Chapter 402
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 402
Chapter Title: What? This Bumpkin?
"Is this the Central Plains?"
A middle-aged man gazed in wonder at the land stretching out before him.
The ground he was stepping foot on for the first time in his life.
He had spent his entire existence deep within the rugged, unforgiving Heavenly Mountains.
To him, the fertile Central Plains were nothing short of a fantasy.
And now that fantasy had become reality, unfolding right before his eyes.
It was a vast land, as bountiful as it was expansive.
Honestly, it exceeded even his wildest imaginings.
Won Pyeong-sam, the Ten Demon sent by his Supreme One to scout the Central Plains.
The moment he set foot here, he couldn't help but marvel.
To think such a land could exist on this scale...
"Where should I start..."
Having crossed the Jade Gate Pass into Gansu Province, he felt utterly lost.
This was his first time in the Central Plains; he had no idea what to do next.
His lord had told him to seek out the one who lit the fire in the myriad wastes if the chance arose.
But for now, adapting to the Central Plains came first.
And so, Won Pyeong-sam spent his days in Dunhuang, gradually acclimating to the region's customs and ways.
Thank goodness he had brought plenty of silver, expecting it would take time.
Of course, he'd nearly lost it all twice to the sly locals' scams.
Those fools, unable to read him, had ended up in hell.
Won Pyeong-sam's hands had shown them no mercy.
He spent ten days in Dunhuang like that.
Who knew how much he'd truly adapted in just ten days.
But feeling a bit more confident, Won Pyeong-sam left Dunhuang and headed toward the heart of the Central Plains.
His journey brought him to Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province.
A vital hub on the trade routes to the Western Regions, it bustled with commerce and prosperity beyond measure.
As Won Pyeong-sam passed through the city gates...
He turned to stone. No—frozen solid was more accurate.
The sheer vibrancy of Lanzhou left him stunned, rooted in place for ages.
He had never even dreamed a place like this could exist.
Dunhuang had already been a shock, after all.
"What the hell is this bumpkin? Blocking the road like an idiot—what's he standing around for?"
Passersby entering the city shot annoyed glances at Won Pyeong-sam, standing dumbfounded in the middle of the main street, and pushed past him.
"Hey, brother. Right there in the middle of the avenue. You're in everyone's way—come on over here."
Someone tugged at his sleeve and dragged him to the roadside.
Won Pyeong-sam let himself be pulled along without even checking who it was.
How long had he stood there?
Less than a quarter of an hour, probably.
Finally, he snapped out of it.
"Hah... What is this place? Could this really be where people live...?"
He muttered to himself, still staring at the avenue in disbelief.
"If it's not a place for people, then you think it's full of goblins or something?"
His eyes snapped toward the sudden voice beside him.
A beggar in middle age grinned there.
"You look like you came from beyond the Jade Gate Pass."
The beggar asked.
Won Pyeong-sam nodded.
The beggar nodded back knowingly.
"Folks who live out that way and make it to Lanzhou for the first time often freeze up like that. Name's Kang Hyo-wol."
Only then did Won Pyeong-sam realize this was the man who had pulled him aside moments ago.
"I'm Won Pyeong-sam. Thanks for the help."
Recalling his foolish display, he cupped his fists in a formal bow of gratitude.
Kang Hyo-wol grinned at the gesture.
"If you're grateful, buy me a meal."
He shook his empty begging bowl right in front of Won Pyeong-sam's face.
He looked every bit the beggar.
Won Pyeong-sam stared at him in fascination, just like everything else here.
A person who begged for food without working.
To him, it symbolized abundance.
And how could it not?
In the Heavenly Mountains, that would mean starving to death.
Not because people lacked heart.
Everyone was barely scraping by themselves—no one had surplus to share with idlers.
No excess food at all.
Of course, the great Cult was different.
But the Cult had no reason to concern itself with such lowly lives.
It simply awaited that destined day.
The day all the myriad wastes would be set ablaze.
For that, the Cult hoarded everything.
Thus, the Cult alone shone with splendor and plenty amid the Heavenly Mountains.
That was why Won Pyeong-sam was so shocked upon entering Lanzhou.
Back home, only the Cult knew prosperity.
Here, every scene unfolding on the streets outshone it by far.
It shattered his entire world.
Seeing the complex emotions flicker in Won Pyeong-sam's eyes, Kang Hyo-wol shook his battered bowl, missing a few teeth here and there.
"What's with you? Never seen a beggar before?"
"N-no. Let's go. I'll treat you to a meal."
It wasn't his first beggar in this land.
He had seen them crossing the Jade Gate.
He just hadn't realized what they were then.
Not until Dunhuang.
"Then follow close. Don't space out."
At Won Pyeong-sam's agreement to buy food, Kang Hyo-wol flashed a pleased smile and led him to a restaurant where he often begged.
Upon arrival, Won Pyeong-sam had yet another novel experience.
Kang Hyo-wol refused to enter, insisting beggars didn't eat inside restaurants.
So Won Pyeong-sam bought food to go and shared a roadside meal with him.
Eating on the street like that.
Passersby glanced curiously, but Kang Hyo-wol's nonchalance left Won Pyeong-sam silently eating his fill.
'Delicious.'
Yes.
Every dish he'd tried since entering the Central Plains was oily and flavorful.
Nothing like the coarse, bland fare of the Heavenly Mountains.
That land made farming nearly impossible.
Meanwhile...
'This guy's intriguing.'
Kang Hyo-wol shoveled the food Won Pyeong-sam had brought into his bowl and ate haphazardly. As Won Pyeong-sam seemed lost in thought again, his eyes gleamed.
