Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: A Beggar-Like Murim
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Cheongun's life in the murim was truly beggar-like.
Because he was literally a beggar.
Living as a beggar in a beggar-like murim meant his life couldn't help but be beggar-like.
Cheongun racked his brains hard.
What was the most efficient way to escape this beggar-like situation?
It was money.
You can't buy happiness with money?
So what? Money isn't everything, but there's nothing quite like it.
If you can't buy it with money, can you buy it with poverty? It was a ridiculous premise from the start.
So Cheongun scraped together money with grim determination.
When his stomach growled, he set traps to catch rats or fished in the river.
Rat meat, no matter how grilled or boiled, stabbed at his nostrils with its gamey stench the whole time he chewed.
And that wasn't all. The sharp-toothed fish from the Yangtze had too many bones and tough flesh with a poor texture, while the yellow-haired fish reeked of ammonia like fermented skate despite being a fish.
The ancestors' saying that even dirt tastes good when you're starving was pure bullshit.
Even that failed sometimes, so he'd go out to the streets to beg, but the Beggars' Gang beggars would bully him whenever they got the chance, making successful days rare enough to count on one hand.
He lived like that for about ten years.
At first, he thought about just dying, or lamented his beggar-like fate out of the blue, but humanity's highly developed survival instinct eventually forced the lazy human named Cheongun to cling to life desperately.
Was it because he'd lived as a complete beggar for so long?
Cheongun had long since shed the dignity and morals he should have upheld as a modern man, left only with opportunism and greed for survival.
So he thought.
Ah, beggar-like murim.
When the time comes, you'll pay dearly for making me like this.
Jin Cheon-u, having heard the explanation, looked at Cheongun with a troubled face.
"So, you're saying I have to pay for that by giving you the clothes I'm wearing?"
"Yeah."
Jin Cheon-u was a man.
A master from the unorthodox sects with the moniker Black Fiend Sword.
Naturally, he bristled at Cheongun's demand.
"What the hell kind of beggar bullshit is that? Why do I have to pay for it?!"
"What? Beggar bullshit? Did you just call me a beggar? You think beggars are pushovers? Wanna try getting beaten by one?"
As Cheongun circulated his internal energy, Jin Cheon-u swiftly stripped off his clothes as if nothing had happened.
"...Please wear them."
"These are a bit big."
"I'm big."
"Your energy's small, though."
"......"
Cheongun took the short robe Jin Cheon-u handed him.
It was a martial outfit embroidered with red thread.
Cheongun shed his rags and donned the short robe.
Due to the size difference, the hem dragged on the floor, but he cinched it with a belt to make it fit barely.
Finally shedding these rags!
To live like a human, you have to start with appearances.
Cheongun felt great about scoring free clothes.
On the other hand, Jin Cheon-u, suddenly stripped of his outfit, looked like death warmed over.
It was a custom-made martial robe that had cost a fortune, and now he'd run into this bandit-like guy and lost his money, clothes, everything he had.
All that was left were the beggar's trademark rags Cheongun had worn.
'That dog of a bastard. Just you wait.'
Jin Cheon-u swallowed his boiling curses.
He couldn't stay naked forever, so he grudgingly draped Cheongun's rags over himself.
Wearing beggar clothes made him feel just like one.
Though he'd saved his life, his mood was utter shit.
That was when it happened.
"Great hero."
The four companions who had been facing off with Jin Cheon-u in the corner crept forward.
Thanks to Cheongun's intervention saving their lives and manuals, their faces were bright.
The man leading the four warriors bowed his head to Cheongun in gratitude.
"Thank you. We survived because of you."
"Right? My doing."
"Haha, I am Yu Cheongsan of the Moonlit Palm. May I ask the great hero's name?"
"Cheongun."
"Hero Cheong. And the young lady beside you?"
"Namgung Yeol."
"Oh! To meet a daughter of the Namgung Clan here!"
They exchanged familiar fist salutes.
Cheongun gave them a quick once-over.
From the Moonlit Palm meant orthodox faction.
One of the more prestigious martial families at that.
That's why their eyes sparkled at the Namgung name.
The orthodox factions had the worst cartels.
"As the saying goes, 'When the wind blows, clouds gather; when fates align, people meet.' Meeting Hero Cheong is a stroke of heaven's luck for us. This must be a bond forged by heaven and earth, so we won't take this encounter with you lightly."
Yu Cheongsan, was it?
He grinned and spun out a long, flowery speech about 'thanks to you we survived.'
