Chapter 52
Ten days had passed since they left Shaoxing. Baek Mu-Gun and So Yeon-Hwa were now passing through Mount Yandang.
“The mountain terrain is so nice. The poets of old are right. Beautiful mountains and waterfalls truly are in Yandang.” Yeon-Hwa couldn’t help but admire the scenery.
Mount Yandang wasn’t that tall, but the waterfall pouring down between various exquisite cliffs and majestic rock cliffs formed an enigmatic landscape.
“I know. I’ve also heard many say that Mount Yandang has a magnificent view. Having come here myself, it really is an enigmatic landscape.”
“What do you think? You made the right decision listening to me, didn’t you?” Yeon-Hwa asked triumphantly.
Even though there was a good route that went around Mount Yandang, they still passed through the mountain because Yeon-Hwa wanted to sightsee.
“Yes. I get to have a great time looking at these amazing views thanks to you.”
They passed through Mount Yandang with an amicable atmosphere. The two looked like lovers. In fact, the feelings they had for each other were going beyond just friends. They were both good-looking, and they had been together for over ten days now, so it wasn’t strange for them to develop feelings for each other.
Mount Yandang’s terrain was quite rough, but they moved without hesitation as if they were walking on flat land. When they saw the enigmatic scenery, they stopped to sightsee for a while before resuming their travel. The two showed no signs of exhaustion despite the rough mountain route. After all, for them, who were in the Absolute Realm and Peak Realm respectively, it was nothing more than a walk in the park.
However, even martial arts masters couldn’t defy nature. About halfway up Mount Yandang, dark clouds suddenly formed and unleashed heavy rain. Mu-Gun and Yeon-Hwa couldn’t prepare umbrellas, so they quickly sought shelter under a tree.
However, the rain was so heavy that they were already soaked in that short period of time. Hiding under a tree didn’t mean they could completely avoid the rain in the first place. They were getting more soaked as time went by.
“Why did it suddenly rain so heavily?”
“I know, right? My clothes are all wet. What should we do?”
Soaked in the rain, Yeon-Hwa’s clothes clung to her body, revealing her undergarments and bare skin underneath. She blushed and covered her chest with her arms, a sight that was quite seductive. Mu-Gun cleared his throat as his eyes naturally looked toward her chest. He then took off the long robe he was wearing and covered her with it.
“It’s fine.”
“I’m doing this because it’s not fine with me.” Mu-Gun’s comment made Yeon-Hwa’s face turn red.
“What are you thinking about that’s got your face so red?”
“I’m not thinking about anything.” Yeon-Hwa’s face turned even redder.
Mu-Gun chuckled, finding her cute, then looked up at the pouring sky. It didn’t seem like the rain would stop anytime soon, considering there were a lot of dark clouds.
“I doubt the rain will let up anytime soon. It’s about to get dark as well.”
“What should we do?”
“I’ll look around for a nearby place that can hide us from the rain. You stay here.”
“No, let’s search together.”
“It’s fine, just stay here obediently.”
Mu-Gun began to look around their vicinity, leaving Yeon-Hwa behind. Fortunately, there was a fairly large cave not too far away. The entrance was so narrow that it could only fit one person, but its interior was quite wide. There were also dry bushes on one side of the cave’s bottom and traces of a campfire by the entrance.
Mu-Gun took a closer look just in case the cave had an owner. Based on the campfire traces, quite some time seemed to have passed since it had been extinguished. Perhaps someone passing by Mount Yandang came here to avoid the rain or spend the night when it was getting dark outside. Deciding to spend the night here, he returned to where Yeon-Hwa was waiting.
“Did you find a place?”
“Yes. Fortunately, there’s a cave not too far away where we can stay the night. Let’s go.” Mu-Gun led Yeon-Hwa to the cave.
“The entrance is narrow, but it’s quite large inside.”
“Though it could be uncomfortable, we should be able to bear spending a night here.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you to come here.”
“It’s okay, who would’ve expected that it would rain all of a sudden? This will all become a good memory anyway. Let’s start a fire first.”
Mu-Gun gathered the branches scattered inside the cave in one place and invoked the Samadhi True Fire. The branches caught fire, quickly creating a bonfire and lighting up the cave. It also illuminated Yeon-Hwa, who was still quite drenched. Mu-Gun swallowed his saliva.
