Third-rate School Leader

Episode 8

After passing through small oak trees and rough thorny vines, a rocky area appeared.

The rugged rocky terrain was about twenty jang in diameter.

Dokgo Jin, who saw that place, remembered the time he faced the Samshinma.

The Three Gods were the highest-ranking elders of the Heavenly Kingdom and were tasked with assisting them.

But instead of helping him, they attacked him and tried to kill him.

Individually, they were no match for each other, but the combined attack of the three was threatening.

Moreover, he himself is addicted to poison.

In the end, he was unable to stop the combined attack of the three gods and was driven to the edge of a cliff.

Afterwards, he fell down the cliff in a miserable state with his chest pierced.

That was the extent of my memory. After that, the sky began to spin around and my memory was cut off.

‘Those damn bastards… .’

Dokgo Jin clenched his fists and trembled, gritting his teeth.

‘Stay alive until I come to you, you bastards. I’ll cut off your heads with my own hands!’

At that moment, the question suddenly occurred to me, ‘Could it be that they betrayed him on their own?’

These were guys I had been watching for twenty years. I didn’t have the guts to do that.

‘then…?’

There may have been someone else behind the Samshinma.

Whether it was the one who instigated it or the one who gave the order.

‘Whoever that is! I’ll tear you to pieces and grind you to pieces! Just wait, you son of a bitch!’

After swearing inwardly and finally calming down, he went to the edge of the cliff.

Standing at the end, I craned my head and looked down. The winding stream appeared far away.

There were quite a few pine trees growing tenaciously, clutching at the rocks here and there along the cliff.

Some of them were broken or uprooted, dangling in the wind.

‘I guess it might have gotten caught in that tree.’

But at that time.

Wheezing!

A fierce gust of wind swirled and surged from the foot of the cliff.

Dokgo Jin flinched and took a step back.

I almost got caught in the wind, lost my balance, and fell over.

“Phew…….”

Dokgo Jin, who had finally regained his composure, let out a sigh of relief.

Then, another memory came to mind.

There was a strong gust of wind blowing when he fell off the cliff.

It was a cloudy day and the wind was particularly strong. The gusts of wind that came up from the bottom of the cliff were strong enough to blow people away.

I was caught in that gust of wind and hit something… I felt the impact of falling.

It didn’t seem like there was a floor down there.

Dokgo Jin went down to where he came from and looked around to see if there was a place where he could approach the cliff.

Although the slope was steep, it seemed like we could somehow move along the side of the cliff.

He approached the cliff, moving his feet carefully.

It was about the time when the cross-section of the steep cliff came into view.

I saw a rock jutting out from the cliff. The inside of the rock was quite flat.

There was a place cleverly hidden that was not visible from above or below.

Dokgo Jin looked for a way to get there.

It seemed like it would be possible to get there, even if it wasn’t easy.

Dokgo Jin took a deep breath and started walking again. If he had twisted his foot, he could have rolled down.

It was still twenty zhang high. Even though it wasn’t a steep cliff, it was clear that it would be difficult to survive if you rolled down it.

He walked with difficulty and approached the protruding rock.

He hadn’t misunderstood. The inside of the protruding rock was quite flat, and inside was a deep, split cliff that looked like a cave.

I couldn’t figure out why I cared about that place.

I just had this vague feeling that if I went there, maybe I could figure something out.

“Damn.”

Dokgo Jin reached the protruding rock and his shoulders slumped.

There was a body inside a split, hollowed-out cliff.

The flesh had been torn away by wild beasts and now only bones remained, but it was not difficult to tell whose body it was.

“I feel a little bit like that.”

Seeing one’s own body was never a pleasant experience.

Dokgo Jin squatted down in front of Dokgo Kang’s body.

The body was in a terrible state, with a burst chest, severed legs, and broken arms.

In addition, the bones had turned a bluish color, perhaps due to the poison.

With a bitter expression, he pulled back the hem of his coat and looked inside.

A black object hanging from a red string was visible at the back of the neck.

His expression brightened and he shouted in joy.

‘there is!’

It looked like a small knife, but it didn’t have a blade.

It looked more like a large key than a dagger.

‘You bastards! You have no idea what this is.’

There is a secret in Macheonseong that only the castle lord knows.

The master was the guardian of that secret. However, he escaped when the Heavenly City collapsed, and after meeting him and taking him as his disciple, he passed on the secret to him.

It could be said that it was precisely because of that secret that he became the Heavenly King.

Dokgo Jin, who had put the black object in his bosom, gathered things that could be of value.

She also took out the hairpin buried in her hair and the jadeite that was attached to her clothes like an ornament.

He unbuckled his belt and put it inside his clothes.

Surprisingly, the Samshinma did not touch his own corpse.

Is there even a shred of conscience left?

Are you afraid of being struck by lightning in broad daylight?

‘They are not people with a conscience, nor are they people who would be afraid of lightning… .’

Then why…?

Are you too lazy to come down?

‘Well, after being treated like this and falling off a cliff a hundred meters away, there was no need to check it.’

Actually, there was another reason he hadn’t thought of, but either way, it was a blessing in disguise.

After packing everything, he cleaned up the body with the torn hem of his clothes.

“Rest in peace, flesh. Your debt will be repaid a hundredfold.”

It felt strange because I was the one who was swearing revenge. But at least saying that made me feel a little better.

But when I stood up after cleaning up the body, I saw a sack lying in a corner.

‘Is it Dokgo Jin?’

