The Road to Wudang (3)
“Mister! There’s a tanghulu stall over there!”
I glanced at the small tanghulu stand where Hyeryeong was pointing. A middle-aged woman was busily skewering fruit onto sticks.
“I got it, so stop pestering me.”
“Hehe…”
Is that sugar bomb really that delicious? I never understood the appeal even after trying it. It was so sweet it practically ruined my palate. I watched the excited girl humming to herself for a moment before turning my gaze to Mok Gyeong.
He stood there with a contemplative expression, staring at the bustling market as if lost in thought.
“Something on your mind?”
“…It’s nothing. I just felt strange thinking that I used to be like that once…”
Following his line of sight, I saw a group of children running wildly through the crowded marketplace.
Mok Gyeong must have been an ordinary child around that age too. Of course, as the scion of a prestigious martial family, he probably hadn’t been completely free… but at the very least, he wouldn’t have been the vengeful demon he was now, ready to burn his entire life for revenge.
“Once you finish what you need to do, you’ll be able to live comfortably.”
“Live comfortably… After my revenge is complete, what exactly am I supposed to do?”
“Who knows. How about rebuilding your family clan?”
Because the original story had rushed to an abrupt ending, there had been no epilogue or aftermath. All I could offer were vague, comforting words.
“Rebuilding… my family?”
Did I say something wrong? Seeing Mok Gyeong’s face darken rapidly, I quickly revised my words in my head.
“If rebuilding your clan feels too difficult, aiming for the top in a normal way wouldn’t be bad either. I’m not sure about ascending to immortality… but someone like you could definitely reach a realm that every martial artist in the Central Plains would look up to.”
“Does a life like that have any meaning…?”
Meaning, huh.
It was a short but heavy question.
In the end, people always try to find meaning in the path they walk.
I wasn’t the kind of person who could give a wise answer to such a question, but I could at least offer something helpful. After a brief moment of thought, I spoke.
“Well. Meaning is something you give it yourself. Even if you finish your revenge, wash your hands of the Jianghu, and become a waiter at an inn—if that has meaning to you, then it’s the right choice.”
“Meaning… I see. Thank you for those wise words, my benefactor.”
A rare smile appeared on Mok Gyeong’s face. It was so beautiful that I found myself staring without realizing it.
…Staring at a guy’s smile is a bit much.
Having a face that androgynous really is a problem. Just like Hyeryeong said, he really does look like a girl.
Not that he actually is one, of course.
“Mister~ Hurry up and let’s go eat tanghulu!”
“I said I got it, so could you let go of my arm?”
How aggressively was she planning to cling to me in front of all these people? I scolded Hyeryeong, who was hugging my arm and tugging me along, as we headed toward the tanghulu stall.
Fortunately, there weren’t many customers at the stand. Seeing the empty bowls where the woman had laid out the candied fruit, it seemed a wave of customers had just passed through.
“Ma’am, could we get three tanghulu, please?”
“What fruit would you like… Oh? A foreigner?”
“Foreigner or not, everyone’s drawn to delicious food, aren’t they?”
“Oh my, that’s true enough.”
“We’ll take three made with hawthorn berries.”
In truth, I wasn’t particularly fond of tanghulu, but it felt awkward to be the only one not buying anything, so I added an order. The woman skillfully skewered the hawthorn berries at my request and began coating them with malt syrup.
“Business seems to be going well.”
“What good is good business? In the end, half of it gets taken as protection money.”
“Protection money?”
“The two great families are busy checking each other, so those hyena-like bastards have quietly taken over the market, and no one’s doing anything about it. People like us merchants are the only ones dying over it.”
So the Demonic Sect was occupying the gray zone created by the power struggle between the two families and slowly devouring it?
“The Demonic Sect in a place like this…”
“Sigh… I must’ve lost my mind, complaining to a customer like this. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
Perhaps feeling bad about her grumbling, the woman skewered especially large berries onto the sticks, making generous tanghulu, and handed them to us.
“Be careful not to drip on your clothes.”
“Yes! Thank you for the food!”
“Thank you.”
“Here’s the money.”
