Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 123 - Land of the Blind (2)

Chapter 123 – Land of the Blind (2)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Several men wearing clothes with torn sleeves shuffled out of the alley onto the main street where the child was.

When they came onto the main road, even the few people who had been passing by at the roadside disappeared. The only ones left standing there were us. It was inevitable that their eyes would meet ours.

“What are you looking at?”

One of the men glared at us as he spat yellow phlegm onto the ground.

Without delay, Myeong-il drew his sword. When a little runt that looked like he might barely reach their chests drew a blade, the men’s faces filled with mockery.

“Kid. Swing a blade wrong and you’ll lose your thumb.”

“I don’t want to speak with the likes of you by mouth.”

“Heh heh. Now that’s absurd.”

The man who had been cackling suddenly pulled something from his robes and threw it at Myeong-il. He probably thought it was a very fast hidden strike, but to me, with my enhanced talent, it was slow enough to make me yawn.

And it seemed the same was true for Myeong-il. Myeong-il was not even fifteen yet, but among the third-generation disciples he was the strongest.

And unlike before, when he had merely been small, his body had broadened somewhat with age, his shoulders had widened, and he had grown taller.

Myeong-il swung his sword as if tossing something aside. The meteor hammer, cutting through the wind, embedded itself in the ground.

Myeong-il glanced at me. I had told him not to reveal that he was from Wudang. So he would not be using Wudang’s sword forms.

“Heh. Looks like you’re from some famous house after all.”

The man who had thrown the meteor hammer cackled.

He was a black-path man, one who felt no shame at all either for ambushing a child far younger than himself or for having that ambush blocked.

“Honestly. This is why the young masters of famous houses are such a problem. They don’t even know whether we’re carrying out a lawful claim, and they draw their swords first thing.”

“That’s right, that’s right. These bastards ate up our hard-earned money. We’re the victims here.”

As the black-path men snickered, the child who had been sprawled on the ground gritted his teeth and got back up. Then he picked up a stone from the ground and ran at the men.

“Give me back my sister!”

These black-path men were crude, but they had still learned a little martial arts. There was no way they would be hit by a stone thrown by a child who had learned no martial art at all.

One of the black-path men hooked the leg of the charging child, sent him sprawling, and then kicked him in the face.

“How dare a beggar wretch like you!”

“Give her back, give her back!”

“Didn’t we tell you she was sold off to pay the debt? Are you deaf?”

“I was going to repay it, but you people ran away!”

Just from hearing that much, I could roughly grasp the course of events. Among people who ran private loans, there were those like this.

They deliberately lent money at usurious rates, and when the debtor tried to repay it, they hid themselves somehow to bloat the interest further. It was exactly the kind of thinking black-path scum would have.

Just as the child charged again and the man’s fist was winding up:

In an instant, Myeong-il stepped in first, slipping into the black-path man’s chest before the child’s fist could arrive. Without any chance to defend, the black-path man was lifted into the air and slammed down onto the ground.

Myeong-il’s blade aimed at the neck of the man he had slammed down, while the vicious weapons of the surrounding black-path men aimed at Myeong-il’s throat.

“Let’s stop this. How much is the debt?”

It was Yeo Hong-yang who stepped in then. Mocking smiles floated onto the faces of the black-path men.

“Why? If you know how much it is, are you going to pay it for him?”

“Say it first. I’m curious.”

“Ten taels of silver. No, fifteen taels of silver.”

Yeo Hong-yang frowned when he saw the man change the amount midway, but silently took out fifteen taels of silver from his money pouch and handed it over.

Fifteen taels of silver was a large sum to commoners, but to the son of a merchant family it was money one could spend in a single evening.

“Ha. Looks like a pair of sages have been born.”

Even as the black-path men mocked Yeo Hong-yang, they grinned. They stuffed the silver into their pouches and sauntered off.

Myeong-il helped the little runt up from the ground. The boy repeatedly bent at the waist in thanks to both Myeong-il and Yeo Hong-yang.

