Chapter 332
I quickly turned my head.
How does this person know that name? And how did he find out that it was me?
Is he a lackey of the Demonic Cult? If not, is he a spy sent by the Demonic Flower Hall Master? No, a spy sent by the Demonic Flower Hall Master is ultimately a lackey of the Demonic Cult anyway.
Since there was the case of Monk Il-won before, it's not something I can be sure of.
"Hwi-un. Isn't it?"
"No, it's not."
"Heh... is that so? I'm sorry. The story I heard and the fact that you told me to call you Hwi overlapped, so I thought you might be someone I know."
I, trying my best to be calm, denied his words.
But I was able to find one more strange thing in his words.
He said he thought he knew the person.
But I don't know Chun-mong. So that person can't know me either. I need to check this point a little more clearly.
"You said you know someone named Hwi-un?"
"Ah! To be precise, I don't know him personally."
"Then?"
"Should I say I know him through a mutual acquaintance... I have an older brother. Although it's been twenty years since I left home when I was very young and lived apart... he is my only blood relative. But he works as a musician in Chongqing."
My eyes widened.
Whether he knew I was reacting like this or not, he continued to speak.
"But when I went to see my brother for the first time in a long time, he told me that something big had happened recently."
"Something big?"
"He was caught by a Black Way sect and was on the verge of death, but a mysterious master appeared and saved him! Haha... although his younger brother is a martial artist, he was so busy wandering the world that he couldn't even pay attention, and his brother almost suffered a great misfortune. I was so angry when I heard that story."
"Even if you're a martial artist, you can't live while protecting all your close ones, can you?"
"Haha! You've said it well. My brother also said the same thing. Anyway, since then, I've been looking for that martial artist named the Self-Taught Swordsman, Hwi-un, because I wanted to repay him... but no matter how much I use my information network, I can't find him. I even have a connection with the Haomun, so I tried to find out through them, but there was no way to know."
He, after taking a long gulp of alcohol, continued, "In the midst of that, I met you, Mr. Hwi. Because you looked so similar to the description I had heard, I asked if you were him."
"What does that person named Hwi-un look like?"
"What was it? He said he had a fair face, looked young, and was a handsome young man with a fine and slender face."
"Hmm. A handsome young man. I think it's understandable that you mistook me for him."
"Hmm? Now that I see you, I think I was mistaken."
"Oh dear. Seeing you go back and forth like that, I think you've had a lot to drink."
"Hahaha! It's not that, it's because I haven't had enough to drink yet. Would you like another drink?"
"Alright."
I, while chatting with him for a while, observed him.
I, without realizing it, felt a lump in my throat and was about to say that it was me out of pride, but I haven't properly grasped this person's identity yet.
What if he's a master of the Demonic Cult who is acting like this after knowing all the circumstances and is going around to catch me?
Although he's a child I've cast out, since I killed a young master of the Demonic Cult, it's not enough to be careful and careful again.
'Yes. It's better not to reveal my identity.'
I thought that there was no need to tell him that I was Unhwi and Hwi-un right now.
If the day comes when I can have a three-way meeting with the number one musician of Chongqing, Mo Hang, it won't be too late to say that I was actually him then.
To be honest, I can guess that Chun-mong is not a lackey of the Demonic Cult when I think about his later actions.
Because he lived as a strange person until the end and died fighting against the Demonic Cult.
But saying that I am that benefactor now doesn't seem to help my current plan.
For now, this plan will be more advantageous if no one knows me.
'I should have made up a proper pseudonym then. What's Hwi-un? Hwi-un.'
To be honest, I regretted a little that I had just made something up at that time.
In fact, when he asked who I was, I was about to reflexively say the Self-Taught Swordsman, Unhwi, but I momentarily realized that it was the same as my current name and just switched the front and back letters, but I never thought it would turn out like this.
'They say the Central Plains is small... to think it's this small.'
Originally, I wasn't very keen on getting a drink and a meal from Chun-mong.
Although he said he was buying it because he had earned a lot of money thanks to me, I didn't feel like getting something from a person I didn't even know well.
But now, I can eat and drink with a happy heart without such discomfort.
'I should think of it as the price for saving my brother's life.'
A newly formed connection continues, and continues again.
I don't know how my connection with Chun-mong will continue in the future.
That's why I filled my connection with him as much as the alcohol that was filling my body.
***
The next morning.
My senior brothers and old man Maeng Gwang-gae returned to the inn with sunken eyes.
"Why are you all dying?"
"I'm so tired from staying up for two nights already."
"I don't know how gamblers live like this for days and days."
"Hey, you bastards! This old man has been living like this for three weeks already. Don't whine!"
Thanks to coming out early yesterday, I was able to sleep well, but it seems my senior brothers are feeling more tired from staying up all night for two days.
"Hwi-ya. We have to sleep for now. We couldn't sleep at all yesterday because the time changed, but I think we can sleep today."
"That's right. I'm so sleepy that I'm not even hungry."
"If we don't wake up after 8 hours, wake us up a little."
