Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Merchant Leader - Anhui (7)
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About the time it takes to eat a meal had passed.
Before Jegal San's eyes stood a woman who had already finished preparing herself.
"First, I'll get you out of the manor and take you to where your younger sibling is. Do you have anywhere to go? Some distant relative, perhaps...?"
"No. My sibling and I were abandoned by the roadside as children."
"I see."
The woman gave a small smile.
"It's fine. I've packed a few jewels to take with me, so I can sell them and start over somewhere else. As you said, staying here won't win me any welcome from anyone."
A smile hung on her face, but what dwelled within it was sorrow.
Jegal San mulled over her words for a moment before posing another question.
"Oh, by the way, what was that seal the toad mentioned?"
"Toad...? Pfft!"
The woman burst into laughter.
She steadied her trembling shoulders and caught her breath before continuing.
"It's exactly as it sounds—the clan leader's seal. It's the stamp required to approve all business dealings of the Jang Clan Merchant House."
"It's gone missing?"
"Yes, and as you heard, the elder suspects me."
"Judging by how you're talking, it seems you don't have it."
The woman gave a bitter smile and shook her head.
"He's so irresponsible. If he was going to die young like that, he should have at least handled the aftermath."
It was a remark aimed at the deceased clan leader.
Jegal San let out a thoughtful hum before speaking.
"It seems you two weren't on good terms."
"Was there ever good or bad between us? It was a marriage of convenience."
"Convenience?"
"The clan leader didn't want in-laws who might threaten his position. I needed money to feed my starving younger sibling. Our interests aligned, that's all."
"What a romance-free tale."
"Romance doesn't put food on the table."
Jegal San chuckled.
"Can't argue with that."
As he replied, a sudden thought crossed Jegal San's mind.
'She really does resemble her.'
He wondered why he'd had that dream during his nap, but it seemed it was because he saw echoes of his mother in this woman.
Her boldness despite her appearance, her dire circumstances.
And her willingness to sacrifice herself for her child.
There was something about the woman that stirred a sense of nostalgia in him.
"Then I leave it to you."
"Leave it to me."
Jegal San expanded his senses.
'The guards are still in place.'
The sun had now fully set.
A shift change among the guards would likely happen soon.
Jegal San rolled a jade stone in his hand.
'Seventeen left. Should've used them more sparingly.'
It was a close call.
These jade stones were essential materials for simplified formations, so how he used them would determine the success or failure of their escape.
"Hero?"
"Just a moment."
Jegal San closed his eyes.
'Let's see...'
With his senses extended and breath held, he detected approaching presences.
'Shift change, probably.'
The incoming shift met with the current guards.
They exchanged words among themselves, and then the original guards departed.
"Now we can go."
The moment of the guard change was the perfect opportunity for escape.
"Pardon the intrusion."
"Yes... Eek!"
Jegal San hoisted the woman onto his back.
She flailed in surprise for a moment before settling into position on his back.
"Hold on tight."
Jegal San hurled the jade stone he had been rolling from the window.
Whoosh-!
A total of four. The stones shot out in different directions, each unleashing a bizarre aura.
'One ke (一刻) at most.'
Since it was a disorienting formation amplified for power rather than duration, it wouldn't last long.
Jegal San drew a deep breath and unleashed the internal energy from his dantian.
And then.
Tap-.
He vaulted over the window frame.
*
No matter how ordinary the manor might be, it was still the estate of a wealthy man.
On top of that, Jegal San was carrying the burden of a powerless woman.
Unlike when he had infiltrated, the situation was far from leisurely for him now.
Just as the formation was dissipating.
Having slipped out of the inner quarters and reached the manor's outskirts, Jegal San took a deep breath and quickened his pace.
'I hope they don't notice the anomaly too soon.'
Even with that wish, things rarely went smoothly in the world.
Clang-!
-The lady of the house has vanished-!
-Find her! I said find her-!
The toll of a bell.
The woman trembled at the shouts infused with inner energy that followed.
"They found out too quickly..."
"Indeed. Their security seems tighter than expected."
He had assumed the first-rate entry-level leader was just overseeing common guards, but it appeared they had other skills beyond martial arts.
"What do we do now?"
"What else? Run faster."
Jegal San forced a smile onto his lips.
As he did, he twisted his steps in an eerie manner.
'I'd rather not expend energy here, but...'
One couldn't invite threats just to conserve inner energy.
As Jegal San scraped his foot across the ground, the space around him warped faintly in response.
Footwork technique, Heavenly Mechanism Bewildering Step.
One of the secret arts passed down only to the direct descendants of the Jegal Clan head.
The woman's eyes widened.
'This is...'
It was a mystical sensation.
The spots where he stepped felt like they belonged to another space entirely.
It was as if rippling water surfaces enveloped him and her.
Tap-.
Urgency fueled Jegal San's sprint.
In truth, he was growing anxious, fully deploying his martial arts.
'This footwork only works because it's night.'
Unlike formations, footwork couldn't fundamentally distort perception.
If he let his guard down, he could be detected and surrounded at any moment, so with his inner energy still remaining, he needed to move even faster.
'Should've focused more on internal cultivation.'
He cursed his own insufficient inner energy reserves.
Jegal San dropped even his usual smile and dashed ahead even quicker.
And then, crisis struck.
*
Clank-.
At the manor's outermost perimeter.
Dozens of men drew their swords.
