NOVEL NEXT Chapter 153
Chapter 153: In the Four Heavenly Houses
“Damn it, these bastards are all going to die today! What does that scum of Water Bandits think they can do?!”
I was sure that Wol-yeong’s poison had been cleansed, but it felt like the searing flames were glaring at me.
With a volcano of rage erupting in my heart, I glared at the Water Bandits.
“Kuhehe.”
“Leader, that sound is quite delightful! Hahaha.”
The Water Bandits were chuckling, finding amusement in my fury, but my absolute rage would be quelled only by Chao, who inherited my father’s will.
I sent a message, not just to flip their boats over, but to split them in half.
‘Let’s just split the boats in two, Chao!’
But just as I thought their smiling faces would turn pale and their laughter would transform into screams—an unexpected question popped into my head.
‘Why is it taking so long?’
Then suddenly, a word echoed in my mind.
-What?『Why?』
My head felt dizzy.
That question of ‘why’ suddenly appeared in my thoughts.
‘No, could it be!?’
At the moment I was supposed to leap out and bravely smash the Water Bandits’ boats upon hearing my father’s request, the timing of the question sent shivers down my spine.
It felt like the time ‘Why?’ syndrome had come for Chao, which usually occurs at the growth phase of kids—a phase bound to resemble a storm of ‘why, why, why, why’ questions.
At that stage, kids often kill their parents’ sanity with a flurry of inquisitions, so I was starting to feel Chao might be entering that phase.
‘Why does this crucial moment have to coincide with the emergence of the ‘why’ syndrome?!’
Usually, this syndrome hits when kids are around four or five, igniting a barrage of questions that ultimately culminate in ‘why’—disrupting parental calmness like a question mark assassin.
Despite having evolved, Chao’s intelligence was still around that of a toddler, barely just a year old.
‘No, no! Dad just wanted me to give them a good scolding. It could just be mere curiosity. Calm down, So-ryong.’
If I started just killing them on command, it would make me a killing machine, which isn’t fitting for a daughter, right? Of course, Chao was merely growing up right!
Just as I tried to calm my thoughts and prepare to explain the situation to Chao, I heard the furious voice of Older Sister Seol beside me.
“Those bastards!? How dare the Water Bandits! Should I just smash them to pieces!?”
Older Sister Seol was worked up, ready to jump down with her sleeves rolled up, likely not understanding the situation since she wasn’t from the Central Plains.
“Sister, please, hold on. Even if we can take down a few of them, they could stick to their boats and poke holes in ours, causing them to sink. So, while I understand your anger, let’s just pay the toll and pass through.”
“It’s infuriating! If we were in Yunnan, I would’ve fed them to the dogs by now!”
It was a sarcastic statement about avoiding them out of fear rather than disgust, and just then, Hua Eun pulled Seol back and asked the Water Bandits.
“Alright then, how much for the toll?”
“Hmm… Since your boat looks nice and sizable, just pay a hundred taels of silver!”
“A hundred taels!?”
The response to Hua Eun’s inquiry came back as a shockingly high toll.
The Bandit leader grinned, sensing disappointment.
“Well, if they’re feeling a bit hurt that I only took a hundred, let’s make it a bit more! Kuhehe.”
“Ugh… Just wait.”
Seol picked up on this and questioned the Bandit leader about raising the toll because of her comment.
A hundred taels was quite the sum, something I hadn’t even seen while on Hainan Island.
Though I wasn’t entirely broke, I had no intention of tossing my money into the trash for those scoundrels. By the time Hua Eun dashed to the cabin to fetch money, I hurriedly explained to Chao.
“Uh… The reason we must do this is because, uh… Oh! That’s right! Those bastards said something nasty about Mom! Yes, nasty things!”
Since the dirty words they used were inappropriate for kids, I tried to tone it down, but the questions kept coming.
-What?『Nasty things?』
“Well, um… Oh! They said Mom wasn’t pretty! Those bastards!”
