Chapter 7 (1)
Chapter 7 (1)
"Kheu~ Finally, it feels like a place where people actually live!"
Following the map, I crossed into Hubei and traveled down for a few days; the town I arrived in felt different.
Honestly, Shaanxi felt a bit like the countryside, didn't it?
But coming to Hubei, I can smell the bustling city life!
To be precise, since it's on the border right next to Shaanxi, it's more like the smell of a corner of a bustling district.
I've been living in the mountains, so I might as well take it easy while checking things out in the city.
I robbed those bandits and got a decent amount of cash, so a little luxury should be fine.
Or maybe I should just head straight to Hunan, grab my second fortuitous encounter, and then splurge.
The reason I chose 4 fortuitous encounters is that, according to my internet search, these were the best ones, but if you dig deeper, there's another reason.
Skill, Internal Energy, Martial Arts, and Wealth.
Usually, a 'fortuitous encounter' just means getting internal energy by catching spirit herbs or beasts, or obtaining some ancient martial art, but I didn't want to be an ordinary martial artist.
My initial goal was to pick one specialized fortuitous encounter for each field and create an all-rounder character who can do everything on his own.
I've digested the Fire Artisan's skills, so next is internal energy, then martial arts, and finally wealth—that's my current plan for obtaining these encounters sequentially.
Of course, I chose the Fire Artisan first because I knew he wasn't just a blacksmith, but had also learned martial arts to protect himself.
Once I've devoured all these fortuitous encounters, I'm going to chew the Demonic Cult to pieces.
The price for giving a sense of deprivation to this body—which has only ever taken women, never had them taken away—is that even grinding up all those Demonic Cult brats wouldn't be enough!
Of course, I should also look for females who suit me while I travel.
Ha-yeon is already my woman, but being satisfied with just one woman isn't enough.
Even though there's the absolute condition of having to train, I fell into this martial arts world with cheat abilities.
If you have abilities like this, shouldn't you dream big?
But, I see a lot of warriors on the road, don't I?
Judging by the fact that their colors are the same, they seem to be from the same sect.
Well, it has nothing to do with me.
As long as they don't mess with me, they can do whatever they want.
Kkoreuk-
Hmm, I'm starting to get hungry now.
They say you can eat less once you learn martial arts, but since I learned the Fire Artisan's external martial arts and my whole body became a mass of muscle, my food intake has actually increased.
Of course.
Do you have any idea how many calories are needed to maintain these muscles?
Plus, since my whole body is muscle, I have to eat a ton, right?
At first, before I learned the external martial arts, my food intake definitely decreased, but after learning it, my appetite ended up increasing.
Well, one of the joys of life is the joy of eating, right?
You could say it's actually a good thing.
Because I can eat that much more delicious food.
I asked people and went to the most famous inn in this town.
I heard an inn called 'Chwihwaru' tastes pretty good.
This time, I should try some proper Chinese food.
In martial arts novels, you only ever see plain noodles, roast duck, and bamboo leaf green liquor, but honestly, Chinese people take pride in their cooking—would they really only have that?
Well, honestly, it probably won't be as good as what I make, but there's no reason not to eat food made by others just because they're good at cooking.
As I was wandering around the unfamiliar town, peeking here and there,
"Hey, you there."
"Hmm?"
A group of five warriors approached me.
What the hell, who are these lackey-looking faces?
"I don't have any money, so go rob someone else."
"You bastard! How dare you treat us like Heukdopae!"
"Heh. Then if you're not Heukdopae, what are you? A bunch of guys swarming an innocent person with weapons to rob them? Thugs? Bandits?"
"How dare you insult us!"
Thinking they had been insulted by my words, they tried to draw their swords.
"Wait."
However, the guy who looked like the leader raised his hand and calmed his lackeys down.
"We are warriors of the Zhuge Clan."
I know exactly what to say.
"That's strange. I've never met anyone from the Zhuge Clan."
"We are investigating this place after losing track of a Demonic Cult member who disrupted a Zhuge Clan event. We don't want to cause any trouble, so we just want to check what's inside that bag."
In other words, you suspect I'm one of those Demonic Cult bastards?
Hah~ This feels more shitty than I thought.
I finally came to a place where people live and was happily thinking about what to eat, and these assholes are raining on my parade.
Now, what should I do here?
Should I just ram into them, or cooperate moderately?
But I am a person of modern civilization.
Unlike those uncivilized bastards addicted to power, I'm a man who knows when to stand his ground.
...Probably?
"Go ahead and check."
Having arrived in a town where people live for the first time in a year, I was in a good mood, so I put my bag on the ground and let them check the inside.
"Thanks for your cooperation."
They started taking things out of my bag and checking the contents.
"What is this?"
"What about this?"
You've probably never seen these in your entire life.
These are the best training tools, combining my pride as a trainer and the Fire Artisan's skills.
"A blacksmith's hammer... Needles... And this...?"
Touching the folding steel bow and the folding steel fishing rod, they looked puzzled, wondering what on earth these were.
"You've seen it all, so now you know I'm not a suspicious person, right?"
But the situation didn't go the way I wanted.
"These are things I've never seen before."
"Of course. They're tools for me to use."
"There are blacksmithing tools and medical tools, too."
"Why? Is there a law that says a blacksmith can't practice medicine?"
"And you have a map, too."
