Chapter 578

Chapter 578 - Side Story 12

As soon as Tang Gyeong left, Tang Yu-jeong immediately took off the human skin face mask.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

It felt incredibly refreshing.

"Now I feel alive."

She needed to hurry and find that young man from earlier, but she hesitated slightly.

"Wait, in a way, it's the first meeting between Dad's children, isn't it? No matter how urgent it is, I can't meet him looking like a mess."

Moreover, there was also the dignity of being a Tang Family member.

Tang Yu-jeong quickly finished bathing and put on new clothes. She threw away her martial uniform. Since there was no one who could recognize her anyway, she wore pretty embroidered clothes that ordinary women wore and even did her makeup. She also put on a few cheap accessories.

"Wahaha!"

She felt somehow like she'd gained freedom.

What she liked most was the fact that she no longer had to laugh "hehehe" in a grandfather's voice.

As she left the inn and went down, people glanced at Tang Yu-jeong. She occasionally heard comments that she was pretty. Tang Yu-jeong walked the streets with light steps, feeling emotions she couldn't experience in Sichuan.

"Where did he go?"

She had learned tracking techniques to some extent, but there was no need for that in a crowded village.

"Oh my, hello. I'd like to ask something."

Tang Yu-jeong asked an old man who was leisurely sitting in front of a house smoking tobacco whether a young man had passed by.

When Tang Yu-jeong asked with a bright smile, the old man also pointed her in the direction with a pleased face. Tang Yu-jeong continued asking people about the young man's whereabouts as she passed by.

The young man named Heon was such a handsome young man with a cold expression that he left a deep impression on people. Most remembered the young man and told her where he went.

Tang Yu-jeong could completely trace the direction Heon had passed.

Heon was heading up to Guangdong.

Tang Yu-jeong left a mark at the village entrance so Tang Gyeong could find her later, and chased after Heon.

***

"Ugh, uncomfortable."

After passing through fields, a mountain path appeared. The trailing skirt hem dragged along. It was called water field clothing, flowing skirt hems that came down enough to cover her feet like water flowing down. On top of that, she wore something like a long vest that came down below her knees called a bi-gap. It was an elegant and feminine outfit fashionable in the capital.

She'd always wanted to wear such feminine clothes, but when she actually wore them, they were quite uncomfortable. Tang Yu-jeong held up the hem and climbed the mountain with quick steps.

The traces were getting closer. Looking at Heon's footprints, they weren't hurried steps. He seemed to be walking lost in thought.

Thump thump.

She was just about to meet Dad's other child.

"Hmm."

A while ago, she met him as someone else wearing the human skin face mask, but she wondered what expression to make when seeing him with her bare face. What words should she say first? How would Heon react? Would he be an older brother or younger brother?

"I hope he's an older brother. Hehe."

Tang Yu-jeong thought to herself and smiled happily. Thinking of his polite appearance earlier, he didn't seem like a younger brother who acted spoiled like Tang Gyeong. So probably even if Tang Yu-jeong said she was Poison Dragon's daughter, he wouldn't get angry first. If she calmly talked it through, wouldn't it work out somehow?

Soon Heon's back could be seen in the distance. Looking at his back, it somehow felt familiar. She even felt like she was looking at Dad's back.

"Let's catch up to him first."

Tang Yu-jeong left a mark on a tree and tried to catch up to Heon using lightness techniques.

But just as she was about to take off and fly up, people suddenly appeared blocking Tang Yu-jeong's way.

"Hey, pretty young lady. Where are you going in such a hurry?"

It was five men making fierce expressions. They were threateningly showing blades with discolored, blackened bloodstains stuck on them and even chipped edges.

The men looked Tang Yu-jeong up and down and laughed "hehe."

"To come to such a rough mountain path in that outfit, you must be very urgent?"

"You look like a rich family's daughter... can we know where you're going?"

"If the conditions are right, we could safely escort you to your destination."

Tang Yu-jeong looked at the men and asked.

"Bandits?"

There were no bandits in Sichuan. The Tang Family controlled it perfectly, so neither mountain bandits nor thieves could establish themselves.

The men got angry.

"How rude!"

"To call us courageous and fearless Green Forest brothers bandits!"

Tang Yu-jeong glanced at Heon's back. He was far away, but not too far to hear if she shouted.

She got a good idea.

Tang Yu-jeong clutched her front collar and screamed.

"Kyaaaa! Save me!"

The bandits got angry again.

"Who's trying to eat the young lady?"

"Why cover the front? We're not interested in women!"

Tang Yu-jeong stopped shouting mid-scream and asked back.

"What? Not interested?"

"Do you think we're shameless perverts?"

"Just give us money."

"We all have wives and children at home too!"

Tang Yu-jeong smiled awkwardly.

"Ah, wives and children...? Well, it's different from what I thought, but it's good we're not interested in each other."

"Good what..."

Tang Yu-jeong took a long breath and shouted vigorously.

"Kyaaaa…aaa…aaa…aaa…!"

The scream echoed through the mountain. The bandits were startled, covered their ears, and stepped back. One even fumbled and dropped his rusty blade.

"Why are you screaming so loudly!"

A quick-witted bandit glanced back. Having heard the scream, Heon momentarily stopped walking and was looking back.

The bandit pointed at Heon.

"Hmph. You're trying to ask that guy who passed by for help?"

Tang Yu-jeong obediently answered.

"Yes."

The bandits looked at each other and laughed.

"Better give up on that guy."

"Tsk tsk, you should ask for help from someone who has hope of helping."

A bandit held up a jingling pouch and tossed it up and down.

"Very lucky today. Two hauls in a row for free."

Tang Yu-jeong looked toward Heon with disbelieving eyes. Heon looked at Tang Yu-jeong while turned around for a moment, then soon turned his head and went on his way.

