Chapter 604

Chapter 604 - Side Story 38

The Twin Merciless Axe kept poking Right Commander curiously and hacking with the axe.

"This fellow, this fellow. How strange. Look at those eyeballs rolling around."

Tang Yu-jeong stopped the Twin Merciless Axe.

"Uncle, stop tormenting him. We'll hand him over to the authorities alive. Along with that Ghost Commander or whatever from last time. And uncle..."

Tang Yu-jeong looked at the Twin Merciless Axe quietly and suggested.

"Want to come with us?"

The Twin Merciless Axe immediately recoiled and refused.

"Oh my, no way. How can I breathe and live if I go to the Tang Family? I'll just follow my friends to prison..."

Tang Yu-jeong raised her finger.

The Twin Merciless Axe felt wronged.

"...No, seriously don't do that. Can't I even say what I want to say? No. I'm not being defiant. I'm just saying I want to go to prison. Oh my, if you did wrong you should go to prison. Prison is so nice. They give you food on time, put in beggar-like mats in winter... What? It's nice so why am I saying beggar-like? No. That's just how I talk. Why would I dislike serving you, Miss? You'll soon become the best under heaven, so of course I'm happy. I am, but if I'm next to someone like that I won't live long... No, why do you try to hit me every time I say something? Do you dislike being called best under heaven that much? I'm just saying I want to live. The Tang Family? I'll go, I will. No. I'm not going by force, I really want to go, I'm telling you. No, by 'telling' I don't mean I want to get hit. Why do you keep trying to hit me... I'm really upset."

***

The fight between the Green Forest and the orthodox martial world ended with the orthodox martial world's victory. The defeated Green Forest fled, and many were captured and handed over to the authorities.

The authorities were in such a flood of Green Forest bandits that even the prisons were insufficient.

Small and medium sects were in a festive mood. Though it started with Poison Dragon's children, they rose up of their own will and it was a victory everyone achieved. The martial artists greatly rejoiced at this great sense of achievement they had never tasted before.

They didn't know how long they could enjoy the current success. However, everyone living in Jianghu felt that the world was indeed changing.

***

An Ryeong saw Son-bi off.

"Don't be afraid. What's so special about the Tang Family? They say it's the first time bringing in a second wife from outside, but anyway that side's wife also permitted it."

'But...'

Son-bi seemed uncomfortable about going to Tang Family Manor. Perhaps she was bothered by the fact that she had to leave An Ryeong behind.

"Don't worry about me and go. Do you think I don't know how you pined away for a year waiting whenever Poison Dragon came and went? That won't happen now. I guarantee it. Just call me when you're having your second. Ha, but I hope Poison Dragon has that much sense."

Son-bi's face turned red.

'You're mean. Are you really okay?'

"Don't worry about me. Since there's no nag, I'll just travel around Jianghu for a while and drink heavily."

An Ryeong clasped Son-bi's hands.

"Be strong. You must be happy. It's what you've waited so long for."

Son-bi hugged An Ryeong. She hugged her for quite a while until An Ryeong pushed her away.

"Go now. The carriage to the Tang Family is waiting outside."

Son-bi still couldn't rest easy and left looking back several times.

An Ryeong waved her hand toward Son-bi. She muttered so quietly that Son-bi couldn't hear.

"I feel a bit bad about lying to Poison Dragon that I won't live long, but it's a white lie. Well, maybe Poison Dragon knew and just pretended not to?"

Long after Son-bi left, An Ryeong propped crutches on both sides and stood up limping from her chair. Because she had told them in advance, a servant brought An Ryeong's bundle of luggage.

"Well then, shall I depart too? I'm truly free now."

An Ryeong left the manor step by step. A smile naturally came to her face in the dazzling sunlight.

Though her body was inconvenient, she had become someone who didn't need to worry about anything.

For some, gaining new family members would be the desired life, but An Ryeong wanted the opposite. By sending Son-bi off, An Ryeong finally obtained the life she wanted too.

"I'll travel around the whole country and drink up all the delicious liquor! Haha!"

***

Seo Gyun entered the Martial Alliance with a beaming face.

Blood Only One Devil came out of the Alliance Leader's office and encountered Seo Gyun. Blood Only One Devil was holding the Green Jade Buddha Staff. He gave a small palm greeting to Seo Gyun and passed by.

