It was a night when the night bugs were crying.
Although they were crying quite loudly from all directions, it felt desolate, perhaps because of the gloomy weight of the darkness.
"We're lucky. To find a place like this."
It was as Eom Tak had said.
They had lit a fire at the entrance of a not-so-deep cave and were sitting inside, so it was full of warm heat.
"That's right. Tonight, I'll be able to sleep stretched out until my whole body is limp."
Ilpyeong said, glancing around.
But Eom Tak was not one to show a gap.
"We don't have much ti. I'll wake you up early in the morning."
"Let's sleep in sotis."
"You'll sleep without end when you're dead, so why are you so fussy about sleeping?"
"You sound like an old man."
"I'll take that as you saying I'm wise."
"Tsk! By the way, Myung, aren't you going through unnecessary trouble? You have money, so you could sleep comfortably at an inn."
"I like it here too."
"It's like this now, but it will be quite cold at dawn when the fire goes out."
"It's okay. I don't get cold."
At the words that he did not get cold, Eom Tak and Gwak Gyeong looked back.
Because being impervious to heat and cold was sothing that could only be achieved when one's internal energy had reached a considerable level.
"Hey, there."
Ilpyeong took a cautious attitude.
He looked as if he were about to ask sothing sensitive.
"Can I ask you sothing?"
"Yes."
"You know we're ronin, right?"
"Yes."
"Do you know what a ronin is?"
"Roughly."
A ronin is a person who wanders the world and sells their martial power.
Sotis they are hired for disputes between martial arts sects, sotis for the comrcial activities of rchants, and sotis for soone's escort.
The lives of ronin always wander with the wind and clouds.
So it is arduous, and so it is dangerous.
It is a life where they do not know when they will et a stronger opponent and be defeated. That is why the three are so interested in Cho Myung now. Because if they can travel together, they will be as safe as Cho Myung's skill, and they can receive good treatnt as much as Cho Myung's skill, and they will not be carelessly ignored.
"You said it was your first ti out in the martial world, right?"
"Yes."
"Do you have a place to go?"
"No, not yet."
"Then how about you travel with us? Our skills are just so-so, but we've been living this life for over five years. In the case of our big brother, it's been almost ten years. So we know a lot. There's a limit to surviving in the martial world with just martial arts. Of course, if you're an overwhelmingly skilled person, you don't need all this and that."
Ilpyeong, who had stopped talking like that, once again asked bluntly.
"If you don't have a set place, let's travel together. How about it?"
The mont Ilpyeong's question ended, Eom Tak and Gwak Gyeong watched with bated breath.
People's thoughts are usually all the sa.
Just as they want to travel with a strong skilled person, wouldn't Cho Myung also want to travel with a skilled person who is similar to or a little stronger than himself?
Because of that thought, they did not have high expectations.
But on the other hand, they say that everyone has a once-in-a-lifeti opportunity, so maybe such luck will co?
The three looked at him with such a feeling.
"Yes."
Cho Myung's answer was very short.
It seed to burst the complicated inner thoughts of the three in one go.
"Are you really going to travel with us?"
"Yes, I want to. But there's one condition."
"A condition?"
"Yes. I want to experience the world thoroughly. So when I feel that the ronin life is no longer necessary, I will quit imdiately."
The mont Cho Myung's words ended, Eom Tak interjected with a bright face.
"That's a matter of course. You can't live a ronin life forever. In fact, we're also going to quit this life once we've saved up enough money."
"Money?"
"Yes. I told you we were thinking of opening an inn together."
"Ah!"
Cho Myung nodded his head with a face that said he understood.
Along with an envious expression.
"Are you envious now?"
"Yes."
"A skilled person like you is envious of us?"
"Yes. You big brothers have a plan for what you're going to do and how you're going to do it."
"You don't? Ah, since it's your first ti out..."
"I have to beco stronger. But no matter how hard I try, I don't get stronger. I don't know how much stronger I have to beco, so... I left ho."
It was a mood that felt like there was so story.
None of the three asked any more.
When the atmosphere beca heavy like that for a mont, Ilpyeong opened his mouth.
