Chapter 131

“Fresh-killed pork, twenty coins per geun! Cheap, cheap!”

“Oh my, that ring looks perfect on you. It’s normally one silver nyang, but since your fingers are so pretty, I’ll let you have it for half a nyang. What do you say?”

“As for this pill, just one will clear your mind and fill you with strength…”

The streets were packed with endless rows of stalls and the booming cries of merchants.

When I saw the crowded streets of Taiyuan, I clicked my tongue in amazement.

There are a hell of a lot of people.

There was quite a variety among them, too. There were not only street vendors, but also quack medicine sellers, people dressed in smooth silk, and beggars whose poverty practically poured off them.

Martial artists with swords at their waists were also a common sight, but no one paid them any particular attention. Everyone simply went about their business.

So this is the capital of Shanxi Province.

Shanxi Province had dozens of counties and towns, but Taiyuan held a special place among them.

Thanks to its many advantages, it had once served as the capital of a dynasty in the distant past.

That dynasty had fallen long ago, of course, but Taiyuan had continued to develop afterward…

Or so Hyuk Mujin had told me.

That must be why the Jin Family of Taiyuan has managed to survive for three hundred years.

Abundant supplies and manpower. And economic power.

Come to think of it, even after one worthless son raided the family coffers and blew it all at a pleasure house, they still had enough left to wage war against the Mount Heng Sword Sect.

If they had been the Jin Family of Mount Heng instead of the Jin Family of Taiyuan, they would have gone bankrupt and ended up on the streets long ago.

You can’t pass through Taiyuan without setting foot on the Jin Family of Taiyuan’s land.

As I recalled the saying, Hyuk Mujin asked, “What are you thinking about so hard?”

“Just that land speculation really pays off.”

“What?”

“It’s nothing. You…”

“Don’t need to know?”

“You catch on fast.”

“I’m getting tired of hearing that.”

“Yeah, I’m getting tired of you, too.”

“Then why did you bring me?”

“Let’s get the facts straight. I didn’t bring you. Eldest Brother assigned you to me.”

Jin Wikyung had sent me ahead to prepare for tomorrow’s luncheon with Shanxi’s City Lord. The City Lord was a temperamental child, so Wikyung probably wanted us to accommodate him as much as possible and avoid any trouble.

In any case, that was why Hyuk Mujin was traveling with me. As a native of Taiyuan, he was an ideal attendant in many ways.

“Come to think of it, isn’t this your hometown?”

“My hometown… Yes, it is.”

Hyuk Mujin stared at the streets with a complicated look in his eyes.

“It’s only been five years, but so much has changed.”

“You must’ve stopped by a few times in between.”

“No. I haven’t been back once.”

His unexpected answer caught me by surprise.

“Not even once in five years?”

“I started learning martial arts rather late. If I wanted to catch up with everyone else, I had no choice but to work ten or twenty times harder.”

“Hmm.”

“I never thought I’d come back like this.”

It was the first time in a long while—no, almost the first time ever—that I had seen him look so serious.

Come to think of it, Hyuk Mujin might fool around constantly, but he was still a capable First Rate master. He only seemed unimpressive because he was surrounded by monsters. His realm was by no means low.

He could never have reached it without working himself to the bone. And on top of that…

He seems to have some talent, too.

System

Level: 48
Name: Hyuk Mujin

His rapidly rising Level was proof enough.

At this rate, is he going to become a Peak master before I know it?

Despite my newly appreciative gaze, Hyuk Mujin was too absorbed in the emotions of returning to his hometown after so long.

“Ah, that auntie is still here.”

His voice was happy, yet wistful.

He pointed to a gray-streaked middle-aged woman selling all kinds of snacks from a small stall.

“Do you like candied hawthorn skewers?”¹

Normally, I would have told him to stop talking nonsense and keep moving, but the mood was unusual. I answered as kindly as I could.

“I’ve never had one in my life.”

“When I was little, I wanted them so badly. Whenever I crouched in front of her stall and sucked on my fingers, that auntie would give me one or two.”

