Chapter 56. First Foray into Murim(3)

There was a saying, ‘Three men make a tiger.’

It meant that if three people coordinate their stories, even a non-existent tiger can be brought into existence.

The current situation was just like that.

With dozens of villagers matching their words, the Confucian Manor was instantly transformed into trashy black path bastards.

Yeongcheon and Nam Geon, who had been played by that lie, still wore confused expressions.

That face overlapped with his face from ten years later.

His sense of chivalry and meddlesome nature were the same, but his face was worn down by the storms of life.

Now, I thought I understood.

How this innocent and bright Daoist came to have such a face.

For ten years, he must have been played with to the point of exhaustion.

Precisely because of that meddlesome nature and sense of chivalry.

Just then, a shout came from the villagers' side.

“Wha- what nonsense are you spouting, chivalrous warrior!!”

“Wha- what grudge do you have against us to say such things!”

The villagers clamored viciously.

The torches they held flickered, and their faces, cast in crimson shadows, were utterly hideous.

It wasn't worth exchanging words with trash like them, but Yeongcheon's face concerned me.

I pointed to the side with my sword.

Near the walls of the Confucian Manor.

“Look over there. Why are they climbing someone else's wall in the middle of a fight?”

Several villagers who were trying to climb over the Confucian Manor's wall under the cover of the chaos were there.

A few villagers looked like they had eaten shit, and as the ones trying to climb the wall hurriedly tried to make some excuse, this time I pointed to the villagers who were approaching the Confucian Manor's martial artists with weapons in hand.

“Look at the weapons they hold and their expressions. After the Daoist cripples their martial arts, do you think they will let the people of the Confucian Manor live?”

The moment the villains tried to answer my words, I thrust my hand into my black clothes, pulled out the objects I grabbed, and threw them onto the ground.

A clear clatter of small metal lumps hitting each other and rolling on the ground burst out.

Jingle.

Various valuables, including silver and silk.

They were things I had gathered while scouring the village.

The faces of some of the villagers who spotted them glinting under the torchlight turned dark.

It seemed those bastards were the owners.

“Didn't these people say they were exploited by the Confucian Manor for years? For people like that, their homes are overflowing with wealth.”

A few villagers hastily shouted.

“Th- this bastard!! Now I see you're not a chivalrous warrior, but a thief!!”

“As if thievery wasn't enough, you're framing us!!”

This was why I didn't want to converse with trash.

Putting aside the feeling that my mouth would rot just from talking to them, conversation was impossible in the first place.

I turned my head and looked at the Master of the Confucian Manor.

“What do you wish for me to do?”

“……”

Seemingly just as confused, the Master of the Confucian Manor looked at me without a word.

Regardless of the villagers shrieking a few steps away, I asked again.

According to my principle.

“Those bastards tried to frame and kill you, Master, with their three-inch tongues. So I can cut out their tongues. No, since they tried to kill you, I can kill them just the same. What will you do?”

My own principle that the victim should decide the punishment for the villain.

The Master of the Confucian Manor, who seemed to ponder for a moment, opened his mouth.

“Pulling out and cutting each tongue seems too troublesome for the chivalrous warrior. Just give them a clean death.”

After nodding, I turned my body and launched myself towards the villagers using my movement arts.

Swish!

First, I sliced the neck of the old man who was the village chief or something.

“Th- this crazy bastard!”

“Ki- kill him! Kill that crazy bastard first!!”

Some of the villagers swung the clubs or sickles they had brought, while others froze with shocked faces.

Swish!

As I cut down a few more villagers who approached, I once again heard someone's vicious scream.

“Yo- you devil-like bastard!!”

“How co- could you kill us all just because we told a little lie!!”

A dry laugh almost escaped me.

“To call trying to kill someone out of greed for wealth a mere lie. You must be mad.”

It was an idea that couldn't come from a sane mind.

As if agreeing with my thoughts, the men of the Confucian Manor had also joined in, swinging their weapons together.

For some reason, only Nam Geon and Yeongcheon stood there blankly.

It was to the point where I worried if their heads had gone haywire too.