"We have a long road ahead, so we'll take our leave. As they say, 'The righteous path knows no peril.' We wish peace upon your steps, Hero Cheong."
After rattling off his silver tongue, Yu Cheongsan rose.
The other three followed.
They really seemed in a hurry to leave the inn as soon as possible.
That was when it happened.
"Hey."
"Yes, Hero Cheong."
"The bill isn't settled yet."
"The bill, you say?"
Cheongun nodded as if it was the most obvious thing.
"I said it earlier, right? You survived because of me."
"Yes."
"So, if I hadn't been here, what would've happened to you all?"
"......We would've crossed blades with those unorthodox thugs."
"And died."
...True enough.
Without Cheongun's help, they realistically had no chance of survival.
"Not just losing your lives? You'd have lost your manuals too, been humiliated by those unorthodox scum before dying, so naturally the young hero's honor and the Moonlit Palm's reputation would've been shattered, right?"
"Well, that..."
...Also true.
Yu Cheongsan blinked blankly.
Seeing this, Cheongun clicked his tongue.
"And after receiving such heaven-sent grace, what? 'We have a long road,' so you're just gonna shut up and leave? For real? How am I supposed to take that?"
Caught by Cheongun's sharp point, Yu Cheongsan panicked.
"Is there something specific you want?"
Cheongun smiled in satisfaction.
What a obvious question.
Of course he wanted something.
Did I save you for no reason?
He was annoyed at the meal interruption, sure.
But he hadn't acted on impulse.
For his comfortable future, he'd drawn a bigger picture!
And that was—
"Money."
"Pardon?"
"How much you got?"
"......"
Money multiplies the more the better.
Cheongsung Mountain.
Justice Alliance Sichuan Branch.
Branch Chief Namgung Hwi bolted out barefoot upon hearing Namgung Yeol had returned.
Namgung Hwi was the Namgung Clan's young lord and Namgung Yeol's blood kin.
After discovering signs of the Darkwood Sect contacting the Demonic Cult, he'd sent her as a spy, but days with no word had burned him up inside.
And now.
The sister he'd thought lost forever stood before him.
"Yeol!"
"Brother Hwi!"
A tall man rushed out and pulled her into a fierce hug.
Relaxed in her brother's arms, she finally burst into the tears she'd held back.
'What a fuss.'
Cheongun swallowed a sigh as he watched them.
The joyful reunion was brief; soon Hwi spotted Cheongun standing blankly behind.
"By the way, who's that boy?"
"My lifesaver."
"Lifesaver? Who? That boy?"
"Yes. If Hero Cheong hadn't stepped in, I'd have been done for."
Yeol wasn't one to spout empty words.
For her to vouch so strongly meant he'd truly provided critical aid in a life-or-death crisis.
Namgung Hwi calmed his surprise and listened to her tale.
It started plausibly enough.
But as it went on, the content grew stranger.
"Fishing... line...?"
Namgung Hwi trailed off.
This beggar-looking boy had exuded tangible killing intent, then threaded sword energy onto a fishing line to skewer five assassins in one stroke.
If her words were true, this Cheongun boy had surpassed the Sword Energy Wounds Man realm to wield fish-line sword arts like an absolute master.
...Does that even make sense?
According to Yeol, his level was at least peak transcendent?
But he just looked like an ordinary boy.
"There should be five assassins' bodies buried near the Yangtze by Mount Ami."
Namgung Hwi grimaced and sighed.
Too outlandish to believe outright, but evidence remained to dismiss as lies.
Whatever his level, a benefactor was a benefactor.
Judging truth later was proper.
Everything could wait until confirming the assassins' bodies as Yeol said.
Namgung Hwi swallowed a sigh and approached Cheongun, who had been quietly watching.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Namgung Hwi."
"Cheongun."
Cheongun greeted him with an uncharacteristically kind smile.
He had to.
Soon, he'd be a Gold Ingot Note owner.
One Gold Ingot Note? 50 gold taels.
50 gold taels? 10,000 silver taels.
He'd rushed here solely for this moment.
Brawled big with the Darkwood Sect or whatever, got threatened mid-meal at the inn.
All those hardships(?) flashed by like a film.
And finally.
He could shed his beggar life.
Get a proper home at last.
I'm rich now.
Gold Ingot Note owner.
The protagonist of life's reversal, that was Cheongun.
As Cheongun lost himself in fantasy, Namgung Hwi spoke.
Namgung Hwi broke out in cold sweat before barely opening his lips to the waiting Cheongun.
His answer was.
"...That, uh, it might be impossible right now."