I chose the most sensitive word that Chao and Bin would latch onto, but then Chao tilted her head, glancing between Hua Eun and herself, as if pondering that Mom having small legs and no antennas could lead to such a thought.
“To win Dad’s affection, a woman should have antennas and long legs… but Mom has none of those.”
“Wow, my daughter seems to understand her father’s tastes quite well, and is growing into a child who can understand others’ differing thoughts… Aha…”
I felt a hint of gratitude for Chao having a grasp of my preferences, but Chao misinterpreted it as all men thinking that way.
I imagined if they’d exuded an aura of danger, Chao would have rushed in without a second thought, feeling flustered.
I contemplated tossing them some insults to provoke them into revealing their ability, but if they kept raising the toll based on our prior insults, that was certainly unhelpful.
Then a brilliant idea struck me.
“Oh! That’s it!”
“Chao, how about we play with those uncles?”
-What?『Play?』
“Yeah, let’s play tag! If you show yourself, the uncles will scream and run away, but your job is to catch them so they can’t escape! It’ll be so much fun…”
As I explained the concept of tag, Chao seemed delighted.
-Yeah!『I want to play!』
“Alright, first, let’s go flip over their boats!”
-Whoosh!
Just as I finished explaining, Chao floated up behind me.
As Chao slowly and lazily rose into the sky, the Water Bandits’ eyes turned wide, mouths agape, staring up at her.
“Wh-What…”
“Wh-What in the world…?”
“Wha…”
Pointing at Chao while unable to form proper words, the Water Bandits stood frozen in shock.
“Are they seriously all saying something…!? WHAAAAAA!”
Then, the leader of the Bandits, who was a beat behind, finally glanced up and froze in place, seeing a six-meter-long giant centipede fluttering through the air, boasting immense intimidation.
Chao stared at them with an adorable tilt of her head.
-What?『Shall we start?』
Startled, the Bandits dashed to the far corners of their boats, while I smiled at Chao’s expectant question.
“Yeah! Let’s begin!”
The deadly game of tag.
-Crunch! Splash!
As I finished my sentence, Chao swung her massive tail, slicing a boat clean in two, and the screams of the Bandits echoed across the water.
“Ahhh!”
“Monster!”
“Ahhhh!”
For Chao, it was a fun game of tag, for the Water Bandits, the prelude to disaster.
*
A six-meter-long giant centipede playing tag was a joyous occasion for Chao, but a life-or-death experience for the Bandits.
After all, why do grandparents with four or five-year-old grandchildren visit the hospital with broken ribs or limbs?
Because children can’t control their strength while playing.
What they think is just fun can easily result in broken bones if they’re jumping around on top of their grandparents.
-Crunch!
Chao swam, throwing a fleeing Water Bandit across the boat.
-Thud! Splash!
He landed on the side of the boat, and as he slid into the water, the sound of Chao cheering could be heard.
-This is fun!『It’s fun!』
“Ahhh!”
“Run away!”
“Let’s go, Chao! Just take them all out!”
Cheered on by Older Sister Seol, Chao, like a dragon, dashed here and there, breaking boats and corralling people towards the center.
In the midst of this chaotic scene, Hua Eun emerged from the cabin, having rushed to gather cash, her eyes wide with shock at the chaos Chao was unleashing.
“So-ryong! Stop Chao! The rules of the Martial Forest…”
Whatever rules of the Martial Forest they were worrying about, what did they matter now?
Grabbing Hua Eun’s shoulders, I replied.
“Hua Eun, I despise anyone who covets what’s mine.”
“Yes!?”
“Therefore, those bastards need a good lesson.”
Realizing what I meant by ‘mine,’ a red-faced Hua Eun nodded off in a daze.
With her permission secured, my thoughts turned to how to more effectively deal with the Bandits.
Just then, I heard voices of new players wanting to join the game.
-What’s that?
-What’s happening?
