Chapter 546: Side Story 46

Chapter side_46

“Uaaaa… Uaaaaaagh-!”

Yichang, a safehouse located somewhere.

In a place where no one ever visited, violent screams and the sound of smashing furniture rang out fiercely. Things were breaking and shattering to pieces, as if vomiting out anger toward someone.

“M-My lord! C-Calm… Please calm down!”

“Calm down?! You want me to calm down? How could you say that after seeing this!”

Chu Jakhwan raised his voice while grinding his teeth.

His right cheek was horribly disfigured from burns that caused his skin to necrotize. On the contrary, his left cheek was bright red as if struck by something, and even if he recovered with time, he would likely never regain his original appearance.

Ultimately, Chu Jakhwan’s beautiful appearance could no longer be found.

“Son of a bitch, son of a bitch…! How dare that beggar-looking bastard do this to me!”

To say he was angry wouldn’t be enough to explain this emotion.

What should he call this intensely boiling emotion where his resentment flared up and his teeth ground against each other? Even if the bastard was right in front of him, tearing him apart wouldn’t be enough to forgive him.

“The branch? What happened to the branch?”

“T-That is… Gu Nokjin died and became a corpse, and everyone else was escorted to Beijing. It seems negotiations will begin between the Imperial Family and the Murim Alliance.”

“Keuk…! Stupid bastard!”

Ever since he met that bastard, nothing worked out.

From the moment they first met until now.

He gained absolutely nothing and only lost things. What kind of bastard was he to have learned such a fierce martial art?

Furthermore, wasn’t the girl beside him even carrying around a white tiger?

Every single one of them was a bizarre companion.

Unlike how he thought of them simply at first, this situation forced him to think a bit deeper about them.

“Did the Cult send a reply?”

“Not yet.”

Chu Jakhwan frowned.

Because the situation was sudden, he tried to get as much help from the Cult as possible, but it seemed it would still take some time for the message to arrive.

Due to the distance, it couldn’t be helped that it was delayed.

“Where are… they right now?”

“Currently, that man and girl are both traveling in a carriage toward Wudang.”

“Wudang…?”

“Yes, we can’t be sure… but looking at their route, it is definitely toward Wudang.”

Wudang… To Wudang?

One of the two pillars of the Orthodox Faction.

Although they received evaluations that they were not as good as before, they were still one of the most influential factions in the Orthodox Murim, so it wasn’t a place they could move carelessly in.

“Even so… there’s nothing we can’t do.”

Chu Jakhwan touched his face and smiled deeply. He wanted to tear the limbs of the bastard who made him like this into a hundred or a thousand pieces, but that would definitely not be an easy task.

That was because the difference in skill was already obvious.

“How many personnel do we have at Wudang?”

“…A little over two hundred.”

They were the spies hidden by the Heaven and Earth Cult to destroy Wudang, one of the Nine Great Sects and One Union. Their numbers were quite significant, so they would be more helpful than the stupid Gu Nokjin, not less.

“Good… Then… there’s nothing we can’t do.”

Chu Jakhwan showed a deep smile.

If doing it alone didn’t work, he would mobilize many. If many didn’t work, he would mobilize even more. Ultimately, war was won by the side with more quantity.

He knew this principle better than anyone else.

* * *

“You have to be careful! Got it? You get easily distracted, so you fall for tricks quickly!”

“Saying I get distracted… that’s too harsh…”

Ju Ji-yak looked at Dan So-mi with an expression full of worry and concern. She knew they had to leave soon, so she didn’t want to hold onto her for long, but looking at Dan So-mi’s face naturally brought bad thoughts.

Of course, she knew it was an unnecessary worry.

It was because there was someone who always stayed by her side to protect her.

However, since this was Zhongyuan, where situations worse than last time could happen anywhere, she couldn’t help but say another word.

“I told you not to worry. So-mi is fine!”

“…You started saying So-mi again.”

“Ugh!?”

Dan So-mi blushed deeply and turned her gaze away. Calling herself by her own name was something she had been accustomed to for a long time, so it wasn’t easily fixed.

It sometimes popped out when she spoke without thinking.

At that sight, Ju Ji-yak sighed and clenched her fists.

“Jinrang really… she just had to say something unnecessary…”

-You… How old are you to still be saying So-mi this, So-mi that? Are you a kid?

Ju Ji-yak thought of Hong Jinrang in her mind and her cheeks trembled. She was the worst of the worst for changing So-mi’s cute way of speaking with just a single sentence.

If she saw her later, she definitely wouldn’t leave her alone.

“Haha- Now, now, since we have to depart soon, let’s part ways here.”

At that moment, Namgung Cheon stealthily approached and guided Dan So-mi away.

If he didn’t forcefully separate them like this, Ju Ji-yak would stubbornly refuse to let go of Dan So-mi.

Only then did Dan So-mi smile and wave her hand as she got on the carriage, and Ju Ji-yak also smiled in return and shifted her gaze.

“What is it?”

“…What could it be?”

At the end of her gaze, Jang Sam-tae was wearing a bamboo hat with a deep frown. Even though he should know her identity, his blunt attitude toward her wasn’t pleasing at all.

However, since he was the one in charge of Dan So-mi’s meals and chores, he was an indispensable and important person.

Ju Ji-yak rummaged through her clothes and pulled out a small plaque.

“Here.”

“What is this? Is it worth money?”

“…No, I heard you get inspected everywhere you go. You just need to show this then.”

