Hye-yul's Intrusion
There were exactly five survivors among the bandits. I would soon learn why Gapjil Jijon and the Heavenly Poison Old Man had spared only these particular men.
“Dig, you bastards! Deeper! This is going to be your comrades’ final resting place—do you really think you can half-ass it?”
Gapjil Jijon had handed the survivors shovels and ordered them to dig graves for their dead companions. I had no idea what criteria he’d used to select these five. Probably some special hiring standard that only former Great Demon Heads understood.
While Gapjil Jijon was enjoying his oddly cozy and heartwarming time with the bandits, the Heavenly Poison Old Man and I focused on reassuring the victims and discussing our next steps. Fortunately, the middle-aged woman, the children, and one of the younger women were all residents of a ferry village just a few hours down the mountain. They could simply travel with us.
The problem was the remaining two women.
One was a wife who had lost her husband to the bandits. She wasn’t from this region. Surprisingly, she said she was from the same destination as us—Quanzhou in Fujian Province.
…Travel together?
Our destinations overlapping was convenient, but the issue was that we were fugitives. There was still a slim chance Shaolin would send pursuers. I worried about dragging a civilian along.
And then there was the last woman. Her long hair had hidden it at first, but she revealed she was a female monk. She had been held captive the longest. There was a small temple called Small Hermitage Temple not far from here, inhabited only by nuns. The bandits had raided it, kidnapped them all, and she was the sole survivor.
Given how long she’d been imprisoned, she must have suffered terribly. I glanced carefully at her abdomen and asked, half afraid of the answer.
“Um… are you… physically alright?”
She seemed to understand the meaning behind my gaze. With a bitter, self-mocking smile, she answered calmly.
“…I removed the child with my own hands.”
“…!”
“I didn’t even know who the father was, and I couldn’t bring a life into this hell.”
Her matter-of-fact confession made the atmosphere grow unbearably heavy. The Heavenly Poison Old Man and I were at a complete loss for words. It was too horrific a story to even offer comfort.
At that moment, an unexpected person broke the heavy silence.
“Ahem… Please don’t worry too much. I will take care of that matter.”
It was the plump, well-dressed merchant I had mistaken for a bandit officer and smacked on the back of the head earlier. As it turned out, this man was no ordinary merchant.
His name was Man Yeong-gun. He was an important figure in the Mangeum Merchant Alliance, one of the Five Great Merchant Groups of the Central Plains. In my original world, that would be like an executive at a massive conglomerate like “SamX” or “HyeonX.” And at only thirty years old, he was the second grandson of the alliance leader.
Whoa… a diamond spoon? Actual royalty?
I stared at him blankly, then a suspicion suddenly hit me.
Wait, why would someone that important from a super-rich family be locked up in a tiny bandit hideout like this? Is this guy a scammer?
Perhaps sensing my deeply suspicious gaze, the skinny man beside him cleared his throat and stepped forward. He introduced himself as Man Yeong-gun’s aide and began explaining the situation.
The Mangeum Merchant Alliance had started in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. The aide’s explanation was quite detailed and believable. Zhejiang had long been called the “Land of Fish and Rice,” a land of abundance. And among its cities, Ningbo was the perfect base for a massive merchant group and the center of maritime trade. That was where the Mangeum Merchant Alliance had begun.
“However, with Japanese pirates and Eastern Barbarian raiders growing increasingly rampant, the court recently issued a sea ban edict, didn’t it?”
With maritime trade blocked, the foundation of the Mangeum Merchant Alliance had been shaken. They needed a new path. They had tried to expand into Hangzhou, the capital of the Southern Song and Zhejiang’s provincial seat, but the place was already tightly controlled by the Ya Clan, the greatest family in the world with their own merchant group. There was no room to squeeze in.
“So as a second option, we decided to enter the logistics business using the Yangtze River.”
Man Yeong-gun had taken charge of the project. He had set out personally to establish branches along the Yangtze. He had even built a branch near the ferry village in Hubei Province and was in the middle of surveying overland routes when this disaster struck.
“Because we were conducting everything in secret, we traveled lightly and modestly… and ended up like this.”
The bandits hadn’t known their true identities. They had simply assumed they were owners of a modestly wealthy local trading company, which was why their lives had been spared.
Hmm… that actually makes sense.
Besides, what would they gain by scamming people who looked like beggars? There was nothing to swindle. The story sounded plausible, but I still believed in knocking on every bridge before crossing it. I glanced at the experienced Heavenly Poison Old Man to see what he thought.
He nodded in agreement. I whispered secretly in his ear.
“Uncle Cheon. Does that sound real to you?”
The Heavenly Poison Old Man glanced at me and answered indifferently.
“That ring on Lord Man’s finger. Isn’t that the Mangeum Ring that proves he is a direct descendant of the Mangeum Merchant Alliance? Of course it’s true.”
“Huh? There’s something like that?”
