Chapter 113
"You've gotten better. Are you all healed up?"
"Not yet... it aches when the weather is bad."
"It's because you're old. The life of a martial artist is rough. If you push your body too hard when you're young, you'll regret it when you're old."
"..."
"Do you still have any hard feelings?"
"No."
"Then why didn't you come back? Brigade Leader Mo came back a long time ago. Hmm. Have you changed professions?"
After parting with Mo Dahou, Hu Yeonjo had intended to leave Shaanxi altogether and was heading to Hubei when he found a mountain fortress and settled down.
"Is the mountain bandit business good?"
"It's not a mountain bandit... the mountain is rough, so there are often people who get lost. We help them find their way... and receive some pocket money."
"That's good. We're lost. We've been sleeping outdoors for a few days, and it's killing me. Can we talk while we eat something first? Is the mountain fortress far?"
"I-I will escort you."
Hu Yeonjo's mountain fortress was not far.
Four or five wooden houses were visible, and there were also pens for raising chickens and pigs.
"The mountain fortress is quite large. I thought mountain bandits lived in caves..."
"No. We are very small. We have less than ten family members. And... we are not mountain bandits."
There was also plenty of food.
The women boiled chicken and brought out wild vegetables, pancakes, and other things.
"Please eat."
Mado had been exuding an icy chill ever since she heard the words 'mountain fortress'.
As soon as she saw the women who brought the food, she stood up and glared at Hu Yeonjo.
'Why is she looking at me like that?'
Hu Yeonjo flinched and shrank his neck.
"You have a bounty on your head, don't you?"
The cold voice sounded as if she would strike with her sword at any moment.
Hu Yeonjo was startled and waved his hands.
"A bounty? There's no such thing. We are a really small mountain fortress... we are just honest mountain men who receive a small toll and carry luggage."
At Hu Yeonjo's words, Baekji, who was eating, almost spat out his food.
"Ahaha! Brigade Leader Hu, you have to make sense. You're not a mountain bandit, but a porter? Do you think Mado is a fool?"
Although Hu Yeonjo had heard the name Mado, he did not think it was the top ten master, Mado.
However, Mado's ki was so terrifying that he obediently bowed his head.
Mado, who had only lived in the mountains, was not used to hiding her ki like other masters.
So Hu Yeonjo could immediately tell that Mado was a master far above him.
Moreover, she was Baekji's companion.
If Baekji ran wild, his shins might be broken again.
"It's true. I am, by name, from the White Path... I have not done anything to have a bounty on my head. I was just planning to stay here for a while until my body healed."
"Where did you get these women?"
When Mado glared with cold eyes, Hu Yeonjo, 'aha', said confidently as if he knew why she was doing this.
"They were here from the beginning..."
At Hu Yeonjo's words, one of his subordinates stepped forward.
"We definitely did not capture them. She is my wife."
"This is my younger sister."
The mountain bandits claimed that they were their wives or sisters.
"Is that true?"
When Mado asked, a woman who looked quite old frowned.
"Yes, but why are you speaking informally? Is it all about having a pretty face?"
Perhaps because they were women who had lived in a mountain fortress, they were as rough as men.
"What rudeness to our guests! You ignorant bitches!"
Hu Yeonjo was horrified and drove the women away.
"Yes."
At the unexpected situation, Mado stealthily sat down.
Then she took out a tael of silver from her bosom and threw it to Hu Yeonjo.
"This is for the food!"
"What?"
"I don't eat for free."
After the awkward dinner, Hu Yeonjo emptied two wooden houses.
Hu Yeonjo personally guided Baekji.
"It is shabby, but this is the best house in this mountain fortress. I have specially laid a tiger skin on the bed."
"Hmm? Won't it smell gamey?"
"No. It has been well-dried and treated, so it is glossy."
"I didn't know Brigade Leader Hu was such a thoughtful person."
Baekji asked with satisfaction.
"You seem to like living in the mountains."
"Of course not. Zhaojia County is like my hometown. I want to go back, but..."
When Hu Yeonjo trailed off, Baekji said, "Ah, you must not have heard the news. Bai Renguang and Mei Zhongjun were captured by the Martial Alliance. The White Mountain Sect is gone, and in its place, the Yang-Bai Merchant Sect has been established."