Jang Sam-tae repeatedly inspected the plaque from every angle. This hexagonal plaque had someone’s crest intricately carved into it, and even at a glance, the quality of the wood and the craftsmanship were top-tier, making it seem like a valuable plaque.

Jang Sam-tae half-listened and opened his mouth.

“How much would I get if I sold it?”

“If you sell it, you’ll smell dirt instead of money. Your neck will snap and fall to the ground.”

Ju Ji-yak casually drew her right hand across her neck and smiled.

She was smiling broadly, but she definitely wasn’t smiling sincerely.

“T-Thanks. Ahem!”

Ju Ji-yak looked at Jang Sam-tae with eyes that couldn’t trust him. It was clear from her expression that she was wondering if she had given him something unnecessary.

Perhaps it was because she felt like taking it back again?

Jang Sam-tae hurriedly hid it in his clothes and burst into loud laughter.

“Uhaha-! Anyway, I’ll put it to good use, kiddo!”

“I’m telling you again… you’ll be in big trouble if you sell it. You have to return it later.”

“O-Of course. W-Why would I sell this…”

Jang Sam-tae quickly composed his expression and coughed dryly. It was a shame since he felt like he could get at least dozens of taels for it, but it was better than having his neck fly off.

“Have you packed all the luggage?”

At that moment, Dan Woo-hyun walked toward the carriage and asked. His appearance, approaching with a still blunt expression, was so heavy that it naturally made people shrink back.

“Of course, hehe! I’ve packed everything you need.”

“Just ten more days to Wudang. I don’t want any more annoying things happening, so we’ll travel through places with as few people as possible.”

“Uha… you’re saying difficult things again.”

Jang Sam-tae broke out in a cold sweat.

He had the plaque Ju Ji-yak gave him, and he had hidden money.

He wanted to go straight to Wudang and stop by a village to casually flaunt his money, but because of Dan Woo-hyun’s decision, all his plans went up in smoke.

Jang Sam-tae sighed deeply in frustration.

At that moment, Dan Woo-hyun stealthily approached Jang Sam-tae.

Meeting his gaze intently gave off a strange feeling.

He subconsciously stepped back and asked.

“W-What is it?”

“…”

Dan Woo-hyun didn’t say anything.

He just looked at the retreating Jang Sam-tae and lightly held out his hand. Because it looked as if he was demanding something, everyone watching had a puzzled expression.

“A-Ah-! T-The plaque? This is… since I’m driving the carriage, I thought it would be… good if I held onto it…”

“Not that.”

In an instant, Jang Sam-tae’s face crumpled fiercely.

Becoming certain of something due to the way he spoke, he figured out what Dan Woo-hyun wanted at once. He unconsciously grabbed his chest where his money pouch was and slowly backed away.

“This… You can’t have this! It’s mine!”

“…I’ll save it and give it back to you when you’re older, so hand it over.”

“Am I a kid!?”

He spewed absurd words as if a parent were taking their child’s allowance. When Jang Sam-tae gritted his teeth and put more strength into his chest, Dan Woo-hyun smirked.

“I’ll increase it five times.”

“When?! When I die?”

“…”

Looking at the lack of response, Jang Sam-tae shuddered.

Increase my ass.

Once it goes in, it will never come back out.

“Anyway, no! I refuse! This is mine!”

“Then whatever.”

Dan Woo-hyun furrowed his brows slightly as he watched Jang Sam-tae, who refused to back down easily. However, since there were eyes watching, he couldn’t forcibly take it from him, so he let out a small sigh and got on the carriage.

“Why are you trying to steal an innocent person’s money?”

Namgung So-hye shook her head side to side as she watched that.

They had already received a lot of money from Hong Wonchang, and they also originally had quite a bit of money. She couldn’t know how much Jang Sam-tae had, but she wondered if he really needed to take it away.

“I had a place to send it.”

“What did you say?! Where are you sending my money? It’s mine!”

At the sound from behind, Jang Sam-tae was startled and yelled. Even though he had hundreds of taels, why was he trying to send his money instead of that?

It was an utterly absurd statement.

And at that moment, Dan Woo-hyun smirked.

“Ugh?!”

The moment he saw that, he got a bad feeling.

He couldn’t erase the feeling that he had somehow been swindled.

What was this? This shitty sensation?

The moment Jang Sam-tae looked at Dan Woo-hyun with a trembling gaze, he smiled with his eyes and spoke.

“I was planning to send it home. For your wife, who is suffering alone.”

“Gasp?!”

“W-Was that your intention?”

“Haha- Now that you mention it, she doesn’t have a source of income. Everything went into the bank under the name of Family Head Dan… She wouldn’t be able to withdraw it without Family Head Dan…”

Money overflowed in the Hunan Dan Family.

However, it wasn’t that others had a lot of money; it was Dan Woo-hyun who had a lot of money. Most of the income from the guest house or the merchant group was deposited into the bank under Dan Woo-hyun’s name, so it couldn’t be retrieved without him.

Therefore, since a considerable amount of time had passed since they left home, it was time for Maehang to run out of money.

Everyone’s gazes poured toward Jang Sam-tae.

Both the old men as well as Dan So-mi and Namgung So-hye.

Every single one of them had clear disappointment in their eyes.

“Ah… Ah, damn it-! Ah, I just have to give it to you! Fine! Here! This is all of it!”

Jang Sam-tae had tears in his eyes as he emptied his money pouch and handed it over, and Dan Woo-hyun smirked as he accepted and kept it.

“Don’t worry. She’ll be fine…”

“Whatever!?”

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