Chapter 501: Side Story 1

Chapter side_1

“Kuaaaagh…….”

“Stay still.”

Whether it was due to Gwon Mu-jin’s word, the opponent stiffened their body without even being able to move. Although they were full of the desire to run away right now, they knew better than anyone that running from here would be meaningless.

In the first place, as long as Gwon Mu-jin stepped forward, such a thing as escape could not exist.

“P… Please spare me, great hero! A sick old mother suffering from illness at home…”

“So do I. Since I have to feed fully aged ones.”

“A… A child who just turned two… they can’t even drink breast milk…”

“I have them too. And two of them at that.”

“…….”

In an instant, the man was lost for words.

He tried to buy sympathy, but Gwon Mu-jin, as if not caring about such things, continued to drag him toward the Yueyang county office.

“Great hero! Think about it! What should I do if someone like you appears just because I did a little petty theft? Isn’t it normal for nameless low-rankers to handle this kind of thing, and if they can’t catch me, increasingly skilled people appear?”

“Just think of yourself as unlucky.”

Gwon Mu-jin, with a blunt expression, glanced at the man. He could understand why the man was dumbfounded to some extent. Even if he committed crimes, it was at best stealing trivial items and eating without paying.

Although he could not say this was not bad, it was not a great incident for a master like Gwon Mu-jin to move.

That is, until he unluckily stole things in front of Gwon Mu-jin.

“Aey, great hero… one can have good luck too… Even if I look like this, I am in my tenth year of petty thief life…”

“So what?”

Gwon Mu-jin looked at the man with a dumbfounded expression.

The appearance of that fellow rubbing his hands together while wearing a bizarre smile made him recall someone, truly bringing a hollow laugh.

‘He is exactly like that guy Jang Sam-tae. Are thieves originally like this?’

As he watched the man who was about to speak, he lowered his posture while smiling beams.

“You know that? It is a story handed down from the eastern country…”

“Speak.”

“They say that when one felt pity for a broken swallow chick, treated it, and released it, it brought a tremendous gourd.”

“Gourd?”

“Yes! When they split that gourd, countless gold and silver treasures came out!”

At the shocked man’s expression, Gwon Mu-jin smirked.

Whether he should call it a chuckle or a sneer.

Or it might be a laugh that came out without realizing it because that man’s words were so interesting.

“So what do you want me to do?”

“So… if you let me go, I might bring back a tremendous gourd seed… is that not a possibility?”

“Crazy bastard…”

Letting out a sigh of ‘Haa-’, Gwon Mu-jin sighed.

Gwon Mu-jin, who thought he would say some interesting story, shook his head side to side. What thieves thought of was just about the same, so why had he listened to it carefully?

“It is true!”

“Forget it.”

Gwon Mu-jin dragged the man and approached the county office, as if it was no longer even worth listening to.

The constables guarding that place discovered Gwon Mu-jin and hurriedly showed manners, and looking at that alone, it seemed to show how great the name Gwon Mu-jin was in this Yueyang land.

“It is a petty thief. Take him to Lord Hong.”

“Haha, has this rascal come again? You come once every two days, don’t you?”

The constables smiled and grabbed the man.

For a moment, the man’s expression distorted, but no one seemed to care about that.

“Do not think you will get out easily today. You will have to suffer in prison for about one or two years.”

“Ah… No! How can there be such a thing?! It’s not like I killed a person…”

“If you killed a person, your neck would have been cut.”

The constables let out a sigh of ‘Haa-’.

Letting him off was also a thing of once or twice, but since he was caught once every two days, stiff expressions were clear as if they had no intention to let him go easily this time.

The man tried to resist violently, but whether he could not match the strength of the two constables, he had no choice but to be dragged away in the end.

“I wonder if they wouldn’t lock up that guy Jang Sam-tae for one or two years too…”

Gwon Mu-jin, who was staring blankly at that scene, sighed.

* * *

“Oooh! You’ve returned?”

“…….”

The moment he returned to the manor, what was seen was Jang Sam-tae’s figure. Dressed in his usual white robe, he was moving busily.

Fitting for a servant who had worked the longest in this manor, he seemed to know what he had to do better than anyone.

But the sound coming from his mouth was filled with informal speech, unlike before.

That was like a symbol of confidence.

“Yes, yes, what about what I asked for?”

“You mean this?”

“Kehuuuu! This is it, this! How much I wanted to have this!”

Gwon Mu-jin took out a small bottle of liquor from his chest pocket and handed it over. Created recently by the Hoyeon Family, it was said to be a rare liquor that could not be easily obtained even if paying a premium.

Since Jang Sam-tae even knelt to Hoyeon Ji to obtain that, one could roughly imagine how much he wanted to have it.

Jang Sam-tae approached with a big smile, then patted Gwon Mu-jin’s shoulder.

“Thank you, thank you! Even without this, Mae-hyang had been throwing a tantrum saying she wanted to drink this, making it hard, but I was saved thanks to you, saved. Euhahaha!”

Jang Sam-tae turned his back with a big laugh and began to head toward his quarters. In that appearance, he did not seem to think of how his own behavior was just a moment ago in the slightest.

Gwon Mu-jin convulsed his face, trembling.

From immediately after first entering this manor until now, Jang Sam-tae was a fellow whose liver had swollen enormously. However, Gwon Mu-jin did not particularly care, the reason being that no matter how much Jang Sam-tae flew and crawled, he never thought he could surpass himself.

