Third-rate School Leader

Episode 5

“Whew, it looks like that guy… took the money.”

“Money?”

Dokgo Jin didn’t feel particularly serious about money, but it was very important to Jangsan Lee.

During that time, he saved and saved the money his disciples had earned.

I had to spend it to get through the winter, and since I wasn’t feeling well, there were a lot of places where I had to spend money.

But that money was gone.

What’s more problematic is that some of that money is saved to pay off debt.

“Yeah. I guess things might get a little tricky.”

“그러니까, 사종학, 그 죽일 놈의 새끼가 돈을 훔치려고 사부의 머리를 쳤단 말입니까?”

“What can I do? It’s all because this master taught me wrong….”

Then other priests came rushing into the room.

“Master!”

“Ambassador, what happened?”

Lee Jang-san waved his hand with difficulty.

“I’m fine, you guys go back to your rooms.”

“Master….”

“Oh, I said go quickly. This master has something to say to Jin-ah.”

Cheol Woo-young and Do Cheok-san glanced at Dokgo Jin.

Dokgo Jin nodded and comforted the priests.

“Master needs some rest, so go to your room.”

Only then did the priests leave the room with worried expressions on their faces.

Dokgo Jin looked at Jangsan Mountain again.

“What are you going to do? Shouldn’t we catch Sa Jong-hak?”

Lee Jang-san shook his head with a complicated expression.

“He must have run away far away, how can we catch him? Just leave him alone. It’s not meant to be.”

“Master….”

Dokgo Jin was displeased with Jang San Lee’s attempt to forgive Sa Jong Hak.

You’re going to forgive the guy who hit his master and stole from him?

By his standards, that guy should have had all his limbs broken to prevent him from ever doing something like that again.

No, wouldn’t it be better to kill them?

But Jangsan Lee tried to get up from the bed with an expression of no regrets.

“Please wake me up.”

Even though Dokgo Jin was displeased, he still supported Jangsan Lee.

Lee Jang-san said, sitting with difficulty.

“Still, fortunately, they didn’t take anything really important.”

“yes?”

“Pick up that little book over there and bring it to me.”

Dokgo Jin looked at the place where Jangsan Lee was pointing with his finger.

A small booklet was visible among the clothes scattered at the bottom of the display case.

The cover, made of dark leather that looked worn and worn, was frayed at the corners. It wasn’t very thick, so it probably wouldn’t last very long.

Dokgo Jin picked up the book and handed it to Jangsan Lee.

Lee Jang-san looked down at the book with eyes filled with a multitude of emotions.

“I think it’s time now.”

What do you mean?

Dokgo Jin just looked at Jangsan Lee with a puzzled expression.

Lee Jang-san raised his head and said.

“This was picked up long ago, deep in the ruins of a Taoist temple underground in Mt. Wudang. This master was unable to obtain it due to his lack of ability, but I think you guys might be able to obtain something.”

The writing on the leather cover was half-erased, but not so much that it was completely illegible.

Dokgo Jin, who was looking at the letters closely, tilted his head.

‘Heavenly… flower work?’

Is that why the sect was named Cheonhwamun?

Knock, knock… .

Lee Jang-san, who was coughing again, looked at Dokgo Jin.

“Jin-ah, you’re smart, so you can learn this. Learn it yourself and teach it to the kids.”

Dokgo Jin didn’t need any new martial arts. He already knew about twenty of them.

They were all martial arts of a higher level than the peak, and among them, there were some martial arts of an absolute level that could even reach the Hwagyeong.

It would be better to have a Heavenly Flower Master who I had never heard of, or not have one at all.

But, thinking of Jangsan Lee and the priests, I didn’t say anything and just listened.

“I just hope that you don’t forget that you are part of the Wudang faction.”

Dokgo Jin heard those words and was so upset that he responded with a retort.

“Would the arrogant shamans even accept us as their disciples? Let’s just go to Cheonhwamun.”

Lee Jang-san smiled bitterly.

Among the main groups of the Murim Alliance, the Mudangpa boasted the strongest force along with Shaolin and Hwasan.

He had no reason to care about the insignificant disciples of the collateral line.

“Whether you admit it or not, the fact that you are part of the nonpartisan faction remains unchanged.”

Dokgo Jin did not like those words, nor did Jangsan Lee’s attitude toward the shaman.

What’s so great about a shaman that I have to beg to become his disciple?

He never intended to do that, nor did he want to.

Rather, I wanted to say a word to Jangsan Lee.

‘I’m not interested in nonpartisanship.’

But seeing Jangsan Lee, who looked like he was going to die at any moment, struggling to speak, I held back.

‘If I go out into the world of martial arts, I’ll get trampled on!’

On the one hand, I even felt that way.

At that moment, Cheol Woo-young’s voice was heard from outside.

“What should we do with the ambassador and the priest?”

Dokgo Jin turned his head toward the door and said.

“First, move him to his room and treat his wounds.”

“Yes, Ambassador.”

* * *

Dokgo Jin, who left the room after laying down Lee Jang-san, went to Yeongho Elementary School’s room.

Younghocho was lying on the bed. His head was wrapped in a cloth, and one side of his head was torn and bleeding clearly visible.

