Chapter 24
Translator: uly
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: The Black-Haired Storyteller of Chilgok County - 3
A chill ran down my spine in an instant.
What did he mean, a dead man walking the mortal world?
It wasn't that I couldn't guess at all. It was certainly possible that someone had died. For example, Kang Yun-ho, who gave me the dating sim feedback and fell asleep in bed, or the ruffian Kang Yun-ho whose body I had taken over. But since I couldn't reveal my inner thoughts, I decided to ask.
"Haha. Old man, the person standing before you is a living person. What do you mean, dead? Are you saying I'm some kind of Jiangshi?"
This didn't seem like a situation for a joke like, "Do I still look alive to you?", so I deliberately put on a smiling face and made a quip.
"That's what makes it all the more fascinating. It's been fifty years since I learned to read the secrets of heaven, but this is the first time I've seen a fate like this,"
The old man stroked his beard with a troubled expression.
"What kind of fate is it?"
I wanted to know a little.
"Clearly, you should have died last year. Despite being a small, wretched star, you caused trouble for others, and it was your fate to die as fuel for another star."
Ah! He was talking about that ruffian Kang Yun-ho. That bastard did die. It's just that I survived by pulling some desperate moves.
"I suppose the other star wasn't as remarkable as expected."
"That's not the problem. It was a star that was dying, but a star destined to do great things in this world. That fate was far too set in stone. You were supposed to become fuel for that star. But now I see you alive before me, and the dying star is burning even more fiercely than its original destiny. How on earth did such a thing happen...?"
The fortune-telling old man looked at me with suspicious eyes.
So, you're living diligently, Murong Sang-ah. Are you doing well? I'm not doing so well.
He's more impressive than I thought. I think I underestimated him, sitting here telling fortunes in front of a shack. An old man like this could probably figure out that the star's identity was Murong Sang-ah and that I was the dead Kang Yun-ho.
In times like these, it's better to just make an excuse and shake off the suspicion.
"I'm sorry. The truth is, I gave you the birth date of a pitiful friend who died last year. Seeing a person of such transcendent and noble appearance sitting here, I wondered if I might learn the reason behind my friend's unjust death. I am truly sorry."
I rose from the low stool and bowed to the old man in apology.
"Hmm, I see. No wonder it was absolutely not the fate of a living person. A friend, you say... Yes, that could be. It was a fate to be devoured unwittingly. Tsk tsk."
The old man clicked his tongue and fiddled with his tools.
Old man, I'm alive. I just tricked you without you realizing. This old man isn't a complete fraud, but he doesn't seem to be at a divine, all-knowing level either.
Still, it seemed worth hearing the fortune for my original birth date. I quickly calculated my original birth date into the sexagenary cycle.
"I'm sorry. I was truly frustrated about my friend's fate. I'll pay double the fortune-telling fee, so please let me tell you my birth date now."
I recited the calculated original birth date of the possessed Kang Yun-ho. The old man fiddled with his tools again, then looked at me and laughed. Why are you laughing again?
"You."
"Yes?"
"If you ever dream of entering government service, you must abandon that thought completely."
"Huh? Why is that?"
"It's a fate of death from giving much thoughtless advice, not even honest counsel. To die from giving straightforward advice would be unjust enough, but to die from giving much thoughtless advice, that is truly unjust."
"......"
The dating sim feedback I wrote so diligently suddenly came to mind. No, I put a lot of thought into that. And I packed it full of anger too. So this old man is half a fraud after all.
"I asked about whether my future work would go well, so telling me about a fate of death is rather problematic."
"Ah! Look at me, losing my mind. The earlier fate was so fascinating I got confused. Don't worry about your work. As long as you don't pass the civil service exams, it's a fate for great success. In fact, you can even talk a lot. Don't worry."
"That's a relief."
Isn't fortune-telling something you do just to hear good things? A fate for great success. Since it was said by an old man who seemed more trustworthy than other fraudulent fortune-tellers, my mood improved.
"Leave the fee in the money box up front."
"Yes. Thank you for the reading."
Although I heard some unsettling things earlier, I was satisfied since he was somewhat impressive in his own way. I paid the called-for fee and left.
"Heavens!! If I don't have travel funds, I can't set off!!"
Already, it had been a week here. The storytelling business was booming. It wasn't at the level where after one story, someone would buy silk clothes or a house, but...
It was money that allowed me to eat three hearty, top-quality hangover soups a day, have a drink in the evening, and even aim to save. The life of eating a single steamed bun dipped in salt was now goodbye.
"You. I heard rumors that your money-begging skills were astonishing, and indeed they are true."
Uncle Wang's fabric shop, which I visited to exchange money. It was late afternoon, but for some reason, there wasn't a single customer.