Yo-hwa and Bin appeared from the cabin, seemingly wanting to join in this exciting event.
‘Looks like we’ll have more tag players!’
*
As the Bandits fled from Chao, Yo-hwa cast her threads across and pulled in the fleeing Bandits like fishing lines, while Bin intimidated those captured, quickly subduing the Water Bandits.
As we began to count the number of captured Bandits between Yo-hwa and Chao, the Water Bandits were stunned and crying out in despair.
-What? What? What, what?
-Ki-Ki, kishi…
“P-Please spare us!”
“We-it was a mistake! We didn’t know you were a person of the Martial Forest!”
“Please, spare us!”
Caught by Yo-hwa’s threads, the Bandits cried for their lives.
They likely thought Yo-hwa and Chao were deliberating over who to eat, but in reality, they were just verifying who captured more.
I yelled at the screaming Bandits.
“Be quiet! Anyone who speaks a word from now on will be fed to the Spirit Venomous Creatures!”
-What!?
-Keek!?
Chao and Yo-hwa were stunned by the mention of Spirit Venomous Creatures.
After reassuring them it was just a joke, I turned toward how to deal with the Bandits.
I had seized them in a fit of rage but hadn’t considered what to do afterwards.
“Hua Eun, what exactly are the rules of the Martial Forest?”
“Oh, in the Yangtze River Three Gorges, the Zhang River Waterway Village operates, and they don’t touch the boats with the flags of the Seven Great Clans; we don’t attack them, and they won’t attack us, that’s our tacit agreement.”
“Oh… So without flags, we pay the toll?”
“Yes, So-ryong.”
“Although we technically broke the agreement… what happens now?”
We had indeed broken the rules, regardless of the underlying reasons.
When I asked Hua Eun, her expression turned serious.
“The Zhang River Waterway Village isn’t the only group. They are just one faction of many Water Bandits, and if we attack one, then others will hinder our clan boats or people traveling on the Zhang River if they find out.”
Then we’d owe them a gift to apologize, as they were Martial Forest members too.
“Even after they insulted Hua Eun? They deserve death and worse!”
“W-well, I appreciate your sentiments. But the… the rules are the rules…”
Hua Eun’s face flushed once more, and although I felt I was gaining points with her, my head was a mess.
We could end up having to apologize and offer gifts to the bandits.
‘What do you mean, beggars are Martial Forest members too? Thieves and now Water Bandits? This is a real headache.’
Thinking it through, I decided to gauge their reactions.
They looked terrified, making it seem easier to deal with.
So, with a sly wink at Hua Eun, I spoke coldly.
“Where I come from, it’s said that when there are no living people, there’s no fuss…”
As I glanced at the Bandits, their leader suddenly went pale and threw himself to the ground, shouting.
“W-We saw nothing! Nothing at all! If you spare our lives, we will remain silent! Yes! You can be assured of that!”
They were definitely scared, yet I couldn’t afford to let my guard down.
People can change their tune once they walk in and out of a bathroom.
If there were going to be any surprises later, I needed to have a plan.
‘They look frightened, but what now? What did I do in my past life during an incident…? Police? Insurance Company? Settlement? Oh! That’s right! Settlement!’
The memories aligned, and I recalled that the best course of action in such a situation was to reach a settlement right there.
Even in a traffic accident, finding a way to settle it right there with cash is much simpler and often preferable to calling the cops or dealing with an insurance company.
Working out the proportions of blame and exchanging money offers with signed agreements ensures others can’t flip the script later on.
“Hua Eun, can’t we settle this right here?”
“A settlement?”
“Yeah, just give me a moment.”
As I spoke of settlement, Hua Eun frowned, so I turned to the Bandit leader with a steely voice.
“You say nothing happened? Blinded by greed, you attempted to invade our clan’s boat and rob us? Destroying our family’s flags to evade the agreement?”
Ah, of course, the settlement ratio would be 10:0.