In the center, an old man like a bloated toad stood with hands behind his back, clucking his tongue.
"I knew it would come to this, you wench."
Jegal San scowled.
'Damn it.'
They were surrounded.
It was a clear blunder.
No, not even a blunder.
Just bad luck.
Why were the previous shift's guards still lingering on this exact path?
"Well? Where's the seal?"
The elder stepped forward.
Greed was plain on his face.
Like a child moments from grasping treasures.
The woman suppressed her bitter resentment and glared fiercely at the elder.
"...I told you I don't know."
"Then why run? No need to explain! Those damned merchant house dogs promised your safety in exchange for the seal, didn't they? How much? How much did they offer?!"
"I really don't kn—!"
"Shut up!!!"
The elder's face twisted grotesquely.
"Still lying! I know you're scheming, you bitch!!!"
The woman's fists clenched tight.
Faced with the elder's blatant rage, she felt not anger, but injustice first.
"I'm just leaving. There's no reason for me to stay here anymore, so I'm trying to slip away quietly. Why block even that? What have I done so wrong...?"
"You're lowborn scum!"
Thud-.
The woman's body jolted.
No, it was Jegal San's body jolting, as she rode on his back.
"All you lowborn scum are the same! Ungrateful vermin! Parasites that just devour food! Blind idiots who can't see an inch ahead! Your kind's schemes are all too predictable!"
It was forced logic.
The elder's words were so emotional they barely qualified as logic.
Only then did the woman understand.
He didn't truly believe she had the seal.
He just wanted to believe it.
With the clan leader's seal gone and the Jang Clan Merchant House shaken, threatening his own position, he needed someone to blame.
She couldn't find words anymore.
Feeling hollow and absurd, the woman sensed heat rising to her eyes.
'To think...'
Rage boiled at the idea that she had to flee from this old man's insecurities.
"You really have no filter when you speak."
Suddenly, Jegal San spoke up.
The woman gasped in surprise and looked at him.
He stared at the elder with bloodshot eyes, his usual smile gone.
"Senility from old age? How can your words be so vile?"
"And who the hell are you!"
The elder stomped.
Glared at Jegal San for his sudden outburst, then realization dawned as he pointed accusingly.
"Merchant house! You're a merchant house lackey! No wonder... Yes, one of them could infiltrate the inner quarters by breaching the guards!"
The elder laughed loudly.
"Fine, I'll cook you slowly. Lock you in the deepest part of the manor and make you beg to confess the truth!"
"Not sure about that. Your head might roll first. Sorry in advance—I doubt it'll be a clean cut. That shriveled face skin of yours won't look pretty no matter how neatly I slice it."
"You bastard...!"
The elder trembled with fury.
Jegal San glared back, feigning composure.
But inside, the situation burned him.
Too many foes, and his inner energy was depleted from using footwork to reach here.
Alone, he could break through a point and escape, but with a pregnant woman on his back.
'The clan...'
Revealing his origins could resolve this.
But it wouldn't save the woman, and relying on the clan's prestige was something Jegal San hated more than death.
A dead end.
Jegal San gave a hollow laugh.
"Sorry. Looks like I got your hopes up for nothing."
"...No. Seeing that old fool, I wouldn't have been safe even inside. At least we resisted—it's a relief."
"The child..."
"I'll give birth somehow. Knowing it's the clan leader's child in my belly, they won't kill me right away. After that... who knows."
"That's fortunate, at least."
Moments after their brief exchange, the elder bellowed.
"Attack—! I said attack! Hack off that rotten bastard's legs and drag the lowborn here!"
The elder shouted.
At his command, the warriors charged.
A crisis where Jegal San's body would soon be carved up.
Then, an unexpected turn occurred.
Bam-!
A heavy impact resounded.
The dull thud, like a blow from a blunt weapon, halted the warriors and Jegal San.
A very brief gap, yet to someone, it felt like an eternity long enough for a yawn.
Bam-!
Paak-!
Bam-!
Multiple impacts overlapped in an instant.
The warriors guarding the wall collapsed en masse, and a man appeared there.
Jegal San stared, murmuring blankly.
"Brother Mok..."
It was Mok Ri-won.
Black mask and coarse sackcloth covered his body, but his revealed eyes radiated beauty, unmistakable to Jegal San.
Mok Ri-won approached Jegal San with leisurely steps.
Despite the slowness, no one present could stop him.
The aura emanating from him was that heavy and majestic.
"How...?"
Jegal San asked.
Mok Ri-won directed his exposed eyes straight at him, smiling softly.
"I said I'd tag along. How could I miss something like this?"
His reply, as if stating the obvious, left Jegal San chuckling dryly.
"You really..."
Who else could be this peculiar?
As such thoughts arose, Mok Ri-won pointed at the elder and asked.
"Those the villains?"
"By my standards, yes."
"Then villains they are."
The elder met Mok Ri-won's eyes and retreated, trembling.
'W-what...'
Even the elder, ignorant of martial arts, could sense it.
His presence was ferocious.
"Go on. I'll handle this."
Mok Ri-won tapped his sword sheath against his shoulder.
He took a step forward but paused.
"Ah."
A quiet murmur.
Mok Ri-won glanced at Jegal San, then spoke in a voice that sounded earnestly pleading.
"Keep it secret from little sister. I snuck out—trouble if she finds out."
No one present knew of the pinch mark on Mok Ri-won's cheek beneath the mask.