Chapter 4 (1)
Chapter 4 (1)
Seoanbu.
To those who play Three Kingdoms games, it is a place familiar by the name Chang'an, and a region that frequently appears in Chinese history.
For reference, Seoanbu was renamed from Chang'an during the Ming Dynasty, but since it had been called Chang'an for over a thousand years before that, many people still called it Chang'an as it was more familiar than Seoanbu.
The Jinling Mountains protected it like a fortress wall, and it was a fertile land called the "Land of Heaven's Storehouse" (Tianfuzhiguo) with a vast protected area.
Because this land was considered very important in Chinese history, it had served as the capital for numerous dynasties, and in Pungun Murim, it was set as a place where countless merchants and ronin looking for work traveled to and from for trade with the Western Regions.
Inside a forest where the gates of Chang'an were faintly visible.
There, a man and a woman were intermingling their bodies.
Jjikeok-jjikeok-jjikeok!
"Ji...Jincheon...here...people...might come...hng...!"
"It's okay, it's okay. You can't feel anyone's presence."
The identities of the man and woman were Jincheon and Hong Seol-rin.
Originally, the promise was to take her to a nearby village, but since Hong Seol-rin had nothing but her spear, her clothes, and the head of Chuihwa-eumryeong, she couldn't even afford emergency food.
Naturally, Jincheon, who was overflowing with spare cash after collecting money from the Jugeom Sect and the emergency funds from the corpses of the Jujak unit members, played dumb on purpose.
Having noticed his intentions, Hong Seol-rin had no choice but to decide to accompany him to his destination, Chang'an, where the branch of the Jeongmumae was located.
Hong Seol-rin, who had intermingled her body with Jincheon dozens of times a day, could no longer glare at him with venomous eyes.
"Ha-eung~~ Ung-ha-at~~"
Seol-rin, with her thighs lifted by Jincheon in a cowgirl position, let out moans that had become sweeter than before, naturally embracing his neck like a lover.
"Heup!"
Chyu-put! Chyu-pu-uk...!
"~~~~!!"
Hong Seol-rin buried her face in Jincheon's shoulder, feeling the climax as his semen surged and his internal energy circulated.
Even though they were far from Chang'an, she held back her moans because countless people were passing by.
"Haa... haa..."
Seol-rin looked at Jincheon with eyes that had lost their venom and were now moist.
Jincheon, as if it were natural, pushed his tongue into her mouth, and she complied without resistance, no longer feeling any repulsion.
"Uung... ung..."
Like lovers.
They mixed their bodies and tongues, exchanging saliva as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"It's over today."
"...I guess so..."
Having finished the kiss, Jincheon said goodbye in a deliberately casual voice.
"I enjoyed it while it lasted. I'll be doing ronin work in Chang'an for a while, so come find me if you need help."
"I... I don't need it. I don't need help from someone like you..."
Having traveled through deep mountains where only wild beasts roamed for over two weeks, intermingling their bodies, the venom that Hong Seol-rin had at the beginning had largely disappeared.
No, compared to the beginning, she had clearly become more beautiful.
At first, she had insisted, "I am not a woman, I am a warrior!", but now, having discovered female pleasure, her aura had naturally transformed into something more feminine.
"Ji...Jincheon."
"Hm?"
"...No, it's nothing."
"You're such a bore."
'We mixed our bodies like that... and she's acting like it's nothing to part ways?'
Hong Seol-rin felt a strange anger at Jincheon's appearance, as he didn't seem to feel even a shred of regret despite the fact that they were parting ways.
'Aren't "manly men" supposed to cherish their women? Is it really okay to be this calm when breaking up?'
Whether he knew her heart or not, Jincheon headed toward the gates of Chang'an with her.
For reference, the era of Pungun Murim is the Ming Dynasty, and in this era, one needed an identification document called a Loin.
This is because commoners could not travel to other regions more than 100 li away without a Loin issued by the government office.
However, this world is a world with Murim.
Therefore, Hong Seol-rin, who showed her badge as a warrior of the Jeongmumae, passed the gate guards easily.
Jincheon, who was a warrior of the same Jeongmumae as her, was able to pass easily through a moderate bribe, claiming he had lost his badge while killing the public enemy of the Murim, Chuihwa-eumryeong.
