Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: Jeomchang Sect
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The first snow had fallen.
Dang Mujin and Dan Seolyeong sat in front of the hearth, gazing at the pine resin fire crackling away. There was plenty of smoke from all the sap, but the roasted chestnuts carried the delightful scent of pine, making it all the better.
Dang Mujin scored the chestnuts with a knife, while Dan Seolyeong poked at the fire with the poker to roast them evenly.
Whenever Dan Seolyeong picked out a well-roasted chestnut, it was Dang Mujin's job to peel it.
His hands quickly turned black from handling the ash-covered nuts, and soon both their mouths were smudged black as well. They rolled the yellow chestnut flesh around in their mouths as they watched the first snow.
Was it late in the season? Unlike typical first snows that shyly fell only to vanish quickly, this one came generously, blanketing the ground in white.
Dan Seolyeong asked,
"What are you thinking about?"
"Just... this and that."
Not long ago, Dang Mujin had loved snow. But now, it didn't feel as welcome as before. The unusually cold and harsh winter of last year came to mind.
Still, with Dan Seolyeong by his side, his heart felt warm. If he could spend a few winters like this, maybe he'd come to love snow again like he used to—that's what he thought.
*
A few days later, Yu Jingwang gathered up the Yu Escort Agency's earnings for the entire month and headed to the gambling den.
Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong naturally followed behind him.
They had no intention of joining in the gambling themselves, but watching was entertaining enough. No—watching without playing was even more fun.
Yu Jingwang didn't stop them. From his confident expression, he seemed to see it as a chance to show off his winning streak.
As the three entered the inn, a man who had been scanning the room spoke up.
"What's this? Bringing spectators?"
"I'm going to win big this time, so I brought some people to celebrate."
Yu Jingwang replied as he claimed a table and sat down. Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong waited beside him for the show.
One man approached as if he'd been waiting and sat across from Yu Jingwang.
"Long time no see. Has a month passed already?"
"Yeah."
Contrary to Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong's expectations, Yu Jingwang's gambling offered no spectacle. The game he chose was ridiculously simple.
Two dice were rolled, and whoever got the higher total won. That was it.
Yu Jingwang piled all his money on the table and placed the two dice in the center. His opponent rolled first.
2-4. Not the worst, but far from good.
Yu Jingwang looked a bit excited as he gripped the dice tightly and threw them with a determined flick. 2-1. An unusually bad result.
His opponent swept up the money from the table with a smirk.
"Whew, luck was on my side this time. Lucky me."
Yu Jingwang hung his head, clenching his fists tightly. Losing a month's earnings in an instant couldn't have been easy on him.
But when he lifted his head moments later, his face was filled not with despair, but hope.
"It's fine. That can happen! Just shaking off the bad luck this time."
Yu Jingwang abruptly stood and left the inn, where gambling was in full swing.
The gazes of the wealthy gamblers on Yu Jingwang mixed pity and mockery.
The three returned to the Yu Manor using lightness skills. Dang Mujin thought Yu Jingwang's lightness skill was full of lingering regrets.
*
The next month, Yu Jingwang headed to the gambling den again, and once more, Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong trailed after him.
Yu Jingwang sat in the exact same spot as last time and pulled out two dice. The man who had taken his money before darted over and sat across from him.
"Up for another round?"
"Of course. I don't back down."
The opponent tossed the dice lightly and grinned. It was a result worth smiling about.
6-3. Good enough that losing would be rare.
Yu Jingwang jiggled his leg nervously for a moment, took a deep breath, and rolled the dice. They landed demurely on the table, showing 5-5—a high roll. Yu Jingwang won.
His opponent had lost a lot but still looked relaxed.
"You're on fire today."
"I've shaken off the bad luck so many times. Bound to have a good day eventually."
"Heh. Shaking off bad luck shouldn't cost you that much, should it? Anyway, one more?"
"Sure."
Yu Jingwang pulled over his opponent's gold pieces, added them to his own pile, and stacked it all on the table. He was betting everything, including his latest winnings.
This time, Yu Jingwang rolled first.
*
Half a shichen later, Yu Jingwang stared down at the table in a stiff posture. The money stacked in front of him was incomparably more than what he'd brought.
The three gamblers who'd lost to him wore deeply vexed expressions as they stared at Yu Jingwang. No matter how rich they were, recovering from today's losses wouldn't be easy.