'He looks like he's seeing the world for the first time...'
Even for a first-time visitor to a grand city like Lanzhou, this reaction was extreme.
Eating with a beggar on the street?
Either an utter eccentric or clueless about the world.
Kang Hyo-wol's gut said the latter.
Honed from observing countless folks since joining the Beggars' Sect.
'Better keep an eye on him.'
He thought as he wolfed down his bowl rice.
He'd lingered in Lanzhou to monitor the Kongtong Sect's movements.
But nothing had changed there.
Lanzhou thrived commercially, yet remained stagnant otherwise.
Inevitably so.
Gansu was a frontier province in the Central Plains, and the Kongtong Sect was its only major faction.
Far from the Unorthodox Alliance's turf, evil sects were scarce.
A truly peaceful, quiet city.
And now, a pebble had rippled its serene lake.
At least in Kang Hyo-wol's mind—this man Won Pyeong-sam was that pebble.
'The second ripple.'
There had been a minor stir not long ago, but it had settled.
He'd watched closely, but nothing came of it.
No reaction from the Kongtong Sect or the Beggars' Sect.
Even as he kept eating, Kang Hyo-wol's mind raced.
'Where? Beyond the Jade Gate—only a place like that could produce someone this worldly-naive.'
Clueless, yet neatly dressed.
And not hurting for coin—the dishes from that restaurant weren't cheap.
Ones Kang Hyo-wol, surviving on begs, had only ever smelled.
"Whoa, this is amazing! Thanks, brother—you're letting me taste all this. I've only ever sniffed it before!"
Thoughts aside.
The flavor drew gasps of delight.
He'd marveled at the aroma while begging here before.
"Delicious, isn't it."
Won Pyeong-sam nodded at Kang Hyo-wol's enthusiasm, affirming it.
For him too.
It was the first tasty food of his life.
Just...
'And it still tastes good when eaten like that?'
He couldn't fathom dumping all the food into a bowl and mixing it willy-nilly.
And the passersby couldn't comprehend the beggar and bumpkin chowing down on the roadside either.
What bizarre spectacle was this?
Namgung Ji-hu looked at his sister at her response.
"Blood Rigid Corpses? Because their teeth were pulled?"
He asked, genuinely baffled.
He knew next to nothing about the zombies of the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
Namgung Ji-yu, meanwhile, had gathered intel on them in the interim.
Little was public, but through clan channels, she'd accessed classified info.
"Getting bitten by a Blood Rigid Corpse is real trouble. Especially during training inside the Dragon Training Pavilion."
"So if you die from a bite, you turn into one like the Poison Rigid Corpses?"
Namgung Ji-hu recalled Instructor Ha Mu-baek's words when the Poison Rigid Corpses first appeared.
That's why he'd accepted their toothless state.
"No. You turn shortly after the bite, alive or dead. Usually while still alive."
Namgung Ji-yu's calm words.
But the implication stunned.
Meaning the foes the Fierce Dragon Corps now battled fiercely might also be victims turned alive into zombies.
"Just what is the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest?"
Namgung Ji-yu shrugged at her brother's question.
His advisor and sister, yet even she hadn't uncovered that depth.
Only going there themselves would reveal it.
From what was known.
The Blood Cult's stronghold, a hellish land swarming with zombies.
That was the extent.
Few knew more.
Even Demon-Sealing Corps veterans stayed mum.
Curious, that.
Martial artists loved boasting of exploits.
Yet eerily silent on the Demonic Forest.
Thus, he hadn't known.
But seeking it out revealed truths.
The Namgung Clan had a Demon-Sealing Corps retainer.
Half of Ji-yu's info came from him.
She learned why veterans shunned talk too.
Their experiences there weren't brag-worthy.
Especially for the Corps.
They'd often sacrificed squads to zombies to save their own skins.
No desire to revisit that hell.
Or the shame they'd left behind.
'Still, those guys... I doubt they'd do that.'
Namgung Ji-yu took in the Fierce Dragon Corps once more.
Stoutly blocking the Blood Rigid Corpses' assaults.
"Mukcheol Rigid Corpses, Dark Blood Rigid Corpses—they're even worse. And there might be unknown types too."
Namgung Ji-hu's gaze shifted back to the Corps at her words.
"Block them!"
They clashed fiercely with the Blood Rigid Corpses still.
"Blood Rigid Corpses are tougher, faster, stronger than Poison Rigid ones."
Namgung Ji-yu commented, watching beside him.
Namgung Ji-hu nodded.
No need to say it—their combat proved it plainly.
"Enough!"
Then.
Instructor Ha Mu-baek bellowed.
And as if by magic.
The Blood Rigid Corpses halted.
Not merely stopping.
Bound by invisible bonds, their arms dropped, bodies shuddering.
A sight from the Poison Rigid training already.
"Monsters... actual monsters."
No matter how many times, Namgung Ji-yu muttered softly, unaccustomed still.
"Hah... hah..."
"I-is it over?"
Before they knew, half a quarter-hour had passed.
Perhaps the longest such span of their lives.
"Not bad."
Ha Mu-baek's follow-up words brought smiles to the faces of those collapsing where they sat.
The first praise since training began under that monster of an instructor.
Ha Mu-baek was purely impressed.
Even unleashing Blood Rigid Corpses unchecked.
It was necessary training, sprung as a surprise without warning.
He hadn't expected them to hold out so well.
At least two or three casualties, he'd figured.
All intact.
Even he had to praise the Fierce Dragon Corps.
"Now, about the foes you faced."
All eyes locked on his mouth.
They knew best, having fought them.
These were leagues beyond prior zombies.