Was this like the feeling of looking at someone who didn’t even reach the toes of a third-rate, as a first-rate martial artist?

Since without a tremendous miraculous encounter he could not surpass him no matter what he did, from Gwon Mu-jin’s standpoint, someone like Jang Sam-tae was not even worth caring about.

But at some point, Jang Sam-tae leaped forward by far to the extent that someone like Gwon Mu-jin was not even visible.

This was also because he made the journey with Dan Woo-hyun for a long time, but just what kind of things he had to experience to increase his skill like that in a short time was beyond comprehension.

Although the existence named Jang Sam-tae was not revealed, he already possessed skill that could be counted among the Hundred Great Experts, and also since he occasionally sparred with Sa Do-hak or Dan Woo-hyun, the thought arose whether the name Five Emperors might go to him someday.

‘Now it is no exaggeration to call him Elder Sa’s disciple.’

Gwon Mu-jin frowned.

This was by no means incorrect.

Sa Do-hak did not refuse to torment Jang Sam-tae as if it was enjoyable, and when engraving those moments in his eyes, most of them were in a way of teaching Sa Do-hak’s martial arts to Jang Sam-tae.

“Damn it…”

Frowning, Gwon Mu-jin turned his gaze.

The one in the same position as Sa Do-hak in this manor.

Jeok Mu-seong came into view.

If Jang Sam-tae had Sa Do-hak, Gwon Mu-jin had Jeok Mu-seong. No, he did think there would be. Because they were fellow unorthodox sect members and he thought they had the most similarities.

However, Jeok Mu-seong was lying on the floor, snoring and sleeping lazily.

What he did would only be playing baduk with other old men or occasionally running around to avoid Dan Woo-hyun’s eyes.

Thinking of Sa Do-hak and Jeok Mu-seong, who differed so much, Gwon Mu-jin felt even more heart-wrenched.

“If you stand in such a place, you will bump into someone.”

A slender voice was heard.

At that moment, Gwon Mu-jin was startled and dodged his body. Zhuge Yeon, who approached with a glide before he knew it, smiled brightly while wriggling her fingers.

Feeling internal energy at the tips of her fingers, had he not dodged, his body might have been pierced.

“Mmm? Your reaction is a bit slower than usual.”

“What are you doing?”

“It’s just that you standing blankly like that caught my attention.”

Zhuge Yeon approached while stealthily narrowing the distance.

Every time she did so, Gwon Mu-jin retreated one step, two steps backward, which even looked as if he was avoiding her.

‘A… A fox-like bitch…’

Gwon Mu-jin broke into a cold sweat, dripping.

As she aged, Zhuge Yeon’s fox disposition grew even stronger. Whether thanks to her knowing better than anyone that she was beautiful, or whether she was anxious because she could not get married, she frequently played with people while emanating a charming scent of a woman.

“Y-Yes! What is it!”

“Huh? Did you notice?”

“Y-You only speak to me when there is work.”

Gwon Mu-jin thought it was a relief that his guess hit the mark. Because if Zhuge Yeon had really approached with good feelings, it was possible his eyes might have flipped in an instant.

She smiled gigglingly.

The bright smile was beautiful to the extent of taking away men’s sanity.

“It is none other than that there is something I want you to help me with.”

“Is it the work of the Heavenly Dao Society?”

“Not particularly that, but… because I heard a worrisome rumor.”

Zhuge Yeon shrugged her shoulders and wore a serious expression.

Then, she seemed to check something while looking around rapidly, and soon spoke with a voice as quiet as a dead mouse, letting out a sound.

“This is just a simple rumor…”

“Rumor?”

“Yes, yes, they say a tremendous treasure is hidden in this Yueyang land right now.”

“……?”

Gwon Mu-jin wore an expression of truly not understanding.

If a tremendous treasure was hidden, someone would have naturally taken it.

Is there not one person in this manor who would strike down even a ghost and bring it back if it was money?

The statement that a treasure even unknown to the one who held the purse strings of Yueyang tightly existed was truly unbelievable and not even trustworthy.

As he smirked with a sneer, Zhuge Yeon frowned.

“I said it’s a rumor, a rumor!”

“Therefore, it must be a false rumor. And if there was such money, it would have already vanished.”

Gwon Mu-jin glanced at the residence where Dan Woo-hyun and Dan So-mi were. He recalled the two people who did not come out of the room, whether they were sleeping or playing.

A child possessing heavenly luck, and a man who is crazy about money.

As long as that man was in this Yueyang, the fact itself that that tremendous money still remained was a ridiculous thing.

“But it’s worth investigating, isn’t it? Right now, the Hao Sect released people, and somehow…”

“It seems it isn’t a lie?”

“At the very least, there must be something interesting, right?”

Zhuge Yeon smiled brightly.

Looking at that appearance, Gwon Mu-jin scratched his head.

Right now, money or the like did not matter to Zhuge Yeon either way. Whether the story that aroused her interest was true or false would also not matter.

She merely looked as if she wished to give stimulation to this life flowing peacefully to the point of being boring.

Gwon Mu-jin let out a sigh of ‘Haa-’ and nodded his head.

“Yes, then what must we do first?”

“That’s right! If there is something interesting, we try everything! That’s what makes a man!”

“Sigh… and so?”

Zhuge Yeon nodded her head, wearing a satisfied expression.

Soon, looking at Gwon Mu-jin who sighed, wearing a spotlessly bright expression, she spoke.

“First… we must beat up the Hao Sect, right?”

Gwon Mu-jin grabbed his glabella as if having a headache.

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