Chapter 18
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Rabbit Stew Betrayal
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“Ptooey!”
“S-Senior Brother?”
Yeo Chu-sam and Wang Mun-gi jumped in fright, as if they'd seen a grim reaper from the underworld.
“Looks like you two could use some explaining.”
“S-Senior Brother! What happened was... See, it's like this...”
“I said explanation, not excuses, Chu-sam.”
Yeo Chu-sam couldn't open his mouth right away and just rolled his eyes around.
But Wang Mun-gi saw my darkened expression and figured I was seriously pissed, so he skipped the lame excuses and laid out the plain facts.
“...I'm sorry, Senior Brother. I fell for Chu-sam's scheme.”
“You traitor bastard! You think you'll get off scot-free after ratting me out?”
“I was chopping wood when a rabbit hopped by. I said we should catch it and make some meat stew... but Chu-sam said a palm-sized rabbit wouldn't make good soup anyway. He tempted me to grill it secretly without you knowing, said it'd be a nice treat, and that he had some booze stashed from a street vendor.”
At Wang Mun-gi's confession, Yeo Chu-sam looked utterly shocked and just blinked like a carp.
In the meantime, Wang Mun-gi made his closing statement.
“...Senior Brother, you should punish the ringleader Chu-sam first. I'll kneel here quietly, so interrogate him first.”
Wang Mun-gi didn't spare Yeo Chu-sam a single glance.
He might look like a clueless bear, but in situations like this, he was as sly as a fox.
“Hearing it now, Mun-gi's words make sense.”
I nodded along with Wang Mun-gi, and Yeo Chu-sam looked like hot coals had fallen on his feet.
Desperate to wriggle out, he started flapping his tongue nonstop.
“S-Senior Brother! I'll explain everything, I swear. Just put the sword down and let's talk it out like civilized people, yeah?”
“Explain? What's left to explain here?”
Whatever he said through his beet-red face just sounded like pathetic excuses.
“S-Senior Brother, see... Guhwaaack!”
Yeo Chu-sam didn't put up a proper fight against my Eagle Claw technique adaptation and got pinned in an instant.
It wasn't the booze surging from the raid—it seemed like he was playing up the drama to take fewer hits.
“Look at this guy. He could've dodged, but it feels like he let himself get caught at the end there.”
“Guhhh! Senior Brother, what are you...”
“See? Even now, he's faking pain but his mouth keeps twitching.”
“Senior Brother, that's because unlike your scary face, mine's friendly-lookin'... Aaaagh!”
“Chu-sam, don't you think your tongue's a bit too loose today?”
I pressed hard into Yeo Chu-sam's Jianjing acupoint with my finger like a drill.
A light press there promotes blood flow, loosens stiff shoulders, and eases pain.
But stabbing it like I was doing made his arm feel like it was ripping off in that instant.
“I surrender! I surrender! My bad! My bad! I'm sorry!”
Yeo Chu-sam flopped on the ground thrashing like a little kid. But that wasn't getting him out of my grip.
“Uwaaaaaagh!”
That's how Yeo Chu-sam writhed in agony until the booze sobered up completely, then flopped down dead.
His fainting act had gotten pretty convincing after years of practice—might fool a newbie.
But tricking me, who'd lost nearly ten thousand nyang to every scam in the gambling dens? No chance.
“Chu-sam.”
“...”
“Want more beatings to wake up? Or gonna get up nicely?”
He didn't budge from his sprawl even after my offer, so I pressed my toe into his solar plexus.
That moment, he furrowed his brow like he was debating holding out, but finally let out a groan and sat up, unable to bear it.
Then he shot a fierce glare at Wang Mun-gi's back of the head before bowing to me and spilling all his sins.
From how there really wasn't much rabbit meat to how Wang Mun-gi jumped at his suggestion without a second thought.
Yeo Chu-sam ratted out every little fault of Wang Mun-gi's, like he couldn't suffer alone.
“Enough.”
“Senior Brother, hear more and you'll see how sneaky that bastard is...”
“Stop. I don't want to hear it.”
I cut Yeo Chu-sam off and scolded them in a stern voice.
“You think it's right for senior and junior brothers to expose each other's flaws instead of covering for them?”
“...I have no face left, Senior Brother.”
“Mun-gi, same goes for you.”
The lecture didn't stop at Yeo Chu-sam—it extended to Wang Mun-gi.
“When two thieves get caught, you share the blame. How could you sell out your brother to lighten your own punishment?”
“...My thinking was shortsighted, Senior Brother.”
“Remember this: betraying your brothers is a greater sin than deceiving them.”
“I'll etch your teachings deep into my bones, Senior Brother.”
Wang Mun-gi bowed his head with a look of genuine remorse and reflection.
Yeo Chu-sam ground his teeth at the sight, calling him a loathsome bastard inwardly.
But seeing my face still sharp with unresolved anger, he quickly tucked tail.
“Clean this up. We're heading back to the branch.”
Wang Mun-gi and Yeo Chu-sam hated leaving the booze and meat half-eaten.
Can't we at least finish what's left? Or pack it to go if that's too much?
They both eyed me slyly, wanting to say it, but I gave no opening.
“No whining. Follow me now.”
“...Yes, Senior Brother.”