“Ehem, I think you’d better change your clothes first.” Mu-Gun tried to look away.
“H-here?” Asked Yeon-Hwa in surprise.
“I’ll be outside while you change.”
Mu-Gun stood up to go out, but Yeon-Hwa dissuaded him.
“Ah, it’s fine. You don’t have to go get rained on. Just stay here and turn your head the other way.”
“Okay. I won’t look, so hurry up and change.”
Yeon-Hwa unpacked her shoulder bag and took out a spare set of clothes wrapped in a special waterproof cloth, which fortunately prevented them from getting wet. Yeon-Hwa glanced at Mu-Gun, then turned around to take off her clothes. When the sounds her movements made resonated in the cave, Yeon-Hwa’s face flared up at the thought of Mu-Gun hearing them from behind her.
‘Ah! What do I do?! I don’t know anymore.’
“So Yeon-Hwa!” Mu-Gun called out to her.
“Yes?”
Surprised, Yeon-Hwa turned her head in Mu-Gun’s direction.
“I don’t think I can do it anymore,” Mu-Gun said, still looking the other way.
“Huh? Do what?” Yeon-Hwa asked back. She sounded tense.
“I just can’t take this anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to embrace you so bad that I can’t stand it. No, honestly, I don’t want to hold back anymore even if I could. However, if you don’t want me to, I’ll endure it no matter how difficult it is. I’ll count to five. If you want me to stop, just tell me. If you don’t answer, I’ll take it as permission. I’ll start counting now.”
Yeon-Hwa didn’t know how to react to Mu-Gun’s aggressive remarks.
“One!”
“Two!”
Mu-Gun began to count. Various thoughts crossed Yeon-Hwa’s mind at that moment.
Having made up her mind after a brief moment, she said, “Stop! Stop counting and embrace me.”
At her provocative response, Mu-Gun turned around. Yeon-Hwa had already taken off her clothes halfway through, so she lowered her head in embarrassment. The sight of her ignited Mu-Gun’s sexual desire.
After approaching Yeon-Hwa, Mu-Gun kissed her. Surprised, Yeon-Hwa flinched, but she soon accepted and reciprocated it. Quickly heating up as they exchanged passionate and intense kisses, they took off each other’s clothes.
Now naked, they began to make love. Their bodies became one as they remained faithful to their instincts. Nothing else came to mind. Mu-Gun unleashed all the pent-up sexual desire he had held back all this while without hesitation, and only after five consecutive rounds of intercourse did they finally stop.
Yeon-Hwa, exhausted from her first sexual experience, lay in Mu-Gun’s arms.
“It's warm,” Yeon-Hwa said while Mu-Gun tightly embraced her.
“Is it painful?” Mu-Gun asked, patting her on the head.
“You’re only worried now? Didn’t you just pounce on me like a savage beast?”
“I did that because I was so happy. Does it hurt a lot?”
“It doesn’t. I just feel drowsy, but it’s a pleasant feeling. I think I know now why they say that love between a man and a woman is akin to being on cloud nine.”
“That’s a relief. It’s your first experience, so it would be bad if it weren’t good.”
“What will happen to us now, though?”
“No one knows what the future holds. What’s clear is that you’re a precious person to me and I want to continue being with you in the future.”
“It’s the same for me.”
“It wouldn’t be bad to put off thinking about what the future holds for us until later. Let’s be faithful to our hearts for now.”
“Okay.”
Yeon-Hwa wasn’t confident that she could make a decision now anyway. Although she liked Mu-Gun and wanted to be with him, the Putuo Sword Sect was as important as Mu-Gun was to her. Just like what Mu-Gun said, she thought it would be better to just do what her heart told her to do for now.
At that moment, a grumbling sound of hunger resonated from Yeon-Hwa’s stomach.
“Oh, my!”
Yeon-Hwa grabbed her belly in surprise. Her stomach growled again, disregarding her feelings. Her face turned bright red.
“Hahaha!”
Mu-Gun burst into laughter, finding the embarrassed side of her so cute.
“Don’t laugh!”
“I just find you cute. Wait for a bit. I’ll go out and find something to eat.”
