The Woman Who Cried in the Dark
"Ah, damn it."
I had been walking with an air of self-importance, and thanks to the sudden epiphany I’d had, my Wind God Steps had reached the 4th Star. But perhaps I’d focused too much on refining my internal energy? When I finally opened my eyes, the sun was already beginning to set. If I wasn't careful, I’d be spending the night sleeping in the mountains.
'This is my first day out of the sect, and I really want to sleep in an inn, not under the stars!'
Gihu quickly steeled his resolve and increased the speed of his Wind God Steps. Was this the power of a peerless movement technique? Before long, I discovered the village the bandits had mentioned and changed my course. By the time the red sunset vanished behind the mountains, I had arrived at the village I’d seen from afar.
It hadn't looked like much from a distance, but the village was quite large. With wooden barricades surrounding it, it seemed like a decent place for people to live. Since the sun was already setting, I tried to enter, but a pair of men who looked like beggars were waiting behind the gate. Judging by the staffs in their hands, they were clearly...
'Are they from the Beggars' Sect?'
The Beggars' Sect was one of the Nine Great Sects and One Union, a faction composed almost entirely of beggars. Their dozens of branches spread across the Central Plains served as the intelligence network for the righteous Murim. In the novel, they appeared alongside the Haomun as the protagonist's primary source of information. I hadn't expected to find them in such a remote village, though. Come to think of it, Tianjin was where the main headquarters of the Beggars' Sect was located. I hadn't remembered that because the protagonist had never been there...
Perhaps due to the effect of the 5th Star of the Sun and Moon Yin-Yang Divine Art, the beggars didn't seem to recognize my martial arts level. Well, what would they know?
One of the beggars approached me and asked, "Where is the young master coming from?"
I quickly grasped the situation from his tone, which was dripping with annoyance, and cupped my hands in a pogwon salute. "I am a newcomer just starting my journey through the Jianghu."
The beggars seemed too lazy to bother, and they reached a silent agreement to just give me a cursory inspection and let me pass. It wasn't a small village, so they shouldn't have been letting just anyone in, but objectively speaking, I didn't look like a member of the evil or demonic factions. Just as the beggar was about to ask something else, I pulled about 40 pun from my sleeve and split it between them. Pleased with my behavior, the two beggars exchanged a grin and let me through without another word.
Money really is the best, isn't it?
I took the opportunity to ask them, "Where is the best inn in this village?"
The two men looked at each other with strange expressions before answering. "Hah, you must have no idea what the situation is like around here."
"Young master, Jinwan Village has been under constant attack by bandits for the past six months, and the state of the village is a mess. Half the population is already dead, injured, or has moved away. The men, in particular, have died in droves. Most of the people left here are widows, the elderly, or those with nowhere else to go."
So the village name is Jinwan Village? I suppose those bandits from earlier were the ones responsible... Even if many have died, there still seem to be quite a few people here. Anyway, is that why these beggars are guarding the village? I finished assessing the situation in an instant.
The Murim Alliance, which prides itself on righteousness, probably couldn't ignore a request for help from a village like this. Since it was a fairly large village, it would be a headache if there were repercussions later. 'They’re probably just doing it for show.' The Central Plains were too vast for them to care about a village in such a remote place. To the casual observer, the Murim Alliance might seem to have immense influence, but they struggled to exert power anywhere outside the territories of the Nine Great Sects and the Eight Great Families. It seemed they had sent a request for support to the nearest Beggars' Sect branch, but looking at them, these beggars didn't look very strong. Second-class at best? Even that might be tough for ordinary people, but to me, it was laughable.
"The village head's house is the best place to stay, but even they won't have any rooms left. In this village, aside from one shop, nothing is operating normally except for the gambling dens and taverns. And I don't know what might happen if you go there, young master..."
I snorted inwardly at his words. The other beggar chimed in, "Well... if you really have nowhere to sleep, why not just try entering any widow's house nearby? You have a handsome face, after all... Ahem. Even if we look like this, we are members of the righteous path, so we'll stop there. You should hurry and find a place to sleep, young master."