Seo Gyun briefly looked back at Blood Only One Devil who had passed.

The Green Jade Buddha Staff returning to Shaolin Temple meant that Shaolin Temple would now officially begin Jianghu activities.

But now it was something that hardly concerned Seo Gyun.

Seo Gyun entered the leader's office and shouted vigorously.

"Master!"

Mu-gak was lying on a bed in the middle of the room with a drinking table set up with Yuk Ha-seon.

Yuk Ha-seon put some jerky in Mu-gak's mouth and winked at Seo Gyun.

Seo Gyun's expression as he grinned looking at Yuk Ha-seon was a sight to see.

Mu-gak said in an annoyed tone.

"Your drool is dripping. You fool, I heard the gist of it but what happened?"

Seo Gyun raised his hands as if shouting hooray.

"Poison Dragon has no more Asura Blood now! So I have nothing to do anymore!"

"Huh? Why doesn't Poison Dragon have Asura Blood? Without Asura Blood is that Poison Dragon?"

"He fed his daughter all he'd worked hard to collect. He couldn't help it because she kept crying or something, well I don't really know about that."

"Wasn't that continuously produced from the bone marrow?"

"For his children who are poison people, it comes from the bone marrow, but not for Poison Dragon. He worked hard to eat and accumulate it."

"What nonsense is that..."

But thinking about it, he did seem to always have herbs in his mouth.

"Anyway, so now Master's sword is not needed. Take in a junior disciple and please let me go."

"What about Poison Dragon's kids?"

"They went to Sichuan all friendly. And from the start I was a sword for Poison Dragon, you didn't tell me to cut down those children too."

Mu-gak grumbled with his wrinkled lips.

"Ah yes. You're going to abandon your master at the Alliance and go off living well alone?"

"I'll visit sometimes."

Mu-gak said sulkily.

"Wicked fellow. I passed on martial arts that others covet and made you a master, and now you throw it all away overnight."

"Now I'll also live well with my sister, having children peacefully. That's good enough, right? You're bored so take in one more disciple."

"No way!"

Yuk Ha-seon pressed a drink to Mu-gak's lips to moisten them and said.

"That's why you shouldn't have taught something like virgin cultivation."

"He had no foundation, nothing to work with, and at least he could do virgin cultivation so I taught him. My eyes hurt so you go now too. This poor body will just wait for the day to die, counting down. Now I can finally die in peace."

Whether he did or not, Seo Gyun was still delighted. Whether it was because he was so happy to be free from the burden of being Mu-gak's sword, or because he could finally escape virgin cultivation and form a marital bond with Yuk Ha-seon. Or perhaps it was both.

"Then I'll drink until my nose is crooked today before Alliance Leader Master passes away!"

"This fellow is practically holding a funeral for his master before he's dead, this rascal."

Mu-gak clicked his tongue, but his eyes were smiling.

Finally the era of Poison Dragon was waning.

In a way, from now on would be the beginning of Jianghu.

Soon the great sects would lift restrictions and move.

The small and medium sects who had once tasted victory would not stay still either. Jianghu would become very noisy as they used all their strength to rise higher.

But that was exactly what Jianghu was.

Mu-gak believed without doubt in the vitality of Jianghu where justice and justice constantly clashed as Taoist Haewol desired.

***

Tang Ha-ran had one room in the rear garden cleaned spotlessly. She personally ordered the maids and decorated the room.

"A bit brighter. Ah, those flowers there are too fully bloomed. It'll still be ten more days before they arrive, so a flower pot with less bloomed flowers would be better."

The inner courtyard's head steward felt pleased seeing Tang Ha-ran paying attention to every little detail and said.

"The matter of the Hungry Ghost King's descendant was resolved well, and the Family Head is welcoming the lesser wife so pleasantly, so the main household will be peaceful going forward."

"Welcoming pleasantly?"

"Pardon?"

Tang Ha-ran stared directly at the inner steward.

The inner steward blinked, wondering what he had done wrong.

Tang Ha-ran's gaze was unusually cold.

"Well... normally lesser wives aren't brought into the inner courtyard, only their children, but into the rear garden... and even personally decorating a room... And also you previously declared you wouldn't monopolize your husband..."

