Chapter 72 : Dilemma
The journey to Hunan was smooth.
In the first place, the party's purpose was not to go deep into Hunan.
The real purpose of this waterway journey was to cut off the line of pursuit by using the boat service once.
It was enough if they just set foot in Hunan, and in the first place, the Yangtze River Waterway Fortress did not bother to come all the way to the outskirts of Hunan to plunder.
Thus, Jang Baekseo's party disembarked at Xianning, which was on the way to Guangxi and Hunan.
Jang Baekseo's party, who had disembarked at Xianning, immediately began to move towards Jiangxi.
The party, which had obtained a carriage again in Hunan, hurried their steps to make the most of the time they had earned through the boat service, but… a problem soon arose.
Madam Ma's due date was approaching.
It had been about five months since Madam Ma had come from the Demonic Cult's territory to Sichuan, and it had been a little over four months since she had been traveling with Jang Baekseo's party.
Although it was a little premature, it was the right time.
The party entered a back mountain in Guiyang and began to prepare for Madam Ma's delivery.
Fortunately, they were able to meet a mother and daughter who lived apart from people in the mountains, so they shamelessly asked for their help, and they gladly accepted the request.
A small hut located in the mountains.
There, Jang Baekseo's party continued to prepare for the birth of a new life.
"But brother."
"What is it? Young Master Hwa?"
"I told you to call me big brother… well, that's fine for now. Do you think the baby will be a boy or a girl, brother?"
"Well…"
If Jang Baekseo had put his mind to it, it would not have been difficult to check whether the baby in the belly was a boy or a girl.
But Jang Baekseo decided not to do such a tasteless thing as checking the gender.
He left it as a joy for the moment the child was born.
"I've thought about it, and seeing how he kicked so hard in the belly last time, he must be a boy!"
"Hey, you don't know that. How many masters of foot techniques and kicks are there among women?"
At Jang Baekseo's rebuttal, Hwa Mokyeon was lost in thought for a moment and then opened his mouth.
"But… what should we name him when he's born?"
"That's for Madam Ma, the baby's mother, to decide. Why are you worrying about that, Young Master Hwa?"
"Brother! What a heartless thing to say!"
Madam Ma, who was smiling, watching the conversation between such a Jang Baekseo and Hwa Mokyeon, said.
"Haha, actually, I haven't decided on a suitable name yet."
Madam Ma's husband had been assassinated without a sound, so he had had no time to name the child. And of course, Madam Ma had had no time to think of a name for the child due to the continuous pursuit.
Thanks to that, the child in Madam Ma's belly did not even have a common nickname, let alone a name.
"I would be very grateful if you could think of one."
At Madam Ma's words, Hwa Mokyeon looked at Jang Baekseo with a triumphant face.
"See! Madam Ma said so too! Um, let's see… Ma, Ma… Ma."
Hwa Mokyeon, who had been thinking hard about a name, snapped his fingers as if he had thought of a good name and said.
"Ma Deoksun!"
Slap!
"Are you crazy…?"
Jang Yuran, who was sitting by the hearth and polishing her spear, heard the name that Hwa Mokyeon had proposed and hit his head with the spear shaft.
"Ouch!! What are you doing, Yuran!!"
"No, are you the one to talk, you crazy person who named him Deoksun!?"
As the two were bickering back and forth…
"But putting the name aside, shouldn't the surname follow the husband's surname?"
The fifteen-year-old daughter of the owner of the hut where Jang Baekseo's party was staying, Hwang Mina, asked Madam Ma with curious eyes.
Madam Ma made eye contact with such a Hwang Mina and explained with a smiling face.
"Yes, that's usually the case, but it's a tradition of the Han… no, should I say our family? When a daughter gets married, the husband always comes in as a son-in-law."
Well, it was something like a tradition of the Cold Demon family.
