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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Carrier Pigeons Are Losers of the Era (2)
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"Hmm…"
Tang Chan carefully read the contents of the letter one more time, engraving all the encrypted content into his mind.
Soon after, he quietly burned the letter in the candlelight.
It wasn't bad news.
Although the sender—that idiot Tang Mok—had failed, which slightly diminished his standing within the family and the association.
Only results mattered.
If he could finally sever that man's lifeline this time, he could more than make up for it.
There was no personal animosity.
However.
That man had to die.
And the Mangum Bank had to disappear.
For the future of the Changcheon Association, and furthermore, the righteous Murim.
If this matter was properly accomplished, he could secure more support from the Changcheon Association.
After crushing the Dark Arts Faction (暗藝派), who dared to covet the next family head position while only playing with toys, he could solidify the position of the Poison Lore Faction (毒理派) within the family.
As he drafted his reply, he quietly murmured the motto of the Changcheon Association.
"Make Murim great again."
* * *
Today, 'Understanding Demonic Martial Arts' was a mess again.
Perhaps it was because the course adjustment period was over, and there was no escaping now.
"—Understanding Demonic Martial Arts, Second Lesson! There's no such thing as a fair fight!"
Chicken-nim, who had boisterously declared this at the start of class, immediately afterward, picked up a club and quite boisterously thrashed the remaining students.
His fighting style…
No matter how nicely you tried to put it, it was no different from a street brawl.
Throwing a handful of sand into someone's face was commonplace.
Or spitting into their eyes to blind them in a surprise attack.
Female students were grabbed by the hair and thrown to the ground.
Male students were so relentlessly targeted in the groin that Unhak even frothed at the mouth and fainted mid-session.
"Ugh…"
Even Cheon Ruri had a bulging lump on her forehead, frowning and constantly touching it.
It was a scene of violence, indiscriminately applied to both righteous and demonic students.
Watching Mo Yongtaek carry the still-limping Unhak on his back as he ran to the medical hall, I decided to share my concerns with an expert.
I helped Chicken-nim, who was tidying up the horrific scene of violence with a refreshing smile as if all his stress had vanished, and in return,
"Oh, you rascal. Aren't you thoughtful?"
Chicken-nim ruffled my hair with his blood-stained hand.
I'll have to wash my hair later.
I figured I'd built enough rapport.
After confirming all students had left the Seogajang.
"Do you happen to know how to catch a carrier pigeon?"
"In this day and age?"
Chicken-nim's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Back in the day, catching a carrier pigeon and getting a secret letter could be a big deal, but now everyone uses smartphones, don't they? Why are you suddenly curious about that?"
He wasn't wrong.
But if one harbored doubts about MurimTalk's security, wouldn't it be entirely possible to use traditional communication methods? Especially when conspiracy theories about the messenger app that inspired MurimTalk censoring messages kept surfacing on cooldown.
"Haha… it just occurred to me."
"Hmm. Well, traditionally, you'd figure out the pigeon's flight path, then set traps at its resting spots and wait, or use a hunting hawk to snatch it, or lay out a bunch of female pigeons to lure it in."
What was that last one?
Pigeon-harem divine skill?
"Speaking of which, you said you wanted to learn archery, didn't you?"
"That's right?"
"Then just shoot it down with a bow."
"What kind of bird-brained nonsense is th— Ack!"
The club that had almost ended Unhak's lineage struck my head.
"Do you distrust the words of your heaven-like master?"
* * *
Whether he was annoyed by my words, Chicken-nim dragged me to the western forest, declaring he'd show me the hell of distrust.
"Woof!"
Watching Wolf-pup excitedly scamper about, finally back in its natural habitat after a long time.
"A leash…"
"A leash? This is where he originally lived. Our Eunrang is smarter than you."
Take that back! That last comment!
It's Wolf-pup, not Eunrang!
I swallowed my words, fearing I'd get a lump on my head as big as Ruri's if I spoke out.
"Watch closely. I'll show you the skill of your great master."
