leader!”

Yeon-Wi, who had stopped his cultivation, opened his mouth while still keeping his eyes closed.

“What is it?”

“T-the eldest young master has arrived!”

In an instant, Yeon-Wi’s eyes snapped open.

“Ho-Jeong is here?”

“Yes! B-but….”

“Why are you hesitating?”