Chapter 19
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Luoyang and the Tycoon
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The road to Luoyang was boring.
Walking endlessly along the official road was far more grueling than smelling blood on the battlefield.
Wei Sok, riding beside me, yawned hugely and grumbled.
"Brother, is Luoyang still far? My ass feels like it's splitting in two."
"Don't whine. You'll split your tongue too."
As I scolded him and he pouted,
the bushes on both sides of the road shook violently, and men in black clothes shouted as they jumped out.
All of them wore black turbans on their heads.
"Attack! Those guys look loaded!"
The moment I saw them, a deep sigh escaped my lips.
"Ha, this is the third time in just the past few days."
"Those guys again!"
As Wei Sok shouted, I was already kicking off the ground and charging forward.
It wasn't even worth calling a fight. With every swing of my spear, five or six guys clumsily charging with swords disintegrated into the air amid screams.
It was no different from swatting a swarm of annoying flies by hand.
"Eek! M-monster!"
They instantly lost all will to fight and started fleeing with their tails between their legs.
I pierced the chest of the last one still holding out with my spear and nailed him to the ground before asking indifferently.
"Hey."
"S-sp... spare... me..."
"Shut up. Just answer my question. Why are you all wearing black turbans like it's coordinated? Is it the latest trend among bandits?"
"Tha... kuhk..."
The bandit desperately tried to answer, but only more blood gushed from his mouth.
Soon, his eyes rolled back, and his body went limp.
"Tch, useless."
I yanked the spear out in annoyance. Wei Sok sidled up beside me, chuckling.
"Brother! What would morons like that know!"
"Then you know?"
"Of course!"
Wei Sok puffed out his chest, acting like he had all the answers.
"It's 'cause the Yellow Turbans strut around in yellow headscarves, so these wannabes slap on fake black ones to pretend they're hot shit too. You know how amateurs always wanna ape the pros!"
"Pathetic knockoffs."
While humoring his drivel, Zhang Liao had silently slipped away from the group.
He vanished soundlessly behind the fleeing bandits, then quietly returned moments later, wiping blood from his sword.
Cheng Lian and Wei Yue, at the rear of our unit, watched the whole scene with faces drained white as sheets.
They were realizing full-body what crimes they'd committed and what madhouse they'd crawled into.
Cheng Lian whispered to Wei Yue in a voice barely above a crawl.
"Hey, Wei Yue... we're... totally fucked, aren't we?"
Wei Yue gulped down a dry swallow. His gaze locked onto me, Wei Sok, and the freshly returned Zhang Liao.
"Fuck... are those guys even human? Feels like we stumbled into a monsters' den by mistake."
"What do we do...?"
"......For now... let's just keep watching. If we piss off those monsters, we'll end up just like those bandit pricks scattered over there."
I flicked the blood off my spear and glanced at the two whispering furtively.
They looked like they had some scheme brewing, but they gave up on it quick.
"No more time to waste on bandits! Clean up and move out! Don't dawdle!!"
"Yes, Captain!"
Luoyang, the capital, was really just around the corner now.
After days of marching, the massive walls of the empire's capital—Luoyang—finally came into view in the distance.
Even amid the Yellow Turban chaos, the roads grew better paved the closer we got to the capital, and security improved.
Near Luoyang's outskirts, huge merchant caravans and endless streams of people started appearing.
"Whoa... Brother! Look at that! Is that where people actually live? The walls scrape the sky!"
Wei Sok gaped, spouting one exclamation after another.
I could see a flicker of curiosity in Zhang Liao's eyes as he silently scanned the surroundings. Watching them, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
'Tsk tsk tsk, amazed by a crowd like this. No wonder country bumpkins... Drop 'em in the middle of modern Seoul Station or Gangnam, and they'd foam at the mouth and pass out.'
Wei Sok noticed I wasn't gawking at anything and asked.
"Wait, Brother. Have you been to the capital before or something? How are you so chill? Nothing catches your eye?"
"Capital, Bing Province—it's all just places where people live. What's so amazing about it, kid?"
Striding ahead to show I was a cut above these hicks, I arrived at Luoyang's massive gate and felt my first real shock.
Not because of the gate's grandeur itself.
It was the endless line snaking to get in. The Yellow Turban mess had the guards doing thorough inspections, turning the area in front of the gate into total chaos.
"What the hell, so many people! Damn, how long is this gonna take?"