A few gamblers muttered while eyeing Yu Jingwang's mask.
"...That guy's always losing, but today's luck is no joke."
"Was it really just bad luck before?"
"Could be."
Yu Jingwang was known for having no talent for gambling and rotten luck.
But today, he'd won four times in a row with the dice. Each time betting his entire fortune, the money before him was now sixteen times his starting stake. More than the Yu Escort Agency could earn in a year.
Yu Jingwang's initially calm expression was now strangely distorted, his breathing ragged unlike usual. He seemed thrilled, flustered, or perhaps overwhelmed by expectations too great to bear.
Anyone could see this was a man touching such wealth for the first time.
"Anyone else want to challenge? I'm betting it all again!"
Gamblers who would normally eagerly await Yu Jingwang's arrival couldn't even sit down today.
He'd won four in a row—it felt like he was due to lose big—but the stakes were now too high to jump in recklessly.
Win, and the gains would be immense; lose, and even a rich man couldn't afford it.
Yu Jingwang's hands trembled as he glared at the other gamblers from his seat. Quite some time passed with no challengers.
The innkeeper spoke to Yu Jingwang.
"Looks like no one's stepping up today."
Only then did Yu Jingwang take a deep breath and stuff all his winnings into his pouches. His pouches were too small to hold it all. The innkeeper gifted him a new pouch and said,
"You made a killing. Doesn't quite cover what you've lost so far, though."
"Hmph, all bad-luck shake-offs."
"Since you're on a roll, how about boosting our sales? Let me treat you to a jug of fine liquor. I'll throw in some day-old appetizers cheap."
Yu Jingwang hesitated, then shook his head.
"Nah, I'm good. If I get drunk and stumble, I might lose all this hard-earned cash."
"You can drink at home. No need to worry..."
"Enough."
It might sound odd, but from what Dang Mujin had observed, Yu Jingwang was frugal outside of gambling.
His attire was plain for an escort agency leader, and his meals simple. All the Jeomchang Sect warriors at the Yu Manor were like that.
Dang Mujin wanted to buy drinks to celebrate the win, but unfortunately, he'd forgotten his money pouch. He'd hoped for a lavish meal after so long, but the timing was off.
Namgung Myeong, however, was different. He pulled three hefty silver ingots from his inner pouch. Their origin was somewhat suspicious, but it was certainly a massive sum for drinks.
"This much? Haha, so the big spender was the spectator... What liquor?"
"No need for the expensive stuff—just prepare enough for as many people as possible."
"You got it!"
The innkeeper hurried inside and prepared three pole carriers, each with a jug of liquor at both ends.
Dang Mujin, Namgung Myeong, and Yu Jingwang ended up like water carriers, shouldering the jugs on poles.
"Hold on just a bit longer."
The innkeeper bustled in the kitchen, reheated a heap of day-old food, and packed it neatly into bundles. The meat had rendered quite a bit of fat, and the dumplings looked like they'd steam right out of the wrapper with one bite.
Some of the dumplings seemed freshly steamed.
It felt less like simple kindness and more like preempting any complaints. Of course, Namgung Myeong would rather make more money than demand a refund.
The innkeeper placed the liquor poles on their shoulders and tied appetizer bundles to Dang Mujin and Yu Jingwang's poles. It didn't look elegant, but there was no easier way to carry it all.
"I'd deliver it myself if I could, but with the masks, I figure you don't want me tagging along?"
"Yeah."
The three shouldered their loads and left the inn. Their backs tingled—plenty of envious gamblers watching.
Unlike last time, they didn't use lightness skills.
They trudged slowly through ankle-deep snow. The heavy loads on their shoulders made even those steps enjoyable.
Yu Jingwang's expression remained dazed throughout.
"Leaving with money still in my pouch... First time ever."
His voice sounded a little choked up.
"You got lucky. Maybe because you had us along—finally turning your luck around."
"Has nothing to do with us. Just the bad-luck shake-off working."
Namgung Myeong cut in flatly. Claiming a share of the luck meant sharing the blame for misfortune too.
Dang Mujin asked,
"By the way, what will you do with the winnings?"
Dang Mujin asked because it was clear even these winnings wouldn't cover what the Jeomchang Sect owed.
Of course, he didn't know the exact debt. But last time, Yu Jingwang had said it'd take fifty years of work, so clearly, it would take dozens of times this amount to clear it.
