NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 18 - Episode 5: Three Visits (2)
Chapter 18 – Episode 5: Three Visits (2)
“The Reincarnation of Zhuge Liang?”
As a member of the Zhuge Family, and standing here in Sichuan—a land deeply intertwined with his clan’s history—Zhuge Jun couldn’t simply let those words pass.
‘As expected.’
Sima Lin hid her smile slightly behind her fan.
“What do you mean by that, Lady Sima?”
“Apparently, there is someone claiming to be the Reincarnation of Zhuge Liang, here in Sichuan. This guy not only mediated between the Iron Flame Gang and the Great Dragon Escort Agency but was also backed by the Golden Fortune Bank. They formed an alliance called the Green Forest Road Alliance and basically run the place now.”
“Green Forest… you mean a band of mountain bandits?”
“Not quite. Their stated purpose is to build roads for the common people.”
Despite Sima Lin’s explanation, Zhuge Jun’s expression remained rigid.
Of course, their public purpose sounded noble. But nobody could truly gauge their real intentions.
There were plenty of cases where those with noble-sounding justifications were doing shady things behind the scenes.
“I need to go see for myself.”
As a member of the Zhuge Family, Zhuge Jun felt a sense of responsibility.
After all, he couldn’t simply ignore someone using an outrageous title such as the Reincarnation of Zhuge Liang.
If, by some chance, this person truly had good intentions…
‘I should give them a warning in advance.’
Zhuge Jun could overlook the audacity, but if the elders of his family heard these rumors, they would surely become furious and try to make an example of this person.
“Are you sure? Going alone could be dangerous…”
“Don’t worry. Even if things go south, I can handle myself.”
Zhuge Jun thought this while maintaining a confident expression.
Though the Zhuge Family was considered weak among the noble families, escaping perilous situations was a skill they’d honed for generations.
Hours later, Zhuge Jun arrived at the village where Zhuge Hyunmong reportedly lived, his face taut with scrutiny.
‘This seems no different from any ordinary village.’
For the supposed base of operations of some weird group called the Green Forest Road Alliance, it was surprisingly ordinary.
After making this simple assessment, Zhuge Jun approached a passing man and addressed him.
“Excuse me, may I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“I’m looking for someone named Zhuge Hyeonmong who lives around here.”
“Zhuge…? Ah, that fellow. He lives alone in that secluded place over there. But, do you have an appointment?”
“An appointment?”
The man nodded.
“Yeah, seems like you can’t see him these days unless you have an appointment.”
“I see… huh?”
Zhuge Jun, who was about to nod, realized the subtle implication in the man’s words and tilted his head in confusion.
Refusing meetings was one thing, but being unable to ‘meet’ him seemed a bit strange.
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“It’s difficult to explain in words. Anyway, you’ll understand when you go there.”
“…I understand. Ah, and could you tell me what kind of person this Zhuge Hyeonmong is?”
“He’s nice enough, but kinda weird, like his old man.”
“Weird how…?”
“He has a knack for irritating people. Talks like everyone knows what he’s thinking, leaves out important stuff, loves watching people get confused by his riddles.”
“Oh, that’s just him being considerate.”
The man looked at Zhuge Jun with an odd expression.
“Through such exchanges, he makes others confront their ignorance, recognizing what one doesn’t know, thus broadening their horizons of knowledge. It’s a kind of teaching method.”
“You… you related to that fellow?”
“What basis do you have for such a conjecture?”
“You’re definitely related, no doubt about it.”
At the man’s answer, Zhuge Jun smiled and clapped his hands.
“Your reasoning skills have already improved! Nearly correct. Failing to properly present your evidence is a slight demerit, but still impressive.”
The man’s face twisted as if he’d bitten into a lemon. No wonder they’re related—both are capable of infuriating people without even trying.
“Anyway, whether you’re a relative, friend, or childhood neighbor, go see for yourself. He lives alone in that house over there. He’s the only one with bamboo planted in his yard, so it shouldn’t be hard to find. If you can get there, that is.”
After pointing in the direction, the man shuffled off somewhere.
Zhuge Jun nodded firmly.
‘He speaks in a strange manner.’
Zhuge Jun had already had a puzzle to solve thanks to this villager.
A secluded path, a remote dwelling, and being unable to meet someone who isn’t there unless permitted?
It felt like an enticing puzzle.
‘If what I’ve heard is true, he might really be connected to the Zhuge Family.’
If so, it was even more perplexing.
If he had some connection to the Zhuge Family, Zhuge Jun couldn’t understand why he would invite trouble by adopting such an outrageous title.
Another mystery to solve.
‘There it is.’
The house supposedly lay just beyond the village’s outskirt, a short detour off the main path.
Zhuge Jun nodded and continued on his way, but before long, he felt something strange.
“…”
When he came to his senses, he realized he had somehow taken a completely different path and ended up in the center of the village.
His expression morphed into a dumbfounded expression as he realized that he somehow walked into the village’s center rather than his intended destination.
‘Did I even see any bamboo?’
He was told there would be bamboo planted in the yard, but he hadn’t seen anything like that.
Gathering his wits, Zhuge Jun turned his steps around once more.
He had a remarkably sharp mind.
He remembered every fork in the road, every point where he had turned.
And as a result.
This time, Zhuge Jun found himself staring dumbly at the village’s exit gate.
“…What is this?”
