Chapter 4: The Invincible Porter (2)
While going to Anhui Province where the Swift Tiger Escort Agency was located, Chui reminisced about the past over several days.
Swift Tiger Escort Agency.
And the Tiger Pit Sect, which operated the Swift Tiger Escort Agency.
That place was quite meaningful to Chui as well.
‘…It was a good place. Since they treated even a drifter like me well.’
The Sect Leader of the Tiger Pit Sect, Ho Yeon-am, and his wife, Sa Ji-won, were people with inherently good natures.
They took affectionate care of everyone belonging to the Swift Tiger Escort Agency.
It was the same for the escorts, of course, as well as the daily-wage porters like Chui.
Porters employed by the escort agency were those who took full charge of loading and unloading tasks like loading and unloading cargo from carriages, simple cleaning, and all other minor chores.
Ho Yeon-am and Sa Ji-won would personally look after each of those porters, always checking if they had any difficulties while working.
Naturally, all the porters liked the Swift Tiger Escort Agency.
This was because they were never late on the daily wage, which was usually cut or withheld, they were provided with meals every time, and above all, they were treated like human beings.
Chui, too, had a good impression of the Swift Tiger Escort Agency during the days he worked as a porter.
However, the reason Chui was heading toward the Swift Tiger Escort Agency now was not just for that.
‘I wonder if that fellow is doing well. They should still be alive at this point in time.’
Chui was recalling the face of a man who was an old friend and comrade-in-arms he met on the battlefield, and with whom he later swore brotherhood.
Ho Ye-yang.
The immediate senior soldier he met when he enlisted in the army as a low-ranking soldier.
A fighter who was as short and skinny as himself, but could use his fists incredibly well.
Because of burns, his face and Adam’s apple were festered, which made his voice strange as well, so he was alienated by everyone inside the military barracks, but he and Chui got along quite well.
Chui followed Ho Ye-yang around to learn what was necessary for survival, and thanks to that, he managed to preserve his life in several battles.
After that, Ho Ye-yang and Chui became irreplaceable senior and junior, no, sworn brothers.
The two of them slept tangled together in the same barracks and ate food from the same bowl.
They knew all of each other’s pasts and had no secrets they couldn’t share.
Then one day, Chui met the Blood Demon.
At that time, Ho Ye-yang was together with Chui.
‘If you do not let go of that hand, I will detonate the signal flare.’
Toward the Blood Demon who was holding Chui’s neck, Ho Ye-yang threatened while risking his life.
Ultimately, the Blood Demon, acknowledging Ho Ye-yang’s momentum, released Chui, and that night, Ho Ye-yang and Chui became the disciples of the Blood Demon.
The harsh master drove his two disciples to the battlefield and whipped them endlessly.
Every time Ho Ye-yang and Chui brought back herbs at the risk of their lives, the Blood Demon slowly recovered his body.
And one night, the Blood Demon said to his two disciples.
‘This is the final deal.’
The Blood Demon said to Chui.
‘The herb to fetch this time is a hundred-year-old snow ginseng. Can you do it?’
‘I will do it.’
The Blood Demon looked at Chui, who replied that he would do it rather than discussing whether he could or not, with a strange expression.
At that time, Ho Ye-yang chimed in with an objection.
‘A hundred-year-old snow ginseng is difficult to obtain with our current skills. Before that, how about you open our Conception and Governing Vessels first?’
‘……’
The Blood Demon hesitated.
This was because, to open Chui’s Conception and Governing Vessels, he had to use some of the herbs Chui had fetched so far.
And originally, those were meant to be used to recover the Blood Demon’s body.
Ho Ye-yang continued to speak.
‘If you use those herbs to open our Conception and Governing Vessels, we will be able to procure the final ingredients you mentioned. We can just fill in the depleted herbs together afterward.’
At those words, the Blood Demon ultimately nodded.
Soon, Chui and Ho Ye-yang sat down facing each other.
Ho Ye-yang spoke first.
‘Chui. Open your Conception and Governing Vessels first.’
‘No. You do it first.’
