NOVEL NEXT Ch. 8
Chapter 8: Father and Son
It’s only natural to be startled when someone drops from a wall, yet his gaze showed no tremor.
“Oh my!”
He feigned surprise, bending over.
If he’d been just one breath slower, it would have been a flawless act.
First, I offered the candied fruit I held.
“Candied fruit?”
“I meant to give it to the kids earlier. But you gave them duck first, so…”
For a moment, Mud Beggar’s eyes widened, and a cheeky voice flowed out.
“Oh my, I thought it was something else. Dropping from the sky scared me. Alms are always welcome.”
He didn’t flinch, yet he claimed to be scared.
“This candied fruit, give it to the kids. They’d love it.”
“Oh my, thank you. Kids need some sweets. But it’s not easy for beggar kids to get sugar. You’ll be blessed. Kahaha!”
He bowed deeply. At the same time, his hands slid up smoothly.
His hands were rough, shaped by countless deeds.
I placed the sweet candied fruit for the kids on them.
“You’re not a Beggar’s Gang member, are you?”
“Oh, how could someone like me be in the Beggar’s Gang? There are just many beggars in Luoyang. I’m one of them.”
“Still, you must’ve heard of Shinpungae, the Luoyang sub-branch leader?”
“Of course I have. Thanks to him, wandering beggars like me face less hardship.”
“Does Shinpungae know you?”
“Does he? I’ve seen him begging a few times, but whether he remembers… But…”
“?”
He glanced up slyly.
“Why ask about that?”
“It’s nothing. I liked seeing you share the begged meat with the kids. You’d do well in the Beggar’s Gang.”
“Psh, anyone can join the Beggar’s Gang?”
Mud Beggar waved it off.
He was right.
Not all beggars are Beggar’s Gang members.
Those called Beggar’s Gang members had to master martial arts.
Not just beggars, but martial artists.
And martial artists of the White Path, with a will to uphold chivalry.
“What kind of person you are seems important.”
Leaving that, I turned, and his gratitude reached my ears.
“Thank you! May you be blessed!”
I nodded without replying.
I’ve already received Tae-bok (great fortune).
The one needing blessing is you.
‘Today’s the day you’re supposed to be killed.’
So I left home at dawn.
Zhu Hochong dies today.
His body will be found in a warehouse behind an inn.
Many attribute it to the numerous enemies he made.
Also, today a new magistrate arrives to pursue the former one.
Soon, the new magistrate will declare all of Zhu Hochong’s crimes were framed.
Which is true?
I know you’ll die, but I don’t know what kind of person you are.
Should I capture and turn you in for the reward?
Or save you and demand compensation?
What kind of person you are matters.
“I need to meet Shinpungae.”
* * *
But.
Before meeting Shinpungae,
Walking down the alley, I encountered someone completely unexpected.
“Young Gang Leader?”
“Hiiik, Jin Yeomyeong?!”
I faced the Dragon Sword Gang’s Young Gang Leader.
The one I subdued after harassing a commoner.
His bruised eyes widened, then he winced, covering them with his hand.
“Son, why’d you stop—Jin Yeomyeong?!”
The Dragon Sword Gang Leader, following him, gasped at me.
It felt like I’d become a Black Path member.
“That’s rude.”
Shouting at someone like that.
Typical of a fallen faction.
“Rude? Jin Yeomyeong, you’re lecturing me on manners? You ruined my celebration just two days ago!”
True, I did.
Was I rude that day?
But.
“Are you here for an investigation by the Alliance regarding the Demonic Cult incident?”
“…….”
My guess was right. The Dragon Sword Gang Leader’s face flushed with anger.
“They said the Young Gang Leader was bedridden? You’re moving well.”
“…….”
“If you’re this mobile, shouldn’t you have attended your father’s 60th birthday?”
“…….”
“Being able to move yet skipping your father’s celebration—such filial impiety. Dragon Sword Gang Leader, look. The Young Gang Leader needs strict discipline.”
The Gang Leader and Young Gang Leader had one guard with them. He couldn’t hold back and spoke.
“It’s all Ink Sword Hero’s fault! With bruises like that, how could the Young Gang Leader show his face before jianghu folks?”
Oh.
That was the issue.
The Young Gang Leader scolded the guard for speaking out.
“Shut up! What if someone hears?”
I looked around. Only a sleeping beggar in the alley, besides us.
So many beggars. This one wasn’t a Beggar’s Gang member, just a knotless beggar.
The Young Gang Leader sighed after checking.
While I questioned his absence from the celebration, he stayed silent.
Probably pride.
“Sorry, Young Gang Leader. I should’ve avoided your face when I struck.”
“Ugh… Let’s just go our separate ways.”
Even if the Gang Leader and Young Gang Leader teamed up, they couldn’t beat me.
The guard, weaker than them, couldn’t fight despite his anger. They had to leave.
But.
Now something bothered me.
“Legs… Yes, I should’ve broken them.”
My words made the Dragon Sword Gang group flinch.
