༺ Fourth Chapter – Anhui (3) ༻
Strange Dragon, Zhuge San.
A rising star known by all who live in the martial world.
He was born the rightful heir of the Zhuge Clan, and his bizarre actions had drawn the eyes of the martial world, worthy of his nickname.
What exactly were the bizarre deeds he had done to earn the name Strange Dragon?
If one were to ask, even a random passerby on the street could recount those famous tales.
He once begged on the streets dressed as a beggar.
He swam in a manure pit while working as a farmhand at a local dignitary’s estate.
He even proposed to the wife of the leader of one of the strongest forces in the Unorthodox Path, the Black Origin Society.
His actions were akin to those of a madman, which ordinary people could not possibly understand.
Of course, Mok Riwon did not know about any of this. To him, Zhuge San held only one significance.
“I didn’t expect to be found this quickly… Well, now that it’s come to this, allow me to introduce myself again. I am Zhuge San. Are you indeed the Ink Sword Great Master?”
“Z-Zh-Zhuge…!”
The heir to the Zhuge Clan.
The son of the Formation King, known as the Brain of the Martial Alliance.
A look of admiration and excitement began to rise on Mok Riwon’s face.
“That’s right! I am indeed the Ink Sword! It’s an honor to meet a member of the Zhuge Clan!”
Mok Riwon performed a fist-palm salute in an exaggerated manner.
Tang Hwa-seo sighed deeply at his action, while Zhuge San laughed loudly.
“Young Hero, please sit down. There’s no need to be so formal.”
“Oh my, Esteemed Sister is so cold. Let’s see… It has been almost six years since we last met, hasn’t it?”
“I do not recall us being so close as to miss each other. Why? Do you have to be poisoned again before you’ll shut your mouth?”
Zhuge San feigned his fear exaggeratedly.
Mok Riwon, who hadn’t grasped the situation until then, suddenly remembered her background.
‘Ah! Young Lady is also from one of the Five Noble Clans!’
The Sichuan Tang Clan was one of the pillars of the Five Noble Clans.
It was only natural that they knew about each other.
As Mok Riwon felt a sudden distance from her, who had always been kind to him, Tang Hwa-seo grabbed his arm and made him sit down.
“Yes, it must be surprising. I’ve met him a few times in the past, but that was about it. He’s a person you should not pay any attention to.”
Reassuring words.
For Zhuge San, seeing this was both shocking and unfamiliar.
‘Huh…’
Had that Poison Phoenix ever shown such affection to anyone before?
Wasn’t she always detached and sharp-tongued, never allowing anyone to get too close?
A thrill arose inside Zhuge San.
It was his nature, the very ‘curiosity’ that the whole world knew about.
He was a person every bit as curious as Mok Riwon.
No, he might be even worse, considering his tendency to desperately solve whatever curiosity arose.
His bizarre actions often came from his need to satisfy this urge.
And now was no different.
Seeing this new side of Tang Hwa-seo, someone he had known for over a decade since they were young, naturally drew his interest.
“Did you only look? Esteemed Sister, what about the several steamy encounters we’ve had…”
“We’ve fought a few times in the Dragon Phoenix Tournament. I remember whipping you because your mouth was too loose.”
Tang Hwa-seo’s face was full of irritation.
Mok Riwon looked around, trying to grasp the atmosphere.
‘Young Lady doesn’t seem to like Young Master Zhuge very much.’
Mok Riwon couldn’t understand.
Although he knew little about him, Zhuge San treated him with kindness despite having chopsticks thrown at him and did not seem to hold any grudge against Tang Hwa-seo for ignoring him.
Wasn’t this enough to consider him a good man?
‘Hm, perhaps the Young Lady is trying to distance herself from him to protect me.’
To the outside, he was a wandering martial artist with no affiliated sect, so she might be worried that this man from a Noble Clan would harm him.
Why not?
In the fourth chapter of Tales of the Martial Heroes, which follows the life story of the Benevolent Hero, the children of prestigious families often attacked him due to his lowly origins.