"Gotta bet it again. Win a few more times."
"...I know bringing this up on a good day seems tactless, but wouldn't it be better to earn steadily and pay it off gradually? I just can't understand banking on gambling. One person makes a fortune while dozens go bankrupt—that's gambling for you."
Unlike last time, Yu Jingwang didn't snap. He thought for a long while before speaking.
But the start of his story was a bit abrupt.
"Do you know when I first met my father?"
"No idea."
"I was thirteen. Even then, the Jeomchang Sect was poor. Our regular earnings could barely keep the sect afloat. Whenever a Righteous-Demonic War or Orthodox-Demonic War broke out, someone had to head out to distant lands to earn money."
"The Island Light Sword Senior must have spent a long time away."
"Once you leave, it takes ten years to return. I must have seen my father when I was three, but I don't remember it. So the first time I met him was at thirteen."
The liquor jugs swayed on the pole with each step. Yu Jingwang continued in that rhythm.
"My father recognized me at a glance after ten years apart. But I didn't recognize him."
"That happens. He probably wasn't hurt."
"But the problem was that most kids my age were in the same boat. With so many children not remembering their fathers, they don't know how to treat them. So I tried to be polite. 'Father, pleased to meet you.' His face got this weird look."
"Uh-huh."
"I didn't know what I'd done wrong, and things stayed awkward between us after. I thought it was normal back then, but now that I'm a father, I realize how horrific it was."
The pole on his shoulder gave off a sour liquor scent. Whether drunk on the smell or the money, Yu Jingwang was far more talkative than usual.
"Then a few years later, the Orthodox-Demonic War broke out. Father went off to fight with the other warriors, and the Jeomchang Sect burned. He returned to Yunam after so long and silently rebuilt it. Then the money problems started again."
"..."
It matched what Namgung Myeong had told him, but hearing it from the man himself felt fresh. It was the intimate backstory of a great sect and a legendary warrior.
"Now someone had to go to distant lands again. Father was the sect leader, so he had no obligation, but dozens had to follow in his footsteps. Someday, I'll do the same. Father hated that, so he went to the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Gold and lost at gambling. Time passed, and eventually, I came to Gangseo too."
It was a bitter tale.
"You mentioned having a child?"
"Yeah. Came here when he was five, so he's eight now. Won't see him for another seven years. But even after seven years, the problems won't vanish. If I don't make big money, it'll take another forty or fifty years—and my son will live like this, my grandson too. I can't stand that."
Namgung Myeong interjected.
"But throwing these winnings back into gambling means your great-grandson and beyond will live the same."
"My concern stops at my grandson. Worrying about unborn ones is plenty. I don't know beyond that. Who plans fifty years ahead when they can't predict tomorrow?"
Far off, the Yu Manor's walls appeared at the alley's end. The three slowed their pace.
"When I first heard Father blew our money gambling, I was floored. Thought he was an idiot. But now that I'm here, I get it. He had to take that gamble for us."
Yu Jingwang supported the liquor pole with his left hand and shoulder, then raised his clenched right fist high.
"Sometimes I want to take my son and leave Yunam. But I can't abandon my father's life or being a Jeomchang warrior. This is my only hope to wipe out the debt. Next month, I'll win big and head back to Yunam for sure! That's how I live."
Yu Jingwang finished and whistled a cheerful tune.
Dang Mujin walked slowly, listening, then asked,
"But aren't you worried? What if you keep losing..."
Yu Jingwang glanced at him coolly. A calm gaze.
Most gamblers only pictured winning big, but Yu Jingwang seemed to have pondered losing even deeper.
"Gambling's idiotic, but it has one merit. Lose the money, and only you get blamed. Does anyone curse Jeomchang warriors for not earning enough? Or ancestors for not leaving wealth? They curse our runaway fathers and me for offering money at the gambling altar. Just one shameful dad, and it's done."
People waiting at the Yu Manor's main gate gaped, eyes wide. Liquor jugs, bundles, leisurely gait. Completely different from usual.
"But if that idiot gets lucky and wins big once, we can all return to Yunam. Everyone gains if it works; I bear it alone if it fails. Such a balanced deal—how could I not take it?"
Yu Jingwang hoisted his liquor pole high for the waiting crowd and shouted,
"Hey! The agency head struck it rich! Let's drink till our noses twist today!"
No one could know what came next. But right now, Yu Jingwang's face held no worries.