Chapter 20
Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Boldly Setting Out on a Jianghu Journey
Boldly, I set out into the jianghu.
But the moment I left the clan, I found myself in quite a bind.
'Tch, where should I go.'
I'd set off way too brashly.
Without even deciding on a destination.
Of course, I did have a goal.
'Gotta claim every beauty out there.'
And on top of that, make them indebted to me so they'd become my support base.
But in this vast world, beauties aren't exactly thin on the ground.
And even if I ran into one, there was still the problem.
'How do I seduce them.'
Back in my Lecherous Demon days, it had been a piece of cake.
I could just take them by force.
I'd wander wherever my whims took me without needing a set path, claim any woman who caught my eye, and that was that.
If rumors of a beauty cropped up somewhere along the way, I'd just change course.
But the Mok Jimyeong of today wasn't that same Lecherous Demon who lived by his every impulse.
No, now I was aiming to become a young prodigy of the righteous factions.
Which meant a ton of restrictions.
Right off the bat, money was an issue.
Father had given me a decent pocketful of allowance money, sure...
'But I can't live off this forever.'
It was just spare change, really.
Maybe it'd last me a month in luxury, but I sure as hell couldn't crawl back home once it ran dry.
Back in my Lecherous Demon days, money hadn't been a problem either.
Plenty of unorthodox scum handed over cash just to bask in my infamy, and if push came to shove, I could always rob someone.
Money, destination, ways to claim beauties.
Things I'd brushed off before leaving were now grabbing me by the ankles one by one.
'Should I just go full Lecherous Demon?'
The temptation flickered for a moment, but I shoved it down.
Maybe once I had a solid support base later on, but if I lived like that now, I'd be branded a public enemy of the martial world and done for.
I didn't want to waste this hard-earned second chance so pointlessly.
As I mulled it over, my brother Mok Jicheon's voice called from behind.
"Jimyeong, what's wrong? Changed your mind? You could just stay with the clan..."
"No, no. I'm heading out now."
Guess I'd lingered too long at the clan gates.
I gave him a quick bow and started walking.
I thought I was just following my feet wherever, but before I knew it, I'd ended up in Taiyuan.
I'd been coming here so often lately that my body had just taken me there on autopilot.
'Tch, maybe swing by the Blue Moon Pavilion.'
I shook my head at the sudden thought.
Just this morning, I'd bid Somwol farewell before leaving for my jianghu journey. Going there now would look pretty pathetic.
After a brief debate, I headed to a tavern instead of my usual brothel.
I grabbed a seat at the biggest tavern in Taiyuan and started sorting things out one by one.
'First up: purpose of this jianghu journey.'
Claiming beauties.
That went without saying.
But that was something to keep to myself. I needed a reason I could actually say out loud if someone asked.
'Chivalrous wandering it is, then.'
Chivalrous wandering.
A term that didn't suit me at all, but for posing as a righteous young prodigy, it was perfect.
The alternative was a martial tourney circuit, but parading around at my tender age of twenty would just earn me ridicule.
And it wouldn't help win over women either.
So, purpose set: chivalrous wandering.
But what did that entail, exactly?
'Maybe go smash some bandits?'
It was the go-to for righteous youngsters.
Easy targets, and the common folk loved it.
But even that had issues.
'How the hell does that get me beauties?'
Sure, there might be women among the bandits, but I wasn't one for low-odds gambles.
Scratch that one.
As I drummed my fingers on the table, my food and drinks arrived.
My purse was still fat for now, so I'd ordered everything that caught my eye.
I tore into a juicy chicken leg, stuffing my mouth full as I kept thinking.
'Chivalrous wandering's just an excuse for when people ask anyway. Better pick a damn destination first.'
Otherwise, I'd end up stuck in Taiyuan forever.
Where to?
Beijing, with its huge population?
Or Henan, home to the Murim Alliance and Shaolin Temple?
Then it hit me—I was being an idiot.
'Just go after the hottest babe I can think of.'
How to hook up was a problem for later.
First, I had to at least cross paths.
A bunch of names flashed through my mind.
Female experts who'd been big names back in my era.
Too young for me then—straight-up impossible—but perfect age now.
