Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Branch Chief - Anhui (3)
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Freak Dragon Jegal San.
Among those living in the jianghu, there was no one who didn't know this late-generation prodigy.
True to his name, he was the legitimate son of the Jegal Clan, and he drew the eyes of the martial world with his bizarre actions that made his moniker well-deserved.
Just how strange must his deeds be to earn him the title of Freak Dragon?
If asked, even a passerby on the street could rattle off a few famous anecdotes.
Borrowing a beggar's clothes to beg on the roadside.
Entering a local tyrant's estate as a servant and swimming through the privy.
And proposing marriage to the wife of the leader of the Black Origin Society, one of the most formidable powers in the Black Dao.
He was a man who had walked a path of madness incomprehensible to ordinary people.
Of course, for Mok Ri-won, who knew none of this, Jegal San meant only one thing.
"I never thought I'd get caught so quickly... Well, since it's come to this, let me greet you properly. I'm Jegal San. You're the Ink Sword Hero, right?"
"J-J-Jegal...!"
The legitimate son of the Jegal Clan.
The son of the Array King, called the brain of the Murim Alliance.
Admiration and excitement began to well up on Mok Ri-won's face.
"That's right! I'm the Ink Sword! It's an honor to meet a hero of the Jegal Clan!"
Mok Ri-won made an exaggerated fist-and-palm salute.
Dang Hwa-seo sighed deeply at his behavior, while Jegal San burst into hearty laughter.
"Young Hero, enough of that. Sit down. No need to be so formal."
"Oh dear, Sister, you're so heartless. Let's see... It's been almost six years since we last met, hasn't it?"
"I don't remember us being close enough for you to miss me that much. Why, do I need to shove some poison in you again to shut your mouth?"
Jegal San pretended to be greatly frightened in an exaggerated manner.
Mok Ri-won, still not grasping the situation, belatedly recalled Dang Hwa-seo's origins.
'Ah! Little Sister is from one of the Five Great Clans too!'
The Sichuan Tang Clan was one of the pillars of the Five Great Clans.
It was only natural that the two knew each other.
Feeling oddly distant from the woman who had always been kind to him, Mok Ri-won fidgeted, but Dang Hwa-seo grabbed his arm and pulled him into a chair.
"Yes, it must be disconcerting. I've crossed paths with that guy a few times in the past, but that's it. No reason for you to worry about him, Young Hero."
Her reassuring words.
To Jegal San, this scene was a novel shock.
'Hoo...'
Had the Poison Phoenix ever been this friendly to anyone else?
Wasn't she always aloof and sharp, keeping everyone at arm's length?
A thrill of delight rose in Jegal San's heart.
It stemmed from his well-known quirk: 'curiosity.'
Jegal San was a man of curiosity rivaling Mok Ri-won's.
No, considering his obsessive drive to satisfy it, he could be called more vicious.
In fact, his bizarre exploits could all be explained as attempts to quench some curiosity.
Take the present moment.
The new side of Dang Hwa-seo, whom he'd known for over a decade since childhood, was more than enough to pique his interest.
"Just looking? We've had several passionate encounters with Sister in the meantime..."
"We met a few times at the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament and sparred. I remember whipping his loose tongue."
Irritation filled Dang Hwa-seo's face.
Mok Ri-won rolled his eyes, trying to read the mood.
'Little Sister doesn't like Young Master Jegal much.'
Truthfully, Mok Ri-won found it incomprehensible.
Though he didn't know much about him yet, Jegal San had treated him warmly despite Mok Ri-won throwing chopsticks at his forehead, and he bore no grudge against Dang Hwa-seo for ignoring him.
Wasn't that enough to call him a true gentleman?
'Hmm, maybe Little Sister is trying to keep her distance from Young Master Jegal out of worry for me.'
To outsiders, he was a wanderer with no sect. Perhaps she feared this scion of a prestigious clan might harm him.
Why not?
In Chapter 4 of Tales of the Jianghu Heroes, recounting the life of the Benevolent Hero, weren't there scenes where young fools from noble houses attacked him due to his lowly origins?
'Little Sister worried needlessly!'
Mok Ri-won wanted to prove to Dang Hwa-seo that his heart wasn't so fragile.
"Pleased to meet you! Meeting Little Sister's old acquaintance like this—what a stroke of unexpected fortune! I, Mok Ri-won, am honored to share fellowship with Young Master Jegal today..."
"Cut the nonsense and let's go."
"Eeeeh?"
Dang Hwa-seo shot to her feet and dragged Mok Ri-won away.
Mok Ri-won looked back and forth between her and the remaining Jegal San in bewilderment.
Jegal San waved at him with a grinning face.
*
"...That's the kind of person he is. You get it now, right? Hanging around him could rub off badly on you, Young Hero."
"Th-that's..."
Out of the inn and back at their lodgings.
Mok Ri-won was aghast at the tales of Jegal San's antics Dang Hwa-seo shared.
"H-how could he propose to a married woman...?"
That was the most shocking of all.
Impersonating a beggar, swimming in the privy, running naked through the streets—those could be dismissed as the acts of an eccentric.
But that crossed the line of propriety.
"Wh-what a vile man...!"
A shadow of negativity crossed Mok Ri-won's face.
Only then did Dang Hwa-seo exhale in relief.
Truth be told, Dang Hwa-seo had little interest in Jegal San.
As long as his madness didn't involve her, she didn't care.
But if Mok Ri-won got tangled up, it was different.
'He's such a blank slate; he might pick up bad habits.'