The inner steward shrank his shoulders and bowed his head slightly.

"I apologize..."

Tang Ha-ran turned her gaze to the maids.

Then muttered quietly.

"Even if I said I was okay, still, at least before there was work to do so I overlooked it, but now he's unemployed. I told him to resolve the karma related to the child, when did I tell him to bring in a woman?"

Tang Ha-ran's lips pouted out.

***

The matter at Mount Song was concluded but Jin Ja-gang didn't immediately return home.

"Sorry, but I have places to stop by. Go back first."

Tang Gyeong naturally shook his head.

"No."

Tang Yu-jeong poked Tang Gyeong's side.

"Yes! We'll go ahead!"

Jin Ja-gang asked them to take good care of Jin Heon and departed alone.

Tang Gyeong complained to Tang Yu-jeong.

"Ah, why! I'm curious what Dad is going to do."

"That's exactly why. If we're there, would Dad comfortably go where he wants to go?"

Jin Heon propped his chin and said.

"Come to think of it... even from Hainan Island, he didn't always go straight to Sichuan."

"Right. And normally when Dad goes on external travels, he stays out for about a month, you know? But from Hainan Island he only stays four or five days."

"Right."

With Jin Ja-gang's lightness skill, he could return to Sichuan in an instant, so more than two weeks of time was completely empty.

"Let's tail him."

Tang Yu-jeong's eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Tailing Jin Ja-gang while avoiding his ki sense was an extremely difficult task. However, Tang Gyeong and Jin Heon believed in Tang Yu-jeong.

If it was Tang Yu-jeong who had absorbed all of Jin Ja-gang's Asura Blood.

Tang Yu-jeong told Twin Merciless Axe, who was crouching far away afraid of Jin Ja-gang, to return to Tang Family Manor first with the others, then chased after Jin Ja-gang.

Jin Ja-gang went down from Xuguang to Guizhou and headed to the provincial capital Guiyang. In Guiyang he rented a cargo wagon and filled the cargo bed with goods. Lots of necessities like food, clothes, and so on.

"...?"

"Looks like he's going somewhere to live for two weeks."

Tang Yu-jeong, Tang Gyeong, and Jin Heon, who were following Jin Ja-gang from far behind, felt puzzled.

Jin Ja-gang traveled for quite a while and arrived at a manor on the outskirts of the city.

When Jin Ja-gang arrived, children came running out from the manor with big smiles.

"Uncle!"

"Uncle!"

Dozens of children who appeared to be four or five years old, at most not over ten, came out to greet Jin Ja-gang. Soon a couple of elderly people came out of the manor and greeted Jin Ja-gang. Jin Ja-gang politely greeted the elders, distributed the goods he brought to the children, and entered the manor.

Tang Yu-jeong, Tang Gyeong, and Jin Heon climbed trees and peeked inside the manor.

The children sat gathered around Jin Ja-gang. Jin Ja-gang listened to the children's stories and read books to them too.

It was such an unexpected thing that the three people could only watch without saying anything.

Jin Ja-gang stayed there for a day and came out.

Then he filled the cargo wagon with goods and went to another manor in the city.

There too, children ran out the same way. The children's faces when they saw Jin Ja-gang were very bright and cheerful. A middle-aged man and woman came out and bowed in greeting.

Jin Ja-gang stayed there for a day as well.

Jin Ja-gang visited a total of five places as he went up to Chongqing. He taught simple martial arts to each child he met and also taught them reading and writing.

Tang Yu-jeong and the others couldn't contain their curiosity, so after Jin Ja-gang left, they directly visited those manors.

Those places were orphanages caring for orphans.

"..."

They said he came every year to deliver necessary goods and return.

The three people looked at each other. A feeling of somehow understanding yet not quite took away their words.

When Jin Ja-gang arrived in Chongqing, he purchased a whole load of goods. Chongqing had many stone mountains and treacherous terrain where horses or oxen couldn't travel. Perhaps that's why he loaded goods heavily on an A-frame carrier and held bundles in both hands too. From afar it looked like a small hill moving.

Jin Ja-gang crossed mountains and valleys and arrived at a small village where a few people lived together. He distributed some goods there. He gave books and writing materials to children. Then he headed to villages. He went all the way to remote places where fewer than ten people lived and handed over all the goods he was carrying.

