Chapter 509: Side Story 9

Chapter side_9

“Ah! Didn’t I tell you not to follow me?”

“Tsk, you brat! Aren’t you being too harsh to a master you’re meeting after a long time?”

“What do you mean, when you thought I was already dead…”

“Ahem…”

Perhaps because of Geum Dae-ryang chasing him from behind, Jang Sam-tae’s expression wouldn’t brighten up. It actually felt better to meet Dan Woo-hyun, because his memories of being bullied during his childhood were still vivid.

Also, thinking about the reason why he had taught him such a lightness art while knowing he would die, he even suspected that it was some sort of experiment.

That was why his attitude towards Geum Dae-ryang was poor.

“Right, you rascal. How have you been? Is your body okay?”

“Are you worried about my body? Or are you asking because you’re genuinely worried about how I’ve lived?”

“Well… B-Both.”

“Bullshit…”

“What did you say?!”

“What!”

Geum Dae-ryang tried to shout in a raspy voice, but it wasn’t like in the past. It was partly because Jang Sam-tae had grown too much in the first place, but also because so much time had passed that he lacked the energy he used to have.

“Why on earth are you doing this? Aren’t we already finished with each other? I’m asking why you keep following me!”

“There’s nothing you won’t say to a master you’re meeting after a long time.”

Geum Dae-ryang smiled awkwardly and sighed.

He had certainly done something he shouldn’t have to Jang Sam-tae.

It might have been something he absolutely shouldn’t have done, but from Geum Dae-ryang’s perspective, it was also a way to fill Jang Sam-tae’s lacking life in his own way.

He was a child who had given up on life after losing his younger sister.

Since it was an act of giving motivation to live to a child with nothing left, he also had his own pride in it and didn’t think it was wrong.

However, he knew that from the opposite perspective, one wouldn’t be able to think of it positively, so he could only feel apologetic.

“Phew, seriously!”

Did Jang Sam-tae see that expression on Geum Dae-ryang’s face?

He let out a deep sigh and scratched his head.

Although he still had an expression indicating his reluctance, he sat on a rock in a secluded area with a noticeably softer expression than before.

“So, why on earth are you in a place like this, Master? Did you squander all the wealth you had gathered? It’s really weird that you’re going around pickpocketing.”

“Ahem!”

Geum Dae-ryang’s face turned red.

Who was he?

A thief acknowledged by the whole world.

He could be considered such an incredible person that rumors said even the homes of those called the Five Emperors weren’t safe if the Golden King Hands made a move. For someone like him to be doing pickpocketing instead of robbing houses was a strange sight to anyone.

Because of that, Jang Sam-tae cast him a peculiar look.

“Th… That is…”

Clearing his throat, Geum Dae-ryang quietly approached and sat next to Jang Sam-tae. When he saw him in his childhood, his shoulders and body felt very large, but now he looked quite small.

That seemed to stimulate Jang Sam-tae’s emotions.

“What is it?”

“You should know by now too, right? Our sect’s lightness art is the best, but…”

“You mean that you die?”

“Y… Yes…”

Geum Dae-ryang made an awkward expression at how straightforwardly he brought it up. Even as he spoke, his apologetic feeling didn’t fade, making every single word cautious.

“So I’ve been trying hard in my own way to fix that… but it hasn’t been easy.”

“Hmm…”

Jang Sam-tae knew enough that it definitely wasn’t a lie. This was partly because he had already seen what he had done in Sichuan, and furthermore, there was no reason for Geum Dae-ryang to lie in this situation.

“Then by chance, I heard something incredible… that the Martial God’s secret manual is hidden inside the Potala Palace.”

Geum Dae-ryang lowered his voice and whispered.

He wasn’t unaware of what would happen if he carelessly spouted the words ‘Martial God’s secret manual’. Therefore, he lowered his voice so that no one else would hear and only Jang Sam-tae could hear it.

Jang Sam-tae, who was initially surprised, soon put on an unimpressed expression.

“So?”

“What do you mean, ‘so’? Who is this Geum Dae-ryang? I am the Golden King Hands. I went and stole it right away.”

“…”

The only person who could speak of entering the great Potala Palace as if it were his own house was probably Geum Dae-ryang.

Although Jang Sam-tae clicked his tongue and made a dumbfounded expression, Geum Dae-ryang beat his chest with a confident face and burst into a hearty laugh.

It was as if he was saying he wasn’t dead yet.

“So, was it really the Martial God’s martial art?”

“Of course it was! I brought it and started researching it, but…”

“But?”

Geum Dae-ryang scratched his head vigorously.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

Then he met an old man. That person, who said he was once a part of the Hao Clan, was quite haggard and had murderous intent in his eyes.

It wasn’t that he was scary, but because his body was so small that he thought he could subdue him easily.

“The Hao Clan…?”

“Yeah… I spent a few months with that guy, you see… This bastard ran away with the secret manual while I was sleeping. Hah…”

Thinking about that time still made him angry.

While the great Geum Dae-ryang getting robbed was absurd enough, he never dreamed that the guy he saved from the brink of death would backstab him and disappear.

“This is why they say you can’t trust two-legged creatures, honestly…”

“So you came out to find that guy?”

“Y-Yeah…”

Geum Dae-ryang ground his teeth as he thought of the person he brought to mind. He was filled with thoughts of tearing him to shreds if he was right in front of him, but his frustration only grew as he couldn’t spot him easily.

“What kind of guy is he?”

Jang Sam-tae looked at Geum Dae-ryang with an appalled expression.

