Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: The Pig's Thrashing
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Smack!
As the fist swung out, Geumjeoksan's obese body soared through the air before crashing onto the ground.
“Arghhh. St-stop.”
Geumjeoksan, who had been slammed face-first into the dirt, reached out a hand to halt the approaching Jinmu.
Thud!
But right away, a kick burrowed into his plump belly.
“Guhk!”
Squish! Squish squish! Squish!
What followed was a merciless trampling.
You bastard! You pig bastard! You dare push me into a corner! You smuggling son of a bitch!
“Squeeeal!”
Geumjeoksan's screams filled the reed fields, but Jinmu's beating showed no sign of stopping.
It wasn't any peerless martial art or anything like that.
He was just trampling him.
Just hitting and kicking.
But for Geumjeoksan, who had only learned the kind of hand and foot movements that third-rate thugs practiced as his martial arts, he had no choice but to take the full brunt of the impacts.
Moreover, Jinmu's beating was extremely persistent and specialized in inflicting pain.
It seemed like he was beating every part of the body indiscriminately, but whenever he checked, it was the same spot as before. The moment the pain from one area began to fade, he'd hit it again, and again, pounding it until it felt like enough—only then moving on...
“Keurghh. Please, please spare me. Please.”
Geumjeoksan, his face a mess of tears and snot, clutched at Jinmu's pant leg and begged over and over.
Squeeze.
Jinmu looked down at the pant leg he had grabbed.
“Let go.”
“Spare...”
Then, slowly crouching down, he gripped one of Geumjeoksan's fingers that was tightly clutching the hem.
“Who said anything about killing you?”
Crack.
“Aaaak!”
The finger bent in a direction it was never meant to.
Crunch!
Then he smashed the finger bone with his fist.
“Keeee!”
A pain even more intense than the broken finger surged in.
It hurt.
It hurt so badly he shuddered, but that was exactly the point.
If it were excruciating agony, he might have passed out, but Jinmu inflicted just enough pain to keep him conscious.
“Pl-please, st-stop already.”
The captain of the government troops, unable to watch any longer, whispered to Cheongsang.
Who? Stop who? Why?
Cheongsang had zero desire to do so.
If someone wanted to go to hell, they could go alone—why drag him into it?
Jinmu's eyes.
They were chillingly cold and terrifying.
In all the time he'd spent with Jinmu, he'd never seen that look.
It was obvious that if he tried to intervene, the backlash would hit him too. That was why he hadn't asked about Cheongu's absence, even though he wasn't visible.
“Amitabha.”
Cheongsang turned his gaze away from the officials and chanted a Taoist invocation.
“Hoo, hoo...”
How much time had passed?
Jinmu, who had been relentlessly pummeling Geumjeoksan without a single break, finally shook out his hands and stood up.
Geumjeoksan, collapsed on the ground, was unrecognizable as human.
He looked like a frog that had been thrown to the dirt and trampled countless times by passersby.
Miserable enough that someone might say, “Actually, it's a person,” and only then would you nod in realization.
As Jinmu slowly turned his head, Cheongsang hurriedly spoke up.
“M-Martial Uncle! Well done.”
Well done? For beating a man?
The words just burst out of him.
He felt like he had to say something in the face of Jinmu's murderously filled eyes.
“W-Well done.”
The captain of the officials nearby bowed his head and chimed in as well.
It was the same for him. He just felt like he had to.
Jinmu slowly looked around.
The Qingyang Merchant Group's escort warriors had all been subdued by the over a hundred government troops, disarmed and restrained.
The rogues who had helped Jinmu's group were in the same state.
The moment the officials appeared, Gongsacheok had thrown down his sword and surrendered.
“Great Hero!”
Gongsacheok, even with his wrists bound and slurring his speech, had a bright expression on his face.
He had helped a Wudang Taoist priest wipe out gunpowder smugglers.
Even though he'd surrendered, had his martial arts sealed, and wooden shackles clamped on his wrists, there was such a thing as extenuating circumstances in the world.
He believed that if Jinmu vouched for him, he'd surely be released.