As if this wasn't something done for just a year or two, everyone was grateful seeing Jin Ja-gang. They offered food and also gave local specialties in return.

He spent over ten days traveling around Chongqing like that.

Jin Ja-gang finally turned toward Sichuan. He took a boat up to Sichuan.

Tang Yu-jeong, Tang Gyeong, and Jin Heon, who had been following Jin Ja-gang all this time, became much quieter than before.

Jin Ja-gang's strange actions strangely moved their hearts.

"The Hungry Ghost King's descendants were orphans."

Tang Gyeong said.

"And the Hungry Ghost King connected logistics to every corner of mountain villages to raise the value of money."

The three on a different boat heading to Sichuan looked at the boat ahead that Jin Ja-gang was on.

Jin Heon said.

"That he's done this every year... might be his own way of... lessening his guilt for killing so many people."

Tang Yu-jeong shook her head.

"No. If it's Dad, he would have learned after experiencing the Hungry Ghost King's incident. That there are many orphans in the world with nowhere to lean on, and people living in mountain villages lack many things. So he can't just pass it by."

A person who made tens of thousands into a handful of poison, yet one side of his heart was this kind.

"Other people might think it strange but Dad was originally like that. He even gave us allowance secretly without Mom knowing."

Jin Heon doubted whether Tang Yu-jeong's analogy was appropriate, but after thinking briefly, said.

"With the Tang Family's wealth, couldn't he conduct business on a larger scale?"

"Well... that's not something one family can solve. That's probably why Dad just does as much as he can without borrowing the family's power."

"I still don't quite understand."

Tang Gyeong muttered in the midst of it all.

"No wonder he worked so hard at side jobs."

The boat Jin Ja-gang was on passed Sichuan's provincial capital Chengdu.

Tang Yu-jeong and the others also switched to another boat and chased Jin Ja-gang. However, Jin Ja-gang didn't go very far.

Dujiangyan on the upper reaches of the Min River.

Tang Gyeong immediately realized why Jin Ja-gang came to Dujiangyan.

"Here, there was a great battle. And..."

Jin Ja-gang stood by the riverside looking at Dujiangyan's great waterway and sprinkled liquor.

The place where the Zoroastrian Cult and the Northern Heaven Unorthodox Sect gathered and had a great bloodbath.

And at the same time, the place where Taoist Haewol ascended to immortality.

It was a deeply meaningful place to Jin Ja-gang in many ways.

Jin Ja-gang watched the surging river water for quite a while until late afternoon, then sprinkled the liquor he had prepared.

Then he spoke to the empty air.

"Let's go home now."

He spoke quietly but the sound clearly reached the ears of Tang Yu-jeong, Tang Gyeong, and Jin Heon who were hiding in the bushes far away.

Jin Ja-gang turned around and looked toward where the three children were and smiled.

"You didn't listen to Dad so no allowance for a while."

Tang Yu-jeong felt wronged and ran out.

"Ah geez, Dad! How can you do that!"

Tang Gyeong also stood up, puffed his cheeks, and sighed.

"Whew, having allowance cut like this. Somehow I felt like Dad would know."

Jin Heon followed Tang Gyeong and stood up, then felt awkward seeing Jin Ja-gang looking at him with a small smile.

So after hesitating and pondering, he asked.

"Me too?"

"Yes."

Jin Heon also scratched his head with an expression like this wasn't right.

"Ah, Daaaad!"

Tang Yu-jeong grabbed Jin Ja-gang's arm and hung on acting cute.

Jin Ja-gang said as if he couldn't help it.

"Alright, then let's race home. The first person to arrive is exempt."

Tang Gyeong ran out first as soon as those words ended.

"Great!"

"Ah, you cheater!"

Tang Yu-jeong also ran after him. The two instantly disappeared from view.

And the remaining Jin Heon...

Shook his head side to side and walked slowly.

Jin Ja-gang also walked side by side with Jin Heon toward the Tang Family. Then he took out a promissory note that had been crumpled and folded at his waist and gently placed it in Jin Heon's hand. Jin Heon hesitated slightly at first but soon received the note and put it in his sleeve.

Jin Ja-gang smiled.

The shadows of the two people walking with light steps stretched long in the setting sunset.