Dang Hwa-seo didn't want this kind-hearted Mok Ri-won tainted by him.
"That guy's persistent, so he might come sniffing around you again. If he does, run and tell me right away. Got it?"
"Got it! I will!"
Mok Ri-won replied resolutely.
Sadly, his resolve never had a chance to shine.
*
While Dang Hwa-seo was out on personal business.
Mok Ri-won squeezed his eyes shut and gulped down bamboo leaf liquor.
"Hero, ignoring me like this wounds me deeply."
Across from him sat Jegal San, who had appeared the moment Dang Hwa-seo left—heaven knew how.
He spoke to Mok Ri-won with an obviously feigned sadness anyone could see through.
"Th-this beef noodle soup is top-notch!"
"So, how did you run into Sister?"
"This bamboo leaf liquor is so smooth! I might get drunk today!"
"Huh? I want to hear about how you took down the One Wheel Society single-handedly."
"Ah, aah...! Too deep in the drink! My head's spinning, ears ringing!"
Jegal San stifled bursting laughter at Mok Ri-won's unconvincing act of ignoring him.
'What a fun guy.'
Wondering what charm had melted Dang Hwa-seo, he now saw antics far funnier than any street storyteller's.
Unable to lie and feeling guilty for snubbing him—it even made Jegal San want to tease him more.
'I get the gist of him now...'
An easy type to read.
In other words, quite the amusing plaything.
Jegal San swallowed his laughter and continued.
"Sigh... How depressing. I met an expert who's shaking the jianghu, my heart aflutter, only for it to cool like this. I thought I'd found a friend for an all-night talk on the ways of the jianghu tonight..."
"Ugh...!"
Mok Ri-won let out a pained groan.
'Th-the ways of the jianghu...!'
How those words stirred the heart.
How they tickled the tongue.
He wanted to open his eyes right then.
To debate hotly with the Jegal heir on what it meant to be a hero.
'But Little Sister said...'
"Such a shame. So regrettable! I needed someone to share the tale of the fortuitous encounter I had before coming here...!"
"A fortuitous encounter?!"
He couldn't resist that.
"Oh, finally responding."
"A fortuitous encounter! What kind?! A cliff? A hidden hermit? Or did you find millennium haemosu while climbing a mountain?!"
Dang Hwa-seo's advice had vanished from Mok Ri-won's mind.
All he could think of was Jegal San's encounter.
Jegal San smirked at Mok Ri-won's sparkling eyes and moved seats.
Right beside him.
Thud-!
Arm around Mok Ri-won's shoulder, he said,
"Come on, before that, hear this story first? About a widow in this village..."
Flinch-.
Mok Ri-won shuddered.
The sudden word 'widow' brought Dang Hwa-seo's tale rushing back.
-He proposed to the wife of the Black Origin Society leader. Gathered a thousand wildflowers into a huge bouquet and gave it to her, they say.
Mok Ri-won sprang up.
"H-hey! What indecency!"
"Is the widow indecent? Surely... the Ink Sword Hero doesn't look at women who've lost husbands that way...!"
"N-no! I'm not that kind of person!"
What a disaster.
Mok Ri-won felt hostility toward Jegal San growing inside him.
"Y-Young Master Jegal! I never pegged you for such a sly fox! Lusting after a married woman—that was you!"
Eyes turned to them in the inn.
Jegal San felt glee rising as he forced down his twitching lips.
"Hmm? What are you talking about?"
"I already heard from Little Sister! About you proposing to a married woman!"
-Good heavens, that rumor was true!
-The Freak Dragon really proposed to a married woman? To one from the Black Dao?
-Incredible! How could he...
The inn's patrons whispered about Jegal San.
But he wasn't one to be shaken by mere words.
"Mistaken?"
"Of course! Utterly wrong!"
"Strange. I did it to save a suffering woman. Why's that wrong?"
"Uh, um?"
"Was the Black Origin Society leader's cruelty ordinary? I just happened by and wanted to help his wife, who was wasting away under his brutality."
Jegal San stood with Mok Ri-won.
Grabbing his shoulder, he continued.
"Hero, let me ask. Saving a frail woman held hostage by a villain, suffering daily—isn't that heroic? Even if it tarnishes my reputation, if the leader lost trust in his wife and cast her out, I'd have freed her. That's righteous, isn't it?"
"Uh, uh...?"
"Ignoring a weeping woman just to avoid the 'ruffian' label—how is that heroic?"
Mok Ri-won's pupils trembled like in an earthquake.
'L-listening now, it seems...'
It made sense.
Unlike hearing the tale raw, knowing the context made Jegal San seem like a grand hero.
'D-did I judge wrong?!'
…No.
In truth, it was all a fabrication by Jegal San.
He'd simply fancied the married woman.
"Answer me. Is the Ink Sword Hero one who cares more for his reputation than the weak, judging by hearsay alone..."
Disappointment crossed Jegal San's face.
"...a 'fake hero'?"
Boom-!
Mok Ri-won felt the world crumbling in despair.
His hands shook, tears welled up.
'M-me...!'
Had his view been too narrow?
Had he become a ruffian swayed by prejudice from others' words?
"N-no..."
Mok Ri-won's body trembled violently.
Jegal San could no longer hold back his laughter at the sight.
"Then speak... Pfft, speak! Hero—no, Brother—what did you take me for...!"
Smack-!!!
"...Urk!"
"You idiot! Young Hero Mok! Didn't I tell you not to talk to this guy?!"
Dang Hwa-seo had returned from her errand.