Little Demon King (5)
"Hold on. Let us have a look at you."
At those words, I fell into a brief silence, thinking.
Should I run?
The Beggars’ Sect’s lightness skill was quite good, but it was built more for escape than pursuit. If I put my mind to it and scaled the roofs, even leaping over the city walls, I could easily shake them off.
But if I fled like this without offering any explanation, it would amount to admitting I was the culprit after all.
And before long, the whole Beggars’ Sect would be whispering that I was the bastard who had smashed their branch hall and stolen their money pouch.
The Beggars’ Sect’s information network was nothing to scoff at. In the end, rumors carried mouth to mouth by beggars all across the Central Plains were not something I could simply ignore.
If I left now, I might spend the entire journey to save my master playing hide-and-seek with beggars.
Absolutely not.
Should I fight?
Most of the beggars in front of me were nothing but third-rate small fry.
Wiping out that rabble would be as easy as eating cold rice porridge.
But the branch chief was different.
I looked at his body through my Mind’s Eye.
His presence was steady, and his gaze carried the caution of a man who would not rush into a fight.
He was plainly unlike the ordinary beggars around him.
And though he hid it from the people nearby, I could see serpents writhing between the sleeves and folds of his clothes.
Snake-taming arts. A martial art for commanding serpents.
Which meant that even while I stood here, he had probably hidden snakes in blind spots all around me.
Given their numerical advantage, if I charged in recklessly, I might end up being overwhelmed instead.
Besides, they were angry because I had harmed their own people.
However trash those people might be, an outsider had come in, beaten them senseless, and taken their things. It was no wonder they were seeing red.
And I had, in fact, knocked out a few Beggars’ Sect disciples who came at me while I was stealing back the pouch.
Most of all, the Beggars’ Sect was part of the righteous faction.
A fight that started from a trivial misunderstanding and snowballed into something uncontrollable could easily end with me branded a public enemy of the martial world. That was the worst-case scenario.
We need to talk this out.
I slowly released my grip on the sword and raised both hands.
It was a gesture to show I held no hostility.
Then I stepped out into the open, away from the battlefield, and faced the branch chief.
The distance between us was five zhang.
Outside each other’s attack range, but close enough for our momentum to reach one another.
"Blue eyes are rare in Hubei. Are you from outside the region? Or do you have some northern barbarian blood mixed in?"
The branch chief stared at me intently.
His gaze was probing, measuring my clothing, the depth of my inner power, and even my eyes.
The elders of the Beggars’ Sect, branch chiefs, and other high-ranking figures were generally decent people.
There were so few among them who could truly be counted as wicked that one could count them on both hands.
I looked at the branch chief’s face again.
If he were truly a villain, I would have remembered him more clearly, but there was nothing in my memory.
That meant he might just be another passing righteous-side extra, Number One.
Then maybe this really could be settled with words?
"You’re the one who beat my boys into a pulp?"
As the branch chief spoke, the murmuring around us abruptly died away.
I nodded.
I had no intention of denying it. I did it.
"Why?"
He asked, thumping his dog-beating staff against the ground.
"Our Beggars’ Sect may be full of beggars, but we don’t go around harming people for no reason. And yet you stormed into the branch hall out of nowhere, beat my men, and stole their things. Is that what a wandering hero does?"
There was an odd force in the branch chief’s voice, as if he wanted everyone to hear it.
It seemed he intended to question me and lecture me in front of a crowd.
As if.
If you opened those cloudy eyes and looked straight, you’d probably see half the disciples there committing petty crimes.
Slowly, I moved my hand to my waist.
The branch chief’s eyes widened, but I merely drew out the scabbard and held it in my hand to show I had no intention of attacking.
Then I moved the scabbard and wrote on the ground.
[I only took back what had been stolen.]
Then I pointed at the money pouch in Yu Seojin’s hand.
The branch chief looked down at the words I had written.
"Are you perhaps mute?"
His tone wasn’t mocking disability; it was a genuine question.
Sharp man.
I nodded.
When he saw my answer, his expression briefly softened with pity.
Perhaps he felt some sympathy, since there were many disabled disciples in the Beggars’ Sect as well.
The branch chief frowned for a moment, then said,
"...Hmm."
He cleared his throat and looked away.
"So... what you’re saying is, my boys did something to you?"
Ah.
Could it be?
With that thought in mind, I wrote again.
This time, I kept it simpler and more concise, using just a few characters.
[Thieves.]
I pointed toward the branch chief, then
[Reclaimed.]
And pointed at the money pouch in Yu Seojin’s hand.
The branch chief stared at the writing again, then scratched his head as though troubled.
"Well now, your handwriting is... quite artistic. I can hardly make heads or tails of it."
Damn it.
I swallowed the curse that rose in my throat.
A man of his standing, and he couldn’t read?
However uneducated the Beggars’ Sect might be, surely the higher-ups had some basic education, didn’t they?
I turned slightly and looked at Yu Seojin.
What rotten luck. Even the one person who might have helped me was illiterate.