"The Yang-Bai Merchant Sect? How dare some brats take over the White Mountain Sect..."
"Watch your mouth. I am the Honored One of the Yang-Bai Merchant Sect."
"Ah!"
Yang Baekji... the Yang-Bai Merchant Sect...
Hu Yeonjo quickly knelt on one knee and cupped his fists.
"I congratulate you on the establishment of the Yang-Bai Merchant Sect. If you give me a chance, I will serve you with all my loyalty."
* * *
After Hu Yeonjo joined, the journey became comfortable.
As he had been the leader of the White Mountain Sect's 'Great Light Brigade', he was well-versed in the geography of Sichuan and Shaanxi.
He guided them to comfortable official roads, and they stayed in large villages every night.
"If you go straight on this road, you will reach Xi'an. Let's rest there for a few days and then go."
"Yes. Good."
Hu Yeonjo also taught the Mado master and disciple how to ride a horse.
If they rode with their feet together on one side, their crotches would not hurt.
Moreover, he brought back more news of the martial world than Hongyan.
As they got closer to Xi'an, Hu Yeonjo glanced around and said, "As I asked on the way, it seems the Yang Merchant Guild has completely collapsed. The Meixian Fang also seems to have given up on the Yang Merchant Guild."
"Mei Yanqing is greedy, but she gave up on the Yang Merchant Guild?"
"As the fact that Mei Zhongjun had murdered Guild Master Yang became known, all commercial transactions were cut off. When merchants collude, they are frightening."
"Yes... I see."
"The Meixian Fang's power is also not what it used to be. They are being pushed back by the 'Zhaoling Sect', the 'Iron Horse Sect', and the 'Namil Sect', so there are even rumors that it is now the 'Three Hegemons of Shaanxi', not the 'Four Hegemons of Shaanxi'."
"That is karma. The end of a villain."
Just then, with a sound as if the earth were shaking, about thirty horsemen came running from behind.
"Hiyah!"
Warriors in sleek navy blue light armor spurred their horses and passed by.
Hu Yeonjo looked at their backs with a distant gaze and said, "Those are the brats from the 'Namil Sect'..."
There was a time when he too had galloped his horse gallantly.
"The 'Namil Brigade' is the elite of the 'Namil Sect', and seeing that thirty of them are rushing, it seems they are about to have a proper fight."
"Are those brats going to fight?"
"They are carrying bows and quivers, and even broadswords, aren't they? They are even wearing protective gear made of leather vests on their upper bodies, so you could say they are fully armed."
"If you go that way, it's Xi'an, right? Wasn't Xi'an a buffer zone? Who are they fighting?"
To the north of Xi'an was the 'Iron Horse Sect', to the west was the 'Zhaoling Sect', and to the east was the 'Namil Sect'.
The south was the territory of the Meixian Fang.
"I wonder."
Baekji called Hongyan.
"Do you have a branch in Xi'an?"
"..."
"Why aren't you answering?"
"I know that the Honored One has no ill will towards our cult... but I cannot carelessly reveal the location of our branch."
"Who asked you to reveal it? Go first and find out what's going on in Xi'an. Also find out the whereabouts of Senior Oh and Jang Sam."
"Senior Oh? Jang Sam? Who are they?"
"Yes? You don't know? They are my disciples. Since they came to find a person, they must be loitering around here."
Hongyan was in a difficult situation.
"I need more information."
"They are close to Menghua... Senior Oh likes Menghua."
"Not that kind of thing. What do they look like? Their appearance is important."
"Senior Oh is Senior Oh, and Jang Sam is Jang Sam... if you ask the people of the Yang Merchant Guild, they will know. They worked as servants there."
"Didn't you say the Yang Merchant Guild had closed down?"
"The people will still be there. They are natives of Xi'an, where would they go?"
"Sigh. I'll figure it out..."
Hongyan sighed and held out her hand.
Baekji stared blankly at her hand.
"You have to give me money. There are people who don't eat for free... you can't make people work for free."
"Hmm. That's right..."
Baekji took out a silver ingot from his money pouch and handed it to her.
Hongyan spurred her horse and ran.
Mado said, "I can also find people."
"You don't even know the way, who are you going to find?"
