Chapter 456

The name of the small city nestled along the northeastern coastline, just north of No Mountain, is Kimgachon.

While it’s close to the coast and port, it’s not particularly bustling due to the presence of the busy port town of Jeomuk-hyeon nearby.

However, it does have a few travelers trying to ascend Cheonwonbong, known for its length compared to its height, and a small village situated along a beach called Old Man Beach.

Kim Gajang, huh? Is that a Kim family thing? If you catch a boat, it’s just across the way—what do I know?

Of course, nobody would really know.

Originally, this place would have been crowded with guides, porters, rickshaw pullers, and vendors along the road leading into No Mountain.

But the atmosphere of the town is all droopy, and the vendors just hang around their stalls, not even trying to lure anyone in while cautiously eyeing their surroundings.

This alone shows how much chaos the Heart Consumption Technique seekers have caused.

“Should we just have breakfast now? Isn’t it better to eat at the eatery and head back?”

“What breakfast? No, yeah. Let’s eat, let’s eat.”

Seeing Qing’s expression suddenly drop, Cheon Yu-hak just went with it.

What’s the deal if we grab breakfast, as if it would make our lives any worse?

So simple and humble, breakfast here means the tavern owner rushes out to serve us free drinks of his own special brew?

That’s when it happened.

“Oh great, that punk’s back again.”

A young Jeomsoi, probably the tavern owner’s son, frowned hard.

As Qing turned her head, there stood a beggar in rags, or, is that rags wearing rags?

His eyes were swollen and blackened from getting beaten, his cheeks were puffed up like they were going to burst, and his lips were already cracked with dried blood on them.

Even his hands were swollen, looking as if they had been broken too.

Spotting Qing’s group while shuffling around the empty tavern, the beggar cried out in a panic.

“Master! Master! Please, please help me!”

Since they had to secretly change into their mountain gear in a secluded area, the group was still in their everyday clothes.

Four people, four swords; sure, one person was carrying two, but anyway, they had the air of martial artists, so he immediately called for a ‘Master.’

“What the hell? Why do you keep doing this? Do you want to die that badly? Just get lost!”

Jeomsoi marched over to the ragged man, glaring as if he were about to explode. It felt cruel to treat a poor beggar so harshly.

Jeomsoi, who was rarely seen in blue, made Qing decide to observe for now.

Are kind people truly kind?

“Master—ugh.”

Jeomsoi roughly covered the beggar’s mouth—not with a fist, but a rice ball.

As the beggar chewed and swallowed the rice ball, Jeomsoi let out a heavy sigh.

“You idiot. You have to survive. You got beat up last time too. You good?”

“But those guys…!”

“What kind of stupid death would that be asking for revenge and then getting killed? Plus, didn’t you say they’re a rather famous sect? No one can handle them, so who do you think can?”

“But those bastards, those damned dogs, ugh, Master! Master, ugh.”

Another bite of rice ball for him.

Doing kind deeds piles up good karma, right?

Of course, if someone’s got blue hair, they’re a good person, no doubt.

Qing sighed deeply.

Good people do good things because well, they’re good. Isn’t that the kind of simplistic logic?

Then Qing looked around at her group.

One gaze that seemed indifferent.

One pair of eyes staring, as if they were asking if they wouldn’t help.

One gaze eager to bolt at any moment yet cautiously looking for opportunities to sneak away.

Hmm. Three to one.

That put a frown on Cheon Yu-hak’s face.

Hmph, let out a puff of breath.

Master, this is what democracy looks like.

The minority opinion is utterly useless.

If you feel wronged, rally emotions.

“Hey, Jeomsoi. What’s going on?”

“Oh, guest. Don’t mind this punk-”

“Please! Just help! I’ll serve you for life! Please, please…”

“Hmm. Master, do you need any servants?”

“Hmph. No need.”

“For now, uh.”

Qing looked around.

After all, they just came in as the only customer at the empty tavern, so the owner probably wouldn’t mind bringing free drinks.

“So, what happened?”

And so, the ragged beggar spilled his story.

They used to live peacefully in the village of Wangga-chon.

But then a group suddenly invaded the village, laughing while killing people and raping women, taking over.

He snuck away at night to ask for help, but it was useless; when he went to the government office, they beat him up badly.

“Wait, are you saying that you got your face smashed in by the government?”

“Those rats don’t pay taxes; it’s a hassle for them, ugh.”

But small villages typically don’t pay taxes.

Usually because they’re hiding in remote areas, and even if they’re found, they’ll just say, “Cut us open, we don’t have anything,” and that’s that.

Why? Because they really have nothing, so it’s not even fun to mess with them; they’re treated like rats.

So while it was harsh to be beaten, the government had their reasons too.

When the villagers were saying not to touch them to save their own skins, and now they come crying for help from the emperor.

The beggar’s emotions boiled over, and he burst into tears, making it hard to tell if he was talking or sobbing.

However, even without hearing more, Qing could tell.

Her eyes got fierce.

“Is Wangga-chon the village over there on the northern ridge?”

Jeomsoi answered for the sobbing beggar.

“Miss, that’s probably Dangga-chon. Wangga-chon is a half-day’s journey to the south of here by the foot of the mountain.”

Qing raised an eyebrow.

So it’s a different village?

Does that mean there are more people out there who just kill without a second thought?

“I’ve heard that group is called Gang Pae-cheon, a really big sect. If you get entangled with them, you’ll be in deep trouble.”

“Please, ugh, help me, please…”

Qing looked back at Cheon Yu-hak.

“Gang Pae-cheon? Hmm. The Ten Great Heterodox Sects? Is that right?”

