Chapter 220

A small town in an ancient prefecture.
In front of a quiet village with a stream running through it was a place called Wonunsan.
And on Seonhwa Peak near the top of Wonun Mountain, there was a small legend.
It is said that Xiao Chan, an aging man who was once the secretary of the opening, was enlightened and ascended to the top of the mountain.
As if to prove the legend, a rock the size of a house in the shape of a man was erected near the cliffs of Seonhwa Peak.
It is said to be the original god, left behind by the aged before they became young. That’s why people called the rock Wonshin Rock.
Whirling.
The occasional gust of wind blew across the pinnacle, but the primeval rock stood steadfastly in place.
Jumbled.
At that moment, dozens of martial artists were walking up the steep path to Seonhwa Peak.
They were uniformly dressed in tattered clothes and had short daggers tied around their waists.
His eyes lit up and he looked around as if he was searching for something.
Walking at a slow pace, they finally stopped when they reached the peak of Sunhwa.
“Maybe not.”
The leader of the dozens of drones gazed wearily into the distance.
He was Mu Hong, the leader of the Film Party, an open secret intelligence organization directly under the Empress Dowager.
“I’ve been scouring all of Wenyun Mountain for three days, and I haven’t found Nokhoro…….”
Greenhorse (Green Horse Lu)
It is a relic of the aging master Su Chan, who was the secretary of opening.
The original opening was a sacrifice to Nokhoro, but he eventually lost it and took Tagubong as a sacrifice.
“Mmm.”
Mu Hong shook his head and muttered to himself.
He was commanded by the Queen to wander the land for a long time, searching for Nokhoro’s whereabouts.
If she can find the Green Lake, she will gain the ark status she so desperately craves.
His determination was frighteningly deep, and he refused to give up, until he finally received information that the Nokhoro was hidden in Mount Wenyun.
He sent his henchman, Mu Hong, to search for it, but he was unable to find it for more than a month.
“My lord. Just like the divine sword, the divine water is said to come from the heavens.”
Zheng Zheng, the deputy director of the movie theater, consoled him with a forced smile.
“Hasn’t your lordship been searching for the Green Lake with all his heart for a long time? Heaven knows how long you have been searching, and he will soon give you an answer.”
“That would be great.”
Mu Hong gave a dry smile.
“So that you may become the ark that will lead the Elder to the main chamber.”
He, like the Gulwang and Gu Hongcheng, was dissatisfied with the moderate opening.
And he has long been loyal to Gu Hongcheng’s pursuit of strength and reform of openness.
But to earn a spot on the Ark, you need to have a good reason.
In order for the elderly king, who is nearly a hundred years old, to become the ark again, he must have a green lake.
By now, more than a full week had passed.
But I couldn’t even find a stone that looked like it, let alone a green lake.
By this point, Mu Hong and the film crew were in despair.
“I can’t help it.”
Moistening his parched lips with his tongue, Mu Hong lowered his head and crouched down.
Materia personae (man’s plan), sacramentae (heaven’s success).
It’s man who makes the plans, but it’s heaven who fulfills them.
In the end, the Gull King’s plan to become an ark was canceled because he couldn’t find the Green Lake.
“Thank you for all your hard work.”
Rising to his feet, Mu Hong said in a tired voice.
“Now back to…….”
He was speechless, his eyes suddenly wide.
In the distance, two shadows appeared on the top of the mountain, and I realized that they were hammering away at the primeval rock.
When I looked up, I saw a clean-cut man in a blue robe and a young man dressed in all black.
The two men looked at the rock with serious faces, and then tried to pound it with their hands.
“Authors?
The Wenxin Rocks are the legendary remains of the Bijo Ager of the Open.
If you don’t see it, you don’t know it.
Touching and pounding rocks that have been legendary for generations of openness, in front of openness masters?
“You must be a tourist who has heard of the legend of this room.”
Mu Hong furrowed his brow and said, “On time.
“Send men to tell them that it is the remains of the main chamber and not to be tampered with.”
“I see.”
Jungkak nods and turns to leave,
“Me, me…….”
The crew’s mouths dropped open and they pointed their fingers at the nephroids.
Mu Hong and Zheng Zheng turned their heads in disbelief, and their mouths dropped open just like theirs.
