༺ Fourth Chapter – Anhui (8) ༻
“Then, I entrust this to you.”
With those parting words, Zhuge San crossed over the broken wall.
The dazed elder finally regained his senses, his face contorting into something akin to a vengeful ghost.
“C-Chase them! Go and capture them…!”
“That won’t be happening.”
Freeze–
The men who were about to move had frozen stiff.
With a grin on his face, Mok Riwon said.
“You will not be allowed past this point. Because I am here.”
It was a chilling declaration.
Even without infusing his words with qi, everyone here felt an undeniable pressure.
Frustrated at the escape of his prey right before his eyes, the elder was fuming.
“You… Do you realize what you are doing…?!
“I do not.”
“Then step aside…”
“However.”
Mok Riwon paused, observing his surroundings, and then said.
“I do not regard those who judge others by their origins as righteous. I do not regard those who follow such orders as righteous. Nor do I regard those who oppress a grieving woman as righteous.”
With each word, the flow of his qi sharpened.
“For those reasons, I will judge you as villains.”
The elder grinded his teeth in response to the continuing speech and trembled violently.
The situation wasn’t unfolding as he had hoped.
And before his eyes was a hindrance who came out of nowhere.
All of this mixed with his ever-rising anger and formed plausible speculations.
At least, by his own standards.
“Bullshit! What righteousness?! You’re all in this together! All of you are without a doubt part of the same group! All dogs of that fucking merchant group who deserve to be torn apart and slaughtered, don’t think I don’t know!!!”
At the accusations full of despicable self-justification, Mok Riwon’s eyes narrowed.
“Merchant group?”
“Acting like you don’t know! That damned woman, that all-talk bastard, and now you! Aren’t you all lackeys of the ‘Heavenly Merchant Group’?!?!”
“What are you talking about…?”
“SILENCEEEEE–!”
The elder’s cheeks quivered.
Mok Riwon could tell the loathing he held for them through his twisted expression.
‘Heavenly Merchant Group.’
It was a merchant group that even he was familiar with.
After all, they were the ones who had bought up all the horses at the village right before Blood Valley.
Having crossed paths with them twice since coming out into the martial world, Mok Riwon began harboring an aversion to them.
“You damned merchant bastard. How much more do you need to satisfy your greed? Huh? How much more must you covet before you’re content?!”
“I am not affiliated…”
Mok Riwon stopped mid-sentence.
‘…No, there’s no reason to reveal my identity.’
Mok Riwon wasn’t an idiot. He was well aware there wasn’t any reason to correct the misunderstanding.
“…Think what you will.”
At his response, the elder finally laughed full of euphoria.
“As I thought! Exactly as I thought! It was all a conspiracy by those damned merchants!”
The smile could have been mistaken for that of a madman.
“ATTACKKK–!”
With the elder’s cry, the martial artists charged forward.
Mok Riwon slightly exhaled and drew upon the inner qi from his dantian.
Clash–!
He parried the thrusts of three swordsmen coming at him from different directions in one swift motion, then broke through their encirclement, collapsing their formation.
Mok Riwon thought to himself.
‘Hmm, I guess I won’t even need to draw my sword.’
Those weak martial artists’ killing intent was all over the place, and the toad throwing a tantrum was no more than a senile old man.
To Mok Riwon, they were petty individuals not even worthy of being called villains.
Zhuge San continued onward with the woman on his back.
His steps no longer carried the force from his qi, and his breath had been ragged for a while, but he did not stop.
It was thanks to Mok Riwon, who had cut a path for them through the myriad of martial artists, creating an opportunity to escape. So there was no time to be uneasy or leisurely glance back, not even a moment to take a breather.
The scenery shifted around them.
They went from the Zhang Family Compound to the streets, then from one street to another until they reached the most run-down part of the city.
Zhuge San only stopped when he had reached a shabby and small alley patched together with crude boards.
“…We’ve arrived.”
“…”
The woman bit her lips as she looked.
It was a dark alley, but her hometown nonetheless.
The place where she was born, grew up, and where her only family lived.
