Genius Martial Arts Trainer

Around the time Zhuge Muhuan was suffering from the stench of sweat and struggling to find someone useful.

Mugung and Baek Garyeong were leaving Mount Tianling. Together with ten men.

This time, they were not leaving merely for a short while.

Now that the road at Mount Tianling had stabilized to a certain extent, they were setting out to open a new road.

Therefore, they had chosen ten of the existing party members to accompany them.

It was so they would not have to start from the very bottom as they had at Mount Tianling. On top of that, Mount Tianling now required only maintenance work, so they actually had manpower to spare.

Of course, since this meant leaving the stable life at Mount Tianling behind to follow Mugung and pioneer a new road, the party members might not have been particularly enthusiastic about it, but reality was quite different.

Absurdly enough, those ten had volunteered to follow Mugung.

'It truly was fortunate that I accepted Older Brother’s proposal.'

To be precise, they had not followed Mugung, but Baek Garyeong’s guards.

They harbored the vain hope that if they kept following Baek Garyeong around and courting them, at least one might eventually give in.

Naturally, her thoughts turned to her older brother, Baek Gahwan.

More precisely, to Baek Gahwan and his lord, Dao Yuechen.

'It would truly be wonderful if there were women who could ease the hearts of those two, even slightly.'

Baek Garyeong merely regretted that she had no suitable women to introduce to them.

***

Around the time Mugung and Baek Garyeong were seeking out mountains that blocked the routes connecting one county to another, forcibly incorporating the bandits hiding there into the Road Party and reforming them.

A guest arrived at the Southern Heavenly Society.

“Hahaha. Society Leader. Have you been well?”

At the sight of Pai Jinsheng greeting him with a hearty laugh, Dao Yuechen answered with a faint smile.

“There are no ears listening anyway, so you may comfortably call me your younger brother. Older Brother.”

“Wahahaha! Is that so?”

Pai Jinsheng’s expression looked far brighter than it had when he had served as Leader of the Southern Heavenly Society in the past.

That was because his heart had become far more at ease than during the days when he had led an organization as vast as the Southern Heavenly Society.

“Have you been well yourself, Older Brother?”

“Wahahaha. Need you even ask? Thanks to you, my younger brother, I have been living most comfortably.”

“I am the one who has been living far more comfortably thanks to you, Older Brother.”

After relinquishing the position of Society Leader to Dao Yuechen and returning home, Pai Jinsheng had once again taken up the position of Room Master of the Nine Dragons Room, which now held Guangxi Province firmly in its grasp.

And since Guangxi Province remained peaceful, Dao Yuechen could also set his mind considerably more at ease.

“However, what brings you all the way here when you are so occupied with the affairs of the Nine Dragons Room, Older Brother? Is it perhaps because of the Foolish Old Man Road Party?”

Dao Yuechen asked while recalling the matter of the Foolish Old Man Road Party, which he had accepted.

The owners of the Foolish Old Man Road Party were Mugung, a renegade monk from Shaolin, and Baek Garyeong, a former strategist of the Zhengmu League, who were husband and wife.

In other words, the circumstances were more than sufficient to suspect them of being spies.

However, Dao Yuechen’s worries were unfounded.

“Wahahaha. That is something you would have handled yourself, my younger brother. Now that I have stepped down from the position of Society Leader, it is hardly my place to tell you what to do.”

Then why in the world had he come?

When Dao Yuechen tilted his head in puzzlement, Pai Jinsheng spoke with a somewhat serious expression.

“That is not it. I came because I was worried about you, my younger brother.”

“......About me?”

“That is right. You should begin thinking about marriage soon, should you not? No, even if you do not marry, should you not at least meet some women? They say heroes are lustful, yet I hear that you not only refuse to marry, but even when you visit a pleasure house, you merely drink and leave. I was worried, so I came.”

As Pai Jinsheng looked toward Dao Yuechen’s lower abdomen with an expression of genuine concern, Dao Yuechen furrowed his brow.