If Hong Seol-rin hadn't been there, he would have needed a much larger bribe.
"Wow. Lots of people, huh?"
As explained above, Chang'an is the city where trade with the Western Regions is most active.
Therefore, one could occasionally see foreigners with various hair and eye colors.
Jincheon looked around here and there, as if fascinated by the large and wide appearance of Chang'an.
"The deal is over, so I'll be going now."
"Hey, wait a second."
Just as Hong Seol-rin, who had spoken coldly on purpose to cut ties with Jincheon, was about to head to the Jeongmumae Seoanbu branch, Jincheon, who had been looking around the street stalls, called her over and handed her something he had placed on his palm.
"I've been thinking, your hair tie is so worn out, I thought it might snap anytime. You can afford to dress up a little, given your pretty face, right?"
It was a light pink hair tie.
It was a plain, light pink hair tie with almost no decorations, but it was appropriate for Hong Seol-rin, who did not wear flashy outfits that would highlight her beauty.
"...Thanks. If I see you when I'm fighting the evil faction later, I'll kill you without pain."
"Keuk-keuk-keuk. A painless death for a hair tie. That's a huge profit."
Jincheon chuckled and headed in the direction of the Ronin Association, which she had told him about.
"..."
Hong Seol-rin looked at the light pink hair tie for a moment before putting it in her pocket and walking toward the Jeongmumae branch.
She had finally separated from the man who had coveted her body, but for some reason, she felt a strange emptiness.
She arrived at the Jeongmumae Seoanbu branch carrying the bundle containing the rotting head of Chuihwa-eumryeong.
"Who is..."
"Jujak Unit 3 Leader, Hong Seol-rin. I have returned after taking the head of Chuihwa-eumryeong!"
She shouted confidently at the guard who was about to say something to her.
"Jujak Unit!? Ah, understood! I will inform them inside immediately!"
"Seol-rin-ah!!"
The moment the guard was about to send word inside, a middle-aged man heard the commotion and rushed out of the branch building.
"Uncle!"
"Ah! It really is Seol-rin! Thank goodness! Thank goodness!"
The middle-aged man, who possessed both dignity and strength, shared a reunion hug with Hong Seol-rin.
"Uncle, but why did you come here?"
"Of course, because they said you were missing! I swore before my brother's memorial tablet! That I would definitely protect you! Do you know how much my heart burned after you went missing!"
"Uncle..."
The middle-aged man was Hong Jin-dae.
He is from a branch family of the Hong Family Estate and is Hong Seol-rin's uncle.
He is an upright righteous faction member respected by countless warriors, and among warriors who use spears, if you mention the Yuhan Spear, Hong Jin-dae, there is no one in the righteous or evil factions who does not know him.
After the main Hong Family Estate was destroyed by mysterious attackers, he was a man of character known throughout the Central Plains for helping Hong Seol-rin, the only descendant of the family head, in every way possible to rebuild the main family, even though he could have taken the position himself.
Hong Seol-rin shed tears of emotion at the sight of Hong Jin-dae, who had helped her without being greedy for the main family and had come personally when she went missing.
"Thank you, Uncle..."
"It's a relief. Truly a relief. I'm so glad you've returned. By the way, what on earth happened?"
"That is..."
She explained everything she had experienced, deliberately hiding the details about Jincheon.
She said that she had barely managed to take the head thanks to the deaths of her colleagues, and that it had taken a long time to return because she had been suffering from low internal energy and injuries.
'If I talk about Jincheon, things get complicated.'
If Jincheon, a mere warrior of the Jugeom Sect, were to get involved in this story, things would become very complicated.
People would have doubts about who Jincheon, a warrior stronger than the Jugeom Sect leader, really was and for what purpose he had helped Hong Seol-rin.
It required too much courage to confess that he had been after her body and that she had already been soiled as much as she could be.
'So this is the Ronin Association.'
After parting with Hong Seol-rin, I arrived at the Ronin Association located in a corner of Chang'an Castle.
To be precise, it should be called the Chang'an branch of the Ronin Association.
The sight of ronin with rough faces occupying every open space in the spacious but slightly dilapidated building, waiting for something, was quite murderous.