According to Yeonghocho, he went to dig up medicinal herbs and was pushed from behind by Sajonghak.

If so, you would have taken a basket to store the herbs.

But why is Dokgo Jin’s butt here?

‘Hmm, it looks like I met Dokgo Jin here.’

I don’t remember, but if that’s not the case, then the situation isn’t explained.

He went to the corner and picked up the sack.

There were herbs in the basket. However, as time had passed, they were completely dried up.

He put the items he had taken from the body into the bag.

Going down the cliff was more tiring than going up.

Even though I was going down a gentle slope, my whole body was drenched in sweat again.

Dokgo Jin, who had gone down with difficulty, let out a long breath.

“Whew, I finally got down.”

“Ambassador! You came before me?”

Cheol Woo-young’s voice was heard from behind.

When I turned my head, I saw Cheol Woo-young running towards me with a bright smile.

“Okay, let’s go now.”

“Did you pick a lot of herbs?”

“I found something better than herbs.”

“yes?”

Cheol Woo-young, who had been wondering, looked at Dokgo Jin’s side and his eyes widened.

“Huh? Isn’t that the hammer that the ambassador lost last time?”

“Yeah. Luckily I found it.”

* * *

Dokgo Jin, who returned home, went to meet Jangsan Lee with the priests.

Jangsan Lee’s eyes widened when he saw the item Dokgo Jin presented.

“What, what is all this?”

What Dokgo Jin presented were hairpins and ornaments made of gold, silver, and jade. Some of the ornaments were attached to clothes, and some were attached to the hero’s sword.

“I went to gather herbs, and I found the body of a person who had died a long time ago. So I buried the body and brought this back.”

“Ugh…….”

“Will this be enough to pay off my debt?”

“Yeah, I guess this will help me pay off my debt.”

Do Cheok-san asked with sparkling eyes.

“Then can I continue living here, Master?”

“of course.”

“Wow!”

Do Cheok-san, Cheol Woo-young, Jin So-ha, and So Kyung-hwan all smiled brightly and were happy.

‘The kids really like it.’

Dokgo Jin felt happy because it seemed like his hard work of climbing up and down the cliff was being rewarded.

Moreover, aren’t they gold and silver treasures that his body possesses?

I felt a little sorry for taking over Dokgo Jin’s body, but I felt like that guilt had been relieved a little.

“Jin-ah, you go to Sangcho-hyeon and sell it. I’d rather go, but it seems like it’d be hard to get there.”

Lee Jang-san spoke while looking at Dokgo Jin. His expression was a little brighter than before.

Dokgo Jin also did not hesitate.

I was just about to go out and look into something.

“Yes. I will go tomorrow.”

* * *

The next morning.

Dokgo Jin left home with Yeongho Cho and Cheol Woo Young.

As they were getting farther away from home, Dokgo Jin asked Yeongho Cho.

“You said you often went to Sajonghak and Sangcho?”

“Yes, Ambassador.”

Sangchohyeon was the largest village within a hundred li.

It was about forty li away from where Cheonhwamun was.

“Will Sajonghak be there?”

“Probably not.”

Sa Jong-hak enjoyed hanging out with the Heukho faction, a black group led by Sang Cho-hyeon.

He said that he plans to join the Black Tiger faction when he gets older.

But because of what he did, I had to assume he had run away far away.

“Even if you don’t have a private school, you have to be careful when you go to Sangcho. You never know what they might do if they find out we have something expensive.”

Who would have to worry about running into those black bastards?

Dokgo Jin didn’t like Youngho Cho’s words. But in reality, those words were right.

With my current strength, it wasn’t easy to even deal with a couple of Black Swordsmen.

“Okay, don’t worry. I’ll be right back as soon as I sell the stuff.”

An hour later.

Dokgo Jin, who arrived at Sangcho-hyeon, entered the downtown area with Yeongho Elementary School in the lead.

Cheol Woo-young kept looking around, preparing for any unexpected situation.

“Over there, Ambassador.”

Yeongho Elementary School pointed to the battlefield where the flag was hung.

It looked quite large for a small county.

The pawnshop served as a place to borrow money after leaving items, but it also purchased valuable items.

As we went inside, Jang Han, who appeared to be a clerk, glanced at us and turned his head.

Perhaps the young Dokgo Jin and his group could not have brought anything so great.

Dokgo Jin looked around inside and said a word.

“Is the owner not here?”

Jang Han, who appeared to be a clerk, turned his head towards Dokgo Jin again.

“Why are you looking for me, sir?”

“I have something to sell.”

“You can tell me that.”

“But I think I’ll have to negotiate with the owner to get my price.”

“What a great thing you brought….”

“Wouldn’t it be worth more than a hundred nyang?”

Jang Han became serious at Dokgo Jin’s calm words.

A hundred nyang of silver.

There weren’t many rich people in Sangcho-hyeon who could easily handle that amount of money.

“A hundred nyang of silver? Is that true?”

“Have you been living a life of deception?”

Jang Han frowned, perhaps bothered by Dokgo Jin’s continued informality.

But soon, he suppressed his temper when he saw that they were all carrying weapons despite their young age.

“Let’s go and see.”

“I want to meet the owner.”

“The owner isn’t here right now.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to go somewhere else.”

Dokgo Jin turned around and said the words as if he had no regrets.

Only then did Jang Han’s expression become urgent.

If what that kid said was true, his master would surely be in trouble if he found out.

“Ah, just wait a minute. I’ll go get the owner.”