Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: First Steps into Jianghu, and the Seductive Witch (3)
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To state the obvious, that was how it was.
Mok Ri-won knew nothing of women.
No, he didn't even grasp the concept of 'others' at all.
This stemmed from his abnormal upbringing.
The place where he was born and raised was some remote mountain valley in western Gangseo.
The only people he had ever met in his life were Mok Seon-o and Ma Il-seok, who had raised him.
In Mok Ri-won's mind, anyone beyond those two was nothing more than fictional characters from stories, which gave him some peculiar preconceptions about the idea of others.
To Mok Ri-won, others in the world fell into three categories.
Righteous wanderers who performed deeds of chivalry, the common folk who expressed gratitude for it, and villains who stood in direct opposition to the wanderers.
Thus, he had no choice but to classify her—someone who fit none of those three—as a villain.
In other words, he had concluded that the pounding in his heart was due to her evil sorcery.
'A seductive witch! That one's definitely a seductive witch!'
Truthfully, it was a situation ripe for misunderstanding.
However, unfortunately, there was no kind and patient soul here to clear it up.
The woman before him, Hwa Seo, was a fugitive hiding her identity.
Moreover, the assassins protecting her were all on edge from sensing his profound inner energy.
A mysterious master who had suddenly drawn his sword.
To them, fugitives on the run, he was nothing but a threat.
"Attack—!"
Hwa Seo shouted.
With a 'boom!', the ceiling caved in as seven assassins shot toward him.
A clean joint attack technique, clearly honed over a long time together.
But they had chosen the wrong opponent.
Clang—!
A strike infused with inner energy.
As Mok Ri-won smashed the flat of his blade into one assassin's shoulder, the core of their joint attack crumbled.
Given the nature of a joint attack technique—where every movement had to mesh perfectly without the slightest gap—the sudden massive opening naturally caused the remaining six assassins to falter for a moment.
Mok Ri-won's sword did not stop.
Clang—!
Regaining his composure, he tapped the waist of an assassin thrusting from behind.
The assassin flew back, crashing into the next one charging in, and in that gap, Mok Ri-won dealt with the enemies from other directions.
What followed was merely a two-stroke sequence.
With movements piercing their vital points, all the assassins collapsed to the floor.
Hwa Seo stared in a daze.
'What...!'
It was absurd.
Even if they were at the entry level, all of them were first-rate experts.
And that wasn't all.
Their joint attack wasn't some amateur street thug's martial art—it was a technique treated as a secret even in the clan they had fled from.
Yet how could it be dismantled so easily?
'...This is bad.'
Hwa Seo rolled her eyes.
Her only escape route was the window behind him, which he was blocking.
She could probably leap out if she timed it for an opening...
'...I can't abandon them.'
These were the people who had risked their lives to flee the clan with her for her sake.
She couldn't just leave them behind to save her own skin.
'What should I do...!'
As Hwa Seo's dilemma deepened, a 'thud!' echoed and the door shattered as a masked figure burst in.
It was So Hyang, one of her close aides.
"Miss! Get away!"
Shouting that, So Hyang drew her dagger and lunged at Mok Ri-won, but he had already anticipated it, and his single stroke sent her sprawling to the floor as well.
Clang—!
"Ugh...!"
"Hyang-ah!"
With a sharp scream, Hwa Seo's response was far from rational.
Hwa Seo glared wide-eyed and drew up her inner energy from her dantian.
Then, clenching her fist, she charged at Mok Ri-won.
"Eek?!"
Mok Ri-won panicked.
The moment he realized she was approaching him, the distance closed, and a thought surfaced.
'P-powder scent...!'
She might start smelling like those courtesans below if she got close.
And if that happened, he might twist up in embarrassment again, just like before.
It was only a split-second hesitation, but to Hwa Seo—a mature first-rate expert—it was a glaring opening.
Hwa Seo gleamed her eyes and extended her right hand.
Then she slashed with her nails.
A fine attempt.
It might have worked, if her opponent weren't Mok Ri-won.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Mok Ri-won reflexively struck her body with his finger.
Not a simple poke, but one loaded with inner energy.
It was a pressure point strike to seal her inner energy and movement.
"Eek...!"
Thud!
Hwa Seo collapsed to the floor.
Her surging inner energy was instantly blocked, and her body went numb, unable to even twitch a fingertip.
Despair and rage.
Hwa Seo, filled to the brim with it, glared at Mok Ri-won with pure hatred.
Mok Ri-won flusteredly averted his gaze from her eyes.
'W-what do I do...!'
Something felt off.
She should have revealed her true colors as a seductive witch and tried to cloud his mind with seductive arts, as expected.
But at the last moment, what she used wasn't that—it was claw technique.
No, setting aside such minor issues, her inner energy was sealed, yet the pounding in his chest hadn't stopped.
Mok Ri-won's eyes spun wildly.
His mouth hung open, mumbling incoherently.
-Go up! There's a commotion upstairs!
In his flustered state, such a shout reached his ears.
It came from downstairs.
Amid the panic, excitement, and inexplicable shyness making his head spin, Mok Ri-won reacted to the shout without thinking.
Grab—!
He slung Hwa Seo over his shoulder, squeezed his eyes shut, and leaped out the window.
"Miss—!"
Yes.
It was a kidnapping.
*
Using his movement technique to the fullest, Mok Ri-won finally stopped after another hour had passed.
'Where...'