I paid and took a bite of the malt-syrup-coated hawthorn. The hardened syrup gave off a candy-like crunch in my mouth, and an overwhelmingly sweet flavor flooded my tongue.
…It was sweet. Way too sweet. Still, it wasn’t completely inedible.
I finished off one of the four hawthorn berries and glanced at Mok Gyeong. He awkwardly took a bite of his tanghulu, then stared at it in shock at the unimaginable sweetness mixed with the tartness of the hawthorn.
After chewing and swallowing, he muttered in a low voice.
“It’s sweet…”
“It sure is.”
“This is the sweetest thing I’ve ever eaten.”
“It’s not every day you see something coated this heavily in malt syrup.”
Even in the Central Plains, overflowing with food, it was hard to find anything that could match the extreme sweetness of tanghulu. I alternated between watching Hyeryeong expertly devouring hers and Mok Gyeong neatly eating his, then started on my own.
To be honest, I felt like I needed to drink some matcha to balance it out, but it was still better than the days when I had to dig up grass roots to eat.
I endured the rising blood sugar level, finished my tanghulu cleanly, and tossed the skewer into a trash bin-like container nearby.
Come to think of it, it was pretty surprising to see something like a trash can here.
Well, this was the most developed city of the era, so it wasn’t that strange. And since tanghulu skewers created a lot of waste, having a bin like this would at least keep the streets from getting too sticky.
“Now that we’ve bought everything we needed, all that’s left is heading back.”
“Are we leaving tomorrow right away?”
“That’s the plan. We still have a long way to go to reach Wudang.”
We had finally reached the central area of Hubei. From here, it would still take quite a while to get to Wudang Mountain. It would be better if we could buy horses, but horses were expensive, so that wasn’t really an option.
Finding good ones would be even harder.
“Mister, can’t we take the long way back? We could go for a stroll…”
“Sure, let’s do that.”
If she wanted it that much, there was no reason to refuse. I smiled as I watched Hyeryeong boldly grab and swing my hand. It really felt like I was traveling with a spoiled little sister.
“You two seem to get along very well.”
“Hehe, it’s a connection that started all the way back on Hainan Island!”
“…I see.”
Mok Gyeong gave a somewhat lonely smile and murmured “Connection…” to himself as he lowered his head.
Did the word “connection” strike a chord with him?
I didn’t ask him about it. Instead, we retraced our steps while I looked up at the sky.
It was fine to ask directly, but it was probably better to wait until he was ready to talk. After all, time is the best medicine for most things.
We headed back to the inn beneath a sky dyed in crimson hues.
“…Excuse me. Are you awake?”
…Who the hell is knocking at this hour of the night?
I got up from the bed at the sound of knocking and opened the door. Outside stood several warriors staring at me with solemn expressions.
What now?
What the hell did I do to get dragged into another annoying situation?
At this point, shouldn’t I get a talisman from Wudang Mountain or something? Why do I get caught up in incidents every single time I enter a city? Do I need to start carrying a damn bowtie around with me?
“What’s the matter?”
“Would you mind coming with us for a moment?”
“Isn’t it rude to come knocking in the middle of the night?”
“It’s an urgent situation. Time is of the essence, so I ask for your understanding—”
“Hah, those damn bastards are trying to get the first move.”
“You people…”
What the hell are they doing, arguing in front of someone else’s room?
I swallowed the curses I wanted to spit out and glanced at the warriors who had shown up late and were now glaring at each other. I let out a sigh.
Why were people from the Gu clan and the Kang clan coming to see me at this hour?
What the hell happened?
“If you’re going to start swinging swords in someone else’s inn, at least tell me what’s going on first.”
“Those damn bastards attacked our young master!”
“Nonsense! The assassin you sent killed our young master…!”
“Can’t you people just settle this among yourselves?”
“If you side with us, we will offer you appropriate compensation!”
“If you side with us, we will give you far more than those despicable scoundrels ever could!”
Was this all because my reputation had grown?
To think I’d get recruitment offers in the middle of the night like this.
I looked at the warriors, who clearly had no intention of leaving until I gave them an answer, and opened my mouth.
“I…”
Mok Gyeong's official setting art has been released!
