Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 310

Nangseon Gi Hwandam – Part 2, Episode 19

“Damn it!!”

Bang!

He lashed out at a thick pine tree, causing a mountain bird perched on a branch to flutter away.

“There’s no other way now.”

“Commander!”

“I made time despite my busy schedule because of your family’s urgent request. How much more should I accommodate you to satisfy you?”

Hwang On pressed his lips tightly.

His clenched fist was as hard as could be, but it felt empty.

“But Commander, you saw it too. Those bastards must have taken bribes.”

Yang Hwi also had eyes and ears.

Judging from the tone of the Targo Mal merchant ship, the other merchant ships would be no different.

“But there’s no definite proof that it was a bribe.”

There was no material evidence.

He couldn’t start an investigation based on mere speculation.

‘If everything really happened according to his will, he’s not someone to be taken lightly.’

He’s a man who might have manipulated the memories of the lesser immortals, won over the merchant ships, and even annihilated the Hwang family.

If his assumptions were true, wasn’t it possible that he had taken measures in advance, anticipating their arrival?

To think that this was the work of a merchant who had only boarded the ship less than a year ago.

It’s impossible to know how deep his schemes run.

There are some questionable parts, but if the assumptions are correct, that’s how it is.

But without evidence, he couldn’t waste time on suspicion and harm innocent people.

The pride of the Tongcheon Water Palace.

The name of the Cheonmu Fleet, which protects the Water Realm, would be tarnished.

“There’s no other way now.”

In any case, there’s no way now.

If it was a thoroughly prepared and planned event, he wouldn’t have left any evidence.

“And everything might be our misunderstanding.”

“Commander!”

“Can you say it’s not?”

“…It’s not!”

“Why not?”

“That’s… I can’t say.”

Yang Hwi’s brow furrowed.

“Then my words will be no different. Let’s go back.”

“I want to talk to Cheon Suseon one last time.”

Yang Hwi thought.

He seemed to want to meet him one last time and negotiate.

Hwang On’s options were few.

It would be about making a bet.

The Cheonmu Fleet is a divine immortal skilled in combat through various battles.

Their betting method is mostly….

‘Janjan Gyeongjeongdo [a type of magical scroll used for gambling].’

But what he possesses wouldn’t be an ordinary Janjan Gyeongjeongdo.

* * *

The sound of the geomungo [a traditional Korean zither] danced out the window, rippled across the pond, and drifted by.

It lingered, circling the ears, creating a truly exciting atmosphere.

“Do you have something to be happy about?”

Cheonbeom, who had been quietly listening to the geomungo, asked.

Hwaran, dressed in beautiful palace attire and playing the geomungo, glared as if asking why he was asking such a question.

‘Well, the major work is done, so.’

It was after he had settled the work as the acting head of the Sa family.

Of course, he couldn’t help but feel good.

Hwaran was the one who handled most of the work instead of Beom.

The Ministry was a small village, but even so, there was still a lot of work to be done.

The path of the Ministry changes depending on what the lesser immortals’ taxes are collected with and what projects are promoted.

To have a prosperous life, one has to use their head, whether it’s in the Lower Realm or the Upper Realm.

Hwaran took care of the other trivial things, so Cheonbeom couldn’t help but be deeply grateful.

Dding.

The sound of the geomungo was truly pleasant to hear.

A gentle ripple formed on the pond, and a pleasant breeze blew.

“San-gun.”

The pleasant sound stopped.

His golden eyes, which had been comfortably closed, turned to Hwaran.

“I heard that the Cheonmu Fleet visited the residence of the Targo Mal merchant ship.”

Cheonbeom closed his eyes again.

“Is that so?”

“They said there’s nothing to worry about, Your Highness.”

“I figured.”

He had already given Targo Mal and Chochan some magical treasures taken from the Hwang family’s report a long time ago.

If he could solidify their mouths with things that were useless to him, it would be a profit, wouldn’t it?

‘They are now divine immortals of the Ministry, so.’

It was a natural profit to be able to gain the favor of the merchant ship with a cuckoo-like object.

“But I didn’t know either. I didn’t know that Danryeong Geumjeong had such divine powers.”

“It’s just that there was no need to use it.”

Cheonbeom’s Danryeong Geumjeong, which had become a merchant ship, had become several times more powerful than before.

That’s why it turned gold, so it was natural.

The divine powers that the body of a divine immortal naturally possessed had reached their peak.

It wasn’t difficult to slightly alter the memories of the lesser immortals.

“Didn’t I tell you? That you wouldn’t find out anything even if you did that.”

