episode_0014

I have a daughter. Sooner or later, Moonju will be away.

Two pieces of information were not enough. I, Sanyeo, and I headed back to the village while they were calming down the situation. This was because now that the Hongryun faction was away, it was a good opportunity to investigate them in the village.

“It’s nice to see you like this.”

As a person who traveled back and forth between the village and the mountain village, the village with its intact houses felt cozy and beautiful. Sanyeo nodded at my impressions and said this.

“How is the accommodation?”

“I’ll have to see that to find out.”

I pointed to a guesthouse with a sign at the entrance to the village. There was a sign saying ‘Hongryun Guesthouse’ as if this was the only guesthouse. In addition, the Hongryun Sect’s emblem was engraved next to the sign, and inside, a man wearing a Hongryun Sect uniform was sitting and dozing off.

As soon as Sanyeo saw the exterior of the building and the clerk, her face hardened for a moment, but then she said with a calm expression.

“Because it’s better than being homeless. I’m fine.”

“Okay.”

I smiled and believed her. It was because I didn’t want to get into a petty fight with her now that I had to investigate. Sanyeo said, shrugging her shoulders and saying, “I thought I would do that.”

“Then, I will do some research from a different direction. Because two people are better than alone.”

“What is it? Will you help me with the investigation?”

I was a little surprised because I didn’t expect Sanyeo’s help. If it were her, of course ‘I would have to do the investigation alone.’ It was because I thought they would just watch me while saying the same thing. When she saw that I looked really surprised, she tilted her head and asked back.

“Oh my, we are in the same boat. Then I feel sad. Didn’t you believe me?”

I said, shaking my head.

“Of course I believed it.”

“Then, I go this way.”

Sanyeo hid her handcuffed hands in her sleeves and pointed to a quiet direction in the village. I waved at her and then moved toward the main street. At first glance, the biggest signs in the village were ‘Hongryun Guesthouse’ and ‘Hongryun General Store’.

And on one side of the street, skinny, sun-burnt people were gathered together and talking grumpily.

I jumped into the crowd of people chatting and carefully asked a question.

“Over there. Let me ask you something. I’m interested in radish, so I’m wandering around here, and I see a lot of signs saying Hongnyunpa here. What kind of place is Hongryunpa?”

The people chatting turned their heads at my words. They glanced at each other, looked at my movements, and muttered, and one of them opened his mouth as if a flood had burst.

“ Are you curious about the Hongryun faction? Oh my, don’t even talk about it. I’m saying this because everyone is going to the mountains now. There are no demons who are so crazy about money. Doesn’t every merchant that comes in charge higher prices? Aren’t the lodgings and restaurants all ruined? Thanks to that, these days, the merchants have gone down different paths, so we have to pay the price.”

The village residents seemed to dislike the Hongryun faction more than expected. I blinked at the sudden outpouring of gossip, and the other villagers also started talking.

“Even if you want to move, you have to be able to do so. They squeezed people out twice for protection fees and taxes to pay to the country, and now there is not even dry water. Why on earth is this guy who practices radish so obsessed with money?”

With that momentum, they began pouring out various curses and complaints, saying that the Hongryun faction’s master was a money-crazed bastard, and that he was a bastard who should be splashed to death in excrement. I braced myself not to get caught up in the crowd of excited people.

I took a deep breath and opened my mouth in a tone that empathized with people.

“Oh my, it must have been very difficult for you to be such a bloodless and tearless bastard. Doesn’t that person named Munju have any family? Are those children and family members so cruel to people?”

The villager shook his head and said:

“I heard a rumor that Munju has a daughter, but I don’t know what she looks like because she wasn’t let out. There is a rumor that after his wife ran away, he cut the tendons in his daughter’s feet and made her a cripple in fear that she would run away too. Well, that’s the kind of guy he is. Who would expect mercy from a guy who treats his own family like a beast?”

I cried out in joy. If my daughter was being abused to that extent, it would be easy for her to fall for my words if I just gently lured her. I lowered my head so as not to show my lips twitching, and then spoke while wiping my mouth.

“So the Hongryun faction controls this entire village? It truly is a terrifying force.”

The man who was quietest nodded and said.

“The Hongryun faction dominates this entire village. I heard that Hongryunpa Munju was entrusted with managing this village and its surroundings by the government, but I’m not sure how that was done. Didn’t you say that government and martial arts do not interfere with each other?”

I shrugged my shoulders at his words. I had my own guess about his connection to the coffin. The fact that he said he had to leave this time meant that he had superiors.

“Take care. Because Munju is such a dark guy.”

“We’ll go now. It’s obvious that when they come down from the mountain, they’ll beat people up again.”

