Absolute Regression

Episode 174 It won’t work for us.

When Joy Baek climbed to the top of the highest mountain near the Murim Alliance, the Murim Lord stood at the edge of the cliff with his back turned.

“Lord.”

“Jojangju, are you here? “Come here.”

Joy Baek stood side by side with the Murim Lord. The higher it was, the more beautiful the scenery was.

“The scenery is very nice.”

“That’s why I come here often.”

“It is all thanks to Lord Maeng that I can enjoy this beauty. “Isn’t it so that the Demonic Cult group can’t act because the leader is so reassuringly supporting Gangho?”

“Thank you for saying that.”

When the Murim Lord asked to meet here, Joy Baek expected them to talk about marriage. Moreover, since we asked to meet at the top of the mountain and not at the Murim Alliance, I thought we would have an honest conversation as parents in a place where no attention was paid.

“Jo Jangju.”

“Your lord.”

“How long have we known each other?”

“It seems like it’s been almost thirty years.”

“They say it’s been a while, but it’s already been that long.”

The two stood like that for a moment, looking back on the past years.

“Is there any other reason why you called me today?”

“I asked to see you about your son.”

also. As expected, Joybaek’s expression brightened as he realized that it was a matter of marriage. He promised to provide a large amount of money to the Murim Alliance. Despite that, I thought things might not go well because of his lukewarm attitude.

‘Isn’t it too much money to refuse? Lord.’

Jin Peicheon slowly turned his head and looked at Joey Bai.

“Have you ever heard of Cheonmyeonghoe?”

Even though it was a heartbreaking question that caught one off guard, Joybaek answered calmly.

“This is the first place I’ve heard of.”

In fact, he even calmly asked what kind of place it was.

“I understand that this is a place that claims to be a mysterious sect and has been involved in many bad things.”

“There are a lot of trash people in Moorim.”

“Jo Jangju.”

“Your lord.”

“I think your son was involved in that trash.”

Even as he spoke carefully, Jin Peicheon’s eyes were sharp, as if he was looking right through Joey Bai.

“What do you mean by that?”

“It means that Prince Jo was included in the Heavenly Order.”

Joybaek was surprised. It looked so natural that I couldn’t tell if he was really surprised or just pretending to be surprised.

“Your son, Jo Shin, was recruited into an organization called Cheonmyeonghoe and attempted to kidnap my granddaughter.”

As the surprise grew, Joybaek’s voice also became louder.

“This is nonsense. The wedding is in progress. Why would he do such a thing unless he goes crazy? “There must be some misunderstanding.”

“I hope so, but the evidence is clear now.”

“What kind of evidence is this?”

“There was a confession from the person who received the order to pay tribute.”

“It could be a confession to trap my son.”

Jin Feicheon silently turned his back and looked at the stone mountain rising like a cliff in the distance. Now, the hearts of the two people were heading towards each other much sharper than that sharp stone mountain.

“Lord, please let me meet my son. “I will meet with you and hear what happened.”

“I just can’t do that.”

“You can’t do this even considering your past relationship with me.”

“That’s right. “I can’t do this considering our past relationship.”

Jin Peicheon’s cold and stern eyes flew towards Joy Bai.

“I know you are a Cheonmyeonghoe member.”

“!”

“Don’t even think about turning away.”

Jin Feicheon opened his prayers. A frost-like force came over Joybaek. A huge and violent storm came upon him. There was emotion attached to the momentum. I want to kill you because I could kill you.

Joybaek gritted his teeth and fought against the momentum, but his precarious body looked as if he would be pushed off the cliff at any moment.

The storm that seemed like it would tear him apart soon slowly subsided. Joy Baek was able to climb onto a small island in the open sea.

“I don’t want my long relationship with Zhou to end like this. “Only I and my subordinates know about this matter.”

As Geommugeuk said, Jin Pae-cheon was opening up Joy Baek’s breathing space.

The fact that he simply referred to himself as a member of the Cheonmyeonghoe without putting pressure on whether he was the leader of the Cheonmyeonghoe, and the fact that he said that only he and his subordinates knew, was an indication that they could cover him up if he cooperated well.

Joy Baek knelt in front of Maengju.

“There were some things that could not be helped.”

“I understand. “If you have a lot of people, you end up taking a path you don’t want to take.”

“I don’t know what to say to your great generosity. “I’m sorry, Lord Maeng.”

Tears flowed from his eyes. The tears flowed down to the point where I wondered how I could shed so much if it wasn’t sincere.

