Chapter 163
Chapter 163
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: The Beggar Who Fell from the Sky
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Geon Cheon-hwi, Tak Hyeok-dong, and Jang Woong watched from afar as Namgung Hyeok hummed a tune and tilted his cup toward Nanguong Hyeok.
“……He seems in really high spirits these days, doesn’t he?”
“Yes, it looks that way.”
“Does beating up a few people really change your mood that much?”
“Looks like Jongnam Sect was a real delicacy.”
“Right? They say it’s a different flavor.”
“Some say beating Jongnam Sect feels like chewing steak, so it must be different.”
“……”
Geon Cheon-hwi and Jang Woong swallowed hard.
Just then, Tak Hyeok-dong muttered from the side.
“Huh? He’s happy because he beat up Jongnam Sect guys?”
“Then what?”
“I thought it was the booze. Kahahaha!”
At Tak Hyeok-dong’s laughter, Geon Cheon-hwi and Jang Woong sighed.
‘……What’s the point of talking to this guy?’
‘Sigh, seriously.’
They should just shut his mouth.
The two shook their heads.
Then they spotted Namgung Ryong standing off to the side with his arms crossed.
A gentle smile bloomed on his expressionless face, filled with warmth.
He’d been smiling the whole time watching Namgung Hyeok drink.
The three from the Thunder Dragon Squad shook their heads.
‘The eldest young master is just as weird as the second.’
‘No doubt.’
‘Isn’t he the weirdest of all?’
Namgung Ryong was just as far from normal as Namgung Hyeok.
Geum Cheom-sang, who had been mixing Namgung Hyeok’s Huncheonju, shook his head.
‘Why does everyone seem to be getting weirder?’
……Well.
Geum Cheom-sang stared blankly at Namgung Hyeok.
“What’re you staring at?”
“……Just, the proverb ‘clear water above means clear water below’ came to mind.”
“You’re stating the obvious.”
“That’s what I mean.”
Namgung Hyeok tilted his cup all the way back.
“Kuh, good stuff!”
The fiery yet clean taste warming his throat drew a groan of delight from Namgung Hyeok.
After opening one more meridian and starting consistent body maintenance, the booze tasted even clearer.
“All my worries are washing away!”
“Were you worried about Jongnam Sect?! Right? No way they’d just back down from a little threat……”
“What bullshit? What about them?”
Geum Cheom-sang asked with a puzzled look.
“Weren’t you worried about Jongnam Sect retaliating?”
“Jongnam Sect? Retaliate? You drunk?”
Namgung Hyeok snorted and looked at Geum Cheom-sang.
“Why would they retaliate? Did I kill them? Or turn them into vegetables?”
“You buried them.”
“So what? Back in my day, they’d thank you for burying them alive instead of killing them and crawl out. You know?”
“……Ah, yes.”
Geum Cheom-sang nodded half-heartedly with a sour face.
“Then is it the tournament……”
Namgung Hyeok paused mid-sip.
“Are you trying to make me laugh? Planning to become a monk?”
“……No. How could I presume to know your profound intentions, young master?”
“Right. How could you fathom the flap of a phoenix’s wings?”
Namgung Hyeok shook his head like a whale and grinned.
Jongnam Sect had long been erased from his mind, and winning the tournament was a given.
‘Ten days from now?’
In ten days, the Azure Crystal Oil would be his, so the only thing on his mind now was the Millennial Flower Dew.
‘Where the hell do I get Millennial Flower Dew?’
Information was scarce.
High-level intel always required connections and cash.
‘All I’ve got is money.’
The Black Market made premium info hard to come by.
He’d come early partly to network at the tournament, but damn.
The only snag was Jongnam Sect.
Namgung Hyeok clicked his tongue.
‘Guess I’ll have to leg it out after all.’
What a hassle.
Once the tournament started, everywhere would be chaos. He needed to secure a line before then.
‘Ugh, this is perfect Beggar Clan work. But those bastards won’t just pop up.’
Beggars were everywhere under heaven, but ones with martial arts and a gang leader? Only the Beggar Clan.
“Oh god, won’t a Beggar Clan beggar drop from the sky?”
Namgung Hyeok’s gaze caught on the pine tree by the wall.
Blink, blink.
“……Huh?”
Before the question mark could form in his head, Namgung Hyeok had already hurled the cup in his hand like a hidden weapon.
Shwooo! Crack!
Thud!
“……”
The black shape hidden in the pine tree hit the ground with a heavy thump.
“……It really fell.”
The wriggling lump on the ground was a beggar bastard.
“What are the odds?”
Looks like today was his lucky day.
* * *
Beggar Clan Sub-Branch Leader So Geol-gae blinked his hazy eyes repeatedly.
‘What…… happened?’
He remembered getting bonked on the head by something mushy, but nothing after that.
‘……I was definitely investigating the Namgung Family.’
Hearing Jongnam Sect got crushed by the Namgung Family, he’d snuck into their quarters to verify the rumors.
If his master hadn’t ordered it, he wouldn’t have done something so reckless, but orders were orders.
Plus, who wouldn’t be curious when up-and-coming Jongnam among the Nine Great Sects got smashed by declining Namgung?
‘I infiltrated the Namgung residence and was using Beggar’s Hidden Retreat Technique……’
To think the Beggar Clan’s top stealth art got spotted.
He’d never been caught in the jianghu before, so it rattled him.
‘Is the rumor true that Namgung crushed Jongnam?’
The tale of Namgung Ryong filleting the Jongnam Sword Dragon like fish bones gained credibility.
But……
Who the hell was this guy in front of him?
“One, two, three…… seven makes you a Sub-Branch Leader?”
“……”
So Geol-gae gaped as Namgung Hyeok nailed his rank on the first try.