"What the... What?"

Tang Yu-jeong was greatly disappointed. Even when she enhanced her vision wondering if it was someone else, Heon's back was certain.

So he even had his money stolen by bandits? Don't tell me he can't practice martial arts? When he's Poison Dragon's child?

No, even if he couldn't practice martial arts, considering the politeness he showed earlier, she thought he wasn't the type to just pass by someone else's difficulty. But he glanced at her and left.

Her feelings became very complicated.

To think such a person was Dad's son.

"This is... not right. No matter what."

The bandits who heard Tang Yu-jeong's muttering raised the level of threat.

"Now that you know it's useless, just hand over the money and get lost."

"If you want, we can even catch that guy and beat him up. For free without labor costs."

Tang Yu-jeong felt completely deflated.

She took out her money pouch and counted the money inside.

"Bandit uncles are lucky. I'm letting you off because you said you have wives and children."

Tang Yu-jeong took out a few coins and held them out.

"Pffft!"

The bandits laughed.

"You've lived so comfortably that you've never met scary people like us, huh?"

"Are we beggars? Hand over everything you have! Or we could raid your house and demand ransom? It'll get pretty rough then."

Tang Yu-jeong let out a slight sigh.

"My house? Geez, if uncles have wives and children, you should work honestly. Why are you being like this?"

The bandits scowled.

"Why are we like this?"

"It's all because of that great Poison Dragon. Because of Poison Dragon, the country became a mess and people like us were born."

Since Poison Dragon was suddenly mentioned, naturally Tang Yu-jeong had to ask back.

"What did you say? What does uncles becoming bandits have to do with Poison Dragon?"

"Young lady, we also originally paid taxes and lived honestly. Farming and running shops."

"But because Poison Dragon disrupted the country and killed people indiscriminately, we ended up like this. Among people I know, there's a friend who was ruined because the person who borrowed money died and he couldn't get the money back."

"Promissory notes, IOUs, things like that? I know the Tang Family handled all such money problems before."

"Oh my, this naive young lady. Where in the world are such good people? They all pocket it themselves. And then they say with their mouths that they solved everything."

The bandits spat out curses.

"Ptooey, that damn bastard."

Since damn bastard meant Poison Dragon's child rather than Poison Dragon, Tang Yu-jeong felt strange.

Tang Yu-jeong asked.

"Do you have family or relatives who were killed by Poison Dragon?"

"No."

"Then why do you curse Poison Dragon so much?"

The bandits got angry.

"He kills everyone he doesn't like without thinking about the aftermath, so how do common people like us survive?"

"He arbitrarily manipulates merchant leaders, steals money, forcibly installs his people in trading companies and rakes in money, right? That's why people like us get kicked out, can't receive money, and even when we work hard farming, we can only get dirt cheap prices!"

"Damn, this shitty world. The state of the country, really."

"..."

Tang Yu-jeong listened to the bandits' words and muttered as if to herself.

"I see. I don't know why, but Poison Dragon is a completely bad guy."

"Exactly!"

"But uncles, you're bandits. You steal money. Aren't you bad guys just like Poison Dragon?"

The bandits got angry again.

"We're different from Poison Dragon!"

"Not bad guys? Are you insulting us now?"

Tang Yu-jeong immediately lifted her skirt slightly, grinned, and kicked. In an instant, one person was struck by her foot and tumbled over.

Crash crash crash!

"Ow..."

The kicked bandit squirmed without being able to get up.

Tang Yu-jeong put down her raised foot and said in an absurd tone.

"I mean, what kind of bandits worry about the country while banditing? Wow... completely absurd, these uncles."

The bandits raised their blades in surprise.

Tang Yu-jeong also immediately kicked the bandit right next to her. At the same time, she extended her arm and struck the chest of the bandit on the opposite side with her palm.

Thwack! Thud!

Two more tumbled in an instant. One swung his blade. Tang Yu-jeong struck the rusted blade with her bare hand.

Snap! The blade broke and flew away. The bandit who swung the blade also took a hit to the stomach, vomited white foam, and fell to his knees.

The remaining one was holding a blade with blackened bloodstains stuck on it with wide eyes, but when Tang Yu-jeong looked at his blade, he immediately put it down.

"It's pig blood, pig blood!"

Tang Yu-jeong beckoned with her finger. The bandit hesitantly approached. Tang Yu-jeong kicked the bandit's shin.

Crack! His shin broke. The bandit hopped and screamed.

"Ahhhhh! Ahhhhh!"

The other four also couldn't get up and groaned. She'd controlled her strength when hitting them so they'd need to recuperate for at least a month.

Tang Yu-jeong approached the bandits groaning in pain. The bandits cowered in fear and shouted.

"S-spare us!"

"We didn't recognize a master!"

"Never mind master, just hand over the money."

"What?"

"If you tried to steal others' money, you should know your own money can be stolen too."

The tables had turned. Tang Yu-jeong searched the pockets of the bandits who resisted ambiguously while clutching their collars, and took their money in turn. She also collected the money pouch presumed to be Heon's.

"If you hadn't talked about Poison Dragon, I would have let you off. Where did uncles hear such stories anyway?"

While coming to Hainan, she occasionally heard people cursing Poison Dragon at inns and teahouses. Back then she just let it pass, but even bandits cursed Poison Dragon, making her feel strangely uncomfortable.

"Last month there was a Green Forest gathering and there..."

Tang Yu-jeong gave a coin to the bandit who told her. Then she immediately got up and chased after Heon.

The remaining bandits stayed quiet as mice for a while, and when Tang Yu-jeong went far away, only then did they look at the colleague who had first started talking about Poison Dragon and stuff.

"Let's just rip that bastard's mouth!"