That prickly and suspicious old man seemed to have lost much of his temper as time passed.

Was there anything funnier than someone who lived without showing kindness to anyone and doubting everyone getting backstabbed?

“He said he was once the Hao Clan Leader. It’s not even funny! A Hao Clan Leader wouldn’t go around saying he is the Hao Clan Leader. This Geum Dae-ryang must have gone crazy, hah…”

“…”

“He said he was going to take some kind of revenge, but I don’t know if it went properly. In my view, that secret manual is a sacred object that shouldn’t be practiced carelessly. He probably became a corpse somewhere.”

Jang Sam-tae looked at Geum Dae-ryang with a crooked expression.

The more he listened to the story, the more someone kept coming to mind, and it definitely wasn’t a misunderstanding.

He massaged his throbbing forehead and sighed.

“Was it because of you, you crazy old man!”

“What?! Why are you suddenly throwing a fit, throwing a fit! What did I do!”

“Aigoo, you frustrating old man! Why did you let something like that get stolen and bother people!”

“Why would you be bothered, bothered?! What have you done! The frustrated one is actually me!”

Jang Sam-tae felt aggrieved.

If Geum Dae-ryang hadn’t brought the secret manual out of the Potala Palace, or if he hadn’t had it stolen by some moron, there would have been no need for him to kill a person uncomfortably or put in such effort.

However, seemingly having no intention of going into detail, Jang Sam-tae let out a long sigh and spoke.

“Haa, if it’s about that, give it up. It’s probably already turned to ashes somewhere…”

“Eying! I was planning to do that anyway! But that’s not the only problem!”

“Then what else? What kind of trouble are you causing?”

Geum Dae-ryang crossed his arms and swallowed a groan.

As if he didn’t know where to begin the story, he briefly looked up at the sky and then smiled with a dejected expression.

“That is…”

Thud thud-!

At that moment, the sound of footsteps was heard.

As Jang Sam-tae turned his head and looked around, people in bizarre clothing started gathering one by one.

Judging by the clothes embroidered with the character ‘Gong’, they seemed to be from some sect, but why were such people blocking their path?

Moreover, it wasn’t just one or two people.

At least twenty people.

Seeing them gathering one by one, it looked like there could be twice that many.

Cold sweat streamed down Jang Sam-tae’s face.

The gathered people had already drawn their swords.

“H… Hey, what on earth have you been doing?”

“No, I’m telling you. How did those bastards know I had the secret manual? They keep chasing me.”

“You said you don’t have it now!”

“They don’t believe me!”

From Geum Dae-ryang’s perspective, he also felt wronged.

The secret manual was stolen, but they came looking for it. Even when he told them he was robbed and didn’t have it in the first place, they completely refused to believe him.

It seemed they just considered it an excuse.

‘Well… I wouldn’t believe it either…’

Jang Sam-tae smiled awkwardly.

It was none other than the Martial God’s secret manual. It was a rather big issue to simply gloss over with the words ‘it was stolen’. Even if he really lost it, they would expect him to at least have a copy.

“Golden King Hands! Will you come quietly? Or will you get a bone broken?”

“Hey, you crazy bastards! Why are you so persistent? I really don’t have it!”

Geum Dae-ryang shouted as if feeling wronged.

However, as if it didn’t work at all, they just sneered. Since they were risking their lives for the Martial God’s secret manual in the first place, there was no way they would easily believe him even if he said he didn’t have it.

“Come quietly!”

“If you pull out a sword and tell me to follow you, would you go if you were me, you crazy bastard!”

Even Jang Sam-tae shouted at the absurd situation.

The opponents were already acting threateningly and applying pressure, so anyone, even a coward, would know that their life wouldn’t be safe the moment they followed.

Therefore.

“Let’s bounce!”

“Ack!”

Geum Dae-ryang grabbed the back of Jang Sam-tae’s neck and threw his body forward. Rising into the air in a flash, his appearance truly didn’t seem strange to be called the Golden King Hands.

The claim of being the greatest lightness art in the Central Plains was by no means empty words.

Watching him disappear into the distance in an instant, the men were flustered.

Grinding their teeth as if determined not to lose him this time, they shouted.

“Chase him!”

***

“Who on earth are those bastards?”

Jang Sam-tae shouted while looking at Geum Dae-ryang leading the way. Although he could somewhat understand the purpose of their pursuit, they were people who were bold enough to engage in a chase in broad daylight in this kind of situation where the Heavenly Dao Society’s influence was growing unimaginably large.

They didn’t seem to care if their motives were discovered.

“It’s the Gongcheon Sect, the Gongcheon Sect! Don’t you know?”

“How would I know?”

“You know, back when there was all that talk about Blood Heaven or whatever. They are the guys who popped up back then. I hear they have quite a bit of influence now. Did they say even the Heavenly Dao Society can’t mess with them easily?”

“…There were guys like that too?”

The times had changed a lot. Although the Heavenly Dao Society was rapidly expanding its influence, those who had built up their forces while they were laying low were now exerting an influence comparable to the Nine Great Sects or the Eight Great Families.

Among them, the Gongcheon Sect was one of the top five sects. It was said that their power alone was enough to rival the Heavenly Dao Society.

“Goodness, why do you keep getting entangled with weirdos!”

Jang Sam-tae shouted with a tearful face.

A very long time ago, he had been entangled with the Sichuan Tang Family and faced a life-threatening crisis, and it seemed a connection with people just as formidable had begun this time as well.

Jang Sam-tae missed Dan Woo-hyun with tears in his eyes.

It would be more comfortable to just wait on him by his side.

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