When I looked at Man Yeong-gun in surprise, he shyly raised his hand to show me the ring. On the thick pure-gold band, the character “” was clearly engraved.
“…It’s real.”
Feeling embarrassed, I whispered to the Heavenly Poison Old Man again.
“Uncle Cheon. How did you know that? Is it some famous common knowledge that only I don’t know?”
“It’s not. I had a small connection with the Mangeum Merchant Alliance in my youth and picked it up secondhand.”
“Then you knew from the beginning! Why did you make him explain everything? You made me look like an idiot.”
“I knew he was from the Mangeum Merchant Alliance, but I was curious why such a precious young master would be in this remote mountain valley in Hubei instead of Zhejiang. That’s why I listened.”
The Heavenly Poison Old Man drove the point home.
“And you were the one who suspected Young Master Man. I said nothing.”
“……”
He was right… I had been the only one suspecting, the only one making a fuss. A wave of embarrassment washed over me, but I immediately wiped my expression clean and lifted my head with dignity.
No. In this dog-eat-dog pseudo-martial world where survival of the fittest reigns, knocking on every bridge before crossing is a virtue. Suspicion is an essential condition for survival! Absolutely!
I quickly changed my attitude and flashed Man Yeong-gun the most capitalist smile in the world.
“Hehe. Lord Man, then how exactly do you plan to help?”
“……”
The moment I gave him my capitalist smile, Man Yeong-gun suddenly stared at me with a dazed expression.
“…Lord Man?”
When I called him again, he finally snapped out of it and waved his hands frantically.
“Huk! N-no! You are simply too beautiful, so I… No! I didn’t have any impure thoughts!”
What’s wrong with this guy? Did he eat something bad?
For two whole months in the Repentance Cave, I had only ever been insulted for being ugly. Now everyone was losing their minds saying I was pretty? If there was a mirror around, I’d be curious enough to take a look… but did it even matter? It wasn’t even my real face anyway.
Of course, my original face had been strikingly handsome in a manly way.
“Tsk tsk tsk.”
The Heavenly Poison Old Man, who had been watching, clicked his tongue.
“I understand how you feel, but that’s not the urgent matter right now. Besides, I won’t allow our Light Madwoman to be married off without any sincerity.”
“Ah, aigoo! You are right, sir. I have been rude. Let us handle the important matters first.”
Man Yeong-gun apologized, flustered. My mood plummeted.
Do I… really have to keep living like this?
Once he had regained his composure, Man Yeong-gun cleared his throat and continued in a steady voice.
“Ahem. First, I would like to ask these two ladies.”
He looked at the two women who lived in the ferry village.
“Since both of you have lost your husbands, your futures must feel bleak, yes?”
The women nodded with heavy expressions. With the head of the household gone, feeding their children would be nearly impossible.
“This ferry town will become an important logistics hub for our Mangeum Merchant Alliance. We recently opened a branch here.”
Man Yeong-gun made his offer in a gentle tone.
“I will speak with the branch. If there are any difficulties in your lives going forward, the alliance will take care of you. We will also provide employment if you wish. The branch will need many hands.”
The women’s faces brightened noticeably. To those who had been drowning in despair, a major corporation’s job security and welfare were nothing short of a lifeline. They bowed repeatedly, offering endless thanks.
Man Yeong-gun then turned to the woman from Quanzhou.
“Madam, please travel with me. I also plan to use the Yangtze River to reach Ningbo in Zhejiang. If you come with us that far, I will provide escorts and every convenience from Ningbo to Quanzhou in Fujian.”
“Ah…!”
“I hear a branch will soon be established in Quanzhou as well. Once you return home and find stability, you may work there if you wish.”
The woman shed tears of overwhelming gratitude and kept repeating her thanks.
Finally, Man Yeong-gun spoke respectfully to the remaining female monk.
“Venerable One, you must feel lost with nowhere to return to. If you wish, you may return to secular life and work at our branch. Or, if you wish to continue your devotion to Buddha…”
He paused for a moment before continuing.
“I can build you a small hermitage in a place with good mountains and clear water near Ningbo in Zhejiang. Please take your time and let me know your decision.”
Wow. Was this the class of a third-generation chaebol from the continent? Offering a house, building a temple, and providing a job. I watched in admiration and casually inserted myself into the conversation.
“Um, Lord Man. Our destination is also Quanzhou in Fujian. This is a bit shameless, but could we possibly accompany you to Ningbo using the Yangtze River?”
At my question, Man Yeong-gun’s face lit up so brightly it practically glowed.
“Oh! If my benefactors would accompany me, I would be endlessly delighted! I will serve you with my utmost effort the entire journey!”
Nice. As expected from a chaebol.
They say generosity comes easily to those with full storehouses. His bold generosity was very appealing.
At that moment, the Heavenly Poison Old Man asked heavily.
“Then… what do you plan to do with those surviving bandit scum?”
At the question, Man Yeong-gun gave a meaningful smile.