‘Young Lady is worrying over nothing!’
Mok Riwon wanted to prove to Tang Hwa-seo that he wasn’t so soft-hearted to be hurt by such things.
“Pleased to meet you! What an unexpected fortune to meet an old acquaintance of the Young Lady! I, Mok Riwon, am honored to have a chance to become friends with Young Master Zhuge today…”
“Enough with that nonsense, let’s go.”
“Uhhhhhh?”
Tang Hwa-seo abruptly stood up and dragged him away.
Mok Riwon looked back and forth between the still-seated Zhuge San and Tang Hwa-seo with a confused expression.
And with a satisfied smile, Zhuge San waved at him.
“…That’s the kind of person he is. You understand, right? If you get too close to him, even you might be led astray, Young Hero.”
“That… That’s…”
Having left the inn and arriving at their quarters, Mok Riwon was shocked at the bizarre stories Tang Hwa-seo had told him about Zhuge San.
“H-How could he propose to a married woman…?”
That incident was the most shocking to him.
Pretending to be a beggar, swimming in a manure pit, and running naked through the streets could all be dismissed as the acts of an unusual person, but proposing to a married woman was a breach of morality.
“H-He’s a truly despicable person…!”
When a look of disapproval emerged on his face, Tang Hwa-seo finally exhaled a breath of relief.
To be honest, she had no particular interest in Zhuge San.
Whether he engaged in bizarre acts elsewhere was of no concern to her, as long as she wasn’t involved.
However, the story changed if Mok Riwon was caught up in it.
‘He’s like a blank slate, he could easily pick up bad habits.’
Tang Hwa-seo did not wish for the kind-hearted Mok Riwon to be tainted by Zhuge San.
“That man is persistent and might come looking for you again, Young Hero. If he does, make sure to run away from him and inform me. Do you understand?”
“Understood! I will do exactly that!”
Mok Riwon replied with determination.
Yet, regrettably, his determination never had the chance to shine.
While Tang Hwa-seo was away attending to personal matters, Mok Riwon squeezed his eyes shut and gulped down bamboo leaf liquor.
“Great Master, it’s quite disheartening for you to ignore my words.”
Right across from him, Zhuge San made his appearance the moment Tang Hwa-seo had left. He was conspicuously feigning sadness as he spoke to Mok Riwon.
“T-The somen noodles here are truly exceptional!”
“So I want to ask you. How did you come to meet Esteemed Sister?”
“This bamboo leaf liquor is also very sweet! Maybe today’s the day I’ll get drunk!”
“Eh? I’d also like to hear about how you single-handedly defeated the Sun Society.”
“Ah, ahh…! Am I too absorbed in this drink? My head’s spinning and I can’t hear a thing!”
Mok Riwon, pretending he couldn’t hear and putting on an unconvincing act, made Zhuge San struggle to hold back his laughter.
‘What an amusing person.’
What charm had melted the heart of that Tang Hwa-seo? It turned out that even compared to the street storytellers, he was way funnier.
The fact that he couldn’t lie and even felt guilty for ignoring him made Zhuge San want to tease him further.
‘I think I have a rough understanding of the kind of person he is…’
An open book.
In other words, an amusing plaything.
Zhuge San suppressed his laughter and continued speaking.
“Alas… To be this heartbroken. Just when I met the master who’s been causing a stir in the martial world, my excitement has turned cold…. I thought I would spend the night having a deep, pleasant conversation with a friend about the ways of the martial world…”
“Ugh…!”
Mok Riwon groaned as if in pain.
‘T-The ways of the martial world…!’
It was a word that truly resonated in his heart.
It made him itching to speak.
He wanted to open his eyes right then and there and engage in a heated discussion about the nature of chivalry with the heir of the Zhuge Clan.
‘But the Young Lady said…’
“What a shame. A shame, indeed! I was in need of someone to share the story of the fortuitous encounter I had before coming here…!”