“Something like that. What? The Sado Ten Great Stars. Those Sapa guys claim they have ten of everything, but you don’t want to take them lightly, nah. Hah. Anyway, they wouldn’t listen if we told them to back off.”

“Hmm. If you’re serious about it.”

Cheon Yu-hak let out a deep sigh.

“Think carefully. This is no small matter like dealing with a local thug. You can’t leave any future troubles behind. For your sect’s sake too.”

Mentioning the sect sent a chill down Qing’s spine.

Jin Jangmyung held onto Qing’s sleeve.

When Qing looked down, she shook her head.

To Jin Jangmyung, some Ten Great Stars or whatever, the members of the Divine Maiden Sect meant much more.

But is it right to ignore such scum? What would Master want?

Qing gently patted Jin Jangmyung’s head.

“It’s okay. How would we know who we are? Hmm, is Unyeonjeong alright?”

Unyeonjeong is the pseudonym for Mo Yong Joo-hee. The first daughter is Unyeonjeong and the second son is named Unyeon. The third daughter, well, if we’re going to pronounce it easily, it’s probably Unyeon-yong.

Of course, aside from Unyeonjeong, these names were Qing’s invention, so they differ from actual history.

But using a pseudonym isn’t that easy, really. The major reason for being caught is simply not understanding when someone calls you.

When they call someone else’s name, it feels like they’re calling someone else; you don’t respond as immediately as when your name is called.

“Yeon-yong?”

“Ah, yes. Yeon-yong is me, me! I want to go where my sister goes!”

When Woo Na-ram called her, Qing thought she’d burst from the cringe, a hundredfold. But Jin Jangmyung called her just fine, and it was bearable when Mo Yong Joo-hee called her.

Why’s that?

Hmm? When Jin Jangmyung says it, it doesn’t feel awkward at all?

Qing thought about it briefly, realizing, yeah, hearing it from a kid might somehow lessen the discomfort.

The beggar looked up at the group with a blank expression.

“Are you really saying you’ll help me…?”

“Don’t expect too much. If you get tangled up, you’ll be in trouble, so just shut your mouth. You understand what I’m saying?”

“At least tell me your name—”

“Didn’t you just hear me? I said not to get entangled! But here you are asking for names right away! Just get your act together, you’re puffed up like a hotteok. Hm, I want hotteok; is there a hotteok shop around?”

—-

There was no hotteok shop.

And thus, a justified rage descended upon Gang Pae-cheon!

Vengeance for hotteok! I’ll kill them all!

“Those bastards didn’t wipe out the village for no reason; their goals likely have more to do with the village than getting information. They probably plan to use it as a base.”

After ascending No Mountain, they likely realized this search wouldn’t end anytime soon.

In this situation, a certain village sat fortuitously right at the eastern foothills of No Mountain. It had a shabby little house where people lived, making it a perfect spot for a base.

“Hmm. They’re really terrible.”

“This is why treasures should be hidden. When scum that isn’t even human gets greedy, this is the kind of havoc they unleash.”

The more one learns, the more astounding the world of the heterodox becomes.

Are they even humans?

“And if they need a base, that means they have some numbers behind them. If there were only a few, they wouldn’t need to bother with it. Gang Pae-cheon wouldn’t want to gain a notorious reputation for just wiping out villages; they’d rather secure the best house and reign over it.”

“Hmm.”

“But it’s morning now, so most of them probably crawled into the mountains. The leftovers will likely be the useless scrubs or those heavyweights who didn’t want to do any hard work.”

At that, Jin Jangmyung and Mo Yong Joo-hee’s gazes naturally fell towards Qing’s lower half.

Qing’s gaze drifted down instinctively to Mo Yong Joo-hee’s ample hips before—

“What the heck? Why are you looking at me? No, I get that Mo Yong is at fault here, but why are you looking at me, Jin Jangmyung? Shouldn’t it be about Mo Yong who’s more pronounced here? It’s like she just stretches from her waist.”

Qing straight up shoved her hands horizontally.

That made Mo Yong Joo-hee’s face turn red.

“N-No, it’s not that much.”

“Hmph, your butt is bigger than my sister’s.”

Jin Jangmyung said this with an air of pride.

She’s tall, so of course it’s bigger. Mo Yong Joo-hee barely reaches my shoulder; it’d be weird if her butt wasn’t bigger.

When Qing says someone’s butt is big, she judges based on weight distribution across the body and the curvature, be it a crescent or sagging. It’s all about weighing the pros and cons of size and beauty.

Cheon Yu-hak added to that.

“What’s the big deal about butts? Let’s be serious for a moment. Huh? Really, let’s be serious. Is this really the time for playing around?”

“Ah, come on, if you’re too tense, nothing’s going to work. I’m just lightening the mood.”

Anyway, Qing felt admiration.

Just from the fact they got raided, so much information just spilled out.

Honestly, Master didn’t come off as particularly smart in words or actions. Guess it really takes someone special to be a scholar, I mean, professors aren’t just anyone.

“So, there are either only punks left or a strong one among them, right?”

“Given the nature of the heterodox, they won’t allow their underlings to play while they sit back, so even if there’s a strong one, it’ll only be one.”

“Hmm. Then I’ll create some commotion at the front gate. Jin Jangmyung and Mo Yong, you scale the wall in the meanwhile, and Master, just do whatever you want. And let’s not leave behind any trouble.”

As Qing said this, her eyes became chilly.

Leave no loose ends, that meant just kill them all.

Cheon Yu-hak let out another exhale.

“Haah. I don’t even know if this is the right thing to do. My master— No, it doesn’t matter, I’m just worried about what I’ll say to the lords.”

Shintu was lamenting that he became someone to snatch lives, not just property.

---