It was an odd feeling.
She didn’t have a single good memory here, yet a strange sense of comfort swept over her.
“Thank… you…”
It was only then that the reality had hit her.
The icy stares that were colder than the bitter winter winds were gone.
That deep loneliness of having no one by her side was no more.
She had returned to a place that might not be dazzling, but warmth still lingered.
“Th-Thank you so…”
“It’s too early to thank me.”
Zhuge San ignored the tears trickling down the back of his neck and grinned.
“Come on, let’s go. Your brother is waiting, isn’t he?”
With that, he slowly set her down.
She staggered briefly while trying to find her balance, then leaned on the arm Zhuge San offered and began to slowly walk forward.
“Sister!”
“Chang!”
The siblings embraced each other tightly.
The young man who the lady called Chang was taken aback upon seeing her again, and hugged her.
The woman who couldn’t hold back her tears any longer as the young man ran towards her, with a reddened face, she hugged him.
“No way, sister. How did you… all the way… Ah, Great Master!”
“It’s only been three days, hasn’t it?”
“You being here means…”
“I went to the Zhang Family Compound and came back, as requested. I went to see your Esteemed Sister, but it seemed she wasn’t doing well, so I poked my nose in a little.”
The young man’s eyes widened.
He looked back and forth between his sister and Zhuge San, finally sighing as he understood the situation.
He then hugged his sister tighter.
“…Sister, you’ve endured so much.”
“Wahhh…”
“Thank you, Great Master…”
“It was nothing. I just did what I felt was right. More important, see to your sister. If she keeps crying like this, her eyes will be puffing out tomorrow.”
Chang let out a delayed laugh at his lighthearted comment, then nodded in agreement.
“Come on now, sister. It’s time to stop crying, didn’t the Great Master say so?”
“Huuu…”
The woman struggled to stop her tears.
She continued to cry and cry, letting out all the pent-up sadness and frustration she had been holding back, overwhelmed by her long-unspoken emotions.
It was only after Chang’s clothes became stained with her tears and snot that she stopped crying.
In the shabbily built shack that looked like it might collapse with a single punch to the wall, Zhuge San sat and observed the siblings sitting side by side.
“You two certainly look alike. Anyone could tell you’re siblings.”
Chang smiled upon hearing his words, and the woman lowered her head, now conscious of her earlier display.
“I apologize for such a sight…”
“Why apologize again? It’s a good day, isn’t it?”
She smiled faintly.
‘A good day…’
It was the perfect phrase to describe this moment.
Indeed, what truly brought happiness to a person wasn’t lavish meals or expensive treasures, but the warm presence of family who would stay by their side.
“What will you do now?”
To his question, she smiled softly and placed her hands below her belly.
“We will leave before dawn. We want to go somewhere outside of Anhui and start a new life.”
Chang’s eyes bulged as he saw her hand caressing her stomach. She noticed his reaction and smiled.
“Chang, you’re going to be an uncle.”
“This…”
“Let’s go together. From now on, we can finally live well without starving.”
“…But sister, what can we do? We haven’t learned anything.”
“How about a fabric shop?
“What?”
“A fabric shop. Don’t worry, I’ve learned enough about silk while living at that place.”
Zhuge San watched the bewildered young man and the now brightly smiling lady, and then slightly smiled himself.
‘As expected…’
She was beautiful.
And her smiling appearance was even more beautiful.
“I should get going now.”
Zhuge San stood up to leave.
The siblings started to stand as well, but he gestured for them to stay seated.
“I’ll be on my way, so settle your feelings. The sight of a brother and sister together like this is simply too heartwarming to see.”
“But…”
“It’s alright.”
As Zhuge San chuckled, the lady bit her lips.
Then, with a smile as though she had no other say, she spoke.
“Thank you.”
“I’m getting tired of hearing that, you know?”
“But even still, thank you so much.”
“Enough…”
“…Hong Seon.”
The woman, Hong Seon’s words, made him pause.
Finally, seeing Zhuge San look straight at her, she continued with a radiant smile.