“There is no problem in that regard. Older Brother.”

“Hahaha. Then that is fortunate. I need only introduce my younger brother to a fine young woman!”

“......You came here to arrange a match for me?”

“You only realized that now? Hahaha.”

Dao Yuechen let out a deep sigh.

“I shall handle that matter myself.”

The expression of Pai Jinsheng, who had been acting as though he were joking until then, turned serious.

“No matter what anyone says, you are the sky of the unorthodox factions, my younger brother. If you keep women at a distance, how can your subordinates meet women without feeling self-conscious!”

Having said that, Pai Jinsheng suddenly pointed at Baek Gahwan, who had been listening beside them.

“I hear that even our Strategist Baek, known as the Brain, has recently developed a peculiar atmosphere with a female strategist in the Strategy Department. Yet because of you, he is too self-conscious to marry!”

“!!!”

At the unexpected surprise attack, Baek Gahwan’s face turned scarlet.

Baek Garyeong’s concern had been unfounded.

He had merely refrained from telling his younger sister because he did not wish to discuss romantic affairs between men and women with her. Baek Gahwan also had a woman with whom his feelings were mutual.

Just as Pai Jinsheng had said, she was a female strategist working beneath him in the Strategy Department.

In a sense, Baek Garyeong’s insight had also been accurate.

Unlike Zhuge Muhuan, with whom nothing had happened despite working alongside Baek Garyeong for several years, Baek Gahwan, being a normal man, had developed mutual feelings with a female strategist after spending a long time together.

Of course, had Zhuge Muhuan tried anything with Baek Garyeong, Baek Gahwan would have attempted to assassinate him by any means necessary.

In any case, with the shameful secret he had worked hard to conceal from his lord, Dao Yuechen, now exposed, Baek Gahwan shouted with his face bright red.

“Room Master. W-What are you talking about!”

“Good grief. Why is a man nearly thirty years old embarrassed over something like this? Hahaha!”

Baek Gahwan tried to protest further, but Pai Jinsheng quickly changed his expression again and spoke solemnly to Dao Yuechen.

“Even Strategist Baek, who stands closest to you, is forced to watch your mood. So do not dismiss the words of this foolish elder brother as mere nagging. Give them serious thought.”

Dao Yuechen appeared to consider it for a moment, then soon let out a sigh and answered.

“I have no intention of marrying immediately, but there is a woman who has recently caught my interest. So Strategist Baek, do not concern yourself with me and marry that woman.”

“!!!”

At Dao Yuechen’s unexpected answer, Pai Jinsheng and Baek Gahwan’s eyes widened into circles.

***

After his meeting with Pai Jinsheng and Baek Gahwan ended.

Around the time the sky had darkened, Dao Yuechen secretly slipped out of the Southern Heavenly Society’s estate.

Ever since inheriting the position of Society Leader from Pai Jinsheng, Dao Yuechen had occasionally slipped away like this.

In the past, although he had held the title of ‘Vice Society Leader,’ he had still been able to move about with a certain degree of freedom. Under the justification of eliminating those who had strayed beyond the path of humanity.

But after becoming Society Leader, he had been forced to devote himself solely to official duties and training, and from some point onward, a suffocating feeling had filled his chest, as though a boulder had settled there.

Therefore, he would occasionally leave the Southern Heavenly Society’s estate like this, and there was one place he visited every time.

An inn located around the point where the bustling district gave way to the slums.

It was the sort of inn that was neither so crowded as to be noisy nor so empty as to feel desolate.

Even today, Dao Yuechen swept his gaze across the customers sitting here and there enjoying food and drink, then headed toward the most secluded seat.

And the moment Dao Yuechen sat down, the woman who had been taking orders from the customers approached and asked.

“Would you like the usual? Or is there something else you would like today?”

“The usual, please.”

At Dao Yuechen’s brief answer, she smiled pleasantly and headed toward the kitchen.

“Bring another bowl of rice wine over here!”