The black-haired youth nodded, and Qing Shui pulled a gleaming silver steel wire from his pocket.
And isn’t that just splitting the rock in two?
Tsk!
There was a cracking sound as the sharp steel wire sliced through the gourd like a tofu,
Woof!
With a tremor that shook the sky, a large boulder snapped in two.
Whirling.
The wind washed away the dirt that had been scattered in all directions, and the two pieces of protolith tumbled down the cliff.
Boom!
With the binge drinking, the Wenxin rock was shattered, and Wenyun Mountain shook like an earthquake for a while.
“Me, me…….”
Mu Hong pouted.
I know it’s a folklore story, but tearing down the remains of an open scroll?
But then something amazing happened.
Isn’t there a small jade-colored gourd glistening where the original rock once lay?
“No way…….”
Green.
The Green Lake of Openness was embedded under the massive boulder where Xiao Chan was sitting.
“Nokhoro! Nokhoro!”
Mu Hong ran to the top of the Sunflower Peak with joy.
They looked at each other’s faces, then started running after Mu Hong.
“So this is where I’ve been stuck.”
Meanwhile, a man in a blue robe picks up a jug of jusum jusum and slings it around his waist.
“Now go.”
“Yes.”
The young man in black nods and turns to go with him,
“Wait, wait!”
At that moment, Mu Hong, who had rushed to the top of the Sunflower Peak, shouted.
“Give it up!”
He pointed to the calabash in the young man’s hand and shouted urgently.
“That’s ours.”
“…….”
Qing Shui and the black youth looked at him with narrowed eyes.
Feeling that piercing gaze, Mu Hong snapped out of it and waved his hand.
“Oh, no…… never a thief!”
They did as they were told, but their beards were bushy from wandering the Wenyun Mountain for three days.
He is also a towering figure due to his mastery of the external arts, giving him the appearance of a bandit rather than a beggar.
“If you’re not a thief, you’re a robber.”
When Qing Shui laughed, Mu Hong said with a solemn expression.
“I am Mu Hong, the owner of Open Movie Theater.”
“Per movie?”
Qing Shui shook his head in disbelief.
“I’ve never heard of such a place in Open.”
“Stating the obvious. The parish is an intelligence organization under Elder Taisang…….”
Mu Hong realized he’d made a mistake and threw up his hands.
“Anyway, I’m definitely an open person, and that calabash is…….”
The young man in black holding the green horror nodded.
“I know. That this is the bane of openness.”
“Really? Haha, thank goodness.”
Sweeping his hand across his chest, Mu Hong smiled broadly and held out his hand.
“Then give it to me.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure to deliver this green lane to the open.”
“I told you, I’m the master of the opening.”
“We’ll deliver it directly to the open.”
“What’s that…….”
When Mu Hong stammered, Qing Shui’s lips curled into a solemn line.
“Go in peace. I swear I’ll deliver this calabash to the Open.”
Then he turned and spoke to the young man in black.
“Let’s go. Black mark.”
The blue doctor was Hyeoksojin and the black doctor was Black Pyo.
The two were sent by Bu Eun-sul to find Nokhoro in Wenyun Mountain.
They were not originally openly affiliated, and they did not consider the primordial rocks sacred.
That’s why he didn’t hesitate to smash the original rock and find Nokhoro.
“Wait!”
Just as Hyuk So Jin was about to turn around, Mu Hong said with a stern expression.
“I thought you said that was a relic of the main room?”
“I thought you said you knew.”
Hyuk Sojin said confidently.
“I know it’s an open secret, and I swear I’ll give it to open, so why do you keep calling it?”
“No so…….”
Mu Hong stammered.
Although they were affiliated with the Open, they were at odds with the majority faction of the Open, the Vanguard Sea Winds.
What if they pass it on to Open?
The green lakes will naturally be carried by the sea winds, and the idea of Gu Hongqing becoming an ark is out of the question.
“I guess I can’t help it.”
Realizing that he couldn’t convince them, Mu Hong stepped up his game.
“You just have to hijack it.”
Watching Mu Hong’s demeanor, Hyuk So Jin smirked.
“It’s a robber after all.”
Then he handed the green loincloth around his waist to Black Pyo.
“Black marks. You give this to your brother…… No, you give it to the lender.”