I stood there for a moment, wondering what to do, when—
Swish, swish.
A faint sound reached my ears.
Instinctively, I looked down.
Between the grass, three or four venomous snakes were flicking out their tongues.
Their eyes were fixed precisely on my ankles.
Hah.
Look at that?
Even while we were talking, the branch chief was making sure to seal off my escape route.
I was about to stamp the snake’s head flat, but stopped my foot in midair.
If I killed the snakes here, the fight would begin.
There was still room for words.
I lowered my foot again, avoided the snakes, and stood my ground.
The branch chief looked surprised, then immediately turned to the beggars and shouted,
"Old Man He! Come out here a moment!"
From among the beggars, an elderly one shuffled out, leaning on his dog-beating staff like a cane.
He had four money pouches hanging from his waist. He was not the same man as the beggar who had stolen the pouch earlier.
"Read it for me. Tell me what that brat wrote."
"Good heavens, if you’d learned your letters when I told you to, you wouldn’t be making this old man suffer for it."
"Ahem, ahem."
While the branch chief coughed awkwardly and turned away, the old beggar muttered under his breath and read my writing aloud.
"Thieves...reclaimed... is what it says?"
"Thieves?"
The branch chief’s brows twitched.
I wrote a little more in front of the old beggar.
The old beggar squinted, then began reading the newly added words.
"The Beggars’ Sect disciples... stole the money pouch... and when I asked for it back... they tried to kill me. So... I subdued them... and took it back."
The branch chief stroked his chin and fell into thought.
His gaze was on the money pouch in Yu Seojin’s hand.
"The money pouch you’re talking about... is that the one hanging from that young lady’s hand?"
Nod.
I gave a quiet nod.
"Y-Yes, it is!"
Yu Seojin, who had been listening silently from behind, stepped forward.
"This Wolyeon Daehyeop went out of his way to recover the money pouch I lost! And, and! He is certainly not someone who harms others without reason! If he did raise a hand, there must have been a proper reason for it!"
Her voice trembled, but her words were firm.
"I swear on my name and the honor of the Wudang Sect! This man is not a villain!"
"The Wudang Sect? Swearing on your name?"
The beggar who had been reading glared at her and stepped forward with a sneer.
"Where did this ragged stick figure crawl out from, to borrow the Wudang Sect’s name? How are we supposed to know if you’re really from Wudang, or just some bastard wrapped in Wudang robes? The Wudang Sect would pick a blind girl like you as a disciple? Then I’m the Plum Blossom Sword and the Four-Seasons Sword, you wench."
The beggar reached for Yu Seojin’s shoulder.
"Move."
Snap!
Yu Seojin’s scabbard moved like lightning.
And it struck the beggar’s wrist dead on.
"Agh!"
The beggar clutched his wrist and stumbled back.
Yu Seojin hadn’t drawn her sword, but she was already radiating an edge as sharp as a blade.
"You are not fit to lay your filthy hands on my benefactor."
Her voice dropped low.
The foolish, innocent expression she usually wore was gone without a trace, and the dignity of a first-rate expert showed through plainly.
Then she flicked her eyes toward me and gave the slightest wink.
What.
I was definitely grateful, but somehow an odd discomfort crawled up my spine.
What was this feeling?
"Hmm."
After hearing Yu Seojin’s vow, the branch chief seemed to be weighing matters carefully.
If my words were true, then the Beggars’ Sect would have gone after a disciple of the Wudang Sect.
And even if not, he surely wouldn’t want news spreading that the Beggars’ Sect had carelessly provoked a Wudang disciple so close to Yangyang, where the Wudang Mountain stood.
As he continued to agonize over it—
"It’s a lie! Everything that bastard said is a complete lie!"
A familiar voice rang out from the back of the crowd.
It was the same old beggar who had fled when I recovered the money pouch from the branch hall.
Though he hadn’t been hurt at all, he now came limping out with a bandage wrapped around him in thick layers, supported by others as he dragged one leg behind him.
"Branch Chief! That bastard is the culprit! We picked up the money pouch from the ground and brought it back to the branch hall, but that thug stormed in, snatched the pouch away, and even stole the public funds along with it!"
He beat the ground, shedding crocodile tears.
"I was trying to stop him, and this is how I ended up! That bastard is a bandit! He’s a disgrace, a complete bastard who thinks the Beggars’ Sect is nothing!"
The beggars around us began to stir.
"What? He stole our money?"
"Th-that bastard’s rotten through and through!"
"Cut off his wrist!"
The hot-tempered beggars began shouting over one another.
Those with sharper instincts, or a conscience, wore uneasy looks, but that was all; none of them acted rashly.
The branch chief’s eyes wavered.
He looked at me, then at the old beggar, visibly torn.
Tch.
I clicked my tongue inwardly. Inwardly, because outwardly I had none.
Logically, my words were more credible, but emotionally, people’s elbows always bend inward.
That old beggar had four money pouches. He was an elder-level figure, just below the branch chief.