And the one who tempted me most was...
'How old's the Sword Phoenix right now?'
Sword Phoenix Moyong Hui.
She was the one who stirred my blood the hardest.
She was direct lineage of the Moyong Family, one of the Five Great Families.
Already a famed young prodigy as one of the Five Dragons and Five Phoenixes, and supposedly drop-dead gorgeous to boot.
Truth be told, I'd never met her in person, but the reason she hooked me so bad was...
'The World's Greatest Beauty Cheon Suyeon's mom.'
She was the woman who'd end up the Martial Emperor's daughter-in-law.
Her daughter Cheon Suyeon had tasted like the World's Greatest Beauty, by my reckoning.
So Moyong Hui had to be just as promising.
From what I remembered, she was a year older than my second sister...
'That'd make her twenty-four now?'
Prime age.
And she still held the Sword Phoenix title, which was a nice bonus.
The Five Dragons and Five Phoenixes was for young prodigies, after all.
She'd hand it over to my second sister when she married the Martial Emperor's son, Cheon Woojin.
'That was three years from now, right?'
Around the time Mok Jieun became the Sword Queen's disciple, yeah.
Meaning right now, she was still a pure, untouched virgin.
Beauty, Sword Phoenix, virgin...
And Cheon Suyeon's mom to top it off?
No way I could pass that up.
'Sticking it to the Martial Emperor and that punk son of his feels pretty good too.'
A few other women crossed my mind, but none hooked me like the Sword Phoenix.
"It's decided. Sword Phoenix it is."
I muttered to myself and downed a whole bottle of liquor in one go.
"Kaaah~."
Expensive booze lived up to the hype.
I popped some snacks in my mouth and kept scheming.
Ambitious goal, but problems remained.
First: how to seduce Moyong Hui.
Direct lineage of a prestigious Moyong Family.
So high chance she was still pure since she wasn't married yet, but...
'Doesn't make her easy pickings for me.'
Without forcing it—and I wasn't—I'd have a hell of a time getting with her.
And marriage was out of the question.
Blackmail like with Somwol was too risky too.
Worst case, I'd get branded Lecherous Demon on the spot.
'Wearing this righteous mask sure cramps my style.'
No good ideas by the time I'd emptied another bottle.
I gave up on solving it for now.
'Whatever, something'll come up once I meet her.'
But that wasn't the end of it.
Second problem: where the hell was Moyong Hui?
Probably at the Moyong Family, but...
'What a pain in the ass.'
From Shanxi here to Liaoning where the Moyong Family was, it was a serious trek.
Past Hebei and still more after that—no clue when I'd get there.
Even walking non-stop without food or sleep, it'd take over a month.
Using lightness skill might shave time off, but still no cakewalk.
Who was I? Mok Jimyeong.
Asking me to hold back lust for a month straight and just hoof it?
Impossible.
I needed brothel pit stops along the way, and any cute girls I spotted deserved a flirt...
Generously, half a year minimum.
'Half a year...?'
I eyed the table, tallying up the prices of my latest orders.
Plenty of allowance, but at this rate, my purse would be empty in two months tops.
Meaning I needed to make money too.
'Seriously considering raiding a bandit lair.'
But that wasn't ideal either—for a righteous guy, you'd have to return the loot to the people.
Keeping it for myself would just make me a robber.
'Bumming cash off the Shadow Gate Sect feels off too...'
Once or twice in a pinch, fine, but hitting them up every time my wallet ran dry? Nah.
What I wanted from them as support wasn't money anyway.
I could join an escort agency and earn legit, but...
'Mok Jimyeong slumming it as an escort guard? No way.'
My pride wouldn't allow it.
Before I knew it, the bottles were empty and the snacks gone.
I shoved the money issue aside for now—time to get moving somewhere.
Couldn't stay in Taiyuan forever.
Just as I started to stand...
Ding-a-lang—
Two people entered the tavern.
A young warrior with solid skills, and...
'Oh, she's a looker.'
One hell of a stunner.
I planted my ass back in the chair.
And started rethinking.
'Do I really need to rush straight to Liaoning?'
The more I thought, the less urgent it seemed.