Cheonbeom raised his hand to the refreshments placed in front of him and suddenly thought of Tamhwa.

“Where is Tamhwa?”

“Don’t worry. I sent her far away because it wouldn’t be good for her to be seen by them.”

“Yes, well done.”

Tamhwa ate the Yellow Dragon.

She probably hasn’t completely digested it yet, so if Hwang On, who inherited that blood, sees her, he might notice.

In the first place, it’s not good for the Cheonmu Fleet to see that Chungsun is in the Water Realm.

‘The relationship between the Water Realm and the Chung Realm is not good… and it’s not good with the Immortal Realm either.’

There’s no need to stand out.

“Where did you send her?”

“I sent her west.”

“Where in the west?”

“I don’t know either.”

“…If Hwaran doesn’t know, who would know?”

“I just threw a dumpling far away, so I don’t know the details.”

Cheonbeom’s brow furrowed.

“You sent Tamhwa away with that?”

“Tamhwa liked it.”

“…Tamhwa is like my daughter. Don’t treat her too harshly.”

“San-gun is overprotecting her. Tamhwa is stronger than me, so I have to do that much for her. And what’s wrong with doing that as a way to take a walk?”

“So don’t treat Tamhwa like a neighborhood mutt….”

“I never did that. Don’t tell me what to do with my education policy.”

“No, what kind of education policy is that!”

I don’t know what part of it is education.

Is it because she became a sword spirit… sometimes I don’t know what she’s thinking.

‘No, she was always like that.’

When I think about it, she had quirky aspects even when she was a simple changgwi [a type of mischievous spirit], and when she was the head of the Hwasan Sect.

“I really don’t know.”

“Someday, there will be a day when you know even if you don’t know.”

Cheonbeom shook his head.

But he couldn’t stop the smile from forming on his lips.

No matter what, it was really good to have Hwaran by his side.

Even though they bickered, he felt reassured, or rather, his mind felt at ease.

She was a strange woman who was like a lover, a sister, and a mother.

“Eucha.”

Cheonbeom lay down, using her leg as a pillow.

Hwaran quietly looked down at him, brushed his hair back, adjusted the position of the geomungo, and began to play.

The weather was nice, the sound was good, and the warmth he felt was good.

As he hummed along to the sound of the geomungo, he naturally thought of a glass of alcohol.

Just as he was about to have a drink.

Dding.

The sound of the geomungo stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

Hwaran asked, glancing to the side, and a hesitant young lesser immortal shouted.

“We have a visitor.”

He seemed to know who it was.

“Ran, play the geomungo.”

“….”

“It’s okay, play it.”

Cheonbeom got up from his seat, sat down, spread his arms, gathered them again, and took a steady breath.

Inside the open, large pavilion, there was only Hwaran playing the geomungo and Cheonbeom sitting upright next to her.

After a while.

Yang Hwi and Hwang On, whom he had seen before, were in front of him.

They should have exchanged greetings, but Hwang On and Cheonbeom stared at each other for a long time, gathering their energy.

It would be more accurate to say they were glaring rather than looking.

The sound of the geomungo and the sound of the wind mixed together, creating a strange atmosphere.

It felt like a tightly drawn bowstring was about to snap at any moment.

It was then.

Whiririk.

Thud.

Hwang On took out a large scroll from his chest and threw it in front of Beom.

The scroll placed on the floor was round and had a familiar shape.

Janjan Gyeongjeongdo.

It was a little different from what Beom possessed.

The letters written inside the Janjan Gyeongjeongdo were all written in blood, making it grotesque.

“Cheon Sangseon. Let’s make a bet.”

Without even greeting, he abruptly said that he wanted to make a bet.

But Beom didn’t bother to point it out.

“Do I have a reason to do that?”

He didn’t have a reason to do it, no matter what the bet was.

“If I lose in this match, I will give this to you.”

Hwang On sat down heavily and took out a transparent bead from his chest.

“What is that?”

“Buddhists call it a cintamani [a wish-fulfilling jewel], and Taoists call it a wanyuk [a jade orb].”

Cintamani(如意珠)!

If it’s a dragon, it’s natural to have a dragon bead.

It is widely known that the cintamani accompanies the dragon.

You might say it’s just a simple wanyuk, but the dragon’s is a little different.

Because the wanyuk and the cintamani are the same yet different, dragons use the wanyuk as a weapon because of their unique characteristics and techniques, and they also use it to perform mysterious divine powers.

‘I heard that even dragons can’t just create a cintamani.’

