The Turbulent Path of the Righteous Thief 18

Unable to hold out any longer, Ye Chae squeezed her eyes shut and curled up into a ball. “Please stop!!!”

A pretty woman who looked to be in her late twenties came running over in a panic, shouting. “Wait! Please stop! Hah, hah~”

Gasping for breath after her sprint, the woman wrapped her arms around Ye Chae and shielded her. “Warrior, I am this child’s mother. I heard about what happened from someone else. Please, I beg you to forgive her just this once, considering it nothing more than a young girl’s foolishness.”

‘Hah~ So this time it’s Lu Bu’s wife.’

Lu Bu’s wife, Eom Ok, had rushed here without rest after a servant hurried back to their home and told her about Ye Chae. The sight that greeted her upon arrival was her daughter’s guards lying injured on the ground and a warrior she had never seen before, his blade poised to strike Ye Chae’s head.

With no time to think, she had no choice but to throw herself forward and embrace her daughter. “If you would show mercy and forgive her this once, I will discipline the child strictly at home.”

“Mother! What did I even do wrong?!”

Smack!

“Be quiet!”

‘They’re ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠putting on quite the drama.’

The boiling anger in Seo Jun’s chest cooled instantly. ‘With her mother protecting her like that, it’d be awkward to punish her any further.’

“Kid, think of the mother who cherishes you so much and learn some restraint.”

After leaving Ye Chae with one final piece of advice, Seo Jun tidied up and mounted the Black Dragon. “You. What’s your name?”

“Why, so you can get revenge later?”

“No, that’s not it!”

“My name is Seo Jun! My courtesy name is Baekryong. If we meet again, feel free to call me that. And if you ever want to challenge me, go ahead. Your skills still aren’t there yet, but keep working hard. Haha!”

With a final laugh, Seo Jun tugged the reins and quickly left the city. “What? That man was the White Dragon who single-handedly wiped out three hundred Qiang tribesmen? No wonder his martial arts looked extraordinary.”

The onlookers who had stayed behind murmured among themselves. Ye Chae had heard the rumors and had been curious about what kind of person Seo Jun was. She felt a pang of regret that their first meeting had gone so poorly because of her own greed. ‘Next time we meet, I’ll treat him properly.’ Her eyes sparkled as she watched Seo Jun’s figure grow smaller in the distance.

After leaving Wuyuan Commandery, Seo Jun rode hard for two days and reached Yunzhong Commandery. Passing through Yunzhong and Chengle counties, he raided four more prominent families in the same manner, netting another one million cash in profit.

Leaving Chengle County behind, Seo Jun crossed the Tongtian Mountains on a mountain path heading toward Dai Commandery. Though it was an official road connecting commanderies, traffic was sparse, and he encountered not a single person along the way.

A distant sound reached his ears. “Catch them quickly!”

Clip-clop, clip-clop~ Rumble, rumble!

A carriage suddenly appeared over a hill at the end of a valley roughly three hundred meters away, followed by three mounted bandits in hot pursuit.

‘Whoa~ Bandits?’

Seo Jun, who had been leisurely enjoying the scenery, was less than pleased to have his relaxation interrupted. The front wheel of the fleeing carriage came loose, causing it to lurch off balance. The horse veered off the road and plunged into the forest beside it.

Screeech! Crash!

“Aaaagh!”

As one side of the carriage dragged along the ground and came to an abrupt halt, the driver tumbled forward. Roll, roll~

Scramble!

“Save me!!”

The driver scrambled to his feet, abandoned any thought of resistance, and raised both hands in surrender toward the approaching bandits.

Slash!

The bandits had never intended to spare him. Using their momentum, they swung their blades, severing the driver’s arm and head as blood sprayed like a fountain.

“Haha! We finally caught them.”

“Heard there’s a fresh young bride inside, right?”

“Kekeke. We can have some fun tasting the tender flesh of a new bride after so long.”

The three bandits dismounted, having captured the bride on her way to her wedding, their faces alight with anticipation.

“But is it really okay not to bring her to the boss?”

“If we have our fun and end it here, how would he ever know?”

“We’ve already chased them more than ten li. The boss won’t make it this far. So let’s just handle it ourselves and finish things here. Taking her back won’t even get us a turn anyway.”

“Right!”

While the three bandits plotted with hopeful dreams, Seo Jun slowly approached on horseback. “Quite the optimistic bunch of lunatics.”

Startled by the sudden voice, the three bandits whipped around. “Who the hell are you!?”

They raised their weapons threateningly and shouted. “I’ll give you one chance. Want to leave quietly, or die?”

Despite their threats, Seo Jun’s relaxed demeanor made them sense danger, yet they couldn’t easily abandon their numerical advantage or the image of the bride’s tender flesh filling their minds. “Stop messing around and get going! We’ll let you live this once.”

“Hmm~”

Seo Jun dismounted, spear in hand. The distance between him and the bandits was roughly ten meters. “Trash like you never change.”

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

Kicking off the ground, Seo Jun closed the distance in an instant. His spear flashed.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Linear wounds appeared almost simultaneously on the foreheads of all three bandits. Like rotten trees, they collapsed one after another.

“My spearmanship’s improved quite a bit.”

Enemies of this level now felt like mere experience-point monsters in a game to Seo Jun.

“What the—? What’s this? Why did this message pop up?”

While Seo Jun stared in slight confusion at the strange message window that had appeared before his eyes, an explanation followed.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a long message.”

The Seo Jun of this world had been fated to die young without leaving any mark or children. But when Seo Jun crossed dimensions and took over the body, changes occurred. As he accumulated karma and grew in influence, the original design was altered, resulting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in this new status.

“Wait, does that mean I’ve basically been using Seedless Watermelon all this time?”

“Unbelievable.”

Seo Jun had found it strange before. Though Yi Hyeon had only recently begun sharing his bed, Seol Ryeon had been with him for quite some time without any news of pregnancy, and he had wondered why.

‘So that was the reason. Figures.’

“Status Window”

‘Hmm. I’ve collected just over four thousand karma so far. The change happened after surpassing four thousand. I wonder what four thousand signifies?’

Though Seo Jun didn’t know it, four thousand karma was the average amount a normal human in this world would accumulate over a full, ordinary lifespan. By exceeding that threshold, Seo Jun had been reclassified from an ordinary entity to a special one, unlocking heir creation.

“Since I’ve exceeded it, might as well roll. What should I draw this time?”

Though he had been thinking of raising his martial prowess, for some reason he felt like drawing something else. After much deliberation, Seo Jun chose the Stamina category.

[Miss]

[Miss]

[Stamina (B)]

[Miss]

[Miss]

[Miss]

[Miss]

[Skill (B)]

[Miss]

[Miss]

“Oh, two hits.”

He poured energy into the Stamina orb.

[Stamina has increased by 4.]

‘Not bad for a B-rank.’

Next, he poured energy into the Skill orb.

[Seedless Watermelon (U) has been created.]

‘Whoa~ Insane! The moment I gain the ability to have heirs, I get a skill that prevents sowing seeds? This is jackpot!’

“Status Window”

Seo Jun had become an even greater threat to the women of this era.