There were likely many beggars who had learned directly from him or fallen under his influence, and if he were casually dismissed, the Beggars’ Sect’s internal cohesion would weaken.
Of all people, the most troublesome one had come out to make a scene.
Even if it made things more annoying, I should have broken his legs.
"Hmm..."
The branch chief glared at me with a troubled expression.
"Do you have evidence, lad? Evidence that the old man stole it."
Evidence.
The pouch had already been returned to Yu Seojin, and all they had to do was insist they hadn’t stolen anything.
So where was I supposed to find evidence?
That left only witnesses.
And the only witnesses were those beggars on the other side.
They knew that, which was why they could act up like this.
"Brothers! That bastard rampaged through our territory and beat our brothers like dogs! Does that make any sense? He’s looking down on us because we’re beggars!"
"Right! Right!"
"Show them the pride of the Beggars’ Sect!"
Each time the old beggar opened his mouth, the plants around him chimed in like hired hecklers, and the atmosphere grew steadily more vicious.
If this kept up, even the branch chief wouldn’t be able to mediate anymore.
As expected, the branch chief, caught between me and the beggars, wore a thoroughly flustered expression.
A venomous snake poked its head out from his sleeve and hissed uneasily.
"Wolyeon Daehyeop."
Yu Seojin, standing beside me, spoke softly.
"If this situation grows out of control, I will help you."
Then she began adjusting the sword at her waist.
I appreciated the sentiment, truly I did.
But I had no intention of fighting until they attacked first.
So stop leaking that murderous aura all over the place, would you?
Look, even that branch chief uncle is all tensed up and gathering his internal force!
The venomous snakes at our feet also raised their heads and opened their mouths wide with a vicious sshhk, like a growl.
"Young lady, are you truly intending to draw your sword against our disciples?"
"If the brothers of the Beggars’ Sect cannot distinguish right from wrong and have gone deaf to slander, then there is no more conversation to be had."
Why are you the one deciding that?
Well, all right, more than half of them did seem to have no intention of talking anyway.
Clang!
With a sharp ring of iron, Yu Seojin drew her sword from the scabbard.
"Yu Seojin, a disciple under Wudang Sect Leader Baekhyeon. I humbly ask for your instruction, senior. Please do not spare a lesson for this junior."
"Hold on, I... what?"
The branch chief looked as if he wanted to say something, but at Yu Seojin’s words, he gaped openly.
The beggars behind him were the same.
"D-didn’t she just mention the Wudang Sect leader?"
"That girl is really a direct disciple of the sect leader?"
"Ridiculous. She’s so young—how could she have personally received instruction from the sect leader?"
Voices of agitation erupted, but the one most shaken was the branch chief.
"Y-young lady. Please calm down. We didn’t come here to fight, only to determine the truth."
"Then have those disciples of yours lower the dog-beating staffs they’re pointing at us first."
The branch chief, sweating buckets, hurried to soothe Yu Seojin.
At some point, it had become less a confrontation between the branch chief and me, and more one between the branch chief and Yu Seojin, so I simply stood by and watched them talk.
"All you need is one piece of evidence. Evidence that they stole the young lady’s money pouch. If it turns out to be their doing, I will formally apologize to the two young heroes and handle the matter according to the Beggars’ Sect’s rules."
"Hmm..."
Yu Seojin chewed at her lower lip after hearing that.
In truth, even Yu Seojin wouldn’t have known her money pouch had been stolen until the Beggars’ Sect barged in, so where was the evidence supposed to come from?
If Yu Seojin herself said she’d seen the beggar steal it, that statement would become evidence.
But the one who stole Yu Seojin’s pouch wasn’t that old beggar, and Yu Seojin hadn’t even known her purse was missing.
Given her honest nature, she would probably balk at even that tiny lie.
Was there no choice?
While everyone’s attention was pulled here, I’d have to find a way to get that woman out of here and run.
"Oh? What’s all this noise in front of someone else’s business?"
Then, at that very moment—
A bright voice struck my ears.
Everyone turned toward it at once.
"A-Young Lady! You mustn’t step forward recklessly! If even a scratch were to mar your jade body, what would I ever say to the clan head...!"
"You say you follow Yeona with utmost loyalty, Uncle Wang? Then you should just stand quietly and watch whatever Yeona does!"
"Young Lady!!"
A slim, petite woman and a heavyset man who contrasted sharply with her were walking this way.
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the woman, unable to look away.
So were mine.
Cold sweat began to pour down my back like a waterfall.
Vivid, beautifully glowing violet eyes.
A face that was as cute as a marten and as crafty as a fox.
A white fox-fur coat draped over her shoulders as though wrapped around her.
Yu Seojin’s ears twitched.
"Huh? That voice... Yeona?"
"Seojin!"
Je Gal Yeona, the woman I least wanted to meet in Hubei, waved enthusiastically at Yu Seojin as if greeting an old friend.
Then she walked lightly forward and took her place between me and the branch chief, smiling sweetly at the beggar mob.