People showered me with well-wishes and warnings, then each quietly disappeared in a different direction. I also stretched out and wandered around pretending like nothing was wrong, and then I found Sanyeo reaching for the guesthouse at the entrance of the alley, and I moved to the guesthouse with her.

******

“The room is dirtier than I thought.”

After receiving information about the Hongryun faction, we entered the village and took a room. The money stolen from the thieves’ den was enough to provide the two with a spacious lodging, but it seemed like there were no fancy lodgings in this small town.

As soon as Sanyeo entered the room, she frowned and complained. I spoke to Sanyeo while stirring the dust flying in the air with my palm.

“Why is this kid who lived in a cage until recently so miserable? Yunan is.”

Sanyeo opened her eyes wide and spoke to me.

“Oh, that’s why I’m hoping to be treated more generously. I didn’t live in poverty because I wanted to, but they are criticizing me for behaving like a monk in my dorm. You’re so rude, aren’t you?”

What on earth is the woman who was in the cage because she wanted to say? This woman, who could not have been trapped by Chae-ju, who was at best second-rate, kept throwing out things she had no intention of saying, making it difficult to understand her true intentions.

I blew out the dust with my hands, sat down on the clean-looking floor, and leaned against the bed. While looking at the ceiling, Sanyeo threw herself onto the bed. Because the bed was not soft, there was a dull sound.

The bed was hard, so Sanyeo frowned and crawled on her back, as if she were doing guerrilla training. Then, he stuck his head out to the point where he made eye contact with me, lowered his head, and made eye contact while upside down.

“From what I heard, the munju here is not from this village, but he suddenly appeared about 2 years ago and established a sect here. It appears that the building was originally purchased from the house of a rich man who lived in this village.”

Sanyeo recited the information she had heard. It was information I didn’t know, so I nodded and said.

“It seems like Lee Ryu has an idea to establish a sect. Does this mean there is a superior?”

Second-rate people are stronger than me, but in other words, being stronger than someone like me is the level of being second-rate. When money is spent, there is a clear intention. There is no way a second-rate person would ‘just’ spend a lot of money and create a sect without any intention.

“You’re smart.”

Sanyeo said that in the tone of a tutor praising a child. When I let out a bewildered laugh, she slyly looked into space and continued speaking.

“And, the owner of the house here is a vicious person who brings people in with the promise of accompanying them, but only uses them without pay. Most of the people who rushed in earlier had poor skills and few had the basics. I heard this from the store clerk here. Only the two people that Moonju uses as henchmen are third-rate. They say the rest aren’t even at that level.”

“This is extreme evil. It’s easy to rob someone like that.”

I really liked the fact that Moon-joo was a bad guy. For a good man, it would have been complicated to clean up after destroying a sect, but since he had built up notoriety in the village and all he did was set up a sect and manipulate people, his power was weak.

It was quite large, but if you hit the boss, it would collapse in an instant.

“What are you going to do now?”

I looked straight at her. Sanyeo was waiting for my answer. He blinked and his black hair hung down the bed and swayed like a sunshade.

“I heard you have a daughter. Moon-joo said he was leaving again.”

I had just gotten enough information I needed. Moonju has a daughter, and she is not treated well at home. Moreover, Moonju was scheduled to be away for a while. Aside from Munju, they have little power.

Everyone in the village hates the Hongryun faction.

“So?”

“By coaxing my daughter. I make it mine.”

After hearing what I said, Sanyeo closed her eyes, nodded, and made a sound by clicking her fingers together.

widely

widely

widely

A frivolous beat rang through the room.

“And?”

“And after making my daughter mine, I hide in the house and kill her when she comes back.”

I pretended to swing the ax in the air. When Sanyeo said I was going to kill him, he tilted his head and asked.

“The other person is of a higher level than you? You can’t win with your skills now.”

“Ungi Breakfast will be served at home. My daughter probably knows where Moonju eats his breakfast. listen. When Moon-joo is not around, he sneaks into the place where he has fortune-telling. If you pack some dry food and wait, he will come back, right? One of the things I’ve learned over the past two years is how to hide my body’s energy and how to climb over walls. Even though I’m third-rate, I’m better at this than similar people. I’m hiding, and the moment he comes home and prepares himself for breakfast, I’ll cut off two of his heads.”

It was a pretty perfect plan. Sanyeo nodded and said.

“That’s a great plan. So, when are you going to run it?”

I stretched out my finger. I slowly stretched my finger towards Sanyeo’s cheek. Sanyeo stared at my fingers like a statue and then turned her head to avoid them. I said, waving my finger in the air.

“Once the door owner leaves.”