‘……So this is Namgung Family’s second young master!’
The one who recovered from his illness and had been flying high lately!
So Geol-gae quickly rolled his eyes.
A fierce-looking warrior behind Namgung Hyeok held up a portable shovel handle.
……A shovel?
Huh? There’s a pit too?
A pit just big enough for one person to lie in……
“……Heh, y-yes. I’m So Geol-gae, young hero Namgung Hyeok.”
“Oh, Beggar Clan’s still kicking. Quick on the uptake?”
It was praise for spotting the grave and him.
So Geol-gae flashed a fawning smile.
“B-Beggars gotta have wits to beg.”
Namgung Hyeok eyed him with interest, then grinned.
“Let’s do a job.”
“……Pardon?”
So Geol-gae’s eyes went wide.
Caught sneaking in, and instead of interrogation, a commission?
He panicked at the unprecedented situation.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
“W-What kind of job……?”
Namgung Hyeok eyed So Geol-gae for a moment, then grinned.
A smile that made onlookers deeply uneasy.
“Find me Millennial Flower Dew. Bonus if you catch it.”
“Millennial Flower Dew?”
“Yeah.”
“You mean *that* Millennial Flower Dew?”
“Hard?”
As Namgung Hyeok stared, veins bulged red on So Geol-gae’s forehead.
‘This psycho thinks Millennial Flower Dew is some guppy?’
Where the hell do you find that!
The retort nearly burst out, but he swallowed it seeing Tak Hyeok-dong waving the shovel handle.
‘This bastard’s serious……?’
So Geol-gae groaned.
“I’ve never seen Millennial Flower Dew myself, and I don’t even know if it exists……”
“Just go to your superiors.”
“You know I’m one of the top ranks, and my intel says……”
“There’s the Clan Leader.”
“The Clan Leader isn’t some dog you can…… What? My master?!”
So Geol-gae’s eyes bulged as he stared at Namgung Hyeok.
This lunatic was going to summon the Clan Leader now?!
‘No, you damn punk! Even if our Beggar Clan isn’t what it used to be, who’s this Namgung second young master to order my master around!’
He’d felt some sympathy for their shared decline, but this punk’s attitude!
Maybe smash eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms into his face.
“……Our Clan Leader is busier than you think, so that might be……”
“That’s for the Clan Leader to decide.”
“Heh, hehehe. R-Right? My master will handle it.”
Son of a bitch.
As So Geol-gae scowled,
Namgung Hyeok beckoned with a finger.
“Payment first, though.”
“Ah, yes. Show me and I’ll be grateful.”
“Bring it.”
At Namgung Hyeok’s beckon, Tak Hyeok-dong dashed off and hauled back a sack.
Creak, creak!
After some friction sounds, the sack thudded heavily before Namgung Hyeok.
So Geol-gae eyed the sack curiously.
‘What junk is that?’
All sorts of junk peeked from the opening.
Did they gather it to swap for candy?
‘Antiques? Hmm, promissory notes would be nicer.’
Dealing with goods was such a pain.
‘But what’d they pick? Even the whole sack might not summon master.’
So Geol-gae snorted.
Sure, the Beggar Clan was beggars, but not ordinary ones.
The Beggar Clan Leader had once stood equal to the Nine Great Sects’ sect leaders!
Few in the jianghu could command the Clan Leader.
Unless it piqued interest or tempted with treasure, no way.
And the job? Millennial Flower Dew.
Forget it.
‘Namgung Family might be different?’
So Geol-gae sneaked a hopeful glance at the sack.
Rustle, rustle!
After rummaging a while, Namgung Hyeok pulled out his hand.
“Found it!”
“Huh?”
So Geol-gae sighed and eyed the half-staff in Namgung Hyeok’s hand.
A green stick glossy from grime, bumpy like crude carving.
Even split in half?
“……What’s that?”
“Oh, you guys wouldn’t know?”
Makes sense.
It’d been at least a cycle of sixty years since the Beggar Clan’s sacred relic vanished.
So Geol-gae asked flatly.
“What is it?”
“Rough sketch it and show your Clan Leader. He’ll recognize it.”
“……That’s the payment?”
“He’ll decide.”
So Geol-gae flinched as Namgung Hyeok smirked.
‘Sigh, what is this.’
He sighed inwardly.
“But it’s half. Doesn’t that reduce the value……”
“Half for the location where Millennial Flower Dew appears, whole if you catch it.”
“Ah, clear terms are good.”
With his acupoints released, So Geol-gae exhaled sharply and quickly sketched the stick onto paper, noting details, then pocketed it.
He glanced at Namgung Hyeok.
Namgung Hyeok pocketed the Jade Drunk Staff back in the sack and looked up.
“What’re you doing? Run already. Time’s short.”
“……I have a question.”
“What.”
Namgung Hyeok crossed his legs and sipped as So Geol-gae cleared his throat awkwardly.
“How’d you spot my Beggar’s Hidden Retreat Technique? I’ve never been caught gathering intel.”
“How’d I know?”
“Yes!”
Namgung Hyeok inhaled sharply, exhaled, and furrowed his brow.
“You stink, punk.”
“……Pardon?”
“Goddamn, you reek!”
“……!”
“Come washed next time.”
Namgung Hyeok wrinkled his nose and glared.
“Show up dirty again, and I’ll wash you myself.”
So Geol-gae blinked.
‘……Beggars are supposed to stink!’
Who in the world complains about beggars stinking!
‘But Beggar’s Hidden Retreat Technique hides scents too. He smelled me?’
Impossible.
So Geol-gae stared puzzled at Namgung Hyeok for a long moment, then turned.
As he walked, he pulled out the drawing and frowned.
‘Whatever.’
Master would handle it.