Hyuk Mujin continued with a bitter smile.

“You have no idea how jealous I was of the other children. They’d come holding their parents’ hands, buy candied hawthorn and sweets, and wander around the market… I can still picture it.”

What was I supposed to do with this mood?

I had figured there must be a story behind him, but I hadn’t expected it to take this turn.

I should’ve known when he said he hadn’t come back in five years.

There were an unusually large number of orphans in the Murim. Even looking around us, it was easy to find children wandering through the market in filthy rags.

He must have been in a similar situation.

With no family, he had no reason to return. Coming back would only stir up painful memories of lingering outside the stall as a child, longing for candied hawthorn.

Maybe that was why he had tried to forget his pain through training.

For him, the Jin Family of Taiyuan had been home, and his companions had been his family.

And without knowing any of that… I’ve been treating him far too harshly.

Damn it. The tip of my nose was starting to sting for no reason.

Hyuk Mujin immediately noticed the change in me.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing. Maybe the fine dust is especially bad today. My nose feels itchy.”

“Fine dust?”

“Never mind that. Why don’t we get a candied hawthorn skewer each?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to find an inn first? If we don’t get a room before the sun goes down, there may not be any left.”

“Hey, how long does it take to eat one of those? They’re not even that expensive. We were given plenty of travel expenses, weren’t we?”

“That’s true.”

“Let’s eat whatever we want and have all the fun we can before we leave. You can pay that auntie back for the treats she gave you by giving her plenty of business.”

“I’m not sure we should spend money meant for necessities like this…”

“Spend it. Spend all of it. If anyone complains later, bring them to me.”

“What if the Second Young Master complains?”

“…Bring me anyone except him.”

Hyuk Mujin let out a short laugh before speaking in a much brighter voice.

“Then shall we get a skewer each?”

“Sure. I’ve been looking at them for a while, and they’re making my mouth water.”

I said it entirely for Hyuk Mujin’s benefit. I was almost thirty. Why would fruit candy make my mouth water?

As long as it cheers him up.

That guy had suffered plenty while following me around. He was constantly berated and beaten, and every time we took on a Quest, we ended up meeting nothing but monsters. He had come close to dying more than once.

My first meeting with Hyuk Mujin had certainly been an ill-fated one, but that was no longer true.

“Hey, Mujin.”

Hyuk Mujin, who had just started walking toward the stall, stopped short.

“Yes? What is it?”

“Well…”

The words I’m counting on you from here on out hovered on the tip of my tongue. Damn it. That was much too sappy for two grown men to say to each other.

After agonizing over it, I blurted out something completely different.

“Let’s get two each. The big ones.”

“Oh. Yes.”

Too embarrassed to look at him, I gazed off at a distant mountain. Hyuk Mujin’s conversation with the middle-aged woman drifted to my ears.

“Oh my! Aren’t you Mujin? Hyuk Mujin, right?”

“It’s been a long time, Auntie.”

“My goodness, it is you. It is! I almost didn’t recognize you, child.”

“You haven’t changed at all, Auntie.”

“Ho-ho-ho. That’s kind of you to say. Have you been well, Mujin? I heard you became a martial artist.”

“Yes. I belong to the Jin Family of Taiyuan. I’ll be promoted to Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion soon.”

“T-the Jin Family of Taiyuan? Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion? My goodness, my goodness…”

Whether he would actually be promoted remained to be seen, but their conversation brought a pleased smile to my face.

This sounds like a radio call-in story.

A kindhearted auntie who used to give candied hawthorn to an orphan boy who lingered around her stall. After a childhood of hardship and years of grueling effort, the boy finally found success and returned as a strapping young man.

It was a story I had heard somewhere before, but that didn’t make it any less moving.

“Ahem. What is this? Did something get in my eye?”

Was it yellow dust or fine dust? They couldn’t have built any factories yet, so it must have been yellow dust.

That was when the rims of my eyes reddened slightly despite myself.

“So, have you gone to see your parents?”

“Not yet. I was thinking of stopping by today or tomorrow.”