Why was he losing his way even though he had retraced his steps in reverse order?
And the moment he thought that,
Zhuge Jun felt something eerie.
As if bewitched by a ghost in broad daylight.
‘Is this… the influence of demonic arts?’
Zhuge Joon, feeling utterly lost for the first time in his life, suddenly spotted some children about to enter the alley he’d just come from and called them over.
“Wait, little ones. Do you know where Zhuge Hyunmong lives?”
“Yeah! He lives near our house!”
“Good. Then could you guide me to his house? I’ll reward you.”
He flashed them some coins, and the boy’s eyes lit up.
He definitely wanted it.
But for some reason, he hesitated.
“I dunno if we can.”
“Didn’t you just say he lives near your home?”
“Well, yeah, but while we’re fine going to our home, whenever we try to go to his place, we end up getting lost and arriving somewhere completely different.”
“My mom went to share food with him once, but she got lost and totally chewed him out later. Asked what on earth he had done.”
“…”
Putting the kids’ stories together, the situation became clear.
Zhuge Jun now understood what the man earlier had meant.
‘He’s using some kind of trick to prevent those without business from coming.’
The moment this realization occurred to him, Zhuge Jun immediately sat cross-legged and carefully spread his internal energy.
Rather than regulating his energy, he was calming his breath to sense the flow of energy.
Of course, to the children, this behavior made him look somewhat strange, but there was no time to worry about such things.
‘Perhaps I really have been enchanted by demonic arts!’
Demonic cultivators and sorcerers are often said to be the cause of weird and implausible phenomena.
They are said to cause phenomena that shouldn’t normally be possible.
What if he’s truly a practitioner of demonic arts?
That’s why he had heightened his senses.
If, by some chance, Zhuge Hyeonmong truly was a practitioner of demonic arts, then as a martial artist, he had to take him down.
As he heightened his sensitivity to the extreme, he indeed felt something.
But it wasn’t the energy Zhuge Jun had been bracing for.
Rather, it was the opposite.
‘What is this clear, refreshing energy…?’
It was like a fog, there but not there, impossible to pinpoint. By no means could it be called demonic energy. Rather than that, it seemed to be at the opposite end of the spectrum.
Only then did Zhuge Jun uncross his legs and breathe a sigh of relief that the worst situation had been avoided.
It seemed he wouldn’t have to fight someone who might be a distant relative.
Brushing the dust off his pants from sitting cross-legged, Zhuge Ju’s figure blurred.
He had deployed the Zhuge Family’s Heaven’s Secret Step (天機步). It was a footwork technique known for reading the flow of celestial mechanisms and positioning oneself appropriately.
While not as grandiose as its name suggested, it was sufficient for stepping on nearby walls and reaching higher ground.
And from up high, he felt it was even clearer.
The clear, refreshing energy he had sensed earlier with his qi perception was filling the surrounding area.
Not just filling it, but also causing some strange effect.
‘Could this be what they call a spirit Formation?’
Even within the Zhuge Family, this was just a story passed down through generations. They spoke of people born with extraordinary abilities, and those people were the ones who elevated the family to prominence.
One of those abilities was deploying spirit formations.
Masters of this art were said capable of transforming an ordinary forest path into a forest of swords or conjuring landscapes from thin air.
Of course, such tales were dismissed as myths.
Even if true, the knowledge had long been lost to the Zhuge Family, existing only in stories.
Yet here Zhuge Jun stood, confronted by the impossible.
‘So the myths weren’t myths after all.’
At that moment, the refreshing energy intensified and blanketed the entire area.
An energy so intense it felt dangerous to just rush in!
‘This isn’t something I can just charge into without a plan.’
Zhuge Jun swallowed hard.
‘Did he anticipate my arrival?’
It made sense.
He had combined three forces to form the organization called the Green Forest Road Alliance.
Moreover, one of those forces was the Golden Fortune Bank, suspected to be connected to the Hao Clan.
And what was the Hao Clan known for if not information?
They’d definitely know about the younger generation gathering happening in Sichuan.
It was given to someone like him—belonging to the Zhuge Family—would come looking when he heard such a ridiculous title coming from an organization connected to the Hao Clan.
‘Why didn’t I realize it? I walked right into a massive trap without even realizing it.’
It was almost strange that he only realized it now—this was truly a Zhuge Family-style puzzle.
The Zhuge Family was known for loving cryptic riddles meant to sharpen intuition.
But let’s be real, the Zhuge Family’s riddle wasn’t always as brilliant as they thought.
Sometimes foolish questions yielded foolish answers.
* * *
“Crap.”
Zhuge Hyeonmong was sweating bullets.
Before his eyes sat an incense burner that was currently spewing an insane amount of energy.
Sure, the energy was good.
The energy that made one feel refreshed just by smelling it and increased magical conductivity would normally be positive.
But if that energy was messing with his Formation, that was a whole different story.
Zhuge Hyeonmong had meticulously crafted the Bewildering Maze Formation around his house to keep people away from his house. He painstakingly fine-tuned it so that only those looking for his house would be unable to find their way.
And that fine-tuning meant that even the slightest error would disrupt everything.
Remembering the fierce hands of Auntie Jung, who had once stamped a divine palm on his back while complaining about her aching knees after trying to visit his house made Zhuge Hyeonmong weary.
“I suppose I’ll have to… fix this.”
He could feel his day off slipping away.