‘You do it first, and I will do it next.’
‘You do it first, and let me do it next.’
‘Listen to me. This time, you open your Conception and Governing Vessels first, and I will fetch the herbs during that time. After that, I will open mine, and you fetch the herbs. You know that the person who goes out to get the herbs last has it harder, right?’
At Ho Ye-yang’s concession, Chui was forced to nod.
And that night, while the Blood Demon was opening Chui’s Conception and Governing Vessels, Ho Ye-yang risked his life to procure the necessary herbs.
It was a journey so dangerous that even the strengthened Ho Ye-yang returned with seven arrows lodged in his back and waist.
Soon, Ho Ye-yang entrusted his Conception and Governing Vessels to the Blood Demon.
During that time, the Blood Demon instructed Chui to procure the final herbs needed for his recovery.
Chui infiltrated the enemy camp at the risk of his life for Ho Ye-yang.
And soon, he succeeded in stealing the hundred-year-old snow ginseng that a high-ranking commander had prepared for his physical nourishment.
‘Now it is done. Sworn brother, master, everyone will get better.’
However, the return journey was longer and more perilous than the journey coming here.
His arm was almost cut off about twice, and he almost drowned to death about four times.
While crawling on his stomach to avoid flying arrows, he had to lose an ear and three fingers.
After crossing several rivers and crossing mountains like that, Chui returned.
However, the scene that welcomed Chui was completely different from his expectations.
The Blood Demon, dead with his head severed.
And Ho Ye-yang, pouring blood from every orifice of his body.
Toward Chui, who had a blank expression, Ho Ye-yang smiled bitterly.
‘Didn’t you already know? Hong Gong had no intention of keeping us alive anyway. I just moved a little earlier.’
The Blood Demon tried to kill Ho Ye-yang immediately after Chui left.
And Ho Ye-yang, knowing that, reversed the flow of the demonic energy running through the Qi and blood of his entire body, causing himself to explode and die.
And he had sent Chui away first before that.
‘Do not cry. Killing a single disabled old man was nothing.’
Ho Ye-yang waved a chipped sword and chuckled.
‘……’
Chui sat for a long time in front of his sworn brother, who was slowly turning cold in the heavy rain.
Meanwhile, Ho Ye-yang told him old stories that had gone untold.
‘Do you know why I saved you?’
‘I do not know.’
‘It was because you were a porter for the Swift Tiger Escort Agency.’
‘……?’
Toward the puzzled Chui, Ho Ye-yang revealed his past.
‘I am the last descendant of the ruined Tiger Pit Sect.’
‘……!’
Ho Ye-yang was the child of the Tiger Pit Sect’s Sect Leader Ho Yeon-am and his wife Sa Ji-won.
‘You said it, didn’t you? That you had worked as a porter for the Swift Tiger Escort Agency for a short time. That the Sect Leader there and his wife were good people.’
‘……’
‘I think it was from that moment. That I thought of you as family.’
Ho Ye-yang smiled with a tired expression.
‘You were the only one who spoke of good memories while recalling my parents.’
‘……’
Chui could not say anything.
After the Tiger Pit Sect was ruined, Ho Ye-yang was said to have walked an inexplicably difficult path.
For revenge, he branded his face with charcoal and swallowed the charcoal to change his voice.
To kill the enemies who had ruined the Tiger Pit Sect, he even submerged his body in the dung water beneath the toilet, and dug into piles of maggot-infested corpses.
However, despite that, Ho Ye-yang failed in his revenge.
After being chased by pursuers, he ended up joining the military and drifted all the way to this distant frontier.
‘I think it is a relief to have met you. If you ever have the leeway someday, please resolve my resentment.’
That was his sworn brother’s final testament.
“……”
Chui did not forget the tears Ho Ye-yang shed at that time, even when he went mad.
“This time, that thing called resentment will not even have a chance to arise.”
That is why Chui was currently walking in the opposite direction of the Swift Tiger Escort Agency escorts, heading toward the Tiger Pit Sect.
To meet his past friend, his eternal sworn brother.