“And add another plate of fish-fragrant eggplant!”

“Yes! Please wait just a moment! It will be right out~!”

Each time the moderately drunk men scattered throughout the inn called out various orders, the woman responded to them with an energetic smile, and Dao Yuechen watched her.

It was a strange feeling.

It was not that his heart raced when he saw her, nor did any lewd thoughts arise.

How should he put it?

He simply felt comfortable.

Perhaps it was because of her attitude.

In truth, this was not an inn Dao Yuechen had discovered only after becoming Society Leader.

Back when the Southern Heavenly Society had first established itself here.

Dao Yuechen had roamed the streets at night to deal with those who had strayed beyond the path of humanity by operating nearby black markets, trafficking drugs, and engaging in human trafficking.

In the process, he had once saved this inn and that woman, the innkeeper’s daughter, when they had been in danger of falling victim to a group of black-path scum.

Then, several years later.

On the day he climbed over the wall for the first time after becoming Society Leader. As he wandered aimlessly through the night streets, this inn had caught his eye.

Since they had nearly suffered such a terrible fate back then, curiosity about whether they were doing well had led Dao Yuechen to visit this place for a second time.

That day’s experience had been unfamiliar to Dao Yuechen in many ways.

As he had today, he had naturally hidden his identity by covering his face with a suitable black bamboo hat and placing his black blade inside a scabbard different from the one he usually used, making it difficult for anyone who was not close to Dao Yuechen to recognize him.

Yet that woman had welcomed Dao Yuechen despite his appearance.

He had wondered whether she recognized him, but the peculiar thing was that she treated him merely as a ‘welcome guest.’ She neither bowed deeply nor showed excessive courtesy by calling him her ‘savior.’

Even though he had not concealed his identity at all during their first meeting, so she should have known that he had been the Vice Society Leader of the Southern Heavenly Society.

Whether she recognized him or not remained ambiguous in many ways.

Strangely enough, Dao Yuechen found the situation more comfortable that way.

Dao Yuechen had become the sky of the unorthodox factions with the intention of preventing their members from straying beyond the path of humanity, yet his roots lay in the orthodox factions.

He had even infiltrated the unorthodox factions at Mujin’s suggestion, so in a sense, he was no different from a spy.

He endured it for the sake of his ideals, but the more the subordinates of the Southern Heavenly Society looked up to him and relied upon him, the heavier the weight of that ‘mask’ became.

In the midst of that, her attitude of treating him little differently from any other guest despite knowing his identity instead put Dao Yuechen’s heart at ease.

Of course, she might simply have failed to recognize him, but Dao Yuechen did not care much about that part.

Whenever his chest felt stifled, he would come out once in a while, drink at this inn, and watch that woman living diligently, and his heart would become a little lighter.

He had considered that sufficient.

Her attitude made him comfortable, and seeing the woman he had saved living earnestly allowed him to feel a sense of reward in many ways.

However, today was slightly different. The conversation he had shared with his sworn elder brother Pai Jinsheng during the day kept circling through his mind.

How long had he been enjoying his drink alone while lost in thought?

The flushed drunkards left the inn one by one, until Dao Yuechen alone remained in his seat.

Even though it was time for the inn to close, the woman did not ask Dao Yuechen to leave.

And unlike usual, when he would have silently placed silver on the table and departed, he acted a little differently.

“Drinking alone is rather lonely. Would you be willing to keep me company over a drink?”

It could have been a rude request to make of a woman who was not a courtesan, but she, as always, smiled brightly, sat across from him, and filled Dao Yuechen’s empty cup.

After silently drinking several cups of the liquor she poured for him.

Dao Yuechen spoke again.

“Do you perhaps know who I am?”

“You are a precious regular customer who visits once or twice every month.”

With a pleasant smile, she filled Dao Yuechen’s cup again.

At that answer, Dao Yuechen tilted back his cup without saying anything else, and she asked.

“Would it be all right if I had a cup as well?”

