Chapter 515: Side Story 15

Chapter 15

“How amusing.”

Tang Mun-hye sent a dumbfounded look as she gazed at the newly uploaded information.

The world-renowned Hunan Dan Family.

The place that had been dead quiet for the past few years struck the Gongcheon Sect?

It was somewhat hard to understand.

“Was there even a connection between the Hunan Dan Family and the Gongcheon Sect in the first place?”

“No… We found nothing.”

The man collecting information for the Heavenly Path Society shook his head. Just as Tang Mun-hye said, they investigated in various directions to see if there was some connection, but they got nothing out of it.

The Hunan Dan Family was so clean from the beginning that one would wonder if they even knew of a place called the Gongcheon Sect.

Because the incident occurred in such a situation, they couldn’t get a feel for what reason on earth they had annihilated the Gongcheon Sect.

“Did they mess with the daughter of the Hunan Dan Family?”

“That daughter is known to be in Yueyang. There is no connection with her either…”

“Or did they offend the Patriarch?”

“That hasn’t been grasped either.”

“How troublesome.”

Tang Mun-hye let out a sigh with a ‘haa’.

The Gongcheon Sect was supposedly a pillar of the Righteous Faction. Since such a place collapsed in an instant, they rightfully had to investigate it and bring the truth to light clearly.

It meant they couldn’t just gloss over it just because it was done by the Hunan Dan Family and no one could touch that place.

The families of the deceased wouldn’t just sit still.

Weren’t the families of the sect disciples already visiting to ask them to investigate this matter anyway?

“Are there any disciples who came out alive?”

“Yes, there are. We investigated them for now, but their gibberish is really… It almost seems like they’re hiding something…”

“It must be something important. Something that might cause big trouble if known to others.”

Tang Mun-hye nodded as she put the situation into her head. She didn’t know the details of what had happened, but the Gongcheon Sect must have definitely offended the Hunan Dan Family.

They just needed to grasp that fact clearly.

“Bring them all here. I will investigate them myself. And the man who annihilated the Gongcheon Sect is…?”

“Well… you know? He’s a servant of the Hunan Dan Family…”

“…”

The moment she heard the word servant, Tang Mun-hye pinched the bridge of her nose.

Just what kind of place was it that a servant could crush a sect all by himself?

It was something that not even the renowned clans, let alone Shaolin, the oldest prestigious sect, could do.

“I truly wonder what kind of place that family is, really…”

“Ha… haha…”

At Tang Mun-hye’s words, the man also nodded in agreement.

Because no matter how much he thought about it, it was incredibly hard to believe that a servant had crushed a sect.

“Then where is that person heading?”

“He is currently said to have entered Gansu.”

“Gansu… If it’s Gansu…?”

The moment Tang Mun-hye looked at the man with a questioning expression, he smiled awkwardly and nodded.

“There is the Jin-do Clan, which has built an intimate relationship with the Gongcheon Sect.”

“Haa…”

Tang Mun-hye sighed and leaned against her chair.

When it came to the Jin-do Clan, it wasn’t as much as the Gongcheon Sect, but it was a place with considerable influence. Since the Kongtong Sect had fallen and they took its place, their influence could be said to be unimaginably large.

“But wouldn’t it be a good thing if that place also falls? It means two factions that view the Heavenly Path Society unfavorably will disappear.”

“Right…?”

Listening to the story, Tang Mun-hye had to think positively. Ultimately, if everything turned out to benefit the Heavenly Path Society, it was a gain; it wouldn’t be a loss.

“Since the Society Leader hasn’t said anything either, I think it would be fine to just leave it be…”

“You mean… cover it up by saying the Gongcheon Sect did everything wrong, right?”

“Hahaha.”

“Hohoho.”

Tang Mun-hye burst into laughter, giggling.

Ultimately, it was because she wasn’t unaware that this was what he meant.

Soon, clapping her hands together, she stood up from her seat.

“Then let’s do that. From start to finish, it was ‘entirely’ the Gongcheon Sect’s fault.”

Smiling brightly, she trudged outside.

* * *

Jang Sam-tae, completely unaware that someone was taking care of his aftermath, had already entered Gansu.

He looked around with eyes filled with deep emotion, reminiscing about the past.

“It was truly a piece of shit…”

Jang Sam-tae laughed ‘haha’.

It wasn’t just a piece of shit.

He starved to the point of desperation and went around wearing rags because he had nothing to wear. In winter, his hands and feet froze solid, and in summer, he struggled, exhausted by the heat.

Because Jang Sam-tae had lived such a life, he was realizing anew just how greatly his life had changed now.

And he took another step forward.

“Lanzhou… Lanzhou, huh…”

The place visible right now was Lanzhou, which could be called the capital of Gansu.

It was quite a large place, and during his childhood, it was too far away for him to even visit properly. After his little sister died, he once walked all the way here alone and stayed for a while, and during that time, he met Geum Dae-ryang and earnestly learned stealing and lightness art.

Technically, it was the turning point of his life, but Jang Sam-tae’s expression as he looked at the place was not very good.

“We… said we’d come together once.”

Recalling the face of a little girl drawn in his mind, he rubbed his tingling nose.

Dressing his little sister in nice clothes and buying her delicious food here in Lanzhou was Jang Sam-tae’s dream as a child. Ultimately, that wasn’t kept, but looking at Lanzhou like this continuously brought up those thoughts.

Jang Sam-tae walked down the street, recalling the past one by one.

With a candy he couldn’t afford to buy back then in his mouth like a child, he looked around and then suddenly approached a draper’s shop, thinking of something.

“Give me two sets of this.”

