Chapter 59 : A Troublesome Matter
"Such a lawless…!"
"Calm down."
At the sight of the Miao man being beaten to a pulp by the kicks of the man, Signboard, Hwa Mokyeon, who could no longer bear it, stood up abruptly from his seat.
Jang Baekseo calmed such a Hwa Mokyeon.
"Brother! What do you mean, calm down!? Didn't you just hear what he said?"
"That man called himself Signboard."
"What? What about that… wait, Signboard? If it's the Signboard of Guizhou… don't tell me!?"
"That 'don't tell me' is probably right."
Guizhou.
Guizhou was a place where the Orthodox Faction had not been able to exert much power since ancient times.
To be precise, it was correct to see it as a place that the Orthodox Faction was not interested in.
In the first place, the terrain itself had many mountains, and the mountains were rugged, so there was not much usable land. In addition, the altitude was high and it rained a lot, so it was not a very coveted land.
And numerous Unorthodox Factions had squeezed into this gap and had settled in Guizhou.
In particular, among them, there was one Unorthodox Faction that was notorious in Guizhou, and that was the Signer Family.
This Unorthodox Faction, which was made up of a bloodline that used the surname 'Signer', was a group that had a great influence in the Guizhou area and committed all sorts of evil deeds.
Of course, the government should not have just watched such evil deeds, but…
Due to the tacit rule of non-interference between the government and the martial world, and above all, because the Signer Family had given astronomical bribes to the officials of Guizhou, they were not being punished even though they were openly committing evil deeds like this.
Jang Baekseo's party was in a position where they had to move without being noticed by others.
In such a situation, there was nothing to be gained by getting into a fight with a person from the notorious Signer Family.
But,
"What? You there! Do you have a complaint about the Signer Family's event?"
It seemed that stopping him was a little late.
In a situation where everyone was bowing their heads and pretending not to see Signboard's evil deeds, Hwa Mokyeon, who had stood up alone from his seat, was enough to be noticed, and of course, the person called Signboard also showed interest.
Signboard was a quite famous person on the streets of Guiyang.
As the eldest son of the Signer Family, he had participated in the events of the loan sharks from a young age, and after he had passed twenty, he had become the undisputed best debt collector of the Signer Family.
The sticky fighting spirit that he had polished since a young age, and the ruthless hand that did not distinguish between men and women, young and old! In addition, Signboard, who was fully equipped with the cowardice to know how to pierce a person's weak point, reigned as an object of fear on the streets of Guiyang.
For Signboard, for whom it had now become natural that no one would even make a peep even if he beat someone to death in broad daylight, Hwa Mokyeon, who had stood up abruptly from his seat and had contorted his face as if he were a hero, was an existence that made him feel a sense of novelty.
So he had approached them with interest…
'Look at this?'
A beauty with an exotic atmosphere that did not suit such a shabby party was sitting at their table.
In particular, what caught Signboard's eye was…
'Ho ho~ her eye color is green… I like it!'
A beautiful appearance, and eyes with a greenish tint, as if the blood of an ethnic minority was mixed in!
All of that was enough to stir Signboard's lust.
Signboard, whose lower body was itching, looked Madam Ma up and down with lewd eyes.
At that moment.
"I'm sorry, Great Hero Sa. My party is new to Guiyang, so it seems they didn't recognize you."
Jang Baekseo stood up from his seat and offered words of apology to Signboard.
'This guy who's not even a handful… I'll endure it since he's going to die soon anyway.'
The reason why Jang Baekseo knew about Signboard, or to be precise, the Signer Family, was because the Signer Family would be destroyed a few years later, and that story would become widely known to the public.
At that time, Jang Baekseo, who had just passed twenty and was so busy looking for an elixir to cure Sohyun's illness that he had no time to be interested in other things, knew that the fall of the Signer Family at that time was an incident that had spread widely throughout the world.
Thinking that he was a guy who would die in a few years, Jang Baekseo stopped the flaring Hwa Mokyeon and repeatedly offered words of apology.
But.
"Hehehe! You seem to know who I am, don't you?"
"Of course. How can one live in Guiyang without recognizing the people of the Signer Family?"
Although it was an almost half-sarcastic tone, whether Signboard had not noticed it, or whether he liked the fear of himself and the Signer Family, he laughed repeatedly.
"Kekeke! Then you must know well. That you can't just get away with being so rude to a person of the Signer Family!"
Jang Baekseo contorted his expression inwardly and put his hand into Hwa Mokyeon's chest and took out his money pouch without giving him a chance to say anything.
"How about this much…?"
He emptied all the silver in the money pouch and handed it to Signboard.
Since Hwa Mokyeon had been using most of the money until now, there were not many coins left in his money pouch anyway.
Since Jang Yuran had most of the remaining expenses, Jang Baekseo had emptied the money pouch in front of him to create the effect of 'we have shown this much sincerity, and this is all'.
But unlike his thoughts, even though he had received the silver, Signboard's face did not relax in the slightest.
"You're not thinking of getting away with just a few coins after hurting a person of the Signer Family's feelings, are you?"
"Yes, yes?"
Signboard, who had said that, sent a blatantly lewd gaze to Madam Ma.
"I like that woman. Hey, woman, how about it? I'll give you as much money as you want. So come to me."
"Great Hero Sa, that person is already married and has a husband, so that's…"
"Huh? What, she's already a married woman… well, it doesn't matter. How about it, woman? Looking at your clothes, that husband of yours must be a nobody. How about you leave that insignificant man and come to me?"