“Do not worry, sir. The bandits will be… ‘usefully’ handled by our branch after we travel together.”
“Are you planning to hand them over to the authorities?”
“No. Even if we gave them to the authorities, they would just bribe their way out in a few days. Such a soft punishment is meaningless.”
Man Yeong-gun’s eyes gleamed with the cold calculation typical of a merchant.
“It would be far better for our alliance to use them very ‘productively’… That would be proper punishment for them.”
We left the bandits with the miscellaneous luggage and descended the mountain. We were told we could reach the village with the branch in two hours. The bandit stronghold had been closer to civilization than I expected. Their reckless boldness was exactly why today’s disaster had happened. Even if we hadn’t shown up, the Mangeum Merchant Alliance branch had been planning to gather ronin and wipe them out soon anyway.
Man Yeong-gun, freed after several days of captivity, looked extremely cheerful. He proudly declared that once we reached the branch, he would treat everyone to a lavish feast.
Slurp.
Saliva was already pooling in my mouth. Since falling into this world, the only things I had eaten were unidentified gruel, wild pears, and sour hawthorn berries that nearly paralyzed my tongue. I had drunk plenty of water, though.
Oh right! Dumplings!
I absolutely had to eat dumplings. Especially juicy meat dumplings! I asked Man Yeong-gun if we could have meat dumplings.
“Hahaha! Of course! Not only meat dumplings, I will fill the table with every delicacy until the legs break!”
Man Yeong-gun answered with a hearty laugh.
Then Gapjil Jijon, who was beside us, clicked his tongue.
“Ugh, tsk tsk. How embarrassing, showing your hunger so openly. Have some dignity.”
…Gapjil sir, then why are you drooling from the corner of your mouth?
We were descending the mountain in good spirits when a sudden chill ran down my spine—an ominous feeling.
…Huh?
This was not something to ignore. Whenever something truly terrible was about to happen, my sixth sense would flare up violently. It had happened when a world-ending monster had descended on the Korean Peninsula, when a trusted comrade had betrayed me, and right before I was surrounded by endless waves of demonic creatures. An unpleasant, sticky discomfort always came as a warning.
This felt exactly like that.
Something ominous was definitely rushing toward us at terrifying speed.
Shaolin? Or… an unknown enemy?
My intuition told me this was related to Shaolin.
I looked at the backs of Gapjil Jijon and the Heavenly Poison Old Man walking ahead. They looked unusually excited and happy. Of course they would. After decades of imprisonment and then suffering through every hardship imaginable, they were finally on their way to eat a warm meal.
…I won’t tell them.
I stopped walking and called out to the demon heads.
“Uncles, go on ahead. I have something to take care of back at the stronghold. I’ll catch up later.”
The Heavenly Poison Old Man looked puzzled, asking what business I could possibly have at a place we had already finished with. Gapjil Jijon stared at me piercingly before speaking.
“You’re not trying to run off alone, are you? If you’re going anywhere, we go together.”
“Aigoo, that won’t happen. I’ll catch up soon, okay? Don’t you trust me?”
When I spoke confidently, they finally seemed reassured and went down first, telling me not to be too late.
The moment they disappeared from sight, I sprinted back up the official road we had come from. The ominous sensation spread from my lower back all the way to the nape of my neck. I was about to see the source of this bad feeling.
Just in case, I hid the sword I had taken from the bandits in the bushes. Depending on the situation, I might need to act like a pitiful civilian woman being chased by bandits. After all, my face had completely changed. No one in Shaolin would recognize me.
Hyeon-jung? As long as it wasn’t that giant master of mine, even if it was a Shaolin monk, they wouldn’t recognize me.
I stood in the middle of the road and waited a little. Soon, I could see the source of the ominous feeling in the distance, kicking up a cloud of dust as it ran toward me.
…Huh? That fake monk!
The young monk who had been in charge of the Repentance Cave.
I think his name was Hye-yul.
Even though I had caught his Buddhist name, I had stubbornly kept calling him “fake monk” out of pride. The young monk was now rushing toward me with terrifying momentum.
When the distance between us narrowed to less than ten paces, Hye-yul stopped with a hardened face and stared at me intently.
Right. This guy doesn’t know my face has changed.
A beautiful woman being chased by bandits. Perfect.
I took a deep breath and began my performance.
“A-are you a monk from Shaolin? I… I was attacked by vicious bandits… Sob sob… I know where the bandits are…”
…Acting wasn’t something just anyone could do. My words were already getting tangled from the very beginning, but who was I? An Ultra S-Class Hero! I was good at everything!
I was trying to squeeze out some tears while thinking of my next line when Hye-yul’s bewildered voice reached me.
“…What are you doing?”
“Pardon? So… if you could come with me to the bandits’ stronghold…”
But his next words completely froze my train of thought.
“What are you doing, Blood Demon Witch?”
“…What?!”
How the hell did this bastard know?