The bloodline of the Cold Demon had to use the surname 'Ma' for generations. That's why if a daughter of the Cold Demon family married a man and had a child, the child would follow the woman's 'Ma' surname, not the man's.
Since it was a little complicated to explain that, Madam Ma just explained it as a son-in-law.
"Wow! That's amazing! I've never seen anything like that before!"
Hwang Mina jumped up and down from her seat with her eyes flashing, as if she were so amazed.
Perhaps because she had cut off contact with people and had lived with her mother in the mountains, her nutritional status was not very good, and Hwang Mina was quite small compared to other children of her age.
The difference was even more clear when compared to Jang Baekseo, who was the same age.
Of course, this was also because Jang Baekseo was unusually large compared to his peers…
"Mina~ don't bother Madam Ma, she's tired~"
The one who came in saying that was Hwang Mina's mother and the owner of this hut who had allowed Jang Baekseo's party to stay, Han Seorim.
"Madam Han, thank you once again for taking us in."
"Oh, don't mention it. In life, there are times when you help and times when you receive help. Don't worry too much about it."
Han Seorim had accepted Jang Baekseo's party, who had come into the mountains without a soul in sight, leaving behind the nearby city of Guiyang, and had suddenly asked for help with the delivery of a pregnant woman, without any sign of dislike.
Moreover, Madam Han had not even asked them what their story was or for what reason they had come into a mountain like this, avoiding the eyes of people.
'Is it sympathy…'
The mother and daughter probably had their own story as well.
There was no way that a mother and daughter who were living in a small hut in the mountains, leaving behind the nearby city of Guiyang, would not have a story…
In the meantime…
"Then… how about Ma Yongso?"
"The feel of it is not very good. Ma Shinhae, isn't this much better?"
Jang Yuran, who had been scolding Hwa Mokyeon's naming sense, was also engrossed in naming the child before she knew it.
Jang Baekseo, who was looking at the two with a pathetic look…
"No, you two…"
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Since we don't know if it's a boy or a girl, we have to come up with a name for when it's a boy and a name for when it's a girl!"
"Oh ho, that's true. Alright! Leave it to me! I'll show you the potential of having lived in the city of culture, Shaanxi!"
"That's funny! Since when was Shaanxi a city of culture!"
Thus, Jang Baekseo, Hwa Mokyeon, Jang Yuran, and in addition, Hwang Mina and Han Seorim, who had joined in before they knew it, were engrossed in deciding on a name for the child in the small hut, not knowing how much time was passing.
And.
"If it's a boy, Ma Jinho! If it's a girl, Ma Jinseo! Is this approved!?"
Jang Yuran, whose eyes were full of dark circles from the endless debate, shouted loudly, and Jang Baekseo and Hwa Mokyeon, who were also tired from the long debate, said, 'Approved'.
As Jang Yuran looked at Madam Ma…
"Yes, both are good names."
She nodded her head.
"Ugh… Jang Yuran! It got longer because you were being picky!?"
"Deoksun, Deokbae, Deokhwa, Deokchun… let's just have the person who proposed that shut up, okay?"
"Even I think the Deok series crossed the line a lot. Young Master Hwa…"
"What's wrong with Deok…"
As they were talking, Madam Han, who seemed to have thought of something, spoke.
"Wait… if this happens, will the three who have named the child become the godfather and godmother of the child who will be born?"
At those words, Jang Baekseo, Hwa Mokyeon, and Jang Yuran looked at each other.
"Godfather… haha! That's not bad!"
Hwa Mokyeon burst out laughing as if he were so happy, and Jang Yuran also did not seem to be in a bad mood, saying, 'Godmother…' and was lost in thought.
And Jang Baekseo just smiled without a word.
Before his regression, Madam Ma would have surely been captured by the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
If not, their assassination of the Heavenly Demon would not have been so successful.
Then what would have happened to the child in her belly?
Although he did not want to imagine it, it would not have been a very good ending.
But the future had changed.