Chicken-nim put on a slightly smug expression, took the bow he'd brought from Seogajang, and nocked an arrow.
Annoyingly, unlike my awkward posture, he displayed a professional form that would rival a master archer.
Soon after.
*Swoosh—!*
With a tearing sound that seemed to rip through space.
He hit a huge tree with his first shot.
"If you're catching birds…"
"Shhh."
As he silenced my retort with just a breath, *Flap-flap—*
The birds resting peacefully in the tree were startled by the sudden shock, instantly flapping and soaring into the sky.
Most of them landed back on nearby trees to resume their rest.
But only one bird flapped, soaring exceptionally high and flying off in another direction.
"That one."
With a fierce expression, as if a serial killer was delivering a pre-murder notice.
At a speed too fast for the eye to follow, he nocked another arrow and shot!
"Hoo."
It was a bird that had already flown quite far.
Like the ancient tale of Yuanmen Sheji, where Lu Bu shot an arrow through the halberd's crescent blade.
The arrow, having left the bowstring, precisely struck the flying bird.
For a moment, I had the hallucination of locust antennae sprouting from my master's head.
"No, why are you aiming at me?!"
"Your eyes are flickering with insolence instead of respect. What kind of absurd thoughts are you having now?"
That's an unfair accusation.
"H-eep!"
Was he possessed by William Tell this time, instead of Lu Bu? I shivered at the tearing sound created by the arrow that narrowly grazed past my head.
But.
"It has no arrowhead?"
"Why would I needlessly harm an innocent creature with a barbed arrow?"
It seems to me that the sheer human malice was revealed at the point where you shot a flying bird with an arrow in the first place.
I definitely saw it fall.
Didn't it probably die?
Still unable to shake off my distrust of Master, I moved towards the spot where the bird was presumed to have fallen.
"Woof-woof!"
"Oh."
At the spot, the mother of the parent wolves who had abandoned their parenting duties to me stood majestically.
"Huhu, Morang. It's been a while."
Master greeted the mother wolf with a benevolent smile he never showed to humans.
And then.
"Mkyu!"
Along with the onomatopoeia that often burst out when one finds meat after burying their head in a food bowl, Wolf-pup popped out from atop the mother wolf's large body.
"No, how?"
Wolf-pup had a bird in its mouth.
And the bird was even alive…!
A gentle smile bloomed on Master's face.
"Even a small life, if there's no reason to kill it, it's best to let it live. This is the realm of the 'Living Bow' (活弓)."
Master let out a rooster-like crow that would have sounded more convincing if he hadn't been a former bandit chief.
Wolf-pup, holding the bird that was flapping its wings as if protesting, hopped over to me.
The moment I took the bird out of Wolf-pup's mouth, a bird that wouldn't even yield a few pieces if roasted.
"Huh?"
The Green Forest Pugilist King.
Is she a god?
Coincidence or destiny.
A small wooden box was tied to the bird's ankle.
Master, who had been affectionately stroking the mother wolf's cheek, heard my exclamation and then discovered the object.
"…Oh my. A carrier pigeon, really, in this day and age?"
The shocking exclamation nearly extinguished all the respect that had filled my heart.
Master, who had approached, looked into the wooden box with a serious expression.
"…It's the seal of the Changcheon Association."
What's that?
Was there such a setting?
"Among the righteous faction, there are those who swagger around, claiming they're the best and the purest Murim warriors. Their true nature isn't clearly known, but they often interfere with our Toll Road Gang's business. And they do it without revealing their identities, hiding behind masks."
They're totally Death Eaters.
Master carefully took a sheet of paper from the wooden box with extremely delicate hands. He even put on gloves at some point, handling it so cautiously as if fearing anything might get on the paper, exuding the aura of an active professional.
"Hmm. This is a very intricate cipher. An expert would be needed to easily decipher it."
Master frowned.
When I got closer, it was indeed scribbled so haphazardly that it made me wonder if it was even Hanja at all.