In his blind flight, the surroundings had become a forest before he knew it.
Only then did Mok Ri-won belatedly realize with a start, his mouth gaping wide.
'I went too far!'
He had run thoughtlessly and didn't even know the way back to Suyang County.
His face darkened at the thought that he might get lost at this rate.
Amid it all, something happened to startle Mok Ri-won yet again.
"...Put me down."
It was the whisper from Hwa Seo, slung over his shoulder.
The warm breath right by his ear and the now-registering sweet, cloying scent.
Startled, Mok Ri-won flung her to the ground.
Thud!
"Urk...!"
A stifled groan escaped Hwa Seo's lips.
Mok Ri-won just kept taking deep breaths, his heart racing.
Hwa Seo's teeth ground together.
"Where are you from?"
Her voice was chillingly cold.
Her eyes held no loss of their prior ferocity, but Mok Ri-won, not in his right mind, didn't notice.
"F-from some valley back in those mountains!"
Squeezing his eyes shut, he jabbed a finger vaguely toward some point in the mountain range.
Hwa Seo glared at him so hard that veins bulged in the whites of her eyes.
"Don't play games! From a clan? Or a Black Dao master? You filthy vermin, don't think I'll dance to your tune just because of this!"
"Wh-what are you...!"
"Hah, denying it to the end?"
Mok Ri-won trembled at Hwa Seo's sharp aura, stealing glances at her.
'Why is she so angry...!'
Sure, his methods were rough, but did she have the right to speak like that?
Wasn't she a wicked seductive witch exploiting the common folk?
He had not the slightest doubt on that point.
If she weren't a seductive witch but an ordinary courtesan, she wouldn't know martial arts or be able to shake him to his core like this.
Mok Ri-won pointed at Hwa Seo, not hiding his sudden surge of injustice.
"H-hey! Shut your mouth, you seductive witch! I've already heard all about it from the locals here! How the Black Dao protection fees doubled after you showed up! And that's not all—you're recruiting outside masters to attack the yamen, aren't you!"
"What?"
"I'm just a green martial artist stepping into Jianghu for the first time today, but even I know chivalry and righteousness matter! Don't try to weasel out!"
Pleased with how heroic he sounded, Mok Ri-won snorted and smirked.
Only then did Hwa Seo realize something was truly wrong.
'What...'
Something flashed through her mind.
-...She's being entertained. Cowering pathetically.
So Hyang's report about him shrinking under the courtesans' attention.
-Seductive arts to bewitch me! But Mok Ri-won won't fall that easily! Wicked seductive witch! Show your true colors—!
His outburst accusing her of bewitching him with seductive arts out of nowhere.
And just now, his claim of coming from a mountain valley.
Hwa Seo let out a hollow laugh.
It was filled with utter exasperation.
'Wait, no way...'
Could it be real?
Not from some organization, but an actual country bumpkin?
Then his martial arts?
'...Taught by a hidden master?'
The stuff of children's tales.
Yet Hwa Seo couldn't dismiss the possibility.
And for good reason—by her common sense, someone with such profound martial arts had no motive to enter a brothel as a guest, infiltrate, show his skills late, and kidnap her.
In other words.
'His actions lack consistency.'
If infiltrating, do it properly; if causing a scene, do that right.
He was twisting what should be simple into something convoluted.
'...Not trained professionally.'
Moreover, wasn't that smug look as he spouted nonsense exactly like a bratty kid?
"Go on, make your excuses!"
He jabbed his finger at her, full of bravado.
Suddenly, Hwa Seo felt a wave of pathos wash over her.
'Me, of all people...'
Not pursued by her clan, not the Black Dao gangs of Suyang County, but kidnapped by some bumpkin strong only in martial arts.
The fact stung her heart.
*
Swept by a sense of exhaustion, Hwa Seo sighed and tried to clear the misunderstanding.
No, she had another goal besides that.
'Recruit him.'
A master with no affiliation.
Ignorant of the world, foolish in speech, and seemingly fond of her.
Used right, he could greatly help solve her current troubles.
Hwa Seo continued with her own calculations.
But the more she spoke, the stranger Mok Ri-won's expression grew.
"So, um..."
Mok Ri-won was clueless about the world and prone to odd antics, but he was a man who had earned endless praise from Mok Seon-o for his sharp wits since childhood.
In short, he could easily grasp what she was saying.
"You became the brothel madam because the previous one sold it to you for money..."
"Yes."
"The Black Dao gangs doubled the protection fees to take the brothel from you..."
"You've got it."
"The mysterious warriors are..."
"Just outsiders. Aren't you yourself an outsider warrior?"
Of course, it wasn't just random outsiders.
Among them were surely clan lackeys tracking her trail.
But Hwa Seo saw no need to tell him that and glossed over it—and it worked.
"Then the seductive arts...?"
"Seductive arts this, seductive arts that. Why are you so obsessed? Did you come looking to fall for them or something?"
"..."
Mok Ri-won avoided Hwa Seo's gaze.
At that, she scowled deeply and shot him a contemptuous look.
Now the misunderstanding was somewhat cleared.
As Hwa Seo racked her brains on how to turn this to her advantage, Mok Ri-won kept jolting in place.
'If she's not a seductive witch...'
The belated realization made his eyes tremble like an earthquake.
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
'I kidnapped a woman!'
Only now did he grasp that he had become a scoundrel who abducted an innocent lady.
...Of course, it was far too late.