“Fortuitous encounter, you say?!”
He couldn’t resist talking about a fortuitous encounter.
“Oh, you finally respond.”
“The fortuitous coincidence! What kind of fortuitous encounter?! A cliff? Or a hidden master? Or did you find a thousand-year-old fleeceflower while climbing a mountain?!”
Mok Riwon had forgotten all about Tang Hwa-seo’s advice. The sole thing on his mind was the fortuitous encounter Zhuge San had mentioned.
Zhuge San went to sit down next to Mok RIwon, smiling at his sparkling eyes.
Thump–!
Putting his arm around Mok Riwon, he said.
“Now, before that, how about this story? It’s about a widow in this town…”
Flinch–
Mok Riwon trembled.
The sudden mention of ‘widow’ reminded him of Tang Hwa-seo’s story.
–That man proposed to the wife of the Black Origin Society’s leader. He collected a thousand wildflowers and offered them to her in a large bouquet.
So he stood up abruptly and said.
“A-Aha! What indecent words you say…!”
“An indecent widow? Surely… Great Master Mok is not looking at a woman who lost her husband in such a way…!”
“N-No, not at all! I am not that sort of person!”
What a terrible misunderstanding.
Mok Riwon felt his animosity towards Zhuge San growing.
“Y-Young Master Zhuge! I did not see you as that kind of person, but you are truly sly! Is it not you who harbored dark desires for a woman with a husband?!”
All eyes in the inn turned towards them.
Zhuge San felt his amusement rising and struggled to keep his smile at bay.
“Hmm? I don’t understand what you mean, though?”
–What in the world! The rumors were true!
–The Strange Dragon really proposed to a married woman? And a woman from the Unorthodox Path at that?
–Oh my goodness! How could he…
The guests at the inn murmured among themselves, looking at Zhuge San. However, he was not so thin-skinned as to become upset by such comments.
“Is it wrong?”
“Yes! It’s terribly wrong!”
“Strange, huh! I thought I was rescuing a damsel in distress, so why is it strange?”
“Uh, um?”
“Don’t you think? Wasn’t the leader of the Black Origin Society extraordinarily cruel? I just happened to pass by and wanted to help her, who was suffering under his tyranny.”
Zhuge San rose to his foot after Mok Riwon, grabbed his shoulders, and continued his sentence.
“Great Master, let me ask you. Is saving a fragile woman, held captive by a wicked man and living in daily torment, not an act of chivalry? Even if my reputation suffers, if the leader of the Black Origin Society loses trust in her and casts her aside, thereby setting her free, is it not the right thing to do?”
“Uh, uh…?”
“How can it be considered chivalry to turn a blind eye to a sorrowful woman merely to avoid the reputation of a scoundrel?”
Mok Riwon’s eyes shook greatly.
‘A-After listening to him…’
It even seemed to make sense.
Hearing only the rumors, he had one impression, but knowing the full story, Zhuge San suddenly appeared to be an incredible hero.
‘H-Have I been mistaken?!’
…But that wasn’t the case.
The entire story was fabricated by Zhuge San.
He had simply been attracted to the married woman.
“Please answer me, Great Master Mok. Are you, someone who turns a blind eye to the weak due to concern for your own reputation, and judges people based only on what you hear from others…”
Feelings of disappointment emerged on his face.
“…a ‘fake hero’?”
Bang–!
Mok Riwon felt despair, like his world was falling apart.
His hands were trembling, and tears were welling up.
‘I-I…!’
Had his view been too narrow?
Was he the scoundrel, prejudiced by the word of others?
“N-No, I’m not…”
Mok Riwon’s whole body was trembling.
Zhuge San almost couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer.
“Then please… pfft, please tell me! Great Master Mok, no, Brother, what do you think of me…!”
Slam–!!!
“…Ah!”
“What is this bullshit! Young Hero Mok! Did I not tell you to avoid speaking to this man?! Did I not?!”
Tang Hwa-seo had returned after finishing her business.
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