From a distance, I heard someone shout.

“He- here!!”

“Get that girl first!!”

It seemed my junior sister, who had been hiding, was discovered.

I hurriedly threw myself in that direction and swung my sword.

Swish.

After cutting down a few bastards, I saw that my junior sister was very easily dodging the club swung by a man who had suddenly rushed her.

It seemed her talent wasn't going anywhere.

It might be a different story if the opponent were a master, but it seemed there was no chance she would get hit by a shoddy club swung by an ordinary person.

Just then, Nam Geon's excited voice was heard.

“Th- the little Sohyang was attacked! Th- they're really bad guys!”

As if his broken head was finally fixed, Nam Geon also drew the Mother's Affection Sword and began to swing it in earnest.

Yeongcheon, who had been standing motionlessly until the end, also seemed to have made a decision and finally moved his body.

***

Dealing with the liars didn't take very long.

They weren't skilled martial artists in the first place.

After sorting out the situation to some extent, Yeongcheon asked with a troubled expression.

“Little Brother. When did you realize that they were lying?”

“I was suspicious from the beginning. From the moment they came to ask the Daoist for a favor in front of the inn.”

“How on earth did you notice?”

Before answering his question, I subtly turned my head and looked to the side.

Nam Geon and Junior Sister Baek Hyang had approached at some point.

I thought it was for the best.

Those two were also on their first foray into Murim.

“Daoist Yeongcheon. Have you, by any chance, been to a place where the black path is rampant?”

At my question, Yeongcheon shook his head as if embarrassed.

“My experience is still shallow, so I haven't been to such a place.”

“The faces of the residents living in such places are largely divided into two types. Either faces that have completely lost their will, or faces full of malice. It’s because no matter how hard they work, it all gets taken by the black path bastards anyway. But the faces of the residents here were not like that. Yet they claimed to have been exploited for ‘several years,’ didn't they? That's why I felt a sense of incongruity.”

“Ah…”

“Also, when we were eating at the inn, the inn’s waiter and cook were exchanging whispers while glancing at us.”

“I- is that so?”

Yeongcheon, who answered in a naive tone as if he had no idea, soon let out a gasp of admiration, “Ah!”

“It seems they recognized you, Little Brother. No wonder, I was curious why they suddenly came looking for you.”

“It could be that they recognized me as you say, Daoist. But it is still strange. Most commoners fear martial artists. Even more so when four of us are traveling together like this.”

“...I didn't even think that far.”

I nodded, as it was plausible for someone on their first foray into Murim.

“Lastly, the very fact that they sought me out was suspicious. Although I recently gained an alias in this vicinity, it’s not really an alias that would make commoners approach without fear, is it?”

Ghost Sword.

Though Young Master was attached to it, it was clearly an ominous alias.

Nam Geon, who had been listening to the story with a dizzy face, suddenly raised his hand.

“Th- then Hyeong-a kn- knew from the beginning? Th- then why didn't you te- tell us from the beginning?”

“Senior Brother said he wasn't sure yet, Orabeoni. So he said he would go and investigate a little first.”

As Junior Sister Baek Hyang said, I used my stealth technique and roamed the village.

It was a time when the sun was setting and the sky was growing dark, and since many people had left for the back mountain, it wasn't difficult to move around hidden.

While wandering the village like that, I was able to overhear many stories from those who remained.

“As I actually walked around, I heard such stories. That there was a widespread rumor that the Ghost Sword Young Master was a madman who would kill any villain without a second thought. So, they said there would be no chance of their lies being discovered.”

“Ahem. A- a madman, that's outrageous.”

For some reason, Yeongcheon awkwardly tried to comfort me.

I wasn't the one who started it anyway, so I couldn't understand why he was comforting me.

“They said something about you two as well. That you both looked so naive that they didn't have to worry about being found out.”

“……”

Nam Geon scratched his head as if embarrassed, and Yeongcheon opened his mouth as if to say something, then made a bitter expression.

Just as they had expected, they had been nicely deceived and attacked the Confucian Manor, so they wouldn't have a single word to say even if they had ten mouths.