“My name is Hong Seon. My younger brother is Hong Chang. Will you please kindly remember our names?”
Hong Seon.
Hong Chang.
Zhuge San committed those names to memory.
But as always, he would bury them deep in his heart, never to be mentioned again.
For he was a man who had no time to dwell on the past and reminisce about those he had saved.
He would simply keep them in the past and move forward.
That was the kind of man he was.
“Beautiful names. I’ll make sure to remember them.”
Zhuge San turned around.
The siblings felt regretful at that sight and asked one last time.
“Do you really need no reward?”
They knew that the help they received was a fortune some might not experience in a lifetime, so they wanted to repay him somehow.
But his mind was made up.
Or rather, this time, he added a little wit to his stubbornness.
“Well, there is one thing.”
Zhuge San looked back around with a content smile.
“Please become a good mother. I think that’ll be enough for me.”
With those parting words, Zhuge San walked away, leaving those streets behind him.
Dawn had broken.
It was a new beginning for a certain brother and sister who had slipped out of the city under the darkness of night, and a new morning for the two men with tears in their eyes, who had brought a smile to a grieving woman’s face.
“You’ve caused quite a lot of trouble, haven’t you?”
Inside an inn that had just opened for the day, the two men knelt on the floor with their heads bowed deeply at Tang Hwa-seo’s chilling voice.
Mok Riwon’s cheeks were red from being pinched, and Zhuge San’s head had a noticeable bump.
“Have you both become mute? Why aren’t you speaking?”
Tang Hwa-seo sat in a chair with her legs crossed, tapping her foot impatiently as she prodded the two men.
Mok Riwon cautiously said.
“I-I was carrying out an act of chivalry…”
“Do you call lying, chivalry, Young Hero Mok?”
Mok Riwon’s mouth clamped shut.
It was the truth.
He said he was going to bed early and slipped away in secret; he had nothing he could possibly say to defend himself with.
The fact that no secrets lasted forever in this world was a very painful truth for the two men at that moment.
“You have both done something remarkable. Do you know what’s happening out in the city in this early morning? Oh my, word has it that intruders entered the Zhang Family Compound, and that the martial artists and elder were beaten black and blue by these intruders.”
Tap–!
Tang Hwa-seo pointed to the outside of the inn with her finger.
“There is an inspection at the city’s entrance. The Zhang House’s martial artists are causing quite a stir trying to find the intruders, all while bandaged from head to toe.”
The two men twitched nervously.
Tang Hwa-seo sighed, feeling a headache coming from this ridiculous situation.
“…Well, I know whatever Young Hero Mok did couldn’t possibly be bad. But if you’re going to cause trouble, you should at least think about the aftermath.”
“I apolo…”
“If you’re going to apologize, just keep quiet.”
“…”
Tang Hwa-seo pressed her hand against her forehead, which was starting to throb.
‘Damned inspection.’
This was trouble.
The Zhang House was the largest in the city, and therefore wielded considerable influence.
Although she and Zhuge San could likely get through the inspection using the name of their respective clan, the conflicts that would arise during the process and the aftermath made her stomach turn just thinking about it.
“Ugh… I suppose I won’t die a peaceful death.”
Her lamentful murmurs made Mok Riwon lower his head further.
Zhuge San cautiously gauged her mood before speaking up.
“About that… Sister?”
“If you say more nonsense, I’ll tear that mouth of yours this time.”
“…It’s not nonsense, I have a rather good idea.”
Tang Hwa-seo focused her attention on him. Her glaring eyes seemed ready to cut someone at a moment’s notice.
Zhuge San swallowed hard, intensifying his tension.
‘One wrong word and I’ll really die.’
He might die the most agonizing death in the world, drowning in poison.
He had to use this one and only chance wisely to save his own life.
For a moment, the two men’s eyes met.
Mok Riwon looked at him with eyes full of expectation, and Zhuge San nodded as if to say, ‘Trust me’, then turned to Tang Hwa-seo.
“W-What about escaping in disguise?”
Tang Hwa-seo’s right eyebrow twitched upwards.
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