Jinmu gave a light nod to Gongsacheok's hopeful gaze, then approached the captain of the officials and whispered.
“How much?”
“Pardon?”
The armed captain tilted his head at Jinmu's murmur.
“Gongsacheok. Bounty.”
“Ah, it's a hundred taels of silver.”
A hundred taels. A hundred taels, it was.
Unlike righteous sect warriors, unorthodox warriors had no tradition of not taking bribes from officials.
Bandits were mountain brigands, river pirates were water bandits, and black markets were hotbeds of all sorts of illegal activities.
Gongsacheok was no different.
As the leader of the thugs who had ruled the back alleys of Danganggu, he'd sucked the lifeblood from merchants and tormented countless people.
In other words, they disturbed the livelihood of the common folk.
Capturing them rashly could get the officials hurt instead,
and the bribes they'd spread around were so massive that even when they could be caught, the officials turned a blind eye.
But if they ever did get caught, it was straight to prison without exception.
It was an easy way to boost their records, so the officials had no reason to let them go.
Caught red-handed, no amount of bribes would help.
Of course, for Jinmu, handing over a useful unorthodox warrior to the officials might feel awkward,
but this was the guy who had dared to go after his life in the first place. He had no desire to show mercy.
“Take him away. Tie him in with the rest.”
“Understood. Thanks to you, we've eradicated the Sacheok Faction and busted a gunpowder smuggling ring that's nationally prohibited. On behalf of the county magistrate, I thank you.”
At the captain's words, Gongsacheok blinked at Jinmu.
“W-Wait a sec, Great H-Hero?”
Clearly, trying to kill him was water under the bridge?
Of course it was.
But what could he do?
Jinmu was despicable enough not to be bound by any promises.
Silver worth a hundred taels... as extra income, no less.
“Drag him away.”
At the captain's order, Gongsacheok's eyes widened as he stared at Jinmu.
“Great Hero!”
And then,
they saw the captain handing Jinmu a voucher confirming the bounty payout.
Gongsacheok's face twisted in horror.
“You bastard! You filthy dog!”
For once, Gongsacheok's pronunciation was crystal clear as he bellowed.
“Hm, better gag him. Can't trust what lies he'll spin to weasel out.”
“Ah, shall we?”
The captain nodded at Jinmu's suggestion.
That was exactly what he wanted too.
The bribes Gongsacheok had spread were enormous—if he talked, the officials would be in trouble.
Sister-in-law and brother-in-law aligned perfectly. The officials immediately gagged Gongsacheok.
Following that, they bound the bloodied Geumjeoksan—who barely resembled a human anymore—the rogues, and the merchant group's escorts with ropes and hauled them away.
Deep down, Jinmu wanted to kill both Gongsacheok and Geumjeoksan outright,
but after all, wasn't he a prestigious Wudang Taoist priest?
The incident was over.
The masked men who fled by boat were being pursued by patrol ships, so Jinmu didn't need to worry about them.
The criminals were caught by the officials,
and the bad guys were caught by other bad guys,
so Jinmu just needed to collect the money.
Cheongu had carried the chest, and he'd gotten the bounty voucher, so now he was set...
“Hey.”
“...Pardon?”
Jinmu suddenly called out, making the captain turn.
“By any chance, is there a reward for the smuggling bust?”
“...”
“...None?”
His eyes sparkled hopefully.
The captain gave an awkward smile at Jinmu's expression, which seemed ready to crumple in disappointment if denied.
“Ah, well... Come to the county office later. I'll report to the magistrate.”
“Oh, really? That works?”
“Of course. We've caught Geumjeoksan, whom we've long suspected, so the Qingyang Merchant Group's assets will be confiscated. It'll be a massive fortune, so a reward is no issue.”
What?
The Qingyang Merchant Group was being confiscated?
Damn, if he'd known, he would've siphoned some off when they first raided the merchant group...
What a shame.
Greed for money was like that—stack mountains of gold and still covet a dropped copper coin.
But,
Jinmu was a Wudang Taoist.
He couldn't show any more vulgarity.
“Then I'll await that massive reward!”
“Ah, uh. Yes.”
The captain smiled awkwardly at Jinmu emphasizing certain words.