“Go see them soon. Didn’t your family move?”

“Moved? Where?”

“To a large estate along the main road over there. They even released koi into the pond and raised them.”

“Oh, really?”

“…?”

Parents? Moving? A huge estate with koi?

Wait. Something wasn’t right.

I stared dumbfoundedly at Hyuk Mujin as he returned carrying the candied hawthorn skewers.

“What was that about?”

“Huh? About what?”

“Your parents are alive?”

Hyuk Mujin stared at me as though I were insane.

“Why are you killing off my perfectly healthy parents?”

“No, that’s not what I meant… Then what was all that stuff you said earlier?”

“What stuff?”

“The candied hawthorn. You said you couldn’t have any and spent every day sucking on your fingers.”

“I couldn’t have any. My parents wouldn’t let me eat it because they said it would rot my teeth. Every merchant around here knew how overbearing my parents were, so they made a point of refusing to sell any to me. That lady was the only one who secretly slipped me some.”

“…”

“And what about being jealous of the children holding their parents’ hands?”

“My family’s business was so successful that they never had any free time. I played by myself.”

“Th-then you had family in Taiyuan, but you didn’t come back once in five years?”

“I left home. I didn’t want to inherit the family business, so I left a single letter behind and ran away. The Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion in our family is my father’s childhood best friend, so he probably knew everything about how I was doing.”

“…”

“For about two years, they gave me hell over it. Then my youngest sibling was suddenly born, so I no longer needed to inherit the family business. After that, they stopped saying much.”

Hyuk Mujin craned his neck and looked around, then raised a hand and pointed.

“Ah, there it is. See it? That building belongs to my parents… It got even bigger while I was away.”

I followed Hyuk Mujin’s finger and turned my head.

A huge, towering five-story pavilion and a signboard bearing enormous characters came into view.

Hyuk Family Textile Shop

Hyuk Mujin smiled proudly.

“It’s the largest textile shop in Taiyuan. We have branches in Henan and Hebei, too.”

This bastard was born with a silver spoon, too…

You had to be pretty damn wealthy to open chain stores in a place this rough.

What the hell have I been doing?

A young boy who used to suck on his fingers because he wanted to eat candied hawthorn so badly?

The truth was that his successful business-owner parents had forbidden him from eating it because they were worried about his teeth.

What the fuck is this?

As I stood there with my mouth hanging open, Hyuk Mujin held out one of the candied hawthorn skewers.

“Here, have one. I specially chose the biggest and shiniest one. The ones that lady sells are the best in this area.”

“You son of a…”

I swallowed the curse that had surged up to my throat and bit down on the candied hawthorn with a loud crunch.

“Let’s hurry up and find a room.”

“Already? We’ve only spent a few iron coins…”

“Hey! Is it your money? Those are travel expenses we were given to spend when necessary. Expenses!”

“Didn’t you just say we should spend it all and have fun?”

“We’ve had enough fun. You said the rooms would fill up after sunset. If we get a bad night’s sleep and end up late to tomorrow’s luncheon, are you going to take responsibility?”

“…”

Honghwa Inn.

As its signboard suggested, this was one of the establishments under the Lower District Sect’s influence.

Honghwaru at night. Honghwa Inn for lodging.

Whoever had come up with that arrangement was clearly determined to wring every last coin out of the drunks.

“Let’s go in.”

I was about to lead Hyuk Mujin, whose lower lip had been jutting out for some time, toward the inn’s entrance when someone spoke.

“Excuse me. I’m sorry to bother you.”

The voice strangely tugged at my nerves. Its owner was a young man with an affable expression and a dreamy, hazy voice as innocent as a child’s.

This feeling…

The moment I turned around and met his clear eyes, my breath caught despite myself.

This was an aura different from Jin Mukyung’s.

System

Level: ???
Name: Cheongpung

Another Peak master had appeared.

Amid the tension, the young man named Cheongpung opened his lips.

“If you don’t mind, may I eat just one candied hawthorn skewer?”

“…?”

What the hell is this guy?