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“Kweeeeeek!”
The sound of a pig being slaughtered echoed.
“Oh dear. That’s going to kill someone.”
“Oh my, how pitiful.”
“Still, they’re commoners. That’s harsh.”
The Mount Hua disciples watching the scene spat out their lines without an ounce of feeling.
“Rat? Rats? Where are these rats looking for a rat!”
“P-please spare us!”
“Spare you? Hey, you brats. I’m still a Taoist, would I kill people? Do you see me as some bastard who just kills people at random?”
“N-no! No! Absolutely not. Thank you for sparing us! Taoist!”
“Who said saved? Who are you to draw conclusions like that!”
“Aaaaaah!”
Chung Myung’s fist snapped the thug’s jaw to the side with force.
“Tsk tsk. That’s a bit much.”
“Then will you stop me?”
“Ahem. Sometimes it’s necessary to go too far.”
Baek Cheon let out a big cough and gazed at the distant hills.
Of course it wasn’t right for a warrior to lay hands on those who hadn’t learned martial skills, but sometimes that boundary could be a subtle thing.
Burly men with swords chasing after a kid who looked maybe sixteen? There was no need to weigh the circumstances. Break something first and then talk slowly — wouldn’t that be right?
Baek Cheon naturally thought so. No, anyone would have thought so.
But…
“Uh?”
“What?”
“What did you say?”
“Huh?”
“Uhhhhhhnnnn.” (sobbing)
A man whose face was puffed up like a well-steamed bun sobbed bitterly.
“…You’re not a robber?”
“A robber? I only came to collect money that was owed to me…”
“Bah!”
“Eek!”
Chung Myung kicked the man hard.
“You burst into someone’s house with a sword, and then what? You think I’m an idiot?”
“Ah, no, I did barge in…”
The man continued in a voice full of grievance.
“I’m telling you, he really stiffed us.”
“…What?”
“It’s true, really. That tiny brat living in this house ate our money and ran. Uhnn.” (sobbing)
“Say something sensible, you bastard!”
Even after hearing the man’s desperate, quavering words, Chung Myung glared at the other lumps behind him and shouted.
“This brat’s pulling a trick, right? If someone confesses honestly, we will send them away gently.”
“…It’s not gentle anymore, Chung Myung.”
“No. Depending on how you see it, it can be gentle. Everything in the world is relative, after all.”
“So round. Cute.”
“Sago…”
But despite Chung Myung’s threatening persuasion, the men kneeling behind him gave the same answer.
“I-it’s true.”
“It’s real.”
“I’m telling you it’s real.”
“…Huh?”
Chung Myung tilted his head to the side. But his head snapped back into place like a spring.
Snap.
“Aaaagh!”
Chung Myung grabbed the front man’s head and twisted it side to side with his palm, yelling loudly.
“You bastard, trying to trick an elder? You guys are the loan sharks, right?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“I know all too well how loan sharks drag people into ruin, and you try to con people? Do you think we’re Taoists and ignorant of the world, huh?”
“…He is a bit excessively worldly-wise, isn’t he.”
“I don’t know why. He lives in the mountains.”
The man clutched his swollen cheeks and began to complain.
“What happened was…”
Chung Myung stared blankly at the man.
“So… it’s true that you’re loan sharks. The kid came and at first borrowed a small amount.”
“He paid the interest diligently too.”
“And he paid that money back quickly?”
“Yes. That’s it.”
“Then when he asked for another loan, he took a larger sum.”
“…Yes.”
“After that repeated a few times…”
“Of course we thought he’d pay again. It was a large sum but he’d paid us well before, so we’d assumed he’d pay quickly…”
“But that…”
“…”
“He took it and ran?”
The man nodded slowly with a look of injustice.
“So you chased him and chased him and came all the way here?”
“Sniff, Taoist.”
The man choked up and began to sob loudly.
“We may be back-alley thugs, but we’re not idiots. The law is strict — who would think to brandish a sword in broad daylight? We’re not drifters; we live and eat in this neighborhood.”
“…That’s true.”
“But we must have been desperate to do that. If we don’t get this money back, those above us will beat us to death. Even if they don’t, if we admit we were conned by some kid and lost this much, we won’t be able to show our faces anywhere.”
Baek Cheon, listening quietly, glanced at the sahyung sajaes.
“Well… from what I hear, something seems off.”
“If what these people say is true, the kid hasn’t exactly committed a crime, right? It seems like you’ve gone too far…”
“Waving swords around is wrong, though.”
“We also wear swords. That argument doesn’t convince me.”
“…That’s also true.”
Feeling an indescribable awkwardness, Baek Cheon spoke to Chung Myung.
“Chung Myung, it seems the kid might have some fault on his side too.”
“Huh?”
Chung Myung tilted his head to the side.
“Why? Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
Baek Cheon and Chung Myung stared blankly at each other. After staring at Chung Myung for a long moment, Baek Cheon, flustered, spoke.
“If these people are right, the kid committed fraud.”
“Right.”
“So it’s wrong.”
“What?”
“Huh? What? I’m saying he committed fraud.”
“If he conned loan-sharking thugs out of their money, isn’t that a good thing?”
“Eh?”
Baek Cheon suddenly lost his words and fell silent.
Somehow he’d felt a strange déjà vu while listening. Thinking about it, the kid’s actions were exactly like…
At that moment, Tang Soso came to the rescue for the speechless Baek Cheon.
“Ah, no. Chung Myung sahyung. The kid is definitely at fault here.”
“Why?”
“You can’t do that kind of thing.”
“Why? They’re loan shark criminals.”
“Still, you can’t do it. No matter how despicable, you can’t commit fraud on their money!”
“So what about it?”
“Because… uh. I mean. Uh… why? Huh? Why?”
“Soso, pull yourself together!”
“No, you can’t embezzle someone else’s money. But if that money was extorted from others, can you call it embezzlement? It’s wrong for me to extort, but if the money was wrong in the first place…”
“Soso!”
“Have a glass of cold water. You’re not thinking straight.”
The Mount Hua disciples hurriedly surrounded the flustered Tang Soso.
“I told you not to have a long conversation with that one.”
“He thinks Evil Sect guys shouldn’t even breathe, so you can’t reason with him.”
“Ah…”
Chung Myung, listening, coughed.
“Hmm, honestly I think he did go a bit too far.”
“R-right?”
“Beating these bastards up might be justified, but it was too dangerous. We should have disciplined them.”
“…Something seems off. But the result’s the same, so let’s call it okay.”
“Sasuk, I think you just let something go.”
“Leave him. He’s just exhausted.”
Baek Cheon slumped his shoulders.
At that moment, Chung Myung suddenly raised his head.
“Anyway, we should find that kid first.”
“Right. That’s sensible. We can’t just take these people’s word for it; we should meet the person involved and verify.”
“But how do we find him? He probably ran off long ago. He won’t come back here now.”
“Ugh. That’s the problem.”
“Maybe if you lay out meat and alcohol, he’d come?”
“Are you him? You think he’ll come running just because you set out meat and alcohol?”
“It might surprisingly work, you know?”
“Man. Please get a grip. Does that even make sense?”
“Um.”
“Anyway, it’s better to split up and search. We saw his face.”
“Um.”
“I don’t really remember his face well.”
“Ahem. Excuse me.”
“What?”
Only then did the Mount Hua disciples all turn to Hae Yeon. Receiving their gazes, Hae Yeon sighed heavily.
“Well… there may be no need to look for him.”
“Isn’t that the kid over there?”
“Eh?”
Everyone’s heads snapped toward where Hae Yeon pointed.
But all they saw were people dressed in the same clothes hurrying along the road in a line.
“They look like constables?”
Because the house had no real walls, the passing constables were plainly visible.
“Did you see a mirage, monk?”
“No, no. Look closely. The one being taken by the constables over there.”
“Eh? Being arrested — what do you mean…”
Baek Cheon’s eyes widened like lanterns as he squinted and looked again. Between two constables striding at the center was someone oddly familiar… wrapped tightly in a hemp rope…
“Aaaaaah! It’s unfair! Why are you taking me away!”
“Uh…”
“Oh?”
A boy tied with a hemp rope dangled from the pole the constables carried. The Mount Hua disciples stared at him in stunned silence.
“That looks like him, doesn’t it?”
“Seeing him again like this is oddly a relief.”
“…Indeed. There was no need to look for him after all.”
“What kind of city is this anyway?”
“Save me! Corrupt officials are arresting innocent people!”
“Can’t you be quiet, you brat! Do you want to get a beating!”
Watching the boy being dragged away and screaming, Baek Cheon suddenly ran forward.
“Wait, wait! Please stop for a moment!”
“What is it?”
The constables eyed Baek Cheon warily as he approached abruptly. It would be strange not to be tense when a man far more robust than an ordinary commoner came up carrying a sword.
“Stand back. How dare you!”
Baek Cheon first performed a salutation toward the constables.
“Thank you for your hard work. I am Baek Cheon, a disciple of the Shaanxi Mount Hua Sect.”
“Hmm. Mount Hua Sect… I think I’ve heard of it.”
At the dismissive tone as if they’d never heard of it, a vein popped on Baek Cheon’s forehead. But faced with the constables’ authority, his anger quickly subsided. He calmed himself and spoke politely.
“I do not intend to obstruct official duties. However, no matter the wrongdoing, taking a still-young child like this because of issues with back-alley thugs seems excessive. Please consider this.”
Baek Cheon unconsciously bit his dry lip. He hadn’t been rude, but facing the constables as a man of martial arts made him unavoidably nervous.
“Did that work? No, it probably didn’t. If it comes to it, maybe slip them a little bribe…”
Just as he decided to get the boy out first and worry later, a voice full of incredulity reached his ears.
“W-what do you mean ‘thugs’?”
“…Yes?”
One of the constables chuckled and said.
“This one caused trouble with the thugs too?”
Baek Cheon blinked. Huh? That’s not the issue? Then…“
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but we didn’t arrest him for that reason. This bold brat conned Lord Song of his money.”
“Eh…?”
“How brazen. How dare he try to swindle Song, a pillar of the south. Heh heh.”
Baek Cheon stared vacantly at the constable, then turned his head. Chung Myung, meeting his gaze, muttered with a stunned face.
“Ah… even I find this a bit…”
“…”
This kid.
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