Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: That Uncle is Really Good at Cutting Grass
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“Aigoo, I’m dying! Village Chief! Don’t just stand there staring—hurry up and help me!”
This guy’s really gonna get kicked to death by that horse’s hind leg if he keeps this up.
I immediately unleashed my movement technique and rushed over.
“A bit more! Put some more strength into it!”
“I’m doing it!”
“Neigh! Neighhh!”
The horse with the noose around its neck was going berserk.
The uncle and I were grunting as we pulled on the rope.
Dozens of other horses circled us menacingly.
This place was a total madhouse too.
In the end.
After a truly grueling battle, the horse finally tired out.
Of course, the uncle and I were wiped out as well.
But the horse gave up first.
It stopped resisting, and the other horses circling around soon scattered from the village.
Thud!
“Phew. I really thought I was a goner.”
The uncle, drenched in sweat like he’d poured out buckets of it, collapsed onto the ground.
I gently soothed the horse, tied it to a nearby tree, and sat down next to the uncle.
My back was soaked with sweat too.
“What happened?”
“Don’t even ask! This morning, before breakfast, I went to the barley field thinking I’d harvest some early. But these damn wild horses had eaten every last bit of the barley I’d carefully grown! I got pissed and snared one with a lasso, and before I knew it, it dragged me all the way here.”
“Wild horses raided your barley field…? Wait, you only caught this one?”
“You think I’d only catch one after chasing them since morning? This makes four. One of them was a mare with a foal, so that’s five in total. Aigoo, I’m dying. I really thought I was done for.”
This crazy bastard!
Horses… five of them?
In gold taels, that’s 25 taels.
In silver, 2,500 taels.
What the hell is this guy’s deal?
While I was risking my life to buy two cows.
This village nets five horses?
“Mooo.”
“Mooo.”
“Huh? What’s that sound? Why are there cows mooing in our village?”
“Huh? Uh, well… it’s a surprise gift?”
“Cows? You actually bought cows? Let’s go see!”
The uncle bounded excitedly toward the village.
I followed behind, leading the horse tied to the tree.
Ah!
My two cows, prepared with such fanfare to surprise the uncle.
Next to these fine wild horses, they look downright shabby.
“Wow! You really bought these? Two of them? They both look young and sturdy.”
“Yeah. I bought them for you, Uncle. For farming and hauling crops to Chang’an to sell.”
“Aigoo! How could I accept something this precious? Just looking at them makes my heart race—they’re top-notch.”
“Compared to the wild ginseng you gave up for me, this is nothing.”
“Village Chief!”
The uncle suddenly grabbed both my shoulders firmly with his hands.
His eyes were sparkling—he really seemed thrilled.
“Let’s do this!”
“Do what?”
“The horses and cows. They’ll all be communal village property.”
“Communal… property?”
“Yeah! Who knows who might come farm in our village from now on. It’d be too much for me to use two cows alone, and we won’t need them every day. We can raise them together and share them for plowing on rotation.”
“Fine for the cows, but… the horses…?”
“You can ride them when you head to Chang’an for work. Aigoo. I’ll probably use the cows more often than the horses, so I feel a bit guilty.”
“Horses are worth way more. Five times a cow.”
“Is it about the money? It’s about how we use them.”
“True, but…”
“Aigoo! I don’t know much else, but you must have some real village chief luck. I’ve spent my life just looking at other people’s cows—never dreamed I’d have my own. For real! Haha!”
Ah!
This uncle.
He’s not faking it—he genuinely loves it.
My mood, which had been a bit deflated, lifts right along with his.
“By the way, Uncle. Aren’t wild horses dangerous to ride? You could fall and get hurt or killed.”
“Well yeah. That’s why you have to tame them properly.”
“That’s not easy, is it?”
“Didn’t you know?”
“Know what?”
“I’m pretty good at taming horses.”
Damn it!
What can’t this guy do?
And it was true.
The uncle was genuinely skilled at taming horses.
I’d heard it takes at least three months, sometimes half a year or more, to tame a wild horse.
Yet the uncle tamed the sturdiest, best-built young stallion in less than a month—enough that I could ride it.
“Told you. I’m good at taming horses. And not just horses—cows are my specialty too.”
“Cows too?”
“Yeah. I tamed these ones ages ago. Wanna see?”
So I followed the uncle to the field.
The cows… the two I’d bought.
They were plowing the field all on their own, without a soul in sight.
It’s miraculous.
I’ve reached the 3-star realm of the latter part of the 32 Rogue Arts.
In just a month and a half.
It’s hard to control.
An immense power surges within me.
This isn’t just about raw strength or increased internal energy.
The profound and mysterious principles of the latter arts feel like they could whip up a storm with a mere thought.
With that writhing inside me, I don’t even know how to put this feeling into words.
Anyway, now that I’ve hit the 3-star realm, another doubt creeps in.
Is this really the latter part of the 32 Rogue Arts?
