Chapter 288: The Three Joys of a Gentleman (1)

Puh puh puh puk!

But she did not fall.

If she wanted to escape, she couldn’t afford to lose consciousness until the end.

“What a tenacious wench!”

Even the warriors of the Dark Heaven Guard cursed upon seeing Jeong Minji still standing.

“The lord said it would be fine even if we tore off an arm or leg. Looks like we’ll have to take one of her arms. Only then might we soothe the souls of our fallen comrades!”

One of the warriors raised his sword high.

It was at that moment.

Someone brushed past the warrior with the raised sword.

Their movement was so swift, like a flash of lightning, that the warriors of the Dark Heaven Guard couldn’t even make out who it was.

“Urgh!”

As blood gushed from the side of the sword-wielding warrior, the others swung their swords all at once toward the sudden intruder.

However, the intruder’s agility matched their swordsmanship, and the warriors couldn’t subdue them.

Then, someone else leapt out from the forest, picked up the barely standing Jeong Minji, and darted back into the woods.

“Catch them! Don’t let them get away!”

As the warriors shouted and rushed after Jeong Minji, the figure pulled something from their chest and hurled it to the ground.

Pung!

A yellow smoke spread into the air in an instant, and someone shouted out.

“It’s poison! Hold your breath!”

After halting their breath and retreating for a moment to scan the surroundings, they found no trace of Jeong Minji or the one who helped her.

“Damn it, if we lose that wench, we’re as good as dead! Capture them no matter what!”

They dashed recklessly into the forest.

“Kwaaaaagh!”

Screams tore through the forest. Though they had charged in with great ferocity, it only lasted a moment. Soon, every one of them had their upper and lower bodies separated.

Between the trees where they had charged, a transparent Celestial Silkworm Thread had been stretched.

Oblivious to the trap, they had sprinted at full speed using their movement arts and were sliced in half as they passed through the threads.

“Kh…!”

In the end, the eight warriors trembled violently and breathed their last.

Jeong Minji realized the one who saved her was a woman and asked,

“Who are you?”

The tall and well-built woman didn’t respond and just kept running.

A young man following from behind answered instead.

“Young mistress, let us talk after we’ve escaped from here. There’s no time to catch our breath.”

They raced down a trackless mountain path and soon reached a riverbank.

Then they ran to the dock and boarded a random boat.

There were two other boats at the dock, but the young man punctured holes in them using internal energy.

Once the woman placed Jeong Minji onto the boat, the young man began to row.

With each stroke of the oar, the boat shot forward three jang.

Now able to catch her breath for a moment, Jeong Minji asked the woman,

“Thank you for saving me. I am Jeong Minji of the Jeong Family Manor.”

“Ah, so you are the famous Phoenix Sword of the Three Chivalrous Sisters.”

The woman and young man looked at Jeong Minji with surprise on their faces.

“But I had heard the Three Chivalrous Sisters always travel together. Why were you fighting alone, Phoenix Sword?”

Jeong Minji listened to their words but instead asked a question without responding.

“Forgive me, but may I ask your name?”

No matter how chaotic the situation, Jeong Minji made a point to confirm her savior’s identity first.

“Ah, I’ve been so flustered that I forgot to introduce myself. I am Gunwi of the Martial Lord Sect.”

Gunwi’s soft face didn’t match his deep and strong voice.

After Gunwi finished his introduction, the woman clasped her hands in greeting.

“I have long admired the Phoenix Sword. I am Gunyeom. He is my orabeoni.”

Jeong Minji held her hands and returned the greeting.

“Ah, so you’re from the Martial Lord Sect. Thank you for rescuing me.”

Jeong Minji was familiar with the Martial Lord Sect.

The Martial Lord Sect was a sect located between Jeongju and Mount Song, and the people of Henan often called it the Gun Clan.

It had a fairly long history and was once considered one of the top three sword sects in Henan.

However, its days of glory were long gone, and now only those bearing the surname Gun remained in the sect.

“May I ask how you came to save me?”

Jeong Minji looked at the swiftly gliding boat as she asked Gunwi.

“In the main sect, we recently received reports of demonic cultivators appearing in our region, so we’ve been conducting covert investigations. In the process, we obtained information that demonic cultivators were forming a formation in this area, so we infiltrated to observe their movements. That’s when we encountered you, Lady Jeong. Now it’s clear they established the Celestial Silkworm Net just to capture you.”

“I’m worried because we don’t know how far their encirclement stretches.”

Jeong Minji feared the two might get needlessly sacrificed.

Gunyeom spoke up.

“Don’t worry. We know this terrain well. We can definitely shake them off. There’s a reason we came to the river.”

The river’s current was growing faster—it meant they were approaching the downstream.

“Once we head downstream, reach a safe zone, and then enter our main sect, they won’t be able to pursue us any longer.”

Jeong Minji shook her head.

“No. Their numbers are not few. I cannot let the Martial Lord Sect suffer damage because of me. I will go straight to the Sky Ocean Merchant Union from downstream. If you could just show me the route from there, that would suffice.”