* * *
"Ugh!"
Senior Oh was about to get up but screamed.
It was as if his back were being seared with fire.
Where am I?
What happened?
As he was bewildered, someone opened the door and came in.
"You're awake now?"
Jang Sam, who was limping in, had a bandage wrapped around his head.
It was red with blood.
"Jang Sam. What's with your appearance?"
"Your appearance is worse, hyung-nim."
"Yes?"
When he looked down, his upper body was wrapped in bandages.
A pain rushed from his back.
"Ah, I was stabbed!"
The feeling of a sword tearing through his back came back to life.
"What happened?"
"You don't remember? We almost died attacking the 'Namil Sect'."
Jang Sam answered bluntly, unwrapped the bandage on his leg, applied some 'golden sore medicine', and wrapped it with a new cloth.
"Ah, I remember now."
While chasing Yang Jongu's tracks, they had found out that he was confined in the 'Namil Sect's' safe house... and had almost died attacking it.
"Ugh... the 'Namil Sect'... for brats who call themselves a righteous sect... to stab someone in the back. The way of the martial world has fallen to the ground!"
"That's why I told you not to act like a great hero..."
At Jang Sam's rebuke, Senior Oh was embarrassed.
He remembered having knocked on the main gate, saying that a great hero should attack openly and fairly.
"Ahem. Jang Sam... if a martial artist loses his chivalry, he immediately becomes a member of the evil and heretical path."
Jang Sam turned his head and glared.
Senior Oh avoided his gaze and looked around the room.
It was a cramped room.
"By the way, where is this?"
"Where do you think? It's my house."
Jang Sam's blunt answer came back.
"You had a house?"
"To be precise, it's a house I inherited from my father."
"You had a father too?"
"Is there anyone who doesn't have parents?"
Jang Sam, who had blurted out whatever came to mind, thought he had made a mistake.
Senior Oh was an orphan from a beggar's den.
Jang Sam added, "My father... has passed away."
A moment of silence passed.
He changed the subject.
"Can you get up?"
"Of course. This is a body that has undergone bone and flesh transformation. A wound like this is nothing."
Senior Oh left the room.
Although it was a shabby house in a poor neighborhood, it was clean.
There were rooms on both sides, and the living room was in the middle.
From the room across the living room, the sound of a shallow cough was heard.
The door opened, and a girl who looked to be in her teens came out.
For some reason, she looked familiar, and her face reminded him of Zhongmei.
"My younger sister, Janghwa."
Jang Sam said.
The girl bowed and went to the kitchen.
"Who is sick?"
"My mother has been lying down for a while."
"Then you should go to a doctor."
"They say it's a sickness of the heart, so it's hard to cure."
Jang Sam said, clearing the living room table.
"A sickness of the heart?"
"It's a common story in the poor neighborhood."
Come to think of it, Jang Sam had hardly ever talked about himself.
"...My name is Jang Sam. I had three older brothers and two older sisters... in the year of the plague, my father, older brothers, and older sisters all died... only my mother, me, and the youngest were left."
"Hmm..."
"After that, my mother fell ill... and I entered the Yang Merchant Guild."
He could tell without asking why Jang Sam had been such a miser.
He had sent all the money he had earned home.
"But after meeting the master, I have some leeway, so I'm using a good doctor. It seems she's getting a little better."
A moment later, Janghwa came out of the kitchen with food, placed it on the living room table, and gestured.
Jang Sam sighed lightly and then said, "After that incident... Janghwa also... lost her voice."
"Keuk!"
The soft-hearted Senior Oh sniffled and patted Jang Sam's shoulder.
"You, you were the head of the household as a boy..."
"Don't say that. I'm glad I have a family to take care of. I also met the master and learned martial arts... if I earn a lot of money, I can cure my mother and Janghwa."
After eating, Janghwa took food and went into the room where her mother was lying.
After satisfying his hunger, he remembered what he had to do.
He had to get Yang Jongu out of the 'Namil Sect'.
"What should we do? Should we ask Ajok to send a martial force?"
"We won't have time for that. Let's attack when the surveillance is lax. This time, it's a surprise attack."
"..."
"If you act like a great hero again..."
"Alright."
(End of Chapter)