“Thank you, thank you!”

Then before either Myeong-il or Yeo Hong-yang could say anything, the child darted straight back into the alley.

Myeong-il and Yeo Hong-yang stared blankly at the alley the child had entered, then looked at each other. Yeo Hong-yang struck first.

“Daoist. Think a little about us too, will you? If things blow up for no reason, are you going to take responsibility?”

“I was taught that when you act with chivalry, you do not think about what comes after. Even lay disciples should be taught that much.”

“Let’s think realistically. Realistically. Didn’t we settle this peacefully?”

“We failed to pull up the root. They’ll keep going around committing evil.”

“And what if the root is planted too deep and too thick?”

“If I died while carrying out chivalry, then I would have fulfilled my duty as a martial artist. That is what I was taught.”

“Then you can go be that noble martial artist by yourself. I was taught there’s nothing that shortens your life like righteous zeal.”

“You really and truly can’t be reasoned with.”

“That’s what I should be saying!”

Yeo Hong-yang shouted, then irritably kicked the dirt on the ground.

After calmly regarding Yeo Hong-yang, Myeong-il sheathed his sword.

“Shall we go?”

I shrugged. Both Myeong-il and Yeo Hong-yang quietly followed behind me. I said nothing.

* * *

The chilly atmosphere persisted even at dinner. Even when Yeo Hong-yang wanted a side dish that was beside Myeong-il, he asked me for it, and the reverse was true as well.

There was hardly any conversation, and there were no guests in the inn besides us, so it was as silent as could be.

“Well, being stuck in the middle like this is uncomfortable for me, so how about you two apologize to each other a little?”

I said that to Myeong-il and Yeo Hong-yang with a deliberate smile.

“I don’t particularly want to make up.”

“Agreed.”

Naturally, it had no effect at all. In my experience, trying to force people together at times like this only provoked resistance. It was better to leave it alone.

At that moment, the inn door burst open. People came pouring in and filled all the seats around us.

“Innkeeper! Take our order!”

“Hey, your feet are showing!”

The inn that had been silent immediately became deafeningly noisy. If earlier it had been a hell of silence, now it was a hell of noise. It became so loud my ears actually hurt, and I had to forcibly lower my hearing a little.

“Whoa, it’s packed!”

People really did keep coming in without end. We had taken rooms in a mid-to-low-priced inn. It wasn’t because we lacked money. It was simply that all the expensive inns were already fully booked, so we had had no choice but to come in here.

And one characteristic of such mid-range inns was that shared tables were common on the first-floor dining area.

“Heh heh. It looks like there’s a little room here.”

Two middle-aged men with good impressions edged toward us. We were using a round table, and since we were only occupying half of it, the side opposite us really was empty.

“Please, sit.”

It wasn’t as though we had ordered enough food to take up the entire table, so I gave permission.

The two men immediately called for the server and ordered dumplings and a bottle of baijiu.

“Bring the liquor first!”

Following the men’s words, the server brought out liquor in a white ceramic bottle. The harsh smell of baijiu washed over the table.

“Heh heh. You young fellows, eh. You look like outsiders, so what brought you to a place this remote?”

“Maybe outsiders come to remote places because they’re outsiders.”

“Hahaha! That actually makes sense.”

We hadn’t said more than a word, but the two men seemed to have excellent chemistry. Not one of their jokes was funny, but their closeness was obvious.

Perhaps because the pair gave a good impression, Yeo Hong-yang’s expression, which had been tight, relaxed slightly as he watched them.

“We’re just peddlers.”

“Ah. So you’re merchants! I thought your clothes looked expensive somehow. These are fabrics one doesn’t easily see in Gansu.”

The men cackled.

“Sorry to disturb your quiet meal, but would you care for a cup of baijiu with us? Naturally, this round is on us.”

“It seems you’re drinking something expensive. Wouldn’t it just foul our mouths?”