“The Lord Lieutenant is…….”
“They’ll be fighting tooth and nail to steal the Green Lake and turn it into an ark for the Gull King. I’ll take care of them, you go ahead.”
Mu Hong’s eyes widened as he realized the whole situation.
Now, not only do they already know who they are, but they’re doing it on purpose.
“Who are you!”
Hearing Mu Hong’s shout, Hyuk So Jin spoke naturally.
“It doesn’t matter. Just make sure you tell the old man that after you get your ass kicked.”
“What? What?”
“Five days later, at five o’clock in the afternoon, Wu Hua Tai.”
Chirp.
He tugged at the steel cord wrapped around his left wrist and grinned.
“If you want to find Nokhoro, tell him to come there. The Ten Demon Warriors of Nangak will be waiting for him.”
When he bared his teeth, they shone brighter than the sun’s reflection off the riverbed.
* * *
After the rain stopped, the forest was filled with silence.
A short distance from the village, in the mountains, at the foot of a gently sloping mountain, was an old mountain temple.
Moonlight shone down on the roof, which had long been in ruins, and a soft breeze wafted through.
Inside, most of the gadgets were broken and cobwebs had formed around them.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Inside the mountain temple, a bonfire crackled and roared, and in front of it sat a well-built, elderly man.
His eyes gleam in the darkness, and his frosted hair looks like it’s been forged from silver.
It was Gu Hongcheng, the eldest of the seven gods.
“Say that again.”
In front of Gu Hongcheng was a man lying on the ground. It was Mu Hong, the owner of the movie theater.
“They took away the greenhorse?”
“I am guilty of dying. Elder Tao.”
Mu Hong buried his face in the floor and hung his head.
He and his disciples from the movie theater charged at Hyeoksojin, but they were beaten to a pulp and fled.
And true to his word, he reported the whole situation to Gu Hongcheng.
“The Ten Warriors of Nangyagak.”
Gu Hongcheng looked at the distant sky with a deep sigh.
“That mistake is coming back to haunt him.”
At that time, he defeated eight members of the Fengyun Corps who tried to stop him, but he was unable to capture the Ten Demon Warriors of Nangyagak, who escaped after killing Sheng Lun.
If you had pursued him all the way then…… none of this would have happened.
“Even if I saw a mountain of shields, I should have found him and killed him.”
Gu Hongcheng’s voice was filled with deep anger.
It was said that the Ten Demon Warriors who killed Sheng Lun were candidates to succeed him.
And now he’s a privateer, ruining his life’s work?
From his point of view, it’s a bitter regret.
“So. What did he ask for?”
“It’s…….”
Mu Hong lowered his head and said.
“If you want to find Nokhoro, Elder T’aesang says to come alone to the Fable Road after the full moon.”
“Heh, heh, heh.”
Gu Hongcheng chuckled in disbelief.
“You must be serious.”
It was only now that he realized that Boo Eun Seol truly wanted to fight him alone.
“Sometimes young guys are overconfident in their abilities and talents.”
He snorted, the corners of his mouth twitching upward.
“They never realize. They never realize that there are those who have already traveled the path before them, who have risen faster than they could ever climb…… and that the gap of time cannot be bridged in one fell swoop.”
“The Taoist Elder.”
“Besides, you’re even dumber than I thought. You shouldn’t have left them any room to negotiate once you had the fat they wanted.”
Laughing lowly, he pulled a small brass jug from his bosom.
“Take this secretly to Elder Jin.”
Mu Hong’s expression changed drastically as he accepted the cup.
It was a royal decree symbolizing Gu Hongcheng, the elder of the Tai Shang.
“And three days later…….”
Whispering lowly, Gu Hongcheng’s eyes narrowed like needles.
* * *
Fables.
It was a wide, flat peak from which to enjoy the surrounding scenery.
In the past, it was a favorite spot for poets and tourists due to its scenic beauty, but now it has become a desolate place.
Bu Eun-sul stood alone on an open fable table.
Standing motionless with his eyes closed, he seems to blend into the landscape of the fable table.
Jumbled.
Just then, with the sound of low steps, an old man with silvered hair came up to the fable table.
He was wrinkled, but his eyes were clear and sharp, and his palms were as big and thick as pot lids.
It was the girl king, Gu Hongcheng.