Dokgo Jin looked down at him and asked coldly.

“What happened? Don’t even think about lying. Tell me everything honestly.”

Yeonghocho opened his mouth with difficulty.

“Director Lee… said he saw a bag of money in Master’s room… and wanted to steal it and leave this place… I told him not to do that….”

Cheol Woo-young glared from the side.

“How can I believe what you say?”

“sorry….”

Dokgo Jin looked down at Yeongho Cho, who had his head bowed, with cold eyes.

I’ve been thinking about Yeongho Elementary School.

When a fight broke out in his room, Younghocho did not attack himself, but only held on.

The priests also did not speak badly of Yeonghocho. They also said that they could not understand why Yeonghocho followed Sajonghak.

He is a man of few words and has a strong personality, but he is not evil. That was the priests’ assessment of Yeongho Elementary School.

It is fundamentally different from the evil and vicious Sajonghak.

But seeing him following Sajonghak around, it seemed like there was another reason.

“Tell me. Why did you come to follow the Fourfold Path?”

“That’s… Director Lee saved my life before… As for tormenting the Ambassador under Director Lee’s orders… I have nothing to say. I will accept any punishment.”

Was that so? So you blindly followed the teachings of the Four Great Schools?

“Then what about now?”

“As of today, I have repaid all my debt to Director Lee.”

“Really?”

“Whether the Ambassador believes it or not, that’s my feeling.”

If that was true, there was no need to ask Younghocho any further.

Anyway, the things that had previously tormented Dokgo Jin were things he didn’t even know about.

Dokgo Jin looked back at Cheol Woo-young and the priests.

“What are you guys going to do?”

Cheol Woo-young answered those words.

“No matter what you do, I will abide by the ambassador’s decision.”

Do Cheok-san, Jin So-ha, and So Gyeong-hwan also nodded.

Dokgo Jin looked at Yeongho Elementary School again and asked.

“Can I believe what you say?”

“Yes, Ambassador….”

“Good. You are still Master’s disciple, and you are one of us. From now on, don’t forget that. I won’t bring up the past anymore.”

“…….”

“But if you break that promise, you will find out how poisonous a person I am.”

Yeonghocho’s poisonous eyes trembled.

It seemed that he had never thought that Dokgo Jin would end their relationship so easily.

“thank you.”

But at the end of his speech, he revealed something unexpected.

“I should have stopped the brother who tried to harm the ambassador from the cliff before, but I was one step too late and couldn’t do it. I’m sorry.”

“what?”

Not only Dokgo Jin, but all the other priests’ eyes widened.

Cheol Woo-young asked urgently.

“What are you saying? So the reason the ambassador fell off the cliff was because of Sa Jong-hak?”

“Yes, Samsa-hyung. I never thought that Director Lee would push Daesa-hyung out of there.”

“Wow!

Cheol Woo-young gritted his teeth and cursed, then stopped and looked back at Dokgo Jin.

“The ambassador… didn’t know?”

Dokgo Jin gave a vague answer.

“I don’t remember what happened back then….”

* * *

The next morning.

Dokgo Jin, who had been lying down, suddenly sat up.

In his hand was the book that Lee Jang-san had given him yesterday.

“What is this? Is it okay?”

He woke up in the morning and read the book that Jangsan Lee had given him.

I put it in my bosom and forgot about it, but when I opened my eyes, my chest felt heavy. So I took it out and opened it with the intention of reading it.

But I got the feeling before I even turned the first page.

It wasn’t just okay. It was a really great bunch.

So much so that even the Heavenly King would be amazed!

He straightened his posture and read each page carefully.

The book was only twenty-two pages long, excluding the front and back covers.

Although it was only the seven techniques of the mind, the long sword, and the sword technique, it was able to rival the highest level of martial arts.

In particular, the secret method of Cheonhwagong written at the very beginning of the book was not inferior to the secret method of the traditional great sect.

It wasn’t just that it was not lacking, but in some ways it had advantages that were superior to any other method in the world.

‘No, how can you teach martial arts like Samjae Geombeop or Taegeuk Kwon instead of such great martial arts!’

Dokgo Jin, who had looked over the book several times, got up and went to find Jangsan Lee.

Lee Jang-san was lying down, unable to get up because of what happened yesterday.

His coughing got worse, and each time he coughed, more blood came out of his gums than before.

According to Dokgo Kang’s experience, one cannot live long with a body like that.

“How are you?”

“Don’t worry too much. I’m still good for ten years.”

Lee Jang-san said as if nothing had happened.

Dokgo Jin noticed his feelings and sighed inwardly.

‘Whew, anyway, I’m going to fall for the gentleman…’

No parent ever tells their child that things are hard.

Even if you go hungry for several days, you tell your child, “I’m not hungry, so eat.”

That’s parents.

His own master was like that too. Even though he suffered severe internal injuries, he spoke as if he would live a hundred years longer.

But in the end, he died before he could live past three years.

Dokgo Jin changed the subject without breaking Jangsan Lee’s mind.

“I saw the Thousand-Hwa-Gong you gave me yesterday.”

“Really? How was it?”

“Why didn’t you teach me this before?”

Dokgo Jin asked with a look of incomprehension.

Lee Jang-san answered that question for a very simple reason.