Currently, Jang Baekseo's party was wearing shabby clothes worn by commoners, not the good quality clothes they had originally been wearing, to avoid pursuit.
That's why Signboard had thought that Madam Ma's husband was a person with no particular wealth or power, and he had casually spouted outrageous remarks that he should never have made.
"This…!"
The moment Madam Ma was about to stand up from her seat at the words that insulted her beloved husband, whom she could no longer see!
Crack!
"Ke-geuk!?"
Countless white corn, no, teeth flew into the air.
"Y-young Master!!"
"You bastard!!"
"Uh, huh!? No, I didn't mean to do this!?"
Jang Baekseo, who had unknowingly knocked out half of Signboard's corn, looked down at his right fist, which was stained bright red with Signboard's blood, with a flustered expression.
"N-no, this was a mistake! My right fist moved without me knowing… ah! My left fist too!!"
Crack!
Jang Baekseo's left fist was embedded in the face of Signboard, who had lost half of his teeth in one blow.
Kwaang!
Signboard, who had been hit by Jang Baekseo's left fist, broke through the wall of the inn and flew away. Of course, this time too, countless corn flew into the air.
"Ah, ah! My right hand and my left hand moved without me knowing… it happens sometimes, you understand, right, Great Hero Sa? Well…"
Everyone was dumbfounded at the unexpected situation that could not be understood with a clear mind, and in the center of it, Jang Baekseo was asking for understanding as if it were really a mistake.
"Great Hero Sa, you also spouted words from your mouth that couldn't have come out if you had gone through your brain, right?"
At that moment, Signboard's guards, who had come to their senses, drew their swords and rushed at Jang Baekseo, but…
"Yes, that's my brother, and that's a great hero!!"
At Hwa Mokyeon's one move, the guards' swords were broken, and at the following move, they vomited blood and collapsed.
This unbelievable sight where Signboard, who was the king of loan sharks in Guiyang, had been beaten to a pulp in an instant, and his guards had also vomited blood and collapsed.
The people of the inn, who had been unable to say anything for a while, stood up one by one, as if someone had started it, and began to clap.
"Sigh, men…"
Since the thing she had been worried about had finally happened, Jang Yuran stood up from her seat and went to the Miao man who had been beaten by Signboard.
"Are you okay…"
"Uh, uh uh!? Uh, I'm fine… but are you guys okay?"
Although his body was a mess from being beaten up by Signboard, the Miao man was more worried about Jang Baekseo's party than his own safety.
It was understandable. Guiyang was entirely the territory of the Signer Family, and being beaten by Signboard in Guiyang was a common daily occurrence, but hitting Signboard was something that could never happen.
"Well, we're going to leave Guizhou soon anyway… and."
Jang Yuran looked at Jang Baekseo and Hwa Mokyeon, who were taking the travel funds from the pockets of the collapsed Signboard and his guards, and said.
"Whether it's the Signer Family or whatever, there won't be any problem if those guys are here."
In the eyes of Jang Yuran, who was saying that, an indescribable trust and pride were dwelling.
Looking at such a Jang Yuran, the Miao man thought for a moment and then took out a small piece of wood from his bosom.
"Take this."
"This is?"
"The Miao people never forget a favor they have received. If something happens in Guangxi, go to a place called the Water Remnant Guild in Guilin and hand this over. They will step up and help you with anything."
"…I'll gladly accept it. And you should also leave Guiyang if possible. Although you didn't make him like that, I don't know what the Signer Family will do to you just for the fact that you're related to him."
"I was originally going to leave Guiyang. Then… I was caught by that guy and ended up like this."
Saying so, the Miao man glared at Signboard, who had lost consciousness with his face not just smashed but completely crushed, with hateful eyes.
"Thank you. I thought that the chivalry and righteousness that martial artists talk about were all just for show… but today, I think I've met a true hero for the first time."
Saying so, the Miao man cupped his fists in an awkward posture.
Jang Baekseo and Hwa Mokyeon, who had taken not only the travel funds but also all the expensive-looking items, also smiled and cupped their fists at the Miao man.
The Miao man, who had finished his greetings, hurriedly left the place, and Jang Baekseo's party first went up to the room they had decided to stay in and then left the room through the window.
It was a choice made because if they just went out through the inn door, it would be easy to track their whereabouts due to the gazes that were focused on them.
***
"…I'm sorry. It's because of me…"
Madam Ma said that as they left Guiyang and ran up the mountain again.
"If it weren't for me in the first place, you wouldn't have had to stop by Guiyang… and because I got angry…"
Madam Ma, who thought that if she hadn't gotten angry, Jang Baekseo would have endured it to the end, said that, and Jang Baekseo scratched his cheek awkwardly and said.
"No, actually… actually, the moment I saw his face, I thought I wanted to hit him."
Madam Ma felt a sense of gratitude to Jang Baekseo, who was smiling as he said that.
She thought that he had lied to make her feel at ease.
'Should I have killed him and come back?'
Whether he knew Madam Ma's thoughts or not, Jang Baekseo was regretting that he should have killed Signboard and his guards at that time.
It was not a matter of whether he liked them or not. The problem was that they had seen them, or to be precise, they had seen Madam Ma.
'He definitely made eye contact with Madam Ma.'
And at that moment, he had seen a strong lust welling up in Signboard's eyes.
No matter how much he used the Face-Changing Art, he could not change the color of his eyes. That's why he had made Madam Ma wear a bamboo hat as deeply as possible and had warned her not to make eye contact with people…
'Tsk, I hope nothing troublesome happens…'
(End of Chapter)