Uncle Wang, perhaps free, struck up a conversation. Why is he free? Usually, when I came to exchange the money I received, he would just roughly calculate it and that was it.
"Did you see it today, by any chance?"
"Saw it from a distance. It was astonishing. The marketplace is in an uproar lately with talk of you."
"Haha. That's good news."
The more the rumor spreads, the better. For a while, I'll be telling the same story continuously.
It's not because I'm a storyteller that I tell a variety of stories every time.
Suppose someone heard my story yesterday and tells others it was fun. But if I tell a different story every day, they might leave disappointed because it's not what they expected.
When word of mouth spreads, it's better to keep telling the story people want. That's why I'll continue with the story of Prince Ha Murin for the time being.
"Excuse me."
While I was chatting with Uncle Wang, a warrior wearing a wide-brimmed bamboo hat entered. Who's this?
"Oh my!! Isn't this Great Hero Yun?"
What, Great Hero Yun? Are you talking about *that* famous Great Hero Yun?
"I've come from the Changgeom Sect to collect the protection fee."
What, it's just a collection agency. Disappointing.
"Oh my, has the date already come! I should have come to see you, I've made you go to this trouble."
"No. The date is tomorrow, but I stopped by while passing. Business must be busy, so isn't it better for me to collect while passing by than for the owner to make time tomorrow?"
"Oh my. I see. I'll give it to you right away."
Uncle Wang disappeared to the back of the fabric shop, probably to fetch the prepared money.
"Now I see, the person who's been on everyone's lips lately is here."
Great Hero Yun shifted his gaze from Uncle Wang, who had disappeared to the back, to me and acted as if he knew me.
"Greetings. I am Kang, a storyteller from Joseon. It is an honor to meet the renowned Great Hero Yun."
I hurriedly stood up and bowed.
"Hoho. I heard you haven't been here long, but you've already heard of my illustrious name?"
"Of course. A storyteller sells stories, but is also the person who must hear stories faster than anyone. Among such stories, I have often heard of the illustrious name of Great Hero Yun, the pillar of the Changgeom Sect."
Truth is, I don't know you. But you look tough, so I'll butter you up a bit.
"Is that so? I have been quite active lately. I've heard stories about you too. They say for a barbarian, your stories are interesting, so I wanted to hear one later."
Bastard. If I called you a Great Hero, the least you could do is call me a Joseon person. If the going words are kind, the coming words should be kind, but you call me a barbarian.
"Haha. Next time you come to hear a story, I will specially seat you in the front row."
I'll specially seat you in the front row and use my money-begging skills to squeeze money out of you. Won't give it? I'll hold out until you do.
"I'll look forward to it."
Just as we were running out of things to say to each other, Uncle Wang appeared.
"Here it is!! This month's protection fee."
"No need to check the amount. Here, sign this."
Uncle Wang immediately signed the document Yun-whatshisname provided and handed it back.
"See you next month."
Yun-whatshisname waved a hand and left the fabric shop just like that.
"Yes, take care!"
"Farewell!"
I bid farewell like that and then opened my mouth again to Uncle Wang.
"So this place pays protection fees to the Changgeom Sect."
"Yeah, all the merchants here pay protection fees to the Changgeom Sect. It's a sect founded by a lay disciple who left the Mundang Sect, so they don't cross the line, and people like that."
"Do Black Path bandits roam around this neighborhood too?"
White Path and Black Path.
In martial arts stories, these are often used interchangeably with Orthodox and Unorthodox factions, but the nuance is slightly different. Orthodox and Unorthodox refer to the direction of martial arts. White Path and Black Path are divided based on the legality or illegality of how one makes money.
Of course, since the Unorthodox faction often engages in illegal money-making activities, the terms Unorthodox and Black Path are frequently used with little distinction.
I haven't seen many Black Path types roaming around here.
"They roam around sometimes. Not major players, just a few who learned some martial arts and hooligans banding together. They occasionally pick the pockets of passersby or traveling merchants."
"Come to think of it, should I have paid a protection fee to the Changgeom Sect too?"
Thinking that Black Path bandits are around makes me uneasy. When I was in rags, I was a body that even Black Path bandits would pass by because there was nothing to take, but now that I have a little something, I feel anxious.
"No. You're a storyteller, not a shop. You're closer to a traveling merchant. The Changgeom Sect doesn't manage that far. If the Changgeom Sect managed even traveling merchants who come to Chilgok-hyeon to sell goods briefly, they'd clash with the Black Path guys more often. So the Changgeom Sect doesn't collect protection fees from traveling merchants either."
So they only provide regular protection services to shops with fixed income? They don't protect guys like me who might leave anywhere.
"Hearing about Black Path makes me a bit uneasy."
"Be careful. The storyteller who used to sell stories at that spot before got stabbed by Black Path bastards and died right there."