Madam Ma, who should have been caught long ago, had not been caught. And the child who would have been born in the clutches of the Hundred River Association, which did not even treat demonic people as human, was now preparing for his birth in a warm hut with the warmth of people, although it was a little remote.
Everything had been changed by Jang Baekseo.
***
Madam Ma's delivery was really right around the corner.
Jang Baekseo, who had been told the last necessary items by Madam Han, came down to the city of Guiyang to buy the items.
But he soon frowned at the presence of the masters who were located in various places in the city of Guiyang.
Although they were hiding their presence, they could not deceive Jang Baekseo's eyes.
Although they were careful not to be noticed as much as possible and were blending into the streets, they were restlessly moving their eyes and looking for something. And some were pretending not to and were asking the surrounding merchants about the appearance and composition of certain people.
'They've already followed us this far…!'
Although Jang Baekseo had slowed down their pursuit by using the help of Jang Pangyo and Yun Soso and even the boat service, that had also reached its limit.
It had already been over a week since they had stayed in Guiyang for Madam Ma's delivery.
No matter how much the Righteous Heaven Alliance was checked from within, and how much Jang Pangyo confused the information in the Righteous Sword Squad, and how their forces were divided due to Yun Soso, they were the elite unit of the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
Rather, it was lucky that they had delayed the pursuit this far.
Jang Baekseo bought the items as naturally as possible and returned to the hut in the mountains.
And he conveyed as concisely as possible that the pursuers had now arrived in the city of Guiyang and that the pursuit would soon reach here.
"Damn it… of all times…"
Hwa Mokyeon said so and looked at Madam Ma.
Madam Ma was literally on the verge of giving birth. They could not abandon this place, where all the preparations for the delivery were made, and run away to another place just because the pursuers had followed them.
"…Jang Baekseo, what do you plan to do?"
"We have to intercept them here."
The only advantage that Jang Baekseo's party had over them now was that they could take advantage of the terrain.
The pursuers would have to search the mountains with a limited number of people, and since Jang Baekseo's party knew this, they could prepare in advance in a place where it was easy to set a trap or intercept.
"First, let's move. A simple wooden hut will be no obstacle against them, unlike a third-rate Black Path faction from the market."
Jang Baekseo had anticipated this situation and had diligently searched the mountains, and he had already marked a few caves or grottoes where they could hide.
Jang Baekseo, who had explained the situation, apologized to Madam Han and Hwang Mina.
"I'm sorry. Even though we were being chased, we relied on the hospitality of Madam Han and Mina and caused a nuisance. Just in case, please take refuge in the city of Guiyang for a while."
Saying so, Jang Baekseo handed the money pouch containing the money he had extorted from Signboard to Madam Han.
But…
"It's okay. Young Master Jang. I knew you must have some circumstances when I let you and your party into my house. I have no intention of running away now. And above all."
Saying so, Madam Han looked at Madam Ma's belly, which was swollen like a mountain, and then at Jang Yuran.
"You may not know, Young Master Jang, but childbirth is really no ordinary matter. If I'm not here, who will help Madam Ma with her delivery? Young Lady Jang alone? Young Lady Jang, have you ever delivered a baby before?"
At Madam Han's question, Jang Yuran shook her head with an awkward smile.
"Hehe… this is my first time."
At this, Madam Han nodded her head and said.
"Although I live apart from people now, I've delivered more than a dozen babies."
Looking at Madam Han, who was boasting and pounding her chest, Jang Baekseo could not think of anything more to say.
That's why he cupped his fists to Madam Han with all the sincerity he could muster.
"Madam Han, thank you for your courage and chivalry."
"Oh my, oh my, what chivalry… helping someone in trouble, isn't that a natural thing to do?"
"Yes…"
Chivalry. The word that was used the most in the Central Plains martial world, and at the same time, the word that was abandoned the most. A woman living in a mountain in Guiyang, Hunan, was now practicing it herself.
(End of Chapter)