“...Coming, yeah.”
And so Wang Mun-gi and Yeo Chu-sam trudged back to the branch like pigs to the slaughter, shoulders slumped.
The next day.
After dawn training, at breakfast, I told them about yesterday's Black Society dealings.
Truth be told, I was pissed they'd snuck off without me, so I'd considered keeping it secret and splurging solo for a while.
But then I changed my mind.
Back when I was lost in gambling, half out of my mind, these guys stuck by me to the end.
Compared to the crap I pulled then, this was nothing.
So I told them straight, no hard feelings.
But their reactions weren't great.
“Senior Brother, enough tall tales. Eat your barley porridge while it's hot. Once it's cold, it's worse than gruel—no way you can stomach it.”
“Not a tale. It's real.”
“If breakfast doesn't suit you, gimme your bowl. I'll eat your share too.”
Clink, clink.
Wang Mun-gi, still mad about not finishing the meat yesterday, scarfed down two bowls of bland bean-barley porridge from the morning.
Yeo Chu-sam half-listened, set down his spoon, and sighed lightly.
“Senior Brother, that was a pipe dream. Total pipe dream.”
“...”
“A guy with five nyang to his name doesn't rake in five hundred overnight. How?”
Maybe because it was breakfast talk, they both took my words with a grain of salt.
'These punks...!'
Anger surged. I wanted to smack Yeo Chu-sam's head.
But as a Piercing Sword Sect disciple, how could I strike juniors at the table?
'Get ready. I'll beat you black and blue at sparring later.'
Crunch!
I swallowed my boiling rage.
Then, with a grave expression, I reaffirmed it was all true and fetched the money sack from my room.
“Senior Brother, what's with the sack?”
“What else? Check it yourself.”
Yeo Chu-sam half-doubted but slowly untied it and peeked inside.
His eyes bulged; he toppled backward and started hollering like he'd seen a mirage in the desert.
“S-Senior Brother? W-What's all this? Real? That story from earlier... all true? Really?”
“Chu-sam, what's with you? Why the fuss?”
Wang Mun-gi, having polished off his own and my bowl, finally lifted his head from the table to check the money.
Unlike Yeo Chu-sam, he gaped wide and blinked like a carp for a good while, speechless.
First time hit with sudden wealth, probably too shocked to speak.
After a moment, some bad memory hit him—he glared at me with flounder eyes.
Hogging food like a pig while I talked, now staring like he was interrogating me? Annoying.
But considering my past screw-ups, I'd let it slide this once.
“Don't worry. Not borrowed against the manor, not gambling winnings. Earned fair and square with my skills.”
Knowing they wouldn't buy it otherwise, I briefly explained the Black Society job.
Wang Mun-gi and Yeo Chu-sam looked a bit uneasy.
Regardless of the process, a Piercing Sword Sect disciple taking Black Society money to protect them?
Plus tangling with some mysterious faction.
“Hmm.”
“Tsk.”
“Five hundred nyang. Sure, big money, but...”
“Not just Black Society—mixing with some shady group for that? Doesn't feel like that big anymore.”
Wang Mun-gi and Yeo Chu-sam fiddled with the sack, smacking their lips in mild disappointment.
I'd skipped the King Yama Debt of five hundred nyang, so their reaction was natural.
So I put on a straight face and laid down the righteous law.
“Enough. As your senior brother, I can't help but be disappointed.”
“Huh?”
“Suddenly?”
“Black Society may be unorthodox, but they're people like us. We've crossed paths in Luoyang—how could we ignore their plight?”
“Hmm.”
“Why do we train in martial arts? To uphold justice and chivalry, right?”
“Well, yeah, but...”
“So how can you two haggle over human lives like merchants? Are you really Piercing Sword Sect disciples with the orthodox path in your hearts?”
I kept going, piling on the chivalric nonsense that'd make a dog puke, totally mind-screwing them.
They'd just been bummed the pay didn't match the work.
But my sudden outburst on righteousness and the true way left them baffled.
“Sorry, Senior Brother.”
“We were shortsighted.”
“It's fine. You wouldn't say that without any ideals. As the saying goes, generosity comes from a full pantry. After scraping by so long, you've turned petty, that's all.”
The mess was my fault for going gambling crazy.
I'd ruined the branch, misguided my juniors.
I lamented my woes with self-deprecating words until their minds were half-gone.
Then, smooth as a snake over a fence, I shifted topics.
“Past is past—forget it. Focus on the present: refurbishing the manor and running the school our new way.”
“Got it, Senior Brother.”
Yeo Chu-sam, who'd shouldered the school alone till now, responded eagerly.
“From one to ten, tons to fix. But the most urgent task goes to you, Chu-sam.”
“What first?”
“Chu-sam, your job's simple: gather people, no holds barred. Can you?”
“Leave it to me. I'm the best at that.”
That afternoon.
Hundreds of crudely scrawled flyers littered Luoyang's main streets.
Grand Reopening Celebration!
Pass a super simple test?
Piercing! Sword! Sect! Secret! Arts! Yours! For! The! Taking!
Age? No matter.
Gender? No matter.
Skill? No matter (for real).
No limits on participants!
Everyone welcome!
Sign up & inquiries: Piercing Sword Sect Luoyang Branch...