"I really need to be careful. I'll take my leave now."
Couldn't you have told me that fact earlier? I bid farewell to Uncle Wang and headed for the shack.
Hearing about Black Path for no reason makes me uneasy.
Should I carry something like a phonebook on me?
The sun hasn't even set yet, surely I won't run into any Black Path guys on the way.
Well, it's not like a year ago; now I can win against one or two troublemakers with my 'Throw-and-Run' skill.
It probably won't happen, but if I meet Black Path, I'll throw a barbarian punch or a steamed bun punch and run away.
"Hey, mister, where are you going in such a hurry?"
Ah.
The path leading to the shantytown of Chilgok-hyeon.
In this place where the only passersby are widows, orphans, and the poor, an old man had been sitting with a stall set up for a week.
Anyone could easily tell the old man was a fortune-teller. Behind him was a tattered flag with the single character for 'fortune-telling' written powerfully, albeit alone. However, there weren't likely to be many people coming all the way here to have their fortune told.
In this place gathered with people worried about today's meal, there weren't many who would divine their tomorrow.
Only a storyteller who had a successful first performance, a traveling merchant who happened to earn more money than usual, and a few out of curiosity had asked the old man about their fortune, misfortune, blessings, and disasters.
"I've met the noble guest, and now it's time to meet the ghostly guest, but they're not coming."
The old man didn't know well which person was the noble guest. He had simply told fortunes here as heaven directed.
"One who will rise through speech and writing, two who will rise through commerce, one who will rise by the sword and perish by the sword."
Among the people he had met over the week, those with interesting fates were only these.
There was no one worthy of being called a noble guest.
Yet the divination said he had already met the noble guest, so it must have been one of them.
"For a Heavenly Secrets Master of the world to fail to recognize a noble guest. It's enough to make ghosts weep."
Heavenly Secrets Master.
The old man was a person known in the Central Plains as one who could glimpse the secrets of heaven. Originally, he was a man whom numerous high officials, nobles, and martial arts masters, bringing gold, silver, and treasures, sought to meet with difficulty to learn their destiny.
"I saw a person with a peculiar fate, but they were dead."
There was a strange man who asked to see the future of a man born under a wretched star, a star destined to become fuel for a dying star.
"In all my life, it was the first time I saw a divination with such a firmly set fate."
Although the Heavenly Secrets Master had glimpsed heaven's secrets for the past fifty years, it was the first time he had seen a person with such a fate.
If there was a being who created this world, that man was designed to die last year with unshakable certainty. His fate to die was that definite.
"It's burning fiercely."
As the sun set and dusk grew dark, the Heavenly Secrets Master looked at the sky. An ordinary person couldn't see it, but in the Heavenly Secrets Master's eyes, one star was burning fiercely.
For some reason, a star burning even more fiercely than its original destiny. It was burning so intensely it seemed it would burn the surrounding stars as well.
"Burning like that, it can't possibly be alive."
The man who should have died last year might truly have been the man before him. However, seeing a star burning so ferociously, the Heavenly Secrets Master found it difficult to easily imagine such a thing.
"What if that man was the noble guest...?"
If,
Truly if,
The man who should have died according to heaven's ordained fate.
The man who should have offered his own life as fuel for a star.
What if such a man was truly still alive?
"Did I, see a Heaven-Defier? Surely not?"
A lightning-like realization flashed through the Heavenly Secrets Master's mind.
Heaven-Defier.
One who directly opposes and proudly defies the fate ordained by heaven.
Such a person is called a Heaven-Defier.
"It wasn't a small adversity, but a fate ordained by heaven. Could such a fate be defied?"
The Heavenly Secrets Master also sometimes advises on crises that will occur in someone's future. But that is advice regarding an individual's small adversities, not advising on a method to defy the fate ordained by heaven.
To act against heaven's will is to invite heaven's reprimand.
Therefore, humans cannot defy the principles of heaven. That was the common sense the Heavenly Secrets Master had known for fifty years.
But what if,
"What if he fulfilled a calling that could only be achieved by death, while alive, and preserved his life?"
Then heaven would no longer reprimand him. No, it might even bless him.
How could it reprimand one who performed heaven's task, which could be solved by death, while alive?
"He was a Heaven-Defier. I saw a Heaven-Defier right before my eyes."
The Heavenly Secrets Master looked up at the sky.
A very small star.
A small star that had left the orbit of the fiercely burning star and now stood alone. Looking closely, he could see that star.
Its starlight was faint.
It might remain that small until its light goes out.
But if the star has will. If it only has the will to shine brighter...
"Having deviated from heaven's natural order, now he can change his personal fate, change the fate of the nation, and change the fate of the world."
He can change the fate of the world.