“How are you going to do that in the middle of a mountain? Just stay. I’m fine.”
Her stomach grumbled again, contradicting her words.
“Haih, what’s wrong with me?”
“Keke, I’m going to search for food since I’m also hungry anyway. Wait here. I’ll go find something edible.”
Mu-Gun got up, changed into a spare set of clothes, and left the cave. The rain had fortunately stopped, but it was already dark. It was questionable if he could procure food in this dark mountain. However, he still had to give it a shot. Mu-Gun wandered around the area to find something edible. Luckily, he was able to find some wild berries. It wasn’t enough to fill their stomachs, but it should be enough to appease their hunger.
Mu-Gun put an armful of wild berries in the cloth he brought with him when he left the cave, then continued searching his surroundings instead of going back immediately. He wanted to catch a wild chicken, but he couldn’t find one despite how hard he tried. Mu-Gun was forced to return to the cave with only the wild berries.
“I found wild berries. Eat some.”
“Thank you. Let’s eat together.”
“No, I’m fine. You should hurry up and eat.”
“Do you think that makes sense? If you don’t eat with me, I’m not going to eat either.”
“Fine. Have it your way.”
Mu-Gun and Yeon-Hwa sat side by side and ate the wild berries, which were quite palatable since they were sweet and easy to chew. The two appeased their hunger to some extent in a short span of time, then lay down in the bushes and went to sleep.
***
The Great Namgung Family’s Patriarch, Namgung Jo, the Great Huangfu Family’s Huangfu Jian, the Shaolin Temple’s Great Monk Gong Seon, and the Wudang Sect’s Elder Hyeon Myung had gathered at the Azure Sky Pavilion of the Great Namgung Family.
“Hmm, I understand that the Asura Cult’s demonic cultivators have controlled the Great Sima Family’s upper brass. However, I think you’ve gone too far killing the Great Sima Family’s martial artists, who were not a part of the Asura Cult.”
Huangfu Jian immediately refuted Great Monk Gong Seon’s remarks, “We didn’t have any other choice since the Asura Cult’s demonic cultivators had brainwashed the Great Sima Family’s martial artists. This isn’t even the matter we should be focusing on. What we should discuss now is whether the Nine Celestial Demons Sect’s other factions have infiltrated other clans. And if so, what the entirety of murim should do.”
“I think Master Huangfu is right. Do you perhaps have any other ideas?” Elder Hyeon Myung asked.
“The Nine Prominent Sects and the Seven Great Families are prestigious traditional families who have protected murim all this while. To that end, I think it would be better for us all to cooperate and devote everything we’ve got to rooting out the Nine Celestial Demons Sect,” Namgung Jo replied.
“You’re right. We have to make haste finding and dealing with the sects that the Nine Celestial Demons Sect’s factions have infiltrated.”
“How do we find them?” Great Monk Gong Seon asked.
“We should focus on the sects and families who have shown rapid growth in the past decade.”
“If we investigate them without evidence, we could receive their opposition.”
“If we ask for their cooperation in the name of the Nine Prominent Sects and the Seven Great Families, they’ll understand unless they have something to do with the Nine Celestial Demons Sect.”
“Cooperation is just sugarcoating what we’re about to do, which is basically nothing short of intimidating them with our authority and status.”
“What we’re trying to do now isn’t for the sake of personal gain. It’s for the safety of the entire murim. Hence, even if we have to result to some unfair measures, it’s only proper for them to put up with it.”
Upon hearing Namgung Jo’s remarks, Elder Hyeon Myung nodded and asked, “So, where do you suspect the Nine Celestial Demons Sect’s factions are?”
“The Qingdao Sect in Shandong Province, the Nanchang Mok Family in Jiangxi Province, the Nanping Kok Family in Fujian Province, the Wuchang Sword Sect in Hubei Province, the Cao Household in Henan Province... and more. I think we have to prioritize investigating these ten families and sects, though.”
Namgung Jo listed ten newly rising martial arts families and martial arts sects. The subsidiary branches of the Shaolin Temple and the Wudang Sect were also included in the list. Coincidentally, it had been about a decade since the Nine Prominent Sects’ subsidiary branches began to grow rapidly.
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