"It's best to just quietly close our eyes and let this go. There's nothing good about getting involved with the Changcheon Association."
Without giving me a chance to argue, Chicken-nim sealed the note back into the wooden box and placed the bird back on the ground.
The pigeon, cooing and gurgling in discontent, flapped its wings a few times and then fluttered into the air.
"Hmm…"
Well.
I agreed with that judgment.
One should only "borrow" things when the situation is right. Using my "Owner Transfer Technique" half-heartedly here might only provoke more suspicion.
Anyway, I'd memorized it.
All that was left was to ask an expert.
* * *
Geum Sirang was leisurely painting orchids.
How long had it been since he'd experienced such peace of mind?
Since leaving the Hanlim Academy and arriving at the Baekhwa Academy, every day had been a continuous string of shock and horror for Geum Sirang.
To think that the children of those renowned as Murim's esteemed masters could be so ignorant!
In class, there were more students dozing off than awake.
Looking at the state of the assignments they submitted, it was impossible to tell if they were writing or the tracks of a snake.
Not long ago, when he had them recite the Diamond Sutra, some crazy monk suddenly shot a palm technique from his hand and shattered his cherished folding screen.
Furthermore, his father kept pestering him like a rat, setting up appointments with all sorts of people every weekend, claiming he was finding him a bride.
"Hmph…"
The thought of quitting right now and returning to the Hanlim Academy kept bubbling up.
In this situation.
He'd rather his damn younger brother—Geum Sihyeon—seemed like a more well-behaved gentleman by comparison.
Of course, every time he did an assignment, he'd deliberately write at least one character in simplified Chinese, provocatively challenging, "Try to find this one!"
But at least his handwriting was legible.
And thanks to his intelligent mind, which resembled his own, his comprehension was high.
At least he didn't doze off in class.
The more he met these so-called Murim people, the higher Geum Sirang's opinion of his younger brother became.
"Brother, are you there?"
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
Geum Sirang put down his brush and snapped open his fan.
"Alright. What is it? You're actually seeking me out first."
His younger brother rarely showed his face unless he needed a favor, and judging by the look on his face, he seemed to be here for a favor today as well.
Geum Sihyeon, without being told to sit, dragged a chair with a squeak and plopped down in front of his desk.
"Take a look at this."
He presented a sheet of paper, a chaotic mess of strange strokes haphazardly drawn over sacred characters.
"What is this?"
"A letter written in cipher."
"Hmph. Getting involved with something like this could be trouble."
Indeed, there had often been audacious scholars who tried to decipher ciphers used by the imperial family.
Most of them ended up being force-fed Donghaetang through their noses in the Jin Yiwei's underground dungeons.
He felt an unpleasant premonition and was about to refuse.
"Hmm… So even the great Geum Sirang doesn't know…"
"What?"
"Yes… There are always mysteries that even a Hanlim scholar can never solve… I see, so that's how it is… If it were my brother back in his prime… certainly… No, even then…"
*Crack!*
"Seven days and nights. I'll decipher it within seven days and nights."
Geum Sirang was utterly provoked by the infuriatingly manipulative way of speaking that somehow made a subtle rage well up in him just by listening.
"That's my brother."
Geum Sihyeon smiled brightly and handed the paper to Geum Sirang.
"At least tell me where it came from."
"Hmm… I don't know exactly, but they said it was from a group called the Changcheon Association. Well, I'll leave it to you, Brother."
"Alright."
Geum Sirang waved his fan, issuing an order for him to leave.
Even though they were brothers, strictly speaking, it wouldn't be good to display such intimacy between an instructor and a student.
As if he had read his intentions, Geum Sihyeon grinned and quickly left the instructor's office.
The smile that had lingered on Geum Sirang's lips until then, froze into a cold expression the moment Geum Sihyeon left.
"Changcheon Association, you say…"
It seemed his younger brother, too, was destined not to escape the intrigues surrounding their family.
Geum Sirang let out a deep sigh.