My senior brothers, without exception, jumped into their beds, and old man Maeng Gwang-gae, while clicking his tongue and saying that young people these days have no perseverance and no patience, took me to his room so as not to disturb my senior brothers' sleep.
"Alright. Let's talk freely now. What kind of bastard was that Chun-mong?"
"Aren't you tired, elder? Didn't you stay up all night together?"
"It's just like that. Do you think members of the Beggars' Sect are very comfortable because they're always lying on the ground and begging? Not at all! We sometimes stay up for several nights to get one piece of information, and in severe cases, we even go into a cesspool and endure for three days and nights. It means you shouldn't whine about being tired just because the day and night have been switched for a few days."
"Ah. Yes. I see."
Feeling like it would be endless if I listened to the end, I answered appropriately and then opened my mouth again.
"The person named Chun-mong. He's a martial artist from Chongqing. He has a musician as an older brother. The reason there's no information about him... is probably because he's a person close to a strange person. I couldn't find out where and how he learned what martial arts, but since he shows a slightly different path from ordinary martial artists, it seems the Beggars' Sect couldn't easily find out."
"A different path?"
"Usually, if you're a person who has learned martial arts, well... you go around doing righteous deeds, or you find a strong person and fight with them. Or you use your power to bully the weak and take what they have, right?"
"That's right...?"
"But when I talked to him yesterday, he said that if he needs money, he helps with farming or moves heavy objects when building a building and earns money."
"What? No, what kind of bastard is that?"
Maeng Gwang-gae, while saying that, burst out laughing.
Because he was a person who earned money in a way that was unthinkable for a martial artist.
"He just seems to be living while doing what he wants, wandering the world. When he goes near the sea or a river, he helps with fishing and earns money, and when he comes to a place famous for gambling like this, he also tries gambling. Simply put... he's just a loafer. Well."
"Really? Then we can't find out. I thought he was a bastard related to the Evil Faction Alliance or the Demonic Cult."
"I don't think so."
"Then that's a relief. But never let your guard down until the end. Because the bastards are so cunning that you don't know how they'll backstab you."
"Yes. I'll keep that in mind."
Maeng Gwang-gae, after nodding his head vigorously, said, "And you put the Manlihyang on properly. You did well."
"Did you check?"
"Yes. It reacted properly to my energy. Now the Green Snake is as good as in our hands."
"What do we do now? You have a method in mind, right?"
"You're talking as if you've entrusted it to me."
"This is your specialty, isn't it, elder? I just have to perfectly carry out the plan you've made."
"Tsk. I don't know if I should be happy to hear this or not."
I answered with an innocent expression, "Of course you should be happy. It means I have that much trust in your plan, doesn't it?"
"Tsk. If you can't even talk!"
"So, you don't have a plan in mind? I thought you would naturally have one, elder."
"I do. I do! Yes. I do have something in mind."
"As expected! I knew you would."
Old man Maeng Gwang-gae finally chuckled and said, "Sometimes, at times like this, I feel like I'm being used."
"Used? Think about it. Was it me who asked you to come here and help me catch the Green Snake? Or was it you, elder?"
"It was me."
"So it's me who's being used. I'm just urging you to use me a little better since you're going to use me anyway."
"Hahaha! I see. Yes. To be honest, I was worried about what to do because I thought the plan was crude, but it seems you'll somehow manage to solve even a crude plan perfectly."
"Of course. That's my role, isn't it? And the plans you make, elder, won't be that crude."
He chuckled and immediately opened his mouth.
"Then you can judge whether it's crude or not after you hear it."
"Yes. Please speak."
"The plan I came up with... is for us to become villains."
"Villains...?"
"Let's kidnap her and demand a ransom."
"Who? The Green Snake?"
"Yes. The Green Snake can't just live in the gambling house. We'll aim for the moment the Green Snake leaves the gambling house and kidnap her. And we'll demand a ransom from that bastard Hwang-jo. Of course, we're not asking for that ransom in money."
"Then?"
He, with a meaningful eye, continued, "It's the information they know about the Evil Faction Alliance."
"Wow... to take a hostage and extract information. That's really something only villains would do."
"That's not all. If you're going to be a villain, you have to be one for sure. That much is not enough."
"Then?"
"And then I have no intention of letting the Green Snake go. I'll use the Green Snake as bait to catch Hwang-jo, and if anyone else comes to save the Green Snake, I'll catch that bastard too... and I'll also catch the Evil Faction Alliance bastard who comes to investigate. Hahahaha... do they think they're the only ones who can use cunning tricks? But I, in order to catch them, have even abandoned the laws of the Beggars' Sect and have taken a bath and worn clean clothes. I've even done such a ridiculous thing, so there's no reason I can't become a villain like them. Hahahaha..."
Maeng Gwang-gae spoke as if taking a bath was something he shouldn't have done.
In his face, as he spoke with glittering eyes, saying he would become a villain, I could feel not just enthusiasm but even madness.
(End of Chapter)