I already understood what the beggar meant, but I wasn't particularly keen on it. Still, should I take a look around? It couldn't be helped. What else could I do when there was nowhere to sleep?
"Thank you."
I bowed politely like a proper righteous young master and moved into the village. As I walked deeper inside, the village was much larger than I had expected. Although houses burned to the ground or left in ruins were common, there were still quite a few people left. As the beggar had said, the ratio of women to men was overwhelmingly high. I scanned the women who looked like widows with my gigam, but none of them caught my eye. They were all exhausted and weary, lacking any vitality.
That woman with the orange roof over there looks decent, though... I'll look around a bit more, and if I can't find anything, I'll head there. As the sun completely set, the men remaining in the village headed toward the west, where the taverns and gambling dens the beggars had mentioned were concentrated. The faces of the people passing by were etched with exhaustion and helplessness.
'This situation is worse than I thought. Everyone's spirit is completely broken.'
If I stayed in a village like this for too long, I might end up like that myself. I'd stay for just one day, and then head to Tianjin, where the Beggars' Sect headquarters was. Tianjin was a region the protagonist of the novel had never visited, but couldn't there be something hidden there? Also, it was important for Gihu to travel around and gain experience. If I happened to meet a woman I liked, I could achieve enlightenment in the Sun and Moon Yin-Yang Divine Art using the method the founder had used... Just thinking about it made me excited.
'Sohye, this is all to save you. It's painful for me too, but please trust me and wait...'
It was an unavoidable necessity for the perfection of the Sun and Moon Yin-Yang Divine Art and the advancement of my martial arts. Sohye would surely understand if I explained it well later. Anyway, lost in thought, I had wandered deep into the village without realizing it. In a place where so many had died or left, most of the ruined buildings were devoid of any presence. Or perhaps everyone had gone to the taverns and gambling dens?
'I've come the wrong way. I should turn back.'
Just as I turned to leave, my sensitive gigam picked up the sound of sobbing and dull thuds. I was about to ignore it and continue toward the square, but I felt a strange sensation, as if my womb was calling out to me. An indescribable, unique feeling... What kind of insane sensation was this? Even as I thought that, Gihu was already moving toward the source of the sound. I decided to trust the voice of my heart rather than rational thought.
When I arrived, the scene came into view even in the darkness: a man was beating a woman in front of a house. However, Gihu didn't rush out immediately. Assessing the situation came first. I hid behind a nearby tree and immediately channeled the Sun and Moon Yin-Yang Divine Art, spreading my gigam to eavesdrop.
"Sob, ugh, no, please..."
"Money! Money! Give it to me! I told you I'd bring it back tripled!"
"Ack, aah, honey, please don't hit me, ugh..."
"You crazy bitch! Fine, let's see how this goes today!"
"If we don't have this money, we'll really starve to death! There's nowhere left to borrow from, ack, aah!"
Having heard enough, I made my presence known and slowly approached the two. They were about the same height, both a head shorter than me. The middle-aged man seemed to have something wrong with his hands and feet; even while he was raining down blows, I could see them trembling.
As I reached close proximity, the drunken middle-aged man finally noticed me and said, "Wh-who are you?"
I cupped my hands politely, playing the part of a righteous young master. "Greetings. I am a newcomer to the Murim, just passing through. I plan to stay in this village for a while, but are there really no inns here? If you have a spare room in your home, could I stay for a few days? I will pay you handsomely."
The man’s eyes lit up at the mention of money, and he seemed to hesitate. This is why gambling addiction is terrifying... At the husband's hesitation, the woman who had just been beaten spoke up in a panic.
"Honey, no... we don't have any rooms in the house except for the bedroom and the workshop..."
"Then give up the bedroom and sleep in the workshop! Damn it! Ugh... I'll let it slide this time."
Does he have an anger management disorder? The man didn't even listen to his wife and said, "Fine. You may stay. But you must pay one nyang per day."
"H-honey!"
The husband, annoyed that his wife was trying to speak again, raised his hand to strike her once more.
"Where do you think you're talking back to me! Damn it!"