“See you later then. Definitely!”
Jinmu vigorously waved until the captain, leading the prisoners, was completely out of sight.
And then,
“Cheongsang.”
“Yes, Martial Uncle.”
“Let's find Cheongu.”
“...”
“He couldn't have gone far.”
Cheongsang just blinked.
Come to think of it, where had Cheongu gone?
Bang, bang!
“Who is it!”
Hwangjeon, the Dangang branch manager of the Dongrim Exchange, irritably woke from sleep to the pounding on his door that morning.
Bang bang bang!
But the visitor didn't answer, just kept hammering on the door.
“Stop pounding! Th-the door's gonna break!”
Freshly awoken and full of nerves, Hwangjeon peeked outside through the outer window, half hoping.
Taoist priests. Three of them.
Unusual.
Taoist priests rarely did business with exchanges.
They were detached from money.
Yet there they were, with the clear Taiji emblem on their robes—definitely Wudang Taoists.
'Broke-ass priests showing up at dawn, bad luck...'.
It irritated him even more.
The first customer of the day mattered, and of all things, priests?
In those shabby clothes, no less.
He had to shoo them away.
Taking them in would scare off any good fortune coming his way.
“We don't open for hours. Come back this afternoon if you have business.”
“...”
Either they didn't understand or had no intention of leaving.
Whatever. Hwangjeon grimaced and turned away.
Bam! Bam bam!
“...”
Now they were pounding even harder.
These priests!
They seemed ready to break the door down for real.
Hwangjeon hadn't taken two steps before turning back.
“Hey! We don't open for...”
The moment he slightly unlatched the bolt,
the priests shoved Hwangjeon aside and barged in.
They were, of course, Jinmu's group.
No sooner had they entered than they plopped down on the oxhide chairs reserved for consulting VIPs with deposits over a hundred taels.
Do they know how expensive that leather is!
Not even brushing off the straw and dirt stuck to their clothes!
“Hey, you!”
Hwangjeon, furious and pointing, was cut off.
“One—no, three cups of Longjing tea here!”
This wasn't even a teahouse, and they were ordering tea like it was nothing.
Hwangjeon was over fifty this year.
How could these young priests be so rude?
But tempered by years of customer service, Hwangjeon swallowed his anger and spoke as politely as possible.
“Excuse me, priests. If you don't leave now, I'll call the guards...”
As Hwangjeon warned he'd have them forcibly removed, Jinmu stared straight at him.
“Cheongu!”
“Yes, Martial Uncle!”
“Put it up.”
Thud!
The chest they'd brought was placed on the table.
“Open it!”
Click!
The lid swung open, and
“...”
Hwangjeon couldn't close his mouth.
Yellow.
A blessed, radiant wave of gold filled the room.
Gulp.
He swallowed involuntarily.
'F-Fortune! It's fortune!'
In a flash, Hwangjeon grabbed the handle on the exchange wall and yanked it like mad.
Clang clang clang!
Bell rings should be a 'tinkle,'
but he'd pulled so hard it droned without end.
Soon, the exchange staff rushed over, bringing tea and snacks to Jinmu's group's table.
“You fools! Dare serve this swill to our fortune-bringer? Hurry and swap it for West Lake Longjing!”
“You idiots! What kind of snacks are these? The finest! Bring the finest!”
“You wench! Go massage the honored guests' shoulders! Look how weary their faces are!”
Hwangjeon bellowed like he was three people at once, then approached Jinmu's table reverently.
Thud.
Over fifty, but he was still an active branch manager.
Age? It didn't matter.
In an exchange, money was seniority and status.
And Wudang, no less.
No surer identity existed.
Even if uncertain, the yellow in their chest amounted to a full year's trading capital.
“Honored guests!”
Hwangjeon knelt and bowed politely to Jinmu.
“Dongrim Exchange Dangang Branch Manager Hwangjeon offers his greetings.”
The Dongrim Exchange Dangang branch opened for business at an unprecedented early dawn, and Jinmu opened his first account there.
One each for Cheongsang and Cheongu too.
No other reason. Just to shut their mouths...