Jin Feicheon’s expression looking down at him was only bitter. Even though we had known each other for thirty years, he chose the path of betrayal. Is it the other person’s fault? Or is it your own fault that forced you to leave?

“Just pass the Cheonmyeonghoeju. Then it will all be in the past.”

Although he didn’t mention it directly, he said he would forgive him. Joyback climbed up through the opened windpipe and took a breath.

“He even included my son without my knowledge. I can never forgive that fact. “I will be holding a meeting with the head of Cheonmyeonghoe tomorrow, so please bring your son to the meeting.”

“Did you say tomorrow?”

“Cheonmyeonghoeju is not far from here.”

This means that there was Cheonmyeonghoeju within a distance that could be reached in just one day. It was truly surprising that it was dark under the lamp.

“Good idea.”

“Then we will contact you after we have made a space. “Thank you once again for your grace.”

He bowed and then turned around.

With each step, his expression slowly began to harden. It contained neither heat nor cold. Since there were no emotions, it was hard to guess what he was feeling, but at least it was clear that he was a completely different person from the person who was on his knees and crying.

After he disappeared, a sword dance appeared there a while later.

“Is it okay to send them back without supervision like that?”

“It’ll be okay.”

I was hoping that he would just let the sword dance go and do everything he could. That way, you will be able to organize everything at once.

“I think we need to keep in mind the possibility that he might betray us. Asking me to bring my son tomorrow means exchanging my son for Cheonmyeonghoeju. Doesn’t this mean that you don’t completely trust the Lord?”

“Are you suspecting that my mind has changed after catching the Lord of Heavenly Myeonghoe?”

“If there is that level of suspicion, it is fortunate, but we can join hands with the owner of the Cheonmyeonghoe and sell this trap. For now, I think we should see it as half and half. “Please leave the rest to me.”

It was a dangerous situation even if Joybaek betrayed and dangerous even if he did not. Because it was a job to catch the owner of Cheonmyeonghoe, whose identity he did not know.

“Are you really saying you’re going to handle it on your own?”

“If by any chance they have different thoughts, it could be dangerous. “It’s not something a precious person should do alone.”

“Are you not in danger?”

“Because it was my job from the beginning.”

Jin Feicheon stared at the sword dance for a moment. To my surprise, he had this thought. How great would it be if the sword dance was performed by a political faction?

“Don’t be too upset by the author’s betrayal. The author was originally a villain. I just stayed next to my lord while hiding myself. “On this side it was good intention, on the other hand it was bad intention.”

He is even comforting himself. Jin Feicheon wanted to have a drink with this kind of sword dance.

“Would you like to have a drink with me?”

It was a sword dance performance in which he intended to leave after forming a good relationship with the leader. There was no way I would turn down a drink alone with him.

“Please eat here. “I will get it for you.”

“I’ll wait.”

“Is there a drink you like?”

“Bring me a strong drink.”

The sword dance disappeared from there in an instant.

After a while, Jin Peicheon was startled. There was a bottle of alcohol in the hand of Geommugeuk who came back, but no matter how outstanding his performance was, it was already not time to go down and come back.

“Did you bury alcohol in the mountain?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve been drinking, so my feet were a bit shaky, so I walked a little faster.”

When I returned from Dongho the other day, I didn’t bother to hurt the leader’s pride by catching up with him, but I didn’t intentionally come late today.

“I also bought some nice glasses.”

I poured him a drink.

Slurp.

It was right then. Someone appeared. He was a warrior who was always hiding around the sword dance. This was his first appearance.

“I will check the alcohol.”

He used a silver needle to check if the drink was poisoned.

I thought he would be a sharp and angular person, but he turned out to be a man with a round and warm appearance.

I could tell. This is the person the Murim Lord trusts the most. If a father has Hwi, Maengju has this man.

This loyal servant stayed around me all this time, and even though he knew that I was not the type of person who would get addicted to alcohol, he did not let his guard down even an inch when it came to the well-being of his leader.

Only after confirming that there was no poison in the alcohol did he disappear again.

“Just say hello and leave.”

When I half-jokingly and half-seriously expressed my regret, Jin Feicheon smiled slightly and said,

“I’m an inflexible person by nature, so please understand.”

“I know very well. “My favorite person was also my escort at one time.”

“Why aren’t you an escort now?”

“I forced myself to stop following other people’s lives and live my own life.”