“There is a branch of our main sect inside Jeongju. We can send a message pigeon there. It is both safer and faster.”

“The ones pursuing me now are warriors of the Heavenly Demon Sect. They hold a power that cannot be underestimated. The Martial Lord Sect could be harmed.”

Jeong Minji explained once more.

But Gunwi spoke with a firm tone.

“Our sect has managed to barely sustain its martial tradition by practicing chivalry. We were once called the Righteous Lords of Song Mountain. Seeing Lady Jeong in danger, how could we simply pass by?”

It was a phrase that meant, “There is the Shaolin Temple on Mount Song, and below it lies the Martial Lord Sect, overflowing with chivalrous warriors.” The people of the Martial Lord Sect held this phrase in greatest pride.

There had likely been no other sect dared spoken of in the same breath as the Shaolin Temple.

This reputation had only been possible because the Martial Lord Sect once produced Gun Hwa-cheong of the Martial Lord.

Back then, Gun Hwa-cheong was rightfully hailed as the greatest expert in the Murim.

However, that too was a fame earned in the Era of Mujin, and now his renown remained only in the Martial Lord Sword Record.

While they exchanged brief words, they reached the lower river and fled again, concealing their traces as they moved along a river branch.

Jeong Minji thought that, as they said, going to the Martial Lord Sect and sending a message pigeon was the best option and decided to follow them.

If the Martial Lord Sect still had many skilled masters, she planned to explain the situation and ask for help in rescuing the people of the Jeong Family Manor and the Geum Clan.

‘I can only hope the Martial Lord Sect has produced many masters again, as it once did in its glorious days.’

Jeong Minji looked at Gunwi and Gunyeom with a faint sense of hope.

Gunwi and Gunyeom were later-stage prodigies, possessing martial prowess far beyond others of their age.

If a sect could raise such level of prodigies, she expected it must have at least ten masters who surpassed first-rate level.

In the Jinsim Chapter of the Mencius, it is said that a gentleman has three joys.

“First, to have both parents alive and siblings in peace.”

“Second, to look up without shame to the heavens and look down without shame before others.”

“Third, to acquire outstanding talents under heaven and to educate them.”

Yong Hwarin stood before his disciple Ha Cheollyeong and explained the famous Three Joys of the Gentleman, a passage known by anyone who had read even a little.

Ha Cheollyeong already knew this passage, but he thought there must be a reason why his master was bringing it up now, and he listened in silence.

“Cheollyeong, this teacher enjoys all three joys of the gentleman. My parents and siblings are all healthy and well. I have lived so far without bringing shame to my name. And I have gained an excellent disciple like you. So I have truly lived enjoying all three joys.”

Ha Cheollyeong bowed his head.

“I am ashamed, Master. I am ignorant and unsure whether I can live up to your will.”

Yong Hwarin smiled at his modest young disciple.

“But when Mencius spoke of the three joys, he said that unifying the world and becoming a king was not among them.”

‘A gentleman has three joys, and becoming king over the world is not one of them.’

“Cheollyeong, I have reimagined the gentleman as a chivalrous hero. A chivalrous hero finds joy in pursuing righteousness and chivalry, in helping those in need. Then, is becoming king included among the joys of a chivalrous hero?”

Cheollyeong shook his head.

“No. To become king over the world requires much blood to be shed. I believe it is not the path of a chivalrous hero.”

Yong Hwarin looked at Ha Cheollyeong as if proud.

“That is exactly right. I do not wish for you to become the greatest martial artist in the world, nor to become king through peerless martial arts. I want you to become the greatest chivalrous hero.”

“I will bear it in mind, Master.”

Ha Cheollyeong felt a sacred solemnity in his master Yong Hwarin’s words.

He knew very well how his own family had fallen.

That was why he faintly understood the nature of power.

“If I ever become such a man, you must awaken me. And if you become such a man, I will punish you. Attaining power is not difficult, but using it properly is a hard thing. In my life, I’ve seen that righteous power is rare. But you and I must be that righteous power.”

Ha Cheollyeong bowed deeply, seeming sincerely moved.

“I will do everything I can to become that righteous power.”

“Yes, yes.”

Yong Hwarin swept his gaze gently over Ha Cheollyeong.

He was truly feeling the joy of raising a disciple.

Tang Duhwa listened to the two from behind a pillar, something welling up in her chest.

It was a conversation between a master and disciple she had never truly heard before.

Though she had seen masters emphasizing chivalry and disciples pledging to follow that path, none had touched her like these two.

‘Why am I so moved by these old-fashioned words?’

Tang Duhwa pondered and realized that such teachings did not exist in the Tang Clan.

‘In our sect, grudges must be repaid tenfold, and grace must never be forgotten. Our pride is guarded with our lives, and those who touch our sect—be they a hundred or a thousand—must all be killed.’

Normally, the Tang Clan’s teachings began with venom, emphasizing tenacity and intensity.

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