“Goodness, then what are we to do? Our purses are too poor for anything but baijiu. Would you perhaps share a drink with us?”

The men’s gestures were exaggerated, and they had quite a comical side. Even Myeong-il, who had remained silent, let out a small snort of laughter.

“Since you’re pressing us this much, it feels as though refusing would be discourteous.”

“Would cheap liquor like baijiu really be acceptable?”

“When I want to get drunk, I drink baijiu too. Today, I feel like getting drunk.”

It seemed that the sight of the beaten child had continued to weigh on Yeo Hong-yang’s mind. He glanced at me.

“Are you drinking too?”

“Of course he is! Of course he is, all together!”

The older men immediately grabbed the narrow-mouthed ceramic bottle, shook it, and poured the baijiu into cups. In an instant four cups of harsh-smelling baijiu were ready.

“Since meeting like this is a matter of fate, let’s clink once and wash away some of the dust of this world that’s caught in our throats!”

“You’re practically a poet.”

“Back in the day, I was a licentiate who studied for the civil exam. Not that you’d believe it looking at me now.”

The men raised their cups. I was the only one who did not. Yeo Hong-yang looked at me. His eyes clearly asked what I was doing not lifting it.

“You first.”

At my words, the table fell into an even deeper silence than before.

The men looked flustered, then laughed loudly.

“H, hahaha. We’re just drinking together. What meaning is there in who drinks first?”

“I said drink first.”

As my tone shortened, the older men’s faces reddened too.

“Would you look at this rude young fellow. Seems we chose the wrong table to share.”

“Honestly. What do you take us for?”

The middle-aged men were enraged, and Yeo Hong-yang was flustered by my sudden turn.

“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Just drink it.”

As Yeo Hong-yang raised the cup to his mouth, I immediately snatched it away and poured it onto the floor. Baijiu splashed across the inn floor.

Even as I did that, I did not take my eyes off the two men.

“Drink. If not, I’ll feed it to you myself.”

“What in the…”

“This lunatic!”

The men slammed their cups down on the table and tried to rise. I immediately stepped onto the table and flew at them.

There was no need for words. I wrenched their heads back and poured the liquor from the cups down them. Once I pried their throats open and poured it in, there was no way they couldn’t swallow.

“Wh, what are you doing all of a sudden!”

Yeo Hong-yang shouted.

“Are you all right?”

Yeo Hong-yang hurriedly tried to approach them. But rather than showing anger, the men turned deathly pale and jammed their fingers into their mouths.

“Uwegh. Uweeegh!”

They immediately bent over and tried to vomit up the liquor they had swallowed. At that, the people filling the inn began rising from their seats one by one.

“Wasn’t it that those bastards just acted badly? It looked kind of awkward.”

“Nah, even so, there aren’t many who can do that much.”

The ones who had gotten up snickered among themselves. Just moments ago they had all entered looking like strangers.

Only then did both Myeong-il and Yeo Hong-yang notice something strange and move close to my side.

All the men who had risen smiled broadly and drew out weapons. Swords, sabers, meteor hammers, iron maces, every kind imaginable.

“Enough. They’re not prey you lot can handle.”

Then someone from the corner of the inn spoke. At once, the people split left and right as if making a path with only him and us connected.

Using that path, he slowly approached us. His bamboo hat was pulled down so low it was hard to see what sort of face he had.

“Sharp eyes.”

“Thanks. Your actors were pretty good.”

“Thank you. We’ve fooled quite a number of people that way. How did you figure it out?”

“Just a hunch. What else?”

“You seem to be a man with finely honed instincts.”

“You could say that.”

At my answer, the man under the bamboo hat chuckled.

“And those instincts are still working now, aren’t they?”

The man removed his bamboo hat. Astonishingly, there was no black left at all in either eye. He was blind.

“If what you’re saying were true, they’d be screaming at me to run.”

In an instant, a chilly aura filled the entire inn.