As he bought two sets of silk clothes that were unimaginably precious back then, the realization finally hit him that he would soon be able to meet his little sister.

“Goodness, what is this trivial thing anyway…”

Holding the silk clothes in one hand, Jang Sam-tae approached a visible street stall nearby. Sitting down casually and ordering some somyeon to eat, why did it taste so good?

Unknowingly, his eyes reddened.

“Somyeon! I want to eat somyeon! They say Lanzhou’s somyeon is super delicious!”

The moment a young child’s face came to mind, his heart tightened even more. It was just a bowl of somyeon, so why didn’t he even have the money to buy this back then?

If he had just come to his senses a little more and worked hard, wouldn’t he have been able to buy something like this as much as she wanted?

Such regrets rushed in like a tide.

“Haa-.”

Jang Sam-tae, who finished eating the somyeon without leaving a single drop of broth, finally made a satisfied expression.

Soon, staring fixedly at the empty bowl, he laughed.

“It tastes disgustingly bad… Damn it.”

“What did you say?!”

Did he hear that?

The stall owner shouted roughly. Jang Sam-tae, who turned his head at the shout ringing in his ears, slapped a chunk of silver on the table.

“Goodness! I heard Lanzhou somyeon was so delicious, but it seems that was all a bluff! How can you do business when it tastes this bad? Stop going around deceiving kids.”

“Is… is it really that bad?”

“Then are you saying my tongue is retarded?”

The power of a tael of silver was this great.

Jang Sam-tae, who paid a tael of silver for a mere bowl of somyeon, was also a crazy bastard, but the stall owner, who had raised his voice and seemed ready to grab him by the collar just a moment ago, completely changed his face and was smiling foolishly.

“Oh my, it’s because this lowly one lacks skill. I’ll serve it a bit more deliciously next time!”

“No, just stop doing business.”

Giving a short answer, Jang Sam-tae stood up from his seat.

If it were now, he could boil a somyeon several times more delicious than this. It was a source of bitter regret that the little sister he could make it for was no longer there, but what was the point of regretting and lamenting an irreversible matter now?

“Huh? You… aren’t you Sam-tae?”

Just then, a voice was heard from somewhere.

Feeling puzzled that someone recognized him, Jang Sam-tae turned his head. In the direction the sound came from stood a middle-aged man wearing clothes that were no better than rags.

He held a gourd bowl in his hand, and although he looked like a beggar, his considerable physique suggested he might be the boss of a beggar gang.

Looking at him, Jang Sam-tae sent a questioning glance.

“Who are you?”

“Look at this guy? Don’t you remember me? It’s Mukho, Mukho.”

“Ah… him?”

“Ah, him? Oh, really now?”

Scratching his head, Jang Sam-tae wore a sullen expression.

As he mentioned Mukho, forgotten memories surfaced one by one. Back when he first arrived in Lanzhou and went around begging, he was one of the local thugs who had made quite a name for himself in the vicinity.

He was a vicious bastard who managed orphans who had lost their parents, sold kids with quite good looks to brothels, and extorted the wages of the boys by making them work.

Since he didn’t hesitate to throw them away the moment they fell sick in bed, it was no exaggeration to say he was an object of terror to the orphans around here.

Of course, this applied to Jang Sam-tae as well.

Whenever he did all sorts of work under him and brought money and food, he would only get a very small portion, and all the rest went into Mukho’s pockets.

Then he fell sick and was bedridden, and that was when Geum Dae-ryang took him in.

“Hahaha, you look somewhat decent now. It feels like just yesterday that I took in a dying bastard.”

Jang Sam-tae tilted his head.

Because he couldn’t understand what Mukho’s words meant.

Didn’t he rather take in a perfectly fine kid, work him like crazy, and then throw him away when he was dying? He couldn’t help but wonder if his own memory was flawed or if Mukho’s was.

At that moment, when Jang Sam-tae didn’t answer, Mukho’s face turned bright red.

Even if it was when he was young, he was a child he had taken in once.

The hierarchy doesn’t change just because one grows up, yet he didn’t even bow his head and was looking at him with clear eyes. There wasn’t even any fear toward Mukho in those eyes.

“Seeing you like this is fate too. Follow me, I’ll treat you to a cup of tea.”

“Well, if you’re offering…”

Jang Sam-tae followed behind Mukho nonchalantly.

He didn’t care even though he knew he was grinning slyly. He almost looked like someone who knew he could effortlessly overcome whatever he tried to do.

Like that, the two men left the marketplace and moved to a deserted back alley.

Jang Sam-tae’s head turned continuously.

The marketplace earlier had a distinctly different feel from the past, but the moment he entered this alley, it felt as if he had returned to the old days.

‘I got beaten to a pulp in that alley. And did I get beaten up and throw up over there?’

Jang Sam-tae laughed, savoring the past.

The place where he was beaten was visible, and the place where he collapsed and cried was still there. Even the bleak smell carried by the wind hadn’t changed, making it truly the best place to recall his old self.

Jang Sam-tae, who had been walking for quite a while, stopped in his tracks before he knew it.

Because Mukho, who was walking ahead, had stopped.

At the same time, men stealthily revealed themselves around them.

“What’s this?”

“Uhaha! You stupid fool! Did you think I would treat someone like you to tea? Seeing you earlier, it seems you have a quite hefty pouch, so hand it over quietly!”

Mukho took out the dagger he had hidden in his chest and threatened him.

At the same time, even the other men who swarmed in had smiles on their lips.

A prey that walked in on its own two feet.

It seemed there was no way they would let it go.

“Oh my… he never changes, this bastard.”

Jang Sam-tae scratched his head vigorously and let out a sigh.

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