Chapter 108: Money Worth Spending

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FLASH!

Lightning struck.

The rain pouring down like a deluge from the pitch-black sky showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.

It didn’t seem like just a brief passing shower.

The village streets had emptied of people before he knew it, lit only by lamps.

SPLOSH, SPLOSH, SPLOSH-

Namgung Sang-rin, his trouser hems completely soaked, quickly passed through the rain and spotted an inn, quickly approaching its entrance.

POURING… POURING…

Leaving behind the noisily falling rain sound, he stepped inside the inn, and heat along with food smells and alcohol smells rushed at him.

Unexpectedly many guests for such a modest inn.

The chattering voices struck his ears, drowning out the rain sound outside.

Was everyone stuck because of the sudden rain?

Not a single seat was visible among the roughly ten small tables.

No.

There was barely one seat remaining at tables in different spots, but the situation was such that he would have to ask permission to share a table.

At that moment, a middle-aged man who appeared to be the owner warmly welcomed him and offered a dry towel.

“Welcome, guest.”

“Ah, thank you.”

When Namgung Sang-rin wiped off the moisture and greeted him politely, the owner waved his hands again with a smiling face.

“Oh my, you’re welcome. Then shall I take your order first?”

“Actually… I’m looking for a vacant room. Do you have one?”

At that, the owner shook his head as if troubled.

“Ah, this is unfortunate… What should we do? Normally there would be vacant rooms, but strangely today, so many lodgers have come… I’m sorry.”

Namgung Sang-rin also wore a troubled expression.

“It’s the same here too? Hmm, I see.”

This was already the fourth time.

In truth, though the village wasn’t that large in scale, somehow every inn he entered had no vacant rooms, putting him in a difficult situation as well.

It wasn’t like he could make a scene demanding they give up a vacant room.

It seemed more so because he was searching mainly among small places.

If it were a high-class inn in the village center, there would be one or two vacant rooms.

It wasn’t that he had no money.

He had gathered what he’d saved and brought it when he severed ties with Jingzhou Ban Family where his elder uncle and aunt were.

But it was too precious to spend on one night at an inn with luxury facilities.

The money was immensely precious.

Because it was funds that would become a small seed of capital needed for rebuilding the Namgung Family in the future.

Hence, he intended to refrain from extravagant travel expenses as much as possible.

All he needed was a bed to lay his body on.

Namgung Sang-rin soon scanned the first floor interior of the inn.

‘About half are traveling together…’

The roughly ten or so who appeared to have come here together were nine out of ten martial artists.

To prove it, each had weapons leaning against the side of their chairs.

‘Hmm… Has some group come to this village to lodge?’

He had seen martial artists who seemed to be part of the same group at the three places he’d visited before.

‘What should I do? Should I go to that group and ask if there’s a spare bed among their reserved rooms and haggle?’

But he immediately abandoned the thought.

It was burdensome.

He was worried it might escalate into a cause for conflict.

Looking at their attitudes and expressions while drinking and talking, it seemed like something bad had happened.

Of course, it was just a vague intuition, but he judged it better to keep distance and avoid them.

Just then, two who had made eye contact with Namgung Sang-rin raised their dark eyebrows.

‘Oh no.’

Namgung Sang-rin quickly averted his gaze, then handed the towel he’d dried off with to the owner and apologized with an embarrassed expression.

“Then I’ll go look elsewhere. I’m sorry. Just drying my wet body and leaving like this…”

“What are you saying, ah, just a moment.”

The owner disappeared with those words and came back with an umbrella and a small container.

“Here, take this and go. It’ll be hard to find a place selling rain gear at night too. And inside this container, I’ve put a little food. I happened to have prepared a lot in advance, so don’t feel burdened. I’m just giving it since I won’t lose anything anyway.”

Namgung Sang-rin smiled gently and took the umbrella and container, then bowed his head to express gratitude.

“I’m just causing trouble again and again. Thank you sincerely.”

“Ah, it’s nothing. People should help each other, shouldn’t they? Haha. In any case, I’m also sorry there are no vacant rooms.”

Moved by the owner’s kindness, Namgung Sang-rin felt warmth seeping into his heart.

It was pleasant generosity.

A kindness he could hardly feel while staying at Jingzhou Ban Family.

Suddenly, words his aunt Namgung Si-ryang and elder uncle Ban Deok had spoken crossed his mind.

-Huh, it wasn’t just once or twice? To nitpick about that now… Would you be satisfied if we deducted the value of your room and board here?

-Enough! Your attitude is so arrogant, so I’ll just void the existing promise!

It struck him anew.

Why the saying that strangers are better than relatives came to be.

Having lived as a dependent since age eleven, he had matured early.

So.

He had realized earlier than his peers.

The harshness of the world.

Also.

He had quickly come to understand.

That a person’s height of character is not determined by material measurements.

Just as there are gaps in martial prowess level, gaps in character certainly exist too.

The owner before him was like that.

Though outwardly an unremarkable small shop, the person inside was greater than anything.

Namgung Sang-rin soon rummaged through his pocket and handed over money.

“Please accept this.”

“Huh? Oh my, that’s alright. What… I’ll decline.”

When the owner waved his hands, Namgung Sang-rin placed the money on a shabby display cabinet by the entrance and came out the door as if fleeing.

“W-wait a moment! Guest! This is practically the same as room fare! It’s too much!”

The owner who had followed out shouted, but Namgung Sang-rin only looked forward with his umbrella open, striding quickly.

He didn’t regret it.

Not if it was money spent this way.

Compared to spending one night at a high-class inn, it was such a cheap price anyway.

Before long, he turned around a corner and went under the eaves of a closed building and folded his umbrella.

GROWL.

A signal of hunger.