‘…First, I must prevent the ruin of the Tiger Pit Sect.’
Since he had saved the Swift Tiger Escort Agency, which was the funding source of the Tiger Pit Sect, from the Green Forest bandits, the future must have changed, even if slightly.
However, Chui intended to intervene in the Tiger Pit Sect much more actively than now.
‘Ho Ye-yang. I will meet that fellow soon as well.’
With those thoughts, he quickened his pace, and before he knew it, he arrived in Anhui Province, where the Tiger Pit Sect was located.
Beyond the bustling streets filled with people, the walls surrounding the manor of the Tiger Pit Sect came into view.
Chui gestured toward a restaurant waiter passing by.
“Let me ask you something.”
“What?”
The waiter turned to Chui with a bothered expression.
His expression was crumpled even further because he was carrying a bamboo basket loaded with food ingredients.
“Kid, are you talking to me right now?”
“Yes.”
“Where does a tiny brat like you get off using informal speech… Tsk!”
The waiter gave Chui’s head a sharp flick that made a distinct popping sound.
Then he turned away in irritation.
“What a beggar-like brat…”
However, he could not take a step.
It was because Chui reached out his hand and grabbed the waiter’s hair in a tight grip.
“Huh? You brat, let go of this! Gosh—I’ll beat you to death…”
The waiter tried to throw a punch at Chui.
However, Chui opened his mouth without any particular reaction.
“I’m”
At the same time, Chui’s palm slapped the waiter’s face.
“asking”
Just before the waiter’s head turned so sharply that even his neck bone was about to break, Chui’s slap returned the waiter’s noggin back to its original position.
“a”
Chui’s slap struck the waiter’s cheek once more.
At the moment the waiter was about to burst into tears in terror that his skull was going to be pulled out of his neck.
“question.”
Chui raised his hand yet again.
The waiter hurriedly shrieked.
“A-Ask me!”
Chui lowered his raised hand.
“I’m asking because it has been a long time since I came to Anhui. Is that small manor over there the Tiger Pit Sect?”
“Yes, it is!”
“The name of the Tiger Pit Sect’s Sect Leader is Ho Yeon-am, right?”
“Yes, it is!”
“The name of Ho Yeon-am’s wife is Sa Ji-won, right?”
“Yes, it is!”
“The name of their son is Ho Ye-yang, right?”
“No, it is not!”
Chui, who was about to nod absentmindedly, had to pause for a moment.
It was because of the waiter’s final answer.
On the most important question, the waiter had given a negative answer.
Chui asked once more.
“Their son is not Ho Ye-yang?”
“T-That is correct.”
As Chui’s mood changed, the waiter nodded with a cowed expression.
Chui felt a bit of confusion.
Until now, he had firmly believed that Ho Ye-yang was the descendant of the Tiger Pit Sect.
But to think that was not the case?
‘Did the facts I knew change as I regressed? No. That can’t be. I checked multiple times on my way here that everything was exactly as it used to be. But why?’
It was a clear fact that Ho Ye-yang was the child of Ho Yeon-am and Sa Ji-won.
And timewise, they should definitely have existed alive in reality.
In the end.
Slap!
Chui had no choice but to slap the waiter’s face once more.
“Are you not going to speak straight?”
“I-It’s the truth! It’s unfair!”
“What will you do if a guy named Ho Ye-yang exists when I go to the Tiger Pit Sect? It won’t end with a slap then.”
When Chui asked, the waiter shrieked at the top of his lungs.
“Ah, she exists, of course!”
“……?”
What kind of talk was this again.
Chui frowned, unable to understand the waiter’s reply.
“Didn’t you say no earlier?”
“Of course not!”
Soon, the waiter continued to speak while huffing.
“You asked if the Tiger Pit Sect Leader and his wife’s son was Ho Ye-yang!”
“Yes.”
“Why are you suddenly transforming an unmarried lady into a man!”
“What?”
When Chui asked back, the waiter drove the wedge in once more.
“There is no son in the Tiger Pit Sect, only an only daughter!”
Unrivaled Spear Ghost