The other merchant ships of the Hwang family didn’t have a cintamani. To be honest, Tamhwa ate them so much that I didn’t even know if they had them, but they didn’t use the cintamani even in that urgent situation, so they probably didn’t have it.

“Cintamani….”

It was amazing to see something I had only heard of.

Isn’t the cintamani something that can save or kill lives?

If you have it, there will be useful places to use it.

If there is no place to use it, you can use it to form Subongoeoejeong [a type of magical formation].

There’s nothing bad about having it.

But that’s all.

“It’s an item that’s not easy to see, but it’s not something I really need.”

It would be nice to have, but it’s not something that’s so necessary.

Others would want to have it with their eyes on fire, but at least Cheonbeom wasn’t.

But as if he had expected it, Hwang On threw down a book from his chest.

“You may say that because you don’t know. It may be difficult for a merchant ship to find a place to use the cintamani. But will it be the same when you become a hyangseon [a type of advanced immortal]?”

“…What are you talking about?”

“The path to hyangseon is open to anyone who has boarded a merchant ship. But not just anyone can go to hyangseon. It’s not for nothing that the saying that a true divine immortal is from hyangseon.”

“Get to the point.”

“If you have a cintamani, you can control your primordial spirit when you become a hyangseon. If you do, you can save that much time and your training can be further advanced.”

Cheonbeom was silent for a moment.

It’s too far ahead.

It hasn’t been long since he became a merchant ship, but he’s already talking about hyangseon.

It’s premature.

‘But….’

I was tempted.

“Even if you try to find the cintamani when the time comes, you may not be able to find it.”

Cheonbeom doesn’t know well, but there are few dragons that can cultivate the cintamani, and there are even fewer dragons that try to release it.

Being able to create a cintamani is the ultimate honor for a dragon and at the same time, it is proof that they can announce their potential.

If you can just make a cintamani, you can say that you have achieved half of the path to hyangseon, so it is that difficult and great achievement.

So even if you try to find it, you can’t find the dragon’s cintamani.

But what crazy guy would release the cintamani?

-What he says is true. Seeing a dragon release a cintamani is as difficult as picking stars in the sky.

-It must be a trap.

-But it’s a very attractive trap.

He pondered.

Was Beom’s Great Dao the end of the merchant ship?

No.

He had to go beyond Wonseon and beyond.

He also had to avenge his seemingly normal fellow disciples and confirm something that brought him here.

What if he had a cintamani for that?

‘It will be much easier.’

I heard that hyangseons spend at least thousands of years, or even tens of thousands of years, to control the primordial spirit.

Even if it’s Wanyuk, if the primordial spirit is greatly damaged, it will cause tremendous harm to oneself.

“Shall we hear what kind of bet it is?”

Hwang On twisted the corners of his lips and cut his index finger with a dagger.

Squeak.

The falling drops of blood fell into the Janjan Gyeongjeongdo.

Tok.

Hoo-oong!!

A strong wind spread out, and the drops of blood that fell on the Janjan Gyeongjeongdo instantly took shape and became Hwang On’s appearance.

“Let’s compete like men!!”

The bet was simple.

The Janjan Gyeongjeongdo decides the victory or defeat.

The corners of Cheonbeom’s lips went up.

“If I lose?”

“Put a simma [a magical oath] on it and answer my question.”

It’s simple and clear.

If he puts a simma on it and asks, Cheonbeom can’t tell a lie.

“Nothing bad.”

There was a lot at stake, but the content of the bet was simple, so his competitive spirit rose even more.

Cheonbeom is also a man.

He doesn’t hate this kind of match.

Tok.

Cheonbeom’s blood fell.

The Janjan Gyeongjeongdo, which craved blood, had a distinctly different momentum from the start.

Beom’s clone soared.

“Do you know Janjan Gyeongjeongdo?”

“I know.”

“It will be a little different from what Cheon Suseon knows. We call this Janjan Hyeoljeongdo [Blood Oath Scroll]. The Cheonmu Fleet has improved it to their liking.”

The Janjan Hyeoljeongdo has the divine power of the Cheonmu Fleet as much as it has been improved.

“For example….”

Seuk.

Hwang On’s clone disappeared like smoke.

He suddenly popped out from Beom’s side and punched him.

It’s as fast as lightning.

As expected, the Cheonmu Fleet is the Cheonmu Fleet!

It’s quite different from the Hwang family head.

Koo-oong!!

He barely defended his side.

Then Cheonbeom’s face contorted.

His clone should have blocked the clone’s attack….