Jin Feicheon felt a strange emotion at Geommugeuk’s words. Because his personality was not like that of a demon at all, I felt greedy but also strangely afraid. What if the interest becomes a thousand words? It was a fear that started from.

After filling each other’s glasses, the two toasted and drank.

“Do you like medicinal liquor?”

“I don’t drink it often. “And you?”

“I drink it sometimes too.”

It’s been a while since I drank alcohol, and it reminded me of intoxication. Do you still want to swim around that lake drunk?

In a sense, even though it was a precarious situation on the eve of the decisive battle, the drinking party with the leader was calm and peaceful.

This may be because they both knew very well that big things that will change their lives are not something that can be suddenly prepared and done by their past lives.

“Is your father well?”

The Murim Lord asked about the Heavenly Demon.

“You are well.”

“Seeing you, I miss the sword leader. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen you.”

“I’ll tell you when I get back. “Your father will like it too.”

“No way. “Your father will want to kill me.”

“How are you, Lord?”

“I was like that too until now…”

After a moment, Jin Feicheon revealed his honest feelings.

“I changed my mind after seeing you.”

I thought that if the Heavenly Demon of the time died, this sword dance would become the Heavenly Demon. Wouldn’t it be better now for the sake of Jeongdo Murim? Surprisingly, that was what I was thinking about this young man.

“How is your relationship with your father?”

“It was awkward, but it’s gotten a lot better recently.”

“Thank goodness.”

“I got better after playing baduk with my father. My father learned to play baduk from the general at our school and beat me every time. On the other hand, the soldier I got did not know how to play baduk.”

“The military can’t play baduk?”

“also! Same reaction. I will definitely tell this to my soldiers. Even the Murim Lord had the same reaction!”

The leader laughed at the joke of the sword dance.

“I also went hunting in the mountains with my father. I also drank alcohol at the guesthouse. “Do you know how the owner reacted when my father came to the guest house?”

The sword dance deliberately told me about my time with my father. I told it as cheerfully as possible, and Jin Feicheon listened to the story of the sword dance with a smile.

Geommugeuk knows the sadness hidden in the Murim Lord’s smile. He is a father who lost his son. I couldn’t even imagine what that must be like, but I knew that he was thinking about his son.

And as always, Geommugeuk is a person who believes that emotional wounds should not be buried.

“Do you think about your son a lot?”

For a moment, the Murim Lord flinched. His expression changed every moment. Anger, embarrassment, sadness and longing. All kinds of emotions passed through him in a short period of time.

“sometimes.”

Jin Peicheon drank without saying any more. Geomgeuk also drank without asking any more questions.

Have you ever been asked this question after your son died? I think it probably wasn’t there. Who would dare ask the Murim Lord such a question?

“Let’s go together tomorrow.”

“No, I will go alone.”

“I know that you are a master with no equal. “It’s dangerous to go alone.”

“If we mobilize the Murim Alliance masters, there may be people related to the Cheonmyeonghoe among them. “If confidential information is leaked and Lord Cheonmyeong runs away, you will probably never find him again.”

“Then come with me, you two.”

I knew that Jin Feicheon meant what he said. I was truly impressed by the sword dance performance. What Murim lord in the world would say that he would go alone to a place where there might be a risk of death, and that too with the blood of the Demon Cult leader?

I thought that as long as Jin Paecheon was alive and well, Jeongpa Murim would also be healthy.

“Lord, there is something else you need to do.”

“What do you mean?”

“You must prepare in case Jinryongjangju betrays you. He faced a crisis where everything he had worked for his entire life might be lost. The Lord said he would forgive me, but would I really believe that? If not, he will leave no stone unturned.”

“for example?”

“They tried to take advantage of Jin Sojeo with marriage, so we used the courtiers. We used it a little more radically than they did. So how will they get out?”

Jin Feicheon’s expression hardened as he remembered one situation.

“When the leader and I move together, we may target Jin Soje. You might feel like they took advantage of your child, so you should suffer too. Since it is a life-threatening choice, the expert, not the average, will go for it. There must be a leader. “Please protect your family.”

Looking at Jin Feicheon’s worried eyes, Geommugeuk raised his drink.

“Please trust and leave it to Madou for once. No matter how terrible the evil is, it will not work against us.”

Jin Peicheon drank with him.

We only shared one bottle in a short period of time, but it was better and more impressive than any other drinking party I’ve had in my life.

Geommugeuk bowed politely as he put down the last glass.

“I will say goodbye in advance today. Please take care of it until we meet again.”