It’s just too overwhelming.
If a mere 3-star realm is like this, what happens if I master it completely?
I can’t even begin to imagine.
Is this how all supreme arts are?
They say famous sects like Shaolin, Wudang, and Namgung have dozens, hundreds of arts far superior to the latter 32 Rogue Arts.
And they even possess divine skills beyond supreme arts?
How incredible must those be?
Or… maybe the latter arts I’m practicing aren’t the true latter 32 Rogue Arts?
Nah, that doesn’t make sense.
In the end, the only way is to test it directly someday.
Against a rogue who’s truly mastered the latter 32 Rogue Arts.
Ah, whatever!
Back to training for now.
“Yah! Yah! Ya-ya-yah… Huh?”
Someone’s coming.
No one’s supposed to visit our village.
No one’s coming to my house either.
Except the neighbor uncle.
And it’s not just one or two.
Quite a few people pinged on my senses… What’s this?
Better go check.
So I stepped outside.
“Kyaa!”
“Waaah!”
“Look, a bear tree!”
“Over there’s a butterfly tree too!”
“Wow! What a magical village!”
“Hey, look at that? It looks just like a dragon!”
“That one too. That’s like a tiger. Rawr!”
Kids.
From three or four years old up to their early teens.
They were dashing all over the village, screaming like crazy, playing wildly.
Let’s count.
One, two, three… twenty-one?
Twenty-one kids.
And the adults who brought these little ones: three of them.
O Makeong, Wang Dal, and the Yin-Yang Monk.
They stood frozen at the village entrance like they’d seen a ghost.
Then they spotted me.
“Oh? Uh… Hero Jin. Looks like we didn’t come to the wrong village after all.”
Tsk.
No wonder they’re confused.
Even I thought I’d taken a wrong turn when I saw how our village had changed.
“Hero O. Warrior Wang. Monk Yin-Yang. What brings you here?”
“Ah! Hero Jin. Sorry to drop by so suddenly, and with the kids too. But this place…?”
“It’s Martial Mystery Village. Dogless Village. Things just… happened.”
“Ah… Ah…!!!”
All three gawked at the village again, exclaiming “Ah!” in unison like they’d rehearsed it.
They stared so long I thought their souls might leave their bodies.
“By the way, why so many kids? Do you run a nursery or something?”
Only then did the three snap out of it.
O Makeong, Wang Dal, and the Yin-Yang Monk exchanged glances and grinned.
“These are my kids. The five over there who look just like me.”
“Those three troublemakers who don’t listen? My sons and daughter.”
“The rest are mine.”
The Yin-Yang Monk, this guy.
Loves women so much he’s fathered thirteen kids.
Truly impressive.
“The Yin-Yang Monk? He’s not the father.”
O Makeong sidled up and whispered so the kids couldn’t hear.
“He takes in orphans from Chang’an and raises them. Kids who were starving or freezing to death. Treats them like his own. Sure, he likes women, but more than that, he’s looking for a mother for the kids.”
“Ah…”
“Of course, every woman who follows him home raving about him bolts in terror when they see the thirteen kids. Haha.”
“Ah! So that’s the story… I had no idea…”
Got it.
Why O Makeong, Wang Dal, and the Yin-Yang Monk only take safe jobs.
The kids.
No one to raise them if their dad dies.
I’d badly misunderstood them all this time.
Sorry doesn’t even cover it.
“Let’s head to my place first, Hero O.”
“Hero Jin.”
“Yes, Hero O.”
“About that. The titles. First-rate rogues don’t call second-rate ones ‘hero.’ Makes me uncomfortable too.”
“Ah… Then…?”
“Just call me Warrior O, like everyone else.”
“Got it, Warrior O. Everyone, to my place.”
But I’ve got nothing to eat at home. Big problem.
“By the way, Hero Jin. How did the village end up like this?”
“Ah! Well… it’s a long story… haha!”
The kids were still racing around the village, screaming up a storm.
Every tree in the village was carved into shapes of dragons, tigers, bears, eagles, peacocks, turtles, fish.
They were over the moon.
“Truth is, last time we visited, the village was overrun with weeds. We owed you a lot, Hero Jin. So we came to help cut them. But when we arrived… total shock. It’s a whole different village. Did a miracle happen or what?”
Ah!
That’s why they brought sickles, axes, and all sorts of farming tools.
Still, dragging a cart of kids for three days straight.
I’ve got nothing to serve them. Real trouble.
No decent food in sight… Jackpot!
“Hey there, Village Chief! What’s with all these young guests? It’s so lively—finally feels like a village with people in it. Haha!”
The neighbor uncle called out loudly from across the way, surrounded by the kids.
He clearly loved the bustling village after so long.
I waved big at him.
Then, speaking to O Makeong, Wang Dal, and the Yin-Yang Monk as if to myself, but loud enough for them to hear:
“That uncle’s really good at cutting grass.”