In that instant, I caught his wrist and pressed seven or eight nyang into his hand. "Sir, this is for a week. You must be hungry since it's evening, so go have a drink. I will speak with your wife and see if I can stay."
The man's eyes widened at the sight of the money, and he soon smiled broadly. "Ahem... you, make sure the young master is comfortable... Ah! Anyway! You handle it! I'm going to triple this money and come back!"
The husband hummed a tune as if he were in heaven, dragging his feet as he disappeared. Now that I look at it, the trembling hands must be from alcoholism, and the dragging feet must be from an injury. Even if the husband was currently obsessed with gambling, he wouldn't be oblivious to the fact that part of the money I paid was essentially for his wife. Is the husband in the novel always like this?
Watching her husband leave, the wife trembled all over, tears streaming down her face, perhaps from a sense of betrayal. Only then did I begin to examine her slowly. Was she around thirty? She was sobbing, her long black hair framing flawless skin and a voluminous chest. Her eyes sparkled like stars in the night sky, and even in this situation, her clear features were evident. Furthermore, the gray dress that reached her legs reminded me of a modern city woman's style. Her body, which seemed incredibly soft, and the decadent beauty that emanated from her while she stimulated my protective instincts—honestly, she was exactly my type.
This woman was definitely the one who had been calling to me! But perhaps due to long-term abuse, her skin and hair looked parched, her eyes were filled with fatigue, and she seemed to have lost weight, likely from a lack of food. There was a purple bruise above her eye from her husband's blow, and other blue bruises were visible here and there. She might have been a beauty in the past, but now she was nothing more than a pitiful woman. However, it was clear that she would be a beauty if she recovered her health. Is this what they mean by a winning lottery ticket?
'Hah...'
I was momentarily speechless, but I decided to trust the voice of my heart. It was right to hide my lust until the time was ripe; I could force it, but I couldn't just do that to every woman I approached... I wasn't the strongest in the world, after all... Unless the situation was special, like with Sohye, where there was already mutual affection, the right way was to gently seduce her. I had to start polishing myself from now on. This was the first step.
I reached out and patted the back of the crying woman, comforting her. "Are you alright? You must be suffering greatly because of your husband... If you don't mind, would you like to go inside and rest?"
As I patted her for a long time, comforting her, her sobbing finally ceased. She looked straight at me, her eyes widening as she stared.
"Why are you doing that?"
"E-et, ah, no, I'm sorry... for showing you such a pathetic sight..."
I looked at her and spoke affectionately. Her sorrowful appearance stimulated my protective instincts. "It's alright. Let's go inside and rest. Can you stand?"
"Ugh, ugh... no."
She tried to put strength into her body to stand, but she couldn't, likely because her leg was injured. Her husband is something else.
"Then, it can't be helped. Excuse me."
With those words, I scooped her up in a princess carry and stood up in one motion.
"Kyaa..."
Flustered by the sudden princess carry, she blushed and let out a small cry. I liked that girlish reaction.
"You have a very cute reaction..."
There was a freshness in her shy response. I carried her into the house. The interior was a small, modest home with nothing particularly special. I lit a candle, entered the bedroom, and laid her down. She lay on the bed demurely and spoke quietly.
"...I'm sorry, young master."
"It's fine. Is there any medicine in the house?"
"There are some herbs in a jar in the kitchen..."
Before she could finish, I went to get the herbs, and they were ones I recognized. Seeing several flowers and nameless grasses in addition to the herbs nearby, it seemed she was an apothecary. Looking at her husband, it didn't seem like he worked... Does she forage for all of this by herself?
Returning to the bedroom, I crushed the herbs, wrapped them in a piece of cloth, and tied them to her wounds. She refused at first, saying it was fine, but eventually accepted. Even while receiving treatment, she apologized repeatedly, and soon she began to talk.
"I'm really sorry, young master... My husband wasn't like that before. He changed after losing his job, and after he injured his leg, he started hitting me whenever he drank..."
I listened to her story in silence by her side. Had no one ever listened to her story until now? She began to pour out her words like a machine gun. In times like this, you just listen quietly.