“…What?”
“The commoner you hit, Young Gang Leader, is still bedridden with a leg injury. Seems unfair, doesn’t it?”
I didn’t feel it was unfair when he was said to be bedridden.
But seeing him so hale, knowing he skipped out of pride,
“Isn’t that unfair?”
“After beating me like that, what more do you want!”
“No. Anyway, the Dragon Sword Gang is classified as a White Path faction. As an Alliance member, I had to hold back. But seeing the Young Gang Leader miss the celebration, I thought he might be weaker than expected.”
“So? We’re still a White Path faction.”
“I’ve changed.”
“?”
“I submitted a leave application to the Alliance yesterday.”
“!”
All three stepped back simultaneously.
Submitting leave didn’t mean I wasn’t Alliance-affiliated. That wasn’t it.
I was saying what I pleased. The mood worked in my favor.
The Gang Leader whispered to the Young Gang Leader.
“See? I told you something’s off.”
“It’s beyond off. His eyes aren’t normal.”
My eyes? My wife said they were like a gentle puppy’s.
“You two, apologize quickly.”
The guard, the most rational, suggested, but the Gang Leader and Young Gang Leader snapped.
“Apologize? Ridiculous!”
“Apologize? Ridiculous!”
Saying the same thing in unison, truly father and son.
“Forget the legs.”
I wasn’t serious about breaking them.
It was to get an apology for the commoner.
“Young Gang Leader, you really won’t apologize?”
“To that guy? To some porter on the street!”
My thoughts shifted.
Break them?
Make him feel the weight of his actions?
“Jin Yeomyeong. Your eyes are strange. Whatever you’re thinking, stop if you’re White Path. Wasn’t the intrusion two days ago enough?”
“With my face like this. And what more!”
“Ink Sword Hero, calm down. They’ve done good deeds too…”
Listening to the Dragon Sword Gang group, I deliberated.
If Tae-bok committed such a wrong, what would I do?
Hmm, ugh, hmm.
The result of my pondering,
“Um… What if I broke the Gang Leader’s legs? Let the father pay for the son’s mistakes.”
Their mouths dropped.
If Tae-bok erred somewhere,
I’d bow my head too.
As a father, shouldn’t I at least do that?
Then Tae-bok would learn from his—
“…….”
The Young Gang Leader cast an expectant glance at the Gang Leader.
Huh? Hoping his father’s legs break instead? Not an apology?
The Gang Leader missed his son’s look.
He just stared at me blankly.
“…Have you quit the White Path entirely?”
Hmm, that’s not it either.
Hmm, ugh, hmm.
Ponder, ponder, ponder.
I made a final offer.
“What if I break both? Father and son can reflect on their wrongs together.”
They’d surely apologize then.
But the Gang Leader and Young Gang Leader just stared at each other.
“Crazy bastard.”
“He must’ve eaten something wrong. Or practiced demonic arts.”
I snapped.
“Don’t lose your manners!”
I’m of the White Path.
Yet they wouldn’t apologize even if it killed them.
Legs, just break them?
“Hiiik!”
Before I finished thinking, the Dragon Sword Gang Leader shrieked.
“Gang Leader, I haven’t done anything yet?”
“I told you, his eyes are weird!”
Saying that, he did something astonishing.
He threw the guard at me.
“Argh! Gang Leader, why me?”
“Block him! Stop him somehow!”
The Gang Leader and Young Gang Leader fled into the alley.
The guard, caught off guard, flew toward me without resistance.
“Don’t worry.”
He’d been the most sensible during our talk.
If more like him remained, the Dragon Sword Gang’s decline might slow.
I caught him and set him down.
Then, a beggar sleeping in the alley corner jolted up.
“Ink Sword Hero, should I catch them?”
“No. Just spread the word.”
I wasn’t serious about breaking legs.
Scaring them this much should make them cautious.
I looked at the guard.
“Are you okay?”
“Haha, ha, okay… I guess.”
He seemed dazed, likely from being discarded so easily.
Seeing this, I thought staying might be torture for him.
“I was going to ask you to keep advising the Gang Leader and Young Gang Leader. But leaving the gang might not be bad.”
“Ha, maybe?”
His expression showed complex thoughts. No clear answer yet.
Best to leave him be.
Leaving him, I turned to the beggar.
He’d already pulled out a knot, grinning.
“Hiding it usually is easier.”
“Is that allowed?”
“What’s the harm? I’m the Luoyang sub-branch leader.”
Beggar’s Gang members reveal their rank with knot counts.
Unlike the Murim Alliance’s ninth to first ranks, the Beggar’s Gang rises from one to nine knots.
The Alliance Leader is first rank, the Beggar’s Gang Leader is nine knots.
This beggar had five knots.
Shinpungae, the Luoyang sub-branch leader, was here.
“Perfect. I was just looking for Shinpungae.”
The one who knows Luoyang’s beggars best.
He’d tell me whether to turn in Mud Beggar or save him.