"I raided a bandit den on the way here and looted it."
"......."
I told the truth with all my heart.
But they exchanged glances among themselves.
In my experience, that look is never friendly.
"I'm sorry, but please come with us for a moment."
"What?"
What the hell did these bastards just say?
"A blacksmith can practice medicine, sure. But a young person like you knows how to do both? Plus, having strange items I've never seen before and a map—it's highly suspicious."
Ha.
I can't help but laugh.
"Hey."
I clenched my fist and infused it with internal energy.
Chwarararak!
"Heup!?"
"Heot!"
Surprised by the gauntlet extending to my elbow in an instant, they widened the distance and drew their swords.
Alright, let's see just how good the warriors of a prestigious clan are.
"I cooperated, and what? 'Follow us'? Just because I treated you with a smile, you think I'm a pushover, huh."
"Ugh! So you're going to resist! Form the sword formation......!"
"Wait!"
Just as I was about to fight the Zhuge Clan warriors, a man came running towards us.
"My friend, what are you doing here!"
Huh? What? Was that directed at me?
Unable to keep up with the sudden situation and flow, I ended up letting the guy stand next to me.
"Young Master Yeon I-gang? Do you know this person?"
"My apologies. This friend is a disciple of the Soho Sect, a single-lineage sect that has ties to our Taecheon Sect. He's eccentric by nature and doesn't interact with people much, so I think he's committed a discourtesy."
What the hell is going on right now?
I don't know what it is, but this guy is lying for me, someone he's never met in his life.
"Hmm... If he's someone Taecheon Shinryong knows..."
"His personality is perfect for causing misunderstandings, so you'd better stay with him if you can."
The Zhuge Clan guys disappeared, feeling like they were letting me off the hook thanks to the fame of the guy standing next to me.
"Whew. I broke a sweat trying to tell a lie I'm not used to."
"Hey, who are you? Why are you suddenly interfering......."
"You were planning to kill them, weren't you?"
Look at this guy.
It's pretty arrogant of him to cut me off, but he even guessed what I was thinking?
"What does that have to do with you?"
"If you killed them, the entire nearby Zhuge Clan would have swarmed here."
"If I kill them all too, it's over."
"The one I was worried about wasn't you, but the Zhuge Clan."
Ah, damn it.
The situation happened so suddenly that I can't get my head straight.
The lack of information is also a problem.
So, it was clear that this guy felt the vibe that if I fought the Zhuge Clan, I would kill all the nearby warriors.
But for what reason did he stop me and the Zhuge Clan from fighting?
"The Zhuge Clan is currently searching for a Demonic Cult member. If you cause a ruckus, the Zhuge Clan will naturally try to catch you, and the Demonic Cult members will succeed in escaping in the chaos. I intervened because I thought I should stop a fight where no one benefits."
Ho. Even in this world, there are guys who know how to use their heads.
Honestly, looking at martial artists in novels, I thought these bastards were designed to only react to insults directed at them.
"I won't exactly thank you. Anyway......."
"At your level, you could probably take out the Zhuge Clan warriors in this vicinity and escape."
"......."
What is this guy.
Why does he think I can kill all the Zhuge Clan warriors in this vicinity?
They say in martial arts novels that a master can read the internal energy of an opponent with a lower level than themselves, so maybe......?
No, wait. Then does that mean I'm weaker than this guy?
Calming the confusion in my head, I checked the guy's appearance.
He has a handsome appearance that makes me think if there's such a thing as a dashing gentleman, it's this guy, and he's a good-looking character with long hair tied back, around my age.
I can feel that he's a martial artist, yet experienced.
Should I fight him?
"You need to learn how to hide your aura. The reason the Zhuge Clan warriors singled you out was because of that sharp aura. My skin is practically hurting because of the aura filled with the thought of wanting to fight me."
"Tsk."
Damn it.
As my martial arts get stronger, I'm getting confident, and this is the problem.
Come to think of it, I didn't even think about concealing my aura because I hated others underestimating me.
If I don't want to get held back like this again, I need to properly conceal this aura.
Remembering how I used to suppress my aura to stalk prey, I took a deep breath and organized my aura.
"Haha, I'm glad you understood what I said. Honestly, when someone of the same age points something out, everyone usually rebels instead of accepting it."
"I just accepted it because you made a valid point."
I learned martial arts alone without a master.
That's why I always welcome this kind of valid criticism.
"Anyway, since I lied in front of the Zhuge Clan people, just say you're a disciple of the Soho Sect for the time being. Well then, I......."
As he was about to head somewhere, I pulled on his collar.
"Huh?"
"Where are you going? You dare make me feel like I owe you a debt and then try to just disappear?"
I know I have a bad personality, but my pride won't allow me to act like a jerk after receiving help.
Kindness for kindness, hostility for hostility.
It was impossible to live by this principle in modern society, but in this world, I will live by my own values.
So, if I received help, I have to repay it accordingly.
"No, I didn't help you with that kind of thought......."
"Ah, forget it. It's just about mealtime, so I'll treat you. Follow me. If you run away, I'll cause a scene saying there's a Demonic Cult member here."
"Haha, I don't know if that's a threat or kindness."
Yeah, if it's the martial arts world, I'm bound to form connections with various martial artists.
It's a bit annoying that it happens to be a guy, but since I received a favor, I'll put up with it.