I felt like I knew how Yeongcheon felt, so I opened my mouth as if to console him.

“You don't need to be too gloomy.”

Perhaps I, too, was becoming meddlesome, influenced by that Daoist.

“Everyone is like that at first. How can an ordinary person understand the thoughts of madmen.”

I hoped that this incident would serve as an opportunity for that man to grow a little.

I hoped he wouldn't get that face worn down by the storms of life.

It was somehow displeasing to me that a man full of chivalry and meddlesomeness would live a painful life.

“It was the same for me. Once, I happened to encounter an old woman being chased by a young man in a forest. The old woman begged me to save her, and naturally, I ran out and blocked the young man.”

This was an anecdote I experienced in my past life.

“But as it turned out, that old woman was the murderer who had killed the young man's parents.”

It was a disaster caused by my naivety.

“I apologized to that man, and we struggled for days and nights to chase that old murderer again.”

“Heo……”

Yeongcheon let out a deep sigh, and I added one last word.

“Thus, just because they are weak does not mean they are all good.”

He looked up at the empty sky with a complicated expression, his mouth shut for a moment.

With a troubled face, Yeongcheon opened his mouth.

“Little Brother, you are still so young, yet you have had such varied experiences. On the other hand, I don't know what I have been doing with my life.”

I spoke to Yeongcheon, who seemed to have fallen into self-pity.

“Didn't Daoist Yeongcheon say it yourself? That you would find your own answer while being with us. So there is no need to compare yourself with me.”

“...After realizing my own naivety, the thought that you were right, Little Brother, seems to grow even stronger.”

I shook my head.

“When Nam Geon and I attacked the Black Market in Guizhou. There, we saved several women who were being sold as slaves. But we did not take responsibility for those women until the end. We just shared the wealth we took from the Black Market. It is because if we were to take responsibility for those women, we would not be able to wander around to deal with the trash in other places. In your eyes, Daoist, does this seem like the right solution?”

Yeongcheon, who pondered for a moment, answered.

“...It is a matter of choice, but honestly, I would have stayed by those women's side a little longer.”

It was an answer contrary to my choice, but I was rather pleased.

It was the answer I wanted.

“Yes. That is Daoist Yeongcheon's way. I will wander around and kill the trash throughout the Jianghu. But killing villains does not unconditionally make the unfortunate happy. There must be people to take care of them, mustn't there?”

I could not act like Yeongcheon.

The reason I punished villains.

The reason I helped the pitiful.

The reason I did not call myself a chivalrous hero.

It was because my actions were rooted in anger and a sense of kinship.

Anger at an unfair world.

Anger at a life trampled upon for being powerless despite having committed no sin.

My journey was a venting of frustration against the world, and the desperate struggle of a talentless man who wanted to change an unfair world.

On the other hand, Yeongcheon's chivalry was based on compassion.

The mindset of wanting to help those in difficulty.

Such people deserved to be respected.

“So, there is no need to compare yourself with me. Just find your own answer. I hope that your heart, which wants to help the good and the pitiful, does not change.”

I didn't know how long my journey with Yeongcheon would continue.

I would be wandering the entire Jianghu, and that man was a Daoist with a place in the Mount Heng Sect.

I could only hope that such a day would come someday.

One day, while wandering the Jianghu here and there.

A peaceful village I happened to arrive at.

If I could hear the story that the village became peaceful with Yeongcheon's help, how joyful would that be?

Yeongcheon, who had been listening to my story quietly, seemed to be organizing his thoughts, then he cupped his fist towards me and bowed his head.

“Thank you for the teaching. As you said, chivalrous warrior, I will contemplate to find my own answer. Also, I will be careful and careful not to be foolishly deceived like this time.”

It was a determined face, but it was not that face worn down by life.

Suddenly, I thought that this might be a blessing in disguise.

Because he had the experience of being deceived, my meddling would have sounded like a teaching.

Just as my meddling and nagging were coming to an end.

I felt a presence from the side.

When I turned my head, the men of the Confucian Manor, holding torches, were approaching.

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