His plan was to fill his stomach here for a while, then look for another inn.

When he opened the lid of the container he’d received earlier, several appetizing food items were visible inside.

‘Hmm… This is enough. By the way, if it really doesn’t work out, should I go to a private home and ask?’

With that thought, he picked up a piece of food and bit into it, swallowing one mouthful when he heard splashing footsteps.

Sure enough.

When Namgung Sang-rin turned his head to the side, five men wearing bamboo hats were walking from around the corner.

The atmosphere was out of the ordinary.

When the distance closed a bit more, Namgung Sang-rin finally realized their identity.

They were the martial artist group who had been sitting in the inn.

Among them, the two in front were the men whose eyes had briefly met his… They seemed to have followed behind him for some reason.

“Do you have business with me?”

Before long, the five came up beside him and stood surrounding the front.

“Do you need a room?”

One man in his thirties suddenly asked in informal speech.

An unpleasant attitude.

Namgung Sang-rin substituted a head gesture for an answer.

The man smirked and his eyes gleamed.

“If so, how about we empty one bed from the room we’ve booked and you pay for it?”

Namgung Sang-rin’s face lit up.

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“Yes, I’d be grateful. How much for the money?”

“As for money, I’d be satisfied with just the regular room fare… But it would be nice if you threw in one item as a bonus.”

“…?”

“That thing hanging at your waist.”

At that, Namgung Sang-rin glanced at his waist area.

A scabbard with a jet-black dragon carved on it.

It was the gift Cheol Ryu-heun had given him before.

Namgung Sang-rin soon shook his head slightly.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hey. Looking at you, it seems your wallet situation isn’t good so you’re only looking for small inns, but even if you wear out your feet looking, there won’t be any vacant rooms. Our group has already secured most of the rooms. So accept the proposal. How much longer are you going to wander around with a soaked body in this downpour? Huh?”

The man’s low voice was subtly forceful.

A threat.

But Namgung Sang-rin expressed his refusal again.

“No thanks. I’ll just keep looking.”

At that moment, the hand of the man who had been speaking struck the container with a SMACK!

SPLAT.

The container’s food spilled onto the rain-soaked ground.

“Geez, leaving the easy way and being so stubborn… I’m telling you just pay the room fare and give up one scabbard?”

Simultaneously with the man’s obnoxious words, two others beside him narrowed their brows and made threats.

“Good is good, why act so difficult? Young fellow.”

“We’re suppressing our tempers as much as possible because we have circumstances too. So don’t make us use force.”

Suddenly, Namgung Sang-rin spoke in an icy voice.

“Pick it up.”

At that, the expression of the man standing in front hardened.

“What?”

“Put it back in the container. Unless you want to be face-planted in the ground like that container.”

No sooner had Namgung Sang-rin finished speaking than the man on the far left scowled and stretched out his hand.

“This bastard… AAGH!”

With a sharp scream, the man spun around quickly once and face-planted in that spot with a SPLAT, collapsing.

Namgung Sang-rin had grabbed that man’s arm in an instant and used internal energy to swing his entire body around.

The remaining four, startled, hurriedly backed away to put distance between them.

‘Gasp! That bastard… was a master?’

One of them, unnecessarily scared, shouted out.

“We’re all Green Forest Alliance!”

He thought that if he revealed their Green Forest Alliance affiliation, the opponent would also feel burdened and back down.

But.

Namgung Sang-rin replied in an even icier voice.

“Now I see the Green Forest Alliance has rotted too. To engage in such behavior outside stronghold territory.”

The four men exchanged glances and drew the swords hanging at their waists.

“Damn…!”

“Shit, can’t be helped.”

“Attack!”

Namgung Sang-rin also drew his sword in response.

CHAENG-!

* * *

Mountain Patriarch Hall, north of White Peak Sword Sect.

In its garden, a group was kneeling and continuously crying out in loud voices verging on sobs.

“We’ve been wronged! Sect Master!”

“Oh my, how can such a thing happen in this world!”

“For a mere horse to dare eat the Thousand Year Immortal Ginseng and even the Sky Clear Stone Milk!”

“The reward we obtained with such difficulty has vanished into nothing!”

“Please bestow upon us just one other small reward!”

“Yes, please understand our situation!”

It was precisely the eleven workers including Tae Sa-ja.

At that moment.

The hall’s door burst open and Cheol Ryu-heun walked out expressionlessly, stopping before them.

Then he spat out an indifferent voice from between his lips.

“Another small reward? Why should I?”

A one-word refusal… It was completely ineffective.

“Stop being annoying and just work hard again starting tomorrow.”

Cheol Ryu-heun pointed at Tae Sa-ja with a chin gesture along with those words.

“You stay here, everyone else leave.”

At that, everyone hesitated and glanced around nervously.

“Choose. Just leave, or get beaten and leave.”

Simultaneously, all the workers except Tae Sa-ja quickly disappeared outside Mountain Patriarch Hall.

Cheol Ryu-heun soon looked at Tae Sa-ja with hands clasped behind his back.

“I’ll give you one special gift.”

At the unexpected words, Tae Sa-ja’s eyes went wide.

“Y-yes… Huh? I-is that really true?”

“If you don’t want it, forget it.”

“N-n-no! Y-your gra-GWEK!”

Tae Sa-ja, who had been bowing deeply, let out a brief scream and collapsed limply on the ground, knocked unconscious.

Because Cheol Ryu-heun had struck the back of his head before he knew it.

“How can someone who used to be a bandit boss have hemophobia of all things.”

Muttering indifferently, he soon grabbed the back of Tae Sa-ja’s neck and dragged him along, climbing the stone steps.

‘Well, I’ll fix it completely this time. The complete opposite.’