"Brother gets surprised at the weirdest stuff."
As we stood stuck at the tail end of the line, a commotion erupted behind us.
"Make way, make way! A noble personage is passing—don't block the road!"
A gang that screamed street toughs or swaggering bravos shoved roughly through the crowd.
At their center was a smug-faced man in flashy silk robes.
'...Those guys aren't just street trash.'
I spotted a few among them with auras that stood out sharply.
Under their loose clothes, the faint outlines of high-quality body armor were visible. Hiring elites like that and kitting them in top-tier gear meant money rotting in piles.
In other words, that smug mug belonged to one hell of a tycoon.
"Who the hell are they, cutting in line!"
Hearing Wei Sok, the man on horseback looked down at us.
He ignored the others and zeroed in on my massive build with keen interest, scanning me up and down with arrogant eyes.
"Oh ho, a warrior from the frontier? Now that's a physique worth seeing. But do you even know where the end of this line is?"
Having a rough guess he was some rich heir, I fired back calmly.
"Just travelers on the road. You look like moneyed folk, so shouldn't you act the part? Why block the way and kick up a fuss like common thugs?"
He burst into loud laughter, clearly amused by my cheek.
"Hahaha! Got some fire in you! I like it. Looks like you bumpkins would be waiting here till the sun sets and still not get in. Follow behind me. This gate? One word from me, and it's open sesame."
I eyed the arrogant bastard looking down at me. Brushing off his hand here and waiting hours would be idiotic.
Didn't know who the tycoon was, but wisdom meant using whatever cards you could.
I gave a short nod in place of an answer. He grinned in satisfaction and wheeled his horse around.
"Hahaha, follow along."
"Noble personage passing! Clear the way!"
"You lot! Know who this gentleman is!!"
The tycoon's thug crew started clearing the path again.
"Damn, what the..."
"Ah... shit... that loafer punk again..."
The crowd grumbled but yielded to their momentum, having no choice. Our group quietly trailed behind.
As we neared the gate, the gate captain blocking the way spotted the man and went pale as a ghost. He scrambled out and bowed nearly ninety degrees in front of the horse.
"Y-you're here! We'll open the way right now!"
There wasn't a shred of arrogance left in the gate captain.
He gestured sharply, and the guards moved in perfect unison, swinging the gates wide open for us.
The man and his gang sauntered in first. But as our group followed, the guards reflexively crossed spears to block us.
"You lot—queue up for inspection...!"
By then, the man already inside turned back with annoyance and tossed out a single line.
"They're with me. Got a problem?"
"N-no, sir! Opening right away!"
At those words, the guards parted like they'd been scorched. We passed through Luoyang's grand gate without a single inspection.
The moment we stepped inside, the massive, dazzling spectacle of the capital—utterly incomparable to the outside—came crashing over us.
Endless rows of tiled roofs, carts and people bustling every which way. Even in these chaotic times, Luoyang brimmed with vitality.
As I took in the sight for a moment, Zhang Liao sidled up and murmured lowly.
"Sir. That guy opens the capital's gate with nothing but his face—not ordinary status at all. Could be imperial kin, or maybe a son of the Three Dukes."
I nodded. Same thought as mine.
Just then, Wei Sok—who'd been gawking wide-eyed all around—was finally about to open his mouth.
Before some idiot line like "Whoa! Is that a brothel?!" could burst out, I quietly called him.
"Wei Sok."
"Yes, Brother?"
He turned back with an innocently beaming face, brimming with excitement.
"From now until we leave the capital, only answer when I ask something and keep your mouth shut. Do that, and back in Jinyang, I'll buy you a blowout drink."
"Eh...?"
His eyes went round at my words.
He weighed his mouth against the feast of booze for a moment, then put on a solemn face. He mimed locking his mouth shut and nodded vigorously.
Seeing that, Zhang Liao shrugged and murmured just low enough for me to hear.
"Even that simpleton pulls his weight sometimes. Block his yap for the price of one drink—talk about a bargain-bin mouth."
Wei Sok caught even that whisper and went berserk inside, but the promise he'd just made kept him from yelling.
"―!!"
Instead, he glared daggers at Zhang Liao, unleashing a torrent of eye-curses. 'This motherfucker... just you wait...' vibes.
"Haa... these two are gonna need a good thrashing one of these days..."
I let out a quiet sigh at their childish glaring contest. At least one noisy mouth was shut for now—small mercies.