If someone who didn't know better came here, they'd easily run away from those faces.
The ronin checked my face once, but didn't pick a fight.
For one, it was inside a big city, so there were security issues, and I could be a client.
If they drove away work, they'd obviously get cursed at, so they'd only react once my identity was clearly identified.
By the way, it's a life without women for a while again.
Well, it doesn't matter.
I taught that woman, Hong Seol-rin, about pleasure.
It'll be quite a sight if we meet again later.
Originally, I intended to make her my female, but she couldn't escape the concept that she had to work hard to build merit in the Jeongmumae to rebuild her family.
In other words, to get Hong Seol-rin, I would have to take the righteous faction route myself, or train her until she gave up that ambition.
Honestly, entering the Jeongmumae and becoming Hong Seol-rin's subordinate to slowly train her would be one way, but I dislike the righteous faction because it's stifling.
Let's just value the fact that my techniques work here.
If I get distracted by the prey in front of me, I'm a failure as a trainer.
Most of all, I need to get stronger to survive, don't I?
And to subdue even stronger female experts... Heh heh.
I opened the door to the Ronin Association's Chang'an branch and stepped inside to get stronger and gain various real-world experiences.
Kya~ Everyone here has that "I'll ruin your life if you cross me" kind of rough face.
Inside the building, the ronin, whose facial expressions were all top-tier, gathered their gazes toward me.
Ignoring those gazes, I headed to a place like an information desk placed opposite the entrance.
There was not a smiling receptionist, but a scarred man smoking a pipe and puffing out smoke.
"What's your business?"
He asked for my business bluntly, using informal language.
"I'm here to register as a ronin."
"Hmph, looking like a pretty boy, you think ronin work is a joke?"
That's right.
The character Jincheon, whose appearance was based on my 21st-century modern human self, looked like a pretty boy in the Murim world.
Unlike my face, which prevented aging with high-quality soap and skincare products, there was no such thing in this era, so this difference created a bigger gap than I thought.
Jincheon, with his 21st-century skin and facial features, was on a completely different level from the crude humans of the Ming Dynasty.
Or, if one had learned martial arts from a young age, one could prevent aging, but the ronin here all clearly showed signs of having learned martial arts late.
Anyway, having been called a pretty boy for the first time in my life, I smiled with a mix of mockery and joy.
"Was beauty one of the criteria for selecting ronin? Ah, now that I think about it, I was wondering why everyone's faces were so dirty, but there was a reason. In that case, I should understand."
"Huh."
"That bastard?"
"A fledgling dares to..."
Naturally, the expressions of the ronin around me and the receptionist in front of me turned hostile.
If it were the old me, I would have bowed my head appropriately because it would hinder my future ronin life.
However, I am different now that I have learned martial arts.
Worrying about what others think? Why should I care about that when I'm strong?
It's not me who should be worrying about what others think; it should be you guys.
"Hey, kid. Looks like you learned a bit of martial arts."
The receptionist opened his mouth as if growling.
"Now that you have power you didn't have before, you probably feel like you can do anything. You must be feeling a sense of exhilaration, thinking you can do anything and break anything."
Oh. That's how I felt when I learned martial arts.
Looks like he didn't eat his age for nothing.
"I know how many such fledglings I've..."
"Blah blah blah blah blah."
"What?"
"To have to listen to the advice of an old fart who offers zero help just to register as a ronin, this is really fucking bullshit. It's so dirty, maybe I should go to another region to register."
"..."
I hate old farts' advice the most.
I can listen to advice that is experienced and hits the reality well, but I don't want to listen to advice that has zero nutritional value, even if you pay me.
In the modern world, if I said I didn't want to listen, I'd be labeled as a jerk with no manners, so I had to endure it because I didn't want any trouble in social life, but I don't want to endure it here.
Clink!
Eh? Why is he putting money up?
"I'm commissioning the guys in here. Beat this guy up and kick him out. Don't kill him."
Eh? What? For real? Seriously?
"Dealing with one fledgling is no big deal!"
"That one's mine!"
"No, mine!"
"His mouth was pissing me off anyway, good riddance!"
As soon as his words ended, the ronin who were in the building rushed toward me.
Ah, fuck, registering as a ronin is fucking hard!