Instead of giving a verbal answer, Dao Yuechen picked up the wine bottle, and she held out her cup with both hands.

She drank the wine Dao Yuechen poured for her, then spoke.

“And you are the person who saved me, my father, and this inn.”

“......So you did know.”

“Yes.”

“And who I am as well.”

“......That is correct.”

“Then why have you pretended not to know until now? I am not asking to hold you guilty. I ask only out of curiosity.”

At Dao Yuechen’s question, she answered in a cautious manner unlike before.

“Because you seemed to want that, so I merely acted accordingly.”

“......You mean I appeared to want you not to recognize me?”

“That is correct.”

After thinking for a moment, Dao Yuechen had no choice but to accept her explanation.

Anyone could tell that coming with his face concealed meant he did not wish to be recognized.

Those who covered their faces yet hoped to be recognized were the strange ones.

“......It seems I have made you uncomfortable all this time.”

“Not at all.”

She spoke in alarm.

“How could I find my savior uncomfortable? On the contrary, I was only glad that you came. You did not seem to want me to show it, so I did not, but I worried that you might feel hurt.”

Her eyes held sincerity as she spoke.

After spending more than ten years among the unorthodox factions and dealing with every kind of person, Dao Yuechen had become highly skilled at recognizing the gaze of those who pursued improper gain.

At the very least, distinguishing whether another person’s words were false or sincere was not difficult.

After meeting her eyes for a moment, Dao Yuechen drank his wine with a faint sigh.

And after appearing to hesitate, she tilted the bottle once more and filled Dao Yuechen’s cup.

They drank several more cups without any particular conversation.

Watching the woman pour wine into his cup, Dao Yuechen thought.

'A refuge...... is that what this is?'

Only belatedly did he realize why he came here every time.

The thoughts hidden at the very bottom of his heart. His feelings toward Mujin, his circumstances that made him little different from a spy, and all the rest.

For a man who lived while carrying thoughts he could not reveal even to Pai Jinsheng, whom he served as his sworn elder brother, this place was somewhere he could rest for a short while.

A place where there was someone who did not wish for him to speak of what lay in his heart, nor expect him to do anything as Leader of the Southern Heavenly Society.

Someone for whom it was enough that he merely came for a while, ate some food, wet his throat, and left.

Was there truly any need to avoid this place merely because she knew his identity?

'......It was the opposite.'

Her choice to pretend not to know despite knowing had been consideration.

After his thoughts reached that point, Dao Yuechen asked in a calm tone.

“Then would it be all right if I continued to visit from time to time?”

At that question, she, who had seemed somewhat cautious until then, returned to her usual lively expression.

“You need not come only from time to time. You may visit often.”

At her energetic reply, Dao Yuechen smiled faintly.

Even afterward, the two did not exchange any particularly meaningful conversation.

Dao Yuechen mostly remained silent and drank, while she occasionally spoke and told him small stories.

Or they simply drank together in silence and gazed at the moon visible beyond the window.

Yet Dao Yuechen did not dislike that stillness.

Perhaps it was because her lively energy melted away the atmosphere that might otherwise have felt heavy.

Looking at the woman drinking with him, Dao Yuechen thought.

'......This is nice.'

To be with someone for whom it was enough that he simply existed as he was.

Without needing to reveal his secrets, without needing to do anything.

***

Time passed.

The mountain roads managed by the Foolish Old Man Road Party, whose name had once been known only here and there around Mount Tianling, gradually increased in number.

A wedding ceremony was held for the Chief Strategist of the Southern Heavenly Society, and a strange rumor also began circulating that the Society Leader was secretly meeting a woman.

Meanwhile, joyous news spread widely that the famously affectionate League Leader and his wife of the Zhengmu League had given birth not only to a second child, but even to a third.

However.

Unlike the various events taking place throughout the martial world, the gloomy atmosphere across the Central Plains only continued to deepen.

And around three and a half years later.

Emperor Taiping’s northern expedition, which had continued for more than five long years, came to an end.