"But did you only learn fist techniques? I'm saying this because I haven't seen a weapon."
"I only learned how to hit people with my fists."
"How to hit people?"
"Yes."
Cho Myung held up his fist.
"It's a hundred ways to hit a person..."
Cho Myung, who was about to explain more, closed his mouth and turned his gaze outside the cave.
At that sight, the three also turned their heads.
Outside the cave, there was only darkness.
They watched for a while, wondering if Cho Myung had heard sothing, but they could not hear any sound. But Cho Myung did not turn his head and just stared outside the cave.
"What's wrong?"
Ilpyeong asked.
"Isn't an escort agency an Orthodox Faction?"
"An escort agency?"
"Yes. The people we t earlier."
"Ah, the Taegang Escort Agency! People like that are not of the Orthodox Faction. How can such cunning things be of the Orthodox Faction!"
"Then are they of the Demonic Faction?"
"They're not of the Demonic Faction either."
"Then what are they?"
"What do you an, what are they? They're just people of the escort agency."
"......?"
When Cho Myung looked back with a face that said he could not understand, Ilpyeong chuckled.
"It seems you really are a novice."
"Yes."
"There are people in the world who do righteous things to help others, and there are people who say 'to hell with that! I'll live by taking what I want'. The forr are called the Orthodox Faction, and the latter are called the Demonic Faction. But you know. The world is not just made up of people like that."
"......!"
"There are people like us who struggle to live by using martial arts as a stepping stone, and there are rchants and people of the escort agency who form groups to earn a lot of money. They are all neither of the Orthodox Faction nor of the Demonic Faction, you can say they are in the middle. Of course, since most people don't steal other people's things, you can say they are close to the Orthodox Faction."
"Um, I understand a little. Then what about people who show off and ignore others because they have power? What about people who try to bully others?"
"That's just bad people, before you even consider the Orthodox or Demonic Faction."
"Just bad people?"
"Yes. People like that are just bad people."
"I see. Just bad people."
Cho Myung, who was nodding his head and turning his head.
It felt strange.
Why did he suddenly bring up their story?
Ilpyeong watched Cho Myung with a puzzled face, and Cho Myung was just staring outside the cave. As if he were waiting for soone.
A mont later.
"The field mice are gathered well in a corner!"
A sneer was heard from outside.
It was undoubtedly Yang Gyeongpil of the Taegang Escort Agency.
Yang Gyeongpil, who had left the inn, had co out with the feeling of really taking a walk.
Since it was a matter of punishing the field mouse-like brats, there was no need for even a ntal waste like wariness.
"But how did they get out?"
The Head of the Escort, Gam, asked.
It seed to bother him a little that they had escaped from the grasp of the Pyeongsan Fortress Master, whose temper had exploded.
"You need to develop the ability to look at the situation and extract the necessary information."
"I'm still far from following the representative head of the escort. I will serve you diligently, so please take care of , thinking that you are teaching a lacking person."
This is how one should be when learning. You have to know how to bow to learn even one more thing.
Yang Gyeongpil nodded his head arrogantly and said.
"Their appearance hasn't changed."
"Yes."
"It ans they didn't fight."
"I see."
"It's not about saying 'I see', but about thinking. Thinking."
"It must an that the Pyeongsan Fortress Master just let them go."
"Why? Why would that ill-tempered person let them go?"
"That's... money! He must have received money."
"The excuse about the sky being a blanket and so on, they must have given out all their money to the point where they couldn't even rent a guest room."
"I see. Since those brats took out everything on their own, the Pyeongsan Fortress Master's anger must have subsided."
"That's it."
"At the inn, that young kid was paying for the food..."
"It seems he didn't think that the young kid would have money. Or he had hidden it well in a place like his crotch."
"Hmm, I see. Ah, there they are."
The Head of the Escort, Gam, pointed with his hand.
Sure enough, a reddish light was visible in the distance beyond the darkness. It must an they had lit a fire. Without even knowing that he was going to visit them like this.
Yang Gyeongpil smiled until his lips twisted.
"The field mice are gathered well in a corner!"
He said loudly for the field mice in the cave to hear.
Then the field mice crawled out.
But what was puzzling was that the youngest was in the lead. Of course, it was not strange. It was just unexpected.
Without caring about such things, he hung a sneer on his lips.
"You just hold the light here."
Yang Gyeongpil said to the Head of the Escort, Gam.
When the Head of the Escort, Gam, who was holding the oil lamp he had borrowed from the inn, bowed his head, Yang Gyeongpil slowly approached the field mice.
With his hands behind his back.
To put on airs ans to look down on them. The ronin, especially those of the lower class, would not be able to properly receive his palm strike.
"An old saying goes, 'know yourself and act accordingly'. If a sparrow tries to follow a stork, its legs will be torn, and if it tries to climb a tree it cannot climb, it will fall and its head will be broken."
It was a blatant sneer. A person who knows what pride is should be angry. Of course, there is a premise. That you have to have the strength to express your anger and handle the aftermath. The young kid in the front and the guys in the back were not angry. It seed they had now realized their situation.
Of course, it was already too late.
"What will you do? Will you ask for forgiveness, or shall I break one of your arms and legs?"
He stopped five steps away and asked.
With a sneer hanging on his lips.
"Why are you doing this?"
The young kid asked.
"What do you an, why?"
"Why are you ignoring us and saying you'll break our arms and legs?"
"Are you a fool? Since you insignificant things dared to challenge and act up, you have to pay the price."
"Ah, it's the sa as that ti..."
Cho Myung frowned, recalling the incident at the Tang family.
It seed that Shen Wuren and the old head of the escort in front of him had a similar way of thinking.
"Forget it, what will you three in the back do?"
Yang Gyeongpil asked, emitting a chilly aura.
It was at this ti that Cho Myung said again.
"Grandfather, do you also think that the weak should not act up carelessly?"
"You brat! What grandfather!"
"Then what should I call you?"
"He's the representative head of the escort!"
The Head of the Escort, Gam, shouted from over there.
"Representative head of the escort... you must be great?"
Cho Myung had heard the title 'representative head of the escort' for the first ti. But the na and the way the Head of the Escort, Gam, was being respectful, it seed he was sothing great.
"Enough. I don't have ti to chat with a child. You three, this is your last warning. What will you do?"
The mont Yang Gyeongpil turned his gaze from Cho Myung and gave his last warning, Cho Myung interjected again.
"I'll ask one last thing. Why are you really doing this? What's the reason for ignoring and bullying others?"
Cho Myung was serious.
The weak should not act up carelessly. Since you insignificant things dared to challenge and act up, you have to pay the price. He could not understand with just those words.
It seed there was sothing more fundantal. Although he thought not, no matter how much he thought about it, he could not find a reason other than that. So he asked Yang Gyeongpil, who was just frowning, again.
"Is it good? Is it good to ignore and bully people?"
Yang Gyeongpil's brow twitched once.
'Is it good? Of course it's good. It's very good. This situation. The fact that I can trample on brats like you is very, very enjoyable.'
There was a ti when Yang Gyeongpil was also weak.
So he knew.
How much it hurts one's pride, how heartbreaking, and how resentful it is from the perspective of the person who is being wronged.
But that was just a thing of the past.
Sothing he would never experience again.
So now he would bully them to his heart's content. He would enjoy it to his heart's content.
This privilege of being able to bully the weak!
Grin!
Yang Gyeongpil, who had twisted his lips even more and smiled, approached Cho Myung.
"I usually don't touch the fresh ones, but you'll have to be an exception. I'll tear your mouth, so it will hurt quite a bit. If you want to resent soone, bla your own head for not being able to judge the situation."
"No. I'll attack first."
"......!"
"I really hate it when the clothes my master left get ruined."
"This is absurd...!"
The mont Yang Gyeongpil shouted, Cho Myung moved.
He clenched his fist and went straight and fast!
Thwack!
Yang Gyeongpil fell back like a stone. Without even being able to unleash the palm strike he was proud of.
"Y-you brat!"
The Head of the Escort, Gam, shouted in a fluster.
At that, Cho Myung just turned his head and looked.
"Do you want to get hit too?"
(End of Chapter)
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