Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 124

125. Encountering the Enemy

Dong Xuan’er quickly spoke to Yeon Woo, who looked like he was about to explode. “Senior Brother Yeon Woo, I’m so tired from flying for days that my eyes are closing. Can you arrange a place for So-mae [a respectful way to refer to oneself as a junior sister] to rest? We can do the exchange activities tomorrow.”

“Of course, Junior Sister Dong! I’ll take you to the rooms prepared for the female cultivators right away. Han Junior Brother, you can do as you please.”

Yeon Woo was not only in a good mood but also a bit boastful. Han Li had no objections. He had already safely escorted the young lady to Yeonryeong Fortress, so his mission was complete.

Besides, it was none of his business, and he didn’t want to get involved. He said he would look around a bit more and walked away alone.

Yeon Woo and Senior Brother Bong were delighted that Han Li would leave Junior Sister Dong’s side on his own. So, Yeon Woo gave Han Li a map of Yeonryeong Fortress so he could go where he wanted without wandering around aimlessly.

Dong Xuan’er was surprised that he was letting her go so easily, but she was overjoyed at the thought of freely mingling with the men. She looked at Han Li with a puzzled expression, trying to guess his intentions.

‘Do you wonder about my intentions? I just don’t want to carry around baggage like you.’

Walking along the limestone path of Yeonryeong Fortress with his hands behind his back, Han Li thought this while occasionally looking at the shops on both sides of the road.

Most of the shops sold talismans, or materials for magical artifacts or elixirs. Surprisingly, most of the shop owners were ordinary people without any magical power.

It wasn’t really strange, as Yeonryeong Fortress was very large and had a population of several hundred thousand people.

However, only a few of them had spiritual roots and could cultivate, while the rest were all ordinary people.

However, no one was forced to come here. They all came voluntarily because they had nowhere else to go or because they were indebted to the Yeon family.

Moreover, Yeonryeong Fortress was heavily guarded and had a barrier, and any ordinary person who tried to escape would be executed immediately. So far, no one had ever succeeded in leaving this place. This information was all written in the book that Yeon Woo had given him.

He was now on his way to a certain teahouse in the city, a place where many cultivators enjoyed drinking tea and often gathered to socialize. He thought he would see the teahouse sign when the stone path ended and a three-way intersection appeared, so Han Li quickened his pace.

At that moment, he heard a commotion from a shop, followed by a man’s shout and a woman storming out in anger. She stepped onto the stone path and bumped into Han Li, who was puzzled. Even at a glance, the woman was very beautiful, so Han Li glanced at her. However, after clearly recognizing the woman’s face, he was stunned for a moment. The woman seemed angry that Han Li was staring at her so rudely.

Even though she had no magical power, she knew that Han Li was a cultivator just by looking at his clothes. So, without properly looking at Han Li’s face, she suppressed her anger and bowed her head.

“Sir, may I pass? I’m worried that you might lose face by looking at a mere mortal woman like this.”

Even as she said this, the woman wasn’t worried. The rules within Yeonryeong Fortress were strict, and cultivators were not allowed to interfere in the lives of ordinary people, and ordinary people were expected to respect cultivators. However, when the cultivator showed no sign of moving even after she had been bowing for a while, she slightly raised her head to look at him.

She discovered a familiar face looking at her with a subtle expression that seemed to be smiling and not smiling.

And it took her back ten years to a night on a secluded path in a backyard, where an ungenerous senior brother and a cute girl were arguing. Everything was vivid in her mind.

“Senior Brother?”

“Junior Sister!”

When the woman finally recognized Han Li’s face, which was exactly the same as before, and called him Senior Brother, he was certain that this beautiful woman was the lively girl, Moon Chae-hwan, from years ago. She was the youngest daughter of Lord Moon.

“Is it really Senior Brother Han Li?”

Moon Chae-hwan had a blank expression, and even amidst a mix of emotions, she couldn’t believe it.

“Are you still using the Fragrant Charm Pill I gave you?”

“S-Senior Brother, it really is you.”

When Han Li mentioned the Fragrant Charm Pill he had given her in the past, Moon Chae-hwan could no longer doubt it. At the same time, her eyes turned red, and she started sniffling, making it seem like she had suffered some injustice. Han Li’s eyes widened.

“Junior Sister, let’s move to another place to talk.”

“Okay! I’ll do as Senior Brother says.”

She immediately stopped sniffling and answered obediently. It was a bit unexpected that she was acting like this.

The Moon Chae-hwan in his memory was a mischievous girl, but she suddenly appeared so gentle, and he couldn’t get used to it.

However, there wasn’t a place that was particularly quiet and good for talking.

“Let’s go home. My mother is there too.”

Moon Chae-hwan opened her mouth, having calmed down a bit.

“Fourth Madam is also in Yeonryeong Fortress?”

It was a surprising story. It was clear that something big had happened to the Moon family. Otherwise, there was no reason for Madam Eom, who was the head of the Moon family, to have ended up here.

“Senior Brother, my mother is sick. Very seriously. Please save my mother.”

Tears welled up in Moon Chae-hwan’s eyes again as she pleaded desperately.

“Okay, let’s go and talk about what happened. Whatever the illness, Senior Brother can solve it.”

Looking at her pitiful appearance, he was reminded of the girl who used to run wild in the Moon family without any worries, and his heart softened.

At his words, Moon Chae-hwan finally smiled, and her appearance was like a blooming flower, making Han Li momentarily stunned before he quickly regained his senses.

“Let’s go. It’s not far, just past that road. My mother will be so happy to see Senior Brother!”

She naturally grabbed Han Li’s sleeve and started leading the way.

In broad daylight, a grown woman leading a man was naturally attracting attention.

However, they didn’t say anything in front of them because they knew that Han Li was a cultivator.

“Junior Sister, how are you here? Did something big happen to the Moon family?”

Han Li walked shoulder to shoulder with Moon Chae-hwan and took the opportunity to pull his sleeve away when she wasn’t paying attention.

“It’s a long story. The Moon family disappeared seven years ago, and the Gyeonggyo Association [a family-based organization] also disappeared at the same time.”

She suddenly started trembling, and her complexion darkened.

“Then what about the other madams and junior sisters?”

Even though he had already expected it to some extent, Han Li sighed and asked about the others.

“Second Madam and Fifth Madam have passed away, and I don’t know about the others. My mother and I barely escaped the disaster back then. The situation was so complicated that everyone had to scatter and run away!”

Her voice was trembling with a bitter expression.

Looking at Moon Chae-hwan’s appearance, he knew that it wasn’t the time to ask more questions. He followed her to a small shop on a secluded street.

“Is it here?”

“Yes, it’s right here! We’re running a small business to earn even a little spirit stone [currency used by cultivators] to buy elixirs to alleviate my mother’s symptoms.”

The woman, her face flushed, spoke as if she was embarrassed and went inside. Han Li followed her.

“Mother, do you know who I brought?”

As he stepped into the shop, he heard a voice as if she had hidden a treasure. And the familiar voice of an old woman followed.

“Who came? After your Uncle Joo passed away, who else would come besides Aunt Hyang-ryeon from next door.”

Madam Eom’s voice sounded hoarse compared to before.

“It’s not an aunt, it’s Senior Brother!”

“Senior Brother? Your senior brothers have all passed away long ago. Why is she acting like this today.”

Even with Moon Chae-hwan’s excitement, Madam Eom only felt that her daughter was strange. At that time, Han Li was looking around the shop. There were a few wooden display cases in the small room, and low-grade talismans and cheap raw materials were neatly arranged. And in a small room leading to the bedroom, an old woman was leaning as if she was lying down, and it was Madam Eom, who was looking at Moon Chae-hwan with concern.

She had aged a lot, and her complexion was pale, but she still had a trace of her beautiful past.

When he approached, Madam Eom’s gaze finally moved, and the moment she recognized Han Li, she was surprised and tried to get up, but she fell back down.

Seeing this, Moon Chae-hwan hurriedly helped her sit up.

“Is it Han Li?”

Madam Eom barely managed to sit up and opened her mouth. Han Li took a few more steps and briefly bowed.

“Fourth Madam, it’s been a long time.”

“For you to call someone like me Madam, aren’t you resentful of the past?”

“It’s best not to bring up the matter between Lord Moon and me. In any case, it’s clear that we were master and disciple in name, so it’s not strange to call you Madam.”

His face looked peaceful.

“There’s no need to talk about the annulment either. You’ve successfully detoxified and are standing here!”

His words were sincere. As a cultivator who had already succeeded in Foundation Establishment, there was no reason for him to hold a grudge against a mortal from many years ago.

Besides, his position was different from Madam Eom and the other madams, so it was inevitable.

“Yes, with your intelligence, you must have done well in the cultivation world.”

Madam Eom, who seemed to be overwhelmed with emotion, coughed repeatedly as she spoke.

“Mother, are you okay? Senior Brother…!”

Moon Chae-hwan panicked and stroked Madam Eom’s back, then looked at Han Li with pleading eyes.

“I’ll take a look.”

Encouraged by her gaze, he immediately reached out and took Madam Eom’s pulse.

“Junior Sister, it’s just a relapse of an old injury, so it’s nothing serious. It seems like you’ve been suffering for the past few years.”

“Then can she be cured?”

Moon Chae-hwan asked anxiously at his calm words.

“Don’t worry. If it were ten years ago, I wouldn’t know, but now it’s a really simple matter.”

Han Li, who had comforted her, took out a box containing needles from the shelf and performed acupuncture on Madam Eom. Then, as if by magic, the old woman’s coughing stopped.

“If you take one of these pills every day, you’ll be cured in ten days.”

He took out another small bottle and gave it to Madam Eom, assuring her.

Having already felt much better and receiving a precious medicine, Madam Eom didn’t know what to say.

Her condition, which had been bedridden for years, had improved surprisingly.

“Han Li…”

Before the moved Madam Eom could speak, Han Li cut her off.

“Now, please tell me what happened and how you came to Yeonryeong Fortress.”

After Han Li eliminated Gu Yang Bi-cheon of the Dokpa Mountain Manor on behalf of the Moon family, the Gyeonggyo Association of the Moon family, which had been preparing in advance, took over the rights and interests of the area and expanded its power.

However, the response of the Osaek Gate, another overlord in Namju, was also swift. They also quickly seized the territory and rights of the Dokpa Mountain Manor, whose power had declined, and Namju was practically divided between the two forces.

However, when the balance of power between the three forces was broken, it was natural that two tigers could not live on the same mountain.

The Osaek Gate dispatched numerous experts to attack the Moon family in order to uproot the Gyeonggyo Association, and in the process of breaking through the encirclement, this madam and the Fifth Madam died, and the rest managed to scatter and escape.

Madam Eom was being chased with Moon Chae-hwan when a middle-aged man named Yeon Joo saved them just before they lost their lives.

With the consent of Madam Eom and others, he brought them